My 100th Post & A Thank You Giveaway…

I can’t believe this is my 100th post! But here I am, still sharing bits of my vegan life à la française. Almost a year ago I began feeling rather lonely in veganland. I’d never been an avid blog-reader or anything like that, but when a dear friend asked me to prepare one of her favorite dishes for my *Fête de la Saint Kévin dinner party (also called Anti-Colonialist day or Thanksgiving) I realized I needed some input from the vegan world. After googling “vegan green bean casserole” I found Susan V’s awesome blog, and was just thrilled by not only all the amazing recipes, but by all the comments! I had this incredible Hellen Keller – Anne Sullivan moment where I suddenly understood what was happening all around me…all these other vegans out there, on the web, and only an Internet-connection away…

Like many of you kids, my blog began simply as a way to spread the word – the net is a very big and scary place wrought with corporate giants and capitalist greed. For me, opening up my own advertisement-free little piece of vegan real estate was an important way to spread the vegan gospel, and to share my vegan joy with everyone out there. However, in time I found that my blog had grown into something of its own, it became a new voice for me, and a new place where I could meet and greet other vegans, this from a small French town where it is rather difficult to reach out to other like-minded or “palletted” people.

I have grown in many different ways thanks to this blog and also thanks to your blogs! Visiting different blogs from all over the world has helped me continue to expand my perspective, test my limits – artistically and intellectually, in ways I’d never dreamed. Initially I was on the lookout for other vegan athlete & yoga types, and was thrilled to find Jen the Veg Tri-Athlete’s Fuled By Plants with so many great vegan meals to refuel with. I also began regularly reading the vegan food blogs which I now can’t live without! They were the inspiration I needed to begin baking (something I’d never really done before)…now I bake my bread for pete’s sake! I love the inspiration and support, the food p*rn and the, ahem, cookie recipes…

After being inspired by blogs like Hannah’s Bittersweet, Vania’s A Crafty Vegan, and vegan knitting blogs like Vegan Knitting…and then some I started wondering why the hell I didn’t know how to knit and crochet! I’d spent my entire life (so far) dancing, writing and being involved with music (and musicians…but that is SO another story), but I’d never used my hands to create. From there I became interested in sewing, and I can’t stop! I’m also now obsessed with leaves – looking at them, drawing them (trying to), hand printing them, and more recently, embrodering them…crazy! And so, to honor this momentous occasion (really, it’s just an excuse for a little party, and I am all about parties!), I have two bobbles of love to give away…

I’m offering up to my blogpals two small lined felt coin purses. Please don’t laugh – I am in no way a professional, but it’s just my way of sending you a little hand-made vegan love (the felt is made from recycled plastic bottles! how freaking amazing is that?!?). I’m trying to make quite a few of these, because maybe someday I’ll get the skillz to open my own Etsy shoppe, but for now, these are my training crafts.

Ideally I would also send some cookies or baked-vegan-love, but since most of you cats are not in France, they would be icky or, well, illegal. I do hope to include a little extra love of some kind, though…

All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post before next Wednesday, October 1st. That’s all – just make sure your email address is the right one so I can contact you for your shipping address! I’ll have M. Fish draw two random numbers for a hat and that’s as scientific as we’ll get.

And the timing couldn’t be more parfait, Martha, (how amazing it must be to be internationally known just by your first name) wants to hear a little about your blog! She’ll be featuring a bouquet of fresh-picked blogs on her blog, so head over there and write yourself silly!

* When my good friend Katy was in the U.S. on a teaching exchange at my University (which is how we met), she telephoned her mother to tell her it was Thanksgiving. This holiday obviously doesn’t exist here in France, where it just so happens that St. Martin de Tours managed to catholicize all holidays, and the majority of them are called Saint Days. Her mother, upon hearing the word “Thanksgiving” tried to decipher it and replied, “Quoi, qu’est-ce que tu dis? C’est la Saint Kévin? Mais il n’y a pas de Saint Kévin!’”. (Translation : What, what did you say? It’s the feast of Saint Kevin? But there is no Saint Kevin!).

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