Vegan V-Day Dance

Who: VegWebmistress Laura Beck

What: Vegan Valentine's Day Dance

Where: Brower Center, Berkeley, Calif.

When: February 12, 2010

Why: To drink, dance, and possibly get lucky!

The Scoop: I love to eat, dance, and sometimes get a little cheesy (all vegan, of course!). The perfect place to do that? The Vegan Valentine's Day Dance! The event took place last Friday, and it was my chance to transport back to high school, except this time with people I actually like. Being able to celebrate Valentine's Day surrounded by folks who share my love and compassion for animals? There's nothing more romantic than that! Awww. Now, let's talk about what really matters: the food.

The event, organized by the extremely talented vegan event planner, Karine Brighten, was filled with the best snacks a gal could imagine, including vegan taquitos. Yes, VEGAN TAQUITOS. Flacos provided the goods, and those suckers didn't last long. That might be partly because I ate all of them.

Hungry party-goers hit the snack table (photo by Cathryn Lovecraft).

For dessert? Cupcakes and cookies from Sugar Beat Sweets and baklava and raspberry bars from Fat Bottom Bakery. Hello sugar high, time to dance you off! And dance we did, especially with Lady Gaga in heavy rotation. More please! I feel like I'm still on a sugar high! Please help!

Cupcakes are the best fuel for dancing (photo by Cathryn Lovecraft)

The evening ended with a raffle filled with more prizes than I've ever seen in my life. I swear, my eyes lit up like Scrooge McDuck when I saw all the goodies. I bought about a million tickets and walked away with a Tofu Xpress, a $60 gift certificate to Vegan Essentials, and a bag filled with Sjaak's chocolates and Parma!

VegWebmistress Laura and her valentine, Jonas, show off their loot (photo by Cathryn Lovecraft).

Maybe I'm the greediest person alive, but I seriously love to win stuff. It's especially rewarding when you know all the money raised from the dance went to Vegan Outreach. I can't think of a better organization to shake your booty for, and look forward to this becoming an annual event. I'll see y'all next year for dancing, prizes, drinks, dancing, candy, dancing, making out, and more dancing—all in the name of a great cause. Ain't vegan life sweet? I told you I like to get cheesy.

Vegan à Go-Go! Book Bash

Who: The whole VN staff, legendary cookbook author Sarah Kramer, and 75 perky party-goers
What: The much-anticipated Vegan à Go-Go! Book Bash
Where: GingerRubio Salon, San Francisco, Calif.
When: October 3, 2008
Why: To launch Vegan à Go-Go! in high style

The Scoop: It's not every day that one of the world's best-selling vegan cookbook authors makes her return to the world of publishing—and you know how we like an excuse to throw a party. In celebration of Sarah Kramer's latest work, we held a little shindig at GingerRubio, an absolutely gorgeous salon tucked away on a side street in San Francisco's Mission District. The festivities got started right around 6pm when the guest of honor arrived. Sarah immediately got busy greeting guests as they arrived and chatting with her dedicated fans. Mini root-beer floats and Pink Lady cocktails whetted everyone's appetite for actual eats, and gave the party a fun, frivolous feeling. Friendly servers bearing trays of food—provided by Google chef Justin Lucke—swirled around the room offering guests such mid-century classics as Rocket Dogs (fancy Pigs-in-a-Blanket), Knuckle Sandwiches (open-faced no-egg-salad sandwiches on sliced baguette), and Doo Wop Dip (a classic onion dip, complete with crunchy onions on top), and Doris Day Mushroom Paté, which was served with the requisite crackers: Triscuits.

Upstairs, DJ Jazzy Aurelia kept the evening lively with '50s-era tunes, and our diligent tattoo artists, Abby and Lyndsay, made sure that everyone was as colorful as possible. While it was difficult to choose between various tattoo options—including one bearing the likeness of the guest of honor—most people elected to be adorned with the simple "vegan" tatt. We even saw one gracing a guest's neck! Speaking of the guests, we were in no short supply of cool company. In addition to Sarah, we got to mingle with Erin Williams—who's in California for the final push for Yes! on Prop. 2 before election day—Erica Meier and Noelle Callahan of Compassion Over Killing, Ann and Larry Wheat of Millennium, Ursula Calderon of Oakland's Micio Mambo boutique, fabulous vegan esthetician Jocelyn Clarin Richards, and about 75 other enthusiastic party-goers.

About halfway through the evening we gave out a few fabulous door prizes, including tubs of Sjaak's incredibly yummy chocolates and one very swanky Matt & Nat bag. Sarah entertained the crowd and answered questions, though she might not have wanted to admit that she'd never been to Millennium! After offering advice on how to get your stuff back from your ex, and letting us know which is her favorite recipe in Vegan à Go-Go!—Nanaimo bars, in case you were wondering—Sarah got to work signing books. To make sure no one died of starvation while waiting to get their book autographed, servers made the rounds with Tollhouse-style Chocolate Chip cookies, which were extra gooey and delicious, and Betty Crocker Coconut Islands (pictured below). After the munching, mingling, and merriment, please consider Vegan à Go-Go! officially launched.