I FORGOT

It's been two days since I made a post on here! I remembered at some points, but figured I'd do it later. I guess it's safe to say that later never came.

On Tuesday, I didn't do much other than go to the city for churros with Anastasia, and it was a lot of fun. After churros, we sat in the library and made a tinder group, and just sort of mucked about a bit.

That's me sitting in a lone chair, for some reason we thought that chair was really funny, all by itself. Eventually she had to leave to go to band practice and I had to go home to make curry. Pretty late that night, I started online shopping for shoes - I think that's the main reason I forgot to make a post.

The next day, yesterday, I was home all day, online shopping - again. It was kind of weird because I'm really not that much of a shopper. I don't often go shopping and buy things if I just don't need them, but I hadn't spent that much money since I got a job and I guess I just wanted to. I have to say though, I'm glad that feeling is gone now. And I have three exciting packages coming in the mail!

Now I have to get ready! Adios, you will see me again tonight. Days 12 & 13 over.

SICK :(

I missed a post yesterday because by the end of the day I was soo sick! I just had no energy whatsoever. All I did yesterday was work at Judy's shop, alphabetise the travel bookshelf (which made my hands super grubby, by the way) and then come home. I didn't go to work today or yesterday, and I probably won't tomorrow because I don't think it's a good idea to go to work at a restaurant, being around lots of food and lots of people when I'm all germy and gross.

Today (after one of the worst sleeps I've ever had) I stayed in bed literally all day, watching Gilmore Girls. The highlight of my day was when Rodney brought home my fave ice cream - vegan, of course - and I devoured it all in one sitting. No regrets.

It's legit 'so good' hahah

I'll probably spend much of tomorrow the same way, but hopefully I'll manage to fit in a drive seeing as I didn't today or during the week - but we'll see how I feel.

End of days 8 & 9 :)

FRENCH & BOWLING

I love being able to run. Every time I run that little bit further or faster or longer, I just get so proud of myself, because running is hard! Well, for me at least. At the moment, though, I can't do it. I got sore knees after jumping back into it too hard after not running for months. So while I wait for my knees to repair themselves - I'm sure they will soon, right? - I'm back to biking. Which I also love.
This morning I rode along the Capital City Trail which goes past my old high school, and I'm 90% certain I rode past two of my old teachers - awkward. They were both teachers I really liked (Rainer and Jamie) but I didn't particularly feel the need to bump into them with greasy hair and a red face.

I came home, jumped in the shower, did some french, took Kelly for a walk, did some more french, DIED at how beautiful Salem, MA is - particularly in Autumn (or 'fall'). I want to go there soo much, and essentially I could just book a flight and GO. But can I really? Part of me wants to be spontaneous and crazy and just do it, for real, but the other part of me is too concerned about judgemental people, and about how I wouldn't know anyone. But it's kind of my last chance to go during halloween, which is legit my DREAM. Plus, I won't be able to do it for another four years because of uni and exams...

After French class, I was walking to Melbourne Central when a boy, probably about my age, came up to me and asked if I was German. It wasn't really in a creepy or annoying way, it was just kind of funny. He said I looked German because of my blonde hair and blue eyes, although my eyes are really more grey/green. He tried to introduce himself but I was kind of in a hurry to meet Beth and I didn't want to give him the wrong idea or anything, so I just said I had to meet my friend, and he was totally cool about it. Ten or so minutes later, when I had made it to Melbourne Central and was on an escalator right near our meeting spot, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time and another guy started talking to me. He asked if my lock screen was a picture of a cat, to which I said no, and showed him the picture of Kelly. He then proceeded to show me a picture of his kitten, ask me about uni, tell me about how he wanted to change courses because there wasn't much of a job market in the field he was currently studying, ask me to play touch football, ask me for my Facebook and ask my for my phone number until I said 'umm maybe not...' and managed to get away! He seemed nice but he wouldn't let me leave! I then greeted Beth, we got burgers at Grill'd (the vegan burger there was surprisingly nice! It had pineapple which I wasn't expecting, but it totally made it) and then played three games of bowling before getting really tired and going home.

I originally intended to take at least one photo of Beth at the bowling place, I even brought my DSLR, but I felt so awkward pulling it out. I definitely need to work on being more carefree with stuff like that - who cares if I'm taking a photo of my friend anyway?

That concludes day... 4? xx

WATER PHOTOGRAPHY

Today I got out of bed soo late - past 12! The weather was pretty nice though, so I made my breakfast and started eating it out in the sun (until the sun went away and I got cold). Recently I've been eating muesli with dried berries, and adding banana, peanut butter and unsweetened almond milk. It is seriously so good.
Rodney then came home from the supermarket and we went for a drive around our streets so I can get the hang of driving. I definitely need improvement, it's a little embarrassing, but I'll get there.

When we got home I discovered how to use shutter speed on my camera and I was super excited about being able to take photos of water! I tried a few today but what I really want to do is fill up some water balloons and try to get photos of them bursting. I've always loved the idea of doing that, and now I think I can do it! I also want to try throwing water from a bucket, and trying to get a cool snap of it. Images of water, especially ones like that, are just so awesome.

I took a few photos while Rodney was outside gardening, primarily because I wanted to capture him using the hose, but the one photo I took that I didn't mind, I accidentally deleted. Oops. To compensate, I'm including this photo of the tap running in our manky bathtub. There will be more to show in the future, I'm sure.

After I took this, I went to work and made a list of things I want to get done this week. They were fun things like make a really cool cake and go to Camberwell Sunday Market (which I'm now doing tomorrow) because I need some more excitement in my life at the moment. Hopefully that'll help.

On my way back from work, the moon was shining so bright. I just think it's so cool that we can even see the moon from Earth, and to us it just looks like this weird white globe, shining somewhere in the sky. It doesn't even look real. I took this photo of it, which I wouldn't have even thought about putting up here but I showed it to Rodney and he loved it so much.

I guess that's the end of day 2! I'm going to get to sleep early tonight, so I won't be too dead when I have to meet Frankie at 10am tomorrow.

Goodnight xx

VEGAN PASSIONFRUIT SPONGE CAKE

Okay, so this isn't exactly a sponge cake because it isn't based solely on flour, sugar and eggs but it tastes like one and is honestly the easiest cake to make. It's a very reliable recipe for me, and it's pretty much impossible to mess up! You can also tweak it a little bit to turn it into an entirely different recipe (exchange 1/3 of a cup of flour for cocoa powder and reduce the vanilla essence by 3tsp and you have chocolate cake!)

What you'll need:

• 2 cups of plain flour
• 1 + 1/4 cups of caster sugar
• 1tsp of bicarb soda
• 1/2tsp of salt
• 1 cup of warm water
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil (or another oil, doesn't matter too much)
• 2tsp of apple cider vinegar/white vinegar
• 4tsp of vanilla essence
• 180g of icing cugar
• 20g of vegan butter (optional/I use Nuttelex)
• 1 + 1/2 tbsp of passionfruit pulp (you can buy this in a tin)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit) and prepare a 20cm round baking tin. (I didn't prepare a tin or use one to these specifications and you will find out why in a moment)
2. In a large mixing bowl, use a fork to mix together the dry ingredients - I like to use a fork because I feel like it gives a more thorough mixing.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the mixture and combine. Try not to eat any of the batter because you won't be able to stop!! I ate so much I had to put the cake in a smaller tin... wow
4. Check on the cake in about 30 minutes by poking a fork or a skewer into it. If the fork comes out clean, it is ready to be taken out. If not, leave it in for a bit longer.
5. Once the cake has cooled down, make the icing by mixing the vegan butter, icing sugar and passionfruit pulp and spoon it on top! Done!
   Hint: remember not to put the icing on until the cake is no longer warm! I always make that mistake.
   

This is a very sweet recipe so prepare yourself...
Thanks for reading! Leave a comment if you decide to make this! :)

APOLLO BAY

Just over a week ago, my friend Emma and I left Melbourne for a five day trip to Apollo Bay.
I slept over at Emma's house the night before we left and it was the first time I'd seen her in over 10 months. We departed her house at about 10am the next morning and I just have to mention that while we were waiting for our train we ate the best dumplings I've probably ever had.

After roughly eight hours of travelling, we had arrived in Apollo Bay and were checking into our hostel. We stayed at the YHA Eco Hostel, chosen both for the price and the good reviews, and in no way were we disappointed. Neither Emma nor I had ever stayed in a hostel before so we were pretty much expecting the worst - especially after hearing hostel horror stories from family members and pieces online - but this hostel was as clean as any hotel, the people were super friendly (yet not too friendly), happy to help and I didn't feel like my belongings were in any way unsafe, although of course that didnt stop me from taking all the precautions!

While we were eating dinner the first night (massive bowls of pasta), we were sitting on a deck just outside the kitchen and a guy a few years older than us came outside and spoke to us. It turned out he was also vegan and was pretty chuffed about the fact that at that moment in time and space, 100% of the people sitting/standing on that deck were vegan. I guess it was pretty cool.

Day 2 of our trip was cool and cloudy, so we decided to rug up and go for a walk through Marengo to Shelly beach.
Of course I managed to completely forget about sunscreen until we were back in Apollo Bay and my usually-very-pale-face was well on it's way to becoming Belthazor (aka Cole's red-faced demon form from 'Charmed').

Beach - what more can I say

The trail from Marengo to Shelly beach

The rocks here were amazing! Very slippery too

The lighting isn't great here but I felt like I had to show at least one photo of myself hahaha

The thing I love most about Apollo Bay is that you have the beach one way and these beautiful hills the other, unique compared to other beach towns along the Great Ocean Road

As we were eating dinner that night - do all interesting things happen during food time or do we just eat 24/7? - we were swarmed by seagulls and for a moment there I was genuinely scared. Probably more than a moment considering birds are very near the top of my 'things to be scared of' list. Luckily, Emma had no problem channeling her inner demon and protecting our chips from being bird-napped.

After chips we went for a walk along the beach and the water was soo beautiful

Day 3 was a very chill day. I didn't feel too great due to the suburn on my face and the fact that I had been consistently layering my face with any sort of moisturiser I could find. It left me feeling sluggish, although I suppose that momentary relief was worth it at the time. I did naht want a peely face.
We stayed in our room pretty much all day, aside from being temporarily locked out, until we decided to go for a 'walk' up to Mariner's Lookout. I put the word 'walk' in quotation marks because that isn't exactly how we got there...
According the the receptionist at our hostel, it was about an hours walk each way, up and down a steep hill, but we had to do something that day. Maybe two minutes into the walk, a taxi drove past and all it took was one look at eachother and we were on our way, cruising up the hill in a yellow taxi - at a slightly alarming speed, might I add.
The view from the lookout was really nice, we could see all of Apollo Bay + more, and once returning from our walk (yep, we actually managed to walk back) we had a quick look at the view from the top of our hostel before retiring to our room to play Animal Crossing, like the adults we are.

The view from Mariner's Lookout

A sheep we saw on the way back from the lookout! I snapped probably like twenty photos of it's bum and like four of it's face - this is the money shot

The last two days were relatively similar, there wasn't heaps to do without a car or a bike, so on our last night we both got an icypole (the sorbet place was closed, unfortunately) and had a bit of a laugh while *attempting* to exercise, and pretty much all of the next day was spent travelling. It also included me not feeling so great on the bus ride back, losing my wallet (which held I sterling silver toe ring I bought) and some interesting characters on the train - one of whom legitimately sounded like a pimp.
Three things I have taken away from this trip are:

1. Do not forget to be sun safe, even/especially when it's cloudy!! (This is one I already knew, but clearly it needed reinforcement)
   
2. Wheely bags/backpacks will greatly improve your quality of life. My brother of course took my suitcase the day before I needed it, so I was stuck with lugging around a heavy suitcase in my hand - painful and impractical, don't do it.
   
3. Sweet chilli sauce has a lot of sugar - we went temporarily mad.
   

Sorry if this was super long, I had so much to write about. I also have heaps more photos to share so I may or may not do a second post mainly with photos and not much writing (I always find that those sort of posts keep my attention longer too)

-Gracie

ME (Belthazor)

VEGAN GINGERBREAD COOKIES ~ RECIPE

This is a really simple recipe, and it doesn't require many unordinary ingredients that you wouldn't already have in the cupboard!

What you'll need:

• 150g brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar for both batches, I think either light or dark would work fine)
• 2 tbsp golden syrup (maple syrup should be fine too)
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground clove
• 190g butter substitute (I use Nuttelex)
• 1 small tsp bicarb soda
• 450g plain flour
• Icing sugar + water (for easy icing)

Method:
1. Combine all the ingredients together, either on the stove or just in a mixing bowl (like I did), making sure to sift the flower. However, if you're choosing to mix them on the stove, remove the mixture from the heat and then add the flour.

Note: Add extra spices if you'd like a stronger flavour! I think I will next time.

First batch

2. This is what the dough should look like after everything is combined. It should be firm, so you may need to add more flour. Cover the bowl with glad wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

First batch

3. After you've taken the dough out of the fridge, spread some flour on your workbench and your rolling pin so that the dough won't stick to them, you will need to keep adding more as you go. Find some cookie cutters (I used gingerbread men, candy canes and Christmas trees) and pop them on a tray ready to be put into the oven. You can preheat the oven, in fact most recipes would say you should but I always forget and they turn out fiiiine, to 180 degrees Celsius and bake the cookies for 10 - 15 minutes. 

First batch

Here are my cookies, just out of the oven!
Note: It can be hard to tell whether they're done or not when you take them out because they will still be a bit soft (they harden up once they've cooled for a bit) but resist the urge to leave them in for just a little bit longer! That's what always stumps me and then they end up burning. In fact, that may or may not have happened today...

Second batch

SO. I made a second batch of cookies and you can probably tell from the photos that they're slightly different from the first one.
In the original batch, I had to use blackstrap molasses instead of golden syrup, despite the fact that I can't STAND molasses, oh my God. Even the smell.
I was hoping it wouldn't be noticeable once the cookies were out of the oven but I decided that while the dough was in the fridge, I would go up the street, buy some golden syrup and make another batch of cookies, because who wants gingerbread cookies that taste like sewerage? (No offence intended if you really like molasses hahah)
I used the same process and all other ingredients were the same, but I think the second batch is definitely better than the first, although everyone else in my house seems to like the first just fine, so maybe it's just dependent on personal taste - I still suggest golden syrup though.

I simply used icing sugar mixed with water to decorate these (just add icing sugar and water to your desired consistency - more icing sugar compared to water = thicker mixture) but obviously you can do whatever decorations you want! Food colouring is always fun too.

I didn't bother icing the first batch, mainly because I was tired but also because I wasn't as emotionally invested in those ones hahah.

So have fun baking and Merry Christmas!!