Photo by Faddoush ~ On&Off summer mode

I think we’ve settled on Barcelona for our honeymoon destination. It seems like a magical place. Neither of us has ever been there and we’ve both been itching to travel to Spain. I have not found any vegan resorts there, but if I do the research, I’m sure we’ll find some fantastic vegan food. It’ll be an adventure!

To find restaurants, I’m using Happy Cow. It’s a good site for finding veg friendly restaurants: http://www.happycow.net/europe/spain/barcelona/
It tells you the type of veg-friendly each restaurant is (vegan-friendly, lacto, ovo, etc).

And if nothing else, it looks like they have beautiful markets for us to find fresh produce. Yum! I can’t wait to take pictures of my own and show them off.

Photo by Jasmic

If anyone has been to Barcelona and has recommendations for hotels, restaurants, and/or things to do, I’d love to hear them!

I’ve gotten really into the show “Obsessed” on A&E. Must be the future psychologist in me. But I was particularly intrigued by yesterday’s episode which featured a vegan woman so tormented by visions of animal cruelty, that the life she lived was like a prison sentence. Her father abused their family dog in front of her, she had experienced many traumatic events in her life, including four miscarriages, and had very high levels of anxiety. The combination of these things resulted in her obsessive compulsive disorder.

She said perhaps she was not cut out for this world because she was just too sensitive. And it made me wonder if a lot of vegans feel this way. I know there are many times when I see pictures or video footage of horrendous animal cruelty that will keep me upset for days. And the visions never really go away. But I try to function normally as best I can, and to limit the amount of imagery I expose myself to. Because, though it is important to keep ourselves educated about such issues, and to remind ourselves why we choose to be vegan, it doesn’t do any good to live in a constant state of depression, thus, lessening your own quality of life.

So, though it is easy to get caught up in all things upsetting (I can only imagine how hard it must be for PETA president Ingrid Newkirk to expose herself to animal cruelty full-time), it’s important to maintain a sense of balance. This “Obsessed” episode teaches a valuable lesson: we cannot help all the animals in the world. There will always be animal cruelty. But once the woman on the show was able to take hold of her anxiety and deal with it in a more effective manner, she was able to give back to the animals she cares so much about by volunteering at animal shelters.

Don’t forget that by being vegan, you’re already helping animals in a huge way. So be proud of yourself for that. And remember that, though there are many cases of animal cruelty in the world, there are also many happy animals out there. Try not to let your sensitivity and compassion imprison you.

I’m long overdue for a new pair of athletic shoes. So, I finally dove in and ordered a pair. Vegan ones, of course. Earth brand Kinetic -Vegan. They’re not cheap. But decent running shoes do come at a price. And Earth shoes are great because they support natural posture. And I have less than ideal posture, so this is good for me. They’re are also good for stability. And if you’re klutzy like me, you need all the help you can get avoiding the face-plant position. In addition, these shoes have the Kalsø® Negative Heel Technology® which positions the toes 3.7° higher than the heels to help strengthen and tone the body. And I’m trying to tone up for my wedding, so that’s an added bonus. And they’re pretty cute.

As you can probably tell, I’m trying to justify spending over $100 on shoes.

Update: my shoes just arrived and I couldn’t wait to try them on. They are by far the comfiest pair of running shoes I have ever owned. Very cushiony. Walking around feels a little bizarre because of the Kalsø® Negative Heel Technology®. Not in a bad way, though. It feels nice on my calves- like a light stretch. And, yes, I ran around my apartment and I feel so bouncy and light. I can’t wait to test them out on my next run!