Was so glad to finally have the chance to visit a raw food restaurant in St. Pete called Leafy Greens Cafe yesterday.

Leafy Greens

Seems that most raw food restaurant owners have a great story of healing themselves on raw. And that’s what inspires them to dedicate their lives to sharing the food that saved them. Leafy Greens owner Denise healed herself of Systemic Lupus. She said she was always tired and slept most of the time. Now, she’s energetically running a busy restaurant.

The place is small and charming, with an open kitchen, so you can see just how the food is prepared.

Good thing I hadn’t fully launched myself into the juice feast, or I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the food there. Had an awesome Thai coconut soup, half an onion bread sandwich and blueberry banana ice cream. Took some chocolate-coconut macaroons home. Yum!

Yes. I stuffed myself. It had been a long time since I’d enjoyed gourmet raw food prepared by someone else. Good thing the juice feast is coming up…

Had some great conversations with the customers at the cafe. And, funny thing. An old friend walked into the restaurant for the first time whom I hadn’t seen (at least I thought) in years. Turns out she was the featured soloist at my church service on Sunday, but I didn’t recognize her there because she had cut her long hair short and I was sitting far away in the balcony. Her voice blew me away on Sunday and I had wondered who she was. It was good to get that cleared up and to reconnect with her. Listen to the gorgeous song on her site. I think her voice will blow you away, too! Jennifer is accompanied on the piano by my very talented friend, Rob Satori.

Check out Jennifer Real!

And I met a young man at the cafe who was visiting from Madison, Wisconsin who’s an English/Spanish translator. He just may be the one to translate my film to Spanish!

Magic always seems to happen at raw food restaurants. Look! I caught a rainbow in my palm : )

Can’t believe it’s already Christmas Eve. It’s heartwarming to think of all the families who are together now.

Enjoy the spirit of the season!

To your radiant health!
Jenna

Jenna Norwood

P.S. Get your very own copy of my award-winning raw food documentary, “Supercharge Me! 30 Days Raw.” Viewers call it entertaining, educational & inspiring. And film sales fund my life mission of spreading the good word about the power of getting back to nature. http://www.JennaNorwood.com

Fresh-squeezed orange juice this morning. Will be juicing veggies and greens later, then going to a raw restaurant, Leafy Greens, in St. Petersburg, FL for the first time. Really looking forward to trying it.

Went to a great play called, “Searching for Eden” in Sarasota with my mother last night. It’s set in the Garden of Eden and is a humorous look at Adam and Eve’s first meeting, the differences between men and women and how they finally learn to appreciate each other. Of course, there’s the disastrous apple scene and they get kicked out of Eden. The second act takes place in modern times. Adam and Eve are modern-day, busy professionals with cell phones constantly ringing. They decide to book a vacation at the place where they originally met, which is now a resort called, “E.” They’re trying to rekindle the love they first discovered there.

Turns out the back story is pretty romantic, too. The actors playing Adam and Eve are actually a married couple who met at the theater where the play is showing.

If you’re in the Sarasota area, I highly recommend checking it out! It’s at the Asolo Theatre, which is one of only three theatres in the country that has a rotating repertory. I plan to go back there soon to see the “Life of Galileo.”

Here’s more info re: “Searching for Eden.”

Searching for Eden

I’ve been searching for Eden myself, with the desire to get closer to nature. Several months ago, my search led me to a beautiful place called “Fruition” on Maui. I made the trip & navigated the harrowing road to Hanna to visit the land where the owner/permaculture farmer, Stephan Reeve (a raw foodist), has cultivated a veritable Garden of Eden with hundreds of fruit trees. He lives exclusively on what he grows and has done so for more than a decade. All the power he uses comes from the sun and his water comes from the rain. He uses bamboo for building and grows it nearby. It was absolutely heavenly there. Got some great, professional footage. I’ll be putting out the series of videos from this stunning place in early ‘10.

More about “Fruition”

I’m curious what it would be like to live in such a place. Would definitely be interested in trying it. Seems it would be wonderful to be so connected with nature. I’m sure it comes with its own challenges, but what a nice reprieve from all the hyper stimulation of our typical American culture. And such perfect food! Truly locally grown, organic and fresh, picked just before eating as you’re strolling through the garden. Mmmmmmm….

Can you imagine going back to the biblical Garden of Eden where the worst thing you could do was to eat an apple? These days, that’s one of the best things you could do! In fact, in honor of Eden, I’m going to add a juicy apple to my green juice this afternoon. That’s just naughty! Hope Santa doesn’t notice : )

To your radiant health!
Jenna

Jenna Norwood

P.S. Get your very own copy of my award-winning raw food documentary, “Supercharge Me! 30 Days Raw.” Viewers call it entertaining, educational & inspiring. And film sales fund my life mission of spreading the good word about the power of getting back to nature. http://www.JennaNorwood.com

Started off the day with fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice. It was so refreshing! Haven’t started juicing the greens and veggies yet. Plan to do so later.

I think I’ll be easing into the juicing throughout the holidays and then get really devoted starting January 1st. Seems like the perfect time for a truly FRESH start.

My doggy companion Rexford still seems to be doing better after his first chiro & acupuncture treatment yesterday. He’s happily chewing on a bone right now.

Just found out today that Kim Peek, the savant the movie, “Rain Man” was inspired by, died a few days ago. I didn’t know much about him and was surprised that he had spoken in front of nearly two million people in his life. He was a human google. You could ask him just about anything and he knew the answer. He read books voraciously; two pages at a time. The left eye reading the left page and the right eye the right page. And he retained everything. All this and he was originally believed to be mentally retarded. But he couldn’t dress himself. Needed his father’s help all day every day his entire life. What a story of extreme genius paired with disability and complete dependence.

Makes me wonder how much more I could be capable of if someone else dressed me, made all my meals and took care of all my basic needs. I don’t think I would trade, but the decision of what to wear each morning can be quite vexing.

Seriously, though. I’m fascinated by Peek and also by people with Asperger syndrome (a sometimes highly-functional form of autism) who have so much to contribute but often have major challenges with day-to-day life, especially socially. It seems we should do more as a society to support them and, in turn, gain the benefits of their wisdom. Geez…not everyone should have to know how to operate a door.

We can divide and conquer. We have much more important issues to figure out in this world and some of our best brains are being medicated and hospitalized. Sad.

Kim Peek’s case is an exception. Peek’s father dedicated his life to his son, so the world got to know this magnificent human.

Check out this video about Kim Peek:

Kim Peek - The Real Rain Man

And more information about him on Wikipedia:

Kim Peek’s Bio on Wikipedia

And there’s a great, fairly new movie out with a character with Asperger’s. I’ve had significant personal experience with people with Asperger’s and this film paints a pretty good picture of it.

Adam Movie Trailer

Wikipedia on Asperger’s

And, speaking of Wikipedia, I made a donation today. I realized how much I rely upon the site almost every day of my life. And I really appreciate that it doesn’t run distracting ads. So I felt compelled to do my part to help keep it pure. Humanity’s collective brain right at our fingertips. Wow! With Peek no longer with us, we really need Wikipedia.

To your radiant health!
Jenna

Jenna Norwood

P.S. Get your very own copy of my award-winning raw food documentary, “Supercharge Me! 30 Days Raw.” Viewers call it entertaining, educational & inspiring. And film sales fund my life mission of spreading the good word about the power of getting back to nature. http://www.JennaNorwood.com