My torturous slog towards a beautiful, functional craft room continues! The last major breakthrough in that ongoing project was finishing the striped painted floor of my attic. I accomplished that before moving into my house, but then turned my energies towards renovating my bedroom. Now that that's (80%) finished, I turned my attention once more to the attic. Although there's still a lot more I need/want to do, the majority of the 'heavy lifting' is now done, and my scattered nonsense is starting to coalesce into a functional workspace. 

The floors were the first upgrade I managed to accomplish in the attic, and so naturally the next thing to tackle was the walls! Like almost every other vertical surface in my home, the attic walls were aggressively and gratuitously textured by the previous residents, a pockmarked look I found unappealing. 

Because the texturizing wasn't done particularly well, or with any sense of restraint, it was necessary for me to (once again) borrow a heavy-duty belt sander from my local tool lending library to file down some of the more extreme protrusions. As with the bedroom, it was a very unique workout, lifting a 25 lb. belt sander above my head for several hours- made even more complex by the fact that my attic walls pitch in at an angle about three feet from the floor. Because of the pitched ceilings, and the cramped area of the attic, there were a lot of strange little pockets and junctures where the belt sander wouldn't fit, and that's where I occasionally used a chisel and hammer to get things relatively smooth. 

Once I'd finished sanding off the largest protrusions, I wiped off the excess dust with a damp cloth and a tack cloth, then put down a layer of primer. As I did in the bedroom (and likely will in many more rooms in my house), I applied a skim coat to the primed wall to fill in some of the 'valleys' left by the texturized paint. Once the skim coat dried, I sanded it smooth, wiped it down once again with a damp cloth, and applied another coat of primer. I repeated this process once more for a second, smoother skim coat, then cleaned and primed the walls for paint. 

I wanted a color that would be bright and cheerful, and compliment my many-hued floors, but without overwhelming the small space or any future projects on which I'll be working in that space. The original palette for my floor stripes had included a burnt orange as well as a buttery pale yellow, so I called back the yellow. I painted a few swatches of 'Lily' and 'Lemon Chiffon' in strategic locations to see how various iterations of sunlight and artificial light would affect the colors, and ultimately settled on Lemon Chiffon.

This is, of course, the fun part! I put down two beautiful layers of Lemon Chiffon and the room immediately began to feel more inspired, vibrant, and welcoming. Because I plan on adhering cork tiles to the ceiling for further storage (and also to keep me from bonking my clumsy head on plaster), I only painted vertical wall surfaces, leaving the pitched and horizontal surfaces primed. 

My baseboards, like the windowsills, railings, and all the other wood trim in the attic, were plain, unpainted, dark wood. They were incongruous at best with the painted floors and positively hideous with my new Lemon Chiffon walls. Because everything else is already so bright, I wanted to keep the small space feeling relatively airy. I played it safe by painting both the baseboards and the windowsill the same off-white with just a whisper of pink (Sherwin Williams calls it 'Marshmallow') as my floors. 

My baseboards were sequentially numbered (thank goodness I had the presence of mind to do that!) and stashed around my house. I lugged them all up to the attic and went to fetch the sawhorses my dad "loaned" me ages ago from my backyard. A cranny in one of the sawhorses had become resident to one of the most terrifying things I'd ever seen- you know how the xenomorphs in Alien take on the shape of whatever organism the facehugger impregnates? This was a straight-up alien-spider hybrid. Naturally I did the mature and adult thing and made do with one sawhorse.

With the baseboards primed and painted several time over, I was ready to put them back in their original places. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the walls had been re-shaped, some of them wouldn't fit without a fight. I went back to my local tool lending library and borrowed a rasp to file down the edges until they could slot together again. With the baseboards nailed back in place, I took the opportunity to remove the grate from one of the attic windows (a fire hazard) and paint the window trim as well. Finally, I returned the switch plates to the wall, and a beautiful room began to emerge in one little corner of my attic.

Now that walls and floors are painted and dry, I can finally start to shift things around in my attic with an eye towards their permanent resting places. After shuttling boxes that I packed two years ago downstairs, upstairs, and between segments of the attic indefinitely, this day has never been more welcome!

Storage in my attic is definitely going to be a challenge- although the square footage itself isn't too terribly small, the pitched ceilings severely limit my shelving and furniture options. Of course, the upside to that is that there is a significant amount of floor space that I'm already unable to walk on due to the angle of the ceilings, so using that floor space for storage doesn't really affect the flow of foot traffic through the room. 

As someone remodeling her home on single working lady's budget, I know that the best way to get Ikea furniture is to go on Craigslist and find it for half price. As you can see, I got a jump start on my collection of shelves, and more patient trawling though Craigslist ads will eventually yield a fully-furnished attic at a fraction of the price. 

I also placed what is known as "Pepper's chair" back in its permanent home. I had originally trashpicked it from my previous neighborhood as a stopgap measure before I had saved up to buy a couch, only to find when I finally had the money for one that Pepper had claimed the chair as her own and I couldn't get rid of it. I plan to eventually get a lamp for that little nook, and, if possible, a skinny wee side table, perfect for placing hot toddies upon while reading a true crime book on a winter night.

Once I find enough bookshelves and get my boxes unpacked and organized, I'm going to start looking into options for putting cork on the ceilings, for storage and decoration. Before the cork goes up, though, I am going to have to hire an electrician to add more lights throughout the attic. I need to paint the railings and re-install the hand rail in the staircase. In what will be a significant undertaking, I'm going to assist my dad as he builds a custom drafting table which will fold out over the staircase, and fold back up and latch to the wall when not in use. And finally, when that's all done, I'll paint the stairs to match the floor in the rest of the attic.

Then, and only then, will I have run out of excuses not to be making fabulous things 24/7. As for now, I'm going to take a hard-earned break, perhaps fixing up my house by simply pulling weeds while sipping a beer in the summer sun.

If you love bad movies and you haven't yet seen The Room, do yourself a favor and watch it as soon as possible. Like any bad movie, its enjoyability is greatly enhanced by sharing it with friends. There's something about a line like "you can keep your comments in your pocket!" That needs to be answered by a shared look that says 'you heard that, too, right?' 

When it became evident that some of my friends hadn't yet enjoyed The Room, I rounded them up, along with some who already knew and loved the movie, and SHOT THEM ALL. Just kidding, I rounded them up and threw a viewing party!

In The Room, the character Lisa is shown ordering pizza over the phone: one half pineapple and Canadian bacon, and one half pesto with artichoke, easy on the cheese. That's a seriously weird combo- why not get two small pizzas if you and your partner have such divergent tastes? It gets even less sensical, too- a few minutes later she and Johnny are shown happily eating their pizza, which is now your bog-standard pepperoni pie. Transubstantiation! Does The Room contain a covert religious message?

Rather than making them attempt to maneuver around some half-pesto/half-tomato sauce chimera, I showed some mercy on my guests by simply making three whole pizzas. I was super lazy beyond that, though- I just rocked some pizza dough and sauce from Trader Joe's! The pesto was the classic pesto recipe from Isa Moskowitz's Vegan With a Vengeance, a recipe I love to make in big batches during basil season and freeze in single-portion sizes. I opted for Follow Your Heart mozzarella shreds, Tofurky pepperoni, and Yves brand Canadian bacon.

As for dessert, I was considering a birthday cake, as the climax of the film takes place on main character Johnny's birthday and immediately following his surprise party. But I far prefer the scene where Johnny meets his friend in a cafe, the owners of which are aggressively pushing cheesecake on all of their customers. In fact, they're so obsessed with getting their customers to try the cheesecake that they evidently forget to collect money from said customers in exchange for the food and drink provided. So I instead opted to make a lemon cheesecake with a gingerbread crust. It was a (dairy- & gluten-) FREE cheesecake.

One of the more dog-eared pages in my collection of cookbooks is the Lemon Cheesecake recipe in Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The Joy of Vegan Baking. I used some Mi-Del gluten-free gingerbread cookies to make the Graham Cracker Crust from the same cookbook. Did you know lemon and gingerbread together are a dynamite combo? I did not, myself, until recently, and now this cheesecake is my 'little black dress' of desserts: simple and easy, yet reliably stunning. I love how easily this cake can be made gluten-free in addition to being vegan, so I can share the sweet love with my friends and family who are gluten-intolerant.

When Johnny and Lisa are enjoying their pizza, they probably haven't noticed that it wasn't at all what they ordered because they are getting blasted on scotchka. Yes, that's right: scotchka. It's exactly what it sounds like, scotch and vodka. 

Obviously no sane individual would actually drink this, so it was perfect to serve to the caliber of person who will be friends with me. I want to say I searched intensively, high and low, for the perfect cocktail recipe incorporating scotchka.  In truth I just did some lackluster poking around on Google. At first, I was tempted to go with the King of Poland, because The Room's auteur, Tommy Wiseau, is most likely Polish (he is notoriously secretive regarding his origins and insists, through a thick European accent, that he is from New Orleans). But the King of Poland is pretty much straight up scotchka (the name comes from a particular brand of Polish vodka that's meant to be used) with a twist of lemon- not very enticing in and of itself.

Enter the Whizz-Doodle, a concoction from classic 1930 mixing guide The Savoy Cocktail Book. A local San Francisco blogger's revision of it caught my eye, and, due to my own substitutions and alterations, I decided it needed to be re-named. Gentlefolk, I give you:

THE WISEAU-DOODLE
1 oz. Absolut vodka 
1 oz. Glenlivet single-malt scotch
1-2 dashes Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
1 barspoon Bee-Free Honee (or agave)
So Delicious Coco Whip
bittersweet chocolate & microplane

Mix the vodka, scotch, bitters, and honee/agave until the latter is dissolved. Shake with ice, then strain into a glass. With a spoon, whip up the Coco Whip until smooth, and scoop a generous dollop onto the top of the drink. Top with chocolate shavings. The reviews all around: surprisingly good!

Misc Notes: 

• Those ingredients are just what I used; I wasn't compensated by any of those companies to use them, and I'm sure if you're a hobby mixologist with a refined palate you may wish to make some changes! 
  
• Fee Brothers Bitters contain glycerin; I confirmed through Barnivore that it is plant-derived. 
  
• Although this ends up being quite palatable, remember that it packs quite the wallop. I didn't brace myself properly before taking my first sip and nearly fell over!
  

Now, I'm not judging Lisa's French tips, I'm just saying they really date the movie. My friend's wedding album has some pretty dated pictures of my bridesmaid nails, taken upon myself completely of my own accord. So I'm really laughing with Lisa rather than at her when I put out some bodacious press-on nails for those who wished to play along.  

I do have a hard time, though, not judging Lisa for going blonde and not bringing her eyebrows along for the ride. Lisa's thick, dark brows, when coupled with her bleached hair, overwhelm her face and become a comical focal point. I made thick brows for my guests using black felt and double-stick tape, and they were a hit! The end result was more Devo than Lisa, but it was a good first foray into the fine art form of making silly things out of felt to stick to my face (and those of my dogs). 

If you'd like to host your own The Room party, or if perhaps you're feeling dissatisfied with the lack of variety in your personal eyebrow wardrobe, here's a quick tutorial on how to make your own felt eyebrows at home!

Obviously you can enjoy The Room without all these extra props, but what's the point in that? At any rate, if you absolutely must watch this movie without pizza, scotchka, roses, or insane eyebrows, please do so, but at your own risk. If you've enjoyed The Room and want to know more about it, including a San Franciscan's perspective on the movie's setting, head on over to my other blog, Nortons' Movie Maps, to read my The Room guide!

One last Austin post to wrap things up! Although the highlight of my 7 days in Austin was undoubtedly Vida Vegan Con, I was also in Austin just for the sake of being in Austin. The only other time I'd been in Texas was in 1999, for the few hours it took me to drive through the panhandle on I-10 with my college boyfriend. I remember stopping at a DQ (I still wouldn't be vegan for another six months at this point) and passing by a slick little two-seater sportscar in the parking lot. On the floor of the passenger side was a five-gallon bucket, about 75% full of spent shells (not the kind you get at the beach).

So naturally, I was looking forward to the 'weirdness' (at least by Texan standards) that Austin promises. And it did not disappoint! Being a weirdo myself, I found Austin to be generally delightful, creative, and fun, if altogether way too hot and bizarrely erratic in the sidewalk department.

Here's what I'd recommend to any out-of-towner looking for a fun experience in Austin: 

I get the distinct impression that Sixth Street is to Austinites a bit like what Fisherman's Wharf is for San Franciscans. If that's the case, then Museum of the Weird is just as much a fascinating, authentic gem shining out from the cheap plastic tourist rubble as our own Musée Mécanique is. Opened in the grand tradition of the American dime museum, the MOTW features a modest but impressive array of oddities from a bygone era, from Feegee mermaids to Bigfoot tracks. A wax statue of John Merrick (aka The Elephant Man) calmly watches over an honest-to-goodness Egyptian mummy (who, once authenticated, will be returned to Egypt). The self-guided tour is brief, at half an hour tops, and consists basically of a crowded hallway crammed with the aforementioned curiosities. However, once you reach the end of the hallway, a tour guide appears, and that's when the weird really begins. I won't spoil it but suffice to say it was an electrifying experience. 

I learned about HOPE Outdoor Gallery while researching all the cool stuff I was going to do in Austin. My first stop when planning a trip, and I highly recommend it to anyone about to go on vacation (or looking to get inspired on where to go), is Atlas Obscura. According to AO, the living art project started as a neglected construction site where the foundation for condominiums had been laid and abandoned. Tucked away on a leafy side street just a stone's throw from the massive flagship Whole Foods grocery store, the concrete walls now explode with colors and shapes. A small, equally colorful trailer sits on the property selling additional artwork and, while I was there at least, blasting death metal. Because it is a living work of art, it's worth going whenever you can, because it will never be the same. It's also worth going whenever you can because, with the "recession" now "over," the private property owner is going to be itching to get construction going again. There's no official website, but here's a map. It's open 24/7, because it's outdoors!

Although this is touted as an up-and-coming 'shopping district' in certain tour guides, I found West Second to be a little sparse, and with plenty of generic filler like Urban Counterfitters. That said, there are a handful of more unique shops I definitely enjoyed, and the area is worth a look!

Toy Joy is the crown jewel in what will hopefully become a thriving shopping district. It's a cramped, chaotic, and truly enjoyable toy store for all ages. In fact, there were more adults than children when I went. It's incredible how much they're able to fit into a relatively modest storefront, but there's a solid variety of offerings: from wooden playsets to graphic socks, Japanese mascots like Rilakkuma and Pusheen, board games, MMRPGs, and more. It's a great place to get unique gifts for your friends and for yourself. 

I knew Alamo Drafthouse was a place where you could go and see movies and drink beer, and while I think it's obviously a great idea, I didn't get why everyone was talking about it all the time. Until I saw a movie there. This is definitely a step up from the only other 'full service' theater I've enjoyed, the New Parkway. First off, you get to choose your seat when you buy your ticket- this has always struck me as a far better method than the chaotic 'first come, first served' tradition of most theaters, and frankly, takes a lot less hassle out of trying to find open seats upon arriving in the theater itself. Secondly, each row is equipped with a lovely chest-height counter for food and drinks, under which and in front of each seat is an inconspicuous tray with low-level lighting for your menu and order slips. My waitress came over to introduce herself and explain the whole deal almost as soon as I sat down- all you need to do is write down your order on a piece of paper, stick it in the little tab at the edge of the counter, and she will bring you alcohol and food while you watch a movie. And yes, there is a vegan menu. I was only in the mood for one beer, which I bought at the counter with my ticket, so I did not experience the joy of full-service movie-viewing, yet. But I will soon! 

How could this get any better, you ask? Alamo seals the deal on my crotchety old heart by having a super strict no-cell phone policy: no calls, no loud-ass alerts or ringtones, no taking it out of your pocket to assault an entire theater with a glowing blue screen just so you can make sure you didn't miss an important Facebook alert. You will be kicked out. Seriously, if you can't deal with not looking at your phone for two goddamn hours, stay the fuck out of the theater-- it's a relief to find film lovers who feel the same way!

Naturally, I'm thrilled to know that Alamo Drafthouse plans to open a branch here in San Francisco! I can only hope that they have some exciting treat in store for us like they did with their new South Lamar location in Austin- although I saw Mad Max: Fury Road (ridiculous and amazing) at the classic 'Ritz' location on Sixth Street (pictured above), I made a special trip to the South Lamar lobby just for the carpet. Yes, the carpet: a custom-ordered recreation of the 70s-tastic hexagonal hallways of the Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. It thrilled me to no end to stand on it. And then quickly scamper away, because that thing is creepy A.F.

This little stretch is where it's at! There's a small but intensely awesome cluster of businesses I highly recommend visiting if you're in town. First off is Bouldin Creek Cafe, a large restaurant with indoor seating, outdoor seating, bar seating, and a quiet little nook off to the side for the very studious. Their menu is equally as large and completely veganizable. The first time I went I was positively overwhelmed by all the options. 

For dessert, head south to a little cluster of food trailers in a grassy lot, where you'll find the hilariously named Bananarchy. It's fairly straightforward- frozen bananas dipped in chocolate and a variety of other toppings, with a number of vegan options. Naturally, there is a menu item named for Gob Bluth. Across the street from Bananarchy you'll see a menswear shop named New Brohemia and a record store named End of an Ear. It's hard not to like a city that enjoys its puns.

Just a few steps further south is Rabbit Food Grocery, Austin's premiere all-vegan grocery! They have everything your heart could desire, from soy curls to fair-trade chocolate. Because I've been relatively spoiled over the past year with the Bay Area's own V Republic, I wasn't as desperate to load up on foodstuffs as I have been on past trips out of town. Even so, Rabbit Food set forth a solid offering of things I had to snap up, including some awesome John Waters-themed greeting cards and beautiful cork and faux-leather handbags from Pixie Mood. I also grabbed a bottle of Sweet Ritual salted caramel sauce, since it's a local Austin delicacy- be sure to check The Vegan Sweet Beat in the next couple of weeks for a full review from Ashley and Elysse!

The South Congress shopping district is within walking distance of South First and is a few blocks of unique, locally-owned stores with an emphasis on antiques and vintage. Regrettably, Austin's old stuff is just as overpriced as San Francisco's, and if you're a vintage hound looking for a big score, you probably won't find it here. That said, there are still some good finds here and there. One of the most enjoyable stores I visited was Uncommon Objects, a vintage 'mall' with several individual sellers. Many of the displays are set up chromatically, which is pleasing to look at, and it's there that I found a porcelain glove mold for less than half of what I'd been quoted at the Alameda Antiques Fair.  I was soon the weirdo with a severed arm in her luggage. 

No mistaking it: Austin is a taco city. Sure, there are plenty of restaurants worldwide that offer a delectable variety of tacos, and plenty of cities in the United States celebrate the awesomeness of this simple yet versatile snack. But none embrace and thoroughly imbue the taco into a way of life like Austinites can and do. Enchiladas, burritos, tamales, tortas-- these are all but mere distractions, serfs in the Royal Court of Taco. Just to confirm this, Foursquare recently released data from their app that reveals, according to their users at least, the most popular regional food on a state-by-state basis. Texas' food? Breakfast tacos. 

My most memorable tacos in Austin were at the never-not-delicious food truck Arlo's, parked at Cheer Up Charlie's, one of the greatest bars I have ever been to in my entire life. I also enjoyed the highly futuristic touch-screen taco ordering system at the Whole Foods flagship on Lamar, as well as their extensive and generous salsas y condimientos bar. While I enjoyed many more tacos through my trip, I regretfully did not get the chance (yet) to try Cool Beans ATX or The Vegan Nom, and while I ate at Bouldin Creek Cafe twice, I was too overwhelmed by their enormous vegan-friendly menu to even consider classic tacos. Oh well, just means another trip to Austin, right?

One of the first things I began hearing about when I landed in Austin was Topo Chico. It's the drink to have in Austin, second only to a can of Lone Star. It seems simple enough- carbonated mineral water imported from Monterrey, Mexico- but like tacos, the love of Topo Chico in Austin transcends mere taste. It's a way of life.

I'll admit, I'm not the biggest fan of sparkling water. That said, I couldn't help but fall for Topo Chico's charms. The bubbles aren't as big or as harsh as other waters, and I'll be damned if it isn't immensely refreshing on a sweltering Texas summer day. It's a bit of a tongue twister for the uninitiated, though- the first time I ordered one I meekly said "a Topo... Topo.. Chee...ko?" My friend Amey, also from California, boldly pronounced it "Topo Pipo" and from there it stuck. Now we're both on a mission to find Topo Pipo here in Northern California! Our fellow aficionados, a.k.a. the Topo Pipo Posse, have similar missions to locate the fizzy water in their respective communities.

Of course I have to have a hot sauce on this list! Texans love hot sauce, and that's a condiment love I can majorly respect. It sure beats the bizarre Dutch love of mayonnaise. I enjoy keeping my own stable of hot sauces at home, and was only too happy to add to it. I enjoyed a visit to Tears of Joy, a hot sauce specialty shop on the touristy strip of 6th Street, and picked up a few different mini bottles, as well as some habañero popcorn and some "Alligator Hammock Cooter Rubb."

But it wasn't until I tried Yellow Bird habañero hot sauce at Bouldin Creek Cafe that I knew I'd found The Austin Hot Sauce for me. I don't know what it is about habañeros, but they make up some of my favorite hot sauces- I think it's the sweetness that goes along with the intense sting of what is one of the world's hottest peppers. Yellow Bird does it right- they know that the secret to a truly spectacular habañero sauce is using a carrot base! Not only does Yellow Bird come in generous, Texas-sized bottles, it's made right there in Austin itself! Yellow Bird also has serrano and jalapeño flavors, both of which I need to try just as soon as I make my way back to Austin. Good thing I've got 19.6 oz to last me till then!

Ostensibly one of the cool things about Americans being from so many places is that not only do you get a combination of different cultural foods and traditions, but you get different takes on those foods and traditions from state to state. California's Mexican food is completely different from Tex-Mex. I think San Francisco, specifically, is your classic burrito town, whereas Austin is taco city all the way.

Another way this manifests is the Texan love of queso. 'Queso' merely means 'cheese' in Spanish, but Texan queso in particular is very specifically a type of spicy, liquid nacho cheese, often augmented with chunks of tomatoes and/or peppers. It's very Texan and very delicious. The newest location of Wheatsville Food Co-op has an enviable hot foods and salad bar, and nestled in amongst the sensory overload of all the delicious things I wanted to get, was a piping hot vat of vegan queso. Speaking of Wheatsville...

For all our amazing options here in the Bay Area, there is a sad dearth of quality raised (yeasted) vegan donuts. Your only hopes are for Pepple's Donut Farm to feel like churning out a few dozen on a weekend, or for a friend flying home from Vegas to stop at Ronald's for you on the way to the airport.

That's why I'm so incredibly jealous of Austinites and their access to Red Rabbit Cooperative Bakery donuts at Wheatsville. These donuts are divine- fluffy, soft, impossibly fresh, and with that unmistakably yeasty tang of a good raised donut. They come in your traditional flavors, such as maple-walnut, coffee, chocolate, and apple fritter. But where Red Rabbit really shines is in their specialty flavors: Austin creme (a modified Boston creme donut) and- get this -peach. A peach donut! It's like someone hacked into the appetite center of my brain and decided to give me a very special present. I also tried a maple-chocolate glazed donut at the Vida Vegan Con bazaar, which the Red Rabbit dude told me was a 'mistake' flavor. I BEG TO DIFFER GOOD SIR.

I'd literally been seeing and hearing about Wheatsville's in-house popcorn tofu for about two years online before I had the chance to try it myself. Let me tell you, it lives up to the hype. The magical food fairies at Wheatsville take bite-sized chunks of tofu, dip them in some kind of otherworldly breading make of spices and unicorn tears, and cook 'em up crispy. They come in regular and Buffalo varieties, and you can grab them by the cup or in one of Wheatsville's specialty sandwiches. I ordered both sandwiches for the trip home- the po' boy I ate on the plane, and it was fitting that I was soaring through the air like a goddess, because that's how that sandwich made me feel. The buffalo popcorn tofu hero was my lunch the next day, and even after sitting in my fridge all night, the bread was soft, the tofu chewy and delectable, and the vegan bleu cheese tangy and perfect. 

Wheatsville knows it's got something special, and I applaud them for it. You keep on churning out that popcorn tofu, guys. I'll keep coming back to eat it up.

Oh hey, remember that thing I said further up about America being awesome because we have so many different culinary traditions? Kolaches are another great example. Apparently Texas was at one point home to quite a number of Czech immigrants- who knew? Not me! The kolache (pronounced koh-LAH-chee) is one of the enduring foodstuffs to come out of this wave of immigration and become part of the Texas way of life. 

A kolache carries on in the grand global culinary tradition, from pierogies to pupusas, of "meaty/veggie stuff crammed inside of carby stuff." Kolaches in particular look like a baseball-sized dinner roll, golden brown on the outside, and stuffed inside with different types of traditional and 'Texan' fillings. I had two kolaches from Capital City Bakery, a vegan 'ham and cheese' variety, and loved them! Although after waiting in line for a good half hour, I was too jittery from hunger and excitement to get a proper photo, as you can see above. Definitely get them warmed up, they're better that way. 

Despite always having wanted to since being a teen goth super into Anne Rice novels (don't judge), I've never stepped foot in New Orleans or Louisiana as a whole. Of the many things about that city that intrigues me, the unique culinary flavor to develop from Louisiana's singular history has been a constant. Ever since watching the first season of Tremé, I've had an unquenchable hunger for beignets. Which is weird, because I had never had them before- how can you crave something you've never tasted?

Naturally I was thrilled to find Baton Creole, a donut-box-pink food truck on East 6th Street, just a short walk from downtown Austin, which offered authentic creole cookin' with vegan options! I ordered the jambalaya on a stick, the long-anticipated beignets, and (of course) a Topo Pipo. It was just as charmingly Southern as I'd hoped it would be- as soon as I finished placing my order, the woman at the counter called out to some customers waiting behind me: "your etoufee is ready, y'all!" 

The jambalaya on a stick was heavenly. It was spiced tofu on a skewer, rolled in dirty rice like a corn dog is rolled in batter, and then deep-fried, with a squirt of delicious Remoulade and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro. Genius! I was worried about there being too much food when my order was ready; travel and hot weather usually do a number on my stomach. But after my first bite of jambalaya that was no longer a concern. I ate the whole thing, no problem, it was that good. The beignets were everything I'd ever hoped for. I mean, you just can't go wrong with deep-fried sweet dough dusted in far more powdered sugar than is necessary. They reminded me a bit of New Mexican sopapillas, or Navajo fry bread. FYI, apparently the brick-and-mortar location of Baton Creole uses a different, non-vegan beignet recipe, so be sure to head to the truck if you want your heavenly little sugar clouds to be cruelty-free!

It took me way too long to get to Sweet Ritual, the all-vegan ice cream shop in Austin- I didn't go until my final day. But the important thing is that I made it, and that I had a coffee milkshake for breakfast, because I am Living Healthy. Sweet Ritual has a dazzling variety of flavors to choose from, all of which are made from peanut, almond, or coconut base instead of dairy. Or you can also just get plain old soft-serve, or one of their tasty custom shakes. Next time I visit Austin I'll be sure to carve out space for several trips to Sweet Ritual, to give myself a fully well-rounded experience.

Before coming to Austin, I knew only two types of pizza: New York and Chicago. Being from the Bay Area, I have no dog in this fight. We're just happy to eat whatever the rest of you bring with you when you inevitably flee your snowy winter hellscapes for our comfortably mediocre year-round fog. My mind was blown to learn that apparently, there is Detroit-style pizza. 

That's what's on offer at Via 313, which has a food truck directly across the street from Baton Creole on East Sixth Street. Detroit-style, for the uninitiated, is a square personal pan pizza with a thin and greasy crust, and the cheese underneath the sauce (what the?). If pressed to name this particular 'style' of pizza, I'd say "middle school cafeteria." That said, Detroit-style tastes way, way better, even if it looks the same. Via 313 can make nearly all of its menu offerings vegan as well as omnivorous, and there's a lot of seating and drinking next door at the Violet Crown Social Club. The kind folks of Via 313 will even deliver your pizza to you in the bar! It's dreamy bar food, and I imagine it even tastes delicious sober, too!

Thanks, Jojo, for the delicious photo of your birthday pizza! It was too dark and... drinky... for me to take a picture when I had mine.

With that, I sadly close this chapter on Austin. It was a truly memorable week, one I'll cherish forever in my memories. What's more, now that I've got the lay of the land (and, more importantly, the Capitol Metro public transit system), I'm even more motivated to return someday soon and catch up on all the stuff I managed to miss. So, Austin, farewell for now, but hopefully not for long.

I'm just gonna leave this here:

Full story over at Sociological Images.

Although there are innumerable gifts and experiences to be taken from Vida Vegan Con which can't be quanitified, there are some that can. I'm talkin' 'bout SWAG. Ever since the first VVC, the Swag Bag has been the stuff of legends. If you're vegan, you know how it is when you get a holiday gift basket at work and it's really beautiful and impressive, but all you can really get out of it is a bag of raisins, and-- no, wait, the raisins have whey in them. They're just raisins, but they've got whey in them for some reason. There's nothing here for you. Nothing.

Well, not at Vida Vegan Con! The swag bag is like vegan Santa handing you a totes sweet tote* in late May and you can DEVOUR/USE EVERY SINGLE THING IN THERE! It's filled with sample or even full-sized products you know and love, sneak peeks at forthcoming products from some of your favorite vegan-friendly brands, products you never knew existed and aren't you glad they do, and plenty of coupons to keep you flush with vegan happiness. 
*DEAL WITH IT

Now that I've had the chance to go through my #swagbagofwonder, I wanted to give out a shout-out to my favorite items and thank the companies for my sweet, sweet swag. And of course, because I attended Randi's excellent seminar on blogging in compliance with the law, I want to clarify that I did receive these products for free, and although I am giving the products below positive reviews, it's only because I truly believe they're awesome! There, that oughta cover my hinder.

Courtesy of Vegan Cuts, each swag bag was outfitted with a nice little drawstring pouch of toiletries. My favorite items were the Earthlab Cosmetics eyeliner pencil and the Schmidt's cedarwood and juniper deodorant.

My pencil was black, but I saw most everyone else got a dark purplish shade named raisin/grape. Which struck me as funny, as they're essentially the same thing- but I appreciate that Earthlab is not being ageist towards fruit all the same. I normally prefer liquid liner, but for a pencil, this is pretty darn good. It goes on soft and strong, and I was able to get a decent cat-eye point. It does smudge, but not easily, and it gives a smooth, even coverage. It's going in my makeup bag!

Let's talk about this deodorant. I hope that, as I type this, about 50 miles across the Bay in Silicon Valley is some darkened room of sleep-deprived brogrammers fervently producing the world's first app that allows you to share scent via social media. That is how badly I want everyone in the world to experience the smell of this deodorant. It borders on a spiritual experience for me. Growing up with the Redwoods in my backyard, I cannot imagine a cleaner, purer, more fulfilling scent than that of a fragrant evergreen forest. Schmidt's has taken this smell and put in a form where I can take it with me in my armpit all day long, and any product that makes my underarm seem like a place where Dale Cooper would want to hang out and think about Tibet is A-OK by me. 

Um, specifics: it's a paste, of which you rub a pea-sized amount into your clean underarm each day; there's baking soda, which gives it a pleasant light grit in addition to providing protection from the stinkies; it's also available in unscented if you can't resist walking around with your nose in your pit all day. I'm officially a convert.

Now these are all brands I know and love already, so their smiling faces in my swag bag were a happy sight to see. 

Dandies made a strong showing at Vida Vegan Con, with both mini and large marshmallows at all coffee stations (genius), and swag bag samples of both vanilla and the new upcoming pumpkin flavor of minis! I personally think they tasted more like pumpkin pie spice, specifically, cinnamon, but they could call them dirt flavored and I would still eat them up! I love Dandies, and, if we're being honest here, so do my dogs. I really only give them like two each on very special occasions! Dandies also threw in some recipe ideas, both for your basic crispy rice treats and something verrrry interesting: a sweet pizza. The crust is made of crispy rice treats, then add raspberry sauce, mint leaves, and shaved coconut. I can imagine one might also want to add chocolate chips, white chocolate, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, brownie bits, cinnamon and sugar, ice cream, nut butter, whipped cream, maraschino cherries, sprinkles, and gold leaf, but that's just me. 

The cheese knife from Miyoko's Kitchen was a nice touch! Being a spoiled Californian, I have access to Miyoko's Kitchen cheeses at not one but two stores within walking distance of my house, and many more within my city limits. Suffice to say I usually have at least one in my fridge at all times! This knife will be getting a lot of use- in fact, it already has.

Nacheez is, hands down, the best vegan nacho cheese there is. END OF DEBATE. FYI, my personal standard is "looks and tastes like 7-11 nachos," and this fits the bill. If you think that's gross, then that's cool- more Nacheez for me! Nacheez comes in mild, medium, and spicy varieties, and I could drink them all straight out of the jar. I was stoked to get this pouch in my swag bag, but it's a mere drop in the bucket compared to all the Nacheez I'm going to guzzle this year. NACHEEZ I LOVE YOU.

Well, technically, these products weren't playing hooky so much as I ate them before I could take pics. The Earth Balance popcorn had to go first, because although I love me some EB (EB anything), there is just no way I'm letting that big-ass bag throw me off my suitcase Tetris game. Sacrifices were made, and with Earth Balance popcorn available at one of my walking-distance local groceries, it was the first cut. That said, I absolutely love the 'aged white cheddar' flavor. Popcorn is the best- you don't feel like you're snacking poorly because it's so light and it's honest to goodness wholesome corn, and then oops, you ate the whole bag, guess that was dinner. Hooray for being an adult and having popcorn for dinner! I am living the dream.

The Real Deal pea chips! I love these mostly for the texture, but the flavor is good, too! They're like little corn flakes, made out of pea skins. Or smooshed dried peas? Either way, I've never had a snack like this and I really liked it! They're a lot like popcorn- light and crunchy and fluffy and oops there goes the whole bag. I would definitely buy these again if I saw them in the store.

Beanie and I are homies- we're so tight I don't even need to call them Beanfield's. I got the nacho flavor in my swag bag; my favorite ever is ranch, but I will take anything Beanie throws at me because they are the best. 

I only recently converted to the Church of Tasty, when I discovered their flavored sandwich creme cookies at Viva La Vegan in Santa Monica. At my request, V Republic began carrying them as well- my absolute favorite flavors are strawberry shortcake and banana split! I was totally unaware, however, that Tasty also does gummy snacks. I was given a packet of their fruit chews and I was pleasantly surprised to find I actually prefer them over Surf Sweets! 

This Chocolate Hollow hazelnut chocolate log, one of the components of the 'chocolate, chocolate, knife' chant of the Swag Bag Army, was on everyone's lips. Then behind everyone's lips. Everyone is nuts about this chocolate log, and for good reason! Mine got a bit smooshed on the journey home, as you can see, because as I said, in the game of suitcase Tetris, sacrifices must be made. There's nothing wrecked about the taste, though. So smooth and creamy you can't tell where the chocolate shell ends and the hazelnut cream filling begins. What makes this taste all the sweeter is knowing all their chocolate is fair-trade sourced. Whoopeee! Everyone's a winner! Especially your taste buds.

I've got a few more things to say about Austin, specifically my recommended sites and foods, so stay tuned! Then back to radio silence- okay, not really, I actually do have a few real bloggy things lined up. :)

I may be slightly biased, because I think Jojo of Vegan in Brighton is one of the most wonderful people in the world, but Jojo of Vegan in Brighton is one of the most wonderful people in the world. She is also living the dream- traveling the globe, sampling vegan delicacies from every culture, and being completely swarmed by adorable bunnies on a Japanese island (video evidence to follow). She took a break from her jet-setting lifestyle to drop by Austin and share some tips and tricks with those of us aspiring to be permanent vacationers!

Jojo was born with the travel bug- even as a teen growing up outside of London, she would go with her friend to Gatwick Airport just to watch the planes and fantasize about someday being on one of them. When she got old enough to take trips by herself, she says, she was the only one positively loving every second of the 27-hour bus ride (OOOOF) from England to Pamplona, Spain.

Jojo is also a huge collector, starting with her childhood collection of anything green. Today her biggest vices are Pez dispensers and nail polish (that one hits close to home with me). Obviously, having a big collection of your favorite things isn't exactly compatible with the footloose traveler's lifestyle. Jojo had to make some hard decisions about possessions versus experience- studies show that in terms of happiness and excitement, experiences outweigh possessions. When you think about it, Jojo says, "we don't sit around and talk about our TVs or our possessions- we talk about the experiences we've had." When you push yourself out of your routine and your comfort zone, amazing things can happen.

Jojo blogs about her travel experiences in order to remove roadblocks to veganism and to make vegan travel as straightforward, fun, and accessible as possible. She shared some handy tips on traveling as a vegan and how to blog about your vegan travel experiences effectively. 

The three components of vegan travel blogging are:

• Discover- discover the vegan ins and outs of the place you're visiting
  
• Create- create blog posts and other social media posts about your discoveries
  
• Share- make it even easier for your fellow vegans to utilize your research by sharing your creation on social media!
  

For Jojo, being prepared and doing research is an essential first step in preparing for your vegan travel adventure. She knows, for example, that she will never go to a zoo or any type of animal performance abroad, and when she went to Thailand she knew she definitely didn't want to support the elephant trafficking industry. Through research, she found the Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary where these majestic, gentle giants can live in peace. Jojo and her partner became fast friends with Lek, a local vegan and founder of the sanctuary who has suffered alienation from both the government and her own family for her compassionate beliefs, and spent an enjoyable several days (weeks?) volunteering at the shelter in exchange for a room and vegan meals. Talk about a win-win situation!

These days, social media is the most powerful, effective tool we have in the fight to affect change in the world and inform people, and Jojo's travel blog is an essential part of that.

For example, although she loves travel to Japan, animal rights there can be a grey and confusing area. Jojo initially began looking into a 'wild monkey park,' where the humans are in cages and can observe the monkeys in a natural habitat. But the more Jojo researched, the more she felt ill-at-ease with the idea, especially the fact that visitors pay to feed the monkeys. She reached out to a UK-based primate rescue organization on social media for their opinion, and they confirmed that this was a bad situation: by teaching the primates to become dependent on humans for food, they can begin to develop and exhibit aggressive behavior, which in turn leads to culls. 

One of Jojo's main motivators for going to Japan was to investigate and clarify a lot of the conflicting information about traveling vegan in Japan. "You need to get on top of your discovery game," she says, and the creation and sharing will flow from that. Being 'on top of' the discovery game, she reiterates, involves a lot of reaching out via social media and email to determine what her vegan options are well in advance.

Being well-prepared with research is what led Jojo to spending a magical day on Okunoshima, aka BUNNY ISLAND. It's exactly what it sounds like: an island completely uninhabited save for thousands of fuzzy little hoppers. The bunnies are wild but friendly, and visitors are encouraged to bring healthy snacks (carrots and cabbage) for the residents. Jojo is happy to report that all the visitors respectfully observe these rules, keeping the bunny population on Okunoshima healthy and happy. But enough reading, WATCH THIS VIDEO of Jojo experiencing pure joy and you experiencing pure jealousy:

Jojo encourages vegan travelers to reach out to local vegans in the areas they'll be visiting. Before visiting Japan, she connected with Shawn and Chiaki, local vegans and owners of the Vegan Japan Instagram account, who became helpful allies in the daily struggle to read ingredients! She would tweet food items at them (often from one of Japan's ubiquitous convenience stores like 7-11, Family Mart, or Lawson Station), and they would confirm whether or not those items were vegan. They also began tweeting their various meals and finds back at her, so she could enjoy more delicacies during her tenure! Likewise, in Hanoi, Jojo connected with Cici, who blogs as Vietnamese + Vegan. Not only did Jojo make a new vegan friend and get a local's perspective on Vietnam, Cici showed Jojo a local food cart making delicious sugar cane crepes that she never would have found without the assistance of someone 'in the know.'

Another handy thing to do is to research the words for non-vegan items or items you want to avoid in the local language of the place you'll be visiting. That way you can scan the ingredients labels of packaged foods without necessarily needing to be fluent. Hey, here's a hot tip- Jojo just published European Vegan, a cute lil' pocket-sized zine which has compiled the words for the most common animal by-products in thirty-two (count 'em!) different languages! You should totally buy it for your next trip to 'The Continent' (I take a little bit of pride in it myself, because I helped with the Swedish page!). 
 
So now that you know how to create and enjoy kick-ass content while you're traveling, when should you get all this done? Jojo advises holding off on creating content if you're in the middle of a short trip. Set a few posts for auto-publish and then relax and enjoy yourself- you can finish the rest when you get home!

But for longer trips, what are some good strategies for keeping a consistent online presence? First, you need to post to the appropriate social media for what you want to share. Jojo will be putting up a "packing guide" on YouTube, where a  video would be far more instructive than a wordy blog post. City guides work well as blog posts, and come with the added bonus of being editable for updates. Ingredients lists, you want to keep portable and off-line-- which is exactly why Jojo created the European Vegan zine!

Secondly, you don't have to do Big Things every day, but try to do something every day. Jojo shared with us a day in her (fabulous) online life, earlier this year in Thailand, on April 24:
Instagram: A photo of postcards she was sending to friends (although you can never go wrong with 'gramming food either!)
Twitter: Three tweets about Thailand
Periscope: A video of their new hotel in Koh Samui
Pinterest: pictures of Koh Samui and the food she's been eating
Blog entry: "Vegan Adventuring in Nha Trang // A Love Story Between Me and A Sandwich"

Finally, in addition to your online networking (message boards, social media, and blogs), it's important to use and stay active on Happy Cow! In case you're unfamiliar, Happy Cow is like a vegetarian/vegan-exclusive Yelp! which can help you find vegan, vegetarian, and veg-friendly restaurants, shops, and markets worldwide. A lot of us have had a few grumbly experiences where a place was closed or the information on Happy Cow was out of date- and Jojo reminded us that we have no one to blame but ourselves for that! Guilty as charged, Ms. H. Jojo encourages all vegan travelers, for the sake of their fellow vegan travelers, to get active and stay active on Happy Cow- update listings, post reviews and photos, and email the site administrators! A better Happy Cow begins with us! Jojo also recommends the Happy Cow app, which has a 'trip' feature which allows you to store information for use offline later on. 

Now stuff your pockets full of marshmallows, grab your passport, and have a great time! And don't forget to write home about it. Thanks, Jojo! And bon voyage!

Lacy J. Davis is the founder of SuperStrengthHealth.com, a blog and health & wellness cooking service, as well as co-host of the Rise & Resist fitness empowerment podcast. 

Lacy described how social media was a huge component of the negative feedback loop in which she found herself trapped at the depths of her Eating Disorder (ED). Food blogs were especially negative for her, especially many ‘healthy living’ blogs, which are thinly disguised diet blogs. However, Lacy was also able to turn social media around from a detriment to a tool of empowerment on her road to recovery.

Lacy’s disordered eating started in her mid-20s when, after having her heart broken, she went through a rough patch where she couldn’t eat or sleep and was crying all the time (girl, been there. Too recently). As might be expected, she lost a significant amount of weight, and in our skinny-obsessed society, immediately began receiving compliments. “I felt terrible, unloveable, like there was something wrong with me,” she said, and yet “people I vaguely knew started to validate [my eating habits], telling me how good I looked.” The validation was addicting, and as a result Lacy became extremely orthorexic, obsessing about her food.

Orthorexia is not talked about a lot in relation to EDs or even within the ED community (or vegan community, for that matter). As Lacy’s ED worsened, the group of foods she deemed ‘healthy’ enough to eat continued to shrink smaller and smaller. It wasn’t a conscious decision to avoid foods in order to lose weight; rather, it was because she was genuinely fearful of these foods. At the same time, even though she was not living her healthiest life, she was told by exercise friends that she was “so good” for restricting her food intake, and expressed a desire to have her ‘convictions.'

In response to the extreme hunger her orthorexia generated, she began to obsess over food blogs. At one point, she says, she had over 1,000 recipes cataloged and stashed, none of which she ever used. The Army did a study of men who were deprived of nutrition, and found they began to exhibit similar behavior- obsessing over recipes, foods, and eating. As Lacy describes it, it wasn’t the food she was hungry for- she was hungry for the life of a person who truly enjoyed food. For Lacy, at this point, food and her body represented only fear. 

Like many sufferers of ED, Lacy was isolated by her disordered eating. She couldn’t go out to eat with friends because she was terrified of the food. She slowly lost all her real-world connections to people, and all that was left was the blog world, in which she was very interested, but for which she was creating nothing. 

When Lacy began getting involved in various recovery communities, she was able to take a break from social media in order to deal with her phobias surrounding food and body image. Those recovery communities helped her reconnect with people and make new friendships. EDs involve shame, secrecy, and isolation, so having person-to-person connections is a crucial part of recovery. As Lacy said, “when my time was occupied, I wasn’t looking at food blogs on the internet all the time."

With her emotional health in recovery, Lacy was able to re-engage in social media on her terms, and in a way that was healthy for her. In stark contrast to her earlier experiences, approaching social media with honesty felt fantastic. Many of the blogs and accounts with which she began to interact were people who had healthy relationships with their bodies, and Lacy began to draw inspiration from blogs that "focus on stuff other than pretty food." Some of her early inspirations include:

• Insanity Punks- "here were people engaging in fitness, but not to change their appearance- to get strong and feel positive about themselves."
  
• Krissy Mae Cagney, weight lifter
  
• Jess Baker (the Militant Baker), body positivity
  
• Carrot Quinn, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail
  
• Rachel, Rebel Grrrl Living
  

When Lacy began blogging, herself, she says, "it was a pivotal element to my self-esteem. The mental switch to liking myself was the last to come." Before her ED, she'd never liked her body; it was incidental to her existence. Post-ED, she says, she realized that you don't need any change in order to like your body- you can like it exactly as it is. Of course, she acknowledges, it can be risky to put out personal content, especially that concerning physicality. But the important thing to remember is that there is a community out there, and you can find support in it. 

Overall, the blogging community can be powerful or detrimental- it all depends on your approach to it.

What do you say to people suffering from or heading towards ED?

I get emails like “I hate myself and I don’t know what to do.” That situation is different from witnessing someone who appears to have an ED- people with EDs themselves have "ED radar," but it's not always the appropriate judgment. Making a judgment based solely on appearance can be shitty and misleading. Usually someone will drop hints- if it's someone I know, I will take notice of things they say and how they talk about themselves, and try to comment on self-deprecating patterns in their speech. I take different tactics depending on the situation. Sometimes people will drop hints to me without knowing how to come out and say they’re struggling. The way to any kind of change whatsoever is small steps, but it’s scary. If you’ve gone down that rabbit hole, there are so many coping mechanisms you’ve created, you think you need to do them to survive either physically or emotionally. Just offer yourself as a constant form of support and a listening ear. Say to them, “I know it doesn’t feel like there’s another option, but there is."

What advice would you give to health professionals dealing with these issues?

I remember when I first starting my drastic weight loss, and I went in for a check-up. My Nurse Practitioner noticed, and said “you’ve lost so much weight.” I immediately asked “is that bad?” and she said “no, you look great!” 

That was horrible. If someone has an ED and they don’t want to talk about it, to a certain extent you can’t make them. But again, there are hints and openings that health professionals should notice in a consultation. Health professionals shouldn't qualify weight/body issues by, for example, asking about BMI, the specific quantity of weight lost/gained-- they just need to listen to their patients. Nobody will recover without wanting to, and some people aren’t ready to hear they have an ED. But there is a real problem with physicians telling people they need to lose weight in order to be healthy- that's not okay, and it's not correct.

How do you tell your story in a relatable matter without seeming like you're looking for sympathy?

People are adults, they can handle themselves. They are capable of having boundaries. I have conversations with people who are easily triggered, and that’s okay when they assert those boundaries. There’s a lot of shame and guilt, especially for how ED affects our loved ones. Getting rid of that guilt and shame is helpful for everyone. All I am is honest and a lot of people have told me that that’s helped them. Nobody should feel bad about their story. 

I recommend the book The Buddhist Brain- it reinforces the idea of putting out the energy you want in your life until it becomes genuine- ie, 'fake it till you make it'. It's about re-carving new cognitive pathways in your brain.

As a fellow survivor of ED, I am very appreciative of the fact that you focused on the emotional aspect of it, rather than the details of how you did it. At the lowest point of my ED, hearing other survivors talk about their coping mechanisms and disordered behaviors only gave me ideas to fuel my own disordered behavior.  

How do we as content creators be inspirational rather than aspirational? 

It’s the shared responsibility of both blogger and reader. It’s not bad to share your cool stuff that happens! Conversely, don’t be shy to share things that you struggle with. For me, I try to think of that responsibility around comparison more as a reader than as a writer. Never say anything is ‘clean.’ 

“Clean is for underwear, not food!” (everyone, starting using this hashtag posthaste)


Our society is so food-centric; moreso in veganism because our community is based around a dietary choice. While it’s important to be honest with your struggles, I want to know if you have any negative experiences with honesty?

I get trolls sometimes! I am really invested in blogger communities in a positive way. 

"People really hate when women try to love their bodies.” (at this point the talk was paused as the room exploded into raucous applause, I may have heard [or shouted] an 'Amen' or two)

I am fairly normative so the hate I get is about stuff like the length of my shorts, but there are body positive bloggers whose images are not so normative and they get tons of flak, so I try to support them and make connections with them. 

Like Monique said, it’s okay to delete the comments. Or save looking at them for a good day when you’re feeling like having a laugh. Your audience wants to support and love you, so it’s okay to delete. 


Thank you, Lacy! That was so inspiring, I came out of conference room A/B READY TO KICK SOME SERIOUS ASS. And anyone who knows me knows how much I love kicking ass.

Calling all the unpopular indoor kids! Okay, not really, but there was definitely a common thread amongst many of us who gathered to talk about how much fun reading can be, and that was that at some point in our lives, the company of a book was preferred or easier to procure than that of other people. We exchanged recommendations and got really excited about all the books we need to catch up on! 

Here's an incomplete list of many of the books mentioned (loosely sorted by category)- furthermore, there was talk of starting a vegan book club on GoodReads, so if that's something that piques your interest, head over there and join us for some quiet reading time!

Books With a Vegan Message

We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler
Vermilion, by Molly Tanzer
PopCo, by Scarlett Thomas
Everything is Illuminated; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer
Under the Skin, by Michel Faber
The Year of the Flood (part of the MaddAddam trilogy); The Edible Woman, by Margaret Atwood
Zazen, by Vanessa Veselka
A Friend of the Earth, by T.C. Boyle

Books by People of Color

Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacklyn Woodson
Brother, I'm Dying, by Edwidge Danticat
The Bite of the Mango, by Mariatu Kamara
I, Phoolan Devi, by Phoolan Devi 
The Residue Years, by Mitchell S. Jackson
Sistah Vegan, edited by A. Breeze Harper
Every 12 Seconds, by Timothy Pachirat

also recommended:
Nothing to Envy, by Barbara Demick
Cambodian Grrrl, by Anne Elizabeth Moore 

Juicy Non-Fiction

So You've Been Publicly Shamed, by Jon Ronson
Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton, by Diane Wood Middlebrook
Weighing In, by Julie Guthman
The Art of Overeating, by Leslie Landis
1491: New Revelations of The Americas Before Columbus, by Charles C. Mann
The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson
The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander
Black Like Me, by John Howard Griffin
Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson
Devil's Knot, by Mara Leveritt
Deep Blue Home: An Intimate Ecology of Our Ocean, by Julia Whitty
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

Time Travel Fiction

The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes
anything by Kurt Vonnegut or Douglas Adams
Thursday Next Series, by Jasper Fforde

Magical Realism Fiction

Among Others, by Jo Walton
We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart
The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell

Miscellaneous Good Books

We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver
84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff

A Comprehensive List of Everyone's YOU GOTTA READ THIS Books (in no particular order):

Red Mars (book one of the Mars Trilogy), by Kim Stanley Robinson
We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler
The People in the Trees, by Hanya Yanagihara
The Last Town on Earth, by Thomas Mullen
The People's Act of Love, by James Meek
84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff
Sharp Objects; Dark Places; Gone Girl, all by Gillian Flynn
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
I, Phoolan Devi, by Phoolan Devi
House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski
The Finder Library, by Carla Speed McNeill (graphic novel)
We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver
Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakaeur
Season of the Witch, by David Talbot
Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline
Glaciers, by Alexis M. Smith
A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki
Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones
The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski
The Girl With All the Gifts, by M.R. Carey
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender
Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan (graphic novel)
Wolf in White Van, by John Darnielle
Zazen, by Vanessa Veselka
Among Others, by Jo Walton
The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion
Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldon
Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Lives of Animals, by J.M. Coetzee
Wreckage, by Emily Bleeker
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafron
A Gesture Life, by Chang-rae Lee
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North
The Silo Series, by Hugh Howey
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
The Black Prism, by Brent Weeks
The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood, by Kien Nguyen
Annihilation, by Jeff Vandermeer
The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell
Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden
The Stand, by Stephen King
Margaret Atwood (anything)
Haruki Murakami (anything)
Nao of Brown, by Glyn Dillon
The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt
Raven Girl, by Audrey Niffenegger
Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan
The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood

I still have a bunch of exciting stuff to share with you about the third Vida Vegan Con in Austin, TX. I wanted to leave a note saying that I'm going to be posting the rest of my Austin stuff one-per-day, both to not overwhelm readers and also because I'm very shortly returning to my regular life! 

I've had a good time in Austin and a great time seeing old and new friends at Vida Vegan Con. But honestly, after a week of sweaty fever dreams in a tiny hostel room with 7 other women, the thought of the Bay Area's year-round chilly nights is like a cool drink of water! Generally speaking, the only roommates I enjoy having are on four legs and don't FaceTime their girlfriends in Australia on speakerphone at 4am. And while I love a good taco, I'm a burrito gal at heart. 

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned! I'll try to schedule my posts for early morning each day. Tomorrow: get your hot beverage, a comfy couch, and your cuddly animal of choice, 'cause it's Vegan Book Club! So much reading!

Monique Koch is a vegan blogger, cookbook author, and vegan 'transition' coach who is the brains behind The Brown Vegan. 

Monique began the transition from vegetarian to vegan in 2010- but it wasn't just her. As the sole grocery shopper and chef in her family, it also meant that like it or not, her husband and their three sons would be going vegan, too (at least at home). As Monique stresses, her honesty comes from her family- her 13 year-old, for example, made no secret of the fact that he would much rather be eating chicken nuggets. 

She wanted to make the switch to a plant-based lifestyle as simple as possible for her family. Her husband was supportive, but was still hoping she'd cook two meals every evening- a vegan one for her, and a meal with animal products for him and their children. Monique knew there was no way that was going to happen! When she looked online to find support from other vegans experiencing similar transitions with their families, but didn't come away feeling like anyone was having the same experience as her. What she's realized since, however, is that plenty of people have these experiences- it's just that not enough of us are talking about it. We're suffering in silence!

When Monique started blogging in 2011, she did so out of the need to find other vegans with which she could empathize and identify. As a new vegan, she felt isolated and overwhelmed by the number of anti-soy, anti-sugar, and anti-oil beliefs. She says she also felt isolated as a brown woman, not seeing herself represented by the vegan bloggers she found online. However, she soon realized that she had the power to keep herself out of isolation- she knew she couldn't be the only one feeling like she wasn't skinny enough, vegan enough, or whatever enough.

She quickly learned that people gravitate towards you when you are honest and transparent! It's a Pinterest world, if you're not careful every image you consume is presented perfectly and beautifully. It's refreshing to talk candidly about issues or struggles we as vegans may have. 

Monique underlined this point by providing an example in her YouTube video "True Life: I'm a Chunky Vegan." When she first went vegan, she lost a lot of weight- but then she learned more about cooking and shopping vegan and her weight returned to what was typical for her. She began getting rude comments online for not being "skinny" enough as a vegan, representing veganism poorly through her body image. So she simply turned on the webcam and started talking. When the video went up, viewers reacted extremely positively: many commented to say that Monique's video had given them the strength to stay vegan and ignore the rude comments.

Another example Monique provided was a blog entry she wrote about a particularly difficult day, and how that lead her to "emotional eating" and a cheese pizza. Although she was incredibly hard on herself, so many of her readers resonated and identified with her experience. After experiencing Monique's honesty, they knew it was okay to get up and keep going after the occasional stumble. To Monique, this underlined the ethos that it's not about perfection but progression. It also reminded her that although we show compassion to animals, we rarely show compassion to ourselves.

Of course, where there's honesty, there can also be trolls. Monique says she'll often schedule a post or video that she knows will be controversial to publish in the middle of the night, and then take a few days before reading the comments. She saves comments for days when she's feeling strong and emotionally well. As for harsh criticisms, she understands it can be difficult, but just try to remember it's not about you- and it's 100% okay to delete comments. At the end of the day, she says, "my mom taught me very well how to ignore people!"

Another thing to save for emotionally strong days is looking at what other vegans are doing online. Support your fellow vegan bloggers, but don't let their vision cloud yours. It can be scary to put yourself out there! But it’s important to share your story, to be clear about it, and to own it. It can help you grow in your own journey. As Monique herself says, "it took a long time to get to where I am today. I'm still not where I want to be, but I'm certainly not where I was 5 years ago!"