The Vegan Project // Part 1 - Introducing New Vegan Foods

In the end of March I introduced The Vegan Project here on my blog. My close friend Dan agreed to attempt changing to a vegan diet to see if it would work for him. If you missed the first post you can read it HERE. Dan started making changes to his diet during the last week of March. One of the first things I suggested for him to do was switch from dairy milk to vanilla almond milk. A very easy and simple change. Then I asked him to watch the film Forks Overs Knives. The great thing about Forks Over Knives is that it gives you lots of information. Watching the film can help you make an educated decision on whether or not a plant strong diet is good for you.

During my visit to Ohio I was able to go grocery shopping with Dan to show him first hand how to shop for vegan foods that would work for him. It was so much fun for both of us. I was able to teach him how to read ingredient labels and learn what things to stay away from. I have to give kudos to the Kroger grocery store by him. They have put all the organic, meatless food options and healthier stuff ALL together. Even better it's next to the produce section.
Woot-woot!!! Making it super easy for Dan to grocery shop.


Below I have made a video of Dan trying his first Tofurky sandwich.
I also talk about the vegan foods that Dan purchased at the grocery store.



I am super excited for Dan and really had a blast going grocery shopping with him. It was so nice to "share my world" with a good friend. While I was in Ohio we fixed a vegan pizza for Dan which he really loved. It was great too because he got to watch us cook it. He got to see how easy it actually was to prepare. I do plan to give Dan lots of recipes that are easy to prepare. I hope to help him move towards a plant strong diet verses the processed vegan foods.

When Dan and I first decided to start this vegan project we weren't really sure how it was going to go. Originally we were going to wait till the end of April to start because Dan is getting ready to go on vacation. I didn't want him to have to worry about his "diet" while traveling since it's all so new for him. For both Dan and I, things seem to be going better and quicker then expected. Which is great! Next week I plan to share with you some of Dan's progress! It is pretty awesome and he's made me super proud already! Stay tuned....

What I Wore {Roses & Dots}

These photos we taken last weekend while we were out antiquing. Above you can see me looking at a cute crocheted blanket. I didn't buy it but wish I would have. It was only $4! I love all the colors. I wish I could make blankets like that. (Maybe someday!) Our main reason for going antique shopping was to hunt for a dresser for our bedroom. I've been looking for a few months now and have had no luck at all. The search continues!



Can you believe that I do not own Micky Mouse ears? Craziness!
They are expensive at the parks, but I may treat myself our next vacation!



I always look at children's books and vintage video games!
Usually we are hunting for old Nintendo games and Dr. Seuss books.
What Cody wore, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Jacket...



OUTFIT DETAILS:
Glasses - Firmoo | Necklace - Disney World | Dress - Thrifted |
Sweater - TJ Maxx | Leggings - Target | Shoes - OLD?

What do like to hunt for at thrift shops and antique stores?

Netflix Must See: Ryan Gosling Movies

Recently I have gotten away from only watching documentaries and TV series on Netflix. Last week I watched two movies both featuring Ryan Gosling in the leading role. Anytime I have watched a movie with him in it I am always impressed with his acting. Whatever role he plays I find him very convicting. Here are the two films I just watched with Ryan in them...

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL

First I have to say, I didn't read what this movie was about before starting it. I simply picked it because Ryan was the head role in the film. This movie was very awkward to watch. It was almost like watching a train wreck and I couldn't turn away. Ryan's character in the movie (Lars) had some childhood issues causing him to be unable to make normal relationships with people. He even struggled with his close family.


Lars (Ryan) ends up ordering a sex doll to have as a companion. The twist is that he believes that she is actually a real live woman. His family and all the people in the town love Lars so much that they all go along with it. Everyone pretends she is real also. The beauty of it is that Lars ends up healing some of his childhood issues by having the doll in his life. The movie is funny, emotional and heartwarming. Not what you would expect at all!

Here is the trailer for Lars and The Real Girl


BLUE VALENTINE

Oh what to say about this movie!? I kinda felt emotional drained after watching it. Again Ryan was awesome. I loved his character in the film. Blue Valentine is a love story about a couple who basically feel in love at first sight. As the years go by and they are together they have their problems and struggles. I guess you could say this movie was a lot like real life. I felt uncomfortable watching it at moments because the scenes felt so real to me. As if I was actually watching these people have sex and arguments. (There is a lot of nudity in the film, I figure I should warn you.)


For the most part I enjoyed this film. Ryan's role I liked a lot. Michelle Williams is his co-star. She was very good in the film as well, but I found myself so angry at her character. I guess that means she did a good job? I did not like how it ended at all. Of course I'm not going to say anymore because I don't want to ruin it for anybody. Is this a Netflix Must See then? Yes if you like Ryan Gosling. If you don't, then no.
Here is the trailer for Blue Valentine


There are two other Ryan Gosling films on Netflix that I have watched and loved:

All Good Things

All Good Things is a great movie to watch to see Ryan actually play an evil character. He might be pretty to look at, but man he's a convincing psycho! It's starts out as a love story and changes into much more. He also dresses in drag in this film.

DRIVE

Ryan plays as a stuntman that ends up getting himself mixed up with the wrong kind of people. It's a very "at the edge of your seat" kinda of movie.

Have you seen any of these movies?
Do you like Ryan Gosling?

Really Mother Nature? Snow Again!

Mother nature seems to think that Wyoming needs more snow and a longer winter. She does not think it's time for planting flowers, bike rides or walks at the park. It was my second day back to work yesterday and I was greeted with a snow storm. I had hoped that the Air Force base would be on a 2 hour delay this morning or even better CLOSED. Nope. I slipped my way into work. The snow started at 4:00pm on Monday and kept falling through late Tuesday night. Enough already with the winter, cold and snow!!! I wanted to share some photos with you. Especially you lucky peeps that are already wearing shorts and dresses!
This photo was taken when the snow first started. A view out my living room window.
Barrett enjoyed watching the snow fall.
Monday night, no road in sight.
Tuesday morning at 4:00am this is what The Weather Channel said...
The wind always makes it so hard to see outside with all the snow blowing around.
Here is what my street looks like even now...
Cody wanted to go to Home Depot. Crazy I think, but I made him drive!
Being from Ohio makes me used to driving in this type of weather.
However if this was Ohio that got this snow storm the roads would be closed!
Also they plow the roads in Ohio, in Wyoming they do nothing.
It was nice seeing flowers at Home Depot.

After our trip to Home Depot I now know that we can afford new windows for our kitchen. They were way less then I expected! YAY! They have a faucet that Cody and I both agree on also. Score! We also know that we can not afford wood counter tops from Home Depot. ($98 a sq ft!!!) We will have to go to IKEA for our counters. I picked out about 20 different gray paint swatches. We also started tearing some wallpaper down already. I can't wait to have a kitchen that looks like MINE. :)
So what kind of weather are you having???

Remodeling Our Kitchen {The Plan}

Something about our vacation made us want to come home and start remodeling our house! I am sure part of it is also the spring weather. We decided that we really needed to start doing some of the remodeling and updates to our home now since we don't know what the future holds for us. We could stay in Wyoming for years or we could only be here a few more. Our kitchen and bathrooms have to be updated if we want to make any money when we go to sell our house. Since we spend so much time in our kitchen we thought it would be the best place to start. Here are a few photos of our kitchen the way it looks currently...



Our appliances are all almond/off white colored and will be replaced with brand new white appliances.
We plan to donate them to the Restore American thrift store.
Goodbye fake brick wallpaper,...you will NOT be missed.



We plan to paint all of our cabinets a crisp white with the help of this tutorial from Young House Love.
Counter-tops are still kind of up in the air. We are leaning towards wood counters stained a darker shade.
We believe there are hardwood floors underneath the tile. *fingers crossed*


When it comes to decorating and designing a kitchen I tend to like ultra modern ones. I love all white kitchens with clean lines and chrome accents. Our house doesn't really have an contemporary feel. Since I have to think about resale I don't want to over do the modern style. I am still going to put modern touches but keep it simple. I am thinking about pale gray walls and decorating with chrome and turquoise accents. I want the space to have a bit of a 1950's vibe since the house was built in 1953. Here is my design board for my kitchen....


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I feel like everything I picked out goes well together, but I don't really know if it's any particular style? I love the big glass canisters! How cool would they be filled with coffee beans? Plus I can reuse jars that I have or find some thrifting and just buy chalkboard labels. The "Make Tea Not War" print I designed on Photoshop. I thought it would add a cute touch to the room. I am also leaning towards doing maybe artwork that is vegan related instead. I have so many ideas!! You may have noticed that there is white subway tile in some of the photos of the kitchens. I love white subway tile used as kitchen back-splashes. I think it's so classic and it never goes out of style. The paint color on my board is more of a beige gray. It may work better in my house since the living room (located next to the kitchen) is bright yellow. Here are some photos that I found inspiring...


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I love the contrast of wood counter-tops with white cabinets. The wood adds such a great warmth to the space. Plus if we do have the guts to tear up the vinyl flooring that is currently in the kitchen the counters would match the wood floors. I decided on painting the cabinets because they are in great condition. No need to tear them out and go buy new white cabinets. I am glad that we can reuse what we have. We also plan to revamp our current light fixture and maybe even the fan. We plan to do the kitchen remodel in this order:

Step 1: Tear down all wallpaper, patch walls and remove chair rail.
Step 2: Paint baseboards, window trim and walls
Step 3: Paint the kitchen cabinets
Step 4: Install new kitchen counters
Step 5: Do tile back-splash

We may replace all three windows as well. If we do the floor it will be later on. Appliances will be purchased last due to cost. Our stove and fridge work fine. I'm all about waiting to get something on sale or in the scratch and dent section if I can. Our new dishwasher is coming this week however! Since we cook a lot, the dishes really pile up on us. Can't wait to not have all the clutter laying around!


So what do you think? Any advise or suggestions? This is our second kitchen remodel so we are pretty excited!
See my Kitchen Inspiration board on Pinterest HERE.

Photo An Hour // Shopping in Ohio

While visiting Ohio I decided to do a photo an hour post. I photographed a few different days, but decided that the photos below were my favorite. I took the photos on March 27th. It was a day that I spent with my close friend Cam. He knows I love to shop while in Ohio because there is such a great variety of places to go. He is patience with me and lets me take my time looking. He is the perfect shopping buddy. The weather wasn't quite warm enough to do any outdoor activities so this worked out for us. It gave us time to talk and catch up as well.



9AM - I found it hard to get up early while on vacation. Keeping up with the blog was really hard as well!
10AM - Heading out to go shopping all day. The sky looked so pretty.



11AM - There is a huge Goodwill in Ohio that I love going to. Sadly I bought nothing at all. Craziness!
12PM - It wasn't till I did this post that I realized we actually did not eat all day. Only had Starbucks. Oops.



1PM - I was in search of heart shaped sunglasses at the mall. Had no luck, but tried on silly glasses anyways! :)
2PM - Went to my favorite shoe store in town. I didn't buy the Converse because they were just one size too big. Bummer!



3PM - At TJ Maxx in the dressing room. Tried on 3 dresses and none of them fit. I was having a ruff shopping day.
4PM - Only thing I bought all day: Heart Shaped Sunglasses! YAY!



5PM - Went home for dinner! Finally ate something.
6PM - Headed back out to shop some more to the Cincinnati outlet store.



7PM - Only place I spent money all day, the Disney Outlet Store.
8PM - At home relaxing and watching the Big Bang Theory.



9PM - Tea Time :)
10PM - Chloe said it was time for bed! I was so tired from running around all day long.

While in Ohio I didn't do tons of shopping. When I did I had no luck at all. It seems to be getting harder and harder for me to find things that fit. Also the weather was still really chilly keeping us from doing a lot of the things that we had hoped to do.

Did you notice the reusable Starbucks cup? They are selling them at the stores right now for only $1! I was super excited. Some of you may wonder how I did with my coffee drinking while I was on vacation. I actually did really well. Since I was on vacation I didn't stress over it. I still only had one cup in the morning. The few days that I did go out shopping I would let myself get it. It was a treat. I am currently back to one cup of coffee in the morning but hope to switch to only tea.