Thank you, Zooey, etc., Will, Christina, and Maya.

I can't say my weekly routine would be the same without these actors gracing my television screen. As pathetic as it may be, two things on the top of my "what to look forward to" list of the week, include the new television shows, 'New Girl,' and 'Up All Night.' Although it helps to watch all the episodes in order, it's not completely necessary (but you will grow to love the characters more if you watch religiously...duh).

Zooey Deschanel, Max Greenfield, Jake Johnson, and Lamorne Morris are basically my best friends on Wednesday nights. Zooey plays Jess, new roommate to three cute and funny men. Nick is the laid-back bartender, Schmidt is the anal perfectionist, and Winston is the cool ex-NBA playa. The dynamic between them is quite hilarious. I know some people may find Zooey to be a little too quirky at times, which is why I can't 100 percent guarantee you're going to love this show. But personally, I think the occasional, over-the-top quirk factor, is easily overlooked thanks to the remaining brilliance of the show. And I absolutely love Zooey (idol of the year, so far). Watch this short clip. If you're intrigued, I encourage you to block out 30 minutes of your next Wednesday.

Will Arnett, Christiana Applegate and Maya Rudolph are my Thursday night besties in 'Up All Night.' It's on at 8:30 though, so many times my electronics are powered down by then and it's something to save for the weekend. Basically, Will and Christina are new parents, Chris and Reagan, and Maya plays Ava, one of their self-absorbed best friends. Essentially, a comedic dream team if you will. Chris and Reagan go through all the stereotypical "firsts" of parenthood, while Ava does her best to support them. It really didn't take me long to get hooked, as these three actors were already a few of my faves. I can bet you'll want to marry Will after a couple episodes and become BFFs with Reagan and Ava. Love.



Can't help but show you another clip of just Chris and Reagan. Very, very funny. 


I dare you to tell me you didn't giggle.

I'll be needing a bunny.

The thought of having a bunny came up recently through a mixture of pinning and Facebooking. They are just so cute! Look!

I actually used to have a little white bunny named Snowball (clever, I know). But the poor thing only lived for four days after I got it. So I'm hoping if I get a lil' bun one of these days, that it doesn't face a similar fate. 

My friend told me that they make them bigger now and that they can like, hang out and watch movies with you and go on walks. So close to a cat/dog! What? I don't know how accurate this is but let's be honest, it sounds pretty awesome. I'm at a time in my life when I can't reallly have a dog...but I'm kind of thinking a bunny would be the next best thing.

I can't help but make kissy noises when I look at him. Operation Get a Bunny is in now in full force.

Yes to Natural!

I just know you've been on the edge of your seats waiting to hear what natural/organic products I decided to try first and their reviews. Well wait no longer, my friends. I have news about two new products that I've been trying for a couple weeks.

For the past couple months, adult acne has been my Everest. And I wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy. Anyway, whenever I can find a product that doesn't result in my face resembling a pepperoni pizza, I've considered my purchase a success. And luckily, both of these products fall under that category.

On the left we have 'Yes to Tomatoes: Repairing Acne Lotion.' I got this at Target and they have a bunch of 'Yes to...' products (I'm really excited to try their body lotion - it smells amazing). It's paraben-free and claimed to be 98% natural, which is pretty good for the price. This lotion has a consistency that I wouldn't really put in the lotion category; it's more of a serum. I use it at night after I cleanse and tone and I really like it. It contains salicylic acid, which is supposed to help with acne. Woo. Definitely recommend trying it if you're looking for a nighttime moisturizer.

On the right is 'Korres Yogurt Cream.' I love this. I got this one at Sephora and although it's a tad pricey, I'm very satisfied and definitely will replenish it when I run out. No parabens, no sulfates, no synthetic dyes, no GMOs...wonderful. It contains Greek yogurt (and lots of other natural yum yums), which is said to provide instant hydration. I wear this in the morning after I cleanse and tone and it's been a great base for my makeup. It's super smooth, rich, and smells great. I was skeptical about it for that reason and thought it would might make me break out or cause my skin to be oily. Thus far, that has not been an issue. Knock on wood.

Stay tuned for more reviews as my chemical-filled drawers diminish!

Best of the 90s.

For some reason, I've lately been thinking about that wonderful decade of the 90s. The primetime of my youth years, I'd venture to say. I was not yet an awkward middle schooler with bad hair and a skewed sense of "fashion," nor was I mixed up in the intricacies of teenage politics and gossip; but instead, a carefree pre-double digit youngster, loving all the offerings of the 90s. And...I miss that.

There are many things that seemed to be solely "90s," that I look back on with such nostalgia. Let's take a gander down memory lane.

• Beanie babies. My obsession with beanie babies was as big as, if not bigger than, my modern day obsession with the color pink. I remember my Mom taking me around to different stores that sold Beanies (JT Puffins, anyone?) to see if they had any new ones I had yet to collect. I dare say she enjoyed it almost as much as I did, wink. I also collected every.single. 'Teeny Beany" from the Golden Arches. More accurately, two of each. One to open and play with, and one to keep safe in the plastic wrap. Psychotic? Perhaps. When I think about it now, these miniature stuffed animals were pretty dumb...I kept them (tags on, of course) under my bed in huge drawers and they were barely cuddleable, as they were the size of my adult hand. An incredibly fond memory, nonetheless. 

• Tamagotchis. Looking back now the idea seems so ridiculous. But this handheld technology was absolutely genius. Feed it, play games with it, clean up it's dumps. How did this not get old? My parents actually gave these to my soccer team in place of a trophy, which was amazing. 
• Saved by the Bell. I longed to be Kelly Kapowski, punch Jessie Spano, be best friends with Lisa Turtle, date Zach Morris & AC Slater, and do some nerdy things with Screech Powers. Remember when Jessie went bat shit cray and took all those caffeine pills and Zach stopped her?! You will now. 

 

• Chat rooms (A/S/L?), IMing, away messages, SHOUT OUTS.
• The Spice Girls. Tell me whatcha want, whatcha really really want. Baby and Ginger were my idols. I dreamed of one day being just like them. I had SG Barbies, SG pencils, SG lollipops, Spice World: The Movie, and they were my first concert. Needless to say, I thought I was the shit when my Mom took to Ragstock to outfit myself for what I will remember as one of the best nights of my life. Don't you just wish platforms and around-the-arm barbed wire tattoos would come back into style? 

• Honorable mention: 
• Are You Afraid of the Dark? 
• Da Bulls (two 3-peat NBA Championships! Cray.)
• Surge
• Fresh Prince/Family Matters
• Starter jackets
• Goosebumps 
• Babysitter's Club

I did my best to recall some great 90s moments and memories. I think it's safe to say it will always be a fun decade to look back on. 

Celebrating my roots with balls.

I hope everyone had a very happy, green, lucky, and crazy cool fun Saint Patrick's Day. In preparation for the holiday and to celebrate my heritage (a.k.a. something do on a Friday night), I decided to make some no-bake cake balls - mmmm! Here comes my first recipe/food post, yay! They were supposed to be minty green in honor of the day, but Rainbow Foods was once again a disappointment to me. Thus, I had to improvise. I should mention right off the bat that I'm pretty crappy in the kitchen. Someone always seems to be able to make a better piece of toast, cut a better slice of cheese (hehe), boil a better pan of water, etc. Needless to say, there came a few times in this process when I ran into a dilemma or two. But did I forge on? YES.

Essentially, this recipe only calls for three ingredients: oreos, Philly cream cheese (I'm with Paula Deen - nonfat cream cheese just ain't right), and white chocolate. And of course, I had to make them green in someway, so I sprinkled them with green...sprinkles.

Next step, put the oreos in a big plastic ziploc and beat the shit out of them. Mash, crunch, mash, into small little crumbs. Then add to a bowl with the cream cheese. Now...wash your hands, take off your rings, and go nuts. Rawr.

Mash everything up together with your hands until it's the consistency of well, something that looks like poop.

Now it's time to roll up some balls! Yee! I made mine about an inch in diameter (?) and it was a good size. It was helpful to kind of roll them up between the palms. They weren't perfect, but hey, that's life for you. No balls are perfect, eh? Throw them in the fridge to harden for about an hour and prepare to dip. 

I thought I was home free and was going to have some really successful cake balls. A kitchen success on the way?! Nope. Who knew white chocolate chips would have the consistency of mashed cauliflowers once melted? Not I.

After a trip to Target to get "Bakers White Chocolate," the shtuff that is made specifically for melting, I finally found success. Kind of..

Melt the chocolate, dip the balls, add the sprinkles, and put back in the fridge to harden for another hour or so. Ze end.

In my head I imagined ma bawls to be fully and evenly covered with white chocolate; a golf ball, if you will. Par for the course, I couldn't make this happen. Twas quite the catastrophe. BUT, even though the appearance of the cake balls was not exactly not at all perfect, they turned out to be verrrry tasty, if I do say so myself. Happy Saint Patrick's day, everyone! Get your balls while they last.

Save the otters.

It's that time of week again...animals, woohoo! I was perusing the internet looking for pictures of sea otters because one of the kids I work with wanted to draw one (add this to the perks of my job). In my investigation for pics, I stumbled upon this article in the L.A. Times about sea otters that I found super interesting and cool!

Basically, two lawmakers in California wanted more money to try and end the struggle for survival for the sea otters in the state. So in 2006, they added a box to tax return forms that taxpayers are able to check; indicating they want to make a donation to this "otter fund". From what I gathered elsewhere, this box is still on the form and they have continued to raise over $250,000 each year to put towards this cause (sweeeet!). The article doesn't really elaborate too much on what implications this initiative has had, aside from there being more research on the diseases that kill these otters and law enforcement actions against fisherman who are mistreating (a.k.a. shooting - sad face) them.

You'd think it would be easy to just add a checkable box to a tax return form, but I'm guessing there's a lot more to it than my simple mind can imagine. However, it seems like this type of effort really pays off and could be implemented elsewhere to help save more endangered animals...maybe? Hopefully? Imagine a world without these adorable little guys.

He must have just heard about all the betches who didn't check the box. 

Ze bebe sea otter! Holy cuteness. 

A Pink Beetle? Yes.

A minor detail about me that I wanted to drop one of these days, is to express my love for the color pink. If you take a quick look around my room, you can't help but notice that about 87 percent of it is pink. Ok...perhaps that's an exaggeration. Really though, I have a deep and somewhat crazy obsession with pink. In fact, I'm surprised I didn't just call my blog, 'I Love Pink.' The point of my story is that I have found my dream car. Along with piercing my nose, going bungee jumping, and having a [pink] cast on my arm or lower leg, owning a pink car has been in the back of my mind for years now.

I can't tell you when I will be cruising around in these wheels (sooner rather than later would be my obvious preference), but I think it's safe to guarantee you it's one of my greater life ambitions that will come true someday. Can't you see it? Ohmygosh I'm just so excited.