It's true!

We're engaged!

If you follow me on twitter, you'll have seen on Saturday that I had my "bachelorette" party. Really it was just an excuse to get all the girl's out for dinner and dancing but that could still happen once I'm married...yes? (i sure hope so!).  I was planning on keeping it a surprise until after but when you're this connected to social media, it's kind of silly to think that word wouldn't get out. 

Soner proposed on our rooftop on the weekend of our one year anniversary (which falls on Halloween I kid you not.) We're going to have a really simple wedding and by simple I mean city hall style. I found my dress (vintage) within the first week, and my shoes, the second. So I'm pretty much all set! My parents will be coming down for the weekend and we'll both have some witnesses by our sides. Basically the most stress-free wedding you can have. There's less than two weeks to go so don't worry, you'll get to see pictures soon! 

Thank you all for the well wishes via Twitter. I couldn't reply to all of them but they did make me so happy & made me feel silly for trying to keep it a "surprise".

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread cookies

This weekend, I did a ton of cooking and baking. I have a few recipes lined up that I want to share with you so they'll be trickling in here and there this week.
Today I share with you a cookie recipe I tried for our movie night since the recipe made about 3 dozen cookies. I wanted to make sure that I had enough for everyone...turns out I had more than enough & leftovers!

 

What you'll need:

1 3/4 cups earth balance butter
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups arrowroot powder
1/4 cup soy milk

For chocolate dipping:
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

What you do:

1. In a large bowl, cream together the vegan butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer. Add vanilla, then flour and arrowroot powder. The dough needs to be able to hold together without being sticky. Add the soy milk if needed.

2. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for about 1/2 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 350F. Start forming the dough into round 1 inch balls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until the bottoms start to be golden, not brown! While they're baking, melt the chocolate chips and shortening in a double broiler or be really careful in a saucepan.
5. Let the cookies cool completely. Once cool, dip them face up in the chocolate sauce. Put aside until the chocolate has hardened.

*Recipe has been extracted from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur 

Thanksgiving style

Today I have to keep reminding myself that it's still only Friday. And that, makes me so happy! A four day weekend is exactly what I needed right now. Last night we celebrated Thanksgiving with a group of really great friends and ate so much food. I brought homemade stuffing, mini veggie empanadas, and some pumpkin pie brownies. All of which I'd love to post up on the blog sometime soon! Soner and I had agreed that we would put our diet on hold for this holiday, just to be able to enjoy it with everyone else. Monday though...it's back on. 

details: jacket via UO| blouse via H&M| skirt via Tulle| boots c/o Seychelles|

 tights via American Apparel

Today is all about cleaning up the house from all that cooking and baking I did yesterday. I finished with just enough time to fix myself up and pack everything to map our way over. We're possibly going to put up our little Christmas tree. We still need to figure out where in our little apartment can we spare a little room for it, it's going to be tight. Tonight is movie night with friends, so I'm planning on baking up some cookies to contribute {I'm on a roll}.  Make sure you check out the shop for new headbands too. More to come on Sunday! Needless to say I'm really enjoying this mini-break.

Vegan Chili

There are some things that I just can't be bothered with following a recipe to make. As long as you keep it simple there's no way to screw it up. One of these things is a big pot of vegan chili. Since I made a pretty good batch of it last Friday, I thought it'd be best to share with you my own personal recipe.

What you'll need:

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large carrot

2 stick of celery

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 15.oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 can of black beans

1 can of red kidney beans
1 package of Yves veggie ground

2-3 tablespoon of Chili Powder (depending on taste)

1 tbsp of Paprika

dash of red pepper flakes (optional)

slat & pepper to taste

What you do:

1. Sauté on medium heat your onion and garlic in oil until translucent

2. Add the chopped carrot, celery and stir for about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, and the canned tomatoes. Stir on medium heat for another 2 minutes.

3. Wash and drain your canned beans. Add them to the mix and keeping stirring on medium heat until it starts to boil a little. Add the package of the veggie ground.

4. Add all the spices and lower the heat to simmer. Simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes or until liquid reduces and the chili becomes a stew-like  consistency. If it's too thick, add a little vegetable broth or water. 

Hope you like it! Oh and the other things that don't require a recipe? Hummus, Spaghetti sauce and Lentil Soup. I swear, my motto is to just keep it simple and you can't go wrong. 

My Sister.

Today is my sister's birthday so I wanted to make sure to give her a really awesome Happy Birthday post!

Growing up with a sister that is so close in age with you is kind of great when you're young. I never had to make friends! I just followed her around! haha. I'm so sorry about that! 

Anyways, here's a picture of us before:  

And now:

She's an amazing mother to my nephew Quinn & I hope to be just as awesome at motherhood as she is! Love you lots! xo

Etsy Update

It's back! My shop of small knitted items is restocked with a few headbands and hat. My plan was to re-open a couple of weeks ago but you know, things change. I'm just happy to have started knitting again. My plan is to add about 5 items per week and maybe even more in the new year when I find myself with a little more time. But that is still undetermined for now so we'll get to it later. 

I did notice that I like to stick to neutrals when knitting accessories but that's not always the case for everyone. So what i'm asking of you is that if you could just leave me a quick comment telling me what colors you plan on wearing this fall/winter in terms of accessories, it'd be greatly appreciated! You can even just leave a color, no need for anything more. You can check these styles out by visiting Little Knitty Things (bottom right headband has been sold)

India Part 5.-final

And here we end my 3 month trip in India. Once we were tired of the desert, had seen enough camels and  sand, we continued north and across for our last stop: Delhi. A big city. We were not accustomed to such a bustling city considering most of our time was spent in small rural villages with sometimes no running water. But we thought we just couldn't not visit such a famous place being in India.

 

 We settled in one of the hotels in the tourist district, Paharganj or the Main Bazaar. Imagine small crowded, dirty streets, with loud honking, rickshaws, and of course, tourists. Since this place is steps away from the train station you have a mix of new travelers just beginning their journey or in our case, at the end of their trip. After settling in, which basically means dropping our packs in the room that we were going to share due to our cheapness, we set out to get some food. It's pretty funny looking at a menu in a big city because you will find things like: pizza, burgers, fries, even pancakes if you go for breakfast. Most of the time we just laughed and ordered from the traditional menu but towards the end of this trip, sometimes a basket of fried is just what you need.

At some point during the week we met a dj from London who was playing at one of the nearby hotel bars. Having an invite, we decided why not? could be fun. Well, this hotel was not your typical guest house at $3/night. This was a 5 star hotel, and their bar, was a club. A place that would rival NYC's most "hottest" spots in the Meatpacking district. We were NOT ready for this. We had put on a few articles of clothing that we had bought on our travels which were all silk of course but the other girls were  clearly from the "Modern" India in their high pumps, super short skirts, and tube tops. I remember thinking how much we did not fit in just as I handed my $20 cover charge over to the doorman, my usual 2 day allowance. We settled in, ordered 1 drink each and enjoyed people watching since for the first time, no one was watching us. All i can really remember was befriending a group of rich Indian kids just about our age, dancing and singing Bryan Adams's summer of 69 on the top of our lungs. Yup, what a way to go out on such a momentous trip.

 

We of course took a day trip to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal which is just in itself such a wonder. You can just sit there on the grass just staring at it all day if you want. It truly is a magical creation.

 

And that my friends, is India in a nutshell. I didn't mention every single thing, place we went to but there is just so much I can remember/write down and not bore you to death! I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have if you're heading over there or have plans to and are unsure. I cannot stress enough how India has changed me. I hope to return someday soon and cover all the paths that I missed the first time!

* pictures are not all of Delhi. I was running out due to my digital pictures being stored away at my parents!

Street Style.

details: jacket via UO| sweater via Kensie| shorts via Volcom|tights via Uniqlo| 
boots via Dolce Vita for Target| hat via handmade by me

Not one of my "usual" looks, I was going for Comfy Saturday walking around Williamsburg kind of outfit. Our day started off at the Farmer's Market like most Saturdays do, then came home and made ourselves some juice with some of the veggies we just bought. I'm trying to make juicing a regular thing now since it's so easy to get a ton of vegetables in all at once {also in their rawest form}After that it was dropping off laundry, stopping by the library, then catching a matinée over at Nitehawk Cinema. We saw Martha Marcy May Marlene, starring Elizabeth Olsen, which I thought was ok but was somehow expecting it to be more "thrilling and suspensful"as most of the reviews state. It's still good and I think the best part of it was Elizabeth's acting, so much better than her little sisters and would love to see her in more movies. I think I have too great of expectations for movies as I always find myself a little disappointed in the end. I just have to take it easy and go in with more of an open mind next time. 

Sunday will consist of hitting the gym early, homemade brunch with Soner since he'll be coming home late/early from work {6am} and will need to catch some Zzz's before starting off the day. And then a jaunt into the city to get a few things. Hope you had a great weekend! Except for the temperatures dropping here, it was so nice and sunny! Lets hope it just continues this way... 

Drop by Drop.

I was originally going to post an outfit from today but while my flickr uploads were doing their thing, I quickly popped in to Facebook and found an email from a very good friends of mine, Suzanne {or Sue as I know her} and felt the need to share this. I briefly lived with Sue years ago while in Vancouver when I had just got back from my India trip. While I was searching for a menial job in retail just trying to find something to get me by, Sue was studying at the University of British Columbia, working on her Master's degree in Geography while also getting an undergraduate degree in International Relations and Environmental Politics. Yes, our lives couldn't have been any more different but we got to be the very best of friends.

Fast forward ten years and Sue is now working at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities on a program that is based on helping First nations across Canada build relationships with municipalities especially when it comes to water and wastewater partnerships. She's been an advocate on the importance of the right to access to clean water ever since I've known her, in fact I'm proud to have been a part of a fundraiser she held to raise money for a village in Oaxaca to build a well.

So why am I being all serious right now? Well, Sue has started a blog called Drop by Drop and it's something I would love for you to go and have a look and read up on what she's doing. There's informative videos that might even make you think twice about your own water consumption or just teach you a few things you might not have known. When I think of all the things that Sue has taught me just by sharing an apartment together for a few months, I can only imagine the lives that she has changed in these past ten years working for a cause that is dear to her. Now go ahead and check it out...

*Outfit post will be posted tomorrow. I also owe you guys the last part of my India trip. Oh boy how I've been slacking on blogging lately! 

Sun Down.

I know posts have been scarce these days and I just want to say that it's not going to stay this way. I just hit a really super busy patch right now and hope that things slow down, possibly in the new year? I have tons of ideas for fun posts but do not have the time to actually post them so just bear with me through all of this and we'll be good to go soon!

details: vintage dress via Beacon's Closet| boots via 80%20| belt via Value Village| bangles via F21

These are some pictures that I took on our rooftop Sunday night right before the sun went down. We had a busy day of visiting Soner's parents for a holiday, then hurried back home to get ready to meet up with some friends for a goodbye dinner for one of them. It was a pretty hectic day none the less!

Daily log.

Today is the one month mark of my cutting out carbs & sugar {as much as I can} as well as hitting the gym on a regular basis. I'm happy to report that I have been losing a little weight {5lbs!} and most importantly, my clothes have been fitting me a lot better! So I just thought I'd share with you a typical day in the life of including my meals. I think that following a vegan diet you tend to fall back on carbs as your main dish a little too often. I know that I was pretty much addicted to carbs and this wasn't going to be easy for me. Soner has been following this new plan with me so it's a lot easier when we can encourage each other and also not have any of this "bad food" in the house! Well, one month down and 2 more to go!

My day:

5:45am: Wake up for the gym. I do 50 minutes of cardio, 40 minutes which I do in brief high intensity intervals of two minutes, then a slow jog/fast walk for 2 minutes. I've been told that interval workouts are best for losing weight as you keep burning the calories during the day. After my cardio workout, I do some light weights, then a whole stretching session {my favorite part}.

8:00am: Breakfast! I've never once in my life gone through a phase where I didn't eat my breakfast. I'm the type of person that will wake up hungry so not eating, especially when I have a hectic train commute is a no-no in my books. This is where I will eat most of my fruit for the day. It's usually a bowl consisting of one apple, a banana and some berries. I have about 1/2 cup of almond butter for dipping which fills me up for the morning.

12pm: Lunch time. I've been trying to eat 1 raw meal a day so this is usually where I have a salad. Baby spinach, all kinds of sprouts, tomato, avocado, chickpeas or soybeans (not raw), topped with Braggs liquid Amino as my dressing. If I don't have time for a salad, I'll usually go for lentil soup! By this time I've probably already consumed about 3-4 glasses of water.

3pm: Snack time: This one is crucial for me as I'm such a snacker! I'll usually have some hummus, with cucumbers and celery. I might sneak in an orange as well. To fight my hunger I also down a lot of water in the afternoons to get to my 8 glasses a day.

7pm: Dinner. Our dinners will consists of a leafy green like kale, sautéed with shallots and garlic, with a side of "meat" which can be either tempeh, tofu, or a soy based substitute (which we usually only eat on weekends) and something roasted like brussel sprouts.

If you add up my calorie count, I'm over the goal of 1200cal/day that they advise for a woman my height/weight but you need to factor in all the cardio that is done throughout the day. Being in NY, I walk everywhere, so that would probably add up to about 30 minutes, I take the stairs in my office building at least once a day, and then there's the gym that I get started on bright and early. So all of these actually adds up to being a well balanced diet FOR ME!

I used My Fitness Pal to add up all of the calories shown here but use it with caution. If you decide to sign up, no matter who you are, how much you weigh or what you do for your workouts on an average day, they will automatically say that you need to consume 1200 calories. So with that said, I know not to get super obsessive with all of the counting and just use it to keep on track with what I'm trying to achieve. This is what works for me, but I know that everyone is different and has their own opinions on how they keep fit, lose weight...But since I've been asked about my meals and what I do at the gym, I find that laying it all out like this is only fair to answer some of your questions.