prettypennygirl

Met Sarah Kramer

2007-02-21T16:52:00.000-05:00

Kris and I went to the East village on Sat. We had lunch at Teany, on Rivington St., which was actually really good- and the cleanest bathroom in all of NYC :) It is Moby's restaurant, where you can get vegan or veggie food. We shared pasties with potatoes inside a crust and mustard for dipping and a double decker veg turkey and bacon sandwich with salad. The best part- eggcreams with soymilk!

Since we were close by, we stopped at Babycakes on Broome St. for some vegan, sugar free, gluten free and wheat free cupcakes. I always expect friendly people at vegan places- I guess since there aren't too many people with this philosophy. I was kinda surprised how unfriendly they were there, like we were bothering them. The one girl was telling another worker about her drugged out friend. But the cupcakes were pretty good- the wheat free had a hard top, but the gluten free I took home were better. I love the lightly sweetened icing, because I hate when it is sugary sweet. I got chocolate and carrot cake...

Then it was off to Moo Shoe s to go buy a pair of Earth Shoes in black and meet Sarah Kramer. She signed my copy of La Dolce Vegan. Sarah is super nice and friendly. She even had her husband Gerry take a pic of us on her camera for her to keep! She is so little and cute. Isa and Terry were there from PPK to see her, too.

Earth shoes have a negative heel which is lower than the front and supposed to help your posture. I am breaking them in now so I can take them to Europe in a little over a month. They are cuter than the picture and have a little flower stiched into the side. It was a fun day!

Broccolli Raabe

2006-12-23T15:42:00.000-05:00

Ok, I have to admit I now know I don't like this stuff... My friend suggested I make it with veggie sausage. I browned the sausage first. Then I sauteed the broccoli raabe with olive oil and salt and pepper and garlic. Then I added diced tomatoes and served it over fiori pasta. I was able to get through a few bites before pulling all the broccoli raabe and leaves out of the dish and ate the rest. It was good without it.

My friend Kris came up today with her boyfriend to do our gift exchange and we went to Pure City (vegan chinese) for lunch today... And Kris gave me a really cool mat and nat wallet and a Christopher Radko hand blown glass ornament. Mat and Nat is way cool vegan vinyl.

Have a wonderful holiday everyone...

Fun weekend

2006-12-15T20:39:00.000-05:00

I am so sorry I am not out in blog world lately. I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season. My holidays are kinda ruined by a sick amount of work that was forced upon us at school involving essays... Tons of grading and stress. I will be so glad when this is over.

I did have a fun saturday last weekend in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. My veg friend and I went to BUST's Craftacular at the Warsaw for the second year in a row. They are all about DIY (do it yourself) and tons of cool vendors sell fun stuff. I got some great soaps, earrings, presents for people...
We also got a free issue of their fabulous magazine, that is usually very veg friendly. Parker Posey is on the cover this time...

After the craftacular, we walked over to the new Fred Flare store. They were having a carnival of cute and Amy Sedaris was there (from Stangers with Candy)... We bought her new book (not veg friendly so much) about hostessing and she signed it for us :)

Then we hopped in the car, and drove over to Food Swings. It is a vegan fast food restaurant in Brooklyn in a veggie friendly area. We happily ate our mock fried chicken- with a wooden dowel in it, with mac and cheeze and mashed potatoes and slurped our vegan milk shakes- YUM! We had a great day!
Now back to work.... UGHHH!

Time Flies

2006-11-12T10:01:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't been on here in forever. I have been dealing with art history and it consumes so much time. It is the end of the quarter and grades are due next week. My students made the paper. We got a pic of my officers and also a write up. It's the first time my name has made the paper as a teacher and was very exciting! The kids are now starting their Pet Stocking fundraiser for the holidays. They sell personalized stockings that are really cute! Check out the article...

Here it is: scroll down to teens help pets

I have been cooking, a lot of tofu, veggies, seitan (I can't get enough of that stuff). Dating has been interesting. There's a lot of wierdos and jerks out there (duh). I met a great guy, but he lives pretty far away, so it may be tough. I went to the MET and SOHO in NYC last weekend and had a great time. Had a fantastic Baba Ganoush platter at a little cafe.

Friday I had off, and after a tough few weeks, planned a "me" day. Manicure and pedicure in the morning followed by a haircut and highlights in the afternoon. I tried a new salon that is closer to where I live. The girl did a fantastic job, but it cost a small fortune. I guess sometimes you have to shell out the money to look good :)

I'm still around

2006-10-02T14:43:00.000-04:00

I have been buried under paperwork from school. 5 weeks is coming up and I have been grading projects, doing paperwork, grading art history papers and working on my lectures. Anyone who thinks teaching is a part time job has no idea what we do. My club I run, For the Animals, is getting ready for our Humane Society Drive and we are getting press in our paper this year afterwards. I got permission from my principal and I just got ahold of the women who does the "Shelter tails" column. The kids are VERY excited and so is the humane society!

Sorry no pictures, but I made a Stroganoff with Morning Star crumbles and Tofutti better than sour cream, with no hydrogenated oils. It has onions, mushrooms, mushroom gravy and white wine in it. I served it over whole wheat noodles. Yum! I also tried Wholesoy frozen yogurt in swiss dark chocoloate and it was fantastic! Just made some seitan this morning too.

I have been around the blogs, but very frustrated over the stupid beta thing. I guess I will have to break down and just do it soon. Did a trip to Trader Joe's and Xmas tree shops again on Saturday in Danbury and that was the highight of my 3 day weekend. Went to a Met's game with some friends last weekend and they won. We had a fun time. Dating sucks...

My top 5 fav foods

2006-09-09T12:27:00.000-04:00

I was tagged by Carrie awhile back. I have been so busy with getting back to school and teaching and being tired and prepping for art history- sigh... It is finally the weekend and the guy I am seeing went to the shore with his friends... sigh again... So here I am- I had a great birthday, it was an awesome massage at the spa. I just got back from a pedi and a manicure this afternoon. My club at schol 'For the Animals' will be doing their annual food and supply drive for our local shelter in October, so we have to get ready for that. We put drop boxes in the classrooms of all participating teachers and pack everything up for the h.s.- we usually get tons of stuff! Before I get back to paperwork, here we go: Blogger is only letting me post one pic at a time, and stopped after 2, then I lost one of them~ So Annoying!!

My top five fav in no particular order...

1. Homemade chocolate dipped strawberries. Last time I made these, I used a bar of Tropical Source dark chocolate with hazelnuts- YUM! My father loves dark chocolate and he loved them! Everyone said the chocolate was so rich...

2. Tofutti Cuties. Yes- I know they have high fructose corn syrup in them. But I love them... I get the vanilla ones. I have yet to try the peanut butter or fancy flavors because they don't carry them around here.

3. Homemade seitan from VwaV. Love it sooo much pan fried in cast iron and crispy.

4. Stirfry. Whenever I don't know what to cook, I chop up some onions, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli and carrots and add tofu or seitan or morn star farms steak strips with some rice or noodles and there is dinner... I chop up veggies like zucchini and peppers and store them in zip lock bags in my freezer. When I need to make this fast, I just take handfulls of prepped veggies and dinner is ready fast.

5. Rice noodles. My new fav obsession. I buy them from trader joes and use them with the above mentioned stirfry or seitan or with broth for a slurpy meal.

Not the healthiest stuff, but my fav foods at the current moment.

Homemade pizza

2006-08-23T18:59:00.000-04:00

Every so often I make pizza myself. I do buy the dough premade, I haven't attempted to make it myself- yet. I use 2 pckgs of dough from my bakery at my grocery store, because I find one doesn't stretch enough for my large round Pampered Chef pizza stone. I put cornmeal down on the stone first before I put the dough on. It makes such a crispy crust- yum. Here it is out of the oven.
I had homemade marinara sauce that I made a few days ago, with onion, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms and the trick is some red wine. You have to use the stuff you drink- I put in some Cabernet Sauvingnon. It was just enough for the pizza. I put on black olives (I use an egg slicer to slice them), fresh mushrooms, Italian green peppers and I used a half a block of Follow Your Heart mozzarella that I had thawed from the freezer. The trick is to cut it into tiny cubes, because it doesn't shred well. I learned that from Kenny at Vegan Lunch Cast. I don't know what happened to him- he stopped posting after his seitan tutorial months ago. The funny thing was I spent this afternoon making the VwaV tempeh sausage crumbles, and I forgot to put them on, until 5 minutes before the pizza was done, so I tossed them on top. You have to have a hot oven for the chreese to melt- like 425. I didn't realize the up close slice picture was blurry- so sorry about that!
Tomorrow Kristen and I are going to a fancy spa by me. First we are having lunch at a vegan restaurant that makes Chinese/Japanese food with mock meats. She is getting a European facial and I am getting an hour full body massage and free half hour of reflexology. We are going to pamper ourselves...

Some pics From 2 weeks ago...

2006-08-16T13:45:00.000-04:00

I have been trying to upload the pic of the seitan and peppers for almost two weeks. Blogger is so aggravating... It looks like it is finally working. Here it is- I know the colors kinda blend together. This tasted so good!
I grilled some tofu on my Cuisinart Griddler. It was a gift from my ex's parents right before we split up. I told him I wanted it as our parting gift. He would never use it and I was the one who wanted it. It was expensive, but I love it! Anyway, this griddler has 2 different sets of grill plates, one flat for pancakes, french toast, etc. and one set of grill plates. You can make panini if you close it, or you can open it up flat. I love this grill! I know friends who have the George Forman grill and it just isn't the same! This was the Chinese 5 spice tofu, which is kinda soft. I cut the block of tofu into 3 big pieces and sprayed it with some bragg's aminos. Look at the grill marks!
I had this with veggies and more rice noodles with sesame seeds. Last night I made the Punk Rock Chick Pea Gravy (fantastic!) and Mashed Potatoes from VwaV. I had it with some broccoli and heated up slices of Tofurky hickory smoked turkey. Such Comfort food!

I have been busy setting up my classroom, and doing lots of reading, getting my art history notes going for this school year. Summer is almost over, sigh... The worst is when I go back to school, everyone will be tan, talking about their summer and their vacations... Dating is annoying and depressing, but I don't want to give up yet. My ex is now back to dating the girl he was dating when he met me- must be nice to slide back into a familiar relationship. He lied to me for 2 months about it (we were trying to be friends). I can't believe the girl took him back. But I tell myself I am so lucky to not be in that relationship anymore.

On the positive side, I went clothes shopping for school, and I was able to buy a size smaller in pants. That made me feel good. I still go to the gym, but now I have been going only about 4 days a week. It is still better than nothing though. I am meeting Kris on Thursday for our birthdays (I am the 28th, she's the 29th) and Sunday with my parents- my mom's b-day is the 30th.

Movies, Movies, Movies...

2006-08-12T01:58:00.000-04:00

I FINALLY saw "An Inconvenient Truth" Wednesday night with my friend from work and her husband. I guess the best way to describe it was "powerful." I think Al Gore is an excellent speaker, and I did feel scared after seeing it, and angry at our current idiot administration. I almost feel like I shouldn't have children after seeing this. Pics aren't uploading- how frustrating...

I rented Syrianna, Memoirs of a Geisha and Match Point, all pretty good movies. I had a gift card for Blockbuster for $10 that a coworker gave me just as a way to say thank you for help. I had some of my students do calligraphy for her friends wedding invitations and they got paid for it- YAY! The nice part was they had 3 movies for $9.99, so I just had to pay tax- good deal :)

Dinner was seitan with red peppers and onions cooked in cast iron and I made rice and black beans to eat it with. My omni brother tried it and said "this is pretty good- can I eat some for dinner" I took a picture of the leftovers, but blogger is not letting me post- for 2 days!!!

Danbury

2006-08-05T21:56:00.000-04:00

So I met Kris for some shopping and sushi today. She gave me the 30 Seconds to Mars cd. Can I tell you how much I love it and Jared Leto! Does anyone remember My So Called Life- he was the clueless but beautiful Jordan Catalano? He is lead singer- yum...

We had edamame and fried tofu squares with some veggie sushi- avocado, asparagus and cucumber. And Trader Joes had organic avocados- a bag of 4 for $4!!! I usually pay more than that for nonorganic! I stocked up on tons of stuff and got some vegan multivitamins. I also got Sharon's sorbet in coconut- looking forward to trying that. And who doesn't love Newman-O's? (I really did buy more than tasty snacks- I swear!!!)

Here I am at home on a Sat night.... I could tell you stories of my dating hell that would curl your toes. I seem to find the ones who have issues of all types- big and small... It is very sad...

Ginger and Hoisin Rice Noodles

2006-08-02T20:39:00.000-04:00

Dori from the Bakehouse and her daughter Melissa reminded me that Dreena Burton's The Everday Vegan has a noodle recipe in it. I bought rice noodles at Trader Joes that I wanted to use before I go back there Saturday. I meet my friend Kris in Danbury, CT. every so often. We have a secret illness- bargains at Christmas Tree Shops. We shop, have veggie sushi and then get more bargains at TJ's. I have a silver insulated zipper bag to cart home the cold stuff in. She's been a vegetarian longer than I have. I've been one for 10 years, so she must be going on 15! We both make vegan food whenever we get together to cook dinner and dessert.

It was 100 degrees here in NY today. Too hot to take the doggies for a long walk. It was too hot to cook, but I wanted this. I made this yummy noodle dish for dinner tonight. I don't like celery (I know, I'm wierd) so I put in yellow squash instead. Between that, the orange carrots, green and red peppers and the scallions and mushrooms I added, it was so pretty... I also added sesame seeds. I can never follow a recipe perfectly. I do love hoisin sauce.

I have to give Jackie back to my parents tomm. and I will be sad to see her go. The 2 pups are getting along ok. Penny even let Jackie sleep near her, lol. Keep cool...

Doggie sitting

2006-07-31T18:35:00.000-04:00

My parents went away for the week, so I am taking care of their Jack Russell Terrier, Jackie. Aren't they creative with names? We call her Miss Jackie O or the Jackie Monster (like the cookie monster) I usually call her a little monkey. She was so excited when she got here, that she ran around the house in circles chewing on her hamburger squeaky toy the whole time. I have her until Thursday and Penny is less than thrilled. She is ok with her, but she isn't thrilled with someone else getting my attention. When i came home from the gym, I found poop on the floor. I think she was being spiteful. They get along, but I think Penny just puts up with her... We had to put the cat's food on the coffee table, up off the floor, so Jackie wouldn't eat it. She is like a vacuum cleaner...

They were very lucky. They adopted her from their local humane society. I don't believe in buying pure breeds, I believe in rescue agencies and adoption from humane societies. So many of my coworkers have purebred dogs that have problems, whether they are discipline or medical. My principal actaully had a puppy die on him, from a breeder. I can't believe someone gave her up. She is not your typical jack russell. She is fairly laid back, loves to snuggle in your lap and takes long naps during the day. She is good with the cats, although they don't like her. She is so little, like the size of a cat.

Here they are in the yard together...

Penny

2006-07-23T16:36:00.000-04:00

Now that the rain has stopped, it has cooled off a bit. Finally you can be outside without melting... Here's Penny in the garden, obviously more amused by something other than me... You know, in her old age, she is far more difficult to take a picture of. Kinda like a grumpy old lady :) I know I'm her mommy- but how cute is she????

Berry Oat Squares

2006-07-22T18:06:00.000-04:00

Since it is so beautiful out, I figured I might as well bake. You would think the pouring rain would help break the humidity, but no such luck. I have tons of fresh blueberries and 1 container of raspberries to use. I was inspired by Jody from VegChic, so I opened La Dolce Vegan from Sarah Kramer (I think this is her best book) and made these babies. I doubled the recipe, because I had a lot of blueberries and her recipes are small.

I have made her apple walnut pudding and her pb and choc bars are fantastic, but I find they don't need as much sugar. They use rice krispies and are so yummy. The biggest surprise from the book, her Punk-kin Pasta. Uses pumpkin puree and veggie broth and is so savory. It calls for veggie sausage- so I made the tempeh recipe from VwaV- also fantastic as a topping on pizza. I make it with bow tie pasta.

The only thing I did differently was rather than use rasp jam, I took the fresh raspberries, microwaved them for 35 seconds and mashed them with some agave nectar. They came out really good. This is a yummy recipe. I still have another package of blueberries left and I think I am going to make pancakes for breakfast tommorrow. Here is a close up:

I pulled out my Candle Cafe Cookbook, which was a birthday gift last year from my friend Kris, right before we went there for dinner that night! We are one day apart and have been celebrating our birthdays together for many years. I also pulled out Dreena's the Everyday Vegan to make some things from these 2 books. I really want to try some of Dreena's vinagrettes since everyone raves about them.

Leftovers

2006-07-21T17:08:00.000-04:00

Last night I had a date at this great restaurant in Cornwall on the Hudson. I have been going to Painter's Tavern for many years, even having my parties there when I got my BS and my MS degrees. Painters showcases local artists, painters, photographers and installation artists.

Although, I wasn't too interested in my date, I did have a free fabulous meal :) This is all of my leftovers, with some organic corn. Painters has always been extremely veggie friendly- they make lots of dishes, including veggie chili and will serve a big vegetarian nacho platter with it that is awesome. I ordered a dragon bowl with tofu. They grill the tofu- I requested it well done- I don't like my tofu mushy unless it is meant to be- like miso soup. It has broccoli, carrots and snow peas, noodles and a peanut sauce with chopped nuts on top- YUM! My last food photo was a little tough to see since it was on a stoneware plate. This is a calla lily plate- my fav flower. My everyday china is packed in the attic since I'm at my brother's house.

It is humid and gross outside, we keep the a/c on 24/7 lately. Penny doesn't like to be outside too long, so not many walks. I have still been going to the gym 6 days a week- go me!

Breakfast for dinner

2006-07-19T20:37:00.000-04:00

I saw this on Chris' Eat Air and Jess' Get Sconed blogs. I had all the right veggies and some red potatoes from the organic market. I made the tofu scramble fromVwaV with broccoli added to it. The seasonings make this taste awesome. I made this in a cast iron pan. I sauteed sliced potatoes in olive oil with thyme, rosemary, garlic, s & p, spring onions and parsley. That is whole wheat toast with earth balance on the side and organic ketchup. I may have this for breakfast tommorrow too, it was so good.

I've been busy

2006-07-16T14:40:00.000-04:00

So I wanted to make a black bean dip Harmonia posted on Veggin Out- the veg board for women. I noticed it took lemon juice. I had one fresh lemon left and figured if I was going to use it, I might as well use the zest, too. So instead of just making a simple dip with the food processor, out came the vital wheat gluten, and my microplane and I made seitan from VwaV again, too. It tastes so good! Here it is simmering. Notice the cool spoonrest? I got that in Sorrento from a ceramic artist. It says Capri on it and he painted one of the rock formations that I was able to see on a boat tour when I went to the Isle of Capri. It is an amazing place with tropical blue water.

The seitan is going to be part of dinner later, with my organic veggies from yesterday... I just slice it up and saute with a little olive oil in a cast iron pan until crisp. I find it is so flavorful from the seasonings it doesn't need anything.

The dip is really yummy and so easy to do in the food processor. I used some of the tahini I have left over from the roasted red pepper hummus I made from La Dolce Vegan- that was really good too. It has a nice, creamy texture- I know from the picture it doesn't look yummy, but it is. I dipped Garden of Eatin' organic blue corn chips in it, but pita chips would be good too.

Here's the ingredients:
15 ounces of Black Beans & liquid for blending
2 cloves of garlic
sea salt to taste
1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
1/4 cup Tahini
1/4 cup lemon or lime juice
1 tablespoon of Parsley

My fav breakfast

2006-07-16T11:29:00.000-04:00

When oatmeal gets boring, I make this hot cereal. It is so easy, and while the water is boiling, I add agave nectar, cinn vanilla, molasses, a little sea salt. Then I grind flax seeds and toast some pecans. It only cooks for a minute, then I mix everything in and add raspberries and a little soymilk. YUM! Quick and easy and oat bran is very gentle on my tummy.

Millet and Spinach Polenta

2006-07-15T20:59:00.000-04:00

Several days ago I made this recipe from my ultimate fav cookbook, VwaV. I had a tough time cooking the millet. I forgot to mention, I took the millet mixture and put it back on the stove the next day, added more water to it and cooked it until it was mushy. It set up fantastic as polenta in a tupperware dish. I pan friend it tonight for dinner and had it with the sundried tomato pesto. So yummy. I find a few of Isa's recipes I have to cook with more water, for a longer period of time.

Blooming Hill Farm

2006-07-15T17:09:00.000-04:00

I used to live 10 minutes away from a wonderful organic farm. I went every Saturday to get produce for the week. Now it is a bit more of a trip, but so worth it. I bought organic grape tomatoes and avocado and remembered how amazing orgainc tastes. So, this afternoon, I went out to the farm, packed my goodies into an insulated bag to keep them cool in my car and then went to the gym. I was going to the gym anyway.

This is a picture of everything I got, and I spent $19.50. The bowl has spring onions, red potatoes and mushrooms. They have a grill and they make the most fantastic grilled veggie sandwiches and salads, homemade dressings, etc. I used to get lunch every Sat there, too. They had samples of griled corn they were passing around and it was fantastic. The bag of red leaf lettuce was gigantic. The bananas were the only thing that didn't come from the farm, obviously. But still organic. Here is the link:

http://www.bloominghillfarm.com/index.html

They sell in Union Square and they also provide organic produce to some of NYC's restaurants like Candle Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Angelica Kitchen and Savoy.

They also have farm nights where they serve a vegetarian meal, which I 'd like to go to. It is kinda expensive, they upped it to $60. But it is good to support local organic farming.

As a time saver, I make salad once and eat it all week long. Rather than buy disgusting bagged salad, I rinse and spin the lettuce and tear it all up, cut cucumber, shred carrots and store this in a tupperware container or a ziplock bag. I add organic tomatoes when I eat it, because I find they don't store well. My tomato plant gave me a beautiful one yesterday. Oh, and I LOVE Annie's goddess dressing- yum!

Just enjoying some time off

2006-07-10T23:16:00.000-04:00

This is me when I went to Greece several years back. I probably look about this way now. (back to this weight)

So I got my hair cut and highlighted today, last week it was a cute pedicure. Yay. I so did need to lose those 21 pounds. I never realized how depressed I was with my ex until we split up. I packed on the pounds, lol. I have a long ways to go, but I keep going to the gym everyday. I have always struggled with my weight, so I am glad I am finally doing something about it. I do 2.5-3 miles every day with an incline on the treadmill, plus the circuit and the ellyptical machine. Some days are better than others. I was so glad to find vegan Puma sneakers with all man made materials to work out in.

Dating sucks. Most of the guys I meet pretend to be nice, at first. Or they just want you to "Come over." We all know what that means. It is very depressing. Most of my friends are married or in serious relationships. This is the first summer I will not be going away on vacation. I'd like to take Penny out more, but it has been so hot and humid lately. I took her out one day and she was dragging. My social life is kinda non existent right now, so there isn't much to talk about. I have been reading (Bust is another great magazine) and being domestic. I have a lot of art history work to do, but I have put it off so far.

I made the millet and spinach polenta from VwaV and it didn't come out soft. I kept adding more water and cooking it way longer than Isa said to. However- the sundried tomato pesto that is next to it is AMAZING!!! It tastes like there is parm cheese in it and it's vegan! I also made a stir fry with rice and terriyaki tofu. I freeze my extra firm tofu, thaw andpress, then saute with olive oil in a cast iron pot until crisp. I sprayed the tofu with a little Bragg's aminos before cooking, then I add the sauce when it is crisp. I find even nonveggies will eat and enjoy it this way.

OK- this has been a little long winded. You would think I had been drinking-lol- Sorry TK- haha!

My first week off

2006-07-02T20:45:00.000-04:00

I got my classroom all set for summer, and took home lots of Art History stuff to go over for my notes. I spent my first week off being lazy, dating and reading magazines I have had pile up. yay! Can I just say how great VegNews is? Oh, and I go to the gym 6 days a week. I have lost 20 lbs since I left my ex in April, yay!!!

I have been cooking, made a great Ratatouille with steamed brown rice yesterday. Tried out my Cuisinart Griddler and made blueberry pancakes. Then I switched the plates and grilled zucchini with a rosemary lime marinade. I have been going to the local farm market for produce.

Not much else to report for now :)

Last Day with the kids

2006-06-13T19:30:00.000-04:00

Today was our last day of classes with our students. Kinda sad, kinda glad it's over. Now they will take final exams and I will be proctoring, doing grades and cleaning my art room- lots to do still!

On the last day we make them clean. We call it their "task" and make it worth points toward their final exam grade. They don't grumble very much, because all the art teachers do it. To make it nicer, on the way home from the gym last night I stopped at the market. I spent way too much on fruit, and snacks for them. Cookies, brownies, coffee cake and donuts- Definitely NOT vegan...

I was so surprised that many of them attacked the fruit- strawberries, grapes, apples and bananas. I cleaned all the fruit the night before and put it in a nice big bowl for them.

Happy Birthday!

2006-06-09T20:04:00.000-04:00

Penny turns 14 today!!! Yay! Happy birthday to her... She is doing well, sleeping alot... And is extra affectionate in her old age...

Good Times...

2006-06-07T20:53:00.000-04:00

So I am going to the gym everyday and working out- YAY! I feel good and like going. It is so nice to go with a friend- we chat and gossip and the time flies by. I want to start taking classes- they even have yoga. I used to do yoga in my 20's and loved it. It really lengthens and strenghtens your muscles and you feel great. Buff body here I come!!!

I only have a week left with my students. I am sad because I will miss most of them. But I am happy that summer is almost here and I will have so much free time!

The date went well. I feel like I need to pinch myself. He is good looking, nice, very successful and he is interested in me. NICE...

Joined a Gym

2006-06-05T20:13:00.000-04:00

After work today I went and got a pedicure and then dropped an enormous amount of money on a gym membership. I have lost a little weight since my break up and I figured I should continue. I have some friends at work who go. So I am going to go work out and then I have a date with a very hot guy... I need to pamper myself. :) And I want to get toned...

Art Show

2006-06-01T19:43:00.000-04:00

So we had our annual Festival of the Arts show with the seniors and underclassmen. It went really well. It's nice to see the kids who are in college now come back to see us. Plus it's great to have a final show of the work they have produced all year. It was humid as hell, but we al had a great night...

Aren't my kids talented???

Lunch

2006-05-27T21:25:00.000-04:00

OK, OK, so I don't post enough... I got out of a long term relationship a month ago- hence the move. He and I used to do a lot of stuff- travel, sports games, concerts, try restaurants, etc., together. I am adjusting to being single again after 4 1/2 years of being a "we". Oh- and by the way- Dating sucks!

Anyway, I drove down to southern Westchester today to see my friends, Kris and Dan, and their adorable dog Spike. He loves me so much, he wanted to give me kisses rather than eat the treat I brought him- What a dog! He also cries when I leave. She took me to Mrs. Greens (a great natural foods chain) and her and her boyfriend took me to Harry's Burritos for lunch. You can get vegan options, soy "meats", cheese and sour cream, plus wheat tortillas and brown rice. They also make a killer coconut margarita! I want to try the ones in NYC. Check out the link.

http://www.burritobombers.com/

I liked it

2006-05-20T00:49:00.000-04:00

So- I liked it. It was a little slow in the beginning, but I thought it followed the book rather closely. It was awesome to be back inside the Louvre and around Paris- I haven't been there in 3 years. Plus images of London too. I love reading a book and then seeing the images come alive on the screen. It has been almost a year since I read the book, so I forgot some stuff with the many twists and turns in the plot. I'm glad I ignore critics reviews- pfft... I really enjoyed the religous perspective, I guess as someone who is not Christian, but teaches art history (filled with religous images) I found the concepts rather refreshing (regarding Mary Magdalene). Overall it was visually beautiful. Go see it...

The da Vinci Code

2006-05-19T16:46:00.000-04:00

This has nothing to do with Penny, other than her looking very sad when I leave this evening. I am going to see The da Vinci Code tonight and am very psyched! I read the book and also Angels and Demons last summer- both quick reads. I don't care what the critics say- Psst. I'll report back with my thoughts. I love how it takes you through the art museums and studies the paintings of such a great master. AND- Leonardo was an animal lover and vegetarian!

She's Very Modest, Shy at Times...

2006-05-11T15:09:00.000-04:00

The vet called today while I was at work and said that Penny's bloodwork came back and it is absolutely fantastic! He said she is healthier than he is (he's young). So that is great to hear. I forgot to mention in the last post that my students do community service, too. They go to the Humane Society on Saturday and Sunday mornings and clean cages, feed animals, walk dogs, etc... Some kids are really amazing!

T- Shirts!

2006-05-10T15:17:00.000-04:00

My club I run at my school is called For the Animals. We do fundraisers to raise money and supplies for our local animal shelter. You can have shirts printed with anything on them, so we decided to have these for our group. My kids will wear them for our group photos and when they do fundraisers. We do supply drives, sponser concerts, sell bumper stickers and at Christmas we make personalized pet stockings that are really nice. They are a big hit. It is a lot of work, but I get so much back from it...

Thanks for the Positive Thoughts!

2006-05-09T19:30:00.000-04:00

So I went to the vet and am relieved that the lump was just a cyst. I can't tell you how happy I was when I watched him pop the thing. He aspirated the small fatty lump on her side and it is benign, too. He said she looks amazing for her age- he would have guessed she was only 10 yrs old! Her eyes do not have cataracs, they are just getting a bit cloudy with age. I had a complete blood workup done, too, to make sure she is ok inside as well. She is only 55 lbs! That is the lightest she has been in a long time! I'll find out by Thursday about the bloodwork. I want to make sure her last few years are happy and healthy...

Time for the vet...

2006-05-08T20:36:00.000-04:00

So, I'm finally getting settled in my new place... I was playing with penny in the yard and thought I felt a tick on the side of her face. It wasn't. It is a wierd looking growth. I'm taking her to the vet tommorrow afternoon to see what it is. I'm a bit nervous because of her age. We'll see what he says. Oh, I used to live in this town and the vet is fantastic. I am glad to be back here so I can use him again.

I've Moved

2006-04-22T12:11:00.000-04:00

Ugg, Moving is so awful! Lugging boxes, and calming an upset dog. She was a bit freaked out, but Penny is a trooper. She is getting used to her new home as I unpacked over the course of this week...

Rendering Plants

2006-04-04T20:16:00.001-04:00

I did some research on dog food and rendering plants awhile back. It was absolutely horrible! I now feed my dog Flint River Ranch food. Since I changed to this dry food, her eyesight has improved, her coat is shiny and her overall health improved so dramatically that my vet wrote down the name of the food to recommend to other clients. And no, I don't work for the company! Here's the web site:

http://frrco.com/indexFlash.cfm?

Penny!

2006-04-04T19:51:00.000-04:00

The star of the blog. She's almost 14!!!