Sometimes you need a breath of fresh air, a little change of scenery, a little bit of nature. Sometimes you need fluffy cats and fluffier alpacas. Sometimes, also, you don’t feel like saying much so I’ll let the photos do the talking today.

After all my adventures at AltSummit, Shawn and I were finally able to visit some of the vegan restaurants in Salt Lake City. First, we headed over to Sage’s Cafe for their weekend brunch. I was beckoned by the pesto crepe, filled with warm seasoned vegetables. I was craving something hearty after grazing on salads and snacks in my hotel room the previous days. (Note to Alt: us vegans could use a few more options.) The restaurant had a really nice atmosphere, with a sunlit, enclosed patio and local artwork. They also made a fantastic almond milk cappuccino.

Even more exciting was fulfilling a not so healthy craving with this vanilla shake and tender tigers from Vertical Diner. Vertical is owned by the same people as Sage’s but obviously with a diner style menu. Let me tell you, this shake was so satisfying. Unadulterated vanilla goodness. Paired with the fried seitan of the tender tigers, I was in heaven.

They were so good. Shawn also ordered a portobello quesadilla which was fantastic. All of their seitan is handmade and they also make their own nutritional yeast cheese. Big fan, right here.

We enjoyed it so much we stopped for breakfast on our way out of town. I got the breakfast sandwich. Also amazing. Soft french bread, cheesy sauce, spiced veggie sausage and some tofu scramble. Yum.

I can never say no to biscuits and gravy.

Our last moment in Salt Lake City before the snowy drive home. I don’t think Shawn was particularly happy about me standing in the middle of the street to take this photo.

There were so many other places we didn’t get to try on our short visit. I heard there are two vegan bakeries in SLC. I’d love to go back and explore more.

I’ve only been to the Sundance Film Festival once before, when Shawn’s film IGNITE played. That year, everything was overwhelming and new. This year, I came with a plan and everything was exciting. I didn’t get to see all the films I wanted to (Room 237 for instance, and V/H/S) but I was really please with what I did see. That’s not to say I loved every film I saw either, but I thought I’d share a few of my thoughts.

YOUNG AND WILD
I have to say this was my personal favorite of what I saw at the festival. Written and directed by Marialy Rivas, Young and Wild is fun and racy while also being surprisingly serious. It is the story of a 17-year-old Chilean girl with an unrestrained sexual appetite, a devout evangelical family and a blog to talk about it. Go figure I’d like a film about a blogger. It was entertaining and touched on more than just the obvious; really a story about family, love and finding your way. It had a realistic, honest tone, but was laced with the playful writing of youth. I hope this film finds a larger audience and hopefully winning the World Cinema Screenwriting award will help make that happen.

THE END OF LOVE
This film, starring and directed by Mark Webber, is a sentimental portrait of a man struggling to raise his young son on his own after the death of his child’s mother. For the most part, this film has staggeringly authentic scenes that make you feel as if you’re watching an expertly shot and well edited home video. This is due in part to the fact that Webber’s real life son, at 2 and a half, is not really acting but rather being filmed in situation. And let me tell you, that kid is a charmer. The overall emotional tone is touching as you see Webber’s struggle to keep his life together. The End of Love manages to capture something rare and true in the depiction of this father and son, something that draws you into the story. I wish more films could be in touch with this sort of realism.

WRONG
An absurd look at a fantasy life in Los Angeles, Wrong, gives you a glimpse into the strange world of Dolph after his dog is stolen. The film is much like a bizarre dream, with oddball characters and nonsensical settings (an office that rains indoors, a man that repaints random cars for no reason). It is for sure an amusing trip and is at the same time unremarkable. I definitely enjoyed the curiosity of it all. As a side note, I would recommend checking out this fun short by the director Quentin Dupieux’s (aka Mr. Oizo).

COMPLIANCE
Already there is controversy around this film as it spawned a handful of hecklers at various screenings, including ours. To be honest, I am almost tempted to not mention it at all just to not give it any more press, but my blog doesn’t really count as press so I shall continue. Also, I’m going to include a spoiler so you can just skip this if you want. The big complaint about Compliance is that this film uses rape as entertainment and is thus exploitation. Personally, this isn’t even my problem with the movie Even though as a feminist I oppose the concept, I think it was shot and edited in a way that at least attempted to avoid this. My problem with the film is that it is boring. It’s boring and predictable and not worth the time it took to watch. It defends itself by the fact that it is based on true events and attempts to be a study of the individuals involved. Unfortunately, it never fully captures the motives or intentions of any of the characters and has the emotional depth of a bad tv movie. Instead of watching this film, I propose you instead read about the true events it is based on and you’ll get the full horrific effect. Some things don’t require artistic reinterpretation. That being said, Shawn thought it was compelling and interesting so there’s that.

p.s. These photos have nothing to do with these film, except that I took them in Utah.

Happy Sunday everyone. It’s the first full weekend at home I’ve had in awhile with all the adventures, events and celebrations of the last few months. It’s been so nice to actually get a few things done around the house (I did SO MUCH laundry yesterday) and focus on the things I care about.

For one, that means more home-cooked meals. I’ve been feeling a little bit like a scavenger in my own kitchen recently, but that changes this week. I’ve made a plan for a few healthful and tasty meals over the next week and bought supplies and ingredients. A little bit of planning in advance goes a long way.

This morning we had my favorite pancakes. I’m more of a waffle girl than a pancake girl but these are just so good; they have exactly the right amount of sweetness and fluffiness. Full disclosure, I had these for dinner earlier in the week too. Oops.

I also made a broccoli quiche for dinner last night. Despite making the world’s worst pie crust, it was really satisfying. Even for dinner. I think the secret is extra broccoli and fresh herbs.

Just a little announcement, Cute and Delicious is now on Facebook, so you can like it HERE and keep up with new posts and other discussion. Yay!

What are you making for dinner this week?

It was a real treat to visit Park City and experience some real winter. It was snowy and cold and beautiful. We didn’t make any snowmen or throw snowballs but we did walk around as snowflakes wafted gracefully down on us. It left me dreaming of snuggling up in a cozy cabin, shutting out the rest of the world.

We also dug my car out of the snow (twice!) and had one of the scariest drives ever down from Park City to Salt Lake on an icy road, so I guess it wasn’t all magic. I suppose it’s easy to be romantic about winter when it’s 80 degrees here in Los Angeles. What do you think, do you love snow?

I’ve had this blog for a long time now and it’s been many things: a place for recipes, a place for wedding planning, a place to share photos and a place to connect with people out there in the world. It’s never had a specific thing it’s supposed to be, it just is whatever I want it to be at the time, which is fine. I’ve love this blog and it’s so important to me and all the things I learned at AltSummit really clarified for me what I want this space to be.

I’m not going to tell you all my plans all at once, but I will share that Cute and Delicious will be very much the same, just with more awesome. A new look is even on the way.

Besides all the thoughtful talks I heard and things I learned, by far the best part was meeting so many amazing, warm, eager, open-hearted and inspiring women. It’s one thing to connect with people through the web but being able to meet people in person to solidify relationships and make new friends in real life really just meant more to me than I can say. Everyone’s enthusiasm sparked something inside me and filled me with such happiness.

I’ll share a little more in detail what I learned this week. Then I need to get to the other half of our amazing weekend: Sundance! Fun things. For now, here are a few photos from Alt!

In approximately 4.5 hours I’ll be getting up to drive to Salt Lake City to go to Alt Summit and then to Sundance. At this moment, I’m nervous and a tiny bit stressed with what needs to happen before we hit the road. At the same time, I’m really excited beyond belief to meet people whose blogs I’ve admired from afar or those who I chat with on twitter. This weekend is going to be filled with two of my favorite things, blogging and films. Pretty much it’s a dream come true. I have a feeling this may be one of those life altering moments.

Anyway, not much to say as I have to get back to packing but I just wanted to say, if you’re going to be at Alt or Sundance this weekend and you see me, please say hi. I’d love to meet you.

In exploring Pennsylvania, we were brought to The Black Bass Hotel in Lumberville. In an area rich with revolutionary history, this hotel sided with the British and still boasts a decor reflecting this. The bar held giant displays filled with china and memorabilia dedicated to the royal families through the years. It was beautiful.

I keep trying to come up with the words to describe how totally in love with Veggie Heaven I am, but I think it’s fairly clear from the photos how utterly amazing this restaurant is. It’s a little spot in New Jersey we go to whenever we’re in the area (which is not all that often). We visited this year the day after Christmas and the whole place was packed. I’m sure you can imagine why; vegan sushi. We’re not talking about your average cucumber rolls and tofu tempura. They have spicy “tuna” rolls, seitan eels rolls and a bunch of fancy combos like the Dynamite Roll. Every dish is just spot on for flavor and while there are tons of vegan offerings here in Los Angeles, there really is just nothing that satisfies my sushi cravings like Veggie Heaven.

So much pizza. So much delicious pizza.

What’s your favorite kind of pizza?