“Grandma, don’t! That’s stealing!” I whispered from across the table.

Every time we went out to eat with my grandparents, my grandma would sneak all the jelly and sugar packets from the table and put them in her purse. I was mortified, convinced I had the weirdest grandmother on the planet.

My Grandma Gladys, my mother’s mother, was always doing things I found strange, and often embarrassing. She washed and reused plastic baggies and utensils, saved jars and jars full of extra buttons, kept a can of used bacon grease under the kitchen sink, and ate parts of the animal I didn’t even know existed. (Gizzards, anyone?)

She also canned her own jam, cooked meals from scratch, walked to the store instead of driving, crocheted beautiful afghans without using a pattern, and knitted hats, mittens, and slippers for my siblings and me—skills I now admire but once saw as a waste of time.

Many of the “strange” things my grandmother did, I now know had a lot to do with her life circumstances. Born in 1902, she was a married with three children when the U.S. was in the grips of the Great Depression. Like many who lived through that era, she learned to save all the items she had and find ways to reuse them, rather than throw things away.

I, on the other hand, was a privileged child of the ‘80s who had everything I needed and more. I learned about the Great Depression in school, but it seemed more like a story than real life. Poverty, hunger, and desperation were simply words to me. I didn’t understand why my grandma couldn’t just get with the times and live like “normal” people.

Now the tables are somewhat turned. As the economy struggles to recover from the Great Recession, many Americans (me included) are looking for ways to cut back and live on less. I’m learning that accumulating lots of stuff doesn’t make me happy, nor does working in a boring cubicle job whose main purpose is to generate money so I can buy more stuff.

And I’m not alone. There’s a growing trend toward living simply and sustainably, not only as a way to save money, but for better health, greater happiness, and a cleaner environment. When I think about her now, I see my grandma wasn’t weird at all, she was saving the earth!

Today, I’m the one with the reusable bags, cooking meals from scratch, and fixing things that break rather than throwing them away. My other sustainability ventures include going vegan, growing my own vegetables, and buying more things secondhand. I think Grandma would be proud.

Now that I’m older, I see how much I take after my grandmother. My ear for music, my positive attitude, my love of word games and puzzles, and my passion for animals are all traits I inherited from her.

My Grandma Gladys died when I was 19. I loved her so much, but I hadn’t yet learned to appreciate her because of, not in spite of, her peculiarities. If she were alive today, I bet we’d have some amazing talks. And I’d be able to tell her what a cool grandma she turned out to be.

Please, leave a comment with your thoughts. If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to Peculiar Girl or share it on Twitter or Facebook.

Adapted from a guest post I originally wrote in November 2011 for beirreplaceable.com.

Trigger warning: discussion of rape, sex trafficking

The older I get, the more I realize just how big the steaming piles of sexist bullshit are that society shovels onto girls and women every single day. From princess culture to the multi-billion dollar “beauty” industry, making billions by telling women they are too fat, too wrinkly, and too ugly; from the Republican right’s incessant chipping away at women’s access to affordable birth control and safe abortion to now blocking the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act because of changes that would extend protection to gays, lesbians, immigrants, and Native American women — some days it’s hard for this feminist to get out of bed and face the day.

Last week, after sitting through the seemingly endless barrage of sexist Super Bowl XLVII ads, learning that sex trafficking is a serious problem in my state (I don’t know why I’m surprised, it exists everywhere), and reading the transcript of a YouTube video where a high school boy laughs and jokes about a girl at a party being passed around and repeatedly raped while she was unconscious, I’m losing hope that I will live to see the day where all people, regardless of gender, will be treated as equals and with respect.

Those who say we live in a post-feminist society are completely full of shit. Folks, it’s time to put on our hip waders and start shoveling. We have a lot of work to do. How are you helping to bring equality to all?

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Photo by EditorB on Flickr.

I love days like today, where there is nothing that I “have” to do, and I can focus on the things I want to do. I had a dentist appointment in the morning, and after that my calendar was completely open. No meetings, no deadlines, nowhere to go, and nothing to do.

Days like this are rare. I usually have something work-related going on every day, whether it’s teaching a yoga class, writing an article, or working at my part-time job.

Still, I take care to ensure that I don’t end up a victim of busy-itis. You know, those people who are always “soooo busy,” said as if it’s a badge of honor to never do anything except work, clean and shuttle your kids from one activity to another.

Being constantly busy is soul-crushing. We all need time to think, to rest, to simply be. Our culture, however, encourages incessant busyness. If you’re like me, you grew up hearing adults say thinks like “Idle hands are the devil’s playground” and “If you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got time to clean.”

As a writer, I need time to daydream. I cannot simply summon good ideas at a moment’s notice. Yet, when I worked as a writer for corporations, it was often expected of me to do exactly this. Sitting quietly and thinking were perceived by others as me goofing off.

At one of my previous jobs, a coworker told me that an executive remarked in her team’s meetings on more than one occasion, “What does Cheryl do all day, anyway?” as if writing content for product packaging, brochures, the company website, and the like all just happened on its own. I was soon laid off from that job. I suspect the other executives eventually agreed that writing is easy, takes very little time, and that anyone can do it.

In a way I’m thankful, because not long after that I found the courage to take time out from my own busy schedule to really think—dream—about what kind of life I wanted, and I started working toward that goal. I earn less than half the salary I used to make at that corporate job, but I am infinitely happier.

I know I’m very fortunate. Some people don’t have the luxury to worry about anything other than finding their next meal or shelter from the cold. I also have a wonderfully supportive partner who encouraged me to pursue my dreams. I don’t take any of these things for granted.

If you have a decent job and a roof over your head, give yourself permission to do nothing on occasion, to goof off, to be idle. Here are some of my favorite ways to recharge my batteries.

• Take a nap
• Watch a marathon of a favorite TV show (Bones, anyone?)
• Experiment with recipes
• Walk the dog
• Play a game (I’m loving Candy Crush Saga these days, and Scrabble is a perennial favorite)

What are your favorite ways to not be busy?

Have something to add? Please, leave a comment with your thoughts. If you enjoyed this post, you can subscribe to Peculiar Girl or share it on Twitter or Facebook.

Image by mike@bensalem on Flickr.

I iz ur bacon?

I get it. Bacon tastes good. It’s crispy, salty, and fatty. Just like other crispy, salty, fatty things, it sends “OMG, yum!” signals to the brain. French fries, potato chips, onion rings…they all have similar effects on our brains. One taste, and we instantly want more.

There is a biological reason for this. Fats are crucial for survival, and they were once hard to come by, when humans were hunter-gathers and had to search far and wide for adequate calories. Salt helps our bodies maintain an appropriate level of fluids.

Still, I am sick to death of people waxing poetic over bacon, like it’s the Holy Grail of foods, without which you will shrivel up and DIE, because life has no meaning without fried strips of tissue from a pig’s belly, back, or sides.

People will wrap anything in bacon, it seems. Seriously, have you seen this disgusting homage to over-consumption? It’s called the turbaconducken. Who the fuck needs to eat a chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey and then entirely wrapped in bacon? Let’s see how many more animals we can kill and consume in one meal.

(Also…Bacon Today? Really? Do we really need an entire website devoted to bacon? With a sub-page called Bacon News? Apparently, bacon “news” is links to other websites that mention the word bacon.)

Look, I’m not saying that everyone should be a vegan. I know it isn’t practical for everyone. I just wish more people would stop and think about where their food comes from.

Pigs are very smart (smarter than most dogs), sensitive animals. In the U.S., more than 100 million pigs are slaughtered every year for food, and your precious bacon. Many of them suffer in factory farms, in quarters so small that they cannot move during their entire lives.

You may say you don’t care, and that animals were put on this earth for us to eat. Perhaps that’s true. I don’t believe it is, but does that really give anyone the right to treat them as nothing more than products on an assembly line?

If you’ve never had the opportunity to hang out with a pig, I encourage you to take a trip to a farm sanctuary and meet one. It may not change your mind about eating animals, but perhaps you’ll see that even farm animals have feelings and unique personalities. A pig is not an “it,” but a “who.” Find a farm sanctuary near you.

One last bit of advice. If you happen to find yourself in a conversation with a vegan, and his or her being vegan comes up (It might not. Many vegans prefer not to discuss such personal matters with people they’ve just met), and your first instinct is to say something like, “I could never do that, I can’t live without bacon,” just know that we’ve heard it dozens, if not hundreds, of times before, and that it isn’t funny, and that liking, or not liking, bacon, has absolutely nothing to do with becoming a vegan.

You could live without bacon. In fact, millions of people live exceptionally full, rewarding lives without the stuff. You simply choose not to.

And if you dare write “Mmm, bacon” or anything about “tasty animals” in my blog comments I will delete your pathetic attempt at wit and/or insultery, and then pray to Buddha every day until I die that you end up a factory-farmed pig in your next life.

Now, please excuse me while I eat this entire bag of jalapeno potato chips.

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Photo by Ellenm1 on Flickr

I find typos all the time—in articles, on signs, on TV news captions, and in business letters. I’ll admit it. I’m a spelling and grammar snob. As a kid I looked forward to diagramming sentences in English class—really—and thought spelling bees were terrific fun. Language and words are fascinating to me.

I’m not saying I’m perfect. I make typos, too. If it weren’t for my eagle-eye husband, you would see plenty more of them on my blog. But when I turned the page of my October issue of BRAVA and saw the major typo pictured above, I gasped out loud.

Here’s the problem. A king or queen reigns, but you rein in a horse. The headline should read, “Cancer survivor Michele Wilkinson turned a troubling diagnosis into an opportunity to take life by the reins.”

Now I happen to know that BRAVA recently lost its esteemed editor-in-chief, so the office was probably in a state of disarray, struggling to put this issue together without her. Still, it pains me to think that professionals in the publishing business don’t know the difference between reigns and reins. On the other hand, I doubt many people will notice. In the grand scheme of things, typos are pretty low on the list of things to worry about.

Mistakes are unavoidable. Even big, “What was I thinking?” mistakes. We all make them. When you make a mistake, the most important thing you can do is show yourself some compassion and not beat yourself up over it. As the saying goes: To err is human; to forgive, divine. This includes forgiving ourselves for our own mistakes, not just forgiving others for theirs.

After all, mistakes are sometimes the best catalysts for positive change. For example, if I had never dated men who were wrong for me (really, really wrong), I may never have recognized when I found the right one.

Some mistakes, however, are simple to avoid. Here are some phrases I see and hear misused all the time. Are you guilty of making these common mistakes in English?

1. Nip it in the bud, not butt. To nip something in the bud means to stop a problem before it grows into an even bigger problem. Like the bud of a tree. Get it? Nipping something in the butt will only piss it off.
2. Tip your hand vs. Tip your hat. I often hear people say, “Tip your hat” when they in mean, “Tip your hand.” To tip your hand is an allusion to card-playing, meaning you are letting your opponent see what you are planning to do. Tipping your hat to someone is a compliment. “I tip my hat to you, sir!”
3. Coming down the pike, not pipe. Think of the sorts of things that flow through pipes. Would you want to look in there and see what’s coming? I didn’t think so. The correct word is “pike,” as in turnpike, meaning the highway.
4. Flesh out the plan, not flush. Flushing out a plan would mean getting rid of it and starting over. If your meaning is that your plan needs further development, then your plan needs fleshing, not flushing. This phrase is based on the idea of adding flesh to a picture that only shows the bones of a creature.
5. Take someone for granted, not granite. Yes, I have actually heard and seen “Take it for granite.” How does a person mistake another for a slab of rock mined from the earth? I am extremely perplexed by this one.
6. I bawled my eyes out, not balled. To bawl means to cry loudly. Ball, when used as a verb, means to wad something up, or is vulgar slang for sexual intercourse. So, unless you literally fucked out your own eyes, you mean bawl.
7. My curiosity was piqued, not peaked. This is an easy one to get wrong, because the word “peaked” seems to make sense. Your curiosity is going up, like a peak. The correct word, however, is piqued, which means stimulated.
8. The point is moot, not mute. Moot is word we don’t use much anymore, which may be the source of confusion for some people. A moot point is an irrelevant question, or a matter of no importance. For example, it’s a moot point whether the chicken or the egg came first. Mute means silent or incapable of sound.
9. Scapegoat, not escape goat. A scapegoat is a patsy, someone who is made to take the blame for something he or she didn’t do. When spoken aloud, it does sound a bit like “escape goat,” but even that explanation only goes so far. Think I’m making this up? Check out this headline from the New York Post.

I’m sure there are many, many more, but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. What English mistakes drive you batty? Got any favorite typos to share? Did I make a typo in this post? Tell me about it in the comments!

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Minus what I’m wearing now, the photo above shows my entire fall and winter wardrobe. It’s not quite as pared down as when I was participating in the Project 333 challenge, but I still like to keep my wardrobe simple.

I buy most of my clothes at thrift stores such as Savers and Goodwill, and sometimes consignment stores such as Simply Savvy. I do have some items that were purchased new, but buying new is a last resort for me for several reasons: 1) I like to save money. 2) It’s difficult to find ethically produced clothing. 3) Buying secondhand keeps perfectly good clothing from ending up in a landfill. 4) The production and manufacture of textiles and clothing (bleaching, dyeing, finishing) uses enormous amounts of energy and contributes to pollution. 5) I can buy my favorite brands for pennies on the dollar. 6) It’s fun.

Though the perception is changing, some people still feel there is a stigma attached to shopping at thrift stores. It used to be a source of shame, and I think there are people who still worry what people will think if their friends/family/whomever find out they are buying secondhand clothes. But my regular readers know that I don’t give a flying fig about what other people think. If someone compliments me on my outfit, I have no qualms about telling them where I got it and how little I paid. I’m proud of my thrift store prowess!

Here’s what’s currently in my closet:

1. a.n.a knee-length denim shorts, $3.99 at Goodwill
2. Gap boot-leg jeans, $14.99 (I think) at Simply Savvy
3. Talbot’s straight-leg jeans, $6.99 at Goodwill
4. White House | Black Market cream-colored long hooded sweater, $27 at Simply Savvy
5. Banana Republic lavender V-neck sweater, $3.99 at Goodwill
6. Gap teal V-neck sweater, $3.99 at Goodwill
7. Plum corduroy blazer, around $10 on clearance from Bass outlet store
8. Light green Ann Taylor blazer, $6.99 at Goodwill
9. Boden polka-dot cocktail dress, $48 at Simply Savvy consignment store
10. Black lace mod cocktail dress, $30-ish at Simply Savvy consignment store
11. Bold floral sheer Ann Taylor Loft blouse, $3.99 at Goodwill
12. Purple cotton Gap dress, $6.99 at Goodwill
13. Wisconsin Badgers sweatshirt, purchased new at the University Book Store
14. Black and gray drawstring-waist sweater, purchased new at Kohl’s
15. Cream lightweight cardigan with ruffles, purchased new at The Limited
16. Navy blue wrap sweater, purchased new at H&M
17. Ellen Tracy flowy gray cardigan, $3.99 at Goodwill
18. Black button-up cardigan, $3.99 at Goodwill
19. Calvin Klein gray checked blouse, purchased new at Marshall’s
20. Ann Taylor navy ruffled wrap blouse, $3.99 at Goodwill
21. Blue drape-neck knit top, purchased new at Marshall’s
22. Blue patterned mock turtleneck top, purchased on clearance at Macy’s
23. Black turtleneck with gray stripes, purchased new at Target
24. Blue long-sleeve T-shirt with white strips, $3.99 at Goodwill
25. Ann Taylor Loft rose-colored shawl-neck short-sleeved sweater, $3.99 at Goodwill
26. Black short-sleeved sweater with attached white ruffled blouse, purchased new at Macy’s
27. White graphic T-shirt, $1.99 at Goodwill
28. Red fitted T-shirt, $3.99 at Goodwill
29. Ann Taylor Loft gray sleeveless top with ruffles, $3.99 at Goodwill
30. Scarlet cami with lace inset, purchased new at Banana Republic
31. Coral satin shell, purchased on clearance at Ann Taylor Loft
32. Dockers curvy khakis in gray, $6.99 at Goodwill
33. Ann Taylor Loft black slacks, $6.99 at Goodwill
34. Black casual pants, purchased new at The Limited

There you have it. Out of 34 items, only 13 were purchased new. Other than the turtleneck, which I purchased in a moment of weakness last year to prevent myself from freezing to death in this old, drafty house during the winter, the other “new” items are several years old, from before I started making a consistent effort to live more simply and sustainably.

Finding clothing at thrift and consignment stores can be frustrating at times. I can’t tell you how often I’ve found a killer pair of designer jeans or a really cute top—but the size, color, or style is wrong for me. It can be difficult to let these items go, but it doesn’t make sense to buy things I can’t wear.

When building a secondhand wardrobe, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

1. Look for good-quality, classic pieces that you can mix and match.

These are some examples from my wardrobe:

A nicely tailored jacket in a neutral color is a wardrobe staple.

My last pair of black Ann Taylor slacks lasted me more than 10 years and never looked dated. I only had to replace them because I gained some weight and they no longer fit. These are almost the exact same style in a size larger.

2. Try everything on.

This is critical, since the item may have been altered by the previous owner, shrunk in the wash, etc. Most thrift stores have very limited return policies, and some don’t allow returns at all. It’s not a bargain if it doesn’t fit and flatter.

3. Try different stores.

Some thrift stores are nicer than others. Shop around until you find one (or several) you like. For clothing, I have the best luck at Goodwill, but I find the best home decor and textiles at Savers.

4. Examine each item closely.

Are there any rips or tears? Stains? Is the zipper broken? Are you willing to put in the time and effort to repair it? If not, put it back.

5. Watch for sales.

Yes, thrift stores have sales. At Goodwill in Madison, for example, all clothing with a particular color tag will be 50 percent off on Fridays and Saturdays.

6. Wash clothing before you wear it.

Unless it’s a fabulous item you are willing to pay to dry clean, stick to machine washable clothing. My thrift store purchases go directly into the hamper when I get home.

7. Don’t buy it just because it’s cheap.

Buying more than you need or can use is wasteful, no matter the price tag. If you won’t wear it or don’t need it, leave it behind for someone else.

8. Take your time.

Many thrift stores aren’t as organized as department and retail stores. Sizes are often mis-filed, and clothes can be grouped in odd ways. Our Goodwill stores, for example, sort tops by color, so you’re likely to find a ribbed cotton tank top on the same rack as a silk designer blouse.

9. Shop on weekdays.

If you have a flexible schedule, try shopping during the week instead of on weekends. The weekends are busy shopping days and it can be difficult to browse without getting bumped into every few minutes.

So what do you think of my thrift store wardrobe? If I hadn’t told you, would you have guessed that most of the items in my closet cost less than $10 each?

Maybe for a future post I will take an inventory of all the things we own (not just clothing) that have come from thrift stores, consignment shops, garage sales, and the like. I think it make for quite an impressive list.

Are you a thrift store shopper or no? Either way, I’d love to hear about it.

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One of the many things I love about blogging is all the cool people I meet as a result. Beverly is one of those people. She blogs about “Crafting words and fiber” at PoMo Golightly, and we met as participants in Courtney Carver’s Project 333 minimalist wardrobe challenge. I don’t remember who found whose blog first, but we soon learned that we have a lot in common—we both love writing, dogs, cooking, DIY projects, and living simply. Though we’ve never met “in real life,” I still consider Beverly a true friend.

In August, when I found myself in possession of some beautiful yarn, I reached out to Beverly for help. While we have a lot on common, knitting is one area of interest where Beverly and I do not intersect. My grandma Gladys tried to teach me once, but I never really took to it. Beverly, on the other hand, knits like a dream. Here’s an adorable sweater vest she knitted for a coworker’s newborn son.

I bought the yarn at a silent auction, which was part of a fundraising event for Heartland Farm Sanctuary. The yarn is spun from the wool of Teddy, one of the sanctuary’s sheep. One of Heartland’s volunteers painstakingly cleaned and spun the wool into five skeins of soft, gray yarn. This is Teddy:

I know, right? There was no way I was going home without that yarn, even though I don’t knit or crochet.

A few days after the event, I was reading Beverly’s blog and had an “aha moment.” I emailed her and asked if she would be interested in a project swap. The trouble was, I didn’t know if there was anything I could offer in return, since we have such similar skill sets.

It turns out that Beverly is writing a book, and she needs someone to edit her manuscript. The working title is Elegant Minimalism. It’s a workbook for anyone who wants to look polished dressing with a smaller wardrobe. I love editing, and agreed this would be a perfect project swap. She knits, I edit.

I packed up my yarn and sent it off to Beverly, with the understanding it might take her a few months to finish the scarf. I chose this beautiful Rustic Crochet Cowl with Roses design by Faima Othman.

Beverly expects to have her book drafted by November. I can’t wait to read it!

Have you ever bartered your services with someone? What was your experience?

NOTE: As a vegan I avoid clothing made from animal products, including wool. It’s easy to imagine that wool comes from happy sheep frolicking in lush fields whose only suffering is the occasional haircut, but the majority of our country’s wool comes from factory farmed sheep living in appalling conditions. If you want to know more, read “Vegan Clothing Explained” on TreeHugger.com (no graphic images).

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The vegan cookbook market is exploding. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of vegan cookbooks available, including niche cookbooks such as vegan slow cooker recipes, raw vegan recipes, and vegan comfort food recipes. I recently pared down my cookbook collection, keeping only the ones I use regularly.

I enjoy cooking, but I don’t want to spend hours making complicated dishes, so beautiful books filled with fancy recipes I will never make got donated to charity. Here are the three vegan cookbooks I find myself referencing again and again, and two more that are on my wish list.

My three favorite vegan cookbooks:

1. The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

This is my go-to cookbook, especially for soups and stews. Though it’s marketed as a collection of recipes for entertaining, I find Patrick-Goudreau’s recipes to be simple enough for everyday meals. There are a few tofu and tempeh recipes in this book, but the majority of recipes are based on fruits, veggies, legumes, and whole grains.

My most-cooked recipes:

• African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew
• Aloo Gobi (Curried cauliflower and potatoes)
• Three-Bean Chili
• Yellow Split-Pea Dal
• Traditional Vegetable Soup

2. Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

I was shocked at my last check-up to learn that my “bad” cholesterol was a bit high, so I’m trying to cook more low-fat meals. I know it’s easy to assume that all vegan food is low-calorie, but that isn’t necessarily the case. So far, I’ve loved every recipe I’ve tried out of this book. It’s very well organized, loaded with nutrition and cooking tips, and there is even an entire section of gluten-free recipes.

My most-cooked recipes:

• Hottie Black-Eyed Peas & Greens
• Forty-Clove Chickpeas & Broccoli
• Eggplant-Chickpea Curry
• Mom’s Marinara
• Red Lentil & Root Veggie Dal

3. Vegan With a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

An earlier cookbook by the same author as Appetite for Reduction, this is the first vegan cookbook I bought. I find myself gravitating toward my other two more often, but I still come back to this one for certain recipes. There is a nice section in the beginning about recommended kitchen tools, and how to set up a vegan pantry.

My most-cooked recipes:

• Roasted applesauce
• Garlicky Kale with Tahini Dressing
• Mashed Potatoes with Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy

Two more vegan cookbooks on my wish list:

1. The Happy Herbivore by Lindsay S. Nixon

I’m a fan of Nixon’s blog of the same name, which is where I discovered her recipe for Low Fat Vegan Nacho Cheese. I had a hard time finding yellow miso, but once I did (Thank you, Whole Foods!), we found ourselves in nacho heaven. Her Chickpea Tacos recipe is another winner. Nixon has hundreds of recipes on her blog, including kid-friendly vegan recipes. I would love to support her further by owning one of her cookbooks.

2. Vegan Fire & Spice by Robin Roberston

We love spicy food. Invariably the first question my husband asks after I’ve cooked dinner is a wishful, “Is it spicy?” I would love to expand my cooking range beyond simply adding more chili pepper to a dish. This book includes recipes like Wasabi Miso Dressing and Jalapeno Tortilla Soup. Yes, please!

Did your favorite vegan cookbook make the list? Is there a cookbook you love that you think I should try? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

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Photo by Vegan Feast Catering on Flickr

Thin, beautiful (white) women doing bendy things. That’s the way I describe how yoga is largely portrayed in the West. The photo above is a perfect example. There is no denying she is a beautiful woman in a lovely, very advanced, yoga pose. Photos like this are beautiful to look at, but I think they also create the impression that yoga is only for certain people.

I rarely see yoga-related photos that don’t fit the thin/white/female mold, so I nearly jumped for joy to see this month’s Yoga Journal, which features Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and yogi India Arie. Arie is one of my favorite artists, and knowing she practices yoga makes me like her even more. Arie doesn’t fit the yoga stereotype, and neither do I.

When I talk to people about yoga and why I practice, they often say they would love to try yoga but are too intimidated. They worry they won’t be able to “do the poses,” that they won’t fit in, or that others in the class will be secretly judging them. I hear these reservations so often, in fact, that dispelling these myths is my main inspiration for earning my 200-hour yoga teacher training certification.

I want to spread the message that yoga is for everybody, and every body. You don’t have to be able to twist yourself into a pretzel or stand on your head.

If you can breathe, you can practice yoga.

I guarantee you that the lovely woman pictured above didn’t start out being able to do One-Legged-King-Pigeon pose. Just like the rest of us, she had to start somewhere.

What is yoga?

I want to clarify that yoga is a very broad term. The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit word “yuj,” which means to unite or integrate. In the classical sense, yoga is about the union of a person’s own consciousness and the divine/higher power/universe. However, yoga is not a religion, it is a path.

While yoga’s roots can be traced back thousands of years, yoga as we know it in the U.S., the physical practice of yoga, is much newer, about 500 years old. Hatha yoga is a general term that encompasses many of the physical styles. Among these, some of the most popular are Ashtanga or Power Yoga, Kundalini, Bikram or Hot Yoga, and Vinyasa Flow, which is the style I practice.

Me demonstrating Virabhadrasana 2, known in English as Warrior 2.

On the first day of yoga teacher training, our instructor asked us to answer the question, “What is yoga?” This is what I wrote:

Yoga is compassion, self-acceptance, and love for all beings. Yoga is strength, both physical and emotional. And to some, yoga is god—a connection to a higher power, the divine…the universe. Yoga helps us realize that we are all connected, and that none of use is on this journey alone.

Yoga may mean something entirely different to you. My definition will very likely change over the coming months and years, as I deepen my practice.

For me, the benefits of yoga have been overwhelmingly mental. I feel better able to process feelings and emotions, and experience them without judgment. My parents were visiting not long ago, and my mother said to me, “You seem so light and joyful.” I said, “That’s yoga.”

Are you curious about yoga? Do photos of thin, beautiful women doing bendy things inspire or deter you?

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Photo by lululemon athletica on Flickr

Last week Tuesday night my husband and I had just returned from a beer-tasting event for writers held by the Society of Professional Journalists. We learned about the history of beer brewing in Madison, and sampled several beers by Great Dane Brewing Company. My favorite was the Mid-Westvleteren, a Trappist-style ale that tasted, to me, like cherries. (Our tasting guide described it as having overtones of peach, but to my untrained palate it was sweet, delicious cherries.)

It had been a busy few days so I hadn’t been online much at all. Imagine my surprise when I saw a status update from Kristin Lajeunesse of Will Travel for Vegan Food, mentioning the terrific dinner she just enjoyed at The Green Owl Café in Madison. I’ve been following her travels through her blog, but had missed the news that she was making a stop in Madison.

I commented on her post, asking how long she planned to be in town and if she would be willing to meet me for an interview. She replied almost immediately saying she would be happy to. We decided to meet for coffee and vegan bakery at Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse the next morning.

Here’s a little backstory for those of you who aren’t familiar with Kristin or her blog: In August of 2011 Kristin began a road-trip, her goal to visit as many of the 100% vegan restaurants in the U.S. that she can by her 30th birthday, which is October 28.  She started in Maine and has been snaking her way across the country, with a side trip to France and Italy to attend some European vegan festivals. Her adventure is completely funded by donations, so if you can spare a few dollars to help her keep going, I’m sure Kristin will be eternally grateful.

Though Madison is a very vegan-friendly city, we don’t currently have any 100% vegan restaurants, so Kristin was just passing through on her way from Chicago to Minneapolis.

Kristin (right) and me

The first thing I noticed about Kristin is how young she looks—much younger than the picture on her blog. At 29, she could easily pass for a teenager. I find that many vegans look significantly younger than they are. I don’t know if it’s true for me—my gray hair gives me away—but my husband, at 47, doesn’t look a day older than 35.

Kristin is also very petite. I am 5-feet, 4-inches tall, and next to her I felt like an Amazon (I was wearing clogs with 2” heels, but still). See what I mean?

As we nibbled on our vegan bakery, we were both puzzled as to why Mother Fool’s serves its lattes in a tall glass, rather than a ceramic mug. The coffee makes the glass way too hot to handle. Our interview was nearly over before I could manage a sip without blistering my fingertips.

We chatted about the pros and cons of traveling alone (she says it’s been wonderful for self-reflection and discovery), if she ever gets sick of restaurant food (not so far), and what she does in her spare time (she doesn’t have any).

I also asked what’s been her favorite city so far. She said she loves NYC and Chicago, but Philadelphia is the real stand-out. “It is home to three places that I absolutely adore: Vedge restaurant (super fancy, higher end, and THE best overall food and restaurant experience I’ve ever had), Grindcore House (all-vegan coffee shop that carries Vegan Treats sweets and pastries), and Blackbird Pizzeria (an all-vegan pizza shop that also has amazing sandwiches and sweets).”

She adds, “I was there for nearly two weeks and almost started to settle in. I got a haircut and started taking dancing lessons … I barely made it out of there.”

I also asked about her biggest frustration so far. And it isn’t, as I imagined, sleeping in her van night after night, but restaurants with poor or no online presence. She relies on her laptop to plan her route and her restaurant stops. If she can’t find your restaurant or your hours of operation online, chances are other people (potential customers) aren’t finding you either. She has a master spreadsheet of vegan-friendly restaurants, created for her by Happycow.net, but since restaurants tend to come and go quickly, she also checks VegDining.com, as well as Google Places and Yelp to identify her vegan restaurant stops.

Kristin wasn’t able to find any 100% vegan restaurants in Wisconsin, which is why she is only passing through our fair state. The only vegan restaurant I know of is Vita Rawstaurant in Green Bay, one of my absolute favorite places. It was closed for a time and recently re-opened on weekends only. They are listed on Happy Cow as a catering company, however, which is probably why they didn’t turn up on Kristin’s search.

The refrigerator at Mother Fool’s. Can you spot the WTFVF sticker?

Wisconsin does have many vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurants, but we are a little behind the trend when it comes to vegan dining. This is not exactly surprising, being America’s Dairyland and all…

Though she was here for less than 48 hours, Kristin left with a very positive impression of Madison. She liked the Green Owl so much, she went there for lunch and dinner on her first day here. She said, “I was thrilled to have gone back, on the same day, to have yet another wonderful meal AND to notice that they had added my ‘Will Travel For Vegan Food was here’ window decal smack dab in the middle of their entryway door. So cool!”

As our interview wrapped up, I asked if she had any plans for lunch before she left town. There are several vegan-friendly carts on Library Mall, and I suggested she check them out. They were already on her radar, and she was hoping to make a stop on campus before heading to Minnesota.

Kristin emailed me from Minneapolis to let me know she did have a chance to experience Madison’s burgeoning food cart scene. She chose Dandelion food cart, a mostly vegan cart featuring delicious sandwiches and salads. “I LOVED the mushroom seitan Reuben I had there,” Kristin wrote. “And the guy working (who I believe is also the owner) was so friendly and excited to hear about my travels. Campus is beautiful, too. It was nice to walk around, and by the waterfront.”

I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Kristin! That friendly guy you met is Braulio Maximiliano. And yes, he and his wife own Dandelion. Rumor has it they may be scouting locations for a sit-down restaurant. Keep your fingers crossed!

Kristin closed her email by saying, “Overall, given the short amount of time I spent in Madison, it was a wonderful experience and I look forward to going back!”

I hope she does come back, and that when she does, Madison will have a 100% vegan restaurant where she can eat, or perhaps a vegan B&B, so she can take a break from sleeping in her van. Happy travels, Kristin!

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Mural photo by benet2006 on Flickr. Refrigerator photo courtesy of Will Travel for Vegan Food.