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Arts & Culture SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

The Art of Holistic Design

Interior designer Rachel Larraine channels the spiritual into the material with home must-haves that speak to the spirit, mind, and body

The Art of Holistic Design
coffee table

Cozy living room designed by Larraine; the one-of-a-kind vintage coconut coffee table is from Klassik in Little Italy, klassikdesign.com contact for pricing.

After an impromptu pull of a Lucifer card from a nontraditional tarot deck, holistic interior designer Rachel Larraine says, “Every time I get that card I’m always like, ‘What am I going to get tempted to do?’”It’s a fitting question for someone whose life’s work is concerned with harnessing human desire. Larraine, who describes her style as “eclectic with a touch of seduction,” found her way to a conventional design career through unconventional practices. After all, it’s not like there’s a blueprint for building what she calls a “holistic” interior design business.Following the cancellation of a large-scale resort project she had been co-designing, she muses, “I had an opportunity to jump out on my own, so I did it.” 

Rachel

Holistic interior designer Rachel Larraine

Credit: Studio Luniste

Doing things her way meant getting certified in Feng Shui and becoming a Reiki master. “I was sort of torn between these worlds of spirituality and interior design,” she says. Suddenly, the obvious became apparent: she’d do both.Spirituality has always been part of Larraine’s milieu. “I remember buying my first amethyst when I was 10 at the Oktoberfest in La Mesa,” she reminisces, adding that her spirituality started “coming even more alive” after her oldest son’s birth in 2010. Providing more than just aesthetics, Larraine offers a curated array of design services, which includes kitchen remodels and energy healing sessions—she’ll even lay a crystal grid in the foundation of your home.All of these practices blur the lines between the material, emotional, and metaphysical. Describing her design ethos, she says, “For me, it’s about creating a space with someone’s spirit and mind and body—all encompassing.” 

seven caves

This spiked tea collab from SD makers Geoff Longnecker, of Seven Cave Spirits, and Paru Tea owner, Amy Truong, blends jasmine with white rum to create a soothing, local libation, the7caves.com $30.

glass

Industrial gear juxtapose with organic elements, like colored blown glass, in this fun fixture, linseyadelman.com $9,500.

painting

Abstract design and textural techniques coalesce in this Norwegian ex-pat’s “intuitive painting,” ellovaas.com $8,600.

cards

Self-care in 37 cards, a deck created to realign our psyche with all things somatic, serpentfire.ca coming soon to Kickstarter.

woods

Using felled trees, locals Jess and Dan use their mix of holistic training and a UCLA art degree to shape unique pieces from our regional wood, sdurbantimber.com. Contact for pricing.

oversized seat

Postmodern plush and midcentury structure align in this oversized Sandra Jordan Alpaca seater, atraform.com from $12,477.

handblown glass

This eco-friendly lip oil is encased in hand-blown glass from global artisans, kindredblack.com $98.

Danielle is a freelance culture journalist focusing on music, food, wine, hospitality, and arts, and founder-playwright of Yeah No Yeah Theatre company, based in San Diego. Her work has been featured in FLAUNT, Filter Magazine, and San Diego Magazine. Born and raised in Maui, she still loves a good Mai Tai.

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Everything SD SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

If You Grow It, They Will Follow

How influencer Kevin Espiritu’s gardening hobby became an online powerhouse for all things green

If You Grow It, They Will Follow
Courtesy of Epic Gardening
Epic Gardening Kevin Espiritu Tastemaker

Courtesy of Epic Gardening

Kevin Espiritu has never been one for convention. To pay for college, he didn’t rely on scholarships or his parents to foot the bill: instead, he played online poker and used the winnings to finance his education. Post-college, when Espiritu had graduated from playing online poker to playing video games with his brother, he felt the need to challenge himself to come up with a hobby that would take him and his brother outside and away from their screens. That challenge turned out to be gardening.“I grew up in San Diego in the Rancho Penasquitos area. I really did not grow up gardening, so it took until I was in my early twenties to start growing my first plant,” he says.

But, why gardening?“I gave my brother skateboarding, surfing, as hobbies that we could have picked up and for some reason, we gravitated toward gardening. I don’t really know why each of us chose that, but it’s just sort of just what happened,” he says.Espiritu says he started out by documenting his green-thumb journey online as a blog. As his audience grew, he expanded into YouTube and other social platforms, and eventually, an e-commerce site.

Tomato Garden Epic Gardening Kevin Espiritu Products

Courtesy of Epic Gardening

What began as a hobby has now blossomed into Epic Gardening, a one-stop-shop for growing guides and products—whether you’re looking for advice on propagating orchids or you want to learn how to plant pecan trees. And when you need to buy gardening supplies, Epic’s online store has just about everything you’d need to become a master gardener. Their bestsellers include the product that started it all: a galvanized raised garden bed. “I had featured [it] in some of my content, and everyone wanted to know where to get it. I decided, instead of telling you, why don’t I just offer it to you since no one seems to know how to get it. That’s how it started,” Espiritu says.Epic Gardening also sells seed trays, grow lights, planters, and 650 different varieties of vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. With nearly 2.5 million YouTube subscribers, 955k Instagram followers, 2.7 million TikTok followers, 673k Facebook followers, and 81k Pinterest followers, Epic Gardening’s social media presence has blossomed into influencer status.We asked Espiritu for his favorite must-have products that he can’t live without, whether in the garden or everyday life. Here are his current faves:

OluKai 'Ohana Men's Beach Sandals Epic Gardening Kevin Espiritu Products

Courtesy of OluKai

OluKai ‘Ohana Men’s Beach Sandals

$75

“I’m a flip flops guy, despite my best efforts to move to more sophisticated shoes,” he says. “[These are] easy to toss on in the garden and I like a more rugged style because I beat mine up like crazy.”

Gozney Dome Outdoor Pizza Oven Epic Gardening  Kevin Espiritu Products

Courtesy of Gozney

Gozney Dome Outdoor Pizza Oven

$1,999

“Completely changed my cooking game. I make fresh sourdough pizza and roasted garden-fresh potatoes and veggies in this a couple times a week in the summer. Great for parties, too!”

Felco Hawkbill Knife Epic Gardening  Kevin Espiritu Products

Courtesy of Felco

Felco Hawkbill Knife

from $24

“The hawkbill style knife blade makes pruning really easy, with a pulling motion towards the body. [It] makes short work of my tomato and veggie pruning tasks, along with harvesting greens, etc.”

Birdies Garden Products raised Garden Bed Epic Gardening  Kevin Espiritu Products

Courtesy of Epic Gardening

Birdies Garden Products Raised Garden Beds

from $99

“The original metal raised bed from Australia, loved by hundreds of thousands of gardeners around the world and proudly carried by us here at Epic Gardening. Aside from the gardening use case, it’s my favorite product of all time because it made Epic Gardening what it is today. Very grateful!”
This post contains affiliate links to products and services. We may receive compensation when you click on links.

Jennifer Ianni is a long-time San Diego journalist whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, PACIFIC magazine, Point Loma-OB Monthly, PB Monthly, and more. She’s a native San Diegan who loves puns, pop culture, dive bars, yoga, extra dirty martinis, walks with her dog, Luna, and hanging out with her nephew, Jay, and her niece, Siena.

People Tastemaker
Everything SD JULY 18, 2023

Influencer Blonde Abroad’s 5 Must-Have Travel Accessories

The million-mile flier dishes on her favorite products for wanderlusters

Influencer Blonde Abroad’s 5 Must-Have Travel Accessories
Courtesy of The Blonde Abroad
Blonde Abroad Kiki Rich

Blonde Abroad Kiki Rich

Courtesy of The Blonde Abroad

Kiersten “Kiki” Rich, also known by her travel influencer alias, “The Blonde Abroad,” relates with her cadre of Instagram followers (513K to be exact-ish) by sharing her own life story.“You can travel alone,” she says, empowering other women to take flight and follow their wanderlust—even if it means letting go of their current status quo.

A native of Temecula, she now calls San Diego home with her partner and small son, a big change after four years as residents of Cape Town, South Africa. Despite the romance of being an ex-pat, she says, “When my partner and I decided to put our roots down, San Diego was a pretty easy choice. It’s just such an amazing home base.”But don’t think motherhood has put the brakes on her exploration. She still frequents San Diego International Airport, passport in hand and baby in tow. “We took our first flight [together] when he was, like, two-and-a-half months old,” Kiki says.After 11 years of blogging and cataloging her adventures, Kiki has visited more than 71 countries and taken more than 500 flights (that’s nearly a million miles spent airborne!). She hopes that, for readers and followers, “my blog—and maybe my life—is a reminder that you can change. Change is good. Change is what keeps us growing.”

5 Must-Have Travel Accessories

Blonde Abroad Kiki Rich Fujifilm X-T4

Blonde Abroad Kiki Rich Fujifilm X-T4

FujiFilm X-T4  

This camera is Kiki’s preferred extra pair of eyes, but “I have a lot of resources on my blog [to help you] find the perfect camera,” she says. This digital Fujifilm lets you point and shoot like a pro with motion stabilization and face recognition for video and stills. Prices vary

Calapak Packing Cubes Kiki Rich

Calapak Packing Cubes Kiki Rich

Calapak Packing Cubes  

“I like that CalPak has usable sizes and shapes,” Kiki says. This five-piece set with 17 different color options offers breathable mesh and organizing labels to make packing (and unpacking) a breeze. $68

Monos CarryOn Pro Plus Kiki Rich

Monos CarryOn Pro Plus Kiki Rich

Monos Carry-On Pro Plus  

This chic spinner with a sturdy shell offers a TSA-approved lock and a place to slip a laptop up to 15 inches. Kiki emphasizes that “lightweight, high-quality luggage [is] worth a splurge.” $315

Lo & Sons Clairemont Bag Kiki Rich

Lo & Sons Clairemont Bag Kiki Rich

Lo & Sons Claremont Bag 

Kiki recommends this “stylish purse that also fits a camera.” Start your own influencing empire with the right gear to stash your DSLR (or your passport) in a flash. $220

TRTL Travel Pillow Kiki Rich

TRTL Travel Pillow Kiki Rich

TRTL Travel Pillow  

According to travel brand TRTL, this scarf-style pillow is “scientifically proven” to prevent stiff necks and sore shoulders. Kiki loves it for long flights because it’s comfortable, packs down well, and is easy to wash. $50
This post contains affiliate links to products and services. We may receive compensation when you click on links.

Danielle is a freelance culture journalist focusing on music, food, wine, hospitality, and arts, and founder-playwright of Yeah No Yeah Theatre company, based in San Diego. Her work has been featured in FLAUNT, Filter Magazine, and San Diego Magazine. Born and raised in Maui, she still loves a good Mai Tai.

Tastemaker
Features MARCH 22, 2023

Local Boutique Owner Shares Her Current Must-Haves

Tijuana local Verónica Hernández discusses her favorite Mexican-designed picks to add to your repertoire

Local Boutique Owner Shares Her Current Must-Haves
Courtesy of Verónica Hernández
veronica-hernandez-sdm-0323.jpg

veronica-hernandez-sdm-0323.jpg

Courtesy of Verónica Hernández

The creative eye behind Object, “an intercultural platform that promotes Mexican design,” Verónica Hernández has a style that draws a connection between spirituality, functionality, and comfort. As the owner of a Tijuana-based, brick-and-mortar-slash-online store carrying styles from Mexican designers, Hernández doesn’t sell anything of which she’s not personally a fan.

“I’m anti-classic brands,” Hernández says, opening up about her aesthetics, adding, “I look for smaller brands that the entire world doesn’t know about.” She also hosts Mexico Curated, a series of guided cultural tours in Baja California, meaning that whatever she puts on her own back should also be comfortable and elevated enough for bigger crowds and varied energies.

This philosophy lives on at Object—a space shared with Hernández’s second business, a boutique real estate firm called 9 Lamat—and in her wardrobe, as well. When she finds a good item, like, say, her favorite perfume made in Mexico, she sticks to it for the long run since she’s tried it and is “100 percent convinced” by it.

“If I find something I like, chances are I won’t change it. These are things I use every day that make me feel good,” Hernández says.

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Journeying Inward

Inward, by Yung Pueblo, is a book Hernández carries around, especially when traveling from Ensenada to Tijuana. The book, which has “existential themes,” was given to Hernández by a friend. She likes to pick a random page and see what message the book has for her that day. From $15.80.

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Unisex Scents

For All Folks—a Mexican brand carried at Hernández’s shop—makes a unisex perfume stick with 100 percent essential oils that can be shared by couples. She frequently re-stocks in-store and at home because its essences, aside from being aromatic, have healing properties that give good energy. “It smells good and it makes you feel good,” she says. From $43.

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2023-03-02_Digital_Tastemaker_Images-2.png

Slot Anywhere

A piece of furniture she calls “thin, versatile, and special,” the 3-Level Platform by La Metropolitana is adjustable and can be used to store everything from dishware to books, advises Hernández. She thinks it’s a good investment piece that can easily be moved from room to room if you’re feeling creative. From $928.

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The Ultimate Staple

During a sourcing trip to San Francisco in search of items to add to her store, Hernández discovered UZI NYC, a clothing brand selling mainly oversized tunic dresses. The “star product” of the brand, as she calls it, is the versatile black Box Dress—she has three. $143.

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2023-03-02_Digital_Tastemaker_Images-4.png

Keeping it Local

A Tijuana-based artist and friend of Hernández’s, Jaime Ruiz Otis painted “Atrás del Cerro Azul,” an abstract piece in which he explores his personal life. Hernández made Otis’s work the first painting she ever bought. “I fell in love with the painting when I saw it. I even took it to Italy when I lived there,” she says. Contact for pricing.

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2023-03-02_Digital_Tastemaker_Images-5.png

A Hat for All Seasons

“I’m always wearing the same hat,” Hernández shares about her Jipi-Japa Ko Hat by Lordag Song. Another item she carries in store, this made-to-order, hand-woven hat has withstood the test of time thanks to its flexible, artisanal fibers that can be molded to fit anyone, even years later. From $115.

Roxana Becerril is a Mexican-American writer living in San Diego. When she's not traveling or checking out the newest restaurant in the city, she covers art, culture, lifestyle and Latino topics.

Tastemaker
Studio S JULY 17, 2026

NOW CFO: Specialized Financial Solutions for San Diego Businesses

NOW CFO provides scalable, on-demand accounting and finance support to companies ranging from pre-revenue startups to billion-dollar businesses

NOW CFO: Specialized Financial Solutions for San Diego Businesses

Entrepreneurs typically launch businesses because they’re passionate about a product or service, not because they want to manage its finances. While working to carve out a niche in their respective industries and drive their companies forward, many business owners find themselves bogged down by day-to-day accounting. Their existing accounting tools don’t provide the necessary visibility or insight, and they don’t have the time or resources to hire additional staff or a chief financial officer. That’s where NOW CFO comes in. 

For more than 20 years, NOW CFO has been pairing businesses across the country with experienced accounting and finance professionals. Its outsourced model allows clients to customize solutions that match their individual needs, size, and financial challenges, whether that’s fractional or interim support, project-based services, or full-time placement. 

NOW CFO’s clients range from startups preparing for rapid growth to established companies that need additional financial leadership without the commitment or expense of building an in-house team. However, many of these companies don’t fully understand their needs until they experience a “trigger” event: preparing for an acquisition or capital raise, navigating a first-time audit, or another period of transition. With a team of over 300 consultants nationwide, NOW CFO can start quickly and match the right expert to the right business. 

“It’s important for companies to have financial visibility, and we can help them avoid a lot of the potholes that companies often run into,” says Mariah Block, a partner at NOW CFO’s San Diego branch. “Roughly half of our clients have an in-house finance person or department, and we’re resourced for more bandwidth when they need an extra set of hands at the staff or senior accountant level, or the controller or CFO level. Some clients use this a few hours a month and others use multiple people close to full-time. Our model is solution-based and customizable. We’re like a faucet you can turn on and off.” 

With NOW CFO, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Solutions are based on the client’s individual goals, challenges, needs, and budget, meaning a client never pays for more than they need. Whether it’s a few hours of executive-level guidance or a full accounting team to support daily operations, NOW CFO meets businesses where they are and grows alongside them. 

“We pride ourselves on providing our clients with the right resources at the right rate and being able to evolve as their needs evolve,” says Block. 

And clients appreciate on-demand access to cost-effective support designed to improve performance and profitability.

Luxury car storage service Auto Concierge has partnered with NOW CFO to support growth over the past year. The arrangement began with a staff accountant who covered a leave of absence, but as the client’s needs changed, they also added a controller role. This allowed Auto Concierge to put effective processes in place and navigate operational challenges. Lori Church, Auto Concierge’s chief operating officer, says NOW CFO has been an “outstanding resource” and a “true strategic partner.” 

“From the controller to the bookkeeper, every professional they’ve placed has brought a high level of expertise, responsiveness, and professionalism to our organization. Their team took the time to understand our business of high-profile clients and needs, adapted quickly to our fast-paced environment, and became a trusted extension of our team,” she says. “As Auto Concierge continues to grow, having a reliable financial partner like NOW CFO has allowed us to strengthen our financial and business operations while remaining focused on delivering exceptional service to our clients.” 

Partner Content
Features FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Redefining San Diego’s Cultural Palate

ICA’s executive director Andrew Ütt invites locals to surround themselves with art

Redefining San Diego’s Cultural Palate
andrew-utt-sdm-0223.jpg

Andrew Ütt, ICA Director

Andrew Ütt, executive director of the Institute of Contemporary Art of San Diego (ICA), formerly the LUX Art Institute, is a rare breed in the visual art world.

Though intensely passionate and loquacious regarding the finer points of curation, Ütt eschews pretense. He’s approachable, affable, and, most importantly, he gets it: Art can be hard—especially in a city where tan lines can act as social currency and sandy feet are kudos to a day well spent.

Can the likes of Baldessari really compete with the beach? Ütt is optimistic but aware of the cultural challenges.

His calling card as a curator is his proclivity for studio visits with artists, which have clocked him hundreds—if not thousands—of hours interviewing makers and getting to the core of their visions.

“I think something we’re missing in San Diego that has a huge potential is to just surround ourselves with art,” he says. “We’re getting there.” Through his guidance, ICA’s dual locations in Balboa Park and Encinitas offer that chance to be surrounded: Both locations feature art classes and exhibitions from artists-in-residence.

“I think if San Diego wants to be an arts destination, and wants to be known as such, we need to be thinking as a global city and not as a local city,” he says.

A prodigal San Diego son himself, Ütt returned to the city after a post-art school stint in San Francisco and years abroad in Europe and South America. These travels, combined with his 20-years of experience in curation and arts organization, make Ütt seem like the most likely candidate to take our city to that lauded echelon. Tinged with altruistic ambition, he admits, “It’s my responsibility to bring in artists that are doing interesting things.”

Ütt hopes that with ICA’s broad reach throughout the county he can make art accessible, informative, and, yes, challenging. “I’m a true believer that if someone doesn’t like art, then it’s working,” he says, “and that’s a good thing because then they start to be more aware and cognizant of the things around them and the ideas that are being presented.”

He’s not asking you to give up the beach, just to give art a chance, too.

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Lose yourself in the layered pattern paintings of artist Taylor Chapin, taylorchapin.com.

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Woodland creatures laze in the center of these ceramic bowls overlayed with blown-up florals, jongeriuslab.com.

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Liven up your living space with ceramic tube-and-glass tables finished with swirling post-modern pastels, hyunuko.com $7,200.

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Lounge in artist Chris Wolston’s conceptual, anatomical nod to non- Western art-making, chriswolston.com.

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Tikal green marble half-spheres conjoin to make this striking living room centerpiece, thefutureperfect.com $32,000.

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Reflect on yourself in these languid mirror shapes, bower-studios.com $4,500.

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Keep track with this surrealism-meets-animation timepiece, woodyothello.com.

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Artist Darren Romanelli (DRX) upcycles camo for oversized, sustainable comfort, friedmanbenda.com $25,000.

Danielle is a freelance culture journalist focusing on music, food, wine, hospitality, and arts, and founder-playwright of Yeah No Yeah Theatre company, based in San Diego. Her work has been featured in FLAUNT, Filter Magazine, and San Diego Magazine. Born and raised in Maui, she still loves a good Mai Tai.

People Tastemaker
Neighborhoods APRIL 20, 2022

How Mariah Hoffman Built Her Dream Tiny Home by Hand in Lemon Grove

Plus, eight essential items that help her get into a creative headspace

How Mariah Hoffman Built Her Dream Tiny Home by Hand in Lemon Grove
Stacy Keck
Tastemaker Mariah Hoffman - tiny home

Designer, builder and DIY pro Mariah Hoffman outside her 156-square-foot home in Lemon Grove

Stacy Keck

OCCUPATION: Designer, Maker, Tiny House Coach

AGE: 31

NEIGHBORHOOD: Lemon Grove

Mariah Hoffman sees in blueprint. The self-taught designer, builder, and DIY pro has ever since she was a kid, when she sketched out the plans of her home on a whim after discovering a crack in the wall that let her see through to another room. It got her thinking small, about how every square inch of a structure matters, how the “big reveal” is actually thousands of tiny, crucial details.

It also explains where she’s living now: a house in Lemon Grove that she put the finishing touches on in late 2020. The average one-car garage is 200 square feet. Her home is 156.

“Without any actual blueprints,” Hoffman laughs. “Which I don’t recommend.”

She started back in 2016 after becoming fascinated with a tiny home she’d come across in Northern California. The owner had built it herself, and allowed Hoffman a look inside. Architecture had piqued Hoffman’s interest at that point, but she was stuck in a creative rut and unsure of her next steps. “That’s when it all clicked,” she says. “I wanted that tangible, hands-on experience to see how it all came together.”

Building her home—a grueling, emotional, five-year effort that landed her in Dwell—inspired her current work, coaching others interested in building their own tiny homes or small ADUs (accessory dwelling units). She teaches one-hour mini-sessions and six-week courses, walking aspiring microtects through the whys and hows of shaping inches until they become a functional place to live. She refers to it as a journey back to one’s self.

“It’s a really liberating, transformative process, uncovering the significance of ‘home’ and a person’s relationship to their space,” she says.

Safety, agency, intentional minimalism—they’re the grounding forces behind Hoffman’s approach to design. Within the tiny house movement, these principles speak to a bigger conversation about representation and accessibility that Hoffman hopes to expand on in her own work, through other builders of color, and makers in general.

Mariah Hoffman - at work

Mariah Hoffman – at work

Julie Blair

“Creatively, I want to continue to push the boundaries of how we think about housing and sustainability and accessibility,” she says. “It starts with understanding those worlds and these materials and how they come together.”

Hoffman extends that perspective to the rest of her creative work—making mod-inspired jewelry from acrylic waste, dabbling in watercolor, and building functional furniture. In February, she relaunched her Cubica table, a modular wooden piece that can be used as a portable coffee table at home, for picnics, or on a weekend camping trip.

Back home, the work is never truly finished. She has mental blueprints for a rooftop deck, and wants to build out the front porch beyond the nuts-and-bolts foundation she currently has in place. For now, she’s content to explore the unique nooks that have naturally formed in her space, like the multipurpose desk beside her bed where she can read, work, and soak up the mindful solitude in a home made by hand.

@micro.modula

Tastemaker
Partner Content JULY 10, 2026

Health & Wellness Summer 2026

It’s a Self-Care Summer. Because your best self is our favorite self.

Health & Wellness Summer 2026

If you’re anything like us, it can be easy to get so caught up in taking care of everyone else, that your own needs get lost in the ether. But while this may be a cliché, that doesn’t make it any less true: You can’t give your best self to other people unless you’re taking care of yourself.

Sometimes, that looks like stopping in for your regular acupuncture or chiropractic appointment. Other days, it means giving your body the fresh, organic fuel it needs to truly feel and function at its best. And some other times still, it involves leaving your responsibilities behind for a weekend to pamper yourself at an incredible resort and spa.

Only you can decide what your truly need. We’re just here to help you find the best ways to get it.

Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa

Island living meets desert luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells. When you step onto the 11-acre property, you’ll be surrounded by sweeping view of the Santa Rosa Mountains with olive trees and fragrant citrus groves decorating the grounds. In other words, everything about this relaxed but refined resort is primed to help you let go of the stress from home and enjoy easy sun-soaked days and gorgeous starry nights.

The rooms blend calming, woven textures with Tommy Bahama’s signature tropical prints and feature private lanais, making it easy unwind the moment you walk in the door. If you book one of the four Villa Suites, you’ll be treated to exclusive Tommy Bahama furniture and unique personal touches to further that feeling of instant ease.

At the award-winning Spa Rosa, the expert team will help reset and recharge your body and mind using methods and rituals inspired by the desert. The 12,000-square-foot retreat includes outdoor soaking pools, eucalyptus steam rooms, and outdoor cabanas, as well as massages, facials, and body masks—all aimed at creating a day dedicated to you. We’re particularly partial to the Day Long Escape, an indulgent all-day affair of CDBs soaks, renewing scrubs, life changing massages, and transformative facials.

Following your treatment, continue the experience with a meal on the patio at Grapefruit Basil. We love the Hamachi Crudo, a light, citrus-forward dish featuring premium yellowtail, house-made ponzu, creamy avocado, and fresh seasonal garnishes.

Whether you’re strolling the gardens, relaxing beside its saltwater pools, or indulging in a restorative treatment, you’ll be able to escape in style and relax in luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa.

Healcove Chiropractic

There’s no shortage of ways to stay active in San Diego—but if you really want to enjoy everything the city has to offer, you’ve got to make sure you’re giving your body its tune-ups. Enter: Healcove Chiropractic. The board-certified chiropractors and wellness professionals at Healcove are experts at addressing that stage where you’re not injured, exactly, but you’re not at 100%, either. Maybe you’re feeling a bit tense or stressed out. Or it could be that you’re not quite moving the way you want to. Sometimes, it’s just that the accumulation of days, weeks, or even years of daily strain is starting to take a toll. No matter what stage you find yourself at, the Healcove Chiropractic team can provide integrated, preventative care centered on long-term, science-backed approaches that ensure you can always stay active and live the life you want to live pain-free.

This starts by providing truly individualized care. Every patient can expect a thorough 60-minute consultation session that includes a posture and movement screening. This allows the team to develop a completely personalized plan. That plan might include chiropractic care, acupuncture, or massage therapy, as well as functional fitness training, vibration and sound therapy, and Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization, a clinical rehabilitation method that retrains the body’s stabilization systems. Whatever the team recommends, you can be sure that it’s tailored to meeting your body’s needs today and the future.

There’s a reason that San Diego Magazine named Healcove the “Best Chiropractor in San Diego”—don’t wait until you’re struggling with an injury to find out why. Book an appointment today for holistic, integrated care that helps ground and heal your body before it reaches a crisis point. 

Juice Holler

West Coast wellness culture meets the community feel of Southern Appalachia at Juice Holler. Juice Holler’s menu consists of made-to-order smoothies and smoothie bowls, as well as grab-and-go cold-pressed juices, wellness shots, salads, and more. It operates from the blissfully simple premise that fueling up with food and drink that’s guilt-free and good your body should be simple, accessible, and, above all else, delicious. And if you haven’t yet made it out to the Encinitas café, which opened just this year, let us be the first to tell you: Juice Holler delivers on each and every of these fronts.

We love the Supercharger smoothie, a mood-lifting and body-fueling option made with banana, almond butter, blue spirulina, maca, grass-fed whey protein, raw cacao nibs, medjool dates, and coconut milk. We’re also partial to the Thrive Alive smoothie bowl, where avocado, mango, sea moss, spirulina, mint, coconut milk, and agave are mixed and topped with coconut, chia seeds, strawberry, mango, and chocolate drizzle. The wellness shots include the Detoxifier, a cleansing blend of kale, cucumber, lemon and spirulina, plus a shot specially designed to fight inflammation (named, fittingly, Anti-Inflammation). Probiotic overnight oats, lemon turmeric bars, and strawberry shortcake chia pudding are other standouts on the grab-and-go menu.

Much of the vibe feels beachy North County chic—think green tile with orange and pink accents, grounded with greenery and natural wood—but Juice Holler founder Kelly Sergott, a longtime Encinitas local, has also enfused the space with her Kentucky roots. In Appalachia, a holler is small valley between hills and mountains, where nature reigns, community is king, and nourishment comes right from the land. At Juice Holler, Sergott has created a holler for the busy modern times, using local ingredients to create a spot for people to come together and enjoy fresh, fast, feel-good fuel for their day.

Everwell Acupuncture

We’ve all had that experience with a medical professional where we’ve felt rushed, ignored, or misunderstood—and ultimately, like we didn’t get the answers that we needed. But at Everwell, the holistic acupuncture practice located in Solana Beach, the care team wants to transform your understanding of what healthcare can look like.

Patients at Everwell experience care rooted in intentional listening and radical empathy—and trust us, those aren’t just corporate buzzwords. This place actually puts those ideas into practice. You will always be given the time you need to tell your story— initial in-take appointments are two hours long—and you can rest assured that your story will be believed. Every single question and concern will be addressed by a dedicated practitioner who wants to find the specific solutions that work best for you, and you’ll receive care that’s aimed at healing the body, mind, and spirit.

Everwell’s highly trained, doctorate-level practitioners blend evidence-based acupuncture with the practice of classical Chinese medicine. (If you’ve never tried acupuncture before or aren’t sure if the team will be a fit, we’d highly recommended Everwell’s complimentary 20-minute consultations.) Research shows that by stimulating specific points on the body, acupuncture activates a natural healing response in the body, helping to restore balance, regulate the nervous system, and improve overall wellbeing. This allows the practice to address an incredibly wide range of conditions from chronic pain and autoimmune disorders to digestive issues, from stress and burnout to headaches migraines, fertility and postpartum struggles, hormonal imbalances, sleep concerns and more.

At Everwell, you can expect to feel heard, trusted, respected, and cared for. This is a space that doesn’t want to be just another healthcare provider you visit; it wants to provide patients with dedicated partner who will be there for their entire health journey.

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1230 Columbia Street, Suite 800,

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