This is pretty much what I woke up to. He slept in the suit, and bounded out of bed the second his eyes opened, to add the boots and hat. In case you weren’t aware, fire fighters are THE BEST.

As I was snapping this pic and marveling at the overwhelming cuteness, I realized: “omg, forgot to buy more tea.” There was no caffeine in the house. Like, at all.

“Mama play with meeeeee!!”

Playing on the floor at 7 am, sans caffeine . . . oi.

After all the fires were thoroughly extinguished, I made Waits a quick breakfast of chia pudding (plain, as per his request) and vanilla almond milk (because it comes in the blue box, and blue is obviously superior to green, so sorry see ya later oat milk):



And then I threw together a coconut milk-blueberry-kale protein smoothie:



I filled a sippy cup with the smoothie and drank the leftovers myself. Preschool lunch all packed up:


Left to right: leftover burrito on gluten-free tortilla with refried beans, vegan cheese, and smokey sautéed peppers + onion + corn // carrot sticks and snap peas // smoothie // garlic roasted pistachios (high in lysine, they count as an “honorary legume”!) // the leftover refried beans.

I got us dressed, sun-screened, tooth-brushed, and shod, and then we were out the door and off to preschool.

Hay fort!

It was laundry day (feels like it’s always laundry day) so I high-tailed it over to my godparents house. Can you guess the very first thing I did?



Caffeine! Earl grey with stevia and oat milk. I’d brought my computer along so I just worked from there, and kept the laundry rotating through. The smoothie wasn’t holding me so I got a little peckish and stole some dates.


I don’t usually eat dried fruit by itself, because blood sugar spikes are bad news for my mood. I’d planned to put some fabulous fatty protein on these, but when I opened the door to the fridge there was nary a nut butter to be found. Then I remembered this video from Dr Greger, so I figured I’d give them a try.




It was a great little test, and I did not get a sugar rush from the dates. Which is awesome because I adore dates and they grow around here and we have the most amazing ones EVAR at our Farmer’s Market.

Anyway, it was a productive morning with lots of work and also an awesome phone date with Allison (of Allison’s Gourmet) who is a seriously fantastic woman, and who is going to be one of my house mates at Vida Vegan Con next month. (squee!!!!)

After that I was back to school to pick up the bug, who was waiting excitedly at the top of the hill for me:

*swoon*

Waits was exhausted from his morning of play, and was asleep pretty quickly when we got hom. Which meant it was my lunch time! And boy howdy, was I excited.


Romaine, shredded carrots (kid lunch leftovers), chopped snap peas (kid lunch leftovers), red onion, nutritional yeast, fresh crushed garlic, and red wine vinegar, all tossed together and topped with black beans, half an avocado, and sunflower sprouts EFF YES. I feel like sometimes photos can be deceiving on portion size, so please note the fork for reference.

About an hour later I was ready for caffeine, round two. Luckily I’d snagged a few bags from my godparents:

Grading papers with the power of the red pen, muahaha.

Waits woke up around 4, stumbled out of the bedroom and proclaimed “I want food!” (he hadn’t eaten much of his lunch, just the smoothie, some of the veggies, and the refried beans).


He likes to eat nut butter straight from the jar, which can be not-so-sanitary when it comes to sharing. So, I’ve started keeping an extra, mostly-empty jar in the fridge. Whenever he asks for “nut butter from the jar”, I just add in a single serving of whatever butter he wants. Win win! I think this time he had almond butter.

After snack we had a few errands to run before meeting up with Damian for the kid switch. Our last stop was Trader Joe’s where I had a sample coffee with agave and almond milk, Waits had a sample cup of almond milk, and he also ate a cashew Larabar.

Green and black tea: PURCHASED

We picked up Damian from work, they dropped me off at my house, and I was suddenly by my lonesome. I had a date with a girlfriend later, but I managed to squeeze in another hour of grading papers.


The last of the leftover carrots and some almond butter, to hold me over.




My friend lives a quick 15-minute walk away, a great opportunity to get some fresh air and catch up on podcasts. I always pass under this trumpet flower tree, which is just so beautiful, and I always have to stop and shove my nose into one of those incredible flowers, because MAN they smell divine.

It’s was a beautiful warm evening, just perfect for a walk.

Toby! (my most favorite kitty)



This is my friend Kate, who doesn’t like having her picture taken. Kate and I were college house mates way way back, when I was doing my undergrad in biology, and she was just beginning a graduate program in engineering. Kate grows blue lasers on gallium nitride, and if you don’t really know what that means it’s okay, ’cause I don’t really either. Just take my word that she is like whoa hella smart, and if you’re interested in science, and women’s issues/feminism, and the intersection of those two things, and also random funny shit and really great music, you might just enjoy her blog, My Laser Boyfriend.

Kate got her PhD last year and in a few weeks she’s moving away . . . to PORTLAND. How’s that for irony? At least we had a few months of overlap.

We ordered pizzas. And while we were waiting for them to arrive, we invented a new cocktail.

Mason Jar Shaker! I love that thing.

Our cocktail!

It’s a simple twist on a gin and tonic, and seriously? It’s one of the best drinks I’ve ever tasted. 1 part gin, 3 parts tonic water, a liberal splash of fresh lemon juice, and a few drops of Peychaud’s Bitters, which is a gentian flower-based bitters that tastes rather like cherry.

Best. Cocktail. Ever.


Pizzas!




Vegan white sauce, Daiya mozzarella, caramelized onions, and fancy mushroom blend on a gluten-free crust. Side of vegan ranch, for dipping like a boss.

Pretty epically amazing. Especially when paired with RuPaul’s Drag Race, to completely round out The Perfect Evening. I mean right??!



I’m still too early in the season to pick a favorite, but I’m pretty partial to Jade. Anyone else watching? Who do you love/hate??!


♥