Painting, creating, and embracing the heat of summer

Around this time of year, art shows and festivals tend to come to a close for the summer for me. Here in Florida, outdoor events slow down as they are just starting to pick up everywhere else in the country. It's just too damn hot here.

two of my newest pieces - toucan and opossoms on repurposed fan blades

FAN BLADE QUEEN

My latest obsession....

Old fan blades.

Who would have thought.

Thrifty Finds - Thrift Shopping 101

HOW TO THRIFT!



Here's a cute dress I got for a few bucks at my local thrift shop <3

So, I've been a savvy thrift shopper my ENTIRE life. After all, how else would I currently be making my life as a full time artist while having cute clothes possible ;) Since I was a child, I would see cool new toys on TV and if I wanted them I'd always tell my mom, hey mommy, I really want this cool new "X" item that all the kids at school have, can we keep an eye out for it when we go garage sailing? And low and behold, we would always find it on our hunts every weekend for a fraction of the price that all my friends' parents were spending.

Orlando Vegan Food Tour Part 1

As avid Orlando-goers and vegans, we had the ultimate privilege to accompany two of our good friends on an all Vegan Food Tour yesterday within the Orlando, FL area. As annual pass holders, we all had been trying to coordinate a trip to Disney World together for a while now, and decided to take our trip a step further by cramming in a ton of all-vegan food stops along the way to make our day completely packed with the most exciting adventures for plant-based foodies and Disney enthusiasts alike. If you happen to love vegan food AND Disney World, then this guide will be a perfect tool to help you plan your trip to Orlando. We were only able to pack so much into our single day adventure, but plan to have additional Orlando Vegan Food Tours in the future to hit up all of the Vegan establishments we missed (there are many more than those mentioned here!). So, if you like this post, subscribe to my blog and stay tuned for similar adventure guides in the future :)

The Best Vegan Pizza in Gainesville, FL

So when I get obsessed with something, I like to share my obsession with other people so they too, can become obsessed. If you love authentic NY style pizza, but decided to ditch dairy (or just want to try something new!) you've gotta check out MORA PIZZA in Gainesville, FL.

A Guide to Hiking and Exploring Asheville, NC

My husband and I take advantage of every opportunity we can to do some traveling and exploring, whether near or far. Traveling, whether it be a 2 hour drive to Disney World, a day trip to the springs or beach, or camping in the mountains almost 8 hours away gives our busy minds a rest and a literal break from the responsibilities and craziness of life (we all need that, don't we?). Trips that involve nature and the outdoors however bring a different kind of rejuvenation for the brain... breathing in fresh oxygen cycled out by forests of trees and escaping the hustle and bustle of human life. It really allows our bodies to recharge and our minds and souls to start with a new clean slate, kind of like a weekend eases the mind for the start of a new busy week but with a little extra mediation added in there. I can be an emotionally sensitive person but getting a regular dose of nature is the only medication I need to stay sane.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Every year I make lengthy resolutions to try to better myself as a person and to make the time to overcommit to a million causes and different things (don't we all?).. and as you may suspect I usually fail at keeping them all. I'm a real person too and I often suck at trying to do too much.

How to raise monarch butterflies at home

This blog post (aside from the long-ass life story that precedes the actual instructions on how to raise monarchs) was a request from a friend seeking some help and knowledge in the area of attracting and raising monarch butterflies. I'm no expert.. I still face the troubles of disease, running out of milkweed, aphids DESTROYING my milkweed, caterpillar predation, and lack of monarchs all together just like everyone else. But one thing I do have is a variety of experience from several jobs I've had that actually included the task of rearing a lot of monarchs, and tips and tricks of the trade that were passed on to me from the many people I've met along the way of my monarch adventures.

Pit Bull Pajama Party

With all this wet and cool weather we're having... we've been in our PJ's early every night. What about you? Come on over and join us.. but you must bring your own onesie!

The Life of a Jumping Spider Lab Manager: Spiders in AZ

Last week I had the privilege of traveling to Arizona for a week with the Taylor Lab (the lab I manage at UF) to collect jumping spiders for our research. Yes... I did say jumping spiders. How cool is that?

Earth Day & March for Science

Happy (belated) Earth Day, since I didn't have time to blog about such a fun filled day yesterday! Yesterday was quite an amazing day! For earth day, we did a lot to celebrate helping our planet and had a lot of fun doing so. 

VegFest Gainesville 2017

In my opinion, absolutely the best festival yet to hit Gainesville Florida..... was VegFest!!

A little life inspiration

This info was inspired by a copy & paste & share Facebook post that I found to be so true, I had to re-translate it from my own mind, heart, and experience. I hope you'll take these inspirational words to get you through the day and maybe change your perspective on the life you're living.

A Dog Parent's Guide to Traveling the Florida Panhandle & New Orleans

FINALLY Josh and I have been able to enjoy a true vacation that we were wayyyy overdue for. We love traveling. We love exploring. We love getting outside. My many jobs and his grad school workload have kept us from seeing more of the world for the past year and a half. Our last true getaway together (with the exception of our occasional weekend travels down to Venice, FL to visit my mom) was to Asheville, NC when he had a conference there in Fall 2015. We brought the (what was then just 2) dogs, and enjoyed a week long trip of hiking and exploring in between his meetings and presentations. There's been an aching in my heart to get out there and see someplace new, so Josh was awesome and planned out an 8 day long trip camping and exploring the outdoors through the Florida panhandle, getting us eventually to New Orleans, LA where we stayed in an Airbnb and got to experience the city-life. We brought 3 of our 4 dogs with us on this trip.. and with them being pit-mixes and large, most would think our trip was "burdened" or "limited" due to them, but really, with good planning and some well behaved dogs it wasn't at all. Most places we went we were welcomed with warm smiles and lots of doggy love, and with the exception of the nasty lady who kicked out all out of the NOLA sculpture garden in City Park, we didn't face much discrimination at all based on their breed.

Happy "Brought Ya Home as Just a Foster Day" Onyx

A year ago today we brought home our black little gem from the shelter. 

Update on Life and New Year's Goals...

In light of the soon to be "New Year" I knew I had to catch up in the world of blogging. It hasn't been since the summer that I had a steady stream of vegan recipes, and other (hopefully) enlightening posts. My world has been engulfed in unexpected house shopping, getting (more) dogs, and the usually expected hustle and bustle of makin' art and fulfilling custom art orders for the holidays.

My last major post besides me being able to sneak in a recipe here or there had been about an amazing experience I had to travel to Ecuador to 2 weeks. It's interesting how my family's life has taken full circle since then in some life changing moments (super long life story of the past four months of my life to come so feel free to pass if you find that it will bore you!)

Bombycoid workshop in Ecuador

A couple weeks ago I got back from a lifetime experience getting to explore the remote and protected area of Wildsumaco Ecuador while conducting moth-related fieldwork for the awesome lab I work in!

Elliot Key, Florida

One of many perks of being a scientist in the lab of The McGuire Center of Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at The Florida Museum of Natural History is the benefit of getting to be a part of several different projects, including ones that involve travel and working with endangered species! Last week I had the pleasure of partaking on an expedition to Elliot Key, an uninhabited island in Biscayne National Park, part of the Florida Keys above Key Largo only accessible by boat. Besides having beautiful sea grasses, spiny lobsters, reef fish, and colorful sponges in tropical waters surrounding it, hot and muggy hardwood hammock habitat on the interior of the island, and being infested with mosquitoes most of the year; the island has something very special living within. It contains the only remaining known habitat for the endangered Schaus' swallowtail, Papilio aristodemus.

Rescue Chocolate

I recently stumbled upon an incredible company that is a dream come true for people of any or all of the following categories:

Chocolate lovers
Animal lovers
Advocates of animal adoption/no-kill shelters/spay and neutering of pets
Vegans
Supporters of fairly traded ingredients
Those who prefer organic ingredients
Those who keep Kosher

Transformations, Dog Yin and Yang, and Getting' Fit

I've been transforming my life and emerging from my comfort zone. It's not just something that's just happened but something that I have made the choice to do.

I've been making positive changes for myself and hope to inspire others to also! I am not the kind to brag or boast; I don't want to share my "achievements" (or things that well, are achievements to me anyway) with the world just to put them out there, but I want to show people what I'm capable and inspire them that they are capable too.