I Lava Baseball

Duh.  

I'd be a fool not to.

I am so excited about the start of Baseball season.  It's this swallowing-whole where you can't walk into a restaurant or bar without some game, somewhere playing and everyone is wearing their team's colors and suddenly sports radio is interesting again.  The twitter shit talking, the real life shit talking.  Having common ground with my really sensible and ridiculously brilliant sister.  

And of course, the game itself.  Smart, emotionally involving, impressive and easily accessible. 

Most people are lifelong fans, they started following a team as a kid with their parents or friends and have stuck by that. I'm still in my infancy as a baseball fan, this will be my third season of giving a damn.  

I fought it, my ex husband would dominate the TV several nights a week and I'd groan loudly, complain that it was stupid and go read Twilight or write love letters to Hanson.  But then something clicked.  I think it was the human aspect of the game- hearing an interesting story about a player during a lull in the game that made me realize that baseball has some fascinating people in it, not just meathead athletes. (And oh how I've tried in vain since this epiphany to see football players this way.  Do they have personalities?)  So I started watching with him passively.  

It was early in the season- late April or early May, and one of the pitchers wasn't doing so well, lots of people were questioning his "stuff" and I couldn't help but be drawn into the articles and speculation about what he'd need to do to pull out of his slump.  It became this new thing where I felt that if he couldn't be as great as everyone said he was then I'd feel somehow let down.  I have no clue how that line of thinking worked, but I paid close attention and started to recognize that pitching wasn't just throwing a ball.  What the heck, there's actual mechanics to it? 

Then I started to learn the game bit by bit, and started getting stressed out and tense in all the right moments.  The first time I whooped loudly without realizing it was coming out I knew I'd graduated and I'd be a fan of the sport for life.  The first professional sport I've ever cared about.  

I am obviously years behind everyone on baseball know-how.  I don't have a broad grasp of baseball history or my team's past that I can recall as easily as my own birthday like everyone else I know, but I'm a devoted disciple.  Watching hours and hours of Ken Burns: Baseball, reading books so I can watch the game better and catch the little nuances that I've been missing in my newbie state...all of that good stuff.  If I'm going to enjoy something I want to know as much as possible.  I am still pathetic at talking smack, but my friends Yvonne and Chris have been very generous with their time to help me understand that fine art as well. 

This year I'm hoping to make it to my first major league game- I went all the time last year to the Fresno Grizzlies games because Chukchansi Park is very close to where I live (hey-o for free fireworks shows if people keep their trees trimmed!) but I still haven't been to see my team up close and personal.  I might cry if I don't get to.

I Lava that I was wrong all along about baseball, not only is it a fantastic way to completely lose myself for half of the year but it also proves once again that nothing is set in stone.  If I was wrong about hating all sports, what else could I be missing out on?

I Lava My Veganniversary

Well, folks!  I'm turning one as a vegan!

A very serious meat-free burger at Native Foods in LA.

Last year at this time I blogged about how I had made it through my first year as a vegetarian and I resolved that I'd set aside one day a week to eat vegan.  And then I just kept eating that way.  When I checked in in June about it I felt great.

My amazing friend Aurora went vegan too- actually she's the one who got me on the vegan bandwagon.  She was even more hardcore though, she wasn't even a vegetarian beforehand and she quit cold Tofurkey!  It was really great having someone else doing it with me in those fledgeling days of not knowing what was and wasn't vegan, and if it was malt-o-meal and contained no animal products was it secretly not vegan somehow?

So here I am, a year of being the world's most hated kind of eater under my belt.  And boy, do people really hate vegans.  Aside from the bacon jokes and the "eat a steak!" jabs, there are the "Well, what KIND of vegan are you?" questions and the pro-meat pictures that a few friends post on my facebook wall.

Eating a vegan diet has been easy in comparison to the magnifying glass that I feel like I'm under as an "out" vegan.  The hardest part has been being pressed to define my choice all the time, when the reason changes from week to week.  The important thing is that I've not wavered in my desire to follow an animal-free diet.  I vacillate from the "ew" factor of the meat and dairy industry to animal rights issues, then to environmental reasons and most frequently finding myself agreeing the most with the health benefits. I try not to be an asshole about it, but by saying I'm a vegan I already am one.  I've accepted that's the perception, and I even ordered "Vegan Asshole" business cards for my twitter handle. 

The focus on what I eat has made a big difference in how I spend my money when choosing food.  I've had the shift in mentality from buying the cheapest thing on the shelf to buying items that cost less on a larger scale.  When possible I buy organic now, I read every label I come into contact with so I know the ins and outs of my pantry and I'm really shifting to buying more in-season locally grown produce.  It's pretty major.  I remember when my children's father and I went on our first grocery shopping trip and we argued in the canned goods aisle over where to buy the brand name kidney beans or the store brand and I was fighting for that 11 cent difference.  Now I'd be glaring at the labels on both and looking for added preservatives and who knows what else they might sneak in.

I also like that there are loopholes though.  I like chocolate.  I like junk food, and while i don't eat a lot  it definietly helps when the PMS is getting the best of me.  Little angels sang and flew around the room and rays of lights were everywhere when I learned that Oreos are vegan.  Not healthy by any means but sometimes a hidden cache of chocolate sandwich cookies are absolute necessity.  I don't eat the whole tray of them anymore like I used to.  That's something, right?

 I've been toying with the idea of trying a raw diet, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet.  In the grand tradition (started a year ago) I'll be adopting a day a week to declare as a raw day so I can learn the preparation methods and all of that good stuff.  I'm choosing hump day because I like to put two words together and make magic, and Rawednesday is too good to pass up.  Plus I have my swing lessons on Wednesday nights after work and I always go to our local raw cafe, Revive, anyway on those nights.

So here's to my health, I lava being a vegan!

I Lava My Home.

It took me almost a year to start claiming my home as my own.  

Moving back in meant that I was occupying a space that previously belonged to two people.  I didn't have it in me to decorate. 

Since October I have been working hard to infuse my personality into my living space.  It's not perfect, see I'm broke.  New furniture isn't an option at all.  But I do have spray paint, scissors, hot glue, photoshop, tape, lace and lots of creativity.  Here are a few of the ways I've been decorating my home on the cheap.

 

I've had this ugly ass mirror forever, but when I painted it blue it turned really cute.

 My dad is one of the coolest people on Earth, and also very charismatic, so him on a hypnotic swirl seemed pretty apropos. I'd love to see this 10 feet tall and on the side of a building Banksy style.

My couch belonged to my grandpa and when he moved I got it.  It was old then, it's older now.  There was this perma-dustline on the back.  Instead of wasting energy scrubbing it off, I painted on a tightrope walker.  I think it's obvious that I watched the Banksy movie.

Something that's really important to me is honoring childrens' artwork, and these old window frames are perfect whale frames.

 A Mandy Moore altar on the little telephone shelf in the hallway is a fun take on my obsession with her career.  Note that Ryan Adams is beneath her, as he should be!

A garland of keys (I used these for my Christmas Tree and loved them too much to put in storage) a framed chalkboard, pics of my besties, a pinup and polka dotted sheets mean that even when no one is in my room there's still magic being made.

I'm a bit of a beet fanatic.  The taste, the color, they're just so great.  So I painted one.  Also, my mom made some BADASS pink burlap curtains that make my living room pink in the morning light.

My ex left this behind.  I've adapted it to my tastes.

Even Justin Bieber loves my decor!

 Juice just tastes better when it's also part of a teenaged fantasy love triangle.

Homes don't have to be boring and I'm pretty sure that mine will only get more colorful.  I may be single forever as a result, but dang, I'm happy.

I Lava CSA's

Okay. Let's be frank.

I'm about two Guinness-labeled pint glasses deep into a box of Big House Red wine as I write this, don't judge.  

I kind of sometimes treat my life like a video game, odd for someone who really sucks at video games that don't involve a screen moving forward for you, or a princess that floats for a few seconds when you push the right buttons.  But alas, I'm not actually perfect, I just look the part and so I compensate for this fact by leveling myself up when I do things that I consider major.

Like I leveled up this fall when I commissioned some artwork from Aurora Lady to give to my mom on her birthday.  

And I leveled up by having my hair done by someone professional, not by Feria. 

Well folks, looks like I"ve totally leveled up again.  I finally ordered a produce box from one of the local CSA's.  CSA stands not for Cheese Stands Alone, but instead for Community Supported Agriculture.  CSA's operate based on the people in the -taadaa- community buying in and becoming part of the funding needed to get the deliciously local and organic greens from farm to fridge.  Or frittata.  I didn't really know what "F" word would work there.  Wine, remember?  Look, just be happy I'm not drunk texting anyone this time.  (Lies, I just sent a text that said "speakeasypeasy" to someone.)

ANYWAY.  Like, you know how I was married before?  Well, I wanted to do the whole CSA thing then, but it never happened because I'm pretty sure it was part of the whole "Down, hippie!  Bad hippie for barking at nothing!" movement that was a'happening in our house for a little while and so I just gave up and sneaked in farm stand produce when I could.  Well, now I'm single (Clearly, dear God.  I'd make out with a head of lettuce if it had soft enough lips.) and I can do whatever I want whenever I want and I want my produce to come from a local source that gives a damn about what they're doing and all of that other subversive stuff.    So that lead me to place my order with The Farmer's Daughter CSA.  

The Farmer's Daughter makes weekly deliveries to several places in the Fresno Area, but I'm all about convenience so instead of looking into those other spots I decided to just go with the drop off that happens to take place in my place of employment, Twee Boutique.  OMAHGAWD you guys.  It was gorgeous.  I opened my box up and it was like golden rays came bursting through, and little angels were singing about nutrients and enzymes and shit. And it was only $18.

See: 

 

Obviously I'll be making some serious soup tomorrow.  

I really LAVA a chance to be part of my community by the foods I consume. A tasty step closer to maybe eventually becoming a locavore!