Head over to cityloveee.com

I have exciting news for you all! My time at cityloveee.blogspot.com has come to a close.

I'm thrilled to announced that you can find me at cityloveee.com!!! 

I had mentioned that that's where I was headed & I am so thankful for your support. 

So let's continue this vegan, travel, beauty, food conversation over there. 

Please click over to this post to read my goals for cityloveee in 2016.

- Christina

P.S. - Also! If you were following this blog on Bloglovin, you can now follow here. 

3 Delicious Vegan Winter Comfort Food Recipes

If you've been watching my Vlogmas videos, you'd see that I am greatly interested in Twitter chats. (I need to write a blog post telling you guys more about them in detail!) One of my favorite Twitter chats is #VeganFoodChat which convenes Sunday evenings for an open discussion & Wednesday evenings for a themed discussion.

I am so bummed I missed last Wednesday's chat because the subject matter was Winter Comfort Food Recipes! (Watch a replay of the chat here.) I had some recipes to share during that chat, so I figure I can share them with you here.

My first thought when it comes to vegan winter comfort food is vegan mac n cheese. I have a whole pinboard dedicated vegan cheese recipes! Out of laziness whenever I have a vegan cheese craving that needs an easy fix, I eat Amy's Kitchen Dairy Free Rice Mac & Cheeze (be sure you pick up the vegan one, because there is more than one version). It is super yummy & surprisingly good for a microwave food. I always try to add kale or veggies to it to make it a little more healthy. I've also tried Oh She Glows' Vegan Pumpkin Mac 'n Cheeze Sauce a handful of times & it was delicious! But I definitely have a hankering to try Minimalist Baker's Vegan Green Chili Mac N Cheese (pictured above). I'm sure it will be a crowd favorite! The green chilis intrigue me!

Let's switch gears to something as comforting as mac n cheese, french fries. I have not had poutine yet, but Fettle Vegan's Lord Stanley's Vegan Poutine makes my mouth water. Looking forward to trying this recipe. Not only will it be my first time making gravy, but my first time trying Teese Mozzarella!

This last recipe I am VERY familiar with. Oh She Glows' 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta. In California, avocados are always in season so I apologize if this recipe doesn't work for you in the winter, but definitely give this recipe a try when you can! This delicious dish can really come together in 15 minutes and I can assure you that everyone will love it. This recipe yields for 2 portions but doubling it is not a problem. Need I say more? Avocados. Make it tonight.

I hope these recipes serve some inspiration when you want some yummy winter comfort food. You won't be disappointed, I'm sure. Which one sounds good to you? Feeling hungry? Let me know if you try any of these recipes & I'll let you know when I do!

- Christina

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(photos by Minimalist Baker, Fettle Vegan & Oh She Glows)

VLOGMAS 2015 VLOG No. 7

Welcome to vlog 7 of my 2015 Vlogmas videos! Follow along as we sing Christmas songs in the car, I tell you about new Twitter chats I've discovered & show you some of my Christmas decorations.

Watch all of my other Vlogmas vlogs here!

- Christina

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Custom Petit Vour Beauty Box Review

A few months ago, I won Vegan Maim's Petit Vour giveaway! I had the opportunity to choose vegan, cruelty-free beauty products from 5 different Petit Vour subscription boxes. 

Petit Vour is a monthly subscription box where all of the items featured are cruelty-free & vegan. I've always been really impressed with their branding, check out their site & you'll see what I mean. Not only is Petit Vour a subscription service, but they are also an online beauty shop, offering full size products of the items featured in their boxes. I've always been intrigued with their Lily Lolo Eye Palette & Aromi Liquid Lipsticks.

But while I continued to lust over their online shop, I luckily won Vegan Maim's giveaway and got to customize my own box! Check out my video to hear my thoughts on the items I received.

Enjoy!

- Christina

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VLOGMAS 2015 VLOG No. 6

Welcome to vlogmas video number 6! Check out my Christmas tree, follow along as I film a new video & Keith explains Eurovision. You'll want to watch Keith's description of Eurovision. Love it.

Enjoy!

- Christina

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The Cats of Europe

While backpacking across Europe I found myself missing my cat. Yes, I am a cat lady. (& definitely a dog lady, too! Animal lady, one would say.) Fortunately though, while I was traveling I met so many kitties! So I decided to share with you, the fancy cats of Europe.

 This is a cat from Marseille, France. A very curious kitty who came to our window one night & was staring at our bananas on the window sill. It was a nice hello! 

There are a bunch of cats hanging out at the Roman ruins. They don't even seem phased by everyone walking around. & were pretty tough handling the rain.  

This little baby is from Santorini, Greece. Another cat that didn't seem to put off by the people. & she even got some leftovers!  

SO. CUTE. Just enjoying the Grecian sun.   

 A stoned cat in Amsterdam. I could not figure out what this dude was looking at. 

This is Geronimo, a resident of an Airbnb in Rome (same kitty pictured at the very top). The owner of the property told us that Geronimo doesn't even belong to him and Geronimo belongs to the apartment. When the previous tenants moved out, Geronimo stayed. He was a very friendly, cute kitty that loved us. It was nice to hang out with a companion animal for once while traveling. A nice change of pace and comforting to have something familiar like a cat around. 

 Greek ruins are always a great place to chill out at. 

 Naxos, Greece kitty.

 Another Naxos cat.

 This Naxos cat loved us! It was exciting to interact with another cat again. (Of course we proceeded cautiously, but this cat was walking up to all of the travelers.) He was a very friendly cat that followed us for awhile. 

 Such a cute baby. 

& this was hilarious. While walking back to our flat in Paris, this little guy asked us if we wanted to have some coffee. With our arms full of groceries and baguettes we had to decline. But wouldn't that have been fun?!

It was nice to go back through my photos and show you all the variety of cats in Europe. I hope you enjoyed. 

Do you have any animals that you've met in your travels? Which one of these kitties are your favorite?

- Christina

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VLOGMAS 2015 VLOG No. 5

Welcome to my favorite vlogmas video to date! Follow along as we walk the dogs, go to Barnes & Noble & have a dinner adventure! Thank you for watching! 

- Christina

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Vegan Nirvana: New Vegan Option in Orange County, California

Vegan Nirvana is a new vegan restaurant in Orange County, California. Huntington Beach to be exact. It's so exciting finding new vegan options popping up around! I didn't know much about Vegan Nirvana except it has cool signage that I saw when it was under construction. But with it's 5 star reviews on Yelp, dinning here is not to be missed.

Isn't the alien theme fun? Very unique. So my Aunt Susan and I went to have lunch there a couple of months ago and we weren't disappointed!

We took the suggestions of our server and went for a very popular item, the "Ultimate Liberation - Crispy fish-free fillet tacos topped with fresh cabbage, pico de gallo, cilantro & chipotle sauce. Served on corn tortillas with lime." LOVED IT. I will definitely order it again, and highly suggest you do, too! It's been a long time since I've had tacos like that, so it was a nice treat!

 We also got, "Selfless Savior - Crispy sweet potato fries tossed with our homemade seasoning." The season was great & the fries were made well, but the chipotle sauce was absolutely amazing. I'm a sucker for vegan chipotle sauce. Get it.   

& last but not least, we got "The Light Keeper - Seasoned chick-free strips, red bell peppers, red onions, and mushrooms in chipotle sauce topped with cabbage and pico de gallo in a spinach tortilla. Served with chips and salsa." That sucker was filling. So filling. & flavorful! There is so much fiber in plant based proteins, so after this meal we shared, I was stuffed!

So if you ever find yourself in Huntington Beach, Vegan Nirvana is a great vegan option! (& their open until 12am!)

- Christina

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VLOGMAS 2015 VLOG No. 4

Hello vlog no. 4! Follow along as drink juice (YAY fennel!), go to the dentist & have quality time in the car.

Enjoy! 

- Christina

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VLOGMAS 2015 VLOG No. 3

Vlogmas is fun! Are you participating? Here is my third vlog for my 2015 vlogmas. Follow along as I have vegan Chinese food, chat chat chat & eat Oreos! Thanks for watching! 

- Christina

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VLOGMAS 2015 VLOG No. 2

I greatly appreciate your feedback on yesterday's vlog. It's nice to know that my videos are being watched! Turns out I love vlogging so you might be seeing more of me. ;) 

Here's installment two of my 2015 Vlogmas! 

Enjoy!

- Christina

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VLOGMAS 2015! VLOG No. 1

For YouTube subscribers, doesn't Vlogmas just get you in the holiday spirit?! I first heard of Vlogmas last year when I dove into loving YouTubers. Vlogmas is creating daily vlogs on the days leading up to Christmas. Last year I participated, find my videos here, here, & here & I'm participating this year! I will be vlogging as much as possible, so here's my first video! Enjoy!

- Christina

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CHANGES

You know when you sit down in the hairdresser chair & everything spills out? We'll I just got my hair cut by my dear friend, Grace & turns out a lot of things happened last week. A LOT.

It wasn't my intention to shop a little on Cyber Monday but that was the day I decided to go through my 1,300 emails and get organized. So I ran into a lot of deals in my inbox which lead me to purchasing my own domain name. Eeeee! After a year & a half of having .blogspot.com, I'm moving on to better and bigger things. Stay tuuuned.

I also registered for the TBEX conference! TBEX is the Travel Blogger Exchange, a great opportunity to network with other travel bloggers & companies (& learn!). I'm super excited to head to Minnesota in May & learn more about a career I want to pursue, full time vegan travel blogging.

Speaking of which, it's happening. I've found myself in a career change. I am now going to pursue blogging full time. Right now in my life is the perfect opportunity for me to sink or swim. I want to swim. & I hope you want to swim with me. ;)

Along with full time vegan beauty, and travel blogging (+ more!) I will continue freelance photography/videography and freelance social media consulting. I just got Hootsuite Social Media Marketing Certified! So if you're local to Orange County & need some advice or know someone that needs advice on social media marketing or someone who needs photos taken, hit me up! (contact info is in my About Me page.)

There are a lot of new changes for me and cityloveee. I hope you follow along!

- Christina

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5 Things to do for FREE in Barcelona

Finding fun, free things to do is a high priority when traveling to a new city. Want to immerse yourself into a culture without paying a dime? Count me in. There are plenty of things you have to pay for when traveling, so free is great.

I found many things to do in Barcelona without having to spend money. 
So here are a few things you can add to your itinerary!

Make friends with locals. I cannot stress enough how much I love Airbnb. It proved to be such a great tool to find great accommodations throughout Europe. (Here are some tips to find the best one!) Our host while in Barcelona was Iain. It was a match made in heaven. He showed us all of the local spots and gave us great tips! We've developed a life long friendship him (It's already established, Iain!) & are so grateful that we booked his listing. 

This is Iain's little buddy, Rascal. Barcelona is SO dog friendly. You can just sit at one of the patios and just see all of the dogs walk by. 

You can also find some free entertainment. Grant it, if you feel engaged to tip, of course, do. But pretty much every patio you sit at you can find some type of performer. ^^This guy^^ did a really great job.  

  Walking around is something you can definitely do for free. You just need to know where to walk, huh? The Gothic Quarter is a sight to be seen. It's located in old town Barcelona where you can find buildings that date back to Medieval and even Roman times. Sad we didn't see this bridge! Next time.

Pictured ^^here^^ is the Cathedral of Barcelona. This gothic cathedral is a great place to start your walk around the Gothic Quarter. Plaça Sant Jaume & Placa Reial are two other squares that are absolutely goregous and a great launching point to find a meal or wine. (A tip from Iain: Placa Reial is THE place to eat and drink!)

 We also enjoyed going to the beach. We watched a volleyball game, laid out in the sun,  & people watched. Of course free activities can become cheap activities if you'd like. We also partook in some beach mojitos sold by some vendors.  

Parc del Montjuic provides great views of the city. We'd spend hours walking throughout that area. After traveling for so long, it's nice to do normal things like walk the dogs in a gigantic park. Highlights in that area include: 

 Hotel Miramar - a beautiful hotel you can simply look at, like we did, or book if you'd like!

 Jadin de Miro - A sculpture garden. 

Teatro Greco - an ancient Roman theatre. BEAUTIFUL.  

& fun activities throughout the park! 

And then there's The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc in the Plaza España (a pretty popular square for travelers, so I'm sure it will be easy for you find). This 86 year old fountain is a "spectacular display of color, light, motion, music and water acrobatics" all for free! So pack yourself some snacks and enjoy the show! You can find directions and show times here.

I'm sure there are a ton more things to do for free in Barcelona but these five definitely provide variety. You don't want to just visit museums when you travel! Meet locals, do activities you'd do at home & throw in a magic fountain. ;) 

Have you been to Barcelona? Any other activities I haven't mentioned? I'd love to hear from you!

- Christina

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Valencia, Spain Graffiti

When we left from Barcelona to Valencia, a lot of people teased us and asked “Why would you go to Valencia?” So we figured there are a good amount of Spanish that aren’t really fond of the city. We we’re hoping to visit the beach while we were there, but the weather wasn't very warm. Our Airbnb accommodations were near the ocean and not near the city center so we took the metro into the city center every day. We found there wasn’t much for us to do in Valencia.  (Since our trip, I've seen interesting things about Valencia pop up online. If you have any suggestions on things to do in Valencia, let me know!) 

One thing that I do love about Valencia is their creative graffiti. There is a part of town that has a lot of it. I appreciate graffiti as art, but not it's tagging. See more of what we saw, click read more!   

Vegan Cuts October Beauty Box Unboxing

Vegan Cuts (Beauty Box) is a monthly subscription box that features 4-7 vegan, cruelty-free beauty items that are shipped right to your front door. It's a great way to try new products & be introduced to brands you may have not of before. Along with Vegan Cuts Beauty Box, you can subscribe to their snack box. & to put more vegan icing on the cake, you can find many other boxes like a men's grooming box, a fall/winter style box, or even a vegan starter kit! (+ more!)

I did the 3 month subscription to Vegan Cuts Beauty Box about a year ago, but since I've been traveling this year, I haven't gotten back to subscribing again. But surprisingly, I won their Instagram giveaway! So here is my unboxing of their October beauty box. Hope you enjoy the little video of my first impressions of these items & look back for my reviews. 

- Christina

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Scoops N Scoops: New Vegan Option in Orange County, CA

Scoops N Scoops Creamery started following me on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. I was grateful for the follow, but was curious to why a ice cream shop would want to follow someone who's profile has "vegan" in the description. I thought to myself, there must be a reason.

Turns out they have vegan ice cream! At Scoops N Scoops you create your own ice cream creations with liquid nitrogen. The day I received their follow was the day I stepped into their shop. I didn't know that liquid nitrogen was used to create the ice cream. & I didn't know much about liquid nitrogen for consumption but I tried it anyway. (I was excited for a vegan option!) Turns out liquid nitrogen is used to freeze the ingredients quickly. Liquid nitrogen is safe to create ice cream with, it just needs to be completely evaporated before consumption.

There are so many ways to create custom creations, so the menu can be a little overwhelming at first. But the costumer service at Scoops N Scoops is great. They can easily point you in the right direction or suggest their "iconic creations." I had the Almond Date Iconic Creation. It was delicious and didn't feel that indulgent because there was fruit in it along with it's coconut base. My aunt also made her own custom creation with the coffee flavor and almonds. Very creative! & she gave it a good review.

I definitely loved my time at Scoops N Scoops. It's an adorbale creamery with really great costumer service. They also have a punch card so I'll be back for a vegan root beer float! 

- Christina

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