Hi friends!!How are you!? How was your weekend?! Ours was really good! Relaxing and fun for sure. I spent most of friday night and Saturday morning trying not to let myself get overwhelmed about our vegan talk. I’d say I was successful. I didn’t want to get nervous about public speaking– because then I would put the idea that there is a reason to be nervous about public speaking in Marlowe’s head. She doesn’t need that idea πŸ™‚ But then when we chatted about it– she told me SHE was nervous, haha. I told her not to worry about it– that she would only have to speak about things she knew about– what her favorite foods were, if she liked being vegan, etc etc.

So how did it go? Well, great!… I think. Haha. I mean, unless someone tells me otherwise, I think it went pretty well. Marlowe had so much fun. She was so excited and happy and in great mood afterwards. We were both surprised that she didn’t get more questions though πŸ™‚ I’m pretty sure she turned off her mic about halfway through too– but whatever, haha.

We had fun. Never did I ever think I would be publicly speaking– about anything. I mentioned it there, but I’ve NEVER spoken in front of a crowd. And never did I ever think I would be speaking about being vegan, health, or raising a (badass) vegan kid. But I guess thats the world– and thats life– it’s crazy. One day you can be living off chicken fingers and french fries– and the next you can become a fruitarian speaking in front of a crowd with your vegan kid by your side. The possibilities in life are endless πŸ˜‰

I spoke a bit about becoming vegan, the effects on my life, having a(n amazing) vegan pregnancy, and choosing to raise Marlowe vegan. And so much more. People stopped and asked a lot of questions along the way– which was great. We were more planning to do questions at the end– but I ended up feeling more comfortable with them asking so it would feel more like a conversation with he crowd πŸ™‚ I guess the hardest thing is there are SO many things to talk about. And I worried/worry that I would touch on something, not explain it well, and leave people feeling unsatisfied. Each topic has 20 million subtopics and underlying reasons and ideas– you know? Ooof, food is a tough and deeply personal topic– for me– and so many people!

Marlowe actually said she wants to do more talks. Which I think is AWESOME. A few days before she asked why she was going to be taking part in the talk too. I told her she absolutely did not have to if she didn’t want to– but if she did want to, it would be a good opportunity for her to do some good by being a good example of a happy, healthy, well rounded kid. I told her that there are a lot of people who want to have vegan and vegetarian kids but are scared to do it because they’re not sure they’re kid will be healthy enough. Her response? “WHATT!! That is crazy!! Being vegan is SO HEALTHY! You eat SO many vegetables!!” hahahaha. She’s right. Her shock and reaction was priceless.

It’s so great watching this kid grow up. I mean, look at that photo^ She’s HUGE. She’s almost half my weight, haha. And it’s great to continue to watch her care so much for the earth and animals and everything. And I’m glad she is excited to talk more, to share more. I’m never going to push her with that stuff– or anything. Well, I mean, the only thing I’m actively pushing her with everyday is swimming, because she still refuses to learn– which is a nightmare in south Florida. But otherwise, never pushing. But yeah, the bigger she gets and the more she wants to share and it’s absolutely cool with me. I’m of course more than happy to share this space with her– let her run with her ideas. She’s a smart and creative kid, I’m excited to see what she’ll want to do. πŸ™‚

Thank you so so so much to you guys that came out. Marlowe and I had fun. I know I’ve been saying it for MONTHS, but Marlowe and I are still hoping and planning to put together a question and answer video on the blog. I can talk about her and for her on this blog until I’m blue in the face– but I think it’s a much different experience when you hear her speaking for herself about her favorite foods or how she feels about not eating meat.

Speaking of which– funny side note. Afterwards, she was like, “well, you got A LOT of questions!” and I kindly said, “well, maybe it’s because I’ve been vegan for SO long– so people thought I might think differently about it.” And Marlowe’s response? “Well yeah, you’ve been vegan longer, but I’ve NEVER had meat,!” haha. And she wasn’t necessarily doing it in a competitive way. We are so NOT competitive people– but more so in a very matter-of-factly way πŸ™‚

But yeah, thank you again for you local folks who came out. And for those of you not local, hopefully I’ll be able to keep my word and finally make a video. We’ve been wanting to. It’s more so my lack of video making/ editing skills that is stoping us, not anything else πŸ™‚

I hope you guys have a wonderful week! The weather has been crazy here in south Florida. Not bad– at all. Just weirdly windy and allergy producing– for us mango allergenic folks anyway.

Happy Monday, friends!

4 Comments

  1. Oh wow! I'm so disappointed that I missed this; I would've totally been there. Hope you're able to do another one soon. I second the Marlowe Q&A video. I'd love to have my daughter watch it I'm trying to convince her to at least be a vegetarian. I'd love for her to be vegan but my high schooler doesn't seem ready.

  2. It is so fun and interesting (often eye-opening) reading your blog, that I'm sure it'll be more fun seeing you and listening to you both πŸ™‚ Can't wait for that video, even if its editing is really bad, ha ha!