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OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIE DOUGH BITES

SKETCH-FREE VEGAN EATING

LEMON MINT COOLER COOKIES

BITTERSWEET

I am thrilled to be stepping-up from columnist to Chic Vegan Editor.  While I will still answer your questions from time to time in my Ask Grettie column, I will mostly be working behind the scenes to bring you the latest and greatest  on the vegan front.

We are welcoming some exciting talent into the Chic Vegan family.  I am indescribably excited to announce that monthly Julieanna Hever will be answering your nutrition related questions.  In addition to being the Nutrition Columnist for VegNews Magazine, Julieanna just launched the wildly successful book, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition”, was featured on an episode of the Dr. Oz show, co-produced the documentary “To Your Health”, and counsels a variety of clients throughout the world (including elite athletes) from her Los Angeles, California-based private practice.  We are so happy to have Julieanna on board.

We are also welcoming our very own Animal Rights columnist, Helena Antonowitsch.  Helena is a PeTA insider and will be our direct line to what is happening on the animal rights front.  If you have any questions for Helena or story ideas please let me know.

I am personally very inspired by notable vegans in the world today and will be interviewing prominent vegans and sharing those interviews with you.  I have several lined-up at the moment and  would like to hear from you with regards to who you would like to see interviewed.  Who are your vegan heroes?

Lastly, I want to know what you would like to see featured on Chic Vegan.  I have an open-door policy and would love to hear from you.  Please drop me a line and send me your questions and suggestions  gretchen (at) chicvegan.com

It feels great to be back!

Gretchen

Happy Friday, cats and kittens! I hope you had a beautiful, fulfilling week and are gearing up for an amazing weekend. Amidst the chaos of my life and doing things like starting my own business and decorating my office, I have stumbled across some things that I have fallen head over heels for. You could call it obsessive, but I just call it adoration. Here some amazing things that have recently made me crazy happy.

Coconut
I love coconut! Coconut ice cream, coconut water, coconut milk, coconut oil. If it comes from a coconut, I’ve happily ingested it. Did you know that coconut milk makes your coffee taste like a cappuccino? Fascinating!

Pinterest
Pinterest is a new site that allows you to create digital inspiration boards from any online image with a simple click! I have a million random photos on my desktop and I can hardly remember where they came from or what they are inspiring me to do. Pinterest helps keep my OCD in check by allowing me save each image to a specific board, tag it and also link back to the original source. Although i’m super busy right now, I keep daydreaming about when I will have a few hours to wreak havoc on my Pinterest boards. Here’s what I got so far.

Uncalendar
Oh…my..god. I already know that this is my favorite purchase of 2011. It is the ultimate organizational tool. When it comes to scheduling and planning I am very much a hands-on type of girl. I don’t do well with digital calendars and planners, I need to sink my pen into it.   My Uncalendar leaves room for all of my insanity. I can write dates in, prioritize, take notes, brainstorm, keep track of habits and plan my goals for the day, week, month and year. I used to carry 3 separate notebooks in my bag to keep track of my goals, but now I don’t need them. The only problem with Uncalendar is – it is not very pretty! It only comes in lame colors and the tabs and typography are all in primary colors. However the functionality of this thing more than makes up its lack of aesthetics. Nothing a little glue and glitter can’t fix!

Forks Over Knives
I was lucky enough to catch a screening of Forks Over Knives a few weeks ago in downtown Portland. It was only supposed to run for a week but is still going strong THREE weeks later!  This movie impressed me with it’s straight to the point facts and statistical analysis from Dr. Colin T. Campbell (The China Study). You can watch people suffering from diabetes and heart disease turn it around and head towards recovery via a plant based diet!  The cold hard facts on the screen are hard to ignore and the movie was very well done. If you haven’t had a chance to catch it yet, don’t worry! Forks Over Knives makes its wide release on March 11.

Electroswing
My new musical fascination! Its electronic music mixed with swing and the result is pure fun. Check out Parov Stelar, Caravan Palace and Waldeck. I’m brand new to this genre – does anybody have a recommendation?

Crazy Sexy Diet
I don’t know if this officially counts, because I haven’t read it yet. But I can’t stop thinking about this book. I love Kris Carr and all that she does. Her blog is amazing. She is terribly cute. She  does wonderful things for people suffering from disease and ailments by providing them with the knowledge that there is an alternative (or at least a supplement) to modern medicine.  I’ve been wanting to up my healthy eating ante and I think this book will be the perfect catalyst.

So what about you? What are you totally, absolutely, heads over heels in love with right now?

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Guess what? Chic Vegan is currently looking for regular contributors to add to the dynamic and community of the site! Ideal candidates would already have their own established blog, be passionate about saving animals and be willing and able to contribute 2+ times a month. Sound like you? Go here for more info!

Christmas lights
Something about the twinkling, shiny strings of joy that are wrapped around everything and anything during the holidays. They make everything more cheerful.

Peppermint Mochas
There is nothing like a soy peppermint mocha and an intense sugar/caffeine rush to make you enjoy life.

Sweatpants fresh out of the dryer
mm–hmmm

Hyperbole and a Half
I LOVE this little lady. Go marvel at her outlandish humor and mad MS paint skills, combined. My favorites (and most relatable) are This is Why I’ll Never Be an Adult and The Four Levels of Social Entrapment.

Retro Fashion
Ok, so it is not a big secret that I love retro fashion. Lately I’ve been overcome with the desire to make modern versions of Scarlet O’Hara’s dresses in Gone with the Wind. I’ve also been drooling over the beaded, drop-waist dresses and fancy head wear on Boardwalk Empire. Oh, if only I could actually sew!

So what has made you happy lately? Come on.. let it spill. A grateful lady is a lucky one!

Photo cred: Lina Jaros

Happy Friday, dudes and dudettes! What really blew your skirt up this week? What made you feel alive and grateful? I had a pretty wonderful week, but before we get to that I have some newsflashes for you.

Today is the last day to enter the Tempt giveaway.

In case you haven’t heard, the lovely folks at Tempt want you to have lots of goodies. I’m giving away protein powder, a coupon for free ice cream, and hemp milk all in the flavors of your choice. A shirt and tote bag all made from hemp are included too! Hooray for free stuff! Go enter now before its too late (it will be at midnight).

Reclaim Your Health: A free Ebook worth downloading!

One of my favoritest vegans, Mandy from veganera.com, and her partner Dave have developed a free eBook about healing your body holistically after serious illness or chemotherapy. This enlightening and heartfelt read is important for everyone regardless of their current health. Head over to veganera.com to download your free copy!

This Week’s Happies

Doodlebug and I got a new car! We traded in his gas-guzzling truck for a 2010 Jetta TDI, which will soon be running on bio-diesel. It purrs like a kitten, corners like a champ and has seat warmers! (I’m a simple girl.)  Now we have the perfect vehicle to drive to Seattle, Crater Lake, Mt. Hood or the coast without worrying about spending $500 on gas. (The Jetta TDI gets 55 mpg, highway just in case you were wondering. *swoon*)

Focus, a new ebook by Leo Babauta (of my favorite site: Zen Habits) covers something that nobody else is really standing up and noticing: Our inability to concentrate. Every day we are inundated with dozens of media streams: twitter, facebook, cell phones, tv, radio, ipods, email.. the list goes on and on.  Leo suggests that we reduce our media intake, single-task and make it a point to unplug every day.  I highly recommend the paid version, but if you can’t swing it the free version is pretty extensive.

Having a regular schedule again. I am a creature of habit, and being back into a schedule soothes my OCD brain.

Halloween! One of my absolute favorite holidays. And boy do people in Portland love to dress up. There is so much to do this year I don’t even know where to start!

Nice people. I’m so lucky to be surrounded by genuinely nice people that enjoy their lives and care about a cause greater than themselves.  I love having conversations with people that don’t include constant complaining and ulterior motives.

It’s Friday! For most of you that means a few days of relaxation and fun or an opportunity to get done some things you have been meaning to do. For me it means, extra work! I’ve been feeling quite stressed and on edge lately to get some things done. It feels like there are just not enough hours in the day sometimes. But regardless, I have made sure to keep note of all the things that have made me giddy this week. Have you?

- Getting mail! I love getting packages in the mail. Every time there is a box to open waiting at my doorstep, it feels like a mini-Christmas. The past week has been filled with postal treats! A huge box of boots from Sheik Shoes. The Art of Non-Conformity book. New business cards! A box full of goodies from Tofutti! Excitement squared!

-I finally got some pictures back from the performance I did last month in Portland. I have no idea who the photographer was, but he/she did an amazing job:

- Ronnie’s Birthday! Today is my big brother’s birthday. He is 40 years young and the best brother a girl could ever ask for. <3

- Winter shopping. I’ve been shopping a whole lot lately, since I donated almost all of my cold-weather clothing before I moved last spring. I’m not going to lie… I love shopping. Portland is filled with so many wonderful indie and vintage shops, sometimes it is overwhelming.

- About 15 Japanese 20-somethings came into Blossoming Lotus for lunch yesterday. They were all so sweet and took turns getting their pictures taken with me! It was all quite unexpected, but lots of fun and made my day. I want to go to Japan!!!

- Goal-a-palooza has really set a fire under my ass. There’s nothing as satisfying as living everyday with a mission,visualizing your future and seeing things happen!

What made you happy this week?

Photo from My Eye Kandi

Oh my, is it Friday again already? I’m happy to say I have been keeping up the habit of writing in my Happy Notebook everyday. Right now I am just using a Moleskine Cahier notebook but it is almost all used up. I want to switch to something more fun and functional like Ecosystem or Filofax. I have an unhealthy addiction to notebooks and stationary: The design, the endless ideas that can be written upon them.. its just fascinating! Ok enough of my geekiness, lets move on to the happies for this week.

• Surprises! Doodles snuck out and bought me this amazing fish necklace that I was eyeing up at a vintage store last week. He pulled the old “can you get something out of the glove box for me” routine. So cute!  And the necklace is beautiful. <3
• The Oatmeal. I’ve been following The Oatmeal’s brilliant cartoons/info-graphics/quizzes forever, but I spent hours the other day looking through the site and cracking up. Such brilliance!
• All of the beautiful, inspiring and intelligent ladies in the world. It seems like after a long time of women being caddy, conniving and unsupportive with each other, there is finally a resurgence of women who love and respect themselves and other women. The sense of community is beautiful!
• Feeling better. I’m back to a regular workout routine and feeling good! My cough is almost gone too. Hooray!
• Art In The Dark. Nothing like a spectacular late-night aerial show right smack in the middle of downtown Portland on a beautiful summer night. Thanks A-wol!

What topped your list of happies this week?

Raw Food Adventure Recap

So I am over 5 days into the Raw Food Adventure and feeling lovely! To be quite honest it has been a little hard because I was getting some crazy cravings earlier in the week. I wanted rice noodles and burritos like crazy. This timely article on Crazy Sexy Life about overcoming your cravings really helped me out. However, they seem to have mostly subsided and everything is resuming normally. Mostly,  I feel slightly more energetic and an overall sense of better health. Since I eat a (mostly) high raw diet anyway the results have not been profound…yet. Some highlights and food staples of the past week have been:

• Green Juice. Apple, ginger, lemon, kale. Spinach, kale, apple, ginger. All delicious. All so good for you. If possible, one green juice a day will have you feeling marvelous.
• Blossoming Lotus. Some of you may know that I work here part time, so I have a slight advantage when it comes to readily available raw foods. My faves are the Live Falafel Wrap, Live Taco Salad and the random amazing raw cheesecakes from Freshly Wild. If you are in the Portland area, stop by and say hello!
• Big-ass salads. I’m having fun concocting huge salads made from random local organic produce I am picking up at the abundance of farmer’s markets around town. I’m experimenting with different dressings like tahini-dill, vinaigrettes and cashew cream.
• Livin’ Spoonful crackers. Seriously – these are the best raw-sprouted crackers I have ever had.  Sunny Garden Herb?  To die for!  This is a local company so I’m not sure if they are available everywhere, but you can buy them online.

I have thankfully gotten back to exercising after a brief hiatus when I was sick. My body is so thankful for this! It is proving difficult for me to plan a regular workout regimen since my current work schedule is really scattered. I haven’t committed to everyday meditation yet, but I am taking time aside everyday to rest and reflect.

Are you doing your own Raw Adventure this month?  How is it going?  Tell me about your ups and downs and yummy food finds in the comments!

*I don’t remember where the top photo came from! If you know then email me please.

• The triumphant return of the Happy Notebook. I have been neglecting my own much-touted advice of keeping a gratitude notebook. I have now rescued it from the depths of my bag!  Welcome back Happy Notebook! I promise I’ll never leave you again.
• Exploring the Columbia River Gorge. This includes waterfalls, crystal clear swimming holes, islands, Indian burial grounds, and endless hiking trails.  The gorge seems so secluded and vast that everywhere you go, you feel like you are the first person to ever discover it! It is fun to pretend you are spending the day in your own private sanctuary.
• My Alice In Wonderland mug with disappearing Cheshire Cat (and visible grin!)! I got the mug from a cute little shop in Seaside. It was an impulse buy, but totally worth it because it makes my morning maté so special!
• The Stereomood melancholy channel. Sometimes it is wonderful to just embrace your mood with music. This play list hit the spot.
• Feeling my creative energy bubbling. Have you ever felt something big growing inside of you, although you had no idea what it was? Lately I’ve had this lovely feeling of burgeoning creativity. I can’t wait until it arrives.
• Being walking distance to over 5 incredibly unique and independent movie theaters. I take way more impromptu “movie breaks” to watch indie flicks than I probably should.

What made you mind-numbingly happy this week? What about a little bit giddy? Share your happies with me, I needs them!

So, are you guys excited to be embarking on the Raw Food Adventure? Or maybe just start eating a bit healthier? Lets do this!

Happy Friday! I hope everyone is enjoying their peak summer and relaxing in sunbeams every chance they get. As another week comes to a close, lets reflect on what has made us happy and thankful to be alive these past 7 days! My list:

• Spending an absolutely gorgeous summer day on the top of an extinct volcano, reading a book in the nook of a tree.
• Meeting tons of amazing and like-minded people online and off.
• Getting the news that I will be emceeing the Vegan Fashion Show at the Veg Expo ! !!! ! (More details coming soon!)
• Listening to Warpaint.
• Summer in Portland, which is apparently the world’s best kept secret.
• Getting a much needed makeover. (New hair! pics soon…)
• Finding out I’ll be doing my first PDX aerial performance next month!

What is your happy list? Please share! Your happies make me happy!

Raw Food Prep!

The Raw Food Adventure is only 2 weeks away! Are you ready? I’m not! Lets start now, shall we?

Starting today I will be cutting out refined sugar, caffeine and processed foods to prepare my body for the cleanse that will occur from eating raw foods for a month.  I don’t eat much of those things now, but I need to say goodbye to my morning coffee and random sugary treats. If you need to cut out caffeine too, try switching to green tea or mate to help ease crashes.

I’m also going to start exercising more, namely cardio. This is so I will sweat more and get my pre-detox on. I’m not sure if this is scientifically accurate,  but it works for me! Sweating is my favorite thing to do, but then again, I’m a weirdo.

This week I’ll be planning out and writing down my meal plan for the whole entire month. I will be including a prep schedule in this too, because it’s just easier that way. I will be sharing my plan with you, but you may want to create your own to fit your specific needs, goals and preferences.

Blog Love

• The Absolute Best All-Natural Deodorants
• The Art of Finding Truly Ethical Clothing on a Budget
• Simply Satisfying: Carrot Almond Salad
• A Raw Food Adventure: Join Me!
• What Is The True Price of Cheap Clothing? (Part 1)
• 5 Deliciously Addicting Snack Recipes

Don’t forget! I’m still doing free consulting. I’ve gotten so many wonderful emails so far. I’d love to hear from you and help you out.

image from yay!everyday

Consulting Services

My mission is to help those that are trying hard to better their lives by becoming vegan, embarking on new journeys or just need a little extra support with a hand to hold. I would like to give you a totally free email consulting session to answer any questions or concerns you may have. From there on out I will have economical consulting packages you can purchase. But don’t worry, there will be absolutely no obligations or harassments after your free session. So head on over to our info page to find out more and send me an email so you can start being the best vegan you can be!

Advertise with Us!

For a limited time I have some super affordable advertising spots available on Chic Vegan. We are only accepting ads from 100% vegan and small businesses. If you are interested, check out our stats and get more info!

The Ethical Girl’s Guide To Being Vegan and Fabulous

Coming soon! An all inclusive and FREE e-book for those of you just starting on your vegan journey or considering embarking on one.  This book will include:

• Basic info on the current state of the food industry and animal rights
• Amazing recipes, tips on eating out, and nutritional needs
• Vegan friendly fashion companies and shopping tips
• Vegan makeup, ingredients to watch out for
• Healthy beauty products without chemicals
• Social etiquette
• Activism info and inspiration
• Interviews with vegan goddesses
• Coupon codes
• Resources for further information

This will basically be a complete guide to a fabulous vegan lifestyle. Download it. Share it with your friends and loved ones. Put it on your website. Cherish it.   Released August 1st!

Share and Share Alike

Chic Vegan is now uncopyrighted and registered with Creative Commons. Feel free to share and/or remix any article on Chic Vegan. A link back would be sweet, but I don’t care much as long as the vegan gospel is being spread! Enjoy ♥

Get Social with Chic Vegan

Just in case you haven’t found me elsewhere yet, here are some other places on the internet I like to hang out.

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The Sunday Spectacular

Have a wonderful weekend!