21st Birthday Picnic
Today I had my first proper birthday party-esque celebration with friends! I'm having my birthday picnic a few days after my birthday due to the weather but it's all good because it also gave me more time to prepare for it.
Since I couldn't secure a cake in time that would also be vegan so my friend could also have a slice, I decided I'll try baking a vegan apple pie as a substitute! Since I was estimating about 15 people (including myself) I decided to bake two - one deep dish pie and one regular pie - so everyone could have a slice!
This was my first time baking apple pie - or any pie for that matter! I'm happy to say that it turned out well!! It didn't turn out dry or too thin or too thick, the taste was fine and people said they liked it :). The apples weren't super soft but my friends said they liked the crunch. I wanted a mix of firm and slightly crunchy apple and soft and a bit gooey apple so I used two different apple varieties in each pie.
I read a blog where the person tested the cooking times and the resulting consistency of different apples for making apple pie, and in it OP described sweet apples as the 'firm bricks' and the tart apples being the 'soft mortar' in a balanced apple pie, so for my 'mortar' I chose the classic green bramley apples, and for my 'bricks' I chose red jazz apples for one pie and gala apples for the other (this was because I didn't have enough of the same variety and I later found out jazz apples have a closer cooking time to bramley apples than gala apples do). The blog (linked) is a pretty useful and fun read and I'd love to do similar testing myself haha, I love reading people's fun blogs...
I was snacking on fries throughout the process (except from when my fingers were messy from the dough and filling) and you can see the pack of naproxen that I had to take one from because I was baking with really bad day 2 period cramps LOL. My legs were burning the entire night I was baking too, no idea why but it sucked sm!! I kept having to sit down because they were in so much pain...
I RAN OUT OF DOUGH FOR THE DEEP DISH PIE CRUST... BUT WE CONTINUE!! After putting the pies in the oven to bake I had my savoury dishes to prepare!
This is everything I made in the end!
I made tuna gimbap with tuna mayo, seafood sticks, pickled radish, braised burdock, carrots, and cucumber as the filling in the rice and seaweed - I skipped the egg as I didn't have time. As for a vegan alternative I made smoked tofu gimbap!
I quickly fried some enoki mushrooms too, I was testing a new batter for it and it turned out great!! My friends asked me to make some more again :p. (By the time I'm writing this, I actually had remade it and even better with more seasoning and I actually got to taste it this time and they were so yummy...)
By the time I had finished baking and cooking and packing all the food it was 8am so I was exhausted, I can't believe I spent the entire night and early morning baking and cooking... while on day 2 of my period and having my legs burning and in pain the whole night. I took naproxen for my cramps but they weren't going to help my legs unfortunately... I showered and washed my hair and took a nap until around 1pm.
I took so long to get ready because my legs were in so much pain and I had a bad headache but of course I still made it (It's my own birthday picnic and my dear friends took the time to show up!! I'll fight any pain!!).
PICNIC TIME!! We had a pretty good selection of food!! I brought my apple pies, a tub of vanilla ice cream to pair with it, gimbaps, and fried enokis. Mika brought yummy bibim-guksu and delicious cookies, Jay and Kai brought spring rolls (which were really good), Catherine brought some brownies she baked (YUMMY!!), Weylin brought horchata (SOO SWEET!!), Ellie brought some hummus, and everyone else brought some fruit that were perfect for topping things off and sooo refreshing on such a warm day. Everyone ate a lot and were so full which made me so happy :3. Funnily enough though, I was so excited about watching everyone eat that I barely ate anything :sob: so when I went home I had to order burger and fries LMAO.
I wanted to produce as little waste as possible so I asked people to bring their own cutlery and container, it worked out but it wasn't ideal to re-use the same container for savoury and sweet dishes... next time I'll just bring an appropriate amount of containers for each person for dessert since I have so many haha.
We played some card games together!! We first played 'Split' which is a card game where a card is flipped in the middle and everyone has columns of cards to flip over and if the number on the card is 1 higher or 1 lower than the card in the middle pile then you get to throw it on top. The first player or team to throw all their cards in the pile wins!
The second card game we played was 'Bullshit' in which you also try to empty your hand by placing cards 1 number lower or higher than the card in the middle pile, but this time you can place multiple of the same card at once, and you can lie about the cards you are putting down. You can also optionally not lie and just draw a card when you can’t play any. When you play your turn another player has the option of 'calling bullshit', when they do you flip over the cards you placed for them to see if you were lying, if you were you take the entire pile of cards but if you weren’t and the player that called bullshit is wrong they take the entire pile of cards!
A bit of a photodump now, photos taken on different phones, Rabaa's sony digicam, and my Canon Powershot SX540 HS that arrived the morning of the picnic!
This picture with the contrast between bubbles and a cigarette is awsum.
My friends are all so cute and so swag and so cool and sooo gorgeous don't you think... I love them all so much. I admire B, C, and E lots and think they’re all so strong and awesome. J👩⚕️ is amazingly hardworking and empathetic. L, M🦌, and R are my lovely #friendshipismagic forever bonded friends with their individual charms. M🐇, we’ve known each other for less than a year but she is amazing and kind and should be so proud of herself. W, silly and goodhearted individual who is creative and makes adorable art and felt friends, hope we can get to know each other more! J🐕 is kind and silly and very charming, like a little brother to me but not in a patronising way just in a ‘wow I really like him and am so happy to see him happy and grow’ kind of way. K, we don’t know each other well but he is very charming too and kind and silly, I hope we can all get to know each other more!
This picture of me carrying 5 bags out of the car and back to my room lol. So heavy.
Finally, I love a good outfit breakdown. I really wanted to wear colours, patterns, and details that really expressed my soul and the person I’ve become and how I am still ever-changing!
So of course this outfit featured a lot of green and pink (the colours that I feel express me the best and are my ‘main’ colours!!), as well as brown… reminds me of the earth, of trees, of the soil, and of chocolate and sweetness :3. I love wearing browns!
One of my necklaces had pink, green, and lilac beads. I feel quite connected to the lilac colour too because my boyfriend assigned it to me at one point and I could see and feel why… love love love :3
The dress from Peileeshop had some floral prints which was perfect and every part was a different texture and there’s lots of lace layers… I felt spiritually connected to it LOL. The leg warmers from Peileeshop to match had the perfect ruffles and details!
The cardigan… I love big sleeves and I really wanted to feel like a moth today :p … had the cutest flower lace details also. It’s an ivory / cream colour which is another colour on my palette that I adore!
The clover hair clip… I made this one to make sure I could wear it today!! I love it. The most yuecore hair clip I’ve ever made.
WHERE FROM? Clover hair clip: Made by me :3 !! Necklaces: thrifted Bracelets: Gifts!! One is from my BF :3. Cardigan: second hand Liz Lisa Brown Camisole: second hand Liz Lisa Dress: Peileeshop Leg warmers: Peileeshop Shoes: Angelic Imprint
This moth necklace was a commission made by LollapaloozaDesigns on Etsy! It’s an Actias Rhodopneuma and it turned out just like I imagined!! I love it so much and I’m so happy it arrived in time for my birthday outfit!
Bonus: my birthday being shown in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream on my friend Akira and my boyfriend Ali's islands!!
See the birthday cake I had with my family the day before my birthday also :3 !! (Early celebration since that was the day everyone in my family has a day off ^^)
I ended the day by playing Splatoon with my boyfriend :3. I LOVE MY BOYFRIEND!!
I’m so grateful to be able to change and grow. I have seen myself develop so much for the better, and my boyfriend and long-time friends have been there to witness it too and attest to it. I’m glad I’ve grown positively and others were able to observe and attest to it too. There are many more versions of me to work towards becoming for the better. There are many more things to learn, many more things to experience and feel, many more things to do, and many more people to meet :). I hope to bloom with determination like the flowers that grow from small cracks between concrete.
Thank you so much to all my dear friends for frolicking with me in the sun, eating the food I made, bringing your food to share too, and making this day so beautiful and special. I couldn’t have asked for a better first ever birthday party with friends celebration !! I truly appreciate the time we spent together <3.
I want to make a post to appreciate all the birthday gifts I got as well, and it'll be separate for better organisation. Here it is linked below:
To whoever is reading this, I wish you the happiest of days and may lots of love come into your life too. May the world bring back to you what you give to it.