Adventure Wednesday, plus good news from my doc!

I had a doctor appointment yesterday morning, where we found out that my blood pressure is firmly in the "normal" range.  This is great, and it means I have a new non-scale victory on my weight loss journey...

Goodbye, little hypertension pill!

After my doc visit and my haircut, Tom and I headed down to Orange County, where we were picking up Tom's editing deck from our friend Erik.  While chatting with him briefly, he mentioned a restaurant he'd been to that he thought we might like.  I believe he said "you'll find it at The Camp with a bunch of other hippie stores."  This is amusing if you know Erik, as he is not a hippie in any sense of the word. But he does know that we are borderline-granola, so his recommendation was an excellent one!

We went into this situation blind - we had no idea what he meant by "The Camp."  So, hello, Adventure Wednesday!  We were on our way.

It turns out to be the country's first eco-friendly mall, featuring unique architecture, rooftop plants to reduce energy useage, and other nontraditional retail elements.  One rarely feels compelled to photograph a shopping center - even an open-air one - but I loved it, and was a total shutterbug.

The Camp has such a unique, rustic feel - you almost forget you're in a mall.

Thanks to my out-of-whack electrolytes (sorry, Nurse Sarah, I should have listened to you when you said "they're going to take a lot of blood, so you should drink some smartwater after") we headed straight for the restaurant Erik recommended.  Native Foods is a vegan cafe with a range of clean-food options.

I thought their beverage coolers looked refreshing!

So I had an iced tea while we waited for our dinner. It was described as hibiscus-berry, but it turned out to be
heavier on the berry than the hibiscus, alas. (I love me some hibiscus.) Still tasty, though.

Tom had the Ensalada Azteca, with avocado, cucumber, jicama, quinoa, lettuce, and mango-lime vinaigrette.

I had the Portobello "Sausage Burger," which is neither a sausage nor a burger. Discuss.
(It was actually seitan with mushrooms, caramelized onions, garlic, and pomodoro.)
Delicious... but more "clean/unprocessed" healthy than "portion size" healthy.

Neither of us had the cupcakes in the cooler, but they looked so well-frosted that I had to show you.

From there we headed out to explore the rest of The Camp. Check out that cool tree sculpture!

Even the trash was well-themed. Like a Disneyland trash can, but more succulent(s).

The stairs to a Bikram yoga center had a to-do list that sounded kind of peaceful.

The wine bar sported this excellent upcycled chandelier out front.

There was a fresh veggie garden among the stores.

Plus there were several places to relax, including a hammock, and this little sheltered nook.

View of the nook's roof, complete with natural soda bottle chandelier. (Mm, Boylan's.)

Loved these light fixtures outside of the Italian restaurant...

...and these bench seats, which may or may not be from tractors?

A store called Purre had beautiful displays! They were very kind about my photographing.

Another neat Purre display.

I loved the glass jug being used for a headband display!

Another awesome store, Seed People's Market, had this very cool vending machine with plantable seeds.

The sign on top of the vending machine made us laugh.

They have a strict no-photo policy for the original arts/crafts they sell, but I snagged a picture of their book display.

A succulent florist operates out of a retro trailer. I wanted to take everything home!

Especially this pot of tiny succulents.

I leave you with these sentiments - good advice courtesy of The Camp parking lot.