"Hamilton" An American Musical

The great musical, Hamilton by the amazing Lin-Manuel Miranda has definitely made my life 10000x better but it has also ruined me. I was introduced to this beauty by the Bookbasement's video. I was intrigued but also a bit put off because I don't usually listen to hip hop/rap music but I am glad I listened to it. I have not stopped since. The musical is basically about our great founding father, Alexander Hamilton. It is his musical memoir. It is so good. LMM did such a good job with the lyrics, they are so rich and witty. LMM even plays Hamilton himself. The show is already on broadway and I am very sad that I won't be able to see it with the original cast because the original cast is A+. And there is no video recording of the show at all. So therefore you must listen to it only through audio, spotify has it as well, click here for link. However, I still completely understood it. I cannot recommend this enough, it is amazing. Some of my favorite songs are:

• Alexander Hamilton
• My shot
• The Schuyler Sisters
• A Winter's Ball
• Helpless
• Satisfied
• The Story of Tonight Reprise
• Yorktown
• Say No To This 
• One Last Time
• Burn
• It's Quiet Uptown
• EVERY SINGLE SONG

Also some favorite video links:
Cast Opening Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap9JWCFeNUI
The Schuyler Georges: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C4vmM5mQT8
Alexander Hamilton Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Q9WuKOOSo

Goodbye break...

It is 8:47 p.m as a write this and it is the Sunday before I must return to school. Sigh. This break was great, I actually did many things, here's a short list of some of the things I did or things that occurred:

• Went up north for Christmas, where I had the best time ever. The definite highlight of my break for sure.
• Went to Sacramento where I got really cool socks (books & cats. need I say more?)
• Did the Bean Boozled Challenge
• Went to an aerospace museum
• Read
• Teen Wolf, my all time favorite show came back
• Saw the new Star Wars movie, A+
• Became obsessed with Lin Manuel-Miranda's musical, "Hamilton"

But yeah I'll stop there. Anyways, it is now 9:05 and I should try to get my things ready for school tomorrow and set my 5:30 a.m alarm as well :( Bye. 

Pizza

Pizza..

My best friend.

Who doesn't love pizza? I recently made homemade pizza, dough and all. And it tasted so good! Recipe below:

DOUGH:

2 cups all purpose flour (Plus Extra)

3/4 cup warm water

3 tablespoons Olive Oil (or Vegetable Oil)

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

1 teaspoon honey (or Sugar)

2 1/4 teaspoon Yeast (One packet)

YIELD: 2 PIZZA CRUSTS

Steps:

1. Mix yeast with warm water

2. Mix dry ingredients 

3. Mix dry and wet ingredients together 

4. Combine until it forms ball. This may require more flour.

5. On a floured surface, knead dough for 7-10 minutes

6. Set dough in a bowl, oiled or floured so it won't stick, and cover tightly with plastic or wet towel.

7. Let rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes, until double in size.

8. Cut in half and roll out. 

9. Fork holes and then add desired toppings.

Also, I brushed Olive Oil on the outer raw crust of the pizza do it'd be crunchy.

WHAT I PUT ON MY PIZZA:

Sauce

Cheese

Pepperoni

AND ON ANOTHER PIZZA..

 Sauce, cheese, pepperoni, pineapple, bell peppers.

FINAL PRODUCT:

 

YUM! See ya!

Resolutions.

Do you believe in New Years' Resolutions? I'm not sure I do. Does you family do the grapes? Where you put 12 grapes in a cup and when midnight comes you eat each one and each one is a wish? I would mostly wish for money, books, good grades, health for my family & myself, and happiness. I don't usually set resolutions for myself, mostly because I think the whole "New Year, New Me" wasn't cool. Like if you wanted to make new goals, you could do that anytime of the year. But I thought I would do it this year. I mean these are kind of loose goals, like I've thought of these for a while. Here goes:

• Be healthier. Maybe I've had one too many bags of hot cheetos. I actually really want to follow through with this one.
• Break (personal) habits
• Study more, those grades aren't going to stay up by themselves.
• Make time for books.
• Make time for yourself.
• Get out more. 

The New Year (And quick catch up)

Hi! I hope Christmas was merry. I had been so good at posting but I went away for a few days and left my laptop behind. I had the best time with my family, I wish I could go back. But sadly we must return back to the real life... However, the new year is approaching..fast. This year went by so fast. As the 31st approaches, so does my return to school. Sigh. I have not made a big dent in my pile of TBR books at all. I have gotten half way through Binge and only a little of The Infinite Sea. I still have Ten Thousand Skies Above You. Plus I just ordered I'll Give You The Sun as well. I will read them though, just not within the coming weeks. I start school soon and I've joined a extra class that will take up a good amount of time. I really hope you are having a wonderful break and reading lots, or at least doing something you find enjoyable. Anyways I don't really put up personal pictures but I decided to let this one slide.

It's my cousin, my brother, and myself at an aerospace museum (a bunch of planes) in Sacramento. I had a blast and miss my family up there dearly. See you soon.

Christmas Treat Bundles

Only a few days left till Christmas! And since I only bought gifts for my dad and uncle, I decided to make little gift bags for my family that I will be spending Christmas with this year. These were so fun to make and although I encountered trouble along the way, it came out a success. Heres one:

Don't they look delicious? 

Want to know how to make them? Keep reading...

Firstly, I made sugar cookies. I used the recipe:

Ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsp milk

1/2 tbs vanilla 

Steps:

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES F

1. Mix all dry ingredients.

2. Mix all wet ingredients.

3. Mix both, dry and wet.

4. Mix until ball forms.

5. You can make small balls or roll out and cut into shapes like I did onto a baking sheet.

5. Bake for about 12-15 minutes

6. Let cool.

That's it! So simple

Then I decorated them with my family. I bought normal vanilla icing and food coloring. I used sandwich bags to pipe. It was really fun.

Secondly, I made peanut brittle, which went horribly wrong.

I forgot to butter the parchment paper I guess. So it all stuck and was inedible. I did manage to save little bits though.

Ingredients: 1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Corn Syrup

1 1/2 cup of salted peanuts (or any really)

1 tbsp Butter

1 tsp Vanilla

1 tsp Baking soda

Steps:

1. Mix corn syrup and sugar. Microwave for 5 min (high)

2. Add in peanuts. Microwave for 5 more minutes, stirring about half way, until golden brown

3. Add in vanilla, baking soda, and butter. Be quick!

4. Spread onto BUTTERED parchment paper.

5. Cool and then break into pieces

no image available because I failed at this

Thirdly, I made chocolate almond bark. That was the easiest thing.
Ingredients: 2 cups (16 oz.) of chocolate*
1 1/2 cup roasted & salted Almonds
*I used half semisweet and half dark

Steps: 1. Melt chocolate accordingly
2. Spread onto parchment paper.
3. Sprinkle almonds and then move around to coat.
4. Let cool & break

Lastly, I wrapped everything into a little treat bag. For mine, I got these holiday themed ziplock bags (1 qt) and just cut off the top part (the closing part). Then I put chocolate bark with a sugar cookie in front of it. Then I sprinkled little bits of peanut brittle, from what I could salvage in my failed one, but normally I would add big pieces. Then to tie it off, I bought these $1 ribbons (red & white) from Walmart.
These are the finished products. Although I do recommend letting the frosting on the cookies dry better than I did.

   

           

 

Oh Christmas Tree

Hello. There are only a few days left till Christmas, can you

believe it? I realized that I haven't showcased my Christmas tree

yet. I went ahead and took somewhat artsy shots of it and I am

pretty pleased with them. This year we got an artificial tree mostly because we got a new kitty, Ojai, and he is a real trouble maker. Plus 
our dog, Phoebe, liked to drink the water and that isn't very

safe. Ojai also loves climbing up the tree and knocking off the 
ornaments, which is so annoying.

But he is so adorable so it's really hard to get angry at him..

However, our tree looks pretty great if I do say so myself. We have some presents under the tree as well.

I unfortunately don't have pictures of my dogs but soon..

See ya later!