The Home. T

No, that period is not a grammar mistake.
It's actually in reference to a company called The Home. T
They make and sell t-shirts with images of your home state with the word "home." written inside.

I came across the t-shirt on another blogger and loved it, so of course I turned to Google to find out where she got it. And this is what I found:

Tennessee Home. T ($25, http://www.thehomet.com/)

How cute, right?

The Cut-Throat World of Internships

     The "I'm graduating in a year" panic has officially begun. It makes me feel like a crazy person. I think about my future about every third breath I take- it's exhausting! I am in the public relations field and I know from all of my professors that the most valuable thing I can do during my college career is INTERN INTERN INTERN. I hear this from everyone, but no one seems to have sound advice about how to nab one. In case you're going through the same torture as I am, here are some tips I've found work for me!

Hello, risotto.

Im an Italian food addict, and I could live on rice and chicken, so as Im sure you can imagine, risotto is dream food for me.
I just recently began making it myself, and thought id share its simple deliciousness with you.

You can put just about anything in risotto, but this is the recipe for the risotto I made last night.
Grilled Chicken and Pea Risotto
You will need:
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups Arborio rice
1 3/4 cup white wine (not cooking wine!)
4 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
1 tablespoon butter
1- 1 1/2 cups peas (cooked)
2 cooked chicken breasts or 1-2 cups shredded chicken

Invisalign Update

Those, well. Are my teeth, obviously.

I thought I was due for an Invisalign update post. Not that I have a comparison picture up for you here, but I thought a photo might be helpful. I am on tray 17 out of 30, for top and bottom of my original trays- I have no idea if I will have refinements yet, fingers crossed for no. And I have a total of 8 attachments, 6 top/2 bottom. I also have a power ridge on my left central incisor.

If you can't tell, I'm wearing my Invisalign in the photo. The terrible quality is attributed to the front camera  with low lighting on an iPhone, sorry about that. In  my opinion, they're much more obvious in photos, especially close up than they are in real life. Lighting causes increased shadows and shine.

Can you pass up a sale?

I know I can't.

Its unfortunate really- for my credit card at least. But, J. Crew had a sale. Again. And I succumbed to the % off sign. Again.
But all and all, I'm pleased with my purchases- and they let me have my student discount on top of the sale- which they normally don't do. Success all around.

Shall we check out the goods? Indeed.

My first purchase, Lauren would be proud of- a chambray shirt. I've been toying with the idea of purchasing one for a very long time. I am very anti jean/chambray combo- but considering I own 18 pairs of jeans (excessive, I'm aware), Its hard to come up with other options. I had to considered my current wardrobe before spend $80 on a shirt I wasn't positive I would get much wear out of. Now, I know I could have purchased a cheaper version, but I own more Forever 21 clothes than I should already, and quality is so much more important in the long run. In fact, I'm cleaning out my closet at school and home over spring break and removing all cheap and hardly worn clothes- more on that later though.
I justified the purchase a few ways-Patterned or colorful shorts do the trick, and there are always riding pants- part satin-y gorgeous, part fab texture stretch-, my fave skinny high waisted chinos, and colorful pants make a statement without excess. Leggings and yoga pants are the relaxed way to style. Even over flowy spring dresses and flouncy skirts- chambray works for effortless cover.

Days 3 & 4

Woah! Day three was really easy (I muched on whatever snacks I had leftover from the first few days), but day four is HARD. I haven't had a headache yet today, so that's progress, but my roommates made brownies! Oh no! I knew I was going to need some serious willpower because they smelled so...goood...! Luckily, I have made it through unscathed and made some cool new snack revelations on the way.

First of all, did you know how good local honey is for you?! It helps with a slew of health problems (and its super sweet- with only natural sugars!) To capitalize on the bottle I have, I made some honey-lemon tea and it got rid of my sweet tooth (and hopefully my sore throat) lickety split!

Another thing I was craving was peanut butter something awful. I felt like pregnant Claire from LOST when she's telling Charlie she'd do anything for peanut butter. Fortunately, I don't have to make do with an imaginary jar, I can go to the store and buy all natural peanut butter sweetened with agave nectar (that stuff is really starting to become my friend).

In any case, if you're trying this I hope you are prevailing! Good luck (and don't feel bad if, on day 4, you need to eat a whole spoon of honey)!

xoxo, Lauren

Day #2 Without Sugar

This may be just a coincidence, but I feel like I'm already seeing the effects that processed sugar has had on me. First and foremost, I am spending more time in the kitchen, but thankfully some time up front gives me a lot of snack options that I know are OK. Secondly, I had a headache at the beginning of the day (I ate an apple, chewed some sugar-free gum and it went way). Thirdly, I can see my energy level changing. For example, it's almost 4 PM. I've usually already had an afternoon crash in energy which I used to attribute to lack of caffiene or whatever else. I am blogging and making homemade cheez-its (!!!) while my roomate is snoozing on the couch! I feel like I have a ton of energy. On that note, here are a few more snacks I have tried (and really liked!)

First of all, my roomate (the one who is sleeping on the couch!) had an ice cream craving, so I went to the store with her to get supplies for cheez-its and (hopefully) find some ice cream with no unnatural sweeteners. I was in luck! I found "So Delicious" Coconut Milk Ice Cream in Toasted Almond Chip. It is seriously better than regular ice cream and all the sweetness comes from organic coconut milk. In any case, here is something to tide you over if you're feeling munchy. It's nice because it's super customizable and can be as healthy as you want using substitutions!