Whirlwind WorldFest Weekend

Who: VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig and former VN Editorial Assistant Charlotte Gordon
What: The WorldFest 2010 Earth Day Festival
Where: Woodley Park, Lake Balboa, Calif.
When: May 16, 2010
Why: To have fun, gorge on good food, and rock out to good tunes while representing the best magazine ever!

The Scoop: If you were in Southern California this past weekend, hopefully you didn't miss out on WorldFest—LA's largest Earth Day festival, filled with amazing food, great music, and tons of cute animals (even ponies)! This was my second time at this wonderful event, though my first as a VN representative, and it was very heartwarming to see the enthusiasm shown by so many for VegNews. The super-positive vibe at the event was totally contagious!

Livin' it up behind the VegNews booth

So much happiness makes a person hungry, and so the eating began first thing in the AM and did not cease until we packed up and left. Breakfast consisted of MaggieMudd ice cream. Yes, I know I live in San Francisco where MaggieMudd is based, but to be honest, I don't frequent this fabulous ice cream shop for personal reasons. Let's just say I have the inability to show self-control when a huge ice cream sundae is staring me in the face, so I hold out on MaggieMudd for special occasions, and this event was one of those.

Mmmm, MaggieMudd

With our sweet tooths satisfied, Charlotte and I moved onto savory, and found quite the gem. We both discovered the delicacy that is Jackfruit last year at the AR 2009 Conference where Samosa House catered a wonderful Jackfruit entrée that totally blew us away. But I digress. We were tipped off about a delicious vendor called Bodhi Tree Vegetarian Café that was selling Jackfruit salads and coconuts filled with refreshing coconut water. We were sold! Take my advice, if you haven't tried Jackfruit, go find some now.

Jackfruit salad delicious coconut water

It was turning into a gorgeous day, music started to play, and the people started to pour in, and boy were they excited to be there. So much excitement can really bring on a sweet tooth—again! Luckily, we were approached by Jon Hull of Luscious Organic Desserts who generously shared some sweet treats with us. Four words: cookie dough bon bons. They were cookie dough balls covered in chocolate—both dark and white. We almost died. Plus, they gave us Peanut Butter Crunch Bars (very similar to Whatchamacallits), and two cupcakes. Yes, we were very spoiled—not to mention stuffed.

The amazing cupcakes of Luscious Organic Desserts

Good conversation, yummy eats, catchy tunes, and cute animal sightings made for one wonderful day at WorldFest, which made me sad that I missed last year's event. If you missed it this year, be sure to mark your calendars for next year! It's sure to put a smile on your face.

So-Cal Chow

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Charlotte Gordon
What: A weekend getaway to Southern California
Where: The OC and Los Angeles, Calif.
When: July 25-26, 2009
Why: To get a healthy dose of vitamin D and search for the elusive Daiya cheese.

San Francisco has been laying on the fog thick. Especially in the Sunset District where the VNHQ is forever shrouded in Stephen King’s The Mist. What better time then now to brave the one-hour flight to Southern California for an overdose of vitamin D, outdoor entertainment, and Daiya vegan cheese?

That’s where I headed last weekend, and after greeting friends and family, it was time for Mission Objective Number One: Locate a pizza with a ridiculous amount of Daiya on it. Through intensive research (aka receiving the occasional Google Alert for “vegan cheese”), I discovered that Daiya has taken over LA. But has its stretchy, gooey goodness trickled down to the Irvine area? The Tustin Whole Foods answered me with a resounding “yes!”

It stretches!

Mission Objective Number Two: Stock up on vegan snackies for an outdoor nighttime picnic at the Hollywood Bowl, the largest natural outdoor amphitheater in the good ol’ US of A. The vegan pizza from Wholefoods was a pie to be reckoned with—we’re talking a vast stretch of dough and cheese. But the meal would not be complete without a Gardein Chick'n Salad with fresh bell pepper and green beans marinated in a raspberry dressing. My folks and I hauled all this grub up to Hollywood and feasted upon it in our box seats at the Bowl. The perfect accompaniment to this meal? Songstress Jewel performing her chart-topping hits with the Hollywood Bowl orchestra to back her up. This incredible night of song had a grand finale of fireworks to dazzle the senses.

The Bowl and its occupants remain intact while fireworks rage above.

What else was there to do but indulge in decadent raw food the next day at 118 Degrees? I ordered the Merry Monkey smoothie—it was a blend of nut milk, banana, almond butter, and other such tastiness—while my mom and grandma split the brunch special, which ended with an amazing cashew bar smothered in chocolate and raspberry sauce.

A tasty and stylish tidbit from the five-course raw brunch.

After packing away all this food, I did manage to waddle back to the airport to board a plane back to San Fran. Now, I sit in my swivel chair and diligently wait for sunshine and, more importantly, for Daiya cheese to takeover Northern California! In the meantime, I suppose I should get back to work!

Real Food, Real Fun

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Charlotte Gordon + VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig
What: A delicious meal at Real Food Daily
When: Sunday, July 19, 2009
Where: Los Angeles, Calif.
Why: Because you need real food, daily.

The Scoop: It was the last night of AR 2009 in Los Angeles, and Charlotte and I were feeling a little cabin feverish in the conference’s hotel. So what did we decide to do? Go out on the town, of course! Lucky for us, Charlotte’s brother, Jon, lives in Southern California, so we were able to hitch a ride into the city where we decided to dine at the posh Real Food Daily, a vegan restaurant located in West Hollywood and known to be frequented by a number of celebrities—veg or otherwise.

After cramming five people into a very small car, we arrived in 15 minutes flat and stepped into the stylish restaurant, where we found out that we had to wait an extra 15 minutes—bummer. I wasn’t too upset because it gave me more time to scope out the scene, and being the movie guru that I am, I quickly spotted a familiar face—Bill Nighy from such classics as Love Actually and Shaun of the Dead. And sitting right beside him was none other than vegan superstar Alicia Silverstone! I know that not everyone experiences the same star struck-feeling that I do, but being a recent West Coast transplant, the celebrity sighting honestly made my night.

But enough of the celebs and back to the most important thing of the night, which of course was the food. The winning entrée of the night was the Salisbury Seitan due to the fact that it was ordered by three of the five people at our table, and it definitely lived up to its popularity with mashed potatoes, yummy gravy, and Caesar salad on the side. The TV Dinner and Total Reuben were also ordered at our table, and Charlotte and I were lucky enough to get a taste of both before they were quickly devoured.

Reigning champion of the night

We were stuffed after this satisfying main course, but we were not going to pass up on dessert—no way, no how! Charlotte and I shared the Chocolate Blackout Cake, which was über rich and delicious. As should be expected with food this good, the plate was clean within five minutes.

Lyndsay and the Chocolate Blackout Cake

So, it was back to the hotel for Charlotte and me, with our new cure for a case of cabin fever: great atmosphere, (vegan) celeb sightings, and good food.

Charlotte and friend Brenna

Starry, Starry Night

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Charlotte Gordon + VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig
What: Vegan Prom
When: Saturday, July 11, 2009
Where: San Francisco
Why: To dance the night away!

Who could forget the magic of prom night? The large stars hanging from the ceiling, the huge vegan ice-cream cake, and that really tall guy wearing that pink jumpsuit made of faux fur. I'm talking about first annual Vegan Prom put on by Vegan Outreach, of course. And somehow, Lyndsay and I were able to pull our awesome ensembles together in two hours flat for this event. Unfortunately, there was no limo waiting for us outside, and mommy and daddy weren’t in town to chauffeur us, so it was the typical mad rush to the bus stop—this time wearing heels. Guess what? Not one ankle was fractured. Amazing!

A medley of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits was bumpin’ when we arrived, and cookies and chocolate delights were abundant and just begging to be stuffed into our tummies and my pamphlet-sized purse for late night snackin’. Now, a resolution of mine has been to get at a Maggie Mudd ice-cream cake … somehow … someway. This evil plan must have been written all over my face that night, for Lyndsay and I were approached with the news that a two-layer ice-cream cake (bottom layer: chocolate, top layer: chocolate-mint goodness) was sitting neglected on a table, melting away. Of course it was our duty as fine upstanding vegans to help with the dilemma! We joined other prom-goers in devouring the delish dessert before it melted onto the pink table linens.

Oh no! It's melting!

We two-stepped our way through the night, mingled with some amazing folks from the Bay Area—such as Brian Grupe of Vegan Outreach (whom you may remember from our "20 Under 30" feature in our March+April issue) and VN Contributor Mark Middleton—and admired some '80's-inspired ensembles. Personal trainer Darren Middlesworth was also in attendance to see who would win his training session, which was up for grabs as a raffle prize.

Jesse and Erin pick the winning ticket!

We both anxiously held our tickets and hoped for the best. Who wouldn’t want a night for two at the Stanford Inn by the Sea? Or a romantic dinner for two prepared by chef Jesse Miner? Alas, our ticket numbers were not called, so we danced our way through the pain and pulled it together for a classic prom pic in front of the Starry, Starry Night-themed backdrop. So, yeah. Good food, good people, and $11,166 was raised to promote veganism—Vegan Prom was the bomb.

Me and Lyndsay, at the end of a magical evening