More Flowers...Again

How cool is this arrangement my family bought me for graduation?



I'm not sure what any of these flowers even are, but I love them. Apparently my mom told the florist something like:
"Make it weird! My daughter is not a rose carnation kind of girl."
She's right.

DIY Magazine Flowers

Click here to see how to make magazine flowers like this one!

Confession #4: Gluttony

The following is a list of where my money was spent on my last credit card statement, in order:

Barnes & Noble
Wendy's
The Olive Garden
Chili's
Dino's Sports Bar
Chili's
The Olive Garden
Sheetz (for an MTO not gasoline)
Sunoco (for gasoline)

I am sensing a trend.

Am I a foodie? I hate the word foodie.

I'll take one of these

I found the recipe for this heavenly looking thing on Pinterest (which I JUST joined and really don't understand how to use yet. I'm working on it).

Honey Cloud Pancakes. Oh my.



Follow this link to Things We Make for the recipe! I will be making this and I will let you know how it goes.

Any recipes you've been dying to try, readers? Please share!

Justin Timberlake.

This is Justin Timberlake. That is all.

Help a Girl Out

I don't know how many others have experimented with the nail sticker polish things...but they really do work! This set I bought for $3 at Five Below months ago:



Unfortunately, Five Below has a sparse selection of patterns. This was my favorite one there, and it seems it has disappeared.


Sally Hansen Salon Effects makes them in a lot of really cool patterns, but I just don't know if I am willing to shell out $10 for nail stickers. Has anyone tried these? Do they last?



Better yet, has anyone found a brand that makes cool patterns at a more affordable price? Help a girl out.

Girls

Twenty Something blog post promoting new HBO television show about twenty-something girls. Yes, I think so.



 HBO's Girls is written, directed, co-executive produced, and starring a twenty-something girl--Lena Dunham. This makes me so happy I could scream. She's this one:

This show is funny and brutally honest. A bit exaggerated at times, but I like that. Because what twenty-something girl doesn't feel like the escapades and proclamations of their girlfriends aren't a bit overblown at times? They are.

The girls on the show are educated college grads/students. They are intellectuals, yet they don't know when to stop talking to the booty-call guy. The kinky sex guy. Ew, yeah that guy.

WARNING: As a huge Sex and the City fan I will say that Girls is a different kind of....well set of girls. The ladies of Sex and the City are just that--ladies.




The foursome of Girls are in their early twenties and are still trying to decide what they want and who they want to be. They're awkward and dysfunctional and perfect.

Confession #3: These things are in my car now

Hello Kitty Floor rubber floor mats...



And Master of Puppets. I don't know what this says about me.

Confession #2: Tea Party

In light of my guest blogger Andrew's post about iced tea, I will share one of my maddening obsessions with you--tea.

When I wake up, I crave it in the way I imagine most twenty-somethings crave coffee, or pot. I like to have it on me when I write or when I drive. If there were a political Tea Party that involved actual tea, I would join it. I credit the miniscule bit of English blood in my genetics with this and my love for Oasis or Lily Allen.

I have become a bit of a tea snob in fact. Some teas are unacceptable. Like these:


I don't agree with an iced tea that comes from a concentrate or powder mix. That is a no no. I am pro-brew.

In fact, I like almost any other tea that is actually brewed from leaves (from what I can tell).
Here's a list of some of my favorite teas in specific categories:

1.Black Sweet: Lipton Pureleaf Iced Tea, Sweetened

I don't know why Lipton would consider making the disgusting options above available when their Pureleaf tea is so good. Pureleaf is great in any flavor: Raspberry, Peach, Sweet, and Green with Honey are all wonderful and refreshing. I actually judge a gas station's worth based on whether or not this tea is available.



2. Green Tea: Giant Eagle's Market District Organic Green Tea with Mint

This is possibly my favorite all time iced tea, and the greatest part is that Giant Eagle sells these babies for 10 for $10...meaning they are $1 a piece! My personal favorite is the Green Tea with Mint, but I also love the Green Tea with Honey, and there is a wide variety of other flavors offered in green, white, and even black teas. They look just like the ones pictured below except they'll be full of sweet nectar.



3. Chai Latte: Oregon Chai The Original, Latte Concentrate Liquid

This is easy to mix and tastes better than any $4 chai latte I've ordered at Starbucks. Oregon is HANDS DOWN the best chai brand out there, and I'm pretty sure the box says it's because they're the original. I pour mine over ice-- half chai mix and half skim milk, sip, and relax. I've found it at Wal-Mart and at Giant Eagle.



Readers, any suggestions? I love to try new teas!

Aloe Under Sweaters

So I was rubbing green, sweet aloe gel over my sun burns this morning and looked outside to see this:

Yeah, that's snow. Several local school districts have cancelled school today. It's an actual snow day, and I could not be less enthusiastic about it. 

Mother Nature, please allow me time to adjust and apply sunscreen before bringing winter back.  

Meanwhile, I'm going to listen to Weezer and avoid windows to cheer myself up.

Sun Screen Please!

Yesterday was gorgeous out and so I decided to sit outside to study and write. Unfortunately, I did not realize the strength of the spring sunshine. Thus, the awful one-shoulder  Flash Dance sunburn you see before you.

Bad sun-burns are comical, but all jokes aside, wearing sunscreen is very important. Beyond that, making the choice to NOT slide into a tanning bed is important too. I know that the temptation to tan is great for twenty-somethings. Many of my girlfriends (and even a few guy friends I have met along the way) visit tanning salons regularly. This is a terrible and unhealthy habit to fall into.

I recently read an article about a twenty-something girl who had lost her battle with melanoma. Though I have never used a tanning bed, her story still terrified me. Tanning aside, she was a health conscious girl with her whole life ahead of her. And so, I felt it was important to share her story with my readers... Click here to read this article and see why.

And remember girls and guys, pale is beautiful too!



Guest Blog! Nerf Wars

Hey, Readers, this is Audrey from Suburban Hoofbeats. I'm guest blogging about my awesome idea for a giant Nerf war on campus. Now this war can take place anywhere that has a large enough area. Tools you'll need: any and all Nerf weapons. My preferances are the broadsword and the long range gun. This is activity shouldn't be taken lightly. Hours have been spent in the Target and Toys 'R Us aisles contemplating the Nerf weapons. Andrew (previous guest blogger) and I have got to look psycho to the other shoppers.

It'll be so epic, it'll continue for generations. In fact this is what my kid will totally look like.

So Readers, if you want to be the coolest kid on campus, organize your own Nerf war. Trust me, people WANT to take part, they just need a leader.

Guest Blog! Half-Gallon Tea

Andrew Brown here. You know, that fat guy with the backwards hat who always has a half-gallon of iced tea with him everywhere. This is a practice that I picked up on beginning of this semester to lessen my migraines (hydration assists in prevention).

But soon, it became like my third hand. Iced tea is delicious, whether it be green, lemon, sweet, purple, light red, you name it. I'm starting to think I'm addicted to instant ice mix and artificial flavors. That's okay by me.

Campus Hunger Games

A friend of mine recently mentioned a desire to create a Hunger Games for our campus. Shout out to Audrey at Suburban Hoofbeats!



I am curious, Dear Readers, how something like this would Pan(em) out.

I know that some schools have created Quidditch teams. How successful are these teams? Is anyone on one?



If I were on one I know who I would be. That's right. That guy right there in the middle.
I'd be a golden girl. The snitch.

So, do you think one could adapt the Hunger Games into a college campus activity? Ration student meal plans? Force commuters to work hard labor in "District 12" for a semester? How the fuck would this work?

Please make this happen.

Confession #1:

I find the ending of Fight Club to be terribly romantic-- in spite of the subliminal image.

"You met me at a very strange time in my life."

Mud Mouth

Post-Quad ride photo. Yes, there is mud on my teeth.
ONLY because I smile and scream when I ride, so don't judge!