Excited this place is open! Bamboozle Cafe open a tea lounge in the Channel District. I didn’t have a chance to eat, I grabbed a pumpkin spiced ice tea, snapped some photos & was on my way.

I’m not much of a photographer OR a food blogger, I leave that to Nicole - but when I saw Kerry’s Pumpkin Sage and Spicy Sausage Pizza – I just *had* to veganize the recipe. I even had cooked a pumpkin just last week! Ahoy freezer!

This pizza was very different from my normal meals. Since the beginning I’ve been very weary of “transitional” vegan foods – IE: fake cheeses & meats. One of the main reasons I chose this lifestyle to eat whole, unprocessed foods. In fact, in making this pizza, I bought fake cheese for the first time! Don’t get me wrong, I’ll bring fake burgers to a cookout, vegan cream cheese for office bagel birthdays or other processed vegan foods when grabbing lunch at Whole Foods – but I try to keep it clean 80-90% of the time. (It helps that Gregg doesn’t like them at all.)

I will say I was REALLY impressed with Tofurky’s Italian Sausage – It was spicy & had a great texture. I’ll for sure be bringing it to the next cookout I attend!

This was an amazing dish to welcome Autumn. It tasted savory and thanksgiving-ish. I loved it & Gregg did as well — We looked over to the leftovers :)

Vegan Pumpkin Sage and Spicy Sausage Pizza

I’m still around, just popping over to share this sweet sentiment. Maybe I’ll get around to some massively huge blog post summing up the past few months. As always, you can find me on Twitter & Facebook.

I got rid of 100 things yesterday:

1. Elvis guitar shaped coin bank
2. Thai mask pin
3. 7 pairs of jeans
4. 9 shirts
5. 1 bathing suit top
6. 2 dresses
7. Paper flower
8. 1/2 bottle of hairspray
9. 1/2 bottle of firming lotion
10. 1/2 bottle of gel
11. Black peeptoe heels
12. Pooh wand
13. Picture frame
14. Clutch
15. Makeup bag
16. Pedometers
17. Body sprays (3)
18. Peace bracelet
19. Nail polish (3)
20. Curling Irons (2)
21. Crappy makeup pallet
22. Liquid eyeliner
23. Brown mascara
24. 1/2 candles (3)
25. Toothbrush cover
26. Lock + keys
27. 2 flavored body oils
28. Tom’s shitty deodorant
29. Robot
30. Worn sandals
31. Purple Flashlight
32. Blow up sword
33. Camera
34. Cat toys
35. Foam flail
36. Plastic lobster
37. 2 belts
38. Panda cup from Hibachi
39. Soap roses
40. Electronic cigarette
41. Plastic cigarette holder
42. Silk Scarf
43. 2 bottles of RIT dye (tan/brown)
44. Mini cupcake maker
45. Mini Easter bunnies/decorations
46. Hello Kitty mousepad
47. Hello Kitty eyemask
48. Halloween cat candy dispenser
49. Signed hockey stick -TB Lightning Kobina
50. Ashtray
51. Water colors
52. Blank notecards
53. Blond doll hair(??)
54. Meltable glass stuff
55. 6 movies
56. 25 books
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80. “   Books  ”
81. Plastic Spiders (3)
82. Hello Kitty Mechanical pencil
83. Bayshore pendant necklace thing
84. Broken vintage watch
85. Eyepatch
86. Silver bracelet (2)
87. Butterfly Pin
88. Guitar Pin
89. Branson, MO Pin
90. Ice cream cone eraser
91. Gaudy gold costume necklace
92. retractable bad quality earbuds
93.US Navy identification bracelt
94. Geode slice
95. Tigers eye pendant
96. Insulated case
97. Swirly metal charm
98. Metromix ipod nano (never used, lol)
99. Important message pads
100. Radiance Medspa rhinestone tote bag
101. Cat Collar

This was much harder than I thought it would be! If you want any of this, let me know. If not trash/salvation army it goes!

When it’s there, & you know it’s there,

but it’s just outta your reach,

it can be all that you think about.

And you can focus on it and try to force it,

but the more you do,

the more you seem to push it away.

But if you’re patient,

and you hold still,

well maybe, just maybe,

it’ll come to you.

-Leonard Church

Falling Ad Man – $95

This is a video of Ballet dancers in super slow motion -it features Marina Kanno and Giacomo Bevilaqua from Staatsballett Berlin performing several jumps captured in slow motion at 1000 frames per second, to top it off, it’s done to a remix of one of my all-time favorite songs by Radiohead – “Everything In Its Right Place” – Beautiful

Giving your notice is nerve wrecking.
Friends said I’d feel better after, they were wrong.

Looking for a new job is stressful…
Even more so when you are looking for specific things in a company.
Leaving a job is hard…
Harder when you like the people you work with.
I had to put on my “big girl” pants today & just get it over with.

Enough of that negativeness!

Here’s to change… New beginnings… & working with a friend! :D

Don’t tell me our youth is running out,
it’s only just begun…

Foxes – Youth (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix)

I’ve been loving this song lately. It also is particularly nice since I’m turning 26 this month.
(& kinda dreading it… hello ALMOST 30??)
It’s a reminder to myself to tell me my youth isn’t running out… it’s only just begun ;)

http://www.gasparillamusicfestival.com/

I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer and attend the Gasparilla Music Festival this past weekend.

A few weeks beforehand I decided to sign up to volunteer since in my experience I get more out of an event if I’m apart of it, and it’s a great way to meet some new local people. The Thursday before the Festival I met up for the Box Office training. The first thing I noticed was that the people organizing this event were ORGANIZED. After volunteering at quite a few local events, I always feel like that’s one thing that is always lacking.

The next thing that completely took me back is the Gasparilla Music Festival is a Non-Profit 501c. Their mission is to create a sustainable community event for the Tampa Bay region while promoting arts education and benefiting local organizations and businesses. –  Yes, yes, yes! Supporting the Tampa community!

I arrived around 2PM. My shift started at 3, but I wanted to check-in, grab a beer, wander around & change into my volunteer shirt. The morning had started pretty rough, it was dreary and overcast. By the time I got there, things really had cleared up. The sun was shining and people were coming in by the droves!

The Festival had so much great food that really focused on what Tampa has to offer. Each local restaurant focused on one or two items, which was nice! It gave festival-goers the option to try lots of things.

The Festival had three stages. Two main stages, one in Curtis Hixon, and the other in the corner of Kiley Gardens. The third stage was the Kiley Gardens Amphitheater to showcase local acoustic/singer/song writers.

I ended my shift at roughly 7:30 and went to meet up with friends.  The sun had set, and this is where the magic began. Walking around the park, I felt that familiar sense of pride I have, I love Tampa. (Side note: If you’re newer to Tampa, Curtis Hixon Hall once stood on these grounds. Artists like, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Rush and Cat Stevens played there!) The lighting was fantastic and created a wonderful atmosphere. I stood at the top of the amphitheater just taking it all in for awhile.

Ra Ra Riot closed the day on the main stage. They were a fun group with tons of energy. Hello string instruments!

I really enjoyed that this festival gave me the opportunity to hear of a lot of bands I hadn’t heard of before. I really enjoyed the Distinguished Men of Brass and Rebirth Brass Band, who I would have never heard of otherwise! I hope this is something to stay with the festival over the upcoming years.

Overall this was a great night, and I can’t wait to see what Gasparilla Music Festival has to offer for future. I look forward to volunteering again and rocking out :]

Some bands that played:

http://www.gasparillamusicfestival.com/

After seeing Carlo’s Eats post about this sushi place close to my place, I knew I had to take my sushi loving boyfriend… STAT!

Above photo was my dinner the “Tempura Tofu Bento Box”. ($8.25) We added a miso soup for BF for an extra dollar, — it was miso soup, nothing to rave about.  The salad was basic- romaine, carrots and cucumbers with a great ginger dressing. The tofu came with sauteed broccoli, onions and mushrooms. I enjoyed the tofu, although wished the tofu was cubed a bit smaller. They were about two bites each, a bit unwieldy with chopsticks! I don’t typically enjoy/eat plain white rice, I tried a bite and it seemed good.

Here is why you come to Soobak…

…the sushi!

This was Gregg’s dinner. He got a sunomono salad, which is seafood medley, romaine, cucumber, scallions, masagao & a rice vinegar dressing. ($4.95) Gregg was happy with the amount of seafood on the salad, most places are pretty skimpy. He ordered the veggie roll ($4.95) and the Mexican roll.($5.95) I got to try a bite of his veggie roll, it was very good, I enjoyed the texture of the wakame (edible seaweed) in the roll, I had never experienced that in a veggie rolls. Gregg is the  sushi aficionado & rated Soobak an 8 out of 10. (Which means we’ll be back!)

Soobak also has frozen yogurt. ($.49/oz.) I considered myself lucky because they had a non dairy watermelon flavor. I added pineapple & these juice “bursts”. (I really hope this is molecular gastronomy, fingers crossed.) It was tart & I enjoyed it very much.

I had two problems with Soobak.

The first problem, which is a very common problem now that I’m vegan — is the lack of options. There was 5 options for a vegan. Honey Garlic Tofu, Tempura Tofu, Veggie Roll, Miso Soup and Edamame. I really was hoping they’d have a few different variations of veggie rolls. I do accept that I’m not the norm, so this is really only an issue with me.

The second problem is the size of Soobak. It is TINY. Like, uncomfortable tiny. Like, 4 tables tiny. Like, getting froyo & bumping into people dining tiny. I don’t know if we’ll go back to sit down & dine, but I can see myself picking this up on the way home for dinner, running over on the weekend for a quick lunch, or biking over  to get my frozen yogurt fix.

Overall, I am excited about Soobak. The entire time we were there it was bustling & people were picking up to-go orders non-stop. I hope they flourish, move to a bigger location and add more options. Soobak knows how to make sushi!

All photos courtesy of badfriends.net (thanks!)

Sarah kept mentioning & posting to my facebook about this company that delivers organic fruits and vegetables to your door. Once I had made the decision to become vegan… It seemed no better time to try it out.

Their website is AWESOME & from start to finish took ten minutes to sign up. They allow you to make substitutions (don’t like onions? oranges? Get something else!)  or choose vegetables or fruit only.  (: We chose veggies only :)

Yesterday was the day! I was worried about delivery because our place is a bit of a hassle to get into. On their website they suggest to leave a cooler by your front door.

I got home & my cooler was full!

I think because of how our place is, they had to drop the brown box at the front desk & then someone from here walked it up & put it into our cooler.

1 Acorn Squash
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
4 Local Roma Tomatoes
1 Broccoli
1 Local Romaine Lettuce
1 Local Red Kale
1 bunch Sweet Onion
1 Hass Avocado (CA)
1 Baby Carrots (1 LB)

=$30 w/ delivery

The image everyone wants to see! It’s a TON of food, I am excited.  The head of romaine is by far the biggest I’ve ever seen.  I like that the box is a nice mixture of stuff. Gregg loves avocados & tomatoes. I am a big salad & acorn squash fan. :) The only thing I wish was a bit different is that it included some weird new/unusual to us veggies, but I’m sure that happens sometimes.

They included a few produce bags, and instructions on how to wash & properly store your veggies.

I liked their signature :)

I’ve only ordered once, but I would recommend this to anyone. People complain about the prices of organic food.  Yes, it’s more than you’d spend in a conventional grocery store, but when you look into it, you see it’s worth the extra price.

Things I am planning on making:

15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta

Southwestern Quinoa-Stuffed Acorn Squash

Pistachio Arugula Pesto with Penne and Sauteed Broccolini

Perhaps try Kale chips again, may they be edible this time…

From Wikipedia:

The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is an annual celebration held in the city of Tampa, Florida. Held each year in late January and hosted by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla and the City of Tampa, it celebrates the apocryphal legend of José Gaspar (Gasparilla), supposedly a Spanish pirate captain who operated in Southwest Florida.

The theme is an “invasion” by Gasparilla and his men, which begins when the “Krewe” (made up of residents of the city) arrives on a 165′ long pirate ship, the Jose Gaspar, in Tampa Bay and land near downtown Tampa.

The mayor of Tampa then lends the key of the city to the pirate captain and a parade ensues down Bayshore Boulevard, one of Tampa’s major streets. The krewes throw beads, coins and other items while shooting blank pistols from floats during the parade. The average attendance for the event is over 400,000 people.

The age old question is, “What do I wear to Gasparilla?”

Allie Style:

Shoes: However cute you think those 3 inch pirate boots are… You’re going to be hiking all over town, probably walking 5 to 7 miles, at least. Oh & you’ll be wasted. Just say NO & grab something conformable. Also, yes, we live in Florida, it’s 75 degrees… but rethink the sandals. There are HUGE crowds & you’re feet will get stepped on, beer will spill, you may step in dog doo, no sandals.

Pants: Feel free to wear shorts, skirts, jeans, whatever. You have to think here, will you be just attending the invasion? (11am) The parade? (3pm) & after parties? (5pm++++) I typically choose to wear jeans, it’s still cool enough to not feel grosso. Also, you don’t look like a dirty pirate when evening rolls in. (Walking around downtown + of Tampa in skirts/shorts, you’ll get mud, dirt, yucky stuff on your legs.

Shirt: Tank top, strapless, cardigan, pirate themed tee, will all work. There will be sun, think about your shoulders!

Jewels: I like glitter & shiny things. Pirates like booty after all ;)

Etc: Sunscreen, TP & hand sanitizer (porta-potties), backpacks filled w/ snacks + flasks, sunglasses!

Some advice from my good (& more stylish) friend Lindsay:

Gasparilla! by collorious featuring tortoiseshell sunglasses

Having gone to Gasparilla pretty much since I was a fetus, I’ve got knowing what to wear and what to bring down to a science. If you are a wanderer, like me, who enjoys trekking several miles up and down Bayshore to party hop, comfy shoes are essential! I also like to make sure I have a large purse to carry around my booze, bottles of water, and my beads when they get to heavy to wear.

Rather than going full-on “pirate”, I’m a fan of a more subtle approach. These are two options using black and white striped tops and skull accents. The one on the left is more casual and appropriate for walking, and the right would be better suited for viewing the parade from a house party or VIP tent.

If you see yourself as less of a pirate and more of a wench, this outfit has a vintage and feminine feel, with a dress that gives a nod to a traditional pirate shirt, boots that would be perfect for pillaging and plundering or walking along a parade route, and a wide brimmed hat to protect you from the sun.

Are you going to Gasparilla? What will you be wearing?