This was our tent at Littlepalooza, a kids event at the First Unitarian Church of Orlando in Dowtown Orlando. There's me, Henry, a friend, and Julie, whose little mustard seed of a thought was tranformed into a Dandelion! 

Talking to a hip momma, giving her the lowdown on the best hrebal tonics in town! 

Check it out- this is Ourlando, a benefit for Simple Living Institute. This was one bitchin' party, and if you weren't there and you live in Orlando, you TOTALLY missed out. Relive part of it here!  

One of the best bands in Orlando is Omiza River. This is their lead singer, Tanyia Hall, who has the most incredible energy. It is a treat to see her perform. Check out their website here.

Screw flowers or chocolate- if you really want to make a woman swoon with ecstasy, bring her to Dandelion and feed her a vegan fluffer nutter sandwich. The chicks go wild for it! 

We brought another to the dark side...with our "addictive like crack" fluffer nutter sandwich! 

Here's our lovely Amber explaining the healing benefits (not to mention the tastiness) of our Elixir Tonics. 

It was hard to believe this totally awesome event was happening in Orlando. I think we are becoming more and more of a real community. Hopefully, Dandelion can become a hub for this continuing tranformation! 

At the Ourlando event, we gave 2 samplers of Elixir Tonics to be raffled off to benefit the Simple Living Institute (see the side bar for their website). Here is one of the lucky winners- even happier after we tell him 2 of the tonics included are the sex tonics for him and her. Is that a tonic bottle in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? 

When can we go to Dandelion, Mommy? Can we go, can we go? See even the youngins are counting the days till Dandelion opens.  

The positive energy from that day made Chris so happy, he just had to juggle some vegan fluff. And he's not half bad at it either! 

Vegbuddha endorses Scott Randolph!

It's time that Florida had some real leadership! Vegbuddha endorses Scott Randolph for State Representative, District 36.

I had to get away!

Since I had no time between my gig with Alaska Coalition ending and the the Veg Fest 2 days later, I was feeling like one tired little girl. So I thought I would visit my new found friends from Boone, North Carolina that I met in DC. It was a wonderfully relaxing trip and went to visit a teahouse and coffeehouse for business reasons. Hey, I wonder if I get to write my trip off as a business expense? Ah, the cunning mind of a business person!

This was my most gracious host, Matt. I met him and a bunch of folks you will see here from the Arctic Refuge Day of Action in DC. They do some awesome work through Appalachian Voices, espcially on mountaintop removal (for coal). Check them out-their link is on the side bar. 

This is Matt's steady sidekick, Kane. He is a beautiful husky and Matt think he may be half wolf. Pretty wild, huh? 

I am pretty new to canoeing myself, but I guess this what they call a "party barge". You get all the canoes together and you "party". Kinda of like a pool party, but not so wet on the body.  

Supposedly letting your horses in the river is against the law or something. I still think it's pretty awesome site myself.  

Isn't this the cutest house you have ever seen? Who would have thunk you would see this in Todd, North Carolina? 

We went to check out a coffeehouse that was owned by a friend of Matt's called the Dripolator. She sells mostly organic, free trade coffee. She just went to Nicuaragua to check out the whole coffee making process. Read about it here- http://www.blackmountainnews.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=1501&format=html 

While in North Carolina, I HAD to go to Asheville to check out Indigineous Teahouse! The concept is somewhat similar to Dandelion. They even sell the Elixir Tonics that we will be serving. If you are ever in Asheville, check them out! http://www.indigenous-asheville.com/index2.html 

You can only hide behind a beer for so long- especially if it's only a quarter of the way full! 

Cigarettes- not just a breakfast food anymore! And, is she trying to flick somebody off with that mixing straw? 

Crackpipe (formerly known as Lawyer) and his down-to-earth wife Tracy- this totally rad couple got hitched in the Yukon this summer. How cool is that! Aren't they cute? I feel honored that Scott actually let me take his picture. See how Scott normally has his picture taken at http://www.appvoices.org/staff.asp.  

Smoke art photography- I just invented it! Just hold a cigarette in front of your camera and take a picture. Wacky bar fun! 

Holy Ghost? You decide! Looks like a tongue of fire to me and I certainly didnt understand what he was saying, so maybe he was speaking another language. Or maybe it was just the beer- we'll never know. 

It was sad to leave all the pretty fall colors behind, but at least I got a chance to enjoy them. An important philosophy to learn in life. 

It's more than a tea house-it's a way of life.

Don't worry- the test will be an open cookbook exam.

Spreading the love, one nutter flutter at a time.

Greg handles the Veg Fest mob with panache.

Put that in yer pipe and smoke it!

Vegan Flutter nutter sandwiches- good like crack, but healthier.

Julie is the hostess with the mostest!

Chris, explaining the finer points of teas and tonics.

John, super volunteer for Dandelion, whips up a tantalizing tonic!

The fans go crazy over that vegan marshmallow fluff.

If we can influence the next generation, we can change the future!

The future is looking good for Dandelion Communitea Cafe!

Orlando's 1st Annual Veg Fest

If you live in Central Florida, and you weren't at the Orlando Veg Fest, you missed out on the birthing of a real progressive community in Orlando. The response was amazing! Conservative estimates put the crowd at 3000 people. You can check all the exctiting vendors, speakers, musicians and cooking demos (one by yours truly) that you missed at www.orlandovegfest.com. I think this year's success will ensure that there will be a second annual event.

I was also able to plug the Orlando Veg Fest and Dandelion Communitea Cafe as Sandra the Vegan on the Philips Phile 1041.1 (http://philips.wtks.com/). THANK YOU JIM PHILIPS!!!

Here are some pictures of the Dandelion's experience at the Veg Fest!