Complicated

       Yesterday was one of the strangest days. I woke up feeling like complete shit. Then my dad decides to come stress me out about how I need to do something because my health is out of control, even though I was fully trying to explain how I'm trying what the dermatologist said. To that he just freaked out more, and I get it, it's scary to see me take what not only didn't work before, but only hurt. BUT it's scary enough for me on my way, I didn't need the extra worry nor stress. Then he decides he wants to take me another natural remedy doctor right then, so I had to cancel my plans. Though I do want to get better, I didn't want to go to another doctor, it was all just reminding me of last year how I went through several doctors, was out 6 weeks and still had no idea - so obviously, I didn't want to repeat any of that.
       Plus, I didn't think I was giving the dermatologist's recommendations fair trail as I had only used her medication for 3 days.

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       Then there was a big, stupid, ridiculous fight with my sister - so stupid and ridiculous that it's not even worth writing about.

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       I am thankful for my mother however, as she absolutely warmed my heart when I came home and saw the table packed with gluten free pastas, breads & snacks. To explain why this meant so much, I'll have to remind you of that list of foods that the nutritionist told me to stay away from: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes, all dairy products, sugars, and fried foods. Now, it was hard enough to give up those foods - especially for breakfast because without dairy my best options were basically toast and eggs.
       But since, my appointment with the dermatologist Friday, that list increased and my life - especially my breakfast - became much more complicated! I remember waking up Saturday morning absolutely bewildered  on what to make for breakfast. I was actually sad because I had just bought Eggo waffles and sour cream to spice things up instead of just toast and eggs and I was so excited to share some recipes here, but those plans were obviously crushed as I can't have wheat (so now toast either) and I can't have any thing with calcium (like the sour cream).
      So, when I saw that table filled with gluten free snacks, I honestly teared up a bit because I was really glad to know that I had some one there for me - my mother not only sympathizes with my situation, but really wants to help.

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       Though my day started off terrible because of so many reasons, it took one small action from my caring mother to make it all better. Mothers are the greatest! <3

DermaBULLogist

So I went to the dermatologist yesterday and didn't exactly enjoy it. I found her very rude, always trying to rush me and cutting me off, and as soon as I mentioned that I had been trying some natural remedies, she just scuffed and said "Well, that won't do anything!" Yes, natural remedies will take longer to show effects but they do work and I don't have to worry about all the side-effects.
She prescribed some medication  - more anti-biotics as well as more cortisone, fun! - but I will speak to the Nutritionist first before using, or even buying, anything.

On a happier note, I'm looking forward to going to a concert tonight with my amazing boyfriend and my sister. More details on that to come! ;)

Why I've been M.I.A.

          I'm very disappointed that I haven't been posting anything but I've been so discouraged because I've been going through a very hard time lately. There were many disappointments going on in my life - school and my relationships being the ones with the biggest impact. It's so heartbreaking to know how much effort you put into school or a relationship only to have them disappoint you. I will probably get in that in a later post as I'm not quite ready to just yet.



          Then there is my health. I have always been one to be in great health at all times, but lately, it's been the complete opposite. Earlier on this year, I got really sick and was out of school for 6 weeks. It was a very stressful time for me because right before I got so sick, my laptop crashed and I lost all my notes. This all happened right before finals. So not only was I worrying about how I was going to study without my notes, but I was worrying about what was going on with my health and how I was even going to write my exams! I went through 5 different doctors, including one at a hospital, and they all had different opinions on what was happening to me: some said it was a viral infection, others strep throat, pharyngitis, mono, and so on. To this day I still don't know what it was. I was just glad that I was finally able to eat a real meal (not just water and crackers) and get out of bed.
         Though I may not be sick like I was, being so sick and taking so many different kinds of medications, has taken a HUGE toll on my body, especially since I had been so accustomed to rarely needing any medication at all. That and all the other stress of everything going on in my life has really messed with my health.
          Over the summer, I started to get some dry spots here and there and figured it was a heat rash or something due to the hot weather - especially since I spent weeks in Rome and Madrid in extreme heat! (Maybe I'll say more about that amazing trip later - maybe.)
          When I got back, my skin was much worse and it was getting cooler outside, so I doubted it was just a heat rash, and so I went to my family doctor, who was pretty much useless - not surprisingly. I went to another doctor who said I needed to see a dermatologist and gave me a cream for the meantime. I waited a week for the dermatologist to call me to make an appointment - nothing. So I, sick of waiting and not willing to let this get any worse, went to a Nutritionist who specializes in natural remedies. I was attended right away and while I only got a call from the Dermatologist today for an appointment tomorrow, I have already seen the Nutritionist twice and will be seeing her a third time later on this week.
          I'll admit that it was overwhelming to hear all that was going on and wrong with my body, but I was very glad that I went to go see her. I felt like I finally understood what was going on and that there was hope. She spent a good hour with me and explained everything really well. I won't go into too much detail but basically my immune system is very, very weak due to all the anti-biotics and such that I was taking during those 6 weeks as well as the cortisone - a steriod hormone - I was taking for my skin. All of this also had a big effect on other parts of body like my blood and liver.
          I have much faith in natural remedies because I know what I am putting into my body and it is all natural and not toxic to my body at all - it only does good and has no scary side-effects - unlike all the other medications I was on.
          So, for starters, I have to start a better diet and avoid certain foods such as: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes, all dairy products, and sugars. It's not easy giving up all those delicious foods which are usually part of my everyday diet, but I do believe it is worth it. I'm also trying a few other things but I will probably go over that in another post - this is much too long as it is!

          I really want to continue posting, as I really do enjoying doing so and I hope to share my progress with these struggles, my tips, and just other fun things because life is short and is meant to be enjoyed and shared.

         I hope everyone has a great day and stays healthy! :)<3

Cake Pops!

As promised, here are some pictures of the "little something something" I made for my boyfriend on our 16 months anni: Cake Pops!

Yes, those are my boyfriend's hands holding his cake pops <3

This was my 1st time making these, but it was pretty simple: I gently blended half of the remaining vanilla cake in a mixer so that the cake was in crumbles. Then I added some chocolate frosting until it was good enough to roll into little balls. (It may have been better to use vanilla frosting since it was a vanilla cake, but chocolate frosting was what I had. It ended up looking like marble cake though, which is pretty cool, I guess.) Then I stuck the cake balls in the freezer. In the meantime, I started melting semi-sweet chocolate and dipped some sticks into the chocolate and pierced the cake balls. I put that back in the freezer and melted more chocolate. Having the sticks stick nicely in the cake balls, I covered the cake balls in melted chocolate and then stuck the stick into a styrofoam block for the now cake pops to harden nicely in the fridge. And voila!

 P.S. Can you tell how tired I look? I stayed up late studying as I had part 1 of that test worth 25% the next day (although at that time, I thought I was doing the full test... it's a long story...)

A Very Chocolatey Cake!

I got to say, this is probably one of the best looking - and tasting - cakes I've ever made!

Well, I just came back from writing the 2nd part of my test for my summer course (which was worth a ridiculous 25% of my mark!) and I thought I'd share what I have been up to lately. First off, it was my brother's birthday recently and I made him a cake myself :) Now, my brother is a fiend for chocolate so when I came across a picture of a similar cake on Tumblr, I knew that I had to recreate it for him!

Here is what the inside looks like. As, you can see, not only did I bake him a rich chocolate cake, but I also added half of a vanilla cake in between for a nice layering effect - and also for a little break from all the other chocolate going on.
To attach the 3 layers of cake (chocolate, vanilla, and chocolate) I put chocolate frosting so they'd stick together.
Then I frosted the entire cake and layered the outer part of the cake with kitkat bars and then dumped a bunch of m&ms on top (you might be able to notice that the middle has smaller m&ms and the outer part has larger m&ms).
Then just to better secure the kitkat bars, I tied a ribbon around the cake.

It's really not that hard! It's definitely something different and it tastes delicious! <3

Btw, yes my brother did turn 16 and funny thing, but that same day my boyfriend and I celebrated our 16 months. <3 I made a little something something for him as well - using the other half of the vanilla cake that I didn't use for my brother's cake - nothing goes to waste with me! ;) ahaha
I'll probably post what I made for him tomorrow - this post is long enough!

Cheers!

"Your presence is a present to the world"

Wow, its been a while since I posted and I am sorry - so much has happened that I wish I had taken the time to post something - it could have even possibly cheered me up.. In all honesty, I've been pretty down and especially overwhelmed lately. Because of that I didn't want to post at all - I only wanted to post when I was in a good mood. What made me change my mind however, is that a while back, I had posted on my facebook status a quote reading "Your presence is a present to the world". I mostly posted it as a reminder to myself and I thought maybe other people would like it as well. Just yesterday, however, an old friend messaged me about how that quote touched her, not only because of what she was going through, but because one of her friends committed suicide earlier. She also said that she wished she had said that quote to her friend, that maybe hearing it would have changed things... I sympathized with her and gave as much comfort and support I could, of course. But what I realized is that sometimes even sharing our disappointments or troubles, helps others. Perhaps being able to relate makes people feel less lonely and instead more understood. Also, sharing how you cheer up yourself could even help others cheer themselves up.
I can honestly say that just writing this, admitting that I was feeling down, but realizing how much worse things could be, allows me to be thankful and that cheers me up! :) & if it cheers anyone up also, then that's a bonus!
I wish everyone all the best!

Tuesday's Yummy Brunch :)

So, having a pretty crazy weekend which consisted of many packed events and a 2 day sleepover (of which one night, we only got 1 hour of sleep!) and then having school the next day (Monday), I finally got my much needed rest and slept in! Unfortunately though, I do have a test coming up - that is worth a ridiculous 25% of my entire mark! So, I knew that I had to get to work :(
I made myself this delicious brunch to wake myself up and get ready for lots of readings and studying to do! & Let me tell you, it was delicious! :)<3
I must get back to work now, but I just thought I should share this delicious breakfast/brunch - it's very healthy and filling, and very delicious! It's also pretty simple to make: natural yogurt (I use Greek yogurt), blueberries and strawberries (any fruit is good, really), and then sprinkle with some granola clusters!
Cheers!
 

P.S. This photo was taken with my phone's camera, so excuse the poor quality... I couldn't find my other camera..

First Blog - Introduction

Hey world!

My name is Stephanie and I am a university student :)

I'm not sure exactly what I want from this other than to just talk about my day and certain events, record certain memories, explore certain interests I have, and perhaps even influence others - be it through products I use, books I love, little "projects" I'm thinking of starting and so on.

As a university student, being constantly burdened with so much work, I often feel very overwhelmed by the large amount of work I have and especially how little I do accomplish in a day. Thus, I think it'll be great for me to even just be able to have this to remind myself of certain things I did accomplish in a day - even if it is something as simple as baking a cake, painting my nails, etc. Sometimes, I forget about little things like that which I actually finished and it's a good reminder that I didn't just sit around all day - although there are some days where I do just that because we all need a break once in a while!
I'd also like to use this as my keepsake as I sometimes set out little at home "projects" just for fun and it'd be nice to have them recorded. Even with something that didn't take very long, but which I liked how it turned out and so I'd want to keep a picture because I'm not sure I'd be able to recreate it exactly the same again (which is the case oftentimes). I especially want to keep these pictures recorded as my laptop recently crashed and so I lost all my pictures, as well as course notes - right before finals too - yup, it was a tough year! Which is another reason why I just want to enjoy every moment, appreciate the simple things and just have fun this year! :)

Btw, I just started my spring course today - I hope all goes well and that I enjoy it! :) It seems interesting enough thusfar, hopefully that continues!

Stephanie