Blog Chatter: My Busy Year!

Hello everyone! It’s my second Blog Chatter post! I know you all have been pacing back-and-forth waiting with anticipation. And look! here I am!  I wanted to take a moment and tell everyone about my busy year, what I have done and what I have coming up. First, I am so thankful for all the love and support you all give me. I love connecting with everyone! Heads up, this will be a long post but I hope you will enjoy it as I love sharing it with you. I would love your feedback as well! :-)

This year has been great so far. My job is going well, although it keeps me very busy. I have started producing a new MLS (Major League Soccer) show and it’s been so much fun! BTW, if you have Time Warner Cable you might be able to see it in your area. The show is called Center Circle. Speaking of jobs…. I recently got accepted as one of Eco-Vegan Gal‘s apprentices! I will learn more about my duties later but I am so excited that I get to learn more and share about this wonderful lifestyle. I will blog about that later as I get more into the position. If by chance you have a similar position or if you were one of the lucky ones that got the Eco-Vegan Gal internship let me know! More about jobs later, but let’s talk about some adventures I have had and will have this year.

My travels started in January where my husband and I went on a weekend trip to Chicago. We ate a lot! We went to the Chicago Diner and I had the Country Fried “Steak” and my husband had the BBQ Bacon Burger. It was amazing! One of the best meals I have ever had.  The Chicago Diner is meat-free and all their items are vegan or have vegan options. We also went to Native Foods Cafe. Again, the food was amazing. I can’t remember what I had but I do remember that their sweet potato fries were the bomb! We also went to Karyn’s Fresh Corner (Karyn’s Cooked). We have eaten here on our trips to Chicago before so I have tried a lot of items on the menu. I like Karyn’s but it can be a tad expensive. For desserts, we had to go to Sprinkles and get their only vegan cupcake flavor, Red Velvet. By far my favorite cupcake. My husband would disagree but I loved red velvet cake before I went vegan and have found it hard to replicate. On to the next adventure…

Well my son just graduated from high school. I can’t believe it! My baby is all grown up! It has been an emotional few months preparing myself for the moment and it happened. I was so stressed I even broke out in hives! Who does that? Well me, I guess. I have never had hives before so it was very weird and painful. But it was a very proud moment for me to see him walk across the stage. I’m glad it’s over but now it’s on to college! Do I have to go through this again in another four years? Well, it’s worth it.

While we are in May, I just thought I would let you all know that it is officially 3 years of me being vegan! Yea me! It has been awesome and I am proud that my husband made the transition as well. He has been vegan for 2 years now. Double yea for us!

OK, so coming up next is the Chicago Veggie Fest on August 10th and 11th. I am very excited about this as it will be my first Veggie Fest and first vegan festival I have attended. My husband and I will probably drive down there for the weekend to attend (it’s 8 hours from Kansas City) unless we can get cheap airfare. I hope to meet up with some awesome vegan peeps while I’m there (I’m looking at you Holly!) so if you are going to be in the area we would love meetup with everyone! Let me know. It will be fun!

At the end of August I am going to Myrtle Beach. This is my biannual vacation spot and my second time going to Myrtle Beach since I have been vegan. I have to admit, it is hard to find vegan options in there. They don’t have any vegan/vegetarian restaurants but they did have something similar to a Whole Foods called Bay Naturals Kitchen, but it was very small. Better than nothing though! In the back of the store they have a Cafe area and they have vegan wraps and some vegan desserts. It was pretty good. I was also able to find a pizza place called Mellow Mushroom that had a vegan pizza so that was nice since I love pizza! Other than that, I love the beach. It is one of my favorite vacation spots. Again, if you live in the area and can suggest some food or know of a meetup, let me know.

So I have another “job”!  I am the co-coordinator of Farm Sanctuary’s Kansas City Walk for Animals this year. I am very excited! It is a volunteer position and it’s is going to take a lot of work to get everything planned but I am beyond thrilled to just be a part of the event! Our event is in KC in mid-October but Farm Sanctuary has walks all over the major cities, so make sure you check it out and see if there is one in your area. Please help us spread the word! Thanks!

In late October, my husband and I are going to New Orleans for his best friends wedding. I am pretty nervous about this since I heard New Orleans is not very vegan friendly. I am staying a few extra days after my husband leaves and one of my best friends is coming to hang out. He loves New Orleans but is a big meat eater so it will be very interesting to see what we can find to satisfy us both. I have only been to New Orleans one other time but that was before I was vegan. If all else fails, I will load up on snacks. I am just excited to do the Haunted Ghost tour. Fun! Again, if you have been there or have any food suggestions, they are welcome.

November 1st will be my 5 year wedding anniversary. It will also be my one year blog anniversary (blogiversary?). Anywho, I have some great ideas and giveaways planned throughout the month of November which I am VERY excited about so stay tuned.  I know. I hate waiting too.

As you can see, I have some busy months ahead! I am very excited, a little nervous and I can’t wait to share everything with you! I also have a few giveaways coming up in the next few weeks so you can get your giveaway fix on! Well, thank you for listening to my blog chatter. If you made it all the way through this post I am so proud of you! If not, you can come back later and catch up. ;-)

Love and Luck to you all!

Marcia