Flowers On A Friday - Celebration Style

"Celebrate Life" for sale on Etsy - click here

Well Kids, it's almost here, a brand new year. Are you ready for it? Are you doing the whole resolution thing? I have a few things that I hope to do, and not do, next year. Before midnight I hope to decide on my word for next year. You know, a single word that sort of sums-up the theme that I hope to live by, and focus on. I'll let you know what I come up with. How about you, what would your word be?

I feel really ready to make some changes in my life, and I'm really looking forward to getting started. I choose not to think of them as resolutions, because historically I've not done well with resolutions, I just want to make some improvements, and try some fresh approaches to things. I promise to share some of this with you, as I get going.

I'm wishing all of you big sweet kisses, fireworks, and beverages that tickle your noses. Happy Almost New Year!

Meatless Monday - A Package From Veganville

Seeing that beauty I bet I have you attention, right? Over the holidays to received a lovely package of goodies from Veganville. One word - Yum!!! This little lovely is called a Vegan PB Chocolate Chip Voopee Pie. It is peanut buttery, chocolaty, and yummy (did I say that already? Sorry, I couldn't help but repeat that part). Gigi also added one little pumpkin creation to the mix, which was simply cruel because I want more!

Happy Holidays

Thank you for all your support, kind comments, and general wonderfulness throughout this past year, it means so much to me. The love out there in the blog world is amazing, and I feel so lucky to have made so many wonderful friends. Thank you, thank you loyal readers you truly brighten my days. Happy Holidays.

Hugs, Jennifer

Flowers On A Friday - Festive Heather



Send It Forwards

Are you noticing that between this post, and the last, that a theme is forming? Maybe it's the time of year, but I seem to be thinking forwards and backwards. It is, after all, that resolution time of year. Today, it's all about forward thinking. I learned about this really interesting site, it's called Future Me, and I am all about it right now. The deal is, you write emails to yourself, in the future. Then, on the designated date, the email is delivered to you. How cool is that? I highly recommend you send at least one to yourself, dated for a year from now, it is totally therapeutic! I thought I'd just write a quick little somethin'-somethin' to myself for fun, but when I started writing, it was amazing, all the stuff that poured out of me. I believe it will be phenomenal to receive, and it was so cathartic to write. It was this lovely self nurturing experience. I really loved doing it, and I think I will make it a regular habit. It has so many layers to it. It could be used as a simple way to organize your life, it's a great business tool, or it could be a deeply profound reminder from the person that is, hopefully, most dear to you. I'm completely sold on it. Check it out.

Pay It Backwards

It's time for a little more Guerrilla Holiday fun! You've heard of pay it forward, right? Well this time I paid it backwards. I went through my local coffee drive-thru and paid for the car behind me. Which was fun, but it gets even better. The next morning when I went back, the barista told me that I had started a chain of pay it backwards. Twenty one cars had carried on the kindness, and paid for the car behind them! How cool is that?! Yahoo, I'm feelin' the Guerrilla love! Makes me want to go hug a stranger. XOXO

Meatless Monday - The Big Vegan "Cheese" Comparison

As requested, here is my two cents worth on vegan "cheeses". After a great deal of trial and error, and I do mean errors (yuck), this is what I have found to be true. As a former cheese lovin' girl vegan cheese is just not the same. It's not, they try, but they just aren't there yet. This being said, there are some pretty good substitutes out there. There are also some scary ones to run away from. So, here is my own personal list of suggestions. 
Teese Creamy Cheddar Sauce - can rock some mac and "cheese"

Their Nacho Sauce will do the trick if you are craving some Nachos.

In the mood for a grilled sandwich? Try Follow Your Heart's - Cheddar . A little cooking tip - it takes quite a bit of heat to melt this stuff so I grill the sandwich and then I pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds to get the melt going. Their Mozzarella is good for this too.

I've gotta go with Sheese - Blue  as my blue cheese substitute.

The best flavor award goes to Dr Cow. All varieties of this stuff are amazingly delicious. Not readily available on the west coast (can you say mail order?), and not cheap, but definitely worth the extra effort, and money, for special occasions. Spread on crackers this will impress even the most finicky foodie. Really, it is an artisan product. Amazing!

My favorite all around choice goes to Daiya Cheddar. A nice choice to have on hand to sprinkle on whatever. Daiya's Mozzarella is the best for pizza making.

 Nutritional Yeast  comes in a flake form, and isn't like cheese at all, but it adds a cheesy flavor to a lot of things. I like it sprinkled on broccoli and popcorn. You can find a recipe for Nooch Sauce here on my blog. It is a really delicious Welsh rarebit type of sauce. It's a vegetarian classic.  Yummy.

And finally, let me tell you what to avoid. I don't want to be mean, but...

Vegan Rella (sorry, yuck)

Rice Vegan (sorry, yuck)

Soy Vegan (sorry, also yuck)

These seem readily available, but no one would ever consider giving up dairy if they tasted these substitutes. So as a public service, I say YUCK!

There you have it, my two cents worth, I hope it helps. If any of my readers have any other suggestions please let me/us know.



Flowers On A Friday - Tulips At The Flower Market

Festival Of Lights Mini Movie And More Guerrilla Love

My dear buddy, Nat Montoya, created this pretty little movie of The Festive Of Lights. If it doesn't get you into a holiday frame of mind nothing will. Enjoy. Thanks Nat for sharing.
I'm so excited, the Guerrilla Love is spreading! Many folks have posted it on their blogs and people are giving in small and sweet ways. Hooray! It totally warms my heart! Sparkle The Cat did a really sweet thing, she knew that a fellow blogger was going through a tough time so she bought them something off of their Amazon wish list. K Spinning has put a group of Girl Scouts up too the challenge, I can't wait to see what they do. My buddy Jamie, from Lyrical Journey, is helping to spread the word, and the chocolate chip cookies.  Fin is meowing it out, over at Housecat Confidential, and Tammy Lee gave it a shout out, over on Bliss And Folly. Penelope is giving out Merry Christmoose Postcards to clerks that seem to be having a rough day. GiGi and Larry, over in Veganville, were kind enough to give some of their yummy baked goodies to a young, hungry, fella, in need.  And this is just a small sampling of the Guerrilla Kindness. How about you? Have you done any random acts of Guerrilla Kindness that you would like to share. I think it makes us all feel a bit more jolly, so feel free to join in, it's fun!

Color Of The Year

The folks at Pantone have announced their pick for color of the year, and here it is, Honeysuckle Pink. I think it is a bold choice. Certainly not for everyone, but I think I like it. For me, I think I'd go a bit more in the beat-up-ballet-slipper-pink direction, but I can work with it. It sure is upbeat. What do you think?

Meatless Monday - Perfect Winter Breakfast

I had a great time at the Festival Of Lights. I have a funny story to share. I decided to give the Guerrilla Gift to one of the volunteers that had worked very hard to make the event go smoothly. I wanted to have her discover the gift (one of my necklaces, on a gold ribbon) as she was doing her work. One of her jobs was to take care of these little luminary bags. I kept tying the ribbon onto the bags, but she kept missing it. So, I'd tie it to another bag, and subtly push it towards her. Then, something would happen to cause her to miss seeing it. It was this Laurel and Hardy sort of dance that we were doing. Finally, we were coming to the end of the work, she was about to go home, and she still didn't have her gift. Ugh! Eventually, I had to hand it to her, and thank her for all her kind volunteering. Not exactly anonymous, but she was very happy, and it made me feel great.
Now, to the meatless meal of the day. I am totally hooked on this for breakfast. I admit it has a distinctly "wow, is that healthy!" sort of flavor to it, but I'm lovin' it. It is super nutritious and very satisfying. It's like a New Years Resolution in a bowl. This is a resolution I think I will keep!
Next week, as requested, I'm going to share my opinions about different brands of vegan cheeses. I hope this will be helpful, because some of these products are truly awful, and others can be pretty good. I think a road map might help.
And now, on to the

Perfect Winter Breakfast

First, you prepare a pot of Quinoa according to the package directions. Left overs are great to have on hand to eat throughout the week.  Mash half a banana in a bowl. Add a spoonful of peanut butter. Add a serving of quinoa, a splash of soy milk, and a generous sprinkle of ground flax seeds. Mix it around. Pop it in the microwave to warm it up. Sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon. Somethings I toss in some chopped walnuts for a bit of crunch. That's it, super yummy!

Festival Of Lights

I'm just popping in to let everybody know that I will be at the Festival Of Lights (doing a bit of Guerrilla business), in Fort Bragg California, this evening. If you are in the area, please stop by. FYI, I did the artwork for the postcards, posters, etc. Hope to see you there.

Flowers On A Friday - Sunset Style

I have been so busy! I barely made it, but here is the Friday Flower. Happy weekend everybody.

There Is A Guerrilla In Your Mailbox!

Time for a little more Guerrilla Holiday action. I tied Gilding Lilies Friendship greeting cards to a few mailboxes.

Meatless Monday - Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped Potatoes

3 average sized potatoes, thinly sliced
3/4 cup veggie broth
1/2 cup soy milk
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp rosemary, broken into tiny pieces
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 cup vegan cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 glass pan. Arrange the slices of potatoes, in layers, in the pan. Pour the broth and the soy milk over the potatoes. Drizzle on the olive oil. Sprinkle on the garlic, nutritional yeast, and the vegan cheese. Sprinkle on the seasonings. Loosely cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

More From The Neon Boneyard

Here are some more pictures that I took at the Neon Boneyard, in Las Vegas.

There is one more group of pictures, from the Boneyard, that I might post. They are close up views of letters, peeling paint, and general patina. Kind of fun, in an abstract sort of way. Wanna see them? 

I would like to get married in Las Vegas, just so I could have wedding photos taken in the Boneyard. Wouldn't that be cool (only in the winter! ha ha)?

Flowers On A Friday - Guerrilla Style

This is how you do Flowers On A Friday- Guerrilla Style. I gathered a small bunch of wildflowers, tied them together with a velvet ribbon, and left them on a random car. I was thinking about how happy it would make me to receive such a gift, so I made a second tiny bundle for myself, and put it in a bud vase beside my bed. This is the sweet stuff!

Here's Some Vegas Baby

I am still feeling very  blah, so the Las Vegas pics are going to come to you very slowly. Here are a few. The first two, I took at the Venetian, while window shopping. The last one is from our trip to the Neon Boneyard. Unfortunately it was closed, but we were able to see quite a bit through the fence. It was so cool! I have a whole bunch of really interesting Boneyard photos to share.
I have a fun little Guerrilla project to do tomorrow, I can't wait to show you!

Guerrilla Holiday

Last year I decided to do a Guerrilla Holiday, and I want to do it again this year, and I'm hoping you will want to join me. Here is the big idea. Have you ever heard of Guerrilla Artist's? Basically, they are artists that make art and install, preform, or attach it to public spaces, with the intention of affecting the world in a creative and thought provoking way (to paraphrase Keri Smith). These installations are often anonymous, and very unique. Do a web search for "guerrilla art" and you will see many wonderful examples. My idea is to remove some of the hype from the holiday and remind people of the simple joy of kindness. I think we all get so wrapped up in the stress of the season, we sometimes forget about small ways we can feel, and spread joy.  I'm talking about some random acts of giving. Tiny stuff, sweet stuff, unexpected stuff. Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Decorate a public and unexpected object. Put a handmade greeting card on a strangers windshield. If you're a crafter, make something small, and stick it in a neighbors mailbox. Go for a walk and stick a single shiny ornament on every tree that you pass. Tie a pretty tag, with a few kind words, on somebodies trash can (won't that just freak them out!). One of my readers tucked handmade beaded bookmarks in library books. There are a million possibilities. Make a sticker or a sign. Do you have something to say about the holiday season? Well, this is your chance! Won't you join me? I am really excited to see what you do. Send me some pictures, or tell me some stories, and I will try to post as many of them as I can. Spread the word, and take a Guerrilla Holiday Button. Let's see what we can do. I believe this could be something special, don't you?!

December Desktop

I'm making some progress, here is the desktop. I hope you enjoy this happy little fella.

DOWNLOAD the 1280 X 800 pixel version

DOWNLOAD the 1024 X 768 pixel version

Soon

Ugh, I don't feel good. I caught a cold, and I feel funky. Not a big deal, but it is certainly slowing me down. I have a big idea to reveal, Las Vegas stuff to share, and I want to give you the new desktop, but I feel like I'm moving in slow motion. Soon. I received some sad new about my cat Mr Dutch, and I think that took me out. He is feeling much better this morning, thankfully, but they think he has Mast Cell Disease, and it might just be a matter of time. Such a bummer! It is great to see him feeling better this morning, I think it must be all the love he is getting from Fin's friends, thanks for the purrs and healing thoughts.