It's Been Quiet Around Here Lately....

I've been slackin' off on the blogging lately for a very good reason. I'm out playing instead! I had a wonderful trip to NYC two weeks ago that I'll blog about soon (retail therapy, botanical gardens, vegan restaurants, etc. how can you not have a good time in New York?!). Yet, I've been back for almost two weeks and what the heck have I been doing? Taking more time off and loving it. I think it's going to be very hard to get anything done this month with my current mindset but maybe that's not a bad thing? Before you answer that, let me quickly distract you with some photos of here said slacking:

Spending a lot of time at Diesel Cafe in Davis Square.

Soy Chai Latte and vegan sandwiches have been the menu of late.

They even have vegan goodies..too tempting...

There's been some out of town adventures too. This past weekend I was invited up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire to visit our upstairs neighbors who are renting a house there for two weeks, lucky them!

The public library was the only place to get cell phone and internet access..we checked in once and wow, what a comfy place! If I had stayed longer, I could see my self snuggled up on this couch devouring some of the many paperbacks they had displayed in the entrance.

A little natural foods store had a ton of vegan options. I even scored a few finds that I've never seen in Boston. And they had bunnies! Bunnies people! Do I need to say more? Free roaming bunnies munching on the lawn..so cute.

We took a hike up Rattlesnake Mountain. Luckily, we saw no snakes. There aren't that many I was told. Me no like snakes.

Since we had so much rain this summer, the 'shrooms are growing like crazy. I loved this golden mushroom..right out of Mario Brothers or something similar. I'm dating myself I know!

At the top of the mountain, this is the lake from the movie "On Golden Pond"..I never saw the movie so the moment was lost on me.

Beautiful views of the mountains

Covered bridge

Another library

Old fashioned postoffice..

We ate lunch at this inn. It was the only option for miles..luckily they had several vegan options. I had the mushroom sandwich..unfortunately, snarfed that down so fast I forgot to take a photo. The name of the town is Center Sandwich. It was fitting that we ate sandwiches in Sandwich. I'm up for cornball of the year award already, huh?

Outside the inn...

Inside...

Loved this coffee place...they had soy (yay!) and I got a spicy chili chocolate mocha latte. Amazing...


Outside...

Inside...

They also sold gifty items. I fell in love with these glass globes..

Neighbor Bill enjoying some tea and his iPod Touch.

We visiting a swimming hole called the "Potholes"..a leftover natural formation from glacier oh so long ago. Don't worry, you are not seeing me in a bathing suit. Eek!

A beautiful night sky...

Dodie and I did a bunch of cooking..steamed summer squash, corn, veggie burgers, salad and white wine sangria..

White wine sangria is easy and so delicious...half white wine, half apple juice, cinnamon to taste and chopped lemon, apple and peaches. Although grapes and other fruit substitutions will work fine too!

And finally, the highlight of the trip: a visit to the Dam Ice Cream Shop which takes its name from the dam to the immediate side of the shop.

I just wanted to go for the experience of using "dam" in every other sentence (oh so juvenile Amanda!) and was expecting no vegan options. The owner confirmed that she didn't have any non-dairy options. Suddenly an idea popped into my head..how about a banana sundae? The owner loved the idea and the Amanda Banana Sundae was born: Bananas, strawberries, and pineapples drizzled with chocolate syrup and peanut butter sauce with walnuts. Sorry for the crappy shot..my camera battery died so the cell phone photo was all I could get. And I also scooped out the cherry 'cause this kind of cherries are not vegan (why must they meddle with fruit and add crushed beetle extract?? Ugh!). The next time I wised up and orders mine sans cherry.


So that's the slack around here. What kind of vegan slacking have you been doing this month?!