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helenveyna@gmail.com

    Outfit, Travel

    It’s Beach Time!

    June 2, 2014
    Photography by Laura Nolan
    Outfit Details:
    Forever 21 Sunglasses
    Old Navy Chambray Shirt
    Forever 21 Crop Top
    ASOS High Waist Linen Shorts
    H&M Strappy Sandals in Black (Not Pictured)
    My best friend Laura and I met up in Dana Point this weekend, since it’s our halfway meeting spot between L.A. and San Diego. I had only been to Dana Point once before on my first year of college, and I basically spent all day seasick on a boat collecting water samples for my marine biology class. Needless to say, my first visit to the area wasn’t a memorable experience. Thankfully, this trip made up for my last. Laura and I decided to head over to Dana Strand Beach while we were there, and I loved how calm and relaxing it was. I’m not much of a beach person, and I’m used to frequenting busy L.A. beaches that offer limited and expensive parking. Unlike most beaches that I’ve visited, Dana Strand Beach had tons of free parking, and it had a very calm vibe to it.
    What I really loved about Dana Point is how friendly everybody was. People noticed Laura and I taking pictures of each other–she took outfit pictures of me for my blog, and I took pictures of her in various yoga poses for her Instagram–and they were quick to offer to take a picture of the two of us together. Laura thinks that many of the beach goers had a friendship crush on the two of us. However, my guess is that many of them were probably super impressed by Laura’s awesome yoga poses. She is currently participating in Free People’s Instagram Yoga Challenge, and where else can you find a more serene spot to practice yoga than the beach? I can only dream of the day when I’ll be as strong and graceful as my best friend. You should all go check out her pictures on Instagram and cheer her on throughout the challenge.
    After lounging at the beach for a couple of hours, Laura and I decided to head out for lunch. Thanks to recommendations on Yelp, we ended up going to the Hummingbird House Cafe in nearby San Juan Capistrano. Little did we know that this particular cafe was located on Los Rios Street, which just happens to be the most darling street I have ever laid eyes on. Los Rios Street is located behind the San Juan Capistrano MetroLink Station, and is lined with houses that have been converted into shops and restaurants. These businesses all had a boho chic and vintage feel to them, and every store we walked into had a nice garden and lounging area which made you feel right at home.
    This was the outdoor dining area of the Hummingbird House Cafe.
    Las Catrinas, a cute and colorful shop featuring Mexican/Mexican-Inspired Jewelry, Crafts and Artisanal Products.
    Laura has the coolest laid back beach style.

    I can’t believe June is here already! It’s already starting off to be an exciting month. Not only did I meet up with Laura this weekend, but I also had the opportunity to celebrate my friend Sara’s birthday at a cute restaurant called Abricott in Pasadena. It’s seems like it was only yesterday when I had made my New Year’s resolution to start this blog, and made a commitment to doing new and fun things. I’m very proud of myself for keeping up with it.

    What was your New Year’s resolution and are you keeping true to it? Are you making any new resolutions now that we’re halfway through the year? Let me know, I’d love to hear from you.

    Love,
    Helen Grace
    Outfit

    Playing with Color

    May 26, 2014
    Outfit Details:
    Free People Cropped Sweater (Old)
    ASOS Trousers
    Lotta from Stockholm Peep Toe Clogs in Tan
    Crocheted Purse (Handmade by my Grandmother)
    I bought this cropped multi-colored sweater from Free People about two years ago, and I absolutely love it because it’s so bright and colorful. However, it is one of those pieces that I hardly ever wear because I don’t know what to do with it.  To start, it’s cropped and loose; I’m a busty girl so it doesn’t work out too well for me if I don’t wear something underneath it. And even though I love that this sweater is so colorful, it does make it challenging to find ways to wear it with other clothes. I am definitely making it my mission to find more ways to style this cropped sweater so that it will make more appearances in my everyday wardrobe.
    This weekend was very rejuvenating for me. As I told you in my last post, I was hoping to take this weekend to focus on my health and practice some self-care. It’s shocking how out of touch with my body I had been these past few weeks. I didn’t even realize that I was sleep deprived and probably sick, until I passed out and slept for 13 hours straight on Saturday. I had originally intended to just take a two-hour nap before my friend’s birthday party, only to wake up the next day. Despite my epic sleep marathon, I was able to get the most out of my time being awake by going out for a run, working on this blog, and making some time for reading and drinking coffee. I’m even going hiking with my sisters at Griffith Park tomorrow, which means that I’ll be working on my fitness and bonding with my siblings at the same time (I love multitasking!).
    To end this post, I just want to say that I hope that you all had a lovely Memorial Day Weekend, and took some time to remember those who fell while defending our nation. I wish you all a lovely rest of the week.
    Love,
    Helen Grace

     

    Food & DIY

    Vegan Mixed Berry and Caramel Crumble

    May 19, 2014
    Even though I’m usually not a fan of sweets other than chocolate, recently I’ve had a major craving for pastries and baked goods. I think that I have Instagram and Pinterest to blame for my newfound sweet tooth, since I’m constantly being bombarded with pictures of delicious food over social media. Unfortunately, these days the weather in California is way too hot for me to even think about turning on the oven in my kitchen. In order to curve my craving for sweets, this weekend I decided to adapt a recipe for a Vegan Jewel Fruit Tart with Caramel Filling that I had made a while back for my friends’ New Year’s party. I love that this recipe is perfect for hot weather because it is super easy to make and your refrigerator takes the place of an oven.
    As you can probably tell from the title of this post, my adaptation didn’t turn out quite as I expected. As I was experimenting with making the crust, I realized that the mixture that I had made had a more crumbly texture than the one in the original recipe.  Since this blog is all about experimenting, instead of starting all over, I decided to keep the crust as is in order to see what I came up with. The result was this delicious Vegan Mixed Berry and Caramel Crumble that I now have the pleasure of sharing with you.
    VEGAN MIXED BERRY AND CARAMEL CRUMBLE
    INGREDIENTS:
    CRUST/CRUMBLE BASE
    2 cups of walnuts
    1/2 cup of shredded coconut
    1 and 1/2 cups of pitted dates
    CARAMEL MIXTURE
    1/4 cup of almond butter
    1/4 cup of maple syrup
    1/4 cup of melted coconut oil
    1/2 tsp of cinnamon
    1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
    TOPPING
    Fresh of frozen berries of your choice
    INSTRUCTIONS:
    1. Blend 2 cups of walnuts, 1/2 cup of shredded coconut, and 1 and 1/2 cups of pitted dates in a food processor until the mixture forms a paste-like texture.
    2. Pour the mixture unto a greased pan and press it against the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate this for 2 hours to allow the crumble base to harden.
    3. To make the caramel mixture, blend 1/4 cup of almond butter, 1/4 cup of maple syrup, 1/4 cup of coconut oil, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract until smooth. Then, pour the mixture over the walnut and date crust.
    4. When ready to serve, place fresh or frozen berries on top of the mixture (If you let the berries sit on top of the crumble base for too long, the mixture might get soggy). You can serve the berry crumble alone, or with a side of ice cream.
    I hope that you like this recipe and that you find time to make it at home. If you do decide to make this at home, please leave me a comment and let me know how it turns out.
    Sincerely,
    Helen Grace