Why I Made Vegan in VA

For the past year, I’ve been working on creating this blog and I think I’m finally ready to really share it—yay!

I’ve already told you a little about myself (in my Meet Me Series), so now I’d like to tell you why I’ve made this blog. There are a few reasons, really:

bike rack at Cogan's North

1. I’m a sharer. When I find a particularly useful tip, tasty recipe, cool podcast, etc., I immediately want to share it with everyone I know. Good news is meant to be shared, right? And anything that makes life better/easier (like finally figuring out the perfect vegan French toast recipe!) is definitely good news.

2. There are a ton of great local resources sharing info about community events, activities, and other developments in Hampton Roads, but very, very few that focus exclusively on veg-friendly things to do, see, or eat. I’m excited to help fill that information gap.

3. People often ask me for vegan recipes, for tips about how to cut down on meat/dairy/egg consumption, or how to make the transition to a fully plant-based, vegan diet. I LOVE when people ask me about this!

As I said before, I’m a sharer, so it’s like getting a surprise present every time I get to help someone on the path toward veganism. The only trouble is that I often feel like I am throwing too much information at a person at once. Like, I know that rattling off a list of my favorite faux meat products isn’t going to stick in a person’s brain for very long. I kept finding myself thinking, If only I could jot down some notes for them to reference later… (Not to mention that every time this happened my husband would say, "See, this is why you need to blog!")

vegan breakfast: scrambled VeganEgg
 with tomatoes, whole wheat toast, OJ, & coffee

So, that’s kind of a quick round-up of the reasons why I decided to launch Vegan in VA. I just want to share what I’ve learned with y'all so that your lives will become easier, healthier, and more compassionate.

Maybe I’ll save you some time so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel (like I have many times since making the switch to veganism) and maybe I’ll make it easier for someone  to commit to a plant-based diet or even a fully vegan lifestyle.

Maybe I’ll even convince everyone in Virginia to go vegan!

Ambitious? Sure. But a girl can dream.

Meet Me, Part 2: VA Life

Hey, y’all! Welcome back to Vegan in VA for the second installment of my Meet Me Series. In Part 1, I gave you a basic introduction to me and now I’d like to briefly introduce you to my home - Hampton Roads, VA. _________________ I’d like to begin by clarifying something for those of you who aren’t familiar with my little corner of VA. The area where I live is referred to by several names: Southeastern Virginia, Tidewater, Hampton Roads, the 757, and, most recently, Coastal Virginia. It’s kind of a running joke that our area has a bit of an identity crisis and I honestly pity any non-locals who try to keep it all straight. I’ll probably use all of those names at some point so just know that, whatever I call it, I’m talking about the same area, which includes Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News, Hampton, Suffolk, and Isle of Wight County.

Melody loves technology,
even if she's not always
the most helpful officemate

But anyway, let’s get back onto the topic at hand, shall we? I share an apartment with my husband and our grumpy (and slightly neurotic) old cat named Melody. We live in one of Norfolk’s many beautiful, historic neighborhoods, in delightful proximity to a ton of shops, restaurants, and places for entertainment. Best of all, we are in the best part of Hampton Roads (aka HRVA) that a vegan could be. We’re lucky enough to have a wide range of restaurants, grocery stores, and farmers markets that offer all kinds of veg-friendly fare. Living here makes a vegan lifestyle so easy! It’s really fantastic and we are grateful every single day to live in a place that is so understanding and accepting of our lifestyle.

that time a giant rubber
duck appeared in the
Hague in front of the
Chrysler Museum

As much as I love food (and I love food A LOT!) there are so many other reasons why living in HRVA gets me stoked. Living here means I’m just a short drive from the Atlantic Ocean. The beach is one of my favorite places to be, so this is a Big Deal for me. There are also various museums (many of which don’t exploit animals for entertainment, thankfully) that cover science (the Air and Space Museum), local history (the Casemate Museum at Fort Monroe), art (the Chrysler Museum), and much more. Plus, there’s an abundance of outdoor activities available like kayaking, hiking, surfing, and biking - which is my personal favorite! In addition to all that awesomeness, HRVA is also a great place to be a geek (and I’m a big one). We have locally-owned video game and comic book stores, the Tidewater Comicon, and an annual lightsaber battle every May. I’m a history nerd, too, and since VA is literally where America began there is no end of cool historic things to do - including visiting the Historic Triangle (i.e. Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown).

live music at Harborfest, an
annual event on the
Elizabeth River

What I love most though is that, even though I’ve lived my whole life here in Hampton Roads, I’m still discovering new and exciting things to do and see and places to go. Plus, with our wonky but awesome weather, you can do just about anything at just about any time of the year. Some people might find it lame that I’ve lived in the same place my whole life, but I tell you what: I love it here! HRVA has been a wonderful place to grow up and start my family. I can’t even imagine any place else being able to offer all that HRVA can. But what about you: What do you love about your hometown? Tell me in the comments! Click here to read the previous post in this series < Meet Me Part 1: Welcome to Vegan in VA

Click here to read the next post in this series

Meet Me Part 3: Going Veg >