Newest hair

I've been growing my hair out for a while. And my last time working at the hospital I was so glad that I could pin my hair back that I was fully convinced that this is the right thing for me to do!

The big problem with growing out your hair is that you often have a picture that you are striving for, but that doesn't happen over night. So the inbetween is hard because having one picture to strive for is wonderful, but you want to like your hair and the way you look now. The last time I cut my hair I simply cut straight across the back and ended up with a bob that looks like something toddler dols often have. And lots of female toddlers also have this same shirt simple bob. And since looking like a toddler has never been one of my goals I have been looking for inspiration for hairstyles that I like for this length. My favorite being relatively tight and crazy curls. 

I have two problems with curls. Firstly I don't want to heat style my hair on a nearly daily basis because I don't want the damage that comes with that. Secondly I am not a morning person so I will not be getting up earlier to do my hair. Both of these mean I need a different daily do. 

For anyone who has not discovered Pinterest: it is one of the black holes of the Internet. It is a great tool for looking through pictures, gathering inspiration and saving websites. I recommend looking into it for yourself. But it is very easy to get sucked in and lost amongst pictures of young women with great hair. But among these pictures I realized that I like long bobs with blond ombre tips. And it occurred to me that that would not look so great with my big red streak in my bangs. So I decided
to stick with the red and embrace the short hair and just ombre that. This is what happened. 

My latest late night spur of the moment decision captured in a picture that doesn't show it at all. but even the pictures I took in daylight prove that the sun needs to hit my hair in just the right way to show the color. It really is subtle but I love it.

Grießpudding

I've never had southern Grits, but I grew up eating my mom's savory polenta and once in  a while we had what we called Grießpudding or a sweet pudding made of milk and cornmeal or Semolina. I rediscovered both recently when I coincidentally saw a bag a of polenta at the grocery store and wondered why it wasn't a staple on my shopping list. Savory Polenta is delicious as a side or in multiple other forms. But the sweet pudding is amazing! Sadly I feel milk is not to great for my digestive system, and wheat is apparently not so great for the human being since it has been cultured so very much over the years. So here is a vegan and healthier alternative:

500ml of some kind of milk - I used Almond milk from almond butter and water
1/3 of a vanilla bean - split lengthwise with the seeds scraped out
Both of those go into a saucepan and simmer for about 10 minuets so the vanilla flavor can steep into the almond milk. Then whisk in about
3 Tbsp of polenta.
Let that boil and thicken. I ate this warm with a frozen berry mix that melted very quickly and it was  a lovely treat!
This is so easy and delicious!

Merry Christmas!

It's quite late here and I realized at some point this afternoon that I had not posted at all the past two days, but I really have been incredibly busy. I am sorry, and a little disappointed that the finish was like this, but I missed less posts that I thought I would. I hope you have had fun reading and enjoyed this, maybe I will do it better next year. 

I have my brother visiting me so we have be out and about a whole lot and I had plenty to finish up before the Christmas holidays. Not to mention all the people that we see during this time. 

Any way, I wanted to wish all of you a merry Christmas! I hope you have wonderful holidays with your families and loved ones and can enjoy the seasons joys as well as relax a little bit. 

Cinnamon Stars

These have always been my favorite Christmas cookie! They are really not al that hard to make except that the dough is quite sticky and the meringue is annoying if you don't have a proper mixer to beat the egg whites, but the result is a sweet nutty slightly chewy cookie. They are also gluten and lactose free since they do not contain any flour or dairy products. 

So starting out with 

250 grams of ground nuts 

traditionally you would use almonds but this year I mixed in 50 grams of hazelnuts with 200 grams almonds and it was slightly different, but still delicious. Then add 

125 grams of sifted powder sugar 

and a solid teaspoon of cinnamon. 

Is a separate bowl whisk 

one egg white and

A tablespoon of amaretto (almond liquor).

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and if you are using a machine you may have to intervene to scrape down the sticky mass from the sides. This also seems like very little liquid for the amount of dry ingredients but the sugar melts almost instantly and it does all come together. 

Then on a surface dusted with powdered sugar roll out the dough and it out your stars. I only had this shooting start available, but technically the shape doesn't really matter. Set the cookies on a lined baking tray and make the meringue by beating 

One egg white

Gradually adding 1 tbsp powdered sugar 

Continue beating until stiff. Then adding a little bit of this mixture to the top of every cookie. Now they just need to bake! This takes about 10-15 minutes in a 150 degree Celsius oven. The tops should still be white bit just starting to turn golden, mine here were obviously in just a little too long and turned fully golden. 

Let them cool a little before consuming. Enjoy! 

Schools Out!

I am so happy that the stress from school and tests has gone to have a vacation with the unicorns and leprechauns! We actually had a really chill day at school today because everyone was fully aware of the fact that we were already in break mode. On top of that I slept really well last night because I was able to shut everything off and take a hot bath and go straight to be at 10:30.  

After school I went into town to buy a zipper and some thread for my sewing project and then I met up with a friend of mine because she is going home for the holidays soon so it was lovely to see her again and catch up. And walking through to Christmas markets in our town center was also wonderful despite the slight stormy drizzle that was never gone for very long. The hot apple- sea buckthorn juice most certainly made for a truly lovely finish before our bike ride home. 

As much as I love spending time with her for her, there was a certain free and truly deeply relaxed feeling over the two of us because we were clearly going into a very relaxed period of the year. these next two weeks will probably be busy for me, but still fun to no end. and afterwards I will have my next internship; this time for 6 weeks followed by the next vacation week. 

My mental state seems to have spun right around from rather high stress and tight time management to freedom! For whatever reason, I feel the difference far more this year. It's almost like the feeling before summer break ads a kid, except that I have the joy and anticipation of seeing so many relatives soon on top of that free feeling. Life really is good. And today was a wonderful reminder of that. Also I think my methods yesterday have proven that I need to take half an hour before bed just for me more often. Especially when my roommate is not home and I can turn my phone on silent and just enjoy the tranquility of that moment. 

And thank you for reading, especially if you have stuck with me throughout my advent blogging despite two missed posts and everything. 

The Quest for Unique Fashion

So many of us want to be on trend and so called fashionable but still have unique style. This seems a little contradictory since trends are what most people are wearing, but somehow this is the ideal that the fashion industry and fashion and beauty bloggers instill in us. The simplest solution would of course be to sew our own clothes! This is most certainly not what commercial clothing stores are trying to sell us on, but it would make for clothes that are exactly our own style, unique and if you do it right, they always fit. 

I learned how to sew from my mother. It really isn't all too hard, and it seems to be a skill that was very much forgotten but looks to be coming back with the young people. It may be more work than going shopping and require some creative foresight to imagine the finished product you are aiming for. Using patterns available and a simple sewing machine it really isn't all too difficult. 

I thought I might write this little bit as food for thought as I took my last test before Christmas break and am currently working on a top I plan on wearing to some of my Christmas parties this season. Pictures will be up once I finish sewing this piece. It occurred to me that not only is this not that hard, sometimes you can find really cool fabric for great prices, but I don't have the time in one pice to do both the creative bit and actually make the piece I imagine. And it is sad becuase I have a lot of fun sewing and also wearing my own clothes knowing that no one else is wearing the same thing. 

I suppose I have my first new years resolution too. I want to sew more and I have a few ideas that I have seethed or noted in my notebook so that I can look back to those when I need some inspiration. As always, thanks for reading, and I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic. 

Birthday Dinner Outfit

Birthday Dinner Outfit by alovelylittlethought-1 featuring black skinny jeans

I'm off to a Birthday in the family and this is roughly what I am wearing.  I love the simple and timeless elegance of black jeans with a clean cut black top, soft brown eyeshadow and a bold red lip.