happy monday:)

i think i will keep this weekly mixtape going.
i really love having the option to switch up playlists for my subway rides without loosing space on my phone and listening to newer albums.

i really loved the playlist i made last week but feel like i need something with a little more energy this week.


1. death grips // you may think he loves you ....
2. angel haze // new york
3. blood orange // time will tell
4. earl sweatshirt // sunday
5. childish gambino // v. 3005
6. death grips // birds
7. kelela // cut 4 me
8. hands // trouble
9. porcelain raft // unless you speak from your heart
10. new navy // zimbabwe

{ listen on spotify}

it's a bit different then what i would normally listen to
but i'm feelin it and i hope you will too!

have you discovered any new artists lately?

-bea

i am the kind of person that learns things the hard way.
i can remember from an early age my mother telling me that there are two ways to do anything in life, the easy was or the hard way.
when she would tell me this, she was usually referring to cleaning my room a little everyday or  having to deal with the buildup at the end of the week or like studying vs cramming.
kid things.
but like most things she's told me through my life, this is applicable in just about any situation.

for example, my inability to be on time for anything.

instead of doing things the easy way,
like setting my alarm a few hours before i need to be somewhere to have time to eat and get ready,
i choose to stay up until 7 am and set my alarm for half an hour before i need to leave giving me barely enough time to wash my face and put on socks.
but because i went to bed at 7am i sleep through the alarm and next thing you know I am 40 minutes late to my one hour oboe lesson.

i am an asshole.

but today I learned my lesson and will hopefully be one of those people who learn things the easy way.

hope you are all having a happy saturday!
what have you learned this week?

-bea

i refused to wake up this morning and the mixture of 6 alarms followed by all the snooze alarms that went off seemed to do the trick.
it at least annoyed chris enough that he wouldn't let me sleep anymore.

to my surprise it was a beautiful snowy and bright day out.
i rarely check the weather here like i did when i lived in florida.
i guess because usually its just cold out here and thats .

I love walking in the snow and having my contacts moistened by freezing snowflakes.
is that weird?



i managed to stay indoors most of the day (my winter clothes just seem to absorb snow and then i go all numb, not pleasent) but i went on a cookie hunt around 10 pm.
it still hadn't stopped snowing.



i have never seen snow this thick!
our little basement entry way is pretty flooded with snow.

it is so crazy that the weather up north tends to last all day.
it is so different from florida where one second the weather could be bright and clear and the next you're under a tornado warning and it looks so scary outside you worry your bungalow might get taken away in the storm.

i think i prefer the consistency and i don't really miss the thunder and lighting one bit.



also real winter isn't as bad as i thought it would be.
but i really do miss the beach.

-bea

• so much time with chris
  
• re-exploring juicing
  
• much relaxing
  
• attending the chamber music society conference. ( so much free swag!)
  
• and signing up for a free month of spotify premium

happy wednesday everyone!

i just wanted to share my 2014 anthem with you.

i didn't really set any resolutions, aside from the usual make more music and be confident.
this video/song inspires me to do both.

i posted about the beyoncé album as soon as i heard about it and saw the trailers, so like any sensible person who didn't have money and didn't want to steal the album off of the internet i turned to tumblr and was able to find and watch all the videos. i was in love i think i spent all night looking up the videos and watching them on repeat //

two of the videos really hit me hard. the first is blue, i think it's the images of brazil and the sweet sound of it but i always almost cry when i watch that video. i did cry the first time (it was mad late like 3 am late) but i can hold myself together now. i spent the whole last semester studying brazilian popular music, and the images and how beautiful brazil seems as opposed to what we read and talked about really effected my emotions. but this is not my anthem.

my motivational, keep on pushing, you can do whatever the hell you want anthem is grown woman.

the video is perfect and this makes me feel like i want to feel.
i feel confident and happy when i listen to it and  i definitely need more confidence in 2014.
i'm too old for this shy and self-conscious bullshit.
i am a grown woman, i need to act like it.

but anyway here is the video!




-bea

hi everyone!

hope everyone is having a super relaxing weekend. i just wanted to share a super easy brownie recipe i tried this weekend. i am writing this as i eat the last giant pie wedge shaped piece of brownie from my fridge.

i have the biggest sweet tooth especially during winter. most winters my diet goes out of control and cookies are about the only thing i eat. in the winter of 2011 i am pretty sure i survived december on cookies alone. since then i have grown a little wiser and save my all desert meals for breakfast and try to limit my sweet intake to just a few sweets a days.

friday night around 1 am ( i am nocturnal now) my sweet meter was running low and the corner shop where i get my oreo fix was closed so i had to improvise. i love baking but my kitchen in nyc is small and extremely low on counter space. so i needed something easy to make that wouldn't make a mess and my mind went straight to brownies.  this is the end result.


all you will need is:

2 cups of flour ( i used all purpose)
2 cups of sugar
3/4 cup of cocoa powder - unsweet
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch of salt

mix this together in a big bowl then add

1 cup of soy milk (or water)
1 cup oil ( i used olive)
1 cap full of vanilla extract

mix well and put in a greased pan or if you don't have a square pan like me a pie dish works wonderfully.
put in oven for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.

i was super happy with how they came out.
sometimes vegan baked goods are dry and not appetizing but these were nice and moist.

does anyone else overdose on sweets in the winter months?
if so, what is your favorite sweet treat?

happy baking!

- bea