My summer to-do list!

     Summer time is here!! The long-awaited break has arrived! This is the happiest time of the year where students unwind and relax for three months. Some take summer school, others just hang around. I will be just relaxing this summer and I am beyond excited! Here's a To-Do List of what I want to do!

The Mystique of As Seen on TV Products: Can You Resist?

Ah, summer: the time of the year when the days are the long and the nights are awesome, there’s no class schedules to keep up with, and no finals to stress over. Let the Netflix binging begin! While some use the summer as a chance to take their passports and go all over the world, others use summer as a chance to unwind and have a nice “staycation”. Want to know some of the fun from having that staycation? Getting to see some of the hilarious, “how have I lived my entire life without this product” As Seen on TV commercials!!

I’ve compiled a list of some of the best As Seen on TV products that really caught my eye. Many of them are available at a Wal-Mart near you!

When in doubt, go with bacon!

-Perfect Bacon Bowl: because scrambled eggs on a plate is so passé! Cure the gustatory doldrums with a bacon bowl. Delectable bacon is the answer to all of life’s problems. Don’t know what to put with your boring, old macaroni and cheese? The answer is always bacon.

Call me Harry Potter, because this is magic!

-Moo Mixer: you will never have to struggle with having to mix chocolate milk with a spoon again. The struggle doesn’t have to be real anymore, folks! Press the trigger on the cow print handle and watch it automatically stir. No longer will you have to stir chocolate milk like a muggle! 

-Ice Cream Magic: so I know that the intended audience for this product is most likely small children, however I know many college students that would be super excited over this product.  with a variety of options such as chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry available, how can one’s inner child possibly be suppressed? I know mine can’t. I am planning an escapade to Sonic for a milkshake as I type this because I don’t have an Ice Cream Magic yet.

Ice cream is the most amazing thing <3

-Chillow: as anyone in Texas can attest to, it gets super extremely hot in the summer. The chillow is a pillow that you can put in the refrigerator and it will get cold! This is very handy here because it is absolutely unbearable to sleep on a hot pillow when it is hot outside and there is only so much air conditioning can do.  I’m already on my way to trying to develop a Chillow bed. I’m thinking of calling it “The Chill-ed”. Don’t take it from me! It’s as good as patented!

If I can get my hair to look like this, I will be winning. Just add pink!

-Air Curler: this looks really cool! Like honestly. The reviews said it worked pretty decently for both long and short hair. It also seems like it wouldn’t damage hair as badly as my usual morning routine of blow drying and straightening/curling it in the mornings. Instead of doing both, I’m just doing one and it would be on a lower setting! As long as one uses hairspray or mousse, the curls should hold. This one is definitely worth a try. 

 While some most As Seen on TV products are just silly and make the people in the commercials look like they are completely inept at living, there are some that are worth a closer look!

New shopping location for UT Tyler students!

     Tyler,Texas is a small city that with every new establishment there is always guaranteed buzz. Everyone likes to experience new things and get a feel of something different. Whenever a new restaurant opens, the establishment is always full of people waiting to try food from a different place they haven't before. This is why it is very exciting to see that Tyler is getting a new shopping square called The Village at Cumberland Park!

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!  

Literal Hunger Games and Christmas

What do The Hunger Games and Christmas have in common? One is a fight to the death between children ages 12-18 and the other is a religious holiday that has been transformed and reclaimed to be celebrate family with gifts and food.

Tablet shopping, nbd.

Cute Meets Kawaii: UT Tyler Edition

Over the weekend, I went shopping with students from Shimane University here in Tyler at the Broadway Square Mall. This is not the first time I went shopping with students from Matsue, but this group of students was different than the first group I escorted to the mall. It was a new experience for me entirely.

The infamous Octo-Cutie

The first group of students (Group A) had both young men and women in it and they were randomly divided amongst us eager GATE students by whoever wanted to go to which store and who showed up at what time. When my group first showed up to the mall, our advisor Ashley instructed us to find the Shimane students in Buildabear. This baffled us, but once we got to Buildabear, we found our pair of students to show around the mall. One was quite puzzled as he looked at a pink octopus/squid hybrid with lollipop wings and the other student was standing beside him holding a little skeleton costumed hedgehog as though trying to understand why in the world such things would exist. Upon asking me what it was, all I could think to say was: “It is cute.”He smiled, content with my answer and repeated it back to me. “Cute. Kawaii?” While before he wasn’t entirely sure what I was saying because of the language barrier and acting out what we were trying to say with charades, he got the message clearly. 

It's looking into your soul!

After a little deliberation amongst themselves, the two young men from Shimane University asked us to take them where they could buy casual shirts. As we browsed through the racks of JC Penny for men’s clothing, he brought everything that was pink, sparkly, or animal print to my attention with one simple word: “kawaii?” In turn, I tried to figure out exactly the look the two were after. There were so many options: polo shirts, t-shirts, long sleeved shirts? The (all girl) GATE group I led searched relentlessly, finding all kinds of cute t shirts and business shirts, each time the question asked was: “do you like it? We think it’s cute!” Each time, we struck out.

 It wasn’t until we tried Old Navy (where I discovered the fox sweater) that we found the perfect look. It was a simple white collared shirt, with brown shell buttons. Suddenly it clicked with our group. This was the perfect shirt for what we were looking for! Both groups looked at each other and asked the following: “Do you like it? We think it’s cute.” The shirt was so simple and so clean that we fell in love with it instantaneously. While not initially what we (GATE) was looking for, the purity of it was what made it so special. After a makeshift fashion show in the middle of Old Navy, they bought the shirts.

To an onlooker who had no idea what was going on, it would look like a field trip and nothing more, nothing less. To us, it was something more than a quest for a shirt. We could’ve played charades all day trying to figure out what each group was saying, but at the end of the shopping trip, we were both searching for something we found “cute” or “kawaii” that each other liked. The friends that shop together, stay together.

Universal Cuteness <3

25% Off For UT Tyler Students

I'm sure many of you are cluttering over the upcoming fall semester with your various last minute preparations. Some of you are busy moving into a new apartment or dorm, while others are trying to adjust to the idea of living away from home for the first time. Well, if one of these clustering moments involves shopping for school clothes have I got news for you. During the month of August The St. Vincent de Paul store in Tyler is offering a 25% discount to all UT Tyler students who show a valid student ID.

St. Vincent de Paul is a chain of international thrift stores owned and operated by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. (Who would'a Thunk?) Anyway, it is basically equivalent to the Goodwill thrift chain except SVdP stores treat their employees better. I actually bought the couch that's currently in my apartment from there about 2 years ago. I may not have a picture to share but let me tell you, this is a good couch. I mean I do sit on it and everything.

So if you're interested in saving 25% on your back to school shopping go check out the local St. Vincent de Paul store on 410 S. College St. Tyler TX 75702. Their hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 10 to 5:30 and are also open the first Saturday of each month..

Life Cheat #867503: Napoleon was 5'7". Not a life cheat really... Just thought you should know he wasn't short.

Shopping centers for UT Tyler students! Grab that plastic!

                You’re waiting patiently in line, machines beeping, associates speaking, and then it’s your turn. You turn over your future belongings and then you slide your card. There’s no other thrill like sliding a card and having bought something.

                People play tennis, others play soccer, but some play the sport of shopping. Yes it’s a sport. You compete against other buyers when there’s a sale, you make sure you get the advantage of the best price for your size; you hustle towards something you like hoping someone won’t take it from you.

                Shopping has a mental component. You constantly battle internally against what you need and what you want. Oh these shorts are what I need, but that shirt would look really great! But oh you have a million shirts already, but you don’t have that specific one. You fight the urge to spend what you don’t have.

                But it’s all alright, because shopping enables us to escape the stresses of the world as we try on different things. A great look can make you feel more confident and put a smile on your face. It can also impress that special someone.

                So I will tell you some great places you can go to in Tyler with the best deals.

                Yes we do have the Broadway Square Mall, but some of the stores are a little out of our budget. Except for some stores like The Body Shop and Wet Seal for girls, and American Eagle and G by Guess for guys.

                There are shopping centers around town that have great deals for marked down prices. Two of my favorites are Marshall’s and Ross. They have any brand you would like, well except for the high fashion brands. But that’s alright because not all of us can afford to spend that much.

                Marshalls is full of great brands like Polo by Ralph Lauren, Nautica, Guess, Chaps, and many more. They have shoes at great prices; they have shirts, pants, dresses, hair products, and even home décor. It’s a great pass time. But one of my favorite things about it is that they offer layaway, meaning you can put some items on hold and make payments on them. Convenient? I think so!

                Ross is just the same as Marshall’s, but without the layaway. If you can’t find something in one store you can go to another.

                There are other stores that really offer great quality of clothes, such as Macy’s, Khol’s, Target, and there’s even boutiques that offer unique items that you won’t find anywhere else in town.

                So take out that plastic, spend wisely, and feel great!

               

                 

Decorating Your New Apartment!

   This blog is an extension of the one written by the charming Gabby Cruz called "Apartment Hunting"!