We Like It Raw - Raw Food Goodness: July 2009

A few months ago Kris Carr totally rocked the house at Donna Karan's Urban Zen's Wellness Summit. I was there and boy, every single person in the audience fell in love with Kris and her amazing ability to share so authentically.

Recently I came across some videos that Urban Zen posted from that day. They are def worth checking out. I'll post one here, you can see the rest on UZ's YouTube page.

Posted by Dhrumil on July 15, 2009 | Permalink

My Way: Disa Jean-Pierre

This week's My Way feature comes to us from Los Angeles, California. Disa Jean-Pierre is an entrepreneur, community organizer and proud mother. She loves raising a conscious son, making green smoothies, taking the bus or her bike whenever possible, living the Tao, making time for yoga & pilates, the work of Eckhart Tolle and having the best day ever.... to name a few things.

I met Disa online a few years ago an immediately fell in love with her kind spirit and her dedication to bringing people together. Even though we have yet to meet in person, I feel like I've already learned so much from this compassionate soul, and I appreciate her friendship and willingness to join us for this feature.

I also appreciate Disa's "hustle". Recently she took her passion for health living further by going full time with her raw treats business. Disa creates some of the most amazingly delicious treats out there including Banana Cream Pie and her famous Mama's Loveroons. You can check out her Etsy page for more details.

And now, without further ado, the lovely Disa Jean-Pierre.

My Way: Disa Jean-Pierre

I approached Dhrumil to submit my own My Way as I approached a huge transition in my life. I had just submitted my resignation to the office job that I had held onto for a little too long. That’s right Dhrumil didn’t approach me, I approached him. Finally, this once shy little girl is ready to speak up for herself. In sharing my story I am paying tribute to this community. This sexy group of people, who are all courageously moving forward to make changes in the way we all eat, think and live. In particular, Dhru and Philip have directly and indirectly stepped in as gurus and angels to guide me in my journey.

Looking back I realize that the following is just a peek into the massive journey that I experienced this past week. By making a choice to start a 30 day juice feast as soon as I quit my job, I not only facing a huge career transition but also get to face a detox of body and mind. I have had some of the most profoundly joyous and heart opening experiences in the past week. I worked through tears and laughter, energy and fatigue, silence and noise. I can only imagine what more is to follow, but I am extremely grateful for the change to share the start of it with everyone.

Friday

I awoke on my official first day of freedom. You might think it would be time to sleep in, relax and take things slow. But this day turned out to be quite the opposite. It’s time to get to the real work that I have been putting off. So I drag myself out of bed, immediately head downstairs to fix my morning water with MSM and brew my mate. I fell into this habit of brewing mate first thing in the morning, but don’t enjoy it till I’m out the door. It’s like my little prize for getting up and out.

With Mason jar of water and coffee mug of mate in hand I headed to downtown Los Angeles to pick up organic produce for my bulk buying club. As I pull away from the wholesale mart I talk myself out of a trip to the irresistible raw food heaven, Erewhon. I remember that it was too early for them to be open, and I need to get home and sort the produce for my group. The group is small, but so grateful. They ended up getting about $48 worth of fresh organic produce for $25, and I sold out! I had planned on having a share to myself for juicing but thankfully I had it on hand and ready to give to a member that had mixed up her RSVP. I felt fulfilled, but now had to figure out how soon I could find a farmer’s market.

The day continues with me running around all of Orange County, delivering more produce, picking up payment for my macaroons aka “Mama’s Loveroons”, buying supplements for my juice feast and playing in the park with my son and some amazing friends. It really was a busy day, so I took a nap with my son, and then awoke to find him passed out for the rest of the night. Thanks to my live in babysitter, my mom, I was able to sneak out to the famous Au Lac, which is like my raw version of “Cheers”. I was so happy to celebrate with my family (these people are really closer than family for me) and sharing chlorella tablets with my favorite raw toddler. The night ended it usually does lots of laughing, talking and planning with friends while sipping on the best custom elixir till 2 am and Ito trying to get us all to go to the midnight movies.  

Saturday

It’s Independence Day. I am feeling independent, and now the wave of emotions hits me. Now that I have slowed down and don’t have anything to distract me all the fears and worries of being job-less are catching up with me. The only thing I have on my agenda is following through with the full juice feasting protocol.

So I start the day with MSM and water, enema, skin brushing, hot-cold shower, the works! I was hesitant about the hot-cold shower, but I came out feeling amazing! I pampered myself by making a huge smoothie of local citrus from coworker’s gardens and aloe vera from my backyard. As the day progressed detox set in hard core. I needed some rest and had some anxiety built up. Not to mention my son seemed to still be going through his transitional period. Any parent who had split custody knows how this is. I am reminded of my whole motivation for going raw two years ago. I wanted to make sure I could keep up with my sons unending energy and enjoy life with him. I update my Facebook status with: “Detoxing while son is still house transitioning, I am getting a lesson is this skilled art today”.

I managed to keep my head on and not fall asleep too early so my son could enjoy fireworks like all the other little kiddos. We made it to a friend’s house shortly before dark and I was relieved to see him quickly entertain himself with some new friends while I got to catch up with some beloved friends. I was proud and surprised as I helped out in the kitchen, peeling cabbage shells for raw tacos without any struggle to resist taking a bite of guacamole. After a bumpy day we ended up having a sweet night. I spent some sweet catch up time with a partner I was blessed to spend four months in an amazing relationship with but has been on the road working the raw festivals and will be gone all summer. I carried my son to the car after he fell asleep outside under the stars.

Sunday

I had just signed up for a single parents Meetup group and we were supposed to have our first play date this morning. But I had to flake out on my RSVP and go with the flow for the day. I got an invite from my friend and another raw mama to enjoy some fun at the Long Beach Park Jam. Ah yes, sounds perfect to me. So I took care of my essentials, stocking up on the most amazing Fuji apples, raw apple juice, lemongrass, chard and a few other juicing staples at a local farmer’s markets.

I filled our cooler with two big jugs of green juice for me and some raw trail mix and farmer’s market fruit for Kaj. I find this cooler to be my new essential, right along with my purse. We picked up out friend Robin, who owns LoveSnax Inc., a new raw chocolate company, and we discussed how we both blew off getting some business work done because was such an amazingly beautiful day to enjoy some DJ’s spinning hip hop and reggae in the park. We all sat, talked, ate and drank (green juice). The kids played, the girls danced. It was an amazing time. Several times during my time there keep thinking how that was just the vibe that I have wanted to be part of for so long. It’s an eclectic mix of ethnicities, music, culture, ages and fashions all coming together with the intention of creating a one love community. I found a place outside of the raw food restaurants and Meetups, where I feel completely at ease. It was an answer in disguise. By signing up for the single parent’s Meetup I was asking for something just like this. I just wanted an opportunity to show myself that I can be a raw foodie that really can hang in any type of social environment. After the jam we got home relaxed, ready for bed and I was really enjoying not having the Sunday night anxiety of falling asleep and waking up to a “case of the Monday’s”.

Monday

What an amazing Monday. Today marked the day that I started assisting my close friend and old coworker through a raw detox. I started her with an amazing green juice and a jug of alkaline water with MSM.

My son was picked up by his papa and I quickly ran down to my local organic, raw, vegan lover’s market, Mother’s. I have been known to frequent this store twice in one day. I sipped on a delicious green juice from their juice bar while shopping for my supplies. Then quickly ran home to whip up some chard wraps with sunflower seed pate, guacamole, sweet corn and mango relish and chipotle cashew crème all before her lunch hour. Being that I am juicing I try the taste and spit method to make sure it’s all delish. I know, not attractive. I was pumped to see that my culinary creativity was flowing even more as a result of juice feasting.

After all was delivered and the kitchen was clean I felt like a nap was in order. I quickly recharged after thirty minutes and awoke to a ringing phone. A blocked caller, who I figure was my father. He had been calling for the past few weeks but I was never in the right place to take the call. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, right? Just step aside and pick up the phone for a minute. Well, I have been waiting for this conversation for almost 21 years! The house was quiet, I had nothing I needed to get to and I was refreshed and in a good place to handle this. So I stepped into my tiny backyard and made the call. About 30 minutes later, I came back inside with one more thing to check off my wish list. It was a beautiful and actually quite simple conversation. I always thought it would be very emotional for me. Instead I was ready for it; it came at the perfect time in my life where I could process things on a whole different level. With that I had confirmed again that I made the right decision in quitting my job. Once I let go of something that was not inline with what I wanted for my life, all the pieces of the puzzle started falling right back into place. The rest of the day I continued to support myself by simply enjoying the quiet simplicity of the having some free time. My old coworker sent me a text exclaiming how she now realized why I do what I do. Wow, that is a profound statement from someone who I have wanted to help for the past two years.

I decided to finally get my Etsy page up and going while my official website is still in the works. This Monday felt like no other. I had just made progress in several areas of my life with such ease and grace. The day ended up being simple, sweet and refreshing, just like the watermelon mint cooler that I enjoyed during the heat of the day. It was a perfect start to my first week of doing it all My Way.

Disa Jean-Pierre is an entrepreneur, community organizer and proud mother based in Los Angeles, California.

You can follow Disa on Twitter or friend her up on Facebook / GI2MR.

Posted by Dhrumil on July 13, 2009 | Permalink

Agave and Marketing

This article by Dr Mercola, Agave: A Triumph of Marketing over Truth, is certainly worth a read.

What have your experiences with agave been?

Personally, I've made an active effort to minimize the amount of agave I consume. About 2 years ago I started to notice that I got really "flemmy" in my throat after I had a smoothie or tea with agave.

Outside of that, I also noticed that my teeth suffered from the amount of agave I was having (2 to 4 table spoons a day). The sensitively I once had to hot and cold returned and I had to bring back my strict ToothSoap + food grade hydrogen peroxide routine. Which worked very well by the way.

I know I'm going to be scolded by some out there, but right now I use raw organic honey as a sweetener. I use it sparingly, but I still use it. I've tried stevia, but the chemical taste doesn't work for me.

It would be interesting to hear about your agave and sweetener experiences. Are you down with agave? Do you like stevia? Do you use any sweeteners?

Posted by Dhrumil on July 07, 2009 | Permalink

My Way: Andrea Crossman

Is it Christmas already? Two My Way's in one week! You know how we do here at We Like It Raw. We just can't stop highlighting amazing peeps in the community who are both looking good and up to something special. And speaking of looking good and doing good....

This week's second My Way feature comes to us from the lovely Andrea Crossman, half of the two-member-soul-sisters-team responsible for Lovemore. The mission of Lovemore? Inspire the world to "let love be our guiding principle in every situation."

Andrea is based in Brooklyn, NY and to really get her you have to see a list of her favorite things: Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Buddhism, vegetarianism, peace, love, yoga, Bikram yoga, holistic health, guacamole, cocktails, campfires, hot springs, deliciously bad tv, books, google, the moon, the stars, waxing philosophical and being ridiculous.

Damn, you go girl...

Andrea was always into keeping fit and healthy, but only recently jumped into the world of raw foods. She'll tell us a little bit more about the motivation behind that jump, but it is safe to say she's been loving every minute of it. Now, let's here from Andrea how she does things her way!

My Way: Andrea Crossman

On June 1st I signed up to be a guinea pig for Penni Shelton’s Raw Foods Rehab, an 11-week experiment about raw foods and weight loss. Penni is writing a book on the subject so to test her theories she created Raw Food Rehab—RFR for short. This group was heaven sent. As the co-founder of a love-infused social entrepreneurship venture called Lovemore, I was deeply bothered when I began to realize that I was not in alignment with my own mantra, “love more,” in some fundamental ways. I had stopped the exercise I loved, put back on 40 pounds I was oh-so-proud to lose a few years ago, and my social life all but ground to a halt as I struggled with not feeling in my skin, or my spirit. It was in this place that I stumbled upon Penni’s open call for guinea pigs. This kind of serendipity is not to be ignored. This raw connection back to my soul was masterminded by the cosmos, of that I have no doubt. As of this moment, early morning on July 2nd, I have been raw for exactly 31 days, and the first 18 were spent in a juice feast. Here are my last four raw days, My Way.

Sunday

I got up at 1 pm. I wonder if I’m the first My Way’er who is a shameless night owl. I’ve always had the propensity for the second wind, but ever since my stint on the night shift as a labor and delivery nurse, I slip back into a late to bed, late to rise habit often. Today was the Smith Street Fun Fair in my neighborhood of Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn. As I got ready to head to the fair I decided if there was something I really wanted to eat, I would, even if it wasn’t raw. This felt a touch scandalous both because I hadn’t had anything un-raw since May and also because it was day 1 of this My Way. I checked out all the street fair food and was tempted by some vegetarian sandwiches from Mario Batali’s Po, and some others from Stinky Cheese, but not enough to take the plunge.

I checked out the non-food goings on as well. I talked with a guy who owns Brooklyn Tattoo as we want to create a tattoo inspired Lovemore t-shirt. I talked to some other artists and designers too and felt a kinship with them for the first time. I didn’t expect to make Lovemore connections today and it felt great.

I wanted to stay out and enjoy being with the people so I went to Pacifico, a Mexican restaurant with great outdoor space. I did have a little cooked food: two tostones, and a handful of chips, both merely as guacamole delivery devices. I figured guacamole and a salad (hold the cojita cheese and croutons please) were the best near raw choices.

I also ran into Brandy Barber at Pacifico, who I know because she co-produces Mortified, a show where people read their angst-ridden teenage diaries. I was in the Mortified in April of 2008 and it was without question one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. Mortified’s other co-producer, Anne Altman contacted me about a week ago asking if I’d be free for a show in September. Oh yes I would!

Back home I took a nap and then had my favorite salad: baby romaine, shredded carrot, and avocado dressed with apple cider vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper. I also had a few leftover raw stuffed mushrooms, and some freezer fudge from the Sarma Melngailis cookbook Raw Food, Real World.

Around midnight my sister (best friend, business partner, neighbor) returned from a weekend trip to Seattle. I headed over to meet her for a late night walk and debrief of our respective weekends. Happy to have my sister back safe and sound I headed the 3 blocks back to my place and to bed.

Monday

I had a restless night’s sleep and woke up at noon. I hopped on the scale and took my measurements like I’ve been doing every Monday for RFR. So far I’ve lost 19 pounds and a whole lot of inches, and I feel so much better. Something interesting about the past month is that I don’t want to eat until quite late in the day. Before my lunch I spent some time on calls with my sis and then made my first ever video for RFR. It was a little nerve wracking, which is funny as I was a professional trainer and public speaker for years, and still consider that my core competency, but it took a minute to get used to the lack of a live audience. Once I did, I loved having another way to connect with this community that has shown me so much humanity and love.

When I finally got around to eating I had a snacky assortment beginning with stuffed mushrooms and a few raw crackers with lemon-garlic-tahini sauce mixed with some leftover pesto. Still needing more veggies, I made a big bowl of broccoli, which I mixed with a more of the lemon-garlic-tahini sauce and nutritional yeast. This is one of my new favorites. I ended the meal with a nibble of freezer fudge.

For dinner I had some nuts mixed with EVOO and spices. I then made hummus. Sorta. It wasn’t very hummus-y. It was zucchini and sunflower seed based and I dipped rounds of yellow squash into it. Then more chocolate. Then a realization: I’m much more satisfied and ultimately eat less when I have something more traditionally meal-ish, even if it’s just a salad. This is going to be quite a process of figuring out what works best for me.

Late tonight Rawdawg Rory sent me a photo of him sporting a Lovemore t-shirt. We love to collect pics of folks wearing or using their Lovemore gear so we can to add to our flickr stream. Rory has been very supportive of my new raw journey and also of Lovemore. He is one of the connections I’ve made in this community that show me something special is going on here. He just created a new “Why Raw?” page on his site that is very helpful for newbies like me. I couldn’t have been more psyched when I saw his “after” picture. So cool!

Tuesday

Ok, so I may have downplayed the final dose of chocolate I had Monday night. Holy. Cacao. Starting at about 2:30 am I had an anxiety attack like no other. By about 6:30 am, still wide-awake, with a pounding heart, and the inability to lie still, the light bulb went off. Crack-cao! Ohhhhh…noooooo… I finally slept for a few hours and when I woke up I felt what I described as “vomity.” (Please don’t tell my alma mater Columbia University School of Nursing about this word I’ve invented.) I wrote a long whiney rant on the RFR message boards that ended up creating some good comedy as our Raw Food Rehab community truly become REHAB. I simply couldn’t handle the hard stuff. I cancelled my evening plans, moaned about not being able to have my mommy or her homemade white toast, eventually got over it, and laughed at my raw rookie mistake.

In lieu of toast I made what I dubbed a Calm Belly Smoothie: Brazil nut milk, a pinch of salt, vanilla, dates, bananas, chia, pineapple, and nutmeg. It hit the spot, but not like mom’s white toast with butter would have. I’m not gonna lie. Sorry die-hards.

In the midst of cacao withdrawal, I followed up with Equinox about some trunk shows they want Lovemore to do in 4 of their NYC stores and strategized with Angela about an inquiry from a local Shakespeare group about Lovemore eco-tees for their organization. Synergy rocks.

As the day came to a close I made plans with Dave, one of my oldest and best friends to meet tomorrow at the raw foods Mecca: Pure Food and Wine.

Wednesday

I got up late as per usual, fed my kitten (she is 9, but always a kitten to me) and packed food and sundries to head over to Angela’s.

Having grown weary of watching Angela eat pizza or bagel sandwiches, I decided to bring lunch to her place. Before we got down to business, I made us the raw vegan version of that Chinese chicken salad that was popular in the 90s. Remember? With the ramen noodles crushed on top? No ramen for us today. I used cabbage, shredded carrot, red onion (would have preferred scallions but was out), and dressed it with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, agave, and salt and pepper. Once it was all mixed up I sprinkled it with slivered almonds, which totally make the dish.

After lunch we checked in a delivery of new stock. We got to see our brand new reusable bags bearing our tag line, “be the love,” Lovemore’s riff on Gandhi’s “be the change you wish to see in the world.” I am thrilled with this new addition to our line of green living gear. Once all was unpacked we got to flip ‘n folding. It is amazing how as an entrepreneur you truly do everything. While we were flipping right, then left, then up, we talked about the possibility of being a vendor at the upcoming Raw Spirit Festival in DC. We need more information, but if Lovemore would be well received, we think it could be a really cool opportunity. We’ll see.

A few more random tasks and it was time for me to hustle home, get pretty, take my 30-day raw picture, and hop on the subway to Pure Food and Wine. I arrived shortly before my 8 o’clock reservation to meet my friend Dave, who I have known since 1989, when we both lived in Middlebrook Hall at the University of Minnesota. Dave has never had a raw dinner so I was very excited to share this with him. I am an extremely lucky girl because he generously treated this budding social entrepreneur to the Pure Food and Wine tasting menu. There is truly nothing more loving that a friend could do for me to celebrate my 30 days raw. Thank you Dave! Technically it is a 5 course tasting menu, but there were actually 7 episodes of deliciousness, because the dining experience began with an amuse bouche (cherry tomato, watermelon, basil and balsamic…shockingly tasty) and there was a peach popsicle palate cleanser before dessert. After our 2nd course, Dave, looking for some more substance, said, “I’m feeling a little Gary Crossman here,” invoking my father, an old-school meat eating man if there ever was one. The waitress assured him that would all change by dessert, and she was absolutely right. By the time the entrees started coming—lasagna, Thai curry something or other, fettuccini, falafel—Dave and I were both beyond pleased. And then dessert came. Oh. My. God.

There was a fruit crumble-esq thing that was fantastic, but whatever. Why whatever? Because of the other thing. A minty, chocolaty, ice creamy, fudgy, wow-this-is-so-good-are-you-kidding-me creation. Dave’s commentary went something like this: “this is ridiculous…there is no way this can be good for you…this is ridiculous.” It was…beyond... Pure Food and Wine, you outdid yourselves with that one. We literally closed down the patio and experienced one of my favorite revelations about raw foods, the experience of complete satisfaction without uncomfortable fullness. We left feeling light and happy, me a bit giddy from my first wine in over a month, and we continued on to a further subway stop just to enjoy the walk.

Now I am back home in Brooklyn with my sleeping kitten Lizzy, and putting the finishing touches on My Way. As I reflect, I thank the gods for giving me this beautiful community and way to love*myself*more. I also thank them for that dessert. Blessed be.

With love,

Andrea.

Andrea Crossman is an entrepreneur and love goddess based in Brooklyn, NY

p.s. To say thanks, in my own little way, for all the amazing support I've gotten from the raw food community, I'd like to share a special discount code to the Lovemore site. The code is "LoveRawMore" and when entered on the checkout page it will give you 15% off every single thing on chooselovemore.com through August 16th, which is when RFR wraps. Hope you enjoy and again really, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Posted by Dhrumil on July 03, 2009 | Permalink

Sarma's Chanterelle and Yuzu Ceviche

If you haven't already heard our very own home girl, Sarma Melngailis, has a new book out! Living Raw Food: Get the Glow with More Recipes from Pure Food and Wine.

Living Raw Food is a follow up to Sarma's first book and it contains over 100 new recipes inspired by the amazing dishes at Pure Food and Wine.

We'll be talking more about Sarma's book next week (including giving a few away) but this week we just wanted to wet your appetite with a sample recipe from the book. Here is one of my favorites.

Chanterelle and Yuzu Ceviche

with Pineapple-AvocadoPuree and Heirloom-Cherry–Tomato Salsa

Serves 8 | Equipment Needed: Blender

Chanterelle Ceviche Ingredients

1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin
olive oil
2 tablespoons yuzu juice
1 tablespoon sea salt
4 to 5 scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
5 cups cleaned and sliced chanterelle mushrooms

Chanterelle Ceviche Instructions

Place the orange, lemon, and lime juices, yuzu juice, and salt in a blender and blend until well mixed. (It’s important to blend the salt with the juices very well so that the mushrooms will properly break down while marinating. If you don’t feel like using a blender, whisk the mixture thoroughly and make sure the salt is fully dissolved.)

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and whisk in the olive oil, scallions, and pepper.

To prepare the chanterelle mushrooms, first cut off the coarse end of the stem. Then cut the mushrooms into halves or quarters, depending upon the size. Place the cut mushrooms into a bowl of cold water and massage with your hands to remove dirt. Remove the mushrooms from the water and lay them out on paper towels. Pat the mushrooms dry.

Pour the marinade over the mushrooms and let them sit at least 1/2 hour. Set aside.

Pineapple-Avocado Puree

3 cups chopped fresh pineapple (about 1 small pineapple)
3 ripe, yet firm, avocados, peeled and pitted
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Puree the pineapple in a blender until it becomes a smooth liquid. Add the sea salt and avocados and continue blending until very smooth. Set aside.

Heirloom-Cherry–Tomato Salsa

6 cups heirloom cherry tomatoes, sliced into halves
1 1/2 cups finely diced celery (save the celery hearts for garnish)
1 small bunch parsley (about 2 cups), leaves only, roughly chopped, plus additional sprigs for garnish
3 jalapeños, seeded and finely minced
4 to 5 scallions, the white part and 1 inch of green, sliced very thin
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and toss until evenly mixed.

To Serve

Set up 8 martini glasses. Place 2 to 3 tablespoons pineapple-avocado puree in the bottom of each glass.

Top with

3 to 4 tablespoons heirloom-tomato salsa, then about 1/4 cup marinated mushrooms. Repeat once or twice, as needed. Garnish with the parsley sprigs and celery heart stalks.

Yum!

p.s. Sarma has a new blog over at One Lucky Duck. Check it out.

Posted by Dhrumil on July 03, 2009 | Permalink

Photos: SurThrival NY, Daniel Vitalis rocks the house

This past weekend our good friend Vanessa Barg hosted alchemist, herbalist and spring water king, Daniel Vitalis, at the first ever SurThrival NYC lecture and Chocolate Party.

SurThirval is the art and science of "thriving through all circumstances" and at this lecture Daniel Vitalis went deep into some of the ideas he covered in our joint venture ElixirCraft Master Course.

The event featured amazing food, lots of recognizable faces, tons of chocolate, dope elixirs and a commemorative chocolate bar.

Rawtographer Jeff Skeirik was in full force at SurThival and took some of the best event photos I've ever seen taken at an event. I've posted a few of my favorites here, but be sure to check out the entire photo album here.