alicrodac

Life Changes: Mason Jar Salads

Posted on January 29, 2015 by alicrodac

So, remember that one post I had made about trying out organic makeup this semester? Well, it hasn’t happened– but that doesn’t mean I still live the same way. This semester, as soon as I was able to, I decided to go ahead and change up my diet completely. Now, I’m not a nutriologist so I don’t know if what I am doing is completely healthy or not but here’s a peek into what I have been doing at least on the lunch aspect of my meals~

Mason jar salads! I absolutely love making these! They save me time, which I am forced to manage as a college student, and they are good and filling.

You will need:
-Mason Jars
-Lettuce or Spinach
-Cucumber
-Tomato
-Green Bell Pepper
-Avocado
-Your choice of chesse
-Protein (meat!)
-Dressing of choice

Don’t you just hate it when you are about to eat a salad and it becomes all soggy because it’s been sitting there, dressing and all, for some hours before lunch? Well, this definitely doesn’t happen with mason jar salads! First off, you start by adding your dressing, that way your ingredients will all stay fresh at the top where they can’t absorb the dressing and get soggy. For this batch, I went ahead and added raspberry or balsamic vinaigrette per jar.

Honestly, whatever ingredients you add is really up to you but for my salads this week I went with the ingredients listed above. You could always add something like black olives, beans, or even sliced dill pickle!! It’s all up to what you like to eat.

The procedure is really simple! You just layer all your vegetables together and compress them as much as possible! The only thing to keep in mind is that whatever is closest to the dressing is what will absorb the dressing into itself! You might want to keep the harder vegetables at the bottom and layer towards the softest vegetables at the top. In my case, I begin with the cucumber and tomato, then add the bell peppers and the chickpeas to top with lettuce, avocado a cheese!

Once you have finished, your mason jar should look full and tasty! Close it up and store in the refrigerator! The colder the salad is, the better. Sometimes you want to eat one as soon as you finish making them! If your veggies are room temperature by then, then simply place that jar in the freezer for about two minutes and check!

Enjoy! 🙂

The Never Ending Struggle Against Art Block

Posted on November 18, 2014 by alicrodac

Art block, they are the words that the everyday artist shudders at. We all hate the art block. It keeps us down, making us feel like we can’t do anything or that anything we do is not good enough.

What is the cure for Art Block? Is there even any such thing?

Well, first of all pouting and doing nothing about it won’t get you anywhere! Just stating the obvious.

The way I like to see it, there is a YourNameLand. In my case, it is known as Nekoland. Now, this place has no limits, it’s your imagination! Artists think outside the box (if there really is one).

Now, an art block is when you start building a wall to your imagination and all that is left is a small gap. The wall isn’t that bad because as long as there is a way in, you can still be creating. But then this huge block of nothingness stands right in front of the gap. Now all those colors and rainbows and ideas can’t enter YourNameLand and at some point, nothing goes in. That’s an art block! The magic stops reaching YourNameLand and all those colors disperse to the sides to the point where all this magic stops even trying.

What can you do about it, then? Well, from my personal experience, it is time to attack!! You know how dams are built to block the river’s water from reaching a certain place? Think about your head in a way as being like that. Now, in movies, how is the dam made to go away? Hmm?
They let the river flow strongly into it.
That’s it. The river breaks the dam and the water can once again flow through it!
That’s how you should break through your art block!!
Blocked from writing? Read drabbles, tell me a fable, watch a fantasy/sci-fi movie that you’ve never seen before and get the story ideas flowing!!
Blocked from playing? Practice Ode to Joy (I hated having to play that but it gets me flowing for other songs)!! Listen to an orchestra, watch a live orchestra on YouTube, go to a concert, try a new song you’ve always loved and wanted to play!! Listen to the cover of a song you like, even if it’s not in your major instrument!!
Blocked from drawing? Grab paint and mix colors on your canvas, or do it with colored pencils in your sketchbook! Sketch something abstract!! Flow those colors and feed your imagination!!

Art block can seem like such a hassle but don’t let it get to you! The only way to get over an art block, is to break it yourself!! XD

Go create something!!

Life Changes… for the better?

Posted on November 15, 2014 by alicrodac

During my first semester in college, I remember my lovely roommate began trying a few DIY facial cleansing masks. I’ve never been into fashion or beauty or anything of the sort but my roommate convinced me to try it on anyways. I did. It was okay. Today just before writing this post, I was putting on a grape cleansing mask that my mom had given me. As I squeezed all of the formula out of the tiny package, I began to wonder about how natural this cleansing mask was. Was it even natural? Yes, grape was in the name but that certainly didn’t mean that it was completely natural.

I remembered this pin that I had recently found that contained easy DIYs with two ingredients. The first one in that post was about making your own natural lip balm using crayons and coconut oil. The first moment I saw it, I thought it was a good idea and I shared it with a friend and we decided to make them together (we never did for whatever reason). So I was just thinking about maybe investing into making some lip balm for myself, but as always, I began to think bigger. The only make-up/beauty guru that I really follow is Michelle Phan. She always emphasizes the use of natural, non-chemical ways to clean your face and take care of it properly and I know she has her own line of beauty products. Now, let’s be honest, it’s kind of hard to buy a $30 eyeshadow palette when you’re a non-working college student. So, maybe I won’t do something as big as “em by michelle phan” but I certainly think I can pull off having a bit of DIY make-up in my hands.

I began to search on my favorite DIY source and I found another pin that contains 100+ Beauty DIYs. There is everything in this post, from foundation, to lip balms, to toothpaste, to even homemade sensual care products! I think I may focus the most on hair and makeup and I will have to save some money in order to get some of this stuff but in the long run it should be money saving. I will let you guys know how it goes!

Have you ever tried any DIY recipes? How did they go? Comment below!

Personal: Survival Mode On

Posted on November 15, 2014 by alicrodac

It’s kind of sad for me to say that I am three weeks behind in one of my University classes, I’ve missed the last two choir practices, and I have stopped practicing violin every day. What is going on? I have no idea. We all have these kinds of phases every once in a while, right? It’s like a complete block that sometimes you can’t get over. It sucks, I know.

Well, aside from my inability to finish my homework, being three weeks behind, and constantly listening to the original Wicked and Phantom of the Opera soundtracks, here I am writing on WordPress. I set up this blog about a year ago and I had a few published posts but I never really paid attention to it. I’ve always wanted to blog but there are so many options it is hard to choose only one. For now I think I choose WordPress since I already have my dot com page that I use to upload my photography work (www.eternasymphonia.com), which is very empty since two weeks ago my external hard drive which had my “portfolio” projects died. -sigh- I am still looking for alternatives as to storing my work somewhere and although I like using online, it still seems like a hassle to work with.

Anyways, putting all that negativity out of the way, I just got a new coffee cup and it looks like a Canon camera lens! It makes me really happy! Today I went into my workplace as a guest so I could finish some of my homework and one of my coworkers saw me pour coffee into the cup and he totally thought I was about to pour coffee on my lens. It was awesome.

I also have work on Saturday morning which means that I will be getting paid! X3 It’ll be a thrill since it’s photography for a birthday party. My client’s little girl is turning one year old tomorrow and I am going to be the photographer. It’s a ballet themed party and I already have a few ideas of a few cute photos I will be taking for them!