What Ryan Gosling Has Taught Me About Life…

That all you need are a pair of hipster glasses and a weird instrument to look really attractive…

But seriously though, I know what you are probably thinking right now: “I’m switching to another blog because why would I listen to some random person tell me to dress modestly…”

Well, I’ll give you 3 good reasons:

-above…

-you are not a piece of meat to be drooled over and viewed as if you’re a compilation of “good”/”attractive” parts — you are a person

-do you want someone’s first impression of you to be: wow, she has nice legs or wow, she’s beautiful

*As just a side-note, even if a woman was dressed completely immodestly that’s no excuse for a man’s bad-behavior. I’m NOT of the opinion that “boys will be boys” (that’s just crap).  But I still think dressing with dignity and class is important*

—

Now that we’ve established that point, I will show you some ways I’ve adapted my old clothes to jazz them up and make them a bit classier.

*In other words,

pull out your needles and thread, get your scissors, and take notes —

it’s about to get crafty in GWA*

1. Adjust the straps of a dress or shirt so that it fits you better and you are not *falling out of it* Very easy to do this — pull the straps down, make a fold, and sew a couple stitches (even if you’ve never sewed before, you can do this)

 

2. Fix your hemline — In this instance, I actually made the dress shorter so that it fit better (definitely built for a much taller person). I included this, because if you are struggling with skirts, dresses, pants that are too big, you can try to fix the hemline yourself (unless it’s a tricky fabric, it shouldn’t be too hard — just make sure you sew straight)

 

3. Get yourself some fabric and go crazy — Ever had the experience of getting a cute dress or skirt and wishing that it was just an inch or two longer. Well, it can be! I experimented with adding hems to a dress and skirt that I had and surprisingly it was pretty easy to do and looked cute! Look below and be inspired.

The hem on the right has big scalloped edges, while the hem on the left is just plain white fabric

                         …and…

4. Save money and revamp old clothes — Not sure what to do with that unfortunately shaped button-down — cut off the sleeves and make a cute new shirt or cut off the collar and make a tunic!

  …or…

  

 

5. GET CRAFTY!! If you have a brain (which you all do–phew!) you have the ability to be creative. REPEAT THIS TO YOURSELF — I CAN BE CRAFTY! For example…

This dress was too short, had one of those awful elastic waist-bands, and was a simple shift. In other words, not only was it so short I felt uncomfortable sitting at the front of class, but it also had a not so attractive pouch right where the waist-band was. So, I sewed in the white waist-band, added the bright pink zipper, and went crazy with a gold button in the back. It added some length and excitement to an old plain dress.

 * * *

The point of this post is that I’ve gone through style phases in my 19 years of life…

Phase 1: I don’t think I’m all that pretty, so I don’t really care what I wear

Phase 2: I notice I get guys’ attentions when I “take advantage of” how I look and wear clothes that don’t look that classy. A.K.A. I thought being attractive was my only asset (where do girls get that warped mentality from…)

Phase 3: I reverted back to a version of phase 1 in which I wear clothes that show no curves and could in no way be construed as revealing (GASP! I’m a woman and have curves! That’s shameful! — that was my inner monologue)

Phase 4: Now — I am trying to find clothes (or adjust clothes that I find) that show how beautiful I am. 

Whatever you do, don’t settle for clothes that make you feel less than beautiful.

And bring a needle and thread with you to college — you’ll never be without a cute outfit.

Yours truly,

GWA

Let the Count-Down Begin!!! AND The Cooking Chronicles

*for my (insert college name) friends*

*you’re welcome*

15 DAYYYSSSSSSSSS!

In case you are not aware, I move in to start a second year of college in 15 days!!!!

I’m just a little excited :D

The only down-side about moving in, is that I won’t be able to see my friends from back home, who I was able to see this summer (but don’t worry, I’ll make them come visit…I’ll lure them in with my nerdy memes and delicious recipes).

But I’m SOO excited to move-in and dedicate this post to my friends across the country and around the world!

—

Now, on Friday I saw some of my friends from home and my dear-friend and awesome next-door neighbor Rachel mentioned that she is going to be doing a lot of cooking in her apartment this year and needs some easy recipes. So this post is dedicated to her and all other college cooks out there. :)

My goal for this coming year is to cook a real meal at least once a week. I got the lowest possible meal plan (10 meals a week) so I’m hoping to find some easy recipes. Here are my requirements:

-ingredients that are cheap and easy to find

-using as little cooking utensils as possible

-cheap spices

-something healthy and exciting to make

So I’ll be posting my successful recipes and little tips on how to make them during the year when the cooking adventure begins, but I wanted to list some blogs that sound very promising for finding good, easy, healthy recipes. I scoured the interweb for you, so enjoy!

Yours truly,

GWA

EXCITING RECIPES

*gluten-free pizza — for my gluten-free friend Kelly

http://thecollegiatecook.blogspot.com/2012/05/asparagus-socca-pizza.html#more

*morning muffins — healthy muffins made of oatmeal…this might replace my morning oatmeal ritual

http://thecollegiatecook.blogspot.com/2010/02/whole-wheat-oatmeal-muffin.html

*delicious soup — seems perfect for cold weather

http://thecollegiatecook.blogspot.com/2012/02/roasted-butternut-squash-soup.html#more

*bagels — I LOVE BAGELS so if this is a fun recipe, I could make some on the weekends and refrigerate them for throughout the week!

http://cooking-in-college.com/2012/07/12/homemade-bagels/

*meatballs — hmm, in pasta, as a snack, make of turkey…interesting…

http://cooking-in-college.com/2011/10/12/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-turkey-meatballs/

*sauteed spinach — anytime I eat spinach, I feel like a super-hero…enough said

http://cooking-in-college.com/2011/07/01/veggie-week-part-iii-spinach/

*mug foods — this is just plain ol’ magical

http://www.buzzfeed.com/arielknutson/delicious-snacks-in-a-mug

Inspired by Good Ol’ Ben Franklin

*Glamorous shot of the back of my bathroom mirror*

Now, since summer is half-way to an end, I thought it was a good time to re-evaluate my summer goals and see how everything was coming along.

Goal 1: Learn how to play the guitar — uhh it’s coming

Goal 2: Become healthier — hmm, my sneakers are looking remarkably clean and what happened to that half of a batch of cookies? (I have no idea…)

Goal 3: Study the Bible, Catechism, and learn more about my faith — I’ve taking somewhat of a break from that…

Goal 4: Spend time with friends from back home and have a lot of fun! CHECK! ONE DOWN –WOOOOHOOOO!

Now, about the rest of those goals…Since I forgot about them for the past couple weeks, I have created a system to keep me on track. I will try and do those little things on the post-its each day for a week and when I can go for a whole week I will re-evaluate the goals and either keep them or create a new related goal for the following week. I was inspired by Benjamin Franklin who created a list of virtues to be completed each day and a very impressive list at that (check out this awesome blog-post for more information: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/02/24/lessons-in-manliness-benjamin-franklins-pursuit-of-the-virtuous-life/). Over time, he found that he could go for longer without marking on his daily calendar a failed attempt at practicing a virtue. Moral of the story: stay strong!

I also listed my goals under 3 headings — Body, Spirit, and Soul — because each I believe should be in harmony. The Body section is included because a healthy body helps you handle stress better and thus react well to others; also, these things will help me prepare for my half-marathon! The Spirit section is a little more loosely defined (by me) as related to fun hobbies, like learning how to play the guitar! The Soul section is reserved for those ways in which I want to grow in my faith.

This has been really helpful to me, because they are little things for each day and then I don’t get overwhelmed by trying too much at once (since it’s only 3 things!). Also, having it written down and posted right in my bathroom where I’m bound to see it every morning and night is a good reminder.

Best of luck with your summer goals! And thanks Ben for the helpful advice!

Yours truly,

GWA

Musings on Chocolate

“Or more accurately, I saw the common things drawn into the bright shadow.”

C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy

Now based on my title, you’re probably thinking I’m referring to chocolate’s role in every food product, because let’s be honest, chocolate makes everything taste better (salt and butter also play an important role here). However, a good baker knows that every ingredient counts and that even something simple and ordinary like oatmeal, bananas, peanut butter, and cinnamon should not be over-looked.

After all, most often in life, it’s the ordinary things that take up most of our time — washing our clothes, doing the dishes, scheduling doctors appointments…Especially in college, it can be easy to get in a trap of a tightly scheduled day, in which free time for thought is devoted to figuring out our next activity just so that we can keep up with the work-load. As a result, it can be really easy to over-look this ordinary time and push happiness, God, and thoughts about a greater meaning to our lives to another day–an ideal day when we have the free time or are confronted with the extraordinary. To keep the metaphor going, we can look forward to adding the chocolate to the cookies and overlook the ordinary oatmeal/peanut butter glue that holds them together (I know, I know–I’ll provide the recipe below).

But if we do that, we miss out on a lot of hidden beautiful moments. For example, we tune out the world while on the subway, instead of seeing the love an elderly couple sitting nearby has for each other; we choose to go to bed and catch up on much needed sleep, instead of comforting a friend in need; or we go through our mental lists of what we need to do to “improve ourselves” instead of realizing how much we have to be grateful for at this moment.

I love how in this quote, C.S. Lewis said that he found God (even before he realized that he had found God) when he had the transformative experience of being able to see the ordinary world around him as incredibly beautiful and full of miraculous occurrences.  I dare you to appreciate the oatmeal in your cookie of life (I’m laughing at myself for this metaphor) in addition to the chocolate.

Yours truly,

GWA

And now the recipe! Note that these cookies have already been devoured by my family members (and myself) and are SOOOOOO good (and healthy!)

http://www.theskinnyfork.com/blog/2013/3/18/healthy-peanut-butter-oatmeal-cookies

What AREEE this?? Gluten-Free Eating Adventures

I pride myself on my flexibility with eating. As Jenna Marbles says — you should come up with a list of things that you’re awesome at (http://jennamarblesblog.com/videos/things-im-awesome-at/) and this is certainly one of them.

On the down side–I eat anything in front of me, which is not always the healthiest option. At my school’s dining hall, rather than look around and see what is most appetizing (let alone healthy), I find myself reaching for the pre-made sandwich in front. But I am determined to break myself of this bad habit and eat more conscientiously!

Now, I should begin this with saying I am not a hard-core gluten-free person, nor do I have celiacs disease, so I have some flexibility in my diet. However, I like the idea of being gluten-free — of eating more than just whole wheat bread and pasta for grains, of eating more fruits instead of cake/brownies/pies, and of being more creative in meal-planning (spending more time cooking rather than waiting in line for someone to make me food, for example). So for the past couple of weeks, I’ve limited myself to having one gluten-full meal a day and I must say I’m feeling pretty good! Perhaps it is the placebo effect, but I could care less because I have more energy and am not just stuffing what is right in front of me in my mouth.

Now, eating gluten-free does require some meal-planning gymnastics and my sister and her boyfriend found this delicious recipe for those of us with a sweet tooth who want to eat healthier (they are also gluten-free!) They’re called Date-Cashew bars and can be found here: http://www.lululemon.com/community/blog/seawheeze-sea-salt-caramel-bars-yum/

My friend was nice enough to poise for an anonymous picture with one of the sticky bars– she also has great nails!

On that note, I send you off to eat more conscientiously — and perhaps come up with a list of things you are awesome at.

Yours truly,

GWA

*In case you didn’t get the reference, the title was inspired by this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4sXjJJjcWQ&noredirect=1 Recently, any time I’ve seen something new and intriguing I ask myself–what are this???

My Daisy Workout

Sometimes you just need a break from a schedule, so instead of Couch to 5k, I worked-out with couch to throwing-the-ball to Daisy, my adorable-crazy Australian shepherd (I attached a picture of “The Cuteness” below). Daisy continues to amaze me by her disposition–her ability to sleep any time and anywhere, her openness to playing at any time (even mid-nap), and her constant need for food (she always seems to appear right when I’m cooking with those big brown eyes, as if she hadn’t eaten in ages, when in reality she finished her dinner a minute ago). But here are the top 2 things I’ve learned from Daisy:

1) Sometimes it’s a really good thing to just relax–take a nap, play fetch with your dog, and  sit outside without any real agenda. Way too often, I get caught up on to-do lists and goals for the day (did someone say, type A personality?) I was tempted to even include in this post a workout with your dog–something cheesy like run around with your dog for 30 minutes instead of going jogging, when I realized how crazy that was. Instead of viewing quality time with your dog as an alternative to a workout, just enjoy yourself without a time limit and certainly without a goal in mind. It’s really important for those type-A’s among us not to have goals all the time.

2) That I am not my dog. While I do need that time to relax and just be, I can’t relax and do nothing all day. For the first couple days of summer, I thought that that would be great–I could just establish a list of goals to accomplish (of course the list of goals comes back). What I didn’t take into consideration was that all of those goals were goals for being at home by myself, which is not my personality at all. I need to be doing something, I need to feel like my day was spent making a difference in the world, I need to feel like I was challenged to go outside of my comfort zone.

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been wondering why I’ve felt so out of it, when it just hit me. I was trying to make myself into something I’m not and that frankly I don’t want to be. Even though I think it’s important for me to have the time to relax, I also like that I want to spend my time wisely. I wasn’t creating a proper balance in my life and completely ignoring the way that God made me.

So, how to proceed, now that is the real question, but I hope this helps you, reader, who perhaps is also wondering how to spend these next couple months off and who felt like you were in a funk. Because I don’t want to view them as months “off”, I want to view this as a time to better myself.

The Cuteness–up close and personal

Why All Natural Beauty?

As women, I believe we are called to reflect God’s beauty into the world. Beauty can be hard to find because for many people a quest for beauty is synonymous with a quest for becoming sexy, skinny, or changing yourself. However, we are created in God’s image and likeness, which is a pretty big deal and means our bodies are perfect just the way they are!

Now, in order for us to be our best selves we need to be healthy. When I consider my actions, the times when I’m most snarky, mean, and selfish are when I’m tired, hungry, or feeling sick. These things go away when we start eating healthier, staying active, and treating our bodies with the respect that they deserve. So here begins my quest for all natural authentically-me beauty!

Yours truly,

GWA

Star Trek Themed Workout

I believe workouts should be fun, because I’m working out to be healthier and happier. So I came up with a Star Trek themed workout in order to kill two birds with one stone (an awful expression–sorry about that!)–prepare myself for the new Star Trek movie and workout. I can’t take all the credit–it was inspired by the Harry Potter workout I found on Pinterest, which I sadly have not done yet. It is also adapted for those of us (cough, cough, myself) who are beginners in the athletic sphere.

*Also, in case you haven’t realized this requires that you have the Star Trek movie or access to the tv shows*

Every time:

-the crew meets a new alien…10 jumping jacks

-someone says “live long and prosper”…10 lunges

-Spock fails to express an emotion…10 mountain climbers

-the crew enters a new planet…10 jumping jacks

-Bones says something sarcastic…15 crunches

-They flash the word “Enterprise”…10 squats

-Someone is attacked by a terrifying alien…5 lunges

-Someone says captain…each time (count ’em) 1 push-up (some scenes have 5 or more different instances…stretch before you do this workout)

Live long and prosper!

Yours truly,

GWA

http://weheartit.com/entry/51411973 I hope you enjoy this