Thanksgiving and Vegetarians don't mix

"What we're really talking about is a
wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I
mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving? ~Erma Bombeck, "No One Diets on
Thanksgiving," 26 November 1981
(pictured above: Kennedy 1963, The Annual Pardoning of the Thanksgiving Turkey)

When I was 5 I killed a fly. I didn't want to but my aunt made that fly swatter seem so fascinating and the buzzing in the summer heat was grating on my four foot eight nerves. I immediately regretted ending it's life. I cried like a baby for a solid hour. No amount of persuasion convinced me that this act was meaningless. A proper burial ensued and I stood in the garden reciting what I called "Eulogy for a Fly named Fannie". This gave me little piece of mind. I was devastated.


My point with this story is that I have always been a true animal lover. I even tried to be a vegetarian once. Four years ago. Living in DC for a summer took its toll on me and I became just a lil bit liberal. PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals) people were EVERYWHERE. You know how you will be walking in a city and someone tries to hand you a piece of paper? Well, you probably ignore them and walk on, knowing that it is a waste of your time and theirs for you to pretend like you are interested. Well I ALWAYS take the flyer. And then I talk to those people and then I make the mistake of signing up for their email list. Getting emails like "Feces found on Chicken Farms!" and "Fish have Feelings" would have made you start to reconsider what you ate and wore too. Oh and the videos...I'll spare you from having to read about those. It was a relatively easy transition because DC restaurants are very vegatarian friendly. The veggie burgers were yummy and shopping at the Whole Foods Market was an adventure. I was a proud of my lifestyle change.

However, summer ended. I came home and discovered Bowling Green and my grandmother are not vegetarian friendly. I came back with these menus options: salad and pasta. Let me tell you my friends, that gets OLD. Let's not even talk about the impact it had on my friendships: I put up with friends saying "you were more fun when you ate meat" and friends hiding meat in my food at restaurants. Believe me, I tried to stay the course. I spend bookoos of moola on creating dishes that somehow didn't look like the picture in the magazine. I bought countless packages of tofu but everytime I started to cook it I just became so perplexed. I felt like I was trying to turn play-doh into filet mignon.


Make no mistake though, I am an advocate for animals! When KFC became Kentucky Fried Cruelty, I boycotted the restaurant that bears the name of my own state. When United Colors of Bennetton was mean to sheep, I shopped next door at Banana Republic. I even routinely flirt with the idea of becoming a vegetarian again. But I just can't eat tofu on Thanksgiving. I will purchase my veggie burgers from the organic frozen food isle at Kroger and I refuse to buy products tested on animals. But I love Thanksgiving and all of its traditions, namely carving the turkey for dinner and eating my ham sandwiches for lunch. So on the fourth Thursday every year look for the giddy girl at Honey Baked Ham, eagerly anticipating shelling out 60 buck-a-roos for that delightful half ham. Because a Tofu-themed Thanksgiving just won't do.

biting the bullet

I have officially started my blog! I say officially because I've created an account a few times but then gotten sidetracked and well, needless to say never posted anything.

A few of my friends who have unique hobbies and/or have moved to unique places have started blogs. I don't think my hobbies are too incredibly fascinating and I haven't moved recently, but I do have interests in writing about things I love! I've decided to dive in because I do want to write about three things I'm passionate about: clothing and charities and cuisine aka fashion and philanthropies and food aka vogue and volunteering and veggies! My interests also include travel and fitness...so those topics may be thrown in too!

I have always been a clothes horse. From a young age, I always thought if I was going to have to have to get up each day (I used to loathe getting up, I was a Good Lord It's Morning person, thankfully now I am a Good Morning Lord person.), then by golly I'd better have something to immediately look forward to...and that was picking out outfits! I love mixing and matching, coordinating what colors and textures look and feel best. I will admit that it's not so much the items themselves, as the chase to find them! I enjoy discovering unique finds in boutiques...especially when the finds are on sale! Traveling does provide great opportunities to come upon these magnificent items. I just think life's too short to wear drab things! And plus, not everything is a splurge! My most favorite pieces have been things that were ghastly cheap. For example, an anthropologie skirt for $20, what?! they MUST have left off another zero!

Don't be fooled into thinking that a love for food is the same as a love for cooking. What I mean here is other people's cooking, as in restaurants and what family/friends make for me to eat. I honestly could be a food critic. If I had one true addiction, it would be eating out. My all-time favorite restaurant is a hole-in-the-wall called Rotiers located in West End Nashville. If you haven't eaten their cheeseburgers on french bread, then you haven't lived. I will add (so I don't look completely lazy) that I do cook a few things veryveryvery well (throwing humility out the window here): deviled eggs, banana pudding, and spinach dip w/hawaiian bread. But observe that none of these dishes involve an oven. If it involves the oven, then it doesn't involve me. Just yesterday I was looking for the perfect place to store my sweaters for the winter (bulky was the overarching word here) and it suddenly dawned on me- "that drawer that opens up with two shelves that someone mistakenly inserted in that wall in my kitchen will be PERFECT for these J.Crew woolly mammoth pests that invade my closets every fall!". I have hope though that this blatant disregard for the kitchen will subside. My Memaw was one of the top 10 homemakers in kentucky a few decades ago, so I'm praying there's some gene I'll inherit that will make me a decent cook...eventually.

My passion is even more intense for charity work. I believe every person can make a difference. As cheesy as that sounds, it is so true. Just like finding your niche with exercising (I like yoga, others like tennis), you must find the capacity in which you want to serve others. I have a strong desire to serve in these areas: cancer, muscular dystrophy, and the elderly. I think dedicated service is usually linked to a personal experience with that area, and I am no exception. I had a blood disorder when I was 5 that mimmicked leukemia. Though my battle was only a few weeks, I remember the feeling of being pricked by a needle every hour and having bruises for no reason. This had led to a desire to be a part of the search for a cure for cancer. My neighbor battled muscular dystrophy all of his life and flew to heaven to meet the good Lord two years ago. I am joyful to know he is in a place where he can walk freely, without those heavy braces on his legs. Now I am passionate about stem cell research because I strongly believe this is how we can cure muscular dystrophy and I hope one day those with charcot marie tooth disease will experience what it feels like to run. I am very passionate (almost to the point of being too emotional) about elderly care. I met a lady three years ago, a 96 year old ball of fashionable energy, and I knew I had met my kindred spirit. She became my best friend and although I've had many close friends, she was my favorite. "I love your high heels, so I know we're going to be great friends!"...this is what she said the day we met, and she was right. She passed away but I want to continue to be an advocate for the elderly. Every person has stories like these. So think of who has left an imprint on your heart...and then go out and continue their fight!

Til next time...