Banana Bread Cookies

    

i don't know about you, but i love banana bread. and way too often in my house, i find that we have a lot of ripe bananas just begging to be used.

so of course, i could always whip up a loaf or two

but what about something a little more fun?

cookies mean you get to eat more...right?


these cookies are a perfect mix between chocolate chip cookies and banana bread. they're soft and fluffy, and a little adicting! they taste amazing out of the oven, and just as good the next day when the flavour settles.

so how about you use those ripe bananas in the kitchen?

happy baking! ;)

recipe here

a little about me

hello!

it's tal here, and this is my first post in this completely re-made blog

to start off, i thought that today i should share a few facts about me!

i am...

a teen

a daugher

a sister

a christian

a writer

a photographer

a baker

a student

a music listener

a self-taught dancer

a babysitter

a walker

a candle collector

a chocoholic

a best friend

a laugher

a girl

that pretty much sums me up.... who are you? what are your passions, your hobbies? i'd love to know!

thank you for bearing with me and i'm so excited to embark on this exciting blogging journey!

Update on life and IMPORTANT announcment

Is someone a bad blogger here?
*coughmehehecough*

Yeah, I admit it. And, believe it or not, I've come up with a solution!
But that's latter in this post.
How about a little update on what I've achieved this summer?

I had Chipotle for the first time ever

I had wayy too much Starbucks haha

I tried boxed water

I went to the Navy Pier and rode the Ferris Wheel

I had Panera for the first time ever

I went to the Water Tower

  

I had Chicago Deep Dish pizza *heart eyes emoji*

I went to the zoo and saw my favorite animals :)

I switched bedrooms with my parents and redid my room completely :)

And a bunch of other fun things. I spent two weeks in Texas and a week in Chicago+Iowa

It was a really amazing vacation and I'm very blessed,

but that's not the point. 

The point is this blog. I have been thinking about it a lot lately and I'm going to switch it around. 

All These Little Things is getting a COMPLETE makeover, and I can't wait!

As I'm still in the forming process, I'll update with further information as soon as I can!

Thanks for reading 

xoxo

Recent Whereabouts

I'm trying to get my life organized
But if you've ever tried doing this you probably know its extremely hard to do.
I wake up at 6:30 every morning and rush to get ready in half an hour. I get home around 4 each day, if not a bit later, and then my evening consists of doing my homework with maybe 20 minutes to spare before dinner and getting ready for bed.
And then there's the weekends, where I do my homework for about 2 hours, and go to church on Sunday.
So in a way, I do have time to post at least once a week.
But then there's the problem

WHAT do I post about?
I think I have lots of ideas, and then they escape from my head, and all the others ideas seem completely unoriginal.
But I'm very determined to become a more up-to-date blogger soon, starting summer, because I've got a very busy one coming up, which I'm SO excited about :)

Here's a few pictures of my recent whereabouts, inspired by Autum's cool post :)

So one of my newest discoveries (and an enjoyable at that) was this amazing cupcake bakery^ I heard of it where I live before, but they just opened one in my area. Heaven in a wrapper, I tell you. I've tried cookie dough, red velvet and my personal favorite, chocolate peanut butter. Super moist, rich chocolatey cupcake with peanut butter buttercream frosting and a reece's cup placed right on top. 

I. am. in. love. 

With the weather being nicer and all, I've been takig tons of walks. Just listening to music and observing the world is so peaceful and nice. This picture was taken after it had lightly rained and I thought the water drops looked so cool on the leaves ._.

 Yesterday was deffinately a good day for me. I went to a fair with one of my friends and we ate so much food haha and then a bit after we got home, we managed to figure out a trip to our favorite mall with one more friend. I had just received a gift from my grandpa and so I treated myself to some Starbucks, a new top from New Look, a funky cup, a hand sanitizer and this candle. I know it's summer soon but this candle smells like snow (does snow even have a smell?), hot coco and mostly wood smoke and it is just...amazing. No other words for it. 

Can you say "délicieux"? My mom and I went to an amazing French cafe in a mall after church and the food <3 It was a tad pricy but once in a blue moon. I had the hot chocolate and fruit tart and it was soooooo good. I mean just, look at all those goodies!

So that's basically it for what I've been doing recently. Planning to buy a notebook to get myself organized for blogging, and I've only got 14 days of school left!! Eek!

xxoxo

Spring

recently, we passed march 21
the official first day of spring

warm weather came fast to wear i live, the sun was hot, the sky blue and i was very happy.

yet not, as i see myself 2 days away from easter, it is pouring, gray and dark, and the weather is not going to be nice for the holidays.

soooooo thanks weather

anyway, i decided to put myself into misery and look at some beautiful pictures of flowers and other that remind me of spring

lets hope that it comes soon

aren't these pictures just breathtaking? it makes me want to grab a camera and just start snapping away

which, of course, i can't do

so i hope with all my heart that the sun decides to come out soon because i am very sick of this weather

i hope you all have a very blessed easter and i'll try to put up a post asap

<3

*all pictures from pinterest, all rights to the owners*

Starting a tag?

hey everyone
just a few days ago i posted something titled "summer bucket list" and it got me thinking.
and i thought

maybe i should start a TAG?

and so, after some thinking i thought that i'd give it a go

so..... i present to you.....

THE SUMMER BUCKET LIST TAG

i apologize that this gif is kinda flashy but i find it so cool

what is a bucket list? it's a list of things you want to do before you die, or as the name says "hit the bucket" in this tag, you mention all the things you want to accomplish in summer of 2015!


So how do this work?
 I nominate ANYONE that is reading this post, whether they have a blog or not. BUT if you do have a blog, here's what you do!

Rules:

1. Write 15 things that you want to do this summer (if you can't think of 15 that's ok) and publish it in a post.

2. Insert this picture 

3. Nominate 4 other people to do the tag.

5. HAVE FUN!



i thought this would be a great way to start a new "trend" in the blogging world and a fun way for bloggers to connect :)

i hope you consider doing this and let me know if you do it, cuz i'd LOVE to read your lists!

peace out

Summer Bucketlist

hey guys!

i know it's only march, but i can't help myself and dream about this summer. i have been thinking about it, well, a little too much and let's just say, i'm SUPER excited!!! i always wanted to make one, so i sat down a few weeks ago and wrote a "summer bucket list" of things i want to do this summer. i am sure this list will continue over the next few months, but here is whats on my list so far!

sun "tattoo"

go on a rollercoaster

                  read as much of the bible as possible

visit my best friend

learn to cook something new

try a new food

learn to cartwheel

sew someting

bake a batch of cupcakes and decorate them lavishly

start a  summer buisness

go on a shopping spree











take lots of pictures

document a trip

stay up all night

watch the stars

go on a long bike trip

blog a lot

read lots

create a summer scrapbook

go on a picnic

plant something and watch it grow

so yeah
that's what's on my bucket list so far
also in case you were wondering by the first one, i by all means am NOT getting a tattoo! what it means is i'll add a sticker somewhere on my body while tanning and after some time the only part of my body that is still pale is the shape of the sticker :) pretty cool idea huh?
anyway, i am literally counting the days down to summer and i'm sure this list will grow!
what do you want to accomplish this summer?

love,

Knowledge

let's face it

one cannot indulge in a dark chocolate muffin and a cold glass of milk (although i am not a huge fan of milk itself with any kind of muffin it's just...mmm) and not overthink about life.

just recently, i found myself thinking about school, and how everyday i wake up at 6:30 and rush around getting ready, heading out the door at 7:00 and waiting with my brother for our ride, losing myself in music for the next 45 minutes and then sitting restlessly in class till i come back home, spend the rest of the evening doing homework, and then find myself trying to get to sleep only to find that yet another long day of the same routine is ahead of me. 

and as i was thinking about this, i realized that my outlook on this whole "school life" in not very positive.

lovely picture "stolen" from this amazing blog

i have spent the last six months in a new school, lucky enough to already surrouned myself with over 10 amazing friends already. not only that, but im priviliged enough to go to a CHRISTIAN school, and every monday we have a 45 minute class were we talk about God, the Bible and strengthening our faith. last class, a woman who goes on mission trips to Kenya where she helps children that live in poverty came and talked to us about her job.

as we watched a short movie and presentation, she told us about how for them, school was a privilage. these children would wake up at sunrise, walk long distances and come back at 5:00 pm every day to get an education in a small mud hutt. and they loved it. they knew it was there only way for a better life. 

and i realized, 

why don't I have such a a positive outlook on my school life? why do i spend my time complaining about how pointless chemistry will be in my life, because really, only God knows if i'll need it or not.

point is, i'm not saying i will jump out of bed at 6:00 in the morning every single day and NOT look forward to summer. some things never change, obviously. what i'm trying to tell myself is that maybe i should try to stay more positive even if i find myself crying over rock formations at 10:00 pm as i hoplessly try to study for my geography test.

and yeah, it's gonna be hard. but just like those children i need to think of it as a slow way of getting a better life, because where would i be if i couldn't read or write?

nowhere, and deffinately not writing this post.

i hope you don't mind this random post and i'll have a good one up next week :)

have a great week,