Day Forty-Two: The Start of Something.

I'd really like to not make this post.

I have no knitting updates, the kitty hat lays in desolate sadness. I will be starting stitch week (tentative title) soon.
No, today's post is about health and my lack of. I'm starting a workout challenge. I'm proclaiming it here on my blog so I have less chance of skipping out on it. This is by no means a diet. I hate the idea of diets because they all focus on "This is what's wrong with your body here's a restrictive way to fix it." No, I will instead be going on a fitness journey because I'm not in good shape. I love my body and I love the way I look, but the fact that I'm not able to do cartwheels without hurting myself isn't a good sign.
So I'll be doing "Squat it away May" (*eyeroll*) and also having a meal replacement. My meal replacement is a green smoothie. The reason for the meal replacement is, I've been eating a lot of junk food. It's super bad for my health and more importantly my skin!

I'm really trying to emphasize that this isn't because I don't like the way I look, because I do. It's about my health. Being a healthy individual is really important to me and I think it will help me be a more productive person. I know that there are younger people following me and I don't ever want to encourage something that could be harmful to them. I think it's really important to say that, I know this is going to take a while and I'm not expecting instant results. There is a massive push from media to be beautiful, and to do so instantly. They shove diet pills at twelve year olds who still haven't grown out of their baby fat. Images of impossible waistlines and incredulous biceps litter our landscape. I never want to be apart of that push. I was super heavy set when I was 12 and incredibly insecure about it. My mom always told me to wait until I turned sixteen, I would even out. I did. I grew into my body and found out what made me feel most comfortable. Now I'm seventeen, nearly eighteen, and I still feel that way.
What I'm trying to say is that before you decide you want to go on a diet or do some crazy workout, make sure you're comfortable with yourself. If you're doing something out of a place of insecurity, you might end up going to extremes. Like I tell my little sister, you are incredibly beautiful never think otherwise, society will do that for you.  Make sure you're not being influenced by some ad on TV. That goes for all physical and mental features.

Have fun and love yourself

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Gotta Have You By starfleets

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“Love yourself. Forgive yourself. Be true to yourself. How you treat yourself sets the standard for how others will treat you.” 

― Steve Maraboli

Day Forty-One: Pot Pie and a Luke Warm Reception.

Let's make a pot pie.

Before we get started I feel obligated to state that this was probably the best thing I've ever made. It was also literally the easiest.
The recipe I used can be found over at Mom's Test Kitchen.
THINGS YOU'LL NEED:

-2 tubes (8 ounces/8 rolls) refrigerated crescent rolls

-about 2 teaspoons of mixed dried seasonings, divided (The original poster used thyme ,garlic powder, parsley and oregano. I swapped the garlic powder for basil and added bay leaves.)

-1 can (10.75 ounces) cream of potato soup

-1 can (10.5 ounces) cream of celery soup

-1/3 cup milk

-2 bags (12 ounces) frozen vegetable soup mix*, thawed

-salt & pepper to season

-2 tablespoons butter, melted

-additional dried thyme for seasoning

You'll want to preheat the oven to 375 degrees (Fahrenheit) and prep your pie dish. The recipe recommends a nine inch dish. I sprayed mine with a little cooking oil and got to work on the crescent rolls. First thing I noticed was the recipe said to take apart the 8 triangles, which I did. I then had to attempt to geometrically fit the 8 triangles into a circle. It didn't help that I might of grabbed the wrong sized pie dish. After five minutes of hammering dough into place I finished. I put the crust into the oven for six minutes.

Look at the light dapple that delicious slice of heaven.
I made that, hell yeah.

While that was doing whatever baking magic it was doing, I was prepping the innards. I dumped two cans of soup in a large sauce pan. The celery soup came out fine, but the potato soup was stuck inside the can. I also face the dilemma of the recipe not telling me if I should add a can full of water to the soups. (Quick question on that matter, do you or your family add a can of water to your soup or is it just my family?) I added half a can and then the vegetables. Immediately I was filled with fear and a twinge of regret because what was in my sauce pan looked like way too much filling. I also forgot about the milk until this point and added it hastily. As well as the seasonings. 

At this point you may notice I don't always follow instructions to a T. (Makes everything much more exciting in my opinion.) That means I didn't measure out the proper amount of seasonings. I added about a handful of basil and oregano, two bay leaves, and a pinch of parsley flakes. Allowing that to stew for a little bit, I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing. Until the microwave beeped, letting me know that "Oh yeah I had crust in the oven." I couldn't find the oven mitts, which means the crust stayed in the oven an extra two minutes. When I pulled it out, I saw that the dough had raised a considerable amount. I squashed the crust down a bit, careful not to burn myself (I did burn myself though.) and added the delicious insides. 

I actually managed to make something look like the pin
I want a medal.

I then conscribed the help of my little sister to open the second can of rolls. With the earlier triangle challenge tackled, I was able to get the top crust on much faster. I threw it in the oven, proud of my accomplishment. Then immediately took it out and brushed butter and seasonings on the top. The pie was done in about twenty minutes, just enough time to clean up after my cooking fiasco and make pasta salad. 

Out came the pie and damn did it look good. It tasted even better, slightly savory and filled with vegetable goodness. I might cut the oregano next time, but that's just being nit picky.

To rate this recipe, I'm going to judge it on three things

-Easy to follow.......9/10 (Gotta dock on the can of water. And the fact that I had to use my brain to make the crust.)

-Cost........10/10 I spent twenty bucks on a meal for eight people.

-Deliciousness.........10/10 It tasted better than Marie Calenders.

Have fun and Eat well.

\\.Jukebox.//
Old Fashioned By Me!

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“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.”

― Ruth Reichl

Day Thirty-Nine: Gotta Love It.

Well if it hasn't been quite the week.

• Senior presentations
• The dumbest drama to ever be a thing
• Actual extreme frustration
• Long weekend (yay)
• I missed two days of blogging because life happens.
• Really I just didn't look very nice on Wednesday and my Thursday post never got edited. Oh well~
• Ipoly Senior year is looking like a thing I'm doing.
• If I can find summer school because free summer school is full.

I'm super exhausted and have been sleeping for large chunks of time. 14 hours yesterday and 6 hours today. Unfortunately it still doesn't help the fact that my head feels like it's splitting and I would like to fight an army of berserking orcs at the moment. 

Rage aside, the slow and steady progress that has been May hasn't been wasted. I've made real headway into all my projects (except the kitty hat.)

I leave you with very little sentiment and a deep permeating happiness that it's a long weekend.

Have fun and be safe.

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Bitty's Pre- Game Hype Mix By telling-myself-lies

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"You use and lose a lot of energy being grumpy."

-Ted Danson

Day Thirty-Eight: Mr. School Systems, Tear Down Those Tests.

Standardized testing has become the bane of every student's existence. Come testing time, you'll hear a cacophonous mixture of groans and heads thumping against desks. Both student and teachers hate testing with a passion. Thanks to John Oliver's segment on testing I have more reason to hate the damn things beyond the fact that they're stupid. Edwards (My chic English teacher) assigned us a "Build a Better School" project. One of the facets of this project was to talk about testing. I may have gone a little bit overboard. Below is the small essay I wrote for that bullet point, that got rejected.

"The reasons behind our dis involvement with standardized testing are as follows.

The standardized testing industry is exactly that, an industry. Pearson Education is the largest distributor of standardized tests. They control over 40% of the testing market. They have had a spectacular business as of late, even though they have had countless complaints filed against them. Giving students a test that doesn't benefit them, while wasting time teaching for that test in class, seems like a pretty bad idea. All for a business to maintain its projected growth? At what cost does this business operate. To my knowledge it’s at the cost of teachers and students. Both who could better spend that time learning. Whose time is better spent preparing themselves for higher education and a successful life.

The standardized tests such as smarter balance testing have been the subject of walkouts all across the nation. Nathan Hale high school in Seattle saw an entire class of juniors refuse to take the smarter balance test. Meaning, any resources put forth to administer said test would be wasted. Once again standardized tests waste time and resources for schools who may not have money to waste.

These tests also have extremely negative impact on students. Causing major anxiety and in some case actual physical harm. On standardized test in Ohio actually has instructions on what to do if a student vomits on their test. The test also reflects negatively on students who may be passing their classes, but don’t test well. One such incident happened in Florida with an eighth grader who was taking an AP English class. She was asked to leave this class that she had outstanding grades in all because of her score on the FCAT."

I had no conclusion because it was already to long and I'm pretty sure at that point I was ranting. Go to Business Insider to see where I got parts of my information. As well as watch John Oliver talk about the subject much better than I do.

Have Fun and Testing is dumb.

😎

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Little bit of something.

Honey, Get Runnin' By dattie

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"Failure is always an option."

-Adam Savage

Day Thirty-Six: Long Days.

Guess who still hasn't watched any anime?
I've read tons of BL manga though. (Curse you BL provider!) 

I might be opening an age old can of worms by delving into this topic. I'm running out of anime topics to cover that don't directly relate to shows. 

The first thing you have to know is what's the difference? Any long suffering anime fan will tell you that "Subs are so much better and they are the only way to watch 
anime.*flippy eye roll hair thing*" Any overzealous newb will tell you "It doesn't matter because anime is so freaking awesome!!!"  (look for them in the age range from 12-14.)  The actual facts are something you'll get to decide soon enough.
Back to the topic at hand, what do these strange words mean Hunter? I'm glad you asked.

Sub is an abbreviated word for subtitled. Commonly subtitles appear on foreign films (if you live in a primarily English speaking country, like America.) and they'll often show up on anime. Subtitles allow the original words to be translated into another language and transcribed, so those with hearing disabilities can still enjoy the media. Subtitles are often seen as scary by people who are not familiar with them, and depending on the show, they can run a little fast. ( I attribute my ability to read 200 words a minute to watching anime and foreign films as a child.) Subs also allow quirks in language to be displayed for the audience. 

I mention the 90's Sailor Moon a lot.
Sailor Uranus was dating Sailor
Neptune. When they re-dubbed it
they totally erased they're relationship.
Because two girls being in a relationship
was totally impossible, right??! (Sarcasm)

Dubs are actually misnamed. The process of adding voice to a type of media in post is called dubbing. When people are talking about an anime that's been "dubbed" in English, they're actually talking about an anime that has been re-dubbed in English. At it's core a dub is a type of media that has been taken from it's original language into a new language with new voice actors. My favorite instance of a re-dub is Snape from the Spanish Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Dubbing has many perks such as getting to hear a new performance of your favorite characters, not having to read while trying to focus on the action, and funny mistranslations. 
More often than not you get a bad dub. (Looking at you 90's Sailor Moon, The original Full Metal Alchemist, and you Naruto.) When the dub is so awful it actually changes the storyline or causes a lot more confusion than needed.
What's my opinion? I tend to watch more subs than I watch dubs. I like being able to appreciate the actors performance with the original creators intent. You never really know how involved the original creators are in the making of a dub. I also find it distracting when the animation doesn't sync up with the English dialog. That's just my personal preference. While I'll watch most of my anime subbed, I love the Host Club dub. 

Hopefully I haven't polarized my audience that hard and you're still with me by the end of this. Special thanks to Tv Tropes for having an amazing, detailed article on the age old argument. (Link to said article here) 
I've gotten the okay from Brian on Log Horizon. I will definitely be watching the show soon, but I want to get through some of the other anime on my list before I tackle it. Edwards has highly recommended Toradora for anyone looking for something to watch this weekend. The twenty-five or so episodes are a quick watch, so said she. It's on my list.

Have fun and get watching.

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Cute things make me feel better when I'm sick.

You're Cute❤️ By Me!

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“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day Thirty-Five: Of Futile Efforts

Why does everything have to cost so much money/time/resources?
Knitting update: We have made little to no progress on the kitty hat. I need a smaller magic loop (after attempting to cast on 4 times I have given up. there is no way to make my loop hat sized.) But we will not waver!

Life update: I did a bunch of cartwheels and now I'm in serious physical pain, which doesn't help that I'm hiking up hills tomorrow, if it doesn't rain (please don't rain.)

Blog Update: I attempted to cook yesterday, unfortunately before I could get into the kitchen, my mother had already made spaghetti. I'm going to teach you the sauce recipe eventually, but that meant I couldn't do chow mein. Not like I had the ingredients for chow mein. I'll get used to the whole "cooking for an audience" thing eventually. I will say that I had the most amazing failure ever in making microwave mug cookies.
What you may not know is, I'm actually an awful chef. I don't really follow the instructions, I'm very much a "wing it" kinda gal. That being said most of what I cook tastes good, even if it isn't pretty.

Have fun and keep smiling.

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I'm feeling my oats.

Fight Me. by Me

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"When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred."

-Thomas Jefferson

Day(------): Another round of Friday.

Oh I am ill.
Let's see what happened this week.

• CAASPP testing 
• It was dumb
• Film overhaul
• didn't happen because rain
• I was struck down by the mighty warrior known only as... Exhaustion.

Yep that's right folks, if you plan to stay up for three days working on 

various school/life things, you should expect to be struck down. I,being a foolish teenager, thought I was immune to the world's forces. When I woke up on Thursday with a fever of 103 degrees. I decided that, no maybe I'm not immortal, and yeah sleep is kinda important. 

Moral of the story is don't be dumb.
Fun news, I'm making veggie chow mein on Sunday, so a recipe you will have. I've also started work on the kitty hat. I need to get a smaller magic loop, or resign to using my DPNs....again. Over all, the week has been stressful and actually sickening. Even with all that, it's been the best week I've had in a long time. 

Have fun and drink fluids.

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Cute things make me feel better when I'm sick.

Stuck on Stucky By QuinEL

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"By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before."

― Edwin Elliot

Day Thirty(?): Not Having Time.

A visual representation of me
at this point in time.

I haven't watched Say I Love You yet.
In true procrastinator fashion, I've taken to putting off my hobbies for more interesting things. Like chemistry. (For those who don't know me, the former was an example of dripping sarcasm.) School, as it often does, has taken up most of my time. Leaving me with very little to watch things. I'm behind on anime, Game Of Thrones, and my movie list.
The queue grows daily. Just today I added three more manga and a new anime. I really need to spend weekends watching instead of sleeping.
That being said, I do have a queue. While this may hearken back to a previous anime post, I'm going to give you three titles on said queue and give my brief expectations of each. I can assure you that whatever knowledge I have comes from people who recommended the series to me or what I can glean from images.

Let's get started.

• Number one on the list is: Magi; The Labyrinth of Magic.

Apparently the blue one is Aladdin. It feels very "1001 nights"-esque. Everyone I know who've seen it give it great reviews.

My Expectation:
It's going to be a cheesy slapstick comedy. I believe the blue one is a boy, so you'll have a lot of stereotypical boy humor. It has two seasons, both running 25 episodes, so I expect there to be a basic central plot with minimal filler.

• Number Two: My Little Monster.

The one on the chain is Haru. Everyone loves Haru. Haru deserves more then 13 episodes (because apparently this is only one season. I swear to the powers that be, Edwards, if this is all cliff hanger-y I will not be a happy duck.) I have no actual clue what this anime is about.

My Expectation:
There is a dude on a chain and a mostly apathetic girl. I assume the dude will be over eager and dog-like. Also in my image search, a chicken appeared multiple times. I'm unsure as to if this is relevent or not.

• Number Three: Log Horizon.

The tiny purple on is Akatsuki.

My Expectation:
I'm not really into the whole "MMORPG/Video game Anime." So I'm not really sure as to how I'll feel about this. It comes well vetted by two of my most trusted anime advisers (looking at you Brian) but I still have some hesitation coming into it. I feel like I'll get bored because with a lot of video game anime, nothing holds consequence. Because they are just avatars, I never really feel a bond with the characters. Hopefully that will be different with Log Horizon.

Have Fun and Get Watching. 

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For headaches and testing week.

No talkie before my coffee. By Me! 

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“There are so many more important things to worry about than how you're perceived by strangers.”

― Dennis Lehane

Day Twenty Nine: Knitted and Things Have Changed.

CAASPP testing is dumb. That's really all I'm allowed to say about it, but it's super dumb.
Anyway, knitting.
We are doing a project this week. It's the first large project for this blog and for myself. I've been having trouble completing the smaller projects in the time allotted. Either due to misunderstanding the pattern, or inability to gather materials. Hopefully this project runs a little more smoothly.
This week we're making a cat ear beanie.

Photo curtsy of Gracethecat on Ravelry

It's a cute hat that apparently knits up quick. Although the number of stitches needed makes me nervous.

The pattern can be found here (PATTERN) 

I will be using:

• My 6mm magic loop.(29in cable) US Size 10
• The pattern doesn't really specify the yarn you should use. I'm going to look in my stash.
• A tapestry needle

I am not promising this project done by Friday, but it will be done by June I'm sure!

On to another order of business. Summer is quickly approaching and I live in California. Hate to say that knitted wares are not good for heat, but I know that come the ultra hot weather, I'm not going to want to knit. Rather then scrapping Monday posts come June, I'm making another addition. 

Soon enough I'm going to start doing other crafts (like macrame, DIY's, other stuff.) I think that this is a nice compromise and it will keep me busy. Hope you'll agree

Have fun and Be ambitious.

(✿◡‿◡ฺ)zzz

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The following mix is not for children.

Pipe the fuck down, Man. by Princeofmanhatt

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“Give this world good energy.” ― Unknown.

Day Twenty-shmfg: Oh Friday, I'm in Love.

[I promise this was actually started on a Friday]
My life can't help but getting weird. Let's look at what happened this week.

• Senior president elections
• Got my younger sister back
• No one died
• Drove a new car
• Was photographed extensively 
• Scrapped a film
• Started a new one

We interrupt your typical Friday post for a Sunday post, since it's still technically a Sunday.

Fun fact, this Sunday was mother's day. For mother's day, my mom wanted noodles with butter. That's not exactly hard to make, nor is it particularly vegetarian. I don't really have a recipe. 

Life got weird this week but hey, that's how this works. Tomorrow I have a project plan and more things to add to my growing agenda. I'm also taking the CAASPP test tomorrow, I'd love to talk about what's on the test in hopes that they improve it for next year, but that's illegal. Oh well.

\\.Jukebox.//

I'm feeling incredibly lazy because of the test coming up tomorrow.

In Bed All Day by christine_w

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“What hath night to do with sleep?” ― John Milton, Paradise Lost

Day Twenty-Three: Wanting and Waiting.

Photo from  the absolutely wonderful
Margot Meanie .

Fashion is hard.

I've been wanting to go shopping for about a week now. That's what you get when you T.A. for a fashion blogger (thank you Edwards.) She keeps encouraging me to shake up my wardrobe from it's traditional all black state. While she's completely right, it would be nice if clothes were not outlandishly expensive.












My next aesthetic is going to be 'Pretty Odd' era Panic! inspired. A hodge-podge of that and pastel goth/grunge. I can't quit dressing like an emo kid all at once.
Because I've been planning on mixing it up, I keep coveting items. Target has become no-mans-land. If I went into Forever 21 right now, I'm one hundred percent sure I would end up in crippling debt.  
I'm going to show you a few things that have stolen my heart that I would love to own.

From Target

Honestly If I don't stop there this post is going to get way too long. I didn't even get to show the floral. Oh my gods the floral. 

Have Fun and Covet cute clothes.

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Have an adventure.

Tanning Songs! By Katieh98 on 8tracks!

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"In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."

-Albert Camus

Day Twenty One: Break.

There will be no new knitting pattern this week!

Tragic, I know. I've been working hard on trying to find the perfect "Big" project for the month of May. Doing so is proving difficult, as I live in Southern California the weather doesn't really permit cozy knitted sweaters and the like. However, festival season is kicking up and I'm sure some cool shawls made with lightweight yarn would be perfect!
Finding the perfect pattern+needle combo, not so much. We'll most likely start casting on later this week, sorry about the lack of project.

Have Fun and Get Crafty.

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California.

Like we did (windows down) By bell_n!

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"In California in the early Spring, There are pale yellow mornings, when the mist burns slowly into day, The air stings like Autumn, clarifies like pain - Well, I have dreamed this coast myself."

-Robert Hass

\\.Where To Get It.// 

(Tuzki)  

(Transparent)

(Dignity)

Day Twenty: First Foods and The Works.

After much debate and a bit of a late start, I decided to make tacos for dinner. Tacos was almost beat out by chow mien and dumplings. I might make that next Sunday, because it looked absolutely awesome.

Gotta love my fine china right?

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

No meat 'meat'! For all the carnivores
concerned with taste, you can't tell the
difference and this is a lot better for you.

• A bag of your favorite veggie crumbles. I used Boca Veggie Crumbles ($3.49)
• 2 Lemons
• 2 Limes
• Some cheese of your choice (I used mild cheddar.)
• Corn Tortillas
• Taco seasoning of your choice

SIDE DISH:

• Rice
• Cilantro
• Lime.

The way you cook depends on how many people you're feeding. I was feeding six people, so I had to cook everything consecutively. You should start by prepping your seasonings. Cut your fruit in halves, and opening your taco seasoning. Set that aside and start your veggie crumbles on a medium low heat. 

Cook your taco shells to your liking while waiting for your 'meat' to cook. Once the 'meat' turns a dark brown color, add in your fruit juices and taco seasoning. 

Cook your rice to your standards, when it's finished add the cilantro and lime. 

If you cooked the food at the same time, it should all be finished and ready to plate. The meal feeds well and tastes fresh. It cooks up fast, giving you a large amount of protein for a good price.

That's it for today, I'm learning how difficult cooking instructions are to write.

Have fun and Eat well.

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Fire season.

California Spring By Me!

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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."

-George Bernard Shaw

\\.Where To Get It.// 

(Boca Veggie Crumbles)  

(Taco)

(Important Things)

Day:TGIF(On saturday!!)

Gotta love the fact that I think schedules are for chumps, and rarely follow my own!

This week week we:

• Lost Grooveshark
• Met Pierre (The best future mentor ever)
• Discovered our powers as the best spin doctor ever
• Finished an anime
• Started three more anime
• Wrote words
• Almost finished a knitting project by Friday
• Are changing the tides
• Are starting book club!!!

That's right, it's time for the Yarnshark Book Club!

This month we're reading:
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

We're also welcoming the advent of Sunday posts about food! I realised that I'm not actually watching enough T.V. or movies that aren't anime. On Sundays I'll be cooking some kind of vegetarian meal and telling you all about how I did it, what trouble I ran into and what I payed for it. I forewarn you that many of the recipes will be coming from my Pintrest board Vegetarian Delight. 

Here's to another week completed and filed away as a pretty enjoyable one.

Have fun and enjoy the weekend!

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Weekend.

(((((((Eclectic Vibes))))))) By Me!

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"Sometimes the weekend gets hijacked by work, but as my mother would say, this is the right problem."

-Julian Fellowes

\\.Where To Get It.//

(RIP Grooveshark)

(Jellyfish)

(Nico)