Check out this nasty post from hippyshopper about an L.A. skin care doctor who thought it would be cool to send Victoria Beckham (and one presumes other celebrities) a gift bundle of his products...inside the cavity of a dead turkey. Like stuffing.
Apparently Posh is a strict vegetarian (and apparently also scores points with hippyshopper for not "making a big deal about it") but I must ask you, my non-veg readers:
Would this gift appeal to you if it showed up on your door?
Am I too clouded by my veggieness to see the coolness of this gift delivery method? Or is it, as I imagine, kinda disgusting to receive any gift where you have to stick your arm into the inside of a meat product you didn't examine and purchase yourself to get it?
Tell me...hit or miss?
With the S.O. still sick, I was thisclose to skipping a holiday gathering at an SF bar amongst one of my circle of friends. We're talking at least an hour drive up, potentially having to park and walk in a fairly dicey area, and then that drive back down...all while I was feeling pretty lethargic myself, if not actually sick.
But I gamely called someone else on the evite list who lives in Palo Alto, to see if she was going and wanted to carpool. When she picked up the phone she sounded like she had no interest in going, and was planning to bail, like I was considering myself. But we both realized that that would be a missed opportunity to see friends we really wanted to see, so we both resolved to get our asses up, dressed and in a party mood.
And I think we were both glad we went. (Although I was totally tired and was heading out the door by 11PM.)
Only down side was that i didn't eat dinner beforehand, decided to try to have a little cocktail, and the room was a bit close and warm...all of which led me to step outside for some fresh air to combat an onset of mild nausea and lightheadedness. Peri-menopause, here I think i come!
After dropping my friend off just before midnight, I actually stopped at a Jack in the Box drive-thru to get both a little sustenance (and yes, it was a VERY little) and a cold, caffeinated drink to perk me up for the remaining 20 minutes of my drive.
Luckily I also had a leftover salad at home, so i closed out the evening with some NON-incredibly unhealthy imbibing.
Breakfast:
Leftover Avocado Eggroll and Edamame
2 slices of Sourdough Toast, one with Soy Margarine, one with Organic Peanut Butter and Organic Jam
Lunch:
Organic Russet Potato with Soy Margarine and Nutritional Yeast
Snack:
2 Frozen Waffles, again one with Soy Margarine and Lite Syrup and one with Organic Peanut Butter and Organic Jam
Dinner:
Midori Sour (note to self: not trying that again on an empty stomach)
Curly Fries
Diet Coke
Leftover Salad with Beets, Avocado, Green Beans, Asparagus, Olives etc.
This year we did not have a holiday "shut-down" at work. We have Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day as company holidays, but any more time off was the responsibility of the employee to submit for. I of course didn't submit for any extra days.
And I must say I enjoyed the empty roads going into work on Thursday and Friday. But Friday with only me and 2 other people in the office, and the overcast gray skies outside the windows, and a distinct lack of bustling feeling in our office building overall, it did feel a bit like I Am Legend goes to work, like we were the last 3 humans on earth...or at least the only 3 humans actually working at 4PM on a Friday afternoon.
I actually left work at 5PM. What a concept! After another night's sleep disrupted by the S.O. coughing up a lung, it was all i could do to drag my sorry ass home.
Yet, in some kind of Christmas miracle, the S.O. felt well enough to head out and exchange his Rock Band set, because the guitar controller had malfunctioned out of the box. And then he even picked up food. (Don't worry, he was right back to not-well-enough-to-go-to-a-holiday-get-together by the next day.)
But I sure did appreciate the food :)
Breakfast:
Puffins Cereal
Organic Rice Milk
Lunch:
Leftover Tofu and Seitan over Brown Rice
Organic Applesauce
Dinner:
Organic Baked Potato with Soy Margarine and Nutritional Yeast
Avocado Egg Rolls (sans egg)
Edamame
Salad with Beets, Avocado, Green Beans, Olives and Asapragus
Selfish person that I am, that my S.O. is still sick. not that he's gone or will go to the doctor. Not that he's lying down and staying in bed during the day. Or drinking lots of liquids. But there's no denying he's not being a hypochondriac or big baby this time...he does have a miserable cough and lots of phlegm everywhere one can get phlegm.
I'm back at work, but feeling pretty tired from lack of sleep. And trying really hard not to get sick myself. And foreseeing that this upcoming weekend's plans are also going to get ruined by his lingering cold.
Crap.
We had a thing to go to up in SF on Saturday evening and one we could go to on Sunday afternoon. Back when Samantha was alive we would have driven up each day, so we would be there to take care of her. I figured that now we'd be able to stay in a hotel on Saturday night, making it so much easier on us. I mean, it's kind of a sad reminder, but it is something we could do now that we couldn't do before.
But now I'll probably end up driving up there alone for the Saturday night thing, coming home and probably not driving up there alone again for the Sunday thing at all.
Bah. Humbug.
Breakfast:
Organic "Fruit Loops"
Organic Rice Milk
Lunch:
Diet Coke
Bean, Rice, Salsa and Guacamole Burrito
Chips
Dinner:
Leftover Tofu and Seitan over Brown Rice
Leftover Veggie Chow Mein
Leftover Drumstick
I worked from home the day after Christmas (and yes, I worked) but I had to go out because on Sunday I got my nails done and forgot to pay! Nice present for them, huh? Good thing i've been going there for over 12 years, so they know I'm good for it. Anyway, since I had to go out, and since the nail salon is on Lawrence Expressway, and since Merit Vegetarian is on Lawrence Expressway too, I got the bright idea to pick up some food from there to go.
And it was a bright idea indeed!!!
Breakfast:
Leftover Vegan Peach Pie
Organic Banana
Sourdough Toast with Soy Margarine and Organic Avocado
Lunch:
More Vegan Peach Pie (you can see why I was craving some good savory food, right?)
Dinner (Merit Vegetarian):
Drumsticks
Pot Stickers
Fried Wontons
Sauteed Garlic Beef
Well, despite the S.O. having to miss out on the festivities, there were festivities to be had at my mom's house.
Don't worry about the S.O., though. I bought him Rock Band for Christmas, so not only did we play a lot in the afternoon before I left, but he pretty much played around with it all night without me. Which apparently he finds more therapeutic than oh, lying down and resting.
Breakfast:
Organic "Fruit Loops"
Organic Rice Milk
Organic Banana
2 slices of Sourdough Toast with Soy Margarine and Organic Avocado
Lunch:
Leftover Baked Vegetables and Gravy
Lime Popsicle
Dinner:
Chips and Guacamole
Snap Peas and Carrots
Potatoes and Corn with Soy Margarine
Salad with Vinaigrette
Vegan Peach Pie
That my S.O. came home Friday night from work complaining that a co-worker had come in sick, and that he was sure he caught it? And that he did indeed proceed to catch a nasty, phlegmy cold that basically prevented him from taking part in any of our planned Christmas activities? And that his coughing and nose-blowing woke me up or kept me up repeatedly? And that I'm a bad person, because all of this made me cranky?
Yeah, that happened.
But i did go out to some yummy Chinese food (and was nice enough to bring the S.O. home some, so Christmas Eve wasn't a complete bust.)
Breakfast:
Organic Fruit Loops
Organic Rice Milk
Organic Banana
Lunch:
Leftover Pasta with Vegetables
Snack:
Red Hot Blue Corn hips
Dinner (Taiwan):
Fried Wonton
Brown Rice
Tofu Kung Pao
Usually I'm the annoying person who has all her shopping done before Thanksgiving. Usually those gifts are thoughtful, highly personal, things I've picked up throughout the year because i saw things and thought of someone I love.
This year I was desperately searching the shelves of barnes & noble 2 days before Christmas without a clue in my head. And this year we agreed that the adults in my family wouldn't exchange gifts...so that was 8 presents less than I typically buy.
Oh, the horror!
So, I wasn't too thrilled when on Saturday I headed off to my hairdresser and discovered him running 20 minutes late. I didn't discover it because they told me when I got there that he was running late, so if I had some shopping to do, maybe I should do it (he's in the same center as a barnes & noble after all.) No, I discovered because that's how long I sat there. And this after I didn't stop to get a sandwich, although I was very hungy, because I didn't want to be alte.
So, I did a radical thing and didn't have my hairdresser do my color. let's see if I've finally worked my way up to a Bonnie Raitt-style gray streak, shall we?
Breakfast:
Organic "Fruit Loops"
Organic Rice Milk
Organic Banana
1 slice of Sourdough Toast with Soy Margarine
Lunch (Le Boulanger)
Avocado, Lettuce an Tomato on Sliced Sourdough
Chips
Soy Latte
Dinner:
Baked Vegetables (Organic Golden Potatoes, Organic Russet Potatoes, Organic Butternut Squash, Organic Cauliflower) tossed in Olive Oil, Garlic, Cinnamon, Salt and Pepper
Gravy, consisting of Nutritional Yeast, Soy Flour, Olive Oil, Organic Rice Milk, Organic Tamari, Corn, Organic Peas, Organic Celert, Organic Onion, Organic Leek, Garlic and Seitan
Wow, I'm reminded that experiencing the holiday season as a vegan (this is my second holiday season as such) is different. most of the indulgences that people complain stalk them at every turn are a no-go for me. I don't feel particularly inundated with candy or chocolates or huge holiday meals. If I overeat it's comprised of the same foods I could overeat on any day of the week.
This week I spent 24 hours in Vancouver, and unlike the last (and only other) time I was there, I brought the California sunshine with me. They had led me to believe it would be cold and rainy, but rather it was clear and brisk. Quite lovely.
24 hours was enough rime to try out a local vegetarian restaurant, thanks to the investigative powers of Kristin, BlogHer's one Canadian employee :)
I would say that The Naam was definitely of the old-school vegetarian restaurant variety...lots and lot of hearty helpings of vegetables and grains...and one nasty attempt at a vegan cake! But they did prepare a generous serving of nachos with Tofurella. Albeit a burnt serving. (Yes, we could have and probably should have sent them back, but we didn't.)
When I returned from my quick trip to Vancouver and headed to the office, I found we had received two big baskets from vendors. And therein lies the difference...not a whole lot for me to pig out on in those baskets.
Last night I had a night out in downtown San Jose. It was supposed to be a date night with the S.O. (Yes, even couples without children ahve to occasionally schedule in date nights, lest every night be spent in front of the TV catching up on what TiVo has collected for us.) Sadly, the S.O. has a cold. He reliably gets sick every time there's a holiday or some time off in our shared future.
So, a good friend and I headed downtown to see some theatre, and started the evening off with a dinner at E&O Trading Company.
I liked that the waitress seemed very confident and knowledgeable when answering my questions about what I could eat. and when she didn't know, she simply went and asked. A vegan can build a pretty fine meal at E&O, and I did, having Portabella Satay,edamame, and a "Tofu Firecracker" dish (that's usually "Chicken Firecracker.") They even have sorbet for dessert!
Unfortunately (warning, TMI ahead) this morning I discovered that perhaps something was awry in all the wonderful food I ate, because I had what can delicately be called a digestive disturbance.
Then again, maybe it was the cotton candy I bought after the theatre at this street fair happening downdown.
Nah, couldn't be that!
Today I have just a few last-minute gifts to buy, and not much else going on. I believe I will need to cook tonight. got a new shipment from Organic Express, and gotta put those veggies to work!
After feeling like I had already indulged in my Baked vegetables with Gravy concoction on Saturday night, I'm not sure what demon of gluttony whispered in my ear and convinced me I should cook again, and that it should somehow all be consumed.
I can't believe I ate the whole thing.
But damn, it was good :)
Breakfast:
Leftover Vietnamese Crepe from Merit Vegetarian
Organic Banana
Lunch:
Leftover Baked Vegetables and Gravy
Pineapple Sorbet
Dinner:
Quinoa Shells
Pasta Sauce, made from: Olive Oil, Garlic, Basil, Organic Onion, Hearts of Palm, Artichoke Bottoms, Muir Glen Organic Portabella Mushroom Sauce, Tofutti "Sour Cream"
