My 14 faves of '14: Legal marriage!

#14! Thanks for reading my list!

By far, my favorite thing of 2014 is that Mike and I got legally married on February 14th.

What a day. I still tear up just thinking of it.

We were first married on April 30, 2005, yet that marriage was not legal. That was the best day of my life, marrying my love, my best friend in our church in front of 160 friends and family.

Yet as laws were changing we decided we wanted to be legal. So we went to our favorite spot, Torrey Pines State Beach, and got married. Our dear friend Jim did the honors.

The experience blew my mind. Just getting our marriage license was amazing, and emotional!

Here are a few photos:

Since then legal marriage has come to Colorado, so our marriage is recognized here!

Definitely my favorite thing/day of 2014!

Thanks for reading!

My 14 faves of '14: #6

The list continues!

My next fave is Gracias Madre, a Mexican-inspired vegan restaurant in West Hollywood.

Mike and I were so lucky to be able to dine there TWICE this past summer.

Before I go on, if you are ever in the area and want to dine at Gracias Madre, make a reservation!

Incredible food, great service and the atmosphere is just perfect. Dine outside if you can.

And they have vegan flan!

We can't wait to go back. Gracias Madre is what a night out is all about. They cover it all. To tell you how much we love them, we canceled dinner at our other fave in LA so we could dine with them again!

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

My faves of '14: #4

Next is Modern Love restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska!

Many times in conversation with restaurant owners I talk about how vegan cuisine has just gone crazy. Modern Love is the best example of this.

Courtesy of Isa Chandra Moskowitz and an amazing staff, Modern Love blew my mind this past August when I had the chance to dine there. Every dish I tried was a flavor journey.

If you are ever even close to Omaha or need an excuse for a road trip, go! You will love that you did!

For more information, check out their website: http://www.modernloveomaha.com/

My 14 faves of '14: #3

My third fave of 2014 is Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego.

I am sure you're not surprised!

We LOVE this beach!

The area we hang out at the most is right about the center of this photo in the beach area.

This is from a hike we took this year. We started at the beach, took the road up, and then paths back down to the beach. Incredible!



And us during the hike!

If you are ever going to be in the San Diego area (we hope to live there one day) I highly recommend that you spend at least a day at Torrey Pines State Beach!

Thanks for reading!

My 14 faves of '14: #1

I suppose this is a list.

I have done this before.  A couple of years ago I did a post about my favorite products. I have also written about my favorite women. And men.

This month I had been thinking of all of the wonderful things that have happened in my life this year. I'd like to share them.

These will be in no particular order, except for the post on the 31st which will be my absolute #1 favorite of the year!

So here is my first fave of '14!

Vegan Heartland's Vegan Chicken Pot Pie!

One day at work I pulled up his blog and saw a photo of his Chicken Pot Pie. I salivated all day. On the way home I picked up a couple of products. When I got home I pulled out the recipe and got to work.

Remember, I am not a cook. And I have never made a crust in my life!

A few months later I have made this over a dozen times! Why, because it is easy to prepare and absolutely delicious. For us it makes a great dinner and then an awesome lunch with the leftovers.

You must try this recipe!

Here you go: http://www.vegan-heartland.com/2013/05/vegan-chicken-pot-pie.html

Thanks for reading!

A few of our favorite things

It's that time of year again, when folks put out their "best of" lists. Last year we did a blog post on our favorite women and a blog post on our favorite men. This years' list includes many of our favorite things: people, groups, restaurants, etc. Like we did last year, we invite you to share some of your favorites with us!

Here we go:

My husband. This is Dan writing this post (and pretty much all of the posts). I am totally in love with Mike and am grateful for every day that I get to be his husband. We have an incredible life together.

Linger. You must know by now that Linger is our favorite restaurant in town. Amazing vegan food and the best service in town. I could go on and on but you can just go to the blog post that I wrote a review on them. If you live in the Denver area and have not been to Linger, go.

Mercy For Animals. This animal rights group ROCKS it for the animals. Their undercover work in the past couple of years has brought the inside of factory farms to the local news. The brutality, torture and fear inflicted on sentient beings that all animal rights activists know about has been brought to a TV near you, to people who maybe thought this happened but now have the facts. We love them so much that this year we became members of the major giving club and are grateful to do so.

Malala Yousufzai. You have heard her story. She is a true inspiration. She is 15 years old and from Pakistan. She made headlines in the US when she was shot by the Taliban. She constantly speaks out for the rights of women, especially around education. Her courage blows us a way!

Voters in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. Heck yes! They all supported a ballot measure that was pro marriage equality. In Minnesota they voted down a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and in the others they actually approved gay marriage!

Tarascos. The best vegan Mexican food we have had. Amazingly friendly staff. They actually APPRECIATE customers. Imagine that!

Chicago. An amazing city filled with wonderful culture and super options for vegan cuisine. We like The Blackstone Hotel, the Chicago Diner, The Art Institute of Chicago, Naked Pizza and strolling around Boys Town.

Alka Chandna and Bruce Friedrich. When I think of this couple I think of love, inspiration and powerful voices for the voiceless. We are fortunate to count Alka and Bruce as friends, and our world is fortunate to have them here. 

Eat Pastry cookie dough. As much as Mike and I like to bake, we are still totally in love with this fabulous vegan cookie dough. If you haven't tried it yet, we suggest you do so right now! Many flavors. We like the chocolate with chocolate. Mmmmm. 

Amy's Mac n Cheese. The vegan version of course. This is a staple for me (Dan). Love it. The only thing I wish Amy would do is to offer larger portions of this, like in a party size!

That's it for now. Part II coming soon! Thank you for reading!