Believe it

BELIEVE IT

Do you think you would’ve believed someone if they told you what you would be doing in four years?

Do you think you would believe someone if they told you that you would miss this?

You’d miss whatever you were hating at the moment? That you would miss the moments, the days, the times when it was easy?

Truth is, you will.

So believe it before it’s too late.

--Arae Beauty

11/18/11

I'm not like everyone else.

It's Saturday night and there is no doubt in my mind that almost every person at my college is at a party, hosting a party, at a bar, at a club, or having a small get together with a group of kids.
Me on the other hand, I slept til 2:30 pm and then drove to my mom's house to see my dogs and cats, and then had a lovely evening to myself. Now I am sitting blogging and editing videos while my boyfriend rubs my feet and watches ESPN.
It's a blissful night.

I went to my mom's house hung out with my animals, which was so lovely. There is honestly nothing like the love of a dog. My dog, Angel, has to get surgery next Thursday which breaks my heart. I keep telling myself she will be fine but I am still worried. She has to get her bladder stones removed, because the food that would help dissolve them was not to her liking. My other dog Calvin, had back surgery a couple summers ago and he was fine, but I still can't help worrying about her. Send positive thoughts and love her way. =]

Anywho back to my night.
I went to Target to make sure that the Target by my mom's house carried ELF stuff which they do. My mom wants to go to Target to buy some makeup brushes and I told her ELF were awesome and affordable.

Next, I went to Bed Bath and Beyond in hope of finding the Kardashian Kolors, but I was disappointed. As of now they are only sold at Walmart, and as much as I love the Kardashian Klan I cannot get myself to buy anything from Walmart. I am a business student and my morals don't match up with their business practices so I cannot get myself to buy anything there. I ended up leaving with Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat and Chocolove Coffee Crunch in Dark Chocolate, which is delicious.

I then headed to the mall in hopes of finishing up my Urban Outfitters gift card. I ended up not finishing it but bought some fun stuff which I talk about in my Collective Haul which I will link once I post it.

Finally I went back home and hung out with my animals and then headed to Tattered Cover Bookstore and bought Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? which I am going to review as soon as I finish reading it.

So in case you can't tell my ideal nights are spent with the love of my life, my dogs, at bookstores, shopping by myself, or blogging, making videos, and messing with makeup. This is not to say that I don't like to go to parties ever, because I do. I enjoy parties, but I am perfectly content just having me-time. Time to do whatever I want to do without any regard to anyone else. It's so relaxing and enjoyable.

Holiday Gift Ideas!

So this Christmas in an effort to be economically efficient (cheap!) I am going to be making all my gifts. Except for my boyfriend. He will get homemade and probably something bought.


Anyways, I've spent the last two hours searching for ideas. I've found many bath products, edible goodies, and crafts.


Right now I am going to venture out to Michael's for more ideas and then plan out all these gift baskets, or sets I am going to make for my friends and family.

I will post detailed descriptions and instructions on the ones I decide to try. =]

Stay tuned and you too will have fabulous cost effective gift ideas for the holidays! <3

Until next time.
xox,

Arae

Kick a COLD!

Do you feel like you’re getting sick?

Can you just tell that you’re doomed and destined for a runny nose, sore throat, and coughing?

Do you also hate popping pills (vitamins people!)?

THEN THIS IS FOR YOU! ^_^

Follow these steps to try and avert the crisis, because no one likes to get sick.

FIRST:

Drink as much water as you possibly can! Eight cups a day are recommended, but more never hurt anyone.

SECOND:

Drink lots of green tea, or any kind of tea with lots of antioxidants.

There are even teas formulated with the intent of keeping you healthy.

These teas aren’t magic though, you’d be best off to always drink at least two cups of tea a day.

Green tea is often considered the best.

I love Yogi Green Tea Pomegranate.

The pomegranate adds an extra punch of antioxidants!

Which also can do amazing things for your skin and possibly add years to your life.

(if taken consistently over your entire life)

But don’t drink caffeinated tea after three o’clock if you want to get to bed at a normal hour!

Tea can also help you get to sleep if you get a kind with chamomile in it.

Sleepy Time has been a long time favorite of mine, as well has Honey Vanilla Chamomile.

If you don’t like caffeine at all or tend to react to it, try steeping your tea in cold water, less of the caffeine will seep out of the leaves.

THIRD:

Get lots and lots of vitamin C!

Whether it’s in pill vitamin form or orange juice or whatever pleases you,

Vitamin  C is a natural immunity booster and orange juice is tasty.

However if you already have the start of a sore throat I would NOT recommend having orange juice as it is very acidic and will just irritate your throat even more.

FOURTH:

Sleep!!!

Sleep maybe the best medicine for most things.

(but not too much—there is such thing as too much sleep)

Inadequate amounts of sleep can cause weight gain, as well.

Also, it can cause those nasty bags under your eyes!! Boo! =[

Sleep is essential for your body, you must get sleep for your body to recovery and heal.

Also, enough sleep helps with stress level and almost all illness starts with stress.

FIFTH:

Don’t eat like a fast food fiend.

I am not a fast food eater, but if you are, I would stop if you feel like you’re getting sick!

More than just being plain unhealthy for your body, fast food doesn’t contain many of the essential nutrients your body needs, while still packing in an ungodly amount of useless calories.

Fast food is also greasy and filled with bad things that can make you feel worse as well as energy deprived, bloated, gassy, heavy, just all around sick!

(Have you ever watched supersize me?)

SIXTH:

Eat healthy foods!

Eat as many green leafy veggies as possible.

Foods like spinach, carrots, and sweet potatoes are high in Vitamin A which can help fight viral infections.

Obviously you won’t know if you have a viral infection yet, but early action never hurt when fighting sickness.

Eat protein with every meal and often with snacks.

Don’t skip meals! Your body needs nutrients to survive and even more so if it has to fight of nasty germ ninjas.

SEVENTH:

What did your mom, preschool teacher, uncle, coach, whoever always tell you?

WASH YOUR HANDS!

Wash your hands as much as possible!

Don’t touch your face with you hands unless they’re clean.

Eighth:

Just as a common courtesy to others that many people seem to have forgotten, cover your damn cough.

Don’t cough straight into the air for it to fly around and contaminate everyone around you.

You are the most contagious before you show sever signs of sickness.

So don’t share drinks, make out with everyone and their brother, or lick the doorknobs or anything crazy like that. >.<

NINTH:

Now this is the one tip that people probably won’t want to follow the most! I didn’t want to follow this advice when it was first given to me, or actually the second and third time it was given to me as well.

I did not decide to try this until my boyfriend walked me through it.

Use a sinus rinse!

Yes, I know the idea of shooting liquid up your nose and letting it fall out of the other side is completely repulsive.

I was disgusted by the thought and worried that it would give the water up your nose feeling.

This did not happen the first time I did it, although it can happen if you do not do it right.

Perhaps I will post an instructional video on how to use a sinus rinse properly.

Anywho sinuses rinses are extremely helpful as they flush the phlegm from your nose.

They can also help you breathe as your nose will no longer be stuffed afterwards! (HOPEFULLY)

If you use a sinus rinse immediately when you start feeling sick you can pretty much avert the sickness.

My boyfriend got really sick again after we had both just gotten over a cold and knock on wood, following these habits especially the sinus rinse have left my sickness to a semi-stuffy nose in the morning and a runny nose outside, but that is to be expected.

Colorado just got its first snow! And yes it is still October.

TENTH:

My final tip to averting sickness is something that I am not even sure of its effectiveness.

My boyfriend’s step dad saw this product at I am assuming Whole Foods and thought it would be of use to him.

While my boyfriend has yet to use it I have, although it is not pleasant at all.

It is called Kick Ass Immune.

Here is what it looks like:

Online at Vitamin Cottage it says it sells for $4.49 although I can’t remember how many ounces it was.

I also found this Blog Post about it.

Anyways this stuff is DISGUSTING!!!! I am not joking and I am not exaggerating.

It tastes awful! But at what point does suffering through a drawn out cold become more appealing than putting some foul-tasting drops under you tongue?

I sucked it up and took it.

It is gross and I will make your tongue feel really weird, but washing it down with water and orange juice eliminates the weird taste very quickly.

Honestly in my opinion natural solutions like vitamins are often very helpful and good for your body. I am not saying I don’t take ibuprofen or antibiotics when subscribed—I am just saying in my experience natural remedies, such as constant ice to relive swelling and inflammation, or natural rubs made with herbs to alleviate joint pain are fairly effective. Whether it’s fact or just belief it helps. I recommend trying some out. They won’t hurt. (as far as I know)

I hope this helped! And remember ALWAYS wash your hand!

Until next time, lovelies.

xox,

Arae

All the words in this post are solely my own opinion. They are not meant to cure or diagnose any medical conditions. Please take them with a grain of salt and let me know your opinions in the comments. Please no hate.

Quick and Easy Dinner

Yesterday I made my first real meal for my boyfriend and I. I have cooked for us before, but never an entire meal with more than two things. I made a vegetable medley in a garlic-olive oil sauce, steamed carrots, penne pasta with chicken, sweet potatoes and garlic bread. It was also SUPER easy. I didn't use a recipe just glanced at a few on The Food Network beforehand and then just went with my instincts, which I didn't know I had any for the kitchen!
I was presently surprised that my boyfriend thought my meal was very tasty. A bit garlic-y but I love garlic.

I'd love to share how I made everything for you in a video, but I don't have an adequate camcorder to do so now. Instead for now I am just going to write out the ingredients I used and the process I went through.



Veggie Medley:
-spinach    (I didn't use enough spinach, but use as much as you would prefer)
-2 orange bell peppers     (You can obviously use a different color pepper or a completely different vegetable)
-2 redTomatoes
-2 turns of the pan of olive oil
-2 cloves of garlic minced
Directions:   Gather all ingredients and a midsize pan, no bigger than a dinner plate. Mince the garlic with either a garlic press (much faster! major time saver) or by hand, pieces have to be VERY small. Put the stove on medium-low heat and pour two turns of olive oil along the diameter of the pan and add garlic. Cut the stems off the spinach (optional), dice the tomatoes and peppers. Once the garlic has been in the pan with the olive oil long enough to tenderize a bit, but not until it is brown place the rest of the vegetables in the pan. The spinach will wilt before the rest of the veggies are cooked but won't overcook while the other veggies are finishing.

Carrots:
Peel and cut into uniform slices as many carrots (not baby carrots) as desired. Place carrots into a steamer (my rice cooker doubles as a steamer, many pasta pots do as well) and cook until tender.
Once finished place carrots into a pan with a tablespoon (optional) of butter and tablespoon of honey. These carrots are delicious, but don't get all excited that you're eating veggies because these are rather sugary.

The Chicken:
So I cook chicken on a George Foreman Grill which is honestly the easiest, most hassle free, and tasty way to each chicken! I have never had chicken that was juicier or tastier than on my foreman grill. I am not joking. I like it better than I like chicken from restaurants. I am SUPER picky about my food and especially meat.
I use frozen chicken breasts from either Kings Soopers or Costco depending on if I went to Costco that month or not. For time's sake I would definitely suggest chicken breasts that are in a bag. I know all the ice surrounding the breasts makes you think it isn't good but honestly when you defrost chicken with lots of ice crystals around it makes the chicken juicier after you cook it.
I defrost the chicken in the microwave on the defrost setting for however much I think the chicken ways. I never know for sure so I always check intermittently throughout the process and turn the breast over as they will thaw unevenly.
You have to make sure the chicken is at least 95% defrosted otherwise the outside of the chicken will burn while the inside is still cooking.
Chicken breasts cook perfectly on the Foreman grill for about 5-6 minutes depending on the thickness of the pieces at 350.
I was DEFINITELY NOT handy in the kitchen nor had I ever cooked chicken before in my life until I moved out. All I had done was made pancakes and mac'n cheese! That's how easy the Foreman grill is!!! SOOO EASY. SOOO WORTH IT and SOOOOO nice. It is so hard to burn something on the Foreman grill unless you don't check on you food!


Anywho now that this has turned into Foreman Grill free advertising...

Pasta: I think everyone knows how to cook pasta? I don't do anything special when I cook pasta.


Once everything is cooked put some pasta on a plate then add chicken veggies, and pasta sauce if desired.

YOU'RE DONE! This was such an easy dinner and honestly I do not consider myself especially skilled in the culinary department. Until next time.
xox

Arae

Insomnia

It's funny how when I try to do one last productive thing for the night before bed I end up not being able to fall asleep.

I decided to go through my planner and plan out my week with to do lists and appointments and after that I found my mind racing, realizing I had so much stuff to get done this week and hardly any time to do it.

I think I have learned my lesson.

Before I go to sleep I should do something relieving. Something that won't send my mind on a thought rollercoaster.

Now I am quite possibly screwed. If I can't fall asleep I will be almost completely unproductive tomorrow. =[ Also I have an Oral Test in Chinese tomorrow and if I am dead tired I am afraid I won't remember anything. 

I suppose all I can really do is stay calm and try to stop thinking about all the stuff I seriously need to get done this week. With mid court, tests, a presentation, a talent show, a meeting with my advisor, my professor's office hours, meetings with various people, and a second midterm coming up soon I am so stressed. 

Calm down Arae. Take a deep breath and remove yourself from the situation. I need some stress relief. I may try to squeeze in ice time. That worked for many years as a stress relief maybe it will again. 

Can't you see it

Can't you see it in the rain?
The deep sleeping sound of pouring rain.
It beats down on everything it sees.
Everything below feels the patterns.
Not one thing is left untouched--
nothing escapes, everything feels.
Can't you see it in the rain?
Can you see the empty void?
The white noise screen of nothing but streaks?
The winds whistle and the thunders scream.
Nothing can go out with out soaking,
nothing can come in without dripping.
Can you see that there?
The emptiness, the void, the lonely one.
There is nothing.
Nothing that can escape what has encompassed the world.

Arae

October 15th 2011
All these words are my own, if this has any similarity to words already written it was coincidental. Do not reproduce without my written consent.
araebeauty@gmail.com