Our Desert Travel Issue. Senior Editor, Amelia Rodriguez, writes about the way Massoth and other valley residents are revolutionizing the area. Director of Creative Projects, Nicolle Monico, heads to Sedona, hoping to tap into the transformative forces said to swirl around the Arizona city’s soaring red rocks.

Speaking of rocks, we step into an Escondido home that coexists with the giant boulders that pepper its site—by inviting the stones inside. Designed by Drew Hubbell (the equally sustainably-minded son of artist and green building legend James Hubbell), it shows the same innovative spirit in architecture that the audacious chefs at tasting-menu-only La Jolla restaurant Lucien show in food. Content Chief Troy Johnson reviews Lucien and its extraordinary egg dish.

We’ve also got a roundup of some of the county’s best sweet treats, a look inside the psyche of a local thriller writer willing to get himself kidnapped for research (it’s paid off—he got a Netflix deal), and a behind-the-scenes peek at how the San Diego Museum of Art curated its centennial exhibition. We cover the latest trends and hot tips in the world of weddings, including expert advice for how to best distribute that budget.

Closing out the issue is the story of San Diego DJ and cultural pioneer Makeda “Dread” Cheatom, who, much like the young entrepreneurs changing the game in the Coachella Valley, saw that something was missing here (in her case, Bob Marley’s music and a universal cultural center) and set out to bring it to life herself.