Musical Inspirations :)

:) Last night was FUN - we went to see one of my favourite new bands, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, at the Sunset Junction Street Fair in LA. The concert was wonderful :)

We went backstage to meet Alex, the lead singer and to gift the band with our books, raw chocolates and other raw goodies...they seemed excited to receive these offerings and Alex even said that he was a raw foodie for half a year recently ;)
The massive 13-piece band played with a lot of joy and eclectic juiciness, sending balloons and inflatable balls sailing out over the audience from the stage, then bringing a minister onstage and inviting the entire audience to marry each other in a live massive group wedding ceremony ;) Later the whole crowd was welcomed to sit down on the floor along with lead singer Alex as he came down from the stage and sat in the centre of the crowd on the floor...it was a lot of fun ;)
It was also interesting to hear that just two years back, Alex and Jade, the co-founders of the band had been walking around this very festival as 'members of the public'...now here they were two years later headlining on the main stage - lol ;) LOVE it...in case you're not familiar with their work, here is a live version of my favourite song from them, "Home":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRA5S59KjwY

on August the 20th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
3 cups greeeeeen juice
1 tbsp spirulina crunchies
feast with Mr. M of fresh figs with almond butter and acai powder
2 cups water


Mmmmm, I also have a new musical inspiration these last few days...his name is K'Naan and he is a sweet, soulful singer from Somalia who shares such delicate and insightful glimpses into growing up in a country torn by conflicts and beyond...I was introduced to his beautiful music via one reader, Colleen, who pointed me towards his classic "Tiny Desk" performance at NPR Music - check it out below...Apparently his song 'Wavin' Flag' was used as the theme to the World Cup recently, so perhaps you're familiar with his music from that...he also is apparently usually a hip-hop/rap artist, however this acoustic "Tiny Desk" performance is not presented in that way at all...I am especially in *love* with the bitter-sweet tribute song "Fatima" in the middle of this set - wow, there is such light in this man:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE-YaL0Y3bo

On the subject of the "Tiny Desk Concerts", there is such a *wealth* of talent and inspiration to explore in those YouTube videos - wow...if you haven't seen any of them, a tradition has been formed of various amazing artists cramming themselves and their bands into the tiny desk space of one of the workers at NPR Music...incredible live acoustic sets tend to result...here are three of my personal favourites (you can click through them all in the "Tiny Desk" section on the right of the NPR Music page on YouTube, HERE):

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros

K'Naan

Raphael Saadiq

ENJOY :)

on August the 21st I loved:

1 quart water
1 cup greeeeeeen juice
samples of stone fruits and figs at So-Cal farmers' market
2 tbsp bee pollen, 2 tbsp spirulina crunchies
2 cups greeeeeen juice
nori rolls stuffed with Sea Clear, avocado, cucumber, sprouts and sauerkraut, followed by 3 tbsp acai powder and sample of the spirulina 'cookies' from GoRaw
2 cups water


on August the 22nd I appreciated:

1 quart water
3 cups greeeeeeen juice
samples of stone fruits at farmers' market, followed by meal of fresh fruit salad with a little almond butter
samples of crunchy seed snacks - yummy :)
2 cups water
2 cups greeeeeen juice
handful of cherries and a juicy peach, amazing acai smoooothie :)
1 cup water

Final Reminder: tomorrow marks the end of my 32% Off Birthday Special Offers :) Here's a recap of these deals, which expire at midnight Pacific time tomorrow (Tuesday, August the 24th):

Tuesday the 10th of August was my 32nd Birthday :) 
I wanted to share something special with all of YOU guys on this occasion and decided to offer 8 of my favourite products from our store at a whopping 32% Off :) Here is the gorgeous goodie list below:

"Raw Emotions"
"Anastasia"
"Non-Violent Communication"
Acai Powder
Nori Sheets
Maca Powder
Lucuma Powder
Carob Powder

Click HERE to order any of these goodies at 32% Off...

...and for those of you who may not be drawn to any of these items right now, remember that we have lots of fabulous freebies for you to explore too, such as our free raw food e-reports from HERE, the free playback calls of all the radio interviews we did in the last year from HERE and the two free ebooks I also produced in the last year, from ProfoundlyRaw.com and ProfoundlyRawRecipes.com...

Between all these special offers and fun freebies to explore, I do hope that you all find some reason to rejoice and celebrate today - we love and appreciate you :)

All love,
A. C. S-M. xxx

Natural Energy Flowing...

WOW. I am just LOVING being back in Iceland soooooooooooooooooooooo much.
Last night was UBER-YUMMY – Sigur Rós and Björk gave a huge free concert in the botanical gardens in Reykjavík, attended by around 40,000 people. The weather was gorgeous, the energy in the crowd was buzzing and the performances were...simply superlative. The concert was called ‘Nature’ and was put on to raise more awareness of environmental concerns here and celebrate nature. (There was even a stall selling raw fruits and veggies, plus raw chocolate ‘bliss balls’ – so cute :)
Sigur Rós and Björk are two of my absolute favourite musical influences and it was SUCH a gift for me to see them BOTH play live in such a gorgeous context. I’m still grinning now as I write this :)))
There was one point where Sigur Rós (along with Amiina, the gorgeous girls who share stage with them) were playing a really high energy song, then Ólöf Arnalds and Björk came on too, banging big drums. It was SOOOOO fun to watch – everyone was dressed so vibrantly and the energy was HUGE – they looked like they were having SO much fun up there - everyone just doing their thing, spirit flowing, incredible energy :)))
OOoOooOoOOoooooo, I love Iceland :)))
The night before, we had a raw potluck here too and it was so lovely for me to connect to the energy again of the meetings that used to ‘keep me going’ when I lived here as a raw foodist in the beginning...the gatherings were much less frequent then – once a month or less often at times – now raw-yumsters meet up here every other Friday for sharing...and what a vibrant, healthy, happy bunch :) Tons of fresh greens and sprouts, tasty experiments, talented chefs and herbalists...and there were around 30 of us in attendance...it definitely feels to me like raw food interest has continued to blossom here in the years that I’ve been away… ;) YAY :)
Iceland actually recently topped the charts of a United Nations ranking of the ‘best’ place to live in the world (based on factors like wealth, health, education). Icelanders were also reported to be ‘the happiest people in the world’ in a 1996 study... These topics and more are explored in a beautifully insightful article on life in Iceland, printed in the Observer last week (forwarded to me by my equally fabulously insightful editor Sue ;) You can read that article HERE if you’re interested – it’s raaaaaaaaather long, so I won’t go into it now – just enjoy, if you feel inclined :)))

on June the 27th I had:

1 quart water
shot of wheatgrass
2 cups smoothie: lucuma powder, almonds, green powder, maca, vanilla powder, cinnamon, water, with goji berries and pine nuts for chewability
3 cups water
2 cups green juice: cucumber, celery, watercress, parsley, fennel, ginger, sprouts and amazing greens from the garden: chard, kale, tatsoi, arugula, other unidentified yummables ;)
plate of delicious raw food potluck loved-up food :) A cornucopia of greens, salad dressings, pates, nibbles, breads, crackers and so on – wonderful :)
3 cups water

A petite note-ette for all of those who are intending to play out with Mr Gianni and I on the telephone inter-change system on Wednesday cometh. The time of the event has shifted ever-so-slighty, due to the fact that I’m currently located a few hours ahead in time from the US...(8pm EST = midnight Iceland time...even if it doesn’t get dark here, I still like to go to sleep ;)
So, we've shifted the clockage back an hour and the talk will now commence at 7pm EST, 4pm PST, on July 2nd (with the chance to listen in to the whole thing for free for 24 hours after it manifests, I do believe...) Anyway, as and when you register for the call info, you’ll get all the details on there...I look forward to answering your Qs soon :) You can read all about it and submit your Qs HERE.

on June the 28th I had:

1 quart water
mug of rooibus tea
shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups yummmmmmmmmmmmmy smoothie: lucuma powder, almonds, green powder, maca, vanilla powder, cinnamon, water, with goji berries and pine nuts for chewability
mug of ‘pleasure tea’
3 cups water
2 cups green juice: cucumber, celery, spinach, lettuce, parsley, fennel, ginger, sprouts and amazing greens from the garden: chard, kale, tatsoi, arugula, other unidentified yummables ;)
3 big luscious nori rolls stuffed with pine-nut/basil pesto, alfalfa, red pepper, cucumber, avocado and spinach. A little handful of cashew nuts
1 quart water
mug of ‘pleasure’ tea

OooOooOooo, exciting developments in the world of CHIA :) You may have read the ‘Chia Cheat Sheet’ article that I wrote sometime last year, outlining the background of chia, uses for the seeds, some yummy recipes and so on. It is one of our most popular articles – so much so in fact that now we’ve had it made into an attractive, colourful wall-chart that you can keep on hand in your kitchen :)
The charts are just $5.95 and are available from the RawReform Store HERE, along with bags of both ‘black’ and ‘white’ chia, ground chia, yummy Cocochia bars, ‘The Magic of Chia’ book AAAAAAAAND the gorgeous NEW ‘Chia Goodness’ all-raw cereal from Ruth’s Hemp Company. WOW, things are really movin’ and shakin’ in the chia world these days, especially since Oprah mentioned it on her show...and IMO, the attention is very understandable – it’s an amazing food – I recommend it to everyone, especially for beginners... ;)
SO, if you have yet to delve into the delicious world of CHIA, I suggest you strap on your ‘raw explorer’ love boots and get munching ;) See HERE for our whole range of Chia Yummables.

All love,
Angelalallallaaaaaaaaaaaa. xxx