Top 5 of Life- July 14th, 2016

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Top 5 of Life

1) Mavis Slade's "How I Edit My Instagram Pictures". Now, I've interviewed Mavis before, but I swear I'm not playing favorites! I just love her videos. My recent favorite video of hers has been the one where she shows how she edits her pictures with VSCO Cam (an editing app). I'm obsessed with the internet and all things tech, so this video was right up my ally. I instantly downloaded VSCO Cam and started playing around. I used VSCO in some of my recent Instagram pictures and they look SO nice.





2) Maybelline Falsies Push Up Drama mascara. I'm not one to deal with tons of makeup (because I'm so bad at it) and I will probably never buy expensive makeup that everyone uses. But when I saw that one of my style idols, Lou Teasdale, was promoting this mascara, I admit, I was affected by her advertising. I bought it right away (but so did many other people! I swear it wasn't just me who was duped by advertising!!!) Here to find out, I love it! I got the waterproof one because my eyes water a lot. I use it for special occasions and it looks GREAT. Not flaky like I've experienced with other mascaras (cough, cough, AVON....). Plus, one time, I didn't wash my eyes off and it stayed for 3 days straight, so the staying power is amazing. I highly recommend this mascara if you need a good waterproof!

3) wRoNg by Zayn. I hate that I'm putting this on here. I am NOT Zayn's #1 fan. Maybe not even a fan, if I'm honest. I'm very mad at the whole One Direction thing because he left right before he was suppose to be at my concert. I'm still very much against him. BUT I cannot deny that some of his new songs are jams. Such as this one. That's all I'm going to give him.



4) Mexican Coke. This one is weird, I'll admit. But I used to see them at the store all the time until  one day I bought one. I mean, I honestly bought one the first time because it looked pretty...BUT IT TURNS OUT THEY ARE SO GOOD. They're made with real sugar and I don't know how it works, but it tastes so much better than regular American Coke. It's 99 cents for a bottle at my local grocery store and I just recently bought 4. I only bought 4 though because I couldn't carry any more...
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How to Roast Your Own Tea!

Thursday, July 7, 2016

The other day my friend asked me about how I make my tea and I thought, "HEY! If he was interested in how I home make tea, maybe other people will be interested it too!" And it's super easy!

So here's a post with tips on how to roast your own tea! 

***DISCLAIMER: I roast my tea because I feel it gives more flavor and as my friend quoted: "it doesn't taste like grass water when it's roasted." It will be crumbly. You can probably make it less crumbly by putting it on the oven about 5 minutes less than I do.***
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1) I get my tea leaves from a plant nursery, plant them in pots at home, then they grow bigger! I get lemon balm, lavender, and mint. Those are my go-to tea plants. For this post, I'm going to stick with mint leaves (but my signature tea is lavender and mint mixed together. IT'S SO GOOD. Even my family thinks so!)

2) After your satisfied with the amount of leaves that have grown, pick a bunch of mint. And I do mean a bunch. They shrink up in the oven so you'll need a lot of leaves. 

3) Bring them inside and wash them in a strainer. Rinsing them with water is what I do. You can also fill a bowl with water and swirl the leaves around to wash them.

4) Preheat your oven to 200 degrees at this point

5) Next, bring out your baking pants (I just use cookie sheets because it doesn't matter what pans, honestly). Now, MAKE SURE YOU RIP THE MINT LEAVES IN HALF!!!! THAT'S WHAT BRINGS OUT THE FLAVOR!!! You can even smell it stronger when you rip it. So, rip the leaves in half and place them down on the cookie sheets, spread out. They can still be wet, that's perfectly fine.


6) Place them in the oven for 15 minutes. Then, wait for 15 minutes. Obviously ;) 

7) Take them out of the oven when it beeps. It will look like crispy, illegal contraband. Like, a lot, honestly. BUT THAT MEANS IT'S DONE!

8) Wait to it cools down, then what I do is put the crispy leaves in a bag, then crunch them. Don't crunch them down to a pulp, but crunch them just enough. 


9) What you can do next is dump the roasted leaves in a empty tea bag, seal it, then use it. Or if you read my disclaimer, you can roast for about 8 minutes instead, which doesn't make them as crispy, and you can put them on a strainer most likely (I've never tried a strainer). 

**My tea bag is a coffee filter which is stapled shut because I'm really cheap. But it works! Also, with roasted tea, you need to let it seep in your mug a little bit longer. It won't be crazy strong, but it's still so tasty!**

Let me know on my Facebook page if you enjoyed this! I love making my DIY tea so I really liked this post! :) 
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An Interview with a Groundfish Observer

Sunday, July 3, 2016



I've known Robyn since we were both 5 years old. She's always led an interesting life and I decided to ask her if I could interview her on her life journey at the moment!! 


What is your specific job title and what do you do?

"My job title is North Pacific Groundfish Observer. Basically I live and work on Pollock trawlers (boats using a large net to catch fish) in Alaska's Bering Sea. I'm generally out of Dutch Harbor (where deadliest catch is filmed and yes I've met some of them.) Whenever they pull up the net I take a few random samples and identify, count and weigh all fish in my samples. I also take biological data from a sub sample such as sex/length information and otoliths (ear bones used to age the fish). All of this data is used to determine how healthy the fish stocks are and help them to figure out how much quota fishermen can be given next season to keep from over fishing.  I am also responsible for making sure that all rules are followed by the fishermen"

(Robyn on the top of ballyhoo mountain on the island of Unalaska near Dutch Harbor (we just call it Dutch) )
Did you ever think that you would end up working on a boat in Alaska, in the middle of the sea? 

"Since I was young I have always loved the ocean, and I caught the boating bug in high school when I was certain that I would go to a maritime academy to be a boat captain. I even applied and got in, but I'm too interested in biology to give it up. To answer your question, I've always known that I want to work on a boat collecting data as my career, but no I never really thought that I would be in the Alaskan wilderness of the sea. I heard about this program about 6 months before I graduated and was automatically intrigued so I did get a little time to get used to the idea... not that getting used to it made me prepared in any way haha!"


What are the positive and/or fun parts of your job?

"I love boat life. I love living in close quarters with the crew because you can't help but become close. I love standing on the bow watching whales and just the rise and fall of the sea. I love that most people in the world will never get to experience what I experienced out there. It's also a lot of fun because some of my best friends are fellow observers and while I'm the only observer on my own vessel, whenever we're in town there is a good chance that you can hang out with your friends. And while it's hard work there is also a lot of down time so that's a plus too!"
(Hiking around dutch on bunker hill in the summer)

Are there parts of your job that you wish weren't apart of it? 

"There are definitely downsides to the job. There's a reason it pays well and that's because it isn't glamorous and not many people are willing to do it. They take safety very seriously, however it is still not enjoyable to walk around, work or even sleep on a boat taking on massive waves for 20 hours. I've never been seasick but I do go into a kind of coma that's hard to get out of. I am also often covered in fish guts and once got a wad of scales stuck in my eye for 30 minutes. All clothing smells like fish or the processing plant. The worst part of the job in my opinion is watching offloads. Work isn't done when you get to town I have to watch half of a 13-17 hour offload (2 hrs on and 2 off) which consists of me sitting on a trash can pretty much outside watching fish go by on a conveyor belt. Smelly, tiring and tedious to say the least."

I've heard Alaska's scenery is beautiful. Where you ever in awe about all the nature that surrounded you? 

"Alaska is amazing. Even the small islands that I was out of had some amazing sights. There was one walk/hike that wasn't too challenging that we did quite a bit that has some amazing views and I climbed a pretty intense mountain called Ballyhoo which stole my breath. Super challenging but so worth it. Also one day we were steaming back into Dutch from fishing and I happened to be chatting with the captain in the wheelhouse and got an amazing view of the mountains as I came in. It's so beautiful that it's hard to explain it, even with pictures."


(Robyn's first ever boat, the Gun-Mar. She was on this the summer of 2015)

It's pretty cold in Alaska. What was your typical day to day outfit? 

"True, it is quite cold in Alaska, but not so bad as everyone thinks, at least where I was. I was there August - mid October and then mid January through mid March. Since the islands I was out of were pretty far south on the Aleutian island chain and surrounded by water it is much milder weather than northern and inland Alaska. Having said that the wind is brutal. Because it's a physical job with lots of fish smell involved we don't really wear anything that we want to wear in the real world afterwards. It's a lot of flannels, sweatshirts and yoga or sweatpants. If going outside in winter I would wear 2-3 layers on top with a fleece-lined coat to top it off. Also fleece-lined leggings with some other pants, boots, a hat and fleece-lined gloves. In case you haven't guessed, fleece-lined is the name of the game. Ooh and wool socks are a must too"


What do you do on your days off, since you're pretty isolated?

"On the types of boats I was on (Pollock trawlers) there is a surprising number of days that we get on land. In general we are out for 2-3 days and on land for 2 days. Yes it is quite isolated. To give you a little background on just how much I'll tell you a bit about the islands I was out of. Dutch Harbor is the largest port for fishing in all of Alaska. Most of the people who work and live there are in the fishing industry but there is a small town and a Safeway grocery store, school, airport for 20 passenger planes and a hospital and stuff like that.  Akutan has a population of less than 60 people. The only way to get there is by boat or helicopter. There is the fish processing plant and that's about it. Now onto what we do on land! In Dutch we go hiking or if someone has a car we go driving, but honestly most of the time if we aren't offloading, we are at the bar. There are 2 main ones within walking distance of the harbor (dangerous) but if any other observers are in town that's where we meet up. Dutch has civilized bars but Akutan had one called the Roadhouse with only canned light beer that they ran out if quite often haha! Akutan also has a gym that we would play in or hang out in the park with the stray dogs."

Since your done (for now) with Alaska's journey, do you think you'll ever go back to the boat life? 

(Eagles eagles everywhere. This one is munching on some Pollock from our net!)


"I'm planning on going back to Alaska in the fall, but yes I will definitely always be in the boat life. It's what I enjoy and where I belong! I was actually offered a job today as a crew member and marine biology educator on a tall ship (large masts and sails like a pirate ship) out of new jersey for the summer!! But ultimately I would like to do research cruises a few times a year working on someone's research or.possibly my own one day so yes I'll be back on a boat quite soon!"



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I want to thank Robyn for letting me interview her!!
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