So if it wasn’t pretty obvious in the first day of our LA vacation, well, our trip was primarily based around food. I mean, we went out there for a wedding, but I ended up with SO many great recommendations for places to check out, that it quickly became about food too— like most our vacations.

One thing I often wish would change in south Florida is the amount (or lack of) farmers markets. Miami has a good bit of options, but we’re pretty limited around the West Palm Beach area. Especially in summer— basically everything is closed in summer over here. It was really nice to check out multiple farmers markets in the four days we were away.

We woke up bright and early saturday morning on a mission— find yummy food to make for a delicious brunch. We figured it made sense to check out the farmers market instead of just going to the supermarket πŸ™‚

This was great because it meant I would get to try ten million vegan and gf items before heading to the actual brunch. Maybe not the smartest idea, but definitely the most delicious πŸ™‚ I bought a box of cookies (obviously) and then made my way to the empanada lady. I had intentions of buying only one empanada… but then of course the sign said “three for 12$” or something like that and I was like…. “well, I can’t decide on which ones, so I guess I’ll buy three.”  I then had intentions of eating only one and saving the other two– but devoured all three on the spot. Yay, vacation! haha.

nom nom nom. 


The rest of our time at the market consisted of me putting things in my mouth with alex going “are you done eating yet? I need your hands” πŸ˜‰ He loves me.

So why did we need delicious food? Well for the most delicious brunch… 


I had been following Ellen/her company on instagram for years now! I’m not exactly sure why or how I found her, but I’m sure happy I did. I had been wanting to meet up with this badass lady for quite some times now– and now that I was finally well enough and out in LA we (or she) made it happen! We chose a bunch of people to invite, brought a bunch of food, and everyone crowded together in her beautiful hilltop California home to make a delicious vegetarian brunch for her deliciously known, “bennett brunches


so many different things! 

so much cuteness! 

and this is what it looks like when you get a bunch of foodie people together for brunch…. it makes me feel less crazy in my world of table top standing πŸ™‚ 

Hi Kelly


and Ms. Ruby Roth. The internet is so rad. I remember finding her book when I was pregnant with M— and here we are 6 years later just hanging out in LA eating all the vegan things together. I like you, internet. I like you a lot. And I like you too, Ruby.

we brought and made that plantain toast (recipe in cookbook), if you’re wondering πŸ˜‰ 


When Ellen and I originally starting planning th brunch it was going to be ladies only– then at the last minute it was a free-for-all with kiddos and men and pigs allowed. Alex would have been perfectly content on his own exploring while I brunched with ladies– but I think he liked coming much better πŸ™‚ And I liked it too.

so many things. 


so much green stuff for me. I did cheat a bit on this trip. I had way more sugar than I usually do at home. And I had a piece of bread too (I know, alert the media, I’m cor-raaazzzzy). I started eating bits of rice again too. But overall, I felt great the whole trip. I’m really, really happy to say that. I was nervous, but everything worked out SO well.

okay, so I’m not sure whats cuter here. The adorable toddler or the stinky pig. it’s a tough call. I want them both.


Afterwards we helped clean up and just hung out for a bit while I tried to cuddle with the pig. Pigs are apparently more like cats than dogs though. They just DGAF. Oliver (the pig) was like, “oh you’re calling me over? thats cool, I’ll stay here, bye.” It was confusing, I felt like the pig should be deeply in love with me, you know? Like, I’m never going to eat it… so… I mean… right?

After the delicious brunch, Alex and I headed to the super touristy shopping area in search of sweatshirts and coats. As mentioned, LA was much colder than we anticipated. I brought my adorable new romper, cute dresses, and sandals, and ended up wearing, black jeans, black shirt, and a black sweatshirt to the brunch! I tried to wear color, but the universe was like, “no drea, you stay in your uniform.” The weather didn’t stop us from buying more ice-cream though. This ice-cream ^ from Pressed Juicery was maybe the only thing that actually hurt my stomach on the whole trip– nothing serious of course, but I probably should have skipped this round of ice-cream, you know?’

Afterwards we headed to a bar with a cute outdoor seating area and just sat our butts down for a good bit of time. I drank sparkling water and ate olives and Alex drank beer. Overall, it was just a super easy day in the sun.

We then headed to Night + Market in the Silverlake Area. Like the Asian dinner the night before, it was really good, but majorly lacking spice. Maybe my taste buds are dying on me or something, but I found myself surprised time and time again by the lack of spiciness that the restaurants offered in LA.

We then headed back up and down and up hills again to make our way back to our airbnb. It was a super easy and great day. Delicious too, of course. I’m going to aim to make more saturdays just like this one.

And again, a huge huge thank you to Ellen for putting together that brunch. I love her. Our relationship escalated quickly. Like she said, I went from “I like Ellen” to “she’s my friend” to “I love her” to “will you marry me, Ellen?” Cause I love her and her badass ways. And I love that damn apathetic pig too.

I hope you guys all had a great weekend! We had a pretty good one! Super busy and fun on friday and staurday. And super mellow and low key on sunday. It was definitely a good first weekend back home. Looking forward to this busy week ahead– getting house stuff done, eating more delicious meals, just doing all the things, stress free. I have another recipe coming up this week too πŸ™‚

Happy new week, friends. I hope it’s a good one!
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1 Comment

  1. Looks like a fantastic brunch, and what a lovely place her deck is. It's like being in a nest at the top of all of the trees. Beautiful. CJ xx