Weekend in short

Well I have no photos for you all from this weekend. But I was a busy bee.

First off, HALLELUJAH! I am done with summer school. I believe I finished strong with good exams and good grades. Im just glad it is over, it was tiresome. I do not like having THAT structured a schedule. It did me well, but now I have time to enjoy my time.

So my parents did take me to my favorite Thai restaurant. Though, I did not take pictures as I was a bit embarrassed. Especially since the waiter has been there for years, knows my order by heart, and is a bit inappropriate (always asking me about dates and what not, but good food is way more important). He was a bit calmer since my parents were around, but I still was not going to be caught taking photos. Anyways. So he comes up and asks if I want my thai eggrolls and pad thai with tofu? And I told him about no eggs for me, so he told me I should try the rice rolls, which were rice paper, fresh vegetables, marinated tofu, served cold with a delicious dark sweet sauce. My entire family enjoyed them, it was perfect for a hot day. Then I decided to order the pad thai without egg and made sure no fish oils. It was just as good without the egg, I just wish I had more tofu! Its always the first thing that goes. I also ordered it a bit hotter, which was delicious. So in total, it was a great meal with my family.

The next day, my mom and I prepped my new room all day for paint. I started moving my clothes and packing up things, organizing, and what not. It was a very productive day, my mom and I both were pooped. For lunch I had leftovers from the night before. And for dinner my mom was going to make sausage and potato salad. So she asked what I wanted, I said Ill make my own version. While fishing out my hot dogs, I saw that there were still a lot of prepared 'meats' that were not vegan. So we threw away maybe 6 boxes of half eaten morning star and boca products. I dont like throwing things away, but when they are half opened, cant do anything with them. I realized that I didnt have any buns or time to run to the store or make any thing. So I made one of my childhood favorites of Crescent Dogs, I used a quarter slice of Toffuti Cheese singles and my favorite veggie dog, Smart Dogs. I was so happy when I found out that Pillsbury Crescents were accidentally vegan. They are just the perfect little finger food dinner. My mom was making Sour Cream Potato Salad. So I did the same. Here is the recipe.

Sour Cream-Dill Potato Salad serves two
2-3 potatoes, cooked, peeled, and cut in blocks
1/2 cup Vegan Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Vegan Sour Cream
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Cucumber, sliced in fourths
1-2 tsps Dill weed

1. Mix Mayonnaise and Sour Cream in separate bowl.
2. Place as much of the mixture you would like into bowl with peeled potatoes
3. Add Vinegar and mix well.
4. Add Cucumber and Dill.
5. Serve cold and with a dash of dill for garnish.

All done! Super easy, probably didnt need to give you all a recipe, but it is a great fluffier version of the American potato salad. Its delicious and quick.

Today we painted the room, its a gorgeous green (very soft, yet bright). We finished in a few hours. I got fired from using the rolling brush. Apparently wasnt doing it right. So I did all the fine touches and used the small brush to get up against the molding and ceiling. Now that that bit is done, the next big step is to get the current furniture gone. We are going to turn to freecycle to get rid of the furniture. It is a great program that allows communities around the world to get rid of their things through yahoo groups for free. The new owners pick up normally same day. And what's great is you can do as much getting rid or as much getting as you like. Their mission is to reduce waste and save resources. Great program! So after the furniture is gone, or atleast displaced for now, we will set up my 'new bed' and take apart my own bed. I will be painting my normal bed white to make it antiquish, and it will be moving to Milwaukee with me. I am buying a new dresser for my apartment, so my current will have be moved into my bedroom in my house. Its all so confusing! But when all is done it will have been a great benefit for my entire family for me to be in this other bedroom.

My main reason for moving into the bedroom across the hall (actually was my first bedroom when I young, but it is smaller) is the fact that the air vent in that room is MUCH better. In winter I will be warm and in summer I will be freezing. Currently I am freezing my ass off in winter and dying of heat (currently am extremely hot), so no more wah wah wah from me. Also it has a walk in closet. Also I've grown out of my current room. I believe I re-decorated and moved to this room when I was starting Junior High School, so 11? I painted it a beautiful blue and got all metal silver furniture with oak woods. And all things to do with blue stars. So for my current taste it just does not match. And it is very cluttered with its large open shelves.

I have been designing my room for Milwaukee to the dot. I have floor plans and measurements and everything you'd ever think a home buyer would do, yet Im just going to be living there for a year, maybe two. The building I will be renting from is 109 years old and is a Historic building in Milwaukee. It is just gorgeous with beautiful crown molding, original built-in cabinetry in the kitchen and walkways, large stone fireplace, claw-foot tube, original hardwood floors, and huge bay windows. Oh my! Amazing huh? Well we pay in sq feet in the kitchen, but really that is the only drawback. I will manage and because we have floor to ceiling closets in the hallway, I will just keep my pantry out there. Anyways, my room will be shabby chic and antique! I already have sheets all ready. And on Tuesday we are off to Ikea to find me a functional/large desk, awesome dresser, bed side tables, and all kitchen supplies needed. Im like madly excited. One of my favorite hobbies ever is decorating. I adore it. Its just too much fun. And Im so psychotic with detail that I go on and on and on to make sure it is perfect.

Well I will be taking photos of both finished rooms, so just you wait.
It will have been worth the lack of photos and boring rambles til that moment.

But, aside from all that rambles. After we finished painting, my dad and I decided to get dinner (my mom had already eaten with her friends). So we decided to try the other Thai place in town, we used to always go together. But they changed owners. We forgot, but that was because we werent impressed the first time. Now the lady was gabbing away to apparently her daughter when we came in, didnt even get off the phone. Nor helped us. She finally called someone from the kitchen to help us. I ordered the Garlic Tofu, it sounded delicious. And my dad ordered Ba-Mee. Came our dinner, and my tofu looked very fried, more like seitan. I looked at it for a bit and was confused. I didnt have any silverware aside from my chopsticks, so I bit into it, and chewed. It didnt taste like anything, but I spat it out. I asked my dad to try it, and he said what I was hoping it wasnt....chicken. FUCK! Its so ironic a few days after I had posted about my frustration with vegan food, well now somebody serves me fucking chicken. My dad was worried of how I would react, but I didnt want to be emotional about it. The waiter had disappeared, so we had to interupt the gabbing lady to confirm it was chicken. She said sorry and ran off to get it changed. Though our waiter even repeated tofu back to me, I remember it perfectly. So maybe he said tofu and wrote chicken, no idea. So that left me a bit freaked, not a bit...a lot. I kept reasoning with myself that my conscious decision to not eat meat products was what is important, because I had been served chicken or maybe ate something with a non-vegan dye, or whatever the case. I try my damn hardest to make sure food while eating out is vegan, but like we saw on Hell's Kitchen, sometimes we are told something is vegan/vegetarian, but it truly is not. Each person's definition of vegetarian is different. A lot of people don't realize that most vegetarians do not eat fish, others dont realize that eggs/dairy is not the only thing a vegan refrains from eating. So if served an item that is not vegan, it does not make us any less vegan. It does not mean that I must start the clock over back to 0 days. I do not feel good about it...at all. I wish it did not happen. But I have consciously made a decision to not support the meat industry, I have made a decision to be a voice for animals, and I will do so. My truest concern from the night's mishap, was the fact that the chicken probably was just thrown in the garbage. The poor chicken's life went to waste. I don't want any chickens to be served up on a plate, but the fact that it had to live in such horrid conditions for nothing. I just feel horrible. I wish I just took it home to my mom or something. At least then the food would not be thrown out. I know I get a bit more emotional over such things than most. I've always felt bad when I didnt like a gift or a toy. Hell I wrote my initials on all fast food toys as a kid, because I felt bad if I didnt like them all equal. Id split my sleeping time with my stuffed animals, because if I always slept with one, I thought all the others would feel bad. Even today, I am the biggest hoarder of things because I will feel bad if somebody finds out I got rid of the scarf they made for me 6 years ago, or feel bad if I threw out a card somebody wrote me for my birthday when I was 12, and the list goes on. It was an accomplishment the other day getting rid of a ton of clothes I do not ever look at, and got rid of a ton of papers and crap that was just left in boxes. I still have 6 under bed storage containers filled with different things. I still have my memory boxes (7 in total) from the past 6 years. But each time I go back and sort, I get rid of more. I still feel horrible, but I know I gotta do it.

Well after dinner, my dad went and got my mom and him some ice cream bars. He bought me a slushie. And I just lounged around watching HGTV with my mom. I think though Ill watch a movie and get to bed. Sorry again for the lack of photos. Been so busy with cleaning and what not. Though I will be cooking a storm this week. Get ready!