how about these?

remember that clearasil commercial (or was it oxy?) when the guy is telling his friend to go hang out and he points to his pimples and says, "how about these?" That is my last few weeks, thank you very much. I've gone back in time and have been breaking out like a mofo. I can't decided if it is a new moisturizer or stress but I am going with end of year, possibly end of employment stress. I hope it gets better but I am hoping to get it back under control, at least enough so that it does not show in my face.

love-a-bull

If your heart needs melting, look no further. I just ordered the Happy Endings Calendar from BADRAP, can't wait for 2010 and my dog can't wait for a walk so here we go.

holi-daze

While at Target this afternoon I found out there are only 45 days left until Christmas and only 16 (I think) until Thanksgiving. I have not planned my menu or tried out any possible new editions. I did make Tofurkey roast last night and it was yummy since I loaded up the casserole dish with veggies and basted like a mofo. I will have to get cracking if I want to do any tests in the next two weeks. I definitely want to bring a pumpkin tofu cheesecake for my co-workers to try and also because I don't think anyone else at home likes it as much as I do and I do not need to eat the whole thing, even though I can. I also need to finally make the pumpkin brownies which are also featured in Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar (it invaded my mailbox today)

Since I ate way too many halloween cupcakes I am trying to get back on the right track. I made black and white bean soup for the billionth time today since I had leftover veggies I didn't use in the roast and I have way too many cans of beans in the cupboard. It just finished cooking so I can start putting it into jars and packing some up for tomorrow. Yay! That and some extra walks might take care of some of the cupcakes, but now I have to watch out for vegan cookies. Maybe I should start with the breakfast ones?

Did I mention I went to Target today? We have been swamped at work for the past few months but I think it is finally going to slow down (so they tell us). In the meantime everyone has been stressed out, bogged down and riled up so I did what I would normally not do and jumped on the commercial Christmas bandwagon really early. I bought a 3' lighted tree, two tubes of $1 bulbs (one disco, one glittery) and a mini stocking for each of us plus glitter glue to write our names. Since we can't have candles around all that glorious paper I also bought a reed diffuser that is supposed to smell like cedar and pine. I would have preferred to get a real tree but since we might be gone for two weeks I feel bad for how that would turn out. I was so excited for all my purchases, the only thing I could not find was a package of reasonably priced hooks, but isn't that what repurposed paperclips are for?

You Can Never Have Too Many Black T-Shirts (especially if you love cupcakes!)

I picked up two new black t's at marshall's the other day since I have an occasional laundry lapse and also because I have not quite trained a certain pup to not jump on me. After going through all the racks and trying on five different shirts and only liking how one of them fit, you know I went back and grabbed another one in the same style and size. However, I think the shirt in the picture is going to be in heavy rotation as soon as it arrives. I'm hoping by then the only muffin top I am sporting is on the shirt and not under it. I'm ramping up to my old walking schedule!

Order yours here and support San Francisco's first and only vegan bakery.

fall back

I am really going to try to get back to business as usual since the last few weeks have been unusually unproductive and disappointing. I know I shouldn't dwell on it and instead should just keep on keepin' on. I have two cookbooks on loan I need to go through and get to work on, and of course, Thanksgiving is creeping up faster than you can say Tofurkey. I am interested in Bryant Terry's recipes in the latest Vegetarian Times and also have Happy Herbivore's Pudge Free Holidays to consult. I have only flipped through Terry's book (1 of 2 on loan!) but since each recipe seems to have a song assigned to it, I am having a mini crush on him. Being the nerd that I am have already found out he has a fiance. I know all the good vegans can't be taken, right?

I'm getting ready to take the pup out, but not before I download the Joan Harris playlist from itunes, so glad she cracked Greg over the head with that vase! I should also be reading Thanking The Monkey but Love Is A Mixtape, is a tempting re-read that keeps ending up on my bedside table.

no show mofo

I am truly hoping I am not the worst mofo ever this year but I fear I might be in the top 10. I was really hoping to catch up and make up for the first week of non-blogging, but I am not doing such a great job of that. If I were a person who made excuses I would blame it on being sick, or actually having weekend plans, or being extremely stressed/busy at work- but I am sure those are situations nearly everyone is in at this time of year and I'm fairly certain it has not put their blogs on hold. I am a no-show mofo and I am not proud.

Quick/boring update with silly pictures-

Friday night- We had veg panini's and bruschetta (take out!) for dinner and our movie was "Watcher in the Woods" which my niece liked a lot more than I thought she would. I fell asleep right in the middle and missed the end, boo!

Saturday- We went to my niece's soccer game which was a rematch against a larger, more physical team. It's not supposed to be competitive at their age but they did "lose". Afterward we went to the pumpkin festival @ Cal Poly with some friends and saw more pumpkins than I have ever seen in my life. We also went to the petting zoo since I had not gone to one since kindergarten when I was startled by an overly eager goat.They haven't changed much only now it makes me more scared for the animals than for the kids. We gotta make it to farm sanctuary, so I can hug some animals who are possibly petting zoo survivors, but the current bunch needs love too.



Sunday-

The big day, our third time going to the AIDS Walk. We actually left on time and got there about an hour and half before the walk started-trust me this is a huge deal. We did our usual Jamba Juice/bathroom stop and made the trek to the starting line-not sure how much that adds to the 10K, need to find out. I did not raise funds but sponsored myself so I could get the shirt, which fit, thank goodness. I have put a few inches/lbs. back on the last few weeks so I was afraid the uni-small might not work out. We had great weather and it seemed to go by faster than years past. They had some of the same vegan friendly snacks-mini lara bars, mrs. may's, oranges and naked juice. I didn't hit all the snack stops because people get crazy over free food and I wanted to keep my good pace.



Afterward we went to California Vegan and I had my fave Spinach w/ Garlic Sauce and Tofu. It's a lot of spinach but as far as I am concerned it is never too much spinach, or garlic. I would have rather gone to RFD but funds are tight. We all took naps when we got home and had mexican macaroni and cheese for a quick late dinner. Maybe other people make it this way too, but it is basically same as you would cook fideos but you add sliced cheese and stir in until it gets melty, tons of garlic salt too. It's quick comfort food you can shovel down on a cold day.

Monday-Wednesday was the basic weekday hustle and bustle. We have ate dinner out every night so far since we did not do a proper grocery run. I need to get a few things tomorrow so I can cook over the weekend and next week. I got the advanced copy of VegNews, plus two back issues and the "You Are What You Read" shirt I have been eyeing for months. I saw a soup in one of the issues that looked really good to me and I'm sure there are other great recipes. I still have to take a good look at Nava Atlas' book since I only did a quick flip when I brought it home last week. It looks promising, but I have a really bad habit of reading cookbooks before bed that I am trying to break because I get excited as well as hungry and have a tough time calming down to go to sleep. I will have to make it an after-dinner read.

slow-mo mofo

I had all intentions of baking carrot cake cupcakes for boss' day tomorrow, but since I am starting to get sick, I had to cancel. Luckily my boss' birthday is in two weeks so I can make them for that instead. I'm sure the carrots I bought can get souped. I had some sniffles earlier this week, no big deal but this morning I woke up with a sore, scratchy throat. I know I will be fine by Monday but today I felt like I was in a fog and I'm not sure how much I'll be worth tomorrow. I am trying to not get too bogged down or stressed out about it. I just have to do the best I can and not push too hard, especially since I have a 10K on Sunday that I cannot back out of for anything. It's the AIDS Walk, you can't whine about a cold in the face of AIDS, right? I lagged on getting sponsors so I ended up sponsoring myself. I'll have to hustle harder next year.

After work I ran some errands with my mom and got a Martha Stewart stock pot on clearance at Kmart. I almost got a cast iron skillet too but I had to slow my roll. Our payroll hasn't been going through the last few weeks so I didn't want to go overboard on my "fun" spending. I am excited for my new pot and cannot wait to make something delicious. I picked up Nava Atlas' soups and stews from the library last night so it is all timing up correctly. Now if only I could find a deal on the straining ladle.


p.s.

My mom was the first to notice about my vanilla-free cookies but it hasn't stopped any of us from devouring them.

p.p.s. I am glad to see some blogs revived, most especially Wing It Vegan and Vegan Chicks Rock.