cheap

i am so broke after going on vacation. this is OK, though, because it forces me to come up with interesting and free things to do/eat all day. since my job also forgot to put me on the schedule this week, i have a lot of free time on my hands. some interesting things i came up with:

1. get a spray bottle from the travel section of Target for about $.89. fill it with mineral water. lie on your bed with a fan blowing air over you wearing underwear only and spritz yourself with the water. you'll feel quite cool even if the air conditioning in your apartment is almost always broken.

2. running is quite free and has many benefits, not the least of which is losing all the pizza/booze fat you gained while on vacation. just grab your ipod, throw on some boys' basketball shorts (i hate girls running shorts, they are so slutty and uncomfortable) and run around! if you live in a bad neighborhood like me, run as far as possible from your home for safety reasons. i tie my housekey up in my sneakers so i don't have to carry it.

3. make an amigurumi octopus for your sister. or just about anything is really easy to make if you have a lot of free time. i also happen to have a lot of extra yarn sitting around as i am an avid knitter.

4. make a really cheap Frappuccino-type beverage. i took the rest of my morning coffee (i can never drink 6 cups, wtf) and froze it in an ice cube tray. then i put it in the blender with some soy milk, cocoa powder, and half a teaspoon of agave nectar (way better than sugar). mmm. i also used a pineapple straw to feel more festive.

5. reorganize your closet and/or school supply area. i have many, many types of glues and adhesives. it's nice to reorganize them and take stock once in a while.

6. cook vegan food from vegweb.com. they have the best recipes. my favorites include best mac n cheese in the entire world...seriously and yummy lentils and spinach. vegan food is often cheap and i have a lot of ingredients on hand anyway.

7. watch stuff on Hulu- it's free!

so strange

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Originally uploaded by radcrast

this was the strangest photo assignment i have ever done in my young life. promise.

vegan challenge: day 13?

it appears that i have vanquished all twelve days of my vegan challenge. the first few days were pretty awful with lots of shaking, jitters, sluggish brain, etc. i have gradually adapted, however, and i'm feeling lots better than before. my migraine count is way down and i don't feel as tired in my afternoon classes (i am usually tempted to fall asleep). a strange downside, however, is that i feel really drained when i go out in the sunshine for any period of time at all. it's very strange.

now i'm getting ready to catch up on laundry, dishes, and make some large batches of chocolate chip energy bars and mac & "cheese" for the upcoming 10 days AKA the most hellish part of the academic year. last year i stayed awake for over 67 hours straight in order to finish my final project. i feel a little bit better this quarter, but there are still going to be plenty of late nights and over consumption of coffee.

now, however, i am off to eat sandwiches with my lovely boyfriend. enjoy your long weekend!

vegan challenge: one week vanquished!

so i've been a bit lax about writing because i worked crazy hours thurs, fri, and saturday! after all the madness of school and work, i was totally ready to kick back last night with some beer and hot dogs. what? how can this be?


introducing Dirt Frank's Hot Dog Palace, one of my favorite places to eat in Columbus! all of their amazing, creative, delicious hot dogs can be substituted for a veggie dog, and most of their toppings have a vegan equivalent. i was on cloud nine, eating the delicious Ohioana dog with crispy, crunch tater tots and a bunch of delicious beers. and then some more beers. and then we took the party down the street to the St. James and i had even more beers.

which is why i had a late start this morning trying to get my stuff together to go to Hell City. my best morning-after-drinking cure is peanut butter toast, lots of water, and something spicy. Frank's Red Hot cures almost any upset hangover tummy for me. after i'd finished my spicy hashbrowns and PB toast, i felt ready to head out the door. Hell City, a tattoo convention, was pretty interesting, but i'm not sure it was worth the $20 door charge. i have been meaning to get my tattoo touched up for a long time (it's crazy faded) but i didn't see any artists there that really seemed to do the style i'm looking for. oh well. we walked the entire way home (wow!) and i am finally getting together this recipe and heading out to studio to do homework.

i hope everyone had as fantastic a weekend as i did, and congratulations to ME for staying vegan one entire week :)

vegan challenge: day 3

another day is done! i can't believe how quickly the end of the quarter flies by when you have eight million things to do. tomorrow i can look forward to a test on my entire lighting design textbook. nah, no big.

here's what i ate:

breakfast: oatmeal (did i mention that i LOVE oatmeal?) sweetened with applesauce, sliced strawberries, a banana, coffee

lunch: salad with cranberries and sunflower seeds, chickpea salad sandwich, 1/4 cup raw almonds

snack: diet coke, celery with peanut butter

dinner: potato/broccoli stuffed peppers with red curry sauce, oatmeal/corn/apple muffin, sparkling water

wow was that recipe complicated and time-consuming! i spent probably 1.5 hrs rocking the 6+ steps in the recipe. i felt very accomplished at the end, though, and lots of leftovers.

wish me luck on this damn test!

vegan challenge: day 2

i knew today would be the most difficult because i had to work tonight. i work at a casual dining restaurant that has close to nothing on the menu that doesn't contain some sort of animal product. i tried to eat earlier in the day in order to avoid the nasty food at work. i also have an addiction to diet soda which is plentiful and readily available at work. i skipped coffee today, though, and drank a ton of water, so i didn't feel bad having one diet soda. and the funny thing was, i didn't even want to finish it!

what i ate:

breakfast: oatmeal with strawberries and applesauce

lunch: chickpea salad sandwich, sugar snap peas (raw), baked potato with vegan margarine and some frank's red hot

snack: celery with peanut butter

dinner: refried bean "quesadilla" (two whole-wheat tortillas stuck together with pintos and some jalapenos with salsa on the side), a few almonds, side salad at work without crutons or cheese, french dressing

i think i'm doing well but it's challenging to think ahead and pack foods to take with me when i'm busy with school all day. i also had a cup of peppermint tea tonight to settle an unruly stomach.

vegan challenge: day 1

so i have gotten through today (well, it's almost over) successfully. i had a little shaky period around 4pm- i'm not sure if it was not eating enough food, the right food, or withdrawal from the Diet Soda i usually consume 5 of per day. i had some 100% grapefruit juice and carried on.

here's what i ate:

breakfast: kashi blueberry heart love stuff with sliced strawberries, soymilk, an Odwalla Superfruit drink

lunch: chickpea salad sandwich, celery, an orange, coffee (black)

snack: grapefruit juice, slice of sourdough bread i bought at the c-ville farmer's market

dinner: whole grain/wheat penne with homemade tomato sauce, salad w/cranberries and sunflower seeds

other than the rogue cup of coffee, i'm trying to wean myself off of the caffeine addiction. it's unbelievable how much soda i drink while i'm at work. i guess because it's just right there and free and easy to keep refilling, i drink it, but it's disgusting to read of what diet soda is made of and how it's just as/possibly more terrible than the sugar stuff.

hopefully tomorrow goes as well as today. i'm off to make my bean salad for tomorrow's dinner.

<3
C