Snapshot Sunday | Home Cookin'

I usually feature city snapshots every week, but today I thought I would share a picture of the Banana Oatmeal cookies I made last night. While NYC has some of the best food in the world, sometimes it's great to stay in and make something in the kitchen, especially when the weather turns cold. I had a couple ripe bananas, and found THIS simple Pinterest recipe. I think they turned out great! 

NYC Vegetarian Food Festival 2014

This past weekend I attended the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival with my friend Gina of CHARMNOMGO. I'm a pescetarian, and she's a foodie, so we knew this event would be both fun-filled and food-filled. Tickets were $30 each, but I scoured the internet and found a 50% off coupon code. Always do a coupon search before you check out online – it's worth the Googling!

The festival took place at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea, and featured dozens of vendors, speakers, and free samples! Gina and I walked booth to booth tasting out all kinds of vegan goodies. My favorites were the Three Cinnamon Tea from Pukka Tea, the Chocolate Macaroons from One Lucky Duck, and the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus from Cedar's. While we did fill up on samples, we also enjoyed lunch from La Crepe C'est Si Bon. I got the sweet crepe with fresh fruit and sunflower seeds. It was definitely delicious, but a bit on the expensive side at $10. My favorite crepe place in the city is Vive la Crepe, so I think I'll stick with them from now on (let me know if you'd like a full review!).

Sweet Crepe from La Crepe C'est Si Bon

In addition to the amazing food, there were a variety of other vendors at the festival. I love checking out homemade skincare, and was impressed with The Fanciful Fox's booth. If I didn't already have tons of soaps stocked up from Christmas, I would have purchased some. They also had lip balms, body butters, shampoos, and more. I'll be ordering online at some point in the future!

The Fanciful Fox Soaps

The most exciting part of the day for me was meeting the amazing Kristina of FullyRaw. I've watched her YouTube videos for months now, and she is just as sweet and bubbly in person! I really appreciate her taking the time to say hello and pose for a picture. If you're interested the raw vegan lifestyle, I highly recommend checking out her videos. I've learned so much from her!

Meeting Kristina of FullyRaw (left)

Overall, I had a wonderful time at the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival! This event only happens once per year, so make sure to visit the festival's website HERE to find out when the 2015 festival will take place. I'm sure I'll be heading there again! Until then, I hope to find other fun events to attend. If you have any suggestions, let me know in a comment!

Lesson 1: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

Well, I'm here! I moved in today. The house where I'm living is old, but nice. My room is absolutely huge! It feels so empty right now. Plenty of room for overnight guests! I was afraid that it was going to be cold here, but it's actually really hot. I guess since my room is in the front of the building it gets overheated, but the rooms in the back don't get the heat. My RD is trying to figure out the solution. For now I have the window cracked, but I might possibly turn on the air conditioning. I'm not sure if I'll need that. 

The first lesson I have learned in NYC is that things are not always what they appear to be. My dad took me out to lunch before he returned home, and I was quite surprised by the experience. From the outside, all of the restaurants and shops looked so tiny and shabby. And sure, some of them are. But when we walked into the Italian restaurant I was completely surprised. The front was a small cafeteria style restaurant, but we kept walking to the back and found a nice dining room. I couldn't believe it! Hidden behind what I thought was a complete hole-in-the-wall was a nice restaurant. The food, by the way, was absolutely amazing. 

Lesson 1: Things are not always what they appear to be from the outside. Give things a chance before you judge them.