The Mostest Action Packed, Happiest , and Saddest Post in the Universe

Hey Readers: you know I'm serious when I'm capitalizing an' shit. Boy howdy, have I been busy! I have been on staycation this week, taking time to get my fill of awesome food, kid cuddles, random chores, and unfinished projects completed this week. My Etsy store is now open, so please stop by and check it out! Click here to visit. Right now, I'm selling Kindle cozies made by hand from vegan materials, but will also be adding special one-of-a-kind onesies made from recycled clothing and materials, as well as some other super fun stuff. The name "FridaPigCrafteteria" is a pun on "Free the pig" because let's face it--I love making stuff, my fellow animal friends, and of course--puns!
Me and Mr. J have not been alone for more than a few hours since child #2 entered this mortal coil. His super cool aunt from Columbus watched the kids this weekend while we had some time for romance and goofing around the city. We didn't have a ton of money to drop on a vacation so we hung out at the Country Inn & Suites, got a king suite with a jacuzzi-(so nice for so little $) and I made sushi.
My rolling skills aren't that great, but that didn't affect the flavor. I made rolls with spiced plum sauce tofu, avocado, red pepper, and cukes.
On Saturday we went to the Columbus Museum of Art--so much fun! After all that walking around, we went to Hal & Al's for some great bar food--ALL VEGAN. We were supposed to meet Tamasin Noyes and her spousal unit for the festivities the night before, but they experienced a really bad storm that prevented them from making it. Boo. We ate enough fried food for the four of us-(say that three times super fast!) Featured above are the chili cheese fries. Mr. J. had the kraut brat. He ate it before I could take a pic. We shared the chili fries, a fried avocado/pickle/shroom sampler, and I had the 8 layer vegan nachos-(also eaten before I could get a decent photo).
Hello gorgeous fried things. Meet my mouth. The dipping sauces tied the whole room together.
My spouse gets very enthused about food in basket form.
Come here, my precious fried avocado wedge. Yes, you heard me: FRIED AVOCADO WEDGES.

Hal & Al's has been open for a couple of years now, and offers live entertainment, an extensive beer menu, and the BEST VEGAN BAR food for your hard earned dollar. You're not going to get an elaborate presentation with fancy fanned carrot shavings and teeny tiny portions. You are going to get glorious, deep fried, and soul saving goodness served in a basket. This is where you go when you get the big promotion, your heart broken, or you find some money in your pants that you forgot about. THIS is where you meet the person of your dreams by accident when opening up the bathroom door because the other person lacked the common sense to lock it because they were too drunk. If I lived in C-bus, I would hang out there at least a few times a week, playing spades and eating fried brats. Tip: ask for light chili on the fries so you can appreciate the potatoes, and extra sauce for the batter fried dippables.
If pub food ain't your thing, then perhaps sugary goodness is! At Pattycake Bakery, all of your vegan childhood dreams come true. Imagine walking into a bakery where you didn't have to ask the owner about the ingredients because EVERYTHING is vegan! Gluten free? Don't sweat it-(BUCKEYE BARS!), there are several delicacies to titillate the most sensitive of taste buds. I could have grabbed two of everything, but lacked the funds. This place was so awesome, I'm sure the dirt off the floor tastes great.


Cookies, muffins, and cakes--oh my! We tried, the I **heart** chocolate chip-(totally lives up to its name), peanut butter, and snickerdoodle. We also tried the sticky buns which could singlehandedly kick cinnabon's ass.

Menu! You can visit their website by clicking here. This is a must visit and gets an infinite amount of turntables and microphones. Did I mention you could shop online? How cool is that?
They are also hiring. Too bad I live 4 hours away and already have a job, or I'd be all over that like a: (pick the right answer)

• vegan on a stick of EB
• vegan on a cookie
• vegan on a copy of Vegan on the Cheap I will so be blogging about this best kept cookbook secret in a future post.
• vegan on a misinformed omni
  
• all of the above

And finally, here's the sad part. I hope you can respect me for this. I am NOT GOING TO VIDA VEGAN CON. My heart is broken, and so is my wallet. Sure, I could have paid for registration by foregoing the trip to Ohio, but my spouse and I needed that alone time. Anyone who has kids knows how important it is to have time where it is just you and your significant other. The reduced discount ends tonight, and if I paid for that I'd stress out about how to raise the other $$ to pay for airfare, lodging, and meals. I have other expenses that are priorities right now. My pets need to be vaccinated, and my son wants to go to "baseball school"-(teeball lessons). I would love to geek out about the prospect of meeting Bryanna, Robin, Isa, Terry, Mo, Tamasin, Bianca, Tofumom, and so many more vegan rock stars that are infinitely cooler than me--but my family comes first. To ignore the needs of my spouse, children, and pets would be very unvegan. So I will be there in spirit.

If for some reason, I happen to become independently wealthy overnight, I'll make it--but it doesn't look good at all. Sure, I'm sad--but I'm also a member of a team that depends on me.

Be Well, Eat Joyously, and for the love of tofu--stay vegan.