White hot chocolate to go

This weekend has been one of wishing for sleep and exhausted studying (but never enough!) with 3am bedtimes. Of gentle rain falling and pyjama wearing. Of Ray waiting for me at the train station with a chocolate in hand and sharing a slice of red velvet cake. Of my little sister going away on church camp and my mom coming home from two weeks of visiting ihr Deutsch Familie in Namibia, laden with gifts and greetings of love. Of my sister surprising my mom with her return and bags and bags of the best sweets which I started to take eat right away ("Haribo macht kinder froh!") Of hearing my sister and her best friend giggling like girls in her room as though nothing has changed, as though they were never apart for over a year and a half. Of family barbecues with roasted butternut, soft grilled sweet potatoes, charred peppers and fire caramelized onions, the smoke smelling delicious. Of walking down to Olympia to buy fresh, bakery bread and takeaway cappuccinos and white hot chocolates from Tribeca, standing on the mountainside, overlooking the calm, muted grey of the ocean. Of wedding planning and singing Frank Sinatra at the top of my voice, accompanied with my Broadway dance moves. Of hugs and feeling content. Of dancing  for the first time in weeks and barely being able to walk (I am in agonizing pain!) Of happiness, perspective, surrendering my worries and much, much love. 

Nutella hot chocolate

We are all in need of some serious tender loving care! It's Monday, I am back at varsity feeling like I have forgotten what sleep is and already wrote a test. Yes, bring on the TLC! 

And so here is a recipe for Nutella hot chocolate. Yes. NUTELLA HOT CHOCOLATE! (Everyone please calm down!!)

What you need:

• 1 cup of Milk
• 2 tablespoons of Nutella (or a bit more!)
• 1 teaspoon of cocoa (suggested if you'd like a more intense chocolate flavour) 
• Pinch of cinnamon
• Whipped cream and marshmallows

What to do:

1. Pour about 1/4 of the milk into a saucepan on medium-low heat. 
2. Add the Nutella and whisk until blended. Slowly stir in the remaining milk. 
3. Add a pinch of cinnamon and whisk until hot and frothy. 
4. Carefully pour the mixture into a mug, add whipped cream and marshmallows if you so desire.
5. Let the hazelnut hot chocolate happiness begin!!

{Taken from: deliciousdrinkrecipes.blogspot.com}  

Darling

Sunday evening. The weekend is coming to a close. These last few hours are always a mixture of too many things... the sad feelings of knowing that an early morning awaits, of rushing around to finish off your mounds of work and finally admitting defeat for the day and all the great plans that you had made. It is about making sure that you haven't forgotten anything important, but feeling like you have... of whispered conversations on the couch, attempting to hold onto this precious inbetween moment, wrapped in blankets and the warm glow of love, sipping hot chocolate and listening to the rain thunder in the winter darkness.  It is a time of wanting to go to bed early and drift off gently into blissful unconsciousness, yet wanting to stay up late as though tomorrow will never come...

A family tradition is to make pancakes on a Sunday evening after church. Right now I can hear my darling mixing the batter in the kitchen next door, accompanied by the sweet smell of cinnamon, while I finish off my studying. And somehow I feel like I may just make it through this next week...