Zoya's Cassi

Zoya recently rang in 2011 with a promotion offering three free nail polishes, as long as you coughed up the money for shipping. Obviously I took advantage of the offer and selected Cassi, Harley and Robyn as my colors of choice. Since part of my selection process involved me endlessly google image searching for pictures of different shades, I thought I would add to the pile with a picture of the first polish I tried: Cassi. It must be said that Cassi is a shade pinker than it appears in the picture, but that the picture was also taken after a day and a half of wear, with no touch-ups. It also received several compliments and the color reminds me of summer, so it's safe to say that I'm a fan of this color. Good choice, self.

A Pitch for Pitch Pizzeria

I've been hearing about how great Pitch is ever since it opened. Located in the Dundee neighborhood of Omaha, it offers a low key setting for some tasty, coal fired pizza. The menu offers one accidentally vegan pizza, the marinara, which features marinara sauce (duh, right?), oregano and roasted garlic. The pizza is simple, and not super photogenic, which is why the picture also features my roommate, but it is delicious. The simple flavors come together perfectly, all on top of an awesome crust. Really, how can you go wrong with tomato, garlic and oregano? I'm looking forward to trying some of their other options, such as the veggie pizza made vegan or a creation of my own. Another thing I liked about Pitch was the giant bottle of water left on the table so that you can refill your drink at your own desire. I hate waiting for refills, and this bottle was extra perfect because it has a top, so it is harder for me to spill. Though I wish they offered a vegan cheese on the menu, I will definitely go back to Pitch because I love pizza and I love local restaurants that I can eat at with my dad.

I continue to love Grease 2

There is one post that brings more people to this blog than any other post: Stephanie Zinone's style. I don't blog about fashion because, even though I love looking at pictures of fashionable people, my own personal method of getting dressed generally involves throwing on enough clothing to cover my body and hoping that it matches. I figure that since I can't walk the walk, I shouldn't talk the talk. However, since I was dorky enough to take far too many screenshots of Grease 2 (caution: link contains the worst trailer ever), here are some more of my favorite looks from the movie:

While I love the Pink Ladies' matching jackets and bowling shirts, the real stand-out here is Delores's roller skate sweater.

Ignoring the impressive budget for a high school talent show, wouldn't Stephanie's Christmas tree be the best Halloween costume ever? You could zone out and perform half a duet by yourself all night!

While Stephanie probably only wore these shoes in rehearsal, I think the color combo with her shirt would make for a pretty snappy look.

Fuzzy sweaters? Check. Awesome white jacket? Check. People who are clearly too old to be in high school? Check.

There are so many great things about this screenshot but my favorite is the sweater vest, blue top and pink pencil skirt, all with some big blond hair and sassy dance moves.

Armchair Volunteering

Image Source

This post was born because I had to spend Martin Luther King Day working, instead of volunteering or donating my time to a service project. While I do volunteer regularly, I love being part of the spirit of a bigger event, so I sought out ways that I could help out a little without stepping away from my computer. So, for those of us who couldn't make it to this event, or any others, for whatever reason, here are some ways to volunteer from wherever you may be:

• Free Rice: This site is incredibly addictive. For every question you answer correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated to those who need it the most through the United Nations World Food Programme. Learning new information while doing good always ranks high in my book.
• GoodSearch: Select a charity, hit 'search' and half of the profits that GoodSearch makes will be delivered to the charity of your choice. If you are going to be prowling the internet for lolcats and for how babby is formed, you might as well make it count.
• Donate to animals at Town & Country: Each animal listed on the T & C website has a paypal link to help pay for that animal's care. May I recommend Maui? She's been there since I adopted my cat there over a year ago. Even better: fall in love with one of the animals and give them a forever home. 
• Care 2 Click to Donate: Easier than Free Rice, all you do here is click to donate, in several catergories that cover basically any issue you could care about. The donations are paid for with advertiser's dollars. 
• The Animal Rescue Site: Much like Care 2 Click, you just click and sponsors donate to causes ranging from animal rescue to literacy.

So whether you're at home, work, school or anywhere else instead of volunteering, take a few minutes and click around on these sites and do a little something without even having to put on non-sweatpant pants.

Vegan Pizza Day!

Mama's Pizza in Omaha

Full disclosure: I love pizza. If I was told that for the rest of my life, my meals would alternate between sushi and pizza, I would be ecstatic. So, I am obviously super amped for Vegan Pizza Day. I'm still trying to decide if I want to eat only pizza that day, or just focus on one meal, but I will definitely be participating. For more information or for a list of vegan pizza in your area, go to the Vegan Pizza Day . Eat some vegan pizza and show some love!

Project Thrive: Days For Girls

While reading my copy of Bust magazine, I came upon an article about a project called Days For Girls. The basic premise is that Days For Girls provides reusable pads for women in developing countries so that they have something sanitary to use during their period in order to continue going to school, work and carrying on with their lives. Currently, women who have no other option generally either stay indoors during their period or use less than sanitary options, such as mattress padding, which can lead to infection.

After reading the article about this project, I was both infuriated and inspired. Infuriated because there is no reason that this problem should continue to exist, nor should these women have to suffer past simply having their period. However, the inspiration took over and I messaged some friends via facebook to get together and sew reusable pads for Days For Girls.

I won't detail the frantic last minute search for polyurethane lined fabric (PUL) or exactly how many sugar cookies we made, but I will outline what I learned:

• Make one pad first so that you have a model to learn from
• Ask for reusable diaper material at the fabric store to obtain your PUL
• Days For Girls will accept any type of reusable fabric pad, so if there's a pattern you love, use it! If not, the Days For Girls site has patterns that are free to download
• Days For Girls will apply the snaps to the reusable pads for you
• If you can't sew, Days For Girls also accepts donations of soap, washcloths, panties and sturdy one gallon bags

This is a highly rewarding project- I definitely encourage you to get together with friends for an afternoon of sewing and chatting, with your end product changing a woman's life for the better. For more information, go to Project Thrive and click on Days For Girls.

Also, a giant thanks goes out to Alexia of Autopilot Art for letting us take over her studio for a day and for her willingness to serge endlessly.

Whiskers on Kittens

I have a couple websites to add to my list of my favorite things...

Vegan Omaha: Check out Omaha's spiffy new guide to veganism in Omaha. From a restaurant guide, to resources on both veganism and Omaha to meet-ups, Vegan Omaha is a fantastic resource. It's my new homepage and I have already spent quite a bit of time on it.

Owl Be There: Adorable name aside, this blog focuses on parenting, green living, veg food and awesome stuff in Omaha. Run by my friend Drea, if it's half as awesome as she is, it will be..pretty darn awesome.

What awesome stuff have you been looking at lately?

Sakura Bana

When it comes to going out for sushi in Omaha, my friends and I can narrow down our choices quickly and it always comes down to Matsu Sushi or Sakura Bana. What tips the scale in favor of Sakura Bana is when we want the carrot ginger dressing served with their side salad. I always start my meals there with a side salad topped with this outstanding dressing. I will even confess that sometimes I am gross and dip my avocado rolls in the leftover dressing. Delicious.

 While they don't have the selection of rolls that Matsu presents, they don't exactly slouch in that area either. On the platter pictured, we have an avocado roll, a yasai (veggie) roll, a kanpyo (cooked gourd) roll and a seaweed salad roll. There are a few other options, including inari. The sushi always tastes fresh and is rolled perfectly. One of my pet peeves is when sushi is rolled poorly, making it difficult to eat.

 

The final part of my meal at Sakura Bana always includes a sasadango. Sasadangos are made of mochi rice on the outside and sweet red bean paste on the inside. They come wrapped in a bamboo leaf and while they aren't much to look at, they are a delectable and rich way to finish your meal at Sakura Bana.

Aside from the food, Sakura Bana is a great place to enjoy a quiet meal. They start your meal out with hot towels and you have the option of sitting in a private tea room where you get to take your shoes off- great for a group!

I might be psychic: Bieber for PETA

Remember when I said that the one person I wanted to go vegan was Justin Bieber for all the Vegan Bieber Fever? Look what he's doing now:

 

Picture from Popcrunch

Eerie, right? I know it isn't veganism and that PETA isn't really my thing, but still. I am going to go buy a lottery ticket.