Fake it Till You Make it Cooking Style

1. Wear What you Want to Prepare
The most important first step to any cooking project you start is to make sure you're dressed for the meal you're cooking. This means two things: First of all, your outfit must reflect what you want to cook. In my example, I'm baking Christmas cookies in a Christmas sweater; this makes sense because I am dressed for what I want to acheive. People commonly tell you to dress for the job you want, not the job you have; this can be applied to cooking and baking as well. I dressed in a cute christmas outfit because I wanted to make cute christmas cookies, there were no mediocre christmas sweaters worn in the making of these cookies. The second deciding factor of your chosen outfit is the temperatures you're working with. If you're baking cookies like me, remembering to use those pesky oven mitts doesn't always happen. Most of the time, I'll misplace them or simply forget to put them on and then, as I search in vain for them, the crucial time period for getting perfectly golden cookies is up and I am forced to settle for golden brown. To make sure this never happens again, just wear long sleeves! They work just the same as oven mits if you pull the sleeves over your hands, I promise. This simple yet impressively divined tip will save you seconds that could add up to a whole minute of time throughout the entire cooking venture!

2.  What Should I Make?
If you're cooking to impress anyone other than yourself, what you choose to make is crucial. Whether you're baking desserts or bringing a dish, there are techniques you can implement that will help your dish stand out on your friends' plates. The best tactic you can use is the element of surprise! Think about the time of year it is - for example, it's the Fourth of July weekend right now, so everyone expects the kitchen to be loaded with watermelon, baked beans, apple pies and burgers to celebrate our patriotism. Well, if you want to make a boring, expected dish, then go ahead and conform to these food choices, but if you want to be an outstanding chef, then make the unexpected! Bringing Christmas sugar cookies to a Fourth of July party will definitely get your dish noticed! Another perk of bringing an unexpected treat is that people will be so surprised by your bold and daring choice that they will hardly even notice what the food tastes like, as their minds will be so overwhelmed with shock and awe that they won't process the flavor. This is a major advantage for a beginning chef whose culinary skills might not be up to par just yet, although following these tips will get you on Chopped in no time.

3. Make Every Meal Zero Calories
Becoming an amazing cook opens the door to almost restaurant-quality homemade meals, increasing the chance of more food sitting around begging to be eaten.  Whilst cooking, try to get in a workout anywhere you can. Work them biceps by always mixing everything by hand; this burns about 300 calories per spoon journey around the bowl. This measurement can vary depending on the viscosity of the substance being stirred. My personal favorite way to stay swole and full (of delicious meals YOU made) is doing oven squats. These mouthwatering Fourth of July Christmas cookies won't go straight to your butt and thighs because you will burn approximately 1,000 calories while doing your oven squats to check their coloring throughout the duration of their baking in the oven. Remember one of the key factors of determining how quality any recipe is by how well you can tone your buns while baking some on the side.

Fourth of July Christmas Cookie Bake Along Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2CrWaCmOJ0

Recipe:
One Egg
One Stick of Butter
Three tablespoons of Flour
One pack of Sugar Cookie Mix (I used this because I was in a rush, but I could post my families recipe for them)
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Mix the eggs, flour, melted butter, and sugar cookie mix until a dough is formed
3. Chill the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes
4. Flour a cold surface and flour your rolling pin and roll till the dough is 1/4 inch thick
5. Use cute cookie cutters to cut out shapes in the dough and put the cookies evenly spaced out on a nonstick cookie sheet
6. Pop the cookies in the oven for 5 minutes, NO MORE!!!
7. Let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack
8. Once the cookies are completely cool you can decorate them with icing and sprinkles!

8 Workout Tips and Tricks

Workout Tips

The most important part of any daily routine is the workout. Gains are life, and there is no arguing with that.  Get swole or stay home is my motto in life. I’m gonna share my top 8 workout tips that will get you into shape in no time!

1.     You must tell everyone you know that you are going to go workout; otherwise, the workout doesn’t count. You can do this by constantly complaining about how much you don’t want to go to the grueling workout you are voluntarily going to later in the day. This way you get the point that you’re super-fit across, but you don’t seem like you’re bragging.  Another way to make sure everyone knows that you worked out is to post to your social media, whether it’s snap chat, twitter or Instagram: make sure you have some proof of your gains, in order to truly gain!

2.     Wear your workout clothes everywhere you go! This is a must if you want to get swole! All the strangers you pass on the street should be able to tell that your life is dedicated to working out. Even if you live in a cold environment, you still need to wear workout clothes all day, everyday. People should always be wondering “Did she just come from the gym or nah?” My brother Brian should be an inspiration to us all; even in the freezing temperatures of a Boston winter, he wears a workout tank top all day, everyday. Socks and sandals are the perfect addition to your workout outfit, but in this case I would suggest sandals that are by a sports clothes manufacturer. My favorite are the black Nike sandals you can get here: http://www.zappos.com/nike-comfort-slide-black-white?ef_id=VTLHXwAABS1v-7JD:20160318025221:s

3.     Every holiday, it is important to remind your family and social media followers that you love the gym and nothing else. For example, on Valentine’s Day, give a cheeky post about you and your bae, protein. Continuously making workout jokes about the holiday is another good way to go. At Christmas time, try to work “OOOOHHH, reps 4 Jesus!!!!” into at least one conversation a day 

4.     If you’ve followed all of the previous steps, you would think everyone would know how much you like to work out by now, but some people are just dense. A great way to show even the dimmest of your friends how much you like to workout is to carry around one of the following: ankle weights or a gallon of water. Either will work very nicely, as people are bound to question you about why you have them, and then you can talk about how you work out for the next hour.

5.     While working out, find someone in the gym who’s almost as swole as you (although if you follow these tips that will work in just a matter of hours, you’re gonna have trouble finding anyone close to you). You have to constantly compare yourself to them, and then reassure yourself that you’re better than them.  You need to get all your lifts to be heavier than theirs. Then make sure that your form is always better than theirs - and if it isn’t, don’t worry. It’s definitely just the lighting.

6.     NEVER EVER EVER SKIP LEG DAY. In fact, just do leg day everyday. Legs are by far the easiest to work on, since they are approximately 7.35 times stronger than arms. In case of emergency, legs - with the help of adrenaline - can actually instantaneously become 20 times more powerful, to help you swim away from Jaws or run away when your parents get your report card.

7.     NEVER EVER SKIP ARM DAY. Ya, arm day, everyday. Ladies, bi’s and tri’s  get the guys. Pump those guns with as many curls as you can do, then do even more. This works for guys, too - curls get the girls. Next exercise everyone should be doing daily are pushups. Unless you’re a T-rex, you have no excuse to not do pushups; they require no equipment and there are countless modifications. One such modification is doing pushups with your friends doing pushups on top of you. Those who gain together stay together

8.     No rest days! Rest days are for the peasants who plan their workout by week days - you should only have strong days! If you leave your gains for a day, do you really think they’re gonna wait for you? Well, the answer is no. Gains are a two-way street that leads to the gym.

Spring and Summer Look Book 2016

Fashion's Best Kept Secret

With spring and summer weather quickly approaching, it means it's time to start hunting for those new trends. Well, look no further than this post for all the fashion advice you'll need for this summer. You only need two pieces to complete any outfit and make you look red carpet-ready every time you step out your door. The first crucial item is socks. That’s right, it’s simply socks. You can choose any kind that you want: knee socks, ankle socks, mid-calf socks, plain, patterned, fuzzy or not, any kind of sock will work just fine. The second piece, as I am sure many of you fashionistas have already guessed, is sandals. I prefer the black Nike footbed sandals (http://www.zappos.com/nike-comfort-slide-black-white?ef_id=VTLHXwAABS1v-7JD:20160318025221:s). Any sandals will do, as long as they are paired with socks.

I have a few looks that the socks and sandals go perfectly with. The first is this lovely red Urban Outfitters dress. This look is perfect for spring and summer weddings, or for nice outings on vacation. The sharp contrast between the black socks and sandals with the bright red dress will certainly get heads turning when you walk through the door.

The next look has a beautiful flowy white top from Forever 21, white and blue flowered shorts from Forever 21, multicolored Stance Socks, and my Black Nike Sandals. I would wear this outfit on any date. The girly top and shorts suggest a flirty vibe, but the laidback socks and sandals show you don’t care too much. These contradicting signals will confuse your date so much he’ll have to come back for more. You can get more pro dating tips here. 

Socks and sandals are the perfect addition to any workout combination. My outfit includes a white tank from Urban Girl and the staple of any runner's wardrobe, America shorts from Road Runner. If there is one item in my wardrobe that comes close to my socks and sandals in importance, it’s the America shorts. If you have no sense of fashion, dress in all American flag clothes and you will be respected. Anyway, summer is an important time for cross-country training, so lots of runners will be looking for the best running shoe to help them race past the other teams. If you want to win all of your cross-country meets, then socks and sandals are for you! Think about how much lighter a partial shoe, like a sandal, is than an entire shoe. Statistics show that runners who wear socks and sandals run a mile an average of 2 minutes faster than runners who wear entire shoes. The Nike footbed sandals are quite literally beds for your feet. They possess all the comfort of a Tempur-Pedic mattress, cradling and swaddling your feet with every step. This can be crucial to runners who suffer from shin splints. The most common cause of shin splints is wearing running shoes without proper support; well, that won’t be a problem in the socks and sandals! The sandals also provide the advantage of physically helping you run. Think about it: they move with your feet, they flip and flop just as your feet do.

After a long day of running, chilling with the homies and watching Netflix, nothing is more relaxing than curling up with a good book and a cup of tea. My favorite outfits for lounging around the house would be a sweatshirt and leggings, or a onesie. The leggings pose no threat of conflicting with the socks and sandals, that’s pretty self-explanatory, but most people need to be reminded to buy their onesies without feet. Remember, the socks are just as important as the sandals. I find the best way to end my day is to pop on my jammies, fuzzy socks and sandals, then get an early bedtime.

Pro Dating Tips

One of the most frequent questions I get is, “How do I get this special guy to like me?” Well, there is no single answer that will work for every guy, so I’ll share my top three tips on how I get my guys:

1. Eye Contact

A guy can’t have a crush on you if he doesn’t know you exist. The easiest way to solve this problem is to stare directly at him every time you are near him. There are a few results that can be expected from this. In most cases, the guy will notice and lock eyes with you. This is when you stare as intensely as possible, trying to convey all the potential for a relationship you can just feel boiling inside you. This should turn into a staring contest; the best-case scenario is that you never break eye contact. If he’s looking at you, he can’t be looking at other girls! After an intense staredown, the male will usually approach you seeking an explanation - yay, he’s going to talk to you! If this happens, make sure you act like you weren’t staring and talk as little as possible; guys love the chase!

2. Only Respond to Texts Occasionally

If a guy you like texts or snap chats you, you probably respond. Well, that is where you have been going wrong this entire time! The best way to handle your special someone contacting you is to ignore him completely. Take a few hours before you respond to show the guy how extremely busy your life is, and make him feel like you will never ever have time for him. Once you do respond, don’t edit your response at all. This will make you appear more carefree, and he will like the honesty behind your initial reaction. While writing the response, make sure you are as vague as possible. I promise the guy will love trying to puzzle out what you are trying to tell him. After successfully completing these steps, don’t worry if he doesn’t respond right away. It is likely that he is just blown away by your flirting technique and can’t find the right words to express his admiration.

3. The Best Time to Talk to Him

This one has more to do with snap chat or meeting up in person - it won’t work that well over text. The best time to talk to your dream man is directly after going to the gym. Science shows that guys are more attracted to girls with a musky scent, and if you don’t smell at least a little bit musky after a workout, you aren’t working hard enough! Another scientific fact that will help you on your dating excursions is that people automatically become more attractive when they wear red. Now, we redheads have an advantage there, but the rest of you still have a chance! After working out, most people have a lovely tomato-red complexion - well, there you go, you're musky and red, exactly what guys look for in a girl! Meeting up with him after the gym gives you a built-in conversation starter. You can tell him your max for all your lifts. If you find out you can lift more than him, this is good; it’s best to assert your superiority early in the relationship; also, guys love it when you challenge their masculinity like this.

All these tips are what made me the catch I am today; I hope they work for you, too!