photo dump (aka I made the mistake of letting the photos pile up)

This post could also be known as 'how Lu can spend a week baking and cooking and eating and still act like she's getting thinner'. Oh well.

a ton of pictures after the cut!

I baked several things this week. Starting with brownies! They were so yummy! I hadn't done them in a couple of years, but I felt like I needed something to get me through election night (Yay Obama!). I was up until 6.30am, waiting with America to see who's leading them. And I was so, so happy. I'm really sorry I wasn't able to stay awake for the speech, but my eyes were falling closed and I just couldn't. I woke up at 1pm and Wednesday was basically a lost day. Whatever. I had brownies. 

On the same day of the brownies, I decided to roast some meat I had in the freezer and seasoned it with fresh thyme from my herb garden. It was really pretty, so I had to take a picture. Bear with me.

Cut to yesterday! My sister was with me for the weekend, so what's better than baking cookies to entertain her? Last week I bought some ready-made gingerbread cookie dough from IKEA and I thought that it would be the right time to use it. It didn't disappoint. It was easy to work with and Gabs absolutely loved it. Of course, her batch couldn't even go in the oven, due to the ridiculous amounts of flour she put on it. But I made enough for the two of us. 

(winkwink at my love. I made us cookies!)

Okay. I'm a camera whore. ... sorry?

 

Of course, I have a stupid rule about photographing food: natural light, natural light, natural light. So the cookies only looked decent enough to photograph this morning. That's cream cheese frosting. I had so much of it left from the cookies that I made something else you'll see in a second. 

Also, I have absolutely no talent for decorating cookies. 

Today is November 11th, which means it's Saint Martin's day! It's a tradition here (and I imagine in other countries of the same heritage) to eat roast or boiled chestnuts with the family. We didn't have the traditional bonfire, but Grandma and I boiled some chestnuts and had them after lunch. They were so yummy. And so pretty!

And to end my bake-it-all weekend, I decided to put the leftover cream cheese frosting to good use and make some carrot cake. It's amazing. Modesty aside, one of my best, and ridiculously fast! I loved it! 

I hope you guys had a wonderful weekend, and an even better week ahead of you! Smile! And talk to me! I love hearing from you guys! 

days of nothingness

The Summer can be dull.

During Winter, I normally have this picture perfect idea of Summer. Splashing in some paradise-like beach, eating ice cream and wearing shorts and colorful shirts, going for bike rides, suddenly becoming a thousand times prettier than I actually am. It's my ice cream commercial idea of a season that almost always ends with staying home, watching series and taking self-portraits, running errands and baking my ass off. 

Yeah, that kind of ruins the expectations. 

Why am I telling you all this, you ask? Because yesterday I found myself having one of those paifully boring Summer days. There was nothing to do. I told myself I wouldn't take new work in August, so I could rest, so I didn't have photos to process; my friends are away, the vast majority of them. Even my significant other is away on vacation, so I had absolutely nothing to do and no one to talk to. What did I do?

I decided to paint my hair with soft pastels. I'm not even kidding. 

The adventure started with an hour and a half of search. I could not, for my own sake, find my box of soft pastels. I searched the entire house for it, and in the meantime I found an old pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses (I loved them!), a box of mini business cards (from moo!), an old pencil case with a bunch of goodies and the best part: my calligraphy kit. 

Over the years, I've been collecting tips and antique pens. I got this kit when I was 18 and I absolutely adore it; I have another small box filled with the ones you see apart. They are so lovely. 

After I found my pastels, I sat on my bed and started to paint the tips of my hair with several colors. I used aqua, soft pink, yellow and light green, all the while making a mess out of my bed, my shirt and my hair.

It didn't turn out quite as fabulous as I'd hoped; my hair is too dark for it to be truly noticeable and I have absolutely no talent for dealing with my own hair. I did have a blast, though. I felt a little bit badass, I have to admit.

See? Not fabulous. But not horrible, either!

The shot below is from a few days ago, an equally boring afternoon; I had fun throwing a cookie into a glass of milk. And then I had a little less fun moping the kitchen floor.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

Don't forget that I'm currently scheduling my photo shoots for this Fall/Winter! E-mail me at luminousphotographer@gmail.com for more information!

Não se esqueçam que estou agora a aceitar marcações para o Outono/Inverno! Enviem-me um e-mail para luminousphotographer@gmail.com para mais informações!

baking adventures: oatmeal cookies

Hi everyone!

I finally got around to bake the cookies I'd been craving! I took advantage of the fact that I had my sister with me for the afternoon and we decided to do some baking. We always have the time of our lives in the kitchen — she loves it just as much as I do, and I have the feeling she'll be a lot better than I am. That sense of promise, of joy that always comes with spending time making something delicious; that's what keeps dragging me back to the kitchen.

We used the recipe found on the wonderful Smitten Kitchen. I am so in love with this blog, it's not even decent! We made two batches, one for raisin and almonds and another for chocolate chips. Guess which ones Gabs liked more?

Find more pictures under the cut!

Thanks for taking the time to look at my pictures! What do you think? Let me know your opinion, and if you have any other ideas for things I should bake!

Have a wonderful week!

photo post #34: Macaron Love!

Pronto, eu decidi tentar outra vez. Lá fiz Macarons. E de 50, saíram 3 bem. É só o que eu tenho a dizer.

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Alright, I did it again. I made macarons. Out of fifty, three came out well. That's all I have to say.