Juice for Dinner!

I haven't felt like cooking much due to the heat and a busy schedule, but also because I have those days where I just don't want to eat! We found a temporary solution until my new juicer arrives...

Jumpin' Juice and Java was a place I never went to because of the name. lol. It's a coffee shop and a smoothie shop and any of their smoothies can be made non-dairy. The menu is pretty good and it's attached here:

jumpin juice and java

We chose the Caribbean Cooler and a Berry Berry Good non-dairy smoothie as our dinners. I'll definitely be going back for another one! It's nice to not have to cook and also to have something for dinner despite low appetites. My Vita-Mix would be great for this, but when I don't have the ingredients or am on the road, this works out well!

House Sparrow

Britty just made a video of the sparrow that got trapped in our home. A female house sparrow somehow got in and was flying into the walls before we could get her! We put her in a safe area until it looked like she was healthy enough to release. The video is so cute.

Here is the link to the blog post and please scroll to the bottom to see the video. :)

http://homeschooling-hatch.blogspot.com/2009/08/house-sparrow.html

Cooking Show

My friend Cindy just informed me of a new cooking show beginning this Sunday on the Food Network. I'm really excited! It's not a vegan show, sadly, but I hope this chef uses lots of veggies and has recipes that I can easily make vegan!

The reason I love this show is because of the host... Brian Boitano! An unlikely candidate for a new food show, so I thought, Brian was my 80's hero as winner of the gold medal in the 1988 Olymipcs. Since 1988, I traveled all over New England to see him! I met him several times and he even commissioned my friend and I to paint shirts for him for his new (at the time) program called Canvas of Ice. How totally fun! We loved watching him skate. (still do!) Now, I hope to love watching him cook! I will pretend the chicken is tofu, I guess. I will also write to him, since we are good friends now (according to me anyhow!) and ask that he include more veggie meals.

20 years ago. I am stalking the skater's bus in Philadelphia before the ice show. Yes, that is his face painted on my shirt! Lol!

Meeting him for the first time and nearly dying of embarrassment for being such a geeky fan:

Getting comfortable with my stalker-ness... check out my GRIP on him!


I'm so excited to see what he can cook! Thanks to the Food Network for wondering, "What Would Brian Boitano Make?" This Sunday! 1 pm! (Eastern time.)

My babies!

I had to post this photo of a Papillion puppy because I LOVE it and it reminds me of my Max when he was little. :) He's 9 years old now (Happy Birthday Max!) but he's still fetching and causing trouble, so we're happy he's active and healthy!

BJ, our 12.5 year old Labrador is not so active. The poor guy has trouble getting around and it's getting more difficult by the day. We're helping him get up stairs and providing beds and supplements for him, but he's 80 pounds and...well...getting old. He went to a holistic vet recently to discuss acupuncture and other options for his inability to use his back legs. He is taking supplements, like vitamin c and e and we're debating if acupunture would help him at this point. (maybe!!)

I used to look at BJ and see this shiny, healthy, (over)active, invincible black Labrador. He is now tired and inactive and does not turn heads anymore, but we remember everything about his past and think he's still the best looking Lab around! I took him on many trips but never the traditional hunting and fetching ducks like one may imagine for a Labrador. I often wondered if he would have been luckier to have a more "outdoorsy" owner who, perhaps, liked to game bird hunt. Well, seeing BJ now and all that we are happily doing for him, I know for a fact that he'd not want to be anywhere else. He may never have retrieved a dead pheasant, but he was there with us while we rescued two pheasant chicks. BJ seemed to have no interest in them other than as his new temporary roommates! He has been an amazing companion for us for 12.5 years and we're hoping that somehow, despite his downslide, we will have lots more time with him still. No regrets.

So Happy 9th Birthday to Max, and we will soon be celebrating BJ's 13th birthday too! :) Lucky us!

Shoes!

Doesn't shoe shopping fix everything? I love how DSW has so many options, since I choose not to purchase leather, suede, or fur. (Furry shoes?) So with DSW online, I can check to see what the shoes are made of before falling in love with them. Be careful though, sometimes their online information is not accurate. Always check the inside of the shoe also! ;)

So I recently found shoes... shoes... shoes.. and a pair of boots. I love them all. Here are the boots that are VERY comfy:
The shoes I found are awesome leopard flats and also a crazy high pair of heels (Chinese Laundry) that I cannot figure out where to wear! 4.5" tall. Lol! I *will* wear them though! I just need to find a place to go where I won't fall down!

So for non-animal materials, check out DSW for shoes and handbags! You can ALWAYS use more shoes, right?