vegan chai

vegan winter coats are on their way!

okay, so if by chance you're a somewhat longtime reader, you'll know that i have whined about vegan winter coats for nearly three years now. in fact, i would wager that the most common google search that brings people to my blog is a search for "vegan winter coats." here is the post that started it all, in november of 2006, and i have continued whining about it yearly since then. last fall, i happened to stumble across a fantastic new fashion house starting up a vegan coat line, vaute couture. they held a design contest (i.e., artists submitted designs, and the vegan masses voted for their favorites), and ever since then they have been working on getting beautiful-yet-warm fabrics all lined up, selecting purty colors, making look books, and basically gearing up to sell these suckers for our very next freezy season. score!

the coats are all gorgeous. there is a really cute peacoat (a warm, vegan, peacoat! for real!), two different 3/4 length dressier coats, and a funky bomono coat with lots of armpit room for those of you who like to wear chunky sweaters. ;) they all come in black, ivory, light grey, and a divine blue that i'm totally in love with... and they also come in a recycled fabric option (black only). everything is vegan, everything is made ethically, and everything is pretty. i think this is what a lot of us have been waiting for, yes? 

and right now, for a few more days, you can pre-order a coat for a discount--in some cases, a very steep discount of 50% off! basically, between now and june 30th--that's on tuesday, everyone!--if you pre-order and make a down payment, vaute couture will match it, up to 50% of the coat's value. so in other words, if you pay half now, you're actually done. seriously, so generous and awesome.

so go over and check out the coats, and while you're at it check out the cute tees as well. i had no idea who leanne was when i first discovered her contest, but based on a few crazy coincidences, i've now had the distinct pleasure of meeting her and spending some time with her. she's a lovely person inside and out, and i wish her nothing but the absolute best with this venture. she's prettying up the vegan winter landscape, one coat at a time!

tempt

dear internet friends,

you must seek out the new tempt hemp-milk ice cream and eat it. you will thank me later. i was at whole foods today, and we were looking at the coconut bliss ice cream (also delicious, but i digress) and a very very nice woman said, "are you looking at non-dairy ice cream?" and i was all, "uh, yes..." and she said, "well i can HIGHLY recommend the tempt, it's delicious." so right then and there i decided to take her word for it and i grabbed a pint of chocolate fudge. by the time we finished shopping and drove home, it was the perfect amount of softened, so i opened it up right away and ate about an inch off the top. it is soooo good! chocolatey and creamy and YUM. seriously, go get some. those nice random vegans never steer you wrong!

xoxo

meetups and so forth

back in march when i listed off a bunch of things i wanted to blog about, "vegan meetup and other similar outings" was on my list. the amusing thing is that now, i can't really remember exactly what i wanted to talk about. oops. i think i might have wanted to share some of my apathy about going to meetups lately. i'm not exactly sure what that's about, but over the past few months i've been kind of meh about the whole thing. part of it is because many of the people i really like and look forward to seeing haven't been going, so, well i guess that's a normal consequence. 

then of course there's the fact that i kind of got stuck with the bill at a recent meetup, which was not the end of the world, but kind of annoying nonetheless. basically a bunch of people put money in a pile and left, and when i stuck around to count it, it didn't add up. boo.

i think i'm also struggling with what i want to get out of going to meetups. originally it was simply to meet other vegans in my town, because i knew exactly zero of them, and i needed a place to feel comfortable, like i fit in, instead of feeling like The Difficult One when i'm at a restaurant with my family or friends. my friend dave helped me kick-start a meetup here (really i just used meetup to publicize some monthly lunches that were already occurring, but still--it really helped us generate awareness of our city's vegan peeps), and it was really cool to learn that there are regular ol' vegans around here. but over time, there has been a little bit of a struggle over the best kind of events to have, and especially over the scheduling of said events. i have just enough control over things to be Highly Visible, but not nearly the control to actually change things, so i end up hearing everyone's frustration and then not really being able to do anything about it. that (coupled with the fact that a lot of my pals have stopped bothering to attend) has taken its toll on my interest over the past six months or so. i think i've shifted from wanting to meet "just anyone" to wanting to hang out with the people i know i get along with--does that sound weird? i don't mean it to sound cliquey, because that's not at all how i feel... it's just... eh, i don't know how to explain this any better. hopefully you get what i'm saying.

i do love meeting new vegans, and i do love how excited people get when they come for the first time and they're realizing We Do Actually Exist (hee). i totally remember being that person, and it's fun to be able to give advice on restaurants or cookbooks or whatever... but also, i'm going to admit that i'm actually kind of a self-conscious person when it comes to small talk with strangers, so sometimes i'd rather just kick back and talk to the three people i know. and then i feel like a schmuck because i might seem standoffish, which i really am not.

i'm rambling. i guess this is what happens when you give yourself a topic and can't remember the details!

in any event, this month i'm dealing with my meetup apathy by hitting the road! a friend and i are road-tripping to another city's meetup (look out chicago, we are descending upon you), so we'll meet a bunch of new people and try some (hopefully) delicious vegan fast food, and i'll even get to hug a few old friends. i think it will be a lot of fun, and energizing. here's hoping we don't get lost on the way there.

skin care

if you're a longtime reader, you may remember this post from november 2006, wherein i bemoan my stupid acne-prone face. i wanted to revive the conversation a bit, because i've tried a couple of new things since then, and i'm still not 100% happy. maybe some of you share my plight and have ideas?

i am so super duper sick of feeling like i'm always working around at least one blemish on my face. it's driving me bonkers. i've had some really bad patches over the past few years, and lately it's been better, but not better enough, if you get my drift. the minute something clears up, something else pops up, and i just want to have a normal 35-year-old face like all of my friends and colleagues. is that so wrong? i used to be able to go out without makeup and not feel like i looked gross. my sister doesn't even wash her face, ever, and she doesn't have to wear makeup. how did i end up on the shallow end of the skin pool? MEH. 

anyhow, i mentioned in that post way back when that i had started using dermamed, which is from canada. i love it because it's so simple--only four ingredients--and it's relatively effective. it's a bit drying, so i switch to a slightly heavier moisturizer than i would otherwise use, and that pretty much takes care of that. i used it for about 13 months or so, and then switched to a different product because my face still wasn't quite as clear as i wanted it to be. in december of 2007 i started using mychelle products, which are lovely because they're all-natural, but they aren't all vegan so it means a bunch of label-reading. anyhow, i settled on several products in their acne/oily line, and i liked them a lot, although they are very expensive, especially if you buy them at whole foods. i eventually found several of my regular items on amazon, which helped save moolah, but still--lots more expensive than one bottle of dermamed, which lasts for a billion months. 

switching to the mychelle stuff added a bunch of steps to my regimen: i went from cleanser & moisturizer to a cleanser, toner, serum, & moisturizer. i also used a mask (which i have done forever, so no net gain there) and a peel from the mychelle line, basically alternating nights. a lot of products and a lot of money, but it seemed to do the job relatively well... but not truly fantastic results or anything. i used mychelle from december 2007 until about a month ago--so, almost a year and a half--when i decided once and for all that i really didn't need to spend all that money to get basically the same results i was getting with the dermamed (i'm stubborn when it comes to this stuff, and i like to give things a few months to work themselves out, and then i get stuck in my rut).

last month, i decided to go back to the dermamed, because i had almost an entire bottle still in my cupboard and i figured what the heck. i went through the same drying routine, but after a few weeks that's under control with the right moisturizer. i'm still incorporating the mychelle mask and peel every other night, because i have them to use up, but i'm not sure if i'll stick with them for the long haul. i'm just really tired of playing this game, and i hate that every time i try something new i have to commit to two months of(even worse) breakouts while waiting to see if it will work. i know that nature's gate has a "kit" for acne and so does aveda (holy spendy!), but i don't know anyone personally who has used either one, and i'm wary of getting involved. heh. 

thanks for letting me whine. if any of you are fellow sufferers, let me know if you've found your magical solution yet. 

the veganity of nail polish

i'm just going to come right out and admit my ignorance: what makes nail polish Not Vegan? is it potential animal testing, depending on the company? or is there an actual ingredient that is animal-based in most nail polish?

i ask because i have a large back-stock of OPI nail polish in my cupboard, and i'm wondering if i should be grossed out by it or not. i've had these bottles almost forever, seriously, because they hold up well and i only use it on my toes and i don't necessarily paint my toes year-round. i know there are a couple of vegan nail polish companies, and i've tried the no miss brand, but honestly i much prefer my OPI stuff. there is really only one shade of no miss that i like (zinnia zephyr or something like that), and while it's quite pretty, i get bored of wearing the same color absolutely all the time. also, i feel like the OPI wears better and longer. 

does anyone know the ins and outs of nail polish? is my OPI stuff okay? are there other vegan nail polish companies out there that i should know about? especially ones that don't only have "fun" colors? i'm kind of a shimmery-taupe kind of gal when it comes to nail polish, so turquoise and fuschia and bright red aren't selling points for me. someone, de-mystify nail polish for those of us who are clueless!

lunch without garbage

so! i'm trying to reduce the amount of ziploc bags we go through, which admittedly isn't tons, but also admittedly could be about zero if we worked at it. whenever i go to campus for any length of time, i bring lunch along with me, and i usually use at least two ziploc bags each time: one for my sandwich, and one for crackers or something (to be dipped in hummus), and/or one for dessert, if it's cookies or something "loose" like that. now, i don't go to school all day very often (especially this past year, being on sabbatical), but still, even going a few times a week adds up to a bunch of garbage. my husband tends not to pack lunches for himself (he just packs them for me! score!), so it's really just me using all these bags.

i decided to buy a few reusable sandwich bags to give them a try. i ordered a pair of these lunchskins from 3 green moms, and i also ordered two snack taxi bags (one in the sandwich size, and one in the snack size). i haven't had a chance to try them out very thoroughly yet, but i'm working on it. my first impressions are pretty good, although i have a couple of general concerns. 

first is the dreaded jelly problem: i can't tell you the number of times i've pulled my pb&j out of my lunch bag and found that some jelly has seeped out of one side. not a ton, but just enough to get on the ziploc and be sticky. i'm not really looking forward to that happening in these new bags, because wiping up jelly everyday is kind of yucky. the couple of times i've used the bags already, i've made Extremely Neat Sandwiches with Very Careful Peanut Butter Boundaries, but let's get real because that's not always going to happen. well, and now that i think about it... sometimes the peanut butter seeps out the side, too, and that's not fun to clean up, either. meh.

second is the freshness issue. as my husband pointed out, velcro flaps don't really mean airtight, so i'm wondering if i'll ever end up with slightly stiff bread or mildly stale cookies. so far, so good, but only time will tell! 

if anyone has had experience with either of these bags, let me know how you like them... or if you have any specific cleaning tips. so far, i think i prefer the snackTaxi bags, because they're more flexible, and therefore easier to quickly turn inside out and back again. then again, the velcro strip is wider on the lunchskins, so maybe i'll notice that they keep things fresher. stay tuned, i guess!

my next project is finding the perfect lunch bag (i.e., the bag to carry all this stuff in). right now i'm using a (free) insulated bag from whole foods--they gave them away when they opened up in our town. i like it okay, but it's designed kind of funky and i've been wondering if i'd like different shapes better. i'm also wondering whether i need insulated or not, since i have a mini-fridge right next to my desk. any recommendations, i'd love to hear them!

have you had the dandies?

i'm sure you've all heard by now that there are new vegan marshmallows on the market. they are called dandies, and they have been brought to us by the very same people who brought us temptation ice cream and teese: chicago soydairy. i know that it's been a little tough for people to get their hands on these little lovelies, but i was SUPER lucky and happened to snag a bag at just the right time. and let me tell you, they are amazing! they taste seriously for realiously exactly like you remember marshmallows from the pregan days. they are soft, chewy, pillowy, a little powdery on the outside, sticky inside, sweet, and delicious. i haven't even made anything with them yet, i've just been eating them out of the bag in stunned (and happy) silence. 

i've already heard many tales (and seen a few blog posts, with pictures... here's one, for example!) of people getting marshmallowy with their dandies, though, and it appears as though they behave beautifully in cocoa, in s'mores, and in krispie treats. hooray! when they become more plentiful again, i'll buy a few bags and start baking and whatnot, but for now i'm happy to pop them as mini-snacks. 

now, if only we could get someone to make the weird hard marshmallows vegan, so i could eat lucky charms and oreo o's again. heh.

anise toothpaste

about a year ago, i started searching for a new toothpaste. my ol' standby (tom's of maine cinnamint) had been retired, and i was kind of heartbroken, and i had to start from scratch. i tried a few that were "just okay" and honestly at this point i can't remember what they were anymore. i know we used JASON orange-cinnamon-mint nutrismile for awhile, and liked it, but after a few tubes i felt like it wasn't really as "fresh" as i like my toothpaste to be, and i didn't always feel squeaky-clean after brushing. i'm sure this is more my own issues than anything to do with the actual toothpaste; it's probably just a preference or something i'm used to or whatever, but i decided to start experimenting again. i believe i tried the cinnamon-mint powersmile, and i honestly can't remember anything about it, so it must have been one of those "just okay" tubes. 

at some point i switched from JASON over to nature's gate, because my co-op was having a huge sale on them, and i picked up a tube of their cool mint gel. it was a blend of spearmint and peppermint, which i thought would be great, but really i thought it was almost overly strong, and decided to try something else when we finished that tube. for reasons completely unknown to me, i decided to give the creme de anise a shot. maybe it was the box's promise of "deliciously fresh breath," or maybe it was the pretty star-shaped anise on the front, i don't know. my grandpa always loved anise candies, and i loved them as a kid because i loved him, so maybe that's what did it. anyhow, i brought the weird toothpaste home half-expecting to hate it, but i actually loved it! my husband was a little more skeptical, but eventually came around (mostly). 

the weirdest part is that i absolutely cannot stand black licorice; i think it's disgusting. i always sort of equated black licorice with anise in my mind, with the weird exception of anise candies (i know this makes literally no sense whatsoever), and i still compartmentalize them in my head. i did some wikipedia-perusing, and apparently there are some similarities/connections among licorice, anise, and fennel... which is another thing i've always hated. so how the heck do i come off loving anise toothpaste but hating black licorice and fennel? it's a mystery.

to make things more complicated, i should share that the entire basis of my fennel-hate is rooted in my mom's penchant for putting whole fennel seeds in lasagna when i was growing up. barf, i hated when i bit into one of those seeds. but! when we were on the vegan cruise last month (right in the midst of my new love affair with anise toothpaste), i had the opportunity to try a bowl of fennel soup. guess what? i really liked it! it tasted kind of like celery to me. this whole thing just keeps getting weirder, i know.

the only thing i can figure is that i'm one of those people who picks up on subtle differences in flavor, so anise = tasty while black licorice = disgusting, and fennel seeds are the devil while fennel soup is actually kind of nice. i can't explain myself, i can just talk up the weird anise toothpaste and tell you it's my new favorite.

bo obama

so, yeah, i'm definitely disappointed at the about-face on the president's decision to accept a dog from a breeder rather than adopt from a shelter. i imagine we all are, to some degree. i think it's kind of been done to death in the media, and honestly i'm not even bothered by that, because i do think it's a big deal. i'm not going to yammer on and on because it would be preaching to the choir, but i did want to share this article, because it's one of the more interesting ones i've read on the matter. i almost came away with the feeling that there was never a true intent to rescue from a shelter, which bums me out. meh.

vitasoy rumor

i just heard from a friend who manages a retail store that vitasoy is going to stop peddling their wares in the US. what the hell, people? peppermint chocolate vitasoy will cease to exist? that is completely unacceptable. i think there is a conspiracy against me.