You. GUYS! You are all so amazingly wise!!! 
I can’t believe the response I got from my dilemma post yesterday. All of the girls at work asked “What’s the verdict” as soon as I walked in today. And you wanna know what I told them?
I honestly don’t know.
You all gave me such awesome feedback and points to thing about. I’ve been thinking it all over, and so far – I’m still “vegan”, but I’m taking it on a meal by meal basis.
My biggest takeaways from all your comments, tweets & FB posts:
- If I’m not happy – it’s okay to “move on” or “retire” the challenge, it’s not “quitting.” It’s obvious that vegan isn’t a lifestyle for me, and I gave it my best. (a TON of you said this, and said amazingly encouraging things about that nasty “Q” word – thank you!)
- Take this opportunity to clean up and be a healthy vegan these last 6 days (thanks Andrea!)
- Keep in mind vegan isn’t just a lifestyle, but also a belief, so it can be hard to get 100% behind it when you are just “testing it out” for 30 days.
- Why did I take on the challenge to begin with? Always keep in mind the end goal. Don’t just do something to do it.
- I have the most awesome people in the whole entire world reading this blog.
6 days left. Full recap in 7. 
Wanna know a cereal you can never outgrown? Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Lunch: Chipotle Vegetarian Bowl
Topped with Tofutti Sour Cream & lots of Chipotle Tabasco!
That’s just half the burrito bowl! 
I love the vegetarian bowls – they pile it on!! 
After work – I had a date at Applebee’s (CRINGE!!!!!! 
) with my handsome husband, because he deserved a reward for driving me to and from Blossom the other night. 
He LOVES Applebee’s, and I LOATHE it. And you can bet your sweet butt the food blogger almost always wins in a fight like that. 
But last night, he’d earned it!
There wasn’t many vegan options on the menu, so I stuck with “fruit”…
…because I had crazy Vegan Pasta Salad ideas for when I got home!
If I had it in my cupboard or fridge, and it was vegan, it went in to this pasta salad! 
Everything But the Kitchen Sink Pasta Salad:
Cupboard Ingredients
- Olives
- TJ’s Giant White Beans (strained)
- Artichoke Hearts
- TJ’s Marinated Bean Salad (unstrained – this is packed in olive oil, which was a great base for the pasta salad “dressing”)
- Chopped garlic
- Green olives
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Banana Peppers
- Pasta. Duh!
Not pictured fridge ingredients:
- Bag of shredded carrots
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Onion
- Newman’s Light Italian
FINALLY! THERE’S a healthy vegan meal involving vegetables.
Was it that hard?! Not at all! Do I need to stop being a whiny baby? Perhaps!
This was perfect, and I’m sure ANYONE in your family would eat it, without complaining that it was weird or vegan!
Now for a funny…
I’d been at work for 90 minutes yesterday, when I looked down at my feet to see this:
That’s Mike’s MENS 13 flip flop on the left, and mine, WOMENS 9, on the right.
Really?
I think I’m pretty “with it” (read: not ditzy) but HOLY COW. I have no idea how I didn’t notice sooner. I blame it on the fact that the dogs are always up in my business, especially when putting on shoes (they think they are getting a walk). Who knows. 
Kristin’s reaction: “Your life scares me” 
What’s the most embarrassing outfit faux-pas that you’ve ever had?
13 Comments so far
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Beautiful day of eats
And how wise are your readers?!?
I think I’m taking it easier the next few days – breakfast definitely was NOT vegan, but it was my birthday breakfast and Nick made it for me, so I happily ate it
I’ve learned a lot in this challenge, though, and the last few days will be great!
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By brandi on 06.24.10 3:26 pm | Permalink
What kind of pasta is that?!!? It looks really good!
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By Ashlee on 06.24.10 3:42 pm | Permalink
every single time I leave my house I look down to make sure that I’m actually wearing matching shoes! I don’t know why I do this, but I do. It’s so funny that you wore mismatched shoes this morning. I guess you were just preoccupied!
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By Morgan on 06.24.10 3:45 pm | Permalink
hahaha that flip flops observation made me giggle out loud! It is TOTALLY something that I would do. the other night Mr BBB looked down at my feet and enquired why I was wearing my slippers on the wrong feet…hehe oops
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By Lisa (bakebikeblog) on 06.24.10 5:47 pm | Permalink
That pasta salad looks amazing, good job!
My biggest faux pas was when a co-worker let me know I had a hole in the seat of my pants. Alright, embarassing, but not too terrible as it was the end of the day.
Problem was, instead of throwing the pants away when I got home I spaced and threw them in the hamper…washed them…and put them on again the next week to wear to work! I had to walk around with a co-workers sweater tied around my waist all day as I didn’t have time to run home.
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By Heather Rose on 06.24.10 6:07 pm | Permalink
Allison!! How are you girl!? I’m just catchin’ up but I ditto all the supportive comments on your “dilemma”
LOL all my friends want to go to Chili’s this weekend and I have a feeling I may have to stick to fruit as well!
Can’t wait to hear your recap in a week!
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By carolinebee on 06.25.10 5:39 am | Permalink
Haha, love the flip flops. My mom came to visit me (via plane) once and was wearing two different sneakers. She said she didn’t notice until she had to take her shoes off for security!
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By Lee on 06.25.10 7:16 am | Permalink
Once I actually randomly wore my husband’s underwear! I know…huge faux pas. I really wasn’t thinking at the time.
I just want you to know that I CONSTANTLY recommend your blog to the other readers at http://www.TheDietSolutionProgram.com. I’m a big advocate of veganism, and I have to show lots of examples that it’s doable and very healthy.
Your work is inspiring. Thank you.
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By Willie on 06.25.10 7:20 am | Permalink
That’s hilarious. One time I wore two different tennis shoes to the gym…
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By Emily on 06.25.10 8:35 am | Permalink
haha omg that’s hilarious! My most recent embarrassing outfit meltdown was when I didn’t notice one of those new size stickers on a shirt I just bought .. until the SECOND time I wore it to work. Boo…
Glad you got some good advice yesterday! I think the ideas about it being a belief and reminding yourself why you started in the first place are really helpful!
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By BostonRunner on 06.25.10 11:11 am | Permalink
That’s so funny about the shoes! Go ahead and stop the vegan challenge if its not fun. Life should be fun and by the way….I’m pretty sure cinnamon crunch toast has milk and butter in it anyway!
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By MonicaOnTheGo on 06.25.10 3:32 pm | Permalink
I am glad you didn’t take offense to my tweet. I was not trying to attack you or the challenge. When I did mine I realized veganism wasn’t for me right away but I enjoyed learning how to enjoy food without dairy or eggs, and I just hope you can do the same
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By Andrea of care to eat on 06.25.10 9:06 pm | Permalink
[...] Veggie Pasta Salad [...]
By Recipe Tab Makeover | Green Dog Wine on 01.11.11 10:41 am | Permalink
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