A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to receive a visit from a good friend of mine, Kato. It is lovely when you can go for years without seeing someone and then when you meet again it is like you saw each other yesterday. In the past 3 or 4 years since I have seen Kato, we have both lived in different countries, undergone some significant life changes, enrolled in grad programs (again) and moved to the Bay Area.
We walked all around Berkeley in 70 degree weather at the end of January. Being with a good friend and such lovely weather is cause for a moment of gratitude. So Kato and I went to eat at
Cafe Gratitude.
Kato had never visited Berkeley, and I wanted to take him to the most Berkeley place that I could think of. Cafe Gratitude an all vegan and raw food friendly restaurant was just the ticket. The service and the food were both above par. We enjoyed that the question of the day which our waitress shared with us was: "What are you grateful for today?" That was easy, for time with each other.
A close up of my raw tacos... DELICIOUS.... in my years of wavering levels of health food enthusiasm I wasn't able to stick with a raw foods diet for very long (there are many resources on the web if you are unfamiliar with this term, but basically it is centered on the idea that heating food above 116 degrees F is believed to destroy enzymes in food that can assist in the digestion and absorption of food. Cooking is also thought to diminish the nutritional value and "life force" of food.) However, if I were able to eat food such as these tacos everyday, I am sure I would have no problem sticking to the regiment.
Another great and very Berkeley aspect of the restuarant is that when you order the menu items are not called "tacos" or "raw chocolate smoothie" but "I am loved" or "I am luscious." Sometimes a little bit of gratitude can go a long way. What are you grateful for today?
Pizza in a bucket. Just like it sounds... left over pizza in a cleaned out and reused ice cream bucket. What's not to love? Our little snack as we headed to the beach.
We drove out to Pt Reyes, a beach that is about an hour drive from our home in Berkeley and enjoyed a great Saturday afternoon. It is Paul's birthday on Monday (front right of the photo above) and since we have Greek that night, he suggested we go to the beach today. Turned out to be great weather and I think we all enjoyed celebrating a little freedom from studies today! Happy Birthday Paul!
From Left to Right: Me, Paul, Tony, Cara, Marylin. The end of the day, slightly damp from jumping in the waves group photo. The cold, salty ocean water was completely worth it. We all felt lucky to be able to be in the beach and paddling in the water in early February.
Cara does a little zen drawing with a stick I'd found earlier. My favorite beach activities include: running through the surf, paddling in the water, Frisbee, flying kites, collecting shells and today I engaged in many of what I call "zen" drawings. To be enjoyed in that moment and then washed away. Below is our effort for a happy birthday message for Paul and Marylin's birthday weekend.
Self portrait at the beach :) Full equipped will all the sun protection anyone could need. I am on board with the hat/sunglasses combo. I've never seen so well at the beach! My eyes are grateful.
Oh yes, also making shadow dance pictures... another beach past time favorite. Dancing!
One last picture of the Pt Reyes. above. The remainder of the evening would be spent at Party Sushi on Shattuck. We go to eat Sushi a lot and have one place that is a favorite. However, we were feeling adventurous and upon Cara's suggestions tried Party Sushi. It was tasty. 
