Happy - Blog Posts
You remember you asked me to tell you a happy story.. This is it.. Me, you.. We're my happy story..
Ned Nelson (Jeremy Renner in Neo Ned)
Seriously, I'd cry if I ever watch this movie again alone...
#Brooklynbridge #brooklyn fastlife @instaweatherpro #instaweather #instaweatherpro #weather #wx #newyork #nyc #newyork #day #spring #sunny #sun #ny #hot #happy (à Brooklyn Bridge)
Tip/reminder:
What I’ve learned in the past month is to cut toxic people out of your life and do what makes you happy!! If your friends want to do one thing but you know that its not going to benefit you but actually make your life more stressful and worrisome, then don’t do it!! Do what’s best for you! Deep down, you know what’s best for you. And yes it’s hard to do but I know you can do it. And once you do, you’ll realize how much of a positive impact it makes. Same goes for with “friends”. If you have one or a few that or toxic, deep down you’ll know it and let them go. It’s for the best. Self worth is always a #1 priority!! And once you understand that, you can start helping and inspiring others.
Guys, I'm really proud of this blog and really love you all. Your likes and re-blogs means a lot to me. 💗 ₊˚⊹
Hello Spring!
“Spring brings new growth, weed out the bad and make room for something beautiful!”
With spring approaching I wanted to make a fun little treat to give to my family and friends. I wanted to do something homemade and something that would ship easily in the mail (not melt, and stay fresh). Patiently waiting for my new job to start I wanted something that would also be easy on my pocketbook but still look BEAUTIFUL and FESTIVE!
I thought to myself that RICE KRISPIE TREATS are inexpensive and happen to be my Dads favorite sweet treat, and knew the rest of my family and friends would enjoy them as well. I mean, who doesn't love a sweet, gooey, crispy, Rice Krispie Treat!
Rice Krispie Treats are incredibly quick and easy to make:
Melt butter in large sauce pan over low heat. Add 1 bag of mini marshmallows and stir until melted and well-blended. ...
Add cereal, about 6 cups. Stir until well coated.
Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly and firmly in buttered 13 x 9 inch pan. Cut into 2 x 2 inch squares when cool.
For this simple recipe I wanted to put my own Spring spin on it to make it extra special.. By adding Spring colored sprinkles to the cereal mixture and using a flower cookie cutter to make them into a fun shape. I added pastel colored white chocolate m&m’s as the center of the flower to give them an extra POP!
To make these sweet treats fun and festive I wanted to make sure I packaged them very beautifully. Presentation is everything ;), I put each flower onto a pink lollipop stick and placed it inside a little treat bag. For the last piece of extra flair I added a pretty bow, and just like that, I had THE PERFECT GIFT! That was inexpensive, beautiful and definitely TASTY!
These were a BIG HIT with my family and friends! Such a fun and festive way to transition into spring.
“Spring is lovely reminder of how beautiful change can truly be” :)
Life is short, eat the Cookie!
Sometimes we can all be a little hard on ourselves. I am definitely the first one to admit this. There were days where i didn’t see any beauty in myself, which in turn I didn’t see much beauty in the world. You just have to step back and give yourself a break every once in a while. I DID! And i’m learning to live life each day to the fullest, appreciating the little pleasures hidden in the everyday grind.
Everyone deserves to live a happy life, and appreciating the little things is a GREAT START! Doing what makes you happy is a great way to boost your self-esteem, and see how beautiful life can truly be.
Yesterday, I planned on going for a run being that the weather was perfect and getting back into my workout routine is one of my top priorities. All day I thought about it, I even talked about it, I was determined to get my miles in. But as the day went on I found things to do around the house that were far more important, at least that’s what I told myself. PROCRASTINATION! (and ill let you in on a little secret, I didn’t get much done around the house either)
Chalking up my day to being a lazy day in, not too thrilled with myself for not getting much done, I was just going to go to bed and start over the next day, DETERMINED to go on that run ;) I walked out into the living room to get a glass of water, and BAM!!! I was hit with it. The warm, sweet, chocolaty, aroma of a FRESH BAKED batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Before I could even compliment my roomie on the smell of her midnight snack, she tells me that she baked some cookies and to come help myself. Now i’m going to be honest here, my first initial reaction was exactly what i’m trying to steer away from, “YOU don’t DESERVE cookies” and the landslide of negative thoughts about myself stemmed from there. At the top of the list was “you didn’t go on your run today, how dare you eat a cookie” Followed by “you’re out of shape” and “you didn’t stick to your diet already today” Its crazy how easy one negative thought can turn into a landslide, and sooner or later you’re just beating yourself up.
At this point I took a step back and took my own advice, appreciating the little things and not being so hard on myself. My house smelled amazing and my roomie took the time and effort to bake a fresh batch of cookies. So I grabbed a pretty plate, 2 cookies, and my favorite coffee mug and filled it with some milk. (I don’t even drink milk, but when in Rome right?) And a random batch of cookies turned into a night of laughing and watching reruns of our favorite guilty pleasure, Desperate Housewives.
The point of this story is allowing myself to EAT THE DANG COOKIE turned into a fun night with my roomie, and of course catching up on the drama of our little guilty pleasure ;) I truly appreciated the little things, no matter how little they were. I appreciated my beautiful plate and goofy coffee mug and the fact that I was able to have nice things. I even appreciated the milk, even though I don’t really like milk, there was something rather refreshing about dunking a fresh baked cookie into a mug of ice cold milk. And of course I appreciated my awesome roomie!
I even was able to put my own little positive spin on consuming a bunch of sugar after midnight. It was the little bit of motivation I needed for myself to get up the next morning and go on my run. And that’s what I did. I started today off with a great run on a nice day, and with an open mind of what beauty the rest of the day had in store for me.
Give yourself the permission to enjoy life’s simple pleasures. Allow yourself the gift of doing absolutely nothing, like me on my lazy day in. And give yourself a little bit of praise when you accomplish the little things, like me on finally getting to that run. Life is too short to be so hard on ourselves so I am giving you permission to cut yourself a break and….
EAT THE COOKIE!
Eggplant Parmesan
Now, how mouthwatering delicious does THAT look?
HOMEMADE Eggplant Parmesan!
When trying to figure out what recipe I wanted to try cooking for my first blog post, I could not think of anything. I was WAY overthinking it. I didn’t want anything too boring or too simple, but the fact that my cooking has been on a little hiatus I wasn’t feeling overly daring in the kitchen quite yet either. I kept putting it off and putting it off. The idea came to me when I was flipping through my mail and came across some coupons. Me wanting to live a more balanced and full life, being better with my money is definitely at the top of the list. So I decided to actually take a look instead of just throwing them into a drawer, never to see the light of day again. I saw some coupons for fresh produce and saw that eggplant was on sale for JUST 98 cents! Now i’m not sure how good of a “deal” that is, being that I have never bought an eggplant before but 98 cents sounded pretty good to me. Then I realized, I had all of the ingredients at home needed for eggplant parmesan, except for the star of the show….THE EGGPLANT. So I snipped my very first coupon and headed to the store.
This was PERFECT to make for my first recipe because I was being frugal with my money (Great Feeling!!) and I would be cooking something that I have never made before. Although picking out the eggplant was a little intimidating (there were all different shades of purple going on) I bit the bullet and just chose one. I mean hey if something went wrong, anything smothered in cheese and delicious marinara sauce cant be too bad right?
Now, it was time to get cookin’
My adventure in the kitchen with the eggplant parmesan has now begun :)
First step on the list was to slice the eggplant into slices and salt both sides. Ok, I can do that, CHECK! As I read on, the recipe said to let the slices sit in a colander for an hour for all of the liquid to drain out. BUMMER! I have to be honest, my first thought was to just skip this step and move on. I can be a little inpatient and hey I was ready to move on to the fun and messy part, dunking those slices into the egg wash and breadcrumbs. But I wanted this eggplant parmesan to come out perfect so I did as it said and I waited…and waited…and waited. Man those slices were SWEATING! I had no idea how much liquid there was in an eggplant. Glad I didn’t skip this step, it seemed important ;)
Now the FUN part! As I went to whisk the eggs and milk together for the eggwash I realized I did not have any milk. Again my mind went straight to “Its just a half a cup, lets just SKIP the milk i’m sure eggs will be fine. But I wanted this to come out perfect so off to the store I went for a second time. It was a bummer having to run back out but I found a way to see the positive in it. My supermarket is having that monopoly sweepstakes giveaway game going on and I am only one more ticket away from winning a million dollars. This milk could be my winning ticket!! Everything happens for a reason right?
Sadly, still not a millionaire. But back to the eggplant parmesan, now with the milk to make this a truly winning dish at least ;)
Now, I know I said earlier that this was the fun part, but honestly this was more intimidating than picking out the eggplant. I have never really fried anything either but I survived! My eggplant slices came out fried to a perfect golden brown. Except for the first one…the burnt one that is strategically not shown in this picture. These fry up fast, so be sure to keep an eye on them not to make the same mistake I did with that stubborn first one ;)
I carefully constructed the layers of marinara sauce, eggplant slices and cheese in the baking dish. Maybe a little too careful, this step took me 3 times as long as it probably should. But like I said earlier I wanted this dish to come out perfect. I even got a little daring by adding spicy Italian sausage and crushed red pepper flakes to my marinara sauce. Popped it into the oven and I can honestly say to my SURPRISE….
THIS DISH CAME OUT PERFECT!
Following the recipe step by step and deciding not to skip anything really paid off! ;) This is definitely a dish I would make again and I can now check off eggplant as something I have conquered successfully in the kitchen. Absolutely delicious.
INGREDIENTS
1 large eggplant, sliced into ½" thick slices
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 ½ cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
3 eggs
½ cup milk
4 tbsp vegetable oil, for lightly pan-frying
3 cups marinara sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
Salt both sides of your eggplant slices and place them in a large colander in the sink. Let the liquid drain for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
When your eggplant slices have finished draining liquid, brush off the excess salt.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In 2 bowls, add breadcrumbs to one and whisk eggs and milk in the other. Dip both sides of eggplant slice into milk/egg mixture then cover with breadcrumbs, shaking off the excess. Place on plate or large baking sheet.
Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil into the skillet. Once the skillet is hot, add two eggplant slices at a time to the skillet and cook on both sides until golden brown, remove and set on a large plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil for every 2 eggplant slices.
In a large baking dish, add 1 cup of marinara sauce to the bottom of the dish. Add a layer of eggplant slices then use about ¼ cup of marinara sauce to top each of the eggplant slices. On top of the eggplant slices, sprinkle a generous amount of mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Repeat the layers until you run out of eggplants slices. Top the casserole with more cheese before you place in the oven
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and brown on top. Use the broiler for 5 minutes to get the cheese nice and brown (keep a close eye on it not to burn)
Serve hot and top with chopped basil
An Abundance of Lemons!
It’s no secret that the hustle and bustle of todays world is enough to wear anyone down. Facing the daily challenges we all encounter is not necessarily the easiest thing to do. It is very easy to fall into a funk and lose the motivation and passion for things we all love to do. The things that make us HAPPY.
Good News!! You are definitely not alone in this.
Take it from someone who has had their fair share of insecurities, challenges, and struggles. I have allowed these things to bring me down and shift my outlook on life for a very long time. It was hard to find the beauty in anything. I was ready to throw in the towel and just give up on being happy and living to my full potential.
Today, I choose to live my life by the cheesy quote we all have heard a million times. “When life gives you lemons, MAKE LEMONADE!”
Now, having had an ABUNDACE, and I mean ABUNDANCE of lemons thrown my way. I am choosing to well, make some Out-of-this-world LEMONADE!!!
Cooking has always been a passion of mine, but has definitely been put on the back burner. No matter how mouth watering delicious or how....interesting...the final product came out, I always found a sense of relaxation and accomplishment after spending some time in the kitchen. Follow me on this journey of making life FUN again!
Its time to boost our health, calm our minds, and brighten our souls. Its time to make life SWEET AGAIN.
Lets get Cookin!
My nieghbor wouldn't let me sleep last night so I got up and drew this happy doduo. Its kinda wonky but kinda cute and perfect idk 🖤
Looking up...
Breakthrough finally
Happiness can be real now
I have a new job.
100 likes! I have never been better at liking things in my whole unlife! And I used to HATE achivements now I LOVE them.
Fear! My beloved! Ahh I saw fear appreciation pop up on the tl and decided to jump on that bandwagon, because when is it never time to send fear love?
You are the 1st blog I followed when I joined Tmblr- if not 1st then the 2nd, and I just remembered getting excited whenever you’d post something so I could go read it. I think I started following like right in the middle of my school year and reading your long detailed hw posts just really helped take my mind off things. These days I never see you on my Tl anymore since I started following so many people (so I might unfollow some of them for you /hj)
Speaking of writing- gosh the way you write is so crazy, you are crazy. I haven’t finished Gods Will Bow but the way you just kinda study and go on and on about works of literature like it’s nothing is so crazy to me fr. Like you catch ever single detail that I cant hardly understand. I’m in the fearwastaken server and sitting in one of those calls listening to you talk and ramble about some topics just. It’s always wonderful. Fearwastaken server (beloved)
And when you compliment my art :] Always so wonderful, you are a great person user Fearwastaken, you really are! And when you asked me if we were friends, you don’t know how happy I was to reply to that.
Anyways, I’m becoming a fear stannie, try to guess who I am (it’s easy, I think)
hi left. this is so nice. this so fucking nice. what the fuck. hello? this is so nice?? what?
left i’m so grateful you like my stuff so much and i’m so glad you enjoy my analysis (look it’s a psychological horror fanfic, it’s not bad, it’s just not meant to be romantic). you’re always welcome at fearcasts, i really enjoy your presence there!
of course i like your art! you’re so talented!!! everyone go follow @leftsan, they’re really talented and make cool art! :)
(and of course you’re my friend. of course.)
Hehrhehehehehehehehheehhe teeheee teeeheeee smiley smiley smiley smiley! 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Recently went to a sunflower field near where I live and took some pics. And tbh, it was really cool. There was at least 2 acres of sunflowers. I was just blown away by how many there were. I recommend visiting it if u have time. It’s in Marion, PA. (Just if ur curious)
😁👌
Autumn moodboard
Between two kingdoms of summer and winter There was a girl who lived in the forest Her voice so calming, so quite, so gentle My golden braclet on her skinny wrist
I asked her to teach me how to dance like the rain She said just hold my hand and ill do the rest And then I could feel her heartbeat in my vain Her sweet laugh and the world tormented a little less
Lovely girl in a golden dress
Wallpaper with my queen Amy
~ Julia💫
Dont be afraid to be different
Create your own world
Dance in it
Cry in it
Drown in it
Die in it
Happiness is a question
You are the answer
I just wanted to say that you make me so happy everyday Thank you for beeing here for all of us Sean
I dont know where to start. My name is Julia im from Poland and I in case we never see eachother i wanted to thank you for everything now. You make me happy everyday and I dont know how to live without your smile. You inspired me to do so many things like singing
I love drawing I drew so many fanarts I hope you like them. I also love playing piano and writing poems. You helped me so so much You showed me that Im good enaugh and I dont need to be afraid to be myself.
You showed me gaming side of youtube and gaming at all. Im so glad you played games like: Undertale, Last Guardian, DetroitBH, Night in the woods or Layers of fear. Now gaming is big part of my life
I met so many friends in our community. Beautiful, lovely, funny and amazing people.
We all care about you so much and I just wanted to tell you all of this because.. I just want you to know. You saved me so many times. You are always there for me when i need you and you dont even know me. So I wanted to give you something back
I know Im dumb, naive and I cant speak english very well but I dont care haha Please take care of yourself Your health is more important than little break on youtube We will always be here for you I will ! Love you ~Julia
Thank you for everything
@therealjacksepticeye
Stars on the sky like freckles on her face Freckles like a constellacions Constelations behind her strawberry blond hair
Summer Solstice~~
Episode 1: Robot
Episode 2: Just Lanky
Episode 3: Disturbing
Episode 4: :Little Monster (April 22)
Episode 5: Perfect (April 29)
I’m on Webtoon and Tapas if you wanna check me out. The name of these mini comics is Owie!
“That’s the thing about introverts; we wear our chaos on the inside where no one can see it.”
— Michaela Chung | The Irresistible I️ntrovert
