This week on Instagram has mostly consisted of pink milk, walks in the woods & a plethora of blooms!
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Berlin Dreamin'
I have now been in France for nearly two months! The time has just flown right by, it honestly has. I never really had much of a plan after Italy, so I've kind of just been seeing where the breeze takes me & thus far, it's taken me to some pretty nice places.
To start with, I went from a wet & miserable Milan, to a gloriously warm & sunny Nice, which was so worth the hideous journey it took to get there. My day trip to Monaco, was the icing on the cake. Finally being able to wear a T-shirt & feel the warmth on my skin again, it felt as though it were the middle of summer. I can't tell you how much I appreciated the change in climate.
Leaving the south, to spend time over in the west with friends, was such a nice break. Although the weather was a bit hit & miss, just being able to stop & not have to constantly be thinking about where I was off to next, was a real relief. Traveling is wonderful, it really is, being able to explore the world, meet new people, see new things, but sometimes, you just need a timeout. Recharge your batteries, before heading on again.
Finally having ended up here, in St Pancrace, at the Brantôme Police Horses, with wonderful people, who have been so kind & generous, has been a wonderful experience. Whilst there will always be so much in need of doing here & I could easily stay forever, I feel as though I need to stretch my wings & take flight for new ground.
Despite the logical part of my brain telling me I should be off to somewhere entirely new, I have decided instead to return to Berlin, simply because my heart has a yearning to be there. If I have learnt anything lately, it is simply to follow your heart, not your head. Logical decisions may look great on paper, but unfortunately have a tendency to leave the soul a little empty, whereas anything done from the heart, is more inclined to render nourishing results.
Therefore, at the end of the month, I shall pack up my meager possessions & aim to reach Berlin in time for the Labor Day celebrations, occurring in Kreuzberg. After which, I shall attempt to find affordable accommodation for the month & proceed to spend May cycling round parks, grazing through flea markets, abusing all the photobooths, shuffling round museums, hanging out with friends & most importantly of all, finding myself a hip bearded skinny jean wearing brown-eyed husband!
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{RECIPE} Raw Chocolate Cake with Earl Grey Chocolate Mousse
Today is my very best friend Charlotte's birthday! She is off to Paris with her fiancé, for a few days & I am most jealous, not least because she will be in my favourite city, but also because she will be in France & I shan't be able to see her. I do miss her pretty face very much.
A few years ago, we met for the first time & just hit it off straight away. I remember thinking how much I liked her & how we were going to be the best of friends, whether she liked it or not. After just one meeting, which involved cocktails & teacups, we headed off to Barcelona together, for my birthday. For someone I'd only just met, we got on like a dream & had the best time, waltzing round with our floral ice creams from Amorino & sipping on our breakfast smoothies from the food market down La Rambla.
I can honestly say, I have found a soul mate in Charlotte & I always admire how talented she is. I love reading her wonderful blog, filled with pretty pastel snaps & sugar coated tales of her weekends & her unique creations, which she sells online through her Etsy store, are brilliant & I fully intend on making a large order of lavender hearts & vintage china magnets, when I finally have a place of my own again. I just know, she will fulfill her dreams in the, hopefully, not too distant future.
So, in honour of her birthday, I wanted to share this recipe I found, by The First Mess. It's a raw chocolate birthday cake, with earl grey chocolate mousse. It's 100% vegan friendly & totally raw, which in my book, means guilt-free indulgence! I don't think you can ever deny a chocolate cake & I thought that the earl grey twist, would suit a tea drinking English rose quite well.
I've never used a dehydrator before, but I would quite like to start eating a more raw diet, as I've read many things on it & it's meant to be very good for you. My diet is halfway there at the moment; currently, I have protein shakes in the morning, using SunWarrior raw vegan protein blend powder, with almond milk, banana & berries, then something like hummous & crudites for lunch & a mixed salad in the evening. I do cook potatoes, or quinoa to have with my salad & I snack on dark chocolate, nuts & fruit during the day.
I have to admit though, that on a whole, I'm not big on food. I'm terribly lazy & I end up feeling uninspired a lot of the time. So, sometimes, it's quite nice to find these kinds of recipes, which make me excited & want to make them! I have also discovered LAUREN_AKO & EAT_TO_THRIVE on Instagram, who make raw vegan living look like a dream filled with unicorns & happiness. Maybe by my birthday I'll be zipped up on Chia Seeds & cutting into my own raw birthday cake!
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