Archive | June, 2012

Cinnamon Snail Vegan Food Truck, NYC

29 Jun

Ah, the gourmet food truck trend.  I’ve seen plenty of these restaurants on wheels around New York City but they all conjured images of street meat to me. That is, until this vegan delight appeared like a mirage in a desert of sausages and sauerkraut.

In line for The Seed Experience, I asked another attendee where she got the ginormous cookie she was devouring a 9am. Pointing ahead to a truck parked at the event’s entrance she said, “Cinnamon Snail – it’s the best vegan food truck but is often in New Jersey, so I couldn’t resist”.

Inching closer, I saw the display case of fresh vegan pastries and read their motto: “Food to help you transform into a being of pure light who can serve all living creatures simultaneously and eternally”.

I knew where I’d be having lunch.

Gourmet Vegan Food Truck
Though I had to wait 15 minutes in the massive lineup, I was happy to see so many others, both vegan and not, supporting this breath of fresh air and I did not mind one bit:


The staff inside was so friendly and they wouldn’t even take tips – all proceeds went to the Humane Society jar (or similar cause). They offer a seasonal menu of breakfast, lunch, entrees and pastries; I had the Maple Glazed Tempeh Sandwich on sprouted whole grain bread with kale, tomato and a garlic aioli:

I know, it looks on the toastier side, but it really was scrumptious. My stomach’s grumbling as I type. Thanks, Cinnamon Snail :) Now the question is – when will you come to Canada?
Gourmet Food Truck PIcture
For all the vegan, veggie or yoga lovers I have to share this snippet from the their website: “Is it possible for a lifeless piece of material to transcend it’s physical form and evolve to a state of enlightenment? …(Cinnamon Snail) has dedicated its existence to the condition of serving all creatures of this world with gratitude and compassion, unconditionally. It has taken its Bodhisattva vows of non-violence, and surrendered to the ultimate joyful work of service. Has a 1991 Grumman / Chevy P30 become a Buddha?”

Love love love love LOVE.

More Info: 
To track the Cinnamon Snail, they post their whereabouts via
Twitter: @VeganLunchTruck or Facebook

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Grateful on brooklyn bridge

25 Jun

In the last 5 days, I’ve celebrated my birthday, felt love from countless friends and family, hosted my good friend Jen and her bf John, covered all corners of Manhattan’s day and nightlife,  to end with a perfect walk over the Brooklyn Bridge (a check off Jen’s bucket list).

Entering Manhattan by way of this bridge should be on everyone’s to-do in NYC. One of the oldest suspension bridges in the US, it was completed in 1883 and has a walkway above the car lanes. I can’t wait to see it again with the snow come winter when we return!

Multiple times, she and I stopped to recognize just how amazing it was we were together in NYC like below where we took a split second to be still (and risk…bikers come fast!) and show some meditation love:

“We could say that meditation doesn’t have a reason or doesn’t have a purpose. In this respect it’s unlike almost all other things we do except perhaps making music and dancing. When we make music we don’t do it in order to reach a certain point, such as the end of the composition. If that were the purpose of music then obviously the fastest players would be the best. Also, when we are dancing we are not aiming to arrive at a particular place on the floor as in a journey. When we dance, the journey itself is the point, as when we play music the playing itself is the point. And exactly the same thing is true in meditation. Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.”  - Alan Watts

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Summer Solstice in Times Square

20 Jun

How did you start your day? I started mine at 7:30am in down-dog amongst thousands of yogis in Times Square, NYC: (note, I took all these photos! please credit if you take them)


Aside from being a darn cool place to get our yoga on, the founders of this annual event had a deeper intention: to renew our mind, body and spirits through creative expression in celebrating the summer solstice (aka the longest day of the year and beginning of summer for us North Americans).

The glowing Drisana Carey led our morning group through the flow. She was out of view from my spot in the back, but her micro-phoned voice was the perfect guide, bouncing soothingly off the skyscrapers around me. The point, she said, was not to forget or drown the noise; it was to embrace it in our practice, to be aware of it, but at the same time to let our inner-selves shine in the forefront.

I was so into this time on the mat, that whenever I opened my eyes I had to chuckle at what was in front of me: tourists and the 8am rush-to-work crowd (camera snapping in tow).

In savasana, the final laying down pose at the end, I relaxed my body, but kept my mind sharp, picking out each sound in the background: cross-guard whistles, the release of bus breaks, sirens, beeps of trucks in reverse, taxi horns and the murmur of the work crowd – each note harmonizing to create the perfect vibration for a Wednesday morning flow.

Drisana Carey and I in Times Square

Instructor Drisana Carey and I

Namaste, NYC!

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