30 things I've learned in 30 years

Today is my 30th birthday - CRAZY!!
I've learned a lot so far in this crazy life o' mine, but here's a short list. 30 things I've learned in 30 years...

1. Significant others are great, but your friends are significant too! Don't forget them when you fall in love.

2. Before you go to bed, wash off the reminder you wrote on your hand earlier that day. Otherwise you'll wake up with it all over your face.

3. I can’t ever pull off being a blonde. But I can rock the shit out of any other hair color!

4. Sunscreen is a very good thing.

5. Texting is not communicating. And I suck at it.

6. Roller Derby is the best sport on the planet.

7. Never say the words "I'm sorry" or “I love you” unless you truly mean it.

8. Forgiveness is a good thing. Grudges don’t hurt anybody but you.


9. When you try on clothes at a store, hang them back up when you're done. It only takes a second, and the sales people will love you for it.

10. Never be afraid to try something new! It could change your life.
(me trying my first oyster in New Orleans!)

11. Verify with your friends if there's a hike to the campsite from where you park, and pack accordingly.

12. Always say "please" and "thank you".

13. Treat anyone in the service industry with respect.

14. If you think "I'm going to barf if I do that next shot", you probably will.

15. On that same note, the hangover cure: Saltine Crackers + Sprite.

16. Be good to your family.


17. Smile a bunch. People seem to like people who smile.

18. Look up at the sky every now and then. The general population seems to only look at what is right in front of them. Check out what you're missing.

19. If you put love into your cooking, it will spread to those you share it with.

20. Send somebody flowers. It'll make their day - I guarantee it.

21. Wear whatever the heck you want. If you think it looks great, that's all that matters.


22. Remember this: Even though Taco Bell sounds like a good idea at the time, it won't feel like a good idea in the morning.


23. Be honest.

24. Money isn't everything, but it's good to have a plan with it. On the same subject, don't use credit cards. They are the fruits of the devil. And I need to learn how to take my own advice.

25. Someone is up there. And they listen.

26. Eat healthy and happily. We all know fruits and vegetables are good for you, but what would life be without pizza every now & then?


27. Give good hugs.


28. Follow through on your commitments. Nobody likes a flake.


29. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes before you make a decision. It may change you for the better.

30. Sometimes you just gotta do what your heart tells you to do. Even if that means wearing rainbow booty shorts, knee-high socks, and a fanny pack.

Here's to another year!! :)

Most photos from weheartit.com.... the rest are my own.

Vegan Gravy Recipe (the BEST one!)

Since I totally screwed up yesterday on my vegan recipe post yesterday (whoopsie! Haha!) I'm going to make it up to y'all with the best vegan gravy recipe EVER. No seriously, it's delicious. I've made it every year for the past 3 years for Thanksgiving AND Christmas, and most of the meat-eaters reach for my vegan gravy more often than the meat kind! Woohoo!

You guys will love this one, I promise! I make it during the rest of the year too - it's great on eggs for breakfast (YUM), and on mashed taters, or as a part of a Friendly Shepherd's Pie. ;) Hehe!

BEST VEGAN GRAVY RECIPE ON THE PLANET
Yes, it's a long title, but it's really that good!

Original Recipe Yield 2 1/2 cups

INGREDIENTS
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1/3 cup chopped onion
* 5 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 4 teaspoons nutritional yeast
* 4 tablespoons light soy sauce (or Braggs Liquid Amino Acids - I like to use this!)
* 2 cups vegetable broth
* 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
1.) Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

2.) Stir in flour, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce to form a smooth paste.

3.) Gradually whisk in the broth.

4.) Season with sage, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.

"Friendly" Shepherd's Pie & Roasted Red Pepper Dip

This one is called "Friendly" Shepherd's Pie because it's the friendliest to animals that you can possibly be! Because it's vegan! And still delicious! :)

Friendly Shepherd's Pie
My version - adapted from a recipe that I found online....somewhere! This is great for a chilly winter night, or if you're just in need for a hearty dinner. It makes for some awesome leftovers, and you should serve it with a big green salad!

makes 6-9 servings

INGREDIENTS
4 medium potatoes, diced
2 tbsp vegan margarine (such as Smart Balance)
1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
12 oz (1 package) faux ground beef-style crumbles (vegan)
1 can of Amy's Organic Cream of Mushroom Soup*
*WHOOOOPS!!! This isn't vegan. Haha! My much-more-astute-vegan-friend Tara pointed this out to me, so sorry for the mistake! If you can find any other kind of vegan creamy soup (they are out there), you should definitely use that. Otherwise use a vegan gravy - I will have to post a great recipe I have for that! I believe there is a pre-packaged kind available in stores too. My bad! I'm still getting the hang of being vegan again. ;)
10 mushrooms (approx), chopped
1/2 a bag of frozen mixed peas & carrots
1/2 a bag of frozen peas (just the peas!)
Tofutti sour cream (optional)
salt, garlic powder, pepper & cayenne to taste

DIRECTIONS
Boil the potatoes for 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain & mash w/ the margarine & soy milk - season w/ salt & pepper. If you're really lazy you can just buy some mashed potato mix.... I am totally guilty of doing this from time to time! :)

In a medium pan, saute the onion in the oil for about 5 minutes, adding the mushrooms about 1/2 way through.

In a large bowl, mix the cooked mushrooms & onions, faux beef crumbles, mushroom soup, peas & carrots, peas and spices. Pour into a pie pan, or a casserole dish. Top everything with the mashed potatoes, spreading to the edges.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until potatoes are browned, and the insides start to bubble out the edges.


Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Dip
This is another recipe that I tried from my favorite food blog Smitten Kitchen! I only changed one teeny little thing to make it vegan, but made just as the recipe is listed otherwise, this is absolutely DELICIOUS!! My friends recently went nuts for it when I brought it to the Oscar party. Such a nice change from hummus!

INGREDIENTS
1 15oz can of white cannelini or navy beans
1 small jar of roasted red peppers (about 1 cup), drained
3oz Tofutti cream cheese
1 clove of garlic, minced (or a sprinkle of garlic powder if you're being lazy like me)
Juice from half a lemon
salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Puree everything in a food processor until smooth! SO EASY!
Serve with baked pita chips - or this is fantastic with an assortment of sliced veggies too!

Photo from www.smittenkitchen.com.

Oh my gosh... I think I love the Diva Cup!

OK if you're a dude. Stop reading now.

HOWEVER, if you're a cool dude that doesn't flip out when he hears anything along the lines of "menstrual cycle" or "period" then keep reading. I would hope my male readers would be mature enough to not get grossed out by that by now. For cryin' out loud.

Anyway, I just got my first Diva Cup! For those who don't know what this little device is, it's a menstrual cup. It's not just that though. It's a safe, environmentally-friendly way to take care of a lady's monthly icky-time.

I have been hesitant to try this for a while, because I wasn't sure what to expect. I was worried that I would feel it in there, and that it would be too complicated. However after a horrible bout with back-to-back yeast infections (gross, I know), I decided that I needed to change something in my lady-parts department. Tampons just seemed to be aggravating things, and pads are SO not an option. Not just for the uncomfortableness, but for the amount of packaging and TRASH that pads create. I don't even use tampons with applicators (O.B. brand) to cut back on pollution.

But the greenest way to go is not disposing of anything at all, and the menstrual cup does just that. You use it over and over again - ZERO WASTE! Friggin' awesome! And it doesn't mess with your lady parts.

After more research I decided to give it a try. It just seemed too good to be true, but ladies seem to absolutely love it. To read more FAQ's about the Diva Cup - click here.

Last night I thoroughly read over the instructions and made my attempt at working the lil' cup. And guess what. It's AWESOME!! I was worried I'd be able to feel it, that it would be gross or slip around, and so far so good.

Yes, in the beginning the steps are kind of a pain in the ass. It's not as simple as 1.) insert, 2.) pull string, 3.) dispose. But it seems to me that the extra work is worth it, and it does come easier with practice.* Shoot, I couldn't even put on fake eyelashes a couple of years ago (same with contacts), and now I'm a whiz!

Oh, and did I mention that you can wear these babies for 12 hours at a time!? YES - 12 whole wonderful hours!! I feel like I have to change a tampon every 4-6 hours depending on the day. And there's still a chance I might leak! EW! With these babies they guarantee that if you're following the instructions you won't get any leakage, even in 12 hours. Whoa. That's pretty awesome.

I'm wearing white underwear today just to be sure!
Long live the Diva Cup!

*Ok, remember when I said this? Well, I'm on day 2, and I have already got the hang of it!! Please ignore my previous statement about it being a pain in the ass in the beginning. It's weird the first time, but that's it! Yep, it's official. I'm a Diva Cup Convert!!

A Skinnier Version of Me

After the big New Orleans trip and a bit of indulging, I realized it's time for me to get back on track. Summer is around the corner yet again, and I need to shape up or ship out!

OK, not really ship out, but you know what I mean.

My ultimate goal is not necessarily to be "thin".... although losing a few extra pounds would definitely be a welcome bonus! I really want to be the healthiest version of me that I can possibly be, and believe it or not in these photos I was NOT at my healthiest.

These pics were snapped about 6 or 7 years ago on a family vacation to Pawley's Island, SC. I had a few less tattoos then. ;)

I was working out (running, the elliptical machine, light weight lifting) about 5-6x a week, and eating a very strict diet.

I was also smoking regularly (YUCK), and the "very strict diet" I referred to was Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet (no vegetarianism or veganism back then for sure).

If you've ever done this diet, you know that this is the strictest phase, and that you're supposed to slowly start incorporating the other healthy things back in during Phases 2 & 3. Well, I got PSYCHO about my tummy pooch, and refused to leave Phase 1.

All I ate 3x a day was a serving of meat (chicken, fish, or steak) and a side of vegetables, with as much salt & butter as I wanted.

Sure, I lost a lot of weight! I wasn't having ANY sugar at all - but that included the sugar from fruits, and I wasn't having ANY carbohydrates at all - even the good whole grains!

I may look happy in these pictures, but I wasn't healthy that's for sure.

SO - although I would LOVE to get to the fitness level that I obtained when these photos were snapped, I never want to go back. I've quit smoking, quit meat & dairy, am eating tons of fruits & veggies & whole grains every day, and much more aware of what is a healthy diet, and what is not!

What I DO need to change though is my workout routine. Although 2 hours, 3 days / week of derby practice ain't too shabby, it's still not enough. Especially at the very sedentary stare-at-a-computer-all-day job that I have (as a lot of people do).

So this is my way of proclaiming that it's time to step it up a notch! Gym: hellz yeah! Workout buddies: come & get me! Pump class: Why the heck not!

Summer, here I come!

Back from the Big Easy!

Well, we're back from New Orleans, and we had an AWESOME time!!
I haven't had time to go through my pictures yet, so I've posted some of the ones that John took with his iPhone. It's surprising how good those little cameras have gotten!

These are a bit out of order, but here goes!

We went to the zoo, and I leaned in poo.
No really, I did. It was on the railing at the monkey exhibit. Yuck.

We walked around a LOT and I had to give my feet a break from time to time. The day I wore these leggings the guys went nuts - I think I got hit on 4 times that day.... even while walking with John!

I hope I don't get my vegan superpowers taken away (Scott Pilgrim VS the World, anyone?), but I totally ate seafood on this trip. Life is WAY too short to give up the little pleasures, you know? And this shrimp po-boy was DELICIOUS!

We loved all of the architecture, and the houses draped in a canopy of trees...

The view from our hotel window in the French Quarter!

Street art birdies.

I loved that lime-green door. Something about brightly painted doors make me happy. And brightly painted houses of course!

This fella...lady... was SAAASSSY!! She took it upon herself to direct traffic. It's amazing what you can do with a whistle and an outgoing personality.
The French Quarter.

A street band playing near Burbon Street - we loved all of the music!

John running his first marathon!! This is at the 12 mile mark - I'm so glad I could be there to cheer him on. He finished in 4 hours 19 minutes - AWESOME! I was so darn proud.

I surprised him by making an enthusiastic t-shirt to be supportive. ;)

Oh! Our first meal in NOLA! It was at this little place right by the Riverwalk. We were by the Mississippi River, watching boats pass by, and listening to a jazz band while eating steamed seafood. It was so perfect! John made the hilarious observation at one point when I was stuffing my face with shell & butter all over me... he said, "you know, if I can still like you like this... I think I could pretty much like you anytime." It was actually rather sweet. :)

My first bloody mary! Sigh, it was delicious. I loved that we could walk around with drinks outside - it made it all the more fun.

More pics to come! I didn't even get a picture up of the gondola ride that John surprised me with on Valentine's day!! It was so awesome, and made for my bestest v-day ever. I'm not even exaggerating. :)

New Orleans - Here I come!!

I leave this Saturday for New Orleans, and I'm SO EXCITED!! I've never been to the Big Easy before, and I can't wait to give it a whirl. John is running his first marathon on Sunday, so I'll be there to cheer him on, then we're going to see the sights!

I am sure that finding vegan goodies will be difficult, but I have friends from there that gave me some great ideas and suggestions. I have also heard that if you're moving from one bar to another - you can ask the bartender for a "to-go" cup, and take your beer outside! WhAAA? AWESOME!

I LOVE jazz too, and I really hope we get to check out the music scene a bit while we're there. I'm not sure if John knows how much I LOVE jazz, but I'm sure he'll figure it out pretty quickly. :)

I also hope to see the cemeteries, a plantation house (at least the one they used for "Interview with the Vampire" - one of my favorite movies!), and some great music. John and I have a scooter day planned too, where we'll get to ride scooters around all day! I can't wait for that.


OH, and did I mention that this is my FIRST vacation with a boyfriend? Yep, it's true. So weird! And kind of awesome. I hope he doesn't notice any gross habits that I have that I try to keep secret from him. Wait... I mean, any MORE gross habits. I think I've already subjected him to a few. Haha!

I will try and post some pictures while we're there to keep everyone updated! :)
Have a wonderful weekend!