go places blog - vegan, teacher, traveler, runner

Proof!

Megan E. — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:38:02 +0000

The Vida Vida Con Galarama is proof that Janessa, Jess, and Michele love us and want us to be happy.

Really, it’s no secret how to make vegan bloggers happy.

Think of all the cutest details…

Let them hang out with their friends and drink wine and mocktails…

Feed them amazing food…

(For example, Sizzle Pie pizza and mini-burgers, raw salad rolls, spring rolls, and spinach artichoke dip from The Vegan Caterer.)

Don’t worry – they will gladly stand in line!Follow dinner with a Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss sundae bar…

…with all the vegan toppings you can think of…

..like marshmallow and hot fudge and caramel sauce…

..with a cherry on top!

And of course, these are bloggers, so offer to take their pictures! (and turn them into flipbooks!)

Jill & John

Sam & April

JL & Gena

Nicole & Lisa

Dawn & Brit

Me and Christy

Then, after they are all sugared up and giggling about their naughty pictures, let ‘em dance it off!

JL & Crissie

Really, the only way the Galarama could have been better was if it never ended. In my mind, it still hasn’t. Is it May 2013 yet?!

[Comments are currently not working on my blog, but I can still read them from my end! I've reported the bug and hopefully will be able to approve/post them soon. ]

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Previous Vida Vegan Con posts:

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Vida Vegan Con is now in session!

Megan E. — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:44:05 +0000

Saturday morning of the con, the alarm went off at 6. I laid in bed grumbling while JL began to slam coffee. I eventually roused myself, had some green tea and a Vega nutrition bar (from the swag bag!), and changed into running clothes. We had a date to run!

JL, Christy, Amber, and I met at 7am sharp to run along the Willamette River and across the Steel and Hawthorne Bridges.

The route measured just under 4 miles. We took it easy and enjoyed the sights, the scenery, and the room we were creating in our bellies for a second day of vegan feasting.

Breakfast didn’t disappoint (how could it?)

On the plate: fresh fruit, chia pudding, tofu scramble, gfree pancakes, apple cobbler and biscuits with white bean gravy. The pancakes and the gravy were especially memorable. When I sat down and Amber told me she was already going for her second plate, I knew I had come to a conference full of people after my own heart I can still taste the ‘cakes!

After breakfast, I attended the Travel Panel and the Nutrition Panel. While the travel session didn’t offer much new insight for me as a frequent traveler, the talk on nutrition was invaluable. Gena Hamshaw, Ginny Messina, Wendy Gabbe Day, and Bryanna Clark Grogan (guided by moderator Grant Butler of the Oregonian) spoke with knowledge about vegan nutrition. I plan to write a wrap up post about what I learned at VVC, but I will say here that what stuck with me from the nutrition panel, besides some solid facts, was a sense of moderation and doability. Veganism is healthy, they said, and while there are different ways to approach it, if you eat a balanced diet and supplement B12 (get your levels checked!), you can do it your own way. No need to restrict further, no reason to invest in a dehydrator. Raw food is fun, says Gena, and if that’s your thing, go for it! But no one should feel pressured by percentages. I left the panel even more convinced that a vegan diet is the healthiest one for me.

I skipped the next set of panels in order to squeeze in a bit of sightseeing in Portland. By which I mean:

They are not kidding when they call this place a city of books! They even have MAPS. I was in complete heaven and had to resist spending money I had appropriated for vegan food and goodies in the mysteries section.

So many crimes to solve, so little time… (I did get two Inspector Morse novels for $8 though! I’m looking forward to them )

I got back just in time to still get lunch.

BBQ Tempeh, kale salad, orzo salad, veggies, sweet corn, and of course COBBLER!

The afternoon panels defied my expectations. As I said, I will reflect on them later more specifically, but both the Parenting Panel and Colleen Patrick-Goodreau’s talk, “Planting Seeds of Compassion: Communication as Activism” made me feel secure in my veganism and proud of it. I experienced some pangs of inadequacy during the con, surrounded as I was by published authors and bloggers with great influence and popularity. It’s only normal, I think. But all of that was outweighed by the sense of rightness I felt in myself in the afternoon panels on Saturday.

I’m not a parent, but I hope to be someday and raise my child(ren) vegan. I learned so much from Ben Grossblatt, Sarah Matheny, Sayward Rebhal, Joanna Vaught and Michelle from Herbivore Clothing. I got to talk to the group and panelists from a teacher’s point of view and I think together we all reflected on aspects of vegan parenting we didn’t anticipate.

Colleen’s talk was overwhelmingly influential. I was bowled over by her simultaneous compassion, dedication, and good humor. Communication is the key to positive, effective activism, and I think to feeling peace within one’s choice to live a vegan life – we also communicate with ourselves. More on this later, I promise.

It was an emotional hour, and while I didn’t want the bubble to burst, it was hard not to be excited to party at the Galarama!

I will leave you to anticipate the fun with the same party preparation I indulged in:

I love Vida Vegan Con!

[NOTE: comments on my blog are currently not working. I can see what you write, but I can't approve it or get it to show up. I have reported the bug to WordPress! Fingers crossed it gets fixed soon ]

Vida Vegan Con begins, or “OMG you’re real!”

Megan E. — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 01:31:49 +0000

During her Vida Vegan Con closing address, vegan recipe goddess and spray painter of ceramic cats, Isa Chandra Moskowitz said, “Be honest, what kind of looks did you get when you told people you were going to a vegan bloggers conference?”

She was completely right. I barely told anyone I know, and those who did find out gave me a look like I was walking into a Dateline special made even worse by the fact that everyone was vegan, of all things. I got looks like I was crazy.
See that?
That is nearly 250 crazy vegans. 250 CRAZY HAPPY vegans

The vegans I know are generally happy people, but one of the best ways to make them happier is swag.

BEHOLD:

Every single attendee got this completely over-the-top swag bag filled with snacks, free stuff (a pepper grinder! vegan condoms! A COOKBOOK!), and coupons. The thing was so heavy, I couldn’t even imagine what was in there weighing it down. (It was the Food For Lovers queso and the rice, I think…). The organizers really outdid themselves.

The conference officially kicked off with a champagne and cupcake reception, sponsored by Veg News.

As promised there were cupcakes

(To-die-for gluten free coconut cupcakes, among others)

…but champagne was a little hard to come by.

There was also non-dairy “cheese” courtesy of Heidi Ho Organics.

The sponsor was on hand with $5 yearly subscriptions!

Veg News, you rock. I am all sorts of broke, but this deal made it possible for me to splurge on a subscription.

Better than any cupcake or glass of bubbly was finally, finally meeting internet friends old and new.

JL introduced me to Gena, who I have admired for a long time, and I was so overjoyed to meet Lisa, possibly the most generous, open, kind, and loving person I have ever known.Much of the evening was filled with bloggers seeing a new face, reading the nametag, and then squealing and saying, “Oh my goodness IT’S YOU!”
…which I definitely did to Sean. I was also so pleased to meet Jill of Vegan Backpacker and Vegan Cuts – a favorite new friend of mine from the weekend!

Where might these lovely vegans be headed, you ask, filled as they are with cake and champagne?

Why, Homegrown Smoker of course! Major props to Jess, Janessa, and Michele for planning a rad conference, but EXTRA props for housing us so close to this dream of a food cart.That’s Christy, The Blissful Chef, ordering off the unfathomable menu, which features a Mac-no-cheeto…a burrito with soy curls, bbq sauce, and mac-no-cheese.They gave me a sample of soy curls to help me decided, but I love tempeh, so I chose the tempeh “ribs” sandwich with a side of Mac-no-cheese. This stuff was the hit of the weekend! I don’t know anyone who didn’t get it at least once.

Once we loaded up with more food, JL and I stopped in a small natural foods convenience store for some more wine and invited a group back to our room for wine and conversation, a.k.a. drinks and laughs.

Pictured: JL, Christy, Jason, Jill and John, Sam and April, Amie, and Amber. [click to enlarge].

Around 10, the group split up, which relieved JL of having to enforce last call . I tried to go out for karaoke but lasted about 10 minutes before the jetlag was too much for me. I walked back to the room exhausted and happy. All my internet friends were real, and in fact even better than I had expected. I don’t think anyone, skeptical or not, could have argued with the smiles on any of our faces.

Vida Vegan Con: First Impressions of PDX

Megan E. — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:03:07 +0000

Eight months to the day after I bought my ticket, I boarded the first airplane I’d been on in over a year to head west on the great vegan pilgrimage known as Vida Vegan Con. I’ve traveled a lot of places, but only once before west of the Mississippi, to L.A. I have faint memories of seeing the Rockies as we flew over, but not much more of that as far as what lies between Minneapolis and the Pacific Ocean. And that is why my very first impression of Oregon took place at 30,000ft and went like this: ZOMGMOUNTAINS.

We flew thisclose to Mt. Hood and I had to consciously resist leaning impolitely over my seatmates to gawp.

I deplaned as quickly as possible, spruced up in the bathroom, hopped in a lime green taxi van and shouted, “TAKE ME TO THE VEGANS!”

Ok fine, I politely requested to be driven to the conference center, nervous and excited to finally meet my roommate JL and get some of Portland’s famous vegan options in my belly.

Meeting JL was surreal and amazing. It felt like meeting an old friend and a complete stranger at the same time – it was wonderful! One of my favorite parts of the weekend was hearing everyone’s voices and seeing how tall they were, etc. We’re all real, internet-friends-skeptics be damned

Immediately after I arrived, JL and I met up with Kristen and Molly to take a bus to Native Bowl.I had just watched Veg Edge on Cooking Channel so I was extra excited to visit Julie Hasson’s vegan destination.

The bus stop was just across from a big pod of food carts. That’s when I knew I was really there! (Aside: The lush hills of PDX dotted with houses reminds me of suburbs in Japan – at least around Tokyo. Anyone else?)

We transferred to what was supposed to be a bus with “frequent service.” But we waited. And waited. At least we had a cute little veggie garden to look at!

AT LAST! Native Bowl.

The Native Bowl staff was incredibly friendly. I ordered the Couch Bowl (Grilled tofu, sesame bean sprouts, Kochujang sweet and spicy sauce, jasmine rice, organic lettuce, carrots, scallions and toasted sesame seeds.)
In anticipation of the amount of food to be consumed over the next three days, I ordered the smaller size bowl, which was still a generous portion.

Native Bowl thinks ahead and offers one free refill on their iced tea. I drank one glass during my meal and slammed another afterward. They mean it when they say spicy! I loved the Couch Bowl, despite its heat. The sauce was very unique and the tofu had a great texture. I felt like a new woman after refueling.

We lunched with other attendees and speakers, including Fran Costigan, Demetrius of Vegucated, and Erika and Jordan of The Cosmopolitan Hour.

After lunch, I split from the group to make sure I got a chance to visit the Vegan Mini Mall on my only free afternoon in Portland. I was delayed when GoogleMaps led me to Food Fight!’s old address but one of many super nice Portlanders I met saw my confused face and sent me in the right direction.

Whee! I picked up some stickers and buttons in Herbivore and dropped $20 on sweets only at Food Fight! Grocery. The staff at Food Fight! was particularly friendly. It turns out someone from my area had contacted them about making vegan pastys. They didn’t have many details, but a compassionate pasty may be in the future, fellow Yooper vegans!The magic words:

I loved the decorations – just my style.

Following my unplanned detour, my phone had died and I had only the vaguest sense of how to get back to the hotel. Luckily, I met Amie of the Denver Vegan Van outside of Sweetpea and we navigated our way back. Amie is super rad and opening her own vegan food truck in Denver this fall! I was so grateful to meet her in my “time of need” and I kept running into her all weekend.

I devoured my first Sweet & Sara s’more on the way back – heaven! (P.S. everything about this weekend was heaven)

Amie and I both agreed we needed some rest and a shower before the opening reception – I was about ready to jump in the pool fully clothed!

Sadly, the pool went unswum all weekend. There was too much to do, say, and EAT! I wish at this point I had known how amazing the rest of the weekend would be, but I probably wouldn’t have believed it!

Coming up in the next post: Phantom champagne and CUPCAKES!

MI–> PDX

Megan E. — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:51:03 +0000

Good morning all! I’m risking running late to work to write this up, but it’s my last chance to post before VIDA VEGAN CON! I fly out to Portland this evening and I am so jazzed! After looking forward to meeting all my online vegan friends and inspirations for the better part of a year (!), the time has finally come. I have been busy this summer without much to post about, but I know that this weekend will give me renewed focus and excitement about vegan blogging.

As a sort of kick-off to the con adventure, and as a Welcome! to new readers who may find me through this weekend, I thought I’d link to some of my favorite posts that can also serve as a good introduction to moi.

1) Dream Day: One of the most perfect days I have ever had – kayaking on the Stockholm archipelago followed by a gorgeous vegan buffet overlooking the city.

2) May Day in Berlin: May Day weekend 2010 with friends in Berlin. Vegan brunch, deli, cake, pizza, lattes, cookies, salad bar.. the weekend the food never stopped coming! And I tried Bikram for the first time.

3) Getting schooled in veg*ism: I am interviewed by a 9th grader about going veg.

4) Black dog seeks love: My most-read post ever! I talk about adopting my dog Jasper, outline the struggles of black dogs in shelters, and spotlight some beloved black pups from the vegan blogosphere!

[Unfortunately, I recently migrated from Tumblr to WordPress and lost comment function for these old posts]

I hope you enjoy these posts – I will catch you on the flip side of the Con! Hugs to readers new & old

Ugh, there is nothing to eat!

Megan E. — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:36:00 +0000

I say this every day, three meals a day (except for when I work at the restaurant and get my free meal).

THERE IS NO FOOD IN THIS HOUSE. Granted, I live with three omnivores and a dog. There is plenty of food, but most of the food that is quick to prepare or leftover from other meals is not vegan friendly. Or it’s Blue Buffalo brand. There is a LOT of cheese. But, I’m used to that by now.

It boils down to laziness. I’m broke, too, though, in addition to being lazy. Today, broke won.

A girl’s gotta eat!

In our house of “nothing,” this is what I found:

LOTS of quinoa

And some veggies! Leftover carrots and green onions from last week’s sushi, and a few mushrooms and small peppers. And vegan bullion!

Sometimes I find cooking a little tedious when I’m alone, so I turned on a podcast and got to work.

Of course Jasper is always on hand to ~~get in the way~~ help.

I cooked up some quinoa in water seasoned with bullion and sauteed the veggies in water and Bragg’s.

And wouldn’t you know, 15 minutes later, there WAS some food in the house after all!

Meet Angel!

Megan E. — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 05:45:06 +0000

Good morning, all!

I have a new family member to introduce. Unfortunately, Angel is not a sister for Jasper.

She’s my new bike!

She’s a Giant Women’s Escape City. I’ve had her for a few weeks – she was a spontaneous early birthday present from my dad. I love her!

Her full name is The Blue Angel, after the 1930 German film, since she has lovely light blue accents.

I wanted a name that had something German about it. You know me…

She even came with a built-in rack, bungee, and bell!

Ding!

I’ve ridden her to work a couple times, but last week I took her on an official, inaugural 8mi ride along the lake.

She is super smooth and fast! I am so excited to not have to ride my old mountain bike on the pavement anymore. I’m hoping to commute with this bike more often and incorporate more bike rides into my exercise repetoire.

I think it’s love!

Meet Angel!

Megan E. — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 05:45:06 +0000

Good morning, all!

I have a new family member to introduce. Unfortunately, Angel is not a sister for Jasper.

She’s my new bike!

She’s a Giant Women’s Escape City. I’ve had her for a few weeks – she was a spontaneous early birthday present from my dad. I love her!

Her full name is The Blue Angel, after the 1930 German film, since she has lovely light blue accents.

I wanted a name that had something German about it. You know me…

She even came with a built-in rack, bungee, and bell!

Ding!

I’ve ridden her to work a couple times, but last week I took her on an official, inaugural 8mi ride along the lake.

I think it’s love!

Giving up the dream

Megan E. — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:18:52 +0000

The dream of a hot cup of coffee every morning, that is.

[coffee at Barcomi’s in Berlin-Kreuzberg…*sigh*]

I have been wanting to “quit” (or drastically reduce) my coffee intake for awhile now. I’ve done it before. In 2008, during Spring finals at graduate school, I was so addicted that I could never get enough; I never felt awake. It didn’t help that the library’s cafe was a mere 15 yards from the computer where I typed my seminar papers. I was so strung out that, as soon as my paper was done, I quit caffeine cold turkey. I felt wretched for two or three days, and then I suddenly woke up feeling…clear.

Since then, my coffee habit has waxed and waned, but I’ve never thought too much about it. There were many 5am wake-up calls in Germany that were made more bearable by strong German coffee (if I could scrape together the change). Now, I drink 1-2 cups every morning, and will have another in the afternoon occasionally.

Lately, though, I have been noticing that my daily caffeine fix puts me on a mild version of this roller coaster:

I feel foggy and mean in the morning ‘til after my coffee, but even once I’ve had some I feel sort of off all morning. Then I crash hard in the afternoon.

I don’t like the idea of needing to wake myself up artificially, especially since I get plenty of sleep and generally take care of myself. Also, in a month I will begin student teaching, which will mean wake-up calls between 5 and 6am every day. I don’t want to be dependent on coffee when I will need all of my energy for work. I also don’t want to crash before the end of 6th hour.

But, I haven’t been too dedicated to my “plan.” Until today.

Today, I woke up after a good night’s sleep feeling clear and happy. I decided to ride that feeling and sit down to read my book and eat my oatmeal…

…with a mug of green tea!

Here’s hoping I can keep hold of this happy, awake feeling and turn it into a pleasant change instead of a struggle.

I will definitely still drink some coffee when I’m back in Europe, or if I go to brunch or a special occasion; I truly love the stuff. But it won’t be my daily crutch, hopefully, and I’m looking forward to it.

Besides, who needs coffee when I’ve got this to wake me up everyday?

What gets you up in the morning?