Check out the all vegan line of nail products by Spa Ritual! They have a vast collectional of colors to go with every mood. I’ve noticed how long the color lasts without chipping, which is a big deal when you like your hands to stay lovely all week long. The base coat and top coats are a must, and washing all oils off your hands before hands helps your manicure last even longer.

Pretty in pink!! These lovely nails were done by the best nail tech you'll find, Megan Aballi at The Nail Lounge in Costa Mesa. They have a vast collection of Spa Ritual!

 Spa Ritual’s mission statement is as follows;

Dedicated to the spa tradition, sparitual is committed to creating eco-friendly products and packaging perfectly crafted for the enlightened consumer. We use Vegan ingredients from around the world, including many specially sourced and selected plant essences that are wildcrafted OR organic. The formulations are naturally colored and free of synthetic dyes. SpaRitual is constantly monitoring sustainability issues and strives to be on the cutting edge of environmental awareness. Enlighten yourself. Be a SpaRitualist. Because we all deserve to live the good life.

   I can’t help but get excited over eco friendly, cruelty free beauty products like this one. You really wouldn’t benefit at all from using a brand that test on animals…or contains animal biproducts. I’ve only touched on the nail colors here, check out their website for info on all of their amazing at home spa treatments.

                                                 http://www.sparitual.com/

For more information and a preview of some of the incredible animals at this shelter… visit their website at www.OCPetinfo.com.

**This is the shelter right across the street from the Block of Orange.**

2 can diced tomatoes 

1 can black beans (drain 1/2 of liquid out of the can)

1 can kidney beans (undrained)

1 chopped green bell pepper

1 choped onion

1/2 chopped sweet onion

1 bag Gardein Crumbles (you really could use any ground meat substitute….but I have tried them all and Gardein has the best texture and ability to absorb flavor)

2 tbs A1 sauce

1 tsp tabasco sauce

8 shakes of paprika

Salt/pepper/red pepper flakes to taste

** I like to pick up a chilli seasoning packet from the grocery store when I am short on time to cook that night, speeds the flavoring process up a bit.

This is another reason this Chilli is awesome…these are the directions….

1.) Put all ingredients into crock pot

2.) Set the crock pot to medium and go do the 187 other things you need to get done that day. At medium it usually takes about 3 hours to cook…at high it takes about 1.

When invited to Oasis Cafe for lunch, I had no idea that we were about to be treated like vegan royalty. Don’t be fooled by the unassuming location, this place is anything but reserved when it comes to quality vegan and vegetarian food.

So…of course I am partial to my Orange County..but this place makes the drive out to the I.E. absolutely worth it.  Oasis Cafe is a family run establishment and the love that goes into this food definitely shows.

Although under some menu reconstruction, I am going to do my best to showcase the incredible food this place has to offer.

We started with a ‘steak’ wrap which about knocked me over, it was that good. The same goes for the steak burger. This ‘steak’ isn’t what you are used to when it comes to faux meat. That chewy, contrived texture isn’t there which really lets you enjoy what you’re eating. The steak may be so good because it is one of the many things made in house at Oasis. The people behind the scenes at the cafe create the faux meat  by washing the starch out of gluten, leaving only the protein to cook, season and shape.

Although the steak was my favorite - how often do you hear a vegan say that by the way ;)- the Pupusas are not to be ignored. They are a grilled corn masa filled with beans and mozzarella Daiya in the middle, so good. The last entre we tried was the portabella wrap which was again, so good. I was pretty disappointed in myself that I was out of room to keep eating part way through it!

The nice thing about the entres at Oasis is that each meal has its own tastes. So often I find that all the dishes at a vegan restaurant will look different, and have different names, but taste really similar to each other. Everything I tried here had a different taste as well as texture.

Lastly I have to note the desserts. After seeing the carrot cake and tiramasu we made sure we had a little room left to try them. All good, and of course all vegan.

After dining here I was sure I had found the IE’s hidden gem, the holy grail of vegan and vegetarian food to go. Turns out my little secret wasn’t a secret at all. Google Oasis and you will find endless positive Yelp reviews, Facebook check ins and likes, and an overall love for this little cafe.

With future plans of opening locations in Orange County, San Diego and Los Angeles, Oasis is certainly on its way up. I have my fingers crossed that the OC location is the next to open, because I for sure would be a regular.

If you ever find yourself on the 91 headed east, make the trip to Oasis and see what I am raving about for yourself!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/OasisVegetarianCafe

WWW.OasisVegetarian.com (Website will be up and running soon)

I am big on the notion that being vegan really doesn’t prohibit me from doing any of the things that I love, it actually has made everything I love to do even better. I talk a lot about my cruelty free choices in fashion, and beauty products…and while I love those things very much…I also love baseball. I love being outdoors at the games, I love the energy of the fans, and I also love that it is the one sport that I actually understand. Football for me is a lot of looking around and cheering when everyone else does…but baseball, I get.

So, being a born and raised Orange County-an of course I’m an Angel fan.  A few years ago they added a California Pizza Kitchen with a chef salad which is a noted step in the right direction from hot dogs and pizza…but still not an option for a vegan or even a vegetarian. So while I love going to the games, it isn’t something where I could sit and get into some stadium food with my fellow fans…untill now.

This year the stadium debuted a welcome addition to the line up of eateries called Melissa’s Harvest. Among the vegan and gluten free options are a black bean burger, hummus, veggie dog, veggie wrap, sweet potato fries, and a market greens dish which I’m guessing was a salad. They also have gluten free nachos which would of course be vegetarian but not vegan. I went right in for the veggie dog on a gluten free bun. The veggie dog was great, bigger than the well know Tofu-pups we buy at the grocery store….but the bun was a different story. Take a thick piece of bread with a cakey consistency…cut it in half and put the veggie dog in the middle.

 Very strange.

Mind you, I ate the whole thing…so it couldn’t have been that bad. That really isn’t saying much as I have yet to meet a piece of bread I didn’t like, but I felt all too full the rest of the night. I can’t really figure out why they chose that kind of bun to go with such an awesome veggie dog. I don’t avoid gluten though so I am trying to take into account that there may be some Angel’s fans who are really appreciating the gluten free aspect of the dish.

Regardless, I can’t help but feel a little hopeful when I find something like a major sports arena offering healthier, and of course more humane, options in the food courts. If there are enough people requesting something, it will inevitably be an option. Simple supply and demand.

All in all I am thrilled to have the vegan options there and I suggest everyone give them a try next time at a game. Enjoy

I rock climbed in Joshua tree this year…..

I learned how to groom a street dog so that he could get adopted this year….

I protested a rodeo with the biggest sign you’ve ever seen this year…..

I did a 5k where I ran through mud and fire this year…

I celebrated the babies in our family…not being babies anymore this year…

I got to see Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepard Conservation Society speak, twice,  this year…

Viewership of this website went from hundreds to thousands this year….

I rallied at the circus to let people know how cruel Ringling Brothers is this year….

…and I wrapped up my very last day of 27 with the Sea Shepard Conservation Society at the Sea No Evil Art Show….

 I did a lot of stuff this year, and I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.

Saturday June 25th we will be offering 15$ microchipping to the first 100 customers! This is a great deal, and the BEST way to help your pet find his way home if he ever gets lost…is with a microchip. (Cash Only)

Also Saturday June 25th OC Animal Care will be having a big 2011 Pet Fair! Food, fun, pets and demonstrations. Fun for the whole family and admission is free.

It is quite troubling to me that these investigations keep exposing the absolute horror that goes on at these dairy farms and people continue to dismiss the ever growing evidence that what you see in the “Happy Milk Comes From Happy Cows” adds are complete bullshit. When people learn that I don’t consume any dairy they of course inquire why and I have no problem simply saying I don’t want anything to do with the mistreatment of animals in dairy farms. 99% of the time I get some sort of reply that people are just sure that cows are not mistreated at dairy farms, after all they aren’t slaughter houses. If I refer someone to the you tube videos of the Mercy For Animal’s Conklin Dairy Farm investigation where a worker on the dairy farm was caught beating the crap out of a baby cow with a pitch fork…they say that you can’t base judgment of all dairy farms off of one bad one.Well what about when Land O Lakes was busted when it was exposed last year that they had cows living in disgusting conditions, covered in mold, sick and so tightly confined they had fused to the barn doors? ( click here to read more https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2515 )

People dismiss and avoid these clear pieces of proof because it is easier, or…they just don’t care that this is what goes on so that they can poor milk in their cereal in the morning. Well…. here is yet ANOTHER scandal exposed by the wonderful Mercy For Animals group exposing what horrors routinely go on at dairy farms. Here is the link to the website http://www.mercyforanimals.org/calves/ but I will warn that the video is quite heart breaking. If you wish to skip the video, I will sum up the facts here:

(per the website)

MFA’s hidden camera reveals:

• Workers bludgeoning calves in their skulls with pickaxes and hammers – often involving 5 to 6 blows, sometimes more – before rendering the animals unconscious
• Beaten calves, still alive and conscious, thrown onto dead piles
• Workers kicking downed calves in the head, and standing on their necks and ribs
• Calves confined to squalid hutches, thick with manure and urine buildup, and barely large enough for the calves to turn around or fully extend their legs
• Gruesome injuries and afflictions, including open sores, swollen joints and severed hooves
• Ill, injured and dying calves denied medical care
• The budding horns of calves burned out their skulls without painkillers

Upon reviewing the undercover footage, Temple Grandin, PhD, animal welfare advisor to USDA, declared: “It is obvious that both the management and the employees have no regard for animal welfare.”

The owner of E6 Cattle required his employees to bash in the calves’ heads with a claw hammer, forcing them to condemn calves to a prolonged and horrific death. As Debra Teachout, DVM, asserts, “They feel every blow until they become unconscious.” The American Veterinary Medical Association condemns the use of blows to the head as a means of killing young calves.

Promptly following the undercover investigation, MFA alerted law enforcement authorities to violations of Texas anti-cruelty law at E6 Cattle, and presented a detailed legal complaint and meticulously compiled evidence of such violations to the Castro County District Attorney and sheriff. The evidence demonstrated an ongoing pattern of torture, unjustifiable infliction of pain and suffering on animals, and a failure to provide necessary medical care.

As MFA continues to expose the unconscionable cruelties of animal agriculture, and to diligently pursue justice by aiding prosecutions of animal abusers, consumers still hold the greatest power of all to end the needless suffering and death of calves – and all farmed animals – by adopting a compassionate, vegan diet.

Next thing I hear often, “..but where will I get my calcium if I don’t drink milk or eat cheese?” Things like spinach, almonds, tofu, beans, artichokes, calcium fortified orange juice, sesame seeds….the list goes on and on. Studies show that if you substitute non dairy forms of calcium and stop with the animal products your cholesterol drops as well.

If you aren’t a fan of soy milk (as I am not) try almond milk, it seriously can sub as cow milk in anything and you wouldn’t know the difference. By the way, your body can only absorb about 300 mg of calcium at a time, so subbing in little bits with each meal is ideal…and skip any soda while getting your calcium as it prohibits your body’s consumption of it.

I didn’t really want to write anything about this because in all honesty, it stings a little to see so many people learning the facts about what goes on at dairy farms and continue to support this industry. As more and more farms get exposed, I just feel like I need to spread the word. This isn’t a couple animal rights people exposing the mistreatment of cows at one dairy farm….this is numerous groups going in undercover to countless farms and reporting horror stories from inside…over and over again.

I can’t even bring myself to post any pictures on here of the workers punching, kicking and strangling the baby cows….I just hope that people reading this will rethink dairy after being given the facts.

My new obsession is veggie sushi in soy paper. I had tried sushi when I was a meat eater and it was disgusting, I had never liked fish. Then as a vegan I tried vegetarian sushi and that was gross too! So, recently someone coerced me into trying the veggie sushi again but with soy paper instead of sea weed and that was it! I found a new love. It was the seaweed wrap that was reminding me of a gross fishy taste. So, being the devout Orange County-an that I am…I set out to find some good veggie sushi close enough to my office that I could go get some on my lunch break.

So far Geisha House in Santa Ana has the BEST, but really isn’t conducive for a quick lunch break. Next, Tokyo Love in Garden Grove….long story short the atmosphere is a bit creepy and the wait staff is horribly unfriendly…I won’t end up there again. Today I tried Miyako in Garden Grove and loved it. The miso soup is not fish based (as some are) so you are safe to consume vegan or not. The atmosphere is cute, clean, well lit and quiet enough to enjoy during my few minutes away from my crazy office. Prices are super fair as well, I think most cut rolls are around 7$, hand rolls like 4$.

Miyako – 9877 Chapman Ave # E
Garden Grove, CA 92841-2734
(714) 534-8980