Monday was the first day of class and we woke up giddy despite having slept less than 5 hours (it beat 3 the night before!). I remember feeling a little nervous to finally meet the woman who has had such an impact on my life and who I’ve admired for so long.
The place we stayed was about a 40 minute walk from Natalia’s and we left early enough to pick up tasty beverages from Organic Avenue. I absolutely fell in love with Organic Avenue while there and think I might be going through withdrawals now that I’m home. I do have to confess, I picked up a cold-pressed coffee along with my spring water and green juice. After getting so little sleep it felt like it was in order. While it’s certainly not idea, I have heard that cold-pressed coffee is significantly less acidic that your standard cup.
Natalia’s home was lovely and welcoming, she managed to fit twenty-something of us into her living room! Natalia herself was everything I had ever envisioned her to be, I wondered if maybe I would be let down, like I’ve idealized her too much but really, she’s a goddess. Completely glowing and lean, despite just having given birth and carries herself in such a calm, confident manner. Her teaching style is very clear and eloquent and without being dramatic in her presentation I felt completely inspired by the information. I wrote furiously that first day, filling up a third of my notebook. I also got to meet Jen of Jen’s Food Challenge! I had no idea what I was getting into with this lovely lady- what a heap of fun we had getting to know each other! I’ve encouraged her to put a “face” to the blog so we can get to know her beyond her delicious recipes!
I’m poring over my notes from this first day and feeling like I want to share but that I’m still absorbing everything. The introduction she gave really summed up the “why’s” of detoxification beautifully. If you have more specific questions about what I took in I’m happy to answer them in the comments section but it feels like too much to delve into.
After class was over, a few of us got together for dinner at Quintessence. I kept it a bit lighter than the night at Pure with a yummy veggie soup and a big kale salad. Alright, there was some raw pecan pie. It was fabulous. Fun was captured:
Every trip to Organic Avenue we got one of these adorable and handy cloth bags! I kept all of mine for future use.
Mountain Valley Spring Water, Green Juice, and Cold-Pressed Coffee.
I don’t recall exactly what this was but it was lovely enough that I snapped a shot on my way to Quintessence.
Live-Live! I’ve wanted to check this place out ever since The Raw Food Detox Diet came out! I got some delicious raw rye bread and some Dr. Cow’s nut cheese here.
Rejuvenation Balls anyone??
All of our options looked so delicious, it was hard to choose!
My “Buddha Bowl”- a big kale salad coated in sesame dressing.
The most impressive dish of the night- Lola’s raw Indian food!
real energy stemming from a clear body and mind, not a large americano at noon. I want real excitement, not stimulation. If I so happen to wake up at 4 a.m. (ahem…) I want to be filled with gratitude for my warm cozy bed, a few more hours of sleep, the fresh air blowing in from my window, and the rain outside…not filled with midnights macaroons…even if they were for “ebook testing purposes” (amazingly, they don’t digest any better, even with the “best intentions”)…I don’t want to feel angry with myself anymore, to feel like I can’t trust myself. There was a time when this was about weight. I’ve pretty much got that under control these days. I’ve carefully practiced loving myself no matter what I look like and while I’m not always perfect at it, it’s a habit I’ve pretty well got down. Not to mention I take care of myself to a degree most of the time now that my weight stays in a pretty happy range. This is beyond that. This is about not wanting to use food as a crutch to get through a difficult workday (I’m reading the book “Positive Energy” and “emotional empath” describes me to a “T” making airplane work incredibly overstimulating) or a tool to get through a boring evening. Come on, I’m more creative than that!! I can be bigger than this. I love food. I. love. food. Like, a lot. I write a freaking food blog!! But at the moment…the way I’m using it…it’s blocking me from living as myself completely. Not all food of course, just food at inappropriate times, when it’s being used for something other that nourishment and is hardly even pleasurable because I’m not even hungry, just avoiding something. It’s all too often used as a drug, masking whatever awesome self is under that layer of fullness. No more nonsense. I am strong enough for this now. I’ve been in this place before and I know how to get out. I trust that I can learn not to hurt myself physically or emotionally this way anymore.“
transitioning to a brand new path. I recently took a job as the business development manager at 
knew that I’d found my guide. Since then, I’ve come back to the work and abandoned it, always knowing that it was my key to mental, emotional, and physical freedom. Prior to the cleanse I was following a relatively relaxed version of Natalia’s “Detox 4 Women” approach: Juicing until lunch, and having two properly combined meals centered around fresh vegetables. At this moment in time, I’d like to carry the Rose Cleanse fundamentals forward for an indefinite amount of time! I like feeling like superwoman. 
