New Year's Resolution

Do people still do these? They seem to becoming increasingly unpopular. I still do! This year, I made a realistic resolution of writing in a journal 365 days. Like my healthy eating resolution with my boyfriend, I planned to start this task on Jan. 02, 2014 (you know, after the hangover settles); however, I was so excited to start a journal that I started a day early on December 31, 2013.

Three days down and I'm already enjoying reflecting and growing from listenting to my own feelings. I, honestly, think this will make me exercise more and eat healthier because I'm noting how I felt that day.

Here's the setup I'm using:

• General Thoughts/Entry
• How I Felt Today
• Highlight(s)
• Low Point(s)
• Goal for Tomorrow
• Bible Verse
• Read
• New Word (English or Another Language)
• What I Ate
• Exercise Completed
• Any Takeaways/Motivational Words for Tomorrow

I hope this entry helps inspire you. You don't have to wait till next New Year's to make yourself a better person. Every day is a new day! Enjoy it!

Soup Weather

Earlier this week, I made homemade French onion soup for the first time. It was a simple and delicious recipe that I fell in love with last fall in Alaska. And I love any excuse to use my new bakeware, which was perfect for seving this great soup:

 

 

I love cooking and think great home cooked meals come from the heart. With that being said, I did not follow this recipe exactly. I rarely do!: 

 

 Instead of brandy, I used one cup of red wind (and drank the rest!). Instead of beef stock, I used veggie stock. I only needed  8 oz of cheese (or less). I used four, yellow onions and thought it was the pefect amount. I chopped them in 1 inch to 2 inch rectangles. I added garlic and pepper. I did not simmer for nearly as long as it recommends and I definitely did not broil anywhere near the length noted. Any time you broil, you have to keep an eye on it; it will burn very easily.

 

This recipe made four, healthy servings and reheated perfectly. If you're currently enjoying soup weather, I'd like to recommed this recipe. Please provide feedback if you added or changed anything else; I'd love to hear from you! 

DIY Holiday Hit

I just returned to Texas from Vermont last night. We visited my boyfriend's family for Christmas and was able to stay a full week with them. Since I was on vacation, I spent little time on the computer aka no blogging. Now that I'm home and slowly getting back in to my routine I wanted to share this awesome holiday party hit!  I'm a big fan of DIY, but don't always think the projects are worth the time. If they don't seem time consuming, then often I think they look cheap; or, my favorite, they're a total flop! You know, the Martha Stewart expert project that looks like a 1st grader did it. Well, here's a quick (under 30 minutes) project that my boyfriend's parents did and EVERYONE loved:

 

These cute little penguins were made with only three ingedients:

• Black Olives (One Can or Small Jar)
• Cream Cheese (One Small Container or Package)
• Carrots (One Carrot)

You will also need toothpicks (less than 30). All they did was split two black olives and stuff one with the cream cheese and the other with the carrot nose. Here's step by step instructions with more pointers:

1. They assembled the carrot feet on the toothpick first by cutting circles then removing one pie slice. (Read step three prior to discarding removed pie slice).
2. Next, they added the cream cheese stuffed black olive.
3. Last, they added the carrot stuffed black olive. This carrot nose was the pie piece they removed from the circle in the first step.

Thought I'd share this fun and easy DIY holiday hit that is both easy to make and quite tasty. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

 

Hypocritical

I'll start by saying I'm a Christian. I grew up in a small, swamp, Cajun town. I'm all for speaking your mind, but I'm mostly for treating people right. What I don't understand is this whole Phil Robertson/ A&E/GQ Interview nonsense. Actually, I don't understand religious people, at times, and, often, find myself quoting Gandhi, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." But, that's another blog post.  I, especially, do not understand the need for people to post things like this on Facebook:

Yes, he has a right to express his faith and his beliefs. But it is hypocritical to say that A&E does not have those same rights.

I could not imagine, representing my company, and saying something so negative. It doesn't matter what your personal beliefs are, because this is not just about you anymore. If you didn't care about your relationship or reputation then fine. But, you cannot act "however you want" when you're a representative of something that you'd like to remain associated with. Think about it. What if I decided I like to talk about politics and religion every single day and acted on this decision in the workplace. I'm 100% sure that my company would not allow me to go near any client. Hell, no employees would probably want to go near me.

So, I'll end with this:

• It's not very Christian to point out one sin that you think is 'bad'. They're all bad and we all sin
• It's not okay to say whatever you want and think that everyone should support you
• GQ did Phil wrong, but Phil fell for it
• EVERY brand representative needs a PR person

Thanks GC, Phil Robertson and A&E for keeping the communication industry in business!

2014 Introduces the “Indie Woman”

 

What is an “Indie Woman”? She’s 27+, single, lives alone, has no children, and is focused on her career. There are 31 million of her, constituting roughly a third of all adult women.  With a median income of $33,200 and a college degree, she’s putting off marriage and kids. “This is different from other generations. She’s no longer settled by the time she’s 25,” says Judy Hopelain, a partner at Brand Amplitude’s Millennial Marketing Unit. Young professionals “often find it’s easier to [build their networks and careers] if they don’t have obligations to others,” adds Eric Klinenberg, author and professor at New York University. These women are successful. They are the first generation of women to reverse the ceiling in school and at work. They are 57% of undergrads, 59% of masters degree holders, and 52% of managerial positions. She does want to settle when the time is right. Settling down doesn’t mean a wedding then a baby anymore, though. Demographic Intelligence projects the number of children born out of wedlock to rise to 50 percent by 2023, with more than half born to cohabiting couples. With the average cost of a wedding at more than $25,000, I don’t blame her!

More Fun facts on the Indie Woman:

·         There are actually more Indie Women in the US than there are married mothers 

o   77% are perfectly happy being single and only 27% agree that they would be happier than they are now if they had gotten married at age 27

·         They are not crazy cat ladies

o   27% percent of all women in the U.S. own a cat, while a slightly below index, 26% of Indie Women, own a cat

·         She will be a major influencer in 2014

o   They spend more per capita than any other type of woman on dining out, shelter, home furnishings, new cars/car leases, recreation, entertainment and apparel

o   She spends $50 billion on food/beverages a year

o   $22 billion on vehicles (five times more than independent men)

o   $20-22 billion on entertainment

·         Her digital image is just as important as her real life image

o   Women 25 to 34 account for 35 percent of all traffic on the mobile ad network Jumptap

o   Women of all ages are much less likely to click on a mobile ad than men, 0.29 percent vs. 0.53 percent

 

To learn more on the Indie Women, I encourage you to watch a short video on these Indie Women: http://thecurvereport.com/#/category/films/indie-women/

*SOURCES: ConAgra Foods Survey, Parade Magazine, AdWeek.com, SheKnows.com and TheCurveReport.com

"This is for all the grown women out there."

At midnight on Friday, December 13th Queen Bey released a surprise album with 14 songs and 17 music videos. Of course, I bought it! Apparently, I was not the only one. In 48 hours it sold over 500,000 copies. It is offically the fastest selling album on iTunes ever--selling 828,773 copies in only three days. That record was broken with very little marketing. She released a press release and purchased a banner at the top of the digital-music store. To put this in perspective, Lady Gaga's record label spent $25 million for marketing her new album, ARTPOP. Once again, Beyonce proves to us why she is the queen.

A few thoughts I have on the new record:

• It's good. Okay, okay. It's great!
• Several songs on this record will be hit singles
• The videos are awesome
• I think my favorite is Partition--part 1 and part 2. I haven't listened to the entire album 20 times, though. I'm sure this answer will change, weekly!
• It's different
• Beyonce has always been sexy and confident, but not like this! The new mom really does have a new found confidence and sexiness about her.
• This new album is DIRTY! Think slow jam Sundays.

If curiousity hasn't gotten to you, yet, do yourself a favor and buy it! I think I'll get Britney Jean next.

Feminist

fem·i·nist

ˈfemənist/

noun

noun: feminist; plural noun: feminists

1. a person who supports feminism.

   
   

 

I hate that the word feminist still exist. I find it very oudated. It makes me incredibily sad that our country still has to fight for equality, be it for different genders, religions, sexual preference or beliefs.

 

Although, I hate the word feminist, I'm still all for 'Girl Power'. Here's a great article on the : 28 Most Iconic Feminist Moments of 2013

 

I won't even get in to "Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas" battle. For now, just sit back and enjoy these powerful moments!