Pippin is home!

Hi all. Sorry for disappearing over the last week. This past week has been the biggest roller coaster of my life. Pippin is home, though not totally out of the woods yet. Hopefully next Wednesday at his checkup we will get the okay from the vet. Then I just have to give him an antibiotic shot every other day for three months... I'm so looking forward to that... (No, I am not. Not at all)

So I still need your healing vibes! The worst thing that could happen is this wound could re-abscess and they would need to go back in and clean it out again. I really, really, really don't want that to happen to my poor baby. He just spent a full week at the vet (and had two surgeries). That's enough for one three pound bunny, right?

Okay, that's all for now. Just a quick update. Now that I'm done constantly worrying, hopefully my brain will be able to think about something else and come up with something good to blog about. Thanks for your support, guys!

Pippin, my beloved adopted bunny, is sick.

Hi everyone. I am here with some less than stellar news. That adorable bunny you see above this writing (under the stuffed elephant) is sick. Pippin has an abscess. It is really a localized bacterial infection (it feels like a giant lump in his neck-chin area), which doesn't sound too bad, but you cannot just give a rabbit antibiotics. Rabbits have beneficial bacteria that they cannot live without in their digestive system and any non-localized antibiotics will essentially kill him.

Sleepy bunny

So the only real option is antibiotic beads surgically implanted into the abscess. So my little bun-bun is having surgery this week. I am one scared momma. This is the first time Pippin has ever been sick.

Sphinx bunny

He just passed his 5th birthday on September 15th and I swear that if he comes through this okay, when he gets better there will be a very special birthday treat waiting for my little baby.

Tomorrow is the appointment with the surgery vet. He likely won't have surgery tomorrow unless the vet determines that it is an emergency. Poor little Bun! Please send your good wishes! If I disappear for a few days, you now know why.

Me and my baby

Vegan coat!

Background: This (in blue) is very similar to the winter coat I got in college. I am no longer in college. It is a slightly gray color now. I wear it to work! seriously! It is time to get a new, more professional coat. I am a more professional person now, after all! The blue/grey thing may be vegan (plastic) and warm, but it is in no way stylish or professional.

Enter the 2010 Vaute Couture winter coat line. Now, I had the privileged of trying on the '09 coats this past spring, but none fit me well enough to invest that kind of money. The coats were being offered half off, as it was no longer winter, but we are still talking about around $250, people! (The cost of the coats is not outrageous for what designer Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart is doing here. She is making designer coats that are vegan and fairly produced.) I wanted to love them SO badly, too! But for that kind of money, it needed to be perfect.

This past weekend Mooshoes, the vegan shoe store here in New York City, hosted a Vaute Couture pop-up shop! It was by appointment only, and I knew I wanted to try on the new collection and get me a vegan coat, so I made an appointment! On Tuesday armed with my gal-pal extrordinaire, Lindsay of "Kiss me, I'm vegan!", I headed downtown for my private appointment with Leanne herself! Here are some photos (taken on my iPhone. I forgot my real camera, sorry!) of the evening!

Leanne showing me how the collar of the Belden works. So many ways to work that collar!

The Audrey. So elegant. An almost full length vegan coat!

The Audrey is the coat I came in to the store thinking I'd like best. Read the rest of the post to see which one I chose!

In front: Last year's collection. In back: This year's collection.

The Airs. Leanne tried to convince me that I didn't look like I belonged in a rap video. She didn't win that argument.

The Kinder. Such a cute coat! I was looking for something more work friendly, though.

Leanna is also making soy-fiber knits! Look at this cool scarf-circle-hood-thing!

And soy-fiber hats! I have a VERY small head. Which becomes even more obvious when wearing a hat like this!

Look at that smiling face! It's my new coat, the Belden!!

I decided on the Belden! I wasn't expecting it, but it was so flattering on me. Cinched in the waist with an A-line bottom, I look all curvy! And it is hard to see in the poor quality iPhone pictures, but this is a beautiful, well stitched, creative, professional coat! I am so looking forward to it's delivery in October.

There is a sale on RIGHT NOW on Vaute Couture's website to pre-order a coat at a big discount! Leanne cannot manufacture these coats without a certain amount of pre-orders, as they are all hand made on a living wage and Leanne has no big backers. She was just a girl with a vegan dream and it is beautiful! It also needs to be said that Leanne is so friendly! She was so nice to me, letting me try every coat and put the Belden back on before making my decision. We tried on coats and talked for an hour and a half! It really was a lovely evening and event, and I got a coat out of the deal! Extra sweet! I like to think that this coat is an investment in my morals. Every step of the process in making this coat was vegan and humane. And the end result might turn a few heads! These coats are fitted to perfection. Get one for yourself!

Me (on the left) with two of my favorite ladies: Lindsay Wolf (middle), and Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart (right)

Costa Rica Part III: Manuel Antonio

Hi kids! Sorry for being sloooooow on getting part III up, but life has been busy. Happy new year to my Jewish friends! Hope this new year is 10x better than last year.

Okay, on to the pictures! It's what you are all expecting from the blog post title!

Playa Manuel Antonio. A free, public beach. It was beautiful.

DanT's toucan drawing and our feet. I don't even think the feet-thing was on purpose!

Your neighborhood Roadside Hawk. This, and the next bunch of pictures, was taken inside Reserve Manuel Antonio.

A Halloween crab. Crazy, right? Look how bright! And they live in the park in moist areas.

He looks so wise. And dinosaur-like.

A Common Potoo.  He looks like an owl.

A sleeping Red-Eyed Tree Frog. Though, when sleeping his eyes look electric yellow!

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Awake Three-Toed Sloth! He/she climbed this tree! They don't move so slowly.

We also saw a Two-Toed Sloth. If you want to know the difference, besides the number of toes, Two-Toed Sloths are white while Three-Toed Sloths are gray. Though they usually both have moss growing on them, so they really appear a bit green!

Lizard. There are simply too many kinds in Costa Rica to remember all of their names. Sorry.

White-Faced Capuchin! No zoom on this, they really came this close to us.

Mommy Capuchin with her teensy baby!!

There were so many beautiful Hermit Crabs walking along the paths. That is our guide's hand, though. That guy was a bit too big for me...

Yeah... That's a Boa Constrictor from afar, thankfully.

Representing Bold Native in Costa Rica! Sorry, Bold Native shirt, for sweating you up like I did.

So beautiful out there, I'll even allow a photo of me in a bathing suit!

The one thing you potentially intrepid travelers should know about Manuel Antonio is that it is a big tourist trap. There is nothing authentically Costa Rican about it the way there was in Arenal and Monteverde. I'm glad this was our last stop as it was relaxing, beautiful, and full of amazing wildlife, but it is not how we will remember Costa Rica. Costa Rica, for DanT and me, was a place full of majestic beauty, amazing wildlife, and wonderful people. People proud of their country. People who respect their land and love their animals and understand that without those two things they, as a country, have nothing. My two favorite Costa Rica stats that I was told by locals there are that 97% of all their energy is created by alternative sources: water, sun, and wind. And that 10% of the country is government-owned nature preserve and another 17% is privately owned preserved land. Costa Rica, a tiny country with no standing army for over 50 years, has got it figured out. I look forward to going back someday.

Please donate!

Hi friends! I will be walking in this year's Walk for Farm Animals. This is Farm Sanctuary's biggest fundraiser of the year and NYC has the biggest walk in the country! Help me not make a fool out of myself by helping me meet my goal. I was an intern last year with Farm Sanctuary (here in NYC doing activist organizing and events) so I like to represent as a former intern and big Farm Sanctuary supporter.

Thanks for your support readers! I hope you all join a walk in your area! Find out if there is a walk in your area here. If there isn't, consider starting your own! What a great way to build community in your area. If you are in the NYC area, I hope to see you at the walk on October 24th!

Oh and I will be asking again... Sorry for being annoying, but I really want to reach my goal! Thanks for your help!!

Cheesy zucchini casserole

Tonight's post is a quickie. Just a quick recipe and two pictures. Also, every recipe on my blog is vegan. ALWAYS. Enjoy!

Cheesy zucchini casserole

Cheesy zucchini casserole (adapted from VegWeb.com's squash casserole)
Equipment:
8x8 or 9x9 pan
Box grater

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. zucchini (about 2 medium to large zucchini)
• 1 onion (I used a red onion as it was all we had, but a sweet onion would have been great!)
• 2 eggs worth of the powdered egg replacer (3 teaspoons powder, no liquid)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• a pinch lemon pepper
• 1/4 cup vegan mayo
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 a cup shredded cheese (I needed the box grater because I had a half a block of Sheese strong cheddar to grate)
• 1/4-1/2 cup soy milk
• bread crumbs 

Directions:

• Slice zucchini into bite-sized pieces and dice onion small. 
• Mix egg substitute, vegan mayo, nutritional yeast, shredded cheese, salt and peppers in a bowl until well-blended. 
• Add milk until the sauce is like thick pancake batter. 
• Pour onion and zucchini into a casserole dish and pour cheese mixture on top. 
• Stir gently to cover vegetables.  Sprinkle with enough bread crumbs to cover the mixture. 
• Bake, covered, at 350 F for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 15 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. 
• Enjoy!

Costa Rica part II: Monteverde

I'm back! Costa Rica waits for no woman! On to the pictures:

MollyG and DanT on the boat ride across Lake Arinal on the way to Monteverde!

At our stop on our drive up the mountains to Monteverde we bumped into this cutie!

Coffee grown the bad way, clear-cutting the forest.

On our first evening in Monteverde we went for a walk in the neighborhood and found this guy. A Motmot!

Spicy potatoes over rice.

Half-eaten broccoli pasta with fry bread. Amazing.

Both from Dulce Marzo

Dulce Marzo was the best restaurant we ate at in Costa Rica. It is owned by an ex-pat woman named Lisa. Besides being very nice, she is also very accommodating and almost always has a few vegan items on her menu. The food was delicious and the conversation was interesting. Then, best part, we found out that her homemade dark chocolates are vegan (except the ones with caramel, duh). We bought 5 during our three day stay in Monteverde. The best were the straight-up chocolate with peanut butter swirled in. A-mazing. And the only time on the trip that we had dessert. if you ever find yourself in Monteverde, I highly recommend Dulce Marzo.

In the Monteverde cloud forest, tiny little orchids.

Through our guide carlos's telescope, a hummingbird mommy-to-be sitting on her eggs.

Agouti!

The underside of a Resplendent Quetzal. A really beautiful bird.

The underside of a Keel-Billed Toucan!! Seriously!

A Three-Wattled Bellbird. Its call sounds like a gong.

MollyG in a tree! This restaurant, The Treehouse, is built around a 200 year old fig tree!

Veggie stuffed avocado! SO good! Veganized simply by asking for no cheese.

The daily casado.

Our tour of a shade-grown, organic coffee plantation. The good stuff! I don't like coffee and even I liked this coffee!

Coffee in all its stages on the way to drinkable.

A Violet Saberwing. The biggest hummingbird in the world!

A female Purple-Throated Mountain Gem

A male Magnificent Hummingbird.

MollyG on a hanging bridge. Our nature walk at Selvatura had eight of these suckers.

That tree on the right of the bridge is Costa Rica's national tree, the tree of life (no idea what its official name is)

Really cool beetle on our nature walk.

Butterfly! We saw many, many different butterflies in Monteverde.

A Blue Jean poison dart frog. Not seen in the wild, seen in a reptile house, unfortunately. No wild poison dart frogs were seen.

Monteverde was so great that we want to go back. DanT and I want to retire there. Sunny in the morning, rain in the afternoon, in the evening cool enough for a sweater, all year! And everyone who lives there (that we spoke with) is super-nice and helpful. And the animals! Amazing.

I didn't want to leave!

Next, and lastly, comes part III! Stay tuned!