I love, love, love hosting and speaking at events where I get to meet you guys (my amazing blog readers), because it makes what I do on a daily basis (write for the Internet) feel so much more real and rewarding and tangible.

I love having a microphone in my hand — laugh if you want, but true. I actually really enjoy it! Lol.

A photo from the WANT panel a few months ago in Malibu!

I also love hosting events where I get to connect with awesome likeminded souls who don’t yet know about my blog but are interested in similar things as me from wellness to entrepreneurship to #girlboss-ness to yoga to downright sharing from the heart/spreading good vibes.

I love hosting when I get to co-host with awesome, badass women and dudes who I really get along with and whose missions align super closely with mine. Some of my recent faves include the baking class + balanced life seminar I hosted with my boo Sweet Laurel Bakery (you can watch our YouTube recap of the event HERE) and my book signing in Sacramento a few months ago with all of my lifelong love bugs in attendance.

Hi Laurel & Christina. MUAH.

Some events fill my heart with crazy amounts of love and joy. I won’t focus on the ones that don’t… But trust me, I accidentally get involved in plenty of events/situations that don’t fill me up with love + happiness.

A small example is a book signing I hosted where I had pretty much a falling out with my co-hosts AFTER the event (for various reasons), but looking back on it now it makes my stomach feel weird/my heart hurt because even though the event itself was good — there are now bad vibes surrounding the sitch.

Other times I’ve had not-so-good experiences because things are expected of me that I’m not comfortable doing, AND there was that whole period of my life where I was about-to-not-be-vegan anymore and I was still hosting vegan events and speaking at vegan seminars. So there’s that.

Anyway, a place that always, ALWAYYYSSSS fills my heart with epic amounts of love & joy when I host an event there is GINGERSNAP’S ORGANIC in the West Village of NYC.

There are a few reasons for that:

a) Jamie, the owner of Gingersnap’s and often my event co-host, is an all around incredible human. She inspires me, motivates me, and makes me feel so whole & so “SEEN” when I am around her. You know those people? People who are just very connect-worthy and enjoyable to share space with. She is also full of so much knowledge about wellness and life in general… She is someone I feel safe sharing my issues & concerns with, because she’s been there for me many times. So I love hosting events with her for that reason above all else!

b) the environment is AWESOME and always brings a very good time

c) the food is so, so yummy, healthy and right up my alley

d) the people who tend to come to my events at Gingersnap’s are people who I connect with so easily, who GET me, who support what I am doing, and who rock.

That being said, if you’re into having fun + sharing good vibes, come to my event at Gingersnaps on June 15th (a week from Weds) from 7-9pm if you’re NYC local! You can get tickets here.

For the ticket price you’ll get a signed copy of my book, a signed copy of Jamie’s book, delish food from Gingersnaps, and great company of course.

I am so, so excited to host my first (and maybe only?) NYC BOOK SIGNING for Breaking Vegan! As you know, the book is my most cherished project, and NYC is my most cherished city… So it’s going to be a partay. Even my MOM is going to be there who is the most fun and stylish and wonderful woman in existence.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you’re thinking about coming… I’d LOVE to have you!!! And if you’re not NYC local… Stay tuned for upcoming events. Moral of the story of this post: I’m only trying to host / be involved with evens that are super meaningful to me at this point. Picking & choosing. It’s the way to go. <3 

XO (PS most of my events end up being a lot like the below… So COME HANG)

A) Head is SPINNING with everything going on! And I’m not saying that in an, “Ugh, I’m so busy I don’t even have time to blog” kind of way. I’m saying it in a “Wow, my brain is in overdrive and there is so much to focus on” kind of way — and when I feel that way, it can be really hard for me to write from the heart. It’s kind of like how I spent all of my free time writing fictional stories for fun until I went to grad school for creative writing and could NOT for the life of me focus on creative writing. And that was because I was so focused on the blog. And nooowwww I am so focused on the book and trying to keep everything in order with my current travel sched that a lot of ideas I’ve had for the blog have just felt — DULL. And I refuse to write dull content for you guys. So I’ve kept my posts to a bit of a minimum lately while I let my head do the lil’ spinning thing that it’s been so good at lately…

B) TRAVEL! I mentioned it above, but that has been a huge one. Whenever I get into the routine of traveling a lot, my normal sched gets much more difficult to maintain. I often trick myself into thinking that I will be fine and get tons of work done on the plane, in the hotel room, etc, which DOES happen, but not quite the most creative stuff. I can stay up to date on emails, projects, TBV Apparel, interviews and other things of that sort, but when it comes to creating content for the blog, I like to be in a very specific headspace. And when I am on a red eye to Miami and then spending 3 days on a boat I am stimulated in a whole different way, but not necessarily in the creative way.

C) I am so inspired, I want to let some things sink in. I had an unreal time at the Summit at Sea event I was at this weekend. I got to hear panelists speak from Martha Stewart to John Legend to Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google) to Travis Kalahnick (CEO of Uber) to Mark Sisson (writer of the Primal Blueprint) to some of the most badass yoga teachers in the biz and more… And wow, did I soak in a LOT. Emotions, motivation, inspiration, intense feelings, new friendships, super deep conversations, lots of reflection about all sorts of things that have been going on lately, refining my focus/vision of the future of my brand and so much more. With so much shifting and evolving within my vision, I have felt it especially necessary to take a few breaths before pushing out content.

D) Now that the book is out, my story is OUT THERE. For those of you that have read my book, you know that it captures a lot of my life. From my intensely personal eating disorder journey to details about my childhood, my lifelong relationship with food, my vegan journey, recent family hardships and so much more — I put a lot of sh*t on the table. Now that that is all out there, I am free to move forward and move on from the eating disorder recovery chit chat. I will always be here for you guys to talk to, ask questions to, vent to, relate to, etc. when it comes to eating disorder recovery, but I am personally at a point where I very much look forward to moving on from that phase of my life — so the blog will be moving along right alongside of it. That is a very special and groundbreaking feeling — and also a terrifying one, because bringing the brand in somewhat of a new direction is always terrifying!

E) I love sharing healthy recipes & restaurants with you guys, but I am getting misrepresented about my food choices in the media & it has made me step back a little. You’ve seen the headlines… “Veganism almost killed her,” “How girl almost died while on a vegan diet,” “Vegan diet threatened TBB’s life,” and so on. Well, I am here to tell you that none of that is true. The media likes to sensationalize things and twist words to make headlines. I have been thrown into the fire a little bit because some people assume I am cool with those headlines, but I’m not. It’s been really heartbreaking to watch my story get twisted and watch words being put into my mouth — and a whole community of people have been angered because of it. I choose not to focus on the negativity being slung my way, because I know that I have represented myself in a very truthful and authentic way. Anyone who chooses to look into my story will see that. BUT it has made me slightly uncomfortable about sharing MY version of healthy food with you guys right now, because I feel that I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t. I am not anti-vegan, and I don’t eat junk food. I have been getting slammed for being “too healthy” on one end of the spectrum and slammed for not being healthy enough on the other end — this isn’t affecting me on a personal level, but stepping away from writing recipes on the blog to reflect about what kinds of recipes I am MOST passionate about sharing with you guys feels like the right thing right now.

F) Interviews!!! I have been doing a lot of awesome interviews for the book lately. You can find me in this month’s issue of ELLE Magazine, I am on my dear friend Andie Mitchell’s blog today, I will be on The Angriest Trainer podcast in coming weeks (so fun talking to him), Maddy Moon’s Mind Body Musings, Kathryn Budig’s blog, and more. I will keep you guys all very posted on that — all super exciting!

Who’s with me?! When I have a lot going on, it can be the most difficult thing in the world to just FOCUS and feel creatively stimulated. Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts. I’ll be back tomorrow with a Loving Lately post — woo woo!

Yesterday I was just doing my usual Monday morning thing: sitting on my couch, responding to emails, sipping on some iced cold brew coffee, petting Huddy… And I get a text from a friend saying, “Your book comes out in 6 days!!!!”

I wasn’t surprised by his saying that– the release date of my book has changed around quite a bit and I can’t expect everyone in my life to know that November 15th has been the official date for the last several months. Plus, at this point, since it’s been available for preorder since May, I am beyond used to people thinking that it’s already out and available to read.

But this particular person doesn’t really throw around statements he’s not positive are correct, so after reading his text I checked my Amazon book page for the hell of it. And when I checked, sure enough it said release date: NOVEMBER 1ST. Otherwise known as six days from yesterday. Otherwise known as THIS SUNDAY.

ExCuuuUuuSeee Me?!?!?!

I know the 1st and the 15th of November may not seem all that far apart from each other in the grand scheme of things, but when you’ve been waiting for your own book to hit shelves since you finished writing in in February — a two week difference is a damn huge one. That means I only have to wait one week instead of three to share Breaking Vegan with you guys… Especially those of you who have preordered. (Which, by the way, THANK YOU for that times a million.)

I don’t know if it’s more exciting that the book will be OUT and that you guys can read the story once and for all (YAY!) or that when people ask me when my book is coming out, I can say that it’s OUT. I don’t have to give the whole, “Oh, it comes out mid November, but go ahead and preorder it if you’re interested…” which, let’s be honest, 95% of people just don’t do. It’s hard enough to get people to commit to buying a book and then reading it, let alone to preordering it months before it comes out!!!!

Every day someone in my life says, “Ah! I am so sorry, I am the WORST friend but I haven’t read your book yet. Where can I get it?!?!?” And I tell them they aren’t the worst friend at all because the book isn’t even OUT yet. When I post photos of the cover on social media, etc. I know it totally gives the impression to most Internet-scrollers that it’s out, butttttt as of now — not yet.

I AM SO EXCITED for the book to launch, and I am DOUBLE EXCITED that Well & Good NYC shared the first ever before seen EXCERPT of the book on their site yesterday!!! I have been so appreciative of everyone’s feedback and support, and it’s so fun having a little slice of the book on the Internet that I figured I would share a few little paragraphs with you guys here:

This is from the chapter No One Plans to Develop an Eating Disorder, which is the 3rd chapter in the book.

No One Plans to Develop an Eating Disorder…

“Right after the initial plant-based cleanse and my decision to start eating vegan, I took a road trip from Sacramento to LA with my best friend Jillian to start our last semester of college. When we stopped to get gas on our way out of town, Jill looked me up and down and said, “Holy shit, Jo! I have never seen you this tiny!” Of course I played it off like I barely knew what she was talking about (“Who, me?!”), but inside I was glowing because I knew that my outer frame reflected the mind-body connection I was developing with my plant-based diet.

The drive is six hours long, so midway through we stopped to get something to eat. Jillian got orange chicken and vegetable fried rice from a Chinese takeout place—yes, I’m that creepy friend who remembers people’s orders verbatim years later—while I cracked open my leftover butternut squash soup from the cleanse and ate a few big spoonfuls until I felt satisfied. I remember the look on her face that very clearly read, “That’s all you’re going to eat?” and then her many attempts to get me to try a bite of her deep-fried chicken. It was a no-go.

We chatted the drive away about life, the wild New Year’s Eve we’d just had in San Francisco, and how panicked I was to run into my now ex-boyfriend once the semester started back up. We were planning to go to a pajama-themed party that evening and decided that when we got back into town, we would go shopping for cute matching pajamas. (Jillian ended up swapping her pajamas with my friend Sarah at the party.) I wanted to have some kind of plant-based snack beforehand because the soup barely sustained me for more than an hour, but I didn’t have any snacks with me and it made more sense to drive straight to the mall. I told myself it was fine—I could embrace the empty feeling, as I’d done many times before.”

Head over to Well & Good to read the rest, and head to THIS LINKKKKK to preorder the booky book!!! Would be so, so, soooOooOoOOoOOoOOOOOO (can you tell I’m excited?) beyond appreciative of your continued support.

Sending you all so much love! Exciting tiiiiimes!!!! Also found out I am going to NYC next week for a super fun SELF magazine photo shoot that I kinda sorta can’t wait for…. See you east coasters REAL soon.  

On the roof of my home away from home – The Standard East Village. 360 views of utter perfection

Shop Free People Dress || Shot by Jennie Finken

Sometimes you just need a screen break! I even took half a week or so away from email… And boy was that a treat. But the nice thing about my job and being so ingrained with sharing my life with all of you on the Internet, I’ve still been posting up a storm on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and have been interacting with you all there! I also got back to my emails this morning, and WOAH BABY am I blown away at the king, inspiring, insightful things you have been writing to me. What a lucky, lucky blogger gal I am. But for real. I think I have the best job in the world.

There is SO MUCH I want to write about today, but for the sake of being sliiiiightly cohesive, I am choosing a topic. But I am also making notes on the mounds of other things I want to share. Today’s topic is pretty much an NYC recap mixed in with how freakishly happy New York City makes me. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and again and again): New York is my spirit city. It makes me feel alive, present and charged with energy in a way that no other city has yet to make me feel. The closest thing to it is MAYBE the energy of San Francisco… So I guess my soul relates to a fast-paced, urban, walkable kind of city. But really, nothing holds a candle to NYC.

I mean seriously, the city makes me dance in the street. It’s just that good.

My schedule was packed to the BRIM on this trip. I got to do so many incredible things book-wise, like meet with a bunch of great journalists, magazines, authors and media outlets (Seventeen! Shape! DailyBurn! Andie Mitchell! Kathryn Budig! So many more!) and show off our advanced reading copies of Breaking Vegan. I attended a BEAUTIFUL WEDDING in Central Park for my dear friends Paul and Jeff (see below), ate at heavenly places like Buddakan, Pure Food & Wine, Peacefood, Oatmeals, Chalait, Bluestone Lane and Souen, and got to catch up with so many amazing people that I love.

But the point of this post isn’t really to go into great detail about all things New York. If you follow me on Instagram or if you know me at all, then you know I love (A LOT!) New York. I lived there for a year and there’s a big part of me that believes I may move back at some point — and I have been pretty successful at being semi-bicoastal ever since I moved back to LA.

Make Your Own Magic

What I want to talk about today is making YOUR OWN magic, in any city that you live in or that you visit. In other words, being happy wherever the heck you are – since many of us don’t have the opportunity to jet to NYC whenever we feel like we need a little boost of inspiration. In OTHER words, making your city your bitch. (Excuse my language, but it’s kinda perfect here… You have to admit.)

New York makes me really happy. So happy, in fact, that every time I leave the city I get a little depressed. I actually cried a little when my plane touched back down in LA, and I don’t even dislike LA. I actually really like it. But I feel so deeply connected to New York, and my heart and mind blossoms so much every time I’m there, that it’s hard not to mourn the departure a tiny bit each and every time.

(The good news is, I woke up the next morning with a huge appreciation for the sun bursting through my windows, my palm-tree lined street, and being a stone’s throw away from the beach. Oh, and my family and close friends in LA, of course. But I was still missing NYC and yearning to book another trip back.)

I love it, but I also moved back to CA for a reason, and I knew there was no reason to be so down about not being there after just having had a wonderful, productive and incredibly fulfilling time in NYC.

Basically, my belief is that we should all be ridiculously happy everywhere we are, in every moment, in any city. I am someone who is DEEPLY effected by my surroundings. If the energy of a person, place, or thing is not fully positive, then I feel off. I soak in the energy of my surroundings, and I harness it into everything I do. That’s why I have a particularly hard time (read: zero tolerance) for negative people, unnecessary shit talking/complaining, uninspiring atmospheres and even for dimly lit rooms (laugh if you must).

When I got back to LA a couple days ago I really got to thinking: “What do I need to do in order to feel that magical feeling NYC sparks within me, even when I’m not there?”

And all of the sudden the answer seemed incredibly clear. I know what I like about New York: the energy. It sucks me in. I thrive off of it. So if in California I surround myself with people who radiate that type of energy, projects that excite me to no end (the book, the blog, TBV Apparel, fun collaborations, yoga/exercise that I love), and make a point to recognize and acknowledge what I love about the city I live in each and every day — by actually IMMERSING myself in it and soaking in the goodness it has to offer, then the magic is there.

It’s not that hard.

Laughing with my sweet Tara in NYC… My spirit twin!

Same in Sacramento, where I am sitting right now as I type this! I had a moment when I was driving through Central California farmland to get from LA to Sactown yesterday (where I did happen to get lost for over an hour after I pulled off the side of the road to take this Instagram photo…) where I said out loud on the phone to my mom: “How are Tupman [miniscule farm town in the middle of CA] and New York City even part of the SAME PLANET, INHABITED BY THE SAME HUMANS? It literally makes no f*****g sense to me.”

Yeah, I was a little angry due to being very lost and turned around. I will admit. But still.

Even there: there is beauty. A lot of it, actually. The rolling landscape, the ease of life, the absolute nonexistence of materialism, zero fast-paced stress, etc. There is magic in mid-California farmland just like there is magic in bustling downtown NYC. Sure, some people will prefer one over the other, but there is magic everywhere and no two places are the same. It’s kind of like no two people or no two bodies being the same.

If you’re looking for negativity, you’ll probably find it. If you want to be sad and bummed out and annoyed that where you live doesn’t feel as cool and inspiring as New York or doesn’t feel as relaxing as a place like Costa Rica or Hawaii… Then you WILL be sad and bummed out and annoyed. If you want to remedy that, it takes a bit of work. Take the time to think about what it is that you desire about that place, and recreate it for yourself right where you are.

If you are looking for community and connection? Join a group in your area that is interested in something you love. If you’re looking for an inspiring atmosphere, go to a late night coffee shop with a cool vibe… I promise you will feel a little recharged just by being somewhere new.

Because after all, you have the rest of your life to go to these different places and different cities. You only have right now to live in the moment.

I still have a long way to go to fully live in the moment all day every day, but I am trying! Trying hard. It’s so worth it. And I’m not saying there is anything wrong with travel… travel ROCKS. I travel all the time and it’s another thing I thrive off of. I fully support planning trips and having them to look forward to — but there is also this little thing called the in between. In other words, life. And it’s oh so important.

Who’s with me?

Time to make our own magic!

PS, Free People Dress. Cutest ever: