An Overture Of My Adventure Into The Land Of Vegan..

Morning y'all and Happy Friday! Today marks day 10 of 'The Vegan Experience'. Its been hard at times and not so bad at times. I've learned a few things about myself that I didn't know. 1. I am NOT gonna physically DIE without coffee(though I do feel like my loss deserves a memorial service of some degree- perhaps I will pour some coffee on the ground while Cason plays Taps on the spoons?) 2. I have SO much more energy OFF caffeine and land critters(looks like my chances of being a Ginger Snow White just increased) than ON it. Amazing, eh? #enlightenedginger

The sum of this experience brings me to some decisions. I will NOT live an entirely vegan life. I love cheese. I plan to eat it. I have landed in the zone of what's called a 'flexitarian'. I will eat fish and on occasion take part in turkey that has had the chance to live a full and happy life free in nature and has
been 'killed with care' by Lori's brother Craig(a.k.a - my brother from another mother). Seriously y'all - he is like the deer whisperer or some junk like that. He walks out into the woods and the animals just come to him like he has animal crack in his pocket. Mmmm...maybe he does? #theworldwillneverknow

<insert girlie squeel> I have lost LOADS of weight during this 10 day time frame which I fully intend to keep off :) And isn't that just gonna make my 50's 'cheesecake pin-up' dress look just a lil bit better tomorrow night? I'm.So.Excited.I.Might.Die! - The GFG

Day 7 Of My Vegan Adventure...

Holy. Weight. Loss. Batman!! Not ONLY am I successfully off caffeine - I am down 8 pounds. #doin'thehappydance

Its not been as difficult as I imagined(and trust me, I can imagine up some pretty horrific stuff y'all).
Cason and I had an awesome time yesterday. I got all hippie'd up in a floor length 70's dress and we took off up to Little 5 Points. For those of you who are not natives to Georgia - this is a super hip, artistic and fantastically magical little area of Atlanta to go dissapear in for a while. We perused the shops, ate at an outdoor cafe, visited the local brew house( I. HAD.WATER.#sadginger) and took in
all of the wildly over the top dressed folks with all colors of hair(and I do mean ALL), tattoos and places pierced that made my lil' Southern heart cringe from time to time. But my perspective is and
always will be - live and let live. So I think to myself when I see someone with enough metal in their
face to pick up satellite reception - if they feel as pretty wearing that as I do in my hippie dress..then brightest blessings to them in doing so :) #toeachtheirown

This morning there is an organic banana, a bag of raw almonds and raisins and a bottle of spring water sitting on my desk awaiting me to partake of it. I have work to keep my employed, an amazingly smart and funny son that BETTER be standing at his bus stop and one incredibly wonderful boyfriend getting ready to start his day as well. With all of this - I am completely and incandescently - HAPPY. - The GFG

Hello Glorious Friday!

Thank. The. LAWD! Its Friday and I made it through the caffeine withdrawal doldrums :)
Bounced out of bed this morning and my mind is clearer than the Spring water sitting on my desk. Better YET - I am just bubbling with energy. #Loriwasrighty'all

Cason actually attempted yesterday to go caffeine free with me. He made it all of about 12 hours and then sucked down about a liter of Coke over dinner. Amazing. Wonderful. Supportive. Man. #hetried

So now that I am actually off my drug of choice I am pondering at what I shall do
with all the money I will save and(random, I know) how will I still be using 'Rosey'(our Keurig)?
I love her and won't be  boxing her up anytime soon :) My mind wonders to this question - what do hippies drink? Well, duh. Water of course. Perhaps wine(Yay!- screams my inner Goddess), but what about hot drinks for when I just really want to hold my super awesome mug that Gamer Boy gave me for Mother's Day?

Looks like Google shall be my friend on answering this question :) So I am off to the 'interwebs' to find some form of delicious 'replacement ambrosia' for when I finish my 10 day excursion into fairytale hippie'dom. Wish me luck y'all. Happy Friday! #fistpump - The GFG

Who Stole My Glitter?

Today is day two of the hippie fast and let me tell y'all- its not a bright n' shiny morning. I. Want. Coffee. #footstomp. I woke up late, had to get ready in a hurry, get to the gas station to feed all my tip money into Abigail(our Nissan Altima that we adore) and am now looking at this day ahead of me like its a marathon to run - in flip flops. #headhitsdesk
Okay Lori - I get it. Caffeine is a drug. I'm an addict. This is withdrawal. Don't I at least get a cookie? Oh. Yeah. Not gonna get that either. #grumpyginger. (Insert disclaimer for my behavior for the next hour until I naturally wake up). Lawd. Help. Me.
#brightside - this should dissipate in three days. My acute misery and whiny inner brat will get over the fact that she no longer gets her ambrosia IN. THREE. DAYS. Can I please have a fastforward to Friday morning?? I keep repeating in my head that this is for my own good(lip pout) and I am TRULY grateful to Lori. She is gonna help me look like her - a glowing good health infused fairy :) #grateful - The GFG

10 Days of 'Harmonious Ginger'

If anyone has followed along for the last two weeks its pretty obvious that I not only slipped off the yellow brick road of 'Ginger-friendly' eating... I ran like a mad woman into the field of poppies. Poppies! Yes...Poppies!!!(I puffyheartLOVE The Wizard of Oz). Okay...that was getting off on a tangent. So. Yeah. I. Goofed. Poor Gamer Boy and Cason :(  They must really love me when I mess up and wind up in 'The Doldrums'.(yes. I'm also a 'Phantom Tollbooth' kid)

Now, Lori has been 'gently nudging' me for over a year to let go of caffeine and part ways with 'meats and sweets'. I, of course, have dug my flip flop firmly in the grass, put my hands on my hips, poked my bottom lip fully out and and shook my head. NO. Uh uh. Won't do it. I cannot live like a TOTAL hippie.....or can I???(Insert obvious truth of - Don't challenge a redhead) #ponderingginger

So here I sit today - as of midnight last night I embark into the scary, vast unknown of the Vegetarian world for 10 days. My diet will consist of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds and water. Sheesh. By the end of this I should at least be able to summon up small woodland creatures like Snow White, right?
#agirlcandream....Stay tuned for updates on my adventure into full blown 'Hippie Land'. #peaceout - The GFG

Well. This. Is. Gonna. Be. Interesting....

After what I have now come to call 'the hamburger incident', I went back through all of my emails from Lori(incase you haven't read my Bio - she is my holistic practitioner) and actually contacted her. We decided it was time to hit the 'reset' button or in other words - its time to be a good lil' Ginger and stop eating the crap that HATES me. #ephiphany

I have used every. single. ounce. of Southern stubborness I possess with her as she has 'gently nudged' me towards it for over a year - come. off. Coffee. OH-THE-HORROR that arises in my heart when I even think about it. I actually believe my soul cries a little too. This morning I will bypass the hot, deliciously bubbling cauldron(pot) sent down to me from the caffeine Gods(actually it was purchased at Publix by my boss) and instead my cup that Gamer Boy gave me for Mother's Day will be filled with Acai,Pomegranate & Blueberry Green Tea. Yay! I'm so excited...NOT. #gingerinmourning

FASTFORWARD---> fifteen minutes. This stuff tasted like microwaved fruit punch!! #notsobad
It is NOT a comparison to my usual morning nectar of life but I am enjoying the fact that it turns purple as it steeps. (did I mention I am easily amused?) I will say its doing its job as far as waking me up and with the raw Agave Nectar I added it is tolerable and not All. Together. Unpleasant. I'm sitting here thinkin' - now wouldn't my Southern Belle grandmother be tickled pink at me being all proper 'n junk and drinkin' tea? I might have to call her in a lil' while and tell her. We'll just edit out the fact that instead of holding it delicately over a hand-painted saucer and wearing a 'tea dress' that coordinates the colors on my cup and saucer - i'm in a v-neck shirt, pants and flip flops :) #hippieforlife - The GFG

#impeccablyimperfect

I stated once(or five times) that Gluten hates me. You would THINK since I have this knowledge and am fully aware of its effects that I would avoid it like the plague(which 98.3% of the time I do), right?
#notsobrightgingermoment

I decided that since I had been sick for a few days and was craving junk food to just say to heck with it and ate a hamburger on Real. White. Oh. So. Delicious. Bread. Every single bite was amazing! FASTFORWARD----->next morning...NOT amazing in the slightest. I wake up so grumpy I don't even like the feel of air touching my skin and in such a mental fog that I just didn't want to do anything that involved even the smallest effort. Add the stiffness in my neck and shoulders and you have arrived at the sum of this equation - me + gluten = #miserableginger

So I stumbled out of bed(thank the Lawd it was a Sunday) and made it to the couch where I planted myself in all my misery and self-loathing for so long that I'm ashamed to admit it. Its moments like these that I want to laugh at myself but I am just too dang irritable to bother. I have learned that normal human interaction is beyond me when I am like this since I am crippled minus my smile and humor. Those two attributes are(in my opinion) the shiniest parts of me and without them I feel like a kid in art class and someone stole my glitter. #depressedginger

Today is the first day of the fog lifting and I am back to feeling more like a member of the human species. Perhaps this time I've learned my lesson and will never eat gluten again and will be shiny every single day? (highly unlikely) As I said before - #impeccablyimperfect - thats me! - The GFG