Category Archives: The SELF Diet

The Self Diet

Happy Valentine’s: Making the Best Out of a Hallmark Holiday

QOTD: What are your thoughts on V-Day? Is this a special time for everyone to tell their loved ones how much they care, or is Valentine’s just another Hallmark holiday?

Happy Valentine’s Day! <3 Bought myself a pretty paper rose :)

You can be sure that love was in the air today–all over campus. Students of all types of organizations were selling merchandise in the Pit: Purple-dyed carnations, candy, pink-and-red hearts, paper roses, chocolate-covered strawberries, the works. And it seemed as though there were more couples than usual holding hands and cuddling together. I even spotted one couple behind the dining hall, nuzzling against each other with their noses touching. I forgot to say “AWWW!” as I passed by. Oops…then again, they probably wouldn’t have wanted me to interrupt. 

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Winter Break Recap: Harry Potter World 2012

QOTD: If you could donate one million dollars to any organization, which would you choose and why? 

Happy Sunday, everyone! I apologize for my unexpected absence from the blogosphere. I’ve spent the last week and a half mostly bedridden due to a nasty virus I picked up over winter break. I have literally felt like a walking snot burger (so unattractive, I know). Good news is I’m back now and hope to catch up with blogging, schoolwork and writing! This is not a great start for my new years’ resolutions, but better to start late than never, right? 

So how are you doing with your new years’ resolutions? Have you gotten into a regular daily routine of working out/gardening veggies/meditating/whatever-you-resolved-to-do, or are those goals already long-forgotten? (And if the latter is true, I don’t blame you. I can’t even remember my weekend homework assignments.) 

Whether you’re struggling to keep up with your resolution plans or have already worked them into circadian habits, check out my Resolutions Guide to make sure you’re on the right track! 

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Good Earth, Good Life

Question of the Day:  What is your favorite way to relax on a weekend? 

Last weekend, I picked up a box of Good Earth at the grocery store. I’d seen these products advertised in magazines, coupon books and other random places I can’t remember. Since the start of the new semester, I have been trying to eat healthier. Less chocolate, fewer bags of chips (Smartfood popcorn is still fair game, of course), more green and more whole-grain. So far, I’ve been semi-successful. 

Let me tell you, being a healthy college kid isn’t easy. I manage to stay away from caffeine despite long, sleepless nights of studying around students living off of six cups of coffee a day. I remember to grab extra pieces of fruit on my way out of the dining hall. I even take a couple of naps during the week. But the one thing I can’t seem to have enough time for is make dinner. When I go home after a long, hard day’s work, I just don’t have the energy or the patience to make a full-out meal for myself. In the end, I find myself microwaving a frozen pizza or Easy Mac. 

So when I bought this…

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Four Secrets to a Successful Application

QOTD: What do you think is the best measure for intelligence?

At some point during your life, you will find yourself in a situation in which you will have to apply for something–perhaps a job, college, scholarships, or even a higher position at work. I hope you find these four key steps I’ve listed below to be a beneficial and encouraging guide towards making your application stick out from all the rest.

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Greetings From China!

HEY EVERYONE!!! It’s Red Angel here, giving you all virtual hugs and dumplings from the other side of the world. :) I have been here for about a week, but it has been brought to my attention that unfortunately Blogspot is inaccessible here in China due to government regulations (in fact, it’s my good friend who is posting this for me as I cannot do so myself). It has been a very frustrating discovery, but the GOOD NEWS is that I am actually guest posting about my trip in China at Sleepy Hollow Books blog. I am currently updating about once a week (scroll down for my first two posts on Jin Chang Hu Park and my arrival), and while my posts will cover everything from delicious local eats to beautiful tourist attractions, I will focus on youth and reading culture here in China.

Hope to see you at SHB! Enjoy. =) See you back here on TRA in August!”

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30-Day Challenge 21: “Easy A” Movie Review

QOTD: Have you ever seen a movie that was loved by most but hated by you?

Day 21: A picture of something that makes you happy.

Why, do you ask, does this picture make me happy? Well for one, it’s FOOD. More specifically, it’s p-a-s-t-a, probably my favorite foods of all time (besides chocolate, of course hehe). But this particular dish makes me smile because this was the result of my very first independent cooking lesson. Using a simple recipe from my SparkRecipes BlackBerry phone app, I concocted this delicious lunch for myself last week. Reaction? Quite truthfully, it was one of the best pasta I’ve ever eaten–and that’s saying A LOT! Two hours of squinting at the labels on ingredients and praying that I wouldn’t burn anything was totally worth it.

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30-Day Challenge 19: Strawberry Picking

QOTD: When was the last time you went on an adventure?

Day 19: Nicknames you’ve had and why you have them: For those of you who don’t already know, my first name is Wendy. Some nicknames (but not all, haha) that have been derived from that include Wendella, Wenalyn, Wen, Wenders, Windy, and Wen-Wen.

The other day, I went strawberry picking with my family at a local farm and it was SO, so much fun! I’ve enjoyed the quiescence of staying at home but it was nothing short of awesome being able to actually get out. The last time we went fruit picking it was apples, and I can’t even count on a single hand how many years ago that was.

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30-Day Challenge 6: A Tribute To Glee

Question of the Day: What was your favorite toy or game to play as a child?
 
Day 06: Favorite Superhero and why.
 
If you’ve been following me for a while, you already know the answer to this challenge! My favorite hero is Clark Kent, otherwise known as Superman. If you’d like to read the long version of why, check out my Superman post here. The short version? I have always admired how he symbolizes justice and hope and “The American Way.” I grew up watching Smallville, which is about Clark Kent during his early years before he becomes Superman. Clark is always able to look at the good sides of people and believe that everybody deserves a second chance no matter what.


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30-Day Challenge 3: Public Speaking 101

Question of the Day: What characteristic or trait do you admire most in a person?

Day 03: A picture of you and your friends.

Once again, I have a no-real-photos policy at the moment so I decided to portray my friends and I through Yahoo! avatars. The first Avatar chick is actually me, you see…I am surrounded by books, have my signature “reporter” glasses and have a layered ‘do. :) I’d like to introduce you to my amazing friends, all of whom have some spectacular and distinct personalities:

From left to right, top to bottom…

1) The Red Angel (me!) I don’t look very red and I don’t look like an angel though…
2) Madame Curlique loves the beach and everything that has to do with nature.
3) Jammin’ Poe-Poe is one of those “I JUST WANNA PLAY MY MUSIC” kinda guys.
4) B-Ball4Eva likes sports and is a die-hard fan of our university teams.
5) Mr. Senator has always loved everything politics.
6) Gloss&Shiny has beautiful hair, loves colorful things, and owns a fantastic imagination.

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“Inception” Movie Review

Question of the Day: Are you a heavy dreamer? Do you ever know when you are dreaming or not? Do those dreams ever come back to you in the morning?

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I have watched Inception a total count of four times so far. Not only is that about seven and a half hours worth of oogling atLeonardo Dicaprio, but also of viewing a spectacular film dealing with the human’s subconscious. I personally would categorize this movie as a “psychological thriller,” but it’s generally known as “science fiction”. I suppose it’s both in a way. :)

Inception is one of those movies that you HAVE to see more than once. I’ve seen it, like I said, three times and each of those times, I understood so much more and took something out of the movie, if that makes sense.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a movie review (see “Alice in Wonderland”), but I promise this won’t be as long as the last one! I will still be dividing the review into sections and rating each section from 1 to 5 stars out of 5. Oh, and I won’t give away any spoilers. Promise.

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