Fear of Banana

Found this photo online. So hilarious!

 Original photo from http://www.fanpop.com/spots/random/images/5719759/title/random-wallpaper?ir=true

Book Review - Some Girls Bite

I was recently in a car accident and it has given me a lot of time to catch up on my reading! So I thought, why not do a few book review.

I just finished reading a book called Some Girls Bite, written by Chloe Neill. It is the first book in the Chicagoland Vampires series. I am going to be completely honest right up front. I love young adult urban fantasy type stuff. You know, the stuff that most people secretly love, but then once it gets famous complain about how it's horribly written. Such as Twilight and The Hunger Games.

I'm not reading these books for the amazing literature, I am reading it for fun. I don't want to have to think I just want a great escape, something that I can get caught up in and stay up half the night reading.

Anyways... I liked this book quite a bit. The book takes place is the 21st century where vampires in Chicago have recently made it known that they exist. There are four Vampires Houses, all of the vampires must belong to one, or will be rejected from the vampire community. The story is told in the first person, by protagonist the protagonist, 27 year old grad student, Merit.

Here is the summary from the book: 

“Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it was mine. I was doing fine until Chicago’s vampires announced their existence to the world – and then a rogue vampire attacked me. But he only got a sip before he was scared away by another bloodsucker… and this one decided the best way to save her life was to make her the walking undead.

“Turns out my savior was the master vampire of Cadogan House. Now I’ve traded sweating over my dissertation for learning to fit in at a Hyde Park mansion full of vamps loyal to Ethan “Lord o’ the Manor” Sullivan. Of course, as a tall, green-eyed, four-hundred- year-old vampire, he has centuries’ worth of charm, but unfortunately he expects my gratitude - and servitude. Right…

“But my burgeoning powers (all of a sudden, I’m surprisingly handy with some serious weaponry), an inconvenient sunlight allergy and Ethan’s attitude are the least of my concerns. Someone’s still out to get me. Is it the rogue vampire who bit me? A vamp from a rival House? An angry mob bearing torches?

“My initiation into Chicago’s nightlife may be the first skirmish in a war… and there will be blood.”


My take on this book: I liked it! It had just enough romance to keep me wanting more. And enough action to keep me guessing. I wasn't positive about the identity of the villain until the end, although I had my suspicions!

If you're interested in a funny book that has the perfect amount of action and romance than I definitely recommend this book!

Song of the Week - July 25th

Love this song! Plus, I'm really addicted to Glee right now!

I Can't Go for That/Making my Dreams Come True - Glee Cast

Song of the Week - July 18

Love this song! Hope you do too!

You Can't Stop The Beat - Hairspray The Musical

Song of the Week - July 11

This one is more for the ladies! I love this song, and it just makes me feel so good. I like to imagine he is really speaking to me.

Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are

What Should You Blog About?

Every now and then you find yourself scrambling for an idea. You ask yourself, What the heck am I going to blog about today? Well here are a few ideas that will hopefully inspire you to write a fantastic blog post!

• Books you want to read
• Bucket list
• What motivates you
• Wish list
• Top 10 guilty pleasures
• Top 5 favourite sites
• How do you use social media
• What motivated you to start a blog
• What motivates you to keep writing your blog
• Tell a funny story
• Letting go of frustrations
• Have a giveaway!
• Favourite recipe
• Interview someone
• Discuss an event that you attended
• Rant
• Review something (books, movies, food, products...)
• Write a how to or DIY
• Make a list
• Ask your readers to write an article that you will put onto your blog (giving them fell credit, of course)
• Post about your favourite blogs posts
• Post in response to a blog you recently read
• Ask your readers what to post about and use their suggestions (giving them credit for the post idea)
• Do a follow up post on something you've already written about
• Share your recommendations

My Bucket List

I've been thinking a lot about what I would like to accomplish in this lifetime. Here's what I have come up with so far.

• Write a novel
• Fall in love
• Own my own house
• Travel all through Europe
• Own a successful business
• Get a degree
• Go on a Safari
• Change someone's life for the better
• Write a song
• Meet someone famous
• Learn to play guitar
• Learn to play piano
• Learn to draw
• Learn to play tennis
• Be happy

What do you think? What's on your bucket list?

Song of the Week!

You've probably heard this song on the radio recently, it is quite popular.

What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) - Kelly Clarkson

20 Ways to Sneak in Exercise

Just a few ways that I have come up with to sneak in a little exercise throughout the day!

 

Dance like no one's watching, chances are, they aren't!

1) When you're studying/writing/reading/doing any kind of work where you just kind of sit there, every 10 minutes or so get up and dance around/do jumping jacks etc. for 30 seconds -1 minute. (Or put on your favourite song and dance for the whole song!)

Bonus: It gets the blood pumping so if you are studying or writing or whatever, it will help you stay focused and you'll be able to work for longer. 

2) When you're brushing your teeth, stand on one leg. Alternate. 3)  When you're watching TV, during the commercials do sit ups, push ups, squats, lunges, etc. Do a different exercise every commercial break. 4) While I'm waiting for my beanie to warm up in the microwave at night, i like to some calf raises. I usually do it for about a minute. 5) I like to park farther away from the store, gym, or school etc. That way I get in extra steps.

Bonus: Save on gas! Every one else is driving around looking for a spot as close as possible, in the long run, by taking that first spot you see you'll probably save time! 

Stairwell

6) This one is so important! Take the stairs!!!! I can't stress it enough, I mean, if it's 10 floors I understand taking the elevator, but I say 5th floor or less the stairs shouldn't be a problem. (And if it is, then I think this list might be especially important to you.) Suggestion: If you are going to the 10th floor, you could get off at the 7th (or whatever you're comfortable with) and walk the rest. 

7) Waiting for the bus? If the bus is going to be a while, you could walk to the next stop. Or just take a 10 minute walk around.

8) Walk up the escalator. You could just stand there and let it do all the work, or you could walk up it, and save a little time.

9) Fidget. Tap those fingers, move around in your chair. Re-position yourself, whatever you can think of. I remember reading somewhere, years ago, that if you fidget throughout the day you could burn up to 600 calories. I think 600 calories from fidgeting would be an extreme and unlikely, but I'm sure it's possible to burn a few hundred. (That's like a small workout at the gym!)

10) On the phone? Pace! Don't just sit there, walk around!

11) Ladies... Don't forget your kegel exercises! Whether you're waiting in line at the grocery store or waiting for that red light to change to green.

12) Sit on an exercise ball rather than a computer chair. It's better for your core!

13) Skip! If you're just walking around the house, put a little bounce in that step! You'll burn extra calories!

Just Dance!

14) Just Dance. Ever played it? It's for Nintendo Wii, Playstation Move, and Xbox Kinect. It is so much fun, and a pretty good workout if you really get into it. I'm not telling you to go out and buy a new game console, but I bet one of your friends has one, and I think the game is fairly inexpensive. Go over and play! You can play with up to 4 people and the more people the more fun! I'm not going to lie, you will look silly, but who cares! It's a blast! Trust me on this one guys.

15) Practice proper posture. So important! It uses muscles throughout the body, therefore you are burning more calories.

16) While you're standing waiting for something somewhere, contract your butt muscles, hold for 2-4 seconds, release, repeat. Work those butt muscles!

17) Got to run an errand nearby? Walk or bike!

Playing Tug of War

18) Play with your dog! Tell him to sit and stay, then you go run and hide and call out to him. Make him find you. Give him a treat when he succeeds. Do this 5 or 6 times. And your dog will absolutely love it! (I do this with my dog and he goes crazy, he loves a good game of hide and seek!) You could also play Tug-of-war, or take him for a run or walk. 


19) If you're stuck sitting at a desk, slowly raise one foot 3-4 inches off the ground, hold for 15-20 seconds, slowly drop it back down. Repeat with the other leg. Then do both. It really works your thighs! 


20) Laugh. Laughing is so important in life, it will give you a complete boost and work your abs! So laugh as much as possible. What are some ways that you fit in a little work out here and there throughout your day?

Healthy Nibblets

Fruit Skewers!

I really struggle with eating constantly throughout the day. When I am stuck at home, I feel the need to constantly be putting something in my mouth. So I have come up with a list of healthy things to nibble on throughout the day! Now you don't have to feel guilty about eating all the time.

• Vegetables
• Fruits 
• Water - it will help you to feel fuller so that you won't eat as much! If you find water to plain; add a slice of lemon, some mint leave and/or a few slices of cucumber. 
• Humus - I love humus so much! Costco has really good garlic humus as well as roasted red pepper humus. You can also make your own! 
• Seaweed
• Berries - I love frozen blueberries. They're so good! 
• Frozen yogurt - I literally mean take the single serving yogurts and put them in the freezer for a day. They taste awesome and they take a long time to eat. 
• An apple with almond butter
• Popcorn - very low in calories. Be sure to skip the butter!
• Trail mix - You can make your own, add nuts and seeds, a little bit of dried fruit (I love dried coconut and cried mango) and a few chocolate chips if you need that extra sweet thing (I use the mini chippets)
• Cottage cheese with veggies
• Hard boiled egg
• Fruit smoothie

Upcycle - Wood Pallets

Pallet

The term "Upcycle" is totally new to me. In fact, I only just discovered what upcycling was about an hour ago. I've always known how to upcycle and been very fond of it, but I didn't know it had it's own term, I would have just called it recycling.

Anyways, for those of you who are unaware - as I was an hour ago - upcycling is taking some kind of material that is junk or something deemed useless and turning it into something awesome!

So here is 10 different ideas to upcycle and help out the planet, while having an awesome and interesting piece of furniture.

Enjoy!

1) Coffee Table 

    

  

2) Garden

3) Chair 

    

4) Coat Rack

5) Shelves

 

6) Sofa

7) Bed

8) Cabinet

9)Shed/Fort

10) Swing

I worked so hard to get all the pictures to align and all be the same size, but for some reason when I publish it to blogger it gets all messed up. So I apologize for that!