CompleteIssueSLOLifeDecJan18LR

SLO

LIFE

agazine

SURFERS

DREAM

NOW

HEAR

THIS

ON THE

RISE

COASTAL

CONSERVAT

slolifemagazine.com

DEC/JAN 2018

CENTRAL COAST

REAL ESTATE

TEA

TIME

NEWS

BRIEFS

SALT

SOLUTION

MEET

MAUREEN VAZQUEZ

STICKING TO HER DREAMS

& PLAYING FOR KEEPS

DEC/JAN 2018 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | 1

2 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | DEC/JAN 2018



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SLO LIFE

magazine

CONTENTS

Volume

8

Number 6

Dec/Jan 2018

42

MAUREEN VAZQUEZ

Creativity and confidence

combine making this entrepreneur

a fun-filled force of nature.

14

16

18

22

Publisher’s Message

Info

Contributors

On the Cover


24

34

36

38

In Box

Briefs

Timeline

View


| CONTENTS

40

52

Q&A

With 35 years under his belt at the San

Luis Obispo Air Pollution Control District,

LARRY ALLEN discusses the good, the

bad, and the ugly of our local air quality.

Now Hear This

After committing to music full time and making

a name for himself locally, RICKY MONTIJO

prepares for his upcoming tour.

74

80

82

Health

The low sodium diet may not be all it’s cracked up to

be. After reading “The Salt Fix,” our staff confirms some

positive results from adding a little extra of the white

stuff to their daily meals.

Storytellers’ Corner

New York Times bestselling author FRANZ WISNER

answers the question he is most often asked: How do I

write a memoir? Answer: Just do it.

Outdoors

Finding the perfect barrel is the stuff of surfers’ dreams

and SHAWN TRACHT is happy to engage in the hunt.

54

62

66

68

Dwelling

Looking to escape the valley heat,

RUSTY and PAM SCHOTT poured

creative energy into remodeling their

family’s Pismo Beach bungalow.

Real Estate

We share the year-to-date statistics

of home sales for both the City and the

County of San Luis Obispo.

On the Rise

The same energy STEPHEN ZAGRODNY

channels into running track and cross

country can be seen when he directs

theatre at San Luis Obispo High School.

Family

A leisurely afternoon spent at the Central

Coast Aquarium proves to be the perfect

outing for PADEN HUGHES and her little girl.

84

92

94

96

Taste

Never one to turn down a steaming cup of herbal-infused

goodness, JAIME LEWIS explores the Central Coast’s

tea houses.

Kitchen

Salty and sweet and what a treat, CHEF JESSIE RIVAS

shares one of his holiday favorites—brined pork topped

with dried apricot mostarda.

Brew

’Tis the season to try a new flavor and BRANT MYERS

obliges by introducing us to the dark beers that make

up the winter selection.

Happenings

Looking for something to do? We’ve got you covered.

Check out the calendar to discover the best events

around the Central Coast in December and January.


Where Old World Charm

Meets New World Style

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from DEC/JAN the 2018 SLO | LIFE Airport.

MAGAZINE | 13

| PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

Ab Lounge

I have a friend who likes to say, “Life is mostly lived inside your own head.” And I think, for the most part,

he’s right.

This is always the time of the year that I go deeper inside of my own head than I usually do. That little voice

is talking to me a lot more these days, highlighting my shortcomings and pretty much narrating my life. That

was such a dumb thing to say; why’d you say that?... Seriously, man, you’ve got to exercise more… Is pro wrestling

really fake?... You’re just an old dad now, dude, and kids don’t think Nirvana is cool anymore. Like a lot of people,

I’m looking back at the year that was and thinking about how I can become a better version of myself in the

year ahead. It’s always an interesting period of reflection, evaluation, renewal, and hopefulness.

Lately, I have been contemplating the concept of New Year’s Resolutions. We’ve all had experience with

them. And, what is the common theme? They generally don’t work. For instance, the time I bought a piece

of exercise equipment called the Ab Lounge for “just a few EZ Payments” so that I could develop rock-hard,

six-pack abs like the guy in the infomercial. By the second week of January, my wife caught me reclined back

on that thing drinking a beer while watching a football game in the garage.

This year, however, I know what I am doing because I have figured out my own head after reading a fascinating book called “The Power of Habit: Why

We Do What We Do in Life and Business.” The book, written by New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg, starts with a brief story that summarizes the

essential premise for making pretty much whatever change you would like to make in life, regardless of what is going on in your own head. Of all things,

Duhigg begins by talking about his time as a journalist in Iraq. There he encountered a major in the U.S. Army based in the small city of Kufa who was

struggling to quell the violent protests that broke out with alarming frequency.

The major became obsessed with this issue, and studied videotape of the events just as a defensive coordinator from the NFL would study the film of

the opposing team’s games prior to Sunday’s contest. After looping the tape over and over again, he observed that riots were always preceded by a crowd

of rowdy Iraqis gathering in the plaza, swelling in size over a few hours, and later the food vendors would show up to feed the hungry protestors. Then,

invariably, someone would throw a bottle and bedlam would ensue.

Do you know how the major solved the problem? He sat down with Kufa’s mayor, shared his hypothesis, and then made a request: “Could you please keep

the food vendors out of the plaza?” A few days later, an unruly crowd showed up again, looked around for the kebabs as they normally did at that hour—it

was dinnertime, after all—and found none. By eight o’clock the angry mob, now hungry and dispirited, headed for home. The habit was broken.

Duhigg goes on to explain that all habits begin with a cue. In this case, eating together in the plaza until someone chucked a bottle, which was then

followed by a routine, the rioting. Finally, the author argues, there must also be a reward for any habit to stick. With the Kufa riots, the major noted that

they had become a strange sort of street festival, a type of violent farmers’ market. People ate, drank, threw rocks, and blew stuff up. For many, it was

great entertainment and hundreds of townspeople showed up to take in the show. The cue initiated the routine, which then resulted in the reward.

With the mechanics of habits identified, Duhigg then shares several different examples of this feedback loop in action. Take Pepsodent toothpaste, for

instance. As it turns out, Americans, early in the twentieth century, were not too keen on brushing their teeth. The toothpaste of the day was bland, and

many suspected that it wasn’t actually doing anything anyway. An especially shrewd ad man named Claude C. Hopkins changed all of that with his

message suggesting that people run their tongue over their teeth to feel the sticky film (the cue), brush with Pepsodent, the only one with minty flavor

(the routine), and then feel the tingle (the reward). It was a brilliant advertising campaign that rocketed Pepsodent to massive commercial success, while

also spawning dozens of copycats who all, to this day, add ingredients not to improve our dental hygiene, but to create a better tingle—the reward—that

you and I seek.

So now that we understand habits and how to access the circuitry inside our own heads to create useful ones, as well as drop the bad ones, we are in

good shape heading into 2018. For me, the first thing I am going to do in the New Year, taking the lead from the army major, is to start by eliminating

any cues that initiate bad habits—anyone interested in a gently used Ab Lounge?

I would like to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to everyone who has had a hand in producing this issue of SLO LIFE Magazine and, most of all,

to our advertisers and subscribers—we couldn’t do it without you. And, to you and your family, my best wishes for a happy holiday season and a healthy

and prosperous 2018.

Live the SLO Life!

Tom Franciskovich

tom@slolifemagazine.com


TILE SHOWROOM & NATURAL STONE SLAB YARD

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SLO LIFE

magazine

4251 S. HIGUERA STREET, SUITE 800, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA

SLOLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

info@slolifemagazine.com

(805) 543-8600 • (805) 456-1677 fax

PUBLISHER

Tom Franciskovich

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Sheryl Disher

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Paden Hughes

Dawn Janke

Jaime Lewis

Brant Myers

Jessie Rivas

Shawn Tracht

Franz Wisner

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Brad Hackleman

Jason Martin

Mark Nakamura

Vanessa Plakias

Jon Reis

Alexandra Wallace

Chris Willis

CONTRIBUTIONS

Have some comments or feedback about something you’ve read here?

Or, do you have something on your mind that you think everyone should

know about? Submit your story ideas, events, recipes, and announcements

by visiting us online at slolifemagazine.com and clicking “Share Your Story” or

emailing us at info@slolifemagazine.com. Be sure to include your full name

and city for verification purposes. Contributions chosen for publication may

be edited for clarity and space limitations.

ADVERTISING

If you would like to advertise, please contact Tom Franciskovich by phone

at (805) 543-8600 or by email at tom@slolifemagazine.com or visit us

online at slolifemagazine.com/advertise and we will send you a complete

media kit along with testimonials from happy advertisers.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Ready to live the SLO Life all year long? It’s quick and easy! Just log on to

slolifemagazine.com/subscribe. It’s just $24.95 for the year. And don’t

forget to set your friends and family up with a subscription, too. It’s the

gift that keeps on giving!

NOTE

The opinions expressed within these pages do not necessarily reflect those of

SLO LIFE Magazine. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole

or in part without the express written permission of the publisher.

CIRCULATION, COVERAGE AND ADVERTISING RATES

Complete details regarding circulation, coverage and advertising rates,

space, sizes and similar information are available to prospective

advertisers. Please call or email for a media kit. Closing date is 30 days

before date of issue.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

info@slolifemagazine.com

4251 S. Higuera Street, Suite 800

San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Letters chosen for publication may be edited for clarity and space limitations.



| CONTRIBUTORS

PADEN HUGHES writer

Nickname Payday

Favorite movie quote “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn….”

(Rhett Butler, Gone with the Wind)

Currently on my playlist ILYSB by LANY and my daughter’s

favorite: The Fighter by Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood

Reading The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by

Dethmer, Chapman, and Klemp

If you could invite one person from history to dinner

Jesus—I have a lot of questions I’d like to ask

A celebrity you think is lame Harvey Weinstein or Kevin Spacey

Someday I will travel to all seven continents

I secretly want to live a ranch life with horses

DAWN JANKE writer

My New Year’s Resolution is to spread more love

Spirit animal La Loba

Currently on my playlist Led Zeppelin

Reading The Secret History of Twin Peaks

Dream car 1974 Alfa Romeo Duetto

If you could invite one person from history to dinner

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Someday I will live on the Amalfi Coast

If you could live in a fictional TV home The Addams Family Manor

Favorite ice cream flavor Talenti Fudge Brownie

JAIME LEWIS writer

Currently on my playlist Whitest Boy Alive, Bon Iver, Local Natives, Beastie Boys

Favorite concert Rage Against The Machine, Coachella, 2007

Reading the biography of Joni Mitchell, Reckless Daughter

If you could ask your pet just one question I’d ask our chickens how they feel

when we take their eggs every morning

Comfort food meatloaf sandwich with cornichons, all the way

I secretly want to compete on So You Think You Can Dance

Top three favorite movies of all time A Room With A View, Amadeus, Inception

When I was little I wanted to grow to be a heart surgeon, LOL

Someday I will write a book

BRANT MYERS writer

My New Year’s Resolution is to drink more beer, exercise less

Currently on my playlist the wild funk-fusion of Galactic, too much Huey Lewis,

and the mesmerizing pop sounds of Dua Lipa

Reading Japanese Lore by Yei Theodora Ozaki in preparation for an upcoming trip to Japan

Favorite ice cream Thrifty’s Chocolate Malted Krunch—tastes like 1989

I secretly want to quit everything and free dive for black pearls in the South Pacific

Dream car 1937 Talbot-Lago: hot combustion sexiness, combining the timeless beauty of a Jaguar E-Type

with the long hood line of a classic Bugatti

If you could live in a fictional TV home Wayne Manor

I’m often accused of ignoring my phone because I can’t come to terms with getting calls anytime, anywhere


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| CONTRIBUTORS

VANESSA PLAKIAS photographer

Currently on my playlist Trip This Wire by Jasper Creek, I Follow

Rivers by Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, Sunshine Lady by Dion,

Looking for Knives by DYAN

Spirit animal a llama this year

Dream car Sprinter Van

Favorite concert Pearl Jam, Indio, California, 1994

Reading The Idea of You

Hidden talent I play violin and sing in a band

My most random, recurring thought where does the Universe end?

Comfort food frozen yogurt with almonds on top and bottom

I secretly want to spend a night in Versailles

JESSIE RIVAS chef

Currently on my playlist Avett Brothers

I’m often accused of not taking direction very well

Spirit animal falcon

Favorite movie quote “So, you think I’m funny?”

Greatest musician of all time Neil Young

Dream car Ford Raptor, black with leather interior

Favorite concert Beastie Boys in ’97, Polo Field, Golden Gate Park

Someday I will marry my wife again

If you could invite one person from history to dinner Julia Child

Comfort food tacos, any kind

Favorite ice cream chocolate

When I was little I wanted to grow up to be a good father and son

SHAWN TRACHT writer

Currently on my playlist Three Year Old by Eric Church, On the Road Again by Canned

Heat, Almost Cut My Hair by The Allman Brothers Band

Reading Siddhartha to my high school students

Dream car an RV to travel the country

Someday I will ride my bike down the West Coast

If you could live in a fictional TV home

Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment—I love the light-hearted, nonsensical funny

If I had to choose one type of food to eat for a month straight Mexican food

Favorite hike Sykes in Big Sur

FRANZ WISNER writer

My New Year’s Resolution fewer things, more travel

Currently on my playlist The War on Drugs, LCD Soundsystem, Hawaiian slack key guitar

I’m often accused of my brother says I toast too much during meals

Favorite movie quote “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

Dream car Hackney carriage

Favorite concert Austin City Limits Festival, every year

Someday I will own a pied-à-terre in Paris

I’m currently reading The Dharma Bums

If you could invite one person from history to dinner Teddy Roosevelt

I secretly want to manage an NFL team

When I was little I wanted to grow up to be Bond, James Bond

If you could live in any fictional TV home Fantasy Island. “The plane, the plane!”

Top three favorite movies of all time Three S’s—The Sting, Silence of the Lambs, Spinal Tap



| ON THE COVER

A SNEAK PEEK

BEHIND the scenes

WITH MAUREEN VAZQUEZ

BY VANESSA PLAKIAS

When I walked in there

was one little girl named

Ella. And I said, “Oh,

good, she has a daughter;

this is going to be a fun

shoot!” And then a little

boy comes running in and

I said, “Oh, there’s two!”

Then a four-year-old boy

walks in, and says, “Hi.”

So, I’m like, “Wow, there’s

three!” Then, this little twoyear-old

girl wanders in

and says, “Hi, what’s your

name?” I thought, “Oh my

gosh, there’s four!”

The sticker shop brought back a lot of memories for me from

when I was little. The first thing I asked Maureen was, “Do you

know what Oilie stickers are?” She said, “Of course I do! Let me

guess, you had a dolphin, right? We’re bringing ’em back!”

We really connected on the idea of stepping away from tech,

taking a break, and getting back to real, tangible things. Especially

for kids, the importance of using their hands and crafting things,

making things, instead of just staring at a screen.

I watched a documentary

recently by Jim Carrey

about his art. He says

that to feel happy he

needs color. I need color

and I felt like walking

into Maureen’s store

was like color therapy

for all ages.

I created a lot of chaos when I said, “Hey, why don’t

you put some stickers on mommy’s face?” They went

crazy with it, and Nathan pulled out his phone to show

me a picture of when his kids decorated his beard with

stickers. So cute! SLO LIFE


1010 Murray Avenue, San Luis Obispo

SierraVistaRegional.com


| IN BOX

Take us with you!

Hey, SLO LIFE readers: Send us your photos the next time you’re relaxing in town or traveling

far and away with your copy of the magazine. Email us at info@slolifemagazine.com

DUBLIN, IRELAND

NEW YORK

CAL and ROSEMARY WILVERT

SOUTH AFRICA

American Airlines friends of 46 years met in New York

to see the 9/11 museum and go to the play ‘’Come From

Away’’ about 9/11. We toasted to memories, life, and

SLO Life Magazine!

— KATHY PETKUNAS, CAROL MEES, AND LEE HAMER

QUINTANA ROO, MÉXICO

THE SCIOCCHETTI FAMILY with the Zulus outside of

Kruger National Park.

OAHU, HAWAII

LOIS and CHUCK GREENALL

CHRISTINE CORTESE and HEATHER TISSUE

at Burrito Amor, Tulum, Quintana Roo, México.



| IN BOX

FORT BRAGG

DESNA, UKRAINE

THE LOOSE CANNONS in Fort Bragg during this

year’s leg of the Cannon Coaster, an annual ride

done over a three-day period where cyclists ride a

200-ish mile stretch of the California coast.

NEW YORK

I spent most of the summer working with and

training members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

It was a rare opportunity to experience the military

side of a country I know and love, Ukraine.

— SSG Greg Silva

BILBAO, SPAIN

ERNIE and JULIE JONES sharing the SLO Life in Central

Park, New York City after cruising the East Coast.

LONDON, ENGLAND

LAURIE VANKLEECK

KURT and SUSAN PACHECO in front of the

Guggenheim Museum.



| IN BOX

ROSICRUCIAN EGYPTIAN MUSEUM

DEADWOOD, SOUTH DAKOTA

MARK and LAURA RUFFING

WISCASSET, MAINE

DIANE HALSTED, and JANIE and STU

GOLDENBERG participating in a five-day Road

Scholar Program by “Biking in the Black Hills of

South Dakota” on the Mickelson Trail. This 109-mile

Rail Trail is listed as one of the premier American

rail-trails in The Official Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Guidebook, Rail-Trail Hall of Fame.

THUN, SWITZERLAND

MOLLIE and NORMAN SMITH in front of Red’s

Eats, a famous eatery voted #1 for their lobster

roll—it was delicious.

KINDERDIJK, NETHERLANDS

MICHAEL and NANCY JACKSON happily carried

our friend Dana O’Brien (on the cover of SLO Life)

along with us on our river cruise from Budapest to

Amsterdam. This photo was taken of us, with the

windmills at Kinderdijk, Netherlands.

VANESSA and DON WIGTON visting our daughter,

JACQULENE MAEGERT, and granddaughter,

MIA MAEGERT. Our daughter married a Swiss

seven years ago and lives in Thun, a town on

Lake Thun in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland

region at the foot of the Alps. Our photo is taken

in front of turreted Thun Castle, from the 1100’s.

This castle stands on a hill above the old town

and has sweeping views of the Alps.


From Wishlist

to Playlist

visit audiovisionslo.com

for Black Friday and

December Specials

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Be confident

in your

mortgage

decision.

| IN BOX

You showed us...

LOUISIANA

ELF ON THE SHELF

AMY MCKAY

LINDA LONG and MARY JO

DESIO having a fabulous

time in New Orleans.

WYOMING

ODENSE, DENMARK

Ben Lerner

Mortgage Advisor

NMLS 395723

805.441.9486

blerner@opesadvisors.com

1212 Marsh St., Suite 1

San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

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© 2017 Opes Advisors, A Division of Flagstar Bank

30 | SLO Member LIFE FDIC MAGAZINE | Equal Housing | DEC/JAN Lender 2018

ROBERT BRENMAN and LINA

KHO at the theatre, the Hans

Christian Andersen home and

museum, Odense, Denmark

Jack House docent and president,

MARILYN DARNELL, making

tracks with SLO Life Magazine at

Fort Laramie, WY researching the

historic route of J. “Hub” and W.

W. Hollister, father and uncle of

Nellie Hollister Jack of the historic

Jack House.

Downtown slo presents

HOLIDAY

Hoedown

happenings

Santa’s House | classic carousel

in Mission Plaza

open through December 24

www.downtownslo.com


2018 New Years

Resolution:

Spoil yourself, not

your wine!

| IN BOX

FLORENCE, ITALY

KAUAI, HAWAII

JANICE CROOKS and BOB

JORGENSEN visited the Basilica

di Santa Croce refectory in

Florence, Italy, where Saint Louis

of Toulouse (SLO’s namesake) is

honored by Donatello’s famous

statue.

VICTORIA GROSTICK at the

beautiful Wailea River Valley

in Kauai, Hawaii, where river

meets sea.

KOH SAMUI ISLAND

BELIZE

WINE CELLAR

DESIGN & BUILD

Free consultations with

wine cellar specialist, Zara,

through January 2018.

JUDY GRANTHAM in Belize on a

snorkeling boat off Caye Caulker.

RON TILLEY and JEANNE POTTER

atop Na Muang Waterfalls on the

island of Ko Samui in the Gulf of

Thailand. We love the way

SLO Life Magazine showcases

the new and upcoming trends,

thoughts, and people of SLO. We

read every issue cover to cover.

805.543.9900

zara@slogreengoods.com

www.slogreengoods.com


Please send your photos and comments to info@slolifemagazine.com

Follow SLO LIFE on Facebook: Visit facebook.com/slolifemagazine

Visit us online at slolifemagazine.com

Letters may be edited for content and clarity. To be considered for publication your letter should

include your name, city, state, phone number or email address (for authentication purposes).

ZOEY’S

HOME CONSIGNMENTS

Where you never know what you might find!

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Providing you with experience you can trust.

3583 S. HIGUERA ST | SAN LUIS OBISPO

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Open Tues-Sat 10-6 | Closed Sun & Mon


| BRIEFS

“conjured up”

The two words from SLOPD Sargent Chad

Pfarr’s New Times interview that triggered

outrage within the community. In the article,

Pfarr, who was commenting for an article

about Cal Poly sexual abuse victims, told the

weekly newspaper: “… students often ‘feel

like they got sexually assaulted because they

blacked out’ [after consuming alcohol] when

really, ‘it was just something that was conjured

up.’” The matter remains under an internal

review at SLOPD.

4

The number of stores that were found to

be in violation of the city’s 2015 ordinance

banning the sale of Styrofoam products,

when those products were found on its

shelves. All four of the stores were part

of national chains and include: Target,

Costco, CVS, and Rite Aid.

$1,200,000

The amount of money Elizabeth Edith

Shaw, 68, of Cambria, embezzled from

her employer, Winsor Construction, since

2005. Shaw was sentenced to ten years

in county jail after entering a no-contest

plea for grand theft and tax evasion.

“So if you’re

fond of your

brains, you don’t

want to be in a

big city.”

Lance Lambert, writing for Realtor.com,

outlining the reasons San Luis Obispo

was recognized as the third best city in

America in which to survive a zombie

apocalypse. Reasoning that the relative

lack of population density would delay

the spread of a zombie virus, the study

estimated that one would fare only slightly

better with the brain-eating undead in

either Lubbock, Texas or Deltona, Florida.

“It looks like a

big, giant rock

sitting there.”

San Luis Obispo Council Member Carlyn

Christianson commenting on the new

Stalwork, Inc. building downtown at the

corner of Santa Rosa and Marsh. The

structure, owned by local developer Ben

Kulick, was painted a dark, charcoal gray

instead of the two-tone tan color he had

received approval for in his plans. Amid

public outcry, Christianson joined her

colleagues in voting unanimously to require

Kulick to repaint the structure.

“You know how

unaffordable

it is to live

in San Luis.”

Scott James commenting on his rationale for

posting a listing on Craigslist explaining that

he and his wife, Gayle, were giving away their

400-square-foot Cayucos cottage to whoever

could move it. A woman, who claimed

the home, contracted with Brandt House

and Building Movers, to set it up in a new

location for her son, a Cal Poly student.

#BISHOPMELON

The Twitter hashtag left behind by a stealthy

artist who painted a unique trailside rock to

look as if it were a slice of watermelon. The

seed-speckled granite sliver found on the

way up to Bishop Peak prompted a spirited

debate locally as to whether it was art or

vandalism. City officials went with the latter

and immediately responded by sending four

park rangers who spent an estimated four

to five hours scrubbing the rock clean. The

intrepid painter remains at large, and should

be considered armed (with nylon brushes)

and extremely creative.

108°

The temperature in San Luis Obispo during

a late October heat wave that broke more

all-time high records for three consecutive

days, including one day when the city

shared the dubious distinction, along with

the Miramar Naval Air Station outside of

San Diego, for being the hottest spot in the

country. Four consecutive days in the week

following also broke all-time heat records.

“Come to think of

it, I really don’t feel

quite as happy as I

did last year.”

One of the many tongue-in-cheek

comments made by San Luis Obispo

residents after learning that National

Geographic’s survey ranking America’s

“Happiest Cities” dropped the Central Coast

town from Number 1 to Number 5 in the

2017 version of its report. SLO LIFE



| TIMELINE

Around the County

10/3

The plan to clean up Pirate’s Cove, which received unanimous

support from SLO County’s Board of Supervisors just two

weeks prior, was thwarted by the Coastal Commission over

concerns that banning vehicles after dark would limit coastal

access. Long identified as a problem spot by law enforcement

officials, locals have been pressuring supervisors to improve

and maintain the prized seaside real estate. Following the

decision, it was determined that John Peschong and Adam

Hill would meet with the Coastal Commission in an effort to

work out a compromise and begin taking basic steps toward

improvement, such as developing the parking lot, constructing

bathrooms, and adding trash cans.

OCTOBER ’17

10/24

In a rare win for a San Luis Obispo neighborhood on the north side of

town, the SLO City Council, by a 5-0 vote, agreed to leave “the poles” in

place and continue to keep Luneta Drive closed to through traffic. The site

of the closure, which long-time residents describe as a de facto pocket park,

is next to the controversial new development known as 71 Palomar, where

El Segundo-based attorney Loren Riehl had received the city’s blessing

to build a 33-unit apartment building. A group of neighbors identifying

themselves as Friends of 71 Palomar filed suit against the project on

environmental grounds, but lost the decision. Riehl is also the developer of

22 Chorro, another controversial project a few blocks away.

10/19

A group calling itself Preserve the SLO Life banded together

with the homeowners’ associations at the Los Verdes Park

complex near the corner of South Higuera and Los Osos

Valley Road to sue the developer of Avila Ranch, as well as

the City of San Luis Obispo, over the anticipated negative

impacts to the area, including increased noise, traffic, light,

and air pollution that are expected to come with the 720-

home project proposed by builder Andy Mangano. The

development was approved by the city council a month earlier

and would occupy 150 acres on Buckley Road on the south

end of town, an area that is currently farmland. Although

championed as a prime example of adding workforce housing

by city officials, only 25 of the 720 units will actually achieve

that designation.

10/23

Administrators at the County of San Luis Obispo revealed

an $8 to $10 million accounting error stating that instead of a

$3 to $5 million surplus, it was actually facing a $4.8 million

deficit to next year’s budget forecast. Characterizing it as

a “straight-up human error,” county budget director Emily

Jackson attributed the miscalculation to her office’s failure to

account for a significant portion of recently approved salary

increases that had not been accounted for in the new budget.

Despite the error, Jackson claimed that the county was “wellpositioned

to address the gap” and that the deficit represented

less than 1% of the general fund, which was estimated to

reach $525 million in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

10/25

Once again—for the eighth time in a matter of six years—a group of

off-road enthusiasts identifying themselves as Friends of the Oceano

Dunes sued over dust control efforts in the riding area. Citing concern

that the Coastal Commission’s “radical” five-year plan would harm

endangered species and failed to accept adequate public input, the group’s

72-page complaint also named the Department of Parks and Recreation,

San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District, California Air

Resources Board, San Luis Obispo County, and the City of Grover Beach

as defendants in the suit. A few weeks later, outgoing head of the San

Luis Obispo Air Pollution Control District, Larry Allen, citing a public

nuisance to people living on the Nipomo Mesa, requested that a portion

of the dunes be closed to off-road riding. [turn to page 40 for more on

this issue]


11/1

Assistant District Attorney Lee Cunningham said that Gianna

Brencola, 17, of Los Osos would be tried as an adult in the hit and

run death of 22-year-old Cal Poly student Kennedy Love on Foothill

Boulevard in San Luis Obispo in August. Brencola, who allegedly

admitted to drinking and driving during her arrest, was with a friend

when she collided with Love. The bicyclist, a popular third-year

landscape architecture student, was left fatally injured in the road

following the accident as Brencola and her friend fled the scene to

inspect the damage to her car and later attempted to hide it in a

nearby neighborhood. Brencola is facing a variety of felony charges

including: vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under

the influence while causing death, and hit-and-run.

NOVEMBER ’17

11/7

The SLO County Board of Supervisors unanimously

approved the appointment of Wade Horton as the new

chief administrative officer, replacing Dan Buckshi, who left

unexpectedly in June. Previous to his promotion, Horton had

been the county’s Public Works director where his department

oversaw the completion of Los Osos’ Wastewater Treatment

Plant. Prior to his tenure in SLO County, Horton worked in the

private sector as a project manager. He is a 13-year veteran of

the U.S. Navy and a Cal Poly graduate. In his new role, he will

oversee a staff of 2,800 employees and a total annual budget of

approximately $590 million.

11/8

After PG&E agreed to an $85 million settlement with a

coalition of local cities, San Luis Coastal Unified School

District, and the County of San Luis Obispo related to the

closure of its Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, anticipated

in 2025, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)

administrative Judge Peter Allen recommended that the

commission not approve the settlement, reasoning that

ratepayers should not be expected to foot the bill. The decision

is not legally binding and will go before the full CPUC later

this year, where its ultimate fate will be determined. The $85

million settlement had been viewed by local policy makers

as a critical first step for winding down the operations of the

county’s largest private employer, whose economic impact is

estimated at around $1 billion per year.

11/2

As scheduled, at 5:30 a.m., the first departing flight left the newly built 11/16

terminal at the San Luis Obispo Regional Airport. The state-of-theart

facility, nearly 56,000 square feet, almost 45,000 square feet larger

a resident complained that it had been killing her chickens and

Arroyo Grande’s “mascot”—a little gray fox—was euthanized after

than the existing structure, required a $39.5 million budget and a little rabbits. Townspeople reacted with outrage after learning that the

more than two years to build. Airport Director Kevin Bumen described U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services had trapped

the new terminal as the “perfect welcome mat for visitors to come

and killed the animal, which had become a well-loved fixture

explore our region.” Although the airport expects about a half-million

inhabiting the city center, also known as “the village.” According

passengers to walk through its gates this year, there is plenty of room

to Peter Tira, information officer for California Fish and Wildlife,

for growth, as the new terminal is designed to accommodate up to 1.2

“Whenever you interact with wildlife, it ends badly… it comes

million annually. [photo by Mark Nakamura] from a nice place, but it never ends well.” SLO LIFE


| VIEW

REFLECTING

HAPPINESS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS WILLIS

Two days before graduation, Chris Willis

received some bad news. The company who had

offered him his dream job was downsizing and

the offer was rescinded. He took the news hard,

but his buddies were determined to cheer him

up, so they invited him to the university pub for

frosty pints of India Pale Ale. One IPA turned

to another as the young Willis, soon to be let out

into the “real world,” ruminated about his future.

Despondent, demoralized, and depressed, he

wandered off to the men’s room when his friends

spotted a flyer pinned to the community bulletin

board. In big, bold lettering it advertised: “Work

at the North Pole!”

Another round was ordered as the plan was

hatched. One of the friends stealthily excused

himself, snagged the flyer, and dialed the

number posted at the bottom of the sheet. In his

message, he identified himself as Chris Willis

and stressed that it was very important that he

be called a half-hour prior to the open interview,

scheduled for 8 o’clock the next morning, in

just a few hours. “Please don’t forget, it’s very

important that you call me. And, if I don’t

answer immediately, please keep trying,” he said,

trying to conceal his laughter. Everyone then

reconvened at the dark oak table when Willis

agreed to “just one more” before making his way

back to his apartment.

A few hours later the phone rang. Then it rang

again. It rang once more. Finally, he picked

up. “Job interview? Huh? What? Okay, I’ll be

right there.” Willis stumbled out of bed still

wearing the clothes he had on the night before,

righted himself to mount his bicycle, then

pedaled downtown. Before him sat a panel of six

scientists, who grilled him about geology. While

repeating the mantra inside his head—“Please

don’t throw up, please don’t throw up”—Willis

struggled to understand what this job was all

about because, for the life of him, he could not

remember ever applying for it. He continued

to answer one question after another, each one

more difficult than the last. Finally, the interview

concluded, he rode back home, and collapsed

in his bed for a long slumber. Again, he was

awakened by the phone. This time, on the other

end of the line, a chirpy receptionist with a singsong

voice exclaimed, “Congratulations—you

beat out 75 other candidates. You got the job in

the North Pole!”

And, so began Willis’ unlikely path toward

photography. Where he was stationed, in Alert,

Nunavut, the northernmost inhabited place on

earth, the young scientist had lots of time on his

hands, lots. Mostly, he manned a seismic station

that still recorded its data on light-sensitive

photographic paper. It wasn’t long before boredom

overtook him and he began experimenting with

other things one can do in a dark room, such

as develop film-based photography. One thing

led to another and soon Willis was entertaining

himself by snapping photos of lonely wildlife

wandering the empty tundra. During those days

something clicked and the hobby morphed into

an obsession. Each day he strove to improve upon

the composition he developed the day before, and

after a while, despite the lack of subject matter, his

photos were steadily improving.

Fast forward to today, the native of France,

who spent twenty years in Canada, is now a

resident of San Mateo who roams the California

coastline. There are two spots he visits often:

Stinson Beach, just north of San Francisco, and

Morro Bay. Both, he explains, offer beaches

with a distinctively unique reflective quality that

he has not found anywhere else. Willis, who

overcame his self-described “difficulty in talking

with people” by conducting free photography

workshops at libraries around the state, now

is known to approach would-be subjects of

his photos by asking their permission to shoot

away and handing them a business card for a

complimentary copy, noting the happiness it

usually spreads. In the photo you see here, Willis

struck up a conversation with a local surfer

heading out to the waves late one afternoon with

the cloud cover filtering the sunlight perfectly to

create the reflection off the wet sand. “Would it

be okay if I took a few shots?” he inquired. The

surfer replied with a broad smile, “Sure, I’d love

to have one!” SLO LIFE



| Q&A

CLEARING THE AIR

It was 60 below zero one winter in northern Montana when a young environmental scientist

named LARRY ALLEN, who, cutting his teeth as an air monitoring technician on a remote

Indian reservation, began yearning for a return to his native California. In 1982 he joined the

San Luis Obispo Air Pollution Control District, where he has been its Executive Director for

the past 15 years. On the eve of his retirement, he stopped by the office so that we could

quiz him on the state of our local air quality. Here is some of what he had to say…

Okay, Larry, tell us about the problem spots in

SLO County. South County, the Oceano Dunes, is

absolutely the biggest air pollution problem at the

moment. You’ve got two problems there, number one,

high emissions from off-road vehicles and the dust

they create; and, number two, high winds blowing

onto the Nipomo Mesa. Because of the disturbance

to the surface of the dunes, through a process called

saltation, the sand fractionates to a small enough

size that it becomes airborne and respirable; you

can actually breathe in the particulates because they

are so small. At that point, they become regulated,

because anything below 10 microns is subject to air

quality standards. These particulates can cause upper

respiratory disease and cardiopulmonary problems and

cancer, and ultimately, premature death. We have been

working very hard to try to reduce the emissions out

there. It’s been a pretty difficult problem.

Why is it so difficult? Our agency had never been

sued until the time we adopted our air regulation rule

to reduce emissions out there. Now, up to this point,

there have been eight separate lawsuits filed—Friends

of the Oceano Dunes, an off-road riders group, has

filed every single one of them. Any solution that is

proposed to improve air quality, no matter how slight,

they oppose. They’ve made the whole process very

difficult. But, I am hopeful that there is going to be

some significant progress made here soon because

there are some real pressure points coming together

now that we’ve initiated an enforcement action against

State Parks for their failure to do any meaningful

mitigation. We are in the process of taking a nuisance

action to our hearing board and asking them to issue

an abatement order to reduce the nuisance out there.

It’s people’s health we’re talking about here, and that

is what really concerns me and keeps me up at night.

People on the Nipomo Mesa are definitely feeling the

effects of that exposure and paying a heavy price for it.

Is it really that bad? There are days in South County

where we have the worst air pollution in the nation.

And, the bottom line, even according to State Parks’

own studies, is that the riding areas are eight times

more emissive than the non-riding areas. It’s pretty

much an indisputable fact that the disturbance in the

riding area is the source of the pollution. You don’t

have to be a rocket scientist to understand this. The

California Air Resources Board, which is our oversight

agency, and a sister agency to State Parks, has been

working with us now for the last four years to try to

get some more forward progress than we’ve been able

to achieve on our own. One of the most significant

differences they’ve been able to make is to develop an

atmospheric dispersion model that has taken all of the

emissions data that has been collected out there. So,

now through computer modeling, you can see what

happens to the air quality on the Nipomo Mesa when

you reduce emissions at the dunes. The problem is just

so obvious. But, it’s been an agonizingly slow process;

it feels like it moves at glacial speed.

Can you solve the problem and still allow riding

at the dunes? Absolutely. I do believe there are

solutions. If we can get beyond all the acrimony and

contention, we would have made progress by now.

Re-establishing vegetation in a thoughtful way, using

the modeling as a guide, within the riding area would

work substantially well. And, you could still allow

riding to occur. In fact, the riding might even be more

interesting because folks could ride their vehicles

in between the vegetated areas. Yes, of course, you

would lose some riding area as a result, but you could

substantially improve the air quality for people on

the Nipomo Mesa at the same time. I believe there

are solutions out there that can avoid shutting it

down, but I also believe that protecting public health

is far more important than protecting recreation.

And, if they can’t get to a point pretty soon of

trying to resolve this problem, there are going to be

people pushing to shut it down. In my opinion, it’s

unconscionable that we’ve let it go on this long with

these detrimental effects that we know for a fact are

caused by the off-road vehicles.

Any final observations as you leave your post?

Overall, I do think we’ll continue to improve our air

quality in San Luis Obispo County, but my biggest

concern is climate change. When I look at my sons

and their kids and what their future looks like for

them, it is the issue of our age. The partisanship that

has permeated politics in the last ten years or so has

made it very difficult to make forward progress on

things. We are not moving nearly far enough or fast

enough on climate change. In a lot of ways, we’re

going backwards in the United States right

now. Even locally, you have politicians who

don’t even believe that climate change exists. I

feel that politics has been allowed to interfere

with facts and science. Science has been given a bad

name now for some reason. In my retirement, that is

one area that I am going to stay involved in because,

in my opinion, this issue is so great that if you have

knowledge or expertise, then you have responsibility.

SLO LIFE


My Advice…

“If you want to stop saying Moo? all the time

see Karen Scott.”

Helping You Hear

the Things You Love

Call us today

for your consultation

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www.KarenScottAudiology.com

K


| MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR

STICKY

BUSINESS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY VANESSA PLAKIAS

If there has been one common thread throughout the life of MAUREEN VAZQUEZ,

it’s creativity. Today, the high-energy mother of four is doggedly focused on sharing her

love of “little works of art” and hopes to fill every mailbox in the country with a monthly

selection of her curated sticker subscription through her business, Pipsticks, which she

owns and operates with her husband. A few years ago, she talked her family into betting

everything on a little town called San Luis Obispo. Here is her story...



Let’s take it from the beginning, Maureen. Okay,

sure. I’m the youngest of four kids. Four is the

magic number in our family. My parents both came

from four; there are four of us kids, I have four

and my brother and sister each have four. We moved around when I was young;

my dad was in the printing industry and got transferred around a lot. I was born

in Belgium; then we moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota; then Illinois. When I was

eleven we moved to Seattle. I mostly consider myself a northwest girl. As a kid, I

loved stickers. I loved crafting. I loved making things. My parents had to kick me

out of the house to go play outside, because I was usually embroidering Care Bears

on something, or writing books, or illustrating something, or

attending to my sticker collection, trading my stickers, or making

greeting cards. I used to make things and then go door-to-door

in my neighborhood to sell them. So, that’s basically what I did

in the 80’s; that, and listen to Debbie Gibson music.

Ah, yes… Debbie Gibson, “Only in My Dreams.” Yes, that’s

right. [laughter] So, next, I went to school at Cal Poly; I was an

Art Design major there, with a concentration in Graphic Design.

After college I moved to San Francisco and started working as a


cocktail waitress in an amazing restaurant, which was super fun. I made

just about as much money as I’ve ever made in my life and got to meet

really interesting people, but, of course, at the time all I wanted was a

real job. It was about nine months later when that finally happened. I

did marketing and design for a small architecture firm. I was there for

a couple of years and then ended up moving to London. My husband,

who was not my husband at the time, was transferred for his job out

there, too, so we both ended up out there around ten years ago, say 2006.

Interesting. How long were you there? We ended up staying for

almost five years, living on an expat package, which is definitely the

way to go, given the chance. We lived right in the center of London

and traveled around Europe every weekend; it was an amazing time of

our lives. When I was in London, I became a brand manager in a huge

international law firm, which, at the time, seemed like a real sellout—

not at all what I wanted to do, which was to be a junior designer at an

ad agency. Then, I took my first sabbatical when we had our first son in

2010. His name is Atticus. We moved to New York, where we were for

four years. While we were in New York we had two other children in

quick succession. My husband, Nathan, was transferred there for work.

He was in banking.

What was that like? We were living in Manhattan, and I was very much

an urban mom, pushing a double stroller with one in the front pack.

It was bananas; but it was amazing, and we loved it there. And when I

was there with Ella, our second, who was about a year-and-a-half old, I

started taking on freelance design projects because I just missed having

some creative outlet. So, I started doing projects, mostly for “mompreneurs”

that had left their jobs in banking and finance, because so

many people in New York are in banking and finance. I spent a lot of

time doing logos and other graphic design projects for them. But, deep

down, I always wanted to start my own business. I remember at that

time feeling like a good idea just hadn’t come to me yet, so I was just

making myself open and available to the universe. Around that time, one

of my friends invited me to be part of a sticker club chain mail. It’s like a

Ponzi scheme for mail, except it never works. [laughter]

I vaguely remember chain mail. Remind me how it works. So, you

spend all this time writing these letters and stamping them, and sending

them to all your friends. The idea with chain mail is that you then

receive a whole bunch of mail back, practically forever. But, it just never

works. The idea behind it is great, but it never works. So, I was invited

to be a part of this, which was chain mail, except with stickers, which

meant that instead of getting letters every day for the rest of your life,

you’d be getting stickers for the rest of your life, which, again, I was no

fool—I had lots of childhood disappointment around chain mail in my

youth. However, the idea of stickers, which being a child of the 80’s, was

very near and dear to my heart. And being a mom and always needing

stickers for my kids, I thought, “Alright, I’ll just try it. Maybe this time

it’ll work; maybe if I do it as an adult, it will work.”

So, what happened? Sure enough I could barely find six friends that

would do it with me, because everyone said, “Yeah, that would be

great, but I don’t have an extra second in my day as a mom to do this.”

Anyway, I scrunched it together and, of course, like all chain mail,

nothing happened. Then, about three months later, I had forgotten all

about it and was in the middle of a busy, hectic moment being a crazy

mom juggling kids and groceries and the mail with thirteen other

people in our elevator on the way to our apartment. In my bundle

of mail, I see an envelope addressed to my kids, so I handed it to

them and they opened it up. And, inside was the tinniest, tiniest little

square of stickers you’ve ever seen, for both of them. In that moment I

remembered the chain mail. My kids went bananas; they lost it. It was

like the best thing that had ever happened to them. >>

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Sounds like a pretty awesome day. Yes, so, I thought, “Well, that was

fun. I’ll go online and get a sticker subscription,” because, again, my

kids love stickers and I love stickers, too. So, I went online and nothing

like that existed. I couldn’t believe it because it just seemed so obvious.

It was probably six months later that I was in Mexico with some

friends and family. I was sitting around the pool with one of my close

friends from New York and it was the first moment I’d had to myself

in forever. We were just kind of chatting about the future and what I

wanted to do, and how I was kind of bored with the design work that

I was doing and I wanted to do something bigger. And she said, “Well,

what are your ideas?” And I have lots of ideas; I’m never short on ideas.

So, I pitched this idea of a subscription sticker club to my friend, who

was also a mom, and she said, “Well, that sounds amazing. I would

definitely buy them for my kids.” Then, we sort of sketched out some

back of the envelope costs and figures and I said, “This would be a pretty

straightforward thing to start small and just see how it went.” After that

conversation, I just couldn’t get it out of my mind.

What did you do about it? So, that night I went back and mentioned

it to Nathan, who I affectionately refer to as the “idea crusher” because

he’s used to hearing my many ideas, but he’s a realist and a great balance.

Anyway, I told him about the conversation and he said, “You know, it’s

actually a pretty good idea.” Which, coming from him, is a really huge

deal. And then I remember going to bed that night and just being so

excited that I couldn’t fall asleep. I got up and pretty much stayed up

all night sketching and researching. From that minute forward, for the

next six months, I researched the idea every free minute I had right

up until I went to bed, oftentimes early in the morning. I set it up—a

sticker subscription business—to grow slowly so that I could handle it

on my own. I was a stay-at-home mom, so that was something that was

important to me.

Okay, so what were the next steps? Of course, as life goes, Nathan was

transferred back to London right about that time and so the family took

a little detour. We officially launched the business—Pipsticks—while we

were there. This was September 2014. Around the same time we had a

little surprise, a brilliant surprise, and six months later our fourth child,

Indiana, was born. So, I worked like crazy to market the business and get

the word out via mom blogs and that kind of thing. Reception was great,

people loved it, and it kind of sold itself in terms of being a really new, fun

product. As soon as it landed in someone’s mailbox and their kids found

it, they just went bananas. And since I had designed it as a mom, one of

the key factors for me was that everything about it was child-friendly. So,

kids could pick it out of the mailbox, open it up, do all of the stickers, and

all the little activities that come with them themselves because I wanted it

to not only be like the best thing ever for kids, but a little bit of a break for

the parents.

Ah, yes… Then I realized that there was this whole world of adult sticker

lovers, and I wanted to design a pack for them, too. Because I thought

they’re going to love these stickers, which I can’t put in the kids’ pack. So,

about six months after we launched, we added the Pro Pack. So, we had a

kid’s sticker club and a pro sticker club, which is for sticker-loving adults.

There is like a whole cult movement of people, primarily women, who

use paper agendas and decorate them with stickers. So, if you are going

to meet somebody for coffee, for example, you put a coffee sticker in your >>


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”


calendar. I kind of think of it as, for people that don’t know about it, I call

it Scrapbooking 2.0. It’s kind of the same thing; it’s a hobby; it’s a creative

outlet. But, I think there’s less pressure than scrapbooking. Remember

when we used to have Filofax and day planners and those sorts of things?

Those things are coming back. And, I really do think that part of what is

fueling the whole paper planner craze is a rebellion against technology at

some level.

Everything old is new again! So, tell us, what came next? Okay, so right

around that time, the company that Nathan was working for decided to

shut down its London operation, and we were looking at moving back to

New York with four kids, going into winter. His job was all-consuming

and very intense and he would be gone most of the time, seeing the kids

briefly at night, right before they went to bed. They really didn’t get to see

him during the week. And he is an awesome, unbelievable, like superinvolved

dad. So, at that point, we were looking at moving back to New

York again. I think, for me, the idea of moving back, as much as I love

New York and the city, the idea of moving back with four kids into winter

just wasn’t sustainable, really. It felt almost impossible, just logistically

speaking. And so, we started to look at various options. At some point we

said, “Hey, what about Pipsticks?” It was growing steadily and at the point

where I was either going to have to put the brakes on it, or hire somebody

to manage the operations. Because, back then, I was working every night

and a few mornings a week, but I couldn’t handle all that it required of me.

You needed help. Yes, so we started talking about the idea of hiring

somebody, and somewhere along the line the conversation became,

“Why don’t we work together?” Which is crazy, it was a bananas idea.

We are both really risk-averse. We have four very small kids and he

had a very stable job; it was more than just a little bit crazy. But, the

more we talked about it, the more it made sense. For me, it was the

idea of simplifying things. We started to see it as a path for allowing

Nathan to get more involved with the family, which was always

appealing to him. And, also from a practical standpoint, it allowed

us to take advantage of all the things that he was great at, that I was

not, and vice versa. So, long story short, after kind of a grueling,

heart-wrenching, difficult few months of decision making, we decided

instead of going back to New York to switch gears and move to San

Luis Obispo where we would both be all-in at Pipsticks. It was a

moment, one of those moments where it was almost like, “Come on,

this is silly.” We were north of Cayucos checking out the elephant

seals, and we were sitting there in the sun taking in the views with

our feet dangling out of the back of the car. We were debating about

whether or not to make the move when we turned to each other and

said, “Let’s just do this.”

That’s a pretty big leap of faith. How did you get going here? We started

the first year and a half working out of our house. We have a little cottage

in the back of the house; that’s where we did Pipsticks initially. We hired >>


It’s Our Turn

HELPING VETERANS WHO HELPED US

“This is a great program, and it’s a

great group of people, and they will do

everything for you to help you get stable

and get back on your feet.”

With no housing and thousands of miles from his

family in New York, Army veteran Mike Davis found

himself in a rough patch when CAPSLO’s Supportive

Services for Veteran Families found him a home at

the historic Wineman Hotel in San Luis Obispo.

Michael Davis

U.S. ARMY

(805) 782-4730 ssvf.capslo.org

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Funded Program

805.927.0374 | ecotoneslandscapes.com | LIC # 767033

DESIGN • BUILD • MAINTAIN


our first employee in February 2016; our second was hired in September

2016. Recently, we just hired our 17th employee. We ended up where

we are now on Monterey Street because we outgrew our cottage. So, we

moved in for fulfillment space and office space and then really saw the

opportunity for starting a flagship brick-and-mortar sticker shop. I always

remember, when I grew up, every store seemed to have a wall of stickers

on rolls, even if it was just a small section. And our whole generation

collected these things.

And, just what is it about stickers? I think there’s something inexplicably

fun about something sticky. First of all, I think the nature of stickers is

kind of interesting and fun. I think people underestimate stickers; they are

actually like little works of art. Each one of them is a really high-quality,

beautiful thing. At this point, having designed many stickers myself, I

know that each one is very intentional. I think it’s an opportunity for

people to enjoy something really small and simple. What we do is really

simple, and it gets back to just having that really fun feeling, opening

something that’s colorful and small and knowing that you can either save

it for yourself or you can stick it on anything and kind of brighten it up.

We have people that are using stickers on their mail and are really into

pen-palling, people that are into journaling, people that are putting them

on their planners, people that are into collecting them, people that grew

up in the 80’s and really still love them. We have people that put them on

the bills they send out, or they give them to their employees when they are

doing a good job. We hear about college professors that are putting them

on their students’ papers, and they honestly believe that they’re motivating

their college students to do better. That’s incredible.

Let’s talk a little bit about the space itself. So, having the store and

being able to test things there is a great opportunity. Also, the part of

the shop that I am most excited about is that half of it is dedicated to a

craft space, so right now there is one whole enormous wall dedicated to

craft supplies, and it’s an open studio. We have a huge, long community

craft table so people can drop in, and we have an open studio the whole

day. Whenever we are open, people can come in and pay $15 and spend

up to two hours using our stuff, so my vision is to have that busy and

humming all the time. In the morning, it’s moms with their non-school

kids; in the afternoons, sticker lovers and college students who are into

crafty study breaks; and, the evenings, adult craft classes; weekends,

birthday parties. It’s just such an inspiring place and I think our

community needs something like that.

What does the future hold for Pipsticks? I would love to see a little

jewel box sticker shop in every city in the country. But, I think at

this point, we’re trying to figure out which direction to go. There’s no

shortage of opportunity in terms of directions to take, whether it’s

focusing on our wholesale business, creating our own products, or

really growing the subscription side of things, or managing the retail

component. I think the thing that’s exciting about retail, or actually

having a brick-and-mortar, it’s a great opportunity for us to see how

people engage with our products and it’s been brilliant; we get a lot of

feedback from people. I love seeing someone walk in the door and kind

of freak out over something they have found in the shop; it’s so much

fun and so gratifying to connect in person over stickers.

Okay, we can’t let you go without asking the advice you would offer an

aspiring entrepreneur. I think I would say, “Don’t do it immediately;

get as much experience as you can before you start.” I’ve always worked.

I’ve had a job since I was fourteen or fifteen. I’ve worked in customer

service; I’ve worked in retail; I’ve worked in corporate; I’ve worked in

small agencies; I’ve worked in big agencies; and I’ve learned so much. I

just think you need to know so much when you’re starting your business.

You have to be very resourceful and you have to know where you have

to go to find things. And, I think that the thing that has been most

valuable is that experience. It’s not even specific experience; it’s just

soaking things in and not being judgmental. I think, as I said, the jobs

that I think were, by far, the best experience for me when I was in them,

in the moment, I wanted nothing but to get out of them. And, now in

retrospect, I can say they were the ones that prepared me best for what I

am doing now. SLO LIFE


We attend the Symphony

because we love the music.

But we also attend because each ticket supports

the Symphony’s mission to teach music in schools,

give scholarships

to young artists,

and bring our

community

closer

together.

HOME TO EDNA VALLEY’S MOST

.

DRINK IT ALL IN.

CHASE W. AND KATIE L. MARTIN

Concert info at

slosymphony.org

CHAMISALVINEYARDS.COM

7525 ORCUTT ROAD • SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA

805-541-9463

TASTING ROOM OPEN 10AM-5PM DAILY


| NOW HEAR THIS


RICKY MONTIJO

Local singer songwriter Ricky Montijo fondly recalls the first time he encountered a guitar.

“My first memory of music is sneaking to where I wasn’t supposed to be and marveling at my

grandfather’s guitar with its old wood and musty smell.” He continues, “In the small mountain

town where I grew up, there was nothing to do but play music or get into trouble. I tried to stick

to music.”

BY DAWN JANKE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRAD HACKLEMAN

n high school, Ricky Montijo discovered

the sounds of Parliament-Funkadelic

and Buena Vista Social Club, and his

musical style developed. “My sound is

a natural blend of what I’ve heard in

the past, how I play guitar, and the beat

that I have in my head,” he says. “Latino

music is a huge influence on me, Los

Lonely Boys and Santana; I also like

IStevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix.”

Montijo relocated from Frasier Park to Paso Robles

about ten years ago and began working at Wal-Mart

while pursuing his music on the side. “I would sing in

the aisles as I worked, and everyone who encountered

me would tell me to quit my day job,” says Montijo.

“It took me nine years to quit, but I did, and now I

do music full time.”

At first, Montijo performed at coffee shops and

sandwich shops, “wherever I could get in,” he says,

“and I’ve slowly evolved to play the best wineries in

the county: Pomar Junction, Eberle, Broken Earth,

to name a few.” For Montijo, it’s been affirming

to get invited to perform at the same venues as

musicians he admires. “I’ve paid a lot of attention

to what other musicians are doing, guys like Dan

Curcio and Damon Castillo, who I consider to be

at the top in this area. And now, I am playing gigs

at the same places they are.”

Montijo’s live performances range from solo acoustic to a full six-piece band

consisting of a revolving group of talented local musicians who support him

live and in the studio. He says, “I have a pretty good idea about what I want a

particular song to sound like, and it’s nice to work with guys who make that

happen.” Known as The Mojitos, the guys are among the best musicians on the

Central Coast, according to Montijo. “It’s been really cool to be able to play with

top-tier performers who can run circles around me,” he says.

Montijo is most proud of his latest full-length album, “The Sauce Pot Sessions.”

Recorded at The Sauce Pot Studios in San Luis Obispo, the album came out

at a time when Montijo was dealing with a lot of personal issues, including the

passing of his father, to whom the album is dedicated. “It seemed like the stars

aligned for the recording to go smoothly—with the rawness and energy that we

all had going in, it worked perfectly for what we were trying to do. Everything

was happening at the same time, and the album was the good thing that came

out of it all,” says Montijo.

“The Sauce Pot Sessions,” released in May 2017, captures the energy of Montijo’s

live performances. “I didn’t want to overproduce the album and put a bunch of

layers on it. I just wanted it to sound like how we sound when we go out and do

our thing. So we went into the studio for four hours and laid our tracks in one

or two takes,” he says. To Montijo, the album represents a culmination of a lot of

things that he has been trying to do for a while: “It always felt like I was two steps

away—not really a legit musician—so it is nice to have my first real recording.”

The album helped expand Montijo’s musical presence beyond the county. “It’s

gotten me into a ton of festivals, such as the San Francisco International Beer

Festival and the Palm Springs Vintage Vibe Festival,” he says. Montijo also was

nominated for a New Times Music Award this year.

“Since I arrived here I’ve had my eye on that award

show, and it’s really cool to finally be a part of it. So

many artists I admire and enjoy watching are among

the nominees, and I’m honored to be a part of that

group,” says Montijo.

The flourishing music scene in San Luis Obispo

County motivates Montijo to “bring his A-game”

every time he performs. “The better the musicians

are in the scene, the better it is for everybody. Fans

will know a venue has good music, and then they’ll Montijo and his partner, Jennifer Brown, are excited

come back to see more.” Montijo is impressed about where the music will take them in the coming

that so many people in the area support live music years. Tours are planned for the Hawaiian Islands, the

and extends “a huge thank you to the fans and Midwest, and Texas. “We spend our days researching

music supporters.” He adds, “I wouldn’t have the and making calls and getting us to where we want to

opportunities I’ve had in this community without be. Both of us are committed to the music full time.”

them. I feel blessed to be a part of this scene—this Montijo also plans to head back to the studio next year:

is my home.” “I have a ton more songs I’m ready to share.” SLO LIFE

DAWN JANKE, Director,

University Writing & Rhetoric

Center Cal Poly, keeps her

pulse on the Central Coast

music scene.


| DWELLING

PISMO BEACH

BUNGALOW

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON MARTIN



E

very year, as the little red line in thermometers

around the San Joaquin Valley reaches

impossible heights, a modern-day wagon

train forms on Highway 46 as a procession

of vehicles—many of them dust-covered

farm trucks—head west toward “the coast,”

just as they have done for generations.

Of the many kids hanging their heads out of

the window to breathe in the cool ocean air

while descending the Cuesta Grade, Rusty

Schott was thrilled when his parents decided

it was time to buy a second home, just 150

steps from the ocean, in Pismo Beach. The

year was 1975 and the home has been a

touchstone for the family since that time, a

refuge from the heat and a place to kick off

the boots, visit, reconnect with one another,

and speculate about the upcoming harvest.

Looking to continue the tradition, Schott,

a fourth-generation farmer, purchased the

home from his sisters after their mother

passed away in 2001. Together with his wife, >>



Pam, the couple set out to renovate the property,

a little beach bungalow requiring significant

maintenance due mostly to the relentless and

unforgiving wet, salty sea breeze, which took its

toll over the many years. It was determined that

the best course of action was to fully gut the first

floor and boost the square footage by adding a

second story. Easier said than done.

Step one, according to Pam, who began with the

end in mind, was to bring on interior designer

Jason Martin of Dallas Amante Interiors. The

relationship gelled quickly as the client outlined

the vision: make it a comfortable family getaway

for the four kids and six grandchildren. With

that goal in mind, Martin, who Pam calls her

“rock,” began working with the contractor to come

up with a plan. The first phase, demo-ing and

rebuilding the existing structure, took a year, as

expected. It was year two when things hit a snag,

as the couple was forced to wait a full year for >>


“

We found our dream home in the beautiful San Luis Obispo Historic District. Monique Carlton at

San Luis Obispo Realty worked tirelessly with us, covering every corner of the County. We intend

on staying in our Queen Ann Victorian and we would not hesitate working with Monique again.

Duke and Ellen Williams

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their plans to be approved for the second-story addition.

With the permit finally in hand, another two years were

required to complete the project and fully integrate the

finish work with and interior design.

While the couple was back in Pixley—population 3,310—

tending to their pistachios, almonds, alfalfa, and wheat,

local contractor Tim Selna was busy dialing in the home’s

many exquisite details, including the kids’ bedroom with

its one-of-a-kind bunk beds, the conversation-starting

fireplace mantel, the kitchen hood, even the banquet table.

Meanwhile, Martin fussed over every last interior detail,

right up to the placement of the pillows. The net result

is that the Schott family tradition continues and, as Pam

looks back on the long four-year project, she pauses for

a moment before thinking aloud, “We hope to have this

house in our family for the next few generations.” SLO LIFE



| SLO CITY

REAL ESTATE

BY THE NUMBERS

laguna

lake

tank

farm

cal poly

area

country

club

down

town

foothill

blvd

johnson

ave

Total Homes Sold

Average Asking Price

Average Selling Price

Sales Price as a % of Asking Price

Average # of Days on the Market

Total Homes Sold





Total Homes Sold





Total Homes Sold





2016

58

$666,602

$653,342

98.01%

43

2016

37

$798,243

$777,266

97.37%

38

2016

29

$754,921

$744,667

98.64%

26

2016

20

$1,298,350

$1,244,900

95.88%

64

2016

Total Homes Sold

81


$661,879


$657,152

Sales Price as a % of Asking Price 99.29%

Average # of Days on the Market 34

2016

Total Homes Sold

41


$792,815


$776,732

Sales Price as a % of Asking Price 97.97%

Average # of Days on the Market 39

Total Homes Sold





2016

53

$797,925

$780,910

97.87%

53

2017

56

$700,977

$691,977

98.72%

28

2017

21

$810,942

$802,233

98.93%

23

2017

28

$793,596

$784,964

98.91%

29

2017

13

$1,259,446

$1,213,719

96.37%

53

2017

76

$766,811

$762,101

99.39%

44

2017

46

$770,223

$756,495

98.22%

27

2017

47

$786,200

$782,287

99.50%

31

+/-

-3.45%

5.16%

5.91%

0.71%

-34.88%

+/-

-43.24%

1.59%

3.21%

1.56%

-39.47%

+/-

-3.45%

5.12%

5.41%

0.27%

11.54%

+/-

-35.00%

-3.00%

-2.50%

0.49%

-17.19%

+/-

-6.17%

15.85%

15.97%

0.10%

29.41%

+/-

12.20%

-2.85%

-2.61%

0.25%

-30.77%

+/-

-11.32%

-1.47%

0.18%

1.63%

-41.51%

*Comparing 01/01/16 - 11/21/16 to 01/01/17 - 11/21/17

SOURCE: San Luis Obispo Association of REALTORS ®

SLO LIFE


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| SLO COUNTY

REAL ESTATE

REGION

BY THE NUMBERS

NUMBER OF

HOMES SOLD

AVERAGE DAYS

ON MARKET

MEDIAN SELLING

PRICE

2016

2017

2016

2017

2016

2017

Arroyo Grande

311

296

54

58

$684,198

$766,984

Atascadero

327

365

45

55

$489,126

$542,499

Avila Beach

17

16

109

75

$1,047,559 $1,045,313

Cambria/San Simeon

153

146

95

83

$672,998

$711,160

Cayucos

30

56

88

118

$1,017,350 $1,148,410

Creston

7

14

136

82

$858,714

$799,000

Grover Beach

170

161

36

43

$489,952

$517,932

Los Osos

149

119

51

35

$578,431

$613,437

Morro Bay

145

132

55

61

$676,120

$688,123

Nipomo

218

234

55

60

$606,052

$632,741

Oceano

42

46

53

52

$433,143

$448,413

Pismo Beach

122

133

76

55

$970,923 $1,056,903

Paso (Inside City Limits)

449

414

50

42

$452,097

$483,475

Paso (North 46 - East 101)

37

44

54

49

$513,026

$489,906

Paso (North 46 - West 101)

86

86

90

96

$581,293

$514,851

Paso (South 46 - East 101)

48

53

88

71

$562,442

$698,495

San Luis Obispo

399

317

45

34

$747,743

$793,408

Santa Margarita

21

16

47

33

$322,833

$412,988

Templeton

102

107

96

65

$707,264

$714,030


Countywide

2,779 2,672

*Comparing 01/01/16 - 11/21/16 to 01/01/17 - 11/21/17

56 54 $602,585 $651,211

SOURCE: San Luis Obispo Association of REALTORS ®

SLO LIFE

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| ON THE RISE

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Stephen ZagRodny

With places to go and players to direct, this

eighteen-year-old San Luis Obispo High School senior

is running around, lighting up the stage.

What sort of extra-curricular activities do you participate in? I’m the

co-president of the drama club at SLO High and I run cross country and

track. I am the treasurer for the Gay-Straight Alliance and I’m currently

involved as a defense witness on the Mock Trial team. I also am part of

the Improv team and the newly established Environmental Club.

What recognition have you received? Well, I was recently crowned

Homecoming King, but on the more academic side I was selected as an

Elk’s Student of the Month in September.

What is going on with you now? I’m wrapping up the play Annie as Rooster Hannigan and

I’m getting ready to start rehearsals for the musical I’m directing: The 25th Annual Putnam County

Spelling Bee. I’m also currently preparing to compete in Mock Trial, which takes place in February.

What is your favorite memory of all time? Last year, I directed A Very Potter Musical and at every

performance we had a packed house; people were even sitting on the stage at some shows. It was

amazing to see my vision for a production come to fruition and so encouraging to have such a

positive response toward my work.

What other interests do you have? I’m very involved in theatre at SLO High, so I love going to

see shows, but on a broader level I find myself very interested in stories and the way they’re told—

whether that be through film, stage, paints, or really anything at all.

What experiences have had a strong influence on you? I think living in Los Angeles for a good

portion of my earlier years has instilled an appreciation in me for large cities, a diverse array of

cultures, and a balance between natural and urban settings.

If you could go back in history and meet anyone, who would it be ? It’s a toss up between

Andy Warhol because of the way he depicted society in art, F. Scott Fitzgerald because of his deep

understanding and literary portrayal of human characteristics, and Louis XIV because of his use of public

relations and publicity at a time far before social media and celebrities.

What do you dislike? I get really annoyed with people who walk like there’s all the time in the world,

especially when it’s in a crowded hallway.

What is something that not many people know about you? One time I got mixed up about a costume

competition at the Sound Of Music sing-a-long at the Hollywood Bowl and ended up on stage in front of

16,000 people.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? I see myself living in a large city after graduating and settling into

a job that nurtures my interests and applies my abilities effectively. I also hope to have the opportunity to

travel to different regions of the globe and experience a wide variety of cultures.

What schools are you considering for college? I’m particularly interested in UC San Diego, UCLA,

University of Washington, New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Texas at

Austin, to name a few off the extensive list. SLO LIFE

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| FAMILY

UNDER THE

SEA IN AVILA

We are lucky to have such a delightful, aweinspiring

family hotspot no more than a hop,

skip, and a jump away. But, unless you are

looking closely, you may just miss it. Grab my

hand and come along with me as we spend an

afternoon visiting the Central Coast Aquarium.

BY PADEN HUGHES


Igrew up in the Bay Area, where the closest aquarium was in

Monterey and considered to be the Disneyland of marine

wildlife. Locally, you may be surprised to find out we have a

smaller, but no less charming marine sanctuary. I stumbled upon

this gem while on a walk from the Bob Jones Trail into Avila

Beach. The turquoise building is hard to miss and its bright logo

caught my eye.

On a cold, gray afternoon I decided that nine months old was the perfect

age for my daughter to establish a love and appreciation for who and what

lives in the ocean. I packed up our things and off we went, singing “Under

the Sea” to set the mood.

The Central Coast Aquarium hosts various events, including birthday

parties, and we were lucky enough to encounter a cute six-year-old

celebrating her special day. Joined by her enthusiastic friends and

decked out in pirate-themed costumes, the revelers were as distractingly

interesting as the sea life itself.

We spent the afternoon strolling back and forth between the two large

rooms and dozens of tanks. We gazed at the East Coast horseshoe crab,

the bright orange Pacific octopus, the deep red starfish, and the translucent

jellyfish, who circled their tank as if in a trance. I was as absorbed by the

experience as my daughter.

The aquarium, while small, does a great job offering ongoing, unique

experiences. We learned that most of the sea life showcased is

unintentionally caught by local fishermen in their traps. The aquarium

staff has a great relationship with the fishermen and has established a

handshake deal allowing the aquarium to care for the unintended guests

for a couple months at a time, until the anglers head back out to sea and

return the precious creatures to their original homes. This leads to everchanging

tenants in the tanks, which make things interesting, and keeps

the crowds coming back for more.

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While the touch tank was amazing and allowed us to feel the adult swell

sharks and starfish, the highlight for me was, without a doubt, observing

the Pacific octopus shoot across the tank and coil its tentacles around a

child’s football toy. It was so fun to watch kids react to the idea that an

octopus liked football—you could almost see their imaginations take flight.

Of course, no trip to an aquarium is complete without being mesmerized

by the jellyfish. As we approached the tank, my daughter started to

flap her arms, kick her feet, and squeal excitedly. The jellies were the

uncontested showstoppers. We watched the staff feed the umbrella-shaped

invertebrates and were intrigued as we learned where the food gathers into

their four stomachs and how the circular current helps them capture the

nutrients. It was fascinating.

A trip to the Central Coast Aquarium can stretch

from an hour to a full day with the park, beach,

and promenade just steps away from the front

door. I was excited to find out about a program

called Mommies and Guppies—focusing on

kids five years and younger and offered from 10

a.m. to noon on the first non-holiday Monday

of each month. This event features story time

and hands-on interaction with the tide pool

animals. And the recently launched Shoreline

Explorers program highlights a different animal

each month and comes with a beachcomber’s

guide to take tide pooling—talk about real

world connection. It’s clear that the goal of the

aquarium is to invest in future generations, so

caring for our ocean animals and environment

will be a top priority. SLO LIFE

PADEN HUGHES is

co-owner of Gymnazo

and enjoys exploring

the Central Coast.

Nicole Pazdan, CSA

Contact us today for FREE placement assistance.

(805) 546-8777

elderplacementprofessionals.com


SPONSORED

BAXTER MOERMAN

The new tradition

is non-traditional…

Perhaps it’s embarrassing to admit, but it took us a while to

embrace the trust given by strangers. We are entrusted to

make jewelry that commemorates big personal milestones:

marriage, the birth of a child, or redesigning jewelry once

worn by a deceased loved one. The responsibility is

immediately apparent, and we’ve never taken it lightly. The

reason is simple: we can relate. We see ourselves in each

person who walks into our shop. In a world crammed full of

‘stuff,’ we all want jewelry made with quality, craftsmanship,

something rare and special. Most find something perfect

within our showcases, yet often they want to take a step

further. We often customize our designs to reflect the

individual customer.

The new tradition is non-traditional. We increasingly make

engagement rings and wedding bands that both fulfill and

challenge the status quo. They are still made from precious

metals and gemstones, but we’re making them using

recycled gold, textured gold, hand-engraved patterns,

rose cut diamonds, raw diamond crystals, post-consumer

diamonds, and ethically-sourced sapphires of all colors.

Recycled gold has a much lighter footprint upon the

Earth, and the unusual diamonds and sapphires are both

responsibly sourced and really friggin’ cool!

The days of mediocre men’s jewelry are waning. Men

want jewelry that sets them apart from the crowd. They

are increasingly requesting rings that stand out when

compared to their buddy’s. We are seeing more men ask

for wedding bands with hand engraving, accent diamonds,

and sapphires. We are anticipating the revival of ‘right

hand’ men’s rings, signets, and perhaps some tasteful

pinky rings in the coming years.

Each encounter begins simply enough—our shop door chime chimes, a

friendly greeting from our dogs Penny and Indi, and a series of questions

acting as pick-and-shovel to discover how best to help each person.

Sometimes it’s a young guy who heard of us through a friend, or a couple

who recently decided to take their relationship to the next level. But, each

time we find ourselves explaining what we do, and why we do it. Making all

the jewelry that fills our showcases is not the most efficient business model,

but we take pride in knowing we make each piece with distinct quality and

contemporary design that invites compliments.

The People of Garden Street

SHAUN MATTHEWS

PARTNER & HOTELIER, HOTEL SERRA

On my playlist: Gary Moore, Parisian Walkways

Currently reading: The Red Lantern

Comfort food: Polenta with Braised Lamb Ragout

Dream car: 1965 Alvis TE21 Drophead Coupe

Cats or dogs: Dogs, of course!

If you could ask your pet just one question,

it would be: Are you happy?

GARDEN STREET - The Heart of Downtown San Luis Obispo


SPONSORED

ONE-OF-A-KIND

Found only in the alluvial mines of Tanzania’s

Mahenge region. This gem carries the durability

and price of garnet, but the color of Padparascha

and Morganite. Meet Lotus Garnet.

$1,698 // Garden Street Goldsmiths

1114 & 1118 Garden Street, San Luis Obispo

(805) 543-8186 // GardenStreetGoldsmiths.com

PASTA AL SAN LUIS OBISPO

Featuring Tortellini in Brodo, which is Tortellini stuffed with

beef with homemade chicken broth. Come be delighted

by fresh homemade pasta, classic Italian favorites and

a variety of both local and European wines. The perfect

setting for large family gatherings or intimate date nights,

La Locanda is sure to offer a delicious, hand-crafted

experience.

$11 // La Locanda

1137 Garden Street, San Luis Obispo

(805) 548-1750 // lalocandaslo.com

CHEESY SMILES

Gift your favorite person the perfect selection of cheeses,

tasting notes, and recipes. For three months, even the

Scroogiest person will be Santa-like opening their monthly

delivery of select cheeses and dried goods. It’s the perfect

stress-free gift and shipping is available statewide.

$40 per month // Fromagerie Sophie


(805) 503-0805 // fromageriesophie.com

COZY UP TO

CASHMERE

Time to snuggle up in a delicious

cashmere ruana and let the season

begin. Featuring an M. Liz mixed

metal boho chic necklace—truly

one of our favorite designers.

Cashmere ruana $86

M. Liz Necklace $40

Finders Keepers

1124 Garden Street,

San Luis Obispo

(805) 545-9879

finderskeepersconsignment1.com

MUST HAVE

It doesn’t get much simpler than this classic diner mug with a positive attitude.

Everyone should have one these in their cabinet, because there is nothing quite like

starting the day off with a high-quality, warm mug full of your favorite brew to start

the day. Available only at San Luis Obispo’s oldest coffee house, Linnaea’s Cafe.

$9.95 // Linnaea’s Cafe // 1110 Garden Street, San Luis Obispo

(805) 541-5888 // linnaeas.com



START THE FLAME

This one-of-a-kind pendant is sure to light

a yuletide fire this holiday season. From

the Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, a nine

carat pear shaped natural Citrine is alive

with bright colors and wrapped in a swirl of

yellow gold with a mesh chain.

$4,500 // Marshalls Jewelers

751 Higuera Street, San Luis Obispo

(805) 543-3431 // marshalls1889.com

SPONSORED

ACTIVE & ELEGANT

Baxter Moerman’s Hex Studs are simple

everyday earrings with a fresh modern

silhouette. The brushed rose gold and

brilliant white Canadian diamonds create

a rich, elegant look. These are a great

alternative to traditional diamond studs

and a favorite choice for active women.

Available in 18K white, yellow, or rose gold.

SHINE BRIGHT

This season, we’re giving you a new

way to smell like Aveda with Beautifying

and Shampure Pure-Fume Mists. This

aromatic mist nourishes the skin, while

the calming aromas provide a moment

of peace. This mist makes your skin

glisten, as well as add shine to tattoos.

Look for the mists as well as other gifts

to nurture your hair and body..

$30 // Salon62


(805) 543-2060 // salon62.com

PERK UP THE HOLIDAYS

The 2017 Holiday Blend from Scout

Coffee & HoneyCo is made up of coffees

from the world renowned Zelaya Family

in Antigua, Guatemala, and from a

collection of phenomenal small farms in

Cauca, Colombia. This heavy roast will

taste delicious black or with cream and is

packed with the crowd-pleasing flavors of

dark chocolate, soft spice, and dried fruit.

$13.50 // Scout Coffee Co.

1130 Garden Street and 880 E. Foothill

Boulevard, San Luis Obispo

(805) 439-2253 // HoneyCoCoffee.com

$905 // Baxter Moerman


(805) 801-9117 // baxtermoerman.com

GAME TIME

Enter the Hotel Serra Instagram

Scavenger Hunt and set out in

search of fun activities in

beautiful locations,

all painstakingly

crafted and designed

for you to get a taste

of what makes SLO

and the surrounding

area so great. Visit the

hotel’s website for all of the

details, rules, and most of

all, the prizes.

Hotel Serra Coming Soon


hotelserra.com

TAKE A SEAT

Inspired by modern Danish design, this chair is sure to be a statement

piece for any room, a delight to look at from any angle. The solid walnut

base securely cradles the contoured, comfy seat structure. With subtle

curves and refined style, this accent can easily be paired with several

different styles to function in any room.

$2,500 // San Luis Traditions // 748 Marsh Street, San Luis Obispo

(805) 541-8500 // sanluistraditions.com



SPONSORED

FROMAGERIE

SOPHIE

Christmas in Paris makes you believe anything is possible.

The lights, the snow, the decorations and the food create

an ethereal experience that stirs a spark in the soul.

That’s what happened to us when we celebrated Paul’s

50th birthday roaming from fromagerie to patisserie to

boulangeries in the City of Light; eating, smiling, and

loving along the way. It was a vacation that changed our

lives and challenged us to keep that feeling alive when we

were back home in San Luis Obispo.

Being a small business owner anywhere is difficult and

opening a cheese shop in our community was a challenge.

After much discussion we went for it, uniting the place we

love with the culture we cherish. Four years later we are

beyond moved at the way this community, and specifically

Garden Street, has supported our dream.

We know that learning the language of cheese isn’t easy.

As Americans, most of us haven’t been exposed to a

lot of cheese and don’t know what to do when it smells

“bad,” feels funny, and tastes even weirder. These are

the moments we treasure. It’s inspiring to us to see that

moment—and it’s always there—where your eyes light

up, your mouth curls into a smile, and you tell us, “Oh

yes! This is the one.” It’s why we’ve created experiences

like the Passport Program and Cheese of the Month club

so we can take an international journey through cheese

together without the jet lag!

Every day we search for more stories that are shared

with us through cheese. As we select cheese wheels and

specialty products from around the world, we look high

and low for those that are made according to old-world

traditions and are often handmade in ways that date back

centuries. We look for delicious products, and when we

find one with an interesting history, artisanal making and

culture, they delight us all the more. While the products

are certainly delicious, what we are really looking for

and buying are the stories, history, artistry, and culture

behind these hard-to-find products. We are looking for

connections to the past and portals into the future as we share what we

love with those we love. If people have liked something for centuries,

then we have a hunch you might like it, too.

Sitting around a table with great San Luis Obispo County wine and

cheeses from around the world allows us a rare moment to slow down

and connect with old-world traditions and make new friends, soaking up

experiences that matter most. It might be cheesy to say, but we wouldn’t

have it any other way.

The Dogs of Garden Street

TRIVIA

Ollie Hughes (formerly

Olympia Cossa) was

married to the local

pharmacist. She

opened Ollie’s Beauty

Salon at 1112 Garden

St. in 1935. It has been

a salon ever since.

Today, it is the home of

Salon 62.

Rascal // wire haired Jack Russell // 18 months

Rascal, engaged as a proud Ambassador for the future Hotel

Serra is shown here teaching her brothers, Monty and Kona,

how they must stand for the arrival of all four-legged guests.



| HEALTH

Rethinking Salt

We are big fans of podcasts at SLO LIFE Magazine, and you can pretty much count on one playing in the

background at the office most of the time. When we heard an interview recently with an enthusiastic and earnest

young pharmacist-turned-researcher named James DiNicolantonio, our minds were blown, and we ran out to buy

his book, “The Salt Fix: Why the Experts Got It All Wrong—and How Eating More Might Save Your Life.”

Now, let us begin this

conversation by

reminding everyone

that we are not doctors.

We are just passing

along interesting information that happens to

run directly against current conventional thinking

on the subject. The important thing is that these

revelations be evaluated on an individual basis, and

there are, according to the book, some rare diseases

that can make overconsumption of salt a dangerous

thing. But, for the vast majority of us, it may be

time to give salt a fair shake.

The book comes with 46 pages of footnotes, and it is

not light reading. But, lucky for you, we summarized a

few of the key concepts in the pages that follow.

DiNicolantonio stumbled upon his salt obsession

as a retail pharmacist, who once consulted a patient

who came by the pharmacy to fill a prescription.

She complained of fatigue, dizziness, and lethargy.

When he took a closer look at her medication, an

antidepressant called sertraline, he learned that it

was a diuretic (which depletes salt) and encouraged

her to have her blood sodium levels checked. Sure

enough, they were low, so he advised her to talk to

her doctor about lowering her dosage and moving

her off of her low-salt diet. A few days after the

change and increasing her salt intake, she was back

to normal. The author became so excited by this

news that he quit pharmacy so that he could focus

all of his efforts on nothing but salt, which he did

for the next ten years while publishing over 200

medical papers—and counting—on the subject.

Imagine that, nothing but salt for a decade! If there

is such a thing as a salt expert, this is the guy. >>


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No. 1

YOU NEED MORE SALT

WHEN YOU SWEAT

While most of us are familiar with the idea of drinking lots of water

when we work out, the idea of ingesting more salt may seem a little

counterintuitive. Describing the physiological pathways that the body uses,

DiNicolantonio cites the importance of salt (sodium chloride, or NaCl) to

thermoregulation, in other words maintaining a consistent temperature. He

also cites a study performed on soccer players during 90 to 98 degree days

(with 50% humidity) to find that they lost, on average, 1,896 milligrams

of salt during a one-hour match, which is more than many dietitians and

doctors recommend eating for an entire day.

No. 3

WE ARE SALTY DUDES

The surface of the ocean covers 71% of earth, but

because of its volume it makes up 99% of the planet’s

total living space. Sodium chloride constitutes 90% of

the ocean’s mineral content—the same mineral content

found in our blood. Through the early chapters in

the book, the author lays out a compelling case for

how humans evolved with salt, and he argues, quite

convincingly, that our ancestors ate a high-salt diet.

No. 4

COULD THERE BE A

SALT-AUTISM LINK?

The book points to some intriguing ideas where salt may

be of particular, and unexpected, benefit. For example,

DiNicolantonio discusses a theory suggesting that

people diagnosed with autism may be dealing with issues

related to overhydration and a water-salt imbalance, and

recommends that children with the disorder, who often

have salt cravings, be given more salt in their diets, and

cites studies where improvement has been found.

No. 2

OUR KIDNEYS ARE

SALT-SIFTING MACHINES

Through a process called osmoregulation, our kidneys are constantly

recycling salt to maintain an optimum ratio with water. When we consume

too much salt, it is excreted. When we consume too little, the kidneys

become very stingy and hang on to it. On an average day, our kidneys filter

somewhere between 3.2 and 3.6 pounds of salt, roughly 150 times the

amount we ingest daily.

No. 5

LOW CARBS AND

CAFFEINE

With the popularity of the Paleo Diet and the

omnipresence of caffeinated drinks, DiNicolantonio

urges an increased level of salt consumption. Both of

them cause salt depletion through different and relatively

complex processes. The important thing to note here is

that if you are drinking coffee all day, or are eating like a

caveman, it may be worth checking your sodium levels to

ensure you are replenishing the white stuff at a faster rate

than you are depleting it.



No. 6

SALT VS. SUGAR

While there is a process for maintaining a salt balance in the body, no such pathway

exists for sugar. And, according to DiNicolantonio, many people are consuming the

wrong white crystal in excess because they have fallen out of balance. Through a

dynamic that takes him a full chapter to explain (Crystal Rehab: Using Salt Cravings

to Kick Sugar Addiction) he makes the argument that salt deficiencies are actually

contributing to our sugar addiction.

PERSONALIZED GROUP FITNESS

and INDIVIDUAL TRAINING

No. 7

HYPERTENSION MYTHS DEBUNKED

For those that have been told by their doctor that they have high blood pressure and,

therefore, must reduce their salt intake, this is where DiNicolantonio spends most

of his time. He cites study after study where no correlation is found to exist between

the two and, once again, makes the claim that we have villainized the wrong white

crystal. Instead, after walking the reader through the latest research, he places the

blame for America’s hypertension on sugar.

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If you are looking to add more salt to

your diet, quality does matter. And,

for DiNicolantonio, he recommends

Redmond Real Salt, which is mined

from an ancient seabed in Redmond,

Utah. It provides over sixty trace

minerals in a daily serving, as well as

178 micrograms of naturally occurring

iodine, which is generally added to

conventional table salts.

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| STORYTELLERS’ CORNER

JUST

WRITE IT

BY FRANZ WISNER

Writing a memoir is time-consuming, hard as hell, and often

exasperating to the point of wanting to chuck it all into a wood

chipper. Sometimes it feels cathartic. Sometimes it feels like you’re

picking the same scab every day.

Penning your life story demands enormous amounts of energy and emotion. It’s worth every

ounce. In fact, it could be one of the most meaningful things you’ll ever do.

I teach memoir writing classes and workshops around the country. People attend for a

variety of reasons. Some writers come with the makings of a bestseller, a compelling story

that would appeal to a mass audience. They need a little help with structure and technique.

Other writers want to pass down their life story to family members. Some attendees have

experienced a traumatic event—the death of a loved one or a tough bout with cancer,

for example. They use writing as a way to help them process the past and refocus for the

future. Some students just come to listen and gain inspiration. They are all welcome and

encouraged to share their story.

The memoir genre used to be the exclusive domain of the rich and famous. Then, writers

like Frank McCourt and Maya Angelou showed us a great life story can also come from

more common surroundings. They opened the door for a new generation of memoirists.

Anthony Bourdain let us in on restaurant life. Mary Karr wrote about alcoholism. John

Grogan shared a moving story about the family dog, Marley. The new breed of memoir gave

us a new level of intimacy and familiarity. We could relate. And maybe we could pen one

ourselves?

I never aspired to be a writer. I avoided creative writing courses in college. Too artsy

fartsy! But years later, after being dumped at the altar by my fiancée and taking a two-year,

53-country honeymoon with my brother, I knew I had a story inside me.

I spent a year writing my first memoir, “Honeymoon with

My Brother.” I cranked out some regrettable rough drafts and

broke every rule in the how-to memoir handbook. My goal

was simple: make the writing a little less awful every day. I read

other memoirs and circled passages that moved me. I tried out

writing styles and copied techniques. I worked with an editor

who helped me focus on the best parts of the story.

demanded it. I decided skinny dipping can be an

exhilarating way to swim. After a few false starts and a

lot of help from others, I turned in a 300-page memoir

of which I was proud.

Once “Honeymoon with My Brother” hit the

bookstores, something fascinating happened. The

story took on a life of its own. All books do this.

When you release your story into the world, others

claim it, reshape it, grab bits and parts, and make

your story part of their own.

I heard from readers who read the book and decided

to splurge on a long-desired trip to Italy or Australia.

Others told me they called a long-lost family member

and made plans to get together. Many people told me

the story helped them heal.

“My mother passed away last October,” wrote a

woman. “I haven’t even come close to getting over it.

Yesterday, the day I found and read your book, would

have been her 69th birthday. In your book, especially

at the beginning, you often talk of ‘messages.’ I know

my mother wanted more for me than a job that I keep

only because of the paycheck. So I am slowly listening

to that inner voice, the one who today keeps repeating

a line from your book, start ‘....walking towards

walking away.’”

I thought the book may make a few people laugh. I

had no idea some readers would use it to help change

careers, recover from a setback, or re-examine their

lives. One woman told me the book convinced her to

divorce her husband. I made sure to lock my door that

night and prayed she didn’t mention the title to her ex.

A life story will resonate in ways the writer can never

imagine. And that’s a beautiful, powerful thing. Your

story is a gift to others to use as they wish.

The years spent researching, writing, and promoting

my memoirs are, by far, the most rewarding years of

my career. Nothing else comes close. And if I can write

a memoir, anyone can write a memoir.

FRANZ WISNER is the

founder of The Bestsellers

Group, which provides

brands and individuals with

storytelling assistance from

bestselling authors.

I also tried to listen to the writing. Stories will let you know

which characters and scenes deserve more attention and which

ones need a haircut. I strived to be open to those messages.

Early in the process, I struggled to share the emotional

underpinning of my life story. I felt exposed, like a skinny

dipper in the ocean. Then I realized the honesty and

vulnerability made my writing much better. The story

If you have ever thought about penning your life story,

do it. I’ve never met a writer who regretted it, never

heard someone say, “Y’know, thinking and writing

about my life was a complete waste of time.”

The only regrets I have heard are from people who

know they should tell their story, but continue to keep

it bottled up inside. SLO LIFE


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| OUTDOORS

GONE SURFING

with Cadus Surfboards

Wave after wave breaks along our ocean shores; some meager, some weak, and others,

monstrous awe-inspiring cavernous barrels: the cadus (Latin for barrel; a tube ride).

Within all of these life cycles of the ocean, a surfer paddles out. In spirit, a surfer is

always there, always in the ocean—at work, school, the car, lying in bed, and in all of the

moments of life between surf sessions.

BY SHAWN TRACHT

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JON REIS

For locally-bred San Luis Obispo surfing legend Dave “Mouse” Friesen,

it is no different. At a very young age, Friesen was swept up by

the transcendent nature of the ocean, and today, he is the living

embodiment of a soul that is connected to this deeper sense of

worldly energies of the ocean.

With a huge swell in the water, Friesen and I packed up his full-size pickup with five

different Cadus Surfboards (Friesen’s surfboard and apparel brand). We have options with

our equipment—because contrary to common thought, we do not take the waves head

on—surfers, instead, choose the perfect surfboard to meld with the waves and become one

with Mother Nature, finding harmony. Romantic, yes. The journey is as much spiritual as it is

physical. A lifestyle, much more than a sport.

With sand shed on the floorboards and salt lightly crusted along the edges of the seats of his

truck, Friesen and I set off down the coast in search of the biggest and longest peeling waves

we can find.

After checking a few spots, we finally find perfection: Barrels! We are as giddy as our

six-year-old daughters in the candy aisle, squealing and laughing with ebullient excitement

as we scramble out of the truck and hurriedly slip into our wetsuits. We are crazed teenagers

howling at the moon and laughing like hyenas with a spiritual fervor. We’re the juxtaposition

of emotions that pack a punch of every positive, unbridled emotion you could think of: we are

about to ride the pure, perfectly groomed energy of this world in the form of an ocean wave.

A short prayer to ourselves and a look up to the sky, and then we paddle out…

Friesen and I sit on the outside waiting for some big set waves. We talk, laugh, and express

our gratitude about the perfect weather and waves. We laugh some more, talk about our

kids, work, new surfboards, our anxieties, and fears. We talk, and listen, and laugh, and wait...

patiently, out at sea.

And then, all of a sudden, the biggest waves of the day start marching in from the horizon

like corduroy lines on the sea. Eight-foot sets parading toward us from way outside.

HERE... WE... GO!

Friesen paddles hard, concentrating intently as the wave moves toward him. Screams of fear

and fearlessness resounding in the hollers from his best mates, screaming him in, calling his

number, yelling to him, “Go!” He paddles harder, scraping, and digging. “Paddle!” he tells

himself. “Dig!”

Friesen crests over the lip, and begins to accelerate down the face of this swelling,

monstrous wall of water. He pushes down hard,

engages his inside rail line, flows to his feet, stands

up, and then the wave begins to peel over his

head. He crouches just a little as the thundering

peeling lip of the wave breaks over the top of him:

and then a constant crashing whiteness of sound

echos in his ears: he’s fully barreled, blissful.

With the wave embracing him, he stands, in the

tube—the cadus —and all time stops. He’s entered

into perfect harmony with this world. All of the

planets align in this moment of pure everything

and pure nothing. All of the noise finally goes

silent. Heaven on earth: serenity, paradise, joy,

peace, awakening.

Surfing is that physical ride to mental freedom: all

your cares, all your worries, all of life’s anxieties, all

thoughts go away when you’re on a wave.

After four hours of this repeated journey, waiting

calmly for waves and paddling for freedom to

catch barrels, Friesen and I head back to the

truck. The drive home shares that same calm:

two friends sitting back, staring with a sort of

gaze that traverses

back and forth

through time: waves of

yesteryear, waves from

today, and waves we’ll

ride tomorrow. The

journey, lived in the

present, though able

to move through time

and space.

As we keep breathing,

the waves keep rolling

in our minds. One,

after another, after

another. SLO LIFE

SHAWN TRACHT is an

educator who lives every

day with a passion for

helping others, and plays as

many sports as possible in

the moments in between.


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Organic, Fair Trade

For your Holiday Gifts & Goodies

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San Luis Obispo

805.782.9868

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| TASTE

PUT THE KETTLE ON

BY JAIME LEWIS

C.S. Lewis once reportedly said, “You can never get a cup of tea

large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” Indeed, the world

appears to agree with him, at least on that first count: tea is the

most widely consumed beverage on the globe after water. For

centuries, it has calmed nerves, soothed hearts, sparked ideas, and

given rise to revolutions.

But what is tea, exactly? Technically speaking, all true tea is derived

from the plant camellia sinensis, native to Asia. The differences

between the five common teas—white, green, oolong, black,

and Pu’er —derive from the way the

camellia sinensis leaves are cultivated

and processed; depending on their

level of oxidation or fermentation, they

can present widely varying flavors,

aromas, and levels of caffeine. All

other botanicals steeped in water are

considered tisanes, or herbal teas.

In hunting down the perfect cup, I

discovered three spots on the Central

Coast that take the age-old ritual of tea

very seriously, albeit by different means

and traditions. >>

JAIME LEWIS is a world

traveler, and food writer, who

lives in San Luis Obispo.

Secrets For Making The Perfect Cup Of Tea

Pure water: In China, it has been said that water is “the

mother of tea.” Make sure your water is the good stuff

before putting on the kettle.

Good storage: At The Tea Trolley, Wendy Richardson

stores her teas in opaque containers away from heat.

“They look pretty in glass jars, but light can really

damage a good tea.”

The right temp: Armando Teran and Tina Chun keep

hot water at a not-so-hot 165° F at Root. “Boiling

water is too much for most teas,” Teran says. At

home, he recommends bringing water to a boil and

then throwing an ice cube or two in with the steeping

tea to keep the temperature down.

A quick steep: Like East owner Jill Stollmeyer

suggests, tea tastes best after just a brief steep.

“Otherwise, it becomes bitter,” she says. Try a oneminute

steep for delicate white and green teas, three

for oolong, and three or four for black and Pu’er.


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East Wellbeing & Tea

Owner Jill Stollmeyer took up tea after going off

coffee, and it soon became more than just a hobby.

She launched East Wellbeing & Tea in San Luis

Obispo two years ago as a bright, peaceful nook

tucked off Monterey Street where pots of camellia

sinensis, herbal, or wellness tea (blends made

for particular functions) are served alongside a

seasonal menu of soups, wraps, bowls, salads, and

whole-food treats. East also boasts multiple rooms

for body treatments, including soaking tubs for

“steeps” (herbal baths), massage, acupuncture, and

facials.

Stollmeyer brings me a tray of Yin Tea along with

a little hourglass. “We time the steep,” she says,

flipping it over to shift the sands. “It’s important to

get that right. If you don’t time it, you overbrew, and

I think that’s why most Americans don’t bother with

tea.” While she won’t reveal the sources of her tea

(other than two blends from The Secret Garden in

SLO) she admits to having “scoured the earth” for

her blends.

“Everything that’s on our menu is there for

a reason,” she says, “whether it’s for calming,

regulating, or boosting the brain.”


Relax. Let us do the work.

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to have him represent us.”

- Jennifer and Mike Krukow

For the best Real Estate

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SA N LU IS O B ISPO, CA


The Tea Trolley

A native of Brentford in West London, Wendy

Richardson started The Tea Trolley in downtown

Atascadero in homage to her mother, Winifred.

“She always wanted a tea room, but being a single

mum, she couldn’t do it,” says Richardson. “When we

renovated this building I thought, ‘Why don’t I do

a tea room? Because that’s what I know.’” Seventeen

years later, Richardson has watched hundreds of

guests wander into her charming Spanish-style

bungalow—decorated with floral teacups, images of

Elizabeth II, and Union Jacks—to be transported by

the refinements of taking tea.

As for the tea itself, offerings range from classic

black teas like Darjeeling and Lapsang Souchong to

herbal teas like a ginger-peach blend. Many come

from England, as do the Devonshire cream and the

recipe for traditional scones, shaped like a cylinder

(not like a modern triangle scone, Richardson points

out), and loaded with currants.

“We bake almost everything here,” she says, placing a

three-tiered array of biscuits, macaroons, chocolates,

and lemon bars on our white lace tablecloth. My

daughter and son, who’ve come to aid in “research,”

(one of their favorite things), shocked me by waiting

patiently for their goodies, saying “please pass the

cream” and primly stirring their tea. Richardson

chuckles. Context is everything, I think.


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Root

Just past the corner of Halcyon and Fair Oaks in Arroyo Grande

sits a tea shop so tiny I miss it the first time. When I eventually

walk in, husband and wife Armando Teran and Tina Chun greet

me behind a bar spread with tiny cups, strainers, teapots, and

canisters of tea leaves. On the butter-yellow walls hangs a rug

depicting the Native American god of fertility; Radiohead plays

on the stereo. “We thought we’d walk you through a tasting of

the five traditional Chinese teas,” Teran says, his excitement

infectious.

Teran and Chun launched Root 18 months ago as a hangout

where people can play and listen to live music and sip and learn

about tea (as an alternative to sipping something else in a bar).

“When we first started, we thought people knew tea,” says Chun,

“but they don’t! They think it comes from a box at the grocery

store.”

If that’s what people really think of tea, Root is the perfect

antidote. Teran and Chun source their leaves from China via

San Francisco, and have the enthusiasm and know-how of wine

connoisseurs to teach their guests. Of the five teas I taste, the

milk oolong is my favorite, especially as it’s perfectly prepared

and poured by Teran: delicate, earthy, and a little fruity.

“Our goal is to convert all coffee drinkers!” Teran says, laughing.

I tell him I’ll never give up my morning espresso, but, with

the peaceful steam of oolong drifting up before me, I secretly

consider the idea. SLO LIFE


Live the SLO Life!

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Heather Grey

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slolifemagazine.com/shop

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Mayor, San Luis Obispo

Stand with us

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conversation.

STANDSTRONGNOW.ORG

(805) 781-6400 24 hours

FORMERLY WOMEN’S SHELTER PROGRAM OF SLO COUNTY


| KITCHEN

BRINED PORK LOIN

with Dried Apricot Mostarda

This savory white meat is about as good as it gets, and

adding the tangy-sweet flavor of apricot mostarda makes

it a flavorful dish just right for your holiday table.

BY CHEF JESSIE RIVAS


BRINED PORK LOIN

¼ - ½ cup kosher salt

½ cup firm packed brown sugar

1 Tbs ground black pepper

1 yellow onion (rough chopped)

6 cloves crushed garlic

1 bunch thyme (remove sprigs and save leaves)

1 bunch rosemary (remove sprigs and save leaves)

2 bay leaves

5 lbs boneless pork loin

1 Tbs olive oil

Local harvest

DELIVERy

In a saucepan add salt, pepper, brown sugar,

chopped onion, garlic, thyme sprigs, rosemary

sprigs, and 2 crushed bay leaves. Add 3 cups of

water and bring to a boil or until salt and sugar is

dissolved. Remove from heat and add 5 cups of cold

water, allow time to cool.

In a large enough pan or bowl add pork loin and

cover with brine mixture. Rotate pork a few times

while brining or just add enough water to cover the

pork and let sit for at least 3 hours or overnight in

the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375°. Take pork out of the brine

and pat dry with paper towels. Rub with the olive

oil, chopped thyme, and rosemary leaves. Place

pork in roasting pan and put in preheated oven for

30 minutes, then turn to brown other side. Check

internal temperature. When pork reaches 140°,

turn oven up to 450° to finish browning; about

10 minutes. Allow pork to rest 10-15 minutes on

cutting board covered with foil before slicing.

APRICOT MOSTARDA

1 ½ Tbs olive oil

1 large yellow onion (sliced thin from top to bottom)

pinch of salt and pepper

¼ - ½ cup dried apricot diced (about 15 halves)

¼ cup sugar

1 cup dry white wine

3 Tbs Dijon mustard

1 Tbs white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

JESSIE RIVAS is the owner

and chef of The Pairing Knife

food truck which serves the

Central Coast.

In a 10-inch sauté pan,

add olive oil, sliced onion,

salt, and pepper and sauté

for about 5 minutes. Add

apricots, sugar, mustard,

white wine, and white

wine vinegar. Continue

cooking over medium

heat and reduce mixture

to about ½.

Slice pork and top with

apricot mostarda served

over top. SLO LIFE

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| BREW

WINTER

IS BEER

BY BRANT MYERS

If you’ve been keeping up with me over the years, you know I like

to drink seasonally. After all, beer is an agricultural product and

fresh beer is the best beer. Even the glassware gets in on the fun

with longer, warmer days seeing tall pours of bright pilsners and

darker, cooler winter months getting oily stouts poured into squat

tulip glasses. Coincidence? Maybe, but it is fun to think about.

This winter we will be getting into my favorite season: fireplace beers—

the type of big boozy monsters that you cuddle up to and hang around

with for a while. These winter warmers pour dark, have a higher alcohol

content, and get better the more you handle them. You can enjoy one

bottle throughout the evening while getting nice and toasty on the inside.

If you have the foresight, pick up a couple bottles and tuck them away for

next season; just like a good red wine, they’ll hold up for years to come if

stored properly.

Speaking of cool, dark places, here are a few local treats hitting SLO

watering holes as we wrap up 2017. Tap It Brewing’s head brewer, Ryan

Aikens, is having fun with a new twist on their classic American Imperial

Stout “Caltucky.” In years past, this homage to Kentucky’s Finest was

bourbon barrel-aged and utilized wheat, corn, and rye for a familiar take

on the liquor. For 2017, the Tap It crew is creating “Sweet Mash,” with

the same malt bill minus the bourbon barrels. To keep things interesting,

the base American Imperial Stout will see three variants. The addition of

whole vanilla beans will provide a sweet and smooth complement to the

natural toffee and caramel flavors of the beer, a classic combo. Flambéed

coconut and toasted cocoa nibs will be added to another batch, giving off

sweet, roasty flavors while again complementing the spicy rye flavors and

tobacco aromas of the hearty stout base. The third, and decidedly most

interesting variant, will see maraschino cherries and orange peels to craft

a cocktail-in-a-bottle. Fans of Old Fashioneds will likely be slurping this

down as soon as the keg gets tapped. Just make sure to not put an ice cube

in your glass before drinking. “Full Blown Stout” is also making its annual

appearance. The smoked oatmeal stout is great with meals, or as a meal

replacement. It also comes in six-packs, in case your football game goes

into overtime.

Bang the Drum, also in San Luis Obispo, will be releasing their perennial

favorite, “Maple Brown,” this season. A classic brown ale with the

addition of maple to pair well with crisp nights, reminding us of the sugar

maple leaves that lost the battle to cold while lining the streets of our city.

This season will also see a variant of their popular “Surprise Me” blonde

ale with lactose (milk sugar). As fall becomes winter, “Surprise Me” will

be doctored up with the classic flavors of pumpkin via a purée of actual

pumpkins and spiced moderately with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger,

and just a touch of coffee to round out this Wonka-esque brew. Grab a

sweater and enjoy a glass under the stars on their inviting patio.

BRANT MYERS is owner

of Hop On Beer Tours, a

concierge service for craft

beer enthusiasts along the

Central Coast.

Last but not least, SLO’s Libertine Brewing

released their dark saison dry-hopped with

Equinox hops called “Autumn Leaves” in

early November, but like all their bottleconditioned

beers, this will hold up for a

long time and can be enjoyed for months

to come. Saisons are also my favorite beers

to bring to dinner parties as they pair with

almost every food imaginable. Also, keep an

eye out for their library release of Libertine’s

most highly-rated beer, “Stocking Stuffer,”

which is a great Christmas gift, by the way

(I got three for myself last year).

So, cheers to the best part of the coldest

season. May you fill your home with the

warmth of family and friends and most

importantly—good beer! SLO LIFE



SENIOR DISCOUNT . Mon & Tues 10 to 2 . $15

| HAPPENINGS

1351 Monterey Street . San Luis Obispo

(805)783-2887 . clippersbarber.com

CHRISTMAS AT THE CASTLE

View the estate as Mr. Hearst’s

guests enjoyed it during the 1920’s

and 1930’s during the Christmas

season. From the large outdoor

wreaths to towering trees in the

large social rooms, you will enjoy

this winter wonderland during the

month of December.

December 1 - 31 // hearstcastle.org

DECEMBER

SNOW IN MORRO BAY

Come out to Tidelands Park to enjoy

two snow play areas—one on a slope for

the older children and a small flat one

for under four, as well as an Elf On The

Shelf creativity contest.

December 10 // morrobaywinterfest.com

SLO’s Hidden

Gem on the Hill!

Call 805-214-1713 today

to schedule a visit and ask

about our winter specials!*

NEW YEAR’S EVE POPS

You won’t want to miss the best ticket in

town on New Year’s Eve as the Symphony

plays the music of the night. Mix and

mingle with friends and start your New

Year with memorable Broadway music

including a medley from Carousel and

Phantom of the Opera featuring Paul

Woodring and the Forbes Organ.

December 31 // pacslo.org

Las Brisas

Independent Retirement Living

San Luis Obispo, CA

las-brisas.net

*SPECIAL PROMOTIONS ARE LIMITED WITH SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS. TALK WITH

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT FOR DETAILS. ©2017 HARVEST MANAGEMENT SUB LLC,

HOLIDAY AL MANAGEMENT SUB LLC, HOLIDAY AL NIC MANAGEMENT LLC


THE NUTCRACKER

It’s Christmas Eve and Clara is about to have

the night of her dreams. Marvel at the magic

and wonder of this spectacular, professional

production brought to you by the Civic Ballet

and accompanied by the Opera San Luis

Obispo orchestra and the SLOHS Choir.

December 8 - 10 // pacslo.org

Soaring

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ADVENTURE, PASSION

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805-541-2752

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| HAPPENINGS

POLAR BEAR DIP

Kick off the New Year by

jumping into the cold waters of

the Pacific Ocean off Cayucos

as part of the 37th Annual

Carlin Soulé Memorial Polar

Bear Dip. Most participants

wear swimming suits or come in

costume, but be warned, wetsuits

are frowned upon. The festivities

begin at 9:30 a.m., with the Polar

Bear Dip at noon.

January 1 // cayucoschamber.com

JANUARY

RESTAURANT MONTH

Visitors and locals alike can experience the region’s

locally-inspired cuisine throughout January as

participating restaurants offer various special menus

and promotions, most featuring a three-course

prix fixe menu. Reservations recommended. Prices

and offers vary by restaurant. Dine out during this

delicious month celebrating some of the finest

cuisine on the Central Coast.

January 2 - 31 // visitsanluisobispocounty.com

LA CUESTA RANCH TRAIL RUN

The race will take place at the gorgeous La Cuesta

Ranch, just outside of San Luis Obispo on Loomis

Road backing up to Poly Canyon and West Cuesta

Ridge. The start/finish area will be staged at the

historic ranch barn. This event features dirt trails

and ranch roads with fantastic views of the West

Cuesta Ridge.

January 6 // ultrasignup.com

live the SLO LIFE!

SLO LIFE

SWINGING

FOR THE

FENCES

ON THE

RISE

HEALTH

WORDS TO

LIVE BY

BEHIND THE

SCENES

m a g a z i n e

HEATING UP

SUMMER

OUTDOOR

LIVING

AFTER

HOURS

NOW HEAR

THIS

MEET

BILL

OSTRANDER

JUN/JUL 2014 & POLITICAL ACTION

A LITTLE PRINCESS

Young Sara Crewe would rather stay with her

dear father in India than leave for Miss Minchin’s

boarding school in grim, bustling London, but her

father insists she receive an English education. In

this heartfelt, faithful adaptation of the beloved novel

by Frances Hodgson Burnett, one girl’s goodwill and

courage show what being a princess truly means.

January 12 - 28 // slorep.org

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

slolifemagazine.com



2 18

Wishing our clients, families, and friends a vibrant holiday season, a new home overflowing with love and

a new year filled with joy, peace and prosperity. We welcomed over 300 buyers and sellers into the Haven

Properties family in 2017. In the spirit of the holidays, THANK YOU for the privilege of representing you.

547 Marsh Street • San Luis Obispo

805 Main Street • Morro Bay

1039 Chorro Street • San Luis Obispo


805.592.2050 | WWW.BHGREHAVEN.COM

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