As much as I love summer and all the sunshine that comes along with the warmer months, it’s safe to say that my mind has been elsewhere this week…especially when it comes to my personal style.
Fall is my absolute favorite season for fashion. Chunky sweaters, riding boots, coats, scarves and all the layers I can possibly stack onto one body – the possibilities are endless!
I thought I’d share some of my favorite looks for fall. Oh, and they all happen to be from eco-conscious and/or vegan companiesworking really hard to make you look cute without an ounce of cruelty. For more info on the pieces shown below, click on the links in the captions. Enjoy!
Cozy Tomboy
I love an oversized sweater/sweatshirt dress paired with some cute flats and cinched at the waist with my favorite belt. It’s effortless but still manages to make you look put-together.
An oversized menswear-inspired coat (I’ll take that hat too, please and thanks!), a super cute and functional bag, and a pop of color on your feet. 100x yes.
This is definitely my favorite outfit combo for the colder months. Pair your favorite shirtdress or tunic with some coated denim or leggings, versatile black booties and your favorite jacket or cardigan to keep you warm. All kinds of awesome going on here, guys and gals.
What are your favorite fall staples? Do you have a cruelty-free company to share with the rest of us? Leave any suggestions in the comments below!
I have been following the DC Vegetarian food cart online since moving out to the Portland area two years ago. For a variety of reasons, they always seemed to be closed when we were downtown. We just couldn’t catch a break.
There’s nothing more devastating to a foodie than seeing those metal shutters closed on your favorite food truck. Ugh…heartbreaking, I tell you.
Luckily the curse was broken on Wednesday! The boyfriend and I went downtown to get some produce from the farmer’s market and realized we were a short walk away from that mystical food truck. And guess what? The shutters were wide open. It was a fantastic moment.
In short, DC Vegetarian is an all-vegetarian and mostly vegan food cart. They serve very “food cart-y” food: sloppy, messy, greasy and delicious.
Alex got the vegan BLT: vegan tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomato and vegan mayo (basic but so tasty).
I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and go for the EXTRA MESSY vegan steak & cheese sub.
My sandwich was full of sauteed and seasoned seitan, grilled peppers and onions, vegan cheese by Follow Your Heart(one of my favorites!), “special sauce” and Vegenaise. The bread was a simple whole grain hoagie but it soaked up all of the juices wonderfully. I think I got through about 1/3 until I passed it over to my expert eater. He’s a pro at finishing my leftovers.
Messy? Yes. Tasty as hell? Oh very yes.
If you’re ever in the area, check this little cart out. They also serve breakfast, which we still have to try. Let’s hope that doesn’t taken another two years…
A quick disclaimer: This post is an opinion piece. I do not judge anyone for any food or diet choices he or she may make. You should do what’s right for you and your body, first and foremost. This post is based on my personal story and experiences, so feel free take it or leave it. But I do hope you take something away from my experience…
In this post, I briefly spoke about how veganism had been an ongoing battle for me throughout my life. While vegetarianism was the easiest choice I ever made (yes, even at the ripe old age of 11), I constantly struggled with maintaing a vegan lifestyle when it came to food choices. Looking back, I realize a lot of that had to do with how I viewed food and what it meant to me on an emotional level.
As emotional eaters tend to do, I wrapped a lot of feelings up in food. Because of this, it was hard to break these habits that were so deeply engrained in my everyday way of life:
Greasy cheese pizza when I had a bad day.
Chocolate ice cream when my hormones were out of whack.
A giant bag of chips while stressing out during a super long study session, etc.
I’m sure all of you seasoned vegans are thinking, “But there are vegan options for all of those choices!” And while I’m well-versed in the ways of vegan junk food, the emotional baggage just took over any reasoning to seek them out in moments of weakness.
But once I started to work through the root of my emotional eating (and please let me know if you’d like to hear more about this, because I’d love to share), one thing became incredibly clear: going back to a vegan diet seemed like the obvious choice and here’s why:
1. Cleaning up my diet means that I’m eating an abundance of the good stuff anyway: fresh produce, nuts, grains and legumes. I cut out cheese almost immediately but was still eating the occasional farmer’s market egg at the beginning of this journey. But as time went on, this started to feel more and more unnecessary as far as nutrition went. I much prefer to get my protein from plant-based sources now and haven’t looked back.
Vibrant colors, nutrients, deliciousness.
2. Because my connection with food is becoming more about nourishing my body as opposed to feeding crappy emotions, I find more peace when eating cruelty-free. As an avid animal lover, I felt a lot of guilt about my food choices on top of the guilt I felt for emotionally eating in the first place – something that no longer plays a role in my life. Even when I do indulge in moderation, I know that my choices are not directly harming other creatures. And you guys, I can’t tell you how great that feels.
In a pinch, I can whip up creations like this: a fajita salad on a bed of greens.
3. It’s so easy! Seriously. Even when I wasn’t entirely vegan, I made about 95% of my homemade meals without any animal products anyways – it was eating out and pre-packaged foods that made me crack. Now that I cook most of our meals at home, it’s not even an issue. And eating out? Well, it’s a blast. We love trying new vegan restaurants and products. I always go out of my way to do the extra research when going somewhere new. Most of the time I pick the options void of all of the vegan junk food products now available (faux meats, rich desserts, etc.) but do splurge on occasion. That being said, I almost always enjoy an enormous raw salad full of color and flavor more than that veggie burger with fake bacon and a ton of processed ingredients. It turns out Mother Nature knows what she’s doing, guys. Trust the lady.
So there you have it: My little journey back to a vegan lifestyle after years and years of hemming and hawing. I hope that my tips served someone out there who is thinking about transitioning to a vegan diet. Eating this way not only has limitless options but it truly is a wonderful way to treat your body with the utmost respect and care.
Are you or have you ever been a vegan? If so, what challenges do you currently face or what obstacles have you overcome? I know that I still love the way a pizza place smells as I’m walking by, but that’s about as far as my mind goes these days. Plus, there’s always homemade pizza sprinkled with a little nutritional yeast and cashew cheese to keep me super happy! Mmm…cashew cheese.
The Wh0le Story 
