February 2019 – Christina de Vries

Another Morning, Another Hostel!

Yes, I’m traveling again! This time, I went by bus over night from Oslo, over to Sweden, and then, at 7am this morning, I found myself in Copenhagen!

It’s been a little while since the last time I visited Copenhagen, and this time around I’m just here for two days. I basically came here for two things;

The Jason Mraz concert and to get a new tattoo!

And I’m very excited about both! I will also try to get quite a bit of writing done too. Arriving here so early gives me a good amount of hours to write and film some here in the city.

I love coming back to Copenhagen. Just like London and Amsterdam, it has such a wonderful atmosphere! First time I’ve traveled here by bus though, and I have mixed feelings about it.

I had reserved the front, single seat on the second floor, which gave me quite the view. The price was really good as well!

Now let me share some of the things I learned for future long distance bus rides:

☀️ Bring a pair of extra warm socks. You’ll want to take of your shoes, and your feet will get cold, which makes it hard to fall asleep, and just uncomfortable.

☀️ Wear a coat or bring a blanket. Again, it can get really cold!

☀️ Travel pillow!! I considered bringing mine, decided not to, and regretted that decision! I think my neck is bitter as hell because of it too.

☀️ You know those rude people that insist on talking extremely loud on their phone? Well, they will do the exact same thing, even when it’s in the middle of the night. Bring a headset, preferably those fancy ones with noise cancellation! The regular Apple headset worked to block out the worst for me.

☀️ Wear comfortable clothes! You’ll be sleeping, or just sitting, in a somewhat seated position for many hours. Make sure you’ll be as comfortable as possible. Those skinny jeans that feels like they’re hugging your calves, after a few hours of sitting in them, it will feel like they’re trying to squeeze the life out of you! Bring them wit you instead. I went for some flared, stretchy pants which made it possible to try to fold myself into in unnatural positions to try yo get comfortable 😜

So, now I’m having my morning coffee at the Hostel of this trip, and I feel ever so much wiser after 8 hours on a bus. Let’s see how much of my new wisdom will be put to use on my way home. I’m buying warm socks though, that’s for sure!

My dear lovelies, I wish you all a wonderful day! I’m about to finish my coffee and then head out into a city I know somewhat, to act like a proper tourist and get to know it even better!

If you want to follow me around in Copenhagen then add me on Instagram! I will be posting throughout the trip, as I always do😊 You can click on the picture above to get to my Instagram👆🏻

Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton 📚 BOOK REVIEW

I read a paperback version of Everything I Know About Love.

Genre: Nonfiction, memoir

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Originally published: February 1st, 2018

Pages: 336 (paperback)

Audiobook length: 8 Hours 33 Minutes

Blurb by the publisher:

A spot-on, wildly funny and sometimes heart-breaking book about growing up, growing older and navigating all kinds of love along the way

When it comes to the trials and triumphs of becoming a grown-up, journalist and former Sunday Times dating columnist Dolly Alderton has seen and tried it all. In her memoir, she vividly recounts falling in love, wrestling with self-sabotage, finding a job, throwing a socially disastrous Rod-Stewart themed house party, getting drunk, getting dumped, realising that Ivan from the corner shop is the only man you’ve ever been able to rely on, and finding that that your mates are always there at the end of every messy night out. It’s a book about bad dates, good friends and – above all else – about recognizing that you and you alone are enough.

Glittering, with wit and insight, heart and humor, Dolly Alderton’s powerful début weaves together personal stories, satirical observations, a series of lists, recipes, and other vignettes that will strike a chord of recognition with women of every age – while making you laugh until you fall over. Everything I Know About Love is about the struggles of early adulthood in all its grubby, hopeful uncertainty.

My Thoughts:

I walked into Waterstone’s at Trafalgar Square, just wanting to browse (as if book lovers ever JUST browse) through the books, and while I was making my way through book heaven, a table with yellow covers and red sprayed edges was screaming for my attention. And that’s how I got to know Dolly Alderton. I got to know her even more through this hilarious, sometimes sad, somewhat disturbing, but also heartwarming story of how she learned what she now knows of love.

I started reading this book in a top third bunk in a London hostel, while feeling in a place in my own life where I’m not even sure what I think I know about love anymore, and I fell into this book like Alice into Wonderland, finding the world of dating to be just as a peculiar and weird place for Dolly as it has been for me. Well, maybe a bit more extreme and weird for her, but still.

There was a lot throughout this story of her way into adulthood that I could relate to emotionally, although a lot of the experiences in itself was quite different.

I think we all struggle to come to terms with love and what exactly it is that it means to us, because of reasons that have to do with the weirdness of modern dating, but also our own demons (don’t tell me you don’t have any, because I won’t believe you).

I laughed and cried throughout this, and there were moments where I found myself rooting for Dolly as if I was reading something that was happening in that precise moment, and then having to remind myself that the happenings that were unfolding on the pages had already happened a good while ago, and so much more after that.

The most heartfelt and wonderful thing about this book to me was not the hysterical and absurd dates and episodes of casual hookups, it was how Dolly told the story of her friendships, and especially the one she has to her best friend Farley. I miss that in “love stories”, both non-fiction and fiction, hearing about the importance, the wonder and the purest love of all, the one that can only be found in those kinds of friendships. It’s so beautiful to read about, and it’s so special to find how much she, and so many of us, learn more about true love through our friendships than we do through dating. It is easily overlooked because it comes so natural to us, and we love them so much that having to work for it is not something that feels like a struggle. It’s something that you want to do, out of love.

I’m rambling now, so let’s get back to the book.

There were passages in the book, like the recipes for foods, that I found myself almost skipping through just because I wanted to know more about what would actually happen next. To me, those parts just weren’t that interesting, but I could still appreciate the way Alderton created something a bit more original by adding them.

I hadn’t heard about Dolly Alderton before our destined “meeting” in a random Waterstone’s, but somehow it feels like I’ve gotten a new girlfriend into my life, even though we’ve never actually met.

It’s just wonderful to see someone daring to be this honest and vulnerable when sharing their own experiences. It makes me as a reader feel like I know that writer. Like we’ve had a grown-up slumber party and in the middle of all the cakes and prosecco, she suddenly said:

Let me tell you a funny story!

And then me sitting there with a bucket of ice cream, and every time she finished a story I would ask her for another one. And what a sleepover it turned out to be!

I highly recommend All I Know About Love if you enjoy nonfiction/coming of age reading with a little bit of a twist!

Click on the Bookdepository link below to get your own copy with free shipping, and let me know what you think of the book!

💛If you buy via my affiliates links, I get a small commission💛

What the Freckle?

Last week I was reading the news on my way to work, and there was this piece that stood out to me. It was about a ZARA campaign with a beautiful Chinese model who had her face covered in beautiful freckles. This campaign apparently got such an amount of backlash that it ended up as news all over the world, because to most Chinese people freckles are considered ugly.

Nope, I’m not making this up! But I almost wish I was.

I know the beauty/fashion industry is filled with outdated “rules” and beauty standards, but I really thought that people, in general, were past the point where we just accepted one kind of look.

How dare some people to look at what’s natural on someone else and speak up to call it ugly? What makes them think that they have any right to?

It made me so angry, and so frustrated! Being a dedicated part of the body positive community, it’s so much more than sizes and shapes. It’s all about being happy and comfortable in the body and the beauty that we carry.

No one should ever be able to tell you that the way that you were born is the wrong kind of pretty! Let me put a truth bomb out there;

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS THE WRONG KIND OF BEAUTY!

We all have different preferences, but that’s not the same. It’s still beauty, even if it is a kind of beauty that might not tickle your fancy. But everyone’s looks, bodies, and beauty is not made to please other people, or to allow them to voice a dislike of it.

The beauty that is you, is perfect! It’s perfect because it’s who you are! You shouldn’t be a product of what media and industries want you to be! You being here is the most perfect wonder of all!

Don’t get fooled into the lies they try to push down your throat, just for them to make more money off of insecurities. You are more than enough! You’ve always been more than enough!

You are beautiful, and I dare you to tell yourself that every single day! Every time you look in the mirror!

I’ve always loved the way the sun brings out my freckles, ever since I was a little girl!

And to the people that feel like they have a right to say that freckles are ugly, my own freckles and I would like to say; SCREW YOU, and YOU’RE WRONG! Freckles are beautiful! I even add some extra from time to time, just because I feel like my own freckles deserve a little sparkle!

Excellent Vegan Food in London

Okay, I have to admit that a lot of other European countries need to look towards London when it comes to vegan food. They have really stepped up the dining out vegan game! Holy moly! Everywhere I went there were good vegan options, and at a good price point as well!
I was thoroughly impressed!

So today I’m sharing three restaurants that I fell in love with while on my latest trip to London.

The Diner

397 Strand, Covent Garden, London WC2R 0LX, UK

My good friend David introduced me to this place, and I will be forever grateful, and never worried about having to go hungry while in London ever again.

It’s a 50s style diner, and they have their very own vegetarian/vegan menu, packed with delicious meals that will make it hard for you to choose.
I ate there twice and tried both the Triple Tacos, and the Mac and Cheese. Both were equally as delicious! It’s the perfect place for hungover/comfort food, no matter if you’re craving something sweet or something savoury.

Highly recommend!!

Find out more on The Diner’s website here!

Pizza Express

You can find Pizza Express all over London, but I went to the one right next to London Bridge. So, what made me go there? I had seen them advertise a vegan pizza, and that made me curious! I do love a good pizza!

So I took myself out on a date to Pizza Express. They had two or three different vegan pizzas to choose from.

I ordered the Vegan Giardiniera:

Artichoke, closed cup mushroom, red onion, and black olives, with tomato, vegan mozzarella alternative and garlic oil, finished with fresh parsley on a Romana base.

It’s the best vegan pizza I’ve had so far! So much flavor, crunchy base, and that vegan mozzarella it was absolutely delicious!

I paired it with a glass of rosé wine and had a wonderful me-date right next to the London Bridge.

If you’re a pizza lover, then definitely give the Pizza Express’ vegan options a try! You can thank me later😉

Find out more on the Pizza Express website here!

Ethos

48 Eastcastle St, Fitzrovia, London W1W 8DX, UK

Ethos is one of those restaurants that I just stumbled upon while strolling through the streets of London. I actually almost walked right past it, but I’m so grateful that I didn’t.

It’s a beautiful restaurant with a very open, but warm atmosphere. They make vegetarian/vegan food and desserts, and a lot of the dishes are glutenfree as well. The concept here is that you take a plate and fill it with whatever you like (buffet style) and then they weigh it to find out how much you should pay.

I tried a little bit of everything, but my favorite was probably the lasagne, broccoli & cauliflower fritters, and their hummus. But there’s so much to choose from, both cold, hot, sweet and savoury. There’s something for everyone!

I made the mistake of having too much dinner so that I didn’t have room for any of the tasty looking desserts! You may learn from my mistake and try to contain yourself a little so there’s a little bit of extra space for the sweets and cakes afterward. I sure will next time😜

Find out more on the Ethos website here!

As if I didn’t miss London enough before I started writing this, now I miss it even more and I’m hungry as well!

Let me know if you’ve tried any of these restaurants, or if you have any recommendations for other restaurants with good vegan food in London❤️

Love is Still the Answer

If it’s one thing that will never cease to amaze me, it’s how much hurt people can experience and still be able to dare to love afterward.

We all go through so much with our hearts in our hands, outstretched and vulnerable. Sometimes we experience that heart to meet another one, and they wrap themselves in each other. It can last for a few minutes, weeks, months, or maybe even years.

Other times, that vulnerable heart takes a leap of faith out of your hands, headed straight for the ground with no one to break the fall, just you to pick up the pieces.

Our hearts they bleed, and they scar. They wrap themselves in layers of protection, but somehow they always find a way to strip the layers, sooner or later. Sometimes they need a little help to get those layers off, other times, it’s just self-love that removes those layers, one by one.

Isn’t it amazing how most of us choose to go back to love over and over again, no matter how badly it hurt the last time around? One can sometimes wonder if that makes us the most stupid species of all, or the most wonderful. I choose to see us as wonderful.

For if we don’t choose love to guide us, what does that make us? If the experiences and pain of our past would make us unable to love another, how wasted wouldn’t our lives be?

But the way that we trust and love, it changes. The way we love when we are young and naive is not the same way as we love when we are older and more experienced. I’m not sure that this is a change for the better. I guess it depends on the situation.

I sometimes long for the naive kind of love that I could experience as an early teen before I knew what real heartbreak felt like. Before I learned to fear a possible outcome before I even allow myself to fall. But there’s also a beauty in all the pain one has gone through. The way I’ve learned to pick myself up again, to set boundaries, to love myself enough to say no and to see the love of friends and family to be the purest love of all.

I don’t think I would like to love naively in the world of modern dating. I’m pretty sure that would set me up for disaster. But I do hope that no matter how far away from love I feel like I’m drifting, I will always find my way back to it. That I will always allow myself to trust love again, no matter how much it scares me. And that I won’t be blinded by the layers of past events, so much so that I won’t be able to see new and real love if it crosses my path.

We, humans, are extraordinary in the way that we love when it’s done without games or hidden agendas. When it’s real, pure, and raw. When it’s done from a place of not being able to choose anything other. When we love enough to want the other person happy, no matter if that takes them away from us. When it’s kind and giving. When it’s just love❤️

Love is Still the Answer❤️

This post was inspired by one of my favorite songs from Jason Mraz’s latest album. It’s a song that has brought tears, smiles and moments of me singing out loud and dancing around, hugging myself in my living room❤️

Things I Crave When I’m Sick

I’m always slightly amazed by the things that I crave when I’m sick that I barely crave otherwise.

Here are some of my cravings:

Green Grapes

When I was a little girl, my mom would always buy green grapes for me whenever I had to stay home because I was sick. I’m guessing that because of that I now automatically crave green grapes whenever I’m stuck at home with a cold and high fever.

Urge the Soda

Also known as SURGE in other countries. Why they changed the name here in Norway I do not know. This is a soda that I rarely drink. I actually rarely drink soda at all, but for some reason I crave this one whenever I’m sick. Have no logical explanation for it.

Emotional Movies

Maybe I’ll just cry the sickness out of me? Well, I know it doesn’t work like that, but for some reason I always seem drawn towards the more emotional movies and Netflix shows when I’m feeling under the weather.

And also, a good cry feels good now and then! Just saying…

Ice Cream

Click on the picture to get to my Instagram💖

I very rarely crave ice cream in the middle of the winter, but it sure does feel nice for a soar throat to get a little bit of that cold and creamy sweetness. And especially like today, when I barely had the energy to get my sick ass from my bedroom to my bathroom, and then realized I was all out of toilet paper! So, I had to go to the store. And yes, I did check to see if I had any napkins or paper towels instead (as one does), but no such luck. So when I got myself to the store and felt like I was dying in the process to get there, I definitely felt like I deserved a tiny bucket of ice cream all to myself. No shame, no regrets!

Hugs and Backrubs

Now, I’m very comfortable in my situation as single and living on my own, but I sure do miss those comforting hugs and backrubs whenever I’m sick. I usually have my son or my dog here to at least offer the hugs and love, but right now, none of them are home. So instead, I’m the one hugging my warm water bottle, and when it comes to the backrub, I guess I should invest in one of those massage chairs or something. Because I have to admit that eve though I manage most things perfectly well on my own, massaging my own back is definitely not one of them.

Black Currant Toddy

This is a warm drink that brings me back to my childhood, although I can’t really recall it being something that used to be present when I was sick. But I think that because coffee doesn’t really taste that great to me whenever my tastebuds are messed up by a cold, I tend to crave sweeter tasting hot drinks like toddies and teas.

Chunky Books

I know, this one sounds like it makes absolutely no sense, but hear me out!

I usually reach for the not so chunky books because I do most of my reading on the go, and bringing a chunky book with me everywhere isn’t really that practical. Now, when I’m sick like I am right now, I tend to struggle with really bad headaches, and when I do, I don’t feel like reading at all. All I want to do is stay in a dark room, sleep, drink water and wait for it to pass. But when the headaches do subside, I do try to reach for the books again. And for once then I’m in a rare position where I’m not going anywhere, so reaching for the chunkier books kind of just happens. The backside to it is that I usually get well before I’m even close to finishing that book, so I have to drag it around with me anyways, but then again, I get to finally read a book that I might’ve been putting off just because I find the size to be intimidating. I might even end up loving it, and finding a new favorite book or author, and that’s always a treat💖

So, those are some of the things that I crave when I’m sick. Do you get any specific cravings when feeling under the weather?

The Little Things ❤️

I’m writing this from the “comfort” of my own bed, where I’ve spent most of the last two days.

Don’t get me wrong, the actual bed in itself is comfortable, but the coughing, headache and fever makes anywhere quite uncomfortable at the moment.

I woke up this afternoon after some hours of fever dreams, feeling a slight bit of hunger, but not really wanting my leftovers from yesterday.

Going to the store was out of the question considering the state I’m in where going to the bathroom takes all the energy I can muster. Hoping for a tiny miracle, I had a look in my freezer. Guess what?! I found an everyday miracle right there! A small box with the label: Pumpkin soup 2018 C.

I had completely forgotten that my dad had made a batch of vegan pumpkin soup for me to bring home with me a few months ago. I ate one of them and then decided to save the rest ones for a rainy day. The rainy day came, and there it was, my savior in a plastic box.

I almost started crying right then and there. Yes, I get slightly more emotional and vulnerable when I’m sick.

Just found myself so moved and grateful for the little things! The small acts of love that means so much more than we give them credit for.

I heated up the soup and for a tiny moment when eating it, I was in total bliss, fever and all❤️

It’s all the little things that makes up for the big thing that is our life. And sometimes a box of homemade soup can be the little thing that creates a moment of total happiness, love and gratitude. Don’t underestimate the strength and importance of small acts of care and love❤️

Underneath You – POEM

Looking back on the time we spent together

I remember who you were to me

What you meant to me

The feelings you sparked in me

The touches I felt from you

But who was I underneath you

Other than a place of comfort

A sense of relief from the loneliness

And sparks of desire

Sometimes I still wonder

If I was ever more

Than meat and bones

Served on a convenient

Plate of bedding

Was it Fruitful?

So I went to London, I ate plenty of good food, drank the whisky and met some wonderful people too.

But Christina, you went to London to write! I didn’t see a lot of Insta stories of you doing that, so how fruitful was the trip really?

It was even more fruitful and creative than I imagined it would be! And the thing is, when I get into the mood of writing, that’s pretty much all I focus on, so that’s why I don’t show that much of it. And I can imagine that me posting a lot of pictures and videos of just me in a bar with my computer would be very repetitive and not really all that interesting to watch in the long run.

But I got down over 10 000 words on my novel! 10 000 words in 5 days!

There’s something magical with the relationship between me and London. My creativity blossoms as soon as I get a little bit of that London feeling.

A nice walk by the Thames, a coconut latte from Pret and then I’m all set. The words just pour out of me, and it feels so good!

And the best part of it all, is that the words have kept coming since I got home. It feels like I took a little bit of that London magic with me home this time around, and I’m so grateful for it!

I will be sharing more about my trip in the next couple of days! Have some wonderful restaurants to recommend to you guys, and maybe also a few personal stories to tell!

But now, I have to get back to my novel!

Hope you are all doing well❤️

Oh, and let me know; Do you have any places you go where you just get instantly more creative, or is that just me? And if you do, where is it?

Holy Doughnut!

Those who know me (or have been following me for a while) knows that I have a love for doughnuts. But finding vegan doughnuts isn’t always that easy, and sometimes not that tasty.

April last year I found a vegan doughnut at Vegabond in Amsterdam that was truly amazing, but today I think I found the one that outranks that one.

I was walking down the south bank from London Bridge to London Eye, and when I came to Blackfriar’s Bridge, there was a big sign with a picture of a doughnut, and underneath it the beautiful word “vegan” was written as well.

I had slept in, and hadn’t had breakfast yet, but I knew I wouldn’t be able let this opportunity pass. I headed in to the station and found a little Doughnut Time shop in the wall. They had doughnuts on display and two of them were vegan. I’ll be honest, I stood there for way too long trying to choose between the two, but finally ended up with the one called Ice Ice Bae Bae (vanilla buttercream, vegan cookie pieces, chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate chips)! They gave it to me in a cute little turquoise box, and I walked away smiling like a little kid.

I had planned on saving it for after I had found my breakfast, but it turns out that I have zero self control, so I ended up sitting down on a bench by the River Thames, sun on my back, and with a box of my biggest craving on my lap.

Unfortunately, there’s no picture of me actually eating this thing, because trying to eat this beautiful big piece is messy and needs two hands, but if you want a mental image, just picture an enthusiastic ginger Cookie Monster that it’s hard to tell by facial expression if she’s actually eating or having an orgasm!

You’re welcome! 😂

This was a delicious treat that turned into a party in my mouth! Should I have had breakfast first? Probably! Do I regret it? Absolutely not!

So, if you find yourself in London and craving a vegan doughnut, then find your closest Doughnut Time and go at it!!

You can thank me later 😜❤️