teacups and cinnamon

You guys!!!!!!!! I have SUCH exciting news!!!!!! After years and years of searching, I have finally found the perfect brownie recipe! Yes. I said it. Perfect. They have the perfect texture (not too cakey, not too fudgy) and the perfect taste (chocolately and rich). 

I found the recipe somewhere on allrecipes.com (can't remember the exact link because it was a while ago) but I did change up the recipe quite a bit. I added melted bittersweet chocolate to the recipe. I just feel like it gives the brownies more of a chocolate flavor and a nicer texture. I also added a ganache topping. It makes the brownies very fancy and rich. I have made the brownies without the ganache and they were still very delicious. So if you don't like ganache (if such a person exists...) you can just skip it entirely or use store bought white or chocolate frosting. 

Click below to see the recipe :)

Every year my friends and I throw a small Christmas party. This year my friend Kayla (the girl in the bottom row, left) threw it at her new Seattle town house :) Fancy, I know. At these annual Christmas parties we just eat good food, listen to Christmas music and watch Christmas movies. But mostly, we just talk and catch up. Since we only get to see each other on school breaks!

Anyway, there's not much else to say. I tried taking pictures but that didn't really work out *sigh*. Everyone begs me to bring my camera and then when I do no one wants to take pictures. I did get a few shots though! 

Happy Christmas!

Click below to see more pics :) 

Hi guys! Long time no talk! Seriously. :( I have no excuses for my long absense (except for the fact that i'm in school or doing school stuff 24/7!) Anywho, I'm finally on winter break so I'll be able to give this sad blog some attention :)

I have a few recipes coming (so stay tuned). But the first one is Potato Leek Soup. I've been making this soup for a year now, and it's one of my favorites! It's very easy to make, requires only a few ingredients, is very quick and best of all, it's HEALTHY! Oh and it's pretty good too. I found the recipe here. Make sure to click that link and see the picture they have (which is chunky, i'll explain this if you keep reading). 

Hi guys! Long time no talk :( Sorry for this long hiatus, I've just been pretty busy these last few weeks! I had guests coming in from Russia so I had to spend a week doing a lot of chores and then a week spending time with them. During this time I also started volunteering at a food bank, which just drains energy out of me, lol. And lastly, I had jury duty (which luckily I was able to get out of before actually getting on a panel, but still, it sucked.) 

Anywho, I'm back for now and have a few blog posts to share for you guys, and the first is this really yummy chocolate cookie recipe! It is seriously sooo good. The texture is very soft and light, almost like a brownie or cake. And they stay soft for several days. They are pretty sweet, especially with the sugar coating (which is so pretty and fun!) and they go perfectly with tea or milk :) 

Last Friday I took my good friend Kayla and her two younger sisters, Amy and Daley, on a fun photo shoot! I had been begging them to let me take photographs of them because 1, they are gorgeous, 2, I thought it'd be fun, and 3, I needed practice. This was my first ever "professional" photo shoot that I had done. I'm always taking candid pictures of my friends and boyfriend, as well as a bunch of nature shots. But I had never actually gone out for the sole purpose of photographing. Until now. And let me tell ya, I had SO much fun. It was fun playing with the camera settings (I shot all in manual) as well as the poses and scenery.  I shot about 430 pictures, which is wayyy too much, because narrowing them down was difficult. I narrowed them down as best as I could, but there are still lots of photos (you've been warned;))

Taking the pictures wasn't the only fun part--I also really enjoyed editing them. I have come to realize that each photographer (I'm not saying I'm a photographer by any means) has their own style, especially when it comes to editing. And I guess I fall into that category, I guess I have my own style. Woo!! 

Though I did mess up with some camera settings, especially towards the end of the photo shoot, I am still really pleased with and proud of the pictures. This was my first time, after all. I am still learning and trying to figure out both the camera as well as photoshop. I've got a few more photo shoots that i'll be doing in the upcoming weeks, so hopefully my photography gets even better :)

And finally, I'd like to thank Kayla, Amy and Daley for putting up with me for 2 hours :) love ya girls!

Oh and p.s., my dog Fedya and their dog Sam had a puppy date during our photoshoot, so you'll see some pictures of them too. They did get in the way a bit (especially my dog -.-) but photoshop does wonders ;)

Anyway, I hope you all like the pictures, let me know what you think <3

Hi there! So a couple of friends and I decided to throw our friend Julie (in the blue shirt), who had just come back from a month long yoga school in Costa Rica  (lucky!), a welcome-home surprise party. At first we were planning to do it at my house but then decided to do it at a small beach in Seattle, which was perfect! It was a bit crowded, but thankfully my friend Kayla (in the pink sunglasses) and her boyfriend Ryan went to the beach early in the noon time and reserved a fire pit. Julie's boyfriend told Julie that they were just going to a park to have a picnic and it worked! Julie was completely surprised, at least she says so. We all brought food, potluck style, and just enjoyed the afternoon and evening. We cooked hot dogs on the fire, which is something I had never done before. And I loved it! We also made smores and ate cupcakes (that had completely melted in the heat). 

I had a really good time at the beach even though I did get stung by a bee (ow!) and was freezing cold most of the time. But it was nice seeing all my friends, especially Julie! My boyfriend and I were able to take a few pictures, which I have posted below. So enjoy :)

Hi there! So yesterday my lovely boyfriend and my awesome dog went swimming!!! yeah!!! :D We were originally planning to just chill around the house, maybe try to do some garage saling or thrift shopping, but the weather was too nice to pass up! So we decided to go up to Lake Tapps (which has been our favorite lake this summer).