That’s a Wrap!

05Jan11

As much as I love taking a break over the holidays, it’s good to be back in the swing of things. Since my office was closed on Monday, I caught up on email in my pajamas, crossed a couple of domestic items off my to-do list, did a spin class at Flywheel, and popped into west elm to check out a couple of items I have been investigating for the new digs, including this tripod table:

Photo credit: west elm

I think this table will look fabsky with my new ghost chairs. These stackable guys add seating to the room without obstructing the space or making it appear cluttered. I am pretty much obsessed with them.

Ghost chairs...spooooooky!

If you’re wondering what the grassy goodness is underneath the ghost chairs, that is my Par Shag Rug from CB2 that I lusted after for ages before finally purchasing last month. It adds a pop of color and a whimsical touch of nature to the space.

While I was running around yesterday, I also had a chance to check out a vegetarian eatery I had been wanting to try for ages, called Terri. Ever since New Year’s Day, I had been kinda craving a breakfast sandwich – you know, the kind with egg and cheese and all kinds of greasy deliciousness.

Terri came to the rescue with the Breakfast Scramble Wrap - scrambled tofu, Italian ‘Sausage’, spinach, Daiya Cheddar, and hot sauce. YUM. I have had quite a few tofu scrambles, but this was by far the best and tastiest. I also tend to skip the vegan cheeses, because the texture can be kind of weird, but the Daiya Cheddar was closer to the real thing than I have had in a while.

Which brings me to my final item for discussion: tomorrow’s my one year veganversary, y’all! And what a year it has been for vegans, indeed. Perhaps I am somewhat biased, but with more mainstream vegans speaking out, such as Alicia Silverstone and Ellen Degeneres, highly influential vegans being added to the roster, like former President Bill Clinton and hotel entrepreneur Steve Wynn, and even random celebs like The Biggest Loser’s Bob Harper and boxing champ Mike Tyson joining the team, it seems like the tides are slowly turning from a time when eating a plant-based diet was marginalized and weird to being sort of mildly accepted and validated.

Image credit: Ecorazzi.com

However, as this is a blog primarily about my journey as a vegan ‘novice’, I am going to be perfectly honest: sometimes I resent my choice tremendously. It can be annoying, isolating, challenging, depriving, and flat out socially awkward. Sometimes I think about it in my mind and try to rationalize eating animal products again; a little cheese here and there, a couple of eggs, maybe some pancakes, etc.

But even if I could get past it from an ethical standpoint, I still can’t get over the idea of all the unwanted hormones, antibiotics, and yuckiness that is inherent to the way food is produced here in our country.

And then I end up right where I started on January 5, 2010: a vegan novice doing the very best I can, one day at a time.

recommended reading:
Business Week | The Rise of the Power Vegans

recommended eating:
Terri Organic Vegetarian
60 West 23rd street
New York, NY 10010
(212) 647-8810