#and then it feels like they just added that one crafting recipe out of obligation

[here-there-were-dragons]

okay, on the creaking thing, i have to ask- aside from being a New Thing and having cool vibes, i'd like to know what is the actual point of it? and please don't have it be a one-off crafting recipe for a singular useless item you'll craft maybe once and never again. i think somehow that would offend me more than if they did nothing and are just there for the vibes.

[fshoulders]

I’m a little weird about surprising people with baked goods. And pie is the very best, because a pie is such a glory!

I just did this today on a larger scale than usual. (Usually I…don’t tell my spouse I’m making a pie, then super-casually leave it out cooling or ask him to take it out of the oven in ten minutes while I hurry off because I’m almost late to an appointment.) My friends asked us over to (COVID-cautious backyard) dinner and I asked if I could bring anything. “Dessert? Bread?” (I was already plotting.) They had bread covered; I could bring dessert if I wanted to, but I shouldn’t feel obliged. THEY FELL INTO MY TRAP

So I:

hit the farmstand for cherries on the way home but bought local blueberries instead;

made pie crusts and seasoned them in the fridge;

consulted my pie testaments, rejected their strictures and modified a recipe instead, added 2 unexpected off-book spices feeling like a wildly creative and intuitive domestic goddess;

made a lattice top, crafted a really awkward bunch of ‘botanically accurate blueberry blossoms with leaves’ that looks more like a rejected monster design from The Thing;

baked the pie and ran upstairs to scrub the oven-sweat off my face and put on presentable pants;

pulled the pie out just in time to leave and put it in my two-decker Amish-made pie basket (a gift from relatives who wanted pie);

tried to hold it level between my feet all the way up hill and down dale to our friends’ house; dribbled blueberry pie juice in the car footwell, on my pants cuff, all the way up their deck;

off and on through dinner worried about the weird spices I’d so blissfully added;

cut my pretty lattice and served out pieces to my hosts, graciously accepted compliments but was still somehow surprised it was goddamn delicious!

And I tell you all this to emphasize how completely ridiculous and irrational it is that I did every single step of this with incredibly smug mischievous glee in my heart, like I’m pulling The World’s Most Perfect Prank, like I’m an unstoppable chaos goblin, like can you believe I’m going to pull this off!? They won’t expect a pie, and yet there will be a pie! Those rubes, those absolute fools! No one expects a beautiful* lattice-topped berry pie when I said ‘oh I’ll umm get something while I’m out’! I’m laughing in my wicked, wily insides the entire time, pulling off the lid of the pie basket and suppressing the deep evil cackles that rise like bubbles from my dark gooey heart. 😈

*The flowers were not beautiful but they were edible so I don’t think anyone minded. I figured I should show them. I may be a mischievous pie faerie, but I need to stay humble:

[sailorportia]

White Day

Fandom: Little Witch Academia Pairings: Diana Cavendish x Akko Kagari, Hannah England x Barbara Parker x Amanda O’Neill

Femslash February 2019 [Index post] Day 14: White

approx. 2,000 words, rated T

also available on AO3

In which various girls give or receive gifts for White Day.

For perhaps the first time since she was a child, Diana had bitten off more than she could chew. After Akko had introduced the concept of White Day to Luna Nova, the student body had informally adopted the tradition. This year would be the inaugural celebration of the holiday. Diana had anticipated it might be difficult for her, but she hadn't realized the sheer volume of work ahead of her.

On previous Valentine's Days, Diana had received chocolate from her numerous fans and admirers, and this year was no different. However, this year she was faced with the challenge of listing every classmate who gave her chocolate (a novella, to be sure) and make a gift in return. She had been wise enough to start the process a week early, but even then the task was growing to be too much for her—she hadn't taken into account how many others would want to use the kitchens.

It was now past curfew and Diana could see that she wouldn't finish all the gifts in time for the morning of White Day. She needed more time. She needed…

"Need any help?"

Akko skip over to Diana and the growing mess of chocolate surrounding her.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Diana asked.

Akko pouted. "I could ask you the same thing! You've been working your butt off all week! What's that about?"

Diana scowled, then quickly corrected her expression. "It's your fault we're celebrating this holiday in the first place. My obligation to return all those gifts is on you." Perhaps that wasn't fair, but Diana was testy at the moment.

"Don't be a sourpuss," Akko said. "I meant why are you doing all this work alone? You could've asked me to help, you know! I've made tons of chocolate for people before. Figured you would've picked that up after receiving the chocolate I made you a month ago…"

Diana stopped listening halfway through. "You've given chocolate to lots of people?"

"Yup!" Akko grinned. "I always gave my friends giri-choco! I got really good at making it too! And that's why you should let me help you! Even Amanda wasn't too proud not to ask for my help!"

On one hand, Diana was reluctant to ask for help, particularly for something like this. On the other hand, if Akko helped, she might get some sleep tonight…

"Very well," Diana said. "The recipe is over there." She pointed toward a cookbook.

There was a second cookbook open next to it. Akko took a peek. "Ooh? What's this?"

Diana snatched it away from her. "That is none of your concern. It's a… separate project. Please follow the recipe in the book in front of you and package the chocolates as so." She pointed to the pile of completed gifts.

Akko gave her a salute and the two of them got to work. The usually clumsy witch didn't require any assistance, and in fact she was more efficient than Diana. Experience certainly paid off. Diana was glad to have Akko helping. For more reasons than one. In her giddiness, she even indulged herself by subtly brushing up against Akko under the guise of not having enough workspace.

Soon, much sooner than she would've anticipated, the task was completed. Well, there was one more part left…

"I can't thank you enough, Akko," Diana said.

"Letting me eat the leftovers would be enough," Akko replied.

Diana chuckled. "I think the 'leftovers' are all over your face." Akko had been "sampling" the chocolate as she made it.

"You ought to be off to bed, Akko. I'll be along shortly. There's one more thing I have to do."

"What? I can't leave you hanging!" Akko protested. She would've continued, had Diana not interrupted her.

"None of that, Akko. Thanks to you, I'll have a few hours of sleep tonight. Besides, my remaining task does not require your experience as a chocolatier."

"Okay then, but don't come crying to me in the morning when you're all tired!"

Akko grumbled to herself as she left the kitchen and returned to her room. She had been more than happy to help Diana, and she was a little bummed out that Diana was apparently hiding something from her. If she had put two and two together, she would've realized she had nothing to worry about…

On the morning of White Day, Diana arrived to class with a veritable hoard of chocolate to redistribute to other students. She looked sleep-deprived, but she didn't let that interfere with her task. In fact she was so busy, she didn't even have time for her friends.

"Jealous?" Sucy said with a cackle.

"Jealous? Why would I be jealous?" Akko stabbed at her lunch with murderous intent.

"I'd be jealous too if my crush was running around giving other people chocolate," Sucy teased. "Maybe she forgot all about the chocolate you gave her."

Lotte frowned at Sucy's remark. "I doubt she forgot about it. It was a life-sized chocolate Shiny Rod."

"The only chocolate she would forget is yours," Akko retorted. Everyone wanted to forget the chocolates Sucy made. Who puts actual truffle mushrooms in chocolate truffles?

"Why wouldn't someone like Sucy's chocolates?" Lotte asked. "They were delicious."

"Well of course she wouldn't poison her own girlfriend…"

"I added extra love to yours," Sucy told Lotte, then immediately hid her blush behind her hair. Lotte blushed as well but made no effort to hide it.

"Ugh, go flirt somewhere else." Akko wasn't bitter. Nope, not at all. Not bitter like the delectable dark chocolate she'd helped Diana make and hadn't received her share of yet. Nope, not bitter at all.

Even after classes, Diana was still hunting people down to give them chocolate. Hannah and Barbara sympathetically patted a forlorn Akko on the back before going off to their room. They rolled their eyes as they entered the room and saw the lovingly packaged gift atop the desk on the far side of the room.

"The least she could do was give Akko her gift first," Hannah said as she sat down on her bed. "The poor girl's going to think she's being left out."

"Maybe Diana's saving the best for last," Barbara reasoned, taking a seat on her own bed. "Though if I were in Akko's shoes, I'd be feeling down too."

An unpleasant vibe passed between the two girls. They actually were in Akko's shoes. Well, the object of their dismay had already distributed return gifts to her fans, and they had no reason they were in for a knockout of a present like Akko was. They hadn't expected much of a return from their intended when they gave her chocolate on Valentine's Day. It was more of a shot in the dark. It would've been nice if their affections had been returned…

There was a knock at the door.

"That must be Diana, back for Akko's present," Hannah said, getting up from the bed to answer the door. No doubt Diana's hands were full and she couldn't open the door herself.

"Or maybe it's Akko," Barbara said. "Maybe she's come to give Diana a piece of her mind."

They were both wrong. When Hannah opened the door, the girl on the other side was none other than Amanda O'Neill.

"Uh, hey losers."

"Amanda!?" Hannah and Barbara squeaked in unison. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, uh, y'know." Amanda shuffled nervously. She might've twiddled her thumbs if her hands weren't hidden behind her back. "Stuff."

"Well, are you here to see Diana, or one of us?" Hannah asked.

"I'm here to see… both of you…"

"Both of us?" Barbara asked. "Why?" Could it be…?

Amanda brought her hands out from behind her back. Each held a box with pink wrapping paper.

Hannah's eyes widened. "Is that—"

"D-don't get the wrong idea." Amanda shoved one box into Hannah's hands and tossed the other to Barbara. "It's only because of Akko and her stupid holiday…"

Barbara had already opened her gift. "Are these homemade chocolates? Gosh. Ours were from a store. A good one, mind you. But still…"

"That's—" Amanda blushed. "I didn't want to waste wild amounts of money on your gifts, that's why."

"So instead you lovingly crafted your own gifts for us," Hannah remarked. She held up one of the chocolates. "And look, they're shaped like little hearts. I didn't know you were so romantic, Amanda."

"Th-that was Akko's idea!" Amanda blurted out. It was no such thing. "I j-just went along with it."

"I see," Barbara said, smirking. "Good thing we didn't get the wrong idea. We might've thought you liked us back."

"What!? Me!? Of course not! Why would I like you…" Amanda paused, her brain processing what she'd just heard. "What do you mean like you back?"

"By the nines, you're clueless," Hannah said, smiling and rolling her eyes at her crush. She quickly shut the door and practically floated over to Barbara's bed.

"What a shame," Barbara said. "If only you liked us the way we like you." She touched one of Amanda's chocolate hearts to her lips. "Goodness knows what might've happened if you did…"

Hannah mimicked Barbara's action with another chocolate heart, leaning against her soul mate as she did. "I guess we'll have to make do on our own."

Even Amanda wasn't clueless enough to grasp the implications of what they were saying. "Hey, not so fast. I never said I didn't like you…"

"Then get over here," Hannah purred.

"Let's see if you taste as good as your chocolate," Barbara said.

The three of them proceeded to discover some very creative things to do with chocolate, one of which left Diana scandalized when she walked in on them on her way to retrieve Akko's gift.

Diana's face was still flushed when she tracked down Akko alone in her room.

"Diana, why are you blushing?"

She shivered. "I witnessed something not meant for mortal eyes."

"Oh, okay then." Akko wondered if Diana was blushing because of a gift she'd given someone. Not that I care, Akko thought. Who cares what stupid Diana does? Stupid Akko did, of course.

"I…" Diana fidgeted. She bit her lip and appeared to be mulling over what she was about to say.

Her behaviour caught Akko's ever elusive attention. Since when is Diana Cavendish nervous? Did I do something wrong. Oh crap, did I mess up the chocolate last night or something!?

"I…" Diana began again and stopped. She muttered something under her breath and continued. "As you know, White Day is when one gives a gift in return for a gift received one month prior on Valentines Day."

"Right." Akko didn't understand why Diana was being so formal, or why she was explaining White Day to a Japanese person.

"Well…" Diana cleared her throat. "You gave me a gift on Valentines Day, and so I am making good on my obligation to give you a gift in return. Not that I see it as an obligation!" she added hurriedly.

"Yay!" Akko could barely contain her joy. "You didn't forget me after all!"

"Of course I didn't forget!" Diana looked aghast at the implication. "After you went up to bed, I made your present. I wanted it to be special..." She handed Akko her gift and watched the recipient tear into the wrapping paper.

"It's a strawberry-rhubarb pie," Diana said redundantly when it was revealed. "I was certain a gift of chocolate couldn't measure up to what you'd given me, so I chose another route. Additionally, today is Pi Day…"

Akko practically vibrated. "I love pie!" She placed it carefully on her bed and leapt at Diana for a hug. "Oh my god, I'm so happy I could kiss you!"

Diana froze momentarily, then melted as she put her arms around Akko. She whispered into her ear, "I believe that would be an acceptable course of action under the circumstances."

Akko giggled. "In that case, the pie can wait!"

[thomasroach]

Outward Review – A Rough Adventure

The post Outward Review – A Rough Adventure appeared first on Fextralife.

The following post is this author’s opinion and does not reflect the thoughts and feelings of Fextralife as a whole nor the individual content creators associated with the site. Any link that goes outside of Fextralife are owned by their respective authors.

Can you defy the bitter cold, brutal heat, and ravenous monsters that all desire your death? Outward is an RPG that doesn’t hold your hand in the slightest, as you make your way through an open-world filled with adventure and death. Only with careful preparation will you survive the dangers of this world.

Outward Review – A Rough Adventure

Genre: Survival RPG Developed by: Nine Dots Studio Published by: Deep Silver Release date: 26 Mar 2019 Platforms: PC (Reviewed), XBOX One, PS4 Website: https://www.ninedotsstudio.com/outward Price at time of review: $39.99

Outward Features

Play solo or coop in local or online modes

Dynamic defeat scenarios that react to your context

Constant auto-saving means there’s no turning back

Ritualistic, step-by-step approach to spellcasting

Constant auto-saving means you must live with your decisions

Encounter dynamic defeat scenarios

A unique experience with every playthrough

An immersive exploration experience

Creatures will be harder to beat in co-op mode

Single-player, online co-op and local co-op with split screen

Story and Setting

Outward starts you off indebted to your tribe, a debt in which you must try to repay.  In an effort to clear the amount you owe, you embark on an ill-fated voyage to try and earn enough to pay it off. Of course the ship runs aground, leaving you with almost no money and a crowd of angry villagers demanding payment. From here on out, the game opens up into three distinct main quest lines, with a small variety of sidequests you can participate in. Sounds like a good setup, but it is not executed well in my opinion.

This is a good friend, or so I’m told

You are tossed into this town and told someone in your family did something bad, you’re again told this one person is a close friend, you’re told that you are a part of this tribe. Due to the way the story is told, none of this is given adequate time to develop. I’ve poked at one of the main quest lines out of a feeling of professional obligation and I still have no real drive to pursue it. This is fine though as Outward does not advertise itself as a game with an in-depth story, rather the focus is on the story that you make for yourself.

Even with that though, things fall a little flat as I can tell the devs put a fair amount of work into this world, but very little of it comes across to the player. Very few NPCs will talk with you, and many of them are just shopkeepers that have just add a little bit of flavored text.  If there’s books or other written lore entries in this game, I haven’t found them yet. There are ruins scattered throughout the game, but so far I’ve not found much inside any of them so far. To be fair, this is a very slow paced game and I’ve not gotten too deep into the more dangerous ruins, so there might be more if you venture further in. That being said, it’s not very excusable that I’m still so clueless on the world given the amount of time I have spent playing.

And thus starts the legend of the Bird Lady

Gameplay

In my original draft, this section was turning into a small novel as there are a lot of mechanics in this game but two things made me stream-line this section. Firstly, if the mechanics of this game aren’t going to interest you, the Cliff Notes version is all you really need to read.

Secondly, if the mechanics of this are your cup of tea, then all you’ll want to read is the Cliff Notes version. See, a lot of this game is about exploration, discovery, and the story that you create. Going through the game and making decisions based on imperfect knowledge is a major part of what makes this game unique. There is a tutorial, and it is a must for this game, but you’ll really be short-changing yourself if you go in with a complete understanding of the mechanics. This is the same for most things in this title, for some this will sound like heaven and for some it will sound like a complete waste of time.

Avatar customization is limited, but it has a purple hair option so it’s all good.

At its core, this is an action-RPG, while there are plenty of side mechanics, the main thrust is exploring dungeons and beating down the bad guys and monsters. After administering the beat downs you will loot all of their stuff, maybe find an upgrade or two, sell the rest, and move onto the next group of walking loot.

Combat

This brings me to my major criticism of the game, and one that I think will be the proverbial straw for many gamers. The combat is not fun as it is clunky, unresponsive, and it is difficult to use the flashier more complex spells if you’re playing solo. After the most difficult fights have ended, I don’t feel like I achieved a victory, rather I just feel like I cheesed the AI. I honestly can’t tell if this is the result of inexperience or if it was a deliberate design choice. Either way, combat really needs to be better given how much of it you’ll be doing.

As for the rest of the mechanics I’ll just skim over them. Survival is a big aspect of this game, with hot and cold weather, hunger, thirst, and the need for sleep. It might sound like a bother, but the game does a good job of encouraging you naturally to keep track of all your bars. As long as you are mindful, you won’t get in trouble.

That being said, the UI to convey some of the information is lacking. For example as you take damage, you recive ‘burnt health’ which reduces your max HP until you either eat specific foods, drink a potion, or sleep. However, the UI really isn’t very clear on this and I died several times before I figured out what that slightly different color red meant on my health circle.

I mean it’s obvious in hindsight, but it did take a few deaths to figure it out

Death

Speaking of death, you don’t really ‘die’ in this game. If you lose all your health, you’ll pass-out instead. This will cost you one day (which can be a major problem for some quests) and you’ll wake up in a context sensitive situation. This can either be fun, an annoyance, or a really bad situation since the time might have caused some food to rot, which means you can’t eat to get rid of that hunger status, as well as your max HP and stamina is also now reduced. It is certainly an interesting way to handle death, I’ll give the developers that. Something to be aware of is that because you can’t ever die, the game does not allow you to save. There is only one auto-save for your character, and the game is saving almost constantly. Don’t count on ALT-F4 to bail you out of a bad choice either.

Character Progression

Character progression is mostly done by getting new gear, you don’t level up in this game, though you can gain new skills. Some skills are free, some cost silver, and a few require you to spend one of your three skill points to unlock. While skills help, your gear is everything here. Getting a new piece of armor or a better weapon drastically effects how well you do in combat. This also means in certain situations you can lose all your advancement because all your gear gets taken, needless to say that really stings. Though it is always possible to get your stuff back, however it might be pose a big challenge, but as far as I can tell nothing gets destroyed unless you sell it to a merchant and their inventory resets.

Multiplayer/Co-op

Multiplayer is potentially a big bonus here as not only does it have online drop-in drop-out gameplay, but it has split screen co-op as well. I didn’t get to test this feature a lot but from what little I did test out multiplayer worked well. It does seem to make the combat an order of magnitude easier though, which could be a concern. To me this is a non-feature since I don’t have anyone in my house I can play with and I’m not all that interested in playing with random people, but I can see how others would love the ability to play an RPG like this with a friend.

Crafting

Finally, there is quite the crafting system to explore here. There are no skill points here, you either have the materials to make something or you don’t. There are recipes but you don’t get to read them before crafting, If you look it up on a wiki (or in some cases just take an educated guess) you can craft the item and the recipe will be added to your journal. While you can craft weapons and armor, you’ll mostly be crafting adventuring supplies such as fire rags and potions. Cooking is a major crafting area as well and is very well integrated into the other systems. Different dishes have different bonuses, with more complex dishes providing additional bonuses.

Audio and Visual

There is honestly not much to say here, the visuals are to put it simply, functional. Occasionally you’ll come across some interesting monster designs and much of the gear you can equip is unique in design, but most of the terrain and architecture is very plain looking. There’s also tons of small, tiny errors in the terrain with the occasional prop that just looks out of place such as the giant rib cages that look like they’re made of plastic.

This does not look like weather-aged bone

Another thing about the visuals that ties in with gameplay is lighting. When it’s supposed to be dark, it is dark. Running out of light in a dungeon is not good situation to be in. While this sounds like an interesting mechanic, it really doesn’t work well when you are outside. If you’ve lived your life in the city, you really don’t realize how dark the great outdoors gets. As someone who does a significant amount of camping in his life trust me, this games gets moonless nights perfectly, which ultimately means you can’t see a darn thing. This makes outdoor navigation a massive pain, even if you have a lantern.

I did not doctor this screen shot at all

Audio is a bit of a mixed bag as the actual songs aren’t bad, and SFX are serviceable, but whatever system they are using for dynamic music is a bit wonky. I’ll be on my 17th trip back to town to sell off the two swords I looted and suddenly the music will swell into this epic score, usually spooking me a bit in the process. The voice acting is a bit off as well. It really does feel like they just went around the office and said “Hey, you’re not doing anything. Go get into the sound booth!” I really don’t think you’ll miss much by muting the sound and listening to your own stuff, but it won’t hurt the ears to leave their stuff on either.

Replayability

OK this might be a bit of a controversial view point, but I feel this game has very limited replayability. As I mentioned in the gameplay section, the vast majority of your adventuring effectiveness is in your gear. True, there is the choice of using magic or not, and which of the skill trees you wish to max out, but honestly you’ll probably have a favorite combat style that you’ll want to stick with. The only real reason to replay the game will be to experience all three faction story lines, since once you join a faction, you’re locked out of the others.

As I’ve already stated though, I don’t feel the main quest lines aren’t all that compelling. Certainly not enough for me to want to redo the game from the start. I really feel that whether or not you want to replay this game is going to hang on both how compelling you find the three factions vs how much the gameplay annoys you.

Pricepoint

So despite that fact that I just roasted Outward for a perceived lack of replayability, I still feel this game is a good buy. Assuming again, the mechanics sound like your cup of tea. Due to the pacing and the size of the world, this is going to take you a solid 30-40 hours to finish one of the main quest lines.  It might take you a little less time for additional playthroughs, but not much so for a $40 game, that’s not bad at all.  The devs give an estimate of 40-80 hours to fully experience the game, and I can see someone easily spending 60+ hours in this game if the mechanics happen to click with them. Toss in the fun you can have with a friend or random people on the internet, and Outward will really give you your money’s worth.

Final Thoughts

If I could give this game two scores I would. This game has a target audience and for them this is easily a 7.5, maybe even an eight. For the average gamer looking for a neat RPG experience to tide them over until Elder Scrolls 6 or Cyperpunk 2077 it would not even come close to that. Very slow pacing, unexplained mechanics, removal of modern systems, clunky combat, all of this adds up to an experience that the average gamer is probably not going to enjoy.

But if you are in that target group, those looking for an RPG that absolutely does not hold your hand and allows you to get hopelessly lost if you don’t pay attention, and will rip you a new one if you mess up, then this game is for you hands down. In the end though, I do need to choose a single score, and I’m going to go with the one I think will reflect the experience most people will have with this game.

If you enjoyed this review be sure to read more with our latest thoughts on action shinobi Sekiro Review: Shinobis Die Many Times. Or you can check out what we thought about CD Projekt Red’s upcoming sci-fi action RPG in Cyberpunk 2077 Preview: When Fallout Meets Blade Runner.

The post Outward Review – A Rough Adventure appeared first on Fextralife.

Outward Review – A Rough Adventure published first on https://juanaframi.tumblr.com/

[hellostarseed]

How to Create a Book of Shadows - Masterpost

🌟 Hey Guys! 🌟

Something I've seen a lot in different communities is people wondering how to make a Book of Shadows or what to put into it. So in response to this, I thought I'd do a flip through of my own BOS to perhaps give some ideas on what you could do for yours!Firstly, your BOS doesn't have to be anything super fancy. It certainly can be if you want it to be! But don't at all feel it needs to uphold a certain aesthetic standard. Your Book of Shadows is an expression of yourself, so you can literally make it however you want it to look. The main thing is that you are happy with it. 

🌟 How to Build a BOS from Scratch 🌟

Again, this isn't something that you HAVE to do. If you don't feel confident in building your own, there are SO many beautiful journals out there that work perfectly fine for a BOS. But for those who are feeling extra crafty, this is what I did to create mine.

Let me start by saying my first Book of Shadows was a huge flop. I wanted a leather bound journal and thought I could make my own, but it just ended up looking like a leather pillow.

I know, it's cringy. I felt really miserable and drained of energy after creating it, so I took a couple days to think and then went for attempt #2.

I decided to go in a COMPLETELY different direction and bought a big ass college dictionary from the thrift store

I ripped all the pages out and replaced them with my own. This took a lot of work because regular printer paper was too long for the book, so around 300+ pages had to be hand cut to fit. I didn't stitch my pages together because that turned out horribly for my leather pillow BOS, so I simply glued all the inside pages together and then glued the inner facing edge of the pages to the spine. You wouldn't think so, but this worked really well and is surprisingly sturdy. If it works, it works!

This was my absolute favorite part of building my BOS; painting it! I decided to take inspiration from the universe and painted the front, back, and inside cover with the Northern Lights and peacock feathers.  Once that was dry and finished, my BOS was ready to be filled with magic!

🌟 So What Do I Put In My BOS? 🌟

Anything you want! Literally it can be anything. I know that doesn't give a lot of direction though if you absolutely have no idea where to start, so never fear! Here are some ideas.

One thing you could do is have a spot to put your positive affirmations and things you are grateful for. Spend a week writing things down every day and putting them in your envelope. After one week, continue to write things down to contribute to it, but when you put one in, take one out and read it and really feel those feelings of gratitude and the words you put down. Once you have taken time to show gratitude or say your positive affirmation, put it back and repeat again tomorrow. This is such a great way to raise your energy and vibration as soon as you open your magickal book.

On the first page of my BOS, I added my favorite quote, "Not All That Wander Are Lost". I feel like this quote is literally me in a nutshell, because I just love exploring and enjoying discovering new things and not worrying about where I end up. Behind the letters, I created my very own sigil to protect my book from prying eyes. The sigil is an upside down heart with a tear drop, and wrapped with a thorny vine and a lock hanging from the vine. The vines run from the top of the page to the bottom to represent As Above, So Below. The purpose of this sigil isn't to curse the intruder, but to fill the intruder with such intense feelings of guilt that they can't continue reading further. Thus, the sigil acts as a guardian to prevent prying eyes rather than hurt them. If anyone would like to use this sigil for their own book, feel free to use.

🌟 Organizing Your BOS 🌟

Next, don't forget your Table of Contents! Notice that my Table of Contents is blank. Also notice all the whiteout I used on the page. I learned this after I started on my Table of Contents unfortunately, but don't write your Table of Contents until after your book is complete. Reason being, you're more than likely going to change pages and add pages, some sections will become longer than expected, and many other things will arise that you won't expect. Waiting until your book is complete will save you so much trouble.

Which leads to my next point. What do you do if you make a mistake in your BOS? Seriously, this is no big deal at all. Whiteout will be your best friend. You can use whiteout, paint over it, or even just paste a new page over it. It's easily fixable and adds character to your book, so don't worry about messing it up. It's easily fixable.

🌟 Intro/Book Blessing/Foreword 🌟

I blurred this section out where it's something that's very personal. But here I basically just said what the book is about, and since I intend to leave this book to my family members once I pass away, there's just a personal message in there for them as well. Feel free to make this section whatever you want though  you can include it or exclude it. Some people include an introduction to their book, for some people it is the Wiccan Rede, for others it is a book blessing, it can be whatever you wish to make it be.  Again, remember your BOS is YOUR book. Don't feel obligated to put a section in just because you see everyone else do it. Add what you feel to add and really make your book your own.

🌟 Filling Your Book With Content 🌟

Once you've got the starter pages out of the way, you can start writing about whatever you want! This is where you start to think about what it is that is important to you on your spiritual journey. What is it you're interested in for your craft? What is important to you? What are the things you want to remember? And what are the things you want to learn? Feel free to even just take some time to brain storm this. One question that can help you answer the other questions is what attracted you to witchcraft to begin with? Was it magic spells? Meeting your spirit guides and familiars? Was it crystal healing? Communicating with spirits? Astral projection? Make a list of all the spiritual things you can think of that you're interested in and want to learn. When you discover something new that peaks your interest, add it to the list! That list is going to be the content that fills your book.

For the sake of making life easier for yourself, try to divide your book into sections. For example, dedicate 2-4+ pages to one specific topic. That way you have room to add more notes and information as you learn more on your journey. If you find you need more pages in a section after you've already filled them and don't have any room, simply take a new page and tape it to one of the section pages to extend it. This is a simple and clean way to extend your sections. See what I did for my Astrology section in the picture above and below for what I mean by this.

As shown above, I have my Astrology Title Page taped to the outside of my first birthchart page.

🌟 A Few Last Words 🌟

Honestly guys, that's about all there is to it! Just remember, your Book of Shadows is something that is completely your own and doesn't need to meet any specific standard. Be creative with it and don't be afraid to mess it up! It's okay to make mistakes and you'll bond with your book even more for those mistakes. Below I have a few more ideas you could add to your book if you still feel really lost.

• Lunar Phases & how you can use them in rituals • What is the Law of Attraction and what are some of the things you're working to manifest in your life? • What is a magick spell, how do you create one, and what are some of your favorite spells or your own created spells? • What is Astral Projection, the astral planes of existence, how to astral project & techniques, and your own personal astral projection experiences? • What is Lucid Dreaming, how to perform reality checks, how to achieve astral projection through lucid dreaming, and write down the lucid dreams when you achieve them. • Use your BOS as a general dream journal, write down your dreams, reflect on them, and write down what you feel they mean. • Create an astral projection portal through your BOS! • What are familiars, how can you connect with your familiars, who your familiars are once you've met them, and your familiar experiences. • What are spirit guides, how can you connect with them, who are your spirit guides once you've met them, and your experiences with your spirit guides. • Forms of divination (tarot, oracle, pendulums, runes, etc), how to use them, what they mean, and your experiences with them. • What is astrology, your detailed birth chart, What each sign in each planet means for your birth chart, your parents and/or significant other's birth chart, and compatibilities. • What are chakras, what do chakras affect, how to heal and maintain your chakras. • Crystals and their meanings/properties, how to heal with crystals, how to make a crystal grid, how to charge crystals, meditation with crystals, and your experiences with them. • Natural home remedies, herbs and spices spiritual properties and physical benefits, your own magickal recipes and DIYs. • What is the Universe to you? Do you believe in Gods or Goddesses? Who do you choose to work with and what is their history? What kind of offerings do they like? What are your experiences with them?

Anyways guys, those are just a few ideas to the endless amount of things you could add to your Book of Shadows. It's all about your spiritual journey after all, so add what you feel most called to! I hope this post has inspired and been useful for you! If you take any inspiration from this and choose to make your own, feel free to link me to your own BOS post if you make one. I love seeing other peoples ideas and creativity. & If you enjoyed this post, don't forget to reblog and follow for more! :) Happy crafting! ♥

[littleandroidwrites]

a lydia ball paragraph of the self

sometimes you ask your littlefamily to send you memes and then you ignore the memes they send you and you write about something irrelevant instead and that? is the least valid thing you can do. thank you

Lydia liked dating Zeke, because Zeke did whatever he wanted and sometimes whatever someone else wanted too, like the first night Lydia had met his band and someone had ended up suggesting they steal all of the stop signs on the block and he had said, I’m down.

They hadn’t ended up doing that. Their manager had come out of his room and briefly had the chance to open his mouth before they were all booing him.

It wasn’t the concept of causing mayhem in traffic that got Lydia going, not at all, but the idea of being adventurous? Lydia used to think that she was adventurous. But it turned out that “adventurous” to the type of person who’d ended up engaged to the guy she started dating in middle school was actually more like rotating one of five activities that were pre-existing in a very safe, very sheltered routine. Every once in a while she’d wake up early on a Sunday morning and say, let’s go feed the ducks in a way that made her feel very wistful and spontaneous. And Dmitri had always said yes and looked at her like she was very wistful and spontaneous.

The thing was though that he was a fucking theatre major and he ended their relationship in a letter after over a decade together, probably because she had never been adventurous a day in her life. Or because she didn’t know how to cook or because she didn’t have a real job or because she refused to clean the shower or the oven but never actually admitted it because she just always swept up and did the dishes first so that it seemed like it was Dmitri who wasn’t pulling his weight. It really could have been lots of things. None of which Lydia would have thought about before the letter, of course, but these sorts of events tended to make you reflect.

They also tended to mean that you couldn’t afford your exposed brick loft apartment anymore because you’re only a painter and your fiancé had been covering most of the costs for the last few years if you were being honest with yourself. 

Her parents had tried to insist she move back in. Lydia knew it wasn’t out of obligation – even though her parents were definitely good people who did good things entirely out of obligation – but because they adored her and loved her and missed her when she was away for more than three days. And it was very tempting to go from being babied by Dmitri back to being babied by her parents and continue this never-ending being babied cycle, but it was occurring to Lydia truly for the first time that at some point someone was going to drop the baby ball and she was just going to be a hopeless adult in her mid-twenties incapable of taking care of herself. 

So she’d gone room hunting. Surrounded by boxes sitting on her very new very millennial futon (which she’d told everyone was a millennial decision but was actually the outcome of trying to move the old bed base for ten whole minutes before crying because she couldn’t lift it by herself and Dmitri had picked it out anyway and she didn’t even have the number of a moving truck and how was she supposed to know how much that would cost did people haggle she’d probably pay more than the moving guy asked for just because she’d want him to like her even if he never saw her again was that pathological she hadn’t been to a counsellor in a couple months her parents would pay but there was nothing more narcissistic than paying someone to hear you talk about wanting to be liked but she didn’t want to put that on her friends you know in case they stopped liking her god was she a narcissist), she had very maturely sorted price lowest to highest. Her favourite result was one crafted in a missed connections style.

f4whatever i have a room. you need one you don’t like having loud parties late at night. i have lots of wine to share when i’m stressed i cook. you eat it and tell me it’s good you can be a liar as long as it’s the nice kind. 2 bed 1 bath. you will not mind that i have fifteen bottles of lotion i don’t use i will pretend to be your scorned girlfriend if you have someone over you don’t like i’m desperate and you must be too

So she lived with a girl called Eve now. Eve hadn’t mentioned in her ad that if Lydia didn’t leave her bed for three days she'd bring her pastries at the end of the day, but she did it anyway and that was the kind of discretionary effort Lydia imagined everyone would want in a roommate. Eve did mention once that her sister was a psychologist once though, which she had followed with so she legally has to listen to me complain. It reminded Lydia of when you’d go out with a friend who couldn’t afford to eat anything so you’d pretend to be full halfway through your fries and say something like it did not occur to me until this moment but these will go to waste if you do not eat them right now!

One afternoon when Eve had texted to say that she’d be home late (which was nice, having someone who made you privy to their schedule, that was maybe one of the things Lydia missed the most, when she’d pretend to be put upon at 8pm at a paint and sip and say to her friends oh I have to let Dmitri know I’ll be home late and she’d roll her eyes like she didn’t do it just to get the 8pm-9pm me misses 8pm-9pm you text back), Lydia had decided it might be nice to cook for Eve for a change. She’d started off with a pinterest search for good dinners easy but had quickly been overwhelmed by the sheer number also there were all these advertisements in between the dishes for active wear and exercise programmes which felt exploitative. So she’d decided to open up her grandma’s special recipes box. 

Lydia really could not stress how little interest she had in cooking. But the first time she’d ever seen this little tin box with cursive recipe cards organised in alphabetical order, she had wanted it. Her grandmother died when she was only three, so she didn’t actually have any memories or her or her cooking or cooking with her or even her wrinkly old face outside of photos she’d seen but she treated this box very much like it held sentimental value. There was something sentimental about its lack of sentimentality.  

Anyway at random she’d picked a casserole and spent way too much on ingredients and when she got halfway through the recipe she realised it took four hours in total which was really a lot of time for one dish but it was too late and she was hungry and she wanted to impress Eve. So after she put the dish in the oven she cleaned the kitchen, which she had made a mess of, and actually the casserole was ready five minutes after Eve walked through the door which was perfect. 

Except that it was not perfect because the casserole was bad. 

“Grandma would be so disappointed,” Lydia lamented, balancing a cucumber on her fork and inspecting it, forlorn. The whole thing tasted overwhelmingly of too-tangy tomato paste and had taken on the sad watery quality of the cucumber. She felt this must be a metaphor for something. Four hours of her life plus however many hours of preparation and anticipation just to be left with a disappointing show of two fruits that really should have been vegetables. 

“Or,” Eve had said, her phone pressed to her ear, “Maybe this is exactly what she used to make, and she just didn’t have taste buds. No shame in — Hi, can I please place an order?”

-

It had taken a little to get to like Eraserhead’s music. At the first gig she went to she was surprised to find they sounded like that, but she figured if she was dating the bassist of a band she should really like his band. So Lydia had started by listening to chaos-adjacent music that she did like, like Friday I’m In Love by The Cure, and then she’d listened to a little more of The Cure, and really from there it was just a modest sidestep to learn to like music from people like The Clash and after a few more hops and jumps you basically fell into Eraserhead’s music. When Zeke had asked her at the next gig what she’d thought, Lydia had said I like that it’s music you kind of have to work for? It’s like real art, and after a second Zeke had nodded like he agreed but privately Lydia kind of thought he didn’t agree. 

That was the thing that she enjoyed about a relationship that was just a little over twelve days old instead of a little over twelve years old, though. Nobody really expected her to dig deeper and ask Zeke if he was just agreeing with her because he didn’t agree and that was a harder conversation. Nobody really expected either of them to owe each other anything and so all she’d done was finish her drink and kiss him.

[dallasz2020-blog]

How can you tell if something is real crystal? Get a glass and hold it up to a light source. You can tell that it is crystal if it creates a rainbow prism effect. If it doesn't, then you are holding just a plain glass. If you tap the glass and you hear a musical ring with a little bit of echo, then it is crystal. What Crystal is good for weight loss? There are a number of other stones that may help you to lose weight including Green Tourmaline, Ethiopian Opal, Cerussite, Sunstone, Green Heulandite, Dream Quartz and Purple Amethyst. Green Tourmaline: the energy of this crystal has a good effect that can aid detoxification so this might help weight loss. Which crystal is best for love? Rose Quartz - Unconditional Love. Rose Quartz is used for love, beauty, forgiveness and presence.Carrying the feminine energy of compassion and peace, rose quartz is the most popular and mainstream of the quartz family. Traditionally called the Heart Stone, it's been used as a love token since as early as 600 B.C. What is a crystal elixir? A crystal elixir is created when a crystal is added to water to revitalize its energy. The word elixir stems from the Arabic word “al iksic” which means “miracle substance.” Crystal elixirs have been crafted by alternative healers for centuries, and are referenced in ancient Grecian and Chinese texts as being used to cure specific ailments. What are the benefits of a Smoky Quartz elixir? Smoky Quartz is a fitting choice for the ambitious-minded. It is easy to get caught up in our art, work, or obligations. Let Smoky Quartz bring you back down to find center by reconnecting to your core values. This elixir serves as a reminder to take it all in. This stone has been known to help relieve anxiety and will ground you through life’s ups and downs. This elixir is supportive in helping you feel powerful, secure, and protected from negativity. What are the benefits of an Amethyst elixir? Amethyst is used for instilling inner peace, intuition, creativity and sobriety. Use the Amethyst Bottle when you are in need of soothing. Let its beauty serve to align your frequency with creativity. This elixir has been known to enhance the innate psychic abilities we all have access to, connecting you to your own unique intuition. What are the benefits of a Black Obsidian elixir? Black Obsidian is used for truth, pure potentiality, awareness and protection. Obsidian is THE mirror to our subconscious. It supports in creating space for Truth to come through, unclouded by the ego, and helps you to navigate the realms of your subconscious to tap into the energy of your purest potential. Of all our crystal elixirs, Black Obsidian is the most potent and advanced. The color black represents infinite possibilities and being in the presence of Obsidian enhances confidence and strength. What is “crystal water” or “gem water”? Experts all over the world agree that water can be restructured, or "informed" in many different ways. One of these ways is using vibrations. Like in a microwave: Put a glass with water in a running microwave for some time and it will begin to boil. The microwave shoots waves at the water molecules that causes them to vibrate. Everything that emits vibrations can influence water. A very natural and subtle source of radiation are gems (or crystals). People have been using gems to infuse their drinking water for thousands of years. The ancient Greek did it and wise men and women in the Middle Ages. Of course they couldn't understand the scientific process but they realized, it changed something in their water. Something they could feel and taste. Over the time, they studied the effects of this "gem water" and developed a tradition called "crystal healing". How do I use my gem vial properly? Preparing Gem-Water with a gem vial is easy: Simply place your gem vial inside one of our water decanters, fill it up with regular drinking water and wait for 7 – 10 minutes. That's all it takes! Does gem water taste different than regular water? Almost all of our customers report a difference in taste between regular drinking water and gem-water. Even the different gem blends are reported to taste different. The difference is often perceived as very subtle, as a change in the texture of the water. Try for yourself! What are ViA bottles made of? Is it safe? ViA’s body is made of pollutant-free glass. The lids are made of stainless steel and a non-toxic, BPA free polymer component with silicone washers to keep the bottle leak-proof. How do I clean my crystal water bottle? Is it dishwasher safe? ViA is easy to clean, Our vial and gem-water pods that are at the bottom of our gem-water bottle are NOT dishwasher-safe. Detach the gem pod from the bottle, unscrew the glass part with the stones from the lid, take the silicone washer out and clean everything thoroughly with a mild detergent. Rinse it well, and let it airdry overnight. Same with the top lid: Take out the washer, rinse it with a mild detergent, rinse it really good and let it airdry. You can put the glass cylinder in the dishwasher. How do the gems affect the water although they are sealed inside the glass vial? Gems have a very subtle electromagnetic vibration that changes the water’s structure.It's a common misunderstanding that crystal water or gem-water is made in a process that includes minerals dissolving in water. You actually DON'T want to have a physical component from gems / crystals dissolving in your water as it could be toxic if you do not know where your gems are from or if they are treated. Gem-water is made by the subtle radiation of the gems. As you know from sun rays, magnetic rays or microwaves, radiation waves pass through glass. That's the same with the gems' radiation. Is there proof that the gems change the properties of water? Water is life! There's no other substance on earth that has a greater influence on our wellbeing than water. If you begin to engage yourself with the mysteries of water, you'll very soon come across one name: Dr. Masaru Emoto. No present-day scientist has studied the true nature of water more intensely than the late Japanese researcher and author of the New York Times bestseller “The Hidden Messages in Water.” Crystal images by Dr. Emoto‘s laboratory verified that water treated with VitaJuwel gem vials regains its original, natural energy and thus is comparable to fresh spring water. Also, German scientists have measured an improvement in water treated with gem vials, stating: “With crystal water bottle, drinking water reaches a quality level otherwise only found in natural spring water.“ What do I do if my gemstone vial  gets damaged? Before every use of crystal water bottle, make sure your gem vial is free of any damage. If it has cracks or other damage, STOP USAGE immediately. Damaged vials and pods are not safe for usage and may cause physical harm. If you have swallowed any pieces from your product SEEK IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION! Why do the stones in my ViA bottle look a little different than on a picture I saw? Gems and crystals are unique like everyone of us. They are age-old natural products and therefore may vary in size, shape and color so your vial or gem-water bottle will not look exactly like another and every piece is one-of-a-kind! Can I change the gems inside my gem vial? Our gem vials and pods are sealed. Therefore it's not possible to change the blend after it production. Experience has shown that the most hygienic way to prepare gem-water is using sealed vials. We currently offer vials with 20 distinctive blends of gems, following age-old traditions and "recipes".

[martadwatson]

Real Housewives Of Atlanta Season 11 Premiere Recap

Last night’s season premiere of Real Housewives of Atlanta was all about Porsha Williams turning right instead of left and finding Prince Charming – aka The Hot Dog King Of Atlanta, and hopefully getting a big ol diamond ring out of it. HINT, MEGA-HINT, HINT.

As we alll know Porsha is dating Dennis, who owns several clubs in addition to The Original Hotdog Factory. “Everybody loves hot dogs!” Porsha cheers, “Especially me!” And Dennis’s wienie in particular. Porsha met Dennis at one of his clubs, then went home with him. Porsha and Dennis’s one-night stand has now turned into ring shopping. He apparently told her he loved her the first night they met. “It just feels natural and we just went with it,” she gushes.

Porsha drags Dennis to her jeweler – the same one who provided her rings to Kordell, because, “Different man, different right, right?!” And bigger girl, bigger diamonds too! She’s a grown up now, no more playing housewives with a man who acts like her father. Also, it’s not like the jeweler cursed their marriage – RHOA did.

After diamond browsing, Porsha swings by Swagg Boutique to check in on NeNe Leakes. And NeNe is not doing well. Gregg has been diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer – which I didn’t know his cancer was so advanced! – and most of his colon was removed. NeNe is taking care of him, and trying to be strong, but in her car and at night she cries. Gregg is determined to fight – if only to have more time with his wife – so they host a revitalizing prayer circle of family and friends to boost his spirit and keep him strong.  NeNe gets Porsha for her spirit boosting! Gregg looks so ill and depleted, I am heartbroken for this family. And alas I just cannot make fun of NeNe’s confessional hat at a time like this. So she gets a pass, because of Gregg.

Porsha came to Swagg because she just had to see NeNe’s face to truly understand where she is. They speak on the phone regularly, but Porsha knows NeNe is hiding her true feelings and has decided to make it her sole mission (other than getting a ring) to make NeNe laugh to cheer her up. And Porsha, bless her heart, she is ride or die about shaking her booty for a friend in need.

Dennis is taking Porsha to Miami to celebrate her birthday and guess what – NeNe is also headed there for a comedy gig. NeNe somehow talks Porsha into trying on this tie-dyed two-piece number which looked like a Crayola box exploded on Porsha’s ass, or maybe like one of those Jackson Pollak paintings that sell for millions.

NeNe wants to see what’s cooking with Porsha and her Swagg outfit. The answer is stir-fried crazy. Crazier than a tye-dyed spandex outfit.

What’s also cooking is that Porsha has a brilliant idea. Well, at least for her it’s brilliant. She – ahem, the producers – decide this is the perfect opportunity for Porsha to plan a girl’s trip to surprise NeNe in Miami to cheer her up. Yes, I’m so sure Porsha came up with this all on her own. Just like I’m so sure Porsha and NeNe just so happened to be traveling to Miami at the exact same time…

Next, let’s check in on Cynthia Bailey. Fifty Cynt turned out to be a bad year, but Fifty Cynt & Change is doing OK. Cynthia is now dating – and quite serious with – Mike Hill, a sportscaster who lives in LA, but visits Lake Bailey regularly to dive into its cool, swampy waters. Mike calls for some Skype-Sex and Cynthia is all prepared with a glass of wine swimming with frozen green grapes so it looks like she’s drinking a witch’s brew filled with eyeballs. Then in the middle of Mike telling her how he likes to be in control, Noelle walks in unannounced. Noelle and Mike have met, and like each other – so much so that Mike and Cynthia almost continue their raunchy talk while she’s sitting on the sofa taking a selfie. Classy!

For Kandi Burrrus her personal life is problematic while her professional one is hitting the highest notes ever. Starting with Xscape being honored with an aascap Golden Note Award. The award is all fine and good, but the really important matter for these Ol Girls of the 90’s music scene is what craft services will be serving backstage. Um, aascap isn’t using OLG as their caterers? Aunt Bertha won’t be personally presiding over the koolaid kocktails while terrorizing the other esteemed attendees? Apparently not because it doesn’t even appear that Mama Joyce attended.

Instead, Kandi brought her toddler and Riley, neither of whom want to be there. Kandi is shocked that Ace is cranky and crying – she doesn’t even seem to realize what time he goes to bed. Probably because, as Riley points out, Kandi is constantly working and never home. Todd is essentially running “Daddy Daycare,” but while he’s at the bar getting a much needed drink after finally escaping the kids, Don Jaun Daycare had to take over while Kandi grimaced from the red carpet. Girl time to hire a NANNY.

We also need to take a moment to truly honor the star of that show: Kandi’s weave. It must have been supplied by Porsha’s Go Naked Hair!

Of course, while Kandi is missing school meetings she forgot were even scheduled (OK I’ve done that too) and being publicly called out by her teenager for ignoring home responsibilities, she’s contemplating another baby because duh – she has two frozen embryos left which she’s not sure what to do with. Yes – another stupid embryo storyline! Really Bravo… you have got to cook up some new recipes. Let Porsha get into that kitchen and open the oven and stuff a hotdog bun in there or something.

Eva Marcille had Michael Jr, and is now engaged to regular-old Michael. Basically, everything is great except that her wedding is in about 6 minutes but she has no wedding planner or anything else done. However, she does have professional family photographs with everyone wearing denim-on-denim like this is 1992. So priorities. After taking a couple photos with the kids, Eva quickly shoos them away, kicks off her Louboutins and turns this into The Eva Show to relaunch her modeling career. Does ANTM do a senior series? Wasn’t LeeAnne Locken on something like that way back when?

Porsha comes home carrying a Chick-Fil-A cup the size of her head and announces that she’s going to call all the girls to invite them to Miami on a mission trip to recharge NeNe’s batteries. She’s scared though because she’s well aware that none of her s0-called friends even like her! She starts with Cynthia, who is too busy sucking on frozen grapes to be mean and having nothing to do, is an easy yes. Next Porsha downs a shot of Hennessy to give Kandi a call. Kandi was just telling us how much she loves to work, so she had no problem jetting off to Miami at a moment’s notice and ditching her kids (again) to fulfill her Bravo contractual obligations. Everyone else, obviously, can go because these trips are sooo authentic!

Porsha pats herself on the back for being brave enough to work the telephone and surprisingly everyone was nice. Even Kandi. Good things happen when you project your happiness to the world in the form of constant hair flips and high pitched shrieking giggles. Porsha in love is worse than five 8th grader girls.

Porsha prepared for Miami by packing all white, because she’s having a very bridal moment – hopefully – and then adding a bring red wig to signify love. Also red is the color of ketchup – which pairs perfectly with hot dogs! I assume Porsha is no longer vegan? If Dennis doesn’t propose in the next 5 minutes she’s gonna explode like a hotdog cooked too long in the microwave! When he arrives to pick her up and fly her in a private plane, Porsha is literally bursting with glee and practically levitating at the thought of being proposed to during the trip. Did I mention that they’ve only been together five months?

Meanwhile, NeNe is calling Cynthia hourly to beg her to come to Miami where she’ll be doing her first comedy show since Gregg’s diagnosis. Cynthia is the worst liar ever and stumbles over pretending she has to get off the phone for conference calls and phone sex and any other reason, oh my! Then she’s so flustered she packs the wardrobe equivalent of Porsha’s personality.

Driving to their hotel, Porsha prattles on about how she has so much to do in Miami like wear WHITE. A LOT. And make NeNe feel better by showing off her GIANT ENGAGEMENT RING, but there are no plans to introduce Dennis to the girls. Porsha wants to protect him from them eating him alive. Dennis actually already knows Kandi… from around. No details given. Also, he used to frequent OLG Restaurant on the regular, being that he lives right across the street, but since meeting Porsha he hasn’t partaken in their fried chicken. Hmmm… so do we think Dennis is a famewhore? Or something else? Porsha is choosing to remain unbothered by this revelation because she is much more focused on the fact that Dennis could be proposing this weekend. HINT HINT.

Dennis has the room all prepared with a private chef to make gourmet food, and WHITE (hint hint!) rose petals on the bed and we all know what white rose petals mean… THERE IS A RING HIDING IN PORSHA’S SALMON STEAK. Like a bad sitcom, Porsha runs into the bathroom to frantically call her sister, whispering about how she knows this is the night. She’s in there so long Dennis finally asks if everything is OK. Cause nothing says sexy like your man thinking you have explosive diarrhea!

Finally, Porsha sits down on the bed and Dennis whips out a giant jewelry box and … TO BE CONTINUED.

Also, of course, Dennis knows Kandi. And of course, Kandi will know something nasty about him.

TELL US – DO YOU THINK DENNIS WILL PROPOSE? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF CYNTHIA’S MAN? ARE YOU EXCITED EVA HAS JOINED THE CAST FULL-TIME?

[Photo Credits: Bravo]

Source link

from Diamonds & Jewelry Consignment Shop https://sellringsonconsignment.com/top-posts/real-housewives-of-atlanta-season-11-premiere-recap/ from Sell Rings On Consignment https://sellringsonconsignment.tumblr.com/post/179791513568

[gethealthy18-blog]

Cocoa-Mint DIY Lip Scrub Recipe (And Self Care Tips for Your Busy Lifestyle)

New Post has been published on http://healingawerness.com/news/cocoa-mint-diy-lip-scrub-recipe-and-self-care-tips-for-your-busy-lifestyle/

Cocoa-Mint DIY Lip Scrub Recipe (And Self Care Tips for Your Busy Lifestyle)

My simple cocoa-mint DIY lip scrub recipe not only nourishes your lips in a deliciously minty way, it is also a wonderful way that we can harness our creativity for self care and nurture our emotional health and well-being in just five minutes.

In these modern times, we often take on multiple roles throughout our lives. Often these roles overlap at the same time, leaving us overwhelmed and overextended. By taking just a few minutes out of each day to practice self care, even with a simple homemade lip scrub, we are better equipped to handle stressors in our lives.

What is self care?

We hear a lot about self care. That is, taking the time out to do something for yourself that benefits your physical or emotional health in some way. However, it’s easy to forget that we need to practice self care on a regular basis. When we have too much on our plate, and not enough time to get everything done, taking care of ourselves falls to the wayside.

Self care shouldn’t feel like a chore. Instead, it should be a simple exercise to help ground you. By making the time to practice self care exercises on a regular basis, the hope is that they’ll, in turn, become healthy habits. So not only are you carving out a little extra time for yourself each day, you’re also taking actions that lead to better emotional health. After all, self care isn’t self indulgence. It’s an act of survival.

What are some easy ways to practice self care?

Here is a list of my favorite ways to take time out for myself. Working these self care ideas into your busy lifestyle can really make all the difference in your life. Therefore, I recommend starting with just one or two, then working more in as you can.

1. Drink an extra glass of water everyday.

Easy, right? Most of us don’t drink enough water. And if you’re chugging coffee in the mornings to get going, you actually need to drink double the amount of water to counteract the caffeine. The simple act of drinking more water not only helps with digestion, it also combats fatigue and can help prevent acne.

2. Get up and move!

When work gets overwhelming, take a mini break. Get out of that ever so uncomfortable office chair and take a spin! (Or spin in your office chair even!).

I’ve found that something as simple as standing up and doing a Cinderella like spin, your arm circling down so you can magically don a ball gown, will lift your mood and give you a little chuckle. Likewise, if you can get away with dancing to a single song, go for it! Sneaking in just a little exercise can help to reduce stress. It also leads to better sleep. Here’s a another awesome fun way to get some steps in every day.

3. Don’t skimp on sleep.

Our bodies need sleep to stay healthy and keep us on top of our game. I promise the world won’t go spiraling into the sun if you don’t finish every single thing on your to do list by the end of the day.

So if you’re exhausted, take a nap. Also be sure you’re getting an adequate amount of sleep every night. A good night’s rest helps to improve memory, spur creativity, sharpen attention and lower stress levels so you can, in turn, be more productive.  If you have trouble getting a good night’s rest, you’ll find some great tips for getting a restful night’s sleep here.

4. Crank the music on your car ride to and from work – and sing along!

Belting out to your favorite playlist when you’re alone in the car is fabulous for relieving built up stress and tension. I mean, there’s just something about being able to scream (sing) at the top of your lungs to help you get over a bad day.

5. Reward yourself at least once week for all of your hard work with a little treat.

Instead of saving the things you love for special occasions, make the occasion special to brighten your mood. Spoil yourself  with your favorite Korean face mask. Or buy yourself that pretty party worthy cake pop. Pick up a bouquet of your favorite flowers. Do something you wish your ex would have done for you, but never did.

6. Clean and organize your living space.

If you’re a type A personality like I am, cleaning off your desk or organizing your pantry will help to clear your head, reduce stress and ground you. I find that this helps me when I’m having trouble starting on a new project or task for work.

7. Unwind with a relaxing bubble bath at the end of a hard day.

Or buy a fun new nail polish color and give yourself a mani-pedi! This extra bit of attention is a great way to meditate without realizing you’re meditating. Especially if you’re one of those people that has trouble sitting still for more than five minutes (I’m raising my hand on this one too!). These homemade lavender and chamomile bath bombs are the perfect way to relax in the bath.

8. Learn to say no.

Your time is already stretched. Adding on another task as a favor to someone else will only make things harder and more stressful. It’s impossible to take care of your own needs, if you’re drowning in obligations to other people.

Your friends and family will understand and you’ll feel empowered by taking back a little piece of time for yourself that you would ordinarily give away.

9. Eat healthier.

Start replacing processed foods with raw foods rich in nutrients. Processed foods contain preservatives that can be unhealthy when they start to consume your eating habits. Not only do they offer fewer nutrients your body needs, they can also contribute to stress and anxiety.

Learn more about how to prevent binge eating.

10. Take a break from social media.

Social media has become a large part of daily life. Unfortunately, the content is not always desirable. Politics and negative news stories can easily bring you down, and the comments can be even worse than the posts themselves. In addition, reading about how happy your friends and family are can often lead to feeling that our own lives are inadequate.

Rather than scrolling through facebook or instagram, take that ten minutes to walk around the block instead. Studies have shown that a simple walk outdoors can boost serotonin levels in the brain more than antidepressant medications.

11. Use your chores as a way to interact with people outside of your day to day life.

Instead of a chaotic trip to the grocery store after work, visit the farmer’s market on your day off instead. Not only will the walk reduce stress, but it will give you the chance to interact on a personal level with the people you’re buying from. It’s also an easy way to shop healthier and support people in your community.

12. Try aromatherapy.

Certain essential oils, such as lavender, can help to promote calm and relaxation. While other essential oils, such as lemongrass, can help relieve stress. I personally LOVE peppermint essential oil in my diy lip scrub recipe and many other diy beauty products.

Elizabeth’s Note: Ready to learn more about essential oils? Start my FREE SUPER SIMPLE 9-STEP EMAIL COURSE to start learning – without all the stress! I focus on the absolute essentials (pun totally intended, haha) and keep everything simple. That way you can learn what you need without information overload! Start my free course now.

13. Create something with your hands.

There’s a certain satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment when you make something with your hands. Creativity not only makes us happy, it can also help us overcome trauma and manage negative emotions.

DIY Lip Scrub: A simple 5-minute self care project

If you’d like to create something, but aren’t sure where to start, why not give my natural DIY lip scrub recipe a try? Making something simple, such a lip scrub, is an easy self care exercise. And it only takes five minutes of your time.

Not only will it give you a feeling of accomplishment, the end product also allows you to take that one extra minute a day to focus just on you. Or more specifically, your lips!

I love this cocoa-mint DIY lip scrub recipe for a number of reasons. Not only is it easy to make, it’s also a great project that you create with your friends or family without having to make a huge time commitment. Of course, there’s also the added benefit of having smooth, healthy looking lips! Especially if you are prone to chapped lips in the winter, or if you live in a particularly dry climate.

By the way, this Cocoa-Mint DIY lip scrub would pair perfectly with chocolate mint body butter recipe, peppermint foaming sugar scrub recipe, chocolate mint foaming salt scrub, and chocolate mint lip balm recipe as a gift or as a complete self care package! You could also add these Foot Scrub Cubes with Menthol Crystals.

Cocoa-Mint DIY Lip Scrub Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

.75 oz. unrefined cocoa butter .75 oz. virgin coconut oil or fractionated coconut oil .25 oz. emulsifying wax 4.5 oz. granulated sugar 1 mL (or about 20 drops) peppermint essential oil

DIRECTIONS:

You will need a digital kitchen scale to craft my cocoa-mint DIY lip scrub recipe.

STEP #1:

Using a digital scale, weigh out the cocoa butter, coconut oil and emulsifying wax. (If you live in a hot climate, use virgin coconut oil. Otherwise, for cooler climates, use fractionated coconut oil.)

STEP #2:

Combine these ingredients in a double boiler and heat the ingredients on the stovetop over medium-low heat until melted.

STEP #3:

Remove the melted butter, oil and wax from heat. Then add the peppermint essential oil to the mixture and stir to combine.

STEP #4:

Using a separate container weigh out the sugar. Then pour the sugar into the liquid ingredients. Then use a fork to mix the lip scrub until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed.

STEP #5: 

Spoon your cocoa-mint natural lip scrub into a container or containers of your choice. Allow to cool, then screw on the lid(s) to your container(s).

To use your natural DIY lip scrub, simply massage a small amount of the scrub onto damp lips in the shower as part of your daily self care routine.

How do you practice self care each day? Do you make DIY lip scrub to nourish your lips? I’d love for you to share your experiences in the comments!

More DIY Beauty Recipes You Will Love:

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Source: https://livingthenourishedlife.com/cocoa-mint-diy-lip-scrub-recipe-and-self-care-tips/

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Crystal Water Bottle-Transform Everyday Drinking Water With Gemstone Crystals

can absorb the disease, dirty gas, evil spirits, is the best tool for healing and adjusting the body and spirit;

Can be used to set up a seven-star array,is good for meditation and visualization

Can play a role on degaussing, reducing radiation of home appliance effectively;

Can balance your body and mind,adjust your emotions, help to concentrate spirit.

How can you tell if something is real crystal? Get a glass and hold it up to a light source. You can tell that it is crystal if it creates a rainbow prism effect. If it doesn't, then you are holding just a plain glass. If you tap the glass and you hear a musical ring with a little bit of echo, then it is crystal. What Crystal is good for weight loss? There are a number of other stones that may help you to lose weight including Green Tourmaline, Ethiopian Opal, Cerussite, Sunstone, Green Heulandite, Dream Quartz and Purple Amethyst. Green Tourmaline: the energy of this crystal has a good effect that can aid detoxification so this might help weight loss. Which crystal is best for love? Rose Quartz - Unconditional Love. Rose Quartz is used for love, beauty, forgiveness and presence.Carrying the feminine energy of compassion and peace, rose quartz is the most popular and mainstream of the quartz family. Traditionally called the Heart Stone, it's been used as a love token since as early as 600 B.C. What is a crystal elixir? A crystal elixir is created when a crystal is added to water to revitalize its energy. The word elixir stems from the Arabic word “al iksic” which means “miracle substance.” Crystal elixirs have been crafted by alternative healers for centuries, and are referenced in ancient Grecian and Chinese texts as being used to cure specific ailments. What are the benefits of a Smoky Quartz elixir? Smoky Quartz is a fitting choice for the ambitious-minded. It is easy to get caught up in our art, work, or obligations. Let Smoky Quartz bring you back down to find center by reconnecting to your core values. This elixir serves as a reminder to take it all in. This stone has been known to help relieve anxiety and will ground you through life’s ups and downs. This elixir is supportive in helping you feel powerful, secure, and protected from negativity. What are the benefits of an Amethyst elixir? Amethyst is used for instilling inner peace, intuition, creativity and sobriety. Use the Amethyst Bottle when you are in need of soothing. Let its beauty serve to align your frequency with creativity. This elixir has been known to enhance the innate psychic abilities we all have access to, connecting you to your own unique intuition. What are the benefits of a Black Obsidian elixir? Black Obsidian is used for truth, pure potentiality, awareness and protection. Obsidian is THE mirror to our subconscious. It supports in creating space for Truth to come through, unclouded by the ego, and helps you to navigate the realms of your subconscious to tap into the energy of your purest potential. Of all our crystal elixirs, Black Obsidian is the most potent and advanced. The color black represents infinite possibilities and being in the presence of Obsidian enhances confidence and strength. What is “crystal water” or “gem water”? Experts all over the world agree that water can be restructured, or "informed" in many different ways. One of these ways is using vibrations. Like in a microwave: Put a glass with water in a running microwave for some time and it will begin to boil. The microwave shoots waves at the water molecules that causes them to vibrate. Everything that emits vibrations can influence water. A very natural and subtle source of radiation are gems (or crystals). People have been using gems to infuse their drinking water for thousands of years. The ancient Greek did it and wise men and women in the Middle Ages. Of course they couldn't understand the scientific process but they realized, it changed something in their water. Something they could feel and taste. Over the time, they studied the effects of this "gem water" and developed a tradition called "crystal healing". How do I use my gem vial properly? Preparing Gem-Water with a gem vial is easy: Simply place your gem vial inside one of our water decanters, fill it up with regular drinking water and wait for 7 – 10 minutes. That's all it takes! Does gem water taste different than regular water? Almost all of our customers report a difference in taste between regular drinking water and gem-water. Even the different gem blends are reported to taste different. The difference is often perceived as very subtle, as a change in the texture of the water. Try for yourself! What are ViA bottles made of? Is it safe? ViA’s body is made of pollutant-free glass. The lids are made of stainless steel and a non-toxic, BPA free polymer component with silicone washers to keep the bottle leak-proof. How do I clean my crystal water bottle? Is it dishwasher safe? ViA is easy to clean, Our vial and gem-water pods that are at the bottom of our gem-water bottle are NOT dishwasher-safe. Detach the gem pod from the bottle, unscrew the glass part with the stones from the lid, take the silicone washer out and clean everything thoroughly with a mild detergent. Rinse it well, and let it airdry overnight. Same with the top lid: Take out the washer, rinse it with a mild detergent, rinse it really good and let it airdry. You can put the glass cylinder in the dishwasher. How do the gems affect the water although they are sealed inside the glass vial? Gems have a very subtle electromagnetic vibration that changes the water’s structure.It's a common misunderstanding that crystal water or gem-water is made in a process that includes minerals dissolving in water. You actually DON'T want to have a physical component from gems / crystals dissolving in your water as it could be toxic if you do not know where your gems are from or if they are treated. Gem-water is made by the subtle radiation of the gems. As you know from sun rays, magnetic rays or microwaves, radiation waves pass through glass. That's the same with the gems' radiation. Is there proof that the gems change the properties of water? Water is life! There's no other substance on earth that has a greater influence on our wellbeing than water. If you begin to engage yourself with the mysteries of water, you'll very soon come across one name: Dr. Masaru Emoto. No present-day scientist has studied the true nature of water more intensely than the late Japanese researcher and author of the New York Times bestseller “The Hidden Messages in Water.” Crystal images by Dr. Emoto‘s laboratory verified that water treated with VitaJuwel gem vials regains its original, natural energy and thus is comparable to fresh spring water. Also, German scientists have measured an improvement in water treated with gem vials, stating: “With crystal water bottle, drinking water reaches a quality level otherwise only found in natural spring water.“ What do I do if my gemstone vial  gets damaged? Before every use of crystal water bottle, make sure your gem vial is free of any damage. If it has cracks or other damage, STOP USAGE immediately. Damaged vials and pods are not safe for usage and may cause physical harm. If you have swallowed any pieces from your product SEEK IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION! Why do the stones in my ViA bottle look a little different than on a picture I saw? Gems and crystals are unique like everyone of us. They are age-old natural products and therefore may vary in size, shape and color so your vial or gem-water bottle will not look exactly like another and every piece is one-of-a-kind! Can I change the gems inside my gem vial? Our gem vials and pods are sealed. Therefore it's not possible to change the blend after it production. Experience has shown that the most hygienic way to prepare gem-water is using sealed vials. We currently offer vials with 20 distinctive blends of gems, following age-old traditions and "recipes".