Tater and Emily

As the light during the day gets shorter, I've been turning my thoughts to Christmastime (or whichever holiday you celebrate in the December/January timespan) and what I will be making for people. It's October now and it will take me some time to prepare all my gifts.  Occasionally, I think about what I would like. Lately, I've been lusting over some tasty vegan treats and decided that I would post about my own foodie Christmas list.

1. Cheeses!

In particular, I've been interested in the Avellana Creamery, Miyoko's Kitchen and Vtopian Artisan Cheeses. Let's face it; most vegan cheeses leave an odd after taste in your mouth or just aren't creamy enough. I've tried a lot of vegan cheese in the almost 8 years that I've been vegan, and believe me, there's nasty sh*t out there. Some of them I do like already, like Daiya, Teese and a raw one made of cashews that's locally made, but I'm ready to try some new ones. The three kinds listed above are ones that I'm ready to dive right into.

2. Caramels!

Most recently, I have tried Cocomels. They are fairly rich, which I enjoy. However, I've been looking for caramels that don't taste like coconut. These certainly do. Ones that I've been wanting to try out are from Feed Your Face on Etsy. 

3. Ice "cream" variations!

4. Macarons!

I've ordered from Sweet Maresa's already and love them! They are a bit pricey so I definitely get them for a special occasion. Their flavors rotate and so far I have loved each one. Currently, they have lavender, darjeeling and lemon, nasturtium, mint, violet, creamsicle, chocolate raspberry and jasmine.

What are some of your special holiday treats in which you like to indulge?

Once topped with nooch, I thoroughly enjoyed my hearty breakfast. I'm not always up to making such a breakfast, but Sunday was that day.

I am not the biggest girly girl you've ever met. I'm not even a girly girl, really.

But I do like nail polish.

I've stopped putting it on my finger nails altogether since it chips so easily for me. But I love to do my toe nails. Right now I'm in a limbo period since I'm supposed to have toe surgery next week and can't have nail polish on at the time. The past couple days I have been lusting after new nail polishes to try.

The other day, I was painting one of my tables (this story relates, I promise) and was reminded the hard way that oil based paint does not come off with soap and water. Before I knew it, both of my hands were covered in white, oily paint, as well as my bar of soap. I panicked. I didn't have any paint thinner and I quickly thought of what I did have that might help. I decided on nail polish remover. That helped a little bit but not nearly as much as I thought it would. Then I thought of a label removal method that was effective (olive oil and baking soda) and the supposed "miracle" of coconut oil. Seconds later, I was slathering coconut oil and baking soda on my hands, praying that it would help. It. worked. I was amazed. With such natural ingredients, I was able to take off the nasty smelling, chemical laden white oil-based paint. It was a miracle to me.

This experience got me thinking about how many other chemical-laden products I have in my home simply because I think they're the only things that work. I thought of that nail polish remover and how I thought it would work but didn't, and how terrible that must be for my skin (and nails!) that I tried that. I decided that I would research vegan and/or natural nail polish removers.

Most of them are expensive. As in $12 and up. I don't know about you, but for me, who usually buys a store brand nail polish remover at $2.77 per bottle, it made me seriously rethink this purchase. For a minute. And then I decided it was worth it to me to no longer use a chemical-filled product that was tested on animals and bad for the environment.

These are the options that I have come across. I intend to purchase each of them and test their effectiveness.

1. Priti NYC
2. Scotch Naturals
3. Karma Naturals

I look forward to trying each of these and reporting back on the results!

(No, I am not compensated in any way by these companies. I just want to check them out for myself!)

This is my attempt to share more about my life and what I'm working on without regard to what is "right" or "wrong" in the blogging world. Or more likely, what I feel like is right or wrong, which shames me into beginning nothing at all.
Casting all that off, tonight I'm sharing with you all my lunch on Saturday. Baby kale and fried tofu mixed in with potato hash...it was wonderful!

This is my new configuration above my computer while I work. It makes me smile.