englandsword

My birthday was so much fun! First, we all went rollerskating. None of us had been rollerskating in about a decade so it was quite an adventure but we all survived. That's my step-mom, me, my mom, my step-dad, my brother, my baby brother, and my dad. I declared a 70's theme so my step-mom, mom, and dad were all wearing my dad's high school T-shirts and my step-dad shaved his beard retro style (not just for my birthday, but for a retro NYE party tonight, too). Oh, what a blast. And I think I've never laughed harder than when my mom tried to spin with me in the middle. I am NOT that good of a rollerskater! Afterwards we went to Local Burger for dinner and got salad! I wrote about them before here . Yes, my ideal birthday dinner is salad. Then we came home for cake. My mom found one slice of vegan carrot cake at the store, and that was it. So carrot cake it was! I opened presents. I'll show you some later, maybe next Fashion Friday. ;) Then we finished the nigh...

It's my birthday! We're going to dress up in 1970's clothes and go rollerskating! OK, I'm not sure how many people I'll actually get to dress up, but I'm going to. Here's a strange retrospective of my last few birthdays, in reverse order. Last year: My 20th birthday: My 19th birthday: My 18th birthday: My 17th birthday: That's all I can find right now. Have a good day and go eat some cake for me!

Wow, it's been almost a week since I posted! I didn't mean to disappear, but I've had every single moment of my time dominated by family - and I mean that in a good way, of course! Now I'm at my dad's house in Lawrence, Kansas and I'll be here until Friday. I have a lot to share with you but I'm still pressed for time so I'll just share our Christmas morning brunch right now. On Christmas morning my brother came over and we opened presents first thing! First up was stockings: My big present was some money towards my Screen Actors Guild union membership. Yay! We also played with my brother's puppy, Buster. And then we made and enjoyed brunch. Here I am, with the spread: French toast, fruit salad, and veggie breakfast sausages. You guys are going to love the french toast recipe, because it was delicious, easy, healthy, and perfect for special occasions! Apple Cinnamon French Toast One loaf of bread, sliced - we used wheat sourdough, but anything...

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...

On Saturday night I went with my mom and step-dad to see Guster at the Bluebird. It was a great concert! We left on Sunday morning along with my brother and his girlfriend (all crammed in one car) for North Manchester, Indiana, where my step-dad's family lives. We go there to celebrate Christmas every year. We picked up some provisions at Bloomingfoods. I got the brussels sprouts and magic tofu - a delicious creation (that some have compared favorably to chicken nuggets, surprisingly) with garlic and onion powder, pepper, and nutritional yeast. I snagged a bite of my mom's breakfast sandwich, which had a slice of vegan cheese, a vegan sausage, and a polenta circle in an English muffin. It's really good! I love the addition of polenta to a breakfast sandwich, and it kind of looks like eggs without trying to impersonate them. First, we opened presents. I didn't request many presents so I got a couple little things, plus money. I really need money. =) Here I am wit...

Oh man I have been so busy! I have barely even had a moment to use the computer and keep up with my blog reading, much less my blog writing! On Wednesday (after blogging) I hung out with my brother and went and saw his new house. He is now watching four dogs - his new puppy, his roommate's new puppy, and my parent's two dogs. Thursday was my mom and step-dad's 10-year wedding anniversary so we went out to celebrate! We saw The Tourist, the new movie with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. I liked it, most of all because it's absolutely gorgeous. For dinner we went to a Greek restaurant downtown that's a Bloomington institution called The Trojan Horse. Sorry for the terrible picture - I was trying to be inconspicuous - I got a veggie sandwich but subbed hummus for tzaziki. I ate about half and gave the rest to my step-dad. I also got a bite of his falafel sandwich and it was delicious. Yesterday I went to my old high school to talk to the theater class about wha...

I'm in Indiana! I took the red-eye on Monday night, got about two hours of sleep, and then stayed up all day to get myself on the new schedule. I went from my 85 degree weather to 8 degrees. Wow, I forgot what it felt like to be this cold. I hung out with my family all day yesterday. It's so nice to see them again but it's also really weird being back in Indiana. I haven't been back in the year since I moved, but I lived in Bloomington from 2nd grade through college and all but the first four of those years were in the same house. My parents sold their house (they're closing next week) so it's all totally different. It's just weird how everything is familiar and strange at the same time. Mom and I made a bunch of quinoa salad and roasted vegetables. Quinoa salad is so easy and variable. I think you'll enjoy this recipe. Wasabi Dijon Quinoa Salad 2 cups cooked or sprouted quinoa 1 yellow pepper, diced 1 red pepper, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 2 ...