Unemployed

I have always used this blog to write about Mike and I, equality, compassion, being vegan, and our experiences of being a gay, vegan couple in the suburbs. I have shared the good and the bad in my life, and decided this morning to continue that tradition.

Yesterday I was laid off. In my professional life I am a fundraiser, a Director of Development. I had rocked it for almost two years at our local opera company. Loved my job. After a very tough year in fundraising my boss decided that cutting back would begin with me.

I wasn't surprised. Life had become dark at work in the past week. A lot of closed door meetings and no communication at all.

When my boss called me down to his office and I walked in to see him and our Human Resources guy, I was honestly relieved. He told me his story of why, my HR guy gave me some paperwork, and I headed back to my office. Tears were shed by some of my peers. I was grateful for their kindness and support, and for helping me move out of my office!

Although I never really quite fit in at this company, I did love it, and already miss a few of my co-workers. I will also miss many things around the opera performances, which kind of surprises me.

I had one job interview/chat yesterday afternoon and have another on Monday.

And so less than 24 hours after being laid off I am in my dining room surrounded by the furries doing job searches, trying to not be angry with being let go and thinking that I have a full day today to rock it.

A friend and professional peer is taking me to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Tarascos, for lunch. That's my only solid plan for the day.

I have never been unemployed, so this is new to me. I have been fortunate to always be the one who gets a call asking if I am interested in a job.  I feel like I was born to fundraise but who knows what my new adventure looks like.

I promise not to inundate you with blog posts, yet I will keep you posted. Meanwhile, if you hear of a fundraising job with an organization that you think is making the world a better place, let me know.

Thank you for reading!

Vegan road trip continues

Our 2012 summer road trip has been a blast and we wanted to share a few moments of it with you.

We were thrilled to see that the speed limit in Kansas is now 75! The trip to Kansas City was uneventful, mainly listening to OUTQ radio and enjoying the time.

Kansas City has a new gem in the vegan restaurant Cafe Gratitude. We were staying walking distance from there and were couldn't believe there was such a place in Kansas City. Cafe Gratitude is connected to the same places in California and the food was crazy good. They have a lot of raw options and I think they have something for everyone. Definitely check them out if you're ever in KC. For us, it was a great place for our first night on the road!

From Kansas City, MO we drove to St. Louis, swinging by Main Squeeze in Columbia, MO for lunch. We have been to this veg haven many times now, never disappointed. It's about 10 minutes from I-70. Mike thinks their vegan Reuben is the best Reuben out there!

St. Louis was great. We stayed in the Loop area and had Thai food at one of several ethnic restaurants in the area. It was OK. Our hotel, the Moonrise, was gorgeous. Friendly staff, comfy room. The problem was that they charged an additional $50 for Suga! I don't get the extra charge but we left our comments about that and would not stay there again unless the fee (fine) was gone.

While in St. Louis we caught a performance of Opera Theater St. Louis's Cosi Fan Tutte and loved it. As a fundraiser for an opera company it was great to be on the other end and to totally just sit back and enjoy an opera. Plus, we were right in the front row which is a totally different experience!

From St. Louis we went to Chicago, and that is a whole other post!

We love road trips, and encourage anyone to go for it and plan one!

Thank you for reading! My email address is vegandude@msn.com

The gay vegan road trip!

It's that time of year again and Mike and I are packing up for our annual summer road trip!

This year will be a bit shorter than last years' trip to Florida as we travel through the Midwest to Michigan to visit my parents.

We begin in Kansas City, then to St. Louis to catch an opera, then a couple of days in Chicago (one of our favorite cities!) then to eastern Michigan where the family visits begin.

We LOVE road trips. We are both totally psyched.

Road trips give us a lot of one on one time, which is perfect. They also give a chance to check out new places to eat, to check out new places, and meet new people.

This time last year was when I started this blog. It began as an opportunity to share with people our road trip experience from last summer. Our trip last year was 5,050 miles!

One of the many beauties of our blog is that so many of our readers have given us clues as to where to eat, what to visit, and have even invited us to a meal during this road trip!

My gratitude around this blog and all of the people we have met and things we have learned continues to grow and grow. This community around The gay vegans is beyond whatever I might have dreamed of when I first started the blog. Every day we get at least one note from a reader sharing a personal experience related to a blog post, or simply just thanking us. It's unbelievable!

So we're off. We'll be on the road for two weeks and I'm sure I'll get at least one or two blogs out. We'll be back just in time for Veg fest Colorado, which we are sponsoring!

Thank you for reading! My email address is vegandude@msn.com