All posts tagged: sirens and scoundrels

Consciously Creating Your 2023

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Written by: Christina Huntington If the Holidays came and went and you never got time to “recharge” amidst all the busy-ness of the season, if the New Year rolled around and you still haven’t had a chance to reflect upon the year that was or contemplate what you want to create for your year ahead, if you find that you are entering 2023 feeling a little more exhausted than inspired and need a moment to catch your breath…fret not. We’ve got you covered. THE OLD NEW YEAR MODEL In the Old Model of approaching the New Year, we were told to roar out into the first few weeks of the year “crushing” and “dominating” our goals like MMA fighters. This unsustainable strategy leaves most people burnt out, overwhelmed and giving up before the end of January—creating a cycle of frustration, shame and self-judgment that has long-term effects on our overall confidence and self esteem. THE *NEW* NEW YEAR MODEL We would like to offer you a New Model. In the Northern Hemisphere, Winter began barely …

Comfort Cooking at Home ~ Delicious, Easy, Healthy Recipes

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During this Universal Pause while we are all tucked away in our homes in one gigantic act of loving kindness and solidarity for our fellow man, we want to extend our love to you in the best way we know how~ through heart-and-soul-warming food. We wish to brighten your hearth and home with some of our favorite comfort food recipes, all gathered together here in one place for your home cooking pleasure. These are our “greatest hits” recipes that we constantly get requests for over the years. They also happen to be very simple, easy-to-make recipes with just a few ingredients that pack a huge flavorful punch. We hope our healthy comfort food recipes help to bring some joy to your table. Stay safe, healthy and vibrant! We are sending you all of our love! xoxo, Christina & Sarah || Sirens & Scoundrels Comfort Mains & Sides *CLICK ON THE DISH NAME TO BE TAKEN TO THE RECIPE* Spaghetti Squash Pasta  ~  Vegan + Gluten-Free (w/ Vegetarian Option)   Lentil & Sweet Potato Salad  ~  …

Yoga-urt: Meet Your New Obsession

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While other parts of the country are breaking out their new fall sweaters and snuggling up to pumpkin chai lattes in fuzzy mittens, our late-arrival summer is only just kicking into full swing here in LA. In honor of these last blazing days of summer, we present you with our current obsession and our absolute favorite way to beat the heat. Allow us to introduce you to Yoga-urt, the best soft serve frozen yogurt in town. It also happens to be organic, vegan, gluten-free, soy-free and uses no artificial ingredients of any kind. How can the creamiest, richest, smoothest, most delicious soft serve in existence be vegan, you ask? Come take a stroll with us… Yoga-urt first popped up in Glendale’s adorably quaint Kenneth Village in 2015. We’re always huge fans of any tiny frozen-in-time hidden gem neighborhood tucked away right here inside our bustling city (hello, Montrose!), but Kenneth Village might be the sweetest and tiniest of them all. The one-block strip of Kenneth Road just west of Grandview is as Bedford Falls as …

ART OF FREELANCE

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As artists and freelance creatives, we know it is not always easy to self-motivate, show up for your art and produce the work that has been calling out from deep within. So we’re gonna let you in on the little secret that has helped us each catapult our creative goals forward over the past two years. Allow us to formally introduce you to Art of Freelance—a bi-annual 10-week workshop that provides the structure, accountability and community to take your dream projects and make them a reality. Officially billed as “an accelerator for creatives who want to push themselves to the next level”, Art of Freelance encourages you to make the work you want to get hired for—by becoming your own ideal client first. We have benefited so immensely from doing this work that we didn’t want to just keep it to ourselves. We want to share it now with you, our awesome reader, in case you’ve had a dream drumming in your heart or a creative vision simmering away on the back burner and you …

Summer Desert Retreat ~ Harmony Vista

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Every year when summer hits the city, we start hearing the call of the desert. It might not seem like the obvious destination when the thermostat reaches 90° but for us here at Sirens & Scoundrels, summer and the deep desert have become our favorite pairing for a soul-filling and soul-fueling retreat with friends. We pack up all the fresh organic summer fruit we can find, plenty of iced beverages, pool floaties and board games and head out into the hot desert days to relax and unplug at our most beloved California summering spot—Joshua Tree. Our favorite source for the perfect desert hacienda is  Joshua Desert Retreats. With nine properties spread across the east desert, we have been slowly meandering our way through each one over the years. JDR properties are much like staying at the famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo where each room has its own unique theme and eventually you just want to try them all. The same goes for JDR, except here each entire house has its own theme. We …

Pizza & Poetry

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl // Video by  Sarah Prikryl & Christina Huntington “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” –Mary Oliver, The Summer Day As these gorgeous Spring days turn into warm Summer nights, it’s time to gather your loved ones around a long outdoor table to celebrate all the magic and wonder of being alive with the one thing everybody loves: pizza. Gluten-free, gluten-full, dairy-free, piled up with cheese–whichever way suits your fancy, build-your-own pizzas are always a wonderful way to create delicious art that you can eat. For our recent Sirens & Scoundrels “Pizza & Poetry” gathering, we brought together all the things we love most: friends, food, music, dancing and poetry. We set a long table with our favorite summer linens, flickering candles, fresh boughs of greens and mini stacks of vintage books. The invite called for guests to bring their favorite poems and a hearty appetite. On the gorgeous terrace of Domain WeHo, Scoundrel drink master Richard Swan of The Grand Bevy was on hand …

Year of the High Priestess

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl  // Graphic Design by Alex Rice As 2018 continues to unfold, a literal new day is dawning before us. Over the course of human history, most civilizations and wisdom traditions developed ways to measure the fluctuating cycles of time and the unique energy held within each year, giving people tools and insights to best utilize those energies to help them on their own path. Most forms of astrology break up eras according to the twelve signs of the zodiac and their corresponding cosmic constellations. The Chinese Zodiac divides years according to twelve animals along with a corresponding element (fire, wood, water, metal, earth). Numerology assigns every year a number from 1-9, each with its own universal energetic property, derived by adding together the numbers in the year until it reduces down to a single digit. Tarot utilizes the roman numerical Major Arcana cards to distinguish the universal stages of the hero’s journey held within each new year. So, why is any of this important? Because we can harness these annual …

Sacred Art of Self Love

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl // Contributing Photography by Christina Huntington To kick off the Season of Love at Sirens & Scoundrels, we’re bringing back our most requested subject: The Sacred Art of Self Love. Before we can ever be available to truly love anyone or anything else, we must first learn to love ourselves. When we know how to love ourselves as a daily practice, we enter into our relationships whole, balanced and complete, able to joyfully give and receive with ease instead of just take take take take taking without ever feeling fulfilled. The following super simple and practical tools will help you start transforming your entire relationship to yourself today. Dive in, be gentle and enjoy the LOVE!! The Sacred Art of Self Love ~ As we deep dive into all things L-O-V-E this month, we come face-to-face with the most crucial form of love to master: self love. It’s easy to look at seemingly endless social media feeds overflowing with infinite selfies and moment-to-moment replays of every minuscule activity as if everyone is engaged in broadcasting …

Descanso Gardens~ Enchanted: Forest of Light

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by  Sarah Prikryl // Contributing Photography by: Gina Cholick Our favorite Winter Wonderland is back! Grab your loved ones, bundle up with a hot cup of cocoa and prepare to be totally Enchanted by light!!  Two simple white string lights illuminate the long dirt path that leads to the entrance of Descanso Gardens. Despite being sold out tonight, I find myself alone on the path with only the sound of my own footsteps as my companion in the inky dark night. I can see my breath clearer with each step I take, amazed at this simple joy that almost never happens in LA as I practice blowing clouds around me, giggling in delight. A full moon peeks through wisps of mist above, a feeling of magic fills the air—and I’ve barely left the parking lot. My fellow Sirens await at the front, all bundled up for a surprisingly chilly Los Angeles evening. We’ve been drawn here by the promise of light. Enchanting light, to be exact. Never ones to turn down an opportunity for …

Best of Fall Fun Hitlist

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl In Southern California, we don’t measure the change of seasons in terms of sun or snow. We measure it in light. Did you catch the subtle shift in sunlight this week—all that bright yellow of Summer fading into the hazy gold of Fall? If so, you may have been filled with a strange urge to stock-pile sweaters and buy everything with a pumpkin on it. Pumpkin coffee, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin toothpaste? Sure, throw it all in the cart! Amidst the first-week-of-Fall flurry, we here at Sirens & Scoundrels have been inundated with requests for our “Best of Fall” adventure recommendations. Lucky for you, we happen to be experts on the matter. So to get you prepped for the cozy months ahead, we present you with our “Best of Fall Fun Hitlist”…all the best of the best for getting out into the world and exploring the many gorgeous, off-the-beaten-path treasures that make Autumn in California feel so magical. So grab your list and check it twice…you won’t want to miss …

Yacht Rock Spritzer ~ Your Last Days of Summer Playlist!

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Words & Playlist by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl & Becca Murray // vintage photos subject to copyright LA folks know that as September dawns and kids across America begin to break out their sweaters to head back to school…our So Cal Summer is only JUST getting started. With Mother Nature turning up the heat on us from September deep into October and the Pacific Ocean just finally warm enough to swim in, our real California beach days are only now upon us. To accompany our sun-soaked cruise through the final fireworks of Summer while setting our sails towards the cozy days of Fall, we present you with our “Yacht Rock Spritzer” playlist for some soft aural seduction. For So Cal natives, Yacht Rock is an institution. Memories of the many Dads of LA cranking The Doobie Brothers, Michael McDonald and Steely Dan while winding over Kanan on the way out to a Malibu beach day or headed down PCH to visit their mustachioed eternal bachelor friend who lived on his boat in the Marina are part of our …

The Great American Solar Eclipse ~ Los Angeles

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl // Eclipse photos & vintage stills subject to copyright // Contributing photographs by: Adam Grimes & Becca Murray It’s the Great American Total Solar Eclipse!! Unless you’ve been summer vacaying on another planet, I’m sure you’ve heard by now that we’re having a solar eclipse on Monday. A big one. Big because it’s the first time in a jillion years that America is in the path of totality (which means where the sun will be visible fully eclipsed). The last time the U.S. experienced a total eclipse of the sun from coast to coast was on June 8, 1918. And the last time a total eclipse touched ONLY American soil (like this one) was on June 13, 1257. Just to clarify, that’s the 13th century. So yeah…it’s kind of a big deal. If you’re reading this, then I’m assuming you didn’t already book your ticket to Portland five years ago to ensure that you would be smack dab in the middle of the path of totality. If you had, you’d know that …

Summer Breeze

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Words & Original Cocktail Recipe by Richard Swan // Photography by Sarah Prikryl  Make no mistake, people: Summer is upon us and it’s time we started acting like it. There seems to be little to argue on the merits of the ‘Spritz’ as the ultimate Summertime drink. It hits all the marks – cold, refreshing, versatile. All importantly: it is a ‘low ABV’* beverage, meaning you can enjoy them at length without needing a midday snooze as the pool party carries on without you…I call it a ‘cruise control’ drink. The ‘Summer Breeze’ aims to hit these marks while combining two wondrous ingredients: the affable and ubiquitous LaCroix Coconut (the suntan lotion one) and the stunning Cocchi Americano Apertif. Cocchi is yet another Italian import made from grapes and sunshine and everything nice – and it is right at home in this combination. To say this cocktail is simple to make would be an understatement. SUMMER BREEZE INGREDIENTS~ 1 can LaCroix Coconut 1.5 oz Cocchi Americano 1 Lemon Peel 1 Lemon Wheel ASSEMBLY~ Combine ingredients over cracked ice and …

Sunset Swim~ The Annenberg Community Beach House

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl Our favorite summer swim nights are back at The Annenberg Community Beach House! Don’t miss the first of three adult swim parties beginning in August!  If you ever wished you could’ve been alive in the days when you drove your woodie down to the beach for a surfin’ safari and a little beach blanket bingo, then your time has finally come. The Annenberg Community Beach House is a throwback to the days when cool guys and gals gathered on the shores to enjoy some California fun in the sun. Open daily to the public during the summer months, the Annenberg Community Beach House is still somehow one of LA’s best-kept secrets. A gorgeous pool. On the beach. Right in the heart of Santa Monica. Open to everyone. It’s almost too good to be true. It has a rich history, too. The Beach House is actually on the old Marion Davies Estate, the beachside love pad built by William Randolph Hearst for his silent film starlet mistress back in the …

Happy Ours Ranch ~ Utah

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl // Contributing Photography by Gina Cholick Halfway between Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park lies a little secret gem tucked away amongst the rolling green fields of Glendale, UT. Winding your way off the main highway onto a sprawling expanse of ranch land, a small dirt trail slowly circles the grounds to finally reveal the sweetest home-away-from-home a cabin lover could ever dream of. Beautifully hand-built by the family who own and run the property, Happy Ours Ranch makes all your tiny cabin fantasies come true the moment you lay eyes upon it. Quaint and cozy, this wood and tin delight has enough charm to tempt you away from ever leaving the property…even with the astonishing draw of Zion and Bryce just a short car ride away. On the hunt for the perfect pied-à-terre to kick up our feet and rest our heads during our Summer Sirens Utah Roadtrip, we knew we hit the jackpot when we stumbled across Happy Ours Ranch on VRBO.com. It was everything we could have …

Bryce Canyon ~ Utah

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl // Contributing Photography by Gina Cholick Deep in the heart of Utah lies a surrealist dreamland sprung to life. If Salvador Dalí painted the Grand Canyon full of drippy peach candlestick mountains all melting in the desert sun while Indiana Jones hosted an archaeological dig for extraterrestrial life at the center of it all…that pretty much sums up what Bryce Canyon National Park feels like. At once awe-inspiring, mind-blowing and really pretty trippy. We took a one-day excursion out to Bryce in the middle of our Zion adventure week to take in some new scenery and hit some new trails. An easy 2-hour drive east of Zion, Bryce is definitely the wild child amongst its sleeker Utah and Arizona canyon cousins. If the Grand Canyon is Mozart, Bryce Canyon is Bowie. Nothing to see here but mind-bending intergalactic rock ‘n roll mountainsides incarnate in nature. Upon arrival, we decided to take in the lay of the land as our first endeavor. The road into Bryce is laid out in a loop where …

Zion National Park

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl // Contributing Photography by Gina Cholick A couple years ago, I came across a photo of a giant bright peach of a mountainside towering over a meandering aqua river adorned with patches of bright green fluffy trees dozing under a hazy golden sunset. It seemed like something out of a dream. Or perhaps a distant memory from some other world where only peace, beauty and tranquility exist. A mythological fantasy planet that someone managed to come back to Earth with visual proof of. I recognized it somehow, though I had never seen it before. This intense feeling immediately rushed up from deep down inside my soul and commanded, “We must go to there!!” I could almost taste the gorgeous landscape on my tongue, hear it whispering in my ear. My eyes searched for the name of this biblical Eden incarnate until they landed on the word “Zion”. Of course…Zion. I had heard the tales many times from others who had made the epic journey before me but this was the first time …

Summer Road Trip Playlist!

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl  The dawn of May means one thing: road trip season is officially upon us! Time to make your plans and hop in the car with your nearest and dearest this summer to go explore the big wide wild open! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing highlights from our epic Sirens road trip to Utah’s stunning national parks. We took in the jaw-dropping majesty of Zion and Bryce Canyon and even stayed at the world’s sweetest tiny log-and-tin cabin, Happy Ours Ranch. We’re sharing our on-the-road playlist to set the mood and soothe your soul on all your summer adventures! Car packed, wheels down…go get those tires dirty with our “Dusty Trails” playlist! MAY 2017 ~ DUSTY TRAILS // ZION And stay tuned for this month’s adventures to Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon & the Grand Canyon! Happy Trails!! xoxo, Sirens & Scoundrels FOLLOW US ON SPOTIFY FOR EASY LISTENING FROM ANY DEVICE!~ https://play.spotify.com/user/sirensandscoundrels Be sure to subscribe to Sirens & Scoundrels for unique local, travel & food adventures delivered straight to you! Enter …

The 14th Factory

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl  If you ever wished you could combine a haunted Halloween funhouse with a large-scale multi-media international modern art installation (minus the chainsaws and hulking guys in masks breathing down your neck), your wish has finally come true. Full of thrilling discoveries and suspense around each new darkened corner, The 14th Factory is an art-lover’s moody paradise—combining video, sound design and both static and interactive immersive environments to create an art experience truly unlike any other. Envisioned by British-born, Hong Kong-based artist Simon Birch in collaboration with global artists from China, Hong Kong, the US, the UK and Canada, The 14th Factory asks you to step inside a nondescript seemingly abandoned warehouse located in a forgotten part of Los Angeles and follow the path it leads you down…armed with little more than the promise of experiencing a Hero’s Journey. The black box entrance greets you with a brief introduction written on the walls where you are handed a map and then let loose to discover what secrets await. Funneling onto …

Greek Easter ~ Magiritsa Soup

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Words by Christina Huntington  // Original Family Recipe by “Mama Gina” Gina Trikonis // Photography by Sarah Prikryl  In my house, we grew up celebrating Greek Easter. My mom was a Greek New Yorker who believed in keeping our family traditions alive, even as she found herself raising two native Angeleno children in the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley. We went to Greek school, Greek church, learned traditional Greek songs and Greek dances but, most importantly, we inherited the Greek way of life…a deep passion and love for food, family, friends, nature and Life itself. For Greeks, every day on Earth is a gift to be unwrapped and enjoyed, a reason to celebrate! And there is truly no bigger Greek celebration than the Anastasi! Known to Americans as “Greek Easter” or “Eastern Orthodox Easter”, many Greeks, Armenians and Russians celebrate the Easter holiday in accordance with a different calendar—which is why it often falls on a completely different weekend than when the Easter Bunny comes to visit, much to the confusion of many of my childhood …

Waterfall Hikes in LA ~ San Gabriel Mountains

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Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl Spring has officially sprung in LA! After one of our wettest winters in recent history, the waterfalls of LA are overflowing! Located just 30 minutes from the heart of the city, there are no excuses not to get out there and enjoy them. Grab your dog, grab your friends, go run around the mountains and splash in some waterfall pools like kids again. Added bonus: the hills are alive with spring wildflowers of every color! So let your inner Fräulein Maria out to play…mountaintop twirling totally optional. SWITZER FALLS~ Just a few miles into the San Gabriel Mountains past La Cañada Flintridge near Mt. Wilson, Switzer Falls is one of the most impressive waterfalls in Los Angeles. The mostly shaded Gabrielino Trail winds you next to and through a gushing stream in Arroyo Seco Canyon for the first part of the hike. (HOT TIP: you criss-cross the stream continually on your hike. Wear proper footwear and be prepared to get your feet wet…it’s part of the fun!) When you …

Travel Tales ~ Yosemite

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Words & Photography by Alex M. Rice  //  Interview by Christina Huntington Known primarily as a popular summer camping destination, we’ve always been huge fans of Yosemite in winter. So when we heard that one of our favorite recent LA transplants, designer and photographer Alex Rice, was heading to our beloved National Park for a solo winter adventure, we convinced her to let us tag along…by sharing her travel tales with us! We love that Alex was inspired by our same mission to get out and make your life an adventure! So come along for the ride on our first Travel Tales ~ YOSEMITE!  HAPPY ADVENTURING!! xoxo, Sirens & Scoundrels Instead of wearing a sparkly, uncomfortable party dress and hitting the city streets of LA for the New Year, I decided to immerse myself in nature. Although I was looking forward to the new year, 2016 had some incredible memories—living with my best friend in Washington D.C., working with talented artists and traveling with my mother to Montana. But after moving from Burke, VA (a place that was familiar …

Sounds Like Love!

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Happy Month of Love! In these parts, we like to take the entire month of February to celebrate love in ALL its forms. To kick things off right, we’d like to offer you a little mood music to help set the scene for whatever type of love you want to indulge in this month…with your self, with your partner or with the world. Anything that uplifts the heart and soul uplifts the whole world! In these chaotic times, take a moment to reconnect to the simple things that bring you joy and make you FEEL GOOD. We promise these tunes will start moving you in the right direction… DREAMY NIGHTS // MONTH OF LOVE PLAYLIST ~   And stay tuned for this month’s articles on the many ways to celebrate and spread more love in your life!  Happy Loving!! xoxo, Sirens & Scoundrels FOLLOW US ON SPOTIFY FOR EASY LISTENING FROM ANY DEVICE!~ https://play.spotify.com/user/sirensandscoundrels Be sure to subscribe to Sirens & Scoundrels for unique local, travel & food adventures delivered straight to you! Enter your email address …

Setting Goals From Your Soul

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Words by Alicia Lipinski of Quietfire Healing // Photography by Sarah Prikryl  //  Featured Photo by Gina Cholick Welcome to February, dear Sirens and Scoundrels! Around this time, you might be revisiting the goals and intentions that you set for yourself at the beginning of the year. You might be congratulating yourself for all the progress that you’ve already made or you might be berating yourself for not having done more or for already falling off the wagon. Or if you’re like me and many of my clients right now, you might see so many things that you want to change, both in your life and the world at large, that you feel paralyzed with fear and indecision and don’t know where to start. There is a very real, biological reason for this. In times of stress or panic, our sympathetic nervous system kicks in, sending our body into fight or flight mode. This response doesn’t require being chased by a bear. It can be triggered by a daily pile-up of stress at work or in your personal …

What Now? ~ Your Positive Action Plan!

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Words & Meditation by Christina Huntington // Photography & Video Images by Sarah Prikryl So that happened. We officially had a transfer of power this weekend. We now find ourselves in a nation seemingly never more divided…while simultaneously never more united. As with everything in life, it all comes and goes in seasons. Each season leads into the next in cycles we don’t have to fully understand to know that eventually life will always find a way of rebalancing itself. Amongst massive change and upheaval, it is more important than ever to find time to care for yourself and those around you. To focus on what you want to be creating, what positive forward movement you can make towards actualizing your hopes, dreams and visions into reality. It may feel like a long road ahead, but you can start with just a few small steps. Here’s a helpful guide on what to do this week and in the weeks to come to take care of your heart, your dreams & your world. SELF CARE SURVIVAL TIPS~ Just through …

Meet the Sirens~ Our One Year Anniversary!

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We have so much to celebrate! Aside from welcoming in a brand new year, we also recently rang in our one-year anniversary over here at Sirens & Scoundrels! It’s been quite a wild ride, bringing you our most beloved local, travel and food adventures every week! We are thrilled to see our readers answering the Siren call—seeking out our favorite places in your own lives. Our greatest hope is to inspire you to get out into the world in a bigger way. As Californians, we are so incredibly lucky to have all the Best of the West right at our fingertips! We can’t wait to bring you along on many more beautiful adventures this year! To celebrate our 1-Year Anniversary, we are taking a little inside look at the real Sirens behind all the adventures. We sat down for a joint interview to reflect on our favorite moments from the past year and what we are most excited to share with you in the year ahead. Thank you so much for all of your love …

Sirens Food Hacks

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Words, Video & Photography by Sarah Prikryl   Happy New Year!! In 2017, we want to inspire you to go have adventures, make some art, be present, instigate friend gatherings and always play with your food! To kick off the year, I’m sharing my most used Food Hacks to encourage you to cook up some fun. I hope this helpful video series saves you time in the kitchen and brightens your day! One of my favorite painters is Giuseppe Arcimboldo. His playful still life portraits predominately feature the close relationship between humans and nature. As a true believer in the magic found in the ordinary, Arcimboldo’s paintings inspire me to dream big in the kitchen. So without further ado, here’s my Arcimboldo-inspired love story and my Top 5 Food Hacks for some foodie fun!  (Click the arrow for some inspiration.) SARAH’S TOP 5 FOOD HACKS  Sirens Lettuce Hack The fastest and healthiest meal you can throw together is a savory and delicious salad. Did you know you can core a head of lettuce in about 3 seconds? Click the arrow to watch our Lettuce Hack Video: Sirens Onion Hack …

Mile-High Apple Pie (Gluten-Free)

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Time for gatherings and holiday festivities centered around family, friends and feasting! In late October/early November, we at Sirens & Scoundrels make our annual pilgrimage to Oak Glen, Ca. (Check out our Oak Glen adventures: HERE.) We wander through apple orchards for apple picking season, watch a mountain sunset and end the day at Apple Annie’s for a piece of Mile-High Apple Pie. Being gluten-free, I’m usually the one in the group observing all of the delight and minds being blown as friends consume a hot buttery piece of Mile-High Pie. I always ask, “How is it? How does it taste?” To which the reply is always, “Absolutely. Perfect.” The Apple Annie’s famous Mile-High Apple Pie is 5 pounds of pure apple. I’m told it’s not too sweet…a buttery, flaky piece of heaven, especially when served warm and á la mode. Partially out of pure eating envy and partially out of curiosity if I could replicate this masterpiece without actually having tasted it, I wanting to experiment with the idea of …

Mama Gina’s Greek Hummus (Vegan & Gluten-Free)

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What you are about to read is very coveted, top-secret information. As a Greek girl, hummus has always been a staple at our family table, especially on holidays, when family gatherings traditionally start with mezethes. Fresh-cubed feta cheese, Greek olives, grape leaves and creamy dips with pita bread are dug into by hand over lively conversation before moving to the table for the main meal. The star of our mezethes spread is always my mother’s homemade hummus. This recipe has been passed down from generations of Greek women, originating on the island of Samos with my grandmother’s relatives, travelling with my Yiayia to America where it settled into New York’s immigrant city blocks and finally landing with my mother in sunny Southern California and onto our suburban table. Over many years in LA, our family hummus was the favorite attraction at every gathering even before it became the de rigueur go-to Cali party snack. Many of our friends growing up were exposed to hummus for the first time at our house. But no matter how popular it …

Your De-stressing Remedy ~ Guided Gratitude Meditation

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No matter what side of the line you stand on, we can all agree it’s been a crazy few weeks for America. We find ourselves in a country incredibly divided, which for many people was shocking in its immediacy. As a meditation coach, I have been hearing non-stop stories of irreparable rifts between friends, loved ones, co-workers and family members that exploded in a seeming instant. Fear, anxiety, sorrow, heartache and anger pervade all over our social media pages and in our conversations as people fight, unfollow and unfriend each other. As a country, we are in a 24-7 argument with ourselves right now. And people are collectively exhausted. To move through this difficult time, it’s important to have some tools to help navigate these choppy waters. Now more than ever, it is vitally important to stay grounded, practice self care and connect to the things that you love to stay in balance and not get swept away in all of the emotional turmoil of the moment. So take your fingers off the keyboard, step …