Why La La Land is My New Favourite Film of All Time

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*puts on La La Land soundtrack for the gazillionth time*

So, here’s the deal. I love La La Land. A lot. And I want to write a post on why I love it so much, but I also feel as if everything has already been said about it. So I think I’m just going to go on a rant and see what I end up with (edit: oh, it’s become a rant, all right).

The first time I saw La La Land was with my friend Esmé during one of the previews at our local cinema. I’d been excited for the film for months after seeing the trailer – Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling together again in a beautiful-looking film about music and working for your dreams and falling in love… What’s not to like?

I came out of the cinema feeling euphoric and larger than life. I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt like that after seeing a film. There was something so utterly magical about it, and that feeling only increased after seeing it a second time. And a third. I think it was after the second viewing that I said to my friends: “I’m pretty sure this is my new all time favourite film.” In the meantime I’ve gone from “pretty sure” to “absolutely sure”. In fact, I haven’t been this obsessed with something for a long time.

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The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton

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A high school sex scandal jolts a group of teenage girls into a new awareness of their own potency. The sudden publicity seems to turn every act into a performance and every space into a stage. But when the local drama college decides to turn the scandal into a show, the real world and the world of the theatre are forced to meet, and soon the boundaries between private and public begin to dissolve…

First published: 2008

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Happy New Year?

Posted in Life by

Sooo… Happy New Year!

I’m a bit late with that one, aren’t I? Oh, well. It’s not any less sincere! I wanted to do the End of Year Survey on the 31st of December but didn’t get round to it, and then it kind of went downhill from there.

BUT! My internship (you know, the one I’ve been blaming my lack of blogposts on since September) ended yesterday which means I have a lot of time all of a sudden. I do need to write a report and fix all kinds of boring things related to graduating (yay!) and adulting (yegh), but all in all it seems like I’m going from being very busy all the time to doing very little indeed. Seems like the perfect opportunity for lots of blogging!

It is a little overwhelming to be back, to be honest. I haven’t written anything in over a month and haven’t read any blogs lately either. But I’m looking forward to it a lot! Same goes for reading. I’ve hardly read anything over the past couple months and I’ve been reading My True Love Gave To Me since Christmas. It’s nice to still feel a little festive in the new year, but to still be reading Christmas stories in February is pushing it a little, I think. So finishing that one’s on my To Do-list for this week.

As I’m writing this post I keep getting ideas for all the posts I want to write after this one, but it feels wrong to just get back into the swing of things without acknowledging the fact that I’ve been gone for a long time or talking about what I’ve been up to, so this is just a very short post of me doing exactly that.

Life’s been good the past couple of months. Busy, but fun! My internship went really well and I also passed the last university course I was taking at the same time, so I’m well on my way to getting my MA degree at the end of this month. My personal life’s been pretty darn wonderful as well, so all’s good in the life of me. Now all that’s left to do is to get back to those hobbies of mine. You know, the books and the baking and the blogging…

Here’s to the New Year!

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Gingerbread Cookies

Posted in Baked Goodies by

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I had a lovely day with my family, eating lots and lots of food – including these gingerbread cookies, which turned out to be a huge success. Definitely one to remember for next year!

I hadn’t expected to make quite as many cookies as I did – I’m pretty sure there were about 120 of them! Of course, they were quite small and not very thick, so that may have something to do with it. If I had actual gingerbread man cookie cutters there might not have been this many. Not that I’m complaining! They turned out to be delicious, and I had a lot of fun making them, especially once I got the hang of piping the icing.

This week is technically a week off, at least from my internship, but I’ll probably spend most of it working on my very last university project/assignment/thingy. January will be the last month of my internship and then I’m done with university… Out into the ‘real’ world I go – terrifying yet exciting! I do think I’ll have much more time to blog again, which is something I’m really looking forward to.

But first things first; let’s get to the recipe for these yummy cookies!

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Lemon and Ginger Chocolate Brownies

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This weekend, I had one of those days where I was just completely exhausted and done with everything. I was wound up about a couple of different things, and as a result I kind of just broke down. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has days like that! In my experience, you just have to let it happen and try to be kind to yourself and do things that make you happy.

To me, that’s baking brownies.

I had the idea for these lemon and ginger brownies for a while now, ever since I first tasted what’s become a new favourite chocolate bar, which (unsurprisingly) featured … lemon and ginger. After tasting (and loving) that flavour combination I thought: “I’m sure that’d work amazing in a brownie.”

And I was right! These brownies may look like regular ol’ brownies (which are pretty freaking good as well), but they do indeed feature ground ginger and the zest of a lemon – it adds a great kick to an already delicious brownie!

Oh, and I’m feeling fine again, by the way. It must have been all that chocolate…

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Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass #5)

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This post contains spoilers for the first four books (here’s my review of the first book, though)!

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those who don’t.

As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

Aelin’s journey from assassin to queen has entranced millions across the globe, and this fifth installment will leave fans breathless. Will Aelin succeed in keeping her world from splintering, or will it all come crashing down?

First published: 2016

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Recipe: Rocky Horror Road

Posted in Baked Goodies by

This week was Books Baking and Blogging’s third blogoversary! I didn’t pay any special attention to it on here on the day itself (the 28th) because even though I knew it was coming up, I still kind of forgot about it so I didn’t have anything planned. Plus, I didn’t have time to really come up with anything special anyway. However! I do want to thank you all so much for making this blogging thing so much fun! Three years is a long time and I’m really proud for sticking to something for this long (and still have fun with it!), but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without this fun community. So thanks, you guys!

Now, onto what you’re all here for! Last week, one of my friends hosted a film  night because he’d never seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show (and neither had I, by the way – loved it). Of course, I decided to bake something – because I always do for those film nights. Or in general, really. I came up with the perfect treat for this particular occasion: Rocky Road!

It was extra perfect because it’s quick and easy – and I unfortunately haven’t had a lot of time to bake recently. This rocky road only required some melting action and a bit of chopping and stirring and then it was all up to the fridge to do its thing. And the result was absolutely delicious!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

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What I’ve Been Up To [3]

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Previously on… Books Baking and Blogging:

I’ve decided to temporarily scale back on the blogposts. I’m going to aim at putting out a blogpost once a week, which I think should be manageable.

– Monthly Recap August, 5 September 2016

Well. That didn’t go quite as expected, did it? Seven weeks it’s been. That’s the longest consecutive period of time I haven’t blogged since I started BB&B three years ago!

It’s not that I didn’t want to blog, it’s just that I’ve hardly had any time to read or bake, let alone write about it. As I said in my last post (which most of you will probably have forgotten about by now), I started an internship at a publisher’s at the start of September, and that – together with one last university course that’s been a buttload of work – has left me with very little free time. After not having had the time to post anything for a few weeks, I decided to just let that go and post something again when the first part of the uni course was over and I would have a little time again. Which is now!

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Monthly Recap August 2016 + ANNOUNCEMENT

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August was a very good month for the blog! I posted pretty consistently (apart from last week) and I’ve been very happy with my content, too. Plus, I finally redid the entire recipe index, and it looks so much more slick and sophisticated now! I also think it’s a lot easier to browse this way. I didn’t read quite as much as I would’ve liked, but I’m fine with that. I had a good month, and that’s what it’s all about.

And now it’s September and my three-month vacation has come to an end – which leads me to my announcement. I started my internship at a publisher’s for school books (among other things) last week Thursday, which means I’ll be doing the whole nine to five (what a way to make a living) thing for four days a week for the next five months. I’ll also be doing a university course on the side, meaning I suspect I’ll be pretty busy. That’s why I’ve decided to temporarily scale back on the blogposts. I’m going to aim at putting out a blogpost once a week, which I think should be manageable, but we’ll see. I just don’t want to make things too hard on myself and since I get stressed easily, I figured a preemptive measure such as this would be the best thing to do. It’s a bit of a bummer that I won’t have that much time for blogging anymore, but I am actually really looking forward to this internship – it looks like it’s going to be really interesting!

Anyway, enough of that! Let’s get to the recap…

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Decadent Three-Layer Brownies

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These brownies are more commonly known as “slutty brownies” but I don’t like that name, so I went for “decadent three-layer brownies” instead. It’s still the same type of brownie, though: a layer of cookie dough covered by a layer of Oreos covered by a layer of brownie.

I know.

They’re as good as they sound. Interestingly, though, they taste far more delicious when they’re completely cooled down than when they’re still warm, which is counter-intuitive to me, but hey. You live, you learn.

Although there are quite a few steps, these brownies are definitely easy to make. I simply combined two of my other recipes and threw in some Oreos in between. They’re very dense and heavy, though, so I cut these into rather small pieces. But I’m not here to judge: you do you.

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