nineteen

Yesterday was my nineteenth birthday. I can't believe how quickly this past year has gone by, and so much has changed since last April. I made a list of things to do/things to live by for 19, to make sure I have an amazing last year as a teenager.

Remember my 18th birthday post last year? I decided to do a similar post to document this birthday.


First, my outfit of the day. I wore my favorite dress and layered a bunch of dainty necklaces. Luckily it was warm enough for me to wear this, it had been raining all week but the sun came out yesterday!


When I woke up, I walked out of my bedroom to find dozens of balloons scattered around my dorm. Then there was breakfast and coffee waiting for me on the dining table, made by my lovely roommate!

After my last class of the afternoon, I met a few of my friends to play frisbee on the quad. Little did I know this was actually a ploy to keep me busy and away from my dorm.


After frisbee, Josh pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. I figured it was just a birthday card, but I opened it and found an invitation to a teaparty at my dorm!


Ashley and Sheela had put together a surprise teaparty for me; complete with little desserts, lots of tea, and pretty decorations!

After the lovely teaparty, I ended the festivities by going out to dinner with a few friends. Food and good company always make a perfect evening.

Thank you to all my friends and family for the birthday wishes, and an extra thanks to my friends who made my birthday super special!

Cheers to 19 ♥

18

Today I turned 18. It's strange saying I'm 18, because it was always such a far away age to be, but now that's how old I really am. It's like when you start high school for the first time, it almost doesn't seem real that you've gotten that far. (Am I making sense?)

But I am very excited about being 18. It's the beginning of the end, but also the beginning of a new part of my life. High school is ending, but soon I will move out and start college and everything will be different. I can't wait for a new adventure to begin.


So today, since it was my birthday, I wore a twirly, pink lace dress that I've been saving to wear. I also wore this charming little necklace that looks like a perfume bottle full of pearls.


I came home from school today and these pretty flowers were on my dresser. (Thank you mom!)


My friend Loli gave me a beautiful bouquet of roses. (Thank you thank you Loli!)  Everyone knows how much I love flowers. ♥

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, and thank you for all the gifts. Today was wonderful. ♥

yes, more gifts (and more instagram)

This has been a week of gift giving. My mom's birthday, my cousin's birthday (Jade, just so you know, you have a present on the way), some gifts for my friends for no reason, and now another birthday; one of my friends (not one that I gave the cookies to earlier this week). So I wanted to get her something that nobody else was going to get her, and I didn't want to just go out and buy some random stuff that she can go buy herself. So I picked out a bouquet of flowers and a delicous cupcake from our local bakery to surprise her with tomorrow morning at school. I  love getting flowers, so I think she'll like getting flowers too, and it's not something you would usually get for yourself. And who wouldn't want a cupcake on their birthday? ♥

strawberry cupcakes

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JADE AND MOM!

So, Thursday was my cousin Jade's birthday and Friday was my mom's birthday. Unfortunately, I don't live close enough to Jade to celebrate her birthday with her, but for my mom, I made these delicious strawberry cupcakes. (Jade, I'm sending you a virtual batch of cupcakes ♥)

I used this recipe from Confections of a Foodie Bride. I LOVE this recipe, the cupcakes are so light and fluffy, and they taste wonderful. The only thing I changed in the recipe was using coconut milk instead of regular milk (only because I don't like regular milk). For the frosting, I used this frosting recipe from Recipe Girl. The frosting was really good too, the only thing I would do differently next time is cut the recipe in half because it made so much frosting. I think I had a lot leftover because I made cupcakes rather than an actual cake.

I sliced up some strawberries to garnish the top with. They kind of look like butterfly wings. Or a pair of lungs... Let's just go with butterfly wings. ;)


You can't tell from the picture, but the cupcakes did turn out a pretty, light pink. That's another thing I like about this recipe is that there aren't any artificial dyes or coloring added to make them pink (unless you add food coloring to make a brighter pink, which I didn't do).

I will definitely be making these again!

birthday cupcakes

Saturday we celebrated my sister's birthday by going to a local "cupcakerie" and decorating cupcakes! These are the ones that I made. It was so much fun, and the cupcakes are soooo delicous.