More traveling...

So now I'm in Vancouver, BC. I've been here previously to visit a friend (and to go to Vancouver, of course!). My friend still lives here but he's currently on a long-ass honeymoon, so no hang out with him. It's nice to have a free place to stay. Especially when, on the first day, your car gets towed out of a spot that we thought wasn't reserved and you have to pay $100 for towing, $13 for a taxi to get to the car lot, and then plus a $60 parking ticket from the ImPark people. Yeah. Awesome sauce. But Corinn's working on getting at least the parking ticket taken off...Hopefully that works.

Anyways, when I left you last post I was still in Seattle for a couple more days. I went to the Victrola Coffee shop on 15th for another French Toast donut and coffee. I also went to Sage (former Hillside Quickie II or something??), which was only a few blocks from where I was staying. I got it to go so I could eat it in our apartment/hotel with some Dr. Pepper. I ordered their version of the Philly, called the Fremont Philly. It's made with seitan, which is my favorite "meat" to use for a Philly (though the tempeh version at my former workplace, Paradox Cafe, was my kryptonite for awhile). The menu said it was going to be $10, but it ended up as $11. Taxes? But why an even $1? I don't know. I do know it was the most costly sandwich I've ever gotten. Anyways, it did come with a side of rice. Not plain rice, but I couldn't tell you what exactly it was. It was all right. The sandwich itself was hella messy to eat, very saucy and sadly, not a lot of seitan. (DC Vegetarian kicks it's ass in every department) Mostly bell peppers and onions. Yeah. I wouldn't get it again and it's not awesome enough for me to tell you to even try it once. I want to hope that all of the ingredients are organic, so at least that's why it's so costly.

The disappointing Fremont Philly

That reminds me, the bread was damn tasty. But onwards!

That evening we went stopped at Grim's, a Capital Hill bar nearby, for Happy Hour. We had drinks in cute little mason jars and I got the Cauliflower and Hummus Crostini (it might have been cauliflower hummus...), which during Happy Hour is only $4.75 (instead of $7.50 or something). It was a great price for the 5 large crostini's we got. I'm not the biggest cauliflower fan, but it went well with the hummus and pickled/carmelized(?) red onions and cute chives atop.

After that, we stopped at Bimbo's Taqueria, which isn't worth much mention, and we went on to Moe's, which is venue Nuemo's attached bar. We were going there to see Campfire OK play at Neumo's. If you haven't checked out Campfire OK, you should. The Oddfellows Cafe video is the best. Moe's played great hip hop, I really enjoyed it, Corinn...not so much...

Saturday morning, we went to Wayward Vegan Cafe for breakfast before driving north to Vancouver. Again, no pictures...I got 3 sides: tofu scram, grits, and garlic greens. The greens weren't cooked enough for my liking and by the time I got them, they were about room temperature. The tofu scram was almost inedible because the amount of turmeric on them, I barely touched them. The grits were good. Nothing crazy good about them, just grits with Earth Balance, a little faux cheddar, and some salt & pepper. Corinn got the Monte Cristo, a huge French Toast sandwich with fake ham and turkey and served with some jam. It also came with homefries. If Wayward does anything, it gives the largest portions I've seen. I just wish the food came out of the kitchen better. The French Toast wasn't cooked long enough, a little soggy. Too much faux meat. The latter wasn't a huge deal, but the sandwich just was lacking in general. We did leave full though.

I'll talk about Vancouver on the next post...

Seattle

I am currently in Seattle for a few days. There are a lot of Portland-Seattle comparisons, but the two cities are very different. I would say that I would never move here (oh, when I say never, I'm just saying if I had a choice between our two fair cities and I wasn't in a relationship with someone in Seattle...I wouldn't hate it, I'd prefer it to Asheville or Chicago or small towns...), just as someone here would say the same about Portland. Seattle is too city for my tastes. Too large, not as residential. The steep hills kill me (you would *never* find me on a bike here, you can barely find me on my bike in Portland). And the busses take your fare after you've ridden, not when you get on it...which ok, that one isn't a big deal, but for some reason I find it annoying. Also, the two bus drivers I came across were the least friendly bus drivers I've come across. It's population is definitely more diverse than Portland. You'll find a lot more older people here and it's more racially diverse. The feeling here in Seattle is less like you're on a college campus with your peers, which is what Portland usually feels like to me.

I'm here because a friend of mine has a work conference in a town nearby, so free hotel and gas. Tomorrow we leave to go on to Vancouver, BC, where my friend Corinn has never been. We'll be staying a friend's house, though he's out of town on his forever-long honeymoon (2 months, people! Turkey!).

The first day I spend taking my friend to her conference, then dropping her car off at Stingray Auto, to get her brakes fixed (p.s. right now they have a special where you get 10% off if you mention Yelp), walking back to the apartment/hotel where we're staying so that Qwest could fix the problematic wifi (which was stupidly just plugged incorrectly), going to Victrola Coffee on Pine, then getting lost when going back to Stingray to pick up the car. We had dinner at In The Bowl on E Olive Way, then hung out on Broadway and drank and ate sweet potato tots at Highline using my Groupon, and finding the bar 22 on 15th St. Good night. Here's some pictures of some of my happenings:

The Berkeley Vegan (minus tomatoes) from zPizza, I should've also gotten no zucchini, too raw for my tastes! Good pie though, better cold when the Daiya didn't stick to the roof of my mouth.

Mighty-O French Toast donut and coffee at Victrola's.

"Sweet Tots" from Highline. Corinn writing postcards in the background.

Photobooth at Highline. It takes credit cards only, which is kinda handy.

Merry Belated Christmas!

And a very belated happy Hanukkah!

I don't like blogging without pictures, which is the reason I'll blame for the long stretch of time with no posts. Though I bought a new memory card to replace mine back in the beginning of December, so really my excuses don't hold strong.

What's happened since I last posted? Well, I went to Seattle with Jess Scone. She had to go for work purposes, so I was ecstatic to tag along for a free hotel and gas money. I had been wanting to go for another visit and it's fun to go with another (vegan) food enthusiast. It was also nice to meet a couple new vegans/fellow PPKers while there.

I also went to the penis of America. AKA Florida. My hometown is Sarasota and I spent a week there, hanging out with mom, some with dad and some with friends. Unfortunately, the 80 degree weather that my mom was bragging about when I bought my ticket disappeared while I was there. Dang cold front. I'm happy to report that though it got warmer after I left, the last week has been cold again. (I'm happy because at least I have the comfort of knowing it wasn't warm during Christmas when my mom would've had me come.) The vegan scene in my hometown is definitely wanting, but it's getting better each visit. Though most of it leans towards the raw foods.

I did have a soup and salad at Simon's Coffeehouse. This is a place that's been in Sarasota for a long time, but for some reason I've never really gone. I mean, I went once several years ago, but not since. I heard they use vegan sausage and have tofu scrambles for breakfast. Unfortunately, I went with my mom for lunch. Fewer options, which is weird, no?

I got the soup simply called Green. It was a slightly salty soup of spinach and some other pureed greens. I quite liked it, actually.

The salad was the Thai Tofu special salad of the day. i had to get it with a balsamic vinaigrette instead of the creamy (nonvegan) thai dressing that went with it. The sprouts were a little odd with that mix, but all in all, not bad. The seedy bread that came with it was an end piece and pretty tough. I had a little salad left over. This was $9.95. I would've thought $8.95 would be more reasonable.

While at home my mom made some cinnamon rolls for me. She always has bread starter (or so it seems) and makes cinnamon swirl bread often. She made cinnamon rolls using the Earth Balance she bought for me and then also didn't butter the tops of the cinnamon bread she made.

Time to rise!

The middle piece was mine, all mine!

I would have to say that this is the first time (that I recall, anyways) my mom has offered to make me something vegan. I really appreciated it. This trip my mom was very awesome about going to places that had vegan options, as well.

We went to the Saturday Farmer's Market.

My mom in the crowd.

I was happy to see such a bustling farmer's market. I guess it was probably more bustling since it was so close to Christmas.

After walking around the market, we stopped at the nearby Whole Foods for lunch. Which is where I got this donut:

It wasn't the best donut ever, it was a little dry/old, but I'm sure that if I didn't have the likes of Sweetpea Baking or Voodoo Donuts I would be ever so happy to have these at my grasp.

I did try going to the beach on the warmest day, but it was a no-go. I was there for 10 minutes and was cold in my shorts and hoodie, my towel draped over my legs.

Sad face.

As always, I'm excited to come home to Florida, but always ready to come back to the Pacific Northwest, my new home.