25 Things You May Not Know About Me

If you read my blog or follow me on social media, a few things are pretty clear: I eat a vegan diet. I love animals. I live in NYC. But then there’s so much you would never know about me just from reading my blog. For instance, that I’m pretty sarcastic or where I went to school or what my more traditional day job is. So today on the blog I’m sharing 25 things you may not know about me! Let’s go:

1. Tedi is my full name – it’s not short for anything.
2. I grew up in Minneapolis but I’ve also lived in Boston, Chicago and, now, NYC.
3. I went to college at Boston University and grad school at Northwestern University.
4. I have a Master’s degree in counseling psychology, with a specialization in child assessment and intervention.
5. My day job is working with children facing medical traumas.
6. My favorite blog post I’ve ever written is this one.
7. My most popular blog post is this one.
8. One of my favorite books is The Secret.
9. Fostering animals is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things I do. I’m so grateful every single day to have started doing it.
10. When I first moved to NYC it was just to try it out for three months…that was two and a half years ago!
11. My New York apartment is the smallest one I’ve ever had, but also my favorite one I’ve ever had.
12. I used to be fluent in American Sign Language. I’m out of practice now but every once in a while I get to use it at work and it comes back to me.
13. One of the prettiest places I’ve ever visited is St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. You can read my full post on it here and see my pics of St. John’s gorgeous crystal clear water.
14. I changed my diet and started my blog after reading My Beef With Meat. You can read my full post on how it led me to change my diet and start my blog here.
15. Long before I started eating a plant-based diet one of my good friends told me she was giving up meat and dairy and I told her she was crazy (so rude of me!). But just goes to show how much people can change!
16. My friends say I have “Tedi-isms” aka things I say that are meant to be really positive but I have my own special way of articulating them. For example, you’ll often hear me say “I’m so happy I’m mad.” or “I love this so much I want to throw it across the room.” or “That is so cute I feel sick.” I think it’s an overextension of cute aggression (look it up, it’s a real thing!). So if you hear me say something like, “OMG that’s so cute it makes me want to puke!” know it’s meant to be a good thing. And there will be no real puking. 🙂
17. I used to have bad seasonal allergies and I don’t anymore! I attribute the fact that I don’t to a combination of homeopathy and a dairy-free diet.
18. For a long time after going vegan, the thought of eating meat and dairy didn’t gross me out, but after a few years something shifted and now it really does.
19. Dairy actually grosses me out even more than meat.
20. Farmers markets are seriously one of my favorite things.
21. My favorite way to get around New York is walking. If the walk is under 50 minutes, and I don’t have to have heels on, chances are I’m walking. Because of that more often than not you’ll find me in sneakers.
22. I just checked my phone and last month I walked an average of 3.9 miles per day.
23. I’m not really blonde. I’m naturally brunette and it wasn’t until after college that I colored my hair for the first time. I’ve been blonde ever since.
24. I’m an expert celebrity spotter and really good at painting nails.
25. It means so much to me when non-vegan people tell me they tried something vegan because of  me.

xo,

Tedi