Restaurant review - Hops and Pie

Mike and I were at a fundraiser a couple of weeks ago and sat with a sweet couple who were also vegan. Our conversation turned to food (imagine that) and they started telling us about a relatively new place in town called Hops and Pie. Being that it is on the west side of town (where we live) we were excited about their excitement.

Friday night and there was a 20 minute wait. They texted us when our table was ready. The wait gave us time to walk around the Tennyson shops. The woman and server who greeted us both when we first arrived and when we returned for our table were amazingly kind and friendly, and if you have read past revues you know how important that is to us.

Beer and pizza. They have a lot of beer. I'm not a drinker and Mike doesn't drink beer, but it seemed like everyone else in the place (which was packed) was enjoying one of the beer offerings.

Our new friends had told us about the pizza. Before we could get to that we saw the vegan mac n cheese appetizer. Seriously. How could we pass that up. We didn't pass it up and as soon as it came out we devoured it. Tasty, with many flavors, including miso. It was a great way to start our experience at Hops and Pie.

There are a lot of pizza options. I meant to order a hand-tossed, wheat crust pizza but with my excitement with all of the other toppings I forgot. The toppings we ordered were smoked tofu, Sicilian seitan, mushroom, onions, whole garlic cloves with Daiya cheese.

Our pizza was delicious. We will play around with toppings next time and order the hand-tossed dough (per our new friends recommendation). It was such a great experience to enjoy great vegan pizza in a busy, bar-like atmosphere. And close to home for us.

The service side was great too. Tayler was attentive, always kept our water glasses full, was kind and checked in enough to make sure all was well.

We will definitely be back! If you like the kind of atmosphere I described, I highly recommend Hops and Pie. They are located at 3920 Tennyson Street in the Highlands part of NW Denver. For you beer lovers, Wednesday night is $2 craft can night from 5pm - close.

Thank you for reading and if you go to Hops and Pie please let us know what you think!

Closer to marriage equality

A divided US Supreme Court made public two decisions yesterday that will change our lives. Me and Mike's lives. And the lives of tens of thousands of other gay couples who are either already married or wish to be married.

In Colorado, where we live, there is a state constitutional amendment that defines government endorsed marriage as between a man and a woman. Recently civil unions became legal which offers Mike and I some state benefits.

We were married back in 2005. We did what many folks do: asked our pastor to marry us, he said yes, and then we joined 160 friends and family and got married.

We called our marriage ceremony "a loving act of civil disobedience". Mainly because that amazing ceremony was not legal in any way.

We have held off getting a civil union. With the news from yesterday we are talking about getting legally married in California, probably not in July when we go for our summer vacation but maybe later in the year. We are still trying to figure out if getting married there will mean that we can still be federally recognized in Colorado.

So we would be legally married in the eyes of the feds and would still have to get a civil union for any Colorado recognition.

Meanwhile, I am getting ready for work, my allergies are bothering me, Mike is fighting off bugs ravaging the garden, Rock our 17-year old Yorkie is whining about God knows what and we both are looking forward to the weekend.

Our lives and our marriage go on.

We will keep you posted on what we decide to do.

And whether this is your first time on our blog or you have been reading and supporting us for the whole time, it's important for us that you now how grateful we are to you. There is a lot of hatred in the world, and we are so fortunate to have so much loving support.

In the days to come, there will be a lot of hate speech against the Supreme Court decision and against gay people in general. Please join us in continuing to speak out for marriage equality and against hate.

Thank you for reading!

When do I get to vote on your marriage?

I saw this on a sign at a pro-marriage equality rally a few years ago.

This was before the recent swing in voter-approved marriage equality bills across the country. The sign gave me pause. I loved the question.

With the US Supreme getting very close to announcing their decision (it will come today) marriage equality is once again in the headlines.

Millions of people across the country in a majority of states have gone to the polls and cast a vote against marriage equality. To them, marriage should only be between a man and a woman. These people, and those who bring legislation like this up for a vote, believe that their beliefs trump anyone else's beliefs no matter what.

When do I get to vote on their marriage? I'd be delighted to. Oh, this is your third marriage? Sorry, I vote no. Oh, you hit your wife? Sorry, I vote no? Oh, you don't believe the same way politically I do, on every level? Sorry, I vote no.

I have never wanted to use curse words or obscene words in a blog post. I get the closest when I think about or write about people who believe that their beliefs trump mine. I'm OK if you believe this way. Just don't even think of trying to force me or anyone else to believe that way.

Yet many people do. This is why Mike and I can get a civil union in Colorado instead of a marriage. Colorado voters approved a state constitutional ban on marriage equality. Yes, it's in our constitution. This is why so many were thrilled with civil unions becoming legal this year because the marriage battle has to start with getting something out of the constitution which is a huge deal.

People are still voting on my marriage. And tens of thousands like ours. Fortunately bigotry is losing these days. People went to the polls in Maryland and Maine and voted for marriage equality. In states like Minnesota, state legislators voted for marriage equality, even some Republican state legislators.

This is all wonderful news. And I still look forward to the day when nobody has the right or option to vote on my marriage.

Thank you for reading.

Vegan summer adventures

Every year Mike and I take a vegan summer adventure. Most of the time we go to Florida, Illinois or Michigan to visit family.

This year we are taking a long-planned dream vacation to Encinitas, California starting with a couple of days in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles we plan to spend time with friends and eat a lot of delish vegan food. Once in Encinitas, we check into a beautiful little place on the beach where we will eat, cook, relax, swim, kayak and I'm sure many other things while there.

As a blogger near Denver (we live in Lakewood, just west) I often receive questions from folks coming here regarding where to eat. Vegan road trips or trips in general can be tough sometimes. I love to eat. And when I am on vacation I love to eat more. Fortunately for us we get to travel to places where there are awesome places to grab an amazing vegan meal. But that's not the case everywhere.

What to do?

First, check out http://www.happycow.net/ ! All you have to do is plug in the city where you are traveling, and instantly you have all of the known places to grab a bite to eat. This includes restaurant (both vegan and vegan friendly) as well as nutrition stores and grocery stores that might serve or sell vegan dishes.

We have found Happy Cow to be really helpful. On a trip to Florida, we found this amazing grocery store/restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi where we ate like kings. We enjoyed it so much that we made sure to stop in on the way home.

The key here, at least for us, is to try to find places to eat before you leave for your trip. That way you not only have something to look forward to, you also know that at this particular point in the trip you'll be able to find some good vegan options.

While on the internet, Google "vegan" and then the city or country you are traveling to. You might be surprised of your choices. If nothing pops up (never happened to us but just in case) try searching for "vegetarian" then the city or country.

One last place to check out on the internet that can be very helpful are vegan bloggers local to where you are traveling. We follow bloggers all over the place, including Omaha, Memphis, Los Angeles, Portland, Miami, Chicago and San Diego. When it comes to us traveling to one of these places we simply email the blogger and find out where to go.

While traveling between places (like Denver to Los Angeles) we rely not only on Happy Cow but also local, ethnic restaurants. They seem to be even in the smallest of towns and practically every Indian, Nepalese, Ethiopian, Chinese and Thai restaurant has vegan options.

What is your summer adventure going to be?

Thanks so much for reading!