"Honeymoon Avenue" by Ariana Grande Cover

 

 

 

When I recorded this I was alone in my room and I had practiced the song a few times, and the second I hit record I was sweaty and nervous.  So if you ever feel down, just remember that I get nervous singing in front of my phone...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I'm Thankful For...

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope your day is full of turkey, family, and awesomeness.  

 I know I have many things to be thankful, like having a full stomach every night, a roof over my head, and clean water to drink.  I really am so grateful for all of that, but I think most of all I am grateful for the people in my life.  Just this week I caught up with so many people that I hadn’t seen in so long, and it made me realize how lucky I am to have had all these incredible people in my life. Through the ups and downs, I have always had someone there to celebrate or cry with.  I am indebted to everyone who has changed my life and the only way I know how to pay them back is to say thank you. 

 

Mom, you’ve taught me how to be a go-getter.  You are the reason I am as strong as I am.

Dad, because of you I know how to understand myself.  I see the world differently now.

Cassandra, you were and always will be my very best friend.  You are my unconditional relationship.

To my brilliant family, as a whole, you are the best support system a person could ever wish for.

To my Synchro family, I know I let you down in the past, but I am so thankful for the way you molded me into the woman I am.  Thank you for some of the greatest memories of my life.

To my Thespian and Musical loves, you helped me through a very dark period of my life (whether you knew it or not) and I’m eternally grateful for giving me reason to smile and laugh.

Finally, to anyone who has ever found conflict with me, I thank you for showing me who I am in the face of adversity.

 

Although I have lost touch with many of my friends I once loved like family, you all still hold a special place in my heart.  I love all of you and I wish you so much happiness.  I know I didn’t cover everyone in my life, and I haven’t forgotten about those people, so thank you to anyone else who finds they do not fit into one of these categories. Stay beautiful.

Tips for Healthy Hair Growth

Last week I passed a really important milestone in my life.  I brush a tangle from hair! For the past year my hair hasn’t been any longer than my chin, and the fact that it’s finally long enough to tangle is a really big deal! I have, of course, been really fed up with it and considered extensions because I am sick of looking like a boy, but I have just been trying to be really patient.  My hair definitely has been growing pretty fast considering how short it was over the summer (a quarter of an inch long). 

I did a bit of research as soon as I got a pixie cut last year about how to grow hair back without the use of pills.  Biotin pills are okay, but for me I didn’t want to put something in my body that it doesn’t really need. A strange pill for hair growth I found, Kim Kardashian endorsed (sigh), is a questionable mix of strange chemicals that have some really unpleasant side effects like itchy scalp and sporadic acne, which no one wants.

I found a few natural things that work really well for me.

1.    Coconut Oil- I use coconut oil for nearly everything from cooking to oral hygiene.  It especially is a really effective scalp treatment, especially for dry hair.  I put a thin coat on for a couple hours then wash it out.  It’s better than conditioner.

2.    Natural Shampoo- The amount of chemicals in regular commercial brand shampoo is astounding.  Sulphates, parabens, and dyes are not something you want in or on your body; they are so harmful. When you’re growing out your hair you don’t want it to be damaged straight from the get go.

3.    Reduce washes-I wash my hair about once every other week, and it’s not because good shampoo is a little more expensive, it’s because your hair doesn’t need to be cleaned so often.  The only reason we have conditioner is because we shampoo our hair so often and it gets dried out.  The longer you wait to wash your hair, the better.  The oils your scalp produce are so nourishing.

4.    Yoga-Any exercise will help get your blood pumping harder, but yoga improves your circulation.  The more blood getting to your scalp, the better a job it can do (including everything else in your body).  There is some argument that a scalp massage can also improve the circulation, but yoga is way more effective and helps more than your hair.

5.    Zucchini-This is probably my favorite vegetable.  I discovered zucchini was great for hair growth because one of my hobbies is to research the health benefits of the foods I’m eating. I have this one really awesome recipe for Zucchini that is super easy to make. You can check it out right here.

 

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Zucchini Recipe

Zucchini Pancakes Recipe

·         1 large zucchini

·         1 egg

·         About a cup of flour

·         Olive or coconut oil

·         Spices (optional)

serves about 3-4

-Start by grating the zucchini. You can use a cheese grater or chop it very finely.

-Stir together the grated zucchini and egg in a medium mixing bowl, adding in flour in until you’ve got a consistency like brownie batter.  You don’t want it to be runny but you also don’t want it to be too dry or it won't cook correctly.

-At this point you can add some spices. I just use salt and pepper, maybe a little bit of cayenne pepper.

-Heat up the oil in a pan over medium heat, you want to use just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

-Once the oil is hot enough, pour in about a quarter cup of the mixture. Wait until it starts to crisp up, and then carefully flip.

-Cook the pancake until both sides are browned, then set on a plate with a paper towel to let excess oil drain. 

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Table Ideas

 



Usually this holiday is for giving thanks, not gifts, but that's okay.  I love gifting (especially homemade gifts).  I was thinking of making name tags for Thanksgiving diner this year, and I saw some things at the store that got me inspired to make this.  I didn't want to just leave it at a piece of paper with your name on it, I wanted to incorporate something a little bit more.

 

 

Here's what you'll need:

-Twine

-Black and white paper

-scissors and stapler

-pen or pencil

-small brown paper bags

-a great cookie recipe

-a hole punch

 

 

First step is to cut out name tags.  You'll need one black and two white per person. Make sure the white is a little bit smaller than the black.  Mine look a little bit like basket raffle tickets, but you can do what ever shape you'd like (just make sure there's room to write)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glue the two white pieces on either side of the black.

 

 

One side will read one of your guests' names.

The back will read "I'm thankful for..."

 

 

 

 

 

I was fortunate enough to have a really small hole punch, but you can use a regular hole punch.

Once you've made this hole on the tag (being careful it doesn't touch the writing) and the brown paper bag, tie them together with twine.

 

 

 

 

In order for me to fit the cookies into the brown paper bag, I made them really tiny (1/4 teaspoon sized).  Also, no, they are not turds! They're delicious little chocolate cookies.  Just an FYI, if you use small sizes like this, you need to be really careful you don't overcook them. I put these little guys in for 7 minutes, half the time of the original recipe.

 

If you don't want to bake, or just burn everything that goes into the oven, you can use small candies, little ornaments, or really anything that fits in the bag.

 

 

Once you've stapled the cookies into the bag, take a snack break on the rest of the cookies you didn't use.

 

And here's the finished product!

 

 

Also, if you're looking for a nice, simple center piece, you can check out my mason jar DIY.

 

 

 

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Check out my new YouTube where I'm going to be putting all sorts of weird, right there >> FlyWithTime

Snow Day Shenanigans Vlog | Frozen Sing-a-long

 

If you can't tell, I drew a face onto my hand to be my duet partner.

I would like to note that my days are usually full of crazy moments like this.  This is the real life Julia that you can't really get to know with just words.

 

 

 

There's a distinct possibility more things like this are on their way.

I suggest you subscribe to my blog or YouTube channel, or both!

 

 

 

My Advice for Loving Life

At this moment in my life, I tend to be attracted to things that make me feel empowered.  I love feeling like I can love my life.  Even the name of my blog is my motto for that.  I have been told that I live in my own little unrealistic bubble of optimism.  Sure that’s fair criticism if you consider I don’t watch the news, I stay away from political and religious debates, and I think the world would benefit if we all hugged more often.

To me, my optimism is not because of any of those things. I really just don’t give a damn.  What I mean by that is; I reserve my concerns for things that actually matter.  (FYI: I’m not saying the news doesn’t matter, it’s just sensationalized). For example, I don’t care if I’m disagreed with on who I think is a good musician and I won’t put energy into worrying if someone is a jerk to me.  I once had a boyfriend who, whilst breaking up with me, told me I had an ugly crying face.  I have learned to just let things like that go. 

There are absolutely some things that I will dig my heels in about.  I stand my ground on opinions that I have discovered through experience in my life and made hard conclusions about.  Forget the rest. There is a quote I heard in my philosophy class this year, and it really stuck with me.  “Your mind is like a thunderbolt that is wrapped up in clouds of domestic matters” –Augustine, Against the Academicians and the Teacher.  What Augustine meant was that the truth about life is inside you.  You have to push away the mundane things in life so your thunderbolt can strike.  For me, I interpreted it as; you need only forget the insignificant stuff to be able to enjoy life.

 Happiness comes when you stop caring about the baloney. Remember this especially with Thanksgiving coming up so that you can truly appreciate the important things. That being said, I would like to say how thankful I am for you, whoever may be reading this. I am grateful that you thought I was worth listening to, even just this once. 

As always, thank you for reading! You can subscribe to my blogs via email if you would like (I would surely appreciate it)

Much Love,

Julia

Brooke Waggoner's Fresh Pair of Eyes

Lately I've been feeling pretty down, but one thing that is really making me feel better is an EP album, Fresh Pair of Eyes by Brooke Waggoner (2007).  It is indie-pop record with a folk feel.

I can honestly say I had never in my life found an album in which every song I’d fallen in love with, until now.  I am a relatively new fan of her work, but in this short period of time, she has become one of my favorite artists.  It’s perfect music for chilly days, a hot cup of tea, and an open heart.  (This is exactly what my day has consisted of so far).  If you have never heard of Brooke Waggoner, you are truly missing out.  She has such musical ability, thought provoking lyrics, and a very distinctive voice.  I feel she is an underrated gift to the world.

 For those who don’t know what an EP is, it’s an extended play album that consists of more than a single but less tracks than a typical full album.  There are six songs on Fresh Pair of Eyes.

1.       “Hush If You Must” This song gets me dancing. If I wasn’t so sick and the snow turned into rain, I would surely be jumping in puddles to this song.

2.       “Wonder-Dummied” I think if I were a musical director on a movie, I would use this song for a lovely falling-in-love montage.

3.       “So-so” I smile every time I listen to this song.  The lyrics are so clever and witty.  It takes you a fun little journey.

4.       “I Am Mine” I initially fell in love with this song because of the lyrics.  I love songs that actually have messages.  It is a very self-empowering song that lifts your spirits.

5.       “Fresh Pair of Eyes” The poetry of this song resonates in your mind.  It is so unique and I could listen to it all day. (FYI: It was used in an episode of ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars!)

6.       “My Legionnaire” This song is such beautiful storytelling.  It’s a soulful and romantic tale.

There are these incredible moments in each of her songs that just take my breath away. Especially “My Legionnaire,” it brought tears to my eyes, it’s so powerful.  If you want to find music that makes you love life, I suggest you check this out.

 

As always, thank you for reading!

If you enjoy these blogs, be sure to subscribe via email! If you want to check out more of Brooke Waggoner, you can at www.brookewaggoner.com.

Much love, Julia

Chilly Adventures: Things To Do this Fall

This week has been a rollercoaster of weather in Buffalo.  We have had cumulating snow, crisp fall days, and bright, sunny ones in the 70s.  So in the process of making this picture collage, I had a good variety of seasons to work with. 

Fall, in my opinion, is the best time for adventures.  You can go out and hike without melting from heat, take some magnificent nature walks, or watch an entire Harry Potter movie marathon (which is indeed an adventure!).  Also, sweater weather is the best kind of weather.

Without further ado, here are a few things you can do before the winter monster comes to stay.

 

 

Go out and smell the flowers.  

Strangely, the flowers in my garden have been thriving, even more so than they were this summer.  Now is the time to go and enjoy the beauty of nature.

 

 

 

 

 

Make some new friends.  

If you're lucky, you may meet a buddy on your walks.  Enjoy the simple things.

 

 

 

Be silly!  

I went grocery shopping in my Soft Kitty jumpsuit.  I would have to say it was one of my better life decisions. 

 

 

Make a homemade meal.

I absolutely love cooking or baking on chilly days.  It's the best way to warm my perpetually icy hands. 

 

Make it for two.

I suggest some homemade marinara for nice date night in.

 

 

Soak up the last bit of sun.

I live for sunny days.  They are the best pick-me-ups for your mood and your health.  I have said this on here before, but I'll say it again.  Go get some sun before it goes away!

 

 

 

 

Watch the leaves change.

 Fall is most loved for its brilliantly colored foliage.  Even for the worst photographer, you can get some nice pictures of the changing leaves.

 

 

 

Have a game night.

There is nothing wrong with some healthy competition.   If you really want to have a great time, you can make up rules to your games.  For example, I came up with something called The Resurrection Piece during a game of checkers I was losing miserably at.  What you do with a Resurrection Piece is, you take a pawn your opponent has already jumped, and make it a king. You can place it any where on the board.  Have fun getting other people to agree to that one...

 

 

 

 

Get ready for Christmas.

At this point, I'm certain you have seen or heard something about Christmas (whether you wanted to or not).  As for me, I'll be holding off on counting down to Christmas at least until after Thanksgiving, but I will be starting to work on my presents.  Since almost all of the gifts I give away are DIY, I need to start now.

 

 

 

 

Kiss the summer goodbye.

Cut ties with any and all love for warm weather now.  Get out your boots and mittens and prepare for a long visit from Jack Frost!

 

 

 

Make your own winter accessories.

A great winter activity to pick up is knitting and crotchet.  If you enjoy doing it, you can make great gifts from the heart (Which are the best kinds of gifts).

 

 

 

Dress up and go out.

November and December are such busy months.  There are so many things going on around town, so many new movies, and plenty of holiday parties.  So make the most of it and have some fun with your outfits.

 

 

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Super Fast Life Lesson

Incase the quality of this video is too atrocious for you to read what I wrote, I shall simply type it.  

So many people talk about how fast times flies... Why, if this makes us upset, do we let it? We shouldn't let our lives be something that can fly right by us. We can't let it get away...

I am currently laughing at the irony of this video. 

Black Friday/ Thanksgiving DIY

 

 

Let me be the first to admit that I will be leaving my house to go to shops the night of Thanksgiving, but I won't be fist fighting over $3 DVDs.  I plan on handing out notes to the workers who have no choice but to be away from their families and forced to spend a holiday at work in hopes to brighten their night.

Note, you can use this DIY as a nice simple gift to your friends and family for the holiday.

I will be showing you how to make an Inspirational Turkey.

 

 

 

 

What you'll need:

- Orange, Yellow, Red and Brown (I used black, sorry) construction paper

-Craft glue

-Scissors

-Pencil or Pen 

 

 

 

Above is a list of all the shapes and colors you will need to create your turkey.

 

 

 

 

Here's my little bird partially assembled.  Group the teardrops into threes as shown.  Once you've glued the eyes, don't forget to draw on the pupils.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the front all done! Next you will have to wait for the glue to dry so that you can add the smaller white circle to add the inspirational message on the back.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for reading!  Let me know if you enjoy these DIYs and I'll do more of them.  Make sure you subscribe via email if you enjoy my page!. 

Quick Tips to Stay Healthy This Season

The start of the cold weather is always a prime time for germs to thrive. The flu is going around as well as some other scary things. Washing your hands and covering your mouth when you sneeze are some things we all know to do to prevent the spread of sickness.  Vitamin C has been frequently associated with immunity health, but I'm going to share with you all a few facts that you may not have heard already.

I love herbal tea with raw honey. My go-to right now is Echinacea, as it is known to support immunity.  I think it has definitely kept me from getting colds that my family and boyfriend has had.

Cinnamon is also believed to strengthen your immune system.  I put it on my peanut butter toast, cereal, and sometimes my tea. Plus it is extremely delicious, so that's always a plus!

Get some sun.  Honestly and truly, if there is even a little bit of sun out, go try to enjoy it. I have found that if I'm feeling tired or run down, sunshine will revitalize me.  I know now that it's getting cold out, it's much harder to be outside, but if there's a sunny day, bundle up and talk a stroll.

Sweat a little bit. I'm guilty of neglecting to work out, and I always regret skipping days. Exercise is a key component when it comes to being healthy, regardless of what your issue is.

Find out what kind of diet works for you.  If you look online you will find an incredibly long list of diets to follow but the ones that work best for you are the ones that you discover for yourself. For example, during the colder months I find myself wanting protein more and more. I listen to what my body wants and most of the time it's exactly what I need. Our bodies are so much smarter than we give them credit for. Of course you need to be careful to try not and confuse your junk food cravings with your body letting you know what it needs, but with practice, you can figure it out.

Let me know if anything on this list helps you, or if you have anything to add to it.

As always, thanks for reading!

Things That Make Me Laugh

I don’t think I laugh enough.  Lately I’ve had such tunnel-vision about my problems that I completely forgot to enjoy my life.  I really believe laughing is medicine.  If you can manage to laugh, you’re doing alright.

Last night I stayed up way past my bedtime finding things on YouTube that made me sore with laugher.  So I have compiled a list of things that I hope you can laugh along with.

Two Hamsters One Wheel

Every single time I watch this I have tears from laughter.  I can assure you no hamsters where hurt in the process of making this.

The Creepy Song by Julien Solomita

Just do yourself a favor and look this up.  That is all.

Wake Up Pranks

Some of them are a bit cruel (mouse traps are never good) but the majority are really funny and harmless.

Standup Comedy

Like any form of entertainment, you have to weed out the crap to find the good stuff.  I’ll give you a short list of jokes that I have deemed worthy of laughter.

-Dane Cook “The Friend Nobody Likes”

-Jim Gaffigan “Holidays”

-John Mulaney “The Salt and Pepper Diner”

-Louis CK “When I Thought I Was Going to Die”

Obviously there is some vulgar language and offensive material so beware.

Pooping Scenes

I am not ashamed of diarrhea, it is hilarious in comedy.  I have plenty of my own pooping horror stories and they are always the funniest to tell.  Two of the best movie poop scenes are from The Other Woman and Bridesmaids.  You can probably find the clips online, but if you've got the time, watch the whole movie!

p.s. If you’re offended by diarrhea, you’re missing out on one of life’s comedic gifts to you.

 Other Peoples' Laughs

The one thing that makes all of the rest of this list worth laughing about is sharing it with other people, especially people with awesome laughs.  I have a couple people in my life where if I hear them laughing, everything is automatically ten times funnier.  The best part of comedy is that it is something that brings people together.  Some of the times I've laughed the hardest were when my friends and I saw something kind of funny but kept laughing at each others' laughs until we couldn't breathe.

I hope you enjoyed this list and spend some time with good friends and laugh a little, or a lot. (;

If you like my blogs feel free to subscribe via email at the very bottom of the page and share with your friends.  Thanks for reading!

My Identity Crisis

In my very first blog I wrote about how my name is not really Bailey Sebert, and it may have gone unnoticed to all who clicked on the link to my blog in the past few days, but I’m no longer Bailey Sebert.  I decided to change my name on the Google Plus account linked to my blog for two reasons. (1) I finally learned how to do it! (2) I was having a meltdown about who I am as a person in this world and I really felt disconnected going by a pseudonym.  I love my name and who I am and I felt I was being disloyal to myself by choosing to name myself something other than Julia Grizanti.  Heck, I can even Google my name and see things other than my social media accounts (which I would obviously have to list as my greatest accomplishment in life so far). 

Lately I have been feeling very much like a stereotypical teenager.  I’m totally lost about what I’m supposed to be doing with my life, and I have no idea if my goals in life are even achievable.  I have been told by so many people two versions of what to expect for my future. One being, that I need to find a backup plan for when my pipe dreams inevitably crumble and fall to the pitiless floor of Fate’s dungeon. The second being, that if I work hard enough I can achieve any and everything.  While I always hope that is true, I expect the first reality, and I work towards a slightly different one; a future where I find a happy medium.  I want success, who doesn’t?  Yet I am entirely willing to get beaten around by the world if it means I haven’t given up.

I know Julia is the type of person who believes in all of that, but I have no idea who Bailey even is.  I don’t know if I would ever be comfortable being someone other than Julia Grizanti. 

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this.  I really appreciate it. 

-Julia

One last Halloween Post!

Okay so I lied. This is my very last Halloween post I promise. I wanted to share my costumes from last night. I went as the ghost of Lizzie Borden and a banana. 

I hope everyone had a frightfully wonderful holiday! - Julia