So you can imagine my shock and outrage when I saw a CBS news report warning buyers that fake fur may actually be the real thing. Apparently, clothing manufacturers (predominately from China) are skinning alive raccoon dogs and neglecting to mention this little fact on the label. In the past when there was no mention of the fur on a label I just assumed that because the item was so inexpensive there was no possible way that it could be real fur. My assumptions could not have been more wrong. In China the raccoon dog, which is in the canine family, are raised by the millions for their fur. It is cheaper to use raccoon dog pellet than to produce faux fur. Sad but true.

The news report also uncovered that some stores tag items as faux fur when it is actually real fur. Now it is possible that these stores may have been duped just like the rest of us. I say this is no excuse. If you buy and sell a product, you better damn well know what it is that you are selling! In a court of law, ignorance is not a valid defense.

In the future I will certainly be more cautious when looking at faux fur products. To spot fake from real you must examine the fur closely. Part the fur with your fingers, look close at the base to see if it is made of material or skin (ugh, just creeps me out to say skin). You may not always be able to tell the difference by inspecting it this way but, it’s a start. In short, buyer beware.

*Okay, I will make the occasional exception to wearing animal materials but only if it’s an emergency, ie: protection when racing a motorcycle, hiking in Antarctica, etc.

Two charities close to my heart are the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. This disease is usually diagnosed at a very young age, 2 years and up. CF is a defective gene that causes the body to produce a thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs which leads to life-threatening lung infections. This mucus also prevents the body to break down and absorb food.

Forty years ago this terrible disease took the lives of children before they were old enough to start school. However, today with the help of advances in research, medical treatments and donations the survival age for a person with CF is more than 37 years. Sadly, CF is still a fatal disease. These two foundations accept donations to continue the effort in finding a cure for this horrible disease.

Yesterday, the hubby and I decided to have lunch at the grand opening of a new vegetarian restaurant, The Veggie Grill. Considering there isn’t an over abundance of vegetarian restaurants in Hollywood (yes, it’s hard to believe), we had high hopes. Since The Veggie Grill is conveniently located next to Trader Joe’s, we decided to accomplish two things in one trip. Lunch first, grocery shopping second.

When we opened the doors we were absolutely shocked to see the place completely full. This was a good sign as there are multiple locations in the L.A. area and perhaps these patrons knew something we didn’t. After perusing the menu and our difficult meal decisions made, we stood in-line with the rest of the hungry people. We gave our order to a very pleasant cashier and then were provided with empty cups (to help ourselves to beverages) and a numbered sign to place on our table.

As we waited for our meals to be delivered, I took in the atmosphere and decor. It is a cheery, bright restaurant with plenty of tables. The hardwood floors are inviting and and the not-too-overdone neon orange and green colors are surprisingly pleasant to look at. I was drawn to the cute outdoor patio complete with umbrellas, but after a mile walk in the sun to the restaurant I was longing for some air conditioning.

Inside The Veggie Grill

After about a 5-10 minute wait, our food arrived. I must admit D’s looked much better than mine. I ordered the Chinese Chickin’ salad.  My salad was good, but not great.  It came with faux chickin’, romaine, cabbage, green onion, sesame seeds, roasted corn salsa, mandarin oranges with a sesame-rice vinaigrette. Also for added protein, all salads are infused with Quinoa (”keen-wa”), a lovely “supergrain”. I only ordered a salad because I was trying to be good. I knew what we were having for dinner and it was all kinds of bad. No salad for me next time.

My Chinese Chickin' Salad

D’s red & white Bean Me Up Chili was quite tasty.

D's Bean Me Up Chili

D’s Carne Asada sandwich was fantastic. The sandwich was made of grilled veggie-steak, marinated in Mexican spices, with southwestern spiced vegan mayo, red onion, lettuce, tomato on a whole wheat roll with a side of red cabbage ’slaw. Yum, yum, yum!

D's YUMMY Carne Asada Sandwich

Most of the items on the menu contained some type of faux meat: chickin’, steak or tempeh. D & I found it quite interesting that no where on the menu or in the restaurant does it mention that every item is vegetarian or vegan.  Perhaps people are turned off with the words vegetarian and vegan?  Anyway, I do suspect that everything on the menu is vegan rather than vegetarian.

I do look forward to visiting The Veggie Grill again in the very near future. I have my eye on the Chill Out Wings!

In the last U.S. election, Californians voted to pass Proposition 8. In short, this Prop bans the right for same-sex marriages. Now if I have my facts correct, yesterday the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and it remains law. However, the 18,000 couples who married during the Rainbow Window (Same-sex marriage approved by the Supreme Court before the election) last year will remain legally married.

So yesterday’s ruling was a lose/win situation. Congratulations to all the gay and lesbians couples that were married during the Rainbow Window. To the rest of you that did not drop everything and make a mad dash to the court house to say “I Do”… I’m sorry – you’re basically screwed. Until the next election.

Deutsch and I were proud to join the thousands of people who rushed to the streets to stand up for what we believe in, equal rights for all.

Of course, I’m sure I am over simplifying the facts and missing crucial information, but this basically sums it up. Here is a good article from the L.A. Times that helps explain.

Here are some pictures we took during the march:

Breakfast:
Veggie Quiche Cups
V8 Low Sodium Veggie Juice
Coffee w/ FF Milk

Morning Snack:
Mozzarella Stick

Lunch:
Green Salad w/ Green Goddess Dressing

Afternoon Snack:
Roasted Chickpeas

Dinner:
Left-Over Soy Beef & Bean Chili

Dessert:
Mocha Ricotta

Exercise:
Walked 4.6 miles to the bank and movie theatre.
Saw “He’s Just Not That Into You”. It was okay. I found it started out very anti-men saying all men suck, big time!. However, it slowly, eventually turned itself around, not hating men quite as much. It ended with men only sucking a wee bit.

I didn't have any South Beach pictures for you today so I thought I would show off our babies, Brando & Foxy.

Breakfast:

Veggie Quiche Cups To Go (egg beaters, spinach & asparagus)
V8 Low Sodium Veggie Juice
Coffee w/ Fat-Free Milk

Morning Snack:
1 Reduced-Fat Colby/Cheddar Cheese Stick

Lunch:

Butter Beans, Arugula and Spinach Salad w/ Green Goddess Dressing
Sugar-Free Cherry Creamsicle

Afternoon Snack:
Oops! Missed this one. My bad.

Dinner:
Left-over Buttermilk Salmon Chowder

Dessert:

Peanut Butter Cup

Exercise:

4 Mile walk up Runyon Canyon!!!
Finally a day without cool temperatures and rain!
I saw 2 firsts today. In Runyon I’ve seen people walk their dogs, horses, birds, lizards, and even a goat, but today I saw a lady walking her… cat!!!! I felt so bad for the little one. Poor thing must have been terrified, since the dog park is filled with DOGS!!! My 2nd first was actor, Julian Sands. Hubba hubba! (I used to have a crush on him in my early 20’s)
Tomorrow the storms will be back, so I guess the pilates will be too!

Like I said the chase itself was not riveting, however, the news coverage and internet chatter was. It was amusing listening to all the local anchors insinuating in every imaginable way that the driver was Chris Brown, but without actually SAYING his name. Good thing for them they did avoid saying his name, as they would be facing some legal problems today.

What was amazing was watching Twitter just EXPLODE! D & I were reading the Tweets, but could not keep up with them. They were coming in way too quickly to read. So interesting to see how many people are using and depending on this technology.

When the chase finally came to a stop and the standoff had begun it was incredible how the paparazzi and curious people/fans started to converged onto the scene. People!?! Guns are being drawn! Bullets could be flying! Have you never heard of stray bullets or friendly fire?

Sadly, once the media learned that the driver was not the famous Chris Brown or the semi-famous DJ Khaled all coverage of this event abruptly ended. Just like that it was over… on TV at least. The tense standoff was still going on. However, once it was confirmed that the driver was just an average, luxury-car owning (not even referred as a “Bentley” anymore), Joe, nobody cared. I’m hoping that the driver was not aware of the lack of interest to his fate once the true identity was known.

I guess I am just as guilty as anyone else for being sucked into the media frenzy. I just could not turn away. Sad.

*Chris Brown – Entertainer. Age 19. Best known as a singer with chart topping singles. Reportedly in a relationship with Rihanna, a singer as well. Most recently in the news with accusations of domestic violence charges.

**DJ Khaled – A Palestinian-American DJ, producer and radio personality for the Miami-based urban music radio station WEDR. He is also a member of the hip hop group Terror Squad.

Breakfast:
Scrambled Egg Beaters w/ Soy Bacon Strip
Vegetable Juice
Coffee w/ Fat-Free Milk

Morning Snack:
Celery w/ Peanut Butter

Lunch:

Greek Salad

Afternoon Snack:
Mozzarella Cheese Stick

Dinner:
Buttermilk Salmon Chowder (had a picture, but D said it didn’t do this yummy dish any justice)

Dessert:
Peanut Butter Cup

Exercise:
60 Minute Pilates

It was a good day. The two highlights were the trip to the Farmer’s Market and our dinner. Today was grocery shopping day. We decided to purchase our veggies from the Farmer’s Market instead of the grocery store. It always feels good buying and eating something that is locally grown. We also like to support our local farms. As an added bonus, our excursion was part of our exercise as we decided to walk instead of driving. It was a little damp and chilly, but still fun.

Peppers at the Famer's Market

Tomatoes on the vine

No fruit allowed, but these berries looked so good I had to snap a shot

We finally had success with one of our dinner recipes! We made Soy Meat & Bean Chili and it was excellent!!! Not only was it quick, easy and inexpensive, it is healthy! This receipe is definately a keeper. We had leftovers, which we threw in the freezer. It will be great to heat up on a lazy day. Perhaps next Saturday. Also we resurrected an old dessert that is not only Phase 1 friendly, but delicious! The ingredients are: 1 sugar-free fudgsicle, 2 tbsp of peanut butter, 2 tbsp lite or sugar-free whipped topping (like Cool Whip). Just mix all the ingredients together in place in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving. We prefer ours to be colder, so we place it in the freezer. YUMMY!!!

The day went as follows:

Breakfast:
Fat-free Cottage Cheese w/ Cucumber & Cherry Tomatoes
Soy Canadian Bacon
Vegetable Juice
Coffee w/ Fat-Free Milk

Morning SnacK:
Peanuts

Lunch:
Egg-Less Caesar Salad w/ Soy Chicken Strips

Afternoon Snack:
1 Reduced-Fat Colby/Cheddar Cheese Stick

Dinner:

Soy Beef & Bean Chili w/ a dollop of fat-free sour cream

Dessert:
Peanut Butter Cup

Exercise:
Walk to Farmer’s Market (approx. 3+ miles)
20 minute Pilates

Breakfast:
1 egg white, scrambled
1 slice of soy Canadian bacon
1 small glass of vegetable juice
Coffee with fat-free milk

Morning Snack:
4 pieces of celery with hummus

Lunch:
Egg-less Caesar Salad w/ soy chicken
1 sugar-free orange creamsicle

This is the yummy Egg-less Caesar Salad w/ Soy Chicken. This is a keeper!

Afternoon Snack:
1/2 cup of low-fat cottage cheese
(D had a mozzarella cheese stick)

Dinner:
Portobello Mushroom Burger (without the bun)
Steamed broccoli

This Portobello Mushroom Burger may not look pretty, but it was very tasty.

Dessert:
Lemon Zest Ricotta Crème
(D had Mocha Ricotta Crème)

Exercise:
None. I suck.