argh.

there just isn’t enough room on the this web, of worldwide reach, for me to properly convey my adoration, love, and, ok i’ll admit it, obsession over today’s guest editor.

the most rewarding part of blogging is the friendships i make. too often the relationships created amongst bloggers are confined to the comment section. and there is only so much one can convey with punctuation {!?!?!?,} bold font, and CAPITAL LETTERS; trust me, i’ve tried. 

now and again, like when rainbows double in the sky, i get to actually meet, touch, and breathe in these souls, and sometimes we even polish off a bottle of wine.

such is the case with melissa; mel to all of us who love her.

i found mel through her hypnotic blog, reverie~daydream. it was love at first post. mel has created a world for her family {the FIRST mcdreamy + adorable gaia, aka crumb,} where simple, beautiful living is the law of the land.

we lucky readers get to escape into a softer, gentler, dignified place where homemade reigns supreme, art can be found in the bottom of a teacup, and you’re only as happy as your nearest farmstand.

i can get lost for hours in mel’s dreamy images and lulling words; she truly is living a reverie~daydream.

thank you sweet mel for sharing a little of your life with us. love you.

When my favorite girl, Katie, asked me to share what’s inside my refrigerator, I giggled to myself because really, who cares what I eat? But then I will do anything for Ms. Osumi, so with a full belly and happy heart, I gladly accepted and enjoyed this little voyeuristic journey into our fridge.

 You are what you eat. I believe this with all my heart. By no means am I a purist when it comes to food, but I do make eating healthy the number one priority in my little family’s world.

 Every time I open our refrigerator, I feel blessed. There is always something inside to fill our bellies and satiate our hunger, and this is something I never take for granted.

We eat a lot of organic eggs, a daily habit I do not intend to break. Believe it or not, I’ve been known to farm sit just for the joy of daily collecting and eating fresh eggs.  Those little spheres of goodness are packed full of incredible nutrition. If you are a guest in our home, you can pretty much guarantee an egg, in some form or another, will be added to the meal. Whether it’s a bowl of quinoa with beans and an over medium-egg atop, a salad with hard-boiled eggs, or just an easy egg-salad tossed with raw kale, eggs might just be the shining star of our fridge.

Homemade chicken stock is always at the ready on the top shelf (or in the freezer). Especially during autumn and winter, I make sure we have what my great-grandmother always referred to as “nature’s penicillin”.  Chicken broth goes into risotto, soups, grains and more. Most days, I find myself stirring in an egg as the ‘brodo’ boils, adding fresh parsley and black pepper, and voila!, a favorite meal. And let’s not allow the chicken to go to waste…toss into salads, add to grains, or have a fun taco night.

Every morning, I add a little SuperFood boost to my sweet girl’s cranberry/orange juice. I’ve never been a huge breakfast eater, but I do need to eat before I start my yoga practice.   A slice of toast with almond, peanut or sunflower butter and sliced banana seems to do the trick until I am finished teaching and can fill my belly with eggs and/or quinoa.

The shelves and drawers of the fridge cannot be filled enough with fruits and vegetables! My little girl is addicted to cucumber and carrots, and her papa and I cannot get enough kale and brussel sprouts.  Avocados never linger too long in our house until they most likely find themselves in this salad, and any loose greens can be found in our staple winter soup.  And even browning, seen their better days, bananas are saved for a delicious comfort food treat, or to add to a morning smoothie.

My family of three subscribes to the old adage of an apple a day, keeps the doctor away. As well as the daily probiotic dose from our yogurt, each of us has a different taste for yogurt, so greek, goat and indulgent European style creamery yogurt are waiting patiently for any fruit or granola accouterments.

 Coconut Oil is possibly my magic go-to item for everything…cooking, baking, skin and hair! I love it. Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar, olive oil mayo,  Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, fresh-brewed black ice tea, sparkling water and seasonal fruit juices and local brewed artisanal beers are standard declicious accessories  which add colorful delight to the interior fridge doors.

Raw dates are a staple food on the shelves. Whether I am filling one with almond butter for a quick snack, warming in a pan of olive oil and adding olives and sea salt, tossing into grains, using as key ingredient for raw desserts, or making these little power balls for myself and yoga students, dates are never out of my daily ingestion loop.

And let’s talk kombucha. My husband and I love it, in fact, I believe he has more of a love affair for it than I do. Most of our favorites are local brews that can be found at the farmers market or health food store. My goal for 2014 is to brew our own, so by putting that out there, I can hold myself to this task. Fingers-crossed.

And last by not least, the grand finale so to speak, every good girl should have an at-the-ready bottle of bubbly chilled for those unexpected celebratory moments as well as mama’s own little juice box of bubbly stocked and at the ready, merci beaucoup Sofia Coppola for this brilliant offering to the sparkling wine world!

Food makes me happy. My entire day revolves around what my family and I eat, and I thank my lucky stars every. single. day. for being able to live in a place which offers seasonal, organic and an amazing abundance of delicious, healthy foods. I am blessed, fully.

When it comes to food, as with most things in life, simple is best. Alice Waters sums up the beauty of how food/cooking should be honored in our daily lives:

1. Cook Together

2. Eat Together

3. Cook Simply, engaging all your senses.

4. Remember, food is precious

Healthy, simple food is a connection to so many things…it brings families and friends together, it can heal, it can energize, it can comfort, and it sustains and gives life.  Eat well, be well.