Orlando Trip Recap!

Hey everyone! As promised, I'm back with a recap of my trip to Orlando! This one will probably be a bit longer because I have A LOT of pictures but I figured that there is nothing wrong with that :) I have a combination of meals I cooked, meals we had in restaurants and some pictures from our activities. Hope you like them!

My friend had to work from home on Thursday so we just hung out for the day in the house. This was before we had gotten groceries so for lunch I made a bagel with peanut butter and banana and it was delicious.

After we went shopping I made my Vegan Chick'n Ranch Pasta Salad for dinner. This one was a twist on my Chick'n Caesar Pasta Salad since we could only find Just Ranch. I added some cherry tomatoes and it was so good. We also found this amazing fresh roasted garlic bread that had super soft and delicious chunks of roasted garlic dotting it. Seriously delicious.

The following day was my birthday and we went to Magic Kingdom! The very first thing I did was get my birthday button and my Minnie Ears :)

Here is Walt and Mickey hanging out in front of the castle.

And of course the castle.

I had an amazing time! It was crowded and VERY hot (90 degrees and blazing sun) but we still had a really fun time, rode a few rides and checked out the shops. If I could make any changes I would have made sure to be more hydrated and I didn't eat anything all day which was stupid and terrible. Still a wonderful time!

That night we were STARVING so we had my birthday dinner at Loving Hut! We started with this amazing wonton soup. The broth is really light and delicious and the wontons are yummy too.

For my main I had the combo number 1, my tried and true favorite. The soup was filling so I didn't get through the whole thing but it was amazing.

The vegan bakery that we had gone to in previous years closed down so the options were limited for vegan birthday dessert. I found this Rice Dream Mocha Ice Cream Pie and it was really yummy!

The following morning we went to Ethos Vegan Kitchen for brunch and I got my absolute favorite breakfast burrito. This beauty is stuffed with faux sausage, potatoes and tofu scramble and smothered in delicious gravy. Seriously one of my favorite meals ever.

Here it is from the inside. Seriously, how good does this look?!

The next morning we went to the farmers market at Lake Eola. Their market is amazing and huge and I love going there when I can. I picked up a beautiful necklace which I'll show you in another post. After the market we walked around the lake and I grabbed some scenic shots for you.

They painted the amphitheater as a rainbow after the Pulse Nightclub Shooting and I think it looks amazing and is a beautiful tribute.

After the market I made us some brunch. I made a very sad loaf of banana bread (the texture was off and the bottom was soggy because he did not have a cooling rack) but redeemed myself with one of the best tofu scrambles I've ever made. It had tofu, spinach and grape tomatoes and was seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic. So simple but so delicious.

That night I made a "Sunday Dinner" with one of my favorite foods ever. My mom makes these roasted potatoes in French Dressing and I know it probably sounds weird but it is so damn good you guys (just make sure the french dressing doesn't have honey in it). I made some baked tofu with the same dressing (I also added salt, pepper and garlic to the potatoes and tofu) and we had some delicious roasted asparagus. It was a really amazing meal.

So that's pretty much everything! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe got some meal ideas out of it. I cooked a lot more this trip and I think we had some really great vegan meals. I had an amazing time and a wonderful birthday weekend and I'm so grateful to my friend for making it special!

I hope you all had a great weekend as well <3

Orlando or Bust

Hey guys! I know I've been bad about blogging but truthfully I just had too much to do over the past week. I'm getting ready to leave my for trip to Orlando tomorrow so I just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you and I'll do the best I can to make sure I get fun pictures to share from my trip!

There will be no posts on here Friday or Sunday but I hope to be back with a recap post on Tuesday! I hope you all have a great week and enjoy your weekend! <3

Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone! I hope that everyone in Irma's path made it through ok. I hope that the rest of you had a good weekend. Mine was good but quick, as always. Just need to get through 6 more work days until my trip to Orlando so I'm definitely getting excited about that. I made sure to take some pics of the more fun meals I enjoyed over the week and have them to share with you today.

I made a batch of my favorite rice bowl dish that has rice, tofu, green onion, sesame seeds and some seasoned seaweed. The whole thing is seasoned with low sodium soy sauce, a little agave and some garlic powder. It's so good. I got a few lunches out of this batch.

I held on to summer for just another second with this yummy boca cheezeburger topped with pickles and lettuce and served with a few chips.

Still on the prowl for a good mac n cheese. The texture of the cheeze sauce in this one is good but it definitely has a weird aftertaste. I am thinking that I may just have to make it myself.

I didn't have a chance to make lunch one day last week and my boss was out that day so I ordered the lunch special tofu with broccoli in garlic sauce. Less than $6 and lasts 2 meals. Can't get a better deal than that.

I did eat some greens including this delicious chick'n caesar salad that I made at home. I switch off between this and my apple, almond, craisin salad that I love.

On Sunday I went out to lunch with my family and we met up with my great aunt and our cousins and had a big group of 11 people. We ended up at a Steakhouse so as you can imagine I was expecting a salad if anything. Was I wrong. It was actually easier for me to find a meal to order right off the menu than some of the other places we've ended up over the years! I ordered a pasta dish with garlic and olive oil, sun dried tomatoes and amazing fresh broccoli. The dish pictured above was my leftovers. So delicious and just as good the second time.

So these are the more fun meals I've eaten this week. I'll keep on photographing so I can get some more food up before I leave next week. Of course I won't be posting until I come back but I'm going to do my best to take as many pictures as I can while I'm there!

If you guys are in Irma, Harvey or fire affected areas, please check in with us in the comments below! We want to know that you are ok!

<3

Fun Friday: Playing With Black Lipstick/Vegan Makeup Review

Hey guys! Happy Friday, I hope that you are all well. Before I get into the fun part of this fun Friday post I do just want to mention that I am completely sick with worry about the people affected by Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Harvey and the fires. I can't believe what is happening. It feels apocalyptic to be honest with you. I'm hoping with all of my heart that Vegan in The VI (aka Shen) and her crew are safe. I'm terrified for what is to come for Florida and knowing that I most likely won't be able to find out if people that I love are safe. If anyone knows of any way to help besides donations (that will be done, of course, but I'm looking for a way to do something more) please let me know.

OK. That is a heavy way to start off Fun Friday but let's have a little fun too. I mentioned last week that I ordered a few of the Kat Von D Everlasting Glimmer Veil Liquid Lipsticks. I received them on Friday actually and couldn't wait to try them out. Of course I was most intrigued by the black shade, Wizard. I've always wanted black lipstick but never thought I could pull it off and I absolutely do not have the confidence to wear it outside of my house. I decided to play with that one first and did a full face with it. I still didn't leave the house with it but I do LOVE it. Maybe one day I'll have the confidence to rock it out in the world.

So here it is. My first black lipstick makeup look. Just as a quick product review, I love this liquid lipstick. I'm a sucker for all things metallic and the finish on this is beautiful. Add glitter and I'm automatically a fan. The glitter is not gritty and the formula is nice and light. Please excuse my absolutely horrific eyeliner application. I just can never seem to get it right.

I also tried out the new Wet n Wild Mermaid highlighter that I shared last week. It's hard to really capture it in a photograph but you can really see it on my nose (the last place I'd want the highlight to be prominent but oh well). You can also see it on my cupids bow and on my forehead just above my nose. You can't really see it on the tops of my cheekbones but it is there. This highlight is gorgeous, I just don't think it suits my skin tone well. I have cooler undertones and this is a warmer highlight so it kind of makes me look a little dirty I think. But, if you have warmer undertones this highlight will be stunning on you and the price is definitely right!

I decided to go with a purple eye makeup look with the dark black lipstick. The lipstick has gold and purple glitter in it so I decided to pull out the purple. I really like the look. One day I will leave my house in it. I'm thinking about easing into it with Halloween and taking it from there.

Just as a side note, has anyone ever gone their whole lives thinking their eye color was one color but it's actually another? My whole life I've just thought my eyes were a bluish gray, leaning more towards blue. Nope. Straight up gray. It only took me 30+ years to figure it out. So ridiculous.

So there you go! Do you guys like makeup reviews? I know it always helps me to watch or read reviews before purchasing something, especially at a higher price point. Let me know if you'd like to see more! Also, if you have holy grail vegan makeup products let me know what they are! I'm always interested in trying new things.

I hope that you all have a good weekend. If you are in Irma's path, have had to deal with Harvey or are being affected by the fires please know that you are in my thoughts and if there is ANYTHING I can do to help please let me know in the comments below.

<3 Stay safe everyone.

Stuff I Ate

Hey everyone! I hope all is well! Sorry for missing Sunday. As I mentioned in my last post I haven't been feeling great this past week so meals haven't been all that inspired or plentiful. I managed to take a few pictures to show you though.

In the beginning of the week I was just kind feeling a little snacky every once in a while so I brought some tortilla chips to graze on and a primal strip.

Some refreshing watermelon for breakfast one day. I'm going to miss this when the summer is over.

We had some leftover Turkish Bread from when I bought some hummus so I made a little pizza out of it (that is a salad plate it is on). It was really delicious.

Of course I had to make sure I got some Bubble Tea in! I'm just now noticing the cigarette butt in the background of this photo and I'm bummed I didn't see it when I was there so I could get rid of it.

Last night I attempted to make an actual meal. For some reason I decided to pick up some Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs. I've literally had meatballs once in my life and I hated them so I don't know what possessed me to get them but I did. I made some pasta with sauce and TJs meatless meatballs and a little shredded vegan mozz and it was so good! If you've been here a while you know I don't eat a lot of pasta because it is just so heavy for me but I thoroughly enjoyed this! Next time I will cut down on the meatballs (the serving size is 6, I was fine with 4) and add some veggies in.

So that's the sad list of things I've been consuming this week. My appetite is still kind of messed up so I haven't really been too interested in being in the kitchen. Hopefully everything will get sorted out soon and things will start to get back to normal.

I hope that you all had a nice Labor Day weekend! I'll see you here for Fun Friday!

Fun Friday: New Vegan Products!

Hi you guys! I hope that you are all doing well and hopefully gearing up for a long weekend! I'll be living vicariously through you since my weekend stays the same but I'm definitely hoping for some quality rest and relaxation since I haven't been feeling great this week. I didn't think that today's post was even going to happen but I managed to pull myself together and I am excited for what I have to share with you today!

I thought it would be fun to check out some fun new vegan things I've found around town. They may not be new to the market but they are new to me and I'm happy to be trying them. I have a few food items and a few makeup items! There's a lot of pictures so stick with me :)

So up first I was SO FREAKING EXCITED to make this discovery! I personally think 7-11 coffee is way better than Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts (who were the ones with vegan milk options) so I'd get my coffee black and add my own creamer later. Well. Not anymore!!! My 7-11 started carrying Silk Almond Creamer! What the what?! I was so excited to not have to carry my own damn creamer since I'm apparently not even capable of picking up the proper container from the store. Check your local 

7-11 if you like their coffee best!

As I showed in my last Whole Foods haul, I grabbed the Kite Hill Strawberry Banana yogurt tubes to try out. Strawberry banana yogurt is my favorite so I was excited to give it a try. It's ok, I just wish there was more banana flavor. You can definitely taste the almonds. I found that the almond and also just straight up sweetness to be the strongest flavors. I think it will be perfect squeezed on top of a banana though. I am not in love with it but I don't hate it. I'll finish them but probably won't buy it again.

I'd been hearing about how this is the BEST vegan macaroni and cheese around town so when I saw it in my store I figured I'd give it a try.

I added some broccoli and cauliflower to mine to add some sort of nutrition and gave it a try. Honestly, I don't really like it. There is no cheesy taste at all and I get that vegan mac n cheese isn't going to taste super cheesy but this is just bland. It was definitely disappointing, especially because it was so hyped to begin with. I have another serving left that I will eat because I'm not about wasting food but definitely disappointing.

Ok let's move on to some makeup!!

I love Wet n Wild as a brand. They are super affordable, their products are nice quality, you can find it almost anywhere and they are completely cruelty free and mostly vegan. My highlighter game is severely lacking and I had heard about the limited edition Mermaid Highlighting Bar in Midnight Moon in the new  Wet n Wild Midnight Mermaid collection and figured I'd see if I could get my hands on it. Clearly I did and you guys... how fucking stunning is this product?! It looks like a mermaid imprint in the sand and the color and pigmentation are absolutely phenomenal. And it's HUGE. You get 8.5 grams of highlighter for $6.99. That's amazing. 

And they are awesome and clearly label their vegan products with "Vegan." I thought that was worth sharing so if you are not sure, try taking a look at the product and most likely it will say it. If not check online, they are very good about being clear about which products are vegan.

I really want to try their foundation and concealer but haven't found it in stores yet. I get worried about trying to match my face color when I order online because I'm just terrible at it. Have you guys seen them anywhere?

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this on here before but I really love Kat Von D. I love her style, her aesthetic, her taste, her talent and the way she is fearless in expressing exactly who she is. I think she is amazing and I love her beauty line. Her brand is also completely cruelty free and is moving toward making her whole line Vegan but for now you can check which products of hers are vegan on her website.

You guys know I'm a sucker for lipstick. Especially bold lipsticks. That have glitter and are metallic. I've been waiting for these matte metallic lipsticks to come out for about a year I think and they are finally here and they are STUNNING. These are the Kat Von D Everlasting Glimmer Veil Liquid Lipsticks and I could not wait to get my grubby paws on them.

I decided to go for it and splurge on an early birthday give for myself and I ordered three colors. They are scheduled to be delivered today and I can't freaking wait!

I have been searching for a color like this for YEARS. A cherry red metallic lipstick that reminds me of Dorothy's ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz. It has not existed until now. You better believe I ordered this beauty.

I know this is similar to the one above but that intense copper shift is what won me over. Copper is an amazing color for ladies with blue eyes (that color wheel stuff works guys!) and copper lipstick is one of my favorites. Pair it with a brick red base color and I'm sold.

I know. This one is probably very surprising. I surprised myself too but I REALLY wanted it. I've wanted a black lipstick for a really long time but could never really justify it. Then I saw this one with its purple and silver glitter and as much as I tried to talk myself out of it I just couldn't. It's so pretty. And maybe I'll only wear it on Halloween or contained in my own house but I just really wanted it in my collection. Maybe I'll do a look to share with you guys here.

So that's what I have for you guys today! Have you seen any new products out there that you've wanted to try? Do you have any recommendations for things I should look out for? Let me know in the comments below!

Thank you all so much for reading and I will see you back here on Sunday! Happy Friday!