These Days

All work and no play!

2012-04-03T10:22:00.001-07:00

It’s that time of year again. For those in university or college, this is the crunch time of final exams, yikes! So before we can enjoy the freedom of summer, we have to experience hell first! This is a very stressful, busy, and demanding time of year for most people, and with such large responsibilities to think about, people forget to take care of themselves! I thought id give you all a few tips to help clear your mind and keep healthy during such stressful times.
1. Sleep: getting the right amount of hours of sleep, especially during this time, is crucial. You’re putting a lot of strain on your body & mind so it’s very important to replenish all that used energy by getting a sufficient amount of sleep. 7-8 hours would be optimal. If you have a hard time sleeping when you're stressed, try drinking camomile tea. Not only does it taste great, but it helps relax your body and mind. Some of you may think you don’t have time to sleep; however, putting that much stress on your body and not sleeping enough is definitely detrimental to your well being. Your body can only handle so much strain!
2. Eat healthy: Your body needs all the nutrients it can get during these times! Try to stay away from fast food, although it’s tempting when you have minimal time, it’s very detrimental to your well being. Instead, chose foods that help fight fatigue; such as, nuts, spinach, whole wheat, , yogurt, dark choclate, etc. There are plenty healthy & tasty alternatives to the yucky fast food options!
3. Drink plenty of fluids: water water water! Make sure you keep hydrated because it will help get rid of those nasty headaches you may be getting. If you need to get your quick fix of caffeine, try green tea instead of a fancy mocha shmocha from starbucks. Not only is green tea cheaper, it also gives you enough caffeine to keep you alert with a bonus of various health benefits.
4. Work out: Even if you work out for 10-20 minutes a day, it’s better than nothing. You’re putting so much strain on yourself that working out for a few minutes a day will help you feel less stressed, and happier. Exercising releases endorphins, and endorphins make you happy! So work out!
5. Don’t procrastinate: For whatever reason, we all seem to do it! But lets get real, if you didn’t procrastinate so much, you wouldn’t be freaking out right now! So study a few hours every day whenever you have a chance. Instead of watching a movie with your best friends, stay in and get a head! Im writing this entry while in class…. Perhaps I should take my own advice, haha!

I know everyone is stressed out, but you have to remember to take care of yourself because your body & mind can only take so much! Study study study! When exams are over, it will be well worth it. Just remember, summer is around the corner, suffer now so you can play later! ;)

-Good luck everyone!

Fun in the Sun

2012-03-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

If you’re like me you love summer more than anything, and are overjoyed by the thought of its arrival. If you’re also like me, then you’ll spend most of your summer wasting your time by watching TV or playing on the internet. Before you know it summer is over. I found this this was my problem and it makes the happiness of summer descend. STOP DOING THIS. I’ve decided I’m going to give you a few ideas to keep in mind when you are sitting inside watching a re-run of a show you don’t really like, or looking at the fun other people are having on Facebook.

1. Read a damn book. You may think you’re not a reader, but you just haven’t found the right book(s). The Hunger Games—good stuff right there. If you’re a hopeless romantic go with the classic Nicholas Sparks book. I strongly suggest the book The Guardian by him. Phenomenal. Go outside to do your reading. Try going in your backyard, front porch, or at a friend’s house while tanning—anything to get outdoors.

2. Don’t be a loner. If you’re doing nothing and your friend is doing nothing, well go ahead and do nothing together. That may fuel you to actually do something fun.

3. Crafts. Hit up Pinterest for some ideas on fun crafts that you can do. I usually look on that website and think “Wow that looks fun and moderately easy to do” but I never actually do it. Be better than me and do it.

4. Go for a bike ride/rollerblade/walk. Get out and be active. Go find a nice trail or somewhere with some nice scenery and take it all in.

5. Try new places to eat, preferably with a patio. It’s always fun to discover new little lunch places. You never know what you’ll find…potential goldmines there. If you don’t feel like eating just go for drinks with your friends during the day.

6. Get up to date on what your city has to offer. For example, in Windsor, our art gallery is free on Wednesdays. We can go there and become more cultured for free, it’s a prefect deal.

Enjoy the beauty weather while it lasts!

How to be the Best Drunk Ever

2012-03-06T11:56:00.003-08:00

The weekend is fast approaching so I thought I would give everyone some pointers on how to be the funny happy drunk that everyone loves instead of the shitty crying drunk that everyone wants to punch in the throat. I know both routes pretty well so I thought that I would be the best person for this...

First things first you need to go in the night with a positive attitude. In your head, I want you to be thinking "I'm being funny tonight. I'm going to be drunk and everyone is going to worship my free-spirit and fun-ness." It's okay to get a little cocky at this point. After you have sufficiently reassured yourself of this it is time to spread the word! Last weekend I did this by sending a lil text to a friend I was going out with that said "Can't wait for tonight! Let's be funny drunks!" Everyone needs to be aware that this is the goal of the night and ultimately it will get you pumped up for all the fun things you're going to do once the night begins. I get that I sound a little bit like a faggot right now but just bear with me.

Next, I want you to drink tequila. I've tested this theory numerous times and I can honestly say that tequila never sets you up for a bad night....especially when you're chasing it with pickle juice. Steer clear of your vodkas and other hard liquors. Vodka tastes like ass anyways. If you're not down with tequila, which I know many people aren't, your next best bet would be beer. Beer also never fails. I suggest either bonging or shotgunning it to an upbeat song.

Finally, I want you to act upon every dumbass thought that enters your head while you're out and already sufficiently wasted. A personal example I can give you for this is kicking a guy in the nuts while on your friends back and then shouting "IM A FIESTY MIDGET!" Other ideas include screaming at the top of your lungs for no apparent reason, convincing people to buy you drunks because you have a disease and only have a couple days to live, trying to pay cover with 5 cents Canadian tire money, and stealing random people's belongings from the bar such as jackets, cell phones, purses, or whatever you can get your hands on really...

So there we have it ladies and gents! Call me biased but I would say these tips are pretty much foolproof.... ;) Added bonus if you implement them for St. Patty's day as well......

CHEERS :)

Throwback Songs of the Week

2012-03-05T19:45:00.004-08:00

Here are some songs that you may have forgotten about, and really shouldn't have.

Nelly, P. Diddy, Murphy Lee: Shake Ya Tail feather

Del Amitri: Roll to Me

J-Lo and Ja Rule: I'm Real

Barenaked Ladies: One Week

Smash Mouth: All Star

Bucket List For The Girls

2012-03-02T08:00:00.003-08:00

Hello march! Well, our group of friends likes to maximize the fun as much as possible when we go out, and one of our great tricks too achieving this is a bucket list! We create an outrageous list of things to accomplish during an evening (e.g.: convince someone that we are famous). The bucket lists gets everyone excited to go out and also gives everyone some goals of the night.

Guidelines to making a crazy bucket list:

· Make the goals as outrageous and ridiculous as possible!

· Plan the list for more than one-night (like all of summer or a trip somewhere), this way you have more opportunities to get all the goals done, and you can add along the way

· Make a funny title for the list, just incase you get caught attempting to complete the list, tell them you are trying to completing the “Ball so hard London list!”. They will probably be too overwhelmed or confused to understand, and just walk away.

· Although the goals are outrageous, make sure they are realistic! You don’t want to try to strive for something that is impossible to achieve or even illegal.

· Make some competition with it (this always makes everyone want to accomplish the goal even more). E.g.: say a goal is to find/get money from strangers, what ever friend at the end of the night has the most extra cash gets to collect all the money from everyone else!

· Have fun! Don’t take it too seriously; the goal is too create some good fun for the night. If you don’t complete the goal, don’t worry and try again next week!

Stuck and cant think of anything else to add to your list? Here is some of our ideas:

· Ask someone: “where’d you get your pants from? The toilet store?” or yell “I’m in a glass case of emotion!”

· Teach someone how to parkour (The Office style)

· Play an instrument downtown

· Dance with a “creepy” old man

· Get someone to give you something (anything)

· Play the movie quote game with a stranger

· Single a man out, make eye contact, and sing to them (journey is great for this)

· Break something

· Steal something off the street

Hope you guys have fun with you list!

Tips on How to NOT Make People Want to Punch You Through the Computer Screen:

2012-02-29T20:13:00.002-08:00

Please read carefully. This is in regards to uploading pictures on facebook. When doing so, for the love of social networking, please avoid those Photoshopped colourful headings on your pictures. To those that have no idea what I’m talking about… Example would be putting things like “sexii”, “hot mami”, and “Angel girl” in hot pink glowing letters all over the photo. Facebook is not lava life or any other dating chat line so please avoid soliciting yourself.

Another one mostly directed towards girls. I’m sure a lot of you know exactly what I’m talking about when I refer to “duck faces”. Puckering and sticking out your lips in photos does not make you look attractive. It’s as simple as that people. Ducks are definitely cute… but you are not a duck. Sorry to break it to you. If you engage in this activity, you’re definitely being that girl

Taking mirror pictures of yourself in your bathing suit. Or Guys taking pictures of themselves flexing with their shirts off. You’re being “that” girl/guy that’s doing far too much on full blast.

Putting deep and/or sexual lyrics in your facebook status. If you’re engaging in such activities; let’s be real here, you’re more than likely doing too much. If you enjoy posting lyrics in your status, I suggest you sign up for twitter. Even then, please make sure to hashtag things such as #Imlame #Doingtoomuch #beingTHATperson before or after the lyrics. Here are some examples of what not to do:

“grab somebody sexy tell em’ hey… give me everything tonight!”… I’m simply confused, are you mugging someone? I didn’t realize facebook/twitter was a night club.

“You take my hand and drag me headfirst, fearless.” classic Taylor swift lyrics in the status. Yes I understand, you’re all so fearless.

When you post things such as “Yo whats everyone sayin’ tonight?”, “bored, someone wanna chill?” or “wuts good 2nite?” (and I'm being generous with the spelling there) you’re setting yourself up for misery. No one will respond to you and you’re going to end up looking like a huge lou (loser). If you’re bored, pick up your phone and text/call a friend.

Every Day I'm Hustlin'

2012-02-28T07:29:00.002-08:00

Hello everyone! Pretty excited to be writing my first blog on this lovely Friday afternoon. We’ve been talking about starting this thing for quite some time now and the fact that we’ve all managed to get off our lazy asses and actually write something is a huge accomplishment if you ask me….if there’s one thing you all should know about me and my friends it’s that we are the definition of procrastinators. The only exception is when there is alcohol involved…there is definitely no procrastination when it comes to us and drinking, I can promise you that. But anyways…back on track here. Actually, nevermind. I’ve decided drinking is a good topic to talk about.

So I don’t know what everyone else does on a Friday night but the usual for me and the girls is to hit up Abars…yes, that was not a typo. Not only do we usually go to Abars once a week but we actually LOVE the damn place and enjoy our time there (unlike all the under-agers who go there because it’s the only place their shitty fake ID will actually work)...and for those of you who don't know what Abars is....well, shame on you. We usually like to set goals for the night and a popular one lately has been to get drunk and hustle people at the foosball table…now this may seem absurd to you but we’ve been practicing a lot lately and I challenge anyone (except those crazy fuckers from last weekend) to play us. Best 2 out of 3. If we lose I can at least promise you’ll get an entertaining game out of it…

I think we’ll leave it at that for now…opponents for foosball are welcome to come and get embarrassed any time! Cheers!

A University’s Student Guide to a Successful Study Routine (or at least mine!)

2012-02-27T19:04:00.001-08:00

If you are a student yourself you know that when it comes down to studying almost anything distracts you (like me writing this post). Most of us are great with highlighting and organizing our notes but when it is time to actually remember them, all hope is lost. Im not saying that these will work for everyone, but here are a few simple things that can make studying easier and to make that next test your bitch!

1. 8tracks.com: Like most people the last thing I think of is to organize a perfect study playlist. This website is practically a god send for us! Basically it consists of numbers of playlists from every genre or mood right at your fingertips. The minor fallback is that you can only skip a certain amount of songs per hour, but if you`re into your study groove, this won`t even be a problem. Check it out; you definitely will not be disappointed.

2. Solid Study Group: The best way to study is to find people studying the same thing as you, that way you can discuss with the group and learn new things!

3. Highlighters Are Your Friend: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not highlight every dang word on the page, you might as well highlight the not important words if you are going to do that. When highlighting use different colours for different things, such as blue for people, yellow for definitions, green for important facts etc. This is useful because when you come to that part on your exam you will be able to sort the information out in your head into categories by colour and it will be easier to remember.

4. Talk to Yourself: Trust me, it works. When you read a sentence, say it out loud: say it out loud many times. YES, people will give you weird looks, but whatever! Once you get over those initial glares you will be glad you took my advice.

5. Don’t Procrastinate Studying: this is an obvious one but it had to be said. In the past I was a procrastinator myself, and I found that the more days I gave myself before to study (maybe even 20 minutes a day), the better I did!

6. Refrain from Social Networking: Don’t even bring your computer if you don’t need it. Facebook and Twitter especially are two of the biggest distractions I have found in my studying! You can realistically look on both of them for days and never ever stop. If you have self control to not go on, then kudos to you, but for us addicts I suggest deactivating your FB or twitter around finals time. Ive done it every year and it has given me much less distraction and much more time to study!

I hope these help!
cheers

Songs of the Week: Feel-Good Summer Songs

2012-02-26T23:07:00.000-08:00

To help you break those Winter blues and get ready for the longed for Summer

Asher Roth: Another One Down

The Radio Dept. Heaven's On Fire

Grouplove: Love Will Save Your Soul

Cage The Elephant: Shake Me Down

The Paper Kites: Bloom

Enjoy!

Long Hair Don't Care

2012-02-26T23:06:00.000-08:00

Long hair don’t care.

This is for those girls, like myself, that are obsessed with possessing long healthy hair. When I was a little girl, I would put skirts on my head and fantasize that it was my real, long, and beautiful hair. I guess I was pretty desperate. But every time my hair would get remotely long, my parents would make me get a hair cut. It was very devastating to me even at such a young age. Now that I’m old enough to have a say in my hair… I’m trying to do everything possible to get it to my desired length. Now the first step is coming to terms with the fact that if you weren’t born with thick, full, luscious hair, chances are that you won’t attain it (unless you get some sort of extensions). Now lets talk about the simple things you can do to help your locks. Let’s get this going!

1. Biotin: I invested in some inexpensive biotin supplements not too long and I saw results in my hair and nails in little over a month. I suggest you buy 1000mg and take one supplement daily. They’re prenatal vitamins so if you end up taking more than your body needs, you’ll secrete he excess nutrients through your urine.

2. Omega 3 fish oils: These supplements are simply phenomenal for your overall health. You have to take care of your inner body in order to see results on the outer. The benefits of fish oils are endless. Warning: if you so happen to burp shortly after taking these supplements… it will taste like fish. Slightly gross but totally worth it.

3. Drink PLENTY of water: Try to drink 8 glasses a day…for people such as myself; such a simple task can be so unreasonably difficult. But if you want nice, long, healthy hair than you better start drinking away! Why is water good for your hair? Well, your hair is made up of roughly 25% water which means that if you drink lots of water, you’ll notice that your hair has a healthier shine to it. Water is critical for healthy cells, and well hydrated cells are necessary for hair growth. Therefore, if your cells are “thirsty” they won’t function to their full potential which will then lead to dry & brittle hair. Everything we don’t want.

Simple daily precautions:

Try not to shower daily because doing so can strip all the natural oils from your hair (which you need for healthy hair) Even showering every other day will help.

Do NOT brush your hair when wet. That is when it’s most vulnerable so brushing it will cause your hair to break. If anything, brush your hair in the shower while there is conditioner in.

Try to minimize the heat. Heat can cause your hair to become dry, brittle, and eventually break. Try to cut back how much your blow dry, straighten, and curl your hair with hot irons. Give your hair a little break! It deserves it.

Only shampoo the roots of your hair. When you rinse out your hair the shampoo at your roots will run down the ends which will be enough to clean. Make sure you condition the ends of your hair and not the roots. (conditioning roots will make your hair greasy faster)

My least favourite tip: TRIM YOUR HAIR! If you have split ends they will continue splitting up your hair. Uh oh.

Message your scalp in circular motions using the tips of your fingers (avoid using nails). This motion will help blood circulate your hair follicles better.

I have many more tips & hair treatments coming your way soon!

-Donika

Secret to Nice Skin--And Everything Else

2012-02-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

This post is for all of you out there who don’t like pimples—and I’m going to go ahead and assume that is everyone. I’m a big advocate of home remedies and looking good on a budget. As a student I can’t afford to spend my money on getting facials, expensive skin regimens, fancy creams, and all fun things of that nature. So here is an introduction to a 19^th century Roman beauty secret and my saviour: apple cider vinegar. The uses for this handy little friend of mine are endless. The reason I started using it is mainly for my skin; I was extremely sick of my uneven skin tone and the pimples that seemed to pop right back up after I got rid of them. I put the apple cider vinegar in my water every day to help balance the pH of my skin. The suggested proportion for this is one table spoon of ACV in about 32 ounces of water with honey to improve the taste and to add the benefits that honey offers (I don’t put honey in mine). However, I would suggest only putting a small amount of it in your water at first because the taste of the vinegar is very strong, especially for those of you who are normal and don’t like the taste of vinegar unlike myself. The first time you drink it you’re not going to like it—it’s definitely an acquired taste.

After about a week of putting the vinegar in my water I noticed a huge change in my skin. I was surprised with the results so I decided to read a little bit about it on the internet and came across many helpful websites. This is where I discovered that apple cider vinegar is the superman of all natural remedies. Not only is it good for your skin but also weight loss, hair, heartburn, diabetes, joint pain, and basically anything you could ever think of (I’m exaggerating, but pretty damn close). For those of you who cringe at the thought of drinking vinegar you can also get your daily fix ofACV in pill form. Other ways to use this gem of a product is as wide as the reasons to use it. Besides drinking or taking ACV pills you can also combine it with dried flowers such as lavender, rosemary, and rosewood and water as a face and hair wash (look up online how to specifically do this for a more in-depth understanding). I’m not going to go over every benefit of ACV and every way to use--that would take up too much of my studying time. Now I encourage you to do some research of your own; I promise you there will be no disappointment in doing so. Remember, an apple a day keeps the doctor away!
-Kayla

Broke Girls Guide to Going Out

2012-02-26T22:43:00.002-08:00

A WARNING before you read this post: these tips are not for the light weights, party poopers, or fun-suckers. Tips given may make one more tolerable to badass-ness and reckless behaviour. We’re going to let you in our every one of our devious and useful tricks to getting a decent buzz on when you go out—levels of intoxication will vary.

A little background on how we have come to discover these tips: We are girls in university, and for all of those of you who know what it’s like living the student life, you know what it’s like to be ballin’ on a budget. You will also know how hard it is to resist going out and drinking with your friends. This is why we are here, to show you that there is a best of both worlds—for girls that is. Fellas, I’m not sure you’re going to benefit much from this.

1. The Pre-Game: NOT PRE-DRINKING, never call it that. If you’re not familiar with this method it is drinking before you go out. This tip is essential for many of the tips to come because it will give you the liquid courage needed to execute them. Here you will attempt to get decently drunk before departing to your local downtown/bar scene. One major tip for pre-gamming: DON’T BE THAT GIRL/GUY. If you don’t know what I mean by that, than you’re probably that girl (or guy)—the one who gets too drunk and has to be taken care of, is puking before making it to the bar, telling everyone that you love them, crying, etc. It is crucial to avoid being this person.

2. The Visitor: “Hi, this is my cousin _____! She is visiting/moved here from_____”. Yes, we’re telling you to lie. It sounds bad, but ladies, men are fools. Even though half the time they know you’re lying, it will either get you a drink or a laugh. The key to this one is making sure that you have a good name to tell them, and a good country. Go with something fun and sexy like Brazil or Sweden (depending on how your chosen “foreign friend” looks of course… be as believable as possible).This will work (as it has for us) to get you a few drinks and potential funny stories to reminisce on the next morning. And yes, we are aware that we are bad people.

3. The Birthday: Have an old light up “Birthday Girl” pin/sash/crown lying around? If yes, well then you have what you need to have yourself a fake birthday! This one is a gold mine. People will buy you shots left and right. Don’t be afraid to be the loud, happy, and obnoxious “IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!” girl and tell everyone and anyone.

4. The Bartender: Make friends with the bartender. But don’t be overly flirty, or they will most likely just think you’re some drunken chicks trying to get drinks. The trick is to joke around with them and buy them a shot first. Sarcasm works extremely well for us, but we have mastered the art of that. Sometimes sarcasm can come off as you being a bitch, you don’t want that. But if the bartender is your friend, free alcohol is in your future.

5. The Sneak-In: You’re completely not allowed to do this… but do it. Bring in your own alcohol. The best suggested method for this would be purchasing a re-usable fold-and-go water bottle so that it’s flexible and easily hidden, and when you’re done it won’t take up space in your clutch.

-The Girls