When Beauty Loved a Beast

Hello. My name is Shawnsie. This is me enjoying a lovely date with my husband and some delicious soft serve. Doesn't get any better than that, am I right?

You might remember me from a different kind of blog that I have clearly neglected for some time now.  I admit that I'm a bad blog mother.  Truth be told, I've missed blogging and getting my creative juices flowing but I just lost that spark, you know? It happens. C'est la vie.

Warning: This blog, while possibly inappropriate at times, has very little similarities to my last blog. You see, rather then being inspired by silly events that have occurred over my 28 years on this beautiful land, I was inspired by a quest. Yes, a QUEST [it's such a fancy feeling]. "What is it?" "What quest?" "I love quests. I'm feeling questy. I wanna go!"

Settle down everyone. You're all invited. My quest is to accomplish the one thing that I've merely flirted with over the past few years. In short, I am going to become a vegan. Don't worry, you don't have to do everything I do. I wouldn't want you to jump off a bridge if I told you to...well, maybe I would. There's a usually a good reason for those kinds of resquests. Anyway, I've dabbled and flirted with vegetarianism on and off my whole life. In total, I'd estimate that I've been an avid meat-eater for about a third of my existence. As a kiddo, I ate only white meat [no, not babies] and that was only because Bob and Lori forced us to eat our dinners or NO DESSERT [and if you know me at all, you know how terrifying that ultimatum was for me. It still terrifies me]. Once my mom and dad made me eat pot roast. In my defiance, I made a bold speech about democracy and standing up to the man. I lost. Bob and Lor put the kabosh on that one.

Needless to say, I grew up as a 'meat-and-potatoes' kid, but I was more potatoes than meat. Meat always freaked me out if I actually thought about what I was masticating so becoming a vegetarian isn't too difficult for me. Of course, I've fallen off the wagon quite a bit. Let's be honest, in restaurants/cafeterias around these parts, the most accessible food is usually meat-based. Everyone cooks with meat, everyone devours meat. Vegetarianism receives a lot of odd looks. I admit that it's getting better and veggie options are becoming more and more abundant. Yay change!

After reading books like Fast Food Nation and Skinny Bitch, my husband and I decided to become vegetarians for one year. We learned A LOT about cooking, flavors, and new foods. It was super exciting and fun. Yes, it was really hard some days, but we learned to deal with cravings. We did sub seafood once in awhile so I guess you could say, for the most part, we were pescetarians. After removing red and white meat from my diet, I'd honestly never felt better. I'm not sure why I went back to my carnivorous ways. Seems silly, really.

Let me tell you, if you've ever considered cutting out meat, you should read Fast Food Nation, Skinny Bitch, and The Kind Diet. They fucked my day UP.  In a good way [if that's even possible]. These books are horrifying in their descriptions of the way the animals are treated. It's absolutely heart-breaking. That was the number one reason I decided to go veggie for one year. I couldn't bear to think about all those sweet, docile cows, chickens, and pigs being tortured and forced to live a horrible, horrible life only for it to end even more inhumanely. Not to mention the squallid conditions. Fucking DIS-GUST-ING. And that shit [literally] gets in your FOOD. You're eating that. It's in your mouth.

Side note: I won't get into the political bullshit of the FDA and the meat industry. I challenge you to read the aforementioned books and educate yourself. If you're not that interested, that's fine, but at the very least, they are totally eye-opening.

Okay, I know that not all farms are like that. In reality though, 99% are exactly that. Unfortunately, the mom-and-pop family-owned farms are so few and far between that the meat you're buying at the grocery store is coming from factory farms. Of course, if you're lucky enough to live near a family-owned farm where the animals are treated well, not injected with antibiotics and hormones, and can actually move around, you really have a gem in your possession.  Take advantage of it. Those family-owned farms have to work twice as hard as a factory farm, and they deserve your attention and respect.

Some of you might be shaking your head at me. Some of you probably closed this web page. For the people who stuck around, good on'ya!

By now, I'm sure you're thinking "What does all this vegetarianism crap have to do with her ultimate quest?"  Good question Class, I'll tell you. The last step in transitioning from veggie to vegan is [basically] cutting out dairy. [Please note that I do not consider vegan to be synonymous with gluten-free. Being GF is not necessarily healthy for those who can tolerate gluten, but that's for another time or someone else's blog.]

That's right folks, letting go of milk and all things dairy....and CHEESE. [insert the saddest, most pathetic face you've ever seen here]. I love cheese. I love everything about it. It's so melty and delicious. It's the perfect complement to everything in the world. I'm serious. I could pen a sonnet about cheese.  Why give it up? Because cheese, although it isn't the result of a cow being slaughtered, it is the result of some serious udder torture. I'd be an animal-loving hypocrit if I gave up meat while professing my undying love for cows and simultaneously eating a hunk of Cooper Sharp.


My quest is not only to go vegan, it's to become the best version of myself. I want to live a kind life [as Ms. Silverstone would say]. I don't want to feed into an industry that tortures animals merely for a moment's pleasure. I want to be the healthiest, guilt-free version of me and because this cheeseless life is going to be super challenging, I need some back-up! This blog [and you little darlings] will hold me accountable. This blog will chronicle my journey.

And now it's on. Like Donkey Kong.