How I Spent My Veganaversary

Friday was my 7-year veganaversary (and my 17-year vegetarian-aversary)! I went vegan in 2004 on Black Friday as a way to celebrate what was then ten years of vegetarianism. I went vegetarian in 1994 on the day after Thanksgiving, after realizing that I just couldn't bear to eat any more food that once had a face.

Each year, I celebrate my veganaversary in much the same way: Brunch with my mom at Brother Juniper's, Black Friday shopping, and a dinner of Thanksgiving leftovers. That's been the routine for at least four years now, and this one was no exception. But this time, I documented the day with my iPhone camera.

Since I knew my mom and I were planning to pig out on tofu scramble at brunch, I only had a small slice of Coconut Pie at breakfast. It's Granny's pie leftover from Thanksgiving:

My parents live an hour away, and I'd made the drive back to Memphis after Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night. But on Friday morning, my mom made the drive to me for brunch and shopping. When she arrived at my house, we took her car to Brother Juniper's, our favorite brunch spot. We both always order the same thing — Fahim's Special, a delicious tofu scramble with kalamata olives and a balsamic sauce, the world's greatest home fries, and 2 slices of whole grain toast with homemade fruit preserves:

You probably can't tell from the picture, but this is a ton of food. I'd say there's a half-pound of tofu on each plate, plus nearly a whole potato's worth of greasy home fries. I'm not ashamed to say that I polished off all my tofu and potatoes. But I did leave a slice and a half of bread on my plate.

After brunch, we headed to the Wolfchase Galleria mall so I could pick out my Xmas presents. My favorite store — Delia's — has great deals on Black Friday, so I try on a few things I like, and my mom buys them. Then she hauls the stuff back home to wrap up for my Xmas presents. Yes, this means I know what I'm getting for Xmas. But at least I know I'll love everything! I'm not too fond of surprises. Here we are goofing off with my iPhone photo booth:

After we shopped until we nearly dropped, my mom headed back to Arkansas. And I went to pick up my doggy, Datsun, from the vet:

He had emergency surgery on Tuesday night to remove a giant wad of cat litter from his tummy. You see, Datsun has recently developed a nasty cat poop eating habit. But I couldn't catch him in the act, and I didn't know how to block him off from the cat boxes (I've since figured out that a baby gate works, but not before it was too late).

Anyway, turns out the litter was piling up in his tummy! It had to be surgically removed, and he had to spend Thanksgiving day at the vet's office in recovery. I was super worried about him healing okay. But he's doing great now! If it weren't for the stitches on his belly, you'd never know he'd had surgery less than a week ago. All he wants to do now is play ball, but doctor's orders say no ball for at least two weeks!

If you have a dog with a cat poop habit, please find a way to keep your pup out of the litter box! I had no idea the litter could stay in his belly like that. The vet said parasites from poop eating aren't a huge concern for dogs on worm prevention (and Datsun is), but even the vet seemed surprised by how much litter was built up in Datsun's tummy. We do have six cats, so that's a lot of poop.

After I got Datsun home, my tofu scramble breakfast was starting to wear off. My mom sent me home with a ton of leftovers, and I'm of the belief that Thanksgiving leftovers are even better than the real meal. So I made a plate with Field Roast and gravy, dressin', cranberry sauce, hash brown casserole, green beans, and ramen noodle slaw:

Another awesome veganaversary has come and gone, but I'm still working on those leftovers.