Farewell!

So, the blog is done.

I feel really good about where I am in my life right now, and I no longer need this outlet. With Jasper and Husband and all the exciting things that will be happening this Spring and Summer, I am so busy and so happy. 

I appreciate everyone who took time out of their day to read my little blog, and I really enjoyed telling you all about our lives in Portland. 

Thanks for traveling with me on this journey! 

Thanks for reading! Best wishes and love from Portland. 

Veggie Grill

We got to eat at an all vegan restaurant the other day, called the Veggie Grill. It's a chain with locations in California, Washington, and Oregon. I have been excited to try this place since we have gone vegan, and it was great! 

http://www.veggiegrill.com/index.html

It's more focused on meat substitutes than whole food eating, but when I'm craving some 'normal' food, this is where I will go. Plus, it is HUGE joy to order something off the menu without any extra instructions. I was grinning like a little girl the whole time. 

I got a buffalo chicken salad, and husband got a cheese burger with all the fixins. We went with a friend who is not vegan, and he enjoyed his Thai wrap. 

This is mine, and I don't know what happened to husband's food pic. Note: I had eaten like half of this before I remembered to take a pic, so it's MUCH bigger than this. 

Here's a fancy professional pic of husbands food:

It was so freaking good. My food even had ranch dressing on it. I need that recipe Veggie Grill, give it up!!!! The 'chicken' bits were crispy and coated in hot wing sauce. MMMMMMM, now I'm hungry. 

I had a bite of the burger, and it was awesome. The best vegan burger I have ever had, by FAR. We got it 'El Dorado style' which includes jalapenos and onions. It came with a side of red cabbage slaw, although there are other side options, some for an upgrade price. 

I have a feeling that this will be our go-to restaurant whenever I feel the itch to go out. It's so satisfying and a perfect treat for anyone--vegan or not. If there's one near you (sorry, Colorado peeps) check it out ASAP!

Thanks for reading! Best wishes and love from Portland. 

He got the velcro

I got to go thrifting for the first time in a long time, and the thrift shop gods smiled on me. 
First, here's a video--in case you live under a rock and haven't seen it--that adequately sums up my love for thrifting. 

I only purchased 4 items. I am extremely picky when I thrift, as it's easy to spend money on things you will never wear or use. But when I encounter THE ITEM, I know it. 
We have a moment.

In this case, the magic happened when I met all of these items: 

 Let's talk sewing box first. 

I have always wanted one of these! The angled legs caught my eye first. The wood crap aisle is always intimidating at Goodwill, as it's not very organized. But take your time and check it all out. There's 'gold' in there, and lots of it is vintage. (before the "plastic age") This box made me squeal, especially when I discovered that it folds out like a tackle box. I can now free up the bowls that I currently store pins and needles in. It's something that your grandma has that gets passed down. It has some wear on the top, but I'm not going to touch that--it's earned it character. 

Next, let's talk about the clothes
 (not the scale yet, I'm saving the best for last).

The sweater is a new sweater, with tags still on, from Target. Always shop at a Goodwill nearest a Target, as that's where they send their clearance rejects. It's great for the more expensive lines Target does, like the recent Neiman Marcus collaboration (I found NM sweater there this time, but it was too big). 

The skirt has buttons down the front and pockets. It will be shortening it, as it hits mid calf. It will replace the other dark background floral skirt that I have worn. to. death. Literally held together with safety pins. 

Okay, the scale. I have been angry with my current scale for a while, as it EATS batteries. And they are the expensive flat ones too. Today I took out the battery and stuck it in my pocket, determined to get some more after I went to Goodwill. But I found a manual scale for $3!!!! 

This 50's scale stuck out at me under the pile of modern scales at Goodwill. 

I did test it with practically ALL of the other scales at Goodwill. That's right, I spend 15 minutes weighing myself with various scales at Goodwill. No shame. This scale was just as accurate as the new ones, and it is much cooker looking. 

I cleaned it up when I got home, and I think it's perfect.

Here's the old one: 

Shame on you Taylor scale for eating batteries! 

The best part of the new scale is that I just did some research on the Borg name. They are selling for up to 70 dollars on Ebay! Don't worry Mr. Scale, I'd never sell you!

I tell ya, it's the little things in life.  

Thanks for reading! Best wishes and love from Portland. 

End of Vegan Challenge!

So, here we are, three months without ingesting animal products. You probably think that we've turned into this guy: 

Well, we haven't. We have probably shifted a bit more toward the dirty hippie side of the spectrum, but we're totally still showering and everything. Promise. And lezz be honest, we were pretty much on the dirty hippie side of the scale already. 

I am staying vegan, and husband is as well. I wasn't predicting that outcome at the beginning of the year. It comes down to several factors: 

1. We feel great. 
As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have tons of energy, and no "Ugh, I just stuffed myself, I need to lie down" feeling after eating. We get to eat more volume with less calories. 

2. We don't feel deprived. 
There's a vegan alternative to everything in these modern times! Even though we generally stay away the fake meats and cheeses, we also believe in indulging in cravings before they become obsessions. If I do miss anything, it's the convenience of quick eating, and we really shouldn't be eating those convenience foods anyway. 

3. There's an amazing power in saying "no" to yourself.
This is hard to explain unless you've experienced it yourself. I think of our modern food world as being in a constant state of feasting. High calorie foods are the norm. We eat those high calorie foods and our brain is happy for a moment, because feasting just feels good. We want that feeling again and again. Obviously we can see the effect of this behavior on our society. Making a break in that behavior ends up making you feel better, for a longer period of time. What you don't realize is that while feasting feels good, not feasting doesn't feel bad. In fact, it doesn't feel like anything! Your self control improves, and you realize that emotion doesn't rule your food choices anymore. I am the most in control of my relationship with food than I have ever been, and I am loving it. 

4. It's easy now!
I've adapted to cooking vegan, we've adapted to eating vegan, and we know where to eat out. 

As I have said before, eating is a highly personal choice, and has a major impact on your body. I urge you to think about your own food 'path'. Do what is right for YOU! 

Thanks for reading! Best wishes and love from Portland. 

Quick and Dirty Dog Bow tie Tutorial

I've found another outlet for crafting! His name is Jasper. 

Today, I spend about ten minutes making him a super easy dog bow tie out of felt. 

Felt is the perfect project for this quick tie, as it doesn't fray when you cut it, it's easily available in lots of colors, and it's super cheap. I used safety pins for this project, hence the quick and dirty name. Jasper won't be running or playing in his bow tie, so I feel comfortable with it having safety pins. It will mostly be for special occasions, like a proper bow tie should be! If I didn't have quilt stuff all over my sewing area, I would have sewed it. Use your best judgement to determine what's best for your dog. 

I started with an almost full sheet of green felt. Jasper's 'official' color is red (that's just what color his collar from the shelter is), but I didn't have any red felt. I thought that he would look good in green too. 



I didn't take any measurements for this bow tie, because it's the type that attaches to his collar and doesn't go around his neck. Use your own judgement about how big to make yours. I provide approximate measurements, so if you have a Jasper size pup it will look great. Scale up or down as needed. 

I cut a wide piece of felt along the longest edge of my felt piece. It was about 4 inches wide and 11 inches long. 


Then I folded the felt piece in half and cut triangles on the fold, about 1/2 inch wide at the base and three inches long, on both sides of the fold. This will create a cleaner look when the bow tie is folded and gathered. 





Then I cut the strip to go around the middle, about 10 inches long and 1 inch wide. 

I also cut some 'tails' for the tie, and I just eyeballed those. They are about 3 inches wide and 4 inches from base to tip. They aren't perfect, but no one can tell! Also, the strip shown below is too short, so go with the measurements above. I re-cut my strip and didn't take a picture, boo. 



Take your long tie piece, and use safety pins (or whatever method you want to use) to join the ends. You now have a bow tie circle. Match the ends that you just joined to the smallest part of the front of the tie. Smooth the circle until it lays flat. 


Take your long strip of felt and tie it around the middle of the tie. It might take a couple of tries to get it how you like it. Don't tie it too tight. 

Adjust your bow tie as needed, pulling the sides until they are even, and perfecting any folds that appear. 

Flip the tie over and pin the 'tails' to the underside of the bow tie. 





Now you are ready to stick it on your pooch! 
I tied the tie on his collar with the extra length from the felt strip, then I used two safety pins to attach the sides of the tie to his collar so that it would lay flat. When I used the safety pins on his collar, I made sure to start them from the bottom, as opposed to the top, so that if they came undone they wouldn't jab him. The smooth part of the pin with the catch was next to his skin. Does that make sense? I highly doubt that they will come undone with the low-energy activities he will be doing while wearing this bow tie, but you never know. 

Now that I've made one, I'm thinking about safety pin-free designs that I can make for him. I think some Velcro sewed to his collar would do the trick, then I would sew Velcro on his tie. I would love to have him wear his tie on his walks! Such a dapper dude. 

He looked super handsome, even though he was confused as to why he needed to wake up and get off the couch for this. He has a hard life, I tell ya.  

Thanks for reading! Best wishes and love from Portland. 

Separation Anxiety

As this week is all things doggie, I thought that I would share our main goal that we have for Jasper. Oh, and some pictures!

Number one goal: 

Be quiet and not stressed when we leave the house. 

Right now it's not too terrible, he maybe is sad for seven minutes max when we leave. That involves some quiet wines and one or two barks. Then he curls up on the couch. If he remembers that we are gone, he might get up and do it again. But, he isn't destroying anything, or being super loud. So it could be tons worse. I record him and watch it back, and I get good information about how he is behaving.

 We've only had him for 4 days, so I think this might relax with time. 

 We are practicing on him being alone while I am home, and his area is the den, so he can't follow me around the whole house like glue, which he totally would do if he could. We try to get him relaxed and tired before we leave, which helps. Also, not making a big deal about when we come or go helps a lot too. 

I've read that shelter dogs sometimes go through this phase once they first get adopted, and I think that's justified!
 I would want to be around my people all the time too. 

 If anyone has any ideas, let us know please!

But, we are overall so happy with this doggie. He's super smart, and we have to spell lots of things already. He already knows Out, Walk, Cat, Food, Treat. He also knows a lot of commands, like Leave It, Sit, Stay, Come On, Off, Down, and can leave a treat on the floor until I say 'get it'. We can see huge potential with him, and are excited to see where he ends up. 

And now for pictures! 

I think he's relaxed. 

Thanks for reading! Best wishes and love from Portland. 

Jasper's Adoption Story

We adopted a dog on Saturday from the Oregon Humane Society, and he is pure awesome. 

We have been wanting a dog for some time now, and we had been going back and forth between living in the city for a year or living out in the suburbs still, but getting a dog. We didn't know what we wanted for a while, but the dog option really seemed like the right choice for us in the end. We didn't think the city choice was best for us right now. So, we began our search for THE dog. 

We went to rescue events, and the shelter several times. There were some dogs that we liked, but we still weren't sure. When we went back to the shelter on Friday, we discovered a section of the kennel area that we had skipped! And that's where 'Bolt' was. 

He had been there for 18 days, which is a long time for this particular shelter. Most dogs are in there for a week, tops. His adoption fee had just been lowered to the lowest tier, and he was on "March Madness" sale on top of that. They wanted him gone!

He had been surrendered by his owner, the owner giving a rather vague "I don't like the way he acts." He was not fixed when he was surrendered, and the shelter took care of that. He is also pretty underweight (You can't tell by looking, but totally can by feeling him.), and has some flaky skin that we think is due to a grain allergy. He didn't want to come up to the door of his kennel to let us pet him, he just laid on his bed and looked at us. But, there was something about him. Maybe it was his eyes, which are so like Jade's eyes. 
 We decided to meet with him, even though the shelter rep told us that he might not like us, that he cried for three days straight when he got to the shelter, and that he is wary of new people and situations. 

As soon as the door opened to the meeting room, 'Bolt' attacked Husband with kisses and love. He let us touch him all over, and was really submissive from the first moment. We didn't need long with him to know he had just adopted us. It was 7:30pm at this point, so we put a hold on him and came back the next day to adopt him. Everyone was happy to see him go, and told us what a great dog he is.  

We took him home, and he has just blossomed in the three days we have had him. He is 2 years old, about 50 pounds (we're aiming for 55 as a goal), and he has some husky in him, mixed with who-knows-what. I think that it's border collie/lab, due to his markings, ears, head shape, and attention to all things bird-like. 

I will write more tomorrow about his mild behavior issues and what we are working on now! I think that he will be all I post about on the blog this week, since he is taking up so much of our time. 
Soon all will calm down around here, and we will settle into our routine.

Thanks for reading! Best wishes and love from Portland.