Breakfast Recipe

I'm not a dieter by any means. I've tried, and I've failed over and over.

Honestly though, diets are the quick fix, so I'm just trying to focus on overall health. I'm not super healthy either, but I've come up with some quick meals that are great go-tos when you can't figure out what to do.

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Scrambled Eggs with Sweet Potato, Onion, Avocado and Kale for two.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 sweet potato
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 avocado
• Baby kale
• Minced Garlic
• Avocado oil (or butter)
• Spices: Salt, pepper, curry powder, paprika

I always make this for my boyfriend and myself, but you can always just half it all. Leave the pit in the avocado so it won't brown, and it can all be stored together in a ziploc for next time.

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1. Heat avocado oil with a teaspoon or so of minced garlic in a large frying pan. I use nonstick and put the stove on 6/10 for this.
2. While it's heating, cut the sweet potato into small and thin pieces. It's like a bigger hash brown.
3. Throw the sweet potatoes into the frying, stirring around so they are coated with the oil. 
4. Put a coat of every spice on the sweet potatoes. Should just be a thin layer over everything. If you like spice, add some cayenne as well.
5. Cover sweet potatoes with pan lid, stirring occasionally while chopping onions.
6. Chop onion into similar sized bits and throw in the sweet potatoes.
7. These ingredients need to sit longer, so while they are cooking, I begin scrambling the eggs. I use only two of the four egg yokes because they're so fatty, but they have so many vitamins that I would make sure to at least use one.
8. Scramble eggs thoroughly, add salt and pepper. Set aside. (This will be added to the pan last).
9. Throw in a handful of baby kale. Stir into the mix of sweet potato and onion and add a little salt.
10. Dice avocado and throw into pan.
11. Cover until the kale is wilted. Uncover and shift all ingredients to one side of the pan.
12. Add either oil or butter to coat bottom of the empty side of the pan, then add the scrambled eggs just to that side.
13. Allow the eggs to cook a bit and then scramble them into the rest of the mixture.
14. Serve and enjoy!

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I generally add cholula onto it, but it doesn't really need it. 

If you're still hungry (it's pretty filling though!), try serving with an apple and a glass of orange juice. 

Sweet potato is super good for you and apparently is best eaten with some good fats to better absorb the nutrients (Avocado and Egg Yolk have a lot of healthy natural fats). They are incredibly high in Vitamin A, and have quite a bit of Vitamins B, C, Biotin, Potassium, Fiber, Manganese, etc.

Avocado includes healthy fats that help you absorb nutrients and burn bad fats. It includes Fiber, Vitamins K, B, E and C and some other good stuff. 

Kale has exorbitant amounts of Vitamins K, A, and C, as well as B, and E, Iron, Fiber, copper... basically anything you may need. When steamed/cooked, it helps lower cholesterol, helps your digestive tract, detoxifies your body and lowers your risk for cancer.

Juice Cleansing

I did a juice cleanse a while back. It wasn't terrible. This was my favorite juice!

Gazpacho: 
4 plum tomatoes 
1 cucumber 
2 stalks of celery 
1 red bell pepper 
1/4 red onion 
1 cup chopped parsley 
1 lime 

I've was replacing a meal with a juice instead of doing a full cleanse. I lacked energy at first but I felt immensely better physically once it was over. I suggest trying just a juice a day to replace a meal rather than a full cleanse honestly. 

Galaxy Shorts DIY

I've been drooling over galaxy anything recently so I wanted to try my hand at DIY Galaxy Shorts. These are actually from last summer, but since they're still in style and Coachella is soon, I felt fine showing them off now. 

I recommend using shorts you were already planning to get rid of in case it doesn't turn out. 

What you'll need:

• Plastic bags (for in between the shorts so the bleach doesn't bleed through)
• Old towel (it WILL get stained and look ugly)
• Empty Spray Bottle
• Bleach (I used regular clorox)
• Black Shorts (use jean for best results)
• Clothing Paint (I'm pretty sure I used every color. Definitely get black for touch ups and white for stars)
• Paint brushes (I used these foam ones)

I found everything I needed between Target and Michael's. In hindsight, spray paint would have probably been cool and would've been much easier with the stars I think.

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Lay your shorts flat on the towel. Make sure there's multiple layers of the towel underneath as well, as bleach seems to seep through everything.

Stuff the plastic bags in between the shorts- you'll probably want about 4 or 5. 

Next, start spraying bleach! 

I saturated certain areas and would try spraying from different angles to get different effects. Flip over and repeat. 

It takes a pretty long time for it to finish bleaching. I felt like I was waiting forever and I got so impatient and just kept spraying them. Not sure what the best practice is here but there was no harm done.

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Painting: Use white as your base coat so the colors come out more vibrant. Cover all the bleach spots with white (it uses up a lot of paint but leave some for the stars). Definitely wait for this to dry or you'll end up with pastel colored galaxies.

Use about three colors per galaxy and try to blend the colors into each other and blend out onto the unbleached parts as well. 

I tried multiple things for the stars that didn't really work but you can try them yourself if you'd like. I dipped a paint brush into the white paint and then made it spin fast with my palms (like when you rub your hands together to get warm). This didn't really work, but it didn't look bad either. I tried flicking the brush at the shorts too. Honestly, the best thing though is to just use a pushpin to even out the amount of stars and the groups. Try to put groups together in a concentrated area and then spread them out from there.

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I let mine dry overnight before washing them since I did them at night in order to do it outside. Next day I cut the edge of the shorts, made little cuts around the front and back, and then washed and dried them alone so they wouldn't get anything on my other clothes.

Once they came out of the dryer, they were PERFECTLY frayed. I took a serrated knife and made a little more damage at the top and sides as well. 

And you're done! Perfect for music festivals, summer, beach, with any color or style. I plan to make a back pack or something with this method soon too!

No-Poo Method

So a lot of people have been talking about the no-poo method, I'm clearly not the first nor will I be the last. This post might not even be necessary except that so many people have asked me about it that I thought I'd post my trial and error here.

First- I use organix shampoo. I found out it has sulfates and parabens and alcohol or whatever that makes it not actually organic. It may be that they're not super harmful regardless, but I figured I'd go ahead and try something new. Except all the actually natural hair products seem to be more expensive than I was willing to pay just to try.

The Recipe

The first time I tried it, I read this blog from treehugger.com. I did 1 tbps baking soda per 1 cup of water and same with the apple cider vinegar, making about 4 times the amount to leave in my shower since I'm lazy and don't want to make it every time. I could barely tell the difference so I labeled them #1 and #2.

Eventually I made this version from MindBodyGreen, but it was WAY too much. I doubled the water and used it, but eventually quadrupled it because it's totally unnecessary to use so much baking soda and vinegar. I'd use the other recipe.

The Method

I already only used shampoo/conditioner every 2-3 days, so I thought at first I would just alternate, so I was only shampooing every 6ish days. It was surprisingly greasy the first day, but I think that was just from the avocado/egg hair mask I had also used. I don't suggest doing them at the same time for that reason. I also was surprised by how not greasy my hair was, that such a diluted formula could be so useful.

I also was doing it wrong at first- I figured it worked because of the reaction of vinegar with baking soda, so I'd put baking soda on first and then follow with the vinegar without rinsing. I didn't notice anything weird, but you are SUPPOSED to rub the baking soda onto your scalp (avoid the rest of your hair if you can), leave it, rinse, then use the vinegar and rinse fairly quickly.

While the Ph of baking soda is fairly basic, apparently in water it can raise higher (or so I read here). Of course, I have no idea if this is true, but if it is, it can dry out your hair, so I just don't leave it in that long. The vinegar smells pretty bad so I like rinsing it pretty immediately anyway. DO NOT GET IT IN YOUR MOUTH. It's disgusting. Vinegar apparently helps kill bacteria, I thought about using it on my back where I am more prone to acne after sweating, but I hate the smell so much I haven't tried yet.

Since my hair is long, without conditioner, my hair feels pretty tangled and dry right after washing, but I use argan oil (this one from Josie Maran) right after the shower on the tips of my hair and brush it through a little, which helps.

The Result

Eventually I went 3 weeks without shampoo and my hair was curlier (I also wasn't brushing it as frequently or blow drying it to see what happened), it's softer, and I don't miss the shampoo at all. I still intend to buy a natural shampoo called "Unite" for use after things like river tubing or camping. I'll probably get their detangling spray first to use after every shower though. They used it on my hair last time I got it cut and it felt and smelt amazing.

Since I'm using so little of the baking soda and vinegar, I imagine getting to the point of nothing at all will be even easier, and hopefully I can just use the formula once a week or two!

That slump

I continue to be jobless.

I applied to about 12 more jobs in the last 3 days, which is a feat in itself. Then some respond and I realize a lot of things that make me not want it. Am I being too picky?

For example, I don't really believe in print advertising anymore, I don't care if your company has grown 370% in the last few years- I can't work for you.

Or the company doesn't ever actually say what it does. "We make your brand the talk of the town!" How? What? It's okay though, because their first two of four values are "seize every opportunity" and "never give up." Who are you, Michael Scott?

There are a lot of possible opportunities that I get excited about though, which makes me feel like maybe I'm just holding out for that perfect job.

I did some work for my old company again last week, but everything is just so tedious. I've done 30 hours of tedious work, projects that no one else wants to do. I have maybe another 20 hours of this stuff to do, but I didn't realize how hard it would be to do it when there's not end-game. They're not going to hire me back full time, I'm not going to get paid more or get a promotion. I just really need money. You'd think that'd be enough of incentive but it really isn't. I feel like I went through a break up just to get back together and realize it's just not going to work, but you don't leave them because you're broke and you just hope something better comes along soon.

Actually that's exactly what it is.

Ps. I've never been in that situation, just to clear that up now. Only with work... which is more ethical, right?

I go through waves of being really motivated to find jobs or work, and then waves where I just am so upset I'm still jobless, and instead make dreamcatchers for friends (I made this one with white yarn, turquoise beads and brown feathers), or flower arrangement because I had left over seashells from another project.

Anyway, today I thought that for sure I would work and I went to a coffee shop, and now I'm doing this instead.

At least I did my taxes a long time ago and don't have that to worry about. It's the little things.

Oh and I bought OUTSIDE LANDS TICKETS! Yes, I don't have money. But I'll definitely get a job eventually so I'll eventually have money and then I can pay that off later. I also don't have a flight there yet because they're about $300/person. Minor detail. Elton John, Billy Idol, Tame Impala, Dan Deacon, Allah-Las, St. Vincent, Hot Chip, and a bunch of others. I can sleep at night knowing that I have that to look forward to. My boyfriend keeps discussing how we still have Iceland and Thailand to look forward to but I honestly have no idea if those will actually pan out. Which is why I bought these tickets. I just need something set in stone to look forward to.

First world problems, amiright? Right.

Alright, I suppose I should do something more productive like I initially set out to do.