2013 Bucket List Challenge: Get Something Published

This post is a part of the 2013 Bucket List series, in which I tell the whole world my goals so I have to complete them. You can read the original post here. Here is an update on one of my 2013 goals:

If you lived in Provo, and were looking for some sort of Provo-related news and entertainment, you could go to provobuzz.com and most likely see an article written by me.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen! My semi-life-long dream of being published somewhere has finally come true. I realize that I write for this blog all the time, but there's something so validating about having an actual website tell you you're allowed to contribute. It's a great feeling. 

Just in case my mother is worrying at this point about my ability to make a living like a real adult, I'm not quitting my day job for this. I'll be contributing one article a week. But hey, it's something. And I get to write about the town I have lived in for seven years. I know this place like the back of my hand...literally. One time Matt blindfolded me and drove me around the city so I wouldn't catch on to his romantic anniversary plans, and I could tell where we were at every turn. 

Anyway...

Writing content for a website that people actually read is a little daunting. I feel like I can write almost whatever I want on here because the readers are mostly people I know and love. This is not the case for Provo Buzz, and I'm worried that I'll get some hate mail at some point. Until then, I'm loving this image:

My year of the Bucket List Challenge is shaping up to be pretty awesome. 

The Most Epic Road Trip

 

One of my favorite things about Matt is that he loves to cook as much as I do. He also loves watching food shows with me. We're all about Chopped, Iron Chef America, No Reservations, Worst Cooks in America, and DD+D. If we're scanning, and one of those is on, it's game over. (A way better compromise to my HGTV or his fishing shows). 

I found this website that tells you every restaurant featured on said cooking shows, categorized by state, show, and even city. 

And now my dream is to plan a crazy road trip and eat at some amazing dives on the way. 

Or wouldn't it just be fun to explore the restaurants in the state you live in? 

...JUSTKIDDING they already have a road trip planner. Dream. Come. True.

How To Fight A Cold Like The Avengers

...from all sides.

Guys. I haven't been sick in months. It was getting to the point where I felt like I had won the lottery, and then I think that jinxed my body into getting sick. 

If you know me at all, the fact that I wasn't sick for months and months at a time is basically a Christmas Miracle. Growing up, I missed a lot of school for basically every kind of sickness you could think of. I was just that kid. My first year of teaching, I brought home bugs from all over the state. Since I have been trying to eat healthier and take care of my body, and am in my second year of teaching, I rarely get sick...until this week. 

I have found a lot of natural at-home remedies to fight the common cold that have really sped up my recovery. Some of you might have learned this 20 years ago, but I'm pretty new to the home-remedy game. My idea of speeding up the recovery process consisted of a lot of medicine and even more sleep. So if you already know this, keep on scrolling. Hopefully this will help someone.

Here is a list of 7 weird things I have done at least daily since I started feeling sick:

1. DETOX BATH: Then sit in the shower with the hottest water possible for 10 minutes after that.

2. MAGIC SOCKS: Right after the bath, wet a pair of cotton socks in cool water, then wring out until they're just damp (not soaking). Put them on your feel, then put a pair of dry wool socks over them. Go lay in bed. Apparently the combination revs up your immune system. 

3. GREEN SMOOTHIE: I already had green smoothie freezer packs on hand and have been drinking them for breakfast. Just mix up a bunch of fruits in a blender with spinach, water and ice. No milk.

4. SLEEPING POSITION: I usually sleep on my stomach, but sleeping on your back with a thick pillow when you're sick helps keep your head clear of mucus. This lowers the number of times you have to wake up in the night to blow your nose. 

5. HEALTH SHOTS: Try to get as many nutrients into your body as you can. I started doing shots of v8 juice mixed with Bolthouse Farms green smoothie chased with a drink of water. The shot glass makes it fun and bearable, the green smoothie has a lot of good nutrients and covers up the yucky v8 taste, and the v8 packs in more veggies. 

6. WATER: You know this one. But seriously...drink soooooo much water. Drink it until you feel like your stomach might explode. Have a glass of water by your bed, and keep filling it up when it gets empty. Carry that glass of water around like you're in the Sahara Desert. That cup is now your best friend until you get better. 

7. MONSTER TEA: I drink this gross concoction because it really has helped me feel better, but it's disgusting. Just suck it up. It'll help. 

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup water

a few dashes of ginger 

Heat it up and down it as fast as you can. Don't focus too much on the taste, and keep a glass of water nearby to get the taste out of your mouth when you're done. 

Doing these 7 things plus the normal fixes like medicine and rest will help you recover faster. Hope you feel better! 

Baby Leonardo DiCaprio

Remember when Leonardo DiCaprio was like...literally, the king of the world? I remember reading about him in my friend's teen bop magazine, watching him in Growing Pains, and secretly wishing I were Rose on the front of that boat. These pictures actually remind me of Justin Bieber. Is that bad? Don't hate me. It's true, and I speak truth. My favorite one is #6. Doesn't he look like Matt Damon in #2 and that burglar from Home Alone in #7?

PS, can't wait to see this.

When I get home from a long day at work

Branding the Presidents

Did you know that President's Day is partly the reason why we have a lot of American holidays on a Monday? Thank you, PD, for all my holiday-related three day weekends...and you know, freedom and whatnot. In honor of President's Day, here's a great project called Branding the Presidents of the United States. Meg Jannott started making quick logos + images to brand each president. Which one is your favorite? I like the gentleman boss.

Since this day really started with George and Abe, check out a virtual tour of George Washington's Mount Vernon (my favorite is Nelly Custis's bedroom).

A Love Poem to Kristen Wiig

your expressions, induplicable
seriously, how do you get your face like that?
my kristen wiig laugh includes crying
tears of awesome
let's be best friends

Friday Favorites

How was your Valentine's Day yesterday? I came into work to find my desk decorated (secretly, the night before) with lights, chocolates and a love fern...ok, it's a love tree. I have to keep it alive until next year. Where should I put it? We're not celebrating Valentine's Day until Saturday, but I cooked Matt a nice dinner and we relaxed at home. Here are some things I'm loving on this week:

This 60s-themed hotel in Spain is not helping the wanderlust. My favorite part is the whole main floor.

Things everyone feels on the internet.

If you can't get to Spain, here are 44 midwest restorts. 7, 8 + 17 look pretty great.

Someone said this to me once and I almost fell over.

Top 10 Kristin Wiig sketches. Garth and Kat had me snorting.

Friday Friday

Fridays are blessings from Heaven. I feel bad for Mondays, though. They can't help that they're right after the weekend. Anywhey.........

Last night I made Matt his favorite dinner (steak + onions, bread, asparagus, cream soda + pecan pie) and we ate it on the couch while watching Comedy Thursday. Dream. Come. True.

And I finally got to tell him about his birthday gift! I bought him and his friend Travis tickets to an MMA semi-finals fight in SLC. He's uhb-sessed with MMA and always talks about how he would be a fighter if he had the body and how he wants to go see the MGM ring in Las Vegas someday. Maybe next year. We have to have something to work up to! I have like 70 more years of presents to go. I can't blow it up on year one!

My family's birthday tradition is to celebrate each birthday for literally an entire week. My mom gets cray about birthdays and always makes us feel awesome for a whole week. So we're going pretty hard this weekend on the celebrations.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Here's the love:

10 great things about being single on Valentine's Day.

Please, can I have #2 + #9?

It's only been like...3 days, and I'm already having 30 Rock withdrawals. Here's 30 things you didn't know about Tina Fey to cheer us up.

This website makes me want to buy all the things. I would definitely get clambake and mango bango.

What a marvelous ring.

And this dress to go with it.

Be A Party

Have you seen Kid President yet? What am I saying? Of course you have! Remember how I'm always the last one on the boat when anything cool happens? I don't know why I'm like that...but I've seen KP's videos get re-posted a kajillion times and never clicked on them until my co-worker sent me a link this weekend. 

He's basically just a kid in a suit who dances around and gives pep talks to adults, because adults are boring. He's awesome.

My favorite advice from him so far?

This may or may not be my new motto for the week. So happy Monday, you beautiful people! Go out there and be a party! 

PS: My two favorite videos to date.

Confession: I'm Scared of My Gym

Guys. Do you have a workout that makes you feel like a champion? I'm talking about the kind of workout that you've done so much you could probably host a perky YouTube video and get like....100 likes. 

Wanna know what mine is?

The elliptical.

I. have. that. shiz. down.

When I walk into the gym, I swagger up to that beast and stare it down like there's no tomorrow. I hop on, tune into some Kardashians if I'm lucky to find them, and rock it out like nobody's business. For like an hour. When I step off, I feel awesome. And then I walk on out of there and ignore the rest of the machines like I'm 13 and I have crushes on all of them.

When it comes to doing other stuff at the gym, I feel like that kid in kickball who always gets picked last. I'm always worried I'll look dumb using the other machines, so I don't even try.

I realize to get in shape you need to work your muscles on other things besides an elliptical. My brain gets it.

But it's not all my fault. The gym I frequent seems to be disproportionately populated by men whose spirit animals are 'roided out bulldogs, and orange women who strip to their neon skivvies during a 5-minute mile. They don't even stop their treadmills. They do that douchebag step-to-the-side move. and proceed to strip. 

Every ten minutes they all seem to meet at the water fountain and flirt.

This is what I'm dealing with here. It's too much pressure.

So in the spirit of "doing what you've never done to achieve what you've never achieved" (ie. an alright body), I've turned to internet workouts to get my body moving.

Workouts I can do in my living room while my husband watches a movie in our bedroom. Workouts that can let me feel like an idiot in the privacy of my own home. Workouts that will help me tone and stretch and huff and puff on my own time in weird weird clothing. 

The goal? To graduate from one-trick-pony elliptical status to champion I'm-not-embarrassed-to-work-out-at-my-own-gym status. 

I'm slowly finding new workouts that make me feel like an elephant doing ballet. But it's better than nothing.

We'll see what happens.

For tonight, voila.

My Doppelganger

My mom just sent me a text that basically said, "Look at the latest issue of Good Housekeeping! Drew Barrymore looks just like you!" She may also have implied that I am prettier than her, but we're just going to chalk that comment up to the fact that she birthed me. 

Remember a few years ago when people got obsessed for a minute over Facebook Doppelgangers? People would post pictures of their celebrity lookalike and wistfully imagine an alternate universe in which they'd be famous instead of their non-twin. 

I'm pretty sure one of my Facebook friends has more pictures of her non-twin than of her own face! 

I didn't really see the allure because I never had a doppelganger. No one in Hollywood ever looked like me. I realize I don't really look like Drew, but I have to admit that in this picture, I do see a resemblance. Maybe my body doesn't look like hers, but from the face up, I can see it. 

And now I get the allure. The fact that someone who looks like you is famous is a little ego boost. It means that at least one other person in the universe thought they would look good on camera..and if you look like them...well, you get the picture. 

All I'm saying is, it feels good. 

Now if only my doppleganger were Rachel McAdams, we'd be in business.

What's you're doppelganger? (If you don't know, go here).

For more non-twins, go here.

edit: Um...turns out Drew Barrymore was in a movie titled, "Doppelganger." Things just got weird.

Apparently Jeannette looks like Khloe Kardashian.

IF YOU POST A PICTURE OF YOURSELF AND YOUR CELEBRITY LOOKALIKE, I WILL POST IT ON HERE FOR ALL TO SEE! 

Why I want to be BFF with Zooey Deschanel

Artist: Mark Demsteader

Bonus points for Mark because, yes, that is Emma Watson.

Besides the HP shoutout, I love this guy because of his use of light and dark (chiaroscuro). The detail in her body vs. the lack of detail in the clothing and background play nicely on each other. He's good at putting opposites in the same painting and making them work. 

Check out his website to see more paintings. 

Why I want to be BFF with Meryl Streep

I'm pretty sure Meryl Streep has navigated Hollywood aging in the most graceful way ever. Plus, in the span of a year she played The Devil in The Devil Wears Prada + Julia Childe in Julie + Julia. I want to give her a hug and maybe go to an art museum with her. And then I'd ask her how Alec Baldwin is at kissing, on a scale of 1-10. 

Friday Favorites

It's finally Friday! Raise your hand if you're having a hard time transitioning from vacation to the real world! I know I am... Time for Friday Favorites!

This picture of Woody and Tom Hanks melts my heart, y'all.

If you're a die-hard Parks and Recreation fan (AND a Pinterest fan) like me, you're going to love Tom's Rent-A-Swag board.

An old art school friend of mine is now a fancy dancy graphic designer in New York. She just helped design this site, Live in the Grey, a website dedicated to helping people do what they love and love what they do.

Another art school friend (who is also, coincidentally, a graphic designer) posted this article she wrote on how to find your creative muse. Not just for graphic designers, my friends. 

I like the idea of having a travel wall where you can see all the places you've been. I've been to the Bahamas, Mexico, Italy, France, Canada and a few states in the US. Where have you been? This would probably inspire me to travel more so I could fill up my wall!

Speaking of travel, here's a free printable of a map of the USA.

Man I am already counting down the days to summer since the weather in Provo has been in the NEGATIVES. Who even does that? Come on, weather. You are drunk. Get it together. This pool disguised as a pond, with a TRAMPOLINE for a diving board sounds like my idea of a good time!

I am loving this wedding, especially the cake.

Have a great weekend!

What are you doing New Year's Eve?

It's that time of year again! I have to tell you that I have a love/hate relationship with New Year's Eve. 

On one hand, there seems to be so much pressure to have the most epic night of your life (every NYE...how does that work??). No matter what I do, I somehow feel like I'm missing out on some crazy celebration that I wasn't invited to by imaginary people who are somehow cooler than me. (Now I know I'm not alone...have you heard of FOMO?)

On the other hand, I feel like NYE comes at the perfect time. Post-holiday blues with a few months of winter left just beg for a holiday that inspires hope and new beginnings. This introspective girls just loves a reason to reflect. 

For me, NYE these days means celebrating with my BFFL. I tend to enjoy small shindigs over huge parties or town celebrations, so this year we will be throwing a minute-to-win-it party with Matt's family and some friends. We'll be ringing in the new year by making large fools of ourselves! And really, I can't think of a better way to celebrate.

What are you doing New Year's Eve? 

Oh, and when it comes to resolutions, my resolution this year is to NOT. Pinterest makes me feel inadequate enough...I don't need those unfinished resolutions making me feel guilty two months from now! I feel like I'm constantly making goals throughout the year, anyway. Instead, I'm issuing a blanket statement over my entire life:

Happy New Year! 

Why I want to be BFF with Emma Stone

I think I've written about Emma Stone before. I love the vulnerability and humor she brings to the roles she plays. She has a personality behind the beauty, which is rare in women in Hollywood. Plus, she advocates eating the damn red velvet cupcake because life is short. Here, here! 

A Sunday Quote

Today's Sunday Quote comes straight to you from Les Miserables. I cried maybe eight times during that movie, even more than the pregnant lady next to me. If you haven't already noticed, I tend to be a little sappy about the media I consume. I'm always looking for something to learn or take away from it. My favorite aspect of the whole Les Mis idea is that JVJ was shown mercy, and in turn showed mercy to so many people in his life because one person saw past his outward image. The priest created this ripple effect that hit others he never even met, in ways he could probably never fully comprehend. Love goes a long way. 

What was your favorite part?

Waking Up In Vegas

We are back from California! It was so good to be home and spend time with my family. The girls got manicures and (much-needed) haircuts, my dad took the men on a "man day" (who even knows what they did) and we watched lots of movies and ate lots of food with lots of people. And we had FOUR Christmases! 

On our way back, we picked up some friends and spent the night in Vegas! The last time I was in Vegas, I was eight and my grandma took us to Excalibur. I don't remember anything about that trip, so all my ideas about Vegas have come from movies like 21 and  Ocean's 11, 12 and 13.

This time, in real life, we spent some Christmas money on a nice meal and walked through the Venetian and saw the water show outside of the Bellagio. 

The whole time we were walking around town, I just kept thinking about how many casino heists and card-counting scams were most likely secretly happening all around us. All the moguls making huge business deals in elite penthouse suites, and me wearing my husband's huge sweatshirt to keep from freezing. Something about Vegas makes me nervous, because I am not a Vegas person. I don't enjoy anything that people who go to Vegas like to do. I felt pretty out of my element based on all the things I've seen in movies about Vegas (luxury, danger, sex, and partying, all done by George Clooneys and Julia Roberts' with lots of swagger). 

Have you actually walked around the strip and looked at the people walking around?  They aren't sexy. They don't look like moguls. In fact, they look just like ordinary people! The only people who looked sexy were the girls on the corner dressed up like flamingos who got paid $10 a pop to take pictures with people and promote their hotel. Even they looked like they were freezing and not having a good time. I'd rather be warm in a big sweatshirt than freezing in a flamingo costume. 

And that, my friends, is why I should trust real life instead of all those movies I watch. 

PS: My favorite things about Christmas was that it was our first year together as newlyweds. The last two Christmases were spent pining instead of fully celebrating. On Christmas Eve, after everyone went to bed, we stayed up playing Wii and Pinning (respectively) and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional together. It was a great way to start Christmas and reminded me why we celebrate this holiday longer than any other holiday. What better reason than Christ?