It’s been almost three years since I switched over to a primarily vegan diet, and in that time, my reasons for why I chose to eat this way have evolved and grown.  [If you’re ever curious about that in more detail, definitely feel free to contact me!]  And in the last year or so, I made the commitment to slowly start removing animal products from other parts of my life besides just my diet, primarily beginning with fashion. I sold my Ugg boots and designer leather jackets, and have been focused on only buying vegan moving forward.

Then, randomly, when Ty Baby was only about six weeks old, I met my sweet friend Katie at an infant massage workshop at Southtown Yoga Loft (awesome studio by the way). Her adorable little boy is a mere 8 days older than Ty, and we became instant friends. On the final day of the workshop, we friended each other on Facebook and I saw that she had something referencing veganism on her page and I became even more excited about our new friendship! You see, here in Texas, it can be challenging to find other vegans!  Anyhow, we’ve been friends ever since and it’s been really neat because…

Katie is a fashion blogger who focuses on sustainable, eco-friendly, ethical fashion!  She is currently remodeling her website and it is down at the moment, but come back again very soon for a visit (www.FashionJustCause.com)!  She has quickly learned a lot about this space, and has an incredible eye for style. So there wasn’t a more perfect time for the two of us to connect as I work to slowly revamp my wardrobe.  And recently, we did a photo shoot together featuring some lovely pieces! It was my first ever photo shoot and I was pretty nervous.  I’m excited to see the final product – not only the photos, but Katie’s write up in her blog! And you can be sure that I will share it all here, too!  In the meantime, you can follow her on Instagram @fashionjustcause, Facebook, and Twitter @fashionFJC.

After the shoot, a had a little bit of time before my next engagement that I was able to squeeze in a visit to the Broadway location of Vegeria on their last day of business to enjoy a wonderful vegan lunch. I will definitely miss this location very much, and am so glad they opened a new location on the south side.  And I must say, that dining out alone (and in silence) is something that I appreciate very much these days, LOL!

Afterwards, I made my way to Lifetime Fitness where I had the honor of being a guest speaker for the cleanse program called Evolve that recently wrapped up at the club. Ironically, It is actually the reason I became vegan back in April of 2013.  Because I was coming from the photo shoot, I could only bring cold items in a cooler, but I was still able to prepare a few of my favorite treats: delicious peanut butter and oat protein bars (my kids have been loving them and I’ve blogged them before here), a black bean quinoa salad with a cilantro dressing, a sundried tomato walnut and lentil taco, and cinnamon vanilla chia pudding with fresh strawberries and bananas (a different variation blogged here).  It was really fun and pretty cool to go back as a “graduate!”  Thank you, Jessica for inviting me!

I feel very passionately about my lifestyle choices and love to share my experiences with others, so doing stuff like this has been so cool, not only getting to showcase some beautiful ethical fashion, but also share some yummy vegan treats as well!  And I’ll keep you posted on what’s going on with Fashion Just Cause!

~Namaste, y’all!