Now Playing: Janine And The Mixtape

Yes friends, it's time for more music that is new to me and possibly to you too. I've all but lost hope in the Amazon free MP3 section but luckily SoundCloud has graced me with some new music recently.

The artist is called Janine and The Mixtape. According to her SoundCloud bio she writes, plays and produces her own beats. Pretty cool I think. Plus she has a nice voice and some good songs. In my opinion she has a very smooth R&B/Pop feel. Similar to the artist Nylo who I talked about in this post. Anyway, give her a listen for yourself down below.

Now Playing: Nylo - Cocaine Hearts

More music for your listening pleasure. Aren't you excited?!

Anyway, I honestly can't remember how/when I first discovered Nylo. Possibly on Spotify this time around. Usually I find my new music on Amazon but since they've changed their MP3 store setup I rarely even search there anymore. I guess Nylo could be described as a mix between soul, R&B, electro, alternative and maybe a few others. Bottom line is she's got a great voice and good music. What else really matters right? Oh, and you can download her songs for free on SoundCloud and free is always good. 

Give her a listen!

So, I Made Homemade Mayo....

I admit that I've fallen off significantly from my little health and fitness kick I was on last year. After feeling like a lazy slob and with a renewed desire for bikini-worthy abs, I'm slowly but surely easing back into it. To start, I need to get back into eating healthier. That doesn't mean I'm gonna become a vegan or anything (because lord knows I love a good sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich) but the least I can do is start making healthier choices in my diet.

I was over on a website/blog called 100 Days of Real food started by a mom who took the challenge with her family to cut out processed foods for 100 days. That's a bit much for me and I know I couldn't just jump into it. They also have a 10 day challenge which I may start at a later date. For now, the idea of slowly cutting out processed foods appealed to me.

My homemade mayo. I think it looks pretty good.

I've never been one to read labels but you'd be surprised at all the extra crap in everyday food. Things like mayonnaise for example. Anyway, long story short I was inspired to try to make my own mayonnaise and the results were pretty good. This is the recipe I used ---> click here.

I only had two real issues with my results. At first it came out more like a creamy salad dressing than a mayo but after being in the fridge a couple of nights the consistency is more like real mayonnaise. I also don't care for the olive oil taste. It's a bit strong for me so next time I'll either add a bit less or use a different type of oil (some have suggested grape seed.) Try it for yourself and enjoy!

And again....yum!

Newly Discovered Music: Jillette Johnson

New to me, maybe not so new to you.....

Yes, it's time for me to once again put you on to an artist you may not have heard about before. For once my discovery isn't from Amazon.com (ps: They all but erased the free mp3 section...smh). I found Jillette Johnson's music via a Facebook link for some magazine (can't remember which, sorry) listing the top 10 most underrated albums/artists of 2013. The list included her song 'Torpedo' which I instantly loved. I decided to head over to Spotify and listen to the rest of her album 'Water in a Whale' and I liked what I heard. My favorite song of hers is 'Pauvre Couer' with 'Cameron' as a close second. As a side note, another favorite of mine Tori Kelly was also on the list.

Give a listen for yourself if you haven't already or if you want to again....

Music Monday: Tori Kelly

Time for another installment of Music Monday. Today's feature is 'Dear No One' by Tori Kelly from her Foreword EP. I like her, I like the song and hopefully you will too if you don't already. 'Dear No One' is basically a love song to your future soul mate. Cool concept if you ask me. Enjoy!

Here's Tori performing an acoustic version of 'Dear No One' on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (honestly I prefer the original).

Music Monday: Amel Larrieux - For Real

I randomly found this song on Spotify. Although 'Tell Me' by Groove Theory will forever be one of my all time favorite songs, I haven't followed Amel's career so I didn't realize this song was a few years older. I believe it came out in 2004 on her 'Bravebird' album. Either way I'm obsessed with it now. Listen for yourself if you haven't already. Enjoy!

A Random True Story: The Stalker

I'm bored, eating shrimp lo mein and watching Living Single so I decided to write a random blog post about this guy I was never involved with for your entertainment. Enjoy.

So, I knew this guy in high school, we'll just call him "Dan" as I'm not into putting people on blast for my personal enjoyment. Unless they've pissed me off but that's neither here nor there. Back in school Dan and I weren't really friends. I mean, we were acquainted, had classes together and traveled in the same social circle but we never actually hung out or anything. Anyway, the years went on, we graduated and went our separate ways. Me with barely a thought about Dan because, as I said, we were hardly friends. 

Cut to college and the beginning of the Facebook craze. Back then you actually had to have a college email address in order to sign up. Ahh, the good old days. Dan and I became FB friends and eventually AIM buddies as well (that's AOL Instant Messenger for the youngins). Am I the only one who would spend an obscene amount of time trying to come up with a catchy away status? More often than not it would just end up being song lyrics but now I'm getting off topic. I wanna say around freshman year of college was the first time Dan started showing some romantic interest in me. I wasn't interested. In fact, I went out of my way to avoid any type of in person meeting with him.

There were several times Dan asked me to hang out via AIM but I wouldn't. There was one incident in particular that threw me off. Dan is a black man and he told me that he'd never dated a black girl before. My teenage mind was shocked by such a revelation. Then he said something to the effect of "Your black parents would be happy" if we went out. Huh?! I just......what does that even mean? I don't know, it just through me off. Either way, I definitely wasn't interested.

Now, it's some time later and I'm home for the summer or winter break or something. Either way it's like I see Dan everywhere. Out at the club or at my favorite chain restaurant where he happens to work. What are the odds right? I began referring to him as my stalker when it seemed like I was seeing him everywhere all over town. I'm sure I was exaggerating but so what. I had a stalker. 

Fast forward to now and Dan randomly starts talking to me on Facebook messenger. I'd say it started a few months ago, it was still warm out. He asked me out yet again and I finally agreed to meet for drinks one evening. He said he got out of work around 7p so we agreed to meet about 730ish. Mind you, we'd never exchanged numbers all this time. I go, I sit, I wait for about a half hour to forty minutes. He never showed. Then I get a FB message from him asking what I'm doing at almost 830. Say what now? I'm sitting here waiting for you! Fuck you mean what am I doing?! Then he says he JUST got out of work. But I thought we were meeting at 730. Oh, the time I get out of work can vary depending on the case he tells me. This would have been nice to know BEFORE. 

Now, I really didn't want to go out with him in the first place but I was bored and sick of him asking. Plus now that I've matured, I figured I should just go for it because who knows, I might actually like the guy if I give him a chance. Well, he blew it. I felt like I was stood up. In fact, an older gentlemen at the bar left before I did but I ran into him on the way back to the parking garage. He actually stopped me and asked "Did your date not show up?" BURN. He then proceeded to ask if I wanted to grab a beer but he was easily in his 50s so I wasn't into it. Nice guy though.

I told Dan maybe some other time. We finally exchanged numbers but never made any real plans to hang. Then he started FB messaging me again. Not sure why since he was the one who wanted to exchange numbers in the first place. A couple of nights ago he asked if we could make plans to meet up again. I said I didn't think so. Why he asked. Because I'm not interested (never really was tbh) and now I have a boyfriend so that would just be fucked up. He didn't reply and I haven't heard from him since. 

And that is the random true story of my stalker. Now that I've written it all down, he wasn't all that much of a stalker. Oh well, too late to find a new nickname now. Bless your heart if you actually read all this. I'd probably just see the length of this post and decide to not even bother. But thanks if you're still here.

Good day kiddies.

Newly Discovered Music: Banks

Welp! Amazon has done it again. Yet another discovery made while browsing the mp3 section is this lovely lady called Banks. I listened to a preview of one of her songs called 'Waiting Game' and instantly loved her. Naturally I went over to Spotify to find more of her songs in full. I really don't have much to say about Banks other than I just really, really like the vibe of her music. I'm not sure which genre of music this would be considered but honestly, who cares? I like it regardless. I wasn't able to find much information about Banks (i.e. didn't look very hard) but to my understanding she's a new artist so there isn't much to be found at this point. Give her a listen for yourself.

Music Review: Travis Garland

Recently, Travis Garland released his self titled album to the masses. I had listened to some of his music before and even had a couple of his songs on my iPod but I wasn't really going crazy with anticipation waiting for the album. Anyway, I decided to listen to those little 1:30 previews over on iTunes and I really liked what I heard. Enough to spend my little $7.99 (also available on Amazon.com for the same album price but only .99 cents per song).

I'd definitely consider this album to be R&B/Pop. Heavier on the R&B side if you ask me but I'm not complaining. I think Travis is definitely of the "blue eyed soul" variety. If you like artists such as Jojo, Leah LaBelle, Justin Timberlake, etc. then you'll probably like him. Though Travis' music is a bit edgier and more risque if you will (notice the explicit content label). Either way, check it out for yourself!

Track List:

1. Where to Land
2. Motel Pool
3. Easy
4. Abby Lee
5. Clouds
6. Pullin' My Hair
7. You Made Your Bed (So Lay in It)
8. Neighbor
9. Other People
10. Modern Life
11. AllSheWannaDo
12. Homewrecker
13. Blue Electric Roses
14. Chariots of Fire
****iTunes Exclusive Track****
15. 1 of 1

Marriage: Yay or Nay?

There's lots of talk about marriage these days. I think I'm noticing it more because I'm now at an age when the first thing people want to know is when I'm going to get married and have kids. No pressure or anything -__-. The big debate I keep seeing is whether marriage ruins relationships. Many people today don't see the value in marriage other than from a legal standpoint i.e. taxes, healthcare, and other rights that come along with that little certificate. I just feel like our current generation no longer values the institution of marriage for whatever reason.

One argument is that marriage ruins relationships which is understandable to a degree but not necessarily true in all cases. I read somewhere a while ago that marriage enhances the relationship you already have which I firmly believe. If you have a good relationship already, marriage will make it better. But if your relationship is a disaster, getting married will only make things worse. This logic makes perfect sense to me.

Now, with all this being said, I've never been married or even close to being married so I don't speak from experience. Just basing my opinion off of things I've heard and what makes sense to me. I think marriage is challenging either way and something that you need to put effort into to make it work, just like any relationship. But like I said, I have no experience to speak of when it comes to marriage so I'm just guessing here. Hopefully I'll find out someday.

That's all for now.

Music Monday: Birdy

I actually discovered this young lady quite some time ago but for some reason I never thought to make a blog post about her. Weird. Anyway, is another young artist I discovered once again while browsing the free MP3 section on Amazon.com. I'm telling you, they have some good stuff over there. You don't hear me though.

Birdy is a 17 year old singer/piano player from the UK. That's about as much of a bio as you're going to get from me. I'm only here from the music. My favorite song that she does is 'People Help the People'. I saw a YouTube comment that another song she does is a remake but I never bothered to check for sure so who knows. Either way, I enjoy her version. Give a listen for yourself.

Another one I really like is 'Without a Word' (actually I think I like it more than People Help the People)

Newly Discovered Music: AlunaGeorge

That's right, more randomly discovered music for your listening pleasure. I was once again over on Amazon.com browsing the free MP3s but there was nothing that caught my interest. AlunaGeorge was a part of my recommendations based on previous searches. I'm not sure what made me hit play, sometimes I just like the cover art. Who knows?

Anyway, after doing minimal research I found that AlunaGeorge is a group from the UK made up of a young lady named Aluna and a young man named George. Aluna does the singing from what I can tell and George, well, I'm not entirely sure what his role is. Producing? I honestly couldn't tell you. Their music is something of a mix between pop, R&B, electronica, etc. Hard to describe but it's definitely catchy. They also do a remix to Montell Jordan's 'This Is How We Do It' which is pretty cool. Check them out!

Organic Reese's......Sort Of.

Okay, so it's not actually a Reese's cup but it's an incredible simulation. I was walking around the snack aisle in Target and happened to see some organic product by Justin's. To be honest I'm not sure if the company is just called Justin's or if it's Justin's Organic but whatever. According to the wrapper it's Justin's organic milk chocolate peanut butter cups.  

The back of the wrapper says to "Think of your favorite peanut butter cup. Next, magnify that feeling by a gazillion - that's ours." Now I must say I was worried at first because usually when think organic + candy = unsweetened nastiness but I was pleasantly surprised. These organic peanut butter cups were REALLY good! I'll definitely buy these again. I can't say for sure that I'll totally replace my real Reese's cups with these but they're an excellent substitution. I'll also be trying more of Justin's organic products in the future. Give them a try for yourself! 

August Workout Challenge

After successfully completing the beginner's calender from Blogilates.com, I decided to dive in and try the August calendar. Just by looking at this calendar I can already tell it's going to be much more physically challenging than the beginner's but that makes sense. For starters, each of the workouts this month are about an hour long compared to the previous calendar with 30-40 minute workouts. That means exercising for at least an hour a day 6 days a week. Good stuff.

                                              

One thing I really like about the August workout calendar are the meal/recipe suggestions each week. Let me break it down because I know you care....

Sunday - Cook a new recipe from the blogilates.com recipe index (all healthy, cheap eats)
Monday - Meatless Monday
Tuesday - Eat fruit anytime you want to snack
Wednesday - Drink 8 oz of water before each meal or snack
Thursday - Give up one "bad" food or condiment for the day
Friday - YOLO meal aka splurge on whatever you want
Saturday - Veggies with EVERY meal today

I have to admit, I've already failed my first meatless Monday. I just couldn't shake the craving so I'm gonna try to go meatless another day during the week to make up for it and start fresh next week. I also haven't bothered to cook a new recipe from the website but I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually. Other than that I've been good about following the diet suggestions so far.

The monthly calendars on the website are password protected so I wouldn't feel right posting it on my blog. If you're interested just sign up for the newsletter. It's definitely worth it. That's all for now!

My Favorite Snacks (of the moment)

"These are a few of my favorite things......."

Originally I did NOT like Chobani Greek yogurt but this little snack has changed my mind...sort of. I still don't like the plain vanilla flavor but these raspberry with dark chocolate chips bites are really good. I can't get enough.

I bought these on a whim while I was in Trader Joe's. I do a lot of snacking so I picked these up because I figure they'd be a healthier choice than my usual bag of Reese's Minis. Sweet potato tortilla chips. What's not to like? 

These Tostitos chips I literally bought today. I was actually looking for some guacamole chips (which I'll list later) but happened upon these instead. Very good. No salsa needed.

These things are just.....I love them. I can't even describe how much. I've convinced myself that they're a healthy snack because it's dark chocolate. I could be wrong but IDC!!!

There are plenty of others but that's all for now. Good day.

Beginner's Pilates Challenge: DONE!

So, a while back I decided to try the beginner's workout calendar over on Blogilates.com as a way to help me start working out on a regular basis and as an intro to Pilates which I've been wanting to try for a while now. I'm happy to say that I have officially completed the entire calendar. Yay me! This is a huge accomplishment for me because in the past I've never actually stuck with a workout routine. I'll usually start and stick with something for about a week or so before I get lazy and just say forget it. I'm really proud of myself for sticking with it and completing the entire four weeks.

There were a couple of days that I didn't get up early to do the workout videos before starting my day but I made sure to do them later in the day when I had time. There was also one day that I didn't workout at all so I had to double up and do two day's worth the next day to stay caught up. Also, on rest days there's healthy meal suggestions but I only tried the very first one; the banana pancakes recipe. Now that I'm done with that calender I'm not sure what to do next. I'm not going to jump into the July workout calendar at the end of the month so I decided to make my own schedule for the last couple weeks of the month. I just went back through the calendar and picked out some of my favorite videos to do.

To be honest I haven't seen much, if any physical results but it's largely my fault. I really haven't changed my diet too much and I know I should. Just working out isn't enough to see real results, you have to change your diet too which I've learned. That's a lot harder for me and it's gonna take a while. It's actually really easy for me to ADD healthy foods to my diet but getting rid of unhealthy ones is my real challenge. What can I say, I'm a work in progress.

That's all for now.

Newly Discovered Music: Lorde

Have I mentioned how much I love finding new music? Well I do. Maybe it's not new to you but it is to me. In this edition I'm talking about a young lady called Lorde. I say young because she honestly doesn't look much over 16 to me but I actually have no idea how old she is. Anyway, I was turned on to Lorde by someone on my Twitter feed mentioning her. I decided to check out her website and listen for myself. I liked what I heard and decided to download a couple of her songs. Lorde has an EP out called 'The Love Club' and I definitely recommend it. 'Royals' is the single but 'Bravado' is my favorite.

Newly Discovered Music: Jessie Ware - Sweet Talk

Yet another artist and song discovered in Amazon.com's free mp3 section. You really should check it out sometime if you haven't. They have some decent music over there. This was supposed to be a 'Music Monday' post but I was so busy I just didn't have the time so here we are. I really don't have anything to say about Jessie Ware, I just want to share this song with others who might enjoy it as much as I do. The song is called 'Sweet Talk' from Jessie's album 'Devotion.' Happy listening!

Date Smoothie Recipe

So I'm still experimenting with different flavors of smoothies so I'm not just alternating between the same two recipes ALL the time. I recently bought some dates from Trader Joe's because I love them and wanted to see what they might taste like in a smoothie. I looked up some recipes online and pretty much took bits and pieces from each to come up with my own recipe. I didn't make too much because I didn't want to waste it in case I didn't like it so feel free to alter the amount of ingredients used to yield more servings.

                         

-Pitted dates, chopped ( I didn't count or measure them so I really have no idea how many, sorry)
-1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla coconut milk ( I may use more in the future)
-2 Tbsp of vanilla coconut milk yogurt (I added this mostly just to thicken it up a bit)

                         

Blend it together and boom! There you have it. My one issue is that there was still some date chunks in the blender that I just couldn't get rid of. Maybe I didn't chop the dates up enough? I'm not really sure what happened but for the most part everything blended together nicely. My taste buds are VERY happy.

Coconut Milk Smoothie Recipe

I recently decided to give coconut milk a try because of this health kick I'm on. A while back I tried almond milk but it was just gross. I've never been a fan of almonds so I don't know why I thought I'd like the milk but whatever. Usually I make my smoothies with yogurt but I decided to try looking up recipes that use coconut milk and I found this one. It's very simple and only has three ingredients.

This picture isn't mine but this is pretty much what my smoothie looked like.

-1 cup coconut milk
-1 banana
-2 cups of raw spinach

Mix it all in a blender and there you have it. My only "issue" with this smoothie is the very milky texture. By using yogurt all the time I'm used to the texture of my smoothies being thicker, almost like a milkshake but this wasn't a big deal. Anyway, try it for yourself and enjoy!