when you're freaking stressed out

/ illustrations that stress me out + by the great mouni feddag /

hey ho hi there. as you can probably tell from the title of this post, i'm very much stressed out. today marks the (second to) last day of our first full week to my second full year of high school. i've been in school for approximately 104.3 hours and i am already stressed. like woah, i need to take chill pill and just eat a bag of ice or something. 

and the worst part about it? i have no idea why the heck i'm stressed out. i feel like i'm tripping and falling over myself a hundred times. i feel like my brain is not grasping the information that it needs to grasp in order to succeed in the tenth grade. oh yeah, i even forgot that i'm sixteen now because i'm so stressed out. and on top of that: for some reason, i chose to do so many extracurriculars this year! hurrah! yeah! homework! stuff! writing! studying! stressing more because you know there's no such thing as too much stress!!

i hate to write stuff like this here, but i feel like its necessary to do so in my vigorous efforts to de-stress (current status: not really working yet). if you're a visual learner and need some visual representations of me right now you can go ahead and click here. if you want to see how i'm currently studying for english, read on.

writing about my problems here is a catharsis for me. classical tragedies were a social good because they caused an emotional cleansing among society. venting is my emotional cleansing; however, artistotle would not like the tragedy that is my life because it is way too long and not really a tragedy at all because i haven't died yet for my unintentional wrongs. the end.

don't stress out, kids. stay un-stressed.

your friend,

izzy

⌇

Posted on October 1, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under blah blah blah and tagged blah blah blah.

for the minimalist in me

as you probably know from my tumblr, i absolute adore minimalist, copenhagen-styled homes. bright spaces, beautiful furniture and fixtures. like serge mouille fixtures. i mean, i grew up with two design-centered, selective architects, so it's pretty clear why that i'm this way. there's something really satisfying about minimalist spaces and i can't really explain why... but you get what i'm saying right? i thought i would share these spaces with you to spread the minimalism-home-love around. you're welcome.

on another note, i'm on my ninth (and counting!) day of school and i'm pretty much done. i'm starting new projects within school (a magazine!) and starting to finish others (my book!). but you know what? i am so incredibly excited for the events and cool stuff that's going to be thrown at me this year. college tours (already!), starting an internship (maybe!), learning new stuff (you betcha!)– just doing all sorts of new things and being completely busy, but completely organized at the same time. i'm so excited (and petrified!) for it all. 

i'm going to leave it at that. goodnight. 

⌇

Posted on September 23, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under blah blah blah, i share stuff and tagged places and spaces.

an evening at photoville 2015

a wonderful night spent chatting away with the VSCO team, eating avocado sandwiches and watching people explore and be fascinated by this year's photoville. this week(end) will be great.

have a great day, everyone.

⌇

Posted on September 13, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under i take photos and tagged photographs nyc photoville.

cookie dough for breakfast

life has been good (without the reoccurring thoughts of the fact that school is fast-approaching). i've truly enjoyed this summer. the trips i've taken, the food i've eaten, the things i've maken– i mean made.

i think that this is the best summer i've ever had. and that's really saying a lot.

i woke up this morning craving cookie dough. simple enough, right? you just sporadically get those aches for that buttery, chocolate-y goodness that can at times make your stomach hurt from the raw egg. 

but cookie dough? in bar form? without making your stomach hurt? ha, i have the perfect recipe for you. 

while not the healthiest of recipes i have created, it's most definitely one of my most beautiful works.

trust me on this one, you most definitely don't want to skimp out on these + they're no bake HA!

GO ALL OUT.

01. combine flour, salt and sugar in a bowl

02. melt coconut oil and combine with almond butter, almond milk, and vanilla extract

03. pour wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix (with hands, if necessary) until dough is formed

04. mix in chocolate chips and chopped squarebars

05. press into tin (or roll out until 1/2" thick) and refrigerate for 3+ hours

06. cut into squares/bars and keep refrigerated

 

1 1/2 cups AP flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon almond butter

3 tablespoons almond milk

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1-2 chopped squarebars chopped

let's do this!

⌇

Posted on September 3, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under i make food and tagged vegan cookies.

scandinavia

moderna museet in stockholm, sweden

skogskyrkogården in stockholm, sweden

the cabin at the treehotel, northern sweden

the morning of our departure from northern sweden

moderna museet in stockholm, sweden

"stop smiling!"

a live art piece. good thing they had clothes on...

a wall in helsinki, finland

i didn't really realize how far behind i am on my summer school work. it's okay i guess– i can figure it out, but i'm trying to enjoy the summer as much as i possibly can. quite easy for me to do at the moment. 

we've been in scandinavia for about a week now with one week left in copenhagen and stockholm (again). it's been a pretty amazing experience. my mom, q and i have found such cool things just walking around these tremendously beautiful cities. i did not want to bombard you, reader, with so many photographs at once; however, i have uploaded all of my favorites to my portfolio:

stockholm day 01, stockholm day 02, northern sweden day 01, northern sweden day 02, and helsinki

for those who live in these areas or who are thinking of traveling to scandanavia, i compiled a list of places that we went (that i hope you can check out + enjoy) (list will be updated when we visit copenhagen!):

stockholm–

  • moderna museet (museum of modern art)
  • pärlans (homemade caramel shop)
  • järna (flower shop @ hornsbrukgatan 24)
  • talent gallery (print shop)
  • arkitektur och designcentrum (architecture/design museum)
  • hammarby sjöstad observatorium (water landscape)
  • gro (small, set-menu restaurant)
  • lilla ego (restaurant)
  • oaxen slip (restaurant)

helsinki–

  • urban a (clothing store)
  • vitra store (furniture [!])
  • pino (modern trinkets)
  • plootu (coffee shop)
  • formverk (furniture)
  • pastor (asian fusion restaurant)

happy summer, everyone.

⌇

 

Posted on August 23, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under travel, i take photos and tagged photographs travel europe.

while i'm gone

[shots from plant food and wine]

the past couple of days have been spent relaxing in los angeles. emphasis on the relaxing. i've been enjoying it tremendously. we're home for about 31 hours before we make our connecting flight to london and then to stockholm early in the morning. there are no words to describe how much i'm looking forward to our scandinavia trip; however, i'm a little tired. 

it's always worth it though. traveling.

this was a small check-in before things start picking up again. you'll hear from me next in europe!

have a great thursday, everyone.

⌇

Posted on August 13, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under travel, i share stuff, i take photos and tagged LA travel photographs.

summer breakfasts + a spiel

i don't remember the last time i posted a recipe, it's been that long. it's kind of incredible how busy i have been in comparison to last summer. i've been working on my VSCO artist initiative project (as i am sure you are all aware). i actually think it's safe to say that i am close to the stage where i get to design the book. i'm closer than i think i am.

i started the project last august, taking time here and there during the school year to photograph recipes and curate my pictures of new york. it was difficult, but i'm quite proud of the fact that i was able to manage it while being almost entirely stressed and focused on school. from this, i'm both anxious and exhilarated about the book. i have this new eagerness to finish what i've started and to publish the best work i possibly can. i love the feel of it.

as i am sitting at the dining room table, sipping matcha every few minutes, i realize how incredibly fortunate i am to have been given this awesome opportunity from such an awesome company. i know i am kind of getting off the subject of the recipe i'm supposed to share, but you, my reader, have no idea how supportive and motivating every single individual of VSCO has been. although i've met only a few of the company's employees (and/or co-founders), i feel like i have a whole team silently cheering me on as i continue my project. i love that feeling too.

my (soon-to-be and soon-to-be-titled) book has a message. one that i hold very dearly; however, i don't think it's the time to reveal it quite yet, but know that it is coming.

so, onwards (and back on topic).

this summer has been somewhat brutal– the heat, the days, the pile of books that i have to read (staring back at me as we speak). many of you know me for my pictures of food, also knowing that my favorite meal of the day is breakfast. for the majority of the year, i love to eat warm meals: oatmeal, pancakes, french toast, that sort of thing. when it's in the upper 90s, those types of breakfasts aren't as satisfying (*note: this is completely my own, weird opinion, i know you guys are like "izzy, pancakes everyday! who cares about the weather?!" i get it, but still).

the other thing is, i'm incredibly lazy during the summer, even though i have more hours in the day than usual. the past couple of days, i've been throwing together a simple bowl of raw oats, fruit of the season, buckwheat (for crunch) and cold almond milk. i guess you could just call it a "lazy" müesli. hm, that works. i'm not really sure if this lazy müesli really needs a recipe; just throw some stuff in a bowl and bam. breakfast. eh, i'll write one up anyways. 

these are only a few of the photographs i took. if you would like to see more, go here.

 

1/3 - 1/2 cup oats 

handful cut strawberries

handful raspberries

1 cut banana

buckwheat cereal 

3/4 cup almond milk

01/ get a bowl

02/ put oats at bottom

03/ "plate" fruit on top (so you can instagram it)

04/ drizzle almond milk

05/ sprinkle buckwheat cereal

06/ eat and probably get a second bowl

 

tgif.

⌇

 

Posted on July 31, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under blah blah blah, i make food and tagged food vegan breakfast.

things i've learned + jazz camp

unfortunately, i didn't take many pictures at campus, so you're going to have to deal with more portland photographs (disgusting, i know...)

i was pretty weary of going to camp; but, what's new? i'm pretty weary about doing anything.

so that small worry that started on monday grew like an epidemic until wednesday and most likely caused all of the innumerable health issues i had this week.

i don't even know what i was worrying about. probably stuff i shouldn't be worrying about... like always.

but despite the fact that this flaw pretty much f*cked up most of my week, i learned some things too. 

and trust me, camp was in so many ways more awesome than it was stressful (as i believed i've accidentally implied above).

i've learned that (music-wise + life-wise) 

...practicing for 15 minutes every day can get you places (even if that is all you can fit into your terrible high school schedule)
...worrying = terrible thing to put yourself through. don't do it.
...at the end of day (literally at the end of the day for campers), you just have to let go and some of your best sounds and music will become of it. (reiterating the "stress = bad" logic)
...the people that you meet now could be the people you'll encounter (probably in new york city) later (and you'll probably have to host some of them. i'm getting ready now!!)
...listening to depressing music at dinner can make you feel like crap for a few long minutes, but can actually urge you to play better throughout the night (who knew?!)
...talking to new people = fantastic

while all of these things pretty much apply to me and jazz camp, if you take them out of context, they are relevant to every-day-social-life-things-you-should-be-doing-anyway qualities. so this applies to everyone.

so to wrap this all up, i'm going to share my favorite albums and selective songs from the slowly rising jazz world for all of my new camp followers out there (and to my already existing ones, of course). au revoir for now.

 

songs from the analog playground - charlie hunter quartet

favorite songs/ mitch better have my bunny, percussion shuffle, creol

 

fact finding mission - trichotomy

favorite songs/ strom, fact finding mission

 

the gentle war - trichotomy

favorite songs/ chase, wrestle, cute

 

the house that trane built - various artists

favorite songs/ stolen moments, alamode, hard work

 

have a great week, everyone!

⌇

Posted on July 26, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under travel, blah blah blah, i share stuff, i take photos and tagged blah blah blah summer stuff.

farms + portland

i am currently in portland, oregon for two weeks to visit my grandparents and go to jazz camp! to celebrate this absolutely wonderful summer weather, my grandmother, grandfather, aunt and i went to sauvie island farm to pick (a TON) of berries. i, out of nature, was tempted to film little details of the farm, so i did and i made a video out of them.

so yeah. berry picking + good music + sounds of the farm = bliss.

enjoy.

have a marvelous week everyone!

⌇

Posted on July 16, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under videos!!!, i take photos and tagged videos photographs.

found artists: martin wehmer

a couple of evenings ago, i was app hunting when i stumbled upon artsy, "the art world in your pocket". artsy isn't really the app that you think it would be, but rather galleries and shows of artists (renown or not) and their works available for purchase. 

upon discovering artsy, i also found new artists. one of whom is martin wehmer. 

i think what strikes me most about wehmer's work is its obvious bold style: minimal palettes, prominent strokes of paint and simple subjects.

it's incredible that such heavy strokes can be perceived as having such fine detail (or for me anyway). how the paintings are rough in texture yet smooth. i just love looking at them.  

i'm definitely keeping a close eye on wehmer. i can't wait to see what he creates next.

have a fantastic week, everyone. 

⌇

Posted on July 7, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under this was found and tagged found artists.

your very own book

ah! i'm so excited about this. you can make your own instagram book (for free) and get it shipped to you. i explain how to do so and give you a peek into what it looks like in my little video. 

why wouldn't you want one?

--

01. go to http://chatbooks.com/
02. click "make a book now"
03. click "create an account now" in the pop-up
04. create an account 
05. you will be directed to http://app.chatbooks.com/books – click "+ create new book"
06. select instagram series + "create"
07. name your book + log in to instagram via the "login to instagram" button
08. once pictures load, click "+ subscribe" button, then "confirm"
09. enter my code "MINIM785" to get a free book delivered to you!

⌇

Posted on June 25, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under videos!!!, i take photos and tagged videos.

questions and answers

after many weeks of putting this off, i finally filmed, edited and published my q+a (and you get to see my new youtube intro!!)

thank you so much to everyone who asked questions– unfortunately i wasn't able to get to all the questions because of the high quantity of them (i wanted to keep the video as short as i could)...

p.s. thanks to my gorgeous and awesome friend julianna for being my assistant 

have an absolutely fantastic week, everyone!

⌇

Posted on June 16, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under videos!!! and tagged videos.

i think i've made it

“1. iced coffee for summer / 2. raspberry sorbet for aesthetic / 3. pool scenes / 4. 4D tesseract in 3D / 5. celebrate! / 6. the view from abby’s”

yesterday was my last day of classes of my first year of high school. it doesn't even feel like it's ended, but rather that it's just starting all over again. bad? meh. i think it's time that i reflected on 10 things that have happened this year, (like i did last year).

  1. i turned 15
  2. i started and finished my first year of high school
  3. i became comfortable with wearing a uniform every day (yep.)
  4. i started a plant-based diet (yeah!go vegetables!)
  5. i got hired for my first real photography commission (it never really went through...)
  6. i became comfortable with not having extra time to do the stuff i want to do
  7. i learned that it's good to keep in touch with old friends
  8. i learned that speaking up for myself is extremely valuable
  9. i realized that baking (although tedious at times) is a stress-reliever
  10. i grasped that i really take sleeping for granted

so yeah. 10 things that definitely weren't as deep as last year, but, you know, it's still constructive. 

so. for the final moments before summer, i will share some cool stuff things magic thingamabobs:

/ such a cool air purifier + planter + design piece 

/ beet tart tart tart

/ 2-ingredient buckwheat pancakes (bc PANCAKES)

/ i'm very intrigued by this instagram

/ chill sounds

/ i dig this

have a fabulous weekend, everyone.

⌇

Posted on June 6, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under blah blah blah, i share stuff, i take photos and tagged blah blah blah summer stuff.

cool things

i know i've been gone for a while now. it's finally all slowing down. school is approaching its end and i am not stressed as much as i used to be. it's nice having a few extra hours of free time to just enjoy myself and curl up with a nice episode of the newsroom and a large cup of iced coffee. i know that during this short period of time until summer, i will surely savor these moments.

i never realized until this year how much i love to do nothing. how much i love to sleep and to relax and just lay in bed and think philosophical things.

so here are some pretty cool things for you to explore until i come back.

/ awesome balloon mirrors

/ (cool) diy projects for the summer

/ magnificent interactive projections for the win

/ light + hanger = hank

/ super chill matcha brownies

/ gorgeous maple + lemon + meringue pies

⌇

Posted on May 15, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under moodboards, blah blah blah, i share stuff and tagged moodboards link love blah blah blah.

super cool raspberry chia bars

i received a box from hatchery the other day. hatchery delivers small red boxes of artisan, hand-made ingredients directly to your door every month. my april box contained spices, some apple cider vinegar, jams, caramel, and mustard. 

i thought i'd experiment with just jan's apricot marmalade. sweet, tangy, the fruit spread was perrrrrfect for my raspberry breakfast bars.

this recipe is fast, delicious, and super healthy for you. it's also extremely versatile, so yeah, switch those raspberries with any other berry for pure awesomeness  – (or heck, add more).

i used my old recipe for raspberry jam as the base to my filling for these bars. holy yes.

i also dolloped a small spoon of white chocolate-cinnamon peanut butter from my hatchery box underneath the bar for a play on pb&j.

so off we go!

3/4 cup almond flour

2 cup oats

2 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)

1 tablespoon chia seeds + 2 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1 tablespoon almond milk

3 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons brown rice syrup

 

2 cups frozen raspberries

1.5 tablespoons white chia seeds

2 tablespoons maple syrup

3 tablespoons of just jan's apricot marmalade

 

1 small dollop of white chocolate peanut butter

00/ preheat oven to 350˚F

01/ combine chia seeds and water in small ramekin and set aside

02/ thouroughly mix almond flour, oats, coconut oil, baking powder, almond milk, maple syrup, and brown rice syrup

03/ once chia "pudding" is thick, fold into oats batter

 

04/ combine raspberries, maple syrup, apricot jam, and chia seeds in a saucepan 

05/ cook until raspberries have broken down into jam; cool until thickened

06/ on a parchment-lined baking dish, press down 3/4 of the oat mixture (leave rest to sprinkle on top). over  the pressed oats, spread cooled raspberry chia jam. then sprinkle the rest of the oats

07/ bake for 25-30 minutes until top oat crumble is golden brown

08/ take out, let cool, and devour

 

09/ optional: when plating, place dollop of white chocolate peanut butter on plate and spread with a spoon . plate bars over. sprinkle with fresh fruit.

⌇

Posted on May 1, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under i make food and tagged breakfast food raspberries.

Q&A?

i thought it would be fun to host a Q&A where you could ask me questions and i'll respond in a video or post... questions could be about:

blogging, new york city, favorite recipes, my projects, what school is like, etc.

+ anything that you would like me to answer. you can either comment here or enter a question at my submission box; whatever is most preferable to you. i'm not sure when i will post my answers, but it will most likely be in the next couple of weeks. 

also, please let me know if you would rather have my answers in video-format (will not be available for a few weeks) or readable, blog post-format (will probably be posted more promptly)!

have a wonderful weekend everyone!

⌇

Posted on April 24, 2015 by izzy rael and tagged q&a.

found artists: lorraine loots

the other morning i stumbled upon lorraine loots, an artist who is known for her "paintings for ants". her work is incredible– the microscopic details that are so realistic and intricate they seem life-size. she explains the project and the process of creating in her vimeo video above.

every day for a year (starting on january 1, 2015), lorraine designed and created a new painting on a 10cm x 10cm piece of watercolor paper. do you see the pencil to painting ratio? i don't even know if i could write a letter that small... i could keep scrolling through all of her little notecards and just stare in awe. 

i wish i had the patience and delicacy to do what she does because it truly is impeccable.

do you have any artists you admire? 

⌇

Posted on April 16, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under this was found and tagged found artists.

grey

i've been thinking about summer lately and about all of that precious free time i'll have to spend so loosely. it's kind of warm feeling i get thinking about all that time (which, when you think about it, isn't actually all that much). it's the final stretch now. i have all of these projects i'm trying to keep up on (both school-wise and photography/design-wise). at this point, i feel as though my brain is about to collapse on itself and fold into a cheese-less calzone. a good feeling? meh, i would say i've felt better. 

i just glanced out the window and realized how beautiful it looks. maybe i'll go outside today to enjoy it? we'll see. 70˚ sounds quite nice. i'm waiting for the weather to become consistent again. bleh. anyways enough blah blah blah. i haven't done a link-love in awhile, so i thought now would be a great time.

––

1/ give me all the flatbread

2/ my absolute new favorite song - it's been on repeat all morning

3/ drool (not literally)

4/ probably the coolest website for telling time

5/ yoga, photography, and recipes combined? swoon!

6/ the brilliance of this photograph is unreal. like seriously.

––

have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

⌇

Posted on April 11, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under blah blah blah, i share stuff, i take photos and tagged nyc photographs.

a cookie or three

today i have for you a very special guest: my friend julianna. she's going to share the recipe we adapted when i was over at her place in los angeles last weekend. enjoy.

*photographs by julianna y.

hello, my name is julianna and i run a little lifestyle + fashion blog called bursts of beauty. izzy and i have known each other for a very long time, so when she visited los angeles, it was only appropiate to share a day together. we dined at gracias madre, a wonderful vegan mexican restaurant in west hollywood and sipped on some iced lattes and green juice at alfred coffee. there, i proposed the idea of baking together. when we got back, we did some research and found a great recipe for oatmeal + chocolate cookies and made a few twists.

 

       flourless almond butter cookies

2 tbsp flax seeds

5 tbsp water

 

2/3 cup rolled oats

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup almond butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

2/3 cup turbinado/brown sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup almond milk

 

2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

1/3 cup dried cherries

 

1/ preheat oven to 350F

2/ whisk together flax seeds and water (this makes 2 vegan eggs)

3/ line a baking sheet w/ parchment paper or non-stick spray of your choice

4/ in medium bowl, combine oats, baking soda, and salt

5/ in another bowl, combine almond butter, peanut butter, sugar, almond milk, vanilla extract, and vegan "eggs". use a handmixer to mix until smooth

6/ pour wet with dry and stir until the mixture becomes like a cookie dough. if too wet, add more oats. if too dry, add more almond milk

7/ stir in chocolate chips + cherries

8/ roll a small amount of dough into a ball shape and place in a row of three on the baking sheet. spread the cookie dough balls out so they won't combine when baked in the oven

9/ bake for 9-11 minutes. let cookies cool before removing from the baking sheet

10/ enjoy!

Posted on March 26, 2015 by izzy rael and filed under i make food and tagged cookies dessert chocolate almond butter vegan.