skin-loving smoothie recipe

Note: this post was previously published here as a part of my freelance work.

So you love smoothies. There’s no doubt that its healthy, but you really just throw random ingredients into the blender with no rhyme or reason. Why not construct a super-power combination to boost one system or another? The smoothie recipe below will provide a powerful dose of antioxidants and nutrients for the skin. Down it as often as you’d like to help prevent wrinkles, smooth the surface, and get glowing. Not to mention, it's pretty tasty.

THE INGREDIENTS:

70% Dark Chocolate: The darker the chocolate the more the antioxidants. This will help you improve luminosity. 

Spinach: Spinach is chock full of lutein, a carotenoid that will protect your skin from UV damage. 

Mixed Berries: Berries are a great source of vitamin C and antioxidants. The healthy dose will protect you against free radicals in the environment.

Avocado: Avocado is packed with antioxidants like vitamin C and E, alpha carotene, beta carotene, beta cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin and lutein. They also have a great amount of mono saturated fatty acids which help to maintain moisture in the epidermal layer of the skin.  

Coconut Water: Healthy skin needs one thing above all: good hydration. Coconut water will hit you with electrolytes and give skin all the drink it needs.

DIRECTIONS:

- Throw ingredients into a blender and drink as soon as possible.

weekly scenes: here, there, and everywhere

Here, there, and a little bit of everywhere. The ease with which we skip around the world today is a miracle. Just in the last month, I feel so lucky to have gone the places I've gone and to have met the people I've met. Fifty to one-hundred years ago, it would have been unfathomable. The fact that I can be in Philadelphia during the week and head up to New York state for a weekend - how I can fly to Vancouver and make my way up the coast within a week - it's not something to take with a grain of salt.

The ubiquity of travel makes the world accessible, and our generation is lucky to experience it. We can meet people on every continent, in every city, with more ease than ever before. This new age of travel is breaking down walls, and the planet is becoming a global society. 

It makes me feel like a part of something bigger; a huge community that inhabits the world. The experience of traveling across the continent and to a different country all by myself, tapped me into it and opened my eyes.  It's stunning and comforting to know that there are so many people we can get along with, connect with, enjoy, and learn from. Many a time we focus on the differences, but when you let your guard down, you begin to find the similarities. We all have more in common than you think.

Everywhere we go, there are amazing people. Interesting, creative, intelligent. We can share things with a complete stranger, and we can connect with someone who, appearance-wise, is an entirely different kind of person. When moments like that happen, life realizes meaning. Your heart grows just a little bit bigger with each interaction. It opens up a world in which we can go anywhere without really being alone.

This global community has not always existed. It's a phenomenon of our time, and something I, myself, am excited to live through. We should not let it go unnoticed how special this moment in time really is.

Here's to all the amazing people I've met, shared a moment, and spent time with on my recent travels.  You all put a smile on my face.

farm 51

This past weekend, I got to do a little ride along with Jana. We went to a Philadelphia urban farm called Farm51. I'd heard of the place and was dying to check it out, so when she invited me along, there was an eager, "yes." 

The experience of being so inspired around what and how you can plant left me overwhelmingly giddy. I no doubt embarrassingly asked too many questions and tried way too hard to be these dudes' best friend. Their property is a dream and their ability with plants is genius. 

What these two guys, Neal & Andrew, have created, gives me hope that such a thing can exist within city limits. You see, I do dream of having a small farm one day. I'd love a tribe of goats and chickens, heritage strains of corn, sweet berries, and beds and beds of greens (I could go on). But the idea of going back to country life, at this point, is a mystery to me. I grew up there, but never as an adult had to survive there. I'm scared that I'll make a grand move to the rolling hills and miss the culture I find here in urban life. I love the shops, the health food stores, the music, and the fact that I can get anywhere I want with my own two feet of the wheels or my bicycle. 

An urban farm is a beautiful marriage where the benefits of country and urban life can be shared. It sounds cheesy to say, but it's really like a mirror to the dichotomy that I find within myself. I'm a country girl at heart, but a city dweller in spirit. Perhaps an urban farm is the answer to my life questions.

Read more about Farm51 in Jana's interview here.

finger lakes escape

All my photos are my babies. I love them dearly, and when it comes to putting together a concise article or post, I tend to get emotional over cutting ones out. I want to include them all! But unfortunately, it's not really best practice. It ends up looking like someone who can't edit their work - which to a certain extent, I am guilty of! It can just be hard for me to pick one shot over another.

So today, I'm sharing a few shots from our recent trip to the Finger Lakes that did not make it into my travel guide over at Free People. Even if they weren't right for the post, I had to give them a home some where. So here they are.

Go read about our full Finger Lakes adventure at blog.FreePeople.com today!