My Summer Challenge

Hola my lovely Sinners,

Now once again I have to ask for your forgiveness as I have sinned, and not in the good way. I have neglected my promise to update this blog since it has been literally months since my last post. Don't worry I have already given myself a good 50 Shades of Grey style flogging and am working on my penance - no wine for me tonight. 

But as you can tell from the glorious weather and green life outside that Summer is in full swing. In case, for some unknown reason, you didn't know Summer is my favorite season. Perhaps it is the cooler drinks, the shorter clothes, the darker skin, or the sticky feeling you get when you lather too much sun screen on, but something about Summer just makes me happy. There is just something magical and magnificent about Summer. Something about the longer days that makes it seem that anything is possible. You can go to the beach, each and all get away, rollerblade with your besties till your feet get gross callouses, pig out at the Pizza Hut buffet then drive all the way to Ikea for some meatballs and design your perfect home. Or even have the perfect romantic-comedy-inspired Summer romance with a hot lifeguard or barista. My point is that anything is possible during the two month break (or four months for you college kids) before life school begins and life starts getting annoying again. Plus if you think about it you only have a certain number of Summer vacations left before you get a full time job and you can no longer sleep in to 1 pm or stay up all night watching reruns of The O.C. 

So as cliched as it sounds I always make a Summer Checklist, as a way to make the most of the Summer. Just a list of random things I wish to accomplish before the Summer is up. But this year I decided to forget the list. Why waste my time writing a bunch of things down that I'd most likely never accomplish. Instead I opted for a much more focused goal; something that is still tricky but also achievable. So here it is my Summer 2013 Challenge: 

The Challenge: 
I want to either go on five dates or kiss five boys. Now before you go on calling me a slutbag let me explain. Since I am the byproduct of too much Disney Fairy tales and Nicholas Sparks books I am a complete hopeless romantic. And as much as I'd hate to admit it  I've always wanted a summer romance, think Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth in The Last Song (minus the whole cancer thing- spoiler alert). And  since I'm such a virgin prude I think it be suitable to finally get out there and make the most of my youth and beauty, I mean it won't be long till I will be sticking needles in my face and I need to find my rich Jewish hottie to pay for said botox treatments. 

The Rules: 
Like any good challenge there are conditions. First off it is either five dates OR kiss five guys. That's to make it a little easier, if you knew my shy, timid self you'd understand. A date can be anything from coffee to dinner and a movie, basically meeting up with a guy with some romantic intentions. Yes, the dates do not necessarily have to be with different guys. If perhaps I meet a guy I really like and we end up dating (fingers crossed) then it still counts. The same goes for the kisses; I can kiss the same guy twice and still have it count to the challenge. The whole point of the challenge is to get me out of my comfort zone and allow me to open up and meet new people. 

There it is my Summer challenge, and now that Summer is halfway done I better get cracking to find my Summer fling. As a way to keep me motivated and update this blog I will be posting progress reports from all my hopefully scandalous encounters. 

I want to hear from you, what are you Summer goals or challenges? what do you hope to achieve this Summer?

Sinfully yours,
XXX
Hevanly 

Pretty Little Liars is getting pretty little interesting

           So far this season of Pretty Little Liars has been anything but pretty. I mean the plot is just dragging on and on and I’m losing my patience. I mean this show is seriously lacking something. The story goes on so many tangents that it’s hard to keep up. Like Caleb finding his biological father, what was the point of that?

But just when I was about to give up hope and permanently remove this show from my TV schedule, the writers pull some next level shit and drag me back in. This week’s episode was one of the best this season, of course that’s not saying much.

Little Ezra may look cute, but he's also super annoying. Trains, really?

Once again we find Aria dealing with Ezra’s baby drama which has seriously increased after Ezra’s baby momma and Little Ezra decide to move to Rosewood after Momma Fitz drop kicked her behind out of her condo. After Aria decides to have some adventures in babysitting- which does not end well – she begins to realize being a teen mom wasn’t in her plan. Oh no, could this be the end of everyone’s favorite teacher-student couple? Mary Kay Laterneau must be so disappointed. First off I don’t really care for this storyline; it’s so random. Do we really care about Ezra’s drama? I guess Ezra and Aria were getting boring now that their relationship is out in the open so the writers needed something to spice it up. I will accept this, for now, only because now Prof. Sexy has more screen time. But can we seriously recast the son. He’s annoying and should really go back to his child-acting class cause whatever he’s selling, I’m not buying.

Hanna and Aria are up to no good; at least they look cute

Over in Hanna land, the Marin women are being haunted by the ghost of Ashley’s fender bender. I’m not even going to comment on her running over Wilden because of the sheer stupidity. Bitch ever heard about going around? She gives women drivers everywhere a bad reputation. After searching for Wilden’s body, Hanna and Ashley believe they are in the clear; that is until Hanna gets a special present in her garage. She sees the tape of her mother’s crime and thinking it’s another threat from A decides to call her bestie Aria and go all “I know What You did Last Summer” by pushing it in the river. So, my guess is by next episode the police somehow discover Hanna’s genius plan. I don’t think these girls think through their plans enough. But on a side note they were looking super cute. If this show has taught us anything it’s that: if you’re going to commit a crime at least make sure you look good.

And now for the real juicy jaw-dropping moment.  After her near-death experience last week, Spencer decides she’s had enough of A’s game and told the girls the truth about Toby. The girls are all in disbelief, especially beautifully naive Emily who makes it her mission to find the missing Toby. You got to love this girl’s ability to be so trusting. You would think after being drugged, kidnapped, and almost murdered she would get with the program. Spencer still believes Mona is messing with her friends and decides to follow her to the woods at night. RED FLAG! Nothing good ever happens in the woods or under the cloak of night. These bitches never learn. After following her in the woods Spencer sees ... are you ready for this ... Toby’s dead body! DUN DUN DUN! Spencer has finally lost it and gets locked up in the crazy bin.

Spencer has finally gone over the deep end

Who saw that coming? Crazy Spencer and Dead Toby. Now I’m going to call it right now, Toby isn’t dead. Spencer didn’t actually see his face so we don’t have concrete proof. I predict it’s Wilden’s dead body that Mona disguised as Toby’s. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised by anything this girl does.

So Sinners what are your thoughts? Has Pretty Little Liars redeemed itself? Do you think Toby is really dead? How annoying is Ezra’s kid?

Best Friends for Never: when friendships expire

Why hello there my lovely little sinners. It's been a while, I know, and I am well aware that I haven't delivered on my vow to update this blog more frequently. Shame on me, I deserve a good spanking. But sometimes it's so hard finding the time to write posts when you live such a fabulous life. But have no fear, for this bitch is back with a vegence and ready to tell the internet how it is. Watch your back, because no one is safe!

Recently I've been thinking a lot about life; pondering about my purpose, the person I am, and the people who influence me - pretty deep and intellectual stuff. I've realized that a big part of my life is my friends and family; they are my driving force. They make me laugh so hard I pee my pants, listen to me when I need to rant about the heffer who took my seat on the bus, or give me hope when I'm feeling low. My friends and family are my life, aside from vodka martinis, Hottie Lamaties, and trashy reality TV. But have you ever stopped to think about the people that are no longer in your life. I'm not talking about deceased relatives, but rather the people who used to be your best friends but are now MIA from your life. The girl who you used to call every night and talk about the cute boys at school with, but now you don't even know her phone number. Or the guy who you used to tell all your secrets to but now he doesn't even follow you on Twitter. What happens when you break up with your best friend?

The reason I'm writing about this is because my friend, let's call her Jacklyn, recently "broke up" with her best friend Jessica. Now Jacklyn and Jessica have been friends for 13 years, they survived elementary, high school and half of university together. But over the years Jacklyn and Jessica began to drift apart. They tried to schedule times to meet up and hang out but one of them was always busy and cancel. Finally Jessica had had enough and decided to end the friendship. But instead of just letting the relationship fizzle she had to take it to another level. Jessica broke up with Jacklyn through a text. I'm not going to get into the details of the text my the gist was  that they never really had anything in common and it was time for them to go their separate ways. Needless to say Jacklyn was pissed. I guess she was completely blindsided by the text.

Now sinners, I know what you're thinking, who breaks up with someone through a text? Especially someone who used to be your best friend. I don't get it either. Why not let the relationship have a natural death? Why draw so much attention to the fact that you two are no longer friends?

I've personally had my fair share of friendship-break-ups (FBU). In high school I used to be best friends with this girl, let's call her Shannon. This girl was honestly my soulmate, my other half, the Romy to my Michelle- or the Jwwow to my Snooki for you non-90s kids. We had a million of inside jokes, gossiped about fugly losers together, and called each other sluts and bitches-which everyone knows is the pinnacle of friendship. But towards the end of high school we began to drift apart. She started hanging out with other people and I never really tried to spend time together. After high school we tried to make the relationship work, but it was time for us to admit defeat. Our friendship was over. But I never sent her a text confirming the FBU. I just let it die organically.That is not to say that we're not friendly. I still get little glimpses of her life from her Twitter and Facebook updates and  mutual friends. But we're not, and probably never will be as close as we were before.

Personally I think the whole FBU text idea is stupid. If a friendship is dying let it be. Either fight to make the relationship work or move on. Who needs to have the added drama of making the FBU official? Trust me when a FBU occurs the parties involved will know. FBUs are very different from real break-ups. When you break-up with your partner you want to be done. No one truly wants to end a friendship. That being said there are plenty of reasons to end friendships. Like if your best friend hooks-up with the guy you like, then by all means send that hoe an angry FBU text, better yet egg that skank's house. But if you know that you and your friend are drifting apart then just leave it alone. If it's meant to be then it will happen, I know that's cliched advice but it's true.

And for you people on the recieving end of a FBU text, don't worry your pretty little head. I'm sure you're much better without you ex-best friend. There are times when I still think about Shannon. I still care about her and wish her all the best. Remember, in the TV show of your life some people are just guest stars. Focus your time and energy on your main cast members, because they're the ones that really matter.

Stay Sinful,
XXX

Hevanly

Life is unfair

Now I like to keep things light and fun on this blog, but as I mature and grow I find there's more pressing issues and concerns I'd like to discuss. Today I heard some devastating news about someone I know. Basically my close cousin's friend, whom I have met before, and two other passengers, all 18, were injured in a car accident driving home from the cottage. Now I'm far from being close to this girl, I can't even recall the time I met her, but this whole situation has me thinking about the frailty of life. How is it that one girl, fresh from graduating high school not more than five days ago is now dead and two others are in critcal conditions? This barely seems fair. How can there be so much devastation and heartache in the world? And the recent loss of my grandfather has also caused me to question the world in which we live and "God's plan". Now I'm well aware of the circle of life, I've seen The Lion King, but it's so hard to keep your faith when you see so much people in pain. How is it that a world that gives us joy, love, and miracles also sheds destruction, hate, and tragedy. But I guess that's life. What are we to do but accept the bad and focus on the good.

*Please keep all three girls and their families and friends in your prayers and thoughts as I know they're just beginning their struggles and need strength.

XOXO
hEVANly

Life as we know it

Dear Sinners,
I must apologize for my rather unclassy behavior. I have neglected you like an alcoholic neglects reason. But my life has been pretty busy over the past few months. As a way to save myself from a rather boring and uneventful summer I got an internship at a PR firm, which has it's ups and downs, as well as doing slave work at the coffee shop I call work. These two jobs have taken up the majority of my time but I'm back so you can all breath a sigh of relief. As my first post resurrected from my former life I'm going to get personal. So here it is:

Have you ever thought about destiny or fate? I'm not talking about meeting someone and falling in love. I'm talking about your personal destiny. Who you are and what you are destined to become. Recent events in my life have caused me to ponder my choices and reflect on the person I am. Over the years I've tried to change and become a somewhat better person, while still staying the fabulous bitch that I am. But it seems that no matter what I do I always end up being selfish and obnoxious. I thought to myself, Is it really possible to change or are we destined to stay the person we are forever? Looking back over the past year I can see my life has changed both emotionally and physically, but somehow it's still the same. I know I've had a personal growth. I'm not as immature and petty as before but I keep getting put in these situations where my self-centered bitchy attitude comes out. I'm tired of everyone seeing me as the uptight selfish bitch. Don't get me wrong I am all those things, and sometimes proud of it, but I'm also so much more. I can be kind and loving and selfless, but it seems no one sees that. I know I shouldn't care what people think of me but it's just irritating to get a reputation for something you're not anymore. Also if I keep getting put in these situations, is my selfish behaviour a byproduct of destiny and should I just accept that this is the person I will always be? I wish it was that easy to blame destiny or fate. But the truth is I don't know. Maybe I should strive harder to show the new me in said situations? Can people really change? I'm not sure, I'll let you know when I find out.

XXX
hEVANly

Let's get physical: How to stay healthy as a student

University is a time where memories are formed. Four years of late-night cramming, walking into class wearing pyjama bottoms, debating the use of imagery in Frankenstein, and testing the limits of your liver with vodka shots, that you’ll one day look back on and describe to your grandchildren as the best days of your life. But between the last-minute essay writing and three hour classes, there is hardly time to go for a run or take a yoga class. And the tempting smell of the burgers in the cafeteria is so alluring. For students it’s hard to live a healthy lifestyle. Everywhere you turn there are artery-clogging deep fried snacks or delectable sugary desserts.  And there’s hardly any time to make a trip to the gym. However, being healthy and active as a student may seem difficult and unrealistic, but it is very possible. University is a time to increase your friends, your knowledge, and your alcohol tolerance, not your waistline.  Here a few suggestions and tips to help you stay on track with your healthy goals.

 

Time Management

Like everything else in university, a successful healthy lifestyle comes down to time management. This may be the hardest thing for a student to master. It’s so easy to put off assignments till the last minute, but budgeting your time will save you a lot of stress and all-nighters. Always remember P and S, no not peach schnapps and Smirnoff; Planning and Scheduling. Elina Man is a third-year English and Mathematics student at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus. Aside from attending classes four days a week, working part-time at a tutoring centre, and studying at least two hours a night, she also devotes two to three days a week to working out. “I want to live to a good age,” she said describing her motivation for being healthy as she lowered and raised the weights at the UTSC gym. Her arms turned a bright red hue with each raise of the metal bar. “And I want to look good,” she gave a chuckle, taking a break from her long set of biceps curls. Man agrees that being healthy is “all about scheduling.” Between her exercises she told an anecdote from her first year at university where she would try to go to the gym on a whim but never really followed through. She feels that it is better to plan set days when you want to work out.  Right now she plans on going to the gym every Monday and Wednesday. Knowing she has specific days and times to work out makes it easier to budget her schedule around her workouts and motivates her to actually go to the gym. Scheduling certain days to exercise help make it become routine. Having routine workouts make going to the gym and being active essential to your weekly schedule.

 

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Your grandma wasn’t lying when she lectured you about the importance of breakfast. Breakfast is a way to fuel your body and mind for the day. But when you’ve woken up five minutes before class, running out the door laptop in hand, it’s easy to skip the “most important meal of the day.” “[Breakfast] is extremely important,” said Ramona Seupersad the fitness program assistant for athletics and recreation at UTSC. “People actually gain weight from not eating breakfast,” she went on. When you sleep you haven’t eaten for a long period of time and your metabolism is lowered. Just as drinking coffee can wake your mind up, eating breakfast wakes up your metabolism. If you don’t eat than your metabolism is in low mode. Man admits to skipping breakfast, but said she couldn’t survive the day. Breakfast doesn’t have to be a grand event. Scrambled eggs and toast or a bowl of cereal make great meals. Or if you’re running late gulp down a yogurt or nutrition bar. Try to avoid high-in-sugar treats because you will just crash later. Breakfast is one way both your mind and body are being activated. But nothing replenishes the body like a good night sleep.

Sleeping Beauty

In university sleep becomes a foreign concept, like French politics or the plot to a James Bond film. Who can spend precious hours dreaming when there are assignments to be done, chapters to be read, and knee-slapping hilarious videos of cute animals on the internet? But it seems Sleeping Beauty was on to something when she took her deep slumber. “Sleeping helps to repair and rejuvenate the body,” Seupersad said. Although our minds are floating away creating wonderful dreams, or in some cases frightful nightmares, our bodies are at work repairing itself. The body uses the resting period of sleep to build muscle tissue damaged in a workout. Sleep deprivation not only affects you physically but mentally as well. Proper sleep patterns help students function better mentally. “If you’re going to class you’re not going to be focused if you’re not getting enough sleep,” Seupersad said.

Food for thought

For many the struggle to live a healthy lifestyle lies with food. Being active means nothing if you don’t fuel your body with nutritional food. In university it’s easy to give in to temptation and buy the greasy slice of pizza or the dripping-in-oil fries. Seupersad explains that it is better when you make your own food “that way you know exactly what you’re putting in your mouth.” However, the temptation to eat fatty food is multiplied for those who live on residence and don’t have the opportunity to make their own meals. Stephanie Coratti is a freshman living on residence at the University of Guelph and admits it can be tempting to eat unhealthy. “With a meal plan it’s really easy to eat a lot of fried foods,” she said. She relies on sheer willpower to avoid the scrumptious gourmet cakes. Her school does however, have a wide range of foods including salads and wraps. But the fruits and vegetables are usually more expensive, and there’s nothing students hate more than spending money. Although students don’t have the luxury of making their meal, living on campus does have its advantages, primarily living so close to a gym.

Busy, Busy, Busy

For commuters nothing is more painful than standing in a crowded subway trying to read your textbook, sandwiched between people while your feet burn and the overwhelming smell of body odour fills your nostrils. After a long day of waiting for buses, lugging around heavy bags, and listening to monotone professors, there is little energy, motivation, and time to work out. “I’m not very happy about using so much of my time to travel,” said Victoria Valdez a first-year student at the University of Toronto about her two hour commute to school. “Of course they [students] have time [to work out]” Seupersad chuckled. Studies show that adults should get 150 minutes of physical activity per week. What many people don’t understand is that the 150 minutes could be spaced out throughout the week. So you don’t necessarily have to be active every day, as long as you get the full 150 minutes for that week. Also many universities include membership to the school gym in tuition fees. Since you’re already paying for it, you might as well get your money’s worth. Many school gyms also have extended hours for students with overbearing schedules. Recently the UTSC gym changed its hours to Monday-Sunday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. “It’s more convenient,” said Man taking a sip of water. But for those who still have no time to make a trip to the gym there are ways to be healthy from your own home. Instead of watching funny babies or cute sloths, use YouTube to be productive. There are many exercise videos like yoga or aerobics posted online that are easy to follow and user friendly. Seupersad also describes various calisthenics workouts, like push-ups and sit-ups that can easily be done at home. There are other little ways one can incorporate physical activity into their life. Taking the stairs or getting off the bus a few stops before and walking the rest of the way are a few little things that can help make a difference. No matter how busy you are there are always ways to stay active.

Partying, Partying, Yeah!

The best part of any student’s week is going out partying. What better way to let go of a week’s worth of stress and pressure than with a nail-biting game of beer pong? But all the partying, tequila shots, and dinner outings add up. Going out and being healthy is something Man, Coratti, and Valdez all struggle with. “It’s difficult to remember about trying to be healthy at social gatherings because I’m so focused on having a good time,” Valdez remarked. Alcohol, though tasty and entertaining, is loaded in calories, especially mixed drinks. One bottle of beer has around 150 calories, a glass of rum and coke has about 182 calories, and a margarita has 453 calories. Now telling a student not to drink alcohol is like telling Lady GaGa not to set a piano on fire; it’s not going to happen. And there’s nothing wrong with having a few drinks. Seupersad says moderation is key. “You’re allowed to have the occasional alcoholic drink, but 80-90 per cent of the time you should be trying to stay healthy.” When it comes to alcohol try limiting the amount of drinks, or switching to a low calorie beer instead. Another aspect of the student social life is the many restaurants and pub outings. Seupersad maintains that many restaurants now have healthy options, which makes it easier to stay healthy. In this new technology age there are applications on your smartphones that act like electronic food diaries. Applications like Calorie Counter track the amount of calories and nutritional information for food items from many popular restaurants. This allows users to know exactly how much calories they are ingesting and plan their dinner outings accordingly. Another trick when out to dinner is to trade in the sugary carbonated beverages and opt for a cool glass of water. Also an easy way to burn of a few mixed drinks is dancing. An hour of dancing roughly burns around 350 calories. So counter the high-calorie meal with a few hours on the dance floor. Being healthy doesn’t have to limit your social life.

University is difficult enough with the gross amounts of readings, the numerous hours of lectures, and the wild parties, without the added stress of increasing your pant size. Being active and healthy as a student is extremely possible. And not only does living a healthier lifestyle affect you physically but it also makes you more mentally aware and focused. You’ll have more attention on what you’re doing in class and be able to take in more of what you’re learning. Being active also helps relieve unwanted stress. “It’s a great way to reduce the stress from all your exams and assignments,” Seupersad said. With new technological advances and a little self-control it is perfectly possible to have a healthy social, academic, and overall life.

Oscar Vs. Grammy

Award season is primarily comprised of two main shows: the Oscars and the Grammys.

Now that both shows have passed it is now acceptable to compare the two.

Fortunately viewership for both shows increased since last year’s production.

2012 Oscar viewership vs. Grammy

The Oscar had a slight raise in ratings this year with 39.3 million people compared to last years 37.9 million people. The Grammys  had a more drastic increase in viewers. It went from 26.6 million viewers to 39.9 million.

This is the first year since the Neilson ratings began its current rating system in 1992 that the Grammys surpassed the Oscars in viewership.

The Grammys also destroyed the Oscars with the 18-49 adult demographic. They had a 14.1 rating to the Oscars 11.7.

Many people speculate Whitney Houston’s sudden death made people tune in.

The Grammys feature more performances that cater to a younger audience, which could explain the difference between the two show’s ratings.

In my opinion I think the Grammys were better. They had a different vibe and allowed for more topics to talk about the next day. The Oscars were long and dragged on and on. I did appreciate Billy Crystal and his attempts to add humor to the show, but I was barely paying attention.