JULIA KAYLEE'S DAWN: 2015

What did I do from Christmas eve eve to Christmas?

―

Hello blog!

After having a little blog break from the 23rd to 27th, I decided to share what I've done

for this Christmas. (well, it technically starts from Christmas eve eve)

It's maybe an irony to still post about Christmas on 28th,

but I didn't plan to share what I did on Christmas day because

I spent all 3 days with my families and friends without going on the internet!

To be honest, my festivity wasn't gone till yesterday since I spent 4 days straight

with my family munching on all the sweets.

I took a break not only from the too-much internet session,

but also from my night time work out routine.

So those 4 days were like guilty pleasure for me to have before the new year starts

with full of over planned resolutions!

Here, let me start my post-Christmas journal 2015.

Christmas eve eve, 23rd.

I did one of the most Christmassy thing this year-

watching The Nutcracker ballet performance.

It wasn't my first time to see it; however, it was more than 10 years ago!

I still have some happy memories about this iconic show.

It was when my parents bought me a real nutcracker after the show.

(and I still have it on the living room shelf)

I was excited to re-watch it with my sisters this time.

Moreover, since I've learned ballet for about 3 years when I was an elementary school kid,

watching ballet performance always gets me nostalgic.

The hall of the Seoul Arts Center was screaming CHRISTMAAAAAAS!

This humongous Christmas tree literally reached till the 3rd floor of the hall.

And those little fairy lights got everyone into holiday spirits enough to enjoy the show.

Even though our seats were on the 2nd floor, we could see the whole thing

from the stage to the podium.

I was constantly recalling my first nutcracker experiences as I watched it.

The Nutcracker was still magical and full of happiness.

And I ended up wanting to get a pair of toe shoes or a tutu.

Christmas Eve, 24th

My sister and I planned to bake some cookies & cupcakes to give them

as our Christmas treats/gifts this year.

I went for good old Christmas sugar icing cookies while my sister chose

mini vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

I pre-made the cookie dough to let it sit in the fridge for some days and

to shorten the process.

This is one of my favorite parts of Christmas cookies.

After rolling out the dough, I and my sisters got our Christmas cookie cutters.

We chose the jingle bell, candy cane, xmas tree, holly leaf, and the heart shaped ones

to turn the cookie dough into our Christmas cookies.

Never forget to play some classic carols next to you during annual holiday baking session.

We laid out these little babies on the tray to put in the oven.

I actually needed another tray for more batches of these yummy treats.

While waiting for the oven to finish the first cookie batch, I made hot chocolate to sip.

Without tiny bit of exaggeration, it was the best hot chocolate I've ever made!

(and the hottest that I burnt my tongue)

Credit to my Santa mug, my mom got me last week.

After the oven ding!-ed, I got them out on the table to cool down.

(We added few teddy bear cookies to go as little surprise)

Meanwhile, my sister finished hers,

mini vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting on top.

And we decorated the cookies for more than two hours.

We used rainbow sprinkles, milk chocolate, sugar icing pen, and leftover cupcake frosting

to adorn them with festivity.

Well, the living room and the kitchen started to become a mess since then.

Let's not forget our hands and shirts, covered with all the decorations.

Honestly, I got so tired and starving at the end, but it was worth it.

All the people we gave our Christmas cookies & cupcakes were so happy

to receive these little gifts with cards.

They really appreciated how much effort we'd put into this, so my sisters

and I could feel what Christmas really means!

Christmas, 25th

I and my family had late night sleep on eve.

I watched some Christmas films on my laptop almost until 3am...

As a result, we all woke up at noon.

We've had some toasts and fruits for brunch in the room.

It felt like typical afternoon, and I really loved it.

No one was busy to do something which made the house really peaceful and warm.

For dinner, we had appointment with two other family friends.

After stuffing our tummies, we all came back to my dad's friends' house

to celebrate the day.

We all munched on our Christmas cake with some more late night snacks.

It felt like we were having a big family reunion because of so much funny jokes,

chats, food, and happiness.

This is how I spent this holiday.

I basically stayed all days with my family which was lovely.

Plus, we made some new Christmas tradition such as xmas brunch, huge baking session on the eve, and eating Christmas cake with spoon like ice cream!

I hope you all had amazing Christmas this year and

can't wait for next year's holiday season :)

ⓒJKDAWN

4 days till Christmas!

―

On last year, I had planned too many things to do, to eat, and to buy.

At the beginning, I thought it would be the best Christmas ever, with all my perfect plans.

Well, it's still sad to recall, but it was the worst one I've ever had.

Some of the plans I had didn't work the way I wanted them to be.

And I was depressed.

I think my mind was trying to be as festive as I could be when I wasn't ready

to REALLY understand and to REALLY enjoy Christmas.

Christmas 2014 passed with some lessons left on my head...

First, Christmas is not a season to show off what you bought and got.

Second, happy Christmas 100% depends on how your family is happy about it.

Third, share your festivity with families and friends. Make them love Christmas!

So, this year, I could make some changes...

First, I didn't buy Christmas cards. I made them!

Second, I chose to watch Christmas films at home with my family instead of

forcing them to go out with me to see the Christmas lights.

Third, my to-do list is not a fancy one anymore.

I still planned to do some festive things; however, they were neither fancy nor boring.

They are all about little things that we can do as a family.

1. Making Christmas cards

2. Baking cookies & cakes

3. Watching Christmas films

4. Not forgetting to open our advent calendars

5. Wearing Christmas sweaters

6. Having a festive sister-pamper session

These might look really basic and effortless.

But I learned that not everyone is sooooo exciting for Christmas like me.

I tried to make all of the to-do list to be casual and easy.

Fortunately, this totally worked.

For this year's holiday season, starting from the first day of December to

21st of December(which is today), not one has been complaining

about what we've been doing and what we will do.

Having pointless chats while watching Home Alone under the warm blanket,

sitting around the table to attempt to create the perfect christmas cards,

and gathering to open the advent calendars taught not only me,

but my sisters and my parents to love Christmas little more.

We now have exciting events to go as a family for the rest of the day till Christmas.

I'm quite sure that our hearts will be full with festivity and happiness

as it gets closer to Christmas.

Personally, I can't wait to see people's faces when I and my sisters give

our handmade xmas cards and some sweet treats.

The best part about creating our own Christmas cards was that

each card could be personalized.

We didn't need to worry to choose the best designs along the aisle for each person

since we were the one who drew, painted, and did everything on the cards.

We knew that all the people would be glad to receive our cards

even though they had imperfections.

Let me give some sneak peeks of my cards before I give them to my family & friends!

All I needed were red & green papers, paints, color pencils, and sparkly colored papers.

Except for the red & green papers, I and my sisters used what we had in our drawers

full of art & craft materials!

On the inside of the cards, I decorated them with shining tin foil-like papers

to add the image of sparkly lights and ornaments.

I created different decors for each person and my favorite ones are

what I've made for my parents.

I simply cut out the gold paper in the shape of an award badge

to jokingly award them as the best mom & dad!

I totally recommend all of you to make your own versions of Christmas cards this year.

I think this would be the new Christmas tradition for me and my sisters.

Having a huge craft session with carols playing on the side

was one of the most successful one I had on my Christmas to-do list 2015.

So why not bring out your crafty skills with your families and friends around the table

to make your own unique holiday cards to share festivity and love?

ⓒJKDAWN

I bake

―

During the winter time, specially for Christmas season, one of the spices

we all get to use more often than we do in other seasons is cinnamon.

Cinnamon reminds me of warmth that help everyone to cope the coldness.

Anything cinnaomony- rolls, cookies, tea, hot chocolate, and so on- never goes

wrong on the chilly weather. It almost feels like having a good sip of

thick hot chocolate by the fireplace with some cozy socks on.

This morning, before I had brunch with mom and my sister,

I noticed the whole loaf of bread left on the table.

My mom told me to check the expiration date, and it was near to be expired!

I put the whole loaf of it right into the fridge,

so it wouldn't get any fungus or something even worse.

While eating the first meal of the day, I've got an idea to turn

those breads into some treats that go well with this time of the year.

Cinnamon rusks!

I have never made any kinds of rusks before,

but I've seen my mom turning the end bits of breads into crispy garlic breads.

So, as soon as I finished eating, I went off to bake cinnamon rusks.

It literally took less than 30 minutes including the time I've spent on

searching for accurate recipes.

And I thought why not share this quick yummy treats recipe with you?!

So prepare yourself to the cinnamon rusks, that will make your

winter more festive and tasty.

Cinnamon rusks

Time: 20 min-30 min

Difficulty: Super easy!

Oven: 180 ºC (don't forget to preheat the oven!)

Step 1.

First things first, get out all the ingredients.

You'll need:

two slices of bread

20g melted butter

sugar (I used brown sugar)

cinnamon

If you want to make more rusks, just add 10g of butter for one slice of bread.

Here's the rusk equation- a slice of bread=10g of butter

Step 2.

Chop the breads into the size you want the rusks to be.

I wanted them to be bite-sizes.

Step 3.

Melt the butter and add some sugar for little sweetness on the bread.

I added two tsp of brown sugar and mixed until it dissolves.

Step 4.

Align all the breads on the baking parchment paper.

This process made me somehow satisfied because all of it made into one pan.

Step 5.

Now, add melted butter on all the sides of the breads.

You can either brush on it using silicon brush or

simply dip each pieces into the butter.

Step 6.

Put them in the preheated oven (at 180 ºC) for 15-20 min.

Shifting the pan after 10 min will make all the rusks

evenly golden brown and crispy.

Step 7.

After the oven made a ding! sound, (or whatever sounds your oven makes!)

take them out and put all the rusks in the plastic bag.

Step 8.

Add two tsp of cinnamon and 4 tsp of sugar into the plastic bag.

Seal the bag tightly and shake it!

This is the best part of making cinnamon rusks because you can do the 'shaking dance'.

Shake the bag until you feel like all the rusks got evenly covered with cinnamon sugar.

Step 9.

Get little rusks out and serve them on any cute plates you have!

Enjoy it with your favorite tea or hot chocolate.

As soon as I made these cinnamon rusks, half of them were gone in few minutes.

They are definitely one of the addictive treats to snack on.

Moreover, you can always create your own unique rusks by coating them with

melted chocolate, cocoa powder, sprinkles, caramel, etc instead of cinnamon sugar.

I would love to make more cinnamon rusks this winter when there'll be leftover breads

from breakfast toasts and sandwiches.

Why don't you try to make them with me?

ⓒJKDAWN

I wander

―

During my 5 days in Tokyo, I can say that the third day was the day when

I took the most pictures from the entire trip.

We went to Tokyo DisneySea!

Okay, this may look quite childish and immature,

but it was my very first time to be in a Disney-related theme park.

(you know, like Disneyworld and Disneylands all over the world)

I and my sisters were waiting for going to DisneySea not only because it's just Disney,

but also it only exists in Tokyo.

(which means a lot of DisneySea-exclusive treats and stuffs to buy)

So, we even decided what to wear before we even went to Tokyo.

On the D-day, we needed to wake up super early since the place

would open at 8 in the morning.

I won't deny that everyone was really tired to get ready and to travel

all the way to Maihama station, where the Disney monorail is,

but the excitement was much bigger than tiredness.

I bet even the adults were excited for DisneySea adventure ahead of us!

After arriving at Maihama station and switch to the Disney monorail,

(btw those workers from Disneyland/DisneySea are the best! They were soooo

sweet and welcoming even though we couldn't speak any Japanese)

the first Disney-thing we met was already so freaking adorable.

The monorail itself was screaming Disney!

I've seen these cute little mickey handles only in the pictures,

so I couldn't even.

The monorail got us more into the Disney spirits!

When we arrived at the station, everyone of us ran straight to the terrace right in front.

And this was the scenery we saw.

It felt as if we teleported to another world.

We went inside around 9 which wasn't what we've planned.

So my sister and I needed to rush to get the fast-pass tickets for rides.

Sadly, the rides in Toy Story place were all full.

We decided to ride another one called 'Center Of The Earth'.

After having a quick snack-like breakfast in front of giant globe,

we started our journey to the DisneySea.

There would be some Disney characters appearing at anywhere, at anytime in DisneySea.

And the first characters we saw were......

Donald & Daisy!

Even though I knew they were just huge dolls with people inside,

these two were sooooo adorable.

They were marching like little children while holding hands *heart melted

As we walked in, we could meet even more characters.

We met these friends from Pinocchio!

Can you believe that we got an autograph from Jiminey Cricket?

And Marie from Aristocats.

She was literally the largest white cat I've ever met but the best!

The symbol of Tokyo DisneySea: the volcano.

The volcano kept on making errupting sounds and fire time by time.

It's not in the picture, but there were mommy duck and ducklings on the sea!

I was obviously falling in love with this place.

Then we headed to the bridge connecting to the other themed places.

Along the sides of the bridges, they basically created smaller version of Venice.

We leaned on the fence and waved at the people on the boats

while listening to the gondoliers' serenade.

This amazing place is called Toy Story Mania.

(such an appropriate name for me)

It was full of details and festivity.

Even a single bench was decorated with characters from the movie.

We took a quick glance at it since we planned to come back here at night.

As we slowly headed to the volcano, where our first ride was waiting for us,

we saw this fancy castle/house.

Surprisingly, it was the scariest ride in DisneySea called the Tower of Terror.

Here, let's take a moment of appreciation to this popcorn container.

One of the best thing in DisneySea was the popcorn.

Popcorn places are everywhere at DisneySea but they sell

different flavored ones in different characters!

This Alien had the black peppered popcorn in it

which was much nicer than we expected.

(we thought it would taste like spicy black pepper)

Since the fast-pass tickets were now available,

we went to the volcano to get our first ride.

'Center Of The Earth' was quite thrilling ride because it had a kick at the end-

going down really really fast through the center of the volcano!

My 11 year old little sister got scared at first, but she got too much

excitement and big smile after riding it :D

DisneySea had a lot of ocean themed places all over it.

This lighthouse and the sailing boats at the Duffy place

were one of the cutest thing in here.

Thankfully, the weather was perfect on that day,

so every pictures we took could be picturesque.

More treats!

That iconic mickey popsicle (orange flavored) and Duffy milk tea

helped us to keep the spirits before lunch.

We started to get hungry, hot, and exhausted as the weather got warmer.

However, we had another fast ticket to get!

The Indiana Jones ride.

The amazing fact about DisneySea is that they built every themed districts

with so much efforts and details that every time we went to other ones,

the whole atmosphere changed.

This time, we were in Indiana Jones land, I felt like I've found

a forgotten place where Harrison Ford was meant to explore.

After getting our next fast pass tickets, it was time for lunch!

To be honest, majority of food at DisneySea were pricey.

Well, we had no choice because we were starving.

We found this huge sandwich/burger place at the streets full of

retro and American 60's vibes.

We ordered shrimp avocado bagel, turkey grilled panini, and

huge turkey ham sandwich with some fizzy drinks.

They were all delicious and we devoured on all of them!

Our stomachs were full, weather was perfect, and we had many more places to see.

But we spent some relaxing time to take a look around of small streets.

It was a great time to enjoy the peaceful parts of DisneySea

where we could have some family chats and selfies.

Never forget to have a good dessert after meal.

A warm sugary churro at the castle.

While we were moving to Aladin themed part, we found princess' meet and greet.

It was Ariel!!!

She's one of my all time favorite Disney princesses along with

Rapunzel, Elsa, and Aurora.

When my sisters and I saw her, we freaked out and couldn't talk.

(even though we reminded ourselves saying how much she practiced to sound like Ariel)

Three of us were fangirling so hard that we talked how she was adorable

for next 20 minutes.

Aladin!

Well, the palace is Jasmine's but still!

DisneySea did it again, I felt like I went right into the movie screen.

Plus, it literally smelled like herbs and curry.

On that day, I rode the prettiest merry-go-around in the world.

It was a two story merry-go-around with so many colors and lights.

Moreover, it had some genies to ride instead of horses.

Seeing the whole view of Jasmine's palace while listening to

'Whole New World' was magical!

On the way out, we saw Genie and the flying carpets.

We finally decided to come back again at night to re-appreciate this place.

The Indiana Jones ride was something that anyone (friends, families, kids, and adults)

could enjoy. There were such things as zipping down the rail or horrific monsters.

The whole effects were extremely realistic enough

to experience the Indiana Jones adventures.

After the sunset, we then visited the last place we hadn't been yet-

The Mermaid Lagoon.

It was the place that was perfect for DisneySea's whole theme.

As I got closer and closer to King Triton's castle,

I felt like I was under the sea! (Believe me, it was that magical)

It's sad how the pictures can't take what my eyes saw.

The castle gleamed with lights like the sunlight hitting colorful seashells underwater.

Of course, there were Little Mermaid soundtracks going on.

And of course, we sang along!

I'm not even kidding, as soon as we saw this magical scene,

everyone including my parents went "woooooooooooow".

I mean, if this is where Ariel lives, I would never want to leave!

The Mermaid Lagoon also had the most adorable store as well.

The Whale Shop.

It reminded me of Pinocchio trapped in the whale's stomach

because of its massive size.

And the eyes of it literally moved slowly!

We were extremely incredibly severely exhausted as we got out of the lagoon.

However, we could never miss the highlight of the day: The DisneySea Illumination

We went to the main plaza where tons of people already gathered.

I was impressed again with the people because

no one was pushing each other or trying to squeeze in to nowhere.

Everyone was following lines and rules to watch the show together.

And the Disney Illumination started!

I was actually worried- what if the show would be quite disappointing?

Well, Disney never did and never will.

All Disney movies and songs kept on playing with

amazing lights, water fountain, and fireworks.

At first, I tried to take pictures and videos as much as I could.

But at the end, I just enjoyed it without any camera or phone.

It was definitely a highlight of the day that made us

to forget about the hunger and sore feet.

Before we leave this magical land, we didn't forget to visit Toy Mania again.

And it was probably the best thing we did on that day.

I would never ever forget this experience in my life.

It was so beautiful that I slightly became emotional.

We just stood there for couple of minutes gazing on those little lights.

It was the place where everyone could be happy with no worries on minds.

All the festivity and happiness made it brighter and more cheerful.

Let me be honest, I didn't want to leave.

I'm quite sure my sisters felt the same way.

This somehow made my day and my heart complete.

I've got friends in Toyville!

And we left Tokyo DisneySea.

I and my family were tired than ever.

Ironically, no one complained about it. We all kept on smiling till we got home.

We had dinner/late night munchies as we chatted

and shared about out experiences at DisneySea.

Our next goal became visiting Disneyland and Disneyworld!

I would never forget this day not because I spent some days

back in Korea editing all the photos I've taken,

but because of all the hours we had as a family.

It was where all of us could go back into our childhood

and be ourselves without thinking about works, problems, schools and so on.

Thanks, Disney!

And huge hugs and kisses to my family♥

ⓒJKDAWN

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