Last Minute Things to Buy Mom on Mother's Day

You checked your schedule this hectic finals week just to realize that you completely forgot that Mother's Day is coming THIS Sunday. Don't worry. It's not your fault those essays, charts, and equations have addled your brains. Chances are, you probably forgot that that day was my birthday, too. It's okay, because I didn't tell you guys about that until right now. 

Anyway! If you weren't already stressed out enough about finishing up your last week of this semester, you're probably freaking out about what on earth you're gonna get Mom to appreciate this Sunday. Don't worry though! If you've got a little brainpower left, a bit of cash or two-day shipping and a card handy, or maybe even some raw materials laying around your apartment or dorm, we've got you covered.

For the Traditional Floral Moms:

• Valkerie suggests shopping with ProFlowers.com for some gorgeous blooms that your Mom will adore! They're having sales all week, and they can get your order out in a flash! You can even personalize a little card to go with it when it's delivered!
• If you're feeling a little strapped for cash, you can always run to your local supermarket florist. They sell some lovely blooms for last minute shoppers.
• Want to go even cheaper? You'd be amazed what sort of beautiful wildflowers grow around here. You could make it into a Saturday exploration project.
• If your mom loves to grow plants, you may consider getting her a lovely hanging plant that she can care for from a local Nursery or project store such as Lowes. Valkerie's ProTip: If your mom loves plants but kills every green she looks at (or maybe just has a little trouble and that's all), you may consider getting her succulents because they are hard to kill. Who likes watering plants, anyway?
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She may even want some new gardening tools for her garden! Keep an ear out for that sort of thing because gardener moms love new gardening gear

For the Moms Who Love Sweet Sweet Deliciousness:

• If you watch TV, you've probably heard of Shari's Berries. This is the food equivalent of ProFlowers with strawberries that you can have topped with a variety of delectable toppings and they have a quick delivery schedule! Go check them out. They also have deals that run pretty often.
• If your mom kind of likes flowers but prefers things she can consume, you might be interested in looking at an Edible Arrangement. They have lots of fruits and chocolates to add to it. Just be aware that this runs into the realm of more expensive. If you've been saving up, this might be the one for you!
• If you live in the Tyler Area, or you'll still be around a few more days before you scram back to your hometown for a little bit to chill with your family, consider picking up some Ganache Cupcakes! This place is one of my most favorite places because they offer at least 10 different kinds of cupcakes a day, so there's sure to be one for your mom. They even sell Gluten Free and Sugar Free varieties!
• Chances are, your family is probably already looking into an awesome Mother's day meal out, but you can also be the hero and take Mom out yourself! If you have a little bit saved up and a place that's special to you both, consider pampering her!
• If you're a little strapped for cash but are handy in the kitchen, you could wake Mom up with breakfast in bed! This might require money for raw ingredients (put that expired milk down!), but it'll likely end up cheaper and feel more special.

For the Moms who you're really not sure about what they want or what they like, they just tell you to pay your bills and do your laundry and you try, YOU REALLY REALLY TRY. What about the Moms who are allergic to most flowers and you don't know flower species well enough to know if they are going to make your Mom break out in hives? What if your mom hasn't eaten sweets in 10 years and doesn't want to start now? What then, young grasshopper? What then?

Well, we have some suggestions for you:

• Dr. WHO T-shirts.
• A bouquet of cats. They're not real cats, so they are hypoallergenic. 
• A photo collage of all the embarrassing photos you have taken together! You can hand-craft it. It will be so DIY she will surely love it. 
• Make a cute handmade coupon book for her. Put in that you'll give her a foot massage, admit she's right, give her one whole day without eye rolls, even one that says you'll agree with everything she says. The possibilities are endless. 
• Make her a personalized coffee mug. Get creative!
• Get her a Yankee Bacon Candle! Mom's love bacon candles! 
• Also, if she likes crepes, make sure she will never have to go to a restaurant to get it again! 
• Write her a story! Because you haven't had enough essays due in the past two weeks. 

So you're set, right?! You can do this. And PLEASE, clean out your car before you go to visit. This Mother's Day is going to be grand! 

Not recommended. 

UT Tyler Celebrates Holi!

While most everyone was celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and pinching each other for not wearing green, there was an entirely different celebration taking place Monday! This colorful Indian holiday is known as the Holi, a celebration of the end of winter, love and unity, and the triumph of good over evil. It is celebrated by tossing vibrant paint powder all over each other, dancing to special Holi music, and eating traditional food. On March 17, 2014, The University of Texas at Tyler celebrated had their first annual campus Holi festival on the patio by the Met!

From India, with Love  

March Madness at UT Tyler!

So this is the end of sweater weather! As of March 22, 2014, it will be the first of spring. With Spring Break a mere few weeks away (it starts on March 8!) and the weather warming up, I think it is safe to say that the cold weather is a thing of the past. Long live the days of rolling the windows down and cruising down the highway to your favorite jams on the radio! Okay, maybe that is just me.

Let's just take a deep breath and say it with me!

Happy Single's Awareness Day! (For Real!)

You see it everywhere. The hand holding, red roses and pink carnations, ‘just girly things’ referencing The Notebook: Valentine’s Day is about as inescapable as Justin Bieber’s fate as being Lindsay Lohan’s roommate in rehab. Too soon?

You tell them, Christina!

Festivus For The Rest Of Us

   Have you ever heard of Festivus? Before yesterday I had never heard of Festivus and so I did some "research" (ie: I looked it up via Google). To my genuine shock I found where it comes from. Was it an old, ancient festival that had a revival in American/world practice? Was it a new, hippie/hipster holiday that is trending on Twitter?

No Fear Holiday Shopping

This is pretty much how I would feel if I
had to go Christmas Shopping on my own

It is the time of year again where we all begin to look for presents for our relatives and friends to give to them for Christmas! Shopping is easier for some than others; I know that I am terrible at shopping.  Fortunately, I have a loving fiancé who does it for me.  I also have good fortune enough that she just tells me a couple of things to buy for her and I buy from that list.  Some do not have this luxury, however, so I have done some research and have compiled some tips to utilize while you embark on this year’s Christmas shopping adventure!  

The Broke College Student's Guide to Inexpensive Fun Over the Holidays

With holidays approaching and the end of the semester so close we can almost taste it (I imagine it tasting like bacon. Yummy bacon), everyone is making plans for what they want for Christmas or how they want to spend their break. However, this time of the year can leave a student financially drained and exhausted. So what are we students to do? While the idea of sleeping for a few days sounds totally appealing after finals, the inevitable boredom begins to set in.

Bacon is always there for you

October Noms: Random Holiday Calender at UT Tyler

This is me and October!

Hey guys! It’s that time again! I’m back with my month segment, Random Holiday Calender. This month, we’re in for the quintessential pumpkin days, with all of the delicious sweets and spooks that come with Halloween! Who doesn’t love the cooling air, the harvest moons, and the new fashion statements that come with the first full month of autumn? Okay, okay. Not everyone shares the enthusiasm, I understand.

This could be you...?

Maybe you don’t like spooks and sweets for some reason. Maybe the coming cold weather makes you feel  like a hibernating bear. You know what? That’s okay! There’s 30 more holidays to celebrate this October to keep you joyful!

September Tomfoolery: Random Holiday Calender

Hey everybody, it’s nice to talk to you guys again! It’s been quite a while since I’ve been in touch because I’ve been doing the behind-the-scenes work on this blog here at The University of Texas at Tyler and avoiding writing like the plague since the massive writing explosion I had back in May. That involved working three blogs and having two or three essays each week for a little over a month… Yeah. It’s a tiring business.

BUT HEY! I’m here to start back up with the Random Holiday Calendar (Yes, I’m naming it now) which started back in February, for the month of September. So if Labor Day, Yom Kippur, or Sukkot celebrations just aren’t cutting it, don’t panic. September has lots of random tomfoolery to celebrate!

When Regular February Holidays Just Won’t Do

February is full of fun holidays that people love to celebrate around the United states and even around the world! What with Groundhog Day, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Valentines day, President’s day, even Purim, there are tons of things to celebrate!  

But what happens if you don’t like those February holidays and they give you the blues? Maybe you don’t have anyone to feast and make cool paper lanterns with, or you’re one of those “Forever alone” revelers on Valentines Day who’d rather not be reminded of your dateless existence thus far. Maybe giant parties in the Louisiana streets are a little too wild for you.

Whatever the thing might be that is stopping you from having something to celebrate this second month of the year, don’t give up! What better way to bring together college friends and roommates than bonding time over random days most people don’t know about? Grab a few friends or celebrate in solitude with some of these random and obscure holidays and observances!

Want a monthly observance to remind yourself of every day? Here’s a few in February:

• AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month
• American Heart Month
• Dog Training Education Month
• Exotic Vegetables and Star Fruit Month
• International Boost Self-Esteem Month
• Library Lovers Month
• National Care About Your Indoor Air Month
• National Mend A Broken Heart Month
• Pull Your Sofa Off The Wall Month
• Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month

Not your thing? How about some daily fun instead:

• Feb 18: Battery Day
• Feb 19: Single Tasking Day
• Feb 20: World Day for Social Justice:
• Feb 21: International Mother Language Day
• Feb 22: World Thinking Day:
• Feb 23: International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day
• Feb 24: Academy Awards Night
• Feb 26: For Pete's Sake Day
• Feb 27: Inconvenience Yourself Day
• Feb 28: National Tooth Fairy Day

Whatever you celebrate this month, make it fun and worthwhile for you and the people you celebrate with.

P.S.: I didn’t make any of these up. If you would like to see more random holidays for February or the rest of the year, Click here, or Here!

Global Holidays: Ssssnakes are in Season This Chinese New Year

Most people have heard of the Chinese Zodiac calendar that associates you with an animal, depending on what year you were born. For example, because I was born after the Chinese new year date in 1993, I am a rooster. Cock-a-doodle-doooo!!  However, most people don’t know much about the holiday behind the horoscope or what it means. I’m here to introduce you, dear readers, to the basics of this interesting holiday and where it came from.

Chinese New Year is a period of several days that used to be considered the first days of the year according to the ancient lunar-solar calendar that the Chinese were accustomed to before the world adopted the standard calendar that we have today, and it always falls between Janurary 21 and February 21 on the first new moon. This year it falls on Sunday, February 10, 2013.

Highlights of 2012!

IT took me FOREVER to finish this video. Technology was not being nice to me. But I hope you guys enjoy it :) 

Gabby's Winter Break!

Today marks my first official work day of the new year! I'm not going to lie, leaving home and coming back to school was not something I was looking forward to :( I definitely got use to lounging around, not having to think about school related things and mom's home cooking, not to mention the Filipino food that my grandpa was cooking during the holiday season! YUMM:) My grandparents from the Philippines came this past October after being out of the US for 2 years! It really made the holidays extra special <3
  So now i'm back at UT Tyler and enjoyed an extremely busy day of re-organizing my room and putting my gazillion stuff back in my apartment in PV ( I kinda have an over packing problem.... ) So my very first blog of the year is of course about my winter break!!!:) Instead of writing long and detailed paragraphs about it, i'm just gonna show you in pictures and captions :) Hope you enjoy it!( By the way, I didn't do anything special since I am taking a GINORMOUS 5 week trip to Japan this summer )