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Oh my! To see: my family and friends! To do: anything specific to being HOME. To eat: In-N-Out and Christmasy treats. :D It's kind of surreal - I can't believe I was gone for four months! Did that really happen? :P
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:P I miss my family. I miss SCU, especially the Theatre Department. I also miss little things - Target, certain restaurants, Safeway... Chocolate chip cookies, lol. Nothing too exciting! I love Italy, but I'm definitely excited to go home. :]
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I haven't heard that rumor before, but it's good to know there is a possibility Jesus is a fan of Mexican cuisine!
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Well, you know, I'm pretty upset about it. And by upset, I mean ecstatic!!! I literally watched every game of the playoffs in the dark in my home in Italy. This last game of the NLCS, I was laying in my bed, heart pounding, hands shaking, and I was tearing up when we clinched it. In short, I am STOKED for the Giants because they deserve it. <3
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I use a Canon Rebel XTi with a few different lenses. It's a great camera, at least for my purposes now. It is by no means top of the line, but it's a good beginner's DSLR. However, I have to tell you - most of my photographs are edited because I want them to look realistic - surprisingly, even good cameras can sometimes only poorly capture things in photos. I'm sure if I was shooting on manual all the time and allowed myself time to adjust the settings perfectly to fit the circumstances, my photos would not require editing. But this is real life and a lot of the time I shoot on an auto setting I created myself, adjusting WB, ISO, etc, only when I have the time to think about it. The rest is done post-upload on my computer using Photoshop, wherein I adjust lighting and color to make the contents of the photo look a little more like they did in actuality.
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Ah! He is half-German and half-Filipino. It's a good mix! Isn't he cute? :P
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HI SANDY! Okay, I'm a little tardy on this, but - super excited! Greece was fun and I absolutely love Italy. This is my first time in Europe and I can't wait to explore more of it!
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I sure am! Well, I went to Greece for a ten day traveling seminar, which was intense. I came to Florence almost a month ago. Since then, I've been going to school. I've been traveling. I've made a lot of really amazing friends. I've been learning a lot of Italian language and culture. I live with a host family and I absolutely adore them! On the horizon, I have the visits of my parents, my boyfriend, and various friends to look forward to, as well as a lot of traveling of my own! It's pretty amazing. :]
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That's because that was like, six recipes.
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HAHA, how cute are you?! Really cute. Don't mention it - anytime! <3
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But of course, sweetie! In fact, how about a few different desserts? I love cupcakes but because I have an inability to frost, I've yet to find that recipe that provides me with both taste and aesthetic satisfaction. :P So let's touch on cake, talk about on cookies, and then, for if whenever you're super adventurous, some cheesecake recipes.
My favorite [cup]cake recipes: the thing about cupcakes is that they’re just cake in cup form – which sounds obvious, but I mean, cake and cupcake recipes are essentially one in the same. ;]
<3 Strawberry Cupcakes
Ingredients for cupcakes:
- 1 c whole fresh strawberries
- 1 ½ c all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ c whole milk, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ c butter, room temp
- 1 c sugar
- 1 egg, room temp
- 2 egg whites, room temp
Ingredients for frosting:
- 1 c whole fresh strawberries
- 1 c butter, firm
- 3 ½ c confectioners’ sugar, sifter
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place strawberries in a small food processor (or a blender if that’s all you’ve got – just make sure you can get the strawberries smooth enough) – process until pureed. Use 1/3 c for cupcakes; set aside the extra for the frosting.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder; set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined. Slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
- Slowly add half the flour mixture to the large bowl; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until well blended.
- Pour batter into cupcake tin with liners. Transfer tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, about twenty minutes.
- To make frosting, beat together butter and in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree; mix until just blended.
- Let the cupcakes cool before frosting.
<3 This is a classic frosting: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sour-Cream-Chocolate-Frosting/Detail.aspx.
<3 Also, do yourself and everyone else a favor and Google a recipe for a) an old-fashioned chocolate cake and b) a classic red velvet cake! Sooo good.
My favorite cookie recipes: in my experience, standard cookies + oats = success.
<3 Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
- ¾ c all-purpose flower, sifted
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ c butter, softened
- ½ c smooth peanut butter
- ½ c white sugar
- ½ c brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 c oats
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add egg and beat well.
- In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Combine with creamed mixture. Add oats and stir well.
- Drop onto greased baking sheet and press each mound down with a fork (it works best, I think, if you dip the fork in a wee bit of flour). Bake for ten minutes or until the cookies are light brown.
<3 Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 c butter, softened
- 1 c brown sugar
- ½ c white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 c all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 c oats
- 2 c chocolate chips
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips.
- Drop onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
My favorite cheesecake recipes:
<3 Caramel Apple Cheesecake
Ingredients for crust:
- 2 c graham cracker crumbs
- ½ c white sugar
- ¼ c ground pecans
- ½ c butter, melted
- ¼ c apple pie filling
Ingredients for filling:
- 8oz cream cheese, softened
- ½ c sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- ¼ c caramel topping
- ¾ c canned apple pie filling (or make your own!)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, pecans and butter in and press firmly into a spring form pan. Spoon ¼ c apple pie filling onto the crust.
- Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add the eggs and mix well. Pour this over the crust and bake for 35 minutes, or until the center of the cake is set. Cool to room temperature.
- Mix the ¾ c apple pie filling and caramel topping in a small saucepan and heat for about 1 minute, or until spreadable. Spoon this mixture over the top of the cheesecake and spread evenly. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator – though I liked the warm topping!
<3 Peppermint Cheesecake (this one’s straight from the internet!): http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1011213 - it’s absolutely delicious and perfect for holidays.
Phew! Hope that gave you some ideas. ;] -
Ahhh, you caught me! I actually just started the blog earlier this week (after wrestling with the ridiculous new Blogger templates in an attempt to play around with the HTML and CSS until I created a layout I even vaguely like). There's nothing really on there quite yet, but I guarantee you good things in the future! :P You're welcome to follow along as I study abroad: http://www.gracesayssmile.blogspot.com. :]
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I love my brother! As with any siblings would, we do have a few tiffs now and then, but we always get over them pretty quickly. The number of arguments we have now is a lot less compared to when we were younger! :] We also share a similar sense of humor (uh, minus gross stuff - that's just him! :P), plus, he's a really caring and loyal person. We're very compatible. :]
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Hm, yeah, that's a bit personal to answer here! If we know each other at least a bit then I'd be okay with telling you in a more private setting. :] All I will say is this: we had, at that point, been in our relationship for two years - and we were, albeit briefly, on different pages for a bit. There was no "big event" or anything... We "broke up" for reasons that had nothing to do with not loving the other person anymore; it was because we cared about each other so much that we agreed to take a break. Just wanted to clarify that. :]
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Well, calm down, kiddo. Pretty sure it's completely normal. Anyway, heck yeah, mine does. I don't hide it. I flaunt it cos I'm hot! ;P
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Hi there, love! Honestly, how could I choose? I haven't visited many places - I haven't left this continent, aside from traveling to Hawaii, which is part of the US anyway. That's why traveling to Greece this summer and staying in Italy for the fall is going to be awesome! So I definitely have plans to travel in Europe as much as I can. For whatever reason, my desires to visit Western countries are more intact, but I definitely wouldn't mind making way through all corners of the earth throughout my lifetime. ;]
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The only way out of the itchy situation is to comply with the following demands: 1) Find a cure for the common cold; 2) Begin to take stylistic jazz dance lessons; 3) Enter a drag show (a show; not a race - very different things). Because I've disclosed this information, I will no longer be answering your Formspring questions regarding this subject. Good luck.
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Do not panic. Do not seek help. If you call the police, you will face your death. Using an extremely skilled messenger fly, I have deposited a highly potent itching powder on your right forearm. It is being absorbed into your bloodstream as I type this message. It will self-destruct within the next five minutes.
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HAHA! I love how quickly this question came. Now for the juicy details: Ethan and I have been together essentially since we "broke up," but we decided not to label our relationship. We kept in contact but kept our distance. I was, for a lack of a better word, despondent. When I finally saw him again a couple weeks ago, things clicked. I can't really describe without sounding incredibly mushy how it felt to see him and realize that he was the missing piece during that time. :] Anyway, there is definitely some sort of blog in my future, but I think that specific one may have run its course. Fret not, though - promise I'll try to keep you entertained elsewhere! ;]
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Well, my life’s not exactly chock full of pieces of juicy information just waiting for someone to discover them. :P I’ve actually answered every question that people have asked me. Some of the more personal questions have sat in my inbox for a few days to allow me some time to think. I’ve never had any vulgar or offensive questions – let’s be honest, not too many people are sitting behind their computers dying to delve into my private life via Formspring. But to answer hypothetically: it would take a lot for me to dismiss a question because I try to handle things from an open and honest standpoint; if questions were ever too personal, I’d say so and offer up whatever information I felt comfortable providing. :]
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Grace <3’s Bio
<3
