Ohhh, Baby!

Not one to trumpet my own birthday, it went unnoticed on Monday at work, which is a good thing. I am not one for having a bunch of people I don't know very well gather around with your colleagues at your desk and sing "Happy Birthday." It's a big deal at my work!

The people in my office always go top shelf with the cupcakes, and all the ladies say the exact same thing, "Oh, none for me thanks." "Are you sure, Mildred?" "Oh, I'll take half." Soon, Mildred is taking half’s of every flavor of cupcake. By day’s end there is still frosting on the corner of her mouth and she eagerly asks everyone within shouting distance, “Who’s birthday is next?!”


When word leaked out, thanks to Facebook, my boss chastised me for not alerting everyone it was my birthday on Monday. Had I absconded with the company’s funds, and used her car in the get-a-way she would have been less angry.

So, today was my surprise birthday “party.” I was pouring over some papers with bad news on them when they all arrived. Scowl went to smile rather quickly.

My veganism is a source of amazement with my new co-workers, and just today our head of research, a lovely woman from India, stopped me to say that she just heard I was vegan, and wanted to share the secret handshake and password. It's an exclusive club!

Like motorcyclists, Jeep owners, and Prius drivers who wave or honk at complete strangers on the rode only because they share the same mode of transportation, vegans are an embracing lot when another former carnivore jots off the field to their side of the stadium. I remember when I first started this vegan journey I would be ashamed of being a part of this crowd, either denying thrice before the cock crows, or speaking in hushed tones in the catacombs always fearful of the Roman soldiers with their dinner choice: meat, fish, or death by humiliation.

Well, now, just like the first heterosexual man to wear a pink shirt confidently in public, starting a trend, I hope to bring more people on my little Pied Piper excursion to merely take one day of meat off the calendar. Meatless Mondays? Fish on Friday? Catchy phrases to promote healthier eating promulgated but celebrities and politicians alike. That is a bit more palatable than, “No Meat, Fish, or Dairy, ‘and, yes, that includes Cheese’ Wednesdays.” A bit cumbersome, but at least we are heading in the right direction, and when it comes to changing diets that are literarily generations old we need to take baby steps.

Speaking of baby…

WOW!! As my colleagues gathered around my desk for birthday wishes out pops the requisite pink bakery box, but inside were vegan cupcakes --- not just vegan cupcakes, but the best tasting cupcakes I have every had in my life! The office mates were all in shock as to how good these were, and completely disbelieving when it was mentioned that these delicious items came from BabyCakes, and were vegan.

I can point to a few instances in the past 5 months were there was a vegan dish at a restaurant, or a vegan cookie at the checkout counter of a health food store that if taken as the only examples of veganism would have prompted me and anyone else with fully functioning taste buds to declare, “Veganism is for the birds! Or cows, but not for humans!” However, with the other 85% of my restaurant meals, and now with these amazing, mouth-wateringly great, BabyCakes cupcakes, the question is why wouldn’t you go vegan?

Now, let's be clear, you are not going to lose weight sitting down with a box of BabyCakes delicacies every day, but BabyCakes, “offers all-natural, organic and delicious alternatives free from the common allergens: wheat, gluten, dairy, casein and eggs.”

Oh, did I mention it was the greatest cupcake I ever had in my life? Next year I will be striding into my office with a giant bugle announcing my birthday, and as I bang the giant bass drum, less anyone with iPod earplugs not hear me, I will be sure the address on Broome Street and specific directions are given to the one and only, BabyCakes!