xoxo || a gossip girl fanfic

valentines day

 outfit: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/662944007665548132/ valentine's day, besides fourth of july + christmas, is one of my favorite holidays. so of course i'm going all out with nate. but first i had to make sure he wasn't going to be home. "hey nate. i was just wondering what you were up to today?" i asked, over the phone. "uh, unfortunately not. it's so busy here. what's up?" nate questioned. "oh, uh, not much. that's totally fine." i replied. "okay are we still on for dinner tonight?" nate asked. "yep. i have mazie coming over around 7. i'll see you tonight?" i questioned. "yeah. i love you. see you later." he said. "i love you too. bye." i said, hanging up the phone. i saw wren in her highchair, + held her on my side. "what shall we do while daddy's alone?" i questioned. obviously there was no response. "you wanna bake? me too, wrenie. but the question is what to bake." i stated, but all of a sudden i got a call. it was chris. "hey what's up?" i questioned. "not much but dani michelle wants to style you for the met gala!" chris exclaimed. "in what?" i asked. "she wants to style you in a givenchy with a sparkly choker, shimmering shoulder pads and crystal-embellished sheer gloves!" chris squealed. "no way!" i exclaimed. "is that a yes?" chris questioned. "most definitely! how did she get my name?" i questioned. "the producer of your musical gave it to her. pretty good connections your getting here aspen." chris pointed out. "i know right. but i must get going i have a bunch of baking to do!" i exclaimed. "okay girl! see you soon! xo!" he replied, hanging up. now for baking i want to make  valentine's themed pastries. i'm going to do two things! valentine's day macarons +  strawberry pop tarts with nutella. the first thing i'm going to start on are the heart shaped macarons with lemon buttercream. i started by grabbing a food processor, added 70 gm almond flour and 120 gm powdered sugar. pulse twice then started on the poptarts. i started by preheating the oven to 350. then in a small, i started whisking together egg yolk and 1 teaspoon water. then i set it aside. then i rolled out the pie crust until it was pretty thin. then i cut it into 2.5 x 3.5 inch rectangles, and rerolled the dough as i needed to. i ended up with twelve rectangles. i took six of the rectangles + cut out a heart in the center. then i set them aside. then i put two egg whites in a large mixing bowl and beat them until they were foaming. then i added 1/4 a cup of granulated sugar and beat on a high speed for about two and a half minutes until they were glossy. i added 1 strip of red food coloring + folded it with a spatula until incorporated. then i started on the nutella and strawberry jam. on the remaining rectangles, i spreaded one tablespoon of nutella, leaving a little bit on the border around the edges. then i topped the nutella off with a layer of strawberry jam leaving about a half of an inch still to the border. then i started with the sliced strawberries. i placed a strawberry carved heart on top of the strawberry jam layer in the center of the rectangle. i topped it with the pie dough with the carved out center. i sealed the edges with the ends of a fork and brushed the rectangles with the egg was mixture. then i sprinkled it with coarse sugar. then i started cooking them. while they started i got back to my macaroons. i added all sifted almond flour + sugar mixture. i started folding it with the spatula scraping the batter all around the bowl, then pressing the flat side of the spatula firmly though the center. i repeated this until the batter flew like lava + thick ribbon forms as it flew off the spatula. this was about 35-40 strokes. i printed four copies of the heart template + placed it on 2 baking sheets under silicone liners. i could see the hearts through the liners so i knew it was right when i was piping the hearts. i then started back on the poptarts. i put them on the cooling rack to let them rest. then back to the macaroons. i transferred the batter to a large piping bag. for each heart i piped at the top left + then pulled down towards the bottom center then piped it at the top right + pulled down towards the bottom center. i added sprinkles also. then put the baking sheets over the counter 15-20 times to release air bubbles. then i let the cookies sit for 30 minutes, + preheated the oven to 300. while this happening i just bounced around with wren. when the thirty minute timer was over i baked one sheet at a time for fifteen + a half minutes. but for the second batch i did 12. i let them cool to room temp before removing them from the baking sheet. i flipped over half of my cookies so i was ready for the buttercream.but now i have to work on the lemon buttercream. but before that i put down wren for a nap. in a mixing bowl i creamed 6 teaspoons of softened butter on high speed dor 2 minutes. i added one + a half cups of powdered sugar, along with 1/8 tablespoons of salt. once the sugar was incorporated, i beat it on high speed for another 2 minutes. i added 2 tablespoons of lemon juice + beat it again for another minute until it was fluffy. then i piped frosting onto the cookies and i was finished. finally. i got them all placed correctly + it was perfect. then i got a call from nate. "hey what's up?" i asked. "there's been a quick switch of plans. how fast can you get mazie to come over, + come over to the specktator?" he questioned. "less than an hour. wren just went down for a nap, and i finished my baking." i replied. "i was hoping you were baking! okay if you could get down her asap that would be great!" nate exclaimed. "okay, i'll be there asap." i replied. "okay thank you. i love you. bye." he said, hanging up. i called mazie + william, got my desserts, + headed to nate's office. when i got there nate explained to me about the party + then praised me for desserts. i went back home + got ready for the party in my old constance uniform. then i headed to the party. i saw nate, + he came over + hugged me. "isn't this great?" he questioned. "close to it. i forgot to tell you, i'm releasing another album." i stated. "really?" he asked. "yeah. i have a bunch of leftover songs, + chris is releasing them tonight at midnight." i replied. "aspen that's great!" nate exclaimed. "thank you! now go make your rounds!" i exclaimed, sending him off.