Vegan London. VitaOrganic. Puppy Rescue. Radius talking to Pj.

Vitao

Vitaorganic

020.7734.8936

Soho, 74 Wardour St.

Soho, UK, W1F 0

When we walked into this little place in Soho, we were immediately drawn to all the wood & the incredibly vibrant food.  But the first time we looked at the menu we got really confused.  There were "menu items", different sizes of plates, a buffet, a plate with a "main", etc...so we walked out because a family of four was behind us & we didn't want to keep them waiting.  The funny thing was that we walked back in several minutes later, and the family of four was still trying to figure it out.  

As far as I could tell, most people just do the "buffet", which here means pile whatever you want on your plate-one time.  It's not American after all.  You could also pay more & order a buffet with what they considered to be a "main" dish, but it seemed pretty unecessary.

There was one pretty much "raw" food bar & then one that mostly had cooked & steamed veggies, rices, curried veggies & really nourishing, simple cooked foods.  I chose the mostly raw kale salad, broccoli salad, and loads of shredded veggies.  Very simple.  Some oil.  Some seasonings but very mild.  Perfect for travelling-I just don't like to tax my system that much when bebopping around.  And I was pretty stoked to find food that I wouldn't totally regret eating an hour later (like sugar laden vegan bakery goods!!).

Hubby actually got Kale too!  And some wonderfully warming brown rice & curried veggies with a coconut milk base, warm noodles, veggies, mushrooms, and some other grains. 

They had a pretty large selection of juices & smoothies from the uber green to the cacao maca type decadence.  I opted for a green juice.  

I love that they put Free from GMO AND Irradiation on their sign!  Irradiation isn't even really a word we use in the States.  Unlike the States, Peeps are leery of GMO's in Europe.  It's not that they don't have any, but people are much more reluctant to have them take over.  

The food was so perfect for me, that we ate here twice!  It's central location lent itself to an easy place to stop in, while walking until we could no longer, on the streets of London.  Which may be one of our fave places in the world.  Like a refined "States", yet there is enough chaos to keep it interesting.  And people are just generally friendly. 

And onto
www.gatewaypets.com
(East St. Louis & Washington Park, Illinois Stray Animal Rescue)

This is kind of normal.  Pj digging under foundations, saving puppies.  This one was in Washington Park, Illinois.  Where so many homes are "newer", yet abandoned & completely falling down.  Pj & GPG spent hours digging to rescue this little Princess.  Her siblings were rescued on another day.

And then all different feeding days for Radius.  Pj's new love, in East St. Louis.  He is a stray & was always super quiet until he saw that Ol' Man Ellis was in the back of the car, and was getting rescued.  Once he figured out that Pj's car was a viable option, he seems to insist that it will be his option as well. Pj is pretty much wanting to get this guy as soon as the shelter has room or we have a foster.

September 2012

October 2012

Other Posts:

Vegan London. Best Whole Foods in the World!

10 Second *Emergency* Raw Vegan Brownies

Trendiest & Super Yummy Sacha Inchi Seeds.

Anupy Singla's latest, Vegan Indian book, ROCKS.

Sex Balls.  Okay, Raw Vegan Maca Infused Balls.  Same thing, right?

Sisterhood at the first Midwest Bhakti Fest in Madison, Wisconsin. 

I want a Hula Hoop. 

Raw Vegan Matcha (Green Tea) Ice Cream

Black Forest Burger Recipe. Vegan Indian. Anupy Singla.

So you wonder what it's like going out on a rescue?

These video excerpts are small excerpts of that morning's "journey". The rescue of Jois took hours......All videos can be viewed in HD, you just need to click on the 720/HD on bottom right (hold mouse above to see where to click!).


Ms. PJ has been going to East St. Louis every single day for over a decade to feed & care & foster "Los Perros de la Calle".  She is one of the most beautiful, fragile yet resilient, and strongest women I have ever met and I feel so blessed that I am able to brush shoulders with her in this lifetime.  Check out Gateway Pet Guardian's Website for our "Adventures in Pet Rescue" blog & to buy the documentary about PJ (Gateway Guardians).  Yours truly, little Vegan Chic with an attitude, is doing the talking & the shaky filming (the ground is always something like this-collapsed homes!  and the only reason I am filming is because I will show up to her place on time and am on the rescue!  Not for my stellar videography!!  If you are interested in an Adventure or just a morning feeding (which is a lot more low key), then contact Gateway Pets!

So, wonder what it is like going on a rescue?? Or feeding the pups on the East side? Either way, if you are set to "ride" with PJ in the morning, you best be prepared for anything! Some mornings I would ride, unaware any type of rescue was planned, and find myself desiring thicker pants, and bulky gloves! Or maybe thought we would be in the car more, and realized once we got there that we would be outside for an indefinite amount of time and I really was fantasizing about polartec leggings under my jeans! Generally she provides the flashlights and tools, but you might want to make sure your attire is suitable for walking through thick brush (hats and long sleeves), bitter cold or windy weather, durable yet old footwear, bulky gloves for biting/nipping pups, thinner gloves for Pj's demolition team (usually ripping apart old buildings), glasses for either the sun or to prevent your eyes getting full of soot, and thicker pants that you don't mind getting muddy and that will provide protection from debris of outside or old buildings.

Bring your charged cell phone, you get extra credit for iPhones or the like since we will never be lost and will have all of our contact in for right there, along with video and still film. Oh, they also come in handy to find a vet that will let us take our freshly rescued do to them, spur of the moment, and also to scramble for additional fosters if we end up with more than we anticipated, or a different dog than anticipated! And in general, leave your time frame at home. Pj's time frame is generally, "until we get the dog". However, sometimes it takes multiple visits for a rescue, simply because there is no guarantee that the planned rescue will even be sighted that day, or that we will be able to catch them.

Although most of the dogs adjust quickly after they are rescued, they are often fearful of people and have survived solely because of their ability to outrun "man". Well, we all know Pj isn't "man", but a Hollywood Action Figure, and although she can't outrun them, she can usually devise a way to out "trick" them and find a successful path to their rescue. These videos give a glimpse of what our April 16, 2011 rescues looked like. From arriving at the site, just trying to even have access to it, to discovering that it was a slightly different situation than we had expected. We were expecting brush and maybe a crawlspace, as Pj is master of crawling on her belly, under floorboards.

However, this was debris, linoleum, carpeting, and very thick vines that had been impacted to create a nearly impermeable ceiling. Beneath this "ceiling" was a foundation of a home, and tunnels divided into sections by cinderblocks. It took endless hours of shoveling, at first with our hands, and then calling in backup. About 3/4 way through we made a spur of the moment call to Mr. B, who dropped his beekeeping duties at moment's notice to come help. Our Puppy Saving Prince came bearing tools that he claimed, were not invented by a chic, like shovels! We ended up with one puppy that day. Saw another "escape" and the third, we had no clue! They would have to wait for their "Journey Home". I think Jois fared pretty well during the whole ordeal. She was frightened at first because Pj had to hold to really drag her out of there, but she warmed up right away during her bath. And apparently she follows her foster family around the entire house, whining to be picked up and petted. And please let us know if you would ever like to ride with us! We promise to try to tell you if there is a rescued planned or if you need your work boots!

Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace. —Albert Schweitzer, French philosopher, physician, and musician (Nobel 1952)