It's a Vegan Weekend

Today   
This was vegan lunch today. I had school off because it was a teacher work day and I took a break from studying for my AP Art History test tomorrow to make an ethnic lunch consisting of red-kidney-bean-guacamole, blue corn tortilla chips and a quesadilla made with vegan cheese, minced squash, zucchini, orange bell pepper, and green onions. It was delicious.

I love cooking. I wish that was all I did. Just stay home and cook, bake and create vegan food. But alas... I am legally obligated to be at school.

  

Plans for later--

I'm going camping next weekend with my girl scout troop and a few other patrols, but I haven't been camping as a vegan yet.. hopefully it goes well. I'm crossing my fingers. We've themed it "S'more memories" so we're making s'mores one night and I'll need to bring vegan marshmallows and vegan chocolate for myself. They'll think I'm so weird, but hopefully I get some recruits ;) I'm very excited to be leading this camp with my girls. It will be so much fun!

What UP?

A lot has happened since I've last blogged (no time with school), I had a 17th birthday. I CAN SEE RATED R MOVIES WITHOUT MY PARENTS! Big mile stone there. Still no license though.. working on it. Love my car that I received from my grandmother (thanks granny); it was her 90th birthday last Saturday. We celebrated the weekend before last with a big party at her church and we made a bunch of southern food. Although i stuck to fruit and veggies. and stayed mostly secluded to the back room sketching in my sketchbook for AP Art, I had fun.

This whole week I am in Charleston, South Carolina on a family vacation. Folly Beach to be specific. Right on the water. High tide comes up to the second step of our dock stairway. We've had this trip planned for quite some time. I'm glad because it is SO gorgeous out here; we went on a horse carriage tour (which I admit wasn't a very 'vegan' thing to do, but I didn't plan the trip, or the means of transport. I asked lots of questions and walked all through the barn and they took good care of their animals and informed me about their working hours and how they rotate their stock. They were very understanding, so I decided not to make a huge deal about it. You've got to pick your battles.) All in all, it was a beautiful, pleasant ride through town and a very informative tour. Loved every minute of it.

As for the beach. FREAKING BEAUTIFUL! I have lovely pictures. I love photographing things when I'm in a beautiful place. I don't get out of my home town much, but when I do, photography becomes a hobby for me. I'll see if I can upload some pictures later - they are all on my phone and I'm slightly technologically challenged.

Food (of the vegan variety) - you know I love food - is pretty accessible for a vegan. today my family and I ate at the Black Bean Co. All local, unprocessed, natural food even if you don't eat vegan, pleasant staff, nice ambiance. Good, conscientious hipster feel - haha. yesterday I ate at a french themed cafe with lovely elegant dishes, I got a veggie roll (like a sushi roll... but obviously vegetables) and a salad with a delicious red wine vinaigrette dressing. Best salad I've ever had. Across from the Black Bean Co. in downtown Charleston, there is a cupcake shop with a vegan special every Wednesday. Can't wait to go there and check that out!

1st Week - Check

FRIDAY
So the first week of school is over and done with and I am glad its a holiday weekend! I kicked this 3-day-weekend off with a dry socket (from my recent wisdom teeth extraction) that felt like a piercing ear ache and a huge bruise along my jaw. It was pretty terrible, especially because the doctor who extracted my wisdom teeth was unavailable because of the holiday. But it was cleared up by the next day (thanks to my resourceful draining method) and all was good. Luckily, my good friend Devon took care of the food situation and brought me all the mashed potatoes I could eat! Then we watched the goriest horror movie that On Demand provided - the Evil Dead remake. Made me feel 1000 times better; not to mention my awesome parents who brought us vegan chocolate ice cream.

SATURDAY
So the whole morning was spent vacuuming the carpet throughout my house and bathing my Labrador Retriever because we've had fleas here and there and can't seem to quite get rid of them completely, but the rest of the day was spent at the movies watching You're Next and then making vegan bean and cheese burritos and vegan chocolate pudding dessert. When I returned home, My family was playing Pitch (our favorite card game) and I teamed up with my aunt Loretta an ended the night with a loss, but it was fun.

SUNDAY
My family and I went to lunch at Spoons in downtown McKinney. As for me, I got a veggie burger with avocado (DELICIOUS!), but my mom and dad shared a Mediterranean pasta salad while my grandma got a McKinney sandwich and my aunt Loretta got a BLTA. Everyone was happy with their food and my dad, who is very persnickety about restaurants, thought it was very good. BROWNIE POINTS FOR ME! Then we saw The Butler at the theater - very good movie by the way, I don't care what the reviews say. After the extended family left, I finished my leftovers from Genghis Grill (with added beans YUM) and now I'm watching Breaking Bad. I think I'm addicted. Haha.

AND MONDAY
..will be preserved for homework and laundry.

Procrastination at its FINEST

This week is the last week before school starts and of course I am procrastinating, so here is what I've been doing instead of my summer reading...

1. CROCHET
It's my mom's birthday this Saturday, so I'm crocheting a red infinity scarf for her (even if I don't think she'll ever wear it... but it's what she asked for.)

2.BASEBALL
Friday, I went to a Frisco Rough Riders baseball game with my blogger friend, Ryan, and my vegan friend, Devon. The game lasted 13 innings and the Frisco Rough Riders won at the bottom of the 13th inning. After all that suspense, a round of gorgeous fireworks topped off the night. (Beautiful weather the whole time I might add.)

3.READING THE LATEST ISSUE OF SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE
I love receiving a new issue every month. I get health tips, style inspiration, boy advice, and good college horror stories for people high school and college-bound. Last night I made my very own PB Banana Sushi Rolls inspired by the recipe in Seventeen. This morning I made Squash-Hummus sliders with Italian sausage Tofurky. That was also inspired by a recipe in seventeen a while back, but they used cucumbers (which I hate) and crackers rather than fake meat, but I thought it would go well with my roasted pine nut hummus - which it did. Yummy brunch if you ask me.

4.SHOPPING
I can't resist Khols' great deals - specially on tax free weekend! what can I say, I'm a girl. Today I'm going back to spend some Khols cash. CURSE KHOLS AND THEIR IRRESISTIBLE DEALS!

The Extended Fam.

DRINKS
It's a lazy day here for me after the busy weekend filled with my sister's official 21st birthday celebration (with the family). My sister, her boyfriend, my aunt, my grandma, my cousin and her husband, and my 2nd cousin came down to the celebration. The house was PACKED! But before everyone arrived Saturday evening we had an immediate family gathering on Friday night at the Bavarian Grill, a German restaurant, and Regan drank a beer with my dad, who is quite the sophisticated connoisseur of German and French beverages. I think my dad has been anticipating the day when he could go out with his children and share a drink with them legally. My older brother could have because hes been over 21 for two years, but he's more "straight-edge". It makes me excited to become 21 and drink a glass of wine with a nice fancy dinner somewhere.

EATS
When the extended family arrived, there was an Elk Stew brewing on the stove and a classic German side, Spatzle, cooking in a pot of boiling water. Of course, being vegan when the rest of my family isn't, I was preparing my own fancy concoction of bean salad - my own recipe I might add. My cousins showed up a little late, but there was still enough dinner left for everyone and we conversed about race cars, hunting, guns, and rental property (Sperry, Oklahoma in a nutshell). It was nice to catch up. Regan opened her presents while hardy servings of rum cake and vanilla ice cream were served. Again, being vegan, I made a vegan rum cake for myself, but a lot of my family tried it and liked it as good or even better than the original recipe.

GIFTS
Anyway - gifts - I crocheted my sister a long, thick, black scarf out of the softest yarn I could find at Wal-Mart. She loved it 100%. My brother handmade her a dream catcher that was crafted extremely well; coming from a national champion arm wrestler who is busy training and working 24/7, I was extremely surprised he even had time to think about a gift let alone MAKE one! I'm sure Regan was just as pleasantly surprised. I told him that I was jealous and he better make me a purple one for my birthday in September. My cousins got her a nicely-made leather strap bracelet. Everyone else donated to her Texas 4000 (cancer research) trip.

After stuffing ourselves, we played board games and card games until one in the morning and then turned in for the night.

The morning was just as hectic; my mom made a breakfast casserole with eggs, bacon, cheese, peppers, onions and of course salt and pepper along with biscuits, toast, and hashbrowns. I myself had hashbrowns, toast with vegan butter, strawberries, and a banana. then everyone was running around trying to pack up and get stuff together and after talking for a couple hours, the extended family left and the house was quiet, so naturally I invited my friend Devon over to make the house loud again. . .

PROductive

Today was quite productive for summer. I woke up at 8:30, ran 3 miles , drank a full bottle of water and ate a breakfast consisting of a banana, the remaining strawberries in the fridge, and a Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif bar. After my breakfast, my Labrador, Brody, and I walked down to the Soccer field near my house. He enjoys the stroll, so I like to take him out so that when I leave during the day, he's not too resentful when I return. On the way down to the field, we walk along side a tree-lined pasture that occasionally has sticks perfect for a game of fetch strewn in the grass and Brody picks them up and carries them all the way to the field and then we play fetch until he gets too out of breath to run anymore. Then after our walk, I got ready for work at Art Camp teaching kids about Impressionism. When I got off work at 4, I put in some driving time with my mom and drove to DPS and got a new permit to replace the one that got stolen a couple months ago, and then got my check from last week cashed at the bank, and made a stop at Kroger for my vegan staples like Almond milk and strawberries. Now I'm at my friend's house drinking sweet lemon iced tea and blogging. I feel PROductive.

My Sister in a Nutshell

Today is my sister's 21st birthday and I can only hope to be as wonderfully ambitious and talented as she is. I remember when she was 15 and she was so eager to get her license, then soon after her 16th birthday, with her license in hand, took on the trials and embraced the perks of young adulthood- getting her own car, driving to make grocery trips for mom and dad, starting work at the Gap (in addition to taking demanding courses as an upperclassman and still continuing to pursue her passion for dance and art), getting boyfriends and new boyfriends and then going to college, transferring to a better college, moving to Austin, getting her own apartment, getting a cat, moving apartments, and still managing to stay the amazing and inspirational person she is and always was. Now she is training and raising money to bike to Alaska with Texas 4000 in order to raise money for cancer research. I'm so proud of her and I'm grateful that I have a sister like her to look up to. Regan, you are beautiful, smart, passionate, talented and inspirational.

FUNctional

I remember when my grandma tried to teach me how to crochet a couple of years ago... I became extremely frustrated and never touched it again. So today, when my friend Ryan asked if I wanted to learn how to crochet, I wasn't terribly enthusiastic about it, but I thought it would be interesting to give it another try. It was a slow, confusing, floundering mess in the beginning, but I got into the rhythm and ended up getting the hang of single-stitch crochet pattern! After a while it was really fun and even relaxing. I'm proud of myself and now I look forward to shopping for my own crochet hook and yarn! My goal is to create a fluffy, stylish scarf before fall. Crocheting is fun and functional... it's FUNctional! ooooh snap! I hope to make a matching hat too, but I will start with the simple things first.

New Beginnings

So I've started a Blog. I don't even know what I should put on it, and I really don't even know if the word 'blog' should be capitalized right there, but I'm trying something new. I'm only hoping to write down my journey to pursue happiness in life as a vegan, runner, dog owner, atheist, and artist.

A Little About Me
I am open minded and I am interested in many things and even if something isn't my style, I appreciate the variety of thoughtfulness the world has to offer. I'm sort of excited to share my weird, awesome thoughts with the internet!