Birthdays: No Small Affair

I just celebrated my 15th birthday last week. Let me tell you, in my family, birthday are more like birth-weeks. We celebrate for a LONG time.
To start off "birth-week", haha, I actually attended a surprise party for myself. Of course I didn't have any idea I was going to this surprise party. I had been tricked into thinking we were going to take scenic family photos at Pinnacle Park. When we got there, I'll admit I was thoroughly confused. My first thought was "this is so awkward omgoodness I'm going to be taking pictures here while all my friends are here too". I know, I have my priorities straight. Then they yelled surprise and I began to understand. My parents dropped me off and I had fun at the party! Although for the first thirty minutes I was partially disoriented.

I looked like this for a long time. Let's just say the surprise party was very SURPRISING. 

After that we ate cake and had a water balloon fight and walked on the trail and generally had a fantastic time. 

All the people who surprised me!

Yum. Cake.

A friend who assisted my other friend in planning the party!

Closest crew. I'm in the tree

Then on my actual birthday my family went to Starbucks for breakfast, the best thing ever. I got my signature lemon loaf and a frapp, an my sis got a coffee. She discovered she does not in fact like coffee. AT ALL. So I gave her my frapp and I drank her coffee, haha. My parents also forced me to wear the birthday hat to school. What is the birthday hat? You ask, full of candid innocence. This, my friend, is the birthday hat.

Are your eyes burning yet? So much hat. So little dignity left. And you can't even see the candles that stick off the top. It makes me shudder.

Me and sissy enjoying our switched Starbucks drinks. There is always time for sisterly bonding on the way to school. 

Anyways, birthdays are a seriously important occasion. Always celebrate!!! 

Passeggiata

Ciao, darlings!

Passeggiata is an Italian term. It doesn't hold much meaning in America but it's an integral part of culture in Italy. Passeggiata is the evening walk taken by Italians of all ages. It is a social hour of sorts- the girls walk arm in arm down to road and share stories and teenagers gather in courtyards to talk and enjoy each other's company. The middle aged engage in more sophisticated activities outside café's, drinking coffee and chatting. It is a community bonding experience- every day!

Sadly we have no such thing in the USA. But we can still takes walks whenever we like! I went on a walk with my little sister as the sun started going down.  I took a few random pictures because as summer draws near, in the evening everything turns a dusky blue color that never happens any other season, and it's really pretty.

When you try to focus on the sun the rest of your picture will turn filmy black...

This is a fire hydrant 

I found a dandelion!!! I made a wish too. Making wishes on dandelions is the best. 

And my azaleas. They just bloomed and are my signature pink:)

Make: Flan!

Ciao, darlings!

Tomorrow is International Food Day at school. All students are expected to prepare a dish from their assigned country; isn't that exciting! My country is Spain and so I have decided to prepare the traditional dessert of flan. I've had it before at Señor Tequila and thought it good, so I searched online for a recipe and made it this evening. I recorded the process by which I made it and I want to share the recipe with you! Here it is:

Ingredients:
2/3 cup white sugar
1 (14 ounce) can of condensed milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
5 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Pour sugar into a small nonstick saucepan and put it on medium heat on the stove. Shake it and swirl it a little with a spoon or spatula until the sugar begins to melt and turn brown. Then lift the pan a few inches above the stove and continue to swirl it a little until it's a dark golden brown. Pour the sugar into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish and then tilt it to cover then bottom of the pan with the melted sugar.
3. Blend the condensed milk, milk, cream, eggs, and vanilla in a blender for 1 minute. Then pour the concoction over the melted sugar ( which will be firm now).
4. Place the casserole dish into a larger dish! Pour water in the outer pan until it's one inch filled with water.
5. It took 70 minutes for mine to cook but I have an old oven. I recommend cooking for 50 minutes and then periodically checking your flan to see how set it is. When you remove it from the oven it should be slightly jiggly.

The sugar will look like this when it's time to pour it into the casserole dish.

It will get hard really fast, spread it around quickly!

Blend all other ingredients!

This step seems funny, but it will help the flan to settle if you pour water in the surrounding bigger dish.

When you pull it out of the oven the top will be bready. Don't poke it! To check and see if the flan has settled enough, jiggle the dish a little. It should move a little in the middle but the edges should not.

The finished product should resemble this!!! Enjoy!!!

Update:

My class really enjoyed the flan! They went back for seconds! I would say this cooking endeavor was successful... I hope yours is too! 

What kind of food do you like to cook?

As Iron Sharpens Iron

Ciao, darlings!

Over the past weekend I had a little get- together with the girls in my youth group and our leaders. Our little gang has always had some crazy dynamics- several of us like to take charge and we all have our own special style, which makes for some seriously fun and interesting times. We always have fun together and we ALWAYS end up laughing over even the silliest things. The special thing about my group of friends at church is that we can talk about literally anything with each other. We talk about movies, boys, school, the usual.... But what makes it different is that we can also talk about serious things. I can always rely on these girls and our small group leader Melissa. If I have big questions they can help answer them with Bible verses to back up what they're saying. If one of us is having a difficult time, we share each other's burdens, and we pray for each other. I trust these girls with almost every aspect of my life because I know they love me as their sister in Christ, and I love them too. It's a kind of relationship with them I've never had before. It's unique and amazing and it's blessed by God. They are the people I am closest to. These girls are friends like I've never had before and I know that we will always be friends forever and sisters in Christ.
Just being around them inspires me. It's a perfect example of Proverbs 27:17-"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."
It's so vital to have genuine and uplifting friends who will lead you deeper in your walk with God!

We played a lot of twister. I was the designated spinner which meant I could take pictures of my friends while they were tied up like pretzels!

Some players had it easier than others... 

The board was completely full here!!! And there's Lily, the cat...

My friend A. was completely shocked when Lola the dog decided to join us as we ate pizza and ice cream for dinner. 

I love having such supportive and godly friends!!!