Swell Swappings

While November was a rather mild month temperature-wise in Portland, December has pretty much planted chilly mornings and near-freezing nights right at my doorstep (literally, considering my apartment building no longer heats the hallways or stairwells…  Really…). I have started thinking more seriously about whether to continue riding my bike to work because frosty/icy patches on the streets don’t mix well with me and my bike. We’ll see…

Before we get to the swappiness, here are a few photos from a bike ride Tim and I took last weekend (we rode our bikes to one of our favorite parks to have lunch under a bridge and enjoy the last traces of Fall slowly slipping away…):

Picnic tables at Cathedral Park

The Willamette River peeking through some gorgeous fall foliage

The St. John’s Bridge

Anyways, it’s time to focus on the title of this post!!! Vegan package swaps are mighty fun and addictive and I recently participated in one started by Lindsay from the Cooking for a Vegan Lover blog. Lindsay has a wonderful blog and generously hosts lots of giveaways so you should visit her site!!! I was paired with Carrie from the Happy Vegan Yogini blog and my package arrived yesterday. It was  an exciting end to a rather busy day at work. Do you want to know what was inside?

Banana Coconut Curry Sauce from Hawaii

Roasted Nori Snacks

Apple Chips

A local cabbage-y treat from where Carrie lives (good on beans she says!!!)

Pepperoncini, canned by Carrie!!

Apple Banana Butter from Hawaii

Coconut Candy from Hawaii

Also included was some incredible lip balm by Lush called None of Your Beeswax. It is lemony, vanilla-y, lovely. It is also the first Lush product I have tried – I want to try more now!!! Carrie tucked some Hawaiian coffee, dried fruit strips, and a reusable grocery bag from an all-veg grocery in Hawaii into my package as well (and some soup that sadly exploded from its carton in transit, but I will locate some at my grocery store because it smelled so good!). I was very lucky to be paired with Carrie right before she took a vacation to Hawaii, right? Fun stuff! The coconut candy disappeared quickly and Tim is eager to sample the hot sauce (perfect for warming our insides this winter!). Thank you so much Carrie!!!!!

Stay tuned for my next post which will announce the winner of my latest giveaway!!! Hurry up and enter if you haven’t already, I draw a winner on Saturday the 5th!!!! Also, I am in the midst of reviewing two cookbooks and testing recipes for another one, so December will feature lots of food stuff. Good for everybody, right?!

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