A Nerd Like Me

Vegan Power

{photo credit}

Everyone has been asking how we’ve been doing with our new vegan/vegetarian diet, so I thought I’d keep you informed. Dinners have been great (with the exception of the corn and red pepper chowder I made last night…thanks anyway, Jim). I quit taking pictures after the first night (because I LOATHE taking pictures with artificial light), but I’ve found that any vegetable-based soup can be veganified, even the creamy ones with the right milk replacer, and anything that involves black beans and avocado is my bestest friend.

Lunches have been easy as well. Drew takes a hummus and veggie wrap and I fill up on a non-dairy frozen burrito topped with lettuce, salsa and avocado. Mmmmm…..

We’ve found that dairy replacers aren’t bad at all. I still can’t stomach almond milk, but I’m not a milk-drinker anyway. I can cook with it and have no problem. Drew actually enjoys drinking the stuff. Yuck. We’ve found vegan cream cheese, butter, coffee creamer and ice cream that we love. I won’t even venture into the realm of fake hard cheeses though. I’ve been a hard core cheese lover my entire life (I swear it’s in my genes), so I can’t even go there.

I have had one glitch…I lost 3 pounds fast. Like in the first week. After tracking my diet on My Fitness Pal, I realized that I’m not getting nearly enough protein, despite the fact that I’m eating tons of nuts and beans. So I starting eating eggs for breakfast and a cheese snack each day at work and my protein intake is under control. Drew is also losing a little weight, but he needs a low-protein diet, so it’s ok for now.

I’ve also pretty much quit looking at vegan-specific recipes. They are all full of weird and crazy ingredients. I would rather look at a regular vegetarian recipe and replace any dairy that might be there. I prefer to keep my chemically manufactured food intake to a minimum, thank you very much.

Thank you to everyone for your love and support! I’m really excited to try making a vegan cheese ball for an upcoming holiday party. I’ll be combining vegan cream cheese with a vegetable dip seasoning packet, then rolling it in chopped walnuts. I have high hopes, people. High hopes indeed.

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Simple Gift Wrap & Tags

This gift wrap is so rustic and simple, not to mention extremely inexpensive. All you need is brown postal paper, green raffia ribbon and homemade Wordle gift tags in the color scheme of your choice. I chose the “moss” color scheme and inserted all sorts of lovely Christmas words, making sure to insert the gift recipient’s name multiple times so that it shows up nice and large. Happy holidays!

While snapping gift photos, I took this one of my tree in manual focus. I love how it turned out!

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DIY Instagram Coasters

In honor of the one and only Instagram, I thought I’d shoot this how-to via Instagram! (You can totally follow me on twitter here.)

I like to create memory art after we travel. Example A: Italy Memory Art. Our recent trip to Seattle coincided with me getting my hands on an iphone, which means I was able to document our vacation with vintage-looking square-shaped photos. Awesome. I immediately knew that I wanted to make coasters out of them! We’ve been needing some new coasters anyway.

Materials

• 4×4″ Square Tiles ($0.16 each at the Home Depot)
• 4″ Printed Instagram Photos
• Mod Podge (Michael’s)
• Paint Brush or Foam Brush (Michael’s)
• Felt Sheets (Michael’s)
• Acrylic Sealer (Michael’s)

Before we get started, there are three ways to print your Instagram photos. You could order them online from some fancy (a.k.a. expensive) specialty Instagram printing company. You could print them from your computer onto photo paper (not copy paper, as this will not hold up to the Mod Podge). Or, if you don’t have a nice printer with photo paper, you can print them from your favorite photo shop. This final option takes a little editing before you can send them off. I had to add a thick white border on Picnik (my favorite online photo editing software), then crop to a 4×6 so that the 4″ square Instagram photo could easily but cut to size after printing. Here is a quick screen shot of the editing process:

Ok, let’s get started!

1. Lay the tiles out on some newspaper and cover them in a light coat of Mod Podge.

2. Place pictures on the tiles. Let sit for about an hour.

3. Paint over the surface of the picture and tile edges with Mod Podge. Let dry and repeat this process at least 2 more times. As you can see, mine is streaky and imperfect because I used an old paint brush with issues, but I like it that way. If you want yours nice and smooth with minimal imperfections, you should use a brand new foam brush.

4. Apply an acrylic sealer to the finished surface. This step is crucial, as it makes the surface waterproof. If you skip this step, the Mod Podge will turn back into glue as soon as anything wet touches it.

5. Apply a coat of Mod Podge to the bottom of the coaster, then attach a square piece of felt. Let dry.

6. Apply MANY coats of acrylic sealer. When you think you have enough, test out one coaster for a little while. If you see any water marks, dry it off and keep applying that sealer. It’ll work eventually!

That’s it! Enjoy you’re new Instagram coasters!!!

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Product Review: Yes to Tomatoes

I’ve never had major acne problems, just the little pimples every now and then. I have, however, always had large, unsightly pores and red splotchy skin. These two things have been getting worse and worse with age, so I decided to purchase this natural facial mask to help me out. I was skeptical, because I’ve learned that changing up my facial routine in any way causes a major breakout, but this stuff is amazing! I’ve been using it once per week for about a month now and I’ve noticed reduced redness and less pimples. Jury’s still out on the pores, though.

So what makes Yes to Tomatoes to special? Here’s a little excerpt from the website:

Organic Tomatoes contain Lycopene, a potent antioxidant found in red fruits and vegetables. Its anti-inflammatory properties encourage a balanced and clearer complexion whilst the vitamins are useful in the control of sebum secretion.

Dead Sea Minerals from the world’s most ancient spa naturally exfoliate, detoxify and rejuvenate the skin.

Dead Sea Mud cleanses and hydrates the skin, to remove impurities and toxins.

If you are having similar problems, I highly recommend this stuff (let me know how it goes if you do). I plan on trying some of their other products in the very near future.

P.S. Yes to Carrots did not pay me to write this review. You should totally check out their story, though. I love that they strive to create natural skin products that WORK. I’m a fan.

P.P.S. Is there another product you would like me to check out? Leave a comment and let me know!

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Thank you.

I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you.

Thank you for reading the post about Drew’s condition.

Thank you for your kind words and for thinking of us.

Drew is having eye surgery #9 today, this time for a cornea transplant. We started our mostly vegan diet yesterday, after a weekend full of splurging on bacon cheeseburgers and chicken fingers. I’ll be blogging each week about our journey through the vegan/vegetarian world, including recipes that worked and tips and tricks (if we actually have any thus far).

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go be an awesome hospital wife. I’m getting really good at that!

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Homo-what???

Disclaimer: This is going to be a very personal post. You’re going to learn more about my husband that you ever wanted to. The goal of this post is to fill you in on why we are about to become strict vegetarians with serious vegan tendencies. Soooo…here goes!

We love animals. I’ve worked with wild animals for years and think birds are the cutest things ever…even vultures (they’re so fluffy!). But animal welfare is not the reason Drew and I have decided to give up meat and a whole heck of a lot of dairy. We are making this choice for health reasons. I believe the term is “nutritional vegetarianism” as opposed to “ethical vegetarianism.” Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE critters, but a really cute cow is not going to make me want to give up Five Guys. Having a loving husband who could die because of animal protein? Yeah, that’ll make me give it up in a heartbeat.

Let me explain. Drew has a disease called homocystinuria. Big word. Most doctors have no idea what it means. The simplest answer is that it’s the reason Drew has had 8 eye surgeries in 10 years…and 2 gum grafts…and 2 back surgeries for scoliosis. And it is definitely the reason why Drew’s risk of heart attack or stroke is way too high to imagine.

Ready for the not-so-simple explanation? Homocystinuria is one type of amino acid disorder. People with this condition have problems breaking down amino acids called methionine and homocystine from the foods they eat. Enzymes are little molecules that are in our bodies to break up proteins (made up of amino acids) so that the body can use them. People with homocystinuria are either missing the enzyme that breaks down methionine and homocystine, or it is not functioning properly. Essentially, those two amino acids build up in the blood stream and cause all sorts of un-fun problems. The biggest risk to untreated individuals is suffering from a heart attack or stroke at a young age (like, 30-ish).

Can you guess what foods contain the most methionine? Yeah. Meats…and eggs and cheese and milk…pretty much all animal proteins contain the amino acid methionine. Unfortunately, a lot of vegetables, beans and nuts contain it too, but they exist in small amounts and, let’s face it, Drew has to eat something, right?

The only treatments for this condition are: 1) take vitamin b supplements and 2) eat a low-methionine diet. Drew’s doing both, and I’m totally doing it with him (except for the supplements, of course). I mean, I’m completely addicted to all things creamy and cheesy, but I’m not about to eat that stuff in front of him or even keep it in the house if he can’t have it.

So, we are starting this journey together. Because that’s what we were meant to do. Because I would rather live my life with him in it than eat cheeseburgers all by myself. Because I would do absolutely anything for that man. Because I love him.

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The All Powerful Lord of Quelf

We woke up super early after staying the night in La Push so that we could drive back to Seattle in time for the Iron Bowl (that’s the Auburn-Alabama game for you yankees). Alida hooked us up with the Seattle Auburn club, which is a group of die-hard Auburn alum and fans in Seattle. They were all so much fun! We even met a guy from Mobile that now lives there. Small, small world.

We spent our last evening in Seattle at Game Night at Keridwyn & BBoz’s place on Capital Hill. Check out their view!

If you have never played Quelf, give it your best shot…which is all you can really do because THERE ARE NO RULES! This game is insane and super fun.

After an incredibly confusing game of Quelf, the dance party began. I just remember thinking, “We don’t have these in Alabama!” and also loving every single second. Drew even busted out his Single Ladies dance. It was hot.

I want to thank so many people! Thank you, Kristi, for taking the ONLY picture of me and Alida from the entire trip. Thank you to all of Alida’s friends for being so welcoming, especially Erin and Paul for letting us stay at your place during our visit. And thank you, Alida, for being the best hostess and friend ever. You are a super shiny, sparkly star and I love you. The end.

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No Vampires Beyond This Point

It’s hard to believe that we are back home after such an incredible week in Seattle. Thanks to our dear friend, Alida, we saw the city through the eyes of a resident, allowing us to truly decide whether or not this is the place we want to live in the future. Here is a recap of our trip. Warning: you will definitely want to journey to the Pacific Northwest after reading this post. Read about our first couple of days in my last post, including our amazing Thanksgiving meal.

It rained non-stop for the first couple of days, but we turned out to be the most lucky people alive the Friday after Thanksgiving. Let me explain. We woke up to beautiful, clear, sunny skies that day, which was perfect because that was the day we were driving to the coast to see the Pacific ocean for the first time. On the way to breakfast, we could finally see Mt. Rainier. It was gorgeous! We knew it was going to be a fabulous day. So we hopped in the rental car, got on a ferry, and made our way to La Push, Washington on the Quileute Reservation (otherwise known as the home of Jacob Black.)

While the drive was absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful, it was nothing compared to what we saw when we finally made it to the beach. Shock and awe. And that’s why we just had to spend the night when we saw that there are quaint hotel rooms right there on the beach in La Push. Here’s where our luck continues…We walked into the hotel office and asked if they had any rooms available. Yes, they had one. ONLY ONE. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity! So we paid for our room, called Alida from the front desk (there was no cell service, no room phone and no tv…it was bliss) and told her that we wouldn’t be back that night. We felt bad but we knew Alida would not only understand, but encourage our romantic spur-of-the-moment-ness. There was one gas station, which is where we bought 3 bottles of wine, a toothbrush and some contact solution, since we didn’t bring our bags with us on this “day trip.” Who needs anything else, right? Photos from La Push are below, but you have to understand that these pictures do it absolutely no justice. It’s just too beautiful for pictures.

As soon as we got out of the car the first time, Drew could not stop saying, “It’s like the GOONIES!!!”

We stayed in the Whale building and drank Washington wine called “Orca.” Awesome.

Drew successfully gave me a heart attack by climbing this monstrosity.

I knew that the beaches wouldn’t be composed of the same soft white sand that I’m used to on the Gulf Coast, but rocks? Crazy. So many of these rocks are straight up granite, which was surprising but also highly obvious since these are volcanic rocks. Duh. I love geology!

That night was one of the best nights of my married life, and I’ve had a lot of those this year. I’ve even called this the best year of my life…like, EVER. It’s that awesome.

P.S. We saw this sign on the side of the road between Forks and La Push. We got a good laugh out of it.

{photo credit}

P.P.S. I have one more fantastic day in Seattle to share with you, so stay tuned!

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I will live here someday.

We have had such an amazing time, and we’re not even done yet! We arrived in Seattle at 2am Wednesday morning. Upon waking up the next day, we had a beautiful (if not gloomy) view of the Space Needle. The weather has been pretty crappy, but apparently it’s the worst weather they get. If we can handle this, we can handle any Seattle weather, right?

I got some huge, delicious Washington honeycrisp apples at the market. They taste like they were just picked from the tree. Yum.

We have been getting extra special treatment from our local expert, Alida. She has been amazing. Also, we cooked the shit out of Thanksgiving, thank you very much.

We already look like hipsters. We belong here, obvs.

We’re driving to the pacific coast today. I have a feeling this is going to be the best day ever.

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MOB to SEA

{photo credit: Jill Maguire’s Etsy Shop}

We’re spending Thanksgiving with Booyah in Seattle! The plane boards at 6:15 this evening and we will see the Seattle skyline by midnight (PT). I’m so excited about this trip, that I hope to blog from my phone as we go (this may or may not include a recap of our trip to the Pacific coast via Forks, WA…geez, I’m such a nerd). Stay tuned and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

P.S. I plan on blogging more frequently from now on, so hopefully this will get the ball rolling.

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