Lifestyle Blog – Page 3 – …on the B.L.

Banana Bread Surprise

April 9, 2018 RaeAnna

Banana Bread Surprise

It’s not a secret I like to eat… or cook… or bake. If you follow along on Instagram, you’ll probably see the ridiculous amount of things I consume by way of my stories. I like food. Nay, I love food. It’s the perfect partner while reading.*

I have always had a soft spot for banana bread. It’s the right amount of sweet and nutty because I fill mine up with nuts. The other day, I was craving banana bread and cheesecake simultaneously. I decided to make banana bread. I wanted to add a little something extra because I’m adventurous like that. You can imagine where this is going… Banana bread with a cheesecake surprise filling!!! “How?” you ask… I’ll tell you because we’re friends!

Ingredients
Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas
⅓ cup butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
¾ cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
½ cup crushed nuts *optional* (I prefer pecans but walnuts are great too)

Cheesecake Filling

8 oz cream cheese
1 egg
½ cup sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F, and butter a 4×8-inch loaf pan.
In a bowl, mix together cream cheese, egg, and sugar until smooth. Set aside for later.
In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Then on high speed mix butter and sugar into mashed banana until light and fluffy.
Mix in the egg. Add baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.
Fold in the nuts.
Pour half of the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Pour the cream cheese mixture onto the batter. Then pour the remaining batter to cover the cream cheese mixture.
Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let cool completely before serving.
When slicing there should be a layer of cheesecake between the banana bread layers.

I came up with this idea because I have weird cravings, which are absolutely not pregnancy related! I am just a weirdie. It looks like a normal loaf of banana bread until you cut into it.

I explained this recipe to several people. Several were hesitant, but they all tried it. Much to their surprise, I’m a secret genius… I ended up making a few batches because it was so popular!

*Aside from my dog, but she is a given. Assume Beau is the best pawtner in everything I do!

Travel, Travel Guides

San Antonio Day Trip

April 4, 2018June 23, 2019 RaeAnna

Attention!!! Books are no longer my only friends in Houston. I have human friends in my most recent home city. It’s a very exciting development for me.

Even better, I’m growing close with another blogger. A business blogger and digital nomad (goals) from New Zealand. Elise runs the blog House of Brazen! She has limited time in the US, and we’re exploring as much of it as we can before she’s off on her next adventure. Where? No one knows.

On Thursday, we hopped in the car early heading West on I-10 until we ran into the San Antonio River Walk…. There were a couple turns, but not many. Being the non-early birds that we are. Starbucks was our first stop. Quickly followed by the first Buc-ee’s we saw. If you’re not from Texas and happen to be in Southern Texas, find a Buc-ee’s, go to the bathroom, buy a kolache, and try some beef jerky. I guarantee you have never seen anything like it before. It’s the most Texas gas station you’ll ever encounter, and we are absolutely bonkers over them.

Three hours later, we hopped out of the car and headed right to the river walk. We walked along the river looking at the beautiful architecture, bridges, art, and people watching.

The river walk is such a beautiful place. It stretches on a long while in several directions. There are areas where the tourists congregate, and areas where you hardly pass anyone. Sidewalks, usually, run on both sides of the river. They aren’t very wide, so you often have to “think thin” as people pass. Restaurant patios spill into sidewalks. You won’t have to search far for food, and everything smells amazing.

The river walk is teaming with life. People. Flowers. Water. Wild life. I really can’t tell you how gorgeous it is. The architecture is beautiful and varies. The bridges across the river keep changing. My favorite, however, was a bridge covered in bright green ivy… I don’t know if it was ivy, but that is what I’m going with.

Elise and I headed to the Alamo because, well, it’s the Alamo. It’s not very big. It’s beautiful. It’s always crowded. You could probably walk around reading every plaque for hours if you wanted. There are guided tours and audio tours. We weren’t that concerned with more than strolling through, which is free! Save money where you can to spend it on things like day trips to cool places or saving to visit her in New Zealand. (Fingers crossed you’ll all follow my adventures there.)

After the Alamo, we went to lunch at Rita’s. Elise threw chips for the birdies to eat. I stared at a gorgeous dog who sat next to us. We ate Mexican food completely content with our lives. Finishing up, we walked around the river walk for a little while longer.

After a fun day in San Antonio, we hopped back in the car for the three hours home… But also another stop at Buc-ee’s because duh. More kolaches were consumed. Beef jerky was bought to be taken home – I highly suggest the Bohemian Garlic. I dropped Elise at her place before heading to mine. Beau was ecstatic to see me. I – the non-morning person I am – crawled straight into bed.

Books

Get Money

March 27, 2018 RaeAnna

Read: Yes
Difficulty: II
Quick Review: Kristin Wong writes about finances in the most approachable way possible. She doesn’t overwhelm you or make you feel stupid while comprehensively covering everything from basic savings to investments and taxes.

I can’t recommend this book enough. Especially for the millennials who are entering and working through adulthood. I was lucky enough to have parents who taught me about finances, but, in adulthood, I have realized so many of my peers have not been so lucky. Which is a shame because money is a huge part of our lives… Usually something we struggle with because it’s money or we don’t have enough of it or whatever.

Kristin Wong has tons of experience with money because she writes about it for all the biggest outlets and she’s also human. Money is scary. Money can be depressing. Money can seem like a distant dream belonging to our favorite Instagrammers. She is unafraid to talk about the nitty gritty details without dumbing it down or making it too hard to understand.

Balance. The overarching theme of Get Money is balance; balance between savings and living. From the beginning of the book, Wong talks about the Oh Shit Cycle; us adults out there adulting are probably over familiar with this cycle of blame, shame, and a bit of depression. Wong gets to the real point of money, it’s personal. How we spend, save, and look at money is different with each person. She is consistent in pointing out in order to put your finances in order, you must look inward to your motivations, which takes time and work.

Money is rough, but it is a part of life. It is part of friendships and relationships. Who we are is intrinsically linked with money. Wong understands this and so much more. She gets money. No pun intended. She wants her readers to understand money and the choices they have. Banks. Everyone needs one. What we don’t realize: we have options. Wong wants her readers to know they have options. She does not want anyone to be blinded by their fears and reservations of money.

Things included in Get Money that you need to know/Reasons to buy her book: a) credit scores are confusing b) taxes c) compound interest for the good and the bad d) savings e) IRA, 401k, what? f) debt g) financial advisers h) negotiating incomes/interest/anything. You need it!

The book is organized into three sections covering about every aspect of money issues normal (non-financial sector) people need to know. There are work spaces throughout, so you can make plans and complete the exercises. If you’re awkward or shy like I am, Wong includes advice and scripts for calling to negotiate with insurance companies, banks, etc. She gamifies money/reading into levels, so you can level up instead of dealing with boring old chapters. Advice from other financial experts is scattered throughout, as well as, outside information and resources. If you’re wanting to put her words to work and use it as a guide to getting your money in order, it’s not a quick read. Although, I would suggest reading it all at once, and then going back using it as a personal game plan.

Kristin Wong is competent, funny, motivating, helpful, understanding, and human. I don’t want financial advice from someone scary, and she is anything but scary. Her book is fun to read and informative. Everyone and anyone can learn something from her.

Memorable Quotes:
“If you’re bad with money, take solace in the fact that you’re not stupid, you’re just human.”
“Sticking to your budget is really about sticking with your goal.”
“Sex is an awkward topic, but based on my experience, money is leaps and bounds more taboo.”
“If you want to stick to your budget and goals, learning to spend consciously, with a purpose, is a must.”

Title: Get Money; Live the Life You Want Not Just the Life You Can Afford
Author: Kristin Wong
Publisher: Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9780316515658

Lifestyle

Invest in Books and Friends

March 13, 2018 RaeAnna

Happy Feminist Friday!

I think two of the most important things women can invest in are books and friendship. These two things have a lot in common. They’re both time consuming. They cost. Books cost money; friends can cost money (going out, gas, etc.). They are absolutely priceless!!!

Books
Well, I obviously think these are one of the most important things anyone can invest in. Not like I’m a book blogger or anything…

Books for a really, really, really long time were inaccessible. They were expensive to make. Then the Gutenberg Press happened. Woohoo! Technology helped make the production of books simpler, faster, cheaper, which allowed more books into the world creating more authors and more readers. Before the Gutenberg Press, you had to be super rich or clergy to have books. The other big reason books were inaccessible for so long: literacy. The only way you learned to read was if you were – again – super rich or clergy. Rates of literacy began to rise after books became more accessible………..

I forgot to mention one teensy little thing. Previous paragraph is pretty much just about men. Women reading, yeah that, it’s a new thing. Women didn’t read. They weren’t taught. Education was a thing for men. Educated women? They existed… Very few and far between. That history is loooong.

Anyways, books are important. It’s still a fairly new phenomenon. There are still many places in this world where reading is rare, but I’m lucky to live in a place and a time where reading is easy and inexpensive!

Women should read because knowledge is power. Enough said.

Friends
Friends are super important. Books are not my only friends. I wouldn’t say I have tons and tons of friends. I have several really close friends. I am beyond blessed to have each and every one of them.

Funny enough, books have lead me to several of my friendships.

My best friend and I met in the library at college. We both worked there. I was a senior; she was a freshman. It was her first day of college, and it was my last first day of college. I trained her. One thing lead to another, and she has never gotten rid of me since.

My blogger bestie, Maria, and I solidified our friendship over books and reading and the general accumulation and discussion of knowledge. We lived on the same dorm floor our freshman year in college – a handful of years ago, now. We met and hit it off pretty much immediately. I would love to say books were the catalyst, but it was a combination of books and fashion. We LOVE both. Fast forward a handful of years. We had fallen out of touch because life. We kept tabs, but hadn’t talked or seen each other in YEARS. Living on opposite sides of the country, we each entered the blogosphere within months of each other, literally two. She is a fashion/lifestyle blogger: Millennial Fashionista. I am a literary/lifestyle blogger. We support one another. We chat often. We share blogging woes and highs. Books brought us together many years ago, and books helped rekindle our friendship. Click here to see us in action on her page!

Friendship is such an important aspect in our lives as people and women. It’s important to have a support system. Friends provide a place to be our weird selves.

Books and Friends. My two favorite things!

Books

Homegoing

February 13, 2018 RaeAnna

Read: YES
Length: 300
Quick Review: Follow the descendants of two sisters, whose lives take different paths, through eras of great turmoil in Ghana and the US.

I rarely read a book that vibrates my heart, but this shook my soul. I knew it would be good because of all the hype both critical and popular, but I was thoroughly unprepared for the depth of Gyasi’s abilities. It is rare writers produce such a masterful work and even rarer it happens in their debut novel.

Beginning in Ghana there are two sisters who never meet, and their lives go in very different directions from an early age. One marries a white man and her descendants remain in Ghana for many generations; the other is sold into slavery in America.

Chapters are snapshots of lives for each generation alternating between the sisters’ descendants. The stories never have fulfillment or completion, but each has a depth allowing for an emotional connection to each person’s struggle. Each struggle the character goes through represents a similar struggle hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people experienced. The realness is palpable and heartbreaking and absolutely necessary.

Throughout the entire novel and each chapter there is an ominous air penetrating every corner of the narrative, but Gyasi is able to weave in tiny traces of hope, which is a human necessity to carry on through the darkest times.

Gyasi explores the history of the slave trade with roots in the Gold Coast and follows it through the history of Ghana as well as the history of America. Slavery, rape, murder, mining, Jim Crow, police, drugs, passing, so on and so forth.

It is an epic story of how people are formed and shaped by their pasts and their ancestors pasts. Every action cumulates and snowballs to create opportunities and circumstances which affect those who follow in our footsteps.

I absolutely cannot recommend this novel enough. Homegoing is phenomenal and important and entertaining and impactful. It’s a novel that will not leave you quietly.

Memorable Quotes
“He looked at her like her body was his shame.”
“the methods of gathering slaves had become so reckless, that many of the tribes had taken to marking their children’s faces so that they would be distinguishable.”
“watching this man she’s been told is her husband become the animal he’s been told he is.”
“They couldn’t tell one black face from another.”

Title: Homegoing
Author: Yaa Gyasi
Publisher: Vintage Books
Copyright: 2016
ISBN: 9781101971062

Lifestyle

Dear Black Women

February 1, 2018 RaeAnna

Dear Black Women,

Happy Black History Month!

I have a small yet growing following on social media. So I’m going to use that platform to talk about something all month long that is really, really important to me: you.

I am a feminist. I am a white woman. My feminism includes you. My feminism is inclusive.

Women have to deal with some real bullshit. There are some upsides, though. Having to deal with being treated like less, working harder to prove we’re equal, being observed as sexual playthings years before it’s appropriate, and more because there’s a lot bullshit. We’re humans. We deserve respect. We deserve to live our lives our way without fear or judgement or interference from people who have no idea who we are.

I’m white. Those are my experiences. I’m writing this to you because you have different experiences. You don’t have the privileges I do. You have to live life in a way I never will. You have to take precautions I never will. You have to deal with microaggressions and racism I never will. You have to deal with discrimination and harassment and sexuality in ways I never will.

I’m sorry you have to go through that. I wish it weren’t your reality.

Sadly, this world is nowhere near postracial. I love that people think since we had a black president *poof* racism, finito! Those people died the moment Obama was elected because things are not ok. We – as a country, I didn’t – voted Darth Cheeto into office. Unfortunately, 53% of white women voted for that ass hat wearing mongoloid. (I hate using language like mongoloid but yikes, he’s deficient and it’s dated.) We live in a world where #blacklivesmatter is controversial. WHAT??? Ugh. (Just so we’re clear, I’m pro #blacklivesmatter.) We live in a world where black boys and men and women and children are dying because of the police. We live in a world where 1 out of 3 black males will be incarcerated at some point in their lives. We live in a world where black women wearing their hair natural is seen as a political statement. We live in a world where black women are angry and black men are dangerous. I think the only time I’ve ever heard a black woman yell in real life is at step competitions. Let’s just say, the only men I’ve seen with guns are white. This list can go on and on and on.

We all have biases. That can’t be avoided. I’m sure I have been insensitive. I hope if I am someone points it out to me, so I can learn from that experience. The thing is we can learn and do better and change and make this world fair for our children and our grandchildren. But it takes making an effort, learning, and communicating. We have to take ownership of the past and the present. (This is more of a white people issue.)

It’s sad that we have to have Black History Month. IT SHOULD BE DISCUSSED EVERYDAY!!! It’s important. Your history is my history because we’re people, we’re Americans. We need to recognize the faults we made and the faults we make. If it’s not part of the discussion how will we learn?

This month is an ode to you. Every day, I will post on social media about a fabulous black woman past or present. Narrowing it down to 28 is rough. Some may be famous, and some may be friends of mine. I think it’s important to recognize the accomplishments of women and especially black women because if we see excellence achieved by people similar to ourselves we know it’s possible. If we know it’s possible, we won’t just dream. We will act and be amazing ourselves breaking down gender walls and racial walls. Every success made by a woman and a black woman is a step forward for all of us no matter how small.

Women need to stand together. We have no chance if we don’t. Historically, white women have always benefited from the oppression of woc (women of color). Feminism has been historically white centric. When “women” were fighting to work, woc had been working for years because they didn’t have a choice. When “women” won the right to work, they depended on the low wages of woc to do the things around the house they were no longer doing because men didn’t pick up the slack. White women have benefited from the inequality.

Black women have been the leaders in change but never received any credit. A lot of the actions, ideas, and more that helped gain freedoms for white women originated in black communities… but no one cared until a white voice spoke it. A whole bunch of fashion, music, dance, etc trends over the past centuries, which have been popular in the US, have roots in black communities. Yay cultural appropriation… Totally fair and not at all offensive.

Dear Black Women. You are seen. You are important. You are spectacular. You matter. Your experiences are significant. Your voice should be heard. You are worthy. You are smart. You are funny. You are complex beings with layers upon layers of emotions, experiences, actions, dreams, and more. You deserve the best. You deserve the right to be yourself. (I hate telling women they’re beautiful because there are so many other things I can and should compliment them on, but I don’t think you hear it enough.) You are beautiful. You are a knockout just the way you are.

Love,

RaeAnna
Founder of Bookish Liaisons

P.S. I’m hoping white people read this, and learn something. We can always learn something. I have lots to learn.
P.P.S. To other nonblack women of color. You also matter!
P.P.P.S. Dear White People. If you find yourself angry: good. You obviously need an education. Also there are opinions in here that are my own. The facts I talk about are facts. They cannot be refuted. You may try; I will block you. I hope you learned.