The Summer "Im going to get fit!"

Well it's that time of year again. Actually it's been that time for awhile, but I'm always a little late at getting around to these things.

Every summer since I can remember, I've told myself I'm going to get "tan and buff" over the course of June, July, and August.

In the past, I've put...some effort...in making my dream a reality. Mostly I just make the tan part come true, and I end up eating worse than I do during the school year.

BUT THIS YEAR IS DIFFERENT.

I'm going ALL OUT and really doing this thing!!

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Every day I go to the gym down the street from where I live, and I do 30 minutes on the elliptical. I don't know how they got this picture of me...

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Then, I do a few core exercises, like curls and sit ups, and the like.

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Some days I throw in Zumba too. In just a matter of time, I'll be as fly as these cool cats in the picture below...

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I'm also using this fantastic little website called "My Fitness Pal," which is also available as an app for ipods, to track my calories eaten and the exercises I've completed.

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I don't really want to lose a lot of weight. I'm 5'5'' and 110 pounds, but it's mostly fat, and I have NO upper body strength whatsoever. I just want to have more energy and some tone to my body. I just hope I have enough determination!

The Spelling Bee

I have yet to describe the musical that I'm performing in this summer.

It's called "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." ...I know--quite the title, right?

Well, it's being directed by my high school director/choreographer and a recent graduate who is currently studying acting at NYU (Tisch).

The musical revolves around these six misfit kids who are all partaking in their local spelling bee. If they win it, they get to move on to the nationals in Washington D.C. The bee comes to mean so much more than a simple competition to them. They're all weirdos, and being able to show off their spelling talents means the world to them. This also means that by being eliminated, the kids are heartbroken and feel like "losers."

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I play the youngest contestant, Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, who speaks with a lisp and is the most socially conscious person at the competition, having two gay dads. Logainne is serious about not letting down her dads, or America for that matter, and therefore she must win no less than first prize.

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Other characters include: Chip--a boy scout who suffers from unplanned erections, Marcy--a smart (usually asian) girl who skipped 2 grades and can speak six languages, Leaf--a hippie child who wears a cape and helmet and is only capable of spelling by going into a bizarre trance, Olive--a sweet and lonely girl whose mom left the family to find herself in India and waits the entire bee for her dad to arrive from work, and Barfee--a bully-nerd who had to resign from last years spelling bee due to a peanut allergy.

The musical is SO much fun. It's absolutely hilarious, but also has some real moments about the sad truth and harshness in our society.

Oh and Jesse Tyler Ferguson was in the original broadway cast!!!! He was Leaf. Here's a clip of him performing one of the numbers...sorry, the quality isn't the best---but it's funny anyways.

My Cereal Obsession

It’s… “cere-ous”

…Sorry about that…

But I do love the delicious carby treat. The sweet and mysterious union of grain and milk doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and yet somehow it works perfectly. Kind of like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West….

Personally, I like to let it sit in the milk (skim) and get a little soggy, and then…enjoy.

Here’s my collection. Keep in mind that I’m pretty much the only person in my family who eats cereal.

I saw a commercial on t.v. a few days ago for Special K “chocolatey delight.” It was advertised as being an alternative to a desert. Being a cereal fanatic as I am, naturally I had to taste this for myself.

Observe the box.

Now take closer a look at it zoomed in. Notice the vast amount of chocolate chunks, looking “cere-ously” tasty…again sorry.

AND NOW! Take a look at my bowl of the poured cereal. Where’s all the chocolate????

Oh! There it is! ALL TWO FREAKIN’ PIECES OF IT.

…and it wasn’t even good chocolate.

But the grainy flakes were doused in sugar, so that added to the flavor a bit. It actually tasted better without milk, too.

But still…LIES I SAY!

The Amazing Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone

So I saw the new Spiderman movie on the midnight premiere two nights ago. Of course I had to see it the very second it opened. You see, my friends and I formed an Andrew fanclub three years ago and are VERY devout Garfieldians, and unlike these new “fans” of him, we encouraged him all the way back when “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” came out.

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And Emma Stone is pretty cool too.

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Together they make the most likeable (and attractive) couple, both onscreen and off.

Andrew recently said this about first meeting Emma:

“It was like I woke up when she came in. She was the last person to screen-test, and I was so bored of it by then that I was mucking about...And then she came in, and it was like diving into white-water rapids and having no desire to hang on to the side. Throughout shooting, it was wild and exciting. I couldn’t help but try to stay with her, keep pace with her, and not let her get away. [Laughs].” via

...Perhaps you can see why I like him so much!

The movie itself was…pretty good. The special effects were of course thrilling, and (big shock) I thought the acting from the two leads was well delivered. However, the script is almost a carbon copy of the Spiderman that came out a few years ago, with some minor differences…And I thought the villain was kinda lame. But hey! Cheesiness is expected a little bit with superhero movies, right?

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Overall, I thought it was entertaining and give it 3 out of 5 stars!

The great journey to curls

At some point in our lives, most of us have this inexplicable wish we had the exact opposite of what we were given by nature. With straight hair, we curl it up, and if you’re a curly head like myself, chances are that you’ve brushed your scalp raw and flat ironed the daylights out of your locks. Sometimes the result isn’t even that great.

When I was younger (oh the awkward middle school years) I was what you might call…confused…with my hair. I had very frizzy/curly hair, and it didn’t look at all attractive naturally. Most days my mom would straighten it before school, and even then it was pretty sub-par. 

However, when I got to high school, I got tired of my mom doing my hair all the time, as you might imagine, and decided to try experimenting a little. In hindsight, I’m SO glad I made this decision.

All it took was use of the right products to really bring out the curls. One day a friend introduced me to Deva hair care for girls with curls…I was a changed woman from that day on...:O

 I use the “No-Poo” and “One-Condition” in the shower, and then rub the “An-Gel” through my hair before VERY LIGHTLY blow drying it with a diffuser.

Here's  a link to the fabulous Deva website!

Last fall I cut my hair to chin length because it was really hard to keep up---but I still love it! Easy and different-looking.

So I guess what I’m trying to say with this post is: Don’t get discouraged.

There might be something really unique in you that’ll just take a little gel (or something) to bring out. Keep trying and don’t give up. Yeah it’s starting to sound a little annoying now, I gotchya. I’m almost done.

 But REALLY! Why straighten or curl your hair every day when you could just embrace whatchya got naturally? Products, my friends, and experimenting. It sure saves a hell of a lot of time in the long run and isn’t bad for the old confidence either.

New Banner!

Oh the excitement of a pretty new banner! Do you like it? WELL YOU HAD BETTER LIKE IT---IT TOOK ME FOUR FREAKING HOURS TO MAKE. 

 via: http://apeakukesah.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html

 

 

Sorry about that…actually it was probably more like two hours, but it felt much longer and photoshop makes me sad. Anyways, I really do hope you like it!

 

 via: http://randomdotfm.blogspot.com/2011/04/history-of-smiley.html

Baseball and Ducks...

Ahh my favorite time of the year is here again: Fourth of July. And my favorite DAY of that favorite time is always the Saturday before the fourth, when my family has made a tradition of going to the Mallards' game and then straight to Rhythm and Booms.

What could be better? I mean, c'mon, even if you don't really follow baseball, it's not exactly painful just looking at the players for a good two hours...if ya know what I mean.

 And FIREWORKS! Oh, and these are not just ANY fireworks---they are THE epitome of the word. And they're set to music too. Seriously, it's brilliant.

So, for my first post, here are two fourth of july inspired outfits. One for the fireworks...and one for the baseball players ;D