Baby Shower and NYC Vegfest

This weekend I journeyed back to New England to bake for a baby shower! The baby shower was for my cousin, Jen, and it was Beatles-themed! There were lots of yellow submarines, Beatles song titled-games, a Beatles mix to take home as a favor, and of course, Strawberry Fields-themed cupcakes, baked by yours truly.

These were void of allergens, especially gluten, soy, corn, dairy, eggs, peanuts.. I think thats it ? They are strawberry-lemonade flavored, and they got high marks! It was a long night and early morning, but I kept myself sane by singing Strawberry Fields Forever while they were baked, frosted, decorated and packed. They cooked vegan for me at the shower, too :) My cousin Nick made scrambled chickpeas, potatoes and pancakes for me in addition to all the other food for the other guests. When people cook things especially for you, they just taste better. I'm very used to not being accommodated and usually come prepared with back-up food. I don't get mad when there's nothing I can eat, but when someone makes sure you're taken care of at their event, it goes a really long way. So, THANKS!<3

The first of 2 trees to be set up and ready for post-baby bingo hunger

Strawberry Fields, Forever...

See my pastel pink and yellow swirl frosting?! Look how fancy, you guys!

The NYC VegFest was the day after the shower, so we scored some Sunday tickets and rolled home late so we could roll out early. I love the VegFest! This is the 3rd one I've been to. It's always so fun to see all the different businesses, big and small, probably located right under our noses, who are helping us all do the right things and support good causes. This year there were 2 floors! A full-house as always, we pushed our way around and got nearly every sample in the house. Some places were businesses I was learning about for the first time, and others that I'm a long-time fan of. Wait, is that girl wearing a thong over her pants? Is that back?!?

The best vegan chai! I always get it at the Shop-Ups in Brooklyn, so I definitely swooped in when I saw it for a spicy steamy mug of chai. It's almost like I'm over coffee. Almost. Just try it. You'll understand.

Dancing pony balloons accompanied by a certain handsome gentleman.

We returned home with a modest haul, compared to years passed.

BUT WAIT. We got tons of ice cream. And I talked to the owner who told me they are opening their store at the end of April or early May. I guess many people don't buy tons of ice cream from her at a time, amd she was so happy to talk to us and told us she would give us a tour of her factory! Also she took a picture of us to put on their facebook. We tried a bunch of flavors, and decided it would be unacceptable to come home with less than $20 worth of ice cream, so we got 4 pints. It was the most sane decision we made all day. That Del Lago Chocolate, though...

We saw this guy do the parallel park-job of the century while we waited in line for the festival, and what with his lime green truck and logo, we spotted him at his booth and felt compelled to buy some energy drinks from him. Better than RedBull for sure, fewer ingredients, fewer ingredients with difficult-to-pronounce names, though does contain a healthy (or unhealthy) dose of sugar. What gives?

Last, but not least, I got some macaroons from Sweet Maresa! These are pistachio burnt caramel or something to that effect. I loved them, obviously, because I have a beating heart and taste buds. The Veg Fest was so fun! There were more samples this year than before I think, maybe because ticket prices went up? It's always a fun event to tackle as the gates to springtime in NYC begin to open, the first of many good things to come.

Now look at these obligatory Isa Does It pictures.