April (in Cliff’s Notes)

I don’t even know where to begin…this past week has been one of the most incredible times of my life.  Between getting engaged, visiting friends and family in Nor Cal and So Cal, my cousin getting married and my other cousin giving birth, it has been a fantastically memorable week. 

Yes.  My only two cousins managed to coordinate the biggest events in their lives to overlap!!!!!!!!!

My older cousin went into labor 5 weeks early, and ended up in the hospital on the night of the rehearsal dinner and gave birth to a healthy baby boy the day of my cousin’s wedding (her younger sister).  Not only did she miss the ceremony and the reception, but she was the maid of honor and her husband was one of the groomsmen.  Needless to say, it was ONE EXCITING DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I rarely remembered to snap pics of my food because I was a bit preoccupied (it was one of the LAST things on my mind…) and to be honest, a lot of it wasn’t very photogenic.  An unfortunate reality of traveling and going out to eat with friends/family is the inability to control the types of food that are available for vegans. 

In Nor Cal I ended up eating a lot of cereal messes…

(raisin bran, life, and nanners)

(grape nuts, bran flakes, nanners and fresh blackberries!!!)

SO MUCH wonderful fruit (!!) and yes, that bowl has my name on it…only in Paris can you find “Elise” on a dish.

Normally I don’t like citrus, but these oranges were SO juicy and perfect (AND they were from our backyard)

Who am I?  Gliding Calm?

No worries, we have massive trees with about 800 pounds of oranges, so I was going to town guilt free 🙂

They look fake, they are so pretty.  Mmmmm…

We also had a BBQ the day after the engagement.  Sorta an impromptu celebration (which is pretty easy when the weather is permanently 80 degrees).

Apps: Sabra hummus with veggies and ALL-BRAN crackers (review to follow)

Snackety snacking…

The All-Bran crackers were SO good.  They kinda reminded me of graham crackers because they had a sweet honey taste to them, even though I got the “multi-grain” flavor.  Plus, who doesn’t like fiber?  Can’t beat those stats…I’ll prolly never find them again back in NYC.

My dad threw some meat on the grill while I prepped veggie skewers.

Red and yellow bell peppers, zucchs, squash, and ‘shrooms.

And after some time on the barby…

There is nothing like grilling fresh produce to make me miss California.  This west coast livin’ just can’t be beat…

Other featured eats: salad, rice, VINO, and champagne (in bulk)

Plus, some tea on the late night to soothe my tummy.

…and FAR too much of this.  My dad is going to be pissed when he sees the cherry picking that went on while I noshed this tub down to nothingness.  I heart dried fruit like nobody’s business.

In So Cal I ended up frequenting the Whole Foods hot bar quite a bit (always a great option).  Hummus and falafel are definitely the flavor of the month so far.  Prepare yourself for a MAJOR falafel montage…

(and remember these are all different trips – and I only captured 1/3 of my meals on film)

The above meal had TWO kinds of hummus (parsley and plain) and in the corner is BBQ tofu.

The below meal was dominated by hummus.  I went overboard, to put it mildly.

I even tracked down a falafel, hummus, and pita chip platter at the AIRPORT, on one of our many flights, there’s no stopping me!!!

I told you I went through a MAJOR falafel phase.

We also spent some time at my g-ma’s in Newport Beach, so obviously I managed to get my hands on hummus 🙂

This was my first time trying this brand, and I gotta say, it gave Sabra a run for it’s money.  I would DEF buy it again.  Creamy and thick, and packed with flavor.

But enough about food…back to the fun times! 

 

The proposal was such a surprise.  🙂

Kyle told me his parents were in San Francisco for business, so we decided to meet them in the city for lunch…I found out later no such business trip existed.

We stopped by my sister’s apartment on the way…

Here’s the view from her rooftop.

Then Kyle took me to Crissy field to “meet up with his parents.”

In actuality, he asked me to marry him!!!!!!

As if the day could get ANY more amazing, his parents AND mine then showed up (they knew the plan the entire time!!!!!!) and we all celebrated together!

As you can see, the weather was perfect, the scenery was gorgeous, and I was the happiest girl in the world!!!!!!!

I was basically doing the above all day long (staring at my finger  and gushing on the phone).

How could I not, right?

For lunch, we went to a vegetarian restaurant called Greens, which was great!  I got a skewer with veggies and tofu and a side salad.  But I was hardly even aware of my food on SUCH a high 🙂

The champagne was flowing…

 

After lunch we took more photos, walked around the city, and eventually made our way to the financial district (near our old SF apartment before we moved to NYC).  Kyle had booked a hotel room for the night, so we check in and then headed out to do some shopping.  I desperately needed a nicer outfit than what I brought (jeans and a t-shirt) for dinner.  Clearly the ring upped the ante for the attire!  Off to BCBG, Aldo, and Victoria’s Secret…stat!

For dinner we went to Kokkari, an amazing Greek restaurant in the financial district. 

The food was great and they were so thoughtful, catering the menu to make sure there were vegan options for me.  I hardly even remember what we had because there was so much good food…fried eggplant and zucchini cakes, mushrooms, babaganoush, hummus, greek yogurt, etc…just to name a few things.

L to R: my parents, Kyle, me, Kyle’s parents.

Our table faced a massive fireplace, with live rotisserie action going on. 

Baklava dessert with a sweet message.

It was amazing, for lack of a better word.  The entire day couldn’t have been more perfect.