Food.

There's this spice I can't stand. And whenever I come across it, I drop the food immediately. But there's another problem. I have no idea what this spice is called. I find it in pizza, fried chicken, sauces. So a while ago I bit into some saucy chicken and the spice hits me. I tell my dad, Here, bite into this! The spice I'm talking about hits you as soon as you take a bite! So he tried the chicken. Nothing.

This makes me think, how do you describe food? What one person finds delicious, another finds disgusting. The flavors one can taste mean nothing to others. Is that what's going on? The first thing that came to my mind was in Ratatouille, when Remy told Emile to taste the flavor. Not just gulp it up. But Emile couldn't. So is it just Emile that can't taste food in that way?

Emile can barley taste the specific flavors

But can you label people like that? Some that can feel that spice and some who for them, the spice blends into the meal?

Remy feels the flavors and understands them.

Think about it. Food is a very.... personal thing. A lot like religion. We all have the same taste buds, do we just understand food on certain levels? Is food the same for anyone? Maybe it changes for every person. You can never feel what another person is feeling, only what you are.

You will never see with the eyes of someone else, only yours. You won't ever know EXACTLY the taste that someone else understands. Food is a very complicated thing.

In some ways, it's like poetry. There are no rules. In school, you are told how to write poems, and then you are criticized and graded on them, after you are told there are no rules to poetry.

Is food a lot like this?

For some people, food is just something to get them through life. For others it's a reward, to cook and get amazing food. Others think of it as a way of life. Something we take for granted, can be so deep, so specific, so general.

Nobody will ever taste food the way you taste it. And you won't understand the flavors going on through another's body. It's just something to think about, if you'd like to.

Sephora Gift Box?!

So, a while ago I got myself a Sephora White Card. Ok. No biggie.

In Doha, how it works is for every 10 riyal you spend, you get 1 point. With a certain amount of points accumulated, you receive gifts! The 10 for 1 rule is very extremely terrible. Which brings me to my second thought. (Even though I now realize I didn't have a first thought)

In Romania, or any civilized place, 1 riyal (leu) is 1 point.

Why is this so terrible in Doha?

Well, at 200 points, you get the Sephora black card. Then, you get presents all the time. For actually no reason. So, if you think about it, in Doha, you have to spend 2,000 riyals in Sephora to get the damn black card.

Ok, moving on.

During the summer I get an e-mail from Sephora about a gift I had received for joining (the only gift you get for the White Card). It was a 125 ml Supreme Body Lotion and a 140 ml Lagoon Creamy Body Wash. 

I was like, Cool. I actually really needed a body wash, and those two things were pretty awesome sounding. Then I realized that the e-mail wasn't showing up properly. So, who knows why, I decide to highlight the text.

 In this empty box next "validity date" appears a date. The 24th of August. I was in Romania on vacation, so I couldn't pick them up. But on the 24th I came back in Doha for school. 

So fast forward to August 24th.

I'm in Sephora. In order to receive my gift, I have to buy something. So I choose some really cool nail stickers. 

Then, when I get to the paying part of the process, I give the cashier my Sephora card and tell him about the gift. He looks a bit uncertain, and he goes into this drawer and pulls out this pretty big box. 

Okey dokey.  

When I get home, I open up the box. What I see is no body wash and lotion. 

First, there is this card about Eid. Ok, I think, My voucher must of expired today and so he gave me my Eid present. There's an Eid present?

Next, I see a pink bath sponge. Then one of those small compact Sephora eye shadows. There's also an eyeliner, a pretty big bubble bath/shower gel bottle, an O.P.I nail polish, a lipstick, and a lip liner. That is a lot of stuff. 

I'm thinking, I'm not supposed to be getting this stuff! It's so much! So then, I read the card.

Blah, blah, blah, for continuing to visit SEPHORA for your purchases throughout this year with your SEPHORA Black Card, we woul...... WHAT? It just said Black Card. So this is a gift for Black Card people. 

Then I look on the back of the box. A small sticker says, "DEMONSTRATION NOT FOR SALE". 

So this box was the only gift the guy had left, even though it was just supposed to be in display about the Black Card. And he gave it to me! Me, the White Card Nerd!  What is my luck!

I got the coolest leftover gift ever! Thank god they were out of Lagoony stuff!

*Product Description Time*

Now that story time is over (Eeeeek!), I'll tell you all what exactly is in here.

First of all, the nail stickers that I bought. So cool! The stickers can come on skin and nail! Definitely will be using them soon.

The sponge is pretty basic and pink, it's more on the smaller end, so I think I'll use it for traveling.

The shower gel/bubble bath is with Peony flower extract. Smells amazing! The bottle shape is really cool, a kind of half circle (round on one side, flat on the other)

I really love the nail polish. It's O.P.I's "I SAW...U SAW...WE SAW...WARSAW" It looks black on your nail, but has this navy blue tint to it.

My cousin has his really great eyeliner that I love, this sparkly gold/green color. Well, I got the same one, but in black. I've got to say, it really isn't a lot in amount, plus it's not water proof. It if pretty pigmented though. And dries fast. 

Next, the eyeshadow. It's a shimmer called "Satin corset N*68". I really love this color. It's a nice nude, but shimmery. Very simple and cutesy. I actually don't own any make-up, and I was looking for eyeliner and eye shadow. Check!

This lipstick is not my color. I'm pretty tanned, And this is a pretty light shade of pink for me. It's the Sephora Rouge "Seduce".

Now, this lip liner is a really pigmented color. I really love it. I know it's supposed to only outline your lips, but it's a really fun bright color. So cute! I filled in my lips with it, and it did feel really dry, but boy, it's pigmented! It's the 17 "funky fuchsia". I had my hair in a messy bun all day and this was an awesome pop of color to my face.

So I guest this is it. I have a ton of projects done, and I really want to share them with you. Keep an eye out for that.

;)  

Bruce Bogtrotter's Cake & YouTube

Ok, so I didn't keep my promise (oops?). This is long delayed. Maybe I just procrastinated a teensy little bit over the past, umm.. weeks. Oh well!

For those of you who don't know, (why?) Bruce Bogtrotter is a poor little boy from the book Matilda, by Roald Dahl. Bruce stole cake from the headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and she made him eat a whole cake as a punishment. Now all of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, go and educate yourselves, read the book or go watch the movie. 

I tried to make the cake. Why you ask? Well, as you probably know, I spend most of my time on YouTube.  
My parents think it's "washing my brain" (I can't even explain what I'm thinking right now. Oh, yes I can: Trage curentu' ) but, it's doing lots other of things. (Get ready for a lecture on YouTube)

EXAMPLE TIME!!
 Jim, for example made a video about making this cake, so I made it, and Mom, I think I remember you telling me that you loved the cake. Zoella made a video talking about ways to keep calm. Alfie made a video about a summer booklet, which I also have made (need to do a post on that), and I've wrote a lot in it. 

Now possibly, I could have found these things in a book, but being able to learn them by actually seeing another human doing it, (YouTube) has helped me a lot more. I still love books, but when a person tells you something in a video, it really is a ton more fun. 

You all (Mom, Dad) always come in when I'm just watching funny stupid stuff like Bunny testing out eye products, or when I'm watching people playing Sims 3, or even the slap prank. So excuse me for trying to laugh once in a while. 

And while you're saying it's washing my brain, I'm learning stuff in a really fun way. And plus, you're the ones that watch the news and start to cry about a 15 year old dying because she didn't get up from the computer. Now you're the ones obsessing over this stuff, and when I ask why are you watching this if it makes you sad, the ever so popular, "I'm just waiting to hear the weather" kicks in. YouTube really has helped me relax and laugh, especially when I was upset, it helped me block out all the negativity around me. Or in other words, I put my hater blockers on! (That's from YouTube too).

Now back to the cake!

From 1 to 10, it looks like crap. But it tastes good! I got the idea from Jim Chapman (cough, cough), and the recipe from here!

First, you have to line your pan with wax paper, and then butter it. I was an idiot and buttered the actual pan, then stuck the wax paper on. But then I realized and put butter on the paper. Oh, butter.

Then, melt your chocolate in a Pyrex bowl. I had to Google what a Pyrex bowl was, then after realizing I didn't have one, I just used a normal non-plastic one. I've always wanted to melt chocolate on the stove with the bowl thing. Eeek! So exciting!

Oh, but before this, you really must figure out how to cut the damn chocolate. I used this special giant kind, that's used for cake, so I basically jumped on the chocolate to break it. Seriously.

After, we must add butter, so that our delicious chocolate turns all oily and greasy and makes you panic and think you've ruined the whole thing.

Then add the rest of everything except for the whites. this will make the mixture so good, you will find yourself trying to eat all of it.

Now whisk the whites. I am a very lazy person, and very weak handed (is that how you say it?). I tried using the whisk, but then just popped the whites in the mixer 'till they turned into a a foamy thing. Then, I "folded" them in to the mixture, and I've got to say, I am really very proud of myself for this. See Dad, I told you I listened in the kitchen! The mixture turned huge, so I popped that bad boy in the cake pan, and then in the oven it goes.

I just realized I used the word "popped" 2 times in the paragraph above, and both times I've accidentally spelled it "pooped".


I kept it in the oven for 35 minutes

When it came out, it immediately started sinking, and me panicking, but then I remembered that it's actually supposed to sink.

After I took it out of the oven, I started making the icing. There is no such thing as heavy cream in Romania, so, naturally, I thought of sour cream. How wrong I was. I ended up using whipped cream saucy thingy that you whip and it turns into whipped cream. I took the sauce and mixed it with some more melted chocolate. 

Then, when the cake was cool, I flipped it and poured the sauce all over.

The next day, I got the guts to try it. I do NOT like sweet things, but I like this! It's actually really gooey inside, but in a really good way. I have a feeling it's from that 1/4th a cup of flour. 

It sort of melts into your mouth, Like a delicious sauce, but stays real enough, not too candy sweet!

YAYYYY!!!! I FOUND CAKE THAT I ACTUALLY LIKE!!!
And I added some almond stuff to make it even more awesome!

Fangirling on cake:

Crappy looking cake

The Sauce

Cake floating in pool of chocolate sauce/icing

Real nice close-up

By the way, the cake came out of the oven with some nasty, like, cracks in it. Why?

The inside view

The top was more gooey, but it was creamy gooey, and more sweet. The bottom part was harder and more, "chew me for flavor". I can honestly say it was the perfect combination.

I'm back?

So, a year has gone, and I haven't even looked at this blog. I guess I'm just slightly afraid of starting again. I got 11 views today, no idea why. It's just that, I'm not even sure why I don't want to do this. I want to, but it's weird. It's only that, I know only my family is reading this, but sometimes, I maybe see a view from Russia, or Croatia, which is pretty damn cool. It's been almost a year,  and I've kinda changed. Which means that when I look back at my old posts, I'm just like, WHY!!! But then, I saw this guy named Jim Chapman's video, and he said something I'll never forget, "unless you are (no idea what he said) you will hate your first few videos. But how else are you going to learn? ... I guarentee that you'll come back to it in six months and be like, Oh Nooo!!!" So, yeah. I am 100% am going to come back to this in 6 months and hate myself, but, oh well, I'm 11 so I can get away with it ;). So that's why I'm going to try again. Tommorow, actually. (I hope). And honestly, I don't think I'm going to do "little projects" all the time. I might also just do some thoughts, more stuff on nails, blah, blah. I'm just way too lazy to change the name of the blog, so..... 

Les Cherubins

Friday I went to the holiday bazar at the Grand Hyatt and met up with my friend Dominika Bozic.

She has a blog, Les Cherubins. She is a completely utterly amazing artist. I go to see her almost every single time a bazar is going on here in Doha (so that means a lot). This time, I bought this ADORABLE THE MOST INCREDIBLY ADORABLE angel painting, and these super cute cards that I hung around my room! Her station was full of amazing paintings and other things like brooches! The paintings that are in the picture of me and her are also all printed out in the little cards. Sometimes, I just stare at them and think, Wow! How the heck do you paint that! Sorry I'm not posting, but I need to get the supplies needed in order to do it and that's gonna take a while :).

How did she do that? It's so amazing it's not even funny!!

Glitter Pumpkins!

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a great time on thursday! This project was delayed a little because we couldn't find the right materials for it. As you probably guessed, we will be making glitter pumpkins! These are sooooo cute and adorable! I got this project from Martha Stewart, love her! Watch her video if you are interested, she explains everything way better than me. To do this you'll need white glue (that dries clear), glitter, and a small pumpkin. I got my glitter from Jarir Bookstore, and I was amazed they actually had this shade! Perfect color!

So then, all you got to do is get some glue and, with a paint brush, spread glue over half the pumpkin.

Then get your glitter and sprinkle it all over the pumpkin. Repeat process with the other side. Wait for it to dry and ta-da! It's adorable! Happy late halloween!

Anniversary Gifts

Today is my parents' 23 anniversery. I was freaking out all day about what to get them, and still thinking about it when I got home from school. Then it hit me. I had won two stuffed turtles at a fair, and I had no use of them.  First I printed out two pictures of my mom and dad at their wedding. Then, I took out some velcro and (taped?) the pictures to the "shells" of the turtles.  I also put some velcro on their hands so if you put them together they looked like they were holding hands. They were adorable! Mom and Dad loved them! This is a cool little project that I think anyone can do. You could do this on all kinds of stuffed animals, on teddy bears for example, take your picture and tape it on its tummy. Happy anniversary Mom and Dad!