LA New Years Trip! and Travel Foods

 I can't believe it is already the 5th...of 2013! Is it just me, or does it seem like 2013 is going to go by very fast?! I did a little bit of reflection these past few days after my 23rd birthday, and it seems that the older I get, the faster the years seem to go by. I'm taking this as a reminder to live in the moment, accept new experiences that come my way, put myself more out there to meet new people, and keep taking care of myself to have all the energy to live more! 

I didn't seem to have cared much about my 22nd birthday, it came and it was fun, but no big deal. However, my new year of being 23 has hit me! And I'm feeling all sorts of positive vibrational energy. I am excited for this new year! Plus, we are still alive!! 

So my good friend decided for us to leave the Bay Area and head down to Los Angeles to spend New Years. It was a neat and crazy trip. Taking trips are a great way to reflect on life, gain new experiences, see what is out there, meet new people, and learn about your own self. 

We decided to have someone drive for us, so we took the train and then the bus. We spent  about 11 hours total together on the transportation and 95% of the time we talked and laughed our butts off. 

Before heading out to meet up with my friend for the departure, I stopped at Whole Foods grocery store to buy a snack for the road. I knew I would not be around much food, so I looked for something nutrient dense and satisfying. I bought these Superfood Balls! 

These are made by Lydia's Organics and the ingredients are: Sprouted almonds, sprouted sunflower seeds, dates, raisins, toasted carob powder, coconut, Lydia's Green Powder (alfalfa, wheatgrass, spirulina, nettle, rosehips, licorice, fennel, dandelion, kelp, beet, ginger, burdock, stevia, peppermint powder), vanilla, and LOVE! All organic ingredients. 

I arrived to my friend's house and the next day it was time for our train ride. We bought some snacks for the train ride. I bought this bag of goodies, which I seemed to never run out of even though I was eating so many of them. 

The ingredients are:
Organic date paste, organic cacao powder, organic chia seed, organic sesame seed, organic raisin, organic sunflower seed, organic goji powder, organic maca powder, organic lucuma powder, organic camu-camu powder, natural chocolate flavor. Lovvviinnn' itt! The flavor was okay. Very mild, but still good. My friend loved it and said just a few pieces of it took her hunger away. 

Hehe I invited some to the train driver who enjoyed talking to us. He was a little skeptical at first to try them, but once he did, he said they were allright. He told me he likes to bring bananas and oranges to snack on while he drives the train. He was very nice to give us one of his bottles of water for each of us :) It's a nice feeling when people look out for one another. 

 Here are the rest of the snacks I took with me on the trip. Maca Root Powder on the left, and Cacao powder on the right, then some bananas and an avocado. These are easy to travel with. I ate these throughout our days in Los Angeles when I wasn't around good food. Good thing I brought these with me because the people we were with wanted to just snack a little on food before the New Years party. These foods kept my energy up, specially the Cacao and Maca! I mixed the powders with warm/hot water and drank it just like that. The Maca gives a little sweetness to the drink, and the Cacao of course, is very chocolatey :) On the trip I noticed how the Cacao gave me fuel and kept me from feeling hungry when I ate very small amounts of food during the day. It was cool to experience that. 

 

We arrived to LA!

For dinner that night my friend's family took us out to dinner and they wanted to show me this Vegetarian restaurant in downtown Hermosa Beach. It was beautiful inside! Loved the energy in there and for dinner we had appetizers, which were very flavorful. 

 

My favorite drink of the trip! My friend's uncle ordered it for us and I can't exactly remember what he ordered. I definitely had more drinks than I planned on having during the trip, but they all made for good times. 

 In LA we also went shopping at The Grove.  Really nice shopping area with very expensive clothing stores. We went into a candy store and since everyone was having fun buying candy I decided to be a part of their fun moment so I went for the DARKEST chocolate I could find haha. I got a coconut chocolate treat, almonds covered in dark chocolate, and a small piece of dark chocolate. I can't believe how cheap that was to pay for chocolate, which definitely says something about the ingredients. Remember, you pay for quality. 

My LA trip was fun. I am really hoping to go back soon!