About Me
Good to meet you
Hello! My name is Monica Schwartz, and I currently live in the Northern California Gold Country.
Besides being the driving force behind Life Out Of Bounds, I am also a photographer, artist, writer, chef, forest therapy guide, and aspiring home designer. I am also a world explorer, time traveler and aspiring teleporter. If I were turning eleven next week, my choice of school would be Hogwarts!
Born and raised in Italy, I moved to Hawai'i in 2002, where I lived for eleven years, until I came down with island fever. That is when I moved to California.
These days I share my time between Italy and California, though Hawai'i remains the home of my heart. And who knows, maybe I will return there when I am done exploring.
Eventually, I might even get a new photo taken of me. Photographers don't like to be photographed; at least, this one doesn't.
Keep scrolling and you can find out more about me and some of the things I love.
There is no Present like the Time…
ABOUT LIFE OUT OF BOUNDS
What is Life Out Of Bounds?
It all started with a blog called Food Journey. That was my outlet for sharing recipes and restaurant reviews as a natural consequence of my past as a chef/restaurateur, and then a present as a food photographer (among other subjects).
After a while that was no longer enough, as I wished to share about more than food. That is when Life Out Of Bounds was born (or LOOB for short), back in 2012, while still living in my Honolulu apartment. I still miss that apartment - sigh!
Besides being an expansion of my photography portfolio, LOOB would become a way for me to share about my (many) other interests besides food; things like travel, art, design, nature and all those wonderful things that contribute to and enhance our lives here on this planet.
For a while I published both Food Journey and Life Out Of Bounds. Soon though, two blogs became too much to manage. For as much as I loved FJ (and it was difficult to say goodbye) it made more sense to integrate that into LOOB, which, by its own name, allowed for all the expansiveness I craved.
These days, LOOB is like a home, a personal container through which I share my personal experiences with all of the above and beyond. It evolves and changes with me.
Occasionally, I bring in a contributor for a while: people of integrity, with good hearts, and who I love and trust, and feel have something to share that has value and is in line with my vision.
Beyond that: it is a one woman show! From the written content, to the photography, graphics, web design, widgets, etc.… I do it all. I cannot imagine it ever being any other way.
Though I have a few affiliate links here and there, I keep it free of advertising because I cannot stand those ugly, annoying pop ups that you see everywhere these days. Besides being unappealing, they also make it difficult to read or view content, especially when browsing from a phone.
What's in a name?
I am actually pretty good at coming up with names and titles. I was lying on the floor with notepad and pencil, doodling and playing with words while looking for a name that would be expansive, all encompassing. For some reason the letter O kept popping into my head, and I kept scribbling and trying until I came up with Out Of Bounds. I loved it!
It represented me not just in one, but two levels: I was living outside of my native country (Italy), so I was out of bounds in that way, and I have never loved boundaries and being boxed in. So it was perfect.
Alas, the domain name Out Of Bounds was already taken, so it became Life Out Of Bounds instead.
About the Content
As you will be able to see while exploring LOOB, I share about all the things I enjoy and am passionate about: travel, design, photography, nature, healthy living etc. And because of my background as a chef and restaurateur in Italy, I also share a lot about food.
My posts include lots of my own recipes from the restaurant years and beyond. These I update periodically as I myself grow and fine tune my taste and abilities.
I also like to share about good places to eat: coffee shops and tea rooms, bakeries, bistros, cafes and restaurants. However, in recent years - and especially since covid - this has become more frustrating, because a good place you find one day, give it a year and sometimes they are no longer there. I try to keep my posts updated and relevant, and it is sad when I have to delete one because things have changed.
Therefore, these days I no longer do single-eatery posts. However, should I choose to write a piece about a particular town or area, and have experiences of good food spots in the area, I will include these within that post and do my best to keep them updated.
The same applies to those unique shops and galleries. Some are there for years and years, then suddenly vanish. It all changes so fast.
The Logo
That was also designed by me, in Photoshop. I love fonts, lettering and calligraphy, and I enjoy playing with those.
The logo has looked pretty much like this since the beginning. Over the years, my creative drive has had me fiddling with the fonts a little, but to this day I have had no reason to change the design, or the colors.
About the website design
For those of you who are enjoying the website design, here are a few logistics:
it is based on Wordpress, with an incredible base theme by Pro.Photo (who are also providing the hosting). Pro.Photo is still a small business, and their customer support has been amazing from the beginning. If you decide to sign up through this link , you will receive the first month of hosting + theme free.
This Pro.Photo theme is super customizable in itself, enabling you to create your own designs from scratch if you wish. It can be a bit of a learning curve, but the possibilities are endless. You will find there are lots of clear tutorial videos and, most of all, no coding is necessary. Besides, the Pro.Photo team are always ready to help.
If you prefer, however, you can upload ready-made Pro.Photo-specific designs created by other designers. These can be purchased separately and installed on top. They can save you a lot of time and work, and be a blessing if you are not versed in design.
In my case, after much inner debate, I decided to use the included base design and then customize it all myself from scratch. I must admit: I really love doing this.
All the graphic elements you see around the site, I have also created myself in Photoshop.
My chosen e-mail newsletter service provider is Flodesk. I signed up with them in 2023 and love them. If you are interested, you can sign up through this link with a 50% discount on the first year.
Latest Posts
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NEW SEPTEMBER ’25 CALENDAR WALLPAPER!
With all the heat and rain here in my neck of the Northern Italian woods, it is most definitely mushroom season. The king of all mushrooms - and the only one we pick - is the flavorful Porcino (Boletus eduli). No other mushroom compares, and all the “fungiatt” - the local dialect word to say “mushroom hopeful-gatherers” (the key word being hopeful) are careful not to divulge their special spots.
My brother and my niece have already been scouring the nearby Alps, found a few, and will be heading up again this week. In the meantime, here are a few in this month’s Calendar Wallpaper.
Available for laptop/desktop, iPad/tablet and iPhone/smartphone, the monthly Calendar Wallpaper can be downloaded for free at the link in profile. Or you can comment SEPTEMBER and I am happy to send you the link directly.
Happy September, and happy Labor Day weekend to all my friends in the U.S. of A.
xoxo
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#loob_nature #calendarwallpaper #mushrooms #naturephotography #forestphotography #forestbathing #shinrinyoku #September #porcini #porcinimushrooms #boletusedulis #foundforaged #foragedfood #intothewoods #forestlife #inspiredbynature #naturelover #whatitalyis #septembervibes #summertime #mindfulness
LINGUINE WITH ZUCCHINI BLOSSOM, SHRIMP AND SAFFRON
When I dashed to the grocery store yesterday I found some glorious and fresh looking baby zucchini with blossoms attached. You should have seen my face - sorry there is no equivalent e-moji!
I knew I had frozen shrimp and saffron at home, and parsley of course. So I grabbed some linguine and that became today’s lunch!
Like most pasta recipes, this one is easy, too. You only need few ingredients:
🔸Linguine (pasta) or even fresh egg Taglierini (thin tagliatelle)
🔸Fresh (or defrosted) nice shrimp, shelled and deveined
🔸Lovely baby zucchini with the blossom attached (or even just squash blossoms)
🔸Saffron powder
🔸Freshly chopped parley
and, of course: extra-virgin olive oil, coarse sea salt for the pasta water, fine sea salt and pepper for seasoning the shrimp and veggies
Full recipe to be found in the blog via the link in profile, under Recipes for Summer. It’s one of my most popular posts, so you can also find it on the home page. Or you can comment SAFFRON below and I will be happy to send you the link directly.
xoxo
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#loob_food #recipe #italianfood #pastarecipe #pasta #linguine #zucchiniblossoms #shrimp #saffron #italianlife #summerfood #fooditaly #italianfoodbloggers
In the last few days I noticed how the light and the colors in nature have shifted. The sweltering heat may disagree, but the light is softer and there are more yellow tones overall in nature, and greens are more subdued in the trees, especially the big ones.
I notice this every year, increasingly more keenly since becoming a photographer and thus having learned to constantly evaluate the light. Noticing this subtle transition seems to happen no matter where I am. I used to notice it even when I lived in Hawai’i, where there are no deciduous trees and this shift is much more subtle….
Continued in the comments… .
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#loob_nature #nature #forestbathing #shinrinyoku #summertime #theartofslowliving #momentsofmine #mindfulness #presence #summergarden #summerlife #italianlife #earthenergy #groundingenergy #naturehealsthesoul #sacrednature
It’s so hot in Italy these days that it’s sweltering even on the top of our little hill under lots of green trees. I think about the various places I would like to explore, the friends I want to see, but the only place I feel inspired to go is the frozen section at the grocery store.
And that’s where I went yesterday, where I found such glorious local peaches that today I am making this bruschetta for lunch… again. It’s a favorite. This and variations there of.
My brother has a really happy and lush plant of basil growing in a pot just outside, so I will be using that instead of thyme. But then, peaches and basil are a match made in heaven!
It’s a recipe, non-recipe. You can see it on the blog, but it’s so easy it’s really a list of ingredients put together:
🟠 slices of good quality crusty bread, grilled or toasted (no garlic!)
🟡 spread that with some fresh ricotta or even some burrata cream (the filling inside burrata)
🟠 top that with one or two slices of prosciutto or speck (the smoked version of prosciutto)
🟡 top that with slices of grilled peaches
🟠 a little drizzle of balsamic reduction
🟡 a sprinkling of fresh basil or fresh thyme
A little chilled Prosecco and we can toast to perfect temperate weather all year round!
Happy Monday!
xoxo
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#loob_food #summerfood #peaches #bruschetta #italianfood #thisisitaly #italiansummer #foodstyling #foodphotography #prosciutto
Happy Birthday to my gorgeous Mum! 83 and counting! ❤️
So grateful she is still with us, especially after the scare she gave us a year ago.
This is a portrait (of a series) I did a few years ago with one of her beloved gowns. Definitely a princess, don’t you think? ❤️
She is saying you should go and treat yourselves to some cake, or better yet, her favorite dessert: Panna Cotta!
xoxo
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#loob_people #portraiture #environmentalportraiture #portrait #makeportraits #portraiturephotography #nikonnofilter #portraitshoot
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©Monica Schwartz - all rights reserved.
