Turn that frown upside down, Charlie Brown and pop a cupcake in that smile ;) Life's too short to be anything but excited to be here, passionate, happy and grateful!
This is the wonderful reminder I was blessed with this weekend and also, the reason I wasn't Steemin' it like usual for the last 4 days!
"A vegan cupcake can mend any heart (at least as long as the chocolate's melting in your mouth!"- 
Some of you know that I lost my sweet angel, Oreo last week and that grief was like a knife through my still beating heart. Feeling isolated and alone, being emotional as I am... I put out a PSA that my wild secrets of "Confessions of a Vagabond" series as well as my momma's popular tale of getting denied border entry after flying half way across the world were going to be put on a pause while I pulled myself together! I was seriously on verge of letting the grief derail me.
But then... life dealt me a sweet hand that coincided perfectly to help me process and find inspiration to "keep on keepin' on!" (The lemonade part of the life giving me lemons) ;)
What do I love? What am I passionate about?
If you've been hanging around me, you know that I LOVE vegan food and I have been inspiring and supporting the vegan community for 6 weeks now with my contest, VeganWednesday (see details here!) Well, it turned out that Bali's Vegan Festival just happened to be this weekend and this gal had already committed months ago to being involved in it!
Of course I knew it was this weekend as I have been running around town for the last couple of weeks putting posters up and promoting the festival that was so near and dear to my heart but it couldn't have come at a better time for me!
In honor of my darling babydoll, Oreo, I would spend my weekend in rooms full of animal activists, veggie eating,
love-filled, VEGANS, the symbol of who Oreo was (my poster child for my contest with her cuteness)! A whole crowd of people,
gathering around celebrating animals' lives!
I feel like I have just been packaged and put into a time capsule of an extraordinary world for the last 72 hours and I am just beaming from ear to ear after all that I have learned, everyone I've met and everything I've eaten! (Raw, vegan 'sketty' anyone?"
Being half way across the world, away from my friends and family back in Canada and the US, I was so immersed in this culture of everything I love that I forgot it was Thanksgiving! I ended up having dinner last night with an incredible group of movers and shakers in the vegan movement and I could not be more thankful for that company! Normally I feel sad and miss back home during these holidays but this year, I was surrounded by new friends who would inspire me to new levels with their passion, drive and love for the Earth! (Also these cool cats taught me how 'Insta' works so I have been getting that going again!) I think we just might have more Vegan Steemians joining us everyone! ;)
From workshops of vegan cooking to talks on how to support animals, to inspiration circles to documentaries of saving the Earth, to morning yoga, to vegan cupcakes... it was all there!
I got to meet some incredible people who really push this movement into the forefront (I'll talk more about that soon!)
MY GIFT TO YOU
I have done something that I think you're going to LOVE! I recorded all of the sessions I was able to attend (except the ones I was participating in, which unfortunately were the cooking workshops BUT I will share all of the material as I collect it from friends so you can watch it and experience the magic from home! I hope you're as excited as I am!
So I have a mission ahead of me! When I wasn't sprinkling magically pixie dust in the cooking classes, I talked to some incredibly influential people this weekend, I listened to some out-of-this-world motivational speeches, I partook in some awe-dropping, eureka-moment workshops and I watched some emotionally powerful documentaries. I couldn't sit there and be so selfish as to keep all the inspiration and motivation to myself so don't you worry, it's all coming your way!
Now that the life-changing weekend has come to a close, I am revved up with a renewed fire to continue doing what I am so passionate about- inspiring and spreading love surrounding not only our food but our health, and our lives, the lives of animals and the life of our Mother Earth! In all of the commotion of love, I made drum-roll please!... RAW, VEGAN, PEANUT BUTTER, CHOCOLATE, 3 LAYER, NICE-CREAM CAKE I'll be sharing that recipe with you this week too so stay tuned for that my
fellow choco-holics!
OK, well I am going to go work on catching you all up on both of my stories that I have left you hanging on for over a week now! Expect them to be coming out here tomorrow <3 Until then, sending love your way and thank you so much for the love you sent to me while I was grieving! Your support is amazing! I love my Steemian fam!
XO,