The Calm Before the Storm

So today was the day I have been waiting so long for—I finally got to take my Grandmother and sister to the Winter Park Farmer’s Market! Set inside the old train station and the surrounding park, the WP FM is chock full of local vendors selling their goodies, which range from everything from vegetables and fruit, to plants, and even clothes and accessories for your dog! It was a little overcast upon leaving the house this morning, and by the time we arrived, it had already begun to sprinkle.

We walked around for a bit, and as soon as we made our way to the train station, the skies opened up. Luckily there were plenty of vendors inside, so we could browse until the skies cleared somewhat. Em and I stopped at the coffee stand (surprise), where I got a small red-eye (coffee w/a shot of espresso) and she got a Reese’s Latte. (Em loves her chocolate and PB combo!) There was a good selection of vendors with baked goods, but the cutest one is a French husband and wife team who sell authentic French pastries. They even great you with “Bonjour!” and speak French to each other behind the counter. Trés adorable.

Unfortunately, the rain didn’t look like it was going to let up any time soon, so our plans of walking around outside and shopping on Park Avenue were shot. I did manage to pick up some sweet potatoes, yellow squash, and 2 massive kiwis. In the picture it looks like they’re going to swallow my phone!

We stopped at a Goodwill store before heading back to Orlando, but nothing caught our eye. (My mom, however, did spot a leather vest she thought Stella from Project Runway would love! And no, of course we did NOT buy it! Biker chicks we are NOT.)

By the time we had done all of the above, we were all getting a little hungry, so we decided [er, I decided... ] to make a pit stop at none other than Ethos Vegan Kitchen! I’ve been wanting to visit ever since they first opened last December, but never had the opportunity! We decided this would be my “birthday lunch,” since my actual birthday is on a Sunday (when they only serve brunch) and I’m scheduled to work the Saturday before.

We were the only ones there at the time, so we placed our orders and sat down at a table. Took a couple of pictures, paid a visit to the ladies’ room, bad-a-bing bad-a-boom, our food is ready. I ordered the Hippie Wrap (gluten-free, of course) which consisted of homemade hummus (nut-free), sprouts, cucumbers, banana peppers, tomato, and lettuce all wrapped inside a rice flour tortilla. Em ordered the What’s the Dilly, Philly? (sautéed marinated seitan with onions, red and green peppers, mozzarella cheese, and veganaise), while my mom and grandmother shared an order of the Pumpkin Seed & Pesto Penne Pasta (pennepasta sautéed in a creamy pesto sauce and tossed withtomatoes, squash, zucchini, and topped with roasted pumpkin seeds). The dishes are pictured in the above order, left to right:

My wrap was divine. Perfectly refreshing, and the hummus wasn’t oily at all, which is a risk you take when ordering it at a restaurant. Em loved her sandwich, and my mom and grandmother enjoyed their dishes as well! We will definitely be back to visit; hopefully soon for one of their new Sunday brunches!

After lunch, we headed over to the Mall at Millenia, where Em had scheduled an appointment at the Apple store to have her iPod looked at; it’s been acting up all week. While she and my mom went to see what could be done about it, my Grandmother and I made our way to Anthropologie, where she convinced me to buy this cute sweater:

Can’t say “no” to Grandma! It looks big in the photo, but it’s an XS. After browsing a few other stores, we finished our shopping trip in Bloomingdale’s with a few small purchases. Then we headed home.

I’m supposed to start school this Wednesday, the 20th, but it looks like there might be a slight hitch in those plans…

Looks like it could be (another) direct hit, a lá Charlie, Francis, and Jeanne in 2005! I guess we’ll just have to keep an eye on things…

Till next time!

Erin

Spectacular!

That’s the only way to describe La Nouba! It’s such a beautiful show…really, if you ever get the chance, go see it. Now that I’ve seen one Cirque show, I am hooked!

Most importantly, though, my sister had a great time. It was one of her birthday gifts, after all! The weather was a little bleak, raining on and off throughout the night, but we (Emily, our Mom & I) enjoyed spending time together. They didn’t allow photography (surprise) during the show, but here’s a view of the stage from our special seating section:

After the show, we made our way over to Ghirardelli, where the birthday girl and my mom each got some ice cream. (I made Em walk with me over to Earl of Sandwich, though, so I could get an iced tea.)

School starts up again soon…I ordered my books the other day—almost $400!! Ouch! Oh, well. A small price to pay for an education that no one can take away… I didn’t mean to rhyme there.

Other than the arrival of a few back-to-school (wink wink) “necessities”, this week won’t be too eventful. I’m working a lot (as usual), but on Saturday I finally get to take my Grandmother and Emily (with Mom, of course!) to the huge Winter Park Farmer’s Market! It’s awesome, and I’ll definitely post for you guys!

Other posts to look forward to this month:

• What I did to celebrate my 20th birthday
• What I’m going to do to celebrate my 21st (on the 24th)
• And, in honor of my 1-year “veganniversary” (Sept. 1), a post on how/why I decided to become a vegan

Have a great day, everyone!

Erin

Scratch & Sniff

Well, the “scratch” part of my post refers to the fact that, as a result of constantly(or so it seems) washing dishes at work—especially when I’m closing—my hands are getting really dry, particularly around my cuticles. Because of this, I’m getting tiny scratches right below my nail bed, and currently have two fingers bandaged as I type this. I don’t know what I’d do without my L’Occitane hand creme!

The “sniffing” aspect of this post comes courtesy of my new obsession: Burberry’s new fragrance, The Beat. A lot of their scents can come off as a bit strong, but this one is light and fresh smelling—the perfect scent for summer! (Also, the quintessential addition to my ever-growing perfume collection…)

For you readers who read my last entry, you know that my sister’s birthday was yesterday. We decorated her cake in the shape of a Tiffany & Co. box, only we changed the name to “Emily & Co.” Despite the fact that neither my mother nor myself possess the cake-decorating prowess of CCV, I don’t think we did half-bad!

For her big 2-0 celebration, we managed to get tickets to see Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba show at Downtown Disney tomorrow night! Our seats are in the Light Box, which is like opera seating that hangs over the rest of the audience! These tickets are very V.I.P.—they don’t even sell these seats to the general public! Needless to say, we’re all very excited; and of course I’ll be taking lots of pictures to share with my dear readers!

In the meantime, I’m off to occupy myself with the new Anthropologie catalog…

 

P.S.: How Mad Men are my new shoes?!

Up and Down and All-Around

Wow. These past few days have been spent riding the great roller coaster of life; plenty of ups and downs and a couple of loop-dee-loops here and there.

After spending all of Thursday simply elated at the GrassRoot news, Friday seemed to be a disappointing type of day. At first, it was great; I spent the day with my best friend Beth shopping and chatting away. She just got back from an internship in England, so we definitely had a lot to talk about! Once we had finished walking around the different shopping centers, we headed over to Munn Park, where rumor had it that Barack Obama would be making an appearance on his way from St. Pete to Orlando. What can I say? We’re curious cats; and we definitely did not want to pass up the chance at being part of history!

Once we got to Munn Park, we strolled around for a little bit, trying to find someone…ANYONE…who knew if the rumors were true or not. After about an hour of waiting, we were both hungry so we decided to walk over to Crisper’s, which is right across from the park. Now, I haven’t been to Crisper’s since well before my pre-veg days, but from what I can tell, they’ve really expanded their menu! There are a lot of vegetarian options that can easily be made vegan by omitting the cheese, eggs, etc.

Since it was so hot out, I was really craving a light, refreshing salad, so I ordered the Vegetable Cobb Salad without the eggs or cheese, dressing on the side. It was exactly what I was looking for: raw mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, and avocado over a bed of romaine lettuce. (I didn’t know if HFCS was in the Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette that I ordered on the side, so I didn’t use any.) Sorry for the bad lighting:

Once we got done there, we headed back to the park to see if any new information had come to light. We were disappointed to discover that the Obama campaign bus had been spotted on I-4, already headed to Orlando. Apparently, he decided to make a pit stop and hold a brief Q & A session at a small business instead of the park. We only missed him by about 5 miles!

On Saturday, I basically did some chores around the house until I had to go to work. And today I had to work all day; from 7:30 in the morning to 3 p.m! However, we were so busy all day that in order to close properly, the two of us working had to stay an extra hour! Luckily for me, my mom had fired up the grill while I was gone and grilled some of the fresh veggies we got at the Farmer’s Market on Thursday: red & green bell peppers, zucchini, and yellow squash. She also grilled some Boca burgers for herself and my sister. (Sadly, I can’t have them because they’re not gluten-free.)

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a much more relaxing day. I have to go to the Mall at Millenia to exchange some jeans I got at Bloomingdale’s (too long!), and pick up a few other things. Then, I’m going to stop by Downtown Disney and pop into Virgin Records. After that, I (finally!) get to go back to the new Whole Foods. For some reason, Publix stopped carrying my favorite type of tofu, so now I have to go to the specialty health food stores to get it, and they notoriously overcharge!

This week is my sister’s birthday, and we have something very exciting planned for her! Stay tuned to see what I’ve got up my sleeve…

TTFN…

~Erin

Great News!

You picked a good day to read my blog, dear readers, because I have some very exciting news to share with you! Are you ready?

So Grass Root—one of my very favorite raw/vegan/vegetarian restaurants—has decided to expand; and the new location is going to be extremely close to me! Their new location is set to open sometime next month in South Lakeland! Okay, so the news is exciting for me, at least; but I promise I’ll post some foodie pics for you all to enjoy.

Since today is Thursday, I hit up the local Farmer’s Market for some goodies: okra (I’m now known as the “okra girl”), zucchini, yellow squash, sweet potatoes, lemons, and some red and green bell peppers. (I apologize for the lack of pics.) I must say that I’m a little disappointed with the Market as of late—one of my most reliable vendors (who always gives me the best deals) has been mysteriously absent for the past few weeks! This guy is quite the character: red-hair, pudgy, and he’s missing some teeth, which is exactly why I call him “Rusty.” Other than the fact that I don’t know his real name, he seems to embody everything a “rusty”-type should!

In other news, Natalie from TalieWorld was kind enough to give me this:

According to the “rules,” I am now supposed to nominate 7 other blogs for this award. However, I think that 7 is quite a big number for such a tight-knit blogging community, so I’m just going to close my eyes and point my finger at…YOU! Knock yourself out.

See you soon!

~Erin

I Want to Believe

Don’t think I can’t hear you whistling the theme song…

For this post, I’m going to expose my inner nerd and announce, with no shame, that I really want to see the new X-Files movie!

It opened yesterday, and I wanted to go last night, but unfortunately I had to work the closing shift. Hopefully I’ll see it this weekend, if I can find the time!

I actually slept in a little this morning, and when I woke up a little before 7, I wasn’t nearly as tired as I thought I’d be. I started the day right off with a little yoga, then went on a 3-mile power walk/run (I like to mix it up every now and again). Then I came home (dripping with sweat; gross!) and rode my exercise bike while watching a Food Network Challenge—love those!

Another show I love is Project Runway, and if you happened to tune in Wednesday night, you got to see Natalie Portman as a guest judge! And, bonus, they even mentioned her vegan shoe line for Té Casan! (Wonderful shoes, by the way.)

Not too much planned for today, other than working all afternoon. When I come home tonight, I’ll probably just feel like curling up with the book I just started, D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. I love the classics.

Before I go, I read somewhere recently that Gillian Anderson—Cue theme song. Again.—was a vegan. Can anyone confirm this?

And here’s a quote to tickle your brain for the weekend. I find it very relevant to our society’s current state of affairs: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” –Voltaire

~Erin

“Oh, how time flies…”

“…with crystal clear eyes…”

So begins the classic song “Cross Bones Style” by the brilliant Cat Power… (Love her. You should, too.)

Anyway, can you believe that it’s already July 21?! Before you know it, it’ll be August! The month of August is always a terribly busy month in my house. My lovely sister’s birthday falls on the 6th, we’re planning another trip to Palm Beach that following week, classes start back up on the 20th (!), and me and my twin’s birthday (the big 2-1) is on the 24th…Hint hint.

I may be one of only a handful of individuals who are looking forward to classes starting again. Not that I’ve been perpetually bored all summer; quite the opposite, actually! Just with school comes Fall, and I dream of Fall all year long, it seems…. (Sigh…)

Earth to Erin…!Back to the (veg) world… In a recent posting on the PPK, people were asked to list their celebrity crushes. An overly-hyped topic, for sure, but cute nonetheless. Mine are as follows:

• George Clooney: Always classy, always a charmer.
• Denzel Washington: A true gentleman…and that smile!
• Bobby Flay: Certainly not vegan-friendly, but he more than makes up for it with that Irish charm.
• Jean Sarkozy: He may be a foreign (seriously, no pun intended) concept to some of you readers, but he’s the son of ladies’ man (and president of France) Nicolas Sarkozy. Trés bien, no?

And—just for the heck of it—I have to admit to a total girl crush on Jackie Warner, star of Bravo’s Work Out.

So as I leave you to your daily routine of going over every nook and cranny of this blog ( ), I ask you this: Who is your celebrity crush?

I’m off…

~Erin

A Taste of Fame

A few Fridays ago, I found myself working the closing shift, from 6 to 11 p.m. Around 10 or so, a young couple came in. Straining to hear their order over our live entertainment, I found myself face-to-face with a girl who was asking about our chai drinks, and whether or not they had milk in them. I told her that, unfortunately, the mix we use does indeed have that awful dairy in it, but we did offer soy milk to accommodate her with any of our regular coffee or espresso beverages.

After she expressed some initial disappointment at the whole milk-in-the-chai-mix fiasco, she uttered the magic word. VEGAN. My very first encounter with a fellow vegan in the workplace. While attempting (and subsequently failing) to hide my excitement, I explained that I, the latte girl, was also a vegan. While I made her a yummy soy latte, we briefly discussed how we came to live this way—those damn Bitches —and how it was so rare to meet like-minded (or OPEN-minded, for that matter) people where we live. A baby vegan, I gave her a few websites to check out, and casually (wink wink) mentioned this here blog. Turns out, baby vegan learns quickly, and had already checked out the blog! She couldn’t get over the fact that, of all the places she could have gone that night (a.k.a. Starbucks), she stumbled upon the little coffee shop that I just so happen to work at!

Needless to say, I felt a little famous. Don’t worry, though—my ego’s back to normal-size now.

PS–About that Buckingham Nicks cd that guy was going to burn for me… Not only did he do that, but he also flat-out GAVE me his original 1973 vinyl of the album! How freakin’ sweet is that?!?! This is what it looks like:

I need to make an appointment with my spiritual advisor.

Allow me to introduce you readers to her…

Her name is Murphy Brown, and if you’re not familiar with her, I suggest you get yourself acquainted–pronto!

Murphy is the titular character of one of my favorite television shows–funny, whip-smart, and never without a good one-liner, she is the only person who comes to my mind while dealing with customers at my new job. Lately I’ve had to deal with a handful of chauvinistic regulars who routinely rant about women and their “issues”. Can you imagine?! In 2008, there are actually some men out there who can’t own up to their own faults and blame women for all of society’s problems? ¡Ay Dios Mío!

I’m usually the type of person to let one incident slide, but this goes above and beyond my level of patience. These two guys come into the coffee shop every day, without fail. (I guess they have nothing better to do than hang out and take advantage of the free Wi-Fi, while drinking God knows how many iced lattes.) Anyway, they take every available opportunity to voice their problems with women–and not just to each other! How would YOU feel if someone comes up to you, orders a drink, and as you are ringing it up, angrily demands to know why “all women, once you (bleep) them a couple times a week for a few months, expects a relationship?” (Keep in mind that this is NOT an episode of “SatC” .)The best I could do is shrug my shoulders and make the pig his drink! Surely Murphy would do something along the lines of infiltrating a male-only club, and scoring a victory for all of womankind while looking fabulous (by ’80s standards) the entire time. Alas, however, I am not Murphy, and do not have my own television show. I can’t do much else other than just hope things get better. I’m not going to do anything to get fired, because I need this job and refuse to allow someone like that to win. If an “incident” like that occurs again, though, I will definitely say something to my boss.

That being the only exception, things at work are awesome! On my (rare) days off, I do what any normal red-blooded girl does–SHOP! I’m glad I get paid well, because otherwise I don’t know what I’d do! More than anything, though, I’ve added to my library collection–I just picked up Mindless Eatingby Dr. Brian Wansink after reading about it on Erica’s blog, Sweet Eats (www.sweeteats.wordpress.com), and I LOVE it. It’s completely eye-opening and if you don’t already have it, go get it!

Sorry to spend the majority of this post ranting, but thanks for allowing me to vent my frustrations! Today, after working from 1-9 yesterday, I only have to work from 1-5. Then tomorrow–my day off!–I’m taking my Grandmother to the new Whole Foods for lunch, after I take her to Bloomingdale’s, of course! (I have some business there that I need to attend to …) In the meantime, I’m going to proceed to drool over my new Anthropologie catalog!

Today is a new day, so go out and embrace it! Have an awesome one!

XO, Erin

This is how I feel today.