REVITALIZE 5-course Plant-Based Gourmet Dinner Event!

Delight and surprise your taste buds at our next REVITALIZE 5-course plant-based gourmet dinner on Saturday, May 26th starting at 6:30pm. Enjoy the unique flavor and texture combinations of whole food, plant-based dishes and expand your knowledge of nutrition and health, all in one magical evening.

You'll end the night with a personalized goody bag filled with plant-based treats and recipes for you to replicate at home.

These dinners first began as a simple idea with Chef Praveena Kumar two years ago, and it's been a joy to meet and connect people together through delicious food. 

We had the pleasure of hosting a private REVITALIZE dinner for our registered dietitian friends that we've worked with over the past decade. It was a special night!  (PHOTO: Micki Keh)

We'd love to have you join us on Saturday, May 26th from 6:30-8:30pm!

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE. 

Green Smoothies!

Now with spring here, I've been craving more refreshing smoothies in the morning and for mid-day snacks. When making green smoothies, try to include higher amounts of leafy green vegetables than fruit, and be sure to include some healthy fat (nut butter, avocado, chia seeds, hemp hearts) to help with satiety and turn off the hunger hormone ghrelin. You can also freeze cauliflower and zucchini chunks and add them into your green smoothies for extra nutrition. It's a sneaky way to easily add more vegetables into your day. Here's one of my favorite green smoothie recipes...the combo of mango and lime is one of my absolute favorites.

#The100DayProject

When we begin a journey, we have in mind what we're about to experience. But oftentimes, when we complete it, it looks very different from how we imagined it to be. Very often when it involves creative work or following a dream, the pieces come together in ways that we would've never imagined.

The first time I did #the100dayproject back in 2016, it allowed me to tap into my intuition. Creating handmade cards for friends, family and strangers pushed me into a deep creative space where I was forced to sit and listen. The mere act of intentionally listening to my intuition when I asked myself, "How can I speak truth and encourage this person who I'm creating for?" was the same that I applied for following my dream and building The Kanzaki Method, one step at a time.

This year I'm participating in the project and will be doing 100 food illustrations for my upcoming projects. Today is Day 3, and it's not too late to join in! Follow me on Instagram @juliannekanzaki for each day's illustration, and let me know what project you choose to embark upon!

Courage.

(Photo: Don Reed)

“There comes a moment in our lives
when dreams and fears collide.
And most will choose to play it safe
to never risk their pride.
But if you listen to that voice
which calls from deep inside,
You’ll find that you can walk with faith
across the great divide.”

— Julianne Kanzaki, from "Courage" spoken word poetry

The Story Behind The Kanzaki Method™

Honored to share my story in this interview with Brad Smith from HylthLink of how my own personal experiences led me to create and build The Kanzaki Method™.

Matcha Tea Latte.

Enjoying some Matcha Tea Lattes in my dad's ceramic mugs... :)

To celebrate March and all things green, I thought I'd share my new favorite hot beverage- a Matcha Tea Latte! Not only does matcha tea contain high amounts of antioxidants, amino acids, and chlorophyll, but it also contains the amino acid L-theanine. L-theanine increases serotonin, dopamine, GABA and glycine levels in the brain, and also has a relaxing effect on the mind and body. Here's how you can make your own matcha latte at home!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or any other unsweetened plant-based milk)
• 1-2 tsp. matcha green tea powder
• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the almond milk on the stovetop. Combine the other ingredients to the milk and continue to heat until the coconut oil is dissolved and melted.
2. In a high-speed blender, blend to combine all ingredients for 45 seconds to 1 minute or until frothy.
3. Enjoy!

This #KanzakiCards design is available by request or at Kaleidoscope Coffee in Point Richmond.

Macro to Micro.

The best way to spend the day- wake up early, pack a picnic lunch, and share the day with someone special in nature. Cataract Falls was the perfect place to experience the magic of the wild outdoors on a grand scale, all while noticing the tiny miracles of life hidden close to the ground.

Have you seen Ladybird? There's one line from the movie that I absolutely love:

Don't you think they are the same thing? Love and attention?

So here's to being out in nature. To paying attention to the world and everything in it. That, my friends, is love.

Cataract Falls

Lush waterfalls after the recent rain.

Life exists on the macro and micro level. 

The Art of Consistent Action.

Celebrating nine months of picking up the watercolor brush and reclaiming my love for art.

As a naturally wired Type A, goal-oriented person, I love deciding what I want to accomplish and doing whatever it takes to get there. For Ironman training, this meant waking up at 4:45am to fit in a trainer workout or swim before work. It meant saying no to social functions because I had to sleep early to prepare my body for a long bike or run the next day. It meant saying no to a lot of things that would take me away from my training. I was laser-focused. I knew my goal, and understood that these sacrifices were all a part of the journey. After nine months of solid training, I triumphantly crossed the finish line. I knew that was the destination I was seeking to reach, and I got there. 

Day 1 of #the100dayproject. April 4, 2017.

Even though now I still have my big dreams and goals in visible sight, I've learned to relax more into accepting the gifts along the journey. To live and experience different paths along the way with eyes wide open, finding the hidden treasures that each one holds.  These past nine months have been all about enjoying the process. And I've learned these lessons tangibly through the instrument of art. Watercoloring, to be exact. What began as Day 1 of #the100dayproject on April 4, 2017 started a daily ritual of painting. Painting something. Anything. It was a means of self-expression, self-discovery, and becoming childlike again. Giving myself permission to play, to not have the answers, to try new things. 

Experimenting with indigo...

We face a blank canvas everyday and it's up to us to decide what we want to create with our lives. Throughout #the100dayproject I tried a lot of things. There were days when I wasn't extremely proud of my work (hello, DAY 1!!) but promised those in my tribe that I would show up anyways. Some days I discovered new techniques, and made more of that. There were plenty of times when I felt stuck and wanted to quit. But I kept going. And now, exactly nine months later, I've found that the feelings and the art inside of me are better expressed through my watercolors. The creative gap (the space between what you want to create and what you're currently creating) is slowly shrinking. And it happened by being consistent, giving myself enough grace and space to create, and to play.

The last painting I completed on December 31, 2017. 

Why am I writing this? To share that growth and transformation happen slowly. But it does happen with consistent action. Perhaps it starts by drinking water instead of soda. It begins by meditating for 5 minutes in the morning. It begins with one brush stroke, a dab of water and paint, and childlike faith. It begins with deciding that you are an artist, and it's not too late and you're not too old to change your life.

Framed jellyfish 5 x7" original watercolor is now available for purchase in Kanzaki Shop.

I've been enjoying doing customized designs recently, so contact me if you'd like a certain design or quote painted or hand-lettered!

Abundance.

May your cup always runneth over. (Vernal Falls, Yosemite National Park)

Abundance. This was one of my core desired feelings for 2017. Knowing I was leaving a full-time, steady-paycheck job (aka. a financial security blanket) to build my own private practice, I knew that I would have to shift around certain material possessions in order to fund my dream. So 'abundance' landed on that list of desired feelings, mostly in a one-dimensional way of Dear God, please let me earn enough to pay my bills and eat. 

While reflecting upon this past year, I realized that I experienced abundance on a variety of levels. Thankfully, my basic needs were met and the bills got paid. But now more than ever, I understand that an abundant life is one where I can live and do what makes my heart sing, have creative freedom, healthy and positive relationships, gratitude, and good health. An abundant life is one where there is no lack of potential, no creative cap or ceiling in terms of what I can envision and make, and one where joy is sparked in nature, in laughter, and in new experiences.

I learned this lesson this year: When you adopt a mindset of abundance instead of scarcity, you move from a place of fear to a place of love. An abundant life means intentionally choosing to live with the belief that there is enough for you. Enough for me. Enough for all of us.

Message on a Bottle.

It was the middle of June. I was deep into #the100dayproject at this point, watercoloring illustrations of journal entries that I had chosen to share with the world. During this time I was also doing The 90 Day Impact Challenge- inspired by Don Reed- which involves not having any refined sugar or alcohol. So naturally, kombucha became my 'drink' of choice. 

I love GT's kombucha, and often noticed they had a special 'words of enlightenment' section on the bottle with inspiring quotes. One day I was painting and thought, "Wow, that would be really awesome if MY quote could be on a bottle!"

And a tiny voice whispered, "Why can't it be?"

The quote was taken from a journal entry I'd written back in February- "There's no reason to feel stuck. Good ideas are like the sunrise, they happen everyday. I just have to wake up, know which direction to look, and notice them." 

So a few months later when Don and I went to Safeway and I turned the bottle of GT's Raspberry Chia kombucha around in my hand and read my quote there, it was a completely surreal moment. He looked me in the eyes and said, "This is manifestation in its clearest possible form. You can apply exactly what you did in this situation to larger and bigger things in your life."

This is true for you as well. What you envision and imagine and take action towards can, in fact, become your reality. Try it for yourself.

New Beginnings.

#kanzakicards

A lot of people (myself included) are entering a new season. For some, it's a new beginning involving a career or work project, and for others it may be motherhood or relocating to a new city. Some are beginning a new relationship, others are entering into a new season of singleness. There is magic in each one of these new beginnings. Look for it, be grateful for it, trust it.

I created this card to celebrate this season, the magic it contains, and the beauty of new beginnings. Available for purchase HERE.