Are you fed up trying all the latest fad diets?

Does your outside you reflect the inside you?

Do you wish you had more energy?

Would you like to sleep better?

Are your moods scattered?

Do you feel like there just should be more to life?

Does your life lack vitality, passion and/or purpose?

Hello, my name is Shivie and if you answered yes to one or more of the above I can relate to what you are feeling.  I have been there too.

You see I felt ALL of these things and more.  Ten years ago I was practicing corporate law, earning 6 figures.  I was, in the eyes of society, “successful”.  Yet, in my personal life I was a disaster.  Looking at myself in the mirror I constantly marveled that the outside did not match the inside.

I was 200lbs (at 5’4”), often sick and hositalized 2-3 times a year.  I never felt well just "not as sick as usual".  This became my norm.

I turned to alcohol and recreational drugs to numb the sensation of emptiness that I felt on such a deep level yet had no name for.

And then a sequence of events happened and I found myself on the other side of law (no, not in jail but no longer a practicing lawyer).  After nearly dying in a house fire two days before September 11, I decided to leave the practice of law to pursue a life with more meaning.

I did not know what that life looked like at the time but I did know that it did not look like the one I was living.  And then I had the faith that anything had to be better than that and took the leap.

I went from six figures one year to $19,000 the next.  Lawyer to nanny.  From inside an office to outside in the park.  From sick and tired to inspired and vibrant.  From financially rich to financially challenged. From sad to gloriously happy. AND I LOST OVER 60LBS and 60” on my body!

I finally had time to breathe. I was inspired by the beauty with which I was surrounded.  I stopped trying to work from the outside in and decided to try something new (that stuff was NOT working for me!).  I trained to be a Kundalini yoga teacher, the following year I did my massage certification.  I spent time reading and talking with friends.  I gave up the tv and took up life.

A friend inspired me to start cooking differently.  Growing up in England I was a meat kinda girl (I did not care for the vegetables at all other than potatoes and mushrooms).  I did not know how to cook vegan even though I no longer wanted to eat meat. I now want to be that spark for others.

Armed with a couple of recipes I soon developed my own and started devouring cookbooks.  I lost weight, my mind cleared, my skin was more radiant, my energy increased, I no longer went to the doctor, I felt competent in my life choices…over time when looked in the mirror the outside started to look like the inside.

And now 9 years later I am writing this to you on the eve of the launch of our dream: to bring healthy, delicious, vibrant food to people.  We are proud to soon be serving at the Point Richmond and Livermore Farmers Markets.  Please call by and see our tasty healthy vegan offerings, including Sumptious Smoothies, Inspired Wraps and Rolls, Decadent Deserts and Pantry Favorites.  We would love to see you.

Make it a RAWsome day

Shivie and Cemaaj (The Cook and The Butler!)