Best Vegan Enchiladas in Oslo?

As a vegan I often get asked where I like to go out to eat in Oslo, and if I had to choose just one place to recommend it would be nordvegan!

Wonderful atmosphere, desserts to die for, interesting sodas and maybe Oslo’s best enchiladas!

And best of all; IT’S ALL VEGAN!

Their food options change everyday, so there’s always something a bit different or new to try. The kitchen was trained by the award-winning chef Reuben Waller (who used to work at Michelin-starred restaurants), and is now run by Fabio Baudo (also has a background from Michelin-starred restaurants).

Nordvegan has become a favorite spot for lunch with the girls or just to take myself out on a date ❤️

I can highly recommend the Buddha bowl, lasagne and (of course) the ENCHILADAS! Yummy!!!

If you want to know more, then you can visit www.nordvegan.com

 

EAT IT, LOVE IT AND ENJOY IT WITH A GOOD CONSCIENCE❤️

Tattoo and Poetry – A Different Evening

Today I experienced something a bit different. I went to a community building in Oslo called Stampen. They had a relaunch evening for the cultural center in Brugata 12, Oslo. I had no idea what to expect, but went in there with good company, and met some strangers, and some old friends.

I got to see a pirate walk around ringing a bell, a fire dancer that asked me if I wanted to play while she twirled me around on the dance floor, a four story building filled with art and artists, and a man that told poetry while he got his lower back tattooed.

It was a night to remember, that’s for sure!

But the thing that made it the most special, that was being around so many people that shamelessly shares their passion! They do the things they love, zero fucks given! I wish more people were like that. I wish more people would dare to just thrive and grow together with their passion, instead of fearing it.

It’s something I’m constantly being mindful about myself. Reminding myself daily that what other people feel about my passion, ambitions and dreams, doesn’t matter! All that matters is that I continue to do what I love, because I love it!

I guess that’s the beauty of watching a poet’s bare ass, while he reads and gets inked; It is that there might be something so profoundly poetic in it or it might just be poetry, bare ass and a tattoo.

Be openminded! Be different! Live your dream! Live a great story!

Thank you to Stampen, the wonderful people who colored the night, and to everyone that was a part of a truly different evening in Oslo ❤️

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Please, Show Me ● POEM

You’re beautiful 

She smiled

Please, show me

She undressed

You’re beautiful

She blushed

Please, show me

She kissed him

He smiled

Please, show me

She didn’t understand

Please, show me

What more was there

His hand reached

Rested on her heart

Please, show me

He kissed her

She smiled

Please, be gentle

©Christina de Vries

Photo: Ole Martin Halvorsen

I Just Want to Dance!

As a kid I took a couple of dancing classes, but for some reason (that I have to say that now regret) I stopped. But even though I stopped taking the classes, I never stopped dancing.

Not a day goes by without me dancing. A lot of it happens in my own living room, the shower or the kitchen, but I do love to go out and dance as well.

Leander started dancing last fall, and for every time that I go with him, and I watch all the dancers that moves around, I itch to go back and become a better dancer.

And whenever I feel that itch coming on strong, I always end up watching the same movie.

It’s far from a perfect movie, but there’s something so magical about the art of burlesque. I’ve been a huge fan of the dancing style for many years, and this movie just makes me so happy, as well as it makes me dance around every room in my apartment.

And after doing exactly that this weekend, I have decided it is time that I get back into dancing again. So I’ve started looking at burlesque classes and workshops. It’ll probably have to wait until later this year, but I’m thinking it’s about bloody time I checked another thing off my bucket list!

One of the things that I think is so extremely important is to never stop learning. To always aspire to seek out new knowledge. This is another way for me to do exactly that! And the big, wonderful bonus is the great workout that dancing is!

I can’t wait to get started, but until that, I will continue on dancing around in my home, and anywhere else I feel like!

LET’S DANCE!

The Big Escape ● POEM

This is waking up

Eyes opening

Fingers reaching

Finally feeling

●

This is realizing

Lies exposed

Truth coming clear

Impossible to unsee

●

This is escaping

Wings spreading

Soul soaring

Breaking free

©Christina de Vries

Top 5 📚 Disappointing Books

The Secret Life of Cows by Rosamund Young 📚 BOOK REVIEW

I read a hardback version of The Secret Life of Cows.

Genre: Nonfiction

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Originally published: 2003

Pages: 137 (hardback)

 

 

 

 

Blurb by the publisher:

Cows can love, play games, bond and form strong, life-long friendships. They can sulk, hold grudges, and they have preferences and can be vain. All these characteristics and more have been observed, documented, interpreted and retold by Rosamund Young based on her experiences looking after the family farm’s herd on Kite’s Nest Farm in Worcestershire, England. Here the cows, sheep, hens and pigs all roam free. There is no forced weaning, no separation of young from siblings or mother. They seek and are given help when they request it and supplement their own diets by browsing and nibbling leaves, shoots, flowers and herbs. Rosamund Young provides a fascinating insight into a secret world – secret because many modern farming practices leave no room for displays of natural behavior yet, ironically, a happy herd produces better quality beef and milk.

Rosamund Young

 

"A lighthearted and charming read, but I was expecting something
 completely different."

My Thoughts

When I first heard about this book, I was utterly intrigued. And since I became vegan, I’ve gotten more and more interested in the psyche of animals. I went into this one expecting something completely different, and I can’t blame anyone but myself for that. I didn’t do proper research and I jumped in blindly. Sometimes that is a positive thing, this time though, it wasn’t a perfect match.

Where I was expecting more research and facts I got a cute story about farmed cows and their personalities.

There no denying that Rosamund Young has written a charming book about animals that she clearly loves, and I really do appreciate that in this one. That being said, I could not help but feel that this book wasn’t targeted as much to me as a vegan. She writes quite a lot about how the wellbeing of the cows makes for better meat and milk, and needless to say that doesn’t really resonate much with me say.

That being said, I still think that Young and her family’s way of running a farm is a million times better than factory farming, and I applaud them for making the choice to value these wonderful cows and making sure they all live a good life filled with love and comfort.

Some of the stories told in this book are very interesting, and I definitely do have a bit of a new look on the kind of personalities cows can have. And I found the way that she explained how they communicated with humans to be the most fascinating part of the book.

So overall I would say that it was a lighthearted and charming read, but I was expecting something completely different.

Do you want to make up your own opinion about the book? Click on the Bookdepository or Amazon logo below to go and get your own copy!

The Veil ● POEM

Surrounded by ruins of past love

Her walls built then shattered

Over and over again

Now they were too heavy to lift

The pieces no longer fit together

They were broken

She was bruised

So instead of trying to build

A wall filled with cracks

She wrapped herself in layers

Of protective veil 

Spun out of memories and reminders

Through them she could still see

Her fingers still touch

Her lips still taste

And slowly over time

The bruises healed

Veils melted into skin

And she spun herself a new one

With room to spare

For future love 

For them to share

●

©Christina de Vries

 

You Are What You Love, Not Who Loves You!

Back in the day, when I was a kid, I had so many plans for my future. I had plans to be exactly where I wanted to be by the time I was 25, and I would not even think about starting a family before that had happened. Needless to say, things didn’t really go as planned. I’m pretty sure that’s the truth for most of us when we look back on our lives.

I am now 30. I have a 10 year old son. I’m a dedicated YouTuber. I’m working on a poetry collection. The first draft of my first novel is almost done. I’m working in retail and I’m dying to travel more, see more, live more!

This wasn’t how I pictured my life would be at all. Some days that thought happens to get me a bit worried, but most days I enjoy life for what it has offered me so far. How I’ve come to be the person that I am today. And even though I haven’t reached all of the goals I set for my self as a little girl, I’ve already accomplished a lot.

I love the fact that my wanderlust just grows and grows. A lot of the things I thought would be important to me when I was younger, I’ve come to learn aren’t important at all. And some of the things that I never thought I’d care for, has become solid foundations in my life.

But there is one thing that has never changed, and I can say with damn certainty it never will, that is my passion for writing. I found it when I was so young that I can’t even remember it. I’ve been chasing it, and living it ever since. Writing and writing and writing! And I’m just as much a writer as everyone else who loves to write.

Fall Out Boy together with Elton John has a wonderful song (one of my absolute favorites) and in that song there’s a line that always gives me goosebumps:

"You are what you love, not who loves you!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cnBxSB1jUE

I love that line! And I find it to be so true that it sometimes hurt just thinking about it. We let ourselves be defined so easily by other people’s idea of who we ought to be. I know way to many who have given up their dreams for more sensible and safe options, and they almost always feel like there’s something missing. But HEY, that’s what growing up is all about, right? To that I say HELL NO!

I know my passion, my dreams! It has evolved over the years, for sure. Making videos for a passion in addition to writing just grew organically, and now they go hand in hand. Every single day I practice gratitude. And one of the things that I’m just as grateful for, every single day, is the fact that I still have that spirit of the dreaming child that was me so many years ago!

I look at my son now and I hope that he never loses it either. I see the sparkle in his eyes when he dances, or when he creates something, and I always promise myself that I will go down, kicking and screaming, for his right to have his dreams, to chase them, and to live them!

I will try my very best to teach him to LIVE A GREAT STORY, just as I am teaching and reminding myself to do the same, every single day!

YOU ARE WHAT YOU LOVE, NOT WHO LOVES YOU!

Don’t ever forget that! And I will be here to remind you of it, for as long as I can!

FIND IT! CHASE IT! LIVE IT!

Wish You Were Here ● POEM

The brightest of red

Fading into orange

To yellow and blue

Breathtaking rise 

Of a new day 

How empty my soul felt

Because you weren’t here

To share it with me

●

©️Christina de Vries