weekend wrap up

i am back in the north today after an amazing, whirlwind weekend at the 27th annual toronto vegetarian food festival.  i'm a little tired, still a little full, likely 2 pounds heavier, but i my spirit and mind feel so nourished after having taken in 2 days surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of fellow vegetarians and vegans.  

to sum up, my weekend included: two 4 1/2 hour car rides to get there & and back {made much shorter with the company of of two lovely ladies}, $35 in parking, copious amounts of product samples,  many cupcakes, a headache-healing hostess {who also makes a mean superfood smoothie}, some wonderful speakers, a world film premier {go see vegucated if you have the chance!}, new friends, cooking demos {including the cutest mini raw mint oreo cookies ever!}, lots of happy vegan kids and families & a whole lot of sunshine.

here are a few shots of the weekend -- and i mean "few", as i hardly took my camera out.  mostly because my hands were full of cupcakes for the better part of the weekend.  i kid you not.

{sunshine and happy vegans}

{vegan dim sum}

{a lovely peach from front door organics}

{curry combo courtesy govinda's}

{best answer ever.}

{dear bloomer's bakery: yum}

{stuffing my face with a bloomer's butter pecan cupcake}

{bunner's cinnamon toast love}

{raw vegan blizzard trio at nicole & lisa's demo}

{mint oreo blizzard}

not recorded on photograph, but one of my highlights for sure were the in-the-flesh hellos i got to share with some incredible ladies.  lisa, nicole, danielle & ricki - - it was SO wonderful to meet you, even if ever so briefly!

and can i just take another minute here for cupcake love?  not only did i get to oogle gorgeous cupcakes from a plethora of vegan bakeries, and i sampled as many as my waistband would allow, but i also got to meet the one and only terry hope romano, co-author of vegan cupcakes take over the world after she rocked out some roaring metal vitamix spins!  and then sampled some delicious cheesecake she baked for the demo as the teaser to her new book, vegan pie in the sky.  sigh.  amazing. 

thanks toronto,
see you soon.