englandsword

Lovely day in Bloomington today. But it was cold -- I had to wear three shirts! I walked to and around campus, went to my mom's class, and then a panel with the 9/11 Commission for the 10-year anniversary, where they talked about how America is different now and how many of their recommendations have been heeded. It was remarkable to see a bipartisan commission work together so well, and I only wish we had more of that type of bipartisanship in Washington. Mom and I walked around downtown and Kirkwood and then to a new vegan restaurant in Bloomington called the Owlery . It was great! Can you believe that Bloomington has a vegan restaurant? They do offer the option of dairy cheese on some items, so they aren't 100% vegan, though all menu items are vegan by default. I got the seitan skewers with a side of collard greens. It was delicious, with a great teriyaki flavor. My step-dad enjoyed his "fried chicken," my mom really liked her dill tempeh, and my friend loved the p...

On Friday I had a super fun audition and then I got a surprise last-minute free ticket to see Gospel According to First Squad by the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble, starring the two guys who host the Inside Acting podcast that I listen to. It was great, and all of the acting was phenomenal. I feel like usually when you see a play you find one or two people whose work you like but in this play I couldn't decide who I liked most and I kept changing my mind. Most of the characters were written to be somewhat unlikeable, conflicted people, all of whom are stuck in a terrible situation. The actors helped make the characters multi-dimensional and relatable. If you're in LA, check out their closing weekend next week! On Saturday right before I was leaving for class my friend called me asking if I wanted to go to the Artivist Film Festival closing night awards ceremony and red carpet event that night. I just threw a dress and heels in my bag and went to my improv class and changed in the...

I'm still super sleepy so I gotta knock off this post before I pass out. Today I did manage to do several productive things, so I was super proud of myself. I worked out, made salad, wrote back a fan e-mail from a month ago, and paid my dentist bill. Oh hells yeah. I also really missed Phil Hartman today, kind of randomly. I'm not sure why he popped in my head. I talked to my mom on the phone! She and my step-dad are in NYC teaching. She sent me a couple pictures from their trip to the vegan restaurant Quantum Leap, which she raved about. My mom's quinoa veggie bowl: And my stepdad with his macrobiotic plate: I ate some pretty tasty fare today. Smoothie for breakfast had kale, romaine, strawberries, frozen blueberries, frozen mango, spirulina, and Sun Warrior protein. Yeah, I'm using gum as a coaster. Lunch was broccoli with Trader Joe's split pea soup and an unpictured small red potato with kale and nutritional yeast. Dinner salad: Spinach, fresh basil, red bell pe...

On Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment, with a blood test I had to fast for. So I was hungry afterwards! I went to HuHot Mongolian Grill with my mom and step-dad. My stir-fry had tons of veggies, some tofu, and ginger broth with a little sweet and sour sauce. I went back for more spinach and bamboo shoots. I love bamboo! In the evening we went to downtown Lawrence, even though it was HOT outside. We went to the Wild Man vintage store to peruse and my mom gasped audibly when she found a shirt from her old elementary school that was demolished in the eighties. Clearly we bought it, and I am going to wear it. We met up with my dad, etc. at Chipotle. I got a burrito bowl. I always get the same thing -- I say, "Vegetarian burrito bowl with a tiny bit of rice, black beans, fajita veggies, pico de gallo, some corn salsa, a tiny bit of guacamole, and as much lettuce as you'll give me." And I got to sit next to the cutest dining partner. My brothers held hands outside. So cut...

This morning I met two actor friends at Hugo's. Hugo's has two locations and even though I live right by the Valley location, I'd never been! It's an omni restaurant with tons of vegan options and vegan specials. My vegan actress friend raved about their pancakes and oh yes, we were all impressed. We split an order of the pancakes three ways. I just had half a pancake because I wasn't really hungry. My appetite doesn't really get going until several hours after I wake up. I haven't had a pancake in years but we were all impressed, even my friend who had never knowingly eaten a vegan meal in his life. You'd never know Hugo's pancakes were vegan, and gluten-free, to boot! Sorry for the world's worst picture quality. Closeup so you can attempt to see how darn fluffy these things were: My other (non-vegan) friend also ordered an appetizer special of waffle cones stuffed with veggies and beans and guacamole. It just sounded fascinating. I had a bite a...

On Friday we went to Venice Beach to see the interesting characters in that area. We were even blatantly offered pot -- while we were walking down the sidewalk, a guy asked, "Hey, you guys need some pot?" Doesn't get anymore clear than that, does it? I also ran into a friend of mine from high school who was out here on spring break. I had no idea he would be here, and we just happened to pass each other on the sidewalk! We went to a sandwich place that surprisingly had nary a vegan option. Not one. I was surprised, because there aren't many restaurants in LA with absolutely nothing to eat. Luckily, I wasn't really hungry. For dinner we went to LaLa's Argentine Grill. We wanted a somewhat nice restaurant where my brother would be forced to put on actual pants instead of athletic shorts, but we didn't want to spend a ton of money. There are a couple LaLa's in LA - one on Melrose and one in Studio City, so we walked there. It did take over 20 minutes, an...

Today was really fun. I Skyped with my mom in the morning and in the afternoon met my aunt, her husband, and my cousin at the Beverly Center, LA's fanciest mall. I actually hadn't been there before, so it was fun to just walk around and look at stuff. We went to the Beverly Hills M Cafe for dinner and it was great! I snapped some crappy cell phone pics of my dinner -- curry tempeh salad, maple roasted veggies, and celery root remoulade. It was all absolutely amazing and filling enough that I brought back at least a third of it. I also tried my aunt's Bi Bim Bap, which she used to eat when she lived in Korea. It was amazing and I might get that next time I go to M Cafe. I saw this "ABC's of me" on Maryann and Gabriela 's blogs and thought it was fun. I'll play along! A. Age: I'll answer this my actory way: I play 16-20. B. Bed size: Two twins pushed together. Is that a quing? C. Chore you hate: Cleaning, all types. D. Dogs: Require love and affecti...

On Friday I went to acting class and in the evening I hung out with a new actor friend at her apartment in Santa Monica. It was really fun and we had some real girl time. We ordered Italian food from Rosti, a nearby restaurant that has an entire vegan menu. I ordered the roasted vegetable salad for pickup but once we got back I realized... they put cheese on it! I was very sad so I called them and they apologized and send a delivery guy with another one for free. I tipped him but besides that it didn't cramp my evening. Terrible blurry picture. On Saturday I went to acting class again (fourth time this week!) and in the evening went out to a bar with my friends, where I got hit on by all the weirdest dudes there. And exclusively the weirdest dudes. I am totally a weirdo magnet, and I have no idea why. First, a man who appeared to be homeless asked me to dance (I politely declined). Later, a Hungarian wearing a suit (in a sports bar, mind you) attempted to twirl me around and talke...

Happy New Year! All my travel yesterday went fine and I got home in time to partay. I was supposed to meet some friends at a bar but when I got there I realized I had the WRONG ID!! I accidentally brought my student ID instead of my driver's license, because they're both tan and I guess I didn't look close. But my friend found me a way in. :O Shhh... don't alert the authorities. But I'm legal, I swear! The night was fun and I got some good dancing done. I spent today being productive - doing Pilates, unpacking, cleaning, blog reading, grocery shopping. I roasted up some veggies, made fruit salad, and have been watching season 4 of The Tudors all afternoon. It's such a good show but I do get really stressed out watching it sometimes! I figured I'd take this time to highlight a couple recipes and meals I enjoyed over winter break that I hadn't gotten a chance to share yet. Today I'm writing about a delicious Vitamix soup and tomorrow I'm g...

I went bar-hopping with my mom last night. But let's back-track a little. First I accompanied my friend Christmas shopping. I tried on this hat at Urban Outfitters and felt very hipster. Then I tried to use the 3D video games at Best Buy. The glasses are huge! My friend figured it out. Then for dinner, I went with my family to my faaaaavorite Bloomington restaurant, Roots! Roots is Bloomington's only all-vegetarian restaurant (though I did see a salmon dish on their specials yesterday but I've never seen fish there before and I hope they aren't going that direction!). It's not easy to get vegan food in Indiana but at Roots, they know what vegan means. Just don't let them give you honey mustard, because some of them don't seem to realize that honey isn't vegan. We got a Mediterranean Sampler for an appetizer - veggies, pita, thick hummus, baba ghanoush, tasty falafel, and olives. There was also some feta that obviously I did not eat. I got the g...