Some of my Portland Plans

I'm actually trying not to look at too many pictures of Portland but I'm trying to pick a few places to show you that I can't wait to go.

This is a bookstore!! They have over a million books, nine color coded rooms and over 3,500 sections!!! Plus, they are not too far away from:

Can you say Vegan-Chinese-Lunch-Buffet!??!? I am SOOO FRIGGING EXCITED. They have vegan orange chicken :)

Another awesome thing about Portland is the food carts!! I'm really excited about this one:

They have a few interesting vegan topping choices for your fries (which I heard are out of this world to begin with): banana ketchup! rosemary truffle ketchup! and of course vegannaise :) They also make their signature "pb n j" fries. I can't wait to try them!

Another thing I'm going to see if we can shove into our schedule (between all the eating) is:

a bike tour! Look how beautiful...again, trying not to look at too many pictures because I want to be super excited when I get there but they have a tour that goes out and stops at about six different waterfalls! I don't think I've ever seen a waterfall in real life--just fake ones at all the amusement parks in Florida.

We also want to stop at all the gardens (Chinese, Japanese, and Rose Test).

There's a Saturday Morning Market (also runs on Sunday morning)

and of course we'll be there for Veg Fest!

All in all, I am incredibly excited!!!! There will be tons of pictures when we get back as well. I'm borrowing my Mom's digital camera (lost mine) and gonna try to throw a few disposables in my pack..not sure how much I can fit on the way there. My plan is to shove a huge duffel bag in my backpack so when we buy things in Portland we can check it on the way back but not have to check it on the way there (save time). However, I'm pretty sure it's about as big folded up as my backpack is to begin with. I'm packing really light, though. I figure anything I need I can get in Portland and I'm sure I will want to buy a shirt or two so I'm wearing like one pair of pants there packing shorts and that's it, etc. Light packing.

Just booked the hotel as well...decided not to stay at a fancy hotel because we could use the extra money for food and souvenirs. If we were only staying a couple nights I would have gone for it but five nights would get a bit expensive.

What's your favorite city you've ever been to?

I've really only been up the East Coast--Atlanta, South Carolina (when my old job moved), Washington D.C., Massachusetts, Rhode Island.

Kristi(E)

Fourth of July Food and Fire(work)s

Sorry I'm late with the posting... my car appointments took WAY longer than I expected and I am totally exhausted--not to mention that after spending the day sitting and thinking and sitting and thinking some more (all the way through eating lunch at a restaurant all by myself!) I decided to change majors.

This is a HUGE step for me and totally out of my comfort zone but I know it's something that I will enjoy much more and will lead to more opportunities...so the second half of my day I spent rearranging my schedule for the Fall and pushing my graduation date back a year so I can be:

Ok, so not EXACTLY MacGyver but I'm going to go for environmental science! I'm really excited. That's sort of what he does on the show, right? :-P Sometimes at least!

Okay so 4th of July...

We went to my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE VEGAN RESTAURANT!! Ethos Vegan Kitchen in Orlando, FL.

Check out this pizza!

and this bruschetta!

Pumpkin Penne Pasta w/ Seitan:

and this "sheep's pie"

and tofurkey ruben!

This is kinda a lot of food..and yes we ate there for lunch AND dinner!!!!!

They also have these yummy sodas:

(and cookies---not pictured)

So after going to Ethos (the first time), we stopped at IKEA! I got a garlic press (coolest thing ever) and a tea infuser (also really cool) and only $1-2 each.

Then stopped at the fancyschmancy mall. Found this cute bike print shirt but the cut was weird and too expensive for me to buy and try to alter:

Stopped and got yummy carrot juices. Mine had mango and Marc's had banana.

I also stopped at the Sanrio store to get gum for my Hello Kitty gum dispenser...I'll have to upload a picture later. It is adorable and I've had it forEVER.

So we ventured down to Lake Eola where there were a bunch of tents set up and whatnot all around the lake and look at the beautiful rainbow:

Except that it shortly thereafter POURED and there was nowhere to go. We eventually found our way, completely drenched, to a parking garage (that was locked) thus hiding under the awning but someone eventually let us all in. We walked around and around trying to find an outlet that worked so my friend could charge her phone. Marc kept trying doors to see if any of them were unlocked and one was so we went into this condo building to charge her phone. The condo building, however, was private and you could only get in with a key *cough.

Then the fire alarm went off!!!!!! We went out into the lobby and tried to act "normal." Some guy who lived there started yelling about some people that were in the lobby if they really lived there or just hiding out of the rain. We just acted normal whilst he kicked everyone BUT us out of there. Even though we were soaked (IDK how to figure that one).

Then the firefighters showed up and I let them in (remember the doors only open from the inside--you need a key to get in!)

See!? Totally not joking. We waited til it stopped raining then went back out but I was really sick of the ginormous crowd and feeling awful from being so soaked (and waterlogged shoes) that I convinced Marc and Frances that we should go back to Ethos. Which was AWESOME!

The end...

Oh yeah, after my car appointments today I decided to try out the new Sweet Tomatoes that opened near me. They had vegan Thai Udon Noodle salad and Vegan veggie soup that was delicious. I also had a baked sweet potatoes and some fruit. Yum. (though a bit expensive for the buffet)...this is where I ate all alone--in a REAL restaurant. Don't think I'd ever done that before, haha.

So I'm glad I didn't eat anything covered in bbq sauce or watch any fireworks on the fourth (though we did see a few on the drive home). I feel accomplished doing my normal eat lots of vegan food routine. It's just ALL SOO GOOD!!!!

xoxo
Kristi(E)

Sew what?

I have a pretty crazy story from yesterday to post about...just have to get the pictures off other camera phones (since mine died). It will definitely be up by tomorrow though! I wanted to show you guys what my Mom's new sewing machine can do!! I'm totally jealous!

First off, how cool is her old one!?

It's a Singer "Genie" and she has had it since I can remember. Gotta hand it to Singer.

The new one she got is actually a Brother but it was on a really good sale. She basically got it because she couldn't find the right zipper foot for her Genie and is making some pouches. Well, besides having a foot for just about ANYTHING...even one that sizes button holes for you, it has so many different stitch patterns!! I thought these two were pretty cool:

It even has one that looks like embroidered edges. I can't wait to sew some stuff with it and show you guys.

Stay tuned for that 4th of July story!

Kristi(E)

Craft Day!!!

Yesterday we had Craft Day at my Mom's and it was so much fun!!

I found this picture of her. How cute is my Mom!? Plus how cool is this photo!?!? It's on a section of a tree from when she was in Girl Scouts.

She has a new craft room with some pretty neat stuff. These little jars hold felt cutouts and other little trinkets. They stick onto the wall by magnets.

Here's a neat box where she keeps all the ribbon, stored on my favorite Expedit shelf from IKEA.

We did some scrapbooking:

And she had this really awesome tool that melds yarn into fabric!!! I HAD to try it out!

You use the needle pen to push the yarn through the fabric...

So the back looks like this:

And the finished piece like these:

Did I mention how excited I am for Harry Potter next Wednesday?!

Afterwards we ordered pizza and played Beatles Rockband and Glee Karaoke. It was TOO funny!!!

Do you guys ever get to spend time with your parents? We're all really busy but I'm so glad we were able to have this day together.

xoxo

Kristi(E)

New Icecream!?

I've had "So Delicious" icecream before but never saw this flavor until now!!

YUM!!

PEANUTBUTTER CHOCOLATE!!

This may be a match for the Carrot Cake.

Also, happy fourth of july :)

Kristi(E)