Green Smoothie of The Day

I was out of greens so had to improvise.

This was so good!

Pear, mango and avocado smoothie.

Papa Smurf took a sip too. :)

The Perfect Vegan

Today I talked to one of my very best friends who asked me not to use his name.

He looks a lot like Academy Award Nominee Woody Harrelson, if Woody Harrelson was about 10 years younger, and who ironically and incidentally is a vegan! (The actor, not my friend)

So let's call him Woody!

We are such good friends that once we were driving around. My husband was in the front seat, Woody was driving and I was in the back seat.

I said "Honey?" and they both answered.

Then they looked at each other and went back and forth saying "I thought I was Honey, no I am..." And so on and so forth.

Anyway, it was so good to catch up wih my sweet friend.

Woody asked me about my diet and said he wasn't sure if he could become a vegan but he wants to get healthier.

He was like "I'm not sure I could go full throttle vegan."

I told him, "Honey, it's not about being a perfect vegan, it's about being as healthy as you can be."

I've read plenty of vegan blogs through the years and one thing I notice is the need to be perfect and almost virtuous about what they eat.

I've never been a perfectionist. I think my Mom helped me with that.

I had one bad semester in college. My grades were...let's just say lack luster.

So my Mom was like "Well, did you try your very best?"

And I said "Not really, I kinda screwed around."

So then she says "Well, can you try harder next time?"

"I guess so..." I said.

See, no pressure!

Don't listen to anyone who tells you that you must stop eating all meat, or dairy, etc.

I'm doing what I think is right for me. I don't preach to anyone about what they should eat. How boring would I be?

Woody's Dad passed away from colon cancer just a few years ago. It was extremely difficult and sad for him and his family.

So, he was eager to talk to me about implementing some new healthy habits.

This was my advice, given only because he asked. :)

I told him to try a meat and dairy free meal a couple of times a week at first to see how he feels.

Eventually he may want to do more.

Everyone's different, so I say do what's right for you.

My husband eats very similar to me, but still eats eggs and some fish.

No, he's not a vegan, but look what he quit eating: sausage, steaks, lunch meat, chicken, cheese and butter.

Good for Lil' Angel Baby!

You don't need a label like "vegan" or anything else.

It's about being healthy and feeling your very best.

Don't you think?

The best part of my talk with my friend today: he goes "Ok cool! I'm gonna get a salad for lunch today!"

That's what I call success.

That's why I started this blog about vegan food and beauty products.

If I can inspire someone to eat some vegetables once in a while or get a foundation that is closer to their actual skin tone, I feel really good about it. :)

I want to say one more thing...this lifestyle has really improved my mood. I cannot say it enough. I feel happy and light. My head is clear. I wake up before my alarm goes off, for the first time ever. 

And I feel balanced and rested.

If you are feeling down or sad, you may want to try this way of eating.

That's all for now...Have a fabulous day, wonderful friends. :)

Why I Don't Get a Birthday Party ;)

For my 6th birthday, my Mom let me invite my entire kindergarten class.

She made all kinds of food and a fabulous cake.

We had party hats, games, and every single thing you could imagine that would make an awsome party.

All the kids came over and it should have been fun.

I was in a really bad mood because my best friend at the time, Ellen Schneider, told all the kids that she had new bikes at her house, which was just down the street.

Bikes, as in more than one.

Ellen Schneider was very annoying and wore pink frilly dresses with matching hair bows and turned her nose up at everything.

She was also very spoiled. I mean, who has more than one bike?

So, they all went to her house and rode her bikes for a while.

Instead of joining in the fun, I pouted and sulked.

My Mom was like "Why don't you go down there and have fun with them?" And then she said "They'll be back, don't worry."

They did come back very shortly, but it was too late.

I think it was in poor taste for Ellen Schneider to steal my moment, don't you?

It got worse from there. I didn't want to talk to anyone or play any of the games.

I was furious!

Mom said "All these kids came here for your birthday, honey, try to have fun." She pleaded with me.

"No!" I said.

What's worse, is nobody wanted to join me in my pity party. I was sad all by myself.

And the worst part of all...my Mom has a spectacular singing voice.

Seriously, when she used to read us bed time stories it was an event.

My brothers and I would climb up on one of the beds and get ready for "THE SHOW."

She would play all the characters, doing all of their voices in the stories and she'd sing and dance. It was like having Liza Minella for a mom. :)

We loved her theatrics, except she had this one habit.

If she saw you sulking or having a bad attitude she would sing, almost mocking you.

"It's my party and I'll cry if I want to. Cry if I want to, Cryyyyy if I want to!"

She would belt it out loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Stop singing!!" I said.

Then, the clincher.

I looked at my Mother and said, "What kind of cake did you make for me?"

And she said "Chocolate."

I screamed as loud as I could "I HATE CHOCOLATE CAKE!"

That was it.

My Mom got all serious and goes, "Get over here and sit down."

(oh no)

She goes "Take a good look around you, Cookie, because this is the LAST party you will ever have as long as you live!"

And then she goes "EVER!"

:)


Hee hee sorry Mom!!

Best Birthday Ever!

Well, I have completely outdone myself sandwhich-wise....check it.

Tomato, cucumber, onion, olives, pepper rings, avocado, pepper, mustard and my fave VEGENAISE!

The key is to toast the bread. And those are veggie straws on the side :)

Dessert!

Afterall it is my birthday today...which, to me, birthdays are not something to be dreaded but a fantastic celebration of life!!

These are sooooo good, oh my goodness...

I ate 2 of them. They're very sweet, no need to eat the whole bag. :)
Got them at Whole Foods.

Went to Bebe and got a new hat...oh and a running outfit for my upcoming 5K on Sunday.

Love that store, but the gals who work there seemed a little grumpy, ever notice? But keep in mind they are required to click around all day in a minimum of 4 inch pumps on those hard floors. :( Poor things.

I hope you're having an awsome day today!

Vegan Lunch: KISS (Keep It Simple Sweetie!)

I'm so excited today that I have a Culture Club song loop rockin'!

:)

Ok, so I get lot's of questions about what I eat now, because folks think the vegan lifestyle is limited.

Valid question...so here goes.

Being a simple gal, I like to eat basic things. I'm not a fan of the fake meats out there that resembel burgers, hot dogs, bacon, they even make hot wings out of tofu. Not my thing.

I also see a lot of fake cheese in the health food stores, made from almonds, rice, soy and goodness knows what. Some of them even have cow's milk in them and I'm like "Uhhhhh, why?"

The funny thing is, I don't miss meat or cheese at all, so I don't feel the need to eat meat and dairy substitutes.

Even more interesting, when I'm in a store and smell meat or cheese, I suddenly feel like "What went terribly wrong on this side of the store?"

Here's lunch today: a simple salad with tomato, cucumber, olives, a little balsamic salad dressing and pepper. Super good!

And for dessert....Ants on a Log!

I didn't make that cute name up, although I wish I did. :)

Celery with peanut butter and raisins. No really, it is good.

It looks more like ants on a log when the raisins are black, sorry. 
I only had golden ones. 

Doesn't this look like a good lunch?

Eating this way puts me in the best mood. :)

Join me in my song loop, won't you?

"I'll be your baby
I'll be your score
I'll run the gun for you
And so much more
I'LL TUMBLE 4 YA
I'LL TUMBLE 4 YA
I'LL TUMBLE 4 YA
I'LL TUMBLE 4 YOU"

Pretty Like Mommy

I guess I was about 5 years old.

I was in trouble for being particularly bratty one day.

I wanted to get back in my Mom's good graces, so I stood in the bathroom doorway watching her preparing for her nightly beauty routine.

My Mom was the perfect female role model for an aspiring Primp Queen like me.

With her perfect skin, high cheekbones, chocolate-colored pixie hairstyle and red lipstick, I wanted to be just like her.

I stood there watching, hoping she would talk to me. She looked over and said "Do you want to learn how to wash your face?"

I shook my head yes.

"Ok, come here," She said and motioned for me to stand on the step stool.

"First, we must pull our hair back," She said and handed me a head band.

Then came...wait for it....Ready?

Noxema!

Yes, the good old blue jar of Noxema, remember it?!

We both walked around with our fantastic menthol scented facial treatments and I felt so amazing!

It tingled and was doing something. Really doing something! I could feel it working, making me beautiful like my Mom.

It was a true bonding moment and I dare say my very first primping memory.

Ok, confession: sometimes I go to Walgreens and buy Noxema just so I can smell it and remember those magical moments of beauty bliss with my Mom.

We just talked this morning, laughing about this. :)

My poor Mom endured my obsession with beauty products that started at a very young age.

Once, I was with my Dad in a grocery store and a woman walked up and said "Well, aren't you a cute little boy?"

Boy?

Cute little BOY?

I was so horrified and humiliated that I when we got home I told my Mom and begged her to let me get my ears peirced.

I made a solemn inner vow that this mistake will NEVER happen again.

I was all girl.

Girl. Girl. Girl. Girl. Girl.

Being mistaken for a boy? Seriously?

Back in the day, you went to a doctor and they used a needle to peirce ears.
It hurt so bad, not only when they first stab you, but for weeks following.

I had to sleep in the earrings, and every morning my Mom would help me clean the encrusted blood. They needed to be cleaned with rubbing alcohol and put back into my ears.

Ohhh, the stinging and the burning. They throbbed.

But I didn't care. I was in the first grade when I learned to suffer for beauty!

My Mom would say "I'm sorry it hurts, honey, but we have to make sure to clean them."

I didn't care. She could have stabbed me in the eyeball with them.

Those tiny gold balls were my insurance policy that nobody would ever call me a boy again.

And from there, my primping only got amped up.

More to follow at another time.

I have to go now, Army Wives is on.

:)

Rotating Greens

Look at this gorgeous beauty!

I remember those lazy summer days as a kid, waking up to the wonderful scent of freshly cut grass...

And that's how this smoothie tasted..haha!

You should see the looks I get when I drink this in public.

It's a little bit like when I asked an employee in Whole Foods where the dairy free cheese is....he was like "Ohhhh, you're one of THOSE."

I said, "I'm really not high maintenance, I swear."

And Arlene was with me and was like

"YES SHE IS.

SHE IS HIGH MAINTENANCE.

I HAVE TO WORK WITH HER!"

And then she added "You don't get any more high maintenance than this." Pointing at me.

Anyway, my lovely friends, I wanted to share something with you that I've been reading up on.

Rotating greens.

Heard of it?

Well, it turns out, green smoothies are super popular now and people are lining up after Pilates classes in their spandex outfits at juice bars all over town to get them.

So much so, that there have been some green smoothie overdoses.

Can you believe this? Too much of a good thing, I guess.

So, here's the scoop, and I know you want the scoop, especially if you are a green smoothie freak like me.

First of all, it's good to eat a variety of foods so you get nutritional diversity.

Did you hear about that gal who ate nothing but ramen Noodles for like, 18 years and she has the health of an 80 year old?

They showed her picture and her skin was the exact color of ramen noodles! I swear.

We have to mix it up to make sure we get all of our vitamins and minerals and all that good stuff.

Anyway, another reason to rotate your greens is because all leaves contain small amounts of toxins as a defense mechanism to protect a plant from predation.

This is only a problem, I hear, if you eat a ton of greens. A few handfuls a day should not be a problem.

Here's more info with detail on the Nutribullet blog if you'd like to learn more.

http://nutribulletblog.com/top-3-reasons-to-rotate-your-greens/

I want a Nutribullet so badly!!

Have you seen the infomercial? Oh my goodness, I want it.

But I have a rule.

I won't watch an infomercial and have my phone and wallet in the room at the same time.

I can't be trusted.

Seriously, every infomercial makes me go "Wow! I need that, how did I live without that?!"

Slap chop? Need it!

Brazilian Butt Lift? Want it!

Hair Club for Men? I gotta join!

And then they're like "Think it's too good to be true?"

I always answer out loud, "Yes, this is too good to be true! It's TOO GOOD."

And don't even get me started on QVC...Watch Lisa Robertson for 5 minutes you will suddenly want a velvet vest with little sparkling beads and duckling patches on it and think it's the best thing ever.

Haha!

So, anyway, back to the green rotation...I switched over from spinach to dandelion greens in my smoothie and will continue this for a week or two. Then move onto kale, etc.

On a relatively related topic, someone asked me how eating a vegan diet makes me feel.

What a great question!

I feel amazing and energized.

But the coolest part is there's almost an emotional shift and I have feelings of joy and happiness almost all of the time.

Almost annoyingly so.

I had a client yell at me recently for being too perky and smiling too much. 

She told me to stop acting all excited and happy.

I told her "I'm not acting, this is really how I am."

She was like "Take it down a notch, Zippy."

Can you imagine? Haha!

I should've given her my green smoothie recipe.

Or maybe she could use a refreshing visit to Jack, for a colonic :)