Explore, Creations, and LOTS of talks @ Starbucks!!!

Hi everyone! How are you doing today? 😉

OMG guess what! We went to Starbucks two days in a row!!! (Wed and Thurs) And we NEVER go to places like that!!!!! (so it’s a big deal for us) 😉

On Wednesday, I went to explore my home town. (and it had gone through some huge changes!)

There was absolutely nothing here, and now there’s a cute square!!!

Lots of stores like these (ex: Panera bread, Chipotle, Movie Theatre, Claries, etc.) Very cute for a tiny town! 😀

And for the last few forever, I’ve been having a Starbucks craving. (Why? Because she goes there often, and the more I she mentions it, the more I wanted to go!) And I live in the area of Starbucks, so why not go? (there’s one about every few blocks; it’s crazy, I tell you!) I haven’t been there for a year, so it’s okay, right? 😉

On Wednesday, my brother, his friends, his sister, Michael, and I went to Wild Waves!!!!

 (source)

I didn’t take pictures because I was having too much fun! But we went on water slides, roller costers (and probably not going to ride one for a looooooooooong time), and pools!!! 😀 It was a blast, but it was COLD!! (it got sunny afterwards, but the water attraction lines got waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long!)

Then after we dropped off my brother at his friend’s house for a sleep over, Michael and I went to Starbucks and he got me this.

Soy Strawberries and Creme Frappuccino!!!! It seriously reminded me of Meiji Apolo Chocolate!!! (Japanese chocolate with a little bit of strawberry chocolate on top of the mountain. It’s soooooooooooo good! Not vegan, though) It has a lot of sugar according to this, but oh well. We didn’t have that big of a lunch (a AB & J sandwich and some Soy Crisps), and we ran around like crazy, so it’s okay. 😉 I don’t have it everyday, either. So it’s all good. 🙂

This wasn’t the frapp I was expecting, but I ended up liking it quite a lot! So it was again, all good. Would I give it another try? If I’m in a mood for sweet, Japanese chocolate-reminding taste, then yes!!!

Also, Michael got me this new baby:

Peeled Mango snacks!! It was a new product, and I had to give it a try! (there were other ones like apples, cherries, and pears?)

They’re organic, so that’s a plus. 🙂

It was very chewy (not good if you just got your braces tightened!), a little hard/tough, but the flavor was very mango-y, and it smelled really good too! If there is a next time, I will go for apples!

Then I got Dr. Lucy’s Cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies = yum! I wanted cookies that were kind of dried (like this one), so this was perfect! (4 for $1.50. A little pricy, but it was worth the price!)

Next day (Thursday), I wanted to go on another Starbucks date. (because I thought it was cute and fun!) After picking up my brother and doing all the lunch/dinner (99% dinner. Lunch was my weird creations and a peppermint stick luna  bar)

Vegan Rice Crispy Balls (organic brown rice puffs + hemp seed cereal + coconut flakes + ricemellow. Mix them together and form balls. Pretty simple and very tasty. I wanted to drizzle melted chocolate over this!) 😀

Same thing as the top one, but in a bar form (on a graham cracker + nooch+water combo to make a sticky “paste”) The cracker got very moist and I thought it was funny. 🙂

Nooch paste (Nooch + water = paste) on pretzel sticks. Again, the nooched part was moist and it was very salty (kind of like cheese) 🙂

A big – kickin‘ salad from WF’s salad bar. (it had cooked potatoes, but those were eaten before I got home) 🙂 I had a huuuuuuuuge craving for salad. Don’t know why, but it was really good!!

Going back to what I was talking about now. We went to a Starbucks near by this time. (and finally got the drink I wanted!!)

Soy Green Tea Frappuccino!!!! Yes!!!! I love this drink so much!!!

Oh heaven!!!!!!! 🙂 This is my all-time favorite starbucks beverage!!! What’s your favorite? Any of them that you recommend?

After the purchase (this was where the fun began), we sat down and talked. Literally, just TALKED. We talked and talked and talked for about a good 45 minutes to an hour. (holy wow!) I actually truely enjoyed doing this, because we don’t really “sit and talk”. It was very fun, and I got to know Michael a little bit better. I would like to do this more often!!!

(And lastly, thank you sooooooooooo much Michael for buying me all those treats! Next time, I will be happy to pay!!)

I absolutely love trying new things!! (food, clothes, malls, going to new places, etc.) How about you? Are you a challenger? Or do you like to stay in the “comfort zone”?

I have another, fun day to look forward to!! Have a good weekend and thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks for coming!! 🙂

Buys, Eats, Tricks, Gifts, and Surprises

Hi everyone! How are you doing today? 😉

No particular order in what I’m going to write (I go all over the place, and my boyfriend should know that very well) 😉

At one point over here, it was so hot that this happened to the coconut oil! (7/13)

I’ve heard about this all over the blog world, but I didn’t know it’d actually melt like this! 😯

Oily, I know. Wow! 😯

(7/14) Lots of cute, jewelry buys here!

Sushi Earrings from Claries!!!

I know Sushi isn’t vegan, but it’s cute, and I can always say that these are vegan sushi made to look like the real thing! 😉

So it’s all okay 🙂 Very dangle-y = my style. Perfect!

And while we were browsing all the jeweleries, I found a really cute bracelet, and I said, “If I had this, I’d totally wear it!” So then my nice boy friend “secretly” got it for me. (and I saw the whole thing, so he sure failed that attempt!) 😉

A gummy bear bracelet!!! How cute is this? Who wouldn’t want to wear this?

Uh-huh. A perfect mismatch combo of my bracelets. 😉 I love it!

And I bought some Good Belly products.

(more to come about this later. I will link this and that post later as well)

(7/15) Review Alert!

Kombucha Tea!!! (not the ones that were banned) Just tea, and it smelled very less alcoholic than the other kombucha. ($2 for this. Later in the week, their price was $3.29. Score!!) Taste? Okay; I can live with it, but I can also go without it. 🙂

New Buys:

Yum, but I think I added too much ‘naners for my liking.

For Michael.

Michael’s purchase. This is totally in season right now, and we love it 🙂

Coconut water was on sale. So pineapple is for Michael,

…and this one’s for me. It tasted very mango-y, I have to say. Fruit-flavored coconut water is okay, but I prefer the ones without fruits.

Oh Man. I love this that I already finished this box and got a second one! (which is almost gone as well!)

7/19 (Mon) (I know, I’m waaaaaaaaay behind on my posts. Oh well) 😉

Guess what Michael brought me!!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Pancakes!! I haven’t had good pancakes in ages!! 😀 (my pancakes I made a while ago was a mess!) These were waaaaaaaaaay better than something that I can ever make! (He makes desserts, I make the meal) 😉 What a good team we are! 😀

Maple Syrup and Smart Balance does all the work. It was heavenly!!! Thank you Michael! 🙂

Ooh, and guess what I did!

Real, or fake?

It’s fake! It’s mock beef from Trader Joe’s! And I totally tricked my dad and grandpa to eat it and think that it’s real meat!!!!! 😀 😀

I told them after they finished it, and I ate it in front of them! 😀 They were shocked!!!!

Grandpa: “I thought it was pork!”

Dad: “It was so soft and I thought it was so good!”

See? People won’t know it’s vegan unless you tell them! (except for my meat-loving brother. He was able to tell as soon as he put it in to his mouth! His reaction was prescious!) 😀

Well, that’s all for now! Soon, I’m going to have a full, product review-only post (hint somewhere in this post) and another week-recap post! 😀

Have a good day and thaaaaaaaaaanks for coming! 🙂

P.S: Miss Averie is having an awesome, Ani Pyho’s cookbook giveaway!!!!

Thank You Everyone!

Hi everyone! How are you doing today? 😉

This is a very quick post.

Thank you to everyone who chimed in on my last post about life. I was kind of afraid to post it, because I thought no one would read it (like the other life post), or I’d get hateful comments (that I also got on the other post, but I simply deleted it because it wasn’t worth my time at all) It’s long, but I put lots of thoughts into it, and it’s very meaningful.

But despite my worriness, I got some wonderful, kind feedbacks. So thank you all for chiming in!!! Those comments and positive feedbacks mean a lot! Thank you thank you thank you very much!!!!!

Now I’m off to work on my other three or four draft posts! Have a good day and thanks for coming!! 🙂

A lecture from Sagojyou’s Veg*n Page

Hi everyone! How are you doing today? 😉

First thing first: I’m really impressed to see how people’s lives have/are changed/changing in a positive way and many people are being happy with the life that they created! (Like Tina, Katie, Michal, and Katie)

Everybody has their own way to make their life better, and it’s happening at the pace that’s right for them.

I have to say, life is quite interesting. Even if you feel like it’s the end of the world, the sun will always rise.

 (source)

And even though you may think from time to time that you’re the unluckiest person in the world, you have so much around you; you just don’t realize it. (like air, water, food, family, friends, to name a few) So it’s really important to know that Everything you want, you already have.

Some may agree, some may not. I’m totally fine with that. But don’t be rude to other people’s opinion, because it’s not your life. If you’re not happy with how other’s think, leave it at that. We’re all differnt, and that’s what makes life interesting. 🙂

Also, when you do something wrong to someone and you know it’s wrong/you’re fault, fix it as soon as possible. Don’t leave it off til the last minute, because that chances are that you might not fix it, or simply just forget about it.

I said mean things to my boyfriend. I knew it was wrong. So I texted him I’m sorry and I called him. Even though he didn’t pick up the phone, it’s okay. He’s going to hear it tomorrow (or whenever he turns his phone on)

Admitting that you did something wrong may be hard for some people, but that’s fine. Slowly break the perfectioness of you, and do the right thing.

If someone asks you a question and you don’t know the answer to it, just say “I don’t know”, and don’t pretend like you know, because that’s going to bother the other person. (Seriously, one of the simplest rule that people find hard to follow is “keep your promises that you make”. If everyone can do that, the world would go around a lot smoother) So people, keep promises that you make. Hard and challenging, but the outcome is worth it.

Another thing about life; if you don’t get a good score on a test, don’t be ashamed of yourself. IT’S OKAY. Give yourself a pat on the back if you got a score to begin with.

Life is not about getting a high-paying job, owning a big house, eating gourmet meals everyday, or driving the newest car out there. It’s about the inner happiness and the things you can’t see. (relationships/connections with other people, getting rid of your bad karma, etc.) Schools and jobs only measure the qualities you can see with your eyes (grades, past job experiences, and so on). But how would they know that you’re donating 1/4 of your paycheck to a big, child-saving organization? They don’t. Grades don’t say anything about who you are.

I think inner quality/happiness is very important. And while I do go to school, my life is going to be more based on who I AM and not what I DO or HAVE. (after all, even if I have a high-paying job and I get a big pay check, if that job doesn’t allow me to express who I am [outgoing, helpful, silly, kind, joyful, etc.], I wouldn’t want it!) Really, I would rather be a math teacher (I AM a math lover, and I AM a helper!) and get paid little than be a lawyer or work in an office all day long with a big pay check.

(this post is very me, I have to say. I like food posts, but I enjoy posts like this a lot more)

So there you go. A little lecture from Sagojyou’s Veg*n Page. Like it or not, I don’t care. It’s what I think, it’s what I believe, and it’s how I LIVE.

Thanks for coming! 🙂

Fiiiieeeeld trips + Food + Farm + Festival + Baseball Game + Buys = Mi Vida!

Lol Good times, friends! How are you all doing today? 😉

Lots of F’s and B’s here today, huh? (it sounds like I’m swearing, but don’t worry; I’m not) Fun, fabulous, bodatious stuff are what I’m talking about!

Okay, for my job (teaching at a preschool), we go on a field trip (little and big ones) everyday (!), and we are going all over the place! (yeay for public transportation!)

Last week, we went to the Pacific Science Center.

I flipped out when I saw the theme for the month.

Circus?! Were there going to be animals?!?! 😯 is what I first thought. But luckily, that wasn’t the case, so I was relieved 😉

(I’m actually excited for the next featured event that’s coming up for the year 2012!) Maybe I’ll come back and see this, because I really love this next picture’s place!

Wow, this is so long from now! 😯 Or would time just fly past by? (it probably will) lol

Holy cow moly chippy-o’s! I have so many products to review about!!!!!! 😀

Numero uno: Raw (Enzyme-Rich!) Brownie!!!!!!

Oh F. This was soooooo good! It had a hint of orange, citrus taste, so it was very different from what I’d buy. (Michael bought this for me at Sidecar For Pigs Peace)

It seems healthy, and it sure did taste like it! 😉

Oh the walnuts there are. I have to face this: I’m not good with nuts. A little = okay, but I think it’s better to stay away from it. So like Kris, I’m going to be eliminating nuts for a while from my diet! I want to see if I see any changes with my body and see if my body feel better without it! (So that means no Almond butter for a while. There’s always Soy Nut Butter if I’m desperate for a nut butter spread sandwich for lunch) 😉

And we went to a near-by farm this week (and I cried because I hate when I see animals locked up in little places; it’s totally unnatural for them!) 😦

Pony,

Chickens,

and Sheepy. There were other animals too, but seriously, the smell drove me insane! 😛

And a little project that the kids did with the sheep’s wool. (And I did NOT touch it AT ALL!!! It’s too gross, too sad, and too scary for me!)

Moving on. Guess what I did twice in one week?

I went to see Toy Story 3 twice!!!!!!!!

 (source)

First time on last Monday with my boy, and the second time was last Friday as a field trip! (First, no-3D, and field trip, yes-3D) The whole 3D-thing hurt my eyes. I like movies without it. How about you? Do you like movies in 3D? Do you like Toy Story? Have you seen all of them?

(and this is a picture of a display at the science center. It friggen looks like the crazy, creapy monkey from Toy Story 3, doesn’t it?!?!)

Numero dos: Good Belly!!

Helps you clean out your digestive system! (Yeay probiotics!)Sounds great to me! 😉

And the color of the drink is beautiful, too!

Holy yum yum! I hope it helps me clean my guts!

Okay, I think Kris may get a little over-excited from this, but guess what I bought…

Raw Vanilla Bar!!!!!!!! OH MY FRIKKEN EARTH!!!! I fianlly bought this because the weather was so awesomely HOT around here!!!!! (and guess what? Not anymore!) 😦 $3.99, but what the heck. It’s totally worth it! (and I have another one in the freezer, too!) It’s that damn good 😉

5 ingredients, and that’s it, folks! Is that awesome, or what? (it’s healthier than ice cream that’s sold in grocery stores for sure!) This ice cream was very chunky (it seemed like it had pieces of nuts in it, but from the ingredients list, obviously not), and the vanilla flavor was very strong. It didn’t have the long, ever-lasting flavor of a typical ice cream (non-vegan ice cream tends to be like that. You can taste it in your mouth for a while), and it had a nice, not too-sweet taste to it. Would I have it again? Absolutely! If the weather is 90+ degrees, yes I will! 😉

(other flavors are Strawberry and Fudge)

Before going on to numero tres; we went to see the Mariners game on Sunday! But even before that; before we went to the field, we went to an international festival (because it was five minutes away on foot)

There were stores like the other festival.

My mommy was nice enough to get me a piece of clothing from here, but I said I’m good, because it really wasn’t the type of clothes I enjoying wearing these few weeks. (but thanks mom!)

I found these little guys again. (it looks cheaper if it’s written like this instead of “$14 for two“) But they are cute!

And there was this vegetable art stand!!! Take a closer look:

Onion flower

And watermellon art. WOW! 😯 These were some pretty crazy art!!!

We roamed around here for 15 minutes or so, and finally headed to the field.

Oh! And food that we got!

Garlic Fries,

and Chocolate-covered strawberries!!! (for my lil’ bro. I bought it for him with my own money. I’m such a good sister) 😉 (and there were two chilly dogs, and actually a total of three garlic fries, and they all came with three chicken strips. Those were cleaned up by the boys first)

And after the Mariners lost insanly badly (why am I not surprised?!), we went to a near-by Asian store and bought groceries. And I got these!!

Numero tres: Explosive Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookie!!

Holy yum!!! The taste of the espersso was there, and it wasn’t too strong. It was very chewy, melt-in-my-mouth kind of flavor, and I loved it! There will sure be a next time for it!! 😀

Oskri bar!! I hated it 😦 It tasted bleh. (whatever that means) 😛 It’s Ayla‘s favorite, though. I don’t like it as much as she does; I like my PURE bars and Luna Bars 🙂

Boraba Skin Balance Water! I absolutely have no idea what this is, and I’m curious to try it!

Age defying? I guess I don’t need it, but hey! It was on sale for $1.99 (while it originally costs $3.49!) Score, not?

It sounds good, healthy, and clean! 🙂 I wonder if I’d look younger than my actual age 😉 Ha ha.

Well, because if I put this post off til I put everything, it’s never going to be over, so I’ going to hit publish now!

Thanks for coming! 🙂

Sunny weather…Finally!!

OMG darn it! (wow, what an intro!) How are you doing today? 😉

As of current, I feel stuffy. The bad stuff in my throat is trying to get out, and now my nose is all sniffy and I think I’m semi-deaf.

Oh well. Process of healing needs detoxification. I don’t take medicine at all, so understandable. Do you take medicines? Or do you cure your cold with herbs? (Now that’s something cool to know) 😉

I just had to make a post about how it’s finally, FINALLY (officially!) summer around here! This rainy state has finally gotten sunny. (and apparently, it’s going to stay like this for the whole week!) Yeay for sun-lovers! 😉

I realized; I like taking pictures of the sun. I’ve been doing this quite recently, and I think this is a fun hobby!

Taking pictures of it makes me really happy, and very close to the sun!

See? Now that’s what I call sunshine! 😉

No food post. More like a “She-found-what-she-likes-to-do” post, I shall say. 🙂 (Very short too, because I had no intention of writing this until, well, now!)

And this is the big tree (trees) in the back yard. The sun was shining on everyone nicely, so it was a good scene to take.

I love nature, I love green. I love the sun and I love earth.

What do you love?

Thanks for coming! 🙂

Birthday, Positiveness, Presents, Buys, Field Trips, Farmer’s Market

Hi world! How are you doing today? 😉

I was thinking “should I make multiple posts (birthday, field trip, farmer’s market), or make one big post?” If I made multiple posts, I can put all the pictures (because I have a TON), but I like to make everything into one…And my call was one, huge post (with lots of pictures, but not as many as I would put if I did separate posts). It’s going to be fun! 🙂 (And readers, I have updated my links on the side, so feel free to look around! I found many, new, awesome links! Go look at them now!

Thanks for everyone who wished me a happy birthday! It was very kind of you all to take your time to do that! And now, we’re going to go back in time to see what happened on that day 🙂

(First, I had two separate parties; one when everyone in the family was here, and two, on the acutal day)

On Sunday, we got cake, and I made it last past my actual date, so that was good. And on the 29th, my boyfriend brought me this!

Holy gigantic! Home-mae vegan pizza!!! 😀 Totally put a huge smile on my face!!!

It lasted me about 3 -4 days, and I had so many slices!!! 😀 It was amazing, and all my omni family members liked it as well!! (Topping: Sauce, tomatoes, mushrooms, tofu, and vegan cheese) I’ll request this for my birthday party next year!

And mom’s dish. Zucchini and Onion sauteed with Sesame oil. Mmmm good!! Why is sesame oil so good? And zucchini is amazing! 🙂

This is what happened after a few days that it was in the fridge. And now, it’s all gone. This is vanilla cake, by the way. Do you like Vanilla cake or Chocolate cake? I never really liked chocolate (I like chocolate the way it is (with the exception of chocolate cookies); so I dislike chocolate ice cream, cake, and so on)

Other than getting $$, I got these presents from my friends!

My friend Jenny brought me this. On the left, it’s an eggling, where you crack and grow a plant. Mine is a wild strawberry plant 🙂 I will start this in the fall/winter because if I start now, I think the strawberry plant might get a little bit cold during the seasons.

I’m actually kind of scared to grow a plant, because unlike Sooz (who’s an expert at planitng/gardening/being green), I might kill it! I’m so worried! 😦 Are you good at growing plants? How do you do it without killing it? (I’m afraid that it might be over/under watered, might not get enough light…I don’t know! What’s good and what’s bad??)

Off tangent, but Katie had a make over on her blog a couple of weeks ago, and I was very excited to know that she was going to make it more personal, because it’s always fun to know what other people are doing. Recipes are fun too, but I personaly would like to know what’s going on in their world/life, and not just the food they eat. She wants to keep it real, and that goes for my blog to.

When I did post real stuff, not many people seemed to like it (no feedbacks, which makes me wonder this), I got a very long, hurtful comment (that were deleted with a click of a button, of course), and I felt like no one read it because it’s too long. (it’s understandable, but I take time to read people’s posts, even if they’re long, because I enjoy knowing what that person is thinking) But those kinds of stuff are what I want to write. If I make it short and simple, would you read it? I want to fill it with positive, inspirational, fun, and happy. I want people to learn that your life can be better by the choices you make.

Like Katie, I want to keep it real. So along with posting pictures of events that happen in my life, I will slowly start to write positive, personal, and honest things. It may take a while to change (because I feel like I’m losing my readers these days…and if people aren’t reading it, my motivation won’t be as high as it would be with the comments) 😦 but really, all of the positive comments mean a lot to me!

So there you have it. That’s me, even if you don’t like it or not. 🙂

Fhew! That made me feel better! 🙂 Going back to birthday madness, here’s what was in the package!

Two face towels, a strawberry-shaped flash card, notebook, tape, pokemon stickers, and my favorite present out of all:

It’s a cute, tiny book! (compare it to my hand!) It’s titled: “Congratulations from the nations of the world!”.  It has the translation of “Happy Birthday” in many languages (Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Italian, and even in outer space language!) 😀 It was very very cute, and I adore it a lot! Thank you so much, Jenny!!!

And the next present is from Michael.

Go Vegan bumper sticker, lots of chocolate goodies (on the bottom right with the orange wrapper is a raw brownie!!! Excited to try them out!), a birthday card (1/2 handmade), and Eco-friendly colored pencils, all in a Trader Joe’s Reusable tote bag!! (so there’s no waste of wrapping papers! Yeay!) I was very happy with all these presents from him! (and he already buys a lot of stuff to begin with) Thank you Michael! (and already about half of the yummies from him are gone. Oh well! :D)

OH MY GOSH. I’ve been really into buying/reading books for the last few days!! And this is insane because I hardly ever read English books! (yeay for having lots of time!!)

I’ve never bought a magazine before, but this one caught my eyes. I guess someone’s trying to change without being concious about it! (though it is true that having a body like hers is one of my goals) So it’s a good start 🙂 I haven’t read too much of it yet, but I will for sure take a better look at this! I’m excited to learn about a world I never explored before! 😀 Do you do yoga?

I bought the left and the middle book; the right book is from the biblioteca. The two bought books are from Half Price Books ($6.49 and $4.98. Score!). I finished be green and Food Rules, and I’m working on reading the green book! The two green books have simple tips on how to be/go green (ex: Unplugging cords when not in use) be green is very short, and it’s like a little kid’s book, but it packs A LOT, so check it out if you ever see it!

Food Rules talks about tips on how to eat/be healthy. 64 tips, easy to remember. (ex: “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.”) Simple enough, right? They’re all good books, so if you ever see it, take a look!

Field trip: I work at this preschool, and we went to a Children’s Museum. And I got these Chinese letter tatoos as a souvenier 🙂 (no pics) May or maynot use them (I can always give it away as a birthday present) 🙂

OOh, and finally! No school = farmer’s market!!! (and after that, I went to WFs to buy a dip for the purchased veggie)

Snap Peas!!!! ($2/half a pound) I tried one at the market, and they were really sweet!!! So after I got home without buying them, I had to go get it! I thought to myself: “I can eat them for a snack like Skylar!”) What a healthy child she is 🙂 She totally inspired me to eat a better snack like this 🙂 Keep up the good work, girl!

Well, now I’m off to doing more exercise to tone my muscles! (fave exercise other than lifting weight is this) And a while while ago, the helpful girl, Mitrii, sent me a link that showed many exercises, and as I was searching, I came across this. (The 13 Best Abs Exercise) Now that’s awesome, and off to read and exercise I go!

What exercise do you do? Do you do any? What’s your favorite?

Have a good 4th of July weekend and thaaaaaaanks for coming! 🙂

P.S: Averie is having a 18 Rabbits Bars Giveaway!!!