DIY Starbucks

When it comes to summer, I'm the queen of getting iced tea combinations from Starbucks; my wallet protests.

Last summer I decided to make my own "Tazo passion iced tea lemonade" and it was delicious... until my sister drank the whole pitcher. This summer, I've picked up the habit again, but with almost every tea in the cupboard.

I love drinking tea, but it gets difficult in the summer because there's only so much heat my body can really handle. Iced teas have become my holy grail drink. There are a ton of benefits especially if you're trying to lose weight.

Everyone knows the benefits of teas, especially green tea...

• Reduces risk of cancer
• Prevents heart disease and stroke by helping to lower cholesterol (it can even speed up your recovery after a heart attack)
• Contains antioxidants that fights aging
• Burns fat and boosts metabolism
• Reduces the risk of arthritis
• Promotes healthy bones
• Improves ratio of good and bad cholesterol
• Prevents obesity by stopping the movement of glucose in fat cells (healthy eating and exercise is required to completely prevent obesity)
• Improves lipid and glucose metabolism, prevents sharp increases in blood sugar level and balances your metabolism rate
• Boosts your memory and decreases the likelihood of developing Alzheimers or Parkinson's
• Helps prevent liver failure and high blood pressure
• Kills bacteria that can cause food poisoning
• Boosts your immune system
• Prevents and treats colds and flus
• Reduces the severity of asthma
• Relieves stress, anxiety, and allergies

More information on the benefits of green tea can be found here.

Also, drinking tea is a great way of keeping your body hydrated. If you're like me, water gets a little bland after the second glass and a lemon wedge or tea can really help keep things interesting. It's way better than Crystal Light which contains aspartame which is a carcinogen. 

Iced tea has way less sugar than juice and can help kill some cravings if you're trying to eat clean. Next month is June, and I know a lot of people are trying to tone up and drop a few pounds.

If you're looking to make your own cool tasty tea, here's the super easy way how.

(1) Pick a tea

If you're looking to mimic your favourite Starbucks iced tea, they use Tazo brand tea and you can usually purchase a box from Starbucks, Wal-Mart, or your local grocery store. Or you can try your favourite hot tea. 

I find there are some teas that I love hot and hate iced and vice versa, so you may have to try a couple before you find one that you really love. My favourite green tea is from Teaopia, called cactus fig, and it isn't my favourite hot, but I absolutely love it cold. My favourite hot tea is vanilla roobios and I hate it iced. It's a process of trial and error.

(2) Brew the tea

Pretend you're brewing tea like usual. Add hot water and dunk the tea around for two minutes or so. Add less water than you usually would. Between half to three quarters of a mug should suffice.

The tea is going to be really strong when you brew it because there is such little water. But that's because it will be diluted once you ice it.

If your tea is loose, use an infuser or a tea maker that you can get from DAVID's TEA, Teavana, or any other specialty tea store. If you do use a tea maker, keep in mind to not fill it completely.

(3) Pour over ice

Remove the tea bag from the mug and pour your tea into a glass full of ice. The ice will melt really quickly and you may have to stop pouring for a little to wait for the ice to melt and make room. You can then choose whether you want your tea infamously "shaken not stirred" or not. Personally, I like to pretend I'm James Bond and shake it up. A lidded cup is obviously recommended for this, but you can also place a plate overtop and work it out. Add a lemon wedge if you'd like to add more taste, and you're done!

If you want to turn your iced tea into an iced tea lemonade, add lemonade. Super easy, and cheap!

Hope this inspires you guys to keep cool this summer. I know making iced tea sounded really daunting to me until I finally tried it. It really takes five minutes and tastes great. Not to mention that the cost of each tea box is comparable to the price of the Starbucks drink. And I don't have to go out and get dressed to drink my favourite iced teas.

Also, I kindly ask you to ignore my dysfunctional chipped black nails in that last picture.

If you want more ways to spice up - or rather, sweeten up - your water, try adding cucumbers, raspberries, strawberries, lemons, limes, or any of your other favourite fruits to infuse your water with your favourite flavours. 

Pet Peeve #3: Playoffs

Sometimes I'm really embarrassed to call myself a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.

Not because of the team, obviously we're doing something right if we've made the playoffs.

But for those of you running around on social media or otherwise claiming that "THIS IS OUR YEAR! WE'RE GOING TO WIN THE CUP!" Please stop. Because no, we aren't.

You cannot go from being the laughing stock of the NHL one season to the best in the league the next season. It is not possible. Leafs fans have a reputation of having too much faith in our boys in blue and I lose respect for Leafs fans who think like that.

I'm not being a pessimist, I'm being realistic. Most Leafs fans are far too optimistic.

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” - William Arthur Ward 

We're facing the Bruins. I do not under any circumstances expect the Leafs to beat the Bruins. It would be nice if we did, and I would be so excited to make the second round, but I don't want to watch the Leafs getting pummelled every game. It's embarrassing and we're better than that.

Changes and improvements need to be made before the Leafs should even think about the Stanley Cup (i.e. who is leading in ice time...) but making the playoffs is definitely commendable and we should be proud of our team and the progress they have made.

Every hockey fan has certain problems with other hockey fans too though. I have serious issues with two types of fans, one of which, I'm sure everyone will agree with; (1) bandwagoners and what I like to call (2) the archival fan.

Obviously almost every other hockey fan has a grudge against most Blackhawk fans simply because they're Blackhawks fans and obviously take loads of risks in the casinos as well...

I have more respect for people who are fans of teams like the Avs or the Panthers because they are loyal to their teams and understand the league. Watching your team grow and improve is part of the fun of hockey (trust me, I know, I'm a Leafs fan) and the competitive thrill associated with the sport diminishes as soon as your team runs defeated for the majority of the season.

The second kind of fan that really irritates me is the "archival fan" who values the history of hockey over the current events; sometimes they are stuck in the past too.

"Yeah, the Leafs made the playoffs, but they haven't for the past nine years."

Okay, yeah thanks for the history lesson, but it's 2013 and we're in the playoffs just like your team, so obviously we're exhibiting some sort of high calibre hockey. I can go on about how many Stanley Cups we've won in the past (unless you're a Habs fan, which is another matter) in comparison to your "superior" team. But I usually get a response that sounds like "Yeah well that's years ago."

So does that make nine years ago pretty recent? If you want to start waving facts about hockey history and statistics in my face as a way of belittling my team, go for it. We can do it all day. But if that's the only chirp you have against my team, it's unoriginal and I've heard it before.

I'm not trying to say my team is better than yours, and I think it's pretty rude to try to take away my right to be excited about my team's accomplishment. I do not understand why you need to be bitter about the Leafs' improvement if you don't feel threatened by them and they're such a piece of crap team who "hasn't made the playoffs in nine years."

Unless I'm bluntly putting down your team, I don't see why you should attack mine especially when they're participating in the playoffs.

I guess I'm just trying to say that I'm sick of being stereotyped as an overconfident Leafs fan and being attacked for it.

Just enjoy the damn hockey guys. It's literally a game.

Hopefully tomorrow Reimer doesn't get shot at again like it's hunting season...

Also, I thoroughly enjoy this completely related Tumblr

Bucket List

First year is such a blur.

They weren't kidding when they said that these years would fly by. It feels like it was yesterday I was roaming the school aimlessly, trying to find Tim Hortons which was literally right behind me. It was terrifying going to university as a commuter because the people in your classes have all been living together for a while now and you just feel really lonely for a little bit.

The point is, first year is about making friends that you'll spend the next four years and potentially the rest of your life with. I do think it's incredibly important to get to know yourself during these years as well. I don't mean for this to come off as super self-righteous or anything, but I think that the relationship that we should value the most should be the one with ourselves. You won't have to put up with the stuff your stupid ex boyfriend did five years from now; you can dump him.

Try dumping yourself.

Yeah, not that easy.

You shouldn't base who you are around a relationship or any materialistic item. You should hold true to your values and morals no matter what. If you aren't bettering yourself, you're wasting a day. We should all try working towards self-actualization because there's nothing better than the best you.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” - Dr. Seuss

So why not be the most you that you can... you?

Before this turns into a pretentious self-help article, I'm going to share some things I'd like to accomplish within the next year. They say writing things down makes you more likely to do things, so here we go. Plus, if I come back a year from now with nothing done, y'all are gonna judge me. I don't take failure very well...

1. Start saving for a car. Public transit is so time consuming.
2. Work out and eat better! Seriously, I live at home... this shouldn't be as much of an issue.
3. Read books that I have been meaning to read since summer 2012
4. Volunteer more. And if anyone would like to join me, please feel free.
5. Find a job I love, even if it's in the retail sector.
6. Watch more hockey games with friends. This sounds so dumb but it's one of my absolute favourite things to do with my time.
7. Cook more meals at home. I guess this goes hand in hand with working out and eating better, but honestly, I can only live off of macaroni and cheese for so long.
8. Watch TV shows. I'm sick of feeling left out when people talk about their favourite TV shows that I don't watch. All I follow right now is Bates Motel and Teen Mom 2... I want to catch up on The Following and Sons of Anarchy. If anyone has any suggestions, comment please!
9. Join a varsity team. Considering I lack any athletic ability, it will probably be cheerleading or the dance team. Either way, I want to get involved with the athletics at my school.
10. Become involved in the field I want to pursue. I'm three years away from graduation, but I'd still like to start working in the media field, even if it's volunteering or an internship.
11. Spend time with the people I love. Because as much as I want to focus on myself, I wouldn't be where I am without the people who love and support me.
12. Do the readings. Even if it's for one class, I'd like to do the readings. Just once.
13. Stop drinking coffee and drink more water. I only drink it on occasion, but it's not good for you, and I'd like to cut it out of my diet completely. In terms of drinking water, it's really so good for you (and you feel better too), and I find adding lemon to it helps with cravings.
14. Go to Church. I am Roman Catholic, and I don't attend Church very often at all. It may not make sense to others, but I would like to start going to Church more frequently.
15. Write. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I write a blog, what more do I need? Writing poems used to be one of my favourite pastimes, and I'd love to take that up again.

And maybe I'll get a fish or something.

Anyway, there's that.

Wrote this jamming to this lovely 8track. If you're still cramming for exams, you might enjoy this playlist as well. It's uplifting and easy to dance to. What's not to love?

Here's to an amazing summer ladies and gents. Always set goals for yourself, even if it's only to wake up when your alarm goes off tomorrow morning.

Maybe I'll wear sweats less by next year. And be a supermodel instead. Probably not. A girl can dream.

Student Life

As a post-secondary student, you have to endure certain things, like exams and final projects.

Everyone knows that final exams make you weirder than you already are. Literally, as if you aren't weird enough already as a student...

No one questions your odd diet which is largely based off of Ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese (bonus points if it's of a microwavable variety), peanut butter/nutella, cookies, chips, and other snack-like foods that require little to no preparation.

The fact that you can sleep until the middle of the day is completely acceptable and your enthusiasm for naps is completely understandable.

Any odd drinking habits you may possess are socially acceptable because you have to suffer the whips and scorns of post-secondary life.

Your coffee consumption probably rivals that of a 40-something businessman.

Sweatpants are no longer a comfortable alternative but a semester-long commitment.

My hairdresser even commented on the fact that my hair completely lacks style. When she asked if I wanted a side bang, I responded "I can't deal with that, it would be in my face and I love my bun too much." She then responded by acknowledging the fact that many of her clients who are students love their buns too, and if they have bangs, they end up cutting them themselves when they start to grow out because they get in their face. I said it's best that I don't lie to myself.

I had always heard in high school that guys like college/university girls because they wear less make up. It's not that they suddenly become more confident in their appearance and don't feel a need for it... it's because they want that extra ten minutes of sleep.

Once final exams roll around, you're up literally all night studying (or on Facebook, whichever) and stressing over the heavily weighted test you're going to write in the next 96-12 hours, depending on how badly you procrastinate.

Losing your yellow highlighter is overwhelmingly upsetting and even though it may appear to be hopeless around 2:00 a.m., you keep going for at least another hour so you can say you put in some effort.

The most stressful part about exams, personally, is talking to your friends before the exam and they start putting all their knowledge on blast and you don't remember reading any of it anywhere. Then you begin to panic even more, and once you get the exam you can then judge if all the stress and energy drinks were warranted or not.

The only thing less frustrating than not studying enough for an exam, is studying too much. You end up looking back on the experience of all the stressful studying and the only thought you can muster is "I could have been sleeping..."

You missed your favourite TV shows, the big hockey game, your friend's birthday, a changing season, and the potential start of WWIII because of your exams that may or may not be your impending doom.

Although being a dysfunctional wreck is somewhat acceptable during your enrolment, summer break provides the opportunity for students to pretend/try to be normal human beings.

Except you're still stressed from all the tuition and student debt that you owe, and will owe in the future as a new semester approaches. In order to compensate, you get a job (maybe two) and then you work your butt off all summer to pay for the ability to eat crappy food, live in the same sweatpants for weeks at a time, and suffer sleep deprivation all while earning your degree/diploma that "promises" hope for the future when you're no longer employed at a minimum wage job.

They told you all throughout high school that it would be rough, and this is exactly what they meant.

In this stressful time I want to wish everyone luck on their exams and final projects, and I also want to remind you that although your post-secondary institution may be some awkward combination of heaven and hell, you're incredibly fortunate to have the ability to pursue higher education... even though it may not always feel like it.

Country Music

I usually get one of two reactions when I say that I like country music.

(1) Oh my gosh! So do I! Have you heard... etc.

(2) Ew, why?

It's usually the latter.

Sometimes people express a slight interest, but otherwise, I usually get a look of disgust and confusion.

I really am not picky with music. My iTunes is a little frightening when it changes from The Amity Affliction to Justin Timberlake to Pink Floyd and then Swedish House Mafia, and Azealia Banks. This isn't to say that I like all genres equally, I don't believe anyone does. But I am open to all sorts of music and I dabble in as many genres as I can.

I predominantly like country music however, and although I haven't listened to it for a very long time, I seriously enjoy it. Listening to country music was a bit of a taboo thing in my house, especially with my step-dad blasting twangy old country in his car... it was a bit of a turn off for me.

I dated a guy for the better part of a year who liked country music and I was closed minded towards it. He had this issue with me touching the radio so I had to listen to it whenever we were in the car. There were three songs I remember actually enjoying and recognizing after a little bit. They were Let It Rain by David Nail, Over You by Miranda Lambert, and Carried Away by Chad Brownlee. I really don't know why, but those were the ones.

Later on, him and I switched iPods for a bit to try to give each others' music a chance and a few songs started to grow on me. I definitely became more open to country music but I wasn't really a fan yet.

Here I am now, with Florida Georgia Line on repeat and cranking Eli Young Band in the car. I also saw Eric Church earlier this year.

Obviously if you don't like country music, you have no idea who any of these people are... but you should.

There are tons of reasons to like country music... It's an excuse to wear plaid, and who isn't your friend at a country bar? Seriously, country music is all about the love. You won't find anything with the lyrics "... your boyfriend is a douchebag, and everybody knows..." (side note: I love that song, don't hate), the closest thing to that would probably be "... he's no good, girl, no good for you... " Even still, it's about having your girl's back and wanting better for her, not simply bashing the guy.

A lot of country music is driven by emotion and/or usually aims for happiness and a laid back life with a truck and a beer.

If I had to give anyone who wanted to give country a chance some songs to try to persuade them, this would be the top ten...

(1) Tattoos On This Town - Jason Aldean
(2) Springsteen - Eric Church
(3) Even If It Breaks Your Heart - Eli Young Band
(4) Sure Be Cool If You Did - Blake Shelton
(5) Get Your Shine On - Florida Georgia Line
(6) Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye - Luke Bryan
(7) Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show
(8) Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band
(9) Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not - Thompson Square
(10) Remind Me - Brad Paisley ft. Carrie Underwood

and then this just because I love it.

And no, I do not consider Taylor Swift country. Speak Now was kind of pushing it, but Red is most definitely not.

If you search country music on YouTube you'll find other great playlists, those are just ten of my favourite country songs; some of which are actually my original favourites from when I first started listening to it.

Anyway, this is appropriate to end off with...

Confessions of a Complicated Starbucks Order

I wish I could say that I have a simple Starbucks order, but everyone's is a little bit particular. Mine, however, is so complex, that if I don't tell the barista to mark the cup first, I'll have to repeat myself.

I feel like a pretentious jerk whenever I order, and they always look at me inquisitively until I go off on a brief tangent describing a combination of milk and syrup.

"Extra hot no foam two pump sugar free hazelnut soy steamer"

I really wish I were kidding.

Every word in that order is important. If you miss one, I probably won't drink it. It makes me feel really high maintenance and ridiculous, but it's what I like to drink, embarrassingly enough. It really isn't mumbo jumbo I'm saying to sound like some sort of coffee connoisseur who is superior to every other hipster on the street.

In normal English, all I want is really hot flavoured soy milk. Seriously.

I don't like to drink coffee unless I'm having a rough morning, but I love hot drinks in the winter. Especially when it's as tasty as Starbucks.

A question that I get a lot is "How did you find out that you like that?"

Well, my mom likes to drink vanilla steamers. It's simply warm vanilla milk. Sounds pretty cozy, right?

One day I ordered one for my mom, but they really messed it up and made a hazelnut soy steamer instead of a 2% vanilla steamer. Wrong milk, and wrong flavour syrup. Mistakes happen.

She hated the hazelnut steamer and I loved it, so the next time I went I ordered it again, except with  fewer pumps since I like the taste of soy milk and didn't want the hazelnut to be as dominant. I also opted for sugar free hazelnut syrup instead since soy milk already has a lot of sugar in it and I don't need to be making that worse. They taste the same anyway, may as well cut out what you can.

Hence, two pump sugar free hazelnut soy steamer.

I ask for it to be "extra hot" because I find it gets too cold too quickly and I can't drink it. I also hate the foam at the top.

Extra hot no foam.

When you break it down, it all makes sense and is pretty reasonable I think. Maybe I'm just trying to convince myself of that.

It's yummy and helps me fill me up, especially if I'm on the go. A lot of people I know don't like it, but they don't have to drink it. And it isn't like Starbucks doesn't have options.

I hope one day we can all live in a world where people aren't judged by what they order at Starbucks.

I'd like to end this post off with the fact that I really miss pumpkin spice lattes. That's all.

Pet Peeve #2: School Attire

This is a rant in it's purest form.

Seriously, maybe I'm just a bum and I hate dressing nicely for school, but there's something about dressing up for school that I really don't understand.

Personally, I default to sweats or yoga pants in the morning when I'm getting ready for school. But then I see girls who look like they were just blasted out of Pretty Little Liars, and I just cannot help but wonder if they are actually trying to make me feel badly about rocking my Roots sweat pants on a regular basis...

Especially when I was in high school, girls who came to school decked out in their nicest jeans and chiffon shirts really confused me. What I found most mind boggling was when they wore heels. (Why would you do that to yourself?)

My high school required students to wear a uniform which wasn't the most comfortable outfit in the world, and so on the few days during the school year when we were permitted to wear our own clothes, I usually opted for something comfier. Maybe jeans if I felt really fancy for whatever reason.

I'm not against dressing nicely, I just struggle to understand the logic behind dressing up for one day when you're only going to see the same people you see every day. There's no one to impress and they'll see you on your bad day later that month, so why try so hard?

You're at school to learn and I find it pretty hard to concentrate if I'm being constrained by my leather jacket and my feet kill from the three inch boots I decided to wear that day.

Once I got to university, there were still people who wanted to look fierce every time they came to class. I found that even more confusing considering you're only at school for maybe three hours to sit in your lecture, and then go home.

If I had it my way, I would roll out of bed, go to class, and go back to bed. But that's not how it works so I'd like to be presentable.

There is a happy medium between homeless and a Kardashian, and I feel like we should all try to put ourselves somewhere in the middle.

I don't want to go to school and feel like I just lost Project Runway when picking out my outfit that morning. In no way am I saying you shouldn't take pride in your appearance, I'm just saying some people need to chill. You don't need to be dressed to the nines like you're ready for the bar.

Some people do have presentations, and I understand you may look nicer on a certain day because of that. However, on other days, if I feel uncomfortable just by looking at you, you're doing it wrong.

Maybe I don't take enough pride in my appearance, or maybe I'm just lazy, probably the latter. I just think it's okay to chill out for school. Save your fancy swag for a night out or something, rock sweats like it's your day job, because if you're a student like I am, then it probably is.

The only potential problem would be casual Fridays...