BLT + Potato Chip Salad {Vegan & Gluten-Free}

My apologies for the delayed post! Things have been pretty crazy here, some good and some bad. The good: Mark and I celebrated our three year anniversary together. Mark isn’t as wildly romantic as I would like sometimes but he did surprise me with waffle breakfast the morning of our anniversary. I was grateful for his efforts and wished we could have spent the day together but work commanded us elsewhere. The bad: I had minor surgery and it left me feeling so sluggish and tired that I wasn’t up to do my usual routine. The day after my surgery, I thought to myself, “Hey, I don’t feel so bad, let’s go run some errands!” I pushed myself way too hard for the entire day, lugging groceries, potted herbs and two enormous bags of organic soil. My body was paying for my stubbornness and by not following doctor’s orders, my recovery time was that much longer.
There was once a time that I wouldn’t have minded laying in bed all day, power marathoning Netflix and acting rather sloth-like but I am not that person anymore. Before going vegan and committing to a more pro-active lifestyle, staying in bed while watching TV would have been a dream day. My perfect day but it is not who I am anymore. Now, I want to get out of my apartment, be in my kitchen, writing, taking photographs, going to cafés and farmers’ markets. Even when someone, even a doctor, tells me to take it easy, I have this burst of energy and want to do everything all at once. This experience only proves to me how important balance is in my life. I am not very good at balance. I am either doing everything with a zillion things on my to-do list and over-committing to projects or I am literally doing nothing besides hanging out in my sweats and scrolling through Pinterest on my phone. Current addiction: Sarah’s Scribbles. 

My potted plants could have waited and I did not need those groceries right that second. I needed to take care of my body since it was in need of some rest and repair. I would have scolded a friend if she told me that she had surgery one day and ran errands like a crazy person the next day. Why was it so easy to let myself do these things?

Now, I am fully recovered from my surgery and back to my routine but with a little more balance. There are two important things I have learned from this experience: I do not need to do everything in a day and I do not need to do it alone. Will I survive if I didn’t accomplish X amount of things on my list? Yes. Would it be an epic failure on my part if someone helped me out? Not even a little. Over the next few days of recovery, Mark was helpful with things around the house that I committed to do exclusively myself over the past three years. I had rejected his help in the past. He also helped ensure I stayed in bed by bringing me tea, watching some Brooklyn Nine-Nine together and he took my glasses off my face when I fell asleep reading. Sure, it isn’t the stuff of a paperback romance novel but it was romantic to me. Along with the importance of balance, I realized that romance did not have to be grand gestures but the sweet little things that someone does for you to make your life better. Thank you Mark xoxo.

Stay connected on the daily by following me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! 

P.S. Though I am behind from the surgery, the eBook is scheduled to come out on Thursday, July 16th and it is FREE to any subscriber! Subscribe by adding your email address to the right side bar and click subscribe!

P.P.S I used my Maple Sriracha Tempeh Bacon recipe for this one as well. If you like, add a few dashes of liquid smoke to the marinade for a really bacon-y flavour.