Eyecandy Photo Shoot

I was lucky enough to have the incredibly fun opportunity to be one of the models in Eyecandy Salon’s photo shoot on Monday. While I was slightly nervous because a) I’m not a model and have no idea what I’m doing, and b) I didn’t have much say in what Tony (my hair stylist) was going to do with my hair, I had a great time. Luckily, I completely trust him when it comes to my hair and I ended up loving the color he chose. The style of my hair for the photo shoot was ingenious—I absolutely loved it. While I couldn’t wear my hair like that on an everyday basis, I felt totally out of character and wicked cool. He is full of creativity and inspiration! If you live in Nashville, you should check Tony out and let him play with your hair—you won’t be sorry.



As far as the actual shoot, I wore a fairly simple black dress and gold heels. My makeup was very muted because Tony was going for a Marie Antoinette theme. So I was very pale and my poses are awkward and puppet-like. I can’t wait to see how the prints turn out. It was such an amazing day being surrounded by all the stylists and photographers who have so much imagination and vision beyond my understanding! And I get to do it all over again in April for a bridal show—but it will be a much bigger event and probably even way more fun than even Monday was! **


Here is a sneak peak of my hair after the photo shoot. This doesn’t give Tony's nor the photographers' work justice, as I was out of my fun clothes and this was taken by a friend with my boring little camera.

**I may or may not vomit at the sight of me in a wedding dress. Just sayin.

pizzaaaa

Last night I was craving pizza so I pulled together quite the mix of stuff in my fridge and pantry and ended up with one of the best pizzas I’ve ever made. I kept sneaking back to the kitchen to get little bites when bf and roommate weren’t looking. I used ¾ regular pizza sauce and the other ¼ smoky barbecue sauce to add a little tang. Then I just loaded it up with veggies—mushrooms, spinach, artichokes, onions, peppers, sun-dried tomatoes—and a few bits of soysage (vegan sausage). And what’s that cheesy looking stuff on the top you ask? Oh yes, that would be the ever-pleasing nutritional yeast that I can’t seem to get enough of.

spring tease

Ah what a lovely weekend! Beautiful warmer weather, dog park trips, bridal lingerie shower for a friend, and a relaxing morning of pancakes and coffee with my roommate made for a great one. I just can’t wait until it’s even warmer so that I can drink my morning coffee on our sweet little porch. It’s pretty unbelievable just how much happier of a person I am when warmer weather is around. Oh spring, won’t you please hurry up and get here!

have i told you lately?

…how much I love him? Well, I do. My sweet Anakin always makes me smile even on the worst of days, and he makes the best of days even better. And even though my house is constantly muddy from his all day romp fests in the backyard (see exhibit A below), I wouldn’t have it any other way.


My apologies if you, at first, thought I was talking about my boyfriend (for he too has been known to have backyard romp fests in the mud), but this, my friends, is my canine love affair!

nutritional yeast

Since becoming vegan, I quickly figured out that getting the same creamy texture that you would by using heavy cream or cheese in a recipe was going to be quite the task. But my love for all things creamy just wouldn’t subside, so I went on a mission to find something that would indulge my taste buds in a similar fashion. Typically, a lot of vegan recipes call for blended tofu to produce a cream style texture, but while I love tofu, it doesn’t always work as well as you want it for certain recipes.


And then I found out about nutritional yeast, and it has changed my life. First of all, a little bit goes a long way and it costs less than $7 a pound at Whole Foods. A pound may not seem like a lot, but it is a TON for nutritional yeast!  Second, it's really healthy and provides a very tasty form of protein. Since finding this miracle substance, I’ve made gravy that even the biggest meat lover alive has been known to love, mac & “cheese”, and last night, I made up a recipe for Cream of Broccoli and Spinach soup. And if I may say so myself, it was divine!
I sort of just eyeballed the ingredients, but here’s what I remember using for the recipe…

-1 C. Chopped onions
-Garlic
-2 Tsp. Olive oil
-2 C. Vegetable broth
-2 C. Water (I might substitute one of these cups with an additional cup of vegetable broth instead)
-2 C. Unsweetened soy milk
-1/2 C. Nutritional yeast
-2-3 Tbsp. Flour
-2-3 Tbsp. Cornstarch
-4-6 C. Steamed broccoli (depending on how “chunky” you like your soups)
-2-3 C. Spinach
-Salt, Pepper, Garlic powder, Onion Powder
-1/4 Tsp. Turmeric

Sauté onions and garlic with olive oil in a large pot. Once the onions are translucent, begin to add the vegetable broth, water, and soy milk, then stir together. Steam the broccoli in the microwave or steamer while you’re doing this. In a separate pan, combine the nutritional yeast and flour and lightly toast until you can smell the yeast (about 1-2 minutes). Add this plus the cornstarch to the soup mixture and stir. Wilt the spinach for only about 30 seconds and add to the soup. Add the steamed broccoli. Add the spices (more or less depending on taste) and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

I heated this up for lunch the next day and it tasted even better! Something to keep in mind if you’re having people over for dinner—you can make the night before and serve the next day!

I also made a vegan King Cake using this recipe, because well, there are just few things more delicious than King Cake.  I had to give the rest of it to my dog today just so I wouldn't eat anymore.  It's a mere slightly alternative form of self-control, right?  Right.

new layout

Thanks to the beautiful and creative Olivia, I now have a new layout, and hopefully rekindle my blogging spirit.  It's been missing for quite some time now.

So, thank you Olivia!  You're the best.

my mom.

Happy Late Christmas everyone! I hope it was joyful and lovely and all that you hoped for. I’m sad that the holidays are over, but glad to have had such a wonderful time with my family. I just love them so.

And speaking of family, I feel the need to tell you just how incredible my mom is. I know, I know, we all think of our mothers this way—and as we should—moms are pretty amazing! I’ve always known my mom is the sweetest, most caring person I’ve ever known, but this just about brought me to tears…

Like many churches, my church that I grew up in had a food basket delivery program during the holidays for less fortunate individuals/families. When I was 8 years old or so, my family delivered a basket to a middle to older-aged woman named Vicky. She was so sweet and so grateful and I remember my mom staying connected with her via phone calls, cards, etc. for many years to come, but never thought much of it after a few years. Well, the other night just before Christmas, I was looking through all the Christmas cards my parents had received and being shocked at how much some people have grown up over the years. And then I came across a card that read “Thank you so much for the present and card...Merry Christmas, etc...Love, Vicky.” I asked my mom if this happened to be the same Vicky from the food baskets, thinking that surely they had lost touch by now.

Wrong.

17 years and two moves later, my mother still keeps up with Vicky and has become a true friend of hers. I was in awe. My sweet mother has not only kept up with her but has still been sending her gifts. My mom’s response…”I’ve learned a lot from her…she’s so inspiring.” My mom says that poor Vicky has so many health problems from working hard labor jobs and is with hardly any money at all…and yet she never complains about anything, but is instead so grateful for all that she has. Now I'm inspired.

I can’t believe how lucky I am to have that woman as my mother.