Chocolate Witch Hats

Happy Halloween, party people! For those of you who have kiddos and need a last-minute class treat; or the child-less who treat their coworkers to regular goodies, this one's for you. This is crazy-easy and pretty adorable.

The most time-intensive piece of this project is unwrapping the dark chocolate kisses, but after that, creation is a breeze...Just squeeze a decent amount of icing onto a cookie (I used the Keebler "thin mints"), press a chocolate kiss in the middle so some oozes out the sides. Then, depending on your icing finesse, draw a little bow onto each. Done!

Definition of Dumb

dumb (dum)
dumb·er, dumb·est adj.
dumbly adv.
dumbness n.

1. a) Lacking the power of speech; b) Often Offensive Incapable of using speech; mute.

2. Temporarily speechless, as with shock or fear: I was dumb with disbelief.

3. Unwilling to speak; taciturn.

4. Not expressed or articulated in sounds or words: dumb resentment.

5. Nautical Not self-propelling.

6. Conspicuously unintelligent; stupid: dumb officials; a dumb decision.

In ordinary spoken English, a sentence such as He is dumb will be interpreted to mean "He is stupid" rather than "He lacks the power of speech." "Lacking the power of speech" is, however, the original sense of the word, but it has been eclipsed by the meaning "stupid." For this change in meaning, it appears that the Germans are responsible. German has a similar and related word dumm that means "stupid," and over time, as a result of the waves of German immigrants to the United States, it has come to influence the meaning of English dumb. This is one of dozens of marks left by German on American English. Some words, like kindergarten, dachshund, and schnapps still have a German feel or are associated to some extent with Germany, but others, like bum, cookbook, fresh (in the meaning "impertinent"), rifle, and noodle have become so thoroughly Americanized their German origins may surprise some.
The above exerpt is from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

I always felt it was important to distinguish what I meant by "Dummies" especially while putting it in the same sentence as "Positivity".

I mean someone who doesn't speak up when they should; someone who doesn't care about their fellow man; someone who is close minded. Positivity is spread by speaking up about injustices; making a change for the better in yourself, your family, and your community; being open to other's beliefs and ideas...You get the idea.

Restaurant Etiquette

It should be law that before you're able to eat at a restaurant, you must work in one. A lot of folks knock servers and bartenders, but these are my people!

My mom supported our family and helped put my dad through art school by waiting tables. My sister started her own catering company and bartended several times a week to ensure her daughter never wanted for anything. Bartending afforded me the opportunity to make oodles of money without a degree, something that was not ideal, but necessary for a time.

Even though I no longer work in the industry, I hold a special affection for my tribe. These are people who work their tails off for rude, ungrateful strangers. Restaurant and Bar staff, both in the front and the back of the house work crazy-long hours for little return. Customers expect hand-over-feet service, but won't even look you in the eyes when they talk to you or say a simple "Please" or "Thank you".

Some will argue that servers and bartenders are entitled, expecting customers to tip them heavily regardless of the level of service they receive. While this may be true in one sense, the reality is that more often than not, servers get zero-dollar paychecks. Which means that that 2-dollar tip you left might as well have been nothing. I'm not implying it's your responsibility to pay their salary, but tipping is a part of going out to eat. You don't have to lift a finger to get food plopped in front of you, but you do need to consider tipping for that privilege.

For those of you who don't agree with me, try waiting tables for a month and then I'd love to hear you out...The late nights, the perverts and drunks, the swollen ankles and aching feet...the good ones deserve every penny of that 20% tip (and I've got the varicose veins to prove it!).

Easy(ish), Elegant Updo

I'm a big fan of playing with new hairstyles now that I have enough length to play with. I can troll around Pinterest for hours, and always find something just adorable, even though at 6am, I haven't had enough coffee to try anything as ambitious as hair.

A couple weeks ago, my ever-creative sister posted a hairstyle on her Facebook page that I just had to try, and it turned out darn cute, if I may say so myself. The best part was, it was elegantly messy and fairly easy for my untrained fingers.


I of course skipped a couple steps...I hate teasing my hair, and I didn't feel like I needed bulk since this was second-day hair I was working with, so I also skipped the dry shampoo. I did have to use about a thousand bobby pins, where she was lucky enough to only need a few. Added about a pound of hairspray, and ta-dah! Fancy hair for the office, just how I like it.

Bigots:The Biggest Dummies of All

Whenever I have the unfortunate opportunity to be around a racist, it reminds me that I need to be a better person. It's the only possible way I can attempt to combat the ignorance that spews forth...if I respond in anger, it does nothing besides add to the negativity that already surrounds us as a culture.

It would be worthless for me to make a promise to not participate in bigotry, or erase inflammatory remarks from my vocabulary, because they already are nonexistent! Like Martin Luther King said, we cannot erase hatred with hatred, so the only way to answer this type of behavior is to be a calmer, smarter, kinder person. (Deep breaths!)

When you feel yourself judging someone, stop. Instead of thinking only of ourselves, let's take a moment to do a kindness for another, even if it's just offering a smile. Pay a stranger a compliment, buy a coworker lunch, give someone a pat on the back. A lot of folks might say that these small acts of selflessness won't change anything, after all they are so insignificant! I choose to believe that if I can make someone's day a little better, even if for just a moment, why wouldn't I try? It's much better than the alternative: trade a frown with a smile, a handshake with a hug, a criticism with applause...Carry yourself with the light of a child, taking in all the wonder this world has to offer without regards to the consequence.

Rape is right next door

I did not realize that rape had become such an epidemic until recently.

I have always feared it, investing in mace and self-defense tactics that I have thankfully never had to use. I have experienced it, both personally and through those I hold dear. But I guess I thought that this was the result of terrible decisions that could have ultimately been avoided. I spent a lot of time feeling ashamed, as so many do; ultimately blaming myself for something that wasn't my fault. I didn't realize that this dismissal was in fact my active participation in rape culture and slut-shaming.

There has been a recent explosion of anti-rape legislation (such as California's "Yes means Yes") and overwhelming media support for education and calls for action by both men and women to help stop rape in every form. It's well overdue.

We teach women to be sexy, but not too sexy, because you're asking for "it" if you rock cleavage and celebrate your body in a way that could set him (whoever "him" is) off. We tell girls to play hard to get, enforcing the culture that "No might mean Yes". We tell them that if he takes you out to dinner, don't order something expensive unless you're going to put out. (I'm sorry, a steak is not a ticket to get into my pants!)

It's one of the many things that you don't give a second thought to, but these lessons have been taught and held as truth for far too long! We let girls believe that once they get to a certain point in their relationship, they must engage in sex. Or, if they engage sexually to a certain point with a guy and then want to stop, that it's not fair to the guy. Blue balls is not going to destroy his life the way rape could destroy hers.

Surprisingly, it's even in the comedies we watch with our families. On an old episode of 'Modern Family', Claire was stuffing a turkey and the boys in the show were making jokes: "At least buy me dinner first!", one of them quipped. Yeah, it's a turkey. But the message is clear: rape is something to be joked about. And this is what's wrong.

We put the onus on the victim to avoid rape, but when are we teaching people that forcing anything unwanted or unsolicited, whether it's a kiss or more, is NEVER okay?

100

Although I did slack there at the end on posting all my #100HappyDays pictures to Facebook and Instagram, I just finished uploading the remainder of my final days pics on my blog. I remember thinking in the beginning how easy it would be to take a moment each day for one hundred days straight and notice what makes me happy. I knew I had happy moments often, but as I went through this project, I wanted to take a beat and take note of the moments that made my heart full and my soul light. You know those moments when you just pause and say, "Wow, that is wonderful."

It was hard to differentiate at first. I found myself a little stressed during the first month, trying every day to remember to capture that one happy moment. When I didn't have a picture by mid-day, I would think, "Is this what the skeptics were talking about?" "Why is this so hard?"

As time went on, the days flew by, I kept snapping my happy pics; and all of a sudden, it wasn't a matter of trying to pick out the happy moment, it just became easier to notice. I felt more open to the beautiful things around me. And because I knew I had to get a picture at some point, it didn't seem a waste of time to pause and take notice. After a time, it wasn't about if I could get a picture, it was when, and which happy moment I would choose. I thought I was appreciative before, but actively taking the time to document each happy moment over the past few months has made me realize what is most important to me, and what makes me happiest...

...it's food.

Check out the 100 Happy Days Foundation's website, and start your own journey!

The Best Way to Travel

The next time you're on a drive, whether it be a trip to the store or to the office, be a creeper for a minute and take a peek into that car next to you. Is the driver a Frowny Face? Furrowed brow, hands firmly at ten and two, perhaps angrily shaking their fist at someone who did them wrong? Basically, do they look miserable?

The majority of the time the answer will be (sadly) yes. Driving is not my most favorite activity, I don't enjoy being surrounded by idiots driving deathtraps for hours each day, but it's something that I must do on a daily basis. This gives me a lot of time to either be angry or be better.

You know what makes your drive a thousand times better? Forgetting for a moment about all the stress in your life and blasting some P!nk. Singing/Screaming along makes it even better, and if you really want to relieve some stress, why not do some steering wheel drums?

Yes, I am that crazy person driving next to you, head bopping and scream-singing aloud. And you know what? I don't care. I don't care if I look like an idiot, I don't care if you secretly videotape me and blast it all over the Internet, I don't care if you laugh at me and tell your friends about it and then they laugh at me later. When I see traffic piling up in front of me in the morning, and I start to feel my blood pressure rise, acting like a car rockstar always makes it a thousand times better.

After all, you have the entire rest of the day to act like an adult!