Slytherin to my Heart

*Comments from Ksen included

Anybody who is close to me knows that I'm a major geek. Most of the time, I bury it down where nobody can see it. Of course, there are some things that manage to get it out of me. Today if I'm talking about anything, it's usually Grey's Anatomy, but I can't forget where my roots are.

Sometime in either 3rd or 4th grade, my dad began reading me a book that opened my mind to an alternate universe. In that alternate universe, my beloved Harry, Ron, and Hermione reside, fighting off dark wizards and creatures. It's been years since I actually read the books (though I do see different pieces of the movies fairly often), but Harry Potter has a special place in my heart. Which brings me to the point of my post.

I actually was in London last September and got to see the Warner Bros. Studio

Okay, so really I just wasn't sure what to post about. Last time I gave you a tour of my bedroom, this time I thought I'd give you a tour of my common room. Actually, this is just a post about my Pottermore sorting, but that is, of course, very important.

Everybody sorts themselves after reading the books, and I was no exception. Being one of those people who always got As throughout elementary and middle school, I thought I was an obvious Ravenclaw. JK* Rowling and the people of Pottermore somehow managed to prove me wrong, creating a quiz that gave me...Hufflepuff! **I THOUGHT YOU MEANT JK AS IN JUST KIDDING WHEN I FIRST READ THAT HAHHAAH

At first I wasn't really sure about my sorting, but the more I read about Hufflepuff the more I realized that it made sense. Not to mention, their common room is definitely the most appealing to me (haha).

Anyways, it was just fun to be sorted and see where my friends went as well (Ksen got Hufflepuff, but we know more than our fair share of Slytherins). I thought it could be fun to share on our blog as well. Feel free to take the Sorting quiz and let us know what you get (or got). Some fun Harry Potter articles are here as well.

With love,

Brina

My Cup of Tea

Yesterday some of my close friends and I went to this cute tea place in our area. It was located in this very beautiful, pleasant area with little boutiques, greenery, train tracks, and an assortment of unique stores.

Right now, I'm on February Break and having a wonderful week of realization and relaxation. Anyways, I wanted to share some of the highlights from my tea time and let you be jealous you aren't on break (or not having as much fun as I am hahah)

This was actually three tiers of scones, finger sandwiches, and assorted desserts :)

This is one of my lovely friends Grace, with our heap of food

My sweet friend Beth

These are some of my favorite quick pictures that I took of my friends and the amazing food that was served. 

Moving on to the point of my article, TEA! 

I have a very obvious obsession with tea, I average about 3 cups per day for sure, if not more. Tea is my coffee (think Lorelai Gilmore and coffee, that is me with tea)

All over the world people drink tea and I really think that America is the only country that prefers coffee (but I could be wrong ofc) Where I'm from, we call it chai, so whenever I have a chai tea latte it's amusing... anyways my favorite tea is green tea (I really love Tazo's Zen variety) but really any and every tea is pretty awesome! 

Tea has so many benefits and facts that are typically unknown to most people, so I thought I would enlighten you....

If you already haven't figured out, I love these info graphic thingies!

Oh and here's a fun buzz feed quiz: http://www.buzzfeed.com/natalyalobanova/tasseomancy#.mtoWeYMRoE

P.S. I got disciplined and calm hahaha

Much love,
Ksen

New Bedroom in Progress

About a year ago, I decided I was completely done with my bedroom. My dad had helped me paint it around 5th or 6th grade, and by the start of high school I'd started to loathe it. Don't get me wrong, to my 6th grade self it was perfect, but I'd just outgrown in. The walls were a mashup of black, hot pink, bright green, and orange. My curtains and comforter were zebra and the only thing decorating the walls were posters from books I'd adored in middle school.That's why over the summer I decided enough was enough and I needed something different. It's definitely still a work in progress, but I thought I'd share what I've done so far.

The first thing to go were the walls. My amazing dad (in need of a new project) painted them for me around the end of August. Finding a color was no easy task, I'd decided I wanted white walls but they had to be the right white. They couldn't be too yellow or too blue. After some trial and error, I eventually found the right shade for me. Of course, I can't for the life of me remember what color or brand it actually was.

Next up on my updates was my bed. My parents had decided it was time I upgraded from a twin mattress to a full. That, of course, came with a new bed frame. This is the frame I decided on. I'm absolutely loving having a bigger bed, more room to spread books out while I do homework.

My duvet came from Urban Outfitters,  it isn't available anymore but a similar one is here. 

My nightstand was one of the most DIY things I've ever done. Because my bed is so high, I wanted something I could adjust myself. I went to Target and picked up an unpainted, wooden crate. Then I picked out some stain and spent a night in the garage coating it with it. Once it had dried for a few days, I nailed it into the wall and done! A perfectly good, and cheap, nightstand. I added a lamp and a speaker and I had everything I needed. 

A big must I had was more light in my room. That was part of the reason I'd decided I wanted white walls. I really prefer natural light, but I added quite a bit with the string lights I hung up. I bought mine during the Christmas season, so they're just lights used to hang up around a house or tree. 

My absolute favorite thing about my bedroom has to be the pictures that I hung up on my wall. They stretch back to the summer before I started high school, and I have a long queue of others that I haven't gotten around to hanging. As of now, there are 42 pictures on my wall (Ksen is featured way too many times), but I've got a couple dozen I'd like to eventually add. The pictures add a pop of colors to my otherwise plain walls and I adore them. 

My bedroom is far from finished (I only recently got curtains, haha) but the improvements I've made I love. Hopefully by then end of 2016 I'll be completely done, although knowing me I'll probably add more things to the list.

With love,

Brina

UPDATE: Some of these links don't direct you to the exact product anymore, but similar items can be found on the sites that open instead.