Movie, Massage, and Margarita Monday!

Yes, you read that right! Between my husband's fibromyalgia, and my stress caused by 17 credit-hours and an upcoming LSAT (less than three weeks away now), we needed a little more of a "stress-relief Monday" than normal. So this week we decided that we needed to get some of our knots worked out at a local spa. We are really lucky to live in an area where there is A LOT of competition, so we were able to get a great deal on two 60 minutes massages (there is a $20 discount if you get a couples massage)! We went to Spa Thai Essence here is beautiful Arcadia. It was really great, and totally worth the money, but I think I am going to need a day or so to recover from her working the knot out of my right shoulder!

We decided to rate a movie that we saw a little while ago, because we didn't want to leave you all hanging, and we had to choose between The Dark Night Rises and What to Expect When You're Expecting. While our first instinct was to rate the former, we decided against it because one, it is a great movie, and two, you should, if you haven't already, go see it (I think it is still in theaters in most areas). It was almost too easy and obvious to rate, so we decided to go with the latter. So here we go!

This week's movie:

 Michelle's rating: 7/10

Cole's rating: 5/10
Check out what others think at IMDb

So there is a little bit of a split here. The general consensus was that it is a chick flick. Now that that's out of the way, I can admit that there were some main characters that I didn't like just because I didn't like the actors/actresses to begin with (Jennifer Lopez especially), but there were also some pretty extreme sappy moments that I didn't feel were necessary, and I know made Cole want to get up and leave. HOWEVER, there were a lot of really funny moments as well! Cole and I agree that it is a good chick flick (we all know there is some that make men want to gauge out their eyeballs!) I think that most women would really like this film, especially if they have had children. If it is not still playing in your area and you are interested, I think that you should definitely check it out when it comes out on DVD, but remember: always rent before you buy!

This week's margaritas:

Enjoy your day!

-M

What do you do to relieve stress? Have you seen any good movies lately that you can recommend to us?

All movie titles, pictures, etc... are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of their respective holders.

Cookin' with Laura: Basic Pancakes

Two things: I never really liked pancakes, and I always thought that they had to be made with the box-mixes. So you can imagine my surprise when I found out how easy and inexpensive they are to make from scratch, as well as how delicious they are! No dry, dense pancakes here, just fluffy, moist little cakes of joy! Laura Vitale, hats off to you, you have done it again!

As always, you can watch Laura make this recipe here!

Let's get to it!

Ingredients:

1 cup of All Purpose Flour
1 cup of Milk
1 Egg
1 Tbsp of Sugar
1 pinch of Salt
1 tsp of Baking Powder*
Butter, to cook them in

*I didn't use baking powder, because I had self-rising flour (aka: bread flour).

Process:

1) In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients (except the butter) let the batter sit for 5 minutes.

2) Preheat a non stick skillet over medium heat and add a tiny bit of butter to help them not stick.

3) Cook up your pancakes in batches for about a minute or so on each side or until golden brown.

With chocolate chips!

 4. Enjoy!

Chocolate chip pancakes with raspberries and powdered sugar!

These are sooooo good and sooooo easy! I would say that the key is to let the batter sit for about 5-10 minutes because that makes them nice and fluffy, and make sure that you do not over-mix the batter, as they will become dense if you do! I have made these with chocolate chips (obviously), shredded coconut, and I even substituted almond milk for whole milk one day. You can change this recipe to fit any taste!

Enjoy your day!

-M

Study-ache!

Does anyone know what I am talking about? You know, that I-have-been-sitting-here-for-far-too-long pain? I swear it goes from the base of the scalp all the way down to the lower back! I think it actually contributed to my first migraine (which I had the pleasure of hosting last week). I think anyone who studies a lot or has a desk-job can relate in one way or another, so I decided to do some research for all of us!

1. I found a great video explaining some of the causes of this pain (obviously posture is a big one), and it also gives you some stretches to help with the pain. It is a little corny, but I felt great after spending just five minutes working on the stretches. You can find that video here. 

2. I learned that drinking water can combat a lot of that draining fatigue that you start to feel after sitting for a long period of time. As I mentioned here, drinking water is incredibly important and so beneficial too! Check out on the benefits of staying hydrated in this article: Top 11 Benefitsof Drinking Water.

3.  One of the lessons I learned was to not ignore pain. This is something that people become very good at, and it is not something to be proud of! Without getting too hippy on all of you, I am just going to say that your body has a way of telling you that something is wrong, and you should ALWAYS listen to what it has to say for the sake of your health and happiness. (This one is especially for my mother!)

4. Try to change your position if you feel discomfort. Sometimes just lowering you chair, or moving your keyboard can make a world of difference in your posture!

5. Seek professional help if your problems persist. With this being said, I RARELY go to the doctor, but I refuse to damage my body (to the point where it could become permanent) just for the sake of saving some money. This is the only body I get, so I better treat it well!

With all this being said, I will leave you with a picture of an office that I am currently drooling over:

via: housetohome.co.uk

 Enjoy your day!

-M

TGIF!

Yesterday during Convo Hour we had a "Zero Tolerance" rally:

Now, it is important to note that I attend a Loyola Marymount University, the 5th safest campus in the United States, and am sad to say that we still have problems with such issues! Although I see that there is a great need for such strong and educated people to stand up against hate, discrimination, and ignorance, I am not going to lie when I say that I am surprised beyond a doubt that we still need such organizations. This is 2012 people! Why are we still harassing people based on their race, religion, sex, sexual orientations, ect.? Is someone who is different from you any less human? Why do you think that you have the right to judge others? YOU DON'T! It is time to stand up and say that you are not going to put up with discrimination anymore, and if you are one of these people that does possess hate in your soul for others, it is time for YOU to change. Imagine a world were we can all live together in peace.

Can you imagine?

-M

A Fresh Face and a Perfect Name

Notice anything different?! I am happy to say that I have shed my blog’s old skin and have given it a fresh new face! Take a look at the old layout:

 And now: 

And we also have some new additions:

1.  Search bar

2.  I hope to add some more tabs in the coming weeks to include stuff like an "about me" section, and maybe a tab for projects/organization. We will just have to see, and don't forget that I am totally up for any suggestions! 

Now to a different subject: I have had a couple of questions about the title for my blog the past couple weeks, so I have decided to elaborate on how I decided upon it:

I think that especially in this generation, with technological advancements that consume our entire beings and with more and more being demanded of us on a daily bases, it is really easy to lose oneself. We let the world shape the kind of person we are from the outside in, and instead of looking back and being proud of who we were, and are today, we see that the influences in our lives have completely taken over, and we are simply left with a bi-product of our environments. That is not what I want to look back and see! I know that I am a goodhearted person with so much drive and enthusiasm, and I refuse to let anything change this person I have become. So instead of incorporating the outside world into my life, I want to instead incorporate myself into everything I do. I want someone to be able to look at a project and see my personality, enthusiasm, and drive show through. This is why I created this blog. This is a way for me to stay true to myself, and for others to be able to share in my life. I want to help others through the knowledge I have acquired in hopes that they will incorporate themselves into all that they do. 

Thank you for sharing in my story!

-M

Method my Madness: Brown-Bagging!

So I have had a ton of questions and requests these past couple weeks to talk about how we pack our lunches! I am so glad that people are interested in this topic because it is something that Cole and I believe wholeheartedly in (if you really want to get fired up watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on Hulu, or for you Netflix fans, you can get a preview of this by watching the first episode of TEDTalks: Chew on This). Packing lunches is a total win-win: you save a TON of money as I explained here, and you know exactly what is in the food you are eating! Because we make most of our food from scratch and we do not use store-bought canned items (which I will elaborate more on in the future), we have quite a healthy diet, and we are not worried about such things as BPA, HFCS, and MSG. So let us dive right in, shall we?

Here is my method:

1. Determine what accommodations you have available at work/school- I am on a mission to discontinue all use of microwaves (I know, I am a hippy-health-freak), so I try to pack only things that do not need to be re-heated. However, if using a microwave is something that you are not opposed to, or there is a toaster-oven available were you will be eating lunch, then by all means, don’t eliminate the options that need to be re-heated (aka-leftovers from dinner, ect.).

2. Buy a good lunch box- I have to stress that even though I called this post “brown-bagging,” please don’t use a brown-bag! You need something that is insulated and padded to keep you food cool (no food poisoning here!) and keep your tupperware from getting damaged. There are great, high-quality options at discounted stores, which is were we bought ours:

Cole’s lunch box was bought at Big Lots for $8.99, and it’s original price was $17.99!

My lunch box was bought at Ross for $4.99, and its original price was $14.99!

3. Buy an ice-pack- Again, if you pack food that is going to make you sick, you probably shouldn’t pack it in the first place. I bought two ice-packs at the 99Cents-Only store for, you guessed it, $2.00.

4. Make sure you have enough tupperware and/or plastic bags to pack your lunch- Obviously you cannot just pour your lunch into the lunchbox! 

My collection of tupperware!

 5. Determine what the bare minimums are for your lunch- For me, I ALWAYS pack a main dish, a fruit, a veggie, a dessert, and a snack. Sometimes, as Cole and I rarely eat any meat or poultry, the veggie can count as the main dish, but there has to be enough to give us the proper amount of energy we need during the day, so it normally includes a bread, pasta, or rice!

Pasta salad, veggies with spicy hummus, fresh berries, trail mix (not pictured), & a chocolate cookie

 6. Don’t forget the drink- We have different combinations of drinks that we pack, but we MUST have water. As my friend Katrina says: Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Water is the most important thing that you can drink, not Gatorade, not Vitamin Water, don’t even get me started on soda! Just make sure you are consuming W.A.T.E.R. during the day!

7. Pack the proper cutlery and a napkin- This may seem like a no-brainer, but I have been guilty of forgetting utensils all-together. So just make a mental note!

8. Pack/prepare as much as you can the night before- Like I have said before, I am a morning person, but there is just never enough time to get done everything that needs to be completed before everyone is running out the door! I know that there are just some things that don't hold-up well in the fridge over-night, trust me; but if there are some things that you can do the night before, such as cutting up fruits/veggies, and putting items in tupperware, then do it! It will just save you valuable time!

This is were I eat lunch!

 Hope that helps!

Enjoy your day!

-M

Drinkin' with Laura?: Homemade Margaritas!

That's right, no pre-made mixes here! This is a long overdue post about how we make our weekly margaritas that you have seen here, here, and here. It is absolutely pain-staking how much sugar is in those pre-made mixes, and the fact that you don't have to refrigerate them... Gross! This recipe is awesome, and who better to present it to us than the master herself: Laura Vitale (I think I should probably get paid for advertising for her! Lol!).

As always, you can watch how Laura makes this recipe here.


Ingredients:

3/4 cup of Tequila
½ cup of Fresh Orange Juice
½ cup of Fresh Lime Juice
3 tbls simple syrup

Process:

1. We do not use fine sugar as she suggests, because we buy organic sugar, and fine organic sugar is really hard to find. In order to do this, we just heat up equal parts sugar and water over the stove, just until it is dissolved. The secret to this is to swirl the pot, don't stir it.

Before

After

2. In a large pitcher, add all of the ingredients and stir well, add the crushed ice and let it sit for a couple minutes so that the mixture gets icy cold.

3. To serve, rim a glass with some lime juice and dip it in either salt (Cole's favorite) or sugar (Michelle's favorite), pour the margarita mix in your glass and bottoms up!

 

These are soooooo delicious! And there is also a virgin version of this for all of you pregnant women, under-21's, or those of you who just don't prefer alcohol. You can find a recipe for that here. 

Enjoy your day!

-M