All Hail February

While January may be a great month to set in the New Year, February definitely has it beat in terms of Holidays.  Sure, it’s great to celebrate National Oatmeal Month, and the life of MLK, but Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day are just simply more exciting.

Technically known as the marmota monax, the groundhog is a funny-looking, yellow-bellied rodent that has somehow become a national hero.  Groundhog Day has been celebrated every year on February 2^nd since the mid 1800’s.  The tradition goes as follows: On February 2^nd, if a groundhog is seen to emerge from its burrow and fails to see his/her own shadow, we know that winter will end soon.  If the groundhog does not see his/her shadow, he/she will go back into his burrow and winter will continue for an extra six weeks.  One groundhog in particular, Punxsutawney Phil, has become so famous that they made a movie about him, titled no other than Groundhog Day.  Go see it!

Following Groundhog day is a holiday that is celebrated by many.  While it is a day meant for lovers to express their love for one another, Valentines Day can be celebrated by just about anyone.  It starts with pre-teens giving cards to their crushes and goes all the way to husbands giving chocolates or flowers to their wives.  It is celebrated every year on February 14^th.  So guys don’t forget the date!

Enjoy the rest of January, because February is almost here!

(Post By: Chris Attar)

Gingerbread House

Over the weekend a couple of friends and I decided to get into the holiday spirit by making a gingerbread house! It was really a lot of fun and did not involve too much work. The hardest part about the project was finding the gingerbread house kit. I drove to Busch’s and Kroger but had no luck until I finally found the kit at CVS. It was such a relief to find the kit because I was determined to make a gingerbread house during my study break from finals! Although it can get messy if you are not careful,the kit I bought came with a platform to work on so the process of assembly was a lot cleaner. The kits at the store usually include: instructions (of course), white icing, hard candy, and pieces of gingerbread to make the house. My kit also included a  DVD showing step-by-step instructions on assembly and customizing the house. The only thing I  would recommend is to buy your own candy. There was not enough in the kit to adequately decorate the house, plus, you will want to eat some of it while you are decorating! You may also need more frosting because there wasn’t enough to decorate the entire house the way I would have wanted and the frosting provided did not taste too great either.  

Here’s how my friends and I made our beautiful gingerbread house:

1) placed all 5 pieces of gingerbread onto the counter

2) slowly stuck the front of the house and side piece together by using the

icing to mold it

3) held it stuck together for about 30 seconds to make sure it hardened

4) repeated the same process for the other side and front piece

5) decorated the roof before we placed it on top of the sides (walls) because it is more difficult to decorate if it is already on top of the house

6) decorated the sides and around the house with the candy and icing

This arts and crafts activity was so much fun  and  is great for  people of all ages! Make building a gingerbread house your new holiday tradition!!

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Finals Are The Death Of Me

Finals week is by far the only thing I hate about this season. Bar none it is  the worst two weeks EVER! Why is it that students stress out so much over a grade? I know it’s all about our future but I try my best to just look at it and say “it’s not the end of the world”, but then when it comes down to it I freak out! There’s nothing worse than the feeling of anxiety while cramming in the past semester’s work into two nights of studying. I’ve always been quite the procrastinator and I still haven’t learned my lesson (pathetic, I know). It’s so frustrating for me because it’s hard  to focus since all I want to do is decorate my house and get into the Christmas spirit. Instead, I have to read about american culture and theories of advertising. I’m not saying I hate school, I actually really enjoy learning things, just not during the month of December. Anyways, back to studying! Good luck on your exams and remember “it’s not the end of the world”!

Smart Shopping!

With the economy being in a recession everyone must be smart with how they spend their money this holiday season. If you haven’t already, online shopping is a great way to find great sales. Some of my personal favorite websites to look at for great deals on clothes are Guilt, Blue Fly, and Shop It To Me. These sites are really easy. All you have to do is sign up and then the sales are then displayed! Before this year I never used to be a big online shopper but now I’ve come to love it since there are always sales! The best feeling in the world is when you see someone bought a pair of jeans for full retail price and you bought the same pair but for a much better deal. Happy shopping!

Check out this video about a mom who saves tons of money from shopping online!

Christmas Cupcakes

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Such a creative display for cupcakes. If you’re interested in the recipe click here!

25 Days of Christmas

ABC Family officially started its traditional ‘25 Days of Christmas‘ special as of December 1st. This is by far the highlight of my year. The station plays various Christmas movies to put people in the Holiday spirit. It’s amazing!! Some of my all time favorite movies are The Polar Express, Home Alone, The Grinch, Santa Clause (Tim Allen) and The Holiday.

What’s so great about this countdown is that it takes me back to my childhood days. Growing up I never missed a “25 Days of Christmas” movie.  Every night I’d stay up to watch the featured film. It was great! I highly recommend that you check out the website and see what movies are scheduled for the rest of the month. If you like Christmas and being put in the Holiday spirit you will not want to watch  another station in December!

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Cyber Monday

The Monday after Thanksgiving there’s a sale and free shipping for anything you buy online. It’s called Cyber Monday! Cyber Monday is for all the people who work on Black Friday or  for those who want to shop from the comfort of their home in front of the computer. I’ve never heard of this until yesterday. My friend was saying how she received loads of e-mails reminding her it was Cyber Monday and to buy as much as she can for great prices. As she was telling me this I thought what a great idea. Everyone  shops online these days. To have it be free shipping and then a sale to top it off, wow, it couldn’t get much better than that! This is my reminder to all you shopaholics that you have up until 12:00am tonight to shop online and receive this great deal. Hope you find what you’re looking for! HAPPY CYBER MONDAY!

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Stress Relievers

So break just ended and  now I’m overwhelmed with all the work I have coming up in the next few weeks. I’m sure lots of people at this time are stressed so I thought I’d share a couple of ideas to help relieve the stress level. It’s common knowledge  that stress  relievers are essential in restoring inner peace and physical health, so here’s to staying healthy during the holiday season!

1)Yoga

2) Laughter

3) Music therapy

4) Take a walk

5) Drink green tea

6) Eat a balanced diet

7) Play games

8 ) Reduce caffeine intake

9) Progressive muscle relaxation

10) Don’t Procrastinate!!

Yes, it is a lot easier said then done but if you take just a few minutes out of your chaotic life and do one or two of these steps it can make you feel much better and reduce your stress level.  For more information on how to manage your stress during this busy time of the year click here!

Good Ole Memories

Since it’s Thanksgiving I thought I’d share a funny memory  when my family  was celebrating this day in 1998. There were 25 of us at my aunt and uncle’s house, having a great time as usual. My great aunt was in charge of the turkey. We all waited three hours for it to be ready to eat. We all started getting really hungry when my mother asked to check on the turkey. She saw that it didn’t even cook. Then it clicked. My great aunt forgot to turn on the oven HOURS ago!! The turkey was never going to be cooked in time. I will never forget how hard the entire family was laughing. Only my great aunt would forget to turn on the oven! It was hilarious! We had to ask the neighbors for their turkey leftovers. Luckily they were close to my aunt and uncle and wanted to help out, so we were able to have leftover turkey for dinner that Thanksgiving. Every year we always talk about it and still get a good laugh.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory?! Please do share!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are a enjoying it so far by watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade (I know I am!). This is a time to say what you are thankful for and spend it with the people you care about. Also, try not to eat so much that you feel sick the next day, you’ll be mad at yourself tomorrow morning!!! Have a great day!