Vegan Beer & Food Festival

Vegan diets have spread across the country, but many consider California the capital of the diet. For those of you who do not consume animal products, and even for those who do, there is an exciting festival coming up to celebrate vegans - the Vegan Beer & Food Festival! 2015 will be the sixth year for this event, which offers some of the best vegan bites and brews! 

This year's festival will be held on May 16 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena. Guests of the festival will have a selection of more than 100 beers from 50 breweries, and food from more than 40 food trucks, restaurants and vendors at their fingertips! Brewers include Ace Cider, Beach City Bell's, Dr. Jekyll's, Lagunitas, New Belgium and many, many more. Food that will be on site includes Anthem Vegan, Grilled Cheese Truck, Life is Sweet Bakeshop, The Rabbit Hole Cafe and more! To view the full list of food and beer that will be available, click here.

If the food and beer selection is not enough to convince you, there is also a stellar live music lineup. Participating artists include Jamestown Revival, The White Buffalo, The Drowning Men, Petty Cash, Joel Jerome and Lucy & La Mer! 

What are some things you should try at the event? LAist recommends Real Food Daily's "fauxnut," comparable to the cronut; Suncafe's chili fries; and Clean South's fried "chicken." To view all of their recommendations, click here. 

If you are interested in attending the event, tickets can be purchased online or the day of the event. Tickets are between $50 and $80. Please note, food is not included in the ticket price. If you are interested in buying tickets online, click here.

From Palazzo Westwood Village apartment homes to Rose Bowl Stadium, it is approximately a 45-minute drive, via the 405 and Hwy. 134 E. If you love vegan food and beer, it would make a fun day trip to take with friends!

Have you ever attended a vegan beer or food festival? What vendors do you look forward to trying at this festival? Share your thoughts on Palazzo Westwood Village's Facebook and Twitter pages!

Create Happy at-Home Habits

"Wine" by Emiliano DeLaurentiis is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The new year is a great time for a fresh start and creating new habits. While many people are focused on losing weight or working out more, think about focusing your energy on creating daily, positive moments at home in your apartment! Yes, there’s almost always some chore that needs to be done, but balance it out with doing something enjoyable for YOU! Apartment Therapy offers these tips for creating those happy moments:

1. Have one daily ritual that is just for you. For me, a mom to two young kids, I like to drink my coffee in peace in the morning. Even if it means getting up earlier, that quiet time before the family routine kicks in helps me ease into the day and do something for myself before I start doing things for everyone else. Your ritual could be anything that brings you pleasure or peace, even if just for a few minutes. My mom, for instance, took a hot bath almost every night of my childhood.

2. Set aside time in the week to listen to music. For some people, music is always playing at home. I envy these people. I live in a small apartment with three others and more often than not, the sounds filtering through our home come from the tv, iPad games and noisy toys. On Sunday mornings I like to very intentionally put on music that we can all enjoy and keep other sounds to a minimum. Set aside time in your home when music is all that you can hear. If you live with others, perhaps rotate playlists.

3. Use what you have. Go ahead - use the "nice" soap, light those spendy candles, break out the fabric napkins. Treat yourself well at home. Too often we squirrel away little luxuries at home and only bring them out for company. Let your home provide you with small pleasures; you deserve them.

4. Cook or prepare something, for pleasure, for yourself once a week.Cooking, even for people who love to do it, can be a grind when it's a daily obligation and particularly when it's on you to feed your family. If you can, make something for yourself as often as you can that is not completely utilitarian, even something simple like salted avocado spread on toast. It may help you reconnect with the parts of cooking you do like and, of course, the eating of it will bring you enjoyment in the short term.

5. Choose one weekend day when you don't do any housework.Wouldn't it be great if you did a little bit of housework each weekday so you could just relax and enjoy your home on the weekends? Yeah, that doesn't really happen. Try to condense your household chores to one part of the weekend and have one day, Saturday or Sunday, that is reserved for being home, not cleaning home.