Rawbin Rescues Turtle

I had a fantastic time at the 2008 Green Festival in Washington, DC. My wonderful friend, Rawbin, picked me up last Thursday and we had a nice drive back to her place in Maryland. She lives in an almost magical setting with wooded areas, horses, a goat, chickens, dogs, and cats! KDcat will not want to leave when she visits Rawbin someday. Above is a video of Rawbin rescuing a turtle that was in the middle of the road near her home.

Cupcake from Shannon Marie!

When Rawbin showed up in Pittsburgh to pick me up, she brought along a beautiful cupcake created by Shannon Marie, the famous raw food artist (that s what I call her, since her creativity when it comes to raw foods is amazing!). The cupcake was absolutely delicious! Thanks, Shannon Marie!!! (I ve written about Shannon Marie s talent in a previous post. Be sure to visit her blog, if you haven t already done so.)

Wendi Dee and Rawbin Investigate a Healthy Food Claim

Rawbin and I saw a food vendor on the side of a street in DC and the sign said, ?Eat Healthy. All Natural Snacks and Drinks. I wondered if it was false advertising, or not, so I got the video camera out and we investigated. The employee of On the Fly was very sweet and allowed us to ask him questions about the food. While none of it was fresh, they did sell some Larabars. I was impressed that much of the food was organic, but sad that none of it was fresh for a raw foodie.

Crazy Cucumber Gang: Wendi Dee, Jeff Rose, Rawbin

On Friday, Rawbin and I helped Jeff Rose, the President of Natural Zing, set up his booth at the Green Festival. When Rawbin, Jeff, and I get together there tends to be a lot of silly behavior and laughter. I love the two of them more than words can ever express. They lighten my heart and laughter bubbles up from the deepest areas of body and spill out all over the place. A long weekend is never enough time with friends like Rawbin and Jeff.

DJ and Jeff Rose

Friday evening we headed over to the Natural Zing Green Festival party that was being held at Java Green. Jeff hired a very talented musician...

Woody Lissauer

...to perform for the evening. My camera didn t capture great pictures and I m sad that I didn t get any great photos of Woody. He s a fantastic musician, so be sure to check out his site and listen to some of his music ( The Sea Rolls? is my favorite song of his). The party that evening was fun. A group of us hung out on the sidewalk outside Java Green until after midnight, talking about anything and everything. Woody is brilliant and I was impressed with how much he knows about so many subjects. He s a fun person, so if you ever have a chance to hear him perform or talk with him, don t miss it!

Joe Kennedy and Rawbin

That evening at Java Green, Joe Kennedy announced that he and Rawbin were recently named as the organizers for Raw Spirit East Coast. He presented Rawbin with her ?Raw Spirit East Coast Manager? business cards. Congratulations, Rawbin! I m sure the event is going to be rewarding for you in so many ways! Another special part of that evening was meeting Jeff s wife, Helen, and their newborn baby.

Sweet BabyTrinity

Helen has started a blog about her raw mothering, so check it out. She and Jeff are raising two beautiful, healthy Natural Zing babies!

Kris Carr and Wendi Dee

Saturday was nonstop action at the Natural Zing booth, selling all kinds of raw food supplies. I was surprised by how many people attending the festival already know about raw foods. Many are loyal customers of Natural Zing and it was nice meeting so many of them! Kris Carr, of Crazy Sexy Cancer, stopped by the booth.

Khepra, Famous Chef of Senbeb

That evening we visited a fantastic raw food restaurant that I highly recommend to anyone who lives in the DC area. Senbeb Caf? is located at 6224 3rd St. NW in Washington, DC (202.249.0917) and is worth a trip if you are close enough to get there. The food was the best raw food I ve ever tasted! The beautifully vibrant chef, Khepra, created an amazing pizza, kale salad, and curried cabbage dish. Wow! It was all so flavorful and delicious! I tried to capture a video of Khepra, but our camera isn t the best quality and the sound didn t turn out very well.

Rawbin, BlaqBerry, Wendi Dee

Sunday I met with my best friends, Mamta, Mohtarama, and Deborah for the afternoon. They live in the DC area and came to pick me up for the afternoon. I love them dearly and cherish the time we are together. I didn't capture any photos of them, since we were so busy talking and having a nice time together! Later that afternoon I returned to the festival and the fun continued with raw foodies hanging out at the Natural Zing booth. BlaqBerry showed up with her lovely husband and they did some shopping amidst talking. At the end of the day we packed up the Natural Zing booth, hung around a bit at the convention center snacking on some food Jeff left on the table, and then hung out some more before saying goodbye. It s always a fun time being around fellow raw foodies. Be sure to attend as many raw community gatherings as possible, so you can experience a similar joy in your life!

To see more pictures from my Green Festival getaway, visit our Flickr account. I've created a folder for the Green Festival weekend.

Rawbin's Farm

Sunday evening I stayed at Rawbin s home again. We walked in the woods a bit with her animals and then filmed an upcoming episode of Know Your Food! The sound quality wasn t great, but we had fun filming it and I think it s pretty entertaining. Rawbin brings a lot of humor to the show! Stay tuned to view the episode in the near future!

I ll leave you with a picture of Rawbin, captured on film when she s on a secret mission.

Rawbin on Secret Mission