Looking to buy a gift for a vegan gal that’s glam, boujie, and always up on the latest trends? Here are 9 vegan gifts for her that she’ll totally love (especially if she has similar taste to me).

This morning I got a text from my little sister asking where she could order a vegan-friendly holiday treat for her friend. “I sent all my other friends popcorn from the Popcorn Factory, but this friend is vegan,” my sister explained.

I recommended Root Nine Baking Co., which I have yet to try but looks amazing and ships cookies worldwide. I would happily accept a gift from here for the holidays. 

If you, like my sister, have a vegan lady in your life and are wondering what’s on her wish list, here are a couple ideas—from snacks and cooking tools, to cruelty-free beauty, to reusable water bottles and swimsuits made from recycled plastic. 

1. Cruelty-free lashes that are as luxurious as mink 

Amber Magnetic Lashes & Liner Kit, $55.95 (ON SALE) 

I’ve been on a magnetic lash kick ever since I tried Glamnetic lashes for a Galore article earlier this year—but I found a brand I like even better. Lola’s Lashes offer luxury magnetic lash sets that come with one set of lashes, magnetic liner, and liner remover (because magnetic liner is difficult to get off with regular makeup remover). Once you get the set, you can buy additional lashes separately.

Honestly, these sets are so nice you could probably gift one without even wrapping it. And these lashes stay on better than any I’ve tried!

SHOP NOW 

2. A monthly snack subscription box

Good vegan snacks can be hard to find. This small business based in LA ships 12-20 (depending on which box you choose) vegan and gluten-free snacks to you or your loved ones. You can also purchase a subscription so the person you gift receives a new box each month.

SHOP NOW USE CODE: ASH10 for 10% off one box!

3. A wardrobe rental membership

I’ve had a Fashionpass membership for nearly two years now, and I still repeatedly sing its praises (read my full review here). Your vegan friend will love the sustainability benefits of “renting” clothes, and her wardrobe (and insta-game) will get a major upgrade.

SHOP NOW – USE CODE: ASHLEYGIOV for 30% off your first month

4. A cute kitchen tool

Dash Mini Rice Cooker/Steamer, $19.99 

Want to get your vegan friend a gift they’ll actually use? A rice cooker or air fryer is definitely the way to go. And how cute is this one in pink? 

Since most of us are cooking more than usual, either of these tools will def help your vegan friend out. My rice cooker changed my life, and I love my mini one because I cook for one person, so the mini size is perfect for prepping a week’s worth of meals. 

SHOP NOW

5. Vegan makeup that’s anything but basic

Servin’ Looks Set, $40 

Estate makeup’s products are always 100% vegan and cruelty-free, and they offer tons of off-the-wall colors (think purple metallic lipsticks) so that vegan doesn’t have to mean boring or neutral-toned.

SHOP NOW USE CODE: ASHLEYGIOV for 15% OFF

6. A trendy, reusable water bottle

Healthish WB-1 Bottle, $30 (Currently on sale for $25)

You might be like, “girls really want water bottles for Christmas?” And yes, yes they do. Nice water bottles are expensive. I have been pretty loyal to my S’well bottle in the last few years, but this Healthish Glass Water Bottle is so aesthetically pleasing and perfect for someone who needs help getting in enough water each day. 

SHOP NOW

7. A luxury swimsuit made from recycled materials

Dahlia One Piece in Black, $148

Hear me out: sexy swimwear that’s made from discarded fishing nets. 

RAWA Swimwear makes going green look good. Their suits are ethically produced made with ECONYL, a 100% regenerated nylon that’s made from pre- and post-industrial waste. Not sure if it’s the fabric or just the quality, but these suits are comfy AF!

SHOP NOW Use code: ASHLEYGIOV15 for 15% off 

8. A meal delivery service

For a while, all I wanted for Christmas was a week’s worth of meals from Sakara Life, a vegan meal-delivery service that all your favorite VS angels swear by. But Sakara is ridiculously pricey (even for a boujie bitch like me), and I couldn’t find a more affordable, comparable quality substitute anywhere—until now! 

Herb and Seed is an LA-based vegan meal delivery service that launched six months ago. They offer breakfasts, lunches, and dinners at a very affordable rate for those living in the LA area. To give you an idea, if you eat three meals a day, you can get four day’s worth of meals for about $170 (Sakara Life is about $400 or so in comparison). 

Herb and Seed are also focused on sustainability by running a zero waste kitchen, and using compostable delivery products. 

Oh, and the meal options are fab! They offer tons of gluten-free and soy-free options if like me you try to avoid those types of foods. I’ve just started trying their offerings, and it’s definitely restaurant quality food (not like those boring rice, broccoli, and tofu dishes you see in typical vegan meal delivery services).

SHOP NOW

9. A cheeky t-shirt for the naughty vegan

Not every vegan girl would wear this, but if you know me than you know I totally would…

Are you looking for a new breakfast idea after eating oatmeal for the last 30 days in self-isolation? Are you realizing it’s time to upgrade your pillow game since you’re spending so much time in bed? Want to listen to me rant about my complicated relationship with sleep? You’ve come to the right place!

Please feel free to scroll down past all my chit-chat if you just want the recipe!

I have always had a conflicted relationship with sleep. I love sleep and I’m really good at it, but I also feel guilty waking up late (for me, that means any time after 9:30-10 am) because I feel like I should’ve been using that time more productively, and I feel like I’m starting my work day playing catch-up (especially because some of my clients are on the east coast).

This has actually been exacerbated during quarantine because, while I normally “let” myself sleep in more on the weekends, it currently feels like the weekend doesn’t exist. And, because I could technically sleep in every day of the week, I battle my conflicting desire to sleep and desire to be productive damn near every morning.

The fact that I’m nearly getting sick of my usual breakfast hasn’t helped either, so I decided to change things up just like I changed up my pillows before all of this craziness started.   

The cheap pillows I purchased at Target got flat seemingly quickly (in about 9 months—or maybe that’s normal?), so I knew it was time to upgrade. I’d previously tried Crown Goose’s duvet cover (click here for my full review), and they kindly offered to send me two of their goose down pillows as well.

Let’s just say that my sleep game seriously improved after adding these pillows to my bed. First off, having four pillows on my bed seems way more legit than having two (and is also ideal if you have any guests over). Second off, these pillows are perfectly fluffy and firm. Not like those hotel pillows that look fluffy until you put your head on them, and not like those foam pillows that are low-key hard and not my thing.

You can purchase your own Crown Goose pillows here, because now seems as good as ever a time to improve your sleep game.  

After you’re done with a good night’s rest, might I recommend trying my Beyond Sausage, Kale, + White Bean Oat Bowl recipe?

Here’s what you need for 1 serving:  

• 1.5 TBS olive oil
• 3 stalks of kale or 1.5 cups of kale (or, just fill your pan with an even layer of kale)
• ½ cup red onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ cup oats (I use these because they’re gluten-free also)
• 1 Beyond Spicy Italian Sausage (or any sausage, but these are my favorite plant-based sausages by far)
• 1 cup vegetable broth OR 1 cup water
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup white beans (or any beans really)
• OPTIONAL:
• Bitchin’ Sauce, Sriracha, or any other sauces you may wanna add on top  

This recipe, like most of mine, was crafted on one random day in the kitchen when I was sick of my usual breakfast, so feel free to adjust as you want for your preferences/for what’s currently in your kitchen, I think you can play with this a lot and it’ll still turn out good!

Here’s the recipe:

1. Add 1.5 TBS olive oil to a large pan and turn to medium-high heat.

2. Add garlic and red pepper flakes (just a few shakes is fine) to pan.

3. Once the oil is bubbling a bit, add the red onion and kale and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes to taste (just a few shakes of each should be fine). Stir the kale so that it’s evenly coated in the oil and spices, then leave it be for two minutes.

5. Stir/flip the kale pieces a bit before leaving it to sit again for another 2-3 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, wash and drain your beans and add to kale. Then, start cooking the sausage and the oatmeal according to instructions. Instead of making my oats with water or milk, I used vegetable broth to give it more of a savory flavor.

7. Flip your kale one more time. It should be crispy and even a little burnt in some places. If it looks good, you can turn the heat off or low while you prep the bowls.

8. Top your bowl of oats with kale, cut-up sausage (feel free to add the extra oil/juice from the pan), the white beans, and any sauces or other toppings you would like. I added bitchin’ sauce, Sriracha, and fresh herbs to mine. This would also be good topped with nutritional yeast, avocado, or even some kind of red sauce.

9. Enjoy + start your day off on the right foot (or, if you intermittent fast like I do, start your afternoon on the right foot).

If you want to see this visually, check it out here on my TikTok. And check out more of my recipes below if you’d like:

I don’t have many complaints about LA. After living in both NYC and Los Angeles, I’d take LA any day (no offense to my fellow east-coasters).

But one complaint I do have about Los Angeles is that coffee shops close far too early.

Of course, this probably stems from the work culture in LA where people actually leave work at 5 PM and have far more work-life balance than their NYC counterparts. But, I’m an east-coaster born and bred, and sometimes after getting home from the office, I want to head to a coffee shop and get some writing done.

Unfortunately, most coffee shops around here seem to close as early as 6 or as “late” as 8 PM—which still doesn’t give me a ton of time.

Thankfully, quickly after moving here I discovered Bohemia Tea Parlour which is one of my favorite neighborhood spots for multiple reasons…

1. They Have Great Vegan Food

When I first started going to Bohemia, they didn’t have food, but they launched it in late August. Depending on your appetite, they may not have enough to satisfy you for dinner, but they definitely have a lot of snacks and tasty treats. Not everything is vegan, but their vegan options include baklava, donuts, apple pie, avocado toast, cashew butter toast, Armenian pizza, plus a bunch of pre-packaged options such as a Caesar salad or kelp noodles.

I’m a pretty hungry girl, and I’ve found myself there in the evenings eating a cashew butter toast and an Armenian pizza and not being super full. I do sort of wish they had heartier meal options for when I want to work through dinner, but maybe they will add that eventually?

2. They Actually Don’t Serve Coffee—Just Lots of Tea (And Hot Chocolate)

So I know I said I was looking for a coffeeshop, but I don’t actually drink coffee, I just drink a ton of tea. So, this spot is actually perfect for me because it has tea on tea on tea, plus kombucha and hot chocolate and fun, very Instagrammable drinks like the rose boba tea I had in these photos.

3. They’re Open Until 11 PM

This is truly key, and part of the reason why I end up here more often than not. The only other place within walking distance of me that’s open this late is Starbucks, and their food options are awful!

4. They Have Outside Seating

They only have two tables outside, and it’s right on Sunset Boulevard which isn’t always super picturesque, but I love being outside so I totally still take advantage of this from time to time.

5. They Are Usually Playing Some Fun Rap Music

This can be a pro and con depending on what you’re working on, but I generally like the music they play at Bohemia (although TBH, sometimes it seems a bit too loud for my liking when I’m trying to write).

6. It’s Aesthetic AF

I mean, I don’t think I have to write about this considering these photos…but if you’re trying to get a cute Instagram pic in between conference calls, this seems like a good spot.

Anyway, I realize this post is probably not relevant for the majority of my readers, but I just wanted to write a quick love letter to this spot and post these adorable pictures by Sam Nahirny. So if you read this far, thank you!

Outfit Details:

Dress: ASTR the Label – BUY IT HERE

T-Shirt: Some random shop in Thailand where the salesman tried to explain to me it was for children…buy similar here

Shoes: I got mine at Buffalo Exchange, you can buy similar here.

Bag: I designed this bag myself via YouBag, you can design your own on their site here.

Photos by Sam Nahirny

Looking for an easy vegan meal prep? Feel free to skip this block of text and get to the good stuff

In case you missed it, in the last two weeks I moved to LA and started a full-time job!

I’m definitely going to write a post on moving/my decision to take a hiatus from the digital nomad life/etc. (if you want to read about the feelings that somewhat led me to this decision, read this), but I want to make sure I have proper time to write it all out, and these past two weeks have been totally crazy and I haven’t had much time to sit down and write!

But, I did somehow have time to write a recipe for what I brought for lunch this week, so I’m sharing this with you here!

It’s a super, super simple recipe (as are most things I make for myself on the daily), but my co-worker asked for the recipe after eye-balling my lunch, so I decided to write one up all officially and send it to her. 

And honestly, it was so fun to write up a little recipe! After always reading recipes, and giving cooking tips via text to friends (and more realistically, all the men I date), it was cool to write my own. 

Anyway, I know everyone hates all the text on top of a recipe post, so sorry. Enjoy! (and sorry for the extremely low quality pictures—I hardly have any cooking supplies and I was not planning on making my lunch into a blog post!). 

Here’s what you need:

• 2 cups rice (I use Success Boil in Bag Brown Rice)
• 12 oz. Brussels sprouts (one bag will do)
• 1 bunch Kale (~8 stalks)
• 1 can cannellini beans (although any beans in your pantry will do)
• 1 zucchini 
• 1 TBS whatever sauce/dip you have in the fridge (I used Hope Foods Spicy Guacamole Hummus)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Crushed Red Pepper or Red Cayenne Pepper
• Garlic Powder

Makes about 3-4 servings

This recipe is not an exact science, so feel free to adjust amounts of whatever—it’ll still turn out good!

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Line two large sheet pans with aluminum foil 
3. Cut Brussels sprouts in half, cut zucchini into bite size pieces, and rip up bite size pieces of kale (you can also cut them with a knife, I just always do it with my hands)
4. Arrange vegetables flat (or close to flat) on the two pans, then drizzle a generous amount of olive oil evenly over both pans.
5. Use your hands (or a spatula) to mix all vegetables so they’re evenly coated in oil (you can also do this part in a bowl for maximum even distribution, I just don’t like having to wash an additional dish).
6. Sprinkle a generous portion of salt, pepper, red pepper, and garlic powder over all vegetables. Feel free to add any additional spices as desired. 
7. Cook for 15-20 minutes (you may want to check on the zucchini and take it out earlier). Remove when the kale and Brussels are slightly burnt/crispy. 
8. While the veggies are cooking, cook rice according to instructions on the box and open cannellini beans.
9. Distribute ingredients evenly in bowls, starting with the rice as a base, then adding the Brussels sprouts, zucchini, kale, and beans. Add a dollop (or drizzle) of sauce on top. Sprinkle additional salt and pepper as needed. 

Here’s the visual assembly process for your viewing pleasure…

When I first made this, I had a super tiny sheet pan in my rental apartment so I ended up making the kale and zucchini one day, then the Brussels sprouts and rice the next day, then combining it the next day. The beauty of this recipe is you can kind of mix and match!