I’ve always felt bad about filling out a new luggage tag at the airport and wasting a new piece of paper. Plus, it’s annoying to fill out the same info over and over again. So I finally ordered some real, grown up luggage tags!
 
I searched online and found these great ones on Etsy, made by Marmaline. She is great! She uses all handmade, recycled, upcycled, found, and vintage materials. Yay!
 
I got two sets, and when they arrived, they came wrapped in the cutest eco packages. It was such a treat to open them – so fun and special! Great work lady! Maybe she has other great stuff too – you can check out her shop here.
 
Have you found any great items on Etsy lately?

I wanted to share a couple of amateur interview videos that I made for you. Here is the first one! I'm not proud of my production level, but I was in a rush and didn't want to miss the opportunity to interview these groovy dudes!

On a side note: back in 2000 (or around that time), I was in Jamaica with my dear friend Laura for a raw food convention. It was a great trip, complete with braided hair, naked swimming in the ocean, and lots of yummy food and adventure! After the convention, we traveled around. In Kingston, we stayed with Bob Marley’s mother, who is a friend of Laura’s. It was amazing!

One thing I remember were these huts/restaurants that served just a few dishes of the day – it was like their McDonald’s but vegan! It was very relaxed, with great music. Can you imagine? A hut with yummy vegan dishes and that's it - just a few dishes a day, nothing really to choose from, just a plate of deliciousness! I was so impressed by this. There are so many rastafarians there and they believe in veggie life, so that's why the veg restaurants were there. Anywho, they were great! They didn't say "vegan" out front or anything - they were just huts with great food and benches - simple and wonderful!

Bersham is a neat veg guy whom I wanted to introduce to you Kind Lifers! He’s a great role model for guys out there, who probably wouldn’t assume he is veg!

Have you had any amazing vegan meals while traveling? And what do you think of cute Bersham?

Ubuntu is a vegetarian restaurant that I went to a little over a year ago, during the summer. I can't believe I haven't written about it yet - if you are anywhere near this place, you must go!

They have yoga classes above the restaurant, which we took. It was a nice yoga class. The restaurant is just so special, it's an event! The food is like eating art - it's such an experience.

The space is aesthetically beautiful and the art is pretty - it's got a truly upscale, sexy, sophisticated vibe. Everyone needs to go there at least once in their lifetime. Napa is known for food and Ubuntu fits nicely into the whole food experience of Napa. Just know that it is vegetarian, not vegan - but so vegan friendly. The stars on the menu indicate which items can be made vegan.

Here's everything I loved:

• A big dish of olives - I saw someone with it and it looked so good
• The cool garden green and lemongrass soup was really nice
• Assorted french beans with kadota fig (without parmesan) was incredible
• Chickpea clusters in Napa Smith Ale batter
• The carta da musica with virtually the entire summer garden (got it vegan) was amazing
• Heirloom onions in their natural roasting juices - sweet & sour and amazing!
• We also had dessert, which was really delicious, but I can't remember what we had!

Where do you go when you want a special dining experience?

I just finished the 7-part, 14.5-hour documentary series New York by PBS home video, directed by Ric Burns. I started watching it with my husband when I was in New York doing a play. We found it in January, and watched a little at a time.
 
I took kind of a long break after watching the first four DVDs in January, and watched four more just now. Anywho, I just finished the series, and it was so great! I learned so much, and I think it’s a very important series to see.
 
It starts by showing how New York was “discovered” by Henry Hudson, an Englishman employed by the Dutch. Back then, it was all hills and wild & beautiful countryside. The series shows how it was gradually flattened into the grid you see in New York today.
 
There were really inspiring moments throughout, as well as some that made me so mad…all the way up to the world trade center coming down, which made me cry.
 
The draft riots in the 1800s were disgusting and very upsetting, as was the tragedy of the women who threw themselves out of the triangle building in 1911. The women who then fought and went on strike were so brave to stand up against an unjust labor system.
 
The redlining of buildings in the 1930s was deplorable and segregated the city, providing no opportunities for Blacks or Jews to grow or strive for economic parity. Interestingly, rap was born out of the Brooklyn slums that were created by the practice of redlining.
 
New York also covered the great accomplishments of President Abraham Lincoln and the politician Al Smith who seemed like such a caring mayor! The builder Robert Moses was an extraordinary engineer, but the way he planned and created New York's highways, bridges and tunnels ruined neighborhoods and separated communities.
 
An amazing event that happened in 1974 was Phillippe Petit’s tightrope walk between the two world trade towers (there is an incredible documentary about this called Man On Wire). It was amazing and insane – New York covers this and so many other incredible events that have shaped the city and American culture.
 
I highly recommend this film to anyone interested in America, the story of Americans, and history in general. It is very powerful and inspiring! You can find out more about the series here and it is also available on Netflix.

Have you seen any great documentaries lately?

Kind Lifer Claudine recently alerted me to the dire situation concerning Africa’s rhinos.

South Africa is home to 90% of the world's black & white rhino population. Recently, demand for the rhinos' horn has increased in Asia, and so has the instance of rhino poaching in South Africa. In the past four years, 600 rhinos have been poached. Currently 20 rhinos per month are being poached by criminal gangs who seek to sell the rhino’s valuable horn.

The WWF SA (World Wildlife Fund South Africa) is working to stop poachers. To support them, you can donate here. Your donation will help anti-poaching units purchase the tools they need: binoculars, radios, night-vision gear, bullet-proof armour, rhino-tracking and camping equipment. If you choose to donate, you will also be helping to fund essential training for anti-poaching units so they can effectively administer emergency veterinary treatments to injured rhino.

You can also sign a petition to protest the poaching, and you can get more info about South Africa's rhinos and the international poaching problem here.

I was in Africa about 13 years ago working on a documentary about elephants... And while I was there, I went to a rhino rehabilitation center.  I played with a baby rhino, and even though it was just a baby it was pretty huge! They like it when you push their heads a little bit between their horns, and then they push back. I play this game with my husband sometimes...When I’m annoyed, he pushes my head and calls me a baby rhino, and I push back. It feels good!

Let's help to end poaching and save this magnificent species!

I just wanted to highlight some great sounding charities in Detroit....I had a lot of fun shooting Vamps there and quite enjoyed the city. It feels real, and the architecture is stimulating and interesting. I met many groovy people on really neat paths. Here are some of the organizations that I found out about while in Detroit:
 
Forgotten Harvest relieves hunger in Detroit by rescuing surplus prepared and perishable foods and donating it to emergency food providers....sounds amazing!!!!! I love the non-wasting philosophy together with feeding people in need! Yay! You can donate to Forgotten Harvest here and find out about volunteer opportunities here.
 
Goodwill Industries of greater Detroit trains underprivileged people to gain job skills and helps to place them not just in jobs but careers. Their whole philosophy is to help people to gain the skills they need to secure lifelong employment. After placing people in jobs, Goodwill Industries continues to follow up with them, and helps with services like transportation and childcare. You can donate to Goodwill Industries here.
 
S.A.Y. Detroit (Super All Year Project) was founded by author Mitch Albom and provides health and human services, including food, shelter, and medical care to the homeless population in Detroit. Among its projects are building a daycare for the children of homeless women, and building a medical clinic for the homeless population. You can find out more about S.A.Y. Detroit here and you can donate here.
 
What's your favorite local charity?

While in Detroit, I explored some nice local Michigan companies who are making good quality treats. They are more dessert in my brain - I wouldn't have these as a meal, as I try to be superhero as often as possible. But in a pinch these are great go-to snacks! Check it out:

A company called Pure NRG Raw makes some pretty decent vegan bars. Now, I'm not a believer in bars all the time...but when I'm at work for 15 hours a day and need a snack....these are fun! I enjoyed the cherry pecan, brownie bar, and carob peanut butter flavors the most!

Another bar I liked is the Raw Way Lean Green Crunch - it's darn good and made with spirulina, nuts, raisins, and agave.

I also had a local almond butter that Kind Lifer Wendy brought to me....seriously insanely delicious!!!! Krysten Ritter (pictured above) loves it and so does the whole hair and makeup trailer. I like it so much, although it has sucanat (non-refined sugar cane) in it...so not superhero....but soooooo good.

Local organic grocer Plum Market (locations in Ann Arbor, Bloomfield, and West Bloomfield) has the best cookies I've had since being in Detroit! The peanut butter cookie is insane! The oatmeal cookies and trail mix cookies are amazing too! Holy moly! The fig bar is nice also, but wow those cookies are the best! They are in the little fresh bakery part of the store. They say vegan on a little sign. Not superhero...I repeat not superhero! But an occasional treat for a superhero doesn't hurt.

Avalon Bakery is another cute place that happens to supply Plum Market. I got two loaves of bread there, one cherry-walnut and another scallion-dill. Both were delicious with this olive tapenade we got there too.

Next door was a place called Goodwell's Natural Foods Market, one of my favorite places so far. We walked there, which took about thirty minutes, and the people hanging out there were so neat. They were older people who were groovy and relaxed, just sitting outside enjoying their snacks. One older man had long dreds. It just had good vibes! In the store we had a great, fresh salad, which I was really needing. We also had some rice dream ice cream bars. It was just an all-around great place!
 
I like that all of these companies are Michigan-based. What are your favorite local snacks?

This treat was given to me when I was in New York for a weekend.

I flew to NY straight from the set of Vamps in Detroit at 5am (on 1.5 hours of sleep!) to shoot another film, the first directorial effort by my dear friend Chris Nelson, whom I've known since I was 14. I had so much fun being in his film!

Anywho, a lovely girl/lady there named Polo brought me this peanut butter brownie, from Whole Foods - sooo good and vegan of course!

If you haven't been to Whole Foods and had this brownie, I highly recommned it for flirts and vegans alike!

What are your favorite dessert treats that are easy to grab on the go?