Feelin' French

This past weekend has been such a blur for me. I've not been home (and awake) for more than two hour periods and I don't know how to feel.

I'm naturally a very introverted person, and it was a shock to have to so many plans lined up in a row. I love people, but so much interaction is tiring beyond compare. Anyways....

On friday I rode the bus home to my friend, Beth's, with another friend, Grace, who I have mentioned prior in a previous post. We came and spent about an hour ranting about all the problems of the world, typical of course. But then to lighten the mood we decided to bake MACAROONS!

While we've been planning to this since summer of last year, I was still beyond excited, because who doesn't love these french delicacies. We decided on making, chocolate macaroons with a Nutella ganache filling.

I never realized how long it actually takes to make these little cookies, its no wonder why they're so expensive everywhere, it took us about three hours if not more!

We had to actually measure out all the ingredients in grams prior. Once we had the cookie "mix" made, we all took a turn at piping! Here is what the cookies looked like pre-baking

Beth piping :)

All done!

We didn't do them outside hahaha

While we waited for the cookies to stop being sticky and put into the oven we prepared the ganache. Also ganache is way to fancy of a word for the melted chocolate mixture hahaha

Anyways the ganache was the easiest, and tastiest part, of the whole baking process, besides the actual cookies haha

After we baked the cookie part of the macaroon we were all set to begin assembling them, right?
NOPE, instead the ganache was not thick enough and we had to try SO many things to remedy this until we finally gave up and used the semi-thick ganache for the cookies, and guess what?
They still tasted just as good hahah

Later on we came back to finish one last batch and the ganache was prefect, turns out all we had to do was keep it out instead of cooling it hahaha

My first EVER homemade macaroon

Our babes 😛

Sorry for the crappy photography oops but yeah this is how I spent the first part of my whirlwind weekend!

With love,
Ksen

#instagramlessksen

This post was actually Sabrina's idea, but anyways...

I'm Christian and this year I decided that for Lent I would give up Instagram and Tumblr, and really any other distracting social media I had. So far its been about a month since I gave it up, and I've been doing pretty good so far!

I'll be honest I've peaked at my insta a few times, but not nearly as much as I would if I actually had the app haha. 

For those of you who don't really know what Lent is, check out this wiki article that sums it up pretty well https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent

Lent began on February 10 (Ash Wednesday) and will be ending on March 24th (Good Friday)...

So I have a couple more weeks left before I can download all my social media again and get back to the gram.

I'm an avid instagrammer, when I had it I would check it all the time, mostly out of sheer boredom, but a lot nonetheless. 

Being off instagram turned out to not be as great of a struggle as I thought it would be, I'm actually debating whether to even get it back or not again. 

The real reason I gave up all this social media is because I believed it would distract me less and help me focus more. Instead I found other things to fill the time and continue on the distraction, mainly Netflix 

But giving up Insta, Tumblr, etc. did actually get me closer to God, the point of Lent, because one of the things that I filled my time up with is reading the Bible, even if it was just the verse of the day. Or praying and just really becoming in tune with what it means to be Christian. I'm not trying to advertise that you should be Christian, but for me its been a great year for faith.

I don't want to bore you with my faith story, because first its extremely personal and second very weird hahah so moving on...

But I guess more than anything, my take from the last few weeks has been that social media is just a time waster and merely a way to feel connected into the lives of others. The first week that I didn't have insta I felt out of the loop, out of touch, and really weird, but in the weeks that followed I found out who my true friends are. Outside the deceiving realm of social media, I saw who texted me or made an effort, not just like this picture or tag me in a post every once in a while. SO in the past few weeks, I have really become grateful for the people in my life, and I hope these people will continue to stay beyond my high school years.

The other day I actually texted a few of those friends I'm truly happy to have and every response was different but all gave me a sense of belonging, which I've not had for a while....

ANYWAYS

To wrap up this very random post, I just wanted to make this point clear - Spend time with those who you love (in person) and don't let the deceit of social media fool you. Social media is a great way to stay connected, but make sure that connection continues in real life!!

On an ending note, its Sabrina's Birthday sooooo HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRINA BABE!!!

Much love, Ksen

Dog Days

I think this is going to become a trend. One where I constantly have no idea what to post. The most exciting thing that's happened in my life lately is the welcoming of a new dog into our family, which is pretty exciting.

He's a 6 month old Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix and he's just a bit of a handful. With so much energy, he needs plenty of exercise. Lucky for me, I have a couple of amazing friends who are happy to walk him with me.

Yesterday, I walked down to my friend Sarah's house with my two dogs (Riley and Milo) so she could walk them with me. We picked up our friend Leah and her two dogs, who protested the journey the whole time, along the way. We must've left around 4 o'clock and didn't get back until 6:30. 

Our destination was a park near our neighborhood, which was no short walk. We crossed more than one busy road, which with four dogs and three girls was no easy task. The number of strange looks our pack got seemed to be infinite, but what did it matter if we were having fun? 

At the park, we sat down at a little pavilion and, of course, I pulled out my camera. We spent the next hour or so taking pictures surrounded by puppies. 

Leah, surrounded by all four dogs

Both of my friends took a liking to Riley, who was in no way opposed to the extra attention.

Sarah, the dog lover without a dog

I got a couple of cute pictures with my boys.

Did I mention I got my hair cut?

Riley spent our time at the park trying to get Leah's two older dogs to play with him. They weren't having it, and instead he only succeeded in tangling up his leash around people, dog legs, and other leashes. By the end of our time there, he was pretty tired.

It was definitely a perfect day and an even better way to put off my homework. In fact, I think the only way it could have been better was if I hadn't stepped in mud, but that's a small price to pay for time spent with my best friends. 

With love, 

Brina

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. 

January Journey

In the past two weeks, month really, I've discovered more about myself than I ever have in such a short amount of time. My 2016 began with a resolution to change, to be a better me, a version that I thought more people would accept and one that I would truly love. Instead through the month of January something different happened, I did change but not drastically. I started seeing myself for who I was and began to love that version of me, the one that's been here all along. I rediscovered my faith and now I'm committed to keep on discovering it and believing more strongly. No longer am I haunted by the fact that not everyone likes me or that I'm not the prettiest girl or even the smartest. Most of the time I'm your average girl just trying to make it in the world, and that's NOT a bad thing. My flaws and imperfections, how ever many there may be, are no longer seen as things I need to shed. Instead they're a part of who I am, and whose to say that having imperfections is bad. I've opened myself to be less judgmental of others, I have struggles, how could I possibly know theirs? This new view of myself and the world is one I'm determined to keep. There are still moments where I doubt who I am or if the life I'm leading is the life I want, but that's all that comes with the journey.

As January's ending days are upon us, I thought I would revel in the glory that is change. Change seems so scary, sudden, and honestly unnecessary. BUT it's so necessary. The January I had this year is infinitely different that the one I had in 2015 or 2014 or so forth, and the January that I will have in 2017, which will once again be marked by new changes. Without change, everything and anything would stay the same forever, and isn't that truly more scary? Have you ever thought about that instead? What if you lived in the same place and lived the same life forever? Or had the same people always in your life? Or this or that? Of course these are just what if questions, but change is essential and not at all scary anymore to me, but wonderful. With change comes new things, not always good, but definitely not always bad either.

2015 was not a good year for me personally, I had a good start but then a steady decline followed after January, but this year I'm changing things. This year won't be a steady decline after each month but instead a climb upwards. I'm going to fall a couple of times, even think I can't get back up, but I'm going to learn to push through and endure the struggles, because that's what really makes us, us.

So to wrap this up, I'll say this, so far my resolution is going well and I hope it continues to. And hopefully I'll be posting another January journey in 2017, highlighting the beautiful changes I'm experiencing in my blessed life.

Much Love,
Ksen