New updates!

Yes, Mrs. Rudnicki has a new book. And vegan drunk puppy (my mascot on this blog) is VERY pleased :)

My review is currently available here at amazon.com

It's always good to check out easy vegan recipes! Not just because the diet is humane..but come on, no one wants to deal with making sure than eggs/milk are fresh. :) LAZY ME!

So I finished another Lisa Gardner book today! Say Goodbye, a creepy story about spiders and a gruesome tales about kidnappings and a prostitute serial killer. I love getting promo books from my bookstore so I can read the books, and ideally give them back to my employees to read as well.

Interesting tidbit: MANY Lisa's in the game of mystery. Jackson, Scottoline, Gardner.

Lisa Gardner is my favorite, and probably because she pushes the envelope a bit more with the gruesome details and not sparing the reader from any horror. It is my opinion that this is why books are written/read, to not be censored as much as other mediums. Perhaps A Clockwork Orange is an exception...*shiver*

A few summer tidbits anyone?

The Neighbor, by Lisa Gardner (it's now available in Mass Market, which means cheaper and much easier to put in a purse/ carry on the train!)

This came out on hardcover last June, and I believe stills proves to be a good summer thriller. A young mother disappears, the only remaining witness is her 4-year-old daughter. The husband is suspected, and both of the newlyweds come from broken pasts that created an ending that was just what the heart wanted. Cathartic, perhaps a little predictable, but completes the idea of the story in a way that left me closing the book with a long sigh...


I'm getting into some lazy territory, otherwise I'd post more books. I am however in the middle of Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections...very nice :)

Vanity is good for you (I'm back!)

Ms. Natalie Wood! (Draw whatever comparisons you will-haha!)

Me and Drunk Puppy- with a horrible webcam program! BLECH!

Drunk Puppy love's Gardein! :)

I'll be the first to admit that vanity is what made me a vegetarian. After reading Skinny Bitch, a quote that stuck with me basically said something to the effect of "Why eat a dead carcass...unless I want to look like one" (or something like that)



YEAH! Why should I look like a dead animal? Alicia Silverstone is hot...and she's almost 40! All she does is be gorgeous and not eat animal products... ok- sure!



My obsession with Natalie Wood started in the 6th grade. My family and I had to leave after the 2nd act of West Side Story being performed on stage (tragic to miss it!) , so my dad of course had to rent the movie version. I WAS HOOKED! She was glowing, and beautiful, and even though she wasn't a Latina, she got the ingenue look down! Once I saw a few other films, and read every biography about her published, I grew more and more attached.



I also don't mind the "Oh...you kind of look like her!" comments I get when I tell people she's my fave....but you know! :P




In general I feel like our vanity is there for our confidence and for our self-protection. If we didn't think we were hot stuff, all of us would be in abusive relationships (and women wouldn't have nearly as many rights as they do now!)

Maybe that's a stretch...whatever!



I miss blogging, and I'm sure I'll get back to it once I get in the groove of things.

Until then, follow this blog!
I was referred to it from a male friend of mine- there are some great tips on etiquette and just general live-ability :)


I'm also trying to write some books...yep- plural! :)

MUAH!
-The Yupster/Vegan Mistress

My boo...plural :)

Before I talk about my boos, a few little treats I got for graduation week! Ebay and Crossroads Trading Co. MAGIC :)

J.Crew...$11.00

Betsey Johnson....$20

J.Crew.....$15.00

I have many "boos" these days. I adapted the phrase from Michael, a coworker of mine in the cafe, who stole my heart with phrases like "kitten" and re-naming himself to BooshalayX (the X is silent). I felt the need to give some pics!

One boo is Vegan Drunk Puppy. It's kind of a joke between friends, but also something cute to alleviate the pressures of being a vegetarian/ vegan activist or supporter. So while we can say "Awww..Vegan Drunk Puppy- stop getting sick near the Seitan!"...I do know that there's more to it. :) Some of my other "boos" are the puppies in my neighbor who get walked all the time...SO CUTE!


Speaking of puppies...hipster puppies...you won't regret it!

Another is my friend, Kelly. Oh Kelly! This girl is going to California to live the dream. YOU GO GIRL! She is one of my inspirations: non-judgemental, and just wanting to do some good for the world. Very litle can go wrong when she's around...

Kelly, the other white meat! JUST KIDDING! :)

Which brings me to a new project! After re-watching the tail end of Julie & Julia (with the lovely Meryl Streep- eep!) , I wanted to see what I could do to channel Julia Child herself, to bring the deliciousness of the French to the veggie community!
Step one was a sort-of creme brulee inspired cupcake. IT WAS DELICIOUS- and on a more egocentric level, photographed quite nicely (see I can still learn, Dad! hehe). I have such a love for food photography after seeing how it was done. YUM! My next step is to try Coq au Vin...veggie style! :)


The Yuppie's Vegan French Creme Cupcake!




Another shout-out to Dan Savage, the sex columnist for The Stranger in Seattle. Much like Anderson Cooper to Perez Hilton, Dan is my boo! He is so open-minded and just lets people get cold and unadulterated advice about their love lives, to the point that I am encouraged to NOT overanalyze my relationship. Seriously, there should be a Nobel prize for that :P


A special "thanks" to my Special Friend, who I'll be seeing in NYC at some point. We'll both be going away from Chicago soon, but we can help each other salvage our love of Chicago in the Big Apple. Vegan fraps for you, boo!

More adventures with Vegan Drunk Puppy!

So it's been a ROUGH past few weeks. I've been working literally every day, and I have been in a vicious cycle of getting myself sick and tired. I'm very close to needing to make a decision on grad school, and very few have gotten answers back to me on financial aid. Columbia, for one, was not very helpful in the $$ department.

Oh well, I digress and I think I'll have some lovely choices coming to me soon! I just gotta have faith...and coffee.

In veggie news, Vegan Drunk Puppy has tried the DAIYA vegan cheese...and loves it! Certainly no replacement, but helpful on those rough nights when I can't get to a cheap grocery store to buy anything else (read: Amy's Vegan Burritos...such a college girl!)

I'm done in a few weeks, so I'll have more time to blog. In other news, I've been looking up more sustainable practices for being girly! My graduation dress contestants are flying in the mail from providers on ebay.com

I'm also in the market for vegan candles, and may have met my match on etsy. This Kenny CoOp looks just wonderful, pretty cheap, and has great reviews...YES

CHEAP EATS:
Vegan Drunk Puppy tried to steal my Trader Joe's edamame! It's less than $2.00 for a bag, and you just pop in in a pot of boiling water and presto! Not-super-processed soy for your day....delicious!




CHEAP DRINKS:


$8.00 for almost 2 pounds of Organic Coffee..um yes please!

CHEAP CANDLES:
I bought this candle from the Heartland Cafe in Chicago. I've always loved their food, but their adjacent store is always packed with fair trade and organic goodies! This candle isn't my favorite soy candle I've tried, but it did the job...and smelled wonderful!



OTHER GOODIES:
My new favorite blog is Savvy Abby via VegNews! VegNews is absolutely one of my favorite mags, and this blog is a leading example of why. Recognizing their key demographics, this college girl likes seeing cruelty-free stuff for CHEAP! Excellent job :) Her most recent article talks about cheap makeup, and also features Pacifica, absolutely one of my favorite body-product companies. WOOT! $5.00 @ Sephora for cheap hand cream that smells like sorbet...yum!

Yummy!

[Drunk puppy yelling at my boyfriend to stop drinking the Kahlua- it's got milk!]

My how my last semester is turning into a journey.

My wonderful boyfriend is being absolutely wonderful about the changes in my life, and I feel like we're becoming maturing adults who argue and make up and still love each other at the end of the day. As my english teacher once said in high school "Love is NOT having the butterflies, but the knowledge that if you look across the room at a crowded party, they'll instinctually look back." Pretty soon he'll get me back in shape by making me run/walk...he's the one training for a marathon, so I'm a wee bit scared to just start working out together. I guess that's part of relationships- making yourself vulnerable...extremely vulnerable! (meep!)


As for other aspects of my life, I feel so blessed to have my good friend Kelly. Together we are participating in the 29 Day Gift Giving Challenge. The challenge comes at a good time, as pretty soon she'll be going to San Fransisco, and I'll be embarking on a trip to either NYC or Seattle. Check out the blog to see more!

http://kellysandragiftchallenge.blogspot.com/

In the spirit of giving (and spring weather), I'm trying to completely clean out my stuff. So, I'll be donating a lot of my clothes I don't wear, etc. Hopefully I'll be able to detox my room a bit.

Detoxing in general freaks me out, but I'm committed to my new mantra:

"Eat more green, don't spend it!"

Hopefully as a veggie I'll be able to feel back to my usual, healthy self :)

oh! A new blog?

http://kellysandragiftchallenge.blogspot.com/

My friend Kelly and I will give 29 gifts in 29 days...YAY :)

More drunk vegan puppy updates to come. :P

Drunk Puppy Goes Vegan!

So my trip to New York was fantastic. I was lucky enough to get some feedback from Lindsay Wolf of the "Kiss Me, I'm Vegan" blog. She directed me to Sacred Chow, a vegan establishment close to NYU. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. The menu was delicious, and the waiter was SUPER nice and adorable...he also reminded me of Harvey Milk! :) I love NYC, and I love the food. Most of the restaurants in the area had at least the option of doing some vegan schtuff (like Two Boots in Soho...vegan pizza that got Amy's seal of approval)!

The trip, along with my vegan pal Amy, really made me re-commit to the vegan-ish lifestyle. Again, I'm not 100%, but I'm making my way there!

And speaking of vegan...I had made a delectable wrap, featured in one of the photos up top, w/ whole wheat tortilla, vegan cream cheese, broccoli, and white beans (and rice and seasoning that I added after I took the picture) . Next up I may a yummy Vanilla Rooibos latte w/ soy (that I brought to my ever-outdated Human Sexuality class...ugh! waste of my senioritis time!) SO good, even my wonderful friend Kelly thought so. Kelly's basically my spiritual advisor...or part time therapist, I can't tell :P

My acceptance into Columbia University was a big deal, and now I'm just waiting on a few more. It was comforting to know that I could find a group of old friends, new friends, and even (gasp!) a job? It would be extremely difficult for me to let go of Chicago, but doable (especially for Columbia!).

But now for crazier news!

DRUNK PUPPY!

Now, drunk puppy is a creation of many, many inside jokes. First, my boyfriend and I deciding that if we ever got a dog (and sure enough will, if we stay together long enough to live together), we thought it would be so crazy that it would basically act drunk all the time. For a preview of such experience, "drunk _____insert random animal___" tends to have interesting videos of drugged cats and dogs after their surgery. Humane-ness is questionable, but most of the owners in the videos seem to have what it takes to be a good pet owner.

AND, my job at the local bookstore is what brought my guilt-driven purchase of our friend..Drunk Puppy.

This super cute Beanie Baby-type dog was displayed in a plastic case with a sign that my crafty co-worker had drawn up to say "Buy me, and I'll love you."

My guilt for trapped puppies ensued.

I HAD to buy this super cute fake dog! Normally I'm not a huge girly-girl, and I haven't so much as expected a box of chocolates from my boyfriend, but Goodness Gracious was I feeling some emotions for this puppy! A fake one, too!

So, I had a little chat w/ Drunk Puppy about my eating habits, and what do you know, crazy drunk puppy wanted a white bean wrap as a vodka chaser!

*Mind you, this is obviously not a real dog*

I'm hoping to catch some awesome pics of Vegan Drunk Puppy!

Until then....ruff!