Apple Strudel and Phyllo Dough

This was my first attempt at using phyllo dough, and needless to say it was a success, but not without a few minor hiccups. Phyllo dough is awesome, an almost worry free way to make a quick crispy and flaky pastry dessert. Pastry dough itself can get pretty tricky, especially when it comes to getting that flakiness just right. You have to pay particularly close attention to how cold the butter is while mixing the dough, and if you over work it you'll easily ruin it, a common struggle most likely having do with the butter melting in the process of kneading the dough. Phyllo dough is a great solution for that, however, it is still quite delicate. These thin, almost transparent, sheets of dough rip with the slightest misuse. Once folded as it needs to be, buttered, and out of the oven this dough's light, airy, flaky and melting in your mouth. It's pure bliss. When paired with fruit, or commonly seen with a nut and brown sugar mixture in baklava, it compliments the sweet flavors perfectly. This particular dessert was inspired by this recipe. Deliciousness! 

Warning: Sensitive Material Follows

This will probably be one of the most intense and sensitive subjects I'll ever make a post about. It's the kind of thing that people "just don't like to talk about," but that's exactly why it should be talked about and expression about experiencing something so wrong and gut-wrenching should be welcomed wholeheartedly. Fortunately, it's not something I have ever experienced, but there are people very dear to me who have. Speaking about sensitive subjects like this one is the only way to bring awareness and, hopefully, prevent these situations from continuing to happen. I found this poem to be very moving and inspirational. It takes great courage to put your heart out there in this way, publicly. Tears of sadness and gratitude to those who have had similar experiences and who choose to take those experiences and turn them into a voice, speaking up and sharing their struggles.

"The rape joke is that you were eight.

The rape joke is that at the time,

you didn't know people had sex to express love.

The rape joke is that the only other person 

who’d seen you naked was your mom.

The rape joke is that he called you ‘beautiful’ first.

The rape joke is that he held your hands together

and told you to ‘try harder’ when you struggled.

The rape joke is that you believed him 

when he told you were overreacting.

The rape joke is that your grandma

called him a nice boy and asked him to stay for dinner. 

The rape joke is that he winked at you

when you apologized to your parents for not coming

downstairs the first time you were called.

The rape joke is that his friends

high-fived him for “getting some.”

The rape joke is that you still don’t feel like 

you've regrown the pieces he stole.

The rape joke is that he was conceived when his

dad slapped himself into his snoring mother.

The rape joke is that her friends told her 

she was lucky someone wanted her.

The rape joke is that each year in the United States,

32,000 other women’s bellies 

ripen with life against their will.

The rape joke is that he never learned 

to touch without scarring.

The rape joke is that your classmate thinks

‘have you seen what asses look like in yoga pants?’

is an argument. 

The rape joke is your new boyfriend kissing 

you and telling you he ‘raped’ his math test.

The rape joke is that ‘Why are girls so scared of rape? Y’all should feel pride that a guy risked his life in jail just to fuck you’

is a popular Tweet right now.

The rape joke is that you wake up to 

the memory of him laughing, 

“now that wasn't so bad, was it?”

The rape joke is that it’s been twelve years and 

you still quiver when someone touches you.

The rape joke is that he hasn't stopped laughing.

The rape joke is that you forgot how to." - The Rape Joke | Lora Mathis

Stumbled upon it here.
Original here.
Inspired by here.

The Music of Sharing

I absolutely love sharing music. I'm one of those people you see walking from work to the store to the bus to the house, always plugged into my headphones. It's my go to when I need energy, when I need to relax, my therapy when I'm feeling anxious, or just simply when I'm addicted to a song and need to hear it on repeat. Although, I have not developed my own skills with any particular instrument (I have a guitar that I have been meaning to learn to play for a few years now), music is a huge part of my life. As for many, I assume, life would be far less interesting if music didn't exist. That being said, I'm constantly modifying my current playlist, listening to my most current finds on repeat for about a week or two, and then searching for the next song or band that is going to get me moving or help me reflect. Discovering new music evokes an interesting sense of intense satisfaction and sharing it with someone, and finding out they share the same feelings about the song or band that you do, just makes music that much more enjoyable. It's tough and time consuming sometimes trying to find a new song or band that is going to help you get through the day, or put you in that good mood, so I find it only suitable to share your current favorites with as many of your friends as possible. Like word of mouth with anything, the more sharing the more likely you'll find just what you're craving. One of my current songs on repeat is "You Know You Like It" by AlunaGeorge. The funky upbeat tempo was just what I needed a few weeks ago, and I haven't been able to shake it from my playlist since. I so graciously added this song, along with a few others from the duo, to my library after the suggestion from a dear friend. Her and I have been sharing for years!

Backyards and Creative Spaces

I've begun to realize that having a backyard can be pretty valuable and an often overlooked privilege. I've never really given much thought to just how much I enjoy having my own little access to the outdoors until I didn't have it anymore, ringing true to that little saying, "You just don't know what you have until it's gone." It's another space that can serve as a creative outlet, can make for a great place to gather with friends for a BBQ on those random warm Indian summer nights in the city, or roast s'mores around a fire pit during the more frequent colder city nights.

My current apartment is on the top floor of the building, and the only way to access the communal backyard, aside from running out the front door, down two sets of stairs, and around the side yard, is through my roommate's room and down the fire escape. The other issue is we are sharing the small space with 5 other units, of whom have been living here much longer than we have, and they seem to have some major territorial issues. The space itself has a lot of potential. It's mostly paved with a small area for gardening and a nice tree in the centered at the back wall of the pavement, perfect for hanging some tree lanterns or Christmas lights. One of the units actually built some rather large planter boxes to grow vegetables that I would love to contribute to, but seeing as how other sharing hasn't gone over so well in the past I thought it best to just let that idea go.

Today, I came across this link for outdoor DIY projects and two in particular seemed most alluring. The first is Garden Art in which you create a framed mosaic of succulents. It's a very simple DIY and a great way to break up some of the negative space on a wall of fencing. You can also make multiple frames of varying sizes and collage them which may offer an interesting home-y feel. The second DIY is an arrangement of colorful flower pots mounted to a fence wall, a very cute way to bring color from the ground up.

Someday I'll have my own space to decorate as I please. Until then I'll just have to pine over other people's creative spaces, making note of the creative ideas I like most and will someday incorporate into my own space. 

Here are a few more outdoor space I have heart eyes for... 

{Personal outdoor cinema}

{Bringing the best of childhood into adulthood.}

 {Vines}

{My own personal creative studio.}

{Cozy guest house. Home away from home.}

Labor Day Weekend in Tahoe

I spent Labor Day Weekend with my family in Tahoe this year, and, despite the smoke rolling in from poor Yosemite, it was a lovely weekend. Saturday, with surprisingly clear skies, we hiked down to Emerald Bay and I paddle boarded for the first time which was really fun. We were almost run over by an exceptionally large ferry, but that's only a minor detail. Most of the weekend was filled with relaxing at the beach or on the water, and listening to live bands play at The Beacon Bar and Grill in Camp Richards. I understand that Labor Day was over a month ago, I've been extremely bad at uploading and sifting through all the photos I've taken this year, but here are a few of my favorite shots from my very relaxing, beach filled weekend.

{View from the beach at Camp Richards}

{The Beacon, Camp Richards}

{Emerald Bay, South Lake Tahoe}

{I named him Alvin, only fitting considering we had just watched Alvin and The Chipmunks the night before.}

{Having a little fun capturing the motion of the water, one of my favorite effects.}

{Walking to the beach at Emerald Bay.}

{More Emerald Bay hiking shots.}

{Camp Richards.}

Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cocoa Buttercream Frosting

This weekend I celebrated the birthday of fellow foodie and long time friend, Dee. We met in SLO and became fast friends, sharing our love of food and running. When we first met and I told her I joined the Cross Country Team at Cuesta she quickly jumped on board. Our days typically became routines of practice followed by trips to New Frontiers, a local specialty market, and recipe experiments. She is definitely one of those people in my life that no matter how much time has gone by since our last visit, it feels as though we never parted. Like many of our fleeting obsessions, I recently discovered that we were on the same wavelength about sweet potatoes. So to pay tribute to the good ol days I made Sweet Potato cupcakes from this recipe and a variation of this frosting recipe where I experimentally added a tsp. Cinnamon and a tbsp. Cocoa. They turned out really well, just perfect for the occasion. 

Dee remains in SLO for the time being, and I in SF making it hard to see each other often. However, I believe that I will be seeing a lot more of her in the coming months, and I couldn't be happier.  

Today's Words of Wisdom

Be your own best friend, not your own worst enemy.

Life is unpredictable, it's what happens while you're making plans.

Live in the moment.

Live for what makes you happy.

Do what makes you happy.

No two peoples' biographies are the same, don't compare.

Don't take life too seriously.

Be kind, and be the best version of you.

A lot of this are things I've heard many times before, but often forget to remind myself when I'm lost in thought planning my future, worrying about who I am, what I'll become, who I want to be, who I don't want to be, what I don't have, or what others do have. A member graced me with these little reminders this morning, kind of out of the blue, but nevertheless appreciated. Very similar to the anecdotal and inspirational bumper stickers floating around social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, these reminders hit much deeper coming from someone you know speaking and standing right in front of you, and they couldn't have come at a better time. I'm thankful to be conscious enough to see/hear great people when they enter my life, and to be able to take in what they have to say about what they have learned over time and through their own experiences. Here's to embracing healthy thought, and learning to be less hard on myself about where I am in life, or where I'm not. Live for the moment.