16 posts tagged “blogher”
So, BlogHer is next week. Which tempts me to simply say:
"Move along, nothing to see here, come back the week of July 21st...or even the week of the 28th."
But in true obsessive blogger fashion I can't resist trying to keep up!!
So, I have a question for you. I've been thinking about this since the weekend.
I find that typically I have one day during the weekend where I lounge about and don't do much. (By which I mean I sit with my laptop and probably try to catch up on email for a while, but I don't catch up on other chores.) And then I have one day filled with chores. Grocery shopping, laundry, taking out the recyclables, tidying up a bit...that sort of thing.
I have typically made chore day on Sunday, thinking it's better to relax more on Saturday. But this week I started thinking that maybe it would be better to move chores to Saturday, so it didn't feel like I was going back to work right on top of a day filled with chores.
What do you do? Thoughts?
As for eating this past Sunday-Thursday? nothing new and interesting to report. one night at dinner I ate some celery and I ate some grapes. And I thought, it would be so nice if I had actually chopped these up and mad some kind of fancy salad with them...that would be great to report on Veggie Goes Vegan.
But no.
I just ate some celery stalks. And ate some grapes.
I've also been enjoying the nectarines and plums that are in season. I discovered that one of my friends, who has a plum tree, actually does canning, when she brought me some plum conserves. Complete in Ball Jar. I looked at her as though she was a stranger. Who is this woman who cans? Or jars.
Plum conserves, by the way? Quite yummy. especially on Vanilla Soy Ice Cream.
That is all.
We'll see when I can post again...conference crazy time is upon us!!!
I had a wonderful experience interviewing Anna Lappe for a podcast on BlogHer.
It's part of BlogHer's Earth Day Every Day initiative this month, so check it out!
And check out Anna's new site: Take a Bite Out of Climate Change, too.
Another week, another business trip, another series of mostly monontonous meals, punctuated with some happy eating moments.
Monday was my last day at home before leaving on a long-ish trip to NYC for six days. (In fact I'm writing this form my hotel before I go check out.) Our BlogHer Business Conference was held at the Affinia Manhattan for the second year in a row, and they have a banquet manager, Libardo, who goes out of his way to take care of me and my crazy vegan-ness. To the extent that on day two when we had an afternoon break that included a popcorn machine, Libardo went out to the store, bought some vegan microwave popcorn, had it made up, and had it there with the popcorn guys, just waiting for me. They even scooped it in the little popcorn bags that everyone else was eating out of, instead of just handing me the big ole bag of Orville Redenbacher :)
The Affinia had also added a few more vegan items to their menu since last year. So, actually, if I'm being honest (as Simon Cowell would say) I had quite a few choices: A veggie burger, a grilled vegetable platter, and my favorite, the Cappelini with mushrooms and asparagus.
So the week living out of the hotel and on room service and catering went pretty well.
Except I had one outstanding vegan experience, and one terrible one.
Let's start with the terrible one. When I checked in, I discovered they had left me some welcome amenities (probably because I'm the organizer of this big event.) Apparently the General Manager's office isn't quite as up on my crazy vegan-ness as my buddy Libardo. The wine was great, but there was a big old cheese platter, and a platter of petit fours.The petit fours weren't that appealing to me, but I confess that as time ticked by, and I was waiting to see if I'd be going to dinner with a colleague, I got hungry, and then I got weak, and then I ate some cheese. As always the roots of my failure can be traced back to lack of proper preparation. I left for my early morning flight without eating breakfast. I did buy something to eat on the plane, but it was kind of nasty, so I didn't end up eating much of it. I didn't check in and then step down the block to pick up something at the deli. Nope, I just flipped open the laptop, started working, and kept waiting. And vegan tragedy ensued.
The lesson to be gleaned by everyone here: Don't expect to be taken care of when you're out and about. Sure, it happens often, but on those occasions when there's just nothing to sustain you, make sure you have something of your own to take the edge off.
The outstanding vegan experience was visiting Blossom for lunch yesterday. Yum!! This was an NYC vegan place I hadn't tried, so I was excited to add another place to my NYC arsenal. I had a scrumptious Porcini Seitan with Spinach and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. I ate every bit and practically licked my plate. The only bum note was the cheesecake, which was a bit too heavy on the soy flavor for my taste. My lunch companion actally really liked it, though, so it's worth a try.
So that was my week...lots of running around, lots of capellini with asparagus and mushrooms, one new vegan restaurant discovery, and one unfortunate vegan failure.
I'm soon to meet another friend for brunch (not sure where we'll go) before getting on an afternoon flight back home. And yes, I WILL buy food for the flight that will actually hit the spot :)
...And I would love to know if you have any questions you'd like me to ask her.
I've been a little bit of a no-show here for a few days mostly because I had literally nothing to write about. What does that mean? Well, starting Monday afternoon I was hit by some bug...either food poisoning or a virus or something, and I stopped eating. Or wanting to eat. For several days. It was not normal for me at all.
Last weekend was actually an active, eventful one.
On Saturday I went and saw the latest Cirque du Soleil touring show, Kooza, in downtown San Jose. I had made myself a quite healthy lunch out of the Vegan Planet Cookbook: Winter Squash and Adzuki Bean Saute. Quite simple, hearty, tasty. (I'm realizing as I write this that the leftovers are in a pyrex bowl in the fridge at work...I never got to them, and they're probably down for the count now.)
Cotton Candy at the circus probably wasn't awesome for my tummy, but who can resist? it's one of those few childhood treats tat is vegan, after all.
We then went out to Thai food, and I had the usual: Tofu Tod (little deep-fried tofu triangles) and a Tofu Curry, this time Mussaman.
Sunday I actually got out and walked...a lot. First I met a friend and walked the track for a good 45-60 minutes, then we walked over to the local farmer's market and back. I went home and ate leftover Thai food before the S.O. and i headed up to the SF Indie Film Festival.
We were going to see this amazing movie: Back in the 80s a trio of 12 year old boys decided to make Raider of the Lost Ark. Frame by frame. It took them EIGHT summers to complete it. Other than the biplane having a boat as stand-in...and having a dog play the monkey...they really did thinkgs you could not believe if you weren't seeing it with your own eyes. Two of the filmmakers were on-hand for a little Q&A. This was all filmed in betamax, BTW, so although it is now preserved on DVD the quality is degraded, and the sound is very bad. I know the film so well, though, that I didn't need to understand their audio.
Afterwards we walked some more, this time to one of my favorite veg*n places, Cha Ya Vegetarian Japanese. And we ate a feast!
So, on Monday, I had leftovers from this feast for lunch...avocado and shitake rolls and this Portabella Tofu Tempura appetizer they make.
After lunch I was working in my office with a colleague with the door closed, and it started to feel hotter and hotter. Didn't help that we were dealing with a somewhat stressful issue. And at one point I started to feel like I was going to be sick or faint or something. I actually went to lie down on the couch in our entry way. And from there it did not really improve until I went home. And from there I did not really eat much until last night.
On Tuesday I had a little applesauce in the morning and a bowl of cereal in the evening.
On Wednesday I had a slice of toast in the morning and a couple of mashed potatoes in the evening,
On Thursday I had some applesauce in the morning, and didn't eat again until dinner (which the S.O. picked up from Cheesecake Factory, and of which I ate very little.)
And the thing was: I had no interest in eating. I was not hungry. But neither did I get the way I usually get when I don't eat...shaky, unfocused, irritable. I was fine with not eating.
Meanwhile, I thought I had food poisoning, but I've now developed this crappy cough, so I'm not sure what that means.
BlogHer is launching this whole Letter to My Body campaign, and my body has decided to rebel just in time for it.
OK, enough whining. This morning, my body did not react well to having eaten more of a meal last night...if you get my drift...so I'm back to feeling it's totally OK to not eat.
This is definitely not like me.
No, I didn't, because I suck, but I really should have...because their monthly eco-challenge for January was to reduce meat consumption!
Thursday night was BlogHer's Holiday Meet-up, held where we held last year's party: The Cafe Royale in San Francisco. They don't serve food there, but we gave them a budget to buy hors d'ouevres. I think next year I have to increase that budget, for my own sake :)
It was a fun evening, even better attended than last year's, and I am all for tradition, so we'll probably go for having it there again next year, what do you think?
Not a stellar eating day for me, in that i didn't seem to eat much.
Breakfast:
Green Tea (I'm doing pretty well switching to tea in the morning, although I'll admit it doesn't have quite the same satisfaction as a good strong Soy Latte)
Soy Latte (So, then when someone went out for coffee, I asked for a Soy Latte!)
Lunch:
Avocado, Lettuce and Tomato on sliced Sourdough
Chips
Holiday Party:
Chips and Guacamole
Hummus
Nuts
Beer
I slacked off on commenting about the recent NY Times article that urged women to order steak so they'd make a good impression on a man (blech!!)
Sure, I linked to Maria's post about it and commented on her post, but I didn't offer too much commentary.
I offer a little more commentary in my comments over on Liz Rizzo's BlogHer post about it.
Her post also has links to others talking about it, including my personal fave: Elaine Vineault's post: How Offensive Can The NY Times Be? Let Me Count The Ways…
I am proud, however, that I've coined a new term: Carni-normative
Based on the term "heteronormative" which was tossed around a bit post-BlogHer '06.
i.e. assuming that carnivorous behavior is the norm and is therefore the only behavior worth mentioning or referring to.
Consider it my contribution to this non-debate about how lame that article was, whether your a veg*n or not!
And that's not nearly as indulgent as it sounds.
Note the meal monotony. But luckily I had good company for two out of three room service meals...
Breakfast (room service):
Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Strawberries
Banana
Decaf Coffee
Company: none other than the ever-fascinating Susie Bright who told me stories about her wonderful evening the night before.
Lunch (roomservice):
Gardenburger with Tomatoes, Pickles and Mustard
French Fries w/Ketchup
Company: My BlogHer partners Lisa and Jory...yes, some last-minute organizing was on the menu too.
Snacks:
Wine
Veggies
Dinner (room service):
Same as lunch, down to the pickle.
Company: None...just me and my notes for the impending Keynote panel I would be moderating.
Not only was I out of the loop putting on this little shindig last week, but I also managed to acquire a corneal ulcer while in Chicago. I've been out of commission for days, and even now I am typing with one eye closed looking at a screen with the brightness all the way down. I can only work fo short spurts of time before needing to rest. (And no, perhaps I shouldn't be working at all...but have you seen my Inbox?)
So, I'm just going to post quick catch-up posts to get me back on track after almost 10 days away from this blog.
Breakfast:
Organic Oat Flakes cereal
Organic Rice Milk
Organic Sugar
Organic Banana
Lunch (Taco Bell):
Bean Burrito
Zesty Rice Bowl (Actually the Zesty Chicken Bowl, no pollo, no queso, no crema)
Organic Tortilla Chips
Dinner:
Leftover Corn Arugula Salad
Organic Brown Rice
Organic Greens with Envy (Trader Joes)
Organic Avocado
Garlic
Nutritional Yeast
Vegan German Chocolate Cookie
