December Days

Happy December!

Its the most wonderful time of the year again! This morning when I woke up even with a slight cold and having the fact that I need to go to work I still yet awoke in a super happy mood. This is all because we have finally entered December, my favourite month of the year. Ok… I have to admit with living in Holland the weather has been crazy with the non stop rain, and the gloomy grey clouds, but seriously its the month of Christmas, and all things wonderful.

Currently at work we are rehearsing a lot for the upcoming performances of The Nutcracker. I remember every year at school in Canada where I grew up we would have performances of the Nutcracker and this was one of the major things that reminds me of the Holidays. But other than lots of rehearsals everyday here is kinda what a day off of dancing looks like for me.

Usually our free days are on a sunday and lets pretend its a sunny sunday, since the sunny days in Amsterdam are quite limited. On our free day I usually begin the day with "Waking up Late" this is something I dream of doing throughout the whole week but seriously when I get the chance to stay in bed, I stay in bed. Finally when I can no longer stand my empty stomach demanding food I would make my way into the kitchen. Now the real fun begins. On these sundays I really love taking the time to make a fancy breakfast and that usually includes pancakes, an array of fresh fruits, baked goods, or any kind of porridge. (Hahaha… fancy) Yup when I have time breakfast pretty much looks like this…

Now that breakfast or shall I say brunch is finished I usually fall back asleep or I make a cup of coffee and then fall asleep. If I ever awake from this nap I either try to clean up the apartment a little with my boyfriend or I start to sew my pointe shoes for the next week of work.  Now if every sunday were like last Sunday then my most amazing boyfriend will make my favourite lunch… "Okonomiyaki" which is basically a Japanese Pancake made out of cabbage, flour, eggs, and either seafood or choices of meat. I normally eat completely "Vegan" but I believe that you must not deprive yourself of what you want to eat, I do not believe in harming animals, but I also do not believe in restricting yourself from what you want to eat. This is an occasional treat for me and it seriously is one of my all time favourite dishes. 

And when the late brunch or lunch is finished I love to cuddle up with a blanket on the couch and read under the sun. And yes I do fall asleep usually. If this isn't the case then I am on the computer looking up some recipes to cook, or writing a little on this blog. 

Late afternoons would definitely involve a snack or major baking of either muffins or cookies. My boyfriend and I would usually devour it all with a nice cup of coffee. This sunday we baked some "Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Muffins". 

And finally Sunday night we usually take a walk over to the movie theatre to watch a movie or we make our own 'seriously addictive' popcorn at home and sit down to a nice movie.  And of course the popcorn is gone within 5 minutes.  So Pretty much this is how a Sunday looks like for me, now reading over this post I can state the obvious… when I don't dance I usually sleep and eat.

Hope this was fun to read… 

xoxo Coco

Coco's Pumpkin Porridge

Hello hello! So with it being the end of November I thought I would share an all time favourite winter recipe that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, and or dinner. Seriously I could live off of this stuff this whole winter.  It is my incredibly simple, inexpensive, yet delicious "Pumpkin Porridge".



Ingredients:
- 1 cup of white rice
- 1 cup of pumpkin purée
- 3 cups of water

Steps:

1. First rinse your rice 3 times with water to make sure its clean
2. Place your rice into a medium sized pot along with 2 cups of water with the heat on Medium
3. Keep watch of rice and make sure to stir
4. Add water as needed to create "porridge" consistency
5. Add the Pumpkin Purée and stir constantly
6. Once the consistency is reached turn off the stove and serve

* If you do not have Pumpkin Purée on hand, (I personally always make mine) all you have to do is take a cup of Pumpkin or Butternut Squash (both works) and boil it till it becomes soft then mash it with a fork or pop it into a blender.

Growing up in an asian family we would have porridge for most of breakfast, and during sick days, or the winter times. I absolutely love porridge, and it is one of those super cosy and comforting foods to me. I hope you guys enjoy this one! This Pumpkin Porridge, just adds an extra warmth on those cold winter days, it's like a warm hug from the inside.

A little Christmas Lush Haul and Review

We have now officially entered the holiday season, and even though many of us celebrate different holidays, I think we can all agree that this time of the year is always one to look forward to. For me, I celebrate Christmas, and there is often that very common question of, "What makes it feel like christmas"? Well for sure visiting the Lush store and having all of the Christmas collection to shop from reminds me of Christmas. I grew up with these familiar scents that return every Christmas, and recently I popped over to the store and picked out a couple Lush goodies that I have here to share my thoughts on. 

The first item on the list was "Cinders" Bath bomb. This is a classic Lush Christmas bath bomb, it returns just about every year because of all the love people show towards this small orange ballistic. This bath bomb is described as a spicy, soda scented bath bomb, and should fizz and crackle, almost as if you were sitting next to a fire place. Quite honestly I did not hear any crackling and so the image of the fireplace was kind of a disappointment however the scent of this bath bomb is what makes me running back for more every year. It has a warm scent full of spices, and is an absolute joy to bath in. 

Next on the list of "Classic" is the Christmas Eve Bubble Bar. I would recommend using this just before bed, as it gives off a beautiful and calming scent of jasmine, and lavender/ylang ylang. With about half of this bubble bar my bath water changed into a light blue colour and I had a bath full of bubbles. The bubbles are super soft on the skin and makes the water feel like cashmere. I would highly recommend this bubble bar as a relaxing treat before bed. 

Onwards to the Limited edition Lush soap "Yog Nog", this soap is described by Lush as  "Made with soy yogurt and a dash of festive spice, Yog Nog has that unmistakable creamy texture with a fudgy, spicy blend of clove bud and ylang ylang"  I really wanted to like this soap, as a matter of fact the first time I saw this soap I made a note that I would get this one instead of my Christmas favourite "Snow Cake" soap. While it does smell like a ginger bread cake dry, after using the soap it smelled just like cloves and spices that may have gone bad.... I don't know if this makes sense but it smelled like rotten spices on the skin. I very much regret purchasing this soap and will for sure be running back to purchase "Snow Cake".

Last but most definitely not least is my favourite, the "So White" Shower gel. Basically when using this shower gel on the skin it almost smells as if you jumped into a bath of fresh green apples. The "So White" scent also comes in a bath bomb form, and when I saw that they had made a Limited-Edition shower gel of this I immediately gave it a sniff. In the bottle this does not smell like the "So White" Bath bomb, however on the body, the scent is exactly the same as the bath bomb and lingers on the body the whole day. It feels super soft on the skin and leaves you smelling delightful and super fresh. If you are a fan of fruity smells I would highly recommend this shower gel. 

And that is it for my little pre holiday treat at Lush, I will most likely be back there again real soon this winter so stay tuned for some more Lush hauls, and reviews. 

xoxo Coco