I travel for work. The frequency and range of trips vary. Sometimes I am in a large city and others a suburb. It all depends on the group that I am working with and where they want to meet. Many think that traveling for work is glamorous. I would beg to differ. If I had it my way, I wouldn't travel at all. I knew what I was getting into when I took my job over four years ago, so I do it without much complaint. Well, maybe. :-)
Every once and a while a good meeting place arises and I was lucky last week. I worked with a organization that decided to meet in Toronto, Ontario. I was not familiar with the city, but I had been there enough to know that I liked it and wouldn't mind visiting again.
Most of the time, meetings are held in hotel meeting rooms or conference centers. The rooms are boring and the decor is stuffy and uninviting. This location was different. We met in a Ladies Club in downtown Toronto and the decor was fabulous! Everything from the floor to the ceilings had been planned and decorated with care. The whole club had a sleek style that was both fun and elegant.
Chandelier in one of the halls.
Wall at the end of a hall on the second floor.
Chandelier in out meeting room. I think I am in love!
Day one: This was a plate of cooked soy beans and other lovely fruits and vegetables, topped with a thin piece of bread that looked like lace. The plate was decorated with pea shoots and had a subtle dressing. I could not identify all of the produce on my plate or the dressing, but it was all delicious. I did note that there were several varieties of beets. Verdict- very tasty and and a beautiful presentation. 
Day two: My plate included a dab of guacamole and I have to say it is probably the best tasting guacamole I have ever had. I don't know what made is different though. In addition to this lovely garnish, I had fresh tomatoes an other vegetables on top of white beans. On top was a small mixed salad. Verdict- delicious and creamy!
Day three: The base of my plate was cooked quinoa, surrounded by picked mushrooms, miso sauce, and raspberries. Marinated vegetables were placed on top of the quinoa. Lastly, the plate was finished with a small mixed salad. The mushrooms were heavenly! I do not know what type of mushroom they were, but I would like to have them again. Verdict- heavenly mushrooms, but this meal did not fill me up.
Day four: My last lunch was just as wonderful as the rest. My plate had a dressed bean salad topped with cherry tomatoes and a mixed green salad. Next to it was a watermelon and mint salsa accompanied by two flowers. The flavors all worked well together. I had never had watermelon salsa before, but I can say that I want it again! Verdict- I really enjoy watermelon salsa! This meeting ended with a bang!
The dishes were so beautifully executed and combination of foods were inventive. It was better than any other food that I have encountered at a meeting in the past.
I have not been as vocal about it lately, but our less impact journey is progressing nicely. I have been reading blogs, speaking with others, and critically thinking about how we can make permanent changes that will better the environment. This is all thanks to the No Impact Man book and documentary. I have blogged about reducing the time our TV is on and buying in bulk instead of packaged goods. It is now time for something more.
As I continued to think about our impact, I started to notice our reliance on paper goods. We gave up cleaning with paper towels years ago and switched to old cloth towels and shirts for cleaning rags. We have paper towels in our home, but we use them very sparingly and only buy the kinds that are made from recycled paper and without the use of bleach. We do the same with our toilet paper and napkins.
Somehow my focus shifted to napkins. I thought about our napkin use. We buy the Seventh Generation or the other recycled kinds, but we used them on a daily basis. I thought that it probably does not make that big of a difference, and I started to do the math, again (note my blog posting about oatmeal packets)!! Here goes.......
John and I each took a paper napkin in our lunches- 2 napkins per day, 5 days a week. That is a total of 10 napkins in a week. In addition, for about half of the dinners in our week, we each used a paper napkin. Let's say that is 4 nights times 2 napkins, for a total of 8 napkins. We take the 10 napkins for lunches and then 8 napkins are used for dinner. That is 18 napkins in a week. Now, multiply that by 52 weeks in a year and we have a whopping 936 napkins a year.
936 NAPKINS A YEAR?!?!? For a household of two? I think I am going to be sick.
I had no clue what a huge negative impact we were making. So, we decided to use only cloth napkins in our home from then on and we HAD to start immediately. We looked through our drawers and pulled out napkins that we had gotten for our wedding. I called my Mom and asked if she had any she no longer wanted. Lucky for us, she had some vintage ones that she was going to sell. My grandma also had a several sets that she wanted to donate to our cause. We were now up to about 12 napkins and the good news was that we did not have to purchase any new products.
It has been several months since we have given up paper napkins and switched to cloth ones and it has been great. In all honesty it is not that different. We really don't have to make that much of an effort. Every day we throw a cloth napkin into our lunch. When it gets dirty, we wash it with our other towels. The napkins are not that big, so we are not doing any more loads of laundry than we normally would. The only difference is that I get to wipe my hands and mouth with something smooth instead of scratchy and rough.
I have also started to look at my napkin use in other places. Now, I will rarely will take a paper napkin when out, unless I really need it. Most times I don't, so I pass.
Think you are up for the cloth napkin challenge? If so, tell me about it!
Au revior paper napkins!
I have posted in the past about the vintage aprons from my grandmother. Since that posting I have acquired additional aprons from her. Like before, the aprons from the 1950's are homemade. I was so excited when I saw the aprons because I knew they they would be a great addition to my Etsy store.
Since my original posting one of the aprons has sold, so I felt it was time to add another. I am amazed that the aprons are over 50 years old and still in excellent condition. Most of the aprons are perfect, but some have small stains. The fabric in general looks new and has not faded.
This is the most recent apron that I have listed. It has a white background with a blue and green diamond pattern on the pocket, waist tie, and bottom border. The top of the pocket and bottom border is highlighted with a baby blue zig zag ribbon. The fabric is cotton and the stitching has held up beautifully. Whoever made this apron was very good at the art of sewing.
When I started my store, I did not expect to also sell vintage pieces. I am glad that in addition to remade and recycled products that I am also selling vintage pieces. Purchasing a vintage piece, instead of something new is a GREAT way to recycle and remember the past!
Happy recycle-shopping!
I was cleaning things up in my blogger dashboard and I found a blog that I never posted from November of 2008. I am not sure why I never posted the blog. (And yes, I think there are others that never got posted.) Maybe I had reservations, maybe I just forgot. I still want to share this blog posting. I feel so fortunate to live in a place with so many others like myself. Vegetarians are rare and vegans are even more rare, yet I live in a place where I am surrounded by those people like me. I am not sure why, I am not sure how, but I love it! I originally meant to be posted sometime in early December of 2008 and I have been to the vegan Thanksgiving twice now. If you want more info, you can check out the site from last year.
Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends. ~George Bernard Shaw
John and I have been a part of the Triangle Vegetarian Society for fours years and this is the first year that have been able to attend the Thanksgiving celebration. The Triangle Vegetarian Society hosts the largest vegan Thanksgiving celebration in the country at Cafe' Parizade in Durham, NC. We live less than five minutes from the restaurant and were happy to be able to attend, finally. Every other year, we have had a family gathering to attend. This year we enjoyed the celebration and then met up with my parents afterward.
The day was a lovely way to celebrate Thanksgiving and participate in a cruelty-free meal. We sat at a table full of friends and dined on wonderful food. The food and the selections were just amazing. It was the best Thanksgiving meal I have ever had! It was a wonderful blend of traditional thanksgiving foods and some not so traditional foods. The menu included:
- Quinoa salad
- Breads, crustinis, and pita with hummus and other spreads
- Raspberry-relish
- Lime-marinated seitan with peppercorn and fig glaze
- Roasted garlic mashed potatoes with chives and mushroom gravy
- Apple-pecan stuffing
- Braised sweet potatoes with leeks and vegan maple butter chutney
- Squash and corn with tempeh
- Oyster mushroom croquettes
- Turnip greens with pearl onions
- Carpaccio vegetable- thinly sliced vegetables as a raw "pasta"
- Porcini-lentil cannelloni
- Orecchiette pasta with marinara sauce
- Chunky mixed vegetable and barley stew
- Cookies
- Pumpkin pie
- Cherry crisp
- Truffles
- Ginger cookies
- Chocolate cake
- and MORE
The meal was very fulfilling and I left with a full stomach and a joyous heart. This was the first year since I became a vegetarian where I did not want to leave the table in tears over the dead turkey that was being feasted upon. I did not feel helpless this year. I made sure not forget about the slaughtering of millions of turkeys around the nation and prayed for the ones that suffered and lost their lives. I felt proud to be a part of the largest cruelty-free Thanksgiving in the nation. There were 578 attendees from 40 cities and states, with an additional 50 person waiting list.
John and I hope to be part of the vegan Thanksgiving next year. Just thinking about the delicious food is making me hungry!
In my quest to do things that I love, I became one of the authors of another blog. The ladies of EtsyVeg were so kind to welcome me to their team as an author. I have shared this site with you before, but I wanted to remind you of it again. :-)
EtsyVeg is a blog for artists working with all sorts of mediums, who sell their products on Etsy. All of the members of EtsyVeg are vegetarian or vegan. The point of the blog it to share "crafty, earth-friendly, and veg-related information, tips, tidbits, and resources shared by EtsyVeg members."
I love being a member of the EtsyVeg team both in blogging and as a vegan Etsy seller. I hope you will consider going to this blog and checking out the plethora of artisans for your next Etsy purchase. If you want to know how to find an EtsyVeg artisan, please visit this site. You can also visit my store. I hope to post more products soon!
I recently posted a blog about on my page about loving life and on the EtsyVeg blog (they were different posts, same topic). I am blogging about it again because I need to remind myself to try and love life when I feel stuck, especially when I feel stuck.
The question still looms- why don't I love my life as much as I love dessert? I am not sure I know the answer or that I am willing to delve into it through a public blog.
I just have to stick to my pledge to do things that bring me joy. I have been trying. John and I rallied our families together and we went to the mountains to spend a long weekend. John and I are planning a week long vacation in the Caribbean. We went to a winery festival for the day with my parents about a month ago. I spontaneously made up a dessert one night when in the mood for chocolate (John loved the dessert and I hated it.).
And most recently, John and I went on a tubing adventure on the Dan river with friends and then headed to a vegetarian restaurant. My friend Stephanie organized an awesome tubing event and we decided to go. We both love nature and we have never tried tubing before. Not only did we get to spend time in nature, we got to spend the day with awesome people.
We floated down the Dan river for about three hours in individual tubes. At times we had what we called the "floatzilla" where we all traveled in a clump of tubes together. Other times we tubed away from others or in small groups. It was all a blast! The conversations and the people were so much fun.
When tubing was complete we headed to Boba House, a delicious vegetarian restaurant in Greensboro. John and I used to frequent this restaurant when we were both in graduate school and I would visit him on the weekends. It was our favorite date spot. It was exciting to enjoy the restaurant with a large group of people.
The day concluded with a hilarious drive home with Stephanie, James, and John. I loved every minute of this day. From the second I got up and got ready for the farmer's market to the time we all said good night. This most certainly sticks to my pledge to do things that bring me joy. Now if only I would have brought my camera to post pictures of our tubing fun.
What have you done lately to bring yourself joy?
Chandelier in one of the halls.
Wall at the end of a hall on the second floor.
Chandelier in out meeting room. I think I am in love! 
Day two: My plate included a dab of guacamole and I have to say it is probably the best tasting guacamole I have ever had. I don't know what made is different though. In addition to this lovely garnish, I had fresh tomatoes an other vegetables on top of white beans. On top was a small mixed salad. Verdict- delicious and creamy!
Day three: The base of my plate was cooked quinoa, surrounded by picked mushrooms, miso sauce, and raspberries. Marinated vegetables were placed on top of the quinoa. Lastly, the plate was finished with a small mixed salad. The mushrooms were heavenly! I do not know what type of mushroom they were, but I would like to have them again. Verdict- heavenly mushrooms, but this meal did not fill me up.
Day four: My last lunch was just as wonderful as the rest. My plate had a dressed bean salad topped with cherry tomatoes and a mixed green salad. Next to it was a watermelon and mint salsa accompanied by two flowers. The flavors all worked well together. I had never had watermelon salsa before, but I can say that I want it again! Verdict- I really enjoy watermelon salsa! This meeting ended with a bang!
The dishes were so beautifully executed and combination of foods were inventive. It was better than any other food that I have encountered at a meeting in the past. 
