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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1st Annual SoCal Vegfest

The second I heard of SoCal Vegfest, I knew I wanted to participate. Most major vegan events are usually in Los Angeles, so I was very excited to find an event local to me. I was able to visit with some of my favorite vegan businesses and was exposed to many others! 

First discovery was I Love Vegan a vegan Thai restaurant from Long Beach. They had a couple of dishes available but we were intrigued by the Thai iced tea. It did not disappoint. Looking forward to visiting their restaurant. Last time I tried to find vegan options in Long Beach, I didn't have too much luck, so I'm happy to see I Love Vegan is there! (I also noticed that they deliver, so that's awesome for the Long Beachers!)

There were about 5 food trucks there, & even though I've been to Sage Organic Vegan Bistro before their Jackfruit Nachos were calling my name. 

Absolutely delicious. 

The turn out for SoCal Vegfest was incredible. Lines were long but (for the lines I was in) they went quickly. 

Plant Food For People was right next door to Sage so we ate our nachos while we waited in line for some tacos. (We're smart vegan cookies.)  

We had two jackfruit carnitas tacos with coleslaw & chipotle mayo & two jackfruit tacos with tomatillo & chipotle mayo. So flavorful and delicious. It was a jackfruit kind of day.

& Keith had the spicy torta. Yield the warnings for spiciness. He knew I wouldn't be able to tolerate a bite, but he enjoyed it! 

There were also MANY vendors with free samples and products for sale. Dropped by Field Roast to try out their new Chao Slices. I tried the Coconut Herb with Black Pepper & I liked it! I had it cold, but I would probably prefer it melted. More of a reason to pick it up at the store.  

For the longest time, I've wanted to try Donut Friend. (Check out their Instagram and you can see why.) So I was excited to see that they were at SoCal Vegfest. I wasn't excited to see the LONG line that came with it. We decided to come back to the booth when the line got shorter. The line got shorter when they were sold out. ::womp womp:: Just a reason to head to their LA storefront and check them out there!  

I was really happy to see Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies. It is very safe to say that their cookies are my absolute favorite. Keith & I got to try some flavors that aren't distributed locally to us, so we were super excited. We got to try the Trail Mix Cookie & the Molasses Cookie. & of course bought both bags. (Fear not, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, you will always have a place in my heart.)

Conveniently, Beanfields Snacks was right next door. I absolute LOVE their nacho flavored chips. (I even had some today!) I call them vegan Doritos but they're way more healthy and way more delicious. The chips really do it for me when I get that cheese craving. They were offering free samples so I "tried" the nacho flavor. ;) But I also tried some of their other flavors. I also really liked the Pico De Gallo & Salt N' Pepper.

Not only was there food at SoCal Vegfest, but there was cooking demos, yoga, music, speakers & food contents. Another fun thing was apparel! I did so some window shopping for Christmas. Isn't ^^this tank^^ adorable!? 

I was happy to see Beet x Beet at the event. I've been pinning some of their products to my Pinterest, so it was nice to see the products in person. They recently celebrated their one year anniversary, so it's great to see this young company doing so well! (& you can see why when you visit their site. Really love Plant Based Party & In Plants We Trust.)

Love it.

I was also VERY happy to see Herbivore Clothing. ^^See?^^ See how happy I am?  

I absolutely fell in love with this Vegan Pizza Strong Baseball Tee. LOVE. Keith & I make it a point to have pizza on a weekly basis. I mean, why not? Tradition make people happy. It is now my goal on one of these Friday nights, I will wear this shirt to dinner. (Also, I didn't realize my second favorite shirt is right next to it, King Koala Tee!) 

Josh, co-owner of Herbivore, sensed my vegan pizza happiness and generously gave me a "Vegan Pizza Strong" sticker. Very thankful, Josh. I am finding the perfect place to stick it! 

Notably, I also got Ellovi's Butter & Tinted Lip Butter. These products were suggested to me from Tashina from Logical Harmony. Check out her review of the butter to learn more about it! I'm excited to give my own review soon. 

Also, SoCal VegFest's program had A LOT of local vegan meetups listed. (Let me know if you're interested & I'll post the list!) So I really appreciate SoCal Vegfest's efforts to bring together the local (vegan) community on the day of & for the future. This event just made my vegan bubble a lot bigger & I really appreciate their efforts to expose a vegan lifestyle. 

Thank you, SoCal Vegfest & participates! 

- Christina

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