I lost my virginity...

Tattoo virginity, that is! Gotcha! So I've been wanting one for a long time, but I'm pretty fickle and get bored with everything quickly, so I've taken a long time in deciding. I finally decided on a loose plan of a child hugging a farm animal with bright colors. I got a bunch of Tofurkey heart temporary tattoos at Vegfest and put them all over my body until I decided on the right spot (inner left calf). Yes, I know, probably over thinking it... but I'm crazy like that. I went in to Scapegoat, my local all-vegan tattoo shop, and made an appointment to meet with an artist. I chose Sam due to his availability and a beautiful peacock in his portfolio, and when I told him my idea he totally understood what I wanted and came up with a design. I scheduled my appointment for a week later. Unfortunately, my cat scratched the shit out of me that same day - right where the tattoo was supposed to go! So I had to reschedule and let that heal. I finally did it yesterday! I am super happy with the results - Sam is really talented and I almost cried from happiness when I saw it. But I didn't! Almost!





In natural lighting











You can see the child a little better here













Kitten approved!














Speaking of kittens, do any of you have any great kitty names up your sleeves? I'm liking Marmalade, hubby's liking Godzilla. Yikes!

OMG, shoes!

I'm sorta obsessed with shoes. I know, I claim to care so much about the environment and sustainability, yet I horde shoes. I'll admit it - I'm a hypocrite! But I've come to terms with it. At least I'm not this bad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCF3ywukQYA

Anyway, I went to Scapegoat to meet with Sam about my tattoo (Aug. 11 is the big day!), then I couldn't resist standing for an hour on the Hawthorne Bridge watching the Red Bull Flugtag, then I walked to the MAX, but on the way found myself in the shoe section of the Nordstrom Rack (how'd that happen?!?).

If you have ever been to the Rack, you know how frustrating it can be. The shoes are all shoes that didn't sell at Nordstrom (overstock, last season, etc.), and are marked down substantially. You find the area with your size, and quickly try on any shoe that looks interesting (someone else might snatch it first!), bonus if it has a 35% or 50% off sticker on it. If it's a keeper, you have to go find it's mate at a counter in the back of the store. Sometimes they can't find the mate and it's a very sad occasion. Now consider all this, but add veganism into the equation! For about every 20 shoes you pick up, 19 with be leather. But there's that 1! My fabulous find today:


Now, in general I'm not a fan of Jessica Simpson... but I do tend to gravitate towards her shoe line when I'm at the Rack. Every single pair I've ever picked up has been leather, and I was almost to the point of ignoring any J.S. shoe that I saw. Thank goddess I am full of so much hope, because these were a fabulous find! The regular price was $79.95, but they were marked all the way down to the low price of............ wait for it............ drum roll please...................... $15.71! How can any girl say no to that?

OMG, shoes

So, what did I ever do with all that Farmer's Market produce? I ate it!

Bruschetta with heirloom tomatoes, basil, garlic, and onion

Spaghetti with roasted red pepper marinara, sauteed zucchini, squash, and criminis, topped with nooch and walnuts

Fajita veggies: summer squash and zucchini, criminis, red and poblano pepper, and tofu cookin' up in enchilada sauce

For the fajitas, I warmed up some refried beans, cooked some quinoa (I just discovered the red kind and it is even nuttier!), made some guacamole, got out the Tofutti Sour Supreme, and somehow loaded it all into corn tortillas. I didn't get a pic of all that because I ate it too damn fast! Sorry! Oh, and here's a pic of what I did while I was waiting for it to cook:

Whiskey Raspberry Lemonade

Ahhhhhh, summer in Portland.