Yay it’s The Opinioness’ 1^st Birthday!!!  Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to read my posts…you have no idea what it means to me.  I still can’t believe one year has passed since I started this zany journey.  Judging from my most popular posts, you all love reading about ass-kicking women in films, women protesting in Egypt, myths about vegans, recipes and Lisbeth Salander.

I created this blog to discuss issues that matter to me: gender, feminism, food politics and living vegan.  Some of my friends thought I would write about women’s rights since I’m a die-hard feminist.  Others thought for sure I would write about vegan recipes as I’m a hardcore vegan.  I knew both were right.  While numerous feminist blogs and vegan blogs exist in the blogosphere, I had rarely seen one that fused both.  I realized that I can’t separate the two; both comprise the core of who I am.   And so, here we are…one year later!

My very first blog post, besides my “hey world I’m here” entry, was my review of the movie Kick-Ass.  The easiest posts for me to write are the recipes and film reviews.  To me, recipes go beyond cooking meals; they evoke memories and emotions.  As we discuss food, we share traditions, customs and stories.  The film reviews are so much fun as I’ve been a movie junky ever since I saw Star Wars and emulated Princess Leia in my homemade white dress and cloak with my hair coiled into buns and a light saber in my hands (in my version, Leia kicked more ass than anyone!).  But I also think movies provide an opportunity to critique media and gender roles as they both shape and show cultural norms.

The hardest post for me to write was the one I wrote about my experience with domestic violence.  The words flowed like water, yet hitting the “publish” key was frightening; how would people react?  From that post (and many others), I’ve learned that blogging is simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying.  You’re putting more than your words out there; you’re baring your soul for the whole world to see and judge.  But it’s also about connecting, reaching out to others and letting them know they’re not alone.

Over a year ago, I was searching, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life.  With every accomplishment (like putting myself through school, moving to Boston) and with each new job, I felt like I was getting closer and closer.  Yet my dream job still eluded me.  And then I wrote my first review for Open Letters Monthly.  After that first piece, I knew…this was it.  While I had told a select few throughout my life that my dream was to write a book, I had resisted being a writer for years.  I ran from it.  I shoved it out of my mind.  What if people didn’t like what I wrote?  I thought there was no way I could make a living as a writer.  Now I know; there’s no way I can’t.

Writing consumes my thoughts.  I can’t go to the movies, read a book, watch the news or eat a meal the same way again.  I’m always thinking about dissecting and analyzing points, bridging themes and choosing which words will capture the essence of what I’m trying to convey.  Becoming a writer has irrevocably changed my life.  It has opened up dialogues about social justice.  It has also allowed me to connect with amazing people, some of whom I admire immensely, I never would have otherwise met.

So thank you, thank you, thank you for reading.  I hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as I enjoy writing them.  As I say in my bio…whether you call yourself a feminist or not, or a vegan or not, it’s time to kick ass and make this world a more fabulous place.

GIVEAWAYS

Now for the exciting part!  To celebrate and say thank you to all of you for your support, The Opinioness is offering not 1 but 2 giveaways!  As this is a feminist vegan blog, one prize will be the winner’s choice of 1 of 2 feminist books and the second prize will be the winner’s choice of 1 of 2 vegan cookbooks.  The 2 winners will be able to select:

For the feminist drawing, select either:

Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein

Big Girls Don’t Cry: The Election that Changed Everything for American Women by Rebecca Traister

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For the vegan drawing, select either:

BabyCakes Covers the Classics: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes from Donuts to Snickerdoodles by Erin McKenna

Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

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So how do you win these fabulous prizes, you ask??  All you have to do is:

1. Subscribe to my blog (if you’re not already subscribed) AND…
2. Leave a comment on this post telling me your fave post and why AND…
3. Tell me whether you’d like to be entered into the feminist or vegan drawing

Then you’ll be placed in the running and the 2 winners will be selected at random.  The DEADLINE to apply is SATURDAY, APRIL 23^RD. 

Thank you to all of you for being an amazing audience 🙂