Vegan Oreo Ice Cream from the Chocolate Shoppe on State (+ American Apparel deadstock sunglasses)

a scout it out- a scout it out- a scout it out—- that’s what I did last weekend on my way up and back to a little lakeside house for some much needed R&R.  The talent? Madison, Wisconsin.  Fabulous capital and home to my daddy’s alma matar.  Now as gorgeous and lovely as the state street shops, live music, and adorable locals are-I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was SHOCKED at the lack of veg options in such an awesome city (business opportunity alert!!!), know for their world peace protests.  But hey, maybe I was spoilt by Milwaukee and all the conscientious foodie love I found in the most unlikely places! That said- if you like dessert- I’ve got two places you’ll love in this Wisconsin Capitol. Oh and 4 others you might want to check out too. if you have a mouth, that is.

1. The elusive Dandelion Food Cart- I heard and heard about this fabulous all veg food cart near the Capitol, one review said it was on the 100 block of State Street, another said on MLK Drive, another said 500 block on campus- it was a race against time as we arrived with just 45 minutes before they closed at 2pm! And alas, did this search have a happy ending? Well, not in the classic way…  Location- I believe on State Street somewhere between campus and the block after the capitol, open weekdays?  I’ve also heard just Tues-Thurs-11am-2pm, I think… now don’t quote me on any of that, I couldn’t find it myself!

2.  …But in the SUPER YUMMY HOMEMADE VEGAN OREO ICE CREAM IN A VEGAN WAFFLE CONE way, YES! We heard that the Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream Parlor also made their own dairy free scoops and cones.  Mmmm so good (and reasonably priced!) that we went back another time. Double scoop cone for under $5. Chocolate Shoppe 468 State Street

3. Himal Chuli: Himal Chuli, Himal Chuli, Himal Chuli. This is what i heard when I asked for advice on where to eat vegan in Madison (even from the random vegan guy on the street who lives on his own 800 acres in Iowa! That’s where he was heading as I was looking for that darn Dandelion!) So, yes, we went to Himal Chuli, a Nepalese itty bitty of a restaurant with more than half a vegetarian menu full of seitan tofu and vegetable dishes. It’s a little pricey here for not huge portions, but the veg owners and interesting and delicious compassionate food make it a definite stop if you’re in Madison. Himal Chuli 318 State Street

4.  Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier- oh my goodness, what more do I love than amazing dark chocolate in pretty adorable shapes?! Enter Gail Ambrosius Chocolate- while not entirely vegan, they’re specialty is dark chocolate, which means all of their solid chocolates, with nuts, fruits, and in adorable so cute designs and affordable prices, are all just waiting, WAITING, to be eaten by a lovely big hearted vegan girl! I could barely keep myself from ordering it all! Their sorbets are also vegan? (but their smores and truffles are off limits.) Like heaven. Pretty artistic delicious heaven. Gail Ambrosius Chocolates- 2086 Atwood, Madison

5. Monty’s Blue Plate Diner: Hmmm. so I had heard there was a Diner where half the menu was veg- vegetarian that is, not as many vegan options as I expected but hey- I’m just glad it’s here! Vegan Cherry Pie, French Toast, and their Veg Reuben is called the Sheldon- cute.  (Right across the street from Gail’s Chocolate) 2089 Atwood Avenue, Madison

5.5 Bad Dog Frida: Well, it isn’t for you to eat at- but your dog will thank you! Super sweet and definite animal lover owner has adopted several dogs and stocks her boutique with fabulous things like: Intellectual Games & Puzzles from Sweden!?!  Man, Whitman would love these! On his xmas list. Also lots of yummy treats I’d never seen before like peanut butter molasses treats, and blueberry ones too! Online shop too. Bad Dog Frida 2094 Atwood Avenue, Madison (right by Gail’s and Monty’s for a triple shop stop)

And a Great Guide to Veg*n Food in Madison: http://www.vegmadison.com/restaurants.html

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Our Pea Coat (in Blackberry)

 FROM THE ARTICLE:

“According to Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart, 26, founder and creative director of Vaute Couture in Chicago, “There used to be this idea that to be vegan is a sacrifice, and one thing you’d sacrifice would be style — that people who are vegan don’t care about expressing themselves through clothing or their looks,” the vegan Ford model said. “A lot of vegans really exemplify a new standard.”

Hilgart makes her case with the Vaute Coat she’s debuting this fall. Setting out to make a fashionable winter jacket that was “cute and warm and animal-conscious” to get her through the brutal Chicago winter, she came up with peacoats and dress coats made from a 100% recycled Polar Tech fabric that offers thermal insulation but also a “pretty flirty drape” and an “elegant texture.” The coats are made in Chicago by seamstresses who Hilgart said make a “living wage.”

When she shops for vegan clothes, Hilgart said, she paws through the racks like everyone else at boutiques, department stores and vintage shops. She’s just careful to read all the labels — even “the little tiny labels on the bottom side” just to make sure no animal products were involved.

“It’s not a sacrifice to be considerate of others. You can have everything,” said Hilgart, who’s contributing part of the proceeds from her new coat to the animal advocacy organization Farm Sanctuary. “You just have to be more careful about it, but you can be conscientious and have style too.”

TO READ THE REST of “VEGAN FASHION- NOT AN OXYMORON”- click here!  

Check out great quotes from Olsen Haus’s Elizabeth Olsen (Shoes), Matt & Nat’s Inder Bedi (Bags), Alternative Outfitters (LA/online shop), and Rachel Sarnoff of EcoStiletto.com.

Thanks Sue Carpenter & the LA Times! Also be sure to read their fabulous sister article on Vegan Beauty featuring Zuzu Luxe Cosmetics and Beauty Without Cruelty!

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the apple of my eye- whitman- our little rescue from the pound, and I don’t know what I’d do without!

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Nicole is one of my favorite people- we met riding around on scooters (the wooden wheeled kindergarten gym class kind, when we were 20!), playing with parachutes, and falling on the ice at 8am on the way to class.  Everyone thought we’d known each other forever! She’s one of the strongest, most generous and modest people I know, an amazing mom with a giggle that’ll brighten anyone’s day. Also super athletic, artistic, animal loving fantastic 3rd grade teacher and incredible gluten free dairy free baker. Nicole has offered to help with some projects now and then at VC and of course, we’re glad to have her!

Here are some Q & A’s our summer intern, Caitlin, asked this sweetpea (my comments, as usual, are in italics and parantheses.- LM)

1.  What is the best part about being a mom?
I get this intense wave that comes over me when I look at Diego- especially while he is engrossed in an activity and doesn’t know that mom is watching- and think, “I love this little boy so dang much!”  I often want to scream it out loud .  It’s the oddest, yet most natural, urge I’ve ever had.  (I LOVE watching them together… like magic!)

2. How did you meet Leanne? I met Leanne in an education course at DePaul.  Along with three other girls, Leanne and I taught P.E. to kindergartners.  It was a total “Operation Giggle Fest.”  The kindergartners had fun, but we had a blast and somehow brought all of the qualities of a young girl sleepover to an 8:30 am college course.  Guards melted and bonding took place amidst lesson planning and pretending to be dinosaurs with the five-year-olds.  Super cute.  (wayyy too much fun for 8am- definitely my fav class!)

3. What do you love the most about her company, Vaute Couture? Vaute Couture makes me feel damn good.  It’s message about cruelty-free fashion is so in line with my core beliefs that even thinking about Vaute Couture gives me a sense of calm and peace. (aw, thanks Nicole!)

4.What do you like to do when you’re not working? (ahem, everything! Nicole is like Super Woman…exhibit A-Z… here we go!) Cuddle with my son, watch Juneau swim in the kiddie pool at the dog park, challenge others to taco eating contests, experiment with dairy and gluten-free recipes, run my tail off, take art classes, dance hip-hop, daydream incessantly, sip hot coffee, gulp cold coffee, read in the bathtub, chit-chat with my girlfriends, listen to my parents’ childhood stories at family parties, and weight lift.
5. How did Juneau come into your life? (PS- he is ADORABLE.) Juneau’s mom was rescued, thank goodness, from a junkyard right after delivering nine pups. Eight of the pups survived and all found good homes. My little guy stuck out the most though. He was the only one, out of a litter of German Shepherd colored pups, with a pure white coat and a pink nose. Probably because he was the oddball of the group, I immediately fell in love with him and applied for adoption. About a month later, his foster mom drove to my house, handed over a jiggly white ball covered in matted fur, and asked to borrow a hose to rinse off her backseat car mats. Juneau still gets carsick every time he rides in a car.

6. What is your favorite dairy and gluten-free recipe?
I Need a Sweettooth Fix Right Now recipe:
1. Put 2 spoonfuls of crunchy almond butter into a coffee mug
2. Mix in 1 spoonful of Suzanne’s Ricemellow Creme
2. Sprinkle in a healthy portion of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
3. Add a pinch of raisins (optional, but highly recommended)
4. Stir once more
5. Savor and swoon

(mmm thanks for that, nicole! can’t wait to try!)

If you have any questions for Nicole, please leave them here! You can also look for her at our Pivot Event September 14th, 6-8pm, at the Pivot Boutique in the Fulton Market. More details to come!

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The lovely underwear factory turned LEED Platinum Certified eco-epicenter GREEN EXCHANGE is our future home sweet! I’m super psyched to wake up everyday to stroll through a 9,000 square foot organic garden, eat at the Raw, Vegan, Gluten Free Balanced Kitchen, and party it up in the sustainable event space with neighbors doing their thing, their awesome lovely thing. You’ll definitely have to visit! 

Check out the introduction that one such, Conscious Living TV, put together of us at our latest shindig!

An Introduction to the Green Exchange (web version) from Conscious Living TV on Vimeo.

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 Yesterday was a crap day. A terrible, horrible, no-good, very crap day. And I, being a fairly optimistic and happy so lucky type of girl, typically think the worst on days like this. I’m dramatic, I’m silly, I let thoughts lead to more thoughts until I’m questioning everything I do & considering moving to Australia. Today started out with the residue of a total crap yesterday. But then, as I ran Whit this morning, I heard a little voice…

 ~Audrey Hepburn (in “How to be Lovely”)

 This isn’t a post about God, it isn’t even a post about Audrey Hepburn. It’s about these words, how they hold me in their palm and keep me safe. Risk, apparent risk… that’s what my life has become, because I will do what I must to be a voice for the animals in this industry. Is it terrifying? Sometimes. Is it worth it? No question. But when I’m 24/7 putting all of myself into something that has no guarantee, no safety net, no spotter, no emergency button, just me, everyday, doing my best and believing in something that I’m building with every ounce of what I’ve got… sometimes it’s just too much. (TOO MUCH!) for a girl to handle. But I know that’s when I most have to remember the full story- my full story- I’m happy to give it my all, and if I read through the pages, I quickly see that each chapter, after a particularly awful scary challenge or super lonely hard time, I’ve stumbled upon the sunrise, all warm and bright and new. It’s so easy to just dwell. But in the end, it’s the work I do when nothing is guaranteed that I find myself most connected to the universe, because I know it’s the work I have to do.

It’s funny… just now when I looked up this quote (that I noted after reading “How to be Lovely” borrowed from the Hong Kong library last summer), I realize I read it just as I was starting Vaute Couture. Books, what great friends, right? They know what you need, when you need it. Thank you, world, for books! And just now, I’ve found this one:

“…Not to live for the day, that would be materialistic — but to treasure the day. I realize that most of us live on the skin — on the surface — without appreciating just how wonderful it is simply to be alive at all.”

Now go have a super, fantastic, not bad, and very wonderful weekend! thanks for listening to me moan. hopefully I won’t be doing too much more of that on here.

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So, amidst the HOTTEST most sweltering-est weekend of this super mild Chicago summer, was Veggie Fest in Naperville, a suburb I spent many an adolescent weekend at chillin in Java & Juice (pre-Jamba), walking that River Walk, people watching the other people people watching us, ya know… anyway My whole family wanted to go (yay hilgarts!) and it’s always fun to run into lots of friends & heroes as well. Here’s a list of my fav 10 at Veggie Fest that you might want to know (in no particular order, of course!) 

Leanne’s CHICAGO VEG FAVS at the 2009 VEGGIE FEST <3

1. Chicago Vegan Mania- The biggest vegan party this city has yet to see! Coming 10.10.09.

2. Upton’s- Chicago made Seitan that’s super, I mean, super delicious. 

3. Artfully Delicious- new Chicagoland caterer- is all veg all art and all that.

4. Mercy for Animals- Amazingly awesome AR group famed for MTV ads, now HQ’d in the Windy City. 

5. Karyn’s- Known for her raw and cooked restaurants, with an Inner Beauty Center. now that’s hot!

6. the Chicago Diner- my favorite short lived job. The best Reuben. The Best milkshakes.

7. The surprising street signs of famous vegetarians- Jerry Seinfield? For real? Is this true?

8. Chocolate Inspirations- (NEW FIND!)- Local chocolatier that offers vegan english toffee & coconut brittle. 

9. Nutrilicious- (NEW FIND!)- Vegan donuts reminiscent of those cartons of Entemann’s. Dad would like!

10. Chicago Veg Meet-up- Vadim and his tons of get togethers are great new-friend finders. 

(Ooo and one bonus for- a baker’s ten? Banana Walnut Hemp Banana Bread, from Manna Organics.)

so check ‘em out! 

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Meet Liz.  She’s the first *official* member of the Vaute Couture team, and handles all the shipping and processing of your lovely tee orders! For not just one reason alone can we think of why we chose her, adore her, and can’t get enough of her. She’s musical (has been playing violin for TWO DECADES), loves to travel, has a killer singing voice, is an amazing mom, and is the kind of girl impossible to hate. She’s giving, thoughtful, and yet quite honest… quite VERY honest. It’s not the bull sweetness that makes you watch your back, it’s the real good stuff sweet that makes you think- wow, she’s fabulous. And without further adieu, I give you, Liz Atkins!

1. LM: You lived in Scotland for a year. What is your favorite Scottish phrase that you miss using? And do you still use it?

LA: There are a lot, but my favorite is “I’m not being funny”, which loosely translates into “I am being totally serious”, and yes, I use it all the time. (Yes, she uses it all the time).

2. LM: Lucy is absolutely adorable, a real love, I say! What actress would do Lucy (your doxie)’s voice in an animated film starring a character based on Lucy? 

LA: Amy Adams. Lucy is a very sweet, timid dog, and has (I imagine) a very tiny, but peppy voice–just like Amy’s. (I couldn’t agree more!)

3. LM: I have YOU to thank for my Ellen addiction! She’s a vegan superstar! Do you have any idea how she gets those bad lip synchers to sing “Since You’ve Been Gone” all they way through when they don’t know the words?

LA: I don’t know, but they remind me of myself when I sing. I rarely ever know all of the lyrics in a song–I just make up my own.  (Yes, except you have a fabulous voice to back it up! These, well…)  
4. LM: For real though- why do you like Ellen so much?

LA: (cue the violins and slow zoom…) I would love to say that the main reason that I like Ellen so much is because she is an overcomer; because even after all she has endured throughout her life, she has come out on top, and she is an inspiration to me.  (long dramatic pause…) And while all of that is true, the main reason I like her so much is simple. She makes me laugh. A lot.

(wouldn’t you like to know where #5 went? We’re not telling…)

6. LM:You’re the first official Vaute Couture team member. How does it feel?

LA: I feel very lucky to be part of a company that is more concerned about what good it is putting into the world, rather than the good that it is taking out. I have been a fan of Vaute Couture since the very beginning, and it is an honor to be a part of something so special. (Awww, thanks Liz! heart you too!)

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P.S. If you have any questions for Liz, leave them here!

An ode to our favorite yellow haired saxaphonist with the big laugh. Available in Girls too!

for animal lovers by definition.

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Dyed with low impact fabric dyes.
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Fitted boyish cut tee shirt pre-washed for softness.

$26 + CURRENTLY WITH FREE US SHIPPING!

First Orders will ship out by Friday

I do win friends with salad (for Guys-shown, for Girls, click here) Join the cool crowd of animal lovers & salad eaters.  Could it be the fresh crisp greens? Creamy and oh so generous avacado? The almonds, cherries, and croutons of goodness? Or maybe the lovely glow you get and your light tred on the earth, as an environmentally efficient source of body fuel (fyi- animal agriculture is the #1 source of greenhouse gases, more than all modes of transportation combined- United Nations 2006 Report)  Or maybe it’s purely statistical- our on average longer lifespan leads to more chances for friendships… “Cartoons don’t have messages, Lisa.”  (Lisa, the Vegetarian)

I heart all things with, um, a heart: What do I love? Let me count…. carefree puppies, artistic and loving elephants, resourceful ant-eaters, community-focused ants, syntax-understanding dolphins, loyal pigs… man, I could go on forever. But there’s one thing I know- if there’s a heart, love list it is. Maybe it’s your list, too.

Hope you like!

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