23!

As many of you may already know, I turned 23 last Friday. For some reason it's really hard for me to remember my age now. I feel like every number up until this one felt right, but now 23 feels too old for me. And yeah, yeah I know 23 isn't old, but honestly sometimes I feel like a 14 year old and wonder why I am trusted to drive a car and pay bills.

I spent most of the weekend drinking too many Redds Apple Ales, aka my new fave (and by new I mean not very new at all; just newer than straw-ber-itas), and it was really fun! I woke up at 5:30am for some reason that morning and felt very stressed out and nervous. At some point I was able to fall back asleep for my last hour before actually getting ready, and had a dream that my party got ruined by my family inviting hundreds of people I did not know. I don't recall being consciously worried about such things, but honestly who knows what is happening in my brain most of the time anyway?

Friday ended up being a wonderful day, despite my dreams predicting otherwise. There was no traffic, and then I got to leave work early to start celebrating (woo!). Everything I ended up buying at the mall (dress, candle, jewelry) was somehow all on sale, which is always nice. And then even when there was traffic heading back to the party, I got to drive in the carpool lane and avoid the most terrible bit of it. #blessed.

The night ended with an Olaf shaped balloon, too much pizza/drinks/ice cream cake, and of course with me weeping at my presents, which I've just realized I do a little too much. Everyone's gifts were very thoughtful, and I APPRECIATE IT, OKAY? 

I've already put a few things to good use; my desk has never looked better (even if I have only had it for a week). I am the MOST excited to watch my DVD of shitty horror movies, especially my personal fave (and my sibs') CHOPPING MALL. Does that not sound like the best-worst movie ever?

It is Monday night as I write this, and I am feeling partied out. Somehow I will have to gain the energy to celebrate Halloween this weekend, and I still have to make my costume! This part is basically my long excuse to end this post here. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week, and I hope you're all preparing to eat a lot of candy this weekend. TIME TO GET SPoOoOOoOOKY! 

Unfortunately there is no Taylor Swift song for my new exciting age, so,
Recommended Listening: Grigio Girls - Lady Gaga

Youuuuuu're Not Cookin'

HEY GUYS!

This week I decided to try something new. I guess technically I decided like two weeks ago but yesterday I finally got around to doing it.

I don't cook much...or at all really. If I'm not at my boyfriend's house making dinner with him then chances are I have arrived home from work, toasted a bagel, and maybe eaten some candy afterward if I have any (which I usually do). To be fair, I eat significantly less candy now that I have Invisalign, but even now as I write this I am eating taffy (and I think I just ate a piece of a wrapper too). 

So this week I took it upon myself to make one of the many recipes I have saved on Pinterest. As a side note, it took me months to understand Pinterest, but now I can't stop using it. As another side note, I just ate a piece of taffy that I think was PlayDoh flavored.

Anyway, I found one recipe for stuffed peppers, except they were for Halloween because you carve jack-o-lantern faces in the peppers. I think it went well...ish!

Ingredients:

• 4-6 stuffed peppers (I made 4 and had extra filling)
• 90 second rice (1 bag)
• 1 can black beans
• Shredded cheese
• 1 small can of corn
• Salsa

 


So it starts out easy enough. Preheat the oven to 350. Then you cut the tops off of the peppers and remove any seeds.

Okay, maybe not the easiest after all. Fuck you, tiny seeds. Also, you're supposed to leave the stems on the make them look even more like pumpkins, but I am terrible and somehow accidentally cut 2 of them off.

According to the recipe this should take about 1 minute; it took me about 15, though that does including walking away to take photos of my cat.

Once the seeds are finally removed, you then have to carve little pumpkin faces in the peppers. Mine all look like they're a little sad to be alive, but at least you can tell they're supposed to be Halloween themed, I guess.

Then you throw them into a baking dish of some sort; I used the one glass dish I could find that was allowed in the oven. 

After that it's time to make the filling. I'm not going to give you the recipe measurements, because, spoiler alert, these peppers didn't taste very good! Unless you're a plain rice & beans fan, my measurements might be a little more useful.

I am realizing now that maybe I didn't need to microwave the rice, but I did so I'll include that step here. It takes literally a minute and a half so it's not taking up too much time anyway. While that's cooking, dump the entire can of corn in a medium bowl. Drain out all the gross can juice before that step though, ugh.

Then add the entire can of beans, which you should also drain first. I don't know what the liquid in bean cans is actually called, but let's just be real, it looks like squished snails. So get rid of your crushed snails and then dump the beans in.

Now you're gonna add the delicious parts: cheese and salsa. I put in 1/2 cup of each, and barely tasted it unfortunately. So my recipe calls for...a shit ton. Or a cup. Play it by ear; I wished my peppers had more flavor.

Finally add the rice to this mix and stir it all up. This is the easiest and probably quickest part.

We are now nearing the end! I found it easiest to pick up each pepper individually and scoop the filling in to avoid any messes. Then place them back in the pan, and put the tops on.
Throw them in the oven for 25-30 minutes; I have no idea how to tell if they're done...good luck.

 


And finally you have a very filling dinner! I couldn't finish mine, partly because it was a lot of food and partly because I could only taste beans. Seriously, add more cheese than you think you'll need.

I'm hoping to try this again in the future, or maybe a different recipe of some sort. I know this wasn't much of an update but you'd be amazed at how I spend my work nights (hint: traffic, facebook, sleeping). The thought of making stuffed peppers has consumed me for 2 weeks, so I'd say I am happy I finally did it!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week in this weirdly warm October... What the heck is going on?!

WITCHCRAFT

Recommended Listening: Oblivious - Miniature Tigers

THEY GAVE ME MY TOOTH

This is going up 2 days late! Gasp! I do feel like this should be allowed this week due to the last 7 days of my life. Just an FYI before I start, I won't share any super gross details!

So a week ago I finally got my tooth pulled, which you may or may not have gathered from the title of this post. The good news is the worst is behind me; the bad news is I now have a tooth in my purse and I'm not sure what to do with it.

I called the orthodontist to ask about this whole ordeal and they told me they'd prefer if I had it done before my next appointment, which was a week from the day I was calling. After a ton of back and forth I finally set the appointment with my dentist for Friday, October 7th. I stayed relatively calm about my impending doom until Thursday after work when I started crying during my drive home. Binge-watching The Office did help a little (and I finally finished season 2!) but mostly I wallowed in self pity the whole night.

My siblings were very nice to me that week; I managed to bother them 100 times about what I worried might happen after googling tooth extractions. The weird part is I had done this all before! I knew what to expect. All my Google search did was remind me that sometimes you can get what's called a...dry socket aka your mouth doesn't heal right and hurts for a few days extra. Overall not a big deal, yet somehow the words dry socket send shivers down my spine.

 

ICK. Just a heads up, I did not get...that. I'm almost 100% better, minus the fact that you can still tell where my tooth used to be. 

Anyway, back to last Friday. I forced myself to eat breakfast and drove 45 minutes to my dentist (which is close to work; I don't just have a far away dentist). The majority of the appointment was me sweating and waiting for the numbness to kick in. I think they gave me like 4 shots but I only felt the first so I'm not actually sure.

Getting the tooth pulled was mostly painless and took probably 10 minutes or less. I didn't feel too scared, even though my body certainly did. I was shaking all over and also crying but on the inside I just kind of accepted it. This time was different since I know my teeth are going to be straight because of it. I actually didn't know when the tooth was out until my dentist told me.

They bleached my tooth and let me see it and asked if I wanted it. I told them it was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen but I'd take it anyway. So now it sits in a case in my purse; God only knows what I will end up doing with it.

An hour or so later Adam picked me up and brought me to his place. He gave me Tylenol and yogurt throughout the day, which I mostly didn't eat to be honest. I slept a lot and watched many hours of Unlikely Animal Friends, which is adorable but now I kind of hate it forever. It was a pretty miserable day, I'm not gonna lie. I wanted so badly to just sleep through it, but instead I drooled in my own hair a lot and had a grumpy face all day.

Overall the entire weekend was pretty awful. I could only really eat liquid foods, and I hate soup! It sucked because I wasn't sick, so I still wanted all the foods I would normally want; it was just too painful to eat them for a few days. I literally lost two pounds over the weekend since one of my main courses ended up being purple Gatorade.

As the week has progressed I have felt better and better until I finally felt normal again. Eating is still a little tricky but I'm getting used to it. I also starting wearing my 4th set of trays today! The differences in my teeth are very subtle; you can't even see any difference on the top yet. I can't quite explain what it is, but I can tell they're different. They come together differently, and something about them just looks healthier. It's pretty awesome.

These are the first trays that are really starting to move my teeth, and soon I feel like people will be able to tell. For now, I will quietly enjoy the progress I've already made.

ps I'm excited to be writing this from my NEW DESK!

Recommended Listening: Last Train - Dawn Golden

 

10 Horror Movies to Watch This Halloween Season!

It's October! AKA the month of themed candy, spooky scary, and MY BDAY. Oh and I'm getting a tooth pulled on Friday...THE HORROR.

But forget all that for a second, because this week I want to tell you about some of the scariest movies I have ever seen. 

I didn't always love horror movies. In fact, I hated them a lot. I remember while growing up getting the most horrible anxiety at previews for any (probably terrible) horror movie. (Though honestly this still happens to me as an adult). My best friend told me about Freddy Krueger when we were like 8 and I swear I did not sleep for days.

Then randomly a few years ago, I suddenly became obsessed (see #3 on this list). And now, here we are, where I am going to tell you about a few of my faves and/or least faves that I must admit are good movies. OKAY.

1. It Follows

LOUD TERRIFYING MUSIC BLASTS SUDDENLY

This one was easy. I knew nothing about it when my sister Sarah and I decided to see it in theaters last year, which was probably for the best. I'll never forget sitting in the theater contemplating leaving only 5 minutes in because I was already so freaked out. It's mostly the music, but also there's this weird sense of familiarity that I can only describe as...very creepy. Plus who doesn't get scared of THE TALL MAN?!

2. Halloween

Love huuurts

 
Now that I am actually making this list I am noticing a trend in that I want to say yet another movie that caused me so much anxiety at first I had to stop watching for a while. I love the Halloween movies, but the 2007 remake holds a special place in my heart, which I guess is weird to say about a horror movie. This one takes a while to get going but is so worth it for the end. Can't say I'm a fan of the unrated version, but that's just me. Out of any of the movies on this list I'd say this is the one I will make the most effort to watch at some point before November.

3. Evil Dead

Me too, girl

This movie is the reason I love horror! Let me share with you an all too familiar story: Kept seeing this trailer advertised on the side of YouTube videos, finally clicked it, regretted every second, and had horrible anxiety for the rest of the day. Then somehow my siblings and I decided to see it in theaters 3 days later. It is pretty scary and definitely disgusting, but weirdly I wouldn't mind just putting it on in the background one of these days (even if I am home alone...well...maybe). They didn't use any CGI which is crazy! I could never fake-cut off an arm the way they did, and I am forever obsessed with the entire "blood rain" scene at the end.
*Side note: I was going to include a very different photo but I got too scared while googling it. YOU'RE WELCOME.

4. Insidious Chapter 2

DON'T YOU DARE

Okay, like I can't even talk about this movie. Searching for images became way too scary way too quickly, so I settled for one of the slightly less terrifying moments. HOLY SHIT THOUGH. I barely enjoyed the first Insidious, and only went to see this one when my sister Sarah and I (as per usual) wanted to see a movie and discovered this one had the same actors in it again. We had the theater to ourselves, which for once wasn't actually that fun; it was SO CREEPY. I know even now that since I googled this movie I will think about the old lady before I go to sleep and be terrified. The image of her putting on the lipstick getting ready for murder still haunts me. It's been 3 years.

5. Session 9

"HEY...fuck youuuuuu"

 

I feel like I was too young to have watched this when I did, even though I was like 17. This isn't a very fun horror movie (unless we're talking about this part). It's mostly a little too realistic and extremely disturbing. I feel like the scary part of this movie is supposed to be the recordings, but everything else about it really puts me on edge. And of course the ending will haunt me forever, which is why I have promised to never watch it again. Enjoy!

6. The Pact

*muffled crying in the distance*

 

This is a movie about a girl who goes to her childhood home after her mother dies and she can't get in touch with her sister. Weird shit starts happening. I refuse to say more than that for fear of ruining it; just know that this movie gets spooky, and it will make you afraid of closets forever.

7. Silent Hill

aw what the fuck is this

 

Okay, this one is a little embarrassing. I watched this with my boyfriend less than a year ago, and around 20 minutes in I told him if I had seen this when it first came out (when I was in middle school), I would have been so scared! Haha!

Then as the movie went on I actually started to get more and more freaked out (GOD this is such a trend!) until it finally ended. Spoiler alert: the ending is not a happy one! The music is so fucking scary, just thinking about it is making me nervous right now. The little girl's story is what got me the worst; after that I couldn't chill out for like 2 hours. I don't know how this movie was received or if people think it's scary but honestly I don't think I could ever watch this one again.

8. The Exorcist

 

This one does not get a photo. It is included in this list only because it is the most frightening movie I have ever watched.

In 2010, my sister Susie and I were up late probably watching dumb videos online or something. At some point we found our way to an article about the scariest ladies in movies, and after scrolling through for a minute we landed on a photo of a demon possessed girl on a bed. I remember trying to cover the screen with my hand and being like, "WHAT IS THAT" and we were both legit scared, even though we definitely tried to laugh it off.

As time went on we kept admitting to each other how freaked out we were about that photo, and Susie started sleeping in my room. After weeks, maybe months of this we decided maybe the way to get over our fear would be to watch the movie and like, get used to her demon face.

WHOOPS NO we shouldn't have done that. The movie was actually pretty good, but I still have nightmares about it sometimes! We had to share a bed and watch Easy A every night for such a long time. I don't know how long exactly, but to be honest even now when we have sleepovers we put Easy A on to go to sleep.

Anyway, if you haven't seen this one you should take the time to. It's a classic! It's terrifying! On second thought, just watch Easy A instead.


9. Blair Witch

Didn't even watch this part

 


Yes the remake!! It felt like an exact copy of the original until suddenly it was just its own terrifying camping trip. There was more than 1 scene I couldn't make myself watch. A lot of the movie was spent with me literally hiding in my jacket praying it would be over soon so we could buy milk at Target and rush home like nobody's business. I am so surprised by how much I enjoyed it overall; I only hated one character which is pretty rare in found footage movies. Be prepared for some gross shit. I'm not sure if it's bugs or not because I shut my eyes for 5 minutes but I'm going to assume it's bugs.

10. Suspiria 

Is this the barbed wire pit or the cafeteria I always forget

 


This is one movie that isn't totally terrifying! It's a little creepy and a little silly but the music is great and so is...the plot. There aren't enough legit good movies about witches so I think this one definitely needed to be on the list. My sister Sherri convinced me to watch it a year or 2 ago and I feel like since then we have been unable to stop imitating the music at each other. 

And there you have it! I just thought of 5 more movies I wish I could include but this post will soon be its own novel if I don't stop now. Lemme know what your fave horror movies are! Even if you're my sibs and I already (probably) know the answer!

See ya next week!

Recommended Listening: Big Light - Houses