Spring Time Flowers

     This time last year I was doing a project for my AP Psychology class and we had to pick a service project to do. I decided to plant two flowers everyday for my mom before she came home from work to surprise her, and give her something to look forward to everyday. After we were done with the service project, I realized how fun it was to do that every day and so this year I decided I want to do that again, but have a little fun with flowers inside my house and outside. I am go to share with you how I am going to be decorating my room and the outside of my house with flowers from local garden centers and florists. The pictures below are my end results from my service project.

      Outside of my house, I have a medium to large size garden pot, and usually my mom and I plant flowers in it every year on Mothers Day, but after last year my mom decided to give me free range of it. This year I am going to go to my local garden center and pick out 5-6 different types of flowers to plant in the pot. I want to mix and match different types because it gives your flower pot that extra color and uniqueness to it. If you don't have a garden pot, that is totally fine, all you have to do is find a little area of dirt and designate that as where you will put your flowers. Typically to keep the flowers that you will be planting in the ground, alive, you will need to buy some type of flower food. My mom and I use miracle grow and you only have to use it once to keep your flowers alive all spring and summer.

     Another way that I will be putting flowers around the outside of my house is, I am going to buy a couple of hanging baskets. Hanging baskets are basically one type of flower all put into a basket and the flowers tend to hang over the basket. You can hang that basket from the outside of your house on a hook, or anywhere you can find where it will hang. I always like putting hanging baskets up because it is so easy to take care of, all you have to do is water it once in the morning and once at night. Hanging baskets usually lasts for two months if you water them properly, I like to leave mine up till the end of July even if they do wilt, it is still nice to have them hanging there.

     Now for around the house, this is where I will either go to my local florist, or anywhere that is selling flowers by the pod. When I think about indoor flowers, I automatically think of tulips for the spring because they are beautifully when they haven't opened and even more gorgeous after they have opened. The next flower I like to get are sunflowers and the sunflowers are usually either yellow or red. I like to get a variety of lengths for the sunflowers, typically I'll put the taller sunflowers in a tall vase in front of a window. Then the shorter sunflowers can go in a small clear jar, and those can be scattered around the room. Finally for indoor flowers, I like to go and pick up random flowers and when I get home, I'll lay them out and pair which flower goes best with and then put them in whatever glass, jar or vase I can find.

     After last year, I have really wanted to try and really get the inside and outside of my house looking ready for spring and just bright. If you have been reading for blog for awhile, you know I really like decorating and drinking things that are in season, and I would say flowers is probably the easiest way I have found to decorate for spring. If you are not one for putting flowers out, you should really try it because it makes your house smell amazing, the bright colors will lift your mood, and it just makes your house look that much better. If you want more flower inspiration I would go check out Poppy Deyes latest blog post http://www.poppydeyes.com/making-the-most-of-your-bunch/, this is where I got my inspiration to write this post. Also the pictures look amazing and gave me a lot of ideas on how I am going to organize my flowers.


From Poppy's recent blog post

Burt's Bees Product Review Part 2

     In my previous post on my review for Burt's Bees I only reviewed their chap stick, but after using them for a few months and reading even more good reviews about Burt's Bees over all products I decided to sort of branch out. I always thought that this brand just made chap stick, but after I watched a YouTube video by Niomi Smart, she reviewed her top 15 favorite natural products (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqRe9VonxI0), and she reviewed Burt's Bees lotion, that made me think maybe I should look more into what they have.

Niomi with her Burt's Bees lotion

    I work in a grocery store, and after I started to look more carefully at our shelves, I realized we had Burt's Bees shampoo, body wash, chap stick, lotion, conditioner, and I thought to myself "how did I not know this before!" The first product I bought was the Burt's Bees lotion with cocoa & cupuacu butters. Honestly it is the best smelling lotion I have ever bought and even though it is cocoa butter, it is the perfect subtle vanilla scent that I have been look for, for so long. Another bonus is that it made for dry skin, so I definitely recommend this for the winter. I generally put this on my hands before I leave the house every day and then on my arms and legs after I shower. Something else that attracted me to this lotion is that it is 98.9% natural, it is very close to all natural and it is probably the closest natural lotion that I have found to really like.

Burt's Bees Cocoa and Cupuacu Butter lotion

     The last product that I have from Burt's Bees are two chap sticks, I didn't venture that far out, but I really am in love with their chap sticks. I originally tried their chap sticks because my friend had the pink grapefruit chap stick, and she said she could only find it online so that is how I bought my four pack from last review. After look around target in their beauty section, I found that there are MANY chap sticks there, including the pink grapefruit. I decided to get the vanilla bean and the rejuvenating lip balm with acai berry. The acai berry replenishing lip balm is probably my favorite out of the six different kinds of lip balms that I have, only because it really does replenish my lips. I am not kidding when I say that immediately after putting the lip balm on my pervious severely chapped lips, they are so smooth and feel so much better. The vanilla bean lip balm also has the perfect subtle vanilla smell and I love it.

     I decided to do a part two because I feel like people only really know the lip balms by Burt's Bees but really they have so much out there. When I went to target and found all of those different lip balm kinds, I saw that they even have makeup wipes, face wash, and anything really to do with beauty. Another thing attracts to me this brand is that most of their products that they make are close to 100% or completely natural. I believe it is very important that we are not putting harmful chemicals into our bodies and we should know what every ingredient in the product we are buying. Also I noticed that Burt's Bees is made in America, so anyone who believes America should be making our own stuff instead of buying from China or other countries, here you go.

**Pictures provided by Google
   

Spring Break Blues

     Now that it is April and spring break is over for everyone, it is that time where you realize maybe I should start studying for those AP tests, or maybe I should start studying for the ACT's or SAT's. Yeah spring break is amazing and all but after it is when all of the pressure starts. After spring break it feels like there is a ton of pressure and it is kind of hard to get motivated to do anything after you have just had a whole week of no school pressure.

     After being in high school for a number of years I still not have found a way to over come spring break blues and every year it gets even tougher going back to school for those last two months. Also that is when 'senioritis' starts to kick off not just for seniors but for everyone. Hopefully you don't suffer from these blues like me but if you do, you are not the only one!

Tealicious

     Over the years I have been trying to develop a taste for coffee because I really need energy in the mornings but sadly coffee is too gross. I have now turned my attention to tea for two reasons. First, I heard it is a good substitute for coffee and second, I love English people so I obviously have to drink to tea to really help my obsession. Tea was kind of like coffee for me, I had to try and develop a taste for it, but since there is more a variety of teas, it was much easier. Now I drink tea like I re decorate my room for seasons. I have a tea collection for each season, so when a new season starts, I switch what tea I am drinking. I also got the inspiration to write this post from Poppy Deyes recent blog post of her favorite teas to drink with her different moods. http://www.poppydeyes.com/which-tea-which-mood/


From Poppy's Blog

     Summer time makes me think of light and fruity, so I generally like to drink the more herbal fruity teas. I have three tea's that I switch out for summer and they are Fruit Salad by the Bluebird Tea Co. in Brighton, England. The next tea is the Passion Herbal tea by Tazo. The last tea that I switch out is the Organic Peach Green tea also by Tazo. I discovered the Bluebird Tea Co. from my Youtuber, Zoe Sugg, she lives in Brighton and is always raving about this place so I thought I would give it a go. Thankfully Bluebird has worldwide shipping so, wherever you are in the world, you definitely need try their tea.

     During fall, I would describe it as kind of chilly but not too cold, so I always like to try spicy teas. I only have one drink that I like to drink during the fall and it is a spiced chai latte drink. It is from Trader Joe's and it comes in a powder, so all you have to do is boil your water and put in a tablespoon of the powder. It is the perfect drink to have in the morning to warm your body up and it is also nice to drink on those cold days and the leaves are falling, makes you feel cozy.

     In the winter time, I switch between two and they are both based on Christmas time. The two teas are both from the Bluebird Tea Co. and they are Christmas Cake and Peppermint Cream. The main thing that made me want to buy Christmas Cake is that in the description it said that after you have let the tea leaves soak, the top of the tea will look like glittery snow, not only does it glitter it also tastes amazing. I like the peppermint cream one because peppermint always gets me in the mood for Christmas and it is always the first thing I think of when someone says Christmas. (Christmas Cake on left and Peppermint Cream on right)



  
      I like to change my tea flavors for the seasons because it always gets me in the mood for that seasons and it also gives me something to look forward to when the season changes. Also I always like finding new teas to swap in and out to make things interesting, I need to harder for fall though, that season is pretty lacking. I definitely recommend trying Tazo tea as well because not only do they have amazing flavors that are very widespread, the tea is healthy and brings some good important nutrients into your body. Bluebird Tea Co. is a must to try, and when I ordered from them over Christmas, they send you a receipt of what you bought and on the receipt, they drew a little teacup and wrote a nice message, so I think they really enjoy it when other countries order from them.

Bluebird Tea Co. in Brighton

**Pictures provided by:
http://www.tazo.com/Product/Detail/14
     http://bluebirdteaco.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=christmas+cake

Book Review: The Help

     I read 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett, in seventh grade because I heard there was a movie that was coming out that was based off of the book and I generally like to read the book first before the movie. Now since I was in seventh grade when I read it, I did not know much about racism but I did know some knowledge about it. It really opened my eyes up to what it was like to be a black woman in the deep south (Jackson, Mississippi), it helped me with my understanding that yes there were people in the deep south who wanted to help the African American community.

     This book is amazing in so many ways and the first reason why I think it is amazing is because it is about a woman writing a book about how 'the help' are treated by the white women who hire them. This book that was written by a white woman, Skeeter, she went behind her own friends backs and befriended her friends 'help' that they hired, to interview them about what their lives are like and how they are treated by these white women. It was very hard in the beginning to find African American women who would risk their job and families to talk to Skeeter, to be able to spread the word to the country about what is really happening down there.


     Another thing that amazes me is that Skeeter, she grew up very privileged, because her family owned a very successful cotton farm, it was bound that Skeeter would grow up just like her mom and hire 'help'. The thing about being privileged though is that Skeeter grew up with many African American women who worked on the farm, but one in particular, Constantine was hired to raise Skeeter. Skeeter grew up and in her mind Constantine was more of a mother to her than her own mother was, so that is what really fueled Skeeter to write her book. Also she saw how poorly here white friends treated their help and knew that something had to change, it did not matter that she would be going behind their backs and getting the terrible details about what these women did.

Skeeter from the movie

     The book started by this woman Aibileen, and she was hired under one of Skeeter's good friends. Aibileen knew Skeeter was not like the white women who abuse their help, and that is one of the reasons why Aibileen was the first person to with some persuasion, be interviewed. Once Aibileen knew she could trust Skeeter, she got her close friend, Minny, to talk to Skeeter but Minny had a family of five children and her husband was very abusive, so it took a lot more persuasion because she did not want to risk losing her job and not being able feed her kids and then having to deal with her husband who would physically abuse her. After the two had agreed though, it became very hard to get their friends to talk to Skeeter, but after a terrible thing happened to their friend, that is when all of the women felt it was their duty to tell Skeeter of all of their stories.

Minny (left) Aibileen (right) from the movie

Kathryn Stockett

     In the end, the book was published by anonymous and it became a national best seller, meaning the whole country had read and heard about what awful things these white women did. Kathryn Stockett truly wrote an amazing book that opened your eyes to, not only do the men slave owners abuse the men slaves, but the women abuse their help as well. I recommend this book to any age and everyone because it really helped me understand what was going on back then, rather than learning about it in a class room.

**pictures provided by Google

Half Priced Books

     Half Price Books is a store that is in my town, and is probably one of the biggest life savers. Now that people are starting to turn to electronics to read, the price of buying an actual paper book is going up and even though I do have a job, my love for books is going to make me broke. I use to not like Half Price Books because I like the look of a new book and making it my own, but actually they have really good books there that are priced at really low prices compared to go going to Barnes and Noble.

     Another great thing about Half Price Books, is that they have an amazing cd collection there. Instead of looking for recently released cd's, they have cd's from awhile ago and it is cool to walk in there and look at all the music I used to listen too. Personally for me, I gave away a lot of my cd's to my younger cousins, so sometimes when I am in there, I'll buy some cd's that I gave away and it will be so much cheaper. Half Price Books is also a good place to buy old school movies as well. Just like the cd section, they have all of the throwback movies that I use to watch when I was younger, and also movies that my parents liked to watch when they were my age.

     When I go to Half Price books I also look for textbooks there because they are usually in good condition and textbooks are just overall overpriced. If you do have a Half Price Books near where you live, definitely give the store a look because it has a lot of things you haven't thought of buying before.

Album Review: Mind of Mine

     On March 25th, 2016, Zayn Malik released his debut solo album and it has a total of 18 songs on it. Now Zayn Malik is not new to the music industry, in 2010, he auditioned for the British X Factor, and was put into a group. As many people know that group is called One Direction. One Direction is a very successful band and released four albums as a five piece band, but in 2015 on March 25th, Zayn decided to leave the band and do other things. One year later, he has come out with 'Mind of Mine', and as a previous fan of Zayn, I have to say that this album is surprisingly really good.

     There were always rumors going around that Zayn never wrote songs for One Direction and when he did they were always rejected because the songs did not sound like One Directions 'type' of music. I believe that is where the title 'Mind of Mine' came from. Zayn finally got to write what he wanted to write, have whatever music he wanted. Everything on this album was done by Zayn, all of the songs were written by Zayn, the designs were by him, the music videos he has released came from his mind. You can really tell because in his first music video for his #1 single, "Pillowtalk", it was so creative, with the background designs, the makeup on the people in the video, it all had screamed Zayn.

One Direction

      When it comes to the actual music, it has that same creativity. Zayn went from being a pop singer to an RnB singer, and usually with RnB singers, there is more of a story and meaning behind everything. When listening to the lyrics, you understand the story Zayn is trying to say, he is telling you his experiences through each song. In an interview, Zayn, had said that when he wrote for One Direction, nothing was from experience, it was all made up. With "Mind of Mine", the stories all make sense and you know what he is singing about is all coming from his experiences. I believe Zayn did a very good job in executing everything he wanted to do with the album, it all sounds new and never done before.

Zayn Malik

     When Zayn announced he was going to release his album on March 25th, one year after he left the band, everyone was very confused. After thinking about it though, instead of mourning one year later over how talented Zayn was and what he brought to the band, Zayn made it a day to celebrate his turn around and show how his talent is so much better when he decides every aspect of it. In an interview, Zayn did say that he didn't know it was the anniversary, it just happened to be the day that worked the best for him to release it, but I like the celebration thought better.

   I really recommend this album to anyone who loves chilled/ laid back music that has deep meaning to it with some really creative music going on. The album has a lot of amazing beats in it that you don't usually hear. Oh and if you go to Target to get the album, there are two bonus songs!