Friday 29 July

I arrived in New York from Los Angeles at 6pm. I caught the air train from JFK airport to the subway where my good friend Ethan met me. Ethan lives in Brooklyn so we trained it there, dropped off my luggage and then caught the train to have dinner at Blossom with Ethan's girlfriend, Daphne. Our waiter for the night was friend Joshua's (from The Discerning Brute) partner James who is a dancer and a lovely guy. I had the raw Autumn Sweet Potato Rolls US$11 coconut noodles, jicama, carrot, red and yellow pepper, scallion, avocado, almond ginger dipping sauce:

Ethan's girlfriend, Daphne had the Warm Spinach Salad US$14 tempeh bacon, crumbled soy filet, grilled Asian pear, citrus dressing:

Ethan had the Penne Rustica US$17 roasted eggplant, shitake mushrooms, slow roasted tomatoes, olives, jalapeño, fresh basil, shaved tapioca mozzarella:

For dessert Daphne had three scoops of icecream: coffee, chocolate and peanut for US$9:

Ethan and I both had the signature Chocolate Cake $US6:

Then we went back to Ethan's and went to sleep. Exhausting day of travel.

Saturday 30 July

Just before lunchtime, Ethan, Daphne and I walked over to the Farmers market in Brooklyn where we bought some goodies so that Daphne could make us some lunch. We took the train to Daphne's in Manhattan where she worked in her small, hot kitchen. A FaceBook friend of mine, Rachel and I had just been getting to know each other better online recently due to our geeking out on some music and external hard drive issues. We had also spoken on the phone a few times since I arrived in the US and I knew we would get on fabulously when we finally met, and we did. Rachel joined the three of us for lunch.

Daphne is a personal chef and she runs a catering company called Verite Catering in New York. Daphne made us some waffles with banana, chocolate syrup and maple syrup. Yum:

Here's a photo Ethan took of Rachel, Daphne and myself in the back courtyard at Daphne's place. Daphne is wearing a Dometic Terrorist apron which you can buy on the Green is the New Red online store.

Ethan is very spoilt due to dating a personal chef and since I was staying with him, I too was spoiled! Not that I'm complaining. Rachel and I caught up on a lot of chit chat when Daphne was slaving in her small, hot kitchen again. For dinner Daphne made Corn bread:

Roasted eggplant with caramelised onion and basil:

Jambalayh consisting of bell peppers, tempeh, corn, zucchini and squash, served with brown dirty rice:

Fortunately Daphne has just as much of a sweet tooth as Ethan and I, so we had banana soft serve with chocolate sauce for dessert:

Here's some cute photos of Daphne's dog friend, Cookie:

 

After a few hours we all decided that a trip to Lula's Sweet Apothecary was a must. On my US adventures last year to New York with Denis, we ended up going to Lula's quite a bit with Ethan. Ethan is obsessed with Lula's! I had the chocolate ice cream twist with ginger cookies mixed through:

 

Ethan had a cake mix ice cream and cone, Daphne had the fairy floss ice cream and Rachel had similar to mine with chocolate ice cream mixed with marshmallows and pecans. Yum. After Lula's Ethan and I caught the train back to Brooklyn, stayed up talking for awhile and then went to sleep.

Sunday 31 July

Ethan and I caught up on a bit of computer work before starting the day with brunch at Terri an all organic, vegetarian place. I unfortunately ordered a Live Long and Green juice US$5.97 that was pre-packaged as well as a mixed salad US$6.84 that was also pre-packaged:

Ethan ordered the Sunset Proposal smoothie with pineapple, mango, banana, coconut, orange juice, soymilk and the Breakfast Scramble which was great US$7.81 scrambled tofu, Italian "sausage", spinach, Daiya cheddar, hot sauce:

After brunch we headed to Daphne's for dinner where Daphne cooked for Ethan, Rachel, Daphne's sister Christine, myself and her. We had Chives soup:

Spinach curry with peas and sweet potato:

Bamboo, straw mushrooms and tempeh:

Rice noodles with peanut butter and spices:

Deep fried okra with paprika, cayenne and sea salt:

with Creme brule for dessert:

With some cupcakes:

We were all very full after Daphne's great meal. If you're in New York and need catering, make sure you check out what Daphne has to offer at Verite Catering. Ethan and I went home and I caught up on some computer work. I have just come to the realisation that I have been to the exact same places on my 2011 US adventures as I had on last year's adventures, being Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, New York  (with Washington last year as well) Even though it's been great to see my friends in all these places for a lot longer time than last year, I feel as though I'm missing out on a lot of things and need to visit more of the country I'm in. I had a great converstion with Peter about going on another road trip together, this time across the middle of the country from New York to my next stop Portland for the Vida Vegan Bloggers conference. Sounds like a good plan. I will sleep on it and have a look if it's doable in the morning.

Monday 1 August

Today I stayed in at Ethan's to catch up on a lot of computer work and to work out my next moves on my US adventures.  Peter and I decided to go on a road trip from Chicago to Portland, so we're in the process of working out the exact details. Can't wait! I had leftover corn bread for lunch. Daphne came back to Ethan's to cook us a Mexican feast for dinner. Daphne also taught me how to cut properly. Our Mexican feast consisted of tortillas eaten like a burrito with refried beans, brown rice, tomatoes, cremini mushrooms, jalepenos, coriander (cilantro), avocado/guacamole, lettuce, corn with onions and cashew cheese. Yum:

 

Tuesday 2 August

Today was girls day with Rachel, my New York tour guide! We met at Union Square and walked via Washington Square Park where I met some SQUIRRELS:

 

What a cutie, look at his/her tail!

We walked to Sacred Chow in West Village where we had lunch consisting of Lemon Tahini Hummus US$5 which we asked to be gluten free so they gave us more vegetables:

Rachel and I ordered 3 items from the Tapas menu for US$18. Korean Tofu Cutlets with steamed kale - thin slcies of tofu baked with Korean maple syrup glaze with garlic, onion, clilies and sesame oil:

Dijon Marinated Raw Kale - kale massaged with house Dijon dressing to soften texture and make it taste cooked:

Sautéed Shiitake Mushroom (shee- tah-kee) - slowly steamed in garlic oil and soy sauce, served with South Indian dip and sunflower seeds:

The food was really good. Then Rachel and I wandered around SoHo, went to the Mac store so that Rachel could get her iPod fixed. We waited for ages for her to see someone, so I attended a presentation in the theatre section on music and sound. Then we went to Aveda to get the Aveda Men's grooming clay for my hair a product that Jasmin from Our Hen House suggested I get.

Here's a photo of Rachel, we had seen Love Stories Suck! written on the pavements and on walls while we'd been walking around. Rachel may agree but I don't at all! Rachel is rocking her Ask me Why I'm Vegan bag that you can get online at the Sparrow Media store.

Then we went to Snice in SoHo for a sweet snack. I had a peach smoothie US$5.50 and a chocolate cupcake. Snice make the BEST cupcakes I've ever tasted! I also ordered a brownie to takeaway.

We then headed to a few vintage shops, to Blue Stockings, a feminist, activist, bookstore and then to MooShoes where there were a few resident cats:

Rachel wanted a gluten free cookie sandwich, so we headed to BabyCakes to get one for her. So much walking around today and I now have a thong (flip-flop) tan on my feet - this is something I tease my sister about when she has it as it's really bogan, so obviously it's karma that I should also get a tan on my feet.

Daphne organises Veg Tuesdays as part of the NYC Vegan Meetup group and her company, Verite Catering. Veg Tuesdays take place most Tuesdays at Vig Bar in SoHo, New York with a different theme each week. This week the theme was Business Networking. Yay, I'm sure I can do that! Danny from V Spot restaurant had Colombian Empanadas for sale US$4: potato, carrot, onion, coriander (cilantro), corn, Latin seasoned seitan and served with fresh salsa:

There were about 40 people who attended, with each person having to stand up and give an elevator pitch for their website, services or product. It was a fun event and I caught up with a few of my New York FaceBook friends. After the event, Rachel and I headed to a late dinner at my favourite restaurant in New York, Soy and Sake. Just to proove how obsessed the Americans are with peanuts and peanut butter - there are even peanuts in the nori/sushi rolls! Rachel ordered the Spicy Maki combo US$14 consisting of spicy soy tuna, spicy soy salmon and spicy california roll:

The combo came with miso soup:

I ordered the coconut shrimp as it was something I'd normally not order. US$6 - deep fried soy shrimp battered wth shredded coconut served with sweet chili sauce:

I also ordered the Spicy soy tuna and avocado US$6, Mixed vegetable tempura roll with sweet potato, broccoli and asparagus US$6 and the vege roll with asparagus, lettuce, cucumber and avodaco US$5:

Rachel and I had a long but extremely enjoyable day in New York. I caught the subway back to Ethan's and finally got home after heading the wrong way. I meet some lovely people when catching the subway.

Wednesday 3 August

I left early catch the subway to Union Square and then a train to Connecticut to visit Ursula and Roman my Dad's cousins. I wrote some postcards to my friends and family back home in Australia when I was on the train - I hope they can read my writing! When it was getting close to me leaving Australia for my US adventures, my Mum had written a letter to Ursula to let her know that I would be in New York in August sometime and would meet up with her and her family if possible. Ursula had connected with us on FaceBook and now I was heading to meet them in the flesh. Years ago when my family travelled to the US, we had met Ursula's brother, Roman and his first wife, Marzena, who both my sister and I remembered having long hair past her back, she inspired me to have my long hair years ago.

Roman and Ursuala and Roman's daughter, Valerie picked me up from the train station in New Haven and drove me to Ursula's place in Berlin where I met Roman and Ursuala's mother, Pela, who is my Dziadek's (grandfather in Polish) sister. I met Roman's wife, Sandy and their son, Steve. Plus Ursula's husband Andy and their boys Michael and Chris.

For lunch, Ursula had bought some Don Lee Farms vegan burgers with broccoli and potato bread as well as made some salads including broccoli rabe with garlic, spinach and mushroom plus sprouted bean trio salad. Ursula also made a lovely black grape, apricot and plum juice.

Here's a photo out the back of Ursula's place with the family from Left to Right: Roman, Sanndy, Pela, LC, Valerie, Chris and Ursula:

I spent a few hours with the family, then Roman, Ursula, Valerie and Pela drove me back to New Haven where I trained it back to Union Square and then to Brooklyn where I caught up on computer work and editing of videos. I am having some issues with the lack of space on my MacBook Pro at the moment. My videos are taking up too much space and I've been deleting some files, but think I should probably get a small external hard drive for while I'm away...

Thursday 4 August

Today I met Andy near his office and Danielle who just flew in from LA for lunch. They run Sparrow Media and Danielle also runs the Galapagus Preservation Society. We were aiming to catch up with a mutual friend of ours, Daniel for lunch as well but ended up eating without him at Cowgirl's Baking where Rachel works. Andy ordered two blackened "fish" tacos - vegan cajun fish, vegan fish sauce, guacamole, pico de gallo, and cabbage and one "chicken" taco - vegan chicken, beans, pico de gallo, daiya cheese, lettuce, and vegan sour cream US$3 each:

Danielle ordered two "fish" tacos US$3 each - vegan fish, vegan fish sauce, pico de gallo, & lettuce:

I ordered the Avocado and Sprout sandwich US$8 with avocado, sprouts, Vegenaise, tomato, lettuce and crispy wholewheat toast:

I also ordered a chocolate chip cookie to takeaway and a Talk, Dark and Spicy cupcake chocolate cake with spicy chooclate frosting, chocolate drizzle, and red pepper flakes sprinkled on top (both for US$4.65):

Daniel then met us after lunch, plus Rachel had finished a PETA demonstration so she joined us as well. Daniel, Rachel, Danielle and I walked Andy back to his work and then headed to Washington Square Park to interview Danielle and stalk squirrels for photographs:

Daniel, Rachel and I headed to LifeThyme Natural Market for a juice, I got a lemon, apple, ginger and cayenne juice. Here's some cute photos of Rachel and I and myself and Dan just outside LifeThyme:

 

Rachel and I then trained it to V Spot restaurant in Park Slope to interview with Danny, which is also my 100th video on my YouTube channel - so be excited!

After the interview Rachel and I spent way too much time in a pre-loved boutique store, Beacon's Closest and only came away with two dresses each! I bought a lovely new (mostly) red dress and another white dress, both halters. Rachel and I were getting quite hungry so decided to stop at Wholefood to get some food from their self-serve salad and hot food bar. Here's what I bought:

Rachel and I then went to Lula's Sweet Apothecary to meet Ethan and Ashley and her friend, Katie who are both from PETA. While we were waiting, David from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics walked by so I chatted to him for a bit. We had met at last year's Animal Rights Conference in Washington, DC. Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics is a 100% vegan and cruelty-free professional makeup brand who have many stockists worldwide, I've even used their products in my How to do professional Mermaid Makeup video tutorial!

Ethan decided to head back to his place for dinner. Andy and Daniel also popped by Lula's, so we all headed to Thompkins Square where I interviewed Ashley who is not only the campaign manager for PETA, but friend Will Potter's lovely girlfriend:

After the interview, Ashley and Katie said goodbye and Rachel, Andy, Dan and I headed to Atlas Cafe, Andy's favourite place in New York. I ordered a chocolate mousse brownie US$3.21:

Andy had the vegan Philly steak sandwich with no cheese US$6.95:

After a late dinner, Rachel and I went to Best Buy to buy at 750MB external HD. I keep meeting some really great people on the subway on my way home late at night or early in the morning, tonight was no exception.

Friday 5 August

Today I met the lovely Marissa who is about to release her documentary, Vegucated. I had seen the documentary and met Marissa at the Animal Rights conference in LA and would also be attending another sneak peak of Vegucated before the Vida Vegan Bloggers Conference in Portland. Marisa and I met at Union Square at the front of the Andy Warhol statue. We walked around the farmers market and found a place to do our interview before lunch. Here's the two of us:

Here's our interview:

Marisa and I then spent way too long at the local post office waiting in line getting a form filled out (and entered into the computer) to post a parcel back home, plus stamps for my postcards I wrote when on the train to New Haven the other day. After this we went to Angelica Kitchen a great organic vegan restaurant that has been open since before I was born in 1976. Marissa spotted actress, Maggie Gyllenhall at one of the tables, so it's obviously the place to be seen. We ordered a couple of meals to share. Olé Man Seitan - homemade seitan & roasted vegetable mix folded into a warm whole wheat tortilla, dressed with spicy traditional mole sauce (peanuts & chocolate) and lime-jalapeño tofu sour cream, garnished with pimento. US$14.50:

Still Special - Phyllo Turnover with sauteed leeks, baby bok choy, broccoli rabe, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, French lentils topped with lemon, basil, parsley pesto and serve with balsamic beet marmalade. With green and yellow wax beans and teenage lettuce US$10:

Both these meals were great, thanks Marissa! But we were still able to fit in ice cream around a few corners at Stogo an all vegan ice cream stop. Marissa had the Oatmeal raisin cookie with Salted caramel pecan ice creams US$4.25:

I had the Mexican spiced chocolate and the Pomegranate chocolate chip. Both were divine. US$4.25:

Here's a pic Marissa took of me at Stogo SO many ice cream flavours!

After Marissa and I said our goodbyes, I took the train to Willamsburg to meet Joshua Katcher who runs a great blog for the men folk called the Discerning Brute, also has an online shop and releases Pinnacle magazine focusing on the use of fur in fashion. Joshua is also a very environmentally aware vegan, which I love. Here's our interview:

I met a lovely lass, Leanne Mai-Ly Hilgart who designs wonderful eco-conscious clothing at last year's Animal Rights conference in Washington, DC and I was excited to catch up again with her, speak to her about her upcoming Vaute Couture collection and more. Want to Download her latest Look Book? (it's a big file) Here's my interview with Leanne:

After I hung out with Joshua and Leanne, I caught a train back to Union Square where I met Rachel and we headed to dinner at Caravan of Dreams. They always have amazing food and service here but I can't stand when the lighting is so low, it's bad for getting good photos as I much prefer natural light. Anyway, here's what we ate. The waiter served us radish in olive oil while we were making out minds up, different, unusual, but good. Then we ordered a couple of meals to share. Live Nachos US$12 - chia chips, guacamole, salsa, olives and almond cream:

Zucchini and Yellow Squash Spaghetti, Live US$17 - brazil nut & sesame meatballs, sun-dried tomato marinara, kalamata olives and basil:

We then met Ethan at Thompkins Square before he headed to dinner at Caravan of Dreams with Daphne and some of her friends. Rachel and I would meet them there for dessert. Not before we went to a great eco store, Sustainable NYC that I know a lot of my friends back home would love. When we met Ethan, Daphne and their friends back at Caravan of Dreams Rachel had the Chocolate cake with strawberry puree US$9:

and I had the Raw Cacao Fudge US$8 - rich dark cacao sweetened with agave nectar. The photo below is after I shook some of the coconut onto Rachel's dessert as all you could see when I took a photo was white on a white plate...

Then we went to Lula's for dessert, as Ethan is obsessed (no matter what he says!)

Saturday 6 August

The past few days since getting my 750MB external HD I've been moving around my videos as well as catching up on editing and writing bits and pieces of my blogs. Daphne and Rachel were busy today and tonight in the Hamptons as Daphne's Verite Catering company was catering the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine fundraising event. I caught up on a bit of computer work with Ethan before we walked to V Spot in Park Slope for late brunch about 3pm. I ordered a Ginger Squeeze juice with apple, ginger and lemon US$6:

I was trying not to just have pancakes for breakfast, so decided to have a little Tofu Ranchero starter US$4 with vegetable tofu scramble, black beans, salsa and avocado on top of a crispy corn tortilla:

My pancake ended up being two pancakes with sausage, so I ate as much as I could and took the rest back for leftovers. Whole wheat pancake with vegan butter and maple syrup and sausage:

Ethan ordered the Home Fries US$4 potatoes grilled with rosemary, onion and paprika:

As well as the Chocolate Chip pancakes US$10:

To walk off our brunch, we walked around Parks Slope, went for a look at the Brooklyn Superhero Shop - we even got to see their hidden room at the back! - and then went to Snice, Parks Slope to get takeaway for dinner, I got a burrito:

We then walked around Prospect Park. It was great to see so many families out and about enjoying the beautiful weather and the park. Ethan and I stayed up late working on computer stuff plus I tried to catch up on some video editing.

Sunday 7 August

It sounds boring, but I once again started the day with computer work before Ethan and I caught the train from Brooklyn to Manhattan to got to Daphne's place to attend the NYC Vegan Meetup group pot luck. Rachel and I went off to buy some food. I bought salsa, corn chips and stone fruit (which for my US friends means fruit that has stones eg peaches, plums, nectarines etc.) I thought I was a poser with the camera but I'm certain Rachel is much worse ;) Here's me posing and her taking a photo of me. The dress below is one of the dresses I bought from Beacon's Closest the other day in Parks Slope.

Here's another photo to proove that not only are the two of us posers but so is Daphne's dog friend, Cookie:

There were about 30 people who attended and great food was on offer. After cleaning up Daphne's place, the four of us headed to dinner at Candle 79 but not before gettting some photos together. Here's Ethan and I:

 

Our dinner at Candle 79 consisted of a complimentary bruscetta-type mini snack for the four of us:

Ethan and Daphne shared a side of grilled corn and smoked paprika US$8:

Plus the Guacamole Timbale - chipotle black beans, caramelized onions, cucumber-tomato salsa, tortilla chips with ranchero sauce US$8:

as well as the Lasagne Special - shredded seitan, cashew and tofu cheese, shallots, mushrooms, truffle tomato basil sauce and sauteed greens:

I had the Live Heirloom Tomato-Zucchini Lasagne - cashew cheese, marinated wild mushrooms, heirloom tomato sauce, basil-pine nut pesto US$22:

Rachel had the Stuffed Avocado - baby greens, quinoa, zucchini, cucumber, corn, crunchy sprouts, grape tomatoes, radishes, toasted pumpkin seeds with chipotle-avocado dressing US$16:

Ethan ordered the Cannoli for dessert - chocolate cream filling, vanilla chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate drizzle US$12:

Rachel and I both ordered the Mexican Chocolate Brownie - caramelized bananas, vanilla mole ice cream, toasted pecans and chocolate-ancho sauce US$12:

As tonight was my last night in New York, Ethan and I stayed up way too late talking.

Monday 8 August

Today I met two of my new favourite friends, Jasmin and Mariann from Our Hen House at Snice, Soho. Jasmin always says that the two of us were seperated at birth and live over other sides of the world. We have a lot in common and it's always great to spend time with her as well as her partner, Mariann. They were both on their juicing cleanse - inspired by the Fat, Sick and nearly Dead documentary - that day so I had a focacia and ate in front of them. Then the three of us walked to a spot to film our interview:

I then headed to the MegaBus depot where I waiting in the heat (no covers, some people were almost fainting) for my bus to Albany to visit Sheila who Peter and I had gone on an amazing road trip with at the beginning of my US adventures. There was WIFI on the bus so I caught up on blog and email work. Sheila met me at the station and we caught a few buses to the Honest Weight Food Co-Op in Albany where we bought the folowing salads to share for US$15. Because Sheila is a member and volunteers at the co-op we got a 24% discount on all products.

Rawsome vegetable salad - beets, carrots, onion, broccoli, red and green bell peppers, vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, tomatoes, garlic, basil, oregano, salt and black pepper:

Sweet potato bakes - sweet potato, curry, coconut, cayenne, olive oil, canola oil, sea salt:

Vegetables and Barley - pearled barley, red onions, yellow squash, zucchini, red peppers, green beans, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, pepper, parsley:

Spicy chickpea salad - chickpeas, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, jalepenos, canola oil, olive oil, cayenne, cumin, lemon juice:

Nick's broccoli salad - broccoli, carrots, onion, red pepper, fakin' bacon (tempeh), Vegenaise, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt, black pepper:

Spelt berry and rice - short grain brown rice, spelt berries, soy sauce, sesame oil, carrots, walnuts, currants, red onion, parsley:

Santa Fe-style roasted poblano (chili) and corn salad - sweet corn, poblanos, cilantro, tomatoes, red onion, olive oil, lime juice, cumin, oregano, cayenne, salt:

We went back to Sheila's place and caught up on what had been happening in each other's lifes since we hung out in LA. I also showed Sheila Justin's karaoke photos from when we were in LA and proceeded to laugh so much at a few of our photos! Great to hang out with Sheila again!

Tuesday 9 August

I was wrestling with a few external hard drive issues in the morning before we headed to Sarah Preston's vegan bakery, where Sheila also works. Xs to Os Bakery in Troy is just walking distance and down the road from where Sheila lives.  We had a sandwich with black bean and lentil hummus, tomato, kale, onion, carrots:

And, because it's something I'd normally not eat, a Tofu McYummy consisting of an English muffin, nutritional yeast cheese, Yves Canadian "bacon", grilled and seasoned tofu:

Also had a blondie shared with Sheila which is now my favourite dessert:

And, yes, even though it's boring, I ordered a vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing. Mostly because of the blue sparkles on top. Yum:

And a chocolate brownie:

Here's a photo of the lovely Sara Preston who runs Xs to Os Bakery with her desserts on display:

 

Upstairs, Sarah has set up a great Collar City info shop with a LOT of different 'zines from a lot of differerent people and organisations. Here's a great poster that's on the wall when you walk up the stairs:

Here's a photo of the great 'zine library:

Then Sheila and I went to Lil Buddha Cafe for a juice as we'd had too much sugar. We ordered watermelon, grapefruit, ginger and spinach juices. 16oz for US$5.50:

Sheila and I shared the nachos which were great - organic flax seed blue corn chips, organic brown rice, beans, melted cheddar Daiya, tomatoes, organic greens topped with homemade salsa fresca and avocado US$9.71:

And here's a photo of a lovely moth that was hanging out near our seat:

 

Tonight was all about booking my next road trip adventures with Peter. What had started off as us both meeting in Chicago and driving to Portland, Oregon became me flying to Chicago, Peter flying to Milwaukee with me picking up the rental car from Chicago and driving by myself in another country (who drive on the wrong side of the road) to pick Peter up in Milwaukee and then we'd drive to Portland. Phew. I had also decided to leave New York on Thursday night. So Thursday and Friday are going to be exhausting...

Wednesday 10 August

I stayed in today to catch up on computer work, editing and such. When Sheila got home from work, we listened to Fleetwood Mac (!!) and made some dinner for the pot luck her and Rachel were hosting. Here's a great photo of Rachel's cat friends, Bella (also known as Pudding) and Cleo (also known as Moon Bear):

And personal profiles of Cleo and Bella. Cute:

Dinner was Mac and Cheese with different types of pasta, different cheese including Daiya, pepper, Earth Balance butter, nutritional yeast and hazelnut milk. I made a raw salad with beetroot leaves, grated beetroot and carrot, spinach and kale from the garden, avocado and lemon. Rachel made a Curry with coconut, basic, curried rice with creamed peppers and zucchini from the garden. Here's what they all looked like:

For dessert Rachel made Strawberry Shortcake:

 

A few of Rachel and Sheila's friends dropped by for a bit, ate some food and chatted. It wasn't too late a night.

Thursday 11 August

Today was Sheila and my day to hang out with our mutual friend, Jared who I had interviewed in LA. First stop was obviously Xs to Os Bakery where Sarah had made an amazing chocolate cake I just had to take a photo of:

Jared had an Elvis cupcake with peanut butter:

I had another McYummy and a banana cream cupcake:

 Then we walked to the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Centre (EMPAC) where Sheila used to study and work. Her friend, Ryan met us there and gave us a great tour of the concert hall, theatre and studios. A lot of my music friends would love this place. Here's some of the artwork on display:

We then headed to a Loving Hut restaurant in Delmar: Loving Cafe. Sheila ordered a Peach and Green Tea with almond milk smoothie US$4.49, spring rolls US$2.99 for 4:

and the Chick n Wrap with garlic pesto, served with chips (crisps) and coleslaw US$6.95:

Jared ordered a Lemonade swirl smoothie and the Chick n Sub with pepper jack cheese, served with chips (crisps) and coleslaw US$6.99:

I ordered a banana smoothie with almond milk US$4.49:

and the chicken with sesame seed oil, organic noodles and a side of vegetables for US$6.99:

The meals were great but the overuse of plastic and throw away containers was annoying. Vegan food is better for the environment, except when there's excessive packaging. Jared then drove us to the MegaBus station where I was catching the bus at 6:30pm to head back to New York. We had a bit of time until my bus arrived so we sat under a tree near the Amtrak station, I did some quick tarot readings for Sheila and Jared, then we said our goodbyes and I left. I had a great time with Sheila and will miss her a great deal.

I caught up on editing of videos on the MegaBus as the WIFI wasn't working for some reason. Ethan and Daphne met me when I arrived in New York at 9:15pm and we walked to Terri for dinner. Daphne ordered the Roasted Vegetable sandwich as a salad - eggplant, squash, sun dried tomato, peppers, kalamata olives and balsamic vinegar US$7.81:

Ethan ordered a Terri Berri smoothie with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, soymilk and agave US$6.43:

and the Bacon Ceddar Chicken Ranch sandwich with "chicken", soy bacon, Daiya cheddar, ranch sauce and lettuce US$7.81:

I ordered the Breakfast Scramble which Ethan had had last week and I enjoyed US$7.81 scrambled tofu, Italian "sausage", spinach, Daiya cheddar, hot sauce:

I said goodbye to Ethan and Daphne, headed to the gym next door to have a shower and then got on the train to head to LaGuardia airport. When I was sitting at the train station I was chatting to a lovely lady, Dolly who is an acupuncturist. Dolly ended up getting off at my station, hailing a cab and heckling the driver for a good price to the airport plus it turned out that she's friends with my friend Marisa, what a small world. When I got to the airport it was after midnight and no one was checking in luggage. Thus began my waiting for my flight at the LaGuardia airport for my flight to Chicago...