Juice :)

I went over to my good friend Brie's house tonight to help her and my bro Cyrus to make some of the best juice in the world.  So thankful to be home and have a network of health conscious friends who enjoy creating the healthiest and most delicious food ever!  Brie has a Norwalk juicer, the best in the world due to the fact that it is not a centrifugal juicer, which will oxidize the juice making it spoil quicker, but instead the Norwalk is a hydraulic press, where the veggies are pushed through a grate and then pressed to remove the juice.  Not only does the juice stay fresh longer, but the taste is phenomenal!  While Cyrus and I worked on the juice, Brie made one of her amazing sprout salads, and we had a hero feast fit for royalty.  Soaking up the nutrients and life force of this incredible elixir is exactly what I needed!  Thank you so much Brie and Cyrus for the awesome night!

Veggies prepped for the juicer

Cyrus at the controls

The Norwalk juicer, with grate on left and hydraulic press on right

Cyrus mixing up a hero medley

Supergreens :)

Liquid Love :)

Roxanne

Went surfing two days ago with a couple friends up here in Santa Cruz, and my bro brought his dog Roxanne with us to the beach.  She is really smart and extremely well behaved, so it was a shocker to all of us that she took off from the beach and was not waiting for us when we came in from our surf.  My friend ran up and down the beach looking for her, but unfortunately she was nowhere to be found.  He went back to check the beach later that day and early the next morning but didn't find her anywhere, everybody was pretty devastated.  Then when he woke up today he said she was waiting by the back door to his house, and other than being a bit muddy and pretty tired, she was happy as ever!  Pretty incredible, whether she chased some cat in the neighborhood or whatever initially got her off the beach, but she made the journey of around 8 miles to find her way back to her house on her own over the course of the last 2 days!  So stoked to see her back home!

Roxanne the super dog

Trip To The Farm

I took a trip to my buddy Barry's Farm to pick up some fresh organic produce, so thankful to have a direct source for the food that I choose to nourish and fuel my body and life with, and a beautiful reminder of the bounty of California welcoming me home.  

The Goods :) 

cherimoya, sapote, avocado, cara cara, passion fruit, macadamias

Cherimoya

One of my favorite foods :)

Natural Products Expo West

The Natural Products Expo West took place Friday - Sunday, March 12 - 14 at the Anaheim Convention Center.  Expo West is always an amazing time, with so many awesome people coming together in one place to make new friends, reconnect with old ones, and generally celebrate life, while also accomplishing some business, and this year was no exception.  

I worked the show as an Athlete Representative for two of my sponsors, Manitoba Harvest and Sunfood and split my time at the show between their two booths, with a little time to walk around Sunday and check a couple other products.  Vapor Brothers threw a phenomenal party on Friday night in their hotel suite, with live sitar and drumming, 4 different vap stations, open bar, and catered by Au Lac!  Definitely one of the best gatherings I have ever attended in my life!  All of that was just warmups for the Julian Marley concert later that night, all time! Then Saturday night was the Organic Roots concert that takes place every year, another awesome show, and Sunday finished up the show with a dinner at Au Lac with the Sunfood team, and this incredible weekend became one future Expos will be compared to for years.

Working the Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods booth with Certified Nutritionist Meghan Atkinson 

President and Co-Founder of Manitoba Harvest Mike Fata with the Founder of To-Go Ware Stephanie Bernstein, creator of reusable bamboo utensils that help you reduce your forkprint

Co-Owner of Sambazon Jeremy Black helping provide information on acai at their booth

Sunfood COO Brian Bowers with a raw cacao pod

Vapor Brothers party was one of the best ever!  Their booth rocked too!

Julian Marley sharing some irie vibes with the Natural Products family

Coconut Bliss and their vegan coconut milk dessert, while not raw a very worthy substitute for ice cream

Cole Meeker at Artisana with their mental coconut butter to sample

Sunfood team dinner at Au Lac to finish out one of the best Natural Products Expos yet!

Friends In The Yard

Today I hung out with some friends in the yard.  I decided to enjoy some soursop outside in the beautiful Hawai'ian sunshine, and when I sat down in the yard I noticed all of the friendly little braddahs that came to hang out with me for lunch.  It was a nice reminder, taking a little time to look around us and appreciate where we are right now opens up a whole new awareness of things to be thankful for.  They were all happy, smiley, friendly little guys that pretty much just cruised together in our own little group celebration even while they were on their own unique lunch missions, taking down any mosquitoes that came near.  I love them!  Such great company, I am so thankful I decided to join them for lunch, and another glorious day continues...

Happy

Smiley

Friendly

Soursop :)

Homer's Art Studio

One of my favorite places to be in the autumn months is to spend some time in Santa Cruz, scoring the stellar weather and clean early season swells that wrap into the points and coves of this incredible town.  This year I spent over a month up north hanging out and surfing with my good friend Homer Henard.  We became friends back in our junior days surfing together on the US Team in the Quiksilver World Grommet Titles at Kuta Beach on the island of Bali in Indonesia.  Ever since I have stayed with Homer while I visit Santa Cruz, stoked to have his knowledge of the area keeping us at all of the best spots on each and every day.  Surfing may be his main focus, but is by no means his only interest, as his art has been receiving a good amount of his attention lately.  The paintings he has been working on lately are captivating, showcasing his passions for both surf and beautiful women.   Check out a few of his amazing pieces below.

Sunrise Slab

Elephant Trunks

Spider Woman

Dream Day

Homer and some of his artwork

Jim Beam Surf Tag Champs

The Jim Beam Surf Tag Championships took place on the south side of Huntington Beach Pier November 13 and 14 under sunny skies with fun chest to shoulder high waves.  The team format is a really fun dynamic, and as there are no throw away waves all 3 rides count for each surfer, making focus and confidence valuable attributes to earn solid scores for your team.  The Blue Collar Team surfed strong all event and we made it to the Semi Finals, getting 3rd and just missing out on advancing to the Final, finishing in 5th Place Overall.  Team Reef continued the impressive performances they displayed in the qualifier here in the Championships, and took the Overall Title.  You can check coverage of the event on Surfline.  Congratulations Team Reef!

Blue Collar getting ready (L to R: Chuy Reyna, Jeremy Heit, Willie Smith, and myself)

Surfline threw me some props :)

Blue Collar Crew in the Semi Final (L to R: Chuy, Willie, Jason Bennet, and myself)

Congratulations to Team Reef!

Coldwater Classic

The O'Neill Coldwater Classic event held at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, California is one of my favorite surfing events ever!  I love the amphitheater setup of The Lane, allowing spectators the opportunity to be right next to the action in the water, giving them a feel of being right out in the lineup with the competitors.  It also gives a better vantage point with which to appreciate the technicalities and subtle nuances of the surfing maneuvers executed by the competitors that are difficult to notice from farther away.  All of this and the fact that The Lane is such a fun and rippable wave, that as a competitor being in the water with only 3 other surfers out is such a special treat.  The surf this year went from small and tricky for the start of the event into double to triple overhead for the Finals, The Lane will always challenge even the best surfers into performing well in a variety of conditions.  I love Santa Cruz!

Sebastian Zietz was ripping! Heat 3 Rd 48 highest heat total 18.74 and highest wave score 9.77, then scored a Perfect 10 point ride in the Round of 24, on fire!

Nat Young won the Oakley Pro Junior this year after winning the WQS Coldwater Classic last year

It wouldn't be a true event in Santa Cruz without a lady taking her duck for a walk

My favorite surfer of all time, 3x World Champion and 1990 Coldwater Classic Champ Tom Curren was a beauty to watch with his usual smooth and flowing style

Local favorite, O'Neill Marketing Director, and 2003 Coldwater Classic Champion Kieran Horn showcased some of the most impressive surfing in the event, scoring a 9.0 and 7.83 in Heat 7 Rd 16 for a 16.83 heat total

Congratulations to Nate Yeomans, the 2009 O'Neill Coldwater Classic Champion, on winning this year's event and qualifying for the 2010 ASP WCT!

Happy Halloween

Another really fun Halloween up north in Santa Cruz with my friends.  Spent the first part of the evening handing out some treats to the kids in the neighborhood, then over to my friend Omar's house for a nice party, and then downtown to check out the unmatched scene of crazy and original costumes that Santa Cruz provides every Halloween.  Great times with great friends!

King Keenan, ready to defend the castle

Zorro with his fiery senorita

Santa Cruz legend trio, Kieran Horn, Omar Etcheverry, and Homer Henard

Tortoise Time

Spent a few minutes hanging out with the neighborhood legend, a huge prehistoric dinosaur tortoise, while he was chilling in his yard.  As a fellow vegan, I decided to share some of my pineapple guavas with him, knowing he would appreciate some nature candy.  Sea turtles (and owls) are my favorite animals, so visiting with their terrestrial cousin was a fun time.  I appreciate how turtles and tortoises are never in a hurry, they just take their time on an easy cruising pace as they go about their day, eating fruits and veggies and enjoying the day with no pressure, just soaking up the sun's rays and savoring some fresh air, with their house on their back allowing them to post up and hide out wherever they might find themselves.  Good role models for today's society, people should take notes.  Pure inspiration :)

Legend status

The Daily Habit

A couple of months ago I was invited to join the Del Mar Housing Projects Team to appear on an episode of Fuel TV's "The Daily Habit" to feature some of our footage we have collected using the custom camera housings and mounts we have built out at The Projects' Secret Laboratory.  The DMHP crew that went up for the filming at Fuel's Los Angeles studios included myself, Erik Hjermstad, Tyler Reid, and Anthony Walsh.  They sent a limo to pick us up at sunrise, everyone at Fuel was super friendly, we had a great time on the show, and on the way home we stopped at Au Lac Humanese Cuisine, the best living food restaurant in Southern California, and possibly the world, for lunch and a secret elixir from the legend himself Chef Ito!  An all-time day!  To watch the Fuel TV episode click here.  I hope you enjoy the footage!

From L ro R: Limo, myself, Anthony Walsh, Tyler Reid, Erik Hjermstad

Erik and I in the middle of a serious business meeting on the morning commute

DMHP Team living large

Just another day at the office

On the set of "The Daily Habit"  Watch Episode

Master Chef Ito from Au Lac mixing up our elixirs

Jim Beam SurfTag

The Jim Beam SurfTag Qualifier #3 took place on October 11 at Oceanside Harbor's North Jetty under overcast skies with a small little south swell pushing in knee to waist high waves.  I was invited to join the Blue Collar Team by Chemistry Surfboards' Will Smith, to surf with fellow team mates Jason Bennett, Firewire's Chuy Reyna, and RAEN Optics' Jeremy Heit.  The format is super fun, with a tag-team setup involving 5 surfers per team all starting in a box on the beach, with one hour for the sequence of riders to each catch 3 waves, then come in and tag their next teammate back in the box for them to begin their campaign.  The second wave for each surfer is scored double, and all of the point totals are added to determine the team's combined score totals.  Extra points are awarded for being the first team to have all 5 surfers each with their 3 wave scores all back inside the box, and having all of the surfers from the competing teams together in one area leads to all time heckles and rousting from the battling teams, classic stuff!  Team Reef surfed impressively all day and took a convincing win with solid performances from all team riders.  With an average effort (excluding the stellar performance by Jason Bennett dropping a 9.5 on his double scoring "Powerwave") our team somehow qualified for the Championships, taking place November 13 & 14 at Huntington Beach Pier, stoked!

Blue Collar Team (minus Chuy Reyna) L to R Jason Bennett, Will Smith, myself, and Jeremy Heit

Team Reef's winning tag, with Pascal Stansfield from previous qualifier champion team "Happy Endings" looking on, and Reef's Heath "Nutty" Walker heckling Benji Weatherley from team "Man Sandwich"

Team Reef Qualifier #3 Champions L to R: Chris Abad, Nick Rosza, Chris Waring, Sean Marceron, and Teddy Navarro