It's Launch Day!

Get ready to stay in the know with the new Skim Ahead for iphone app! I mentioned theSkimm before in my previous post here and today they are launching something very exciting for you all. If you like keeping up with the morning newsletters then you will for sure love this app for iPhone. It allows you to keep up with current events and plans for the future.For these past 2 weeks I had the pleasure of testing out the app with other skimm squad members and it has literally been a game changer. It integrates itself directly into my iPhone calendar and keeps me posted with upcoming events such as when the new Beyonce tickets will be on sale, when my favorite TV shows return and the NY primary reminders for tonight! If you definitely love having the rest of your week planned and staying in the know of upcoming events then you will for sure love the Skimm Ahead app. Check it out in the app store!

                       

Loving this snapchat filter but loving the Skimm ahead app even more!

Vibes, Views and Vin.

It's Hump day & I am back!

Today I will be sharing one of my recent and most loved adventures that I think every wine lover should experience at least once in their lives. Last weekend, some friends and I took a trip to Raffaldini's Vineyards in Ronda, North Carolina for my birthday weekend. Now most people would go for the clubs, or the downtown scene, but I really just wanted an extremely relaxing weekend with good vibes, from good people with some good wine and that is exactly what I got at Raffaldini's. The air was so crisp and clean and the view was one to die for. Raffaldini's is nestled near the Radkin River and the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. Some of the estate grapes include the dry Pinot Grigio , Vermentino and Montepulciano. I am a die-hard white wine lover but all 7 glasses that I had during the wine-tasting was excellent! I definitely recommend this as a weekend getaway for the girls or just a chill and relaxing environment when you need something new and refreshing.

                                                           

Villa Raffaldini - a 6,000 square foot tasting room inspired by villas in Mantua, Italy.

Wine tasting!

Two of my favorite bottles from the wine-tasting. Girasole: this is a dry rosé made from Sangiovese and Montepulciano grapes. La Dolce Vita is a sparkling white wine made like a smooth and sweet Moscato d'Asti. 

Planning your next girls getaway or summer adventures? Visit their page to learn more about events, tours and accommodations!

                                                   

Cooking Chronicles: Baked Salmon with sauteed Zucchini squash

I'm always cooking/baking/eating something at any given time so I thought i'd share some of my simple but fun recipes with you all, pick and choose from what you like! Two big things i'll be focusing on with the recipes I share is 1) Health: Health is wealth and i'm definitely trying to improve my diet little by little. 2) Affordability: Hello! College students here, affordability is everything. So i'll definitely be trying to make things that are under $20 with ingredients easy to find.

So, for the month of February a huge goal of mine is to see how I can improve my skin by adding slight changes to my diet. Salmon has huge amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. These healthy fats nourish the skin by reducing the body's production of inflammatory substances and decreasing clogged pores.

Ingredients used:
Salmon
Black pepper
Butter
Salt
Ginger
Garlic
Oregano leaves
Honey
Lemon juice
Ruby Lemon infusion
Thai d' Lemon Mint infusion
                                                                  Let's get started!

Honey-Lemon Glazed Baked Salmon: 

Mix lemon juice and honey in a bowl to create a glaze for the salmon. Spread evenly on salmon pieces. Grease baking tray with butter and lay pieces fully covered in glaze. I cook with a lot of spices, always, so just add spices one after the other and spread evenly on salmon. An alternative could be to combine salt, black pepper, ginger, garlic; mix and add combination to the salad ensuring that it is spread evenly.Something different that I tried with this meal was using my Trader Joe's Herbal Infusion Anthology. It's a mix of dried fruits, herbs and spices,mostly used for teas (oh well, survival is key lol). The ruby lemon includes hibiscus petals and lemon pieces.I used that package for the salmon y sticking some of the pieces in the fish for the flavor and baked for 15-20 minutes.

                                                               

Sauteed Zucchini:

I sliced my zucchini slanted ranging from thin-medium pieces then put them in a container with salt, black pepper and bits of the Thai’d Lemon Mint infusion to marinate. After about 10 minutes,added
some olive oil to the pan, stove on medium, and placed the zucchini slices in along with the spices used to marinate. I then added more spices, ranges from person to person with preference on taste, to the pot and continued to stir.

                                                               

Black Rice:

The dish was then served with black rice. Super healthy and yummy! Black rice is full of antioxidant anthocyanin which possesses the ability to help prevent a number of serious illnesses including prevention of cardiovascular diseases and reducing inflammation.Also contains Vitamin E, which is used to maintain eye and skin health.

Bon Appetite!

                                                       

January Favorites!

• theSkimm

                                                              

This is my absolute favorite guilty morning pleasure right now! Before theSkimm, the first thing I would do as I roll out of bed in the morning is check for updates on my snapchat or scroll through my instagram news feed. Now, I open my mailbox to get the scoop on all things relevant and current; theSkimm is a daily email newsletter aimed at millennial women, available at 6 a.m Mon- Fri, that breaks down all the current news information in a very quick and witty way. It is super convenient and time-efficient for anyone like me who wants to stay in the know but either doesn't have time to read the news or ,let's be real, just finds it a bit boring to read several news outlet sources at once. Email is the most convenient way to get all our daily information, especially as college students since we actually have to check our email at least once a day. Since theSkimm targets reaching an audience of younger women, it definitely grabs my attention because it is written in the format of friends giving each other the daily scoop. As a biology major, I don't have much time to 'dib & dab' in other subjects and topics such as politics, religion or even finance but I do try my best to be well-rounded at all times and that's certainly one thing theSkimm has given me easier access to. I'm a bit more confident speaking on topics ranging from politics-finance. For those who would love to give theSkimm a try, sign up here and let me know what you think!

• Origins Charcoal Mask      

I recently started using this mask about two weeks ago and I am loving the results with my skin so far.For one, I don't have the best diet, I pretty much eat any and everything (except bananas). Secondly, I'm not a fan of drinking water, which i'm pretty sure contributes plenty to my constant break outs. As a huge fan of skin care and basically anything skin-related, I've been constantly searching for different products and remedies to take care of my skin. Prior to trying it, I've seen very positive reviews on this Origins face mask and i'm glad I got around to trying it. It has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, skin-purifying, analgesic and moculytic properties.It contains Myrtus communis leaf water (myrtle) which is considered an astringent since it can be used to cleanse the skin. This is super helpful for oily skin which normally contributes to very bad acne. Other ingredients include Bentonite, which is a natural skin care product that can open up and clean facial pores in an effort to eliminate pimples (here's a link to my previous post using bentonite clay which is also a very good mask and can be used in natural hair). Kaolin which is a mineral used for its absorbent properties that aids in absorbing oil secreted by the skin and removing impurities. Activated charcoal,which has been used all over the world in emergency trauma centers for poisoning and drug overdoses.It aims to trap toxins and chemicals by the chemical process of adsorption, which is the chemical reaction where elements bind to a surface which has a negative electric charge and causes positive charged toxins to bond with it. Also, propylene glycol sterate which is a lubricating ingredient that moisturizes, softens and provides a barrier to hold in moisture. I'm impatiently awaiting my 1 month mark of using this product to do a before and after comparison and see how much better my skin looks!

• Cross-body purses

                         

Hello weekend! Nothing says freedom more than leggings and a cross body bag. I went from not being a 'purse lady' at all, to loving over-sized (probably overpriced as well) bags to falling into the trend of cross-body purses. I recently made one of my favorite purchases after searching for a cross body bag all month. I randomly went into Ann Taylor sometime last week while roaming and fell in love with the cross body purse pictured. 1)The color- it helps that this is the exact color I was hoping to find. For some reason everything I have right now is either mint, teal or aqua. My favorite color of all time. 2)Space- this purse has just enough space for carrying all my necessary things with me, and the double sides are handy since I can perfectly organize my mess. 3)The price- original price $98.Sale Price- $30. How does one resist that?

Carpe Diem Planner

Welcome to 2016!

I am 10 days late but better late than never, right?

I thought it would be very suitable for my first blog post of the year to be about one my top must haves for this year. A planner! Yes, a planner. The older I get the more hectic my days become of course, and even though this day and age of technology allows you to have your reminders and calendar events right at your fingertips, it never hurts to have it all written down as well.

I am a huge fan of organizing and planning. I'm definitely one of those persons that plans my outfits for the week and makes a mental note of all the things that I need to get done for the next day. Even though I had a planner for 2015, I made a huge investment with my planner for 2016. One that could be used for many different things and I found just the perfect one.

This Carpe Diem planner comes in 6 different colors:

• Black
• Robin's Egg
• Coral
• Aqua- this is the one that I got
• Platinum
• Pink

                                                       

          

I got my planner from The Sassy Planner on Etsy. The set includes a metal snap charm, January-December monthly pages, 12 monthly tabbed dividers, 72 weekly inserts, 6 assorted inserts and the A5 - sized split leather tablet.

I'm all about personalizition and adding my own flare to everything I own so I've decided to add some 'pizzazz' to my planner. I got accessories from Micheal's and planner stickers on Amazon. The Paper Source also has really amazing accessories that you can use to personalize and decorate your planner.

                                     

           

                                       

 If you're ever in need of getting your life together, a planner is the perfect thing to start with (for the most part). I hope this post sparks some ideas for you all!

Craft time: College edition

Yes. I must admit I am a huge fan of DIY projects. I mean, why spend cash on something that you are perfectly capable of doing yourself? In my case, my dorm room definitely will not be mine forever but for the time i'm there I definitely want it to reflect who I am and I want it to be a comfortable space for me. With that being said, I find so much joy in crafting and decorating especially when i'm overwhelmed with the amount of work that I have to do.One of the best programs I've done with my residents was a picture board theme where we all made our own picture boards from cork boards, poster boards, decorative paper, glitter and just about any other crafting supply possible. These are fun and inexpensive ways to decorate your room and give it a hint of color. I got a reasonably large size cork board from Micheals and cut it into picture frame sizes (about 7.5 x 7) and starting with a plain board we all decorated with pictures, glitter, tissue paper, etc. .

           

On that note, I also decided to create a 'study corner' in my room. Winter is approaching and so is my need to constantly stay in my room and avoid walking to the library. So, this study corner was the best idea I had! I rearranged my room so that I had a space that I could decorate but also be productive. I threw some pillows in, along with my own personal snack area close by too and my study corner was complete! It's still fairly new but so far I've been having a lot of productive evenings there and with finals coming up i'm sure i'm going to be even more in love with my little space. Here's a few pictures of how I've manged to decorate my room and craft my little heart away. As college students no need to go all Ikea crazy and spend thousands when these simple, DIY tips could help so much with decorating rooms!
                         






                

For those who need a little more than 'it's going to be alright'

I've never experienced true pain until I went through a really tough time a few weeks ago.Do you know that type of pain that's not only emotional but physical? Where you can't move for days and have no desire to? Where you would look at the ceiling for hours with no thought in your mind whatsoever because you're scared to think? Yup. That pain. I have never been one to really get caught up in my emotions but when I do, it encompasses every fiber of my being, which has been proven a win-lose situation for me. Besides the point, I have decided to finally let go of how i'm feeling on this blog post not only as way to help myself but also as a source of comfort for others who might be going through a tough time.
 I know that there must be other people out there in the same position as I am and to be honest 'it's going to be alright' is the last thing I want to hear. I can't blame those who try to comfort me though; they're doing the best they can but somehow, at this point in life, it doesn't seem like 'it's going to be alright.' The pain feels like it's going to continue forever and a day, I feel like i'm shedding a piece of myself as each day goes by. I had to read daily and search high and low for inspiration to come to an understanding with my situation and for those who are not in the mood for 'it's going to be alright', i'd say 'there's a lesson in this chapter'. This sounds extremely strange I know, who wants to learn a lesson when their heart is sinking in their chest? Surely not me. But I had to overcome this pain and realize that there is a lesson in everything and one bad chapter does not mean that the entire book will suck.

 After days of grieving it eventually becomes clearer, crystal clear that maybe things didn't work out how you imagined for reasons you couldn't see before. I'm not saying that as soon as you find some reason you'll magically be happy, but going over every possible thing that went wrong in any situation does not provide the clarity needed to move forward and that honestly will not change what happened, if anything it really makes me feel worse. I have realized that staying sad and looking back at what could have been will not change a situation. You can hope as much as you want but that will not bring back your happiness and that will definitely not stop the pain of seeing everything you have worked for vanish before your eyes. However, I would say have a little hope and know that nothing lasts forever. There is no endless amount of sadness and no endless amount of happiness, life is a cycle and we will all go through different experiences every turn we take. As much as things suck now, they won't suck forever and even if 'it's going to be alright' doesn't work for you right now keep repeating things in your head that will work for yourself. There is no bigger supporter than YOU through times like this, even though friends are great to have and know just what to say to keep you smiling, only you know the pain you go through and only you have what it takes to heal.