Brooklyn's Smorgasburg

I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I stumbled upon this food fest on the Williamsburg waterfront last Saturday. I thought I was going to a regular ol' farmer's market but what I got was a foodie's paradise of artisan culinary delights. I wasn't sure what I could find in terms of raw, living cuisine but appreciated the many different offerings among the 100 or so vendors at this now two month old weekend event. I discovered all things pickled, fermented, grass-fed, rooftop grown and lovingly prepared. Luckily, I hit the raw food jackpot starting at the Skytown booth where they were serving up some kale salad and red coleslaw. I couldn't decide which one I wanted so they gave me half and half. Delish. I washed it down with some chamomile moon brew and continued on.

Next up I discovered banana soft serve ice cream by Rob & Anna's. This is the most simple of raw desserts if you have a masticating juicer. All you do is freeze bananas and run it through. Voila, incredible creamy, dreamy banana ice cream. They had several different enticing toppings like peanut butter sauce, nutella, nuts and granola but I went with the raw raspberry coulis. Isn't it just stunning?

I found a couple smoothie vendors but after my dessert I didn't really want any more fruit but good to know for next time.

I also came across some kombucha on tap by Kombucha Brooklyn. For $10 I got a big bottle of nice bubbly, well fermented 'booch. Next week I can refill my bottle for $8 or go to Urban Rustic a few blocks away during the week. Sweet!

There was also rooftop grown produce available but personally I'd rather eat produce grown in the country than the city in terms of high vibe, clean food but I thought it was cool that it there are urban farmers out there making it work however they can.

I definitely left very satisfied and am so excited about coming back each weekend to try out some new things. I only wish they had more seating available. If you want to grab a meal and walk along the water and enjoy the city view it's great, but if you're a grazer like me, going booth to booth, it's a little inconvenient. Otherwise, awesome event worth visiting at least once this summer if you're in NYC.

ISUN Product Review

Like many women in their 30's, I am forever on the hunt for new and better facial products to help correct my previous two decades of poor lifestyle and dietary choices. My SPF free years of my youth are haunting me in a way that no amount of green juice or raw food is going to help. I need some serious skincare. I've actually been a really big fan of DeVita products for the past three years but find that it's just not emollient enough for living in the dryness of southern California. I recently stumbled upon ISUN, an all natural, organic, ethical, eco friendly, wildcrafted line of skincare. I was overwhelmed with the amount of products in their line so I decided to just start out with one of their introductory packs to see what it was all about. Since I have acne prone skin I ordered the Blemished Skin Care set that comes with a cleanser, toner mist, clarifying serum, spot treatment, neem and blue green masks and an exfoliant. They even threw in a bonus lip balm (which is my favorite lip balm EVER now).


I have to say this is the most effective acne skincare product I've ever tried. It has antimicrobial and deep poor cleansing that doesn't dry your skin out like other acne kits. The star of the show is the clarifying serum that contains essential oils, neem, MSM and salicylic acid (from willow bark) that gently exfoliates without the harsh dryness. The spot treatment is very effective too as is the neem mask. I have really sensitive skin so I like that I can keep it on long enough without the itchiness I get from other masks. The only thing I would have liked in this set was a sample of the moisturizer of which there are about a dozen to choose from. I'm currently using Dr. Alkaitis for night time moisturizing but when I run out I'll try one from ISUN. You can find the products at Living Earth Beauty which also features some other really great brands of natural beauty products including products from Living Libations which create my favorite tooth product, Yogi Tooth Serum. Right now they have free shipping on all orders over $99 so get on it!