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as many of you know, last weekend my family and i took a trip to the british virgin islands, a set of small islands near san juan. it's been wicked cold in the nyc. last week it was 9˚F, so it was nice to add a zero to the end of that number...

it was the first time i've ever seen waters so clear and blue. yes, i've been to the beach multiple times (thanks, cali), but to see water to pure was probably like seeing snow for the first time. it seems almost impossible. there was plenty of fruit-eating, sun-bathing, and sleeping. sleeping in has never felt so good. 

there was rain, but it was beautiful. it was the type of rain that you can swim in because it's so warm and soft. there was something about this place that made me tranquil, and i don't think i have ever had such an experience like that before. 

next week, exams start, so i guess this trip was a stress-reliever of sorts. i'm looking forward to that. not. 

have a lovely weekend everyone!

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it's kind of hard for me to believe that i'm turning fifteen today.

the big 1-5– the year of the quinceanera (that i am not having).

i mean, it's just another year that i've been alive, in a quite literal sense. 

about 6 hours into fifteen-dom i realize that being fifteen is just like being fourteen. it's not like you're turning thirteen, your first "teen" year; or eighteen, your "last" "teen" year, and you're not celebrating your sweet sixteen, either. so i ask, what is it then?

fifteen. just fifteen. 

so instead of saying fourteen you say fifteen. that's basically it. you say you're fifteen and that you're a freshman in high school. that's all that you think has changed.

physically.

i don't feel different, i don't look different, i don't sound different, i don't know any different, but i know that i have changed, and will continue to change. and yes, that is both a good thing and a bad thing.

good in the sense that i am becoming more knowledgable and that there will be more opportunities for me.

bad in the sense that i am actually getting older, physically and mentally, and that i will have to hold more responsibility on my shoulders. but there's no stopping it. there's no stopping any of it. and i have to deal with it.

i went with a couple of my friends and my family to two of my favorite places in new york (state) to celebrate my first few days in fifteendom. naturally, i took my camera with me to capture the moments. 

i'll let the film give you a sense of the joy i felt on that day.

so to this i say, happy birthday, me.

may this sixteenth year of existence (and your seventeenth and eighteenth and nineteenth, too) bring you good and amazing things.

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if you're reading this, i just want to say thank you. to all of my friends and teachers and classmates, i wish you the absolute best in the future ahead. i'll miss you all. 

a video? but izzy, you never make videos!

i actually do, sometimes... and this is why:

for the past couple of weeks, i've been writing, shooting, and taste-testing for this marvelous project i did with the amazing women behind design*sponge.

i was not only astonished to get an email from such a well-known blog, but to be asked to create a recipe video for their friday column!

how awesome is that?

from 1 to 10, i give it an 11.

as the final result, i created a warm, ginger buckwheat porridge, topped with a poached pear, and a thickened coconut milk. to see how i made it, watch the video above.

to see the recipe, visit my feature on their blog.

have a wonderful weekend everyone