GoVegan.net

Mark your calendars! Sarah’s Place now has a bricks and mortar location!!

Can’t wait to get in there!! 🙂

Melisser and I woke up early to do up our faces before the festival. I think Melisser is the only person in the world who wears more blush then me. *laugh* It’s so nice to be sharing a hotel room with another make-up whore.  🙂

I didn’t really have a proper meal the night before and I was starving for breakfast!! Rudee promised me that he would be making me vegan crepes for breakfast … but when we arrived all he had for me for breakfast was a carton of coconut-milk… ummmm?

As you can see by this photo Rudee packed enough Wheaty Spacebars for his breakfast. Yeesh.  🙂

He finally relented and took me to a grocery store so I could grab some food… 🙂

By the time we got to the festival it was in full swing!!

The first thing I saw was the UK version of How It All Vegan. Gosh … that UK cover … no words.  🙁 The only consolation is that it’s not as bad as Isa’s cover.  🙂

Then we hopped around the festival trying food… there was vegan Gyros by Wheaty.

The best part of my day was taste-testing Vegusto Cheese. Now THIS is how vegan cheese should taste. … dirty … smelly… delicious!! 🙂

I hope they come to Canada soon. Hint! Hint!

For lunch Melisser and I hit up this stall (sorry – I’ve forgotten the name) for a delish home-cooked meal. The butter bean stew was TO DIE FOR!

I saw some people staring at me … I thought I had greens in my teeth from lunch but it turns out that Englanders are VERY polite. Once I waved at them they finally came over and we chatted. As soon as the ice-broke there was suddenly a line of people wanting to chat with me. It was cool. I met some really great people!

No more photos!!

I also got to say hi to the Sea Shepherd kids … those guys are my heros!

After the fair we drove to Cafe Kino for a cup of tea and to rest our sore feet.

What a fun group of new friends I’ve made.  🙂

Then we stopped by a Banksy …

And I went back to the hotel to go to bed early … gotta get my beauty rest. I have a photo-shoot with Total Tattoo tomorrow! 🙂

Woke up excited!! I love doing book signings because I always get to meet so many cool people.

I spent the morning packing because the plan is that after the book signing – the SSOV crew and I were driving to Reading to spend the night before the Bristol Veg Fest. Eeeek. What to wear? What to wear? 🙂

Before I headed to SSOV I walked down to Whole Foods to grab some lunch to eat before the event (my book signing was at 4pm and I never have time to eat during so I try and fill up before it starts). When I got back to the house my Aunt Debbie was back from her country house (posh) and we sat and had a nice long visit before I headed out to SSOV.

The book signing was so fun! Everyone in London is so damn POLITE! I practically had to grab everyone and make them come talk to me. *laugh* Once the ice was broken we started chatting and as the room filled up – I got to have a nice long chat with almost everyone who came by to say  hi.

After the book signing was over I met this dude named Ray. He was here to interview me for Total Tattoo Magazine. Wahooo!

We hit it off immediately and our 20 minute interview stretched into a 2 hour interview. We talked and talked and talked some more. Actually … I think I did most of the talking. *laugh*

You know when you meet someone and you think – this guy is going to be my friend for a long time. That’s how I felt about Ray. 🙂

I jumped into the SSOV car and we headed to Reading for the night where Melisser Elliot and I spent the night in the WORST hotel room ever! I don’t know why I didn’t take photos but here’s a list of what was wrong: broken toilet that didn’t flush, toilet plumbing was falling out of the wall, the toilet was mounted SO LOW down to the ground that every time I sat on it I felt like someone had pulled a chair out from under me, the sink was broken and only poured hot water. The bathtub had seen better days … but it was so late by the time we arrived at the hotel … we just went to sleep. I wish we had changed rooms.  🙁

Oh well. Tomorrow is another day! VEG FEST! I’m coming to eat my face off… are you ready?

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Look at all the sweet people I got to meet … I am the luckiest girl in the world. 🙂

I think I have to start making a different face for every photo.

It looks like they’re all posing with a Sarah Kramer Cut-out. *laugh*

Today was my free day … so I slept in late and then looked on my handy-dandy Veg-Out iPhone app to see what kind of vegan food was in my area and saw that SAF Restaurant was about 20 minutes walk away. Wahoo!

I wandered around the neighbourhood (man it’s pretty over here in South Kengsington). I have a thing for gargoyles… 🙂

Then I hit Kengsington High Street and got sucked right into Top Shop. I had no plans to go shopping for frilly things but all the cute dresses in the window were calling my name so I walked out of there a little lighter in the wallet. *laugh*

Trying on clothes is exhausting so I dragged my staving tummy across the street to the Whole Foods and went upstairs to the food-court where Saf is located.

I had the Pad Thai …

And a blueberry cheesecake. OMG!

After my lunch I went down to Whole Foods and wandered the aisles for about 2 hours (I’m not kidding) looking at all the different UK products. I love how everything is labeled with GF (gluten free) or V (Vegan) or SF (soy free). Makes shopping less of a chore. 🙂

Unsure what to do with the rest of my afternoon I tweeted for help for things to see in my area. Some of you suggested The Science Museum, The Natural History Museum or the Victoria and Albert Museum. I decided on the V&A and started walking towards it when it started raining.

Listen. I’m from the Pacific North West. We know rain … but this rainstorm that hit was unbelievable. Thunder. Lightening. Ominous Clouds and a sheet of rain came down. I’ve never seen rain like that … I hid under a Starbucks awning hoping it would pass but it only got worse.

Drenched to the bone – I decided to head back home rather then wander at the V&A soaking wet. I have my book signing tomorrow and I didn’t want to be sneezy for it so I spent the rest of the evening laying around bed reading Bossy Pants by Tina Fey and then went to be early so I could be at my best for the book signing at VX tomorrow.

I always get nervous the night before a book signing … what if nobody shows up? 🙁

Gerry tattoo’d me today … 🙂
I wanted something to celebrate all the cool people I get to shake hands with.

I’ve met so many rad people because of my cookbooks and even if it’s only a few minutes of a conversation or a few hours of hanging out – no matter how much time we spend together I am always humbled by how lovely you all are.

This tattoo is to say THANK YOU to all of you for supporting me and my work.
You inspire me.  😉

Had a great visit with Dexter today!!

He’s doing really well. He’s off his prozac. He’s calm. Happy. He loves his New Daddy. What a joy it is to see him be a healthy well-balanced dog!! 🙂

Song by The Monkey Bunch

I forgot to talk about this lovely woman I met on the Tube.

The night before my Aunt had told me that during the war – she and my Uncle B were to be shipped off to Canada for safe keeping (and my Mum was to be left behind because she was still just a baby).

Just before they were to leave on the boat my Uncle B fell ill and they were not allowed to sail. Turns out to be a lucky turn of events because that boat was torpedoed. 🙁

On the tube the next day I noticed an elderly woman trying to find a seat. I was about to move when the gentleman beside me gave up his seat to her. She sat down beside me and I smiled and said “What a nice boy he is.” She laughed and asked if he was my husband. “No. I don’t know him but I’m always impressed when men of a certain age are polite.”

She went into a tirade about “The Blacks” and how they were always more polite to her then white men in suits because “Black Mothers” command respect … I thought the conversation was going to get racist but then she asked me where I was from. When I told her Canada her face lit up and she said that she was evacuated to Canada during the war and she lived in the Toronto area for 2 years. I told her that I had just been talking about this exact subject the night before and told her the story of my Aunt. She remembered when the boat was torpedoed because she was in the boat just ahead of them. Yikes!

She then went on to tell me the story of how she got to Canada. Her mother took her and her brother to the boat, sat them down with their luggage and told them that she would be back in 20 minutes. She said that an hour went by and her mother hadn’t come back yet and she had started to worry because the boat was getting ready to leave.

Just as the boat was about to shove off – her Mother came running back onto the boat and grabbed the kids and hid in the stairwell. Turns out her Mother was going to leave them on the boat but the thought of leaving her kids to the wilds of Canada was too much for her so at the last minute changed her mind and stowed-away on the boat.

The woman who was telling me the story started to well up and then I started to cry and we grabbed each others hands and held each other. Through my tears I said “Your mother must have loved you very much.” We both wiped away our tears and hugged.

Her stop came and she wished me luck on my trip. I smiled at her and then as she left the train she looked back at me and winked. I love the people I meet when I travel… 🙂

The next day my Aunt and Uncle picked me up and over lunch we joked about how we had emotional hangovers from the night before. It had been such a whirlwind of catching up and reminiscing … I couldn’t believe that it was time for me to move locations already.

As we were walking to the tube station -  I kept saying “it looks so British here…ha ha” and my Uncle would want me to explain how it looked “British“.

I mean LOOK at this … does this not just look so British? The bikes, the sidewalk, the buses, the buildings? 🙂

My Aunt and Uncle escorted me on the train (with my suitcases) to my Aunt Debbies house in Kengsington (oooh posh) where we met up with my Uncle Ian (who they had never met). He very kindly had my A&U in for tea (how British) 🙂 and we sat around the dining room table getting to know each other a little better.

Aunt Debbie & Ian’s house is incredible. Posh. Posh. Posh. Here’s a snap of their neighbours backyard/rooftop deck to give you an idea of how posh.

Jean and Geoff left to go back home – Ian went out to run errands – and I decided to go do some exploring and head towards VX and FINALLY meet Rudee in person. Did you know that Rudee and I have known each other for y.e.a.r.s and have never met?

We worked on VAGG and both of the GoVegan Calendars and it was all done via e-mail. I was excited to meet him in the flesh.

Luckily the train to VX was easy… no changing trains (which always gets me confused).

I got a little turned around when I got outside of the station and couldn’t find the street that VX was on so I flagged down a “punk” looking girl and asked her if she knew where VX was. She did – and she was walking right past it – so she offered to walk with me (how sweet). I arrived at VX and gave Rudee a big hug! Finally we were in the same room.

We packed up the shop. Headed down the street and went to Tibits for dinner with a group of Rudee’s friends which included the owner of Accidentally Vegan. He’s adorable… and his desserts are amazing.

We had a grand time and I filled my boots with  yummy vegan food. Once my belly was full I could feel myself starting to fade so I headed back to my Aunts house and crawled into bed… ahhhh… there is nothing nicer then staying in a real home in a real bed.  🙂

I ended my evening with a long FaceTime talk with Fergus. He was doing fine but he was a little worried that Gerry was starting to miss me.  🙂

Gotta get a good nights sleep. Tomorrow is my ONE free day to wander around alone … what to do. What to do?  🙂

Next day I was up early to meet my Aunt & Uncle – we were headed down to London on the tube to meet my cousin and her family at The Tate Modern. Did you know that virtually all the art galleries in London are free? How civilized. 🙂

My Aunt and Uncle are so incredible – They’re in their late 70’s and have more energy then my friends in their 30’s. *laugh* I think their secret is that they never stop moving … they walk everywhere, climb to the top of the double-decker bus, walk up the escalator instead of taking the lift. They are always working on projects around the house. They inspire me to step away from my computer and start moving more!!

We walked around London headed towards The Tate … as we walked across the Wobbly Bridge – Geoff explained the surroundings to me.

From the bridge you cross over The River Thames and we could see The London Eye, The Gherkin Building, etc etc. So much history … and no time to see it all!

Guess I’ll have to come back. 🙂

We met up with my cousin and did The Globe Theater tour. What an incredible job they’ve done re-creating the theater … it was like being in church. Next time I’m in town – I want to see a play!!

I have a heart connection to The Globe Theater because it inspired my parents to start The Globe Theater in Regina Saskatchwan in 1966. It’s an amazing legacy they left in Regina … makes my chest burst with pride. 🙂

After the tour we went to The Tate and wandered around. Geoff wanted me to see the Rothko collection because my Step-Mum Denise loves Rothko. It was incredibly impressive. Those canvases are ominous.

I was VERY excited to see that there was a Diane Arbus exhibit. There is nothing like seeing photography in person … on the internet and in a book is never as impressive as standing in front of a photo on a wall.

This is one of my favs … I’m so inspired by her.

After the Tate we wandered around a little and then grabbed the tube up to my cousin Karen’s house for dinner. She and her Son made the Shepherds Pie out of HIAV (how sweet) and we sat around the table talking about old times.

During our chat I learned that curly hair does not just run on the Jewish side of my family … I always thought I was rocking a Jew-Fro but it turns out to be a Jew/Ango-Saxon fro!! 🙂

My family and I went through all the photos I brought from home and we talked about my Mum and everyone shared stories about what they remembered about her. There were lots of tears, lots of laughter and so much love in the room.

It was an incredible night that I’ll never forget and before we knew it … it was 1:30 in the morning! Eeeep!  TIME FOR BED!!

But before I hit the hay – Gerry and I had a little FaceTime Visit.  🙂

Gotta get some sleep … I’m moving to my Aunt Debbies house tomorrow!