Monday, August 17, 2009

Dulce, the Wall-Breaking Wonder Puppy

One thing that all of my friends know about me is that I'm a bleeding heart when it comes to people and animals that need a roof over their heads. I was lucky enough to buy a fantastic big house in the city last year and have had people coming and going ever since. I acquired five new housemates in one week! My one housemate's sister and her baby needed a place to stay to get some money together for a while. So the sister's are in the master bedroom and the baby is in my studio. My close friend Brian is a dancer who just recently relocated from California to NYC but business is slow in the ballroom world over the Summer so he's staying on the couch and waiting tables till he can get money together and get back to NYC to start teaching dance again. Lindsea is a student going for her Master's at Penn State and living here for a few years to do that. She's from Michigan. So that makes seven humans (all listed including me and my two original housemates.) My favorite new addition is of the furry nature.

So I've always hated Pitbulls. They've scared the Bejesus out of me because of all the bad rap they get. I've known people that have been attacked by them and dogs that have been attacked by them. I grew up with a Miniature Schnauzer. I'm not a Pitbull type of girl. I seriously started looking into adopting a Greyhound.

Nadine is a dog-trainer, vet technician, and works part time at PetCo. The second day she had been living in the house, she called me at work and explained to me about a puppy that had been brought into her Vet's office. He was malnourished, skinny, and his feet were almost raw from running the streets. A man brought him in saying that he was found walking along the streets of York without a collar or a visible owner. Nadine said he was "brindle" which I had no idea what that was. (It's the tiger-stripes or speckles in a coat.) I asked what breed he was and my stomach sank when she said he was mostly a Pitbull. I couldn't have a Pit in my house. No way. But she said he was a puppy and he wouldn't stay, just long enough for her to get him into a healthy state so he could get adopted and he was only four months. I made sure she understood it was only a TEMPORARY time for him. We were not keeping him. I wanted a Greyhound.

I got home that day from an exhausting day at work (as most of them have been recently) and walked in the door. Down on the floor was a little squirmy white and tan puppy playing with Nadine's daughter. He was more beautiful that I imagined when she described him. He was almost to the point of emaciated and his eyes were red and crusty and his farts cleared the room because he had just been living on trash. I fell in love anyway. He looked up, wagged his tail at me and came over to be petted. I was a goner. We let him rest and sleep the first night for more hours than seems possible for a dog but he knew he was safe now so he just crashed without the fear of being attacked by another street dog or even possibly being beaten by a person. The next few nights we walked him down by the river. One night I took him to Happy Tails Dog Park and that's when I knew I wanted to keep him. He would be playing with other dogs but if I called for him, he came to me right away. He was mine. I talked to Nadine the other morning before work and we finalized it that I was keeping him.

The name Dulce was actually the fifth or sixth name we came up with. Nadine wanted to name him Malachi but I said I didn't want him to share the name with every boy-child under the age of 5 running around in churches. Needed something more creative. I suggested Figaro after the Barber of Seville (my favorite opera) until we realized that his nickname "Figa" would not sound very politically correct if we yelled it through my neighborhood in which we're the only white people. If you don't get it, say the name out loud a few times and just see what it sounds like. We tried "Chai" and "Socha" but neither just jumped for us. Being a cook, I wanted something to do with food for his name and then it struck me while we were walking. "You know what he looks like?" I asked my housemates. They both looked at me waiting for the absurd answer. "Dulce de Leche ice cream!!!" They had no idea what I was talking about. So, first I had to describe to them what Dulce de Leche ice cream was, the flavors, and what it looked like. "We should name him Dulce" We tried it out on him for the rest of the walk (about five miles) and I liked it immediately. So from then on, he was Dulce. The best part about the name is that it means "Sweet" in Spanish and Italian. (dulce de leche means "the sweetness of milk") In Spanish the c makes an S sound but in the Italian pronunciation it's "dul-che". It's a great name for him to listen for. Plus, I hope that for the sake of all the Pitbulls that he can live up to his name and prove that he is a sweet boy instead of a killer.

In a matter of two days, Dulce broke down all of my walls, fears, and concerns about Pitbulls. I've been researching like crazy and there is nothing proving that they will turn on someone if they are trained properly. Luckily for me, I have a dog-trainer living in my house.

As I sit here on my computer, researching natural ways to remove the smell out of carpet so they don't into the habit of peeing where they live (he was used to it from living in the trash), I have a little curled up ball of ice cream right at my feet. He's tuckered out still from playing with another dog for three hours nonstop last night. Every now and then he lifts his head and licks my ankle just to remind me that he's there. But how could I forget? So instead of me looking for a dog, my dog found me. The Universe is a crazy bitch.

Here is my new project:

Sunday, July 12, 2009

To Date or Not To Date... Omnivores


(thanks to my pal Craig of DoodleBlog for the cute photo)

VegNews, my favorite magazine at the moment, had a fantastic article with that title last issue. Hopefully I don't get slammed for copyright issues by titling this blog the same. I'll change it if so.

The writer (a vegan) was so amazing. She shared stories of dates she went on from an online dating site. Most of the men were omnivores (she said carnivores but I'm sure that those men did not only eat meat exclusively or they would've all looked like John Wayne.) She gave a decent account of the inner-dialogue that went through her head on each date. It seemed like the guys were cool too. She would ask them about their eating habits. The one said he only ate fish. She felt like she could deal with that. He couldn't. He emailed her an hour after the date and said that eating meat would feel like cheating on her. Oh well. Next date said that he would never change and not even be flexible enough to not eat meat in front of her (which was what she asked for, not to quit eating meat all together.) X off the list.

So, I'm on Match.com and I'm having a tough go of it. I joined in October, met a fantastic guy in November who is vegetarian. He's a great guy but we live four hours away and decided to keep it casual. He's younger and still in the college life. I'd never dated a younger guy and it took a lot of getting used to. I could usually deal with that because he was so awesome and intelligent and compassionate towards animals and people alike. He was European which meant a great accent and NO obsession with American football (my least favorite sport on the planet.) He's a great guy but I'm not sure of the long term possibilities. And that's where my luck dried out with Match.

They used to have an option of displaying your "Daily Diet." I think that what people put into their bodies shows a great deal of how informed they are, and how concerned they are for themselves and the environment. The options for the Daily Diet display were Meat and Potatoes, Vegetarian, Keep It Healthy, or Fast Food. And you could actually SEARCH for those who clicked Vegetarian. One downside was that it was actually possibly to click all three, which makes it kind of hard when someone is checking Meat and Potatoes and Vegetarian. The two lifestyles cannot co-exist. Yet, Match.com left it that way. I emailed them about it and got an automatically generated response to the tune of "thanks for your concern on our website but we're not changing anything just because you're a stuck up snobby vegan." Not exact wording, I paraphrased it.

Then, my world on Match.com collapsed. They completely removed the Daily Diet option! So now, I had no idea how these men eat! I mean, that is serious business for me! My world and job revolve around food and I couldn't see at a glance what their lifestyle is. So, I emailed them again. Automated response ensued. I'm pissed.

So, now I'm stuck on Match.com with no possible way except by the "search words" which really aren't helpful anyway because I lot of people don't add them to their profile, to find fellow Veg-lifestylers. Grrrr. I've found a few possibilities that I hope to meet at some point but it's just so hard now. I've met a few that eat meat but I've stopped even doing that because I know that it's such a turnoff for me that I can't even try to be understanding about it. I can't date an omnivore. I could maybe make out randomly with one at a club but that's where it would stop. Sex is better when you're at least vegetarian. There's a lot of reasons behind it but I'll just leave it at that. I've gotten pickier since I've gotten older and I just can't handle the thought of kissing a mouth that has consumed meat recently. It's gross. I need someone that lives the same lifestyle as I do and for a girl in Central Pennsylvania, even in a city, that is a hard feat. Someday, my Vegan Prince will come. He doesn't even have to be a prince, just a vegan and not stupid.




How about you? As a vegan/vegetarian, would you date someone that ate meat? How would you handle it?

Monday, July 6, 2009

Sniffles and Snots and Snorts oh my!

I am a horrible blogger. Quite possibly the worst in the world if you ask me. I always have these awesome ideas for posts and never post them for whatever stupid reason invades my common sense at the moment. I did promise a blog on allergies and honest to God (gods, Diana, Nature, Jeshua, whoever you dig) I started writing it one night and blogger would not have any part in publishing it and told me to try another time. You would think that I'd be smart and save it somewhere... you'd think that if you didn't know me personally. Anyway, here's some info for you less fortunate souls who are plagued with seasonal allergies and don't feel like taking the chemically poisoning way that the FDA so strongly suggests in form of pills and shots (which I got for years as a kid. Not awesome.)

I was lucky enough that when I finally quit dairy completely, after about eight months of it working itself out of my system, my allergies disappeared. I have no clear, concrete idea how this happens except that possibly all the hormones and crap in milk keep your body from being able to produce the correct amount of anti-histamines to fight off the allergens. I'm not an expert, just a snarky little know-it-all but not really. I wish I knew it all.

Anyway, here are some natural remedies that helped me for years and also a lot of what the professionals in the health food store I work in suggest.

1) Stinging Nettle. It's a weed. Most natural cures are. But, it can be traced back thousands of years as being used to help with colds, puffy eyes, and sore throats (most likely all caused by allergies.) Stinging Nettle (or just "Nettle") comes in a variety of forms. It works naturally with your body to produce anti-histamines to help with the inflammation caused by nasty little allergens that get into your sinuses and wreak hell on your system. You can get it in loose tea form, capsules (make sure they're V-caps), tinctures and teas. I love Traditional Medicinals Organic Nettle Leaf Tea. I am not into sweet drinks and if you like more bitter teas like I do, you'll like this. I would suggest not sweetening it with sugar. If you need it sweetened, maybe some agave or local honey, which brings me to my next love.

2) Local Honey. If you are a strict vegan, you might not use honey. I have visited the local apiary where my boss buys the honey we sell in the store. They are extremely compassionate and natural in the way they produce their honey. The man loves his bees. Honey contains bits of pollen. Keep reading, Sniffles, I'm not crazy. When you introduce LOCAL pollen to your system on a constant basis, your body begins to get used to it because it's not being overloaded. Honey acts as an immune shot if you use it on a constant basis (once or twice a week for me). Your body consistently has it in its system so it is not slacking on building up an immunity to it. The more local, the better because local honey is going to have what YOUR body needs to fight off the over-exposure of pollen when it happens (say... Spring and Summer). Stir a little in your tea, drizzle some on a baked sweet potato, or spread some on toast. If you are a militant vegan (honey is the ONLY animal bi-product I consume personally) and refuse to consume honey, then you're out of luck on its healing qualities. If you go for local honey, try to find one that says "Free Apiary." That means that the bee-keeper is working together with local farmers to pollinate their crops when they bloom. Like I said and I can't stress it enough- LOCAL.

3) Neti Pots. I love mine. Actually, I have two. I have a nice white porcelain one for at home and a kitchy teal plastic one to travel. If you've never heard of a Neti Pot, check this out. CLICK HERE (This is the one I have.) It looks like a little tea pot but you mix a warmish saline solution in it and stick it in your nose. Watching a video a few times is helpful. The water goes in one nostril, fills your sinus, and comes out the other nostril. It's like what the gross boys at lunchtime in school did with spaghetti noodles but so much more beneficial. What the saline water does is warms and releases allergens, pollens, dirt, etc that you breathe in on a daily basis and washes them right out the other side. You can also massage your sinuses a bit before use to help loosen everything up. I use mine almost daily during the Spring and Summer, especially after hiking. If you live in a city, they're wonderful even if you don't have allergies. Think of all the dirt and pollution bits you can wash out of your sinuses at the end of the day. With allergies, you can use this as much as possible to help keep your sinuses clear. And, if you have a good sense of humor, you'll get a good laugh out of using them too. They make you feel pretty undignified but they're fun.

4) Apple Cider Vinegar. My mother hates this stuff. My housemate and I love it. I love vinegar anyway, on anything so it is awesome. You can take it as a daily tonic. An ounce or two in a glass of water a day is a great way to keep taking it regularly. My favorite is BRAGG'S. They are as natural, live, and organic as I've been able to find and they have the tackiest website I've seen in a long time. They have a lot of other great products too (their Ginger salad dressing is to die for). Apple Cider Vinegar is said to help stop histamine response and allergic reactions if you take it immediately when you feel it coming. I've been using it for a while as my vinegar for salads (goes great with flax oil) and never knew it helped with allergies until recently. It's good stuff. Found at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or anywhere that sells things of the more natural persuasion.

5) Turmeric. This is one of what I call my "magic spices". It tastes amazing, I use it in tons of dishes, but it also has amazing medicinal qualities to it. My mom makes her own capsules of it to help with her joints. It also helps with allergies. This awesome little ground up goody spice is an anti-inflammatory and helps calm your immune system. You can find it in your favorite Indian dish (the spicier the better to help release the pressure in your sinuses) or in capsule form. Buying it in a bulk spice section is most likely the cheapest. From there, you can mix half a teaspoon in water twice a day if you can handle the taste or make your own capsules with empty V-caps. I just like it sprinkled on rice or popcorn. Try and get organic. If not, you run the risk of getting chemicals and pesticides in your system- not awesome. It also makes a great food coloring for icing on cakes too. Gives a great yellow color.

So there are some natural cures that I used for allergies for years. Like I stated before, mine are mostly gone but every now and then, if I get overloaded with pollen and start sneezin and getting all swollen, I use these natural cures and they definitely help.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Sexy Vegpires

Okay, so I'm a little behind the times anymore with movies. The only time I've been to a movie theater recently has been to see the recordings of the Metropolitan Operas with my mom. I'm an opera freak, I listen to it constantly and actually studied and trained in classical voice for years. So, needless to say, as hot as Robert Pattinson looked as Edward Cullen (two very new names to my ears last year-told you I'm not in the loop!) I just never got to the theater to see it. So, yesterday was Easter. Mom and I usually don't do much on holidays if my brother and his kids aren't coming around so we ordered a pizza (half cheeseless for me) and rented Twilight on her new fangled TV system thing. I can barely run a DVD player to save my life so I still am baffled at how she can click a button on her remote control and freeze live TV and even more-rent a movie without going to the rental shop! It's amazing.

I really admire the fact that they put some effort into making the character Bella appear vegetarian. Now, I haven't read the books (though they are most certainly on my list now) so I'm not sure if she is actually a vegetarian or not but I just think that it would be fantastic if she is one. I also enjoyed the slight humor in that the strikingly beautiful family of Cullens considered themselves "vegetarian" vampires because they only drank animal blood. Not the most appealing opening shot of a deer getting chased down but still, I have a dark humor and I'm also able to laugh at myself and my own ideals sometimes so I had a chuckle. Mom looked at me sideways to see how I would react though because usually I'm pretty squeemish when it comes to animals being killed in front of my eyes but I handled it well.

I want to be a sexy Vegpire and live forever if it could mean living with Robert's beautiful face near mine... if he were vegan of course.



Alongside of being vegan, I'm also a super stickler on natural health and natural cures for what ails you. Being raised by a hippie who gave me tofu for my finger food in my highchair and never having seen a cake mix until age 12 would kind of do that to a girl. I've sort of turned into my friends' "natural know-it-all". And, if I don't know it, I'll be darned if I can't find it out. I've had a few friends ask me recently about allergies. Seeing that Spring is upon us means two things for me- 1) my heat bill will go down and 2) my allergies will kick in. Since I went strict vegan, I have been able to get over my allergies to cats so far. As I mentioned before, I was horribly allergic to felines. Just looking at them made my nose itch and my eyes water. But, since having gone strict... like borderline millitant vegan a few months ago (remember, I've been vegtarian for years but still did dairy and eggs) I have been able to pick up my friend's gorgeous little orange fluff ball and practically rub his fur in my face and not have to stifle one sniffle because of it. For some weird reason, dairy caused a deficiancy in my system to be able to hold up to feline dander. I don't know what it did but it did it. I haven't had a drop of milk since approx early February and I've been fine.

As for seasonal allergies, I'm not sure what going vegan has done for those yet. I'll know as soon as the flowers start blooming and the fields start filling up. Central Pennsylvania has a plethora of farm lands with tons of different stuff growing in it so you can drive a few miles and see five or six different crops growing. I'm going to gather a list of all the natural remedies I've found have worked for my allergies through the years and share my findings. They will all, of course, be vegan and most likely herbs and supplements you can find in a local health food store (like mine).

Allergy post coming soon. And, I think I need to watch Twilight again.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Reasons why I live La Vida Vegana

Think about it: our lives REVOLVE around food. If you're a stay at home and even working mother of young children or teenagers, you are constantly planning what is for dinner, what you're packing for lunch and somehow magically tailoring to each of their tastes, wants, needs, and moods. If you have a significant other, you're likely cooking for them in a trade off pattern or even providing for them all the time. If you're a 20 or 30-something socialite, you're always looking for the hottest new spaces to what? EAT. I'm a cook in a health food kitchen. I am surrounded by food for 8-10 hours a day. Food signs my paycheck. I have been at least vegetarian since 2003 when I went to Hellfest in New York with some friends and got sucked into watching a PETA video at their stand. I had had eggs, sausage, and bacon with buttery toast and chocolate milk that morning for breakfast. That night, I couldn't stand the thought of consuming anything that an animal had to suffer or even lose its life to produce. I went from meateater to vegan in 0.2 seconds in the middle of a hardcore music and tattoo festival. It was the most drastic change in my life I've ever made and if you ask any of my friends, I have the tendency to be pretty drastic.

So, as an introduction to me and mostly what this page will be about, I'm compiling a list of somewhat detailed reasons why I have chosen this lifestyle for myself.

1) Health. I've come to a maturity in my life that makes me realize that I cannot be fueled on Tasty Cakes and Pepsi. I'm 27 years old. I'm a grown up. I'm old enough now to be able to understand what I put in my body is going to have a lifelong effect on it. I've seen the health problems older people in my immediate family have and I'm freaking out. I don't want to get cancer, diabetes, or worse-fatter than I already am. I want to be healthy for the rest of my life. I vainly want clear skin, shiny hair, and a slammin' body. Not consuming animal baddies really helps with that. More importantly, it has helped with a few health issues I was already beginning to experience. When I cut only meat out of my diet and ate pretty healthy, I lost weight. When I cut dairy too, I lost even more weight. Also, eliminating dairy from my diet practically did away with allergies from which I suffered my whole life. I used to be constantly clearing my throat, blowing my nose, and itching my ears. The last time I blew my nose that I can remember was the other day when I popped the pepper container open too quickly and it poofed up into my face. Allergy-free is good for me!

Also, meat/dairy that is not organic or free-range or labeled spefically is full of antibiotics (to keep the animals healthy and disease free because they are so malnourished and crammed so tightly in pens that they're always getting sick) and hormones or steroids to make muscle (meat) grow faster and milk be produced at a quicker rate. Forget going with the natural path of things, mass-production of meat and dairy are money makers and since the FDA's pockets are lined with blood money from the farmers, of course it will allow these things to be given to the animals. Hormones, steroids, and antiboitics make money. Only thing is: the farmers are shooting the general public of consumers in the foot for us. Let's think about it. Hormones in the milk: could this be why there are 8-year-olds getting their periods and DD breasts by 13? Steroids in meat: rise in young and teen boy aggression maybe? Antibiotics: the growing issue of lessening resistence to disease? Chew on a few on those for a while. If you want actual sources, I can provide them.

2) Compassion. Actually I'm really not an animal-lover. I haven't had a pet for years and years. Wait, I had a parakeet but I gave it away on a road trip stop in Texas. I figured as a tropical bird, she'd be happier there instead of Pennsylvania where it can get below freezing in the wintertime. I really don't "do" the pet thing. Furry creatures shed and make noise and messes and chew on things that I really would rather them not chew on. I can understand the bond petowners have with their pets. A girlfriend of mine has two cats and no children and she and her husband prefer it that way. The way those cats are treated, you'd swear they were kids. I get it. But would you eat them? Would you slit their throats, bleed them dry, yank their skin from their bodies, butcher them, toast them over a fire with some oregano and eat them? Then why eat a chicken? Or a cow? 99.9999% (not a proven figure, just out of my dramatic head) of animals raised for meat are put through horrific torturous acts before they are killed for meat. They are frozen, packed tight into filthy corrals, beaten, dismembered, and scared shitless before their throats slit and their bodies mutilated to end up on the menu at Olive Garden. I feel the need to respect any living thing, especially defenseless, unless it is threatening my life or health (ie: if I'm staring at a bear that's ready to maul me and I have a gun in my hand, respect goes out the window and survival kicks in.) I can't eat something that once belonged on or in the body of an animal. It does not mesh with my formulated morals. Don't even get me on animal-testing for beauty products, skin care, hair care, cleaning solutions, etc.

3) Veg is Sexy. I remember I read an actual scientific study where they had groups of people eat specific diets and report back on their sex lives. In almost every situation where both of the participants had been eating a consistent vegetarian diet, they reported better, healthier, more energetic, and longer-lasting love making sessions. Of course, I can't find this article online, especially since PETA's banned Super Bowl Commercial (which I love, by the way) is all over the place, but I found a similar one with the same feedback in this EatVeg.com article. And after conducting my own privately funded independent study, I must say that my findings come right alongside of theirs. Things are just BETTER when you're vegconcious. Let's just say, vegetarian men have good taste. And I will be no more graphic because I'm sure at some point my mother will read this and I will catch hell because I'm talking about the S word in a public online forum. Sorry, Mom. Are we still on for LOST this Wednesday?

4) Mommy Earth. I may have been known to hug a few trees in my day. They're so cute and they just scream "hug me!" Seriously though, do you KNOW how detrimental the meat industry is to the land that we are so desperately trying to save? According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), chemical and animal waste runoff from factory farms is responsible for more than 173,000 miles of polluted rivers and streams. Get that? We are drinking pee and poop and more from all of the meat and dairy farms. Um, gross. There's also an insane amount of crops (about 70 percent of all grain grown in the U.S.) for feeding the approx 7 billion animals being raised for consumption. Imagine saving all the land that is destroyed by the sheer pollution by animal excrement and the land that is designated solely for feeding these animals? We could have so many more vegetables, grains, and fruit at our disposal and at a cheaper price because we would have more land to farm it on. Imagine, also, being able to export the extra grain to the starving children in Africa. Sally Struthers should go vegan.

5) Spiritual Health. No, I'm not Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, or anything else like that. I actually spent a large chunk of my late teens and early 20's as a very dedicated Christian. I no longer hold to a specific faith but when people kind of roll their eyes at me when I say that the closest thing to religion I practice is Veganism, I have to explain to them that I just don't think that a Deity with any compassion in its heart, would smile upon the idea of humans (who are supposed to be the most intelligent species) murdering another one of Its creations. It doesn't make spiritual sense to me. Shouldn't we try and coexist peacefully? We kill too many of our own kind already. Spiritually, I cannot be at peace if I am responsible for another creature's suffering. It's been proven that animals have intelligence, what if they have souls? No thanks.

6) Money. Even if I decided I wanted to eat meat again (watch the weather report for hell to freeze over while you're at it), I simply couldn't afford it. Meat is expensive. Well, meat without all the chemical shit in it is anyway. I loosely paid attention to my grocery bill pre-veg and post-veg. Weekly bills, just for me, went from approx $90/week to approx $50/week. They're even lower now that I don't buy as much pre-made and processed foods (except my coconut milk yogurt and ice cream.)


So, those are main reasons for myself and a little look into my history with Vegan Life. And we go on from here!

Friday, April 10, 2009

here we go

I'm the world's worst inconsistent blogger. I've had different blogs for... like... ever. I started years and years ago on xanga.com (does the new generation even know what xanga is? Yes, is, present tense. It still exists. In fact, my ancient blogs are still active there somewhere.) Then, myspace was the new xanga that you could even post pictures on! How cool??? Then, I was infected with the facebook virus. So, out in cyberspace, I now have my stamp on four different blogging spheres.

Since I still am not entirely sure of what this blog will consist, I think I'm just going to wing it for now. I'd like to eventually make it a blog for all things vegan (def: a guilt-free lifestyle where one consumes NOTHING consisting of animal issues-meat, dairy, eggs, etc. Strict vegans wear no leather, fur, and in my case being the makeup junkie that I am, no animal hair brushes or makeup tested on animals or using animal by-products.). I've also been caught up into the whirlwind of the Green Revolution. So basically, I'm a bleeding heart vegana fashion hippie weirdo that thinks she can sort of write. Plus, I will shamelessly be blurbing and endorsing all of my favorite products and lines that fit so easily into a vegan lifestyle. I sort of know what I'm talking about with this stuff too. I mean, I'm not an expert like the Skinny Bitches (www.skinnybitch.net), which by the way, that book will be referenced quite often, but I've been living the veglife for a number of years, just not always as strictly as I am now. You should read Skinny Bitch, by the way, if you don't mind straight up nasty truth about meat processing plants, dairy farms, and vulgur language coming from a former Ford's Modeling agent and a model. I don't have the cleanest language either but I'm going to try, for the sake of my amazing mother who will most likely end up following this, to censor myself and quelch my utmost desire to constantly drop the f-bomb. She will give me the look for every blog that I post with a swear word in it. I have taste, just not tact.

Let's see where this goes... shall we? Wanna be my friend/follower/victim/partner in the crime of revolutionizing lifestyles? Hippie Fashionista Vegans unite!