I am a child of the 70s. If nothing else, that means I wish I could wear roller skates all the time. Sadly, I left my skates behind when we moved from New York—five years ago. Enough is enough, I want new skates!

But if you thought nonleather shoes were tough to find, try skates. There’s a good handful out there, but I’m no pro. I’m not spending $400 on no wheelie shoes. The idea of spending $100 on these Riedell R3s hurts, but I fear the bullet must be bit. (Or I can hope Mom checks out my Amazon wishlist in a particularly generous mood.)

And no, these aren’t the retro boot style that beg for pom-poms on the toes, but until I start designing and manufacturing vegan skates, I gotta take what I can get. And the reviews are pretty damn good so I’ve got high hopes. I just broke out in a sweet little grin imagining myself gliding through Portland with the wind in my pigtails and KC and the Sunshine Band in my heart.

Even back when wee Michele was eating Happy Meals, I knew fur was gross and wrong. My mother drilled that into my head. Faux wasn’t really an option then, so when someone looked like they were wearing fur, they were. So I grew up confidently sneering left and right. I can picture myself at 12 or 13, doing my girls-day-out X-mas shopping on State Street, purposely not wearing sunglasses so evil bitches could get the full force of my laser-eye stare of disapproval.

Today it’s not so easy. I saw a woman at the grocery store in a big ol’ fur (maybe). As my sneer reflex began to kick in, I pulled back, thinking, “This is Portland. It’s 2009. There’s no way that’s real.” Maybe I was wrong, but I couldn’t be sure. I changed my expression to one of concern. Just in case.

The faux furs today are so advanced that you can look and feel just as creepy without the slaughter. What bothers me about the faux furs is the aesthetic. You’re still saying there’s something desirable about animal fur. As a matter of disclosure, I do have a faux fur coat—but it’s a bright Merlot, more like wearing a shag carpet. Unless I find myself in some Jim Henson-inspired alternate universe there’s no danger of being associated with actual fur.

Anyway, the aesthetic opens the door for those working the greenwashing angle. True, vintage furs aren’t hurting any new animals. True, most faux furs are made of plastic. But also true is that it takes resources to raise animals and chemicals and energy to turn that animal skin into fashionable clothing and accessories. And much like the factory-farm opponent who knows that guy who raises his own chickens and whatnot, you’ll hear about the culling of the New Zealand possum or whatever, but how much of the fur today comes from those isolated cases?

I’m not saying I think you’re evil for wearing your grandmother’s fur coat or keeping your hands warm in the faux muff that’s so soft it feels like you’re petting your kitty all day. What do I know anyway? I was just thinking out loud.

I finally got new shoes…and I like ‘em! After years of buying ill-fitting men’s shoes because they were the only ones I could stomach, I found these Ultimate 81 Vegans on Onlineshoes. Yes, they are red, white, and blue. And yes, it took a few days to build up the courage to go outside with them on, but I super love them now.

I’ve wanted the Onitsuka Tigers forever, especially after seeing the yellow-haired warrior kick serious ass in them in Kill Bill. They look so comfortable—and they are. They hug your feet (and make you want to kick stuff, but that could just be me). Whenever I went into a store, nobody could tell me if any were completely synthetic. Even online it’s confusing. If you’ve ever been on Zappos, you’ve probably noticed the inconsistency searching for “vegan” and clicking “vegan” as an option…and then there’s “vegetarian.” So when I saw these had “vegan” in the name, they were mine.

I still don’t know why it’s so friggin’ hard to find comfortable, cool-looking (I know mine are debatable) vegan sneakers. The cheese wars are so intense, why not the shoe war?

I just received my order from Bleating Hearts Soap & Candle Co., a friend’s Etsy store.

Everything is so pretty and yummy-smelling. Pictured above are French clay-tea tree oil soap, candy cane peppermint soap, cranberry bliss soap, and fresh spruce and black amber soy candles in coffee mugs. They all came lovingly wrapped and ready to give as gifts. We’re burning the black amber one right now, and the smell is subtle and comforting, not perfumy or overpowering.

But Bleating Hearts? Yes, her soaps are mostly goatmilk, but she does make vegan versions of them all, and the candles are always vegan. She uses different tools and containers to make the vegan versions, and all my soaps were marked with little Vs. Just note in the comments section that you’d like all vegan items when you’re placing an order.

Let’s hear it for the indie handmade market.

I’ve had my wallet since New York…at least six years. It still works but I’ll be the first to admit it looks like hell. So when we needed to put together a Gama-Go order for my brother-in-law’s birthday, we decided to throw some wallets on there. Tom’s (on the left) was crazy on sale. Mine wasn’t…but it’s super cute.

They’ve actually got quite a few wallets and bags—and I don’t think there’s a bit of leather to be found in any of them. So if you’re looking for designy, cruelty-free things that hold other things in them, check ‘em out. 

If you’re ready to place an order this weekend, they’re having an online sale on accessories and apparel: 48% off for 48 hours. It starts at 11:30 a.m. PST on Friday (11/20) and ends promptly at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Pretty sweet deal. Since I can’t take advantage of it, I figured I’d share the news and maybe you can.

The lunch date (I picked up Tom for lunch at Hungry Tiger) was just an overdue “Congratulations for giving your notice” date. My last two weeks of work were so draining that I didn’t even feel like heading out for food. So this was it, the last hurrah before the days of rice & beans—not really, although I do have a pot full o’ chickpeas soaking as I type. We both got Boca burgers, and their new focaccia is so much better than the sourdough toast of their pre-vegan menu days. It’s like a real, live burger now. I got sautéed mushrooms on mine to fancy it up a bit. And substituting sweet potato fries in the place of chips goes without saying. No photos, but picture an enormous plate with a larger-than-you-get-at-the-store Boca burger next to a mound of sweet potato fries you could form into a little Devil’s Tower.

My face mask experiment is so out of character for me. I figured it might end up in the big box of stuff I never use, next to the Ecco Bella face powder (I tried, I really did, but I just can’t wear makeup), but whaddaya know, this stuff is pretty fantastic. It’s earthscience papaya-glycolic gentle skin peel. I thought it would be the kind you peel off like sunburned skin but it’s the mud kind you wash off. Not as fun, but my face does feel softer and happier.

I got to thinking about the limited beauty/body care products in our bathroom. We once lived with a girl who took up most of the bathroom cabinet/counter/ shelf space with all of her bathroom crap. Well, I’m just not that type of girl. And Tom’s not that type of boy. And we’re both allergic to practically everything from nickel to air to clowns. So here it is, our list of cruelty-free washin’-up standards.

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. Fair trade, 100% biodegradable, American-made, and always vegan, a 32-ounce bottle of liquid castille soap (for less than $10) will last you months and months. Not only will it clean you, but it’ll clean your shower/tub, floors, and the metal bar thing in your Ionic Breeze air purifier. DO NOT USE ON ACRYLIC SHOWER MIRRORS—it will eat them. I can’t wait to see the documentary on Dr. Bronner. If the stuff written all over the bottle is any indicator…

Desert Essence. A couple times a week I use the Throughly Clean Face Wash. Again, right on the bottle it says “100% vegan.” I don’t know what 99% vegan would even mean, but anyway, thanks, Desert Essence, for making it a little easier. Without drying, this stuff makes my face feel like it could perform open-heart surgery (you know, really clean). And Tom uses the Blemish Touch Stick, which is also good for insect bites.

While I have pretty much given up on shaving cream (used to use Tom’s of Maine), since a washcloth can lather up castille soap just fine, Tom has switched over to Organic Grooming by Herban Cowboy. It kinda has that men’s grooming product smell, but it disssipates fast and is at least natural. The back of the tube also tells you it’s vegan in six languages.

I just got an order from Vegan Essentials (had another 10%-off newsletter so I stocked up on dry cat food and tried some new things, including soy curls, so stay tuned) and thought I’d share Merry Hempsters with y’all. They’re located in Eugene, Oregon, and have a ton of vegan hemp products. Tom’s been using the lip balm for a while and we’ve had the tattoo balm even longer, and we couldn’t be happier with them. I just got the analgesic and salve so I can’t report on them, but I can’t wait to get cut or scraped or get my muscles in a tizz.
UPDATE: Tom used the cut & scrape salve on a knuckle cut that kept ripping open, as knuckle cuts are wont to do, and he said it kept the area hydrated and stretchy so it could heal. Nice. 

We’d gotten the unscented lotion (comes in a bottle, not a tube) and can’t find it anywhere. The Merry Hempster’s website only sells by the case, but the wholesale prices are pretty inviting. I wouldn’t want a dozen tubes of muscle rub, but I could see myself going through six bottles of lotion before the end of time.

And let me take this opportunity (again) to remind America how dumb it is not to allow farmers to grow this very useful plant simply because it looks too much like its illegal kin. Companies must import it—that’s right, legal to own but illegal to grow. Got that?

 And here’s my last weekend’s project: a frame from Tank Girl: The Gifting #1. (Call me a geek if it makes you feel better.) I had a big ol’ spare piece of plywood and a projector and I loved the image out of context, just her and the word “adjust.” But the text fit well on this particular piece of plywood and perhaps inspired me to give notice at my job. (Anybody hiring?)

Today, my good buddy, is that very day.

That means “eco-friendly bamboo,” which is what these gloves are.

Moving from L.A. meant I was going to be facing some sort of real winter, so the quest for a decent pair of gloves was on. Avoiding wool is tough when you’re looking for a quality knitted glove. Those $3 magic-stretch things just won’t do for my ET-phone-home-long fingers—they have to stretch so much they end up mesh, which would be fine if I were in Poison or some other such ’80s hair band, but (sigh) I’m not.

These here gloves are from The North Face, and I picked them up at REI. They come in different sizes, so they’re good for girls and boys. At $15, they’re no more expensive than the others, and they weren’t even made in China. They’re plenty warm so far, not that we’ve really even entered winter. I wore them on my bike ride back home, since the wind over the river can be tough on the knuckles, and they did keep me toasty.

And now that I’ve taken the picture, I can rip off the tag.

After one day, I’m pretty sure I hate these shoes. It was either find a pair of brown shoes really fast or recycle my black pants again and again and again this week. So I found these Mudd shoes. I don’t know that the adhesive is vegan, but the uppers are all man-made material. I went on their site to find some more information, but apparently the only reason anyone goes on there is to find out about fighting cancer and loving the Jonas Brothers. Well, two days after wearing these beasts and my toes still feel like they’re broken. The shoes aren’t too small; the heel was just pinched so it forced my foot forward. More than a mile later they got a little more flexible but I was in such pain. Toughest break-in ever.

So, yes, I disappeared from these parts for my first week of work. I’ll have way better flow even this week, I’m sure, but the last week was all about pushing myself all day then collapsing at night. No new recipes or restaurants to speak of.

I survived the first lunch with the new coworkers. I didn’t say anything about my crazy special needs until it came up in conversation during the walk to the restaurant. It ended up being an Italian joint, and I asked if there was egg in the pasta. I was given a confident “No,” as if she’d been asked that question before. So there was pomodoro to see me through the day, no panic required.

My office is the old federal court building that’s now a post office plus some other law-y stuff, so there are all these cool architectural elements, but there’s also the part where I face rather frightening photos of Bush and Cheney as I wait for the elevator. Pretty rough at 8:30 a.m. Oh, and there’s a friendly reminder of what the current terror level is (yellow).

This morning we slept in a bit, late enough that we could get breakfast treats from Sweetpea. We got extra scones for tomorrow, just in case they’re doing brunch. I saw what I thought were chocolate glazed doughnuts on their prep table, but the guy told me they were Boston creme. I’ve never had a Boston creme anything, as custard has historically creeped me out, but the Sweetpea guy gave me a little nod, which I took to mean they were yummy and I should get one. So I did. After cutting it in half I tried it out…and put the other half in the fridge. It was pretty creepy at room temperature. Cold was so, so, so, so much better. I don’t know if Sweetpea was worried about losing doughnut customers to the new Voodoo, but they definitely shouldn’t. I really wish they did doughnuts more often. I thought they made them on Wednesdays too, but I called once and was told Saturdays only. They’re still sort of new, so there’s hope for the future.

Tom just scored some new shoes, direct from the vegan link on the Vans site. I don’t know if you can tell, but the light bits are actually gray. He’s super happy with them after having some unsatisfactory experiences with Macbeth and IPATH (probably not the shoes’ fault—he’s got uneven feet). Skate shoes aren’t easy to begin with, let alone vegan skate shoes. One word about the Vans site: The vegan link is for boys only! Ladies are on their own to figure out what’s what.

I continue my search for the perfect shoe while wearing out my third pair of not-so-perfect Ben Shermans. They still don’t fit perfectly and they’re still not all that comfortable regardless of how many cushy inserts I put in them, but at $50 a pop for colors I’m happy with, each pair buys me another nine months of shoe-shopping time.

So where have I been looking?

If you’re ever in New York, you have to visit Moo Shoes. I haven’t been to the new location, but the old one, though small, still gave you that free feeling, the “I can buy anything in here!” feeling. And the cats loved lovin’. And I know it’s just a tiny little point, but when I ordered my first pair of shoes from them I also ordered a book. Instead of loading up on packing materials, they put the book in the shoe box, wrapped it in paper, then sent it on its way. It seems so obvious, but most places would have added another box and some styrofoam in the mix. So I say yay to Moo Shoes.

Zappos drives me nuts. They have different routes to getting to “veg” shoes…but sometimes they’re called vegan and other times they’re called vegetarian. Is there a difference, or are they lacking a copy editor? Their super-easy return policy and free shipping are a big plus.         

Vegan Essentials has a decent shoe selection. If you’re ordering stuff anyway, then shipping sort of melts away. I’ve only bought shoes I trusted through them so I haven’t really looked into the return policy. We have used it as a reference, a vegan stamp of approval on a shoe, then bought elsewhere. (Sorry, Vegan Essentials.)

I haven’t used the rest of these, but here are some other links to try. If you’ve found others, let me know and I’ll add them to the list.
Draven

Earth Shoes

Planet Shoes

Shoe Buy

Vegetarian Shoes and Bags

Vegan Wares (Thanks, Kevin)

Alternative Outfitters (Thanks, Destiny’s Vegan Kitchen)