Scenes from my first ALA Annual

Life has been so hectic lately I'm glad I have a chance to catch up and write about all the fun I've been having at my new job. Although I've been working at my new job since April, I've been blessed to be able to represent my library on a professional level at the highest conference for librarians, the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas from June 28-July1. 

Although me and Den have been to Vegas more times that we can count, it was a totally difference experience going there for a conference. The first day at the conference was busy because I hard to register as well as figure out where all the sessions I wanted to attend were located.

Me at ALA Annual Conference

The registration line at ALA Annual

 In addition to the sessions I went to regarding librarianship, technology and other library related topics, I got to meet a lot of cool people I've admired over the years such \as Bill Barnes author of my favorite library comic Unshelved, Naomi House, creator of the I Need A Library Job (inalj) blog and.actor/author Erik LaSalle! I also met tons of other awesome librarians from around the country and made new professional contacts.

 Unshelved author Bill Barnes and me 

Me and INALJ creator Naomi House

Me and actor/author Erik Lasalle

Banned Book booth

Ice Yeti and me at Minus 5 Ice Bar

After the conference, I was super hungry so me and Den went in search of a new vegan restaurant to try. We decided to go to Veggie House in Chinatown right down the street from Ronald's Donuts and I'm so glad we decided to stop there to eat. Below is a vegan tuna sandwich I had when we went there.

Vegan tuna sandwich from Veggie House Restaurant

We also did something different this time when it came to breakfast and instead of getting donuts, we went to yet another new restaurant called Sunrise Coffee. We went there for breakfast twice and both times I was really impressed by their vegan food. Below is a pic of the tofurky 'wich which was filled with tofurky, tomato, daiya, avocado and lettuce. I was super yummy and we'll definitely go back there again in the future.

Tofurky wich from Sunrise Coffee

I really enjoyed my time at the ALA Annual Conference and super excited that I applied for and have been given the opportunity to attend another library related conference on behalf of the library at the 2014 ARSL (Association for Rural and Small Libraries) Conference in Tacoma, Washington from September 3-6!

Vegas vegan donut face off!

I love vegan sweets and Las Vegas and to get my vegan donut fix, I usually go to Ronlad's Donuts. Recenlty I heard that there's a new Vegas vegan donut shop called O-Face Donuts and as such, I had to go see what the fuss was about.

Upon arriving at O-Face Donuts, I was a little annoyed by the parking meters and my lack of getting them to work correctly. After finding a free parking lot nearby, I went into the Donut Shop to see what vegan donuts they had to offer. Below is a photo of the vegan donuts available that day which were a total of seven. I decided to pick two donuts, one traditional and one original which are shown below.

Donuts at O-Face Donuts

O-Face chocolate glazed donut with sprinkles and mixed berry tart donut

Overall, I wasn't really impressed by O-Face's vegan donuts. The chocolate glazed donut wasn't as  chocolately  as I would have liked, it actually tasted kinds waxy to me. I let my hubby have a bite and he agreed with my assessment.

The mixed berry tart look lovely but again, the intensity of flavor was missing (at least to me). Although I was light and airy, I didn't really taste that much berry flavor.

Ronald's Cream filled donut and apple fritter

When it comes to Ronald's what make it the go to spot for vegan donuts is their large selection of vegan donuts, their free parking and friendly owners. I love that they open early in the morning and always have more than a dozen vegan donuts offered everyday. The only small annoyance is that they take cash only but this is a small price to pay for such yummy vegan goodness.

While it is great to have another place for Vegas vegans to get their donut fix (including Whole Foods),due to the increased selection, I declare Ronald's the winner of the Vegas vegan donut battle.

The tale of the Tofurkey Pockets aka vegan hot pockets

I recently had the pleasure of getting my hands on all three varieties of the Tofurky Pockets or as I like to call them, vegan hot pockets. In my pregan days (pre-vegan) days, I used to tear up Hot Pockets like it was nobody's business. When I wanted to lose weight, I started eating Lean Pockets instead and I think my biggest draw to both the Hot and Lean Pockets were that they were easy to make (microwave it for a minute or two and done) and they kept me satisfied until my next meal. Fast forward to 2014 and low and behold, Tofurky creates Tofurky Pockets and of course I had to try them to see how the vegan version measured up to my Hot/Lean Pocket memories.

Me and my hubby went to the new Viva La Vegan store in Santa Monica and I was super excited that the store carried all three of the Tofurky Pocket varieties. How excited was I? I was so excited that I had hubby take a pic of me holding my all three boxes (don't judge me ha ha ;-)

 The first Tofurky Pocket I tried was the pepperoni pizza which my favorite out of the three. It most reminded me of the original version because Tofurky really nailed the spiciness of the pepperoni and the consistency of the cheeze. It was spicy, melty and oh so tasty!

The next Tofurkey Pocket I tried was the broccoli cheddar and it was okay but not as good as the pepperoni pizza. I did like the cheesiness of the pocket but felt that the amount of broccoli was lacking.

The last of the Tofurky Pockets I tried was the BBQ Chick'N which was my least favorite and most disappointing. I liked the idea of BBQ Chick'N in a pocket crust but without vegan cheese, it's just blah. The BBQ sauce was really tasty but other than that, the BBQ Chick'N was uneventful.

Overall, I've really happy that Tofurky has provided yet another delicious way to enjoy meat free meal in a convenient way. I'll definitely be picking up some more pepperoni pizza Tofurky Pockets in the future.

Back in the saddle again (with a surprise for my blog followers)!