Vintage Vegan

The other day I was checking out my friend Sarah's online shop, aptly named Sarah's Place. Have you seen it? Click here to check it out !She sells a variety of vegan goodies and vintage finds. While I was checking out the newest goodies on her shop I stumbled upon the adorable shirt you see below and it was love at first sight.



I mean look at it! When I showed it to Cordelia she exclaimed, "Oh! (Gasp) That's a cute sweater! Can I wear it?"



I love dressing my girl in vintage clothes for many reasons. First is that it is nice to recycle perfectly wonderful clothing instead of buying new stuff. Second, it is so great to have a kid with their own individual style, rather than the standard outfits sold at the local big box stores. Finally, it is great to support a small business. Do you thrift or buy vintage?

Also, just in case you haven't heard, Sarah is also a vegan cookbook author. I highly recommend her books! All are available from her shop or pretty much anywhere.

Noodles and Coversation

Last night we dropped our kids (Cordelia and Bumblebee) at my parent's house. Have I mentioned how much I appreciate living in the same town as them? Eric and I hopped into the car and headed out for a much needed date. I remember in our pre-baby days we would often speculate about how weird it was that couples would plan date nights. We wondered why they weren't spontaneous, or why every day couldn't be a date day. We get it now.



We were so thrilled for an evening to ourselves, a little time to talk and laugh and give each other undivided attention. We went out for a glass of wine (me) and beer (him) at a pub downtown. We sat in the back by the unused pool tables. We were able to talk and talk, in the background we could hear other pub goers laughing with a little more enthusiasm as the evening wore on.



After that we decided it was time to grab a bite to eat. We held hands as we walked through the rainy windy weather, mostly oblivious to it. I don't know about you, but it is the small things like holding hands that really make me happy. Usually we are toting so many things that we don't get to just hold hands. We meandered through an alley and around the corner of our small Wyoming downtown (3 blocks is the size, and not city blocks). We had a couple of dinner options...we could do Chinese or Italian. Deciding upon an Italian restaurant with a few vegan options we opened the door into the warm interior, pressing it closed against the wind and shivering as we patted ourselves to warm up. We were seated and the conversation continued to flow. We laughed,we had a great time--it was wonderful. We both ate approximately our own weight in noodles and veggies.

Finally we paid our bill and went out to the car, where I received a phone call from our girl it went like this:
Me: "Hi Cordy girl."
Cordelia:" Hi Momma."
Me: "How are you doing?"
Cordelia:"Doing well."
Followed by fumbling and toddler breathing and then a hang up.

We drove through the cold and wet streets as the heater blasted. Eric tried to turn it down, but I insisted on keeping that baby cranked. He turned the vents toward me. I think he planned to smoke me out, but I basked in the heat like a cat in the sun.



We continued to talk about art and inspiration, the future, now. We were reminded of so many rainy nights that we've spent together in so many places. When we turned into my parent's driveway we were both eager to see our girl and hear what funny things she'd been up to. You can read about that (here).

How do you find time for yourself?

Gardening and Cooking with STYLE

Yesterday afternoon I made a little dress up drawer for Cordelia. She was beyond excited. She came up with this little number for herself. So proud of her couture creation she decided it was time to garden.



We went outside where she did some "gardening" as the dogs looked on.



Then Bode made a move and stole Cordelia's tools. Perhaps he was just planning to re-plant the rhododendron he tore out of my garden.



While Bode was staying with us he did get into some trouble, but we realized that most of the bad ideas were not his own. Careful observation revealed that Miss Bumblebee was something of a puppet-master, getting poor Bode to do her bidding.



Notice that Bode is pretty much giving over the garden tools to Bumblebee. She grabbed a plastic shovel and started to chew! I scolded her and it was like she was shocked that she was in trouble.



Cordelia was pretty laid back about the end to her gardening adventure. She was ready to go inside and "help" me cook a dinner of vegan pigs in a blanket (a much sweeter name when you're vegan). Before she could get to work she had to update her look a bit.



She climbed up on the stool and kneaded dough (more or less) and helped me to sample the other ingredients. She kept saying, "Help you mama," from underneath her giant pink wig. The girl has style!

Any ideas for additions to her dress up drawer?

Trip to North Carolina: Day 1

We slept in for our first morning, blame it on the time difference. I managed to sleep in until 8am local time, kind of a miracle for me. Our first full day in North Carolina started out rainy. We didn't mind as we LOVE the rain. We had breakfast and got ready for a fun filled day.

Ben and Sara gave us a little driving tour of Chapel Hill and Durham. We drove through areas that seemed like dense forest, but were actually in the middle of the city. We looked at all of the creeping vines, the tall magnolia trees, the green growing things.

Eventually we stopped at Duke University to check out the Nasher Art Museum. They had some good shows up and a pretty interesting permanent collection as well.

Our gang at the art museum


Sweet girl

After a visit to the museum it was time for lunch. We decided to stop at Chubby's Tacos. The restaurant wasn't vegan, but they had some great vegan options and an impressive salsa bar.

Chubby's Tacos


Waiting for lunch


Eric, overwhelmed by the magnitude of his burrito

After lunch the rain had let up. We drove through downtown Durham and stopped at a little park with some great water features. We wandered around for a bit. Cordelia was pleased as she loooves water. She kept saying, "Riber (river) mama, riber."

Cordelia and I at a water park


Strolling along


Family photo (can you figure out what is wrong with this picture?)


Ben and I

We headed back to Ben and Sara's house for a little rest after a busy morning. The sun came out. We walked around their wooded neighborhood, chatted, and had a nice relaxing time.

Sun through the trees






Jrake

Since I have so many photos I will show you the rest of our day tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Vegan Eats

Last night I made sweet and sour tofu, sesame broccoli and mushrooms, and brown rice. I thought I'd share a little veg recipe with you today. I didn't take exact measurements or anything, but I think it'll all work out just fine.

Sweet and Sour Tofu
1/2 a small onion (save the other 1/2 you'll use it in a minute)
1 block of extra firm tofu, diced into approximately one inch chunks.
2 Tbs. olive oil, vegetable oil or sesame oil would work too.
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
Approximately 1/2 c. sweet and sour sauce.
1/2 c. pineapple cut into bite sized chunks...fresh is best but the tidbits work too.
* Optional pepper, Eric hates it but if you like I think some chunks of chopped pepper would be great!

In a non-stick skillet over medium high heat warm the oil, add the onions and cook until the onions start to soften. Add the cubed tofu and cook until the tofu is nice and golden on all sides, adding a bit more oil if things start to stick. Add crushed garlic. Reduce heat and add the sweet and sour sauce and pineapple tidbits, cook until things thicken and warm through. Serve hot.

Sesame Broccoli and Mushrooms
1/2 onion
1-2Tbs. sesame oil
1 head of broccoli divided into bite sized florets
1-2 cloves of crushed garlic
1/2-3/4 c. sliced mushrooms
*sesame seeds optional garnish

In a non-stick skillet over medium high heat warm the oil, add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the broccoli, garlic, and mushrooms, stir until lightly coated with the sesame oil and cook until the broccoli is tender. Serve hot and garnish with sesame seeds if you like.

Brown Rice
Cook brown rice according to package directions. You really don't need my help here.

Triumphant Return From the Mile High City

We just got back from a quick weekend jaunt to the Mile High City, otherwise known as Denver. We went for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to the following:

• School (Boo)
• Visiting friends
• Stocking up on vegan goodies
• Coast Guard business (more on that in a moment)
• Record shopping (unsuccessful)

We drove down on Thursday afternoon. Cordelia slept the entire way. It was like a tiny miracle. When she woke up as we were getting into town she was laughing...not sure what she was laughing at. We got to our hotel room and called it a night; we're new parents we get to do that you know.

Friday morning Eric was at the school and I visited my friends and co-workers from a previous job. I mostly just showed off my little lady, didn't get much opportunity to visit as it was rushed, but it was nice to see the old gang.


Friday afternoon we visited a college friend, Petra. She made us a delicious lunch. She has this great ability to make wonderful meals from simple ingredients, YUM! We caught up, played with Cordelia and walked to the nearby record shop.

I should mention that Bumblebee came with us, but she spent the day at her old dog daycare. When we finally picked her up she was beyond exhausted. She had played her little heart out.

Saturday morning we went shopping, buying things like seitan, vegan soaps and shampoos, tvp and other vegan goodies. I will say that I really miss vegan shopping in the city...it's more challenging in Wyoming.


Then Eric went off to a boat show to represent for the Coast Guard. Oh yes, I should probably mention that Eric joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary. It's the civilian branch of the Coast Guard. Yes, they are in WY. Eric joined to do search and rescue and patrols, but this day was all about teaching the youngsters.


When Eric was done with that we made one more stop at Whole Foods. Our hearts were the teaniest bit heavy when we were talking to the store clerks who were all vegan..we're a bit veg isolated here in WY. We ate a lovely lunch and headed home.


Cordelia drove...she's extremely advanced.


When we got back we unloaded and did laundry. Bumblebee passed out.





The cats missed us a little. We hope.

First Date, Twelfth Year

Saturday was our anniversary, the anniversary of our first kiss and the day we became a couple. Every year we celebrate this day, but this year we had another issue to be dealt with before we could go on our traditional date. We had quite a new development in this past year, we became parents and it was time for the first trip to the babysitters...gulp...

OK, well it wasn't that difficult since the babysitters were my family. Cordelia knows them and is perfectly at ease around them. The real issue was our ability to be away from her. I spent the day gathering up my courage and during the late afternoon we made the trek across town to drop our little lady off with my family.

I gave her to my parents and suppressed my urge to blurt out obvious instructions like "don't forget to change her diaper" or "she likes to be held," as I think that would be a little bit insulting. Anyway, we pulled ourselves away and were determined not to spend our date speculating about how she was doing. We got into the car and looked into the empty backseat. We made eye contact with each other and smiled. We began to drive away and as we did we looked up. My dad was holding Cordelia in their front window, she was fine, just looking around. We smiled up at them and drove off into the night.

We were headed to a very traditional date night, dinner and a movie. The roads were icy so it was slow going as we chatted on the way to the theater. It was lovely to chat with Eric. I can't believe it's been 12 years and he just keeps getting more fascinating and wonderful.

We got to the theater and settled into our seats whispering and making dumb jokes here and there. Then the movie started. We held hands. In case you are wondering we went and watched Zombieland. We are serious fans of the zombie genre. The day I had Cordelia we were planning to go and see the movie, so it was only fitting that we watch it on our first date.

After the movie was out we went back to the car and got a text from my mom that all was well. We decided to head out and get some grub.

Here is my handsome date, wearing one of his many layers to ward off the arctic temperatures that have invaded Wyoming.

We had a wonderful dinner. Thank goodness there are some restaurants here that have vegan options for us.

I had almost nothing to eat all day so I really chowed down at dinner. YUM!

We also had to toast with our traditional anniversary cups. We got these on our first anniversary and since they are so ridiculous, they look like fish choking on trumpets, we always have to use them. They are also nearly impossible to drink out of.

After dinner we went and picked up Cordelia from my parents, who offered to keep her. When we got home that night we discovered that Bumblebee had gotten into Cordelia's dirties (if you know what I mean) and then when Eric was changing her he discovered that my parents had put the shirt you see in the above photo onto our daughter underneath her clothes (superman style). In case you are wondering it reads, What Happens at Grandma's, Stays at Grandma's.

So all in all it was a very successful night. We managed to leave Cordelia with my parents which is a big step for any first time parent and we had a wonderful night with each other. I love my husband and I am so grateful that we get to start another year together! ZING

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Good morning. It's 8ish here in WY. For Eric it is the weekend and he's sleeping in. I am trying to let him get any length of sleep while he still can. I've been up and productive for a while already. I always feel my most productive in the mornings, ready to take on the day. I am one of those people who is wide awake and happy in the morning. I close the bedroom door and let my husband enjoy the quiet morning in way I never could, sleeping in.

I have poured myself some OJ and taken care of my morning duties like feeding and taking Bumblebee out to...well you can guess.

Then I wandered around just sort of randomly picking things up and putting them down, looking for a purpose. Suddenly it struck me that we hadn't had pancakes in a small eternity. I decided it was high time to get on it. I use the recipe from our friend Sarah Kramer's cookbook How it All Vegan which, incidentally just was re-released for it's 10th anniversary edition. Do you have the book? I'm just saying...

As I was making the pancakes I began to wonder if there is a difference between pancakes and flapjacks? Is it just a regional thing? What do you call them? Inquiring minds want to know.

Well, Eric just got up I think maybe the smell of pancakes pulled him from his reverie. He has wandered in and started his cup of coffee and is ready to eat.