vegan chai

sore feet, full belly

almost every nablopomo, i end up going to a convention and blogging from the hilton. this year is no exception! i also usually have at least one post cursing the hilton, because the internet dies right in the middle of my posting and i have to re-up and i get all cranky. but that won't happen this time, because this time our national organization sprung for free wifi in the rooms. woo hoo!

anyhow, we're in chicago for the next four days, and that means one thing: seeking out the vegan restaurants. tonight we headed to karyn's cooked, a place we've visited several times before. we walked about two miles, and halfway there i bought squishy gel insoles for my boots because my heels were killing me (they're crappy cheapo boots), but once we made it there, a lot of delicious food was waiting for us. 

i decided to order a strawberry-banana smoothie because it just sounded good, and i was not disappointed. it was perfect. the soup of the day was creamy sweet potato (omg! it's like they knew i was coming!), so of course i had a cup of that. it was amazingly good; i could have eaten it forever. and it comes with a side of cornbread, yum. for dinner i hemmed and hawed for quite awhile (it's always a blessing and a curse to be able to order anything off the menu), but eventually settled on the flautas. they came with a side of refried black beans, a side of guacamole, and some super-delicious tomatillo sauce. i also asked if they would bring me a side of their cheesy sauce, which they did. i pretty much cut up the flautas and mixed everything else in and went nuts. it was fabulous and i thought i would explode by the time i was done.

we walked the two miles back to our hotel, hopefully walking off some of the calories in the process, and now i'm being a slug in the hotel room. i'm not sure where we'll go next, but i'm pretty sure a trip to the diner is in store, and we'd also really like to check out handlebar. mmm, chicago food.

friendly face in the crowd

today after class, one of my students came down to the front of class to talk to me. my lecture is pretty big (260+ students), so i don't really get to know the vast majority of my students. usually, if they come to talk to me (rather than just going straight to their TA), it's either because they want to complain about a grade or they want to tell me a funny story that they thought of during lecture. (guess which one of those i prefer? heh.)

so anyhow, today as i'm packing up my laptop i hear a friendly girl say my name, and when i look up, she's handing me a piece of folded up paper. she said, "i thought you might be interested in this... it's for a vegan thanksgiving here in town?" i was a little surprised, because i never talk about veganism in class (although, to be fair, i have a "go vegan" message in my email sig file, and one of my TAs has talked about my veganism with her discussion sections, so i'm not exactly closeted, either). 

anyhow, based on what she said i think she saw it on my facebook page (i'm listed as the faculty advisor for a vegan outreach group on campus). i thought it was so cute and sweet of her to bring me the flyer for vegan thanksgiving! i thanked her, and asked if she was... "vegetarian, or...?" i went for the conservative guess because i didn't want to make her feel weird if all she was doing was bringing something to my attention, you know? she immediately smiled and said she was vegan. squee! i got all excited and said, "oh yay! i kind of want to hug you right now! can i hug you right now?" and she said yes and gave me a big hug. I AM SUCH A HUGE DORK. thank goodness there are people out there who indulge my dorkiness. 

i encouraged her to get involved in the campus vegan outreach group, and i'm going to make a point to tell her about meetup too. isn't it silly (but awesome) how we feel an instant connection when we find a random vegan? yay! 

bittersweet as usual

i really love volunteering at the humane society every monday, but i really see my share of crap, and it makes me hate (some) people sometimes. today, for instance, i met one of the cutest little puppies ever. she's probably about 3 or 4 months old, a black pit bull mix with adorable white markings, and she's friendly as all get-out. she's lovey-dovey and gives kisses and is everyone's friend. she is also horrifyingly skinny. and are you ready for the kicker? she arrived yesterday, covered in lighter fluid. some assface kids had poured it all over her, and were picking on her, and calling her "pit bull bait," when a woman who does TNR saw them and rescued her. this sweet little puppy, who was probably wagging her tail while they tormented her. it makes me want to vomit. all i can do now is keep reminding myself that she's in the right place, and now she'll have a chance to get healthy and go to a wonderful home... but wow, it's hard to focus on the positive sometimes.

bringing it to the masses

i have always loved ellen degeneres, but here is why i love her today: 

http://ellen.warnerbros.com/thoughts/ 

 that is all.

isa's cookie book

i'm pretty much chomping at the bit to get isa's new cookbook, vegan cookies invade your cookie jar. when the cupcake book came out, i became completely obsessed with cupcakes (like a zillion other people), and while i generally buy anything with isa's name on it with knee-jerk quickness... at first i thought i might not be a "cookie person." don't get me wrong, i looooove to eat cookies, but i don't typically bake cookies. i'm more of a cakes/cupcakes/bars/brownies type of girl. (the only exception is the veganized version of my grandma's chocolate chip cookies, which are delicious and i am always happy to make.) well anyhow, that has all changed. i recently made one of the recipes from isa's new cookie book after she gave a little preview on her blog (the mexican hot chocolate snickerdoodles, if yer curious), and they were SO delicious (and so easy!) that i made them twice in two days. i think i might just become a cookie person after all.

adopt a turkey!

i should have included this link in last night's post when i was whining, but for some reason i didn't. whoops. if you would like to sponsor a turkey, farm sanctuary makes it really easy (and affordable!) every year around this time. i've been sponsoring a turkey every year since i went vegan. this year, i'm going to sponsor gideon, i think. or hawthorn. i'm torn, but i will decide very soon.

turkey time of year

it's that time again, peeps! everyone thinking of thanksgiving and saying "gobble gobble" and "happy turkey day" and all that nonsense. meh. last year, we hosted a vegan thanksgiving(!!) at our house (due to a series of coincidences that allowed us to offer), but it looks like this year we'll be back at the grandparental home, with meat. i'm sad. my mom is preparing "only" breast meat, because she "can't handle" an entire bird, but it's really all the same difference. plus, that side of the family also puts sausage in the stuffing. :sad face:

yesterday, i got an email from our adorable tiny neighborhood co-op, and it included the following paragraph:

The co-op's also offering special order pies for the holiday season- we're stepping it up with five kinds this year: Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Strawberry Coconut Custard, Cranberry Raspberry, Dutch Apple and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream.  All are vegan and made with organic ingredients- just stop in the cafe and ask about ordering one.  We're also giving members the chance to order local, organic turkeys again- just ask for an order form at the checkout counter.  I've met these turkeys the last couple years, they're well-kept and what you'd picture when you think free range.

the first two sentences made me go "oh! yay!" but then the next two sentences immediately bummed me out.

i guess this means it's time for me to adopt my farm sanctuary turkey.

brushing cat teeth

so, one of our kitties had to have a dental cleaning today. this was my first experience ever with such an ordeal, and it was a little stressful. the kitty in question, finley, had to be anesthetized for the procedure, and i'm a worrywart so of course i cried after we left him at the vet this morning. in happier news, our vet is awesome and she called me as soon as his cleaning was done to let me know that everything went well, and that i could "stop worrying." she knows me.

anyhow, of our three animals, finley is the only one with not-so-great teeth. our other kitty is 4 years older, and his look great! and our greyhound's teeth are awesome (which is atypical for greyhounds) because my husband is a rock star about brushing hers. so... now that finley has had his dental cleaning, we're going to make a much better point of maintaining his dental health. 

our vet recommended using the dental wipes that you can get at pet supply stores, so we're planning to give that a try. does anyone have experience with those? can anyone give recommendations or other input about how to pick a wipe, or how to do the actual brushing? finley is a very docile and sweet boy, but he does "spook" sometimes, and any tips on keeping a cat calm and floppy for cleaning-time would be much appreciated. 

watching the mail once again

my new backpack (that i blabbed about a few days ago) is due to arrive tomorrow, and i also got word that my new blue peacoat from vaute couture is ready to be shipped. woo hoo! i'm going to be like a kid in a candy shop when my loot gets here. i'll probably put on the coat and the backpack together and just walk around the house to see how it all fits. i'm such a nerd about stuff like that.

did anyone else order a fancy-pants coat from vaute couture? my dear friend jen did, and she picked hers up already (she got the peacoat as well, but in ivory). she said that she LOVES it (her emphasis, not mine). yay!

seasonal soymilks are back!

a couple of days ago, my husband surprised me by bringing home some pumpkin silk, a couple of weeks earlier than we found it last year. hooray! snuggly autumn chai, coming right up! he said that the silk nog was also in stock, so start checking around if you're into the seasonal goodness.

of course, this also reminded me of the travesty that awaits this winter: with vitasoy no longer selling their wares in the united states, it appears that we will all have to go without their delicious nectar of peppermint chocolate soymilk. boooooo!! (i know that westsoy or someone makes one as well, but in my opinion the vitasoy was far superior, and will be dearly missed.)