About

The Lady

Welcome! My name is Stephanie and I’m a 24 year old vegetarian living in beautiful Denver, Colorado!  I’m adventuring my way through life, trying to experience as many things as possible, especially when it comes to food! Originally from Metro-Detroit, Michigan, I moved out here to take a year off of school by committing to a 10 month term with AmeriCorps and haven’t looked back! I believe the mountains have put a spell on me.

This blog will chronicle my food, exercise and general whimsicalities of everyday life. I mainly started this as a challenge to commit to creating change in my own life and, hopefully, inspire others. 🙂

The Dog

Izze, the conquerer of rocks and squeaky things, complete with her polka dot leash and collar.

Izze at Great Sand Dunes National Park. Had to carry her most of the time here.

Izze! I adopted a 4 year old Australian Cattle Dog on a whim in April 2011. I went to the Adams County Animal Shelter to view another pup I had my eyes on, but when I got there, he was a psycho little thing! Ack! I wandered the rows and rows of barking, restless dogs with my sister when we came upon this little 37 pound bundle of fur and big innocent eyes that just melted our hearts immediately. She was silent and just stared into the depths of our souls as she gently licked our hands. SHE HAD TO BE MINE.  She was nameless, and, as far as I could tell, completely untrained. She pooed and peed wherever she pleased. What was I getting myself into?!

When I picked her up the following week, a volunteer brought her out to me in the front lobby of the shelter as I finished up filling out some forms. She immediately proceeded to squat and pee on the floor. Great. Not a good sign. I take her outside and she then decides to poo on the cement. Ashamed and bagless, I look away and hurriedly throw her into the car.

Driving to her first vet appointment, I worry that she will fling crap everywhere or terrorize other animals. I walk her around outside the vet for a bit before taking her in…and she pees on the sidewalk…even though there’s grass. right. there. *sigh*. Walking in, the receptionist fawns over Izze and hands her a Milkbone to munch on. Izze gobbles it in her mouth, spits it out on the gorgeous hardwood floors and proceeds to stare at the fish tank. So much for first impressions. The vet tech and the vets absolutely love her as well and see how well-mannered and silly she is. She’s a healthy, full-grown dog ready for her forever home!

I was so worried about her having an accident in the house, since she didn’t seem to have any concept of where it was ok to do her business. To this day, she has not had any sort of accident (well, she’s puked a couple times, but really, can you say you’ve been able to hold your puke in before making it to the appropriate place? yes? lucky you.) She’s been a challenge at times, especially teaching her how to “sit” and respond to the name “Izze”. She’s a smart little thing that’s eager to please and craves attention. I’m so fortunate to have found her at a random dog pound and am thankful that I made the very impulsive decision to adopt her.

Why “Hamburger Eats Me”?

My brilliant sister, Jennifer, came up with this very fitting title.  I’ve had quite the relationship with meat.  I’ve been flip-flopping from vegetarian to vegan for 4+ years and for whatever reason, I recently went on a month-long meat-eating binge. I will admit, it was fun. It was tasty. In those four years, I had many times of weakness, but for whatever reason, I never crumbled! The month that I was an omnivore was not the best month ever. It didn’t make me feel good. I felt lethargic and much of what I was eating was giving me a stomachache! So here I am again, vegetarian and happy! At the moment, I’m staying away from dairy and eggs, but I wouldn’t call myself vegan, mostly so I don’t offend the hardcore, awesome vegans.

The title also comes from a recurring dream of mine where a hamburger is chasing me. DON’T LAUGH, IT’S FRIGHTENING.