Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Photo Journal: The colors and textures of India and Nepal



While visiting India and Nepal recently, I had many moments when I would stop and just breath in the beauty. The intense amount of colors and textures of this new land had me speechless. I had an idea of what I would see when I was in each place, both times I had completely undershot on the beauty of them. The colors were vibrant, the smells were different (good and bad), and the textures all around me were magical. 

I knew that I had to write a post to show off some of what I had experienced, I wanted to be able to return and remember this life changing trip over and over again.


















































Xoxo,
Julie

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Well... I'm off to India!


Hi everyone!

I am currently counting down the time (less than two hours) until I leave my house to board an airplane headed to India. I will be exploring for 18 days total (Including travel time). I just posted a video on my YouTube channel about what I packed for this trip. Take a peek and say hello, hope you're all having an amazing day!
XOXO 
Julie

Monday, November 16, 2015

New places




Do you guys have any local spots that you just haven't made the time to get out to? Don't worry, I do too. Well, I am happy to say that I officially checked one of them out! I went on a hike to one of the MANY spots in this massive national park. 

Yosemite....yeah i know, I live within 3 hours of this place yet I had never been. Its one of those things where you live so close that you kinda put it off you know? Like tourists from other places come to Yosemite to check it out! Yet I somehow have never been. I am happy to say that I loved this magical place. The amount of sheer beauty that this place exudes is unreal. Not to sound too damn cheesy but it really is that amazing. We hiked though one of the many different trails and once we came to a point in the road we decided to go a little off trail hiking. While everyone was looking at this beautiful waterfall from a far we managed to climb through plants and rock to get a front row seat. We sat on this massive rock with the best view while we ate some snacks that we had packed.  Perfect little afternoon in some place new. I have plans to go back in the future, hopefully one day hiking Half Dome.  Until next time...  








Friday, November 13, 2015

Food Friday: Chai Tea Latte ice cubes


It is freaking November already, can you guys believe it?.... I still feel as if it's July. This entire year has flown by so quickly. We all know what comes with fall though... Pumpkin spice EVERYTHING... don't worry I am not a hater. I enjoy a nice pumpkin drink from time to time but It had me thinking about other types of delicious fall beverages. I have ALWAYS loved the Tazo chai tea latte concentrate. A warm chai tea latte with foam, yes freaking please.

I wanted to take it in a different direction though since I do live in California and its not always the coldest outside. I wanted to make something that I could use during my 3pm pick me up when I usually opt for an iced beverage.

 Freaking Chai Tea Latte Ice cubes *light bulb* I randomly thought of how delicious this would be and dude, I was right. 
So I present to you my creation:


This recipe can seriously be made with a blind fold on super easy peezy. The three ingredients that you will need to make these ice cubes are:
  • Tazo (or brand of your choice) Chai Tea Latte concentrate 
  • Type of milk that you prefer (Cow,soy,almond,coconut ect.)
  • Cinnamon
You will also need an ice cube tray to make these delicious little cubes with. Once you have all the ingredients ready, mix equal parts of milk and concentrate and stir around. Pour the mixture into the ice cube tray and dash the tops with cinnamon. Place in the freezer until they are completely frozen (I left mine in overnight). Once they are frozen take them out and wiggle them around until they fall out of the ice cube tray. Play into a ziplock back and.......


TADA! *magic* You have now officially made some delicious Chai Latte cubes of goodness. "Hmm.... but what the hell should I do with these?" you might ask. Im sure there are tons of ways that you can use these but the couple that I tried are below. :)


The first way that I used the cubes were in my coffee. Brandon, no matter what the temperature outside, likes iced coffee. Sometimes I will make sure to have iced coffee ready in the fridge, but lets be honest, no one has time for that Shiz. I put 4 chai ice cubes in the bottom of my glass and used my trusty keurig to brew up a cup of coffee for him. I added a dash of creamer because he likes it a little on the sweeter side, once the cubes have melted and the coffee was cold I added regular ice cubes to make it super chilly. 

For myself, I made an iced chai latte by mixing equal parts of the milk and concentrate into a glass and topping with the chai cubes. No watering melting cubes for me. 


The next way that I used these ice cubes were with frozen bananas and a dash of milk. I have been making banana ice cream for the last month and love it! It's super easy to make because the base ingredient is frozen bananas. I used 2 chai iced cubes but you could certainly add more to your liking. I normally use my food processor to make my "ice cream" but was feeling lazy and used my magic bullet. I added all the ingredients right in and this delicious super creamy milkshake like consistency ice cream came out. One more dash of cinnamon and you have just made your self some cinnamon chai banana ice cream. Oh yeahhhhhhh

  


Hope you all enjoyed this recipe, let me know if any of you make these little delicious cubes.