Winter Wonderland 2.0

Lorelai: Wait, close your eyes and breathe. I smell snow.
Rory: Ah, it's that time of year.
Lorelai: Can't you smell it?
Rory: You know, it's like dogs and high-pitched noises. I think it's something only you can smell.
(Rory sits down next to Lorelai and pulls a blanket over the both of them)
Lorelai: I love snow.
Rory: Really, I had no idea.
Lorelai: Everything's magical when it snows, everything looks pretty. The clothes are great. Coats, scarves, gloves, hats.
Rory: Thermal underwear, wool socks, ear flaps.

 Lorelai: Oh, yeah. I smell snow.
Luke: What?
Lorelai: It's coming. I always know. I can smell it, and I'm never wrong.
Luke: It wasn't in the forecast.
Lorelai: It's just my favorite time of the year. The whole
world changes color.
Luke: I think I'm blacking out.
Lorelai: Flakes, flurries, swirls, crystals, whatever form it comes in. I'll
take it. We go back, snow and me. We have a beautiful history.
Luke: Saw two forecasts, there was no mention of snow. Cold, but no snow.
Lorelai: Sleigh rides, ice skating, snowball fights. I'll even take curling. God, I love curling!
Luke: Lance Cranston on Channel 6 said it would be dry. Kimmy Liston, Live
at 5, same thing. No snow, nothing.
Lorelai: Hot cocoa, hot toddies. Best time of the year!
Luke: Jimmy Mountain in Accu-Chopper One said it would be weeks before -
(It starts to snow)
Luke: Lance and Kimmy are idiots.
Lorelai: (to the snow) Welcome, friend.

These two dialogues from Gilmore Girls must be the quotes of the day...

This morning, as I peeked out of the window I found winter wonderland outside, which immediately made me feel giddy, and once again I realized how much I adore winter. In fact, I love winter and snow more each year, even more then I did  when I was a kid. Snow means magic to me too, just like it does to Lorelei, because the world suddenly turns perfect and innocent when it is covered with fresh snow - snow, that to me resembles to castor sugar incredibly.

Sugarcoated Winter Wonderland, that's why I love the season most!

...and then I baked, too

Come to think of it, Julie Powell has made quite an impression on me. It all started back in October when I first saw Julie and Julia. To be honest, I hadn't had high expectations towards the movie, hadn't really looked forward to it either, but I'm a fan of Meryl Streep as well as of a good chick-flick, especially if it's directed by Norah Ephron, so I thought I would give it a shot. Julie and Julia seemed to be one such movie: a sweet little nothing that keeps you entertained for a good two hours. And it did, indeed (as I have already written about it); as a matter of fact it completely charmed me - I saw it twice in the cinema -, and J&J became one of my favorite movies of 2009. The character of Julie Powell, played by Amy Adams was  one of the cutests and most loveables of the year. I adored the way Anne Roth dressed Julie, I even copied her, and started making brooches similar to the ones she wears in the movie. I also ordered and then read the book the film was based on. Although at some parts I found it overflowing and way too chit-chatty (plus it annoyed the heck out of me that I didn't understand all those French words and hadn't the slightest idea how to pronounce them), I enjoyed that, too. Maybe even more as I did the movie for there was much less Julia Child and much more Julie Powell storytelling in it.

The book gave me the idea of doing something similar to what Julie did - a year long project, something that would make a little bit of change in my life, that would open new doors and broaden my horizon. I didn't want to do the same cooking thing though, for (1) I do not hold possession of Mastering The Art of French Cooking or any other kind of cookery book. (2) As I live in a student hostel I do not have my own kitchen either; as a matter of fact, I hardly have any cooking utensils. (3) I am a third-year university student on low budget, and cannot really afford to cook all those complicated & fancy meals.

However, I somehow bumped into an article on the internet that awoke my interest, thus I learnt about  Project 365. I did get a camera just a little over a month ago, which was something I had longed for a few years. I wanted to take as many photos with it and as often as possible, thus, every piece fell into its place: I found the year-long project that suits me perfectly. It gives me something to hang onto, something that broadens my horizon, as it makes me go new places and do things I had been too lazy to do.

Moreover, Julie Powell has also awoke in me the urge for cooking and baking. As I have mentioned before I have no intention to cook 524 recipes in 365 days, yet, I would like to master the art of cooking on some level. Not to mention, that I think it's time I started baking, too. You may realize by now, that  although I can cook a few things, I'm no Nigella Lawson; as a matter of fact, baking is a comletely new territory for me. In fact, I had never baked before just last Saturday. Nevertheless, it has changed too, as - once again, lucky me! - a friend of mine got a beautiful cookery book for her birthday full of chocolate-themed recipes of cakes, cookies and other pastries. I flipped through the book, it made me yearn for chocolate in an instant, and by the time I got to the end of the volume, I realized: I MUST learn to bake ASAP. ...and, you know, the rest is history: I bought a kichen scale and the ingredients for the first two recipes I had decided to make over the weekend. Saturday evening I baked my first sponge-cake ever. Although it got stuck in the baking pan, and I could take it out only in pieces, its taste turned out to be exactly the way it was supposed to, very yummie, especially after putting the chocolate glaze on it.  (Baking lesson #1: never ever start baking without grease-proof paper!) 

Then I could not resist any longer, and made a big tray of chocolate-chip cookies just a couple of hours ago. To my amazement, it is even yummier than the sponge-cake was. And now I cannot wait to read through that cookery book again and pick the next chocolate-themed pastry I will make...

Thank you, Julie Powell!

FYI: I also found JP's original blog with all the posts from 2002/2003 - the whole Julie/Julia Project can be still read here. I started to read it just yesterday and planning to go through every post. Julie' current blog is this. (I guess I have really been bound up in her...)

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much (And Read More)

One thing that I will never ever be able to understand is the notion of time. How can a day fly me by so so unbelievably fast? It seems only a few days ago when I came back to Budapest from the Christmas break, and now it's already the middle of January and we have only two weeks left of the month (and of the exam period). Back then January seemed to be like the longest month of all,  a never-ending and long-desired nothing-to-do month that was stretching ahead of me. But it actually turned out to be quite a busy month as one in-class test follows the other at the night school I'm also attending. I had tests on 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 14th, and 15th, I am having two exams on this coming Tuesday, then another one on Thursday... and then on 25th I will have to retake (and must pass!) the phonology exam I failed at the uni back in December... A very busy week is ahead of me, another week  I will have to get throuh somehow...

Anyway, in between the tests I am trying to make the most of the days( you know I have to make the most of my twenties!): live well, laugh often, and love much. The past couple of days have been a perfect example to my ars poetica as I have been doing the things I love quite the most. As the weather was absolutely georgous on Friday - clear blue sky, no clouds at all, sunshine, very springish - it was almost like middle of March twisted with a little bit of chilly wind. After taking that test (which went very well by the way) I just wanted to walk, walk, and walk: enjoy the sun and my rosy cheeks. I also had a few errands I had to run in the town center, so I got those done while walking from place to place. I bought a kitchen scale in a beautiful kitchenware store I bumped into ( I must learn to bake, you know... and without a scale it is a tiny bit hard), then walked down to the biggest market hall we have in Budapest situated on the bank of Danube and by the foot of Szabadság Bridge. Naturally, I could not resist taking a few photos, as the weather was so lovely. 

Then the final stop was Red Bus which is my favorite second-hand bookshop in the town. As I am a complete bookaholic I must feed my addiction by visiting this shop at least a couple of times a month and purchase a few volumes. I try to moderate myself each time I am there and buy only a pair of books, but sometimes I just lose control and leave with (almost) half a dozen books under my arms... Well, this time was no exception, especially since three comlete shelves of volumes were on sale... Naturally, I browsed them through, and in the end I enriched my ever-growing library with three volumes. They are:

• Gentlemen And Players by Joanne Harris (I have been looking for this for a few months.)
  
• The Puffin Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Believe it or not I haven't read anything by Sir A.C. Doyle, and as the new Sherlock Holmes movie is out and I am planning to see it, I must read some of the original stories.)
• White Oleander by Jane Fitch (This has been on my " I must read it but before that I should locate the book somehow"-list for such a long time, and voila, I come across it.)

Red Bus also had the The Comlete Illustrated Works of Lewis Carroll; and it's been lying around there for such a long time, alway flirting with me and whispering me to buy it... But I am always too cruel and leave with other books... I think I will go back tomorrow and finally buy it... and when I am there I might as well also pick up Truman Capote's Breakfast At Tiffany's. Could I be more of a bookaholic?

New Year's Kind of Resolutions

First of all, I am well aware of the fact that it is already the middle of January and people are supposed to make New Year's Resolutions on January 1st. However, I'm a little bit peculiar in this matter too, as 

(1) I do not believe in New Year's Resolutions, or rather: simply ignore them. Resolutions are like brand new & crispy rules which are bound to be broken. Not to mention that I have always been the Grund Master of rule breaking, especially if I myself made those rules. Then what's the point of making new ones if I'm gonna break them anyway? However, I do want change a few things in my life (wow, that's a big word!), thus I came up with suggestions regarding these changes. 43things helped me to put this list together as they have quite a few suggestions regarding resolutions... 

(2) I am also the Grund Master of procrastinating, plus the first half of my January has turned out to be way more busy than I had thought it would be. However, you know the saying, it's better late than never (is it what they say?), so here is the list of my

New Year's Suggestions:

• Write an entry in my journal every day (doing great on that one as I haven't missed a day yet, yay!)
• Be more creative and productive ( I am. Can prove it with photos.)
• Comlete Project 365 (have been taking at least one photo per day, indeed)
• Read more, at least a book per week (well, well, I'm not doing too good at this matter...)
• Write more poetry, or any kind of (creative) writing
  
• Get a tattoo (yet to be done)
  
• Maintain a blog, write at least 3 entries per week (am waaaay behind...)
  
• Swim more
• Watch more classic films
  
• Keep a list of all movies I watch ( I am)
• Keep a list of all books I read (I am)
  
• Try a new cafe/restaurant each month
• Start oil painting
• Get a job
• Learn to draw, draw something every day
• Learn to use the sewing machine
• Learn to knit
• Learn to crochet
• Learn to bake
• Learn to cook a number of new meals
• Complete Wreck This Journal
  

and last but not least;( in fact, most importantly):

• Make the most of my twenties

Does it sound too geeky and Bridget Jones-ish? Well, whether it does or doesn't, I don't care. Cause these are the things I am doing & enjoying the most!

Awaiting

i am patiently awaiting

for

the lines

and

the rhymes

and

the poems to arrive

in every

early January

just like the train

 that slowly pulls into

the snowy old town,

my home town.

Song of the Day

Photo of the Day

I adore Budapest, especially at night!

Song of the Day

I heard it on Californication and loved it instantly. 
(Note to self: also listen to other songs of this band.)

Happy New Year!

In case you were wondering, I am still alive, better than ever... I just have been incredibly lazy, even too lazy to write... But from now on I shall write more regularly, let's say three posts a week?, this was one of my New Year's Resolutions Suggestions. Let's hope I can keep myself to this suggestion...

Anyway, I had survived that end of term crasiness, as by December 20 all the stressing, rushing and all-the-bloody-deadlines were over, with relatively small demage caused. I wrote a bunch of articles, prepared for but did not give that presentation (managed to get away with actually giving the presentation...lucky me!), wrote those in-class tests (3 out of 4 was successful), and wrote a few essays too during those 3 weeks. I failed my phonology exam on 17th, though, I guess I didn't take it seriously enough and didn't prepare hard enough, but I'm not desperate at all as I will retake it at the end of January (that one I must pass!). Then on December 22nd I kissed goodbye and wished a Merry Christmas to my dear friends and to the also very dear Budapest, hopped on the train, and went home to Miskolc to finally have my well-deserved winter break. During those almost two weeks I spent at home I did have that not-so-little bit of resting, peace and quiet and slowing down. I read a couple of novels: I finally finished Julie Powell's Julie and Julia as well as Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years. I managed to catch up with the tv-shows I was behind, such as Friday Night Lights, Californication, and  my guilty pleasure, I-know-it's-rubbish-but-I'm-addicted-to-it 90210. Of course I watched a couple of seasons of my all time favourite tv show,  Gilmore Girls. ( I have seen these episodes at least 10 times, I really mean that ten times!, but I still enjoy it just as much as when I saw it at first.) I watched a few movies too, naturally; however, not even half as many as I had expected or had planned... These include the original Fame from 1980, the 2009 remake of Fame, Post Grad which is a chick-flick /coming-of-age movie with Alexis Bledel and Zach  Gilford, The Young Victoria with the very talented and amazing Emily Blunt (I've just realized that she is one of my favorite actresses.), the adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (haven't read the novel yet, but I definitely will), and two of my fav romcoms You've Got Mail + Bridget Jones's Diary... That's about it, I guess. I had really wanted to watch a bunch of big classics (I even had a long list of movies written up... I just love writing list...), but I wasn't in the mood, I reckon...

During the break my creativity was in it's full bloom, fortunately. As a matter of fact, I felt more creative and crafty than ever. This probably can be thanked to those awsome artists' and crafters' blogs I found and read through. It's incredible how much they inspire me and what great ideas I get from them. ( I will write about these blogs and their writers later.) I thought up so many possible craft projects, moreover, my mind was on such an overload that I could not fall asleep until 4 or 5 AM for a few nights. I just had to get up in the middle of the night and jot down these ideas because otherwise I would forget them. (I really don't want that!) I often felt that my mind works way too fast and my hands just cannot keep up with the speed of my brain... I love being this creative! ( But it is also very tiring...:))

Anyway, the winter break is over now (hopefully the amount of creativity and productivity remains the same), I came back to Budapest this afternoon, from tomorrow I have school again... In fact, this week I'm having 3 quite hard tests, so I guess it's high time I started studying... I'm afraid it will be rather hard getting back at the habit of studying (well, to be correct: it will be hard starting studiny at all!), but I'll just have to do it, hard or not.

So, studying starts tomorrow (it ALWAYS starts tomorrow and never today, doesn't it?!), and now I'm off to pick my friend Meli up from the train station ( I should not be late, but I'm aftraid I will am already...)

(Wow, I actually managed to write a long post. Yay! :))

(Double yay for writing at all:))