Miniature Food?!

This has been a sort of "underground" trend in fun for the last two or three years, but, in the last 6 months or so, this trend has moved on to be everywhere.

What is miniature food? Are people just cutting recipes in 1/20th and making tiny muffins like you can get at the grocery store?
Miniature food is mini edible food, yes, but it's made using special kits that use a combination of powder mixes and water, as well as a microwave in some. Pretty simple, right?

The cool part is that there are so many different varieties--from a hamburger and fries to sushi made out of gummy candy. Of course, the down side is that a lot of these kits are only in Japanese, as that's where they originated.

Kracie's Popin' Cookin' is probably the most popular set of kits out there and they can be easily bought on Amazon (Ebay as well, but I'm always afraid of knock-off/fakes that won't work as well). I know, I know, the instructions are impossible because you're not fluent in Japanese. That's perfectly fine! There's like a billion YouTube videos teaching you how to do each kit, as well as tutorials people have typed up on blogs and other websites. Personally, I prefer using videos so I can make sure mine looks exactly like the one created by the person I'm watching.

 

The English version of this wasn't created all that long ago from what I could find, but that brand is called Yummy Nummies. If we're being honest here, the name is sort of lame and the commercials look like this is only meant for young kids, but definitely not. I personally think these are fun for anyone who wants to make a silly snack with friends. I made the Popin' Cookin' ice cream kit with one of my best friends and, though it didn't take long to make, we had a lot of fun putting them together.

These kits are super cheap and run from $5-10, depending on where you get them, and are perfect for sleepovers and movie nights with friends. They make adorable little snacks and, while there might not be much of them to eat, they are all tasty.

Be warned: the hamburger and fries really taste like a hamburger and fries, and the pizza tastes like pizza. But the sushi? Definitely tastes like grape, melon and "soda" flavor (soda is a flavor in Japan that's impossible to explain unless you've had it).

If you have tried these kits or are interested in them, also check out the Neru Neru Ne! They usually only have 3 steps to make and are more fun than delicious!

Pokemon Sun and Moon

Helloooo! Today, we have an exciting entry because a new set of Pokemon games was announced.

Maybe I'm a bit of a dork to love Pokemon as much as I do after many years of playing them, but I'm still super pumped.

The two that were announced are Pokemon Sun and Moon and they are set to release late this year.

Nintendo was kind to all of us Pokemon fans for this epic moment and provided us with a trailer on YouTube that you can watch below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmzDL1l3Fag

It doesn't give us much of a preview of Sun and Moon, but it does take us back to the beginning showing players how this gaming series has developed and grown over the years, starting back on the original Gameboy to the 3DS.

This is the 20th anniversary of the Pokemon series/the release of Pokemon Red and Blue (Blue was my favorite, by the way), and a great way to celebrate such a big anniversary.

As Nintendo likes to do, we have not been given much on the new set of games. We know there will be a new bird Pokemon, as well as Magearna (who is adorable, if you ask me), who was announced in a magazine talking about the Pokemon movie set to release this year.

One of the few secrets the video did reveal, however, was the possibility of vehicles. We don't actually know if these will be means of transportation players can use or not, but the art work is pretty awesome and I'm looking forward to knowing why they put so much effort into these. (Please let me drive an ambulance filled with my team of Pokemon, Nintendo!!!)

Finally, by utilizing the Pokemon Bank app on our 3DS's, we can officially transfer Pokemon over from our DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ONLY Red, Blue and Yellow games. I think at this point, I've given up ever being able to get my team from my original Blue and Yellow games to new games. But, at least Platinum allowed me to get all sorts of early gen Pokemon (including legendaries), so I can't complain too much.

If you're a Pokemon fan yourself, which is your favorite game in the series? I have to say I enjoyed Platinum the most, simply because you could, essentially, catch them all. I enjoyed the wide variety of generations you could get and I loved the fact that I could get basically every legendary Pokemon ever. Whoo!

Who's excited for Sun and Moon!?

Living in Dystopia

If you're a reader and you read a lot of YA (young adult), you know dystopias are where it's at. It all sort of began with Harry Potter and has now expanded to the Hunger Games, the Maze Runner, Divergent and many other worlds that have yet to be moved onto the silver screen.

I read a lot of dystopian YA. I'm not going to lie--lately, I've been reading almost exclusively anything dystopian. I don't know why it's so intriguing to read about worlds similar to ours but completely different, but I'm obsessed and I know many other people are as well.

While the mainstream series are, for the most part, enjoyable, I thought I'd take a minute to recommend some lesser known dystopian series that are equally as fantastic. These are in no particular order, aside from the order of which I thought of them.

1. The Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman

I haven't actually completed this series yet, but I felt it needed to be listed because, first off, the main characters in the first book are from Ohio, and, second, the concept is super unique. The whole idea is that children can be sold off by their parents to be "unwound" or, essentially, taken apart piece by piece and given to someone like a transplant donor. The children don't get to make the decision for themselves, and this is all about kids (teens, really) trying desperately to escape their future of being unwound.

2. The Giver (The Quartet Series) by Lois Lowry

I know, this is considered to be more for "kids," but, as someone who loves YA with a passion, I would recommend this 10/10 for anyone who loves YA. This has a sort of unique concept, in that the world is trying to life on the safe side not even allowing people to see color any more. Life is entirely regulated, like many other dystopian books. You are not raised by your birth parents. You are raised by parents assigned to be the best set of folks for your success. If you're extremely lucky, you are eventually given a good job suited to who you are as a person and you do not get to say no. The government makes all of those decisions for you so you don't have to. The first three books are relatively short but the final book should really fall under the YA category. These are some of my favorites.

3. The Selection Series by Kiera Cass

I recommend this to anyone ever. I don't care who you are, this deserves a lot more glory than it's received. The best part? Sequels are still coming out! I feel like a lot of series have finished now, but this is still relatively new.

The idea is that the prince (or later, princess) that will eventually become king/queen needs help finding a partner so, much like other series, people are able to apply for this position. This does take a sort of Hunger Games feel in that the girls narrowed down to compete are essentially contestants in a competition. There is a competition feel but, in my opinion, this has more of a romance feel to it. The two main characters are easily in my top ten YA characters--they're likable, quirky and have an air of normalcy to them, so anyone can relate. That, for me, is the best part. There is a good amount of suspense throughout with the competition, which keeps the plot moving, and none of this stops in the other novels. Granted, I am a fast reader, but I read the first part of the series (the Selection, the Elite and the One) in just a couple days. I love this series a lot.

4. The Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano

Holy crap this book! How did I never hear of it before randomly finding it on the shelves of this library?! The premise is interesting and one of my favorites: boys die at 20, girls die at 18. You can live a little bit (maybe a month or so) past that time, but never all that long, even with the best medical help in the world. Women are being bought by rich men that were born before the age curses for their sons who do have the illness to become wives. It's not in a creepy way--just in a "be my best friend before we both die" sort of way, and the world has become desolate. Picture a world that looks entirely like a run down amusement park or like the wastelands shown in the Walking Dead, but with random amazingly brilliant mansions filled with delicious foods, holograms and where Hawaii is merely a fairy tale.

This series all centers on a girl who is kidnapped from her brother and sold to the son of a rich man to be one of his three wives. It's she and her other two wives' job to try and give him a child before they both die, as well as live out the rest of their years happily ever after. You can imagine she doesn't enjoy being kidnapped and tries to get back to her twin brother. There's excellent characters, a beautiful love story, plot twists that left me completely shocked all surrounded by the mystic and magical world she's living in. There isn't actual magic, but there are certainly futuristic items and concepts that would probably be considered magical in the world we live in.

5. The Dissonance Series by Erika O'Rourke

I'm going to be totally honest--I only read the first book and I have absolutely no idea how to properly explain this and why it's so amazing. Del is the main character and she's a Walker. No, not a zombie from Walking Dead. She walks between worlds--it's a trait certain families have where one can simply find a crack where a decision was made, go through and see a world where a different decision would have been made (an echo). She falls in love with a boy in one of these worlds that she knows in her world, but a different version of that boy. This is the story of how she continues to find that boy in every world, how she falls in love with him and how she fights desperately to keep both him (the him in her world--and the other worlds, too) and her world alive and in harmony with all the other echoes of the world.

If that isn't enough information for you, I recommend looking the series up yourself. I find it's so unique I'm not quite sure how to put it into words, but I've really enjoyed it thus far. I love O'Rourke's writing style and her characters are pretty interesting as well.

Have you read any of these? Or any others that are often forgotten? If so, comment below and let me know! I'm always looking for a new dystopia to fall in love with!

Get Your Coloring On

School is stressful. Relationships are stressful. Basically, life is stressful. Video games can help unwind some times and, personally, I love a good dystopian book or movie for relaxing, but there's a craze that's exploded this year that's just as good: coloring. Coloring between the lines is no longer for elementary kids--it's moved its way all the way up through teenagers to adulthood. Not gonna lie, some of these coloring books and sheets are super intense.

It's no longer about coloring Pooh to be gold with a red shirt, or making Pete the Cat blue with yellow eyes. These coloring pages are about completely forgetting real life while you sit down and color these small details in however your heart feels at that current moment. These allow you to mindless go through and be creative with pens, markers, pencils or even crayons.

The coolest part about this? You can print off pages online for free. There are so many resources and people designing these for anyone to use. The rest is all up to your imagination. Well and, frankly, even if you don't have an imagination to speak of, it's therapeutic to just mindlessly color in the empty spaces.

I personally enjoy these for times where I feel really anxious about something--especially travel. I'm getting ready to go on a trip now as I type this, and these have been perfect for letting go and escaping the world for 10 minutes.

I know a lot of you have finished your exams for the first half of the year. While I'm not too sure how strict teachers are today, when I was in school, we were allowed to bring work to do after we finished each test. For me personally, coloring something as intense as this would've been a good way to clear my head for the next test.

I'm not sure which brilliant human came up with the idea to make such intricate coloring pages, but they deserve 5 gold stars. Coloring and art has always been something I've enjoyed, but I can't draw decently at all, so coloring is really all I have.

Have you hopped on board this hype train? If so, what do you enjoy coloring with most? Pens? Pencils? Markers? I definitely prefer colored pencils, but I think markers and pens can create some awesome almost stained glass-like art.

Starting a Blog

This is something I feel I have an expertise on. Granted, my degree isn't in blogging and I'm not sure there is one on "writing casually about thing I enjoy talking about," but I've been blogging for a really long time so I think I know at least something about it.

The first thing you need to think about when considering starting a blog is a topic--or a broad subject. It could be something as simple as writing about your daily life, to beauty, to music, but you need a subject to try and gain followers. Of course, you can totally just write about whatever you want if you don't care at all about people reading and responding. I have found, though, to keep people reading and returning, having a category to write about specifically tends to work best.

Once you've decided on that, you have so many different places you can start one. Personally, 10/10 recommend Wordpress. Blogger isn't bad, and you can use Tumblr, but I think Wordpress is the easiest to work with and you can typically get a pretty nice and short URL to link people to opposed to other places. I'm super biased, though, because I've been using Wordpress for at least 8 years now I think. It's great.

Blogger is okay and the customization for its appearance is definitely similar to Wordpress, but I felt it was still more complicated. With Wordpress, you can basically design the graphics you want in it (or Google image search them if you want to live life on the edge with copyright infringement--which I do not recommend) and go to the customization area, upload them and bam.

Tumblr is roughly 10x more complicated. I honestly feel like, if you have zero knowledge on how to build and code a website from scratch (aka CSS and HTML), it's super complicated. That said, if you have knowledge of those two things, Tumblr is fantastic. I have one that I almost never update! (Seriously, I update maybe once a year if I remember.)

Once you've done that and you've decided where you want to start it, come up with a name--short and sweet. The shorter, the easier to remember the better. Remember, if you're looking for people to read it, you'll want it to be memorable. I had one for a while that was simply my nickname.me (.me is like a .com or .net) and it did pretty well. There's also famous people that have things like Zoella (Zoe+lla) and SprinkleOfGlitter, which is longer but still rolls of the tongue.

Then you're going to want to create your blog. Make sure the design isn't totally crazy colorful and easy on the eyes. Color is never a bad thing, but you want people to want to stay and not run away from the blinking lights and neon colors.

Write that first blog post--an intro. Who are you? If you don't want to use your real name, what nickname do you want people to call you? And don't choose something silly--you don't want to come off like a weirdo after all. Talk about what you're planning to blog about, what your goals are and say hi to those reading it. It may take a while to acquire readers but, once you do, you can connect with them through comments and replying to those comments and it's a great feeling to interact with people that enjoy what you're doing.

Finally, be sure to always have fun. If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong. Hobbies are all about fun!

Now, get out there and blog!~

Resolutions

It's 2016 and the start of a new year. Maybe it's just me, but 2015 flew by so quickly that I only remember a few bits and pieces from the year. Unfortunately for me, in a lot of ways, it was an extremely rough year--one of the hardest I've ever had, which makes me want 2016 to be the best! How am I starting that off? Resolutions. But not just random ones, because I'll never keep up with those. I've picked myself out a few that I know I can and will keep up with this year--ones that will make me a better and happier person.

I thought it may be a good idea to list out my main goals of 2016 in hopes of helping you create a good year for yourself  as well!

1. Sleep less, but sleep better.

This may sound a bit weird but I love sleep. I'm going to take a shot in the dark and guess that you do too, am I right? The issue with that is, when I have nowhere to go, I'll sleep in until I can't sleep any more and then I'll hang out in bed with my iPad on Netflix or CrunchyRoll. My goal is to go to bed at a decent time or at least try to and not sleep in past 10 on any day. If I can get myself on a decent sleep schedule, I'll feel less tired throughout the day and the more awake I am, the less grumpy I am!

2. Take my failures and turn them into learning experiences.

Being negative isn't good for anyone and can easily make you depressed. When you're depressed, you lose faith in yourself and in life, which makes continuing to push yourself and grow even more difficult. The best thing you can do is take those negatives and make them positives. I plan to start doing that by taking any failures I have and seeing them for what they really are: a way to learn and grow. Some times, you need to take a situation and look at it from a different angle, and that's what I plan to try and do.

3. Be able to run 3 miles.

This is definitely something I can accomplish and it's an extension of last year's goal to be able to run a mile. I find that taking a goal you've already passed and pushing yourself harder is another way to stay motivated. You already did it once? Why shouldn't you be able to do it multiple times and even better? My goal is to be able to run 3 miles by the end of the year and if I could push myself to run one mile in less than 6 months, I think I can get to 3 this year!

4. Keep pushing myself to go out and do things alone

Being alone is probably the hardest thing for a person to experience. It's hard to find things to do constantly and, at least for me, getting out and going places alone is a form of torture. I suffer from anxiety, which is something a lot of people experience, and mine stems from being alone. Last year, I went from not being able to go hardly anywhere by myself to being able to go to certain grocery stores, different shops and can officially run more important errands by myself. My goal of 2016 is to go even farther. I have my first vacation where I'll be traveling alone in just a month and I'm hoping that will open a lot of doors for me to continue going out there. Freaking out any time you're alone outside of your house or work makes life almost impossible some days, and, when your anxiety controls you, you become a not-so-great version of yourself. You always want to try and be the best version, so I plan to take more steps this year to continue to be a better Hannah.

5. Exercise and eat healthy

I know everyone has this goal and it's pretty much a staple in everyone's resolutions, but it's one that I do try and go for every year. To be honest, I may not exercise as much as I used to, but I do love to run and I enjoy dancing. I plan to try and do both of those more this year, which shouldn't be too hard. I recently graduated from college and have a few extra hours a week I'm going to dedicate to cleaning my life up (literally--I have a lot of things I need to organize) and working out. As far as eating goes, I generally eat more on the healthy side. I eat a lot of salad, chicken and tend to rarely go overboard on junk food. Don't get me wrong--I absolutely love chips. I'm especially fond of the brand they carry at Aldi's and could eat them all day, but I typically sort of feel when I should stop downing the entire bag and I do. As usual, I plan to try and cook more now that I have a bit more free time, as well as continue eating as I do with mostly chicken and rice. If you're looking to start a new diet, I highly recommend (and have been recommended myself by health nuts) chicken and rice. It's delicious, easy to make and quite good for you.

Let's make 2016 a good year together and cheer each other on with our goals for the year. The best way to continue with resolutions is by having lots of support. I'll be here to support you through yours--let's do this thing! :)

Superheroes Take 2016

2016 is the year of the superhero movies! Well, not technically, but I can't recall a year prior to 2016 where so many were coming out in theatres.

Deadpool

Set to release first on the 12th of February (just in time for Valentine's Day?), I'd say Deadpool is the most anticipated superhero movie of the year. His character is one anyone can appreciate--he is a hero that is constantly breaking the 4th wall in the comics, loves to talk, and is a total goofball. Of course, who would be better to play him than Ryan Reynolds, who is one of the goofiest guys in Hollywood right now.

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall the previous Superman movie doing too well, so I'm looking forward to a new adaptation of the character. Personally, I enjoyed Man of Steel and I look forward to Henry Cavill getting another movie with the character. He definitely embodied Superman for me. We also have the first (maybe only because, with these, who knows) Batman movie with Ben Affleck as Batman! This movie is sort of full of firsts, though, because we also have Fast and Furious's Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg (so excited for that!), Jason Mamoa as Aquaman (who's ready for his movie in 2018?) and last, but certainly not least, a new Flash, played by Ezra Miller. I'm quite anxious to see all these new characters on screen (or new actors as old characters) but a little nervous to see this Flash. I've grown rather attached to Grant Gustin in the CW's Flash. He nails the character for me, so this will be interesting! This movie is set to release a month after Deadpool on March 25, 2016.

Captain America: Civil War

Holy crap there are no words in the English language to express how excited I am for this one. I have loved every movie this Captain America has been in and I'm expecting to love this one just as much as Winter Soldier, if not even more. I think Chris Evans's portrayal of Captain America is absolutely on point for what these movies are calling for and his look is everything I could want in a Cap. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't this character's biggest fan before his first movie, but now I adore him. Prep yourselves for an epic storyline--one of my favorites in the comic universe! This releases May 6!

X-men: Apocalypse

This releases May 27th, so prep your wallets for May between this and Civil War! Okay, now, perhaps I'm more excited about this one than Civil War, simply because I grew up reading X-men comics my entire life so, by default, I have extremely high expectations for this one. This movie takes place after the previous, First Class sort of. It takes place after the events that occur in the 80's in First Class. Due to that, we will get some fabulous Jennifer Lawrence action, as well as some more of Michael Fassbender as Magneto and James McAvoy as my beloved Charles Xavier. I felt they did an excellent job casting those two as the mid-twenties versions of Magneto and Xavier, so I am quite pumped to see this story line play out.

Suicide Squad

I'm honestly going to completely bypass Suicide Squad because every preview I have seen thus far has continually disappointed me in casting, style, etc. I may not have read a lot of Suicide Squad comics, but I don't plan to see that one and I recommend you save your movie money to finish out the year because the two final movies for 2016 are going to be mind blowing, I'm fairly certain.

Gambit

It took everything in me to not title this in all capital letters because this is my favorite X-men character and one of my absolute favorites in comics altogether. I honestly have no idea why, but I don't remember loving anyone more than him ever for some reason.

This is set to release on October 7th and stars the always fabulous Channing Tatum as Gambit, the explosive card throwing mutant. That said, they've had some issues with the director so chances are it won't be coming out this year. I am still holding onto hope that I'll see my favorite X-men properly portrayed soon! There's really no back story to give--this will essentially be a movie about the character and is supposed to closely follow him in the comics. Yay for a canon movie!

Tatum is so fabulous.

Doctor Strange

As hard as it was for me to not write Gambit out in all capital letters, this is even more difficult. If you aren't living under a rock with current movie and tv releases, you'll know that Benedict Cumberbatch has blown up and we will be seeing an awful lot of him for quite a while. I mean, he's reported that the reason Sherlock (BBC TV show) has been so behind is because both he and his co-star Martin Freeman are too busy to film together with the other shows and movies they're filming.

Doctor Strange has been awaiting his film debut for a while, I feel, and this movie is bound to be epic with Cumberbatch portraying him. He looks just freaking like him in costume. Any ways, Doctor Strange is, well, basically magical just like Cumberbatch (sorry, I really love that guy). Quite similarly to his role as Sherlock, Strange is another narcissist and, after losing his hands in an accident ruining his career as a neurosurgeon, he ends up getting granted these magical powers. He's essentially going to be the gateway into the magical universe of Marvel.

Seriously guys, see this. If you can see no other superhero films this year, go and see this one. I promise you won't be disappointed. I will make no apologies for you finding yourself to be in Cumberbatch's fan club. Sorry not sorry! You can view the first preview trailer here and the movie is set to release on November 4th.

2016--the year of the superheroes, and I am not complaining one bit! Bring it on, 2016!