Random Stuff before MoFo!

Hey everyone! I hope that all is well and that you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was pretty rough but I'll get into all of that later on. This post is a random mix of things so I can get ready for MoFo! I can't believe it's already here, I feel like it just snuck up on me! I forgot how intense daily blogging can be (which is why I'm taking weekends off) and I've been tying really hard to get ahead of everything so I can stay on track through the whole month. Anyway, let's catch up on the last few days!

Of course we had a lazy breakfast bagel, ha! This time I went for plain and of course there is entirely too much tofu spread but I guess better to have too much than too little (they charge A LOT for this so I am happy to remove some and use it later, ha!). Super good, as always.

On Sunday I attended a party for my Sister in Law. She and my brother are celebrating their 10 year wedding anniversary this year (in August) and we were also celebrating the fact that she finished her chemo treatments which she responded to well. I know I alluded to it here but never gave specifics but that is something else that has been going on behind the scenes here. I have to say she is such an inspiring woman. She has handled it with such grace and bravery. She always has a smile on her face and always sees positivity and light. She is a genuinely good soul and I'm so lucky that she is family and so grateful that she is doing well. Her surgery is tomorrow so the next phase will begin then. It was really nice to celebrate her though.

My brother made sure that I had some delicious vegan food to eat and I got this special grilled veggie plate that was delicious! I really enjoyed it, especially because A) I'm not going to grill veggies myself (someone will always do it for me 😂) and B) I needed some fresh veggies in my life. It was delicious and I'm lucky to have a brother that is supportive and always makes sure I'm taken care of.

Can we talk about this view?! The party was on a hotel rooftop in Long Island City and the view was stunning. It was a beautiful day but it was pretty damn hot. I do love this view though.

The day was really nice as we got to celebrate my sister in law and her and my brother's relationship but it was also a little bit difficult for me. It made me miss Doug a lot. He should have been there with me and I should have been introducing him to people rather than receiving condolences. It was also a reminder that I don't get these relationship milestones, moments and memories with him and it is still really difficult for me to process and accept that. It feels really self absorbed to feel that way but it's just the way I feel. I've really been missing him so it's been a little bit of a struggle.

On to some happier stuff, I have wanted to build a little bit of a stamp collection to use for my art pieces and once I saw the Visible Image stamps I knew I needed to start building a collection. They are a bit pricey but they were having a summer sale so I decided to do the impossible and pick out 2 sets to purchase to start my collection. I knew I needed the Glimmer of Light set (that is the one I saw first and brought me over to their website) but selecting the second set was nearly impossible. I decided on the Wings of Change set and I love it and I'm so excited to use them! I'm also excited for the next sale so I can purchase some more! 

I also wanted to bump up my collection of metal pieces, gears and cogs and other pretty embellishments so I went to Amazon and purchased a few inexpensive lots to build my collection. I'm really happy with what I selected and do you see those skeleton hands in the bag furthest left (of the metal pieces)?! I AM OBSESSED and I can't wait to figure out a way to use them! I also got some pearly looking dots to use as embellishments and ink to use for my stamps.

So that's what I have to share with you today! I will be back on Thursday to start off MoFo! I hope you all have a great few days and I'll see you back here soon 💚

Random Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone, I hope you are all well! Happy Friday to you. I'm sure you are all looking forward to your weekend. I'm looking forward to mine, just need to get through a few more days first. This week has been a little more difficult, I've been missing him a lot. I've been getting through it though and I know that it will be like this for a very long time. The sadness comes in waves but I'm doing ok. I'm looking forward to getting into more art projects. It's been a busy week but after Sunday I'll have more time to spend on my art. I also ordered some supplies and embellishments and I'm really excited to get everything and start using them. I really love the dark aesthetic that I've been working with recently and plan to continue with that. I want to push myself and see what I can come up with!

Anyway, I have a few photographs of things I've been eating lately.

I figured I'd start with the brightest, most colorful meal 😂 I've been enjoying simple salads lately and this one just has greens and grape tomatoes with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper with a few dolmas. It's really good and I'm glad to be getting my greens in.

Of course that's to balance out the garbage food, haha. This dinner was some curly fries and Morningstar Nuggets.

My obligatory weekly pumpernickel bagel with tofu spread.

Summer fruit of the week is plums! So yummy!

I went out to dinner with someone I met through Doug and we had a really nice time! I am going to share the food during MoFo as one of my Long Island Vegan Restaurant posts. It was delicious and the company was wonderful. She told me some amazing stories about him and I am really enjoying learning more about him through his friends.

That's all I have for you today. Do you have any fun plans for the weekend? Stay cool if it'll be hot near you and I hope you all have a great weekend! 💚

Stuff I Ate and Daiso!

Hey everyone! I hope that all is well and that you had a nice weekend and were able to stay cool. I don't know about you and where you are but it was FUCKING HOT here on Saturday and Sunday. I worked on Saturday so I was inside and ok but holy crap Sunday was insane. That was the day I was out with my friends and it wasn't bad at all because we were inside most of the time but it was even warm in that mall because it probably just would take too much power too cool it down and more. Plus there were a lot of people there so it probably also made it more difficult to cool down. I hope you all got through the heat wave ok and were able to have a great weekend.

For today's post I have some stuff I ate, a mini Daiso haul (like super mini) and my newest art piece. I am SO PROUD of this piece, it is probably my new favorite. It's unique and I just love it.

For dinner one night I had my last Aldi burger with the last tiny bit of Daiya Mozzarella shreds, some chips and some cherries. I love adding a little fruit to my meals because it just super refreshing.

I ran to the deli next door to grab lunch one day and they had these delicious roasted potatoes which I paired with some broccoli and cauliflower.

As I mentioned, my friends and I went to Daiso on Sunday and it was a very fun store! It is a Japanese dollar store (although here everything is priced at $1.99 and some items were more expensive) and they have the CUTEST stuff. I showed a whole lot of self control since my budget is tight and I was planning on splurging on art supplies that I "need" so I decided that I just need to save my pennies where I can. I did pick up a few items that I thought would be adorable to use in some projects so I grabbed these heart and star clips and these little flower embellishments. I definitely had to restrain myself in the stationery section, it was SO CUTE!

We walked around the mall a little bit and found the Japanese market that was there and decided to look around there too. I wanted SO MUCH STUFF but it was so hot that we just felt it wouldn't be a good idea to get stuff because it probably wouldn't make it. We already decided that when they come back into town and it's cooler out we are going to go back and get some cool stuff.

After the mall we went to a Turkish restaurant to grab some lunch. I've been to this place a lot and I actually went with them back in December so we knew we'd enjoy our meal and it was also a lot lighter than the other food options we could think of and it was too hot to eat a heavy meal.

We started with hummus and OMG THEY MAKE THE BEST HUMMUS. 

I got the Veggie Kebabs which comes with rice and salad and pickled cabbage. It was delicious, I always enjoy this meal!

Finally, here is my latest piece! I had the thought of going for an "industrial bubble" vibe and I didn't even know what it meant when I sat down to work on this piece. I really freaking love how it came out. I love that people think that I used metal in this piece because there is no metal at all, it's all cardboard, cabochons and beads! I love the darker vibe (that is closer to my overall aesthetic than the "pretty" florals) and I love that I pushed myself way out of my comfort zone. I'm really proud of this piece.

I'm also really excited to say that someone approached me to do my first custom piece and the concept that they wanted IS SO FREAKING AWESOME and right up my alley! I'm going to keep the details to myself for now but I really can't wait to share it with you. I have really been enjoying working on my art and it's something I want to pursue further. I'm also planning on setting up a YouTube channel because I have had SO MANY requests for tutorials and so many questions asking how I make these. I just need to figure out logistics! I'll keep you posted on the progress!

So that is all I have for you today. I hope that you all have a wonderful week and I'll be back on Friday to catch up with you again! 💚

Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone. I hope you are all well and that you had a good week. I'm glad it's almost over and that the weekend is almost here. I am quite excited that I will be seeing my dear friend on Sunday. She's in town for the weekend and I am always so happy when I am able to spend some time with her and her husband. We have plans to go to Daiso which is a Japanese dollar store. They loved it when they went to Japan and saw that there is one here in Flushing so she asked if I wanted to go and I said of course! I love a good dollar store ;) I'm hoping to find some cool stuff to use in art projects.

Things are pretty much the same otherwise. Emotion comes in waves but I miss him every day. I'm trying to make a plan for MoFo and honestly get a little ahead because the thought of blogging every day Monday-Friday is a bit daunting right now but I'm so excited to come up with new content. I have some cool stuff in mind so yay!

I don't have a ton to share with you today because I just didn't photograph most of my meals but I will share what I do have.

Lots of watermelon. There were also a lot of cherries in my life but I didn't photograph them. I'm loving all of the fresh summer fruit so much.

A personal pita pizza was perfect for a pizza craving.

Lazy breakfast of a pumpernickel bagel with tofu spread.

A beautiful hibiscus flower 💜 These are my favorite flowers, I have a tattoo of one on the back on my ankle. I had to take a picture and share it with you guys.

So that's all I have for you today. I will be back on Tuesday with more food and if I get anything at Daiso I will certainly share that with you as well.

Have a great weekend 💚

Stuff I Ate and MoFo!

Hey everyone, I hope you are all doing well and had a good weekend. I'm hanging in, thankfully I had therapy yesterday and it was definitely helpful. I'm still feeling low but I'm trying to push through and stay strong. I let myself get the emotions out but I'm trying not to let myself get to a place where I have to climb back out again. I know he wouldn't want me to crumble either. I'm also really going to focus on self care this week because something we discussed in therapy again is that I need to focus on taking care of myself.

I do have some exciting news though. As I mentioned, I decided that I really wanted to participate in Vegan MoFo this year! I finally decided on a few themes to cycle through over the course of the month. They are Budget Vegan, Long Island Vegan Restaurants, Restaurant Copycats and Trying Other Bloggers' Recipes. I will also include some Stuff I Ate posts and grocery hauls since that is what my blog tends to be and I want to stay true to that. I haven't decided if there will be a structured schedule or if I'll just post what I want when I feel like it. I will definitely also be including some art and I LOVED Julie's idea of doing art inspired by food and I have a few ideas already 😊 I will be doing my best to post Monday-Friday and take the weekends off. I think this is actually exactly what I need to get me back into being more creative and getting me out of my head and lifting me back up. Doug and I were on the same page that showing amazing vegan food is the best way to promote veganism so I am totally going to do the best I can to honor that and him through this month.

Random dinner of chick'n parm and some waffle fries.

Yummy lunch from the deli near me. Rice with broccoli, cauliflower and some yucca. Yum!

Sometimes you just need a big pile of fruit. It's been pretty hot here so this container of cherries and watermelon was perfect and refreshing on a hot day.

Yummy dinner of roasted veggies, tomatoes, dolma, stuffed grape leaves and hummus. My signature dish, ha!

Aldi veggie burger, grapes and chips.

Of course I need to get in as much fresh fruit as possible so here is a little fruit salad of grapes and cantaloupe.

I decided to leave my comfort zone with my newest piece and I am so happy I did because I LOVE THIS. I went for a Steampunk style piece and I'm really happy with how it came out. I love the colors together, the grungy look and the elements that I used. I'm really happy with this.

Gears are a huge part of the Steampunk look and I had a few in my stash and I think it looks awesome.

I was really happy with the composition of this one as well. I'm really excited to keep experimenting and going out of my comfort zone to see what I can come up with. 

So this ended up being a much longer post than I expected but I guess I was just feeling like I was getting in the MoFo mood 😉 I'm really excited about it this year and I'm hoping that this will be the catalyst I need to push myself on this blog more and get out of the rut I'm in. Like I mentioned, Doug and I both believe(d) that sharing amazing vegan food is the best way to promote veganism and I'm going to do everything I can to do so in his honor.

I hope that you all have a great week and I'll see you back here on Friday 💚

More Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone. I hope you are all well. I just wanted to say thank you all so much for your continued support. This has been the worst thing I've ever gone through and I'm still struggling a lot and I know it will be a struggle for a long time. This is going to be another short post because I haven't photographed much this week but I do have a few things to share.

Someone kindly gifted me with a Starbucks gift card for helping them out with something so I treated myself to a grande iced hazelnut latte with soy milk. This is my go to Starbucks drink and I love it.

Some pita chips with hummus.

Yummy summer peaches.

My weekly pumpernickel bagel with tofutti spread. Just as delicious as always.

That's all I have for you today. I didn't even think I'd get a post out so I'm glad that I was at least able to get something up for you guys. I'm just trying to hold on until Monday when I have therapy. I don't have weekend plans yet but I'm hoping to get my MoFo plan sorted out so I can sign up for it. I think that would be a good distraction for me during August so I just need to figure out my theme and start planning so I can get ahead a little. 

Thanks again for all of your continued support 💚 I hope you all have a great weekend and I'm still open to more MoFo suggestions if you have any (I will likely incorporate more than one "theme" so I definitely have all the other ones in mind already!). See you Tuesday.

Stuff I Ate and Some Art

Hey everyone. I hope you are all well and had a nice weekend. Truthfully this is going to be a short post because I'm just not feeling chatty today. I am trying really hard to stay strong but it's getting more and more difficult every day. I feel myself crumbling. I miss him more than I can describe. I'm just really struggling to come to terms with the reality of all of this and that I'm never going to see him again. I just wish this was all a bad dream

That said, I'm just going to share a few meals and a new art piece with you.

Homemade Chick'n Parm sandwich with curly fries.

Finally got some cherries.

Another chick'n parm pizza.

Roasted veggie salad with hummus instead of dressing.

Probably one of my favorite pieces so far with some really difficult lessons I've had to learn recently.

Thanks for reading 💚 I'll be back Friday with something… not sure what yet. Have a good week.

Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone, I hope all is well and that you had a Happy 4th of July. Mine was quiet and I was quite emotional because I know I would have been spending the day with him. These milestone days like holidays and anniversaries and birthdays are going to be difficult but I'm doing the best I can to get through them. I decided to work on some art which was a pretty decent distraction for a bit but I definitely was emotional before and after that time.

As I mentioned on Tuesday, that night was the first memorial for Doug. It was really nice and a lot of people showed up to honor him and celebrate his life. There was time for mingling and meeting new people and there were speakers there to honor him. Midway through the speakers I was approached and asked if I would like to say anything and I instantly started panicking. All of these speakers had time to prepare and I was on the spot and I am NOT a public speaker. I instantly had anxiety but I knew that if I didn't speak I would never forgive myself to I agreed. I got up on that stage in front of at least 100 people and I spoke off the cuff and from the heart. I was terrified and it was not polished (I lost my words at one point) but it was honest and raw and vulnerable and I'm really glad I pushed through my own fears and discomfort to honor what we had. I know he was proud of me and I'm really proud of myself.

It was pretty late after the event but a group of us decided to go out for some vegan food in honor of Doug. We went to a restaurant that he really loved called PS Kitchen. One of the really nice things about this restaurant is that they donate part of what they make to charity and I know that he really loved that. It was a little sad because we arrived there essentially at the exact time of the accident exactly one month prior. We toasted Doug and enjoyed some great vegan food and company for him. It was really late (they were serving their late night menu) and although I didn't have dinner I went with a caesar salad because anything else would have been quite heavy. The caesar salad was DELICIOUS, the dressing was so yummy and it was a really great choice.

Overall the event was really nice and I met a lot of really amazing, supportive people. I have had people reach out since to make sure that I'm ok and that night I had a lot of people approach me with their condolences. Doug loved connecting people together and I truly believe his last act of service to his loved ones was to bring us all together.

I did have some pretty great meals through the rest of the week as well.

I made a pizza on the Trader Joe's crust and I added a cut up chick'n patty from Aldi to make it like a "chicken parm pizza" and it was SO DELICIOUS. I will definitely do this again.

I tried to be festive for the 4th of July and I had one of the Aldi soy protein burgers (it was very good, not the best I've had but definitely something I'd eat again) with some chips and corn. Also a great meal.

I tried the brownie dessert hummus from Aldi as well and OMG it's SO GOOD. I love it, it's a great way to satisfy a chocolate craving without getting too heavy or decadent. I had it with graham crackers and they were a perfect pairing.

I have been having avocado toast on the sourdough bread from Aldi for breakfast. I have missed eating avocado toast and this avocado was perfect so it was definitely really delicious.

As I mentioned previously, I tried to distract myself from the emotions and the loneliness yesterday by creating some art. I really like the way this one turned out and it was definitely a good distraction for a little while at least.

I really love the sponge painting effect that I've been achieving on my pieces. It's definitely becoming a signature style and I really like it.

I love these colors and quotes as well. I'm very happy with how this piece came out.

So that is all I have for you today. I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend so I can relax and maybe do something fun. I'm not sure what I'll do yet but I know that I have to get out and do something because sitting at home will drive me nuts. I do want to work on some more art as well if I'm feeling the least bit creative. Every day is still a struggle but I'm going to continue to take it one day at a time.

Thank you all so much again for your continued kindness and support. It really means so much to me and I'm so grateful for this community. 💚

Aldi Haul & Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone, I hope you are all well 💚 I'm happy to say that we did get to Aldi this weekend and I have a haul to share with you. I went in with the goal of kind of stocking up on some stuff that is a great deal there and I think I did well with that. I found some fun stuff and now the freezer is packed and it's nice to have some things to fall back on when I'm not feeling like cooking or doing anything. I also finally worked on decluttering and cleaning out my living space. I still have a lot of work left to do but it feels great to have a lot of it behind me. Tonight is the first memorial for Doug so I'm working through a lot of emotions right now and I have a lot of anxiety about it as well. I know it will be fine and I'll meet a lot of great people but it's one of those things where I just don't know what the vibe is going to be and I'm just hoping that I'll be able to keep it together better than I did at the funeral.

Anyway, let's check out the Aldi haul as well as a few things I've been eating.

These are some grocery items that I grabbed because they were a good price. I love those veggie chips and they are a great price at Aldi so I grabbed a bag. I got two flavors of triscuits to have with hummus, green pea crisps, roasted garlic bagel chips and a beautiful loaf of sourdough.

The stuff I really stocked up on is the vegan chick'n patties. These are my favorite meat substitute and since I don't get to Aldi often at all I grabbed 3 boxes 😳 I got one box of the soy protein burgers because I thought they would be like boca burgers? I don't know but those are always good to have on hand in case I go to a BBQ. I got some beautiful strawberries, a container of cream cheese, brownie batter hummus (!), an avocado, sliced mushrooms and curly fries (because why not!).

So that is my haul. I got some pretty good stuff and am glad I was able to stock up on the more budget friendly easy meals that I can grab when I'm just not feeling like cooking. It was also nice to just get out with my mom and take the ride out there.

This meal was so damn good you guys. I made a flatbread wrap with hummus and grilled veggies (mushrooms, zucchini and onion) and had some "steak fries" on the side. The fries were actually really thin and most of the pile ended up getting thrown out because they were little burned pieces. They look normal in the pic but they were definitely not normal steak cut fries.

Another version of this meal. More grilled veggies, hummus and flatbread with some dolmas. So good.

Honestly I just took a picture of this peach to show you my amazing nail polish 😂 I am a huge fan of Zoya because they are vegan and 5 Free. They are pricey but I tend to purchase mine on Black Friday when they are on deep discount. This is one of their Pixie Dust shades with is glittery and textured and it is stunning and holographic and everything I need in my life right now. The Pixie Dust shades are a bitch to take off but so worth it. I need to get the black one for sure.

I have a random question for you guys. MoFo is in August this year and I would really like to participate but I'm having a hard time picking a theme! Is there anything that I do on here that you would like me to focus on? Is there anything that you think I should explore further? I saw their prompts and while they seem fun it feels unrealistic for me to be able to create all of those meals and recipes while on a budget and working full time. I'm definitely open to ideas if you have any!

So that is what I have for you today. I'll be back on Friday with more vegan deliciousness and hopefully I'll have some 4th of July eats to share. I don't know what I'm doing yet, if anything. Do you guys have plans? Let me know.

I hope you all have a great week. I'll see you Friday 💚