Staying Fit for the Holidays

Christmas, New Year's, Hanukkah--they're great. We eat delicious food, watch a lot of Netflix and, most of us, are probably playing all the video games as we can. Here's the hitch--when you sit around for that long eating, you're bound to lose energy. How can one get energy back? Well, you could drink a Red Bull or bury yourself in Christmas MnM's. But, let's be real, crashing after is less than fun.

So here I've got a short list of easy ways to get your heart pumping--or at least your butt off the couch. These suggestions are circuit training, so they're a list of different activities you do at one time. Before you start any of it, though, make sure you stretch! I don't care how in shape you are or how little time you may have--it's far better to stretch before a work out for a few minutes than to pull a muscle and be miserable on New Year's because of it. (I don't apologize for the cheesy holiday names I gave these.)

Grow Your Heart 3 Sizes

25 jumping jacks
7 push-ups
15 crunches
8 squats
25 jumping jacks
1 minute wall sit (I know, these are a struggle but they're really awesome for your muscles!)
7 push-ups
15 crunches
8 squats
20 knee highs

Rinse and repeat 3 times!

Melt Away the Snow

80 jumping jacks
20 calf raises
20 knee highs
20 squats
20 crunches
20 sit ups
30 reverse crunches
15 second plank

Repeat two or more times!

Baby It's Cooling Down Outside

10 jumping jacks
10 push-ups
10 squats
10 crunches
10 knee highs

Repeat 9 more times, reducing the number of each action by one each time

Melt Away the Snow is definitely a more difficult one--I honestly prefer the last one the most. It gets my heart pumping but then cools down as it goes. :) One important aspect to remember is to make sure you cool down after--stretch again, drink plenty of water and let your body calm itself down before continuing on. If you don't, you may regret it and experience a good amount of pain after.

Easy Comfort Food

We've covered easy gifts, now let's cover food because, let's be real, who doesn't love junk food?! I know I'm a real big fan.

These are all easy, cheap and require little effort. :) Let's do this!

1. Marshmallow Popcorn Bars

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 bags of popcorn (microwaveable)
• 4 cups mini marshmallows
• Non-stick spray (Pam works perfectly, and I'm sure you have some somewhere!)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup MnM's or some candy coated chocolates similar to those

This recipe is essentially like making rice crispy treats. Pop your popcorn bags, then dump it all in a bowl but pull out all the unpopped kernels. Then take a baking dish and spray your non-stick Pam or whatever in the pan lightly--just to coat it because you're about to have super sticky marsmallow all over. haha

Now, put your marshmallows and butter into a bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Once they're done, you've got to move fast. Carefully stir the popcorn in with the marshmallow mixture and then add in the MnM's once it's all coated nicely.

Put it in your pan, toss it (not literally) in the fridge and you're done! Once it's cooled down, you can leave it out on a counter or whatever and enjoy. I really love popcorn so I think I'd probably eat the entire pan myself, which you can certainly do!

BONUS: You can also melt some chocolate slowly in a microwave (10 second increments or it will probably burn) and drizzle it over top or mix in pretzels with your popcorn and MnMs.

2. Handmade Jolly Rancher Pops

INGREDIENTS:

• Jolly Rancher candies
• Lollipop sticks

First, you need to preheat your oven to 200 degrees F. Once that's done, using a non-stick pan, stack up a few Jolly Ranches (2-3) and put them in the oven for 7-8 minutes. Basically, until they melt. Once they've melted, quickly add in your lollipop sticks and let them cool. After they've cooled, you can simply pry them off! Bam. The best part is that you can choose whatever flavors you like.

3. Pizza Ring

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Tubes of Crescent Rolls
• 1/2 cup Tomato Sauce
• 1 cup Mozzarella (shredded is better than slices, in my opinion)
• 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder (totally optional but highly recommended)
• 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
• Pepperoni slices

This is a more complicated recipe, but if you're skilled in using an oven and have used crescent rolls before, I can't possibly recommend this more.

First off, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F and open up your crescent rolls. You want to take those out but not as triangles--use the rectangles, as you can see pictured below and place them on a pizza stone or a baking sheet (make sure you spray the sheet with Pam or something so it doesn't stick!). Once you've done that, spoon out the tomato sauce only in the first 3rd of the circle, layer on cheese and add in the pepperoni! The photo has pepperoni only on the right half, but you can do pepperoni on both sides. :)

Once that step is done, fold in the outsides to the inside and bake for 15-18 minutes. Once they're baked, sprinkle the garlic powder and Italian seasoning on top. They'll puff up pretty big and pull apart easily. Super yummy.

Quick and Cheap Holiday Gifts

With the holidays coming in quickly, it's time to buckle down and get our gifts together to give to those we love. That said, it's also the time of year to be short on cash and for those without an income, gift giving becomes even more difficult.

Thankfully for us living in this society, there's Pinterest. Bless Pinterest users for posting gift ideas that cost nothing or hardly anything at all. I have to say, up until a few months ago, I didn't really use it, but I think it's got some of the best ideas for gift giving especially!

1. Sugar Scrub
I feel like sugar scrubs and bath bombs are really popular this year. With the store Lush expanding all over the US, these items are becoming everyone who likes a good bath's favorites.

T sugar scrub is seriously the easiest product to make ever.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1/4 cup baby oil
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup honey

I've found that you can replace the oil with a bit of extra honey. Simply throw all of that into a bowl, mix and bam, sugar scrub complete.

2. Bath Bomb

These are one of my favorites to make and they can cost a little bit of money, but that little bit can go a long way. Not only that, but you can customize these to look any way you want.

INGREDIENTS (makes 2.5 8oz bath bombs):

• 8 oz of baking soda
• 4 oz of citric acis
• 4 oz of corn starch
• 4 oz of finely grained Epsom salts
• 3/4 teaspoons of water
• 2 teaspoons of essential oil
• Round, plastic, snap together dome molds

These ingredients may look a bit intimidating, but they're really simple to make. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another, combine and fill your molds! You'll need to leave them in the molds for a few minutes before carefully removing and setting on a towel or some wax (non-stick) paper.

My favorite part of making these is the customization. If you have a friend that loves all things pink and glittery like me, you can drop some pink food coloring in the mixture and then put some edible glitter in the bottom of the mold before adding it all in. You can also add in scents if you have those or want to go above and beyond or even sprinkles. Definitely my type of craft.

3. Coloring Book
Now, this sounds really silly, I know, but this is another gift that is really popular right now. Adult coloring books. The designs are more intricate and complicated but I know a lot of people that enjoy these and you can certainly print out your own.

I spent less than 30 seconds typing "free adult coloring book download" and found tons of websites right away that have free to print pages. This page was the first to come up and it looks pretty good to me.

So simply print out some pages, make yourself a cover, and then you can either staple it or punch holes on the side and tie it together with string or ribbon. Easy mode activate.

4. Cookie Butter
This is for those that love to eat or have a huge sweet tooth. It's also for those that have a blender or food processor.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cookie crumbs
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk

First, you need to take some cookies--any kind will work, and crush them up. If you have a cookie with a filling like an Oreo, make sure you remove the filling. I find a food processor works best for this but you can use a blender or simply put them in a bag and take a hammer to them (I'm not joking--that's how I make a graham cracker crust for cheese cake). Once you have your 2 cups of crumbs, you'll want to melt your butter on a stove top and slowly pour in the two types of milk until they're all combined. Then, using a bit at a time, mix your liquid ingredients in with your crumbs.

Put that in a jar or container of some kind and bam! Cookie butter. You can put it on pretzels, crackers, bread--whatever. It's delicious. :)

Have any other ideas for easy gifts? Comment them or tag us in them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram! :)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Review

Before I go any further, if you have not yet read the Mockingjay, I recommend you stop reading as this post will most definitely contain spoilers. :)

First, I'd like to put a mention out there simply for this film's movie posters alone. I was quite excited and impressed by the following one in particular. The whole idea behind these books is that Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, is that everyone wants to fight--fight the Capitol, fight the rebels, fight against the hunger games...everyone's fighting--except Katniss. All she ever wants is peace and to live her life for herself. Yet she is continually wrapped up into the plans of those around her. This poster is brilliant because, just looking at Lawrence, you can see that in her face. I just love that more than words can even say.

Now let's move onto the movie!

This is going to be a bit of a long post simply because there's so much to cover in this book to movie.

As we all know, the previous film ended with Peeta in the hospital, as well as Katniss after he tried to strangle her. While trapped at the Capitol, he was given tracker jacker venom making his mind extremely confused, to say the least. Katniss finally gets out of her room to see President Coin rallying her district against the Capitol.

So now we get into the action--literally immediately. It was so funny because I went to see the film with my boyfriend and found out afterwards that he had to use the restroom from the very get go, but couldn't bear to leave because the action was so nonstop intense.

I'm going to try and skip anything I don't feel is worth mentioning because there was so much that was excellent.

Let's jump ahead to Katniss's hiding on a medical supply plane to make it to the battlefield where the rebels plan to take the Nut, which is the hub of the Capitol's military supplies. We get to one of my favorite minor characters Commandor Paylor, portrayed by Patina Miller. Words can't describe how much I enjoyed her portrayal of the future new leader of Panem. I'm not sure exactly what it was about her portrayal--and it could have even been her look. She has this air of kindness, mixed in with kindness and intellect. It's quite hard to explain but, even in her first scene, which was rather brief, she won my heart instantly.

The rebels take the Nut and Katniss is shot, just like in the book, and ends up back in the hospital with bruised ribs.

We get to Finnick and Annie's wedding, which isn't shown to be used as a propo as I remember in the book. I was honestly a little worried this would get cut out, because it is such a quick little moment, but it was there and it was lovely! Katniss has a great moment dancing around with her sister Prim and it's one of the few happier moments. Of course, Katniss's head is still spinning out of control and I honestly got a little nauseous near the end of that scene while the camera spun around and around. If you're prone to motion sickness, feel free to turn away. I promise you nothing will be missed!

We also get the treat of seeing Johanna quite a number of times but not nearly as much as I remember in the book. As in the book, Johanna steals some of Katniss's pain killers and has some "oh so lovely" words to say to her while Katniss is down with the broken ribs. We don't get to see either of them train again, nor do we get to see them become friends. However, Johanna does still inspire Katniss to want to assassinate Snow herself. In the book, I remember Johanna being told she couldn't go to battle, so she asks Katniss to murder Snow for her. I have to say, I really found myself liking Johanna in the book, but she was given way less screen time in the movie preventing that for those only watching the movies.

Now, let's get to war. As in the books, Katniss is put on a team with Gale, the camera crew (Cressida, Pollux and Castor), Finnick, Boggs and some people I could care less about (sorry to those actors playing those characters!). Pollux is one of my favorite characters in the book, so I was probably most excited for this movie to see more of him, especially because Elden Henson (the actor playing that role) was perfect for my interpretation. After they experience their first pod (which was a giant explosion), the crew rests and they are given Peeta on their team to be in some propos. This is where the action picks up and really never stops.

The next pod is a bunch of machine guns (I think, I'm not too familiar with guns), followed immediately by another pod that takes off Boggs's legs. Despite the fact that we got less Boggs in the movie than the book, I sobbed as he transferred security of the Holo to Katniss before dying. Of course, we are given enough of Boggs to have him reveal to Katniss what he thinks Coin's real plan is, helping Katniss to see the truth in all of this: Coin wants Snow dead so she can take over Panem. That said, Coin needs Katniss dead so she can insure her win in the future election for president. Let's be real, we all know Katniss can't stand Coin so she most certainly wouldn't support her candidacy for president.

Boggs is dead, they lose a few more members to Peacekeepers and the black oil sludge flood of doom and Katniss has to quickly convince her team that their real mission as a team is to get Katniss to Snow for the assassination. Let's be real, neither Snow or Coin are great so, at this point, killing either is an excellent idea. With the help of Cressida, they convince the rest of their team and move forward towards Snow's mansion. Then we get my favorite characters moment: Pollux leads them through the sewers and underground tunnels to avoid all above ground pods. He is just such an adorable character, and I love him. I promise I won't gush about this character any more.

Of course, we see the Mutts. Now, I went ahead and looked this up because I don't recall them looking like this in previous movies and I was right. We saw these guys before, but apparently different versions, according to what I looked up. I was pretty sure I only remembered there being one type of Mutt in the books, but I suppose either the movie took liberties or I just don't remember them like that. In this book, we get Lizard Mutts, aka really gross looking water zombies, as I like to call them. They honestly remind me a bit of the Marvel character Venom. haha With that, I was rather disappointed that they went with this look rather than that of the original Mutts, the combination of werewolves that had the faces of fallen tributes from the Games. But now I can't remember if there was another kind of Mutt or not.

No we're down to 5. Pollux, Cressida, Peeta, Gale and Katniss and to a moment of extreme happiness on my part, as well as disappointment. We finally get to see Tigris. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't extremely excited to see this character come to life. She is super minor and is only briefly shown, but they completely nailed it. Tigris, like in the book, gives the team a place to rest safely, but it's only for one night in the movie. This is where I was slightly disappointed: the crew uses Snow's offering of shelter to all Capitol residents to make their way forward but, in the movie, it's only Gale and Katniss. I understand that most movies try to push the guy that doesn't get the girl as much as possible (hello Twilight's Jacob Black) but I found myself a little irritated that they cut out the other 3 going as well. That was a turning point in the book for me because everyone was in 100%. It almost seemed like the other three were kind of like, "Yeah, um, we (Cressida and Pollux) don't want to risk our lives any more and Peeta isn't mentally stable (even though he was at that point), so good luck, guys!" Not a fan. :D

Unfortunately, we don't get to see the pods continuing to go off splitting the road in half or the purple laser of death killing more residents of the Capitol. Instead, we cut right to Gale getting caught and captured by Peacekeepers as Katniss makes a break for the mansion gates. As in the book, Katniss sees Prim one last time before the parachute bombs take out she and many other residents of the Capitol.

Once again, the movie stays true to the book up until after Coin's death. Rather than Katniss being acquitted, thanks to testimonies by Gale and another favorite character of mine, Beetee, she is told her she will be pardoned by the new president, Paylor, once things die down. This was a hard moment to bear, because she was then read a letter from Plutarch by Haymitch, as the Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch) died before they could film this scene. I absolutely adored him, so this was a difficult pill to swallow, especially because I'm certain Lawrence and Woody Harrelson struggled getting that scene done. It was originally a scene meant to have Plutarch explaining all of this to Katniss himself.

Katniss is, as in the books, sent back to her district to live and is later joined by Peeta to live happily ever after... with Prim's beloved cat. Yep, don't worry, the cat is safe and living back in her district. I have absolutely no idea how she got there, but it was a great moment that certainly lightened the seriousness up.

All in all, I felt this book was the closest to the books than any of the other movies, and I was extremely happy with it. There were some disappointing moment but the majority of the movie was amazing. I highly recommend you read the books as well as see the movies but, in the case of this one, reading the books won't give you too much more than what is included in the movie.

Now go and support this movie and see it! :) Then tell me how you liked it!

KPop

After speaking to a number of you guys at events and such, you've learned by now that I don't really listen to English music. I mean, I still love groups like Muse and the Beatles, and I'm a huge fan of Ingrid Michaelson (saw her in concert last year--it was fabulous!!). I occasionally listen to new American music, but it just isn't for me, you know? Kinda like some people don't like country. Though I do like some country, I have to be honest. haha

I think the draw for me is the lyrics, while they may make zero sense to you, I learned a lot of the language and they're so much more simple and lovely. It's refreshing and takes me back to the music I loved growing up in the 90s.

So I'm going to start with KPop today because I feel like most people have heard at least one KPop song, even if it is just a song by Psy. By the way, contrary to popular belief, he is definitely more popular overseas than in South Korea.

Today, I'm just going to give you some suggestions from my own experiences to try and draw you into my world of Asian music!

My first recommendation is GFRIEND. They're a new group, but they're super fresh and bubble gum pop sounding. I think they're super cute and their music is really catchy. It's kind of like the old school Britney Spears. Light, fluffy, happy music.

Then you could go for something like SHINEE. I don't listen to them, but they're huge with a lot of my friends. It's a cool guy group, I have to attach a photo because I don't know how else to explain them. They're a male pop idol group, they're totally funny and weird on TV and their music is pretty intense. Now, I don't like male groups in general--it's just not my style, but I like these guys. I was watching a TV show Taemin (2nd from the left) was in a little while back recently. He's adorable.

My third recommendation is definitely on the hip hop side of pop, which is why I'm recommending them. They're not exactly new, but they didn't really become big until this year. I'm not going to lie, their music videos are weird. I remember watching Up & Down and spent the entire time like,"What is actually going on." But the songs are great. They have a lot of rapping in them, if you're into that, and the chorus is, again, catchy. Kpop tends to do that.

Other recommendations of groups I'm a big fan of are Red Velvet, Girls' Generation, Girl's Day, April, MAMAMOO, Lovelyz, AOA, Hello Venus, Nine Muses, Dal Shabet, Ladies' Code, SISTAR...those are the main groups I try to stay on top of. In terms of guy groups, if you like one, you'll probably like most. B2ST, ZE:A, INFINITE, Block B, B1A4, BTOB (look at all these B names haha), BTS, VIXX... I could go on for hours. There's a lot. haha

Pictured Above: Red Velvet (Dumb Dumb album)

If you listen to these, let me know what you thought of them next time you're in, give me some of your music recommendations (not One Direction--I'm already recommended that a lot hahaha), or you can comment them here. :)

Anime Recommendations

Today, I'm hitting you with a pretty basic post, much like last week. This week has been a pretty busy one for me, so I haven't had much time for brainstorming post ideas.

I was recommended by a few teens to start an anime club, so what better post could I do this week than one related to anime?!

Before I get into it at all, I'll be using the terms shoujo and shounen to describe the styles. In short, shoujo is more girly, has good comedy and, typically, a love story. Shounen is a term for anything aimed at younger males and tends to be more about fights, robots, etc.

Also, please note that I believe these can all be found on CrunchyRoll (legally free anime website yay!), but I don't really remember off hand. :D You're welcome.

(in no particular order)

1. RWBY

This is such a short series and it almost pulled a Firefly on us. Basically, the creator died suddenly after season 2 and no one had picked it up immediately, so most fans were concerned there would never be more. Thankfully, it was picked up and season 3 started October 24th!

The animation is a bit unique and not your typical style for modern anime and the main characters may be girls, but it's action packed enough to fit in both shoujo and shounen genres, if you ask me.

So if you like fights, ridiculously cool weapons and relatable characters, check out RWBY for sure.

2. Fruits Basket

This is actually a classic. As in, if you like shoujo at all, you should see this right this second. Like seriously, go now. If you aren't into shoujo, you should still try and watch it because, romance aside, it's absolutely hilarious. The one character, Shigure, makes me laugh so hard every time I watch the series that I'm practically sobbing. The downside with the anime is that it isn't nearly as long as the manga and ends on a really weird note. I always said it was because they ran out of funding so they never finished the anime series and left it awkwardly.

Regardless of that, it's totally awesome. I find the story to be pretty unique, as it deals with the Chinese zodiac and the stories associated with that, linked with real life situations. Plus, there's cats. Lots of cats!

3. Sword Art Online

This is really popular right now and, I have to admit, I'm not really sold on it, but those around my adore it, so it must be amazing just not my style.

From what I've seen, heard and read, the premise is that people are getting trapped in a virtual reality MMORGP. For you non-gamers, real people are getting trapped in a video game as their characters and they can't escape. There's lots of fighting, battles and a love story.

Here's the kicker--if you die in the virtual world, you die in real life. So you can imagine it's pretty intense--Walking Dead intense at times, if you ask me.

The characters are all designed well and it's a longer series, for those with time looking for something new.

4. My Love Story!!

LET'S NOT EVEN TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS SERIES. My best friend recommended it to me, because we tend to like the same anime. We're both big fans of Ouran High School Host Club, Fruits Basket, Lucky Star, etc.

It's truly a comedy. There is, obviously, a love story and there's awesome friendships and some heartfelt moments, but it's a comedy. The main character is this "scary" high school boy that everyone is afraid of, except this tiny and adorable high school girl from another school. They get into a relationship and everyone is so shocked because they're so different. Both characters are sweet and adorable, but still funny.

There's also the main character's best friend, who is quiet and hardly says a word but still manages to be amusing, as well as an array of other random minor characters.

There isn't exactly a main plot line--it's certainly a typical high school plot series, where it's just their daily lives together, but it's incredibly enjoyable. Bonus? It's still a new series so it's constantly continuing. Much yay such wow.

5. Attack on Titan

Last but not least, I thought I'd put in another one I'm not super familiar with, but one that is huge right now--especially in Japan.

I have to be honest, I googled a summary of this series I know so little about it. I tend to stay away from anything that's a fad, and this is definitely one I've stayed away from for that exact reason. If you ever go to anime cons, you'll see like a bajillion and one people cosplaying from this series.

To cut this summary short, because I think it's a pretty intense show from what I've heard from my friends, it's sort of a dystopian world where humans live inside gated communities to stay safe from titans, aka huge human like beings that have exposed muscles and eat humans for no reason.

There's lots of fighting, relationships, and a huge fandom to boot. It's another new series, so it's still continuing, and I know a lot of folks who will stay up super late when the new chapter is released and some people have even taught themselves enough Japanese to translate it when that happens. This isn't really my cup of tea (see me in two years when the fad has ended, I start watching it and become obsessed like I did with Doctor Who), but it seems exciting for those who like action!

BONUS: Love Live! School Idol Project

This is probably one of my favorites right now, despite the fact that I have yet to finish season 2. I'm really only putting this here because I'm obsessed with Japanese pop music and idols any ways, so this anime is everything I needed. Also, all the voice actresses do live stage performances where they sing and dance how their cartoon counterparts do in the show. I love that. I'm not going to say too much more, but if you like the ultra girls, watch this. There's also a super addictive phone app by the same title that's a rhythm game using the music by this group of ladies.

JUST LOOK AT THEM. I want to be their sister so badly they're so cute.

What series are you currently into? Have you seen any of these? If so, what did you think of them?

Cheap and Easy Halloween Costumes

If you're anything like me, I don't like to spend too much money on Halloween costumes. 99% of the time, I'm still adjusting to my new school schedule to put too much time and effort into it, and I'm already saving for Christmas presents.

Thankfully, we have websites like Pinterest, or simply Google, that can give us ideas for costumes that are easy to assemble and don't require too many dollars.

The best part is that you don't have to be like every other person this year and go as Harley Quinn or the Joker. Or Elsa. People are still dressing like her right?

I'm going to give you a list of my less popular top costumes for guys and girls this Halloween, in no particular order.

1. Milo from Atlantis
I think this one is pretty easy to assemble, especially since lots of fellos I know already have his hair or a hair cut similar to it. Just put on some brown shoes, a yellow/off-white ribbed tank top (or that same color collared shirt), some khaki pants, a brown belt and you're almost there. For the finishing touches, simply bend some wire you can get from any craft store pretty cheap to make the glasses and get out an old pair of long light brown socks. To finish it off, you'll want to cut both the heel and toe off of the socks, then put them over your show and your pants. Easy mode activate!

2. The Powerpuff Girls
One day I will be Bubbles, I swear. But until then, I highly recommend these three ladies. They're so simple. Pink, blue or green dress. Black wide belt. White tights and black shoes. Done. If you're going as Blossom, don't forget the big pink bow! And make sure you rock the pigtails if you go as Bubbles. It's totally optional but, as Bubbles, you can also feel free to speak to animals.

3. Wayne's World: Wayne and Garth
I'm not gonna lie--this is one of my favorites for an easy costume. The most important parts are the jeans with the holes in the knees and the messy hair. It's best if you have longer hair or can wear a wig with longer hair you can tangle up a bit. Once you've done that, throw on your most loved pair of Chucks, and then just follow the following photo for the rest. They're just your typical cool rockers (cool is a term I'm using lightly here), so it doesn't have to be perfect. I think if you at least have the hair, jeans and shoes right, everyone will know exactly who you are. Best part? Anyone of any gender, size or shape can wear this and look awesome.

4. The Peanuts
With the movie coming out soon, I'm sure these will be rather popular, but they're cute and easy so they get a mention any ways. Now, here you have a lot of options. I think it's best to look at the costumes they're wearing below and then sort of YOLO it from there. I think Lucy is probably the easiest after Charlie's trademark top and black bottoms, but it's all up to you and what you can find!

My biggest recommendation is, once you've decided on a character, to go find a quote by that character that is maybe his or her most well-known. My current favorite is Linus's, "Happiness is a warm blanket." Write that on a piece of card stock, or paper, glue it onto cardboard, cut it out into a speech bubble shape and then add on a stick to hold it up while you're out trick or treating.

5. The Walking Dead: Rick and Lori Grimes
Let's be real, there's a lot of different characters you could go as from the Walking Dead and Lori is certainly not one of my favorites in the series, but I think a couple would look pretty cute as them (especially if you're Trick or Treating with a little brother or something you could dress as Carl--just saying!). My personal preference would be Maggie and Glenn or even Sasha and Bob (if you're that far into the series), but I feel like Rick and Lori are so simple that anyone could dress as them straight from their closet.

I recommend you aim for around season 3. Rick's just wearing a khaki (or dark blue--it changes throughout the series) button down with front pockets and black jeans. If you have the ability to and don't have it naturally, try and add some stubble with black/dark brown makeup. As for Lori, grab your favorite plain blue jeans, a white ribbed tank top and a long sleeved plaid button down. If you have a pair of brown combat boots, roll up your jeans throw those on. For added effect, you add fake blood and/or dirt to yourselves as if you two were just out fighting off a horde.

I think this couple did a pretty good job, so I'm going to use this image instead of just one of the actual characters.

These are just a handful of ideas I've thought of that seemed pretty easy to put together, as well as fun and comfortable for any type of event. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, despite the fact that I'm often too busy to work on a new costume.

This year, I'll be going as Curious George because, why not? Assuming I actually finish the costume in time.

Have a great Halloween and see you next Saturday on that spooky day~

MOBA? What the heck is that?

Let's talk video games. It's a world that used to be extremely expensive and hard to access for those of us without a job, or under 18

In today's society, there's all sorts of fun interactive games you can play with your friends locally, or with people all around the world. Now, maybe it's just me, but I love connecting with people from all over. It's amazing the different types of people you can meet.

So that brings us to this weird acronym, MOBA. Now, I've always been a console gamer--I love playing Pokemon on my 3DS or Animal Crossing on my Wii. But when it came to computer games, up until a few years ago, I was not even slightly interested. I'd hear people talking about the latest MOBA and was just like, "...what?" Maybe it is because I was purely a console game, but this was the most confusing.

What the heck is a MOBA? Honestly, it's extremely straightforward. You're on a team. You try to defend your base while the other team tries to take it. You have different characters you can play as and different optional objectives that can make your team stronger or hurt the other team and make it harder for them.

But that's not the point, at least I don't think. My point is the cost: free. Guys, there are free video games available on your computer. So when you can't get to the library to check out a new WiiU or XBox game, you can still have fun playing with your friends and it costs a total of zero dollars and zero cents. Yes, please!

Right now, the two most popular MOBA's I know are League of Legends (made by Riot) and Heroes of the Storm (created by Blizzard aka World of Warcraft). I play both because they're different enough that it's not repetitive. Heroes of the Storm also has a much quicker game time, so it's easier to play if I just have 20 minutes or so to blow off some steam.

See guys? Games don't always have to cost $80 and some times the free games can allow you to meet people all around the world!

If you play either of the above-mentioned games, what champions or heroes do you like playing the most?

I play LoL more than anything and mainly play Ashe, Nami, Amumu and Veigar these days. I do play Heroes of the Storm, too, but I'm totally a beginner, so I only play Valla regularly right now. I have to say, though, my favorite part about it isn't playing--it's that I can escape to another universe like I was reading a book and do so with my friends from all over North America. Pretty sweet, right?

YouTubers

With today's technology, TV is becoming a thing of the past. Now, we have Netflix, Twitch, Hulu, CrunchyRoll and even YouTube at our disposal.

YouTube can connect everyone around the world with similar interests or can even teach you how to change a tire!

I personally love YouTube because I can take a step into other people's lives from Korea and Japan. When I'm not doing that, I love beauty vloggers and follow quite a few British YouTubers.

If you're interested in manga, anime and, most importantly, Sailor Moon and cats, I highly recommend SharlaInJapan. She has two channels--one where you can learn more about Japan and Japanese culture, and her second one shows you different bits and pieces from her every day life. She's really into the otaku culture like me, so it's a lot of fun to see what it's like where manga and anime is much more easily accessed.

 

Pikachu cafe? Heck ya!!

My current favorite YouTuber is Zoe Sugg, or Zoella. Her main channel, zoella280390, is filled with everything from hauls from stores like Lush and Primark to baking videos to makeup tutorials. She also tries actively to help with that suffer from social anxiety. Social anxiety is something that a lot of people suffer with and she lets those people know that you are not alone and does her best to provide advice. Plus, she's totally bubbly and adorable like Sharla. What's not to love?

On top of being a super successful YouTuber, the sequel to Zoe's second book, Girl Online: On Tour, releases in just 10 days. I loved the first book (simply Girl Online) and look forward to the sequel. A definite must read for those who love a character just like us: a media maven who loves all things Internet and blogging that happens to fall in love.

Do you have a favorite YouTuber? What kinds of videos do you like to watch?