Photography, Adventure, Glitter, and (Vegan) Cupcakes

As many of my dear friends know, along the way of becoming a mostly-vegan vegetarian, I have started to incorporate cruelty-free shopping into my lifestyle wherever possible. This means buying soaps, detergents, skincare, makeup, and bath items that were not tested on animals and preferably not made from animal products. Now, this process is by no means easy. A few afternoons poring over websites, a few cruelty-free apps for my iPhone downloaded, and a few trips to Target and Walgreens later, and I have to say, the selection dwindles infinitely when you decide to stop buying animal-tested products. But that's the problem and the point I guess; almost everything we buy is tested in labs on poor defenseless animals when now safer, more effective ways of lab testing exists. There is no reason why, in the year 2013, and in the massive amount of technological and scientific advancement that we as a society now face, that we should be testing harsh chemicals on defenseless living cr...

I started my journey bright and early. Okay, for definition’s sake, “early” was 8:00 a.m. In any case, after shoving a very disgruntled red minpin into her crate and tossing her lovingly on the front seat, fueling up my car with gasoline and my belly with hot tea, I was on the road.  Noticing the frost on the grass as I sped past my neighbor’s lawns for the last time in an immeasurable while, I couldn’t help but feel excitement knowing that I would soon be in the South—in the warmth, in the heat, in the sun. The drive to South Carolina (my destination for night one) is a mountainous trek that, thankfully, this time of year is beautiful. Painted horizons of reds, yellows, greens, oranges, and rusts led my way as I sped up, down, and around the mountains of West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. Road trips are fun, believe it or not. I keep myself entertained (being my favorite person on the planet has its advantages—for example, I don’t mind traveling with mys...