A Cause For Debate

The importance of politics had always escaped me as a child . I thought it was all such a joke, men and women calling each other names and fighting dirty just to gain power. They rivaled children in immaturity in that regard. I always thought politicians were evil, short sighted people who were easy to corrupt, and the voices of the select few who had the will to help the public were lost in the crowd. Speaking to older people about politics didn't help either. Grumpy, argumentative people who were too set on their ways or beliefs and who thought the whole country should be run based on their values set no better example for me. That was the main thing for me, I believed that as a country, we were all different and could not be ruled under the same strict blanket. For a country to be successful, we must compromise and think of the greater good, and sometimes agreeing to disagree.

As I grow older, I'm beginning to realize the immense importance of my vote and the effects on my life. I learned that I had to set an example, and be a positive role model for my little brother, who is of voting age. I believe the effects of your actions and beliefs radiate and affect people you may never know existed. I vow to think cognitively and keep an open mind on issues and vote for the greater good.

However, it's hard this day and age to get your peers interested in politics. I wanted to think of a cool and creative way to get my friends involved, and in light of the upcoming debates, I've decided to bring my friends together in the best way I knew how..

Presidential Debate Drinking Party!

The first step in motivating people to get involved in politics was to make them start paying attention to politics. And although some people may wake up the next day not remembering anything from the night prior, at least I can put associate a positive feeling to politics in general.

Every good drinking party involves rules, so I've drafted a few for you to use at your drinking party!

When someone mentions 47%: drink 47% of your drink.
When someone mentions Ambassador Chris Stevens: pour out your drink.
When someone mentions the Middle East: Irish car bombs for everyone (I haven't decided if this is distasteful yet).
When someone mentions redistribution of wealth: swap your drink with someone else's.
When someone mentions oil: cigarette break.
When someone mentions foreign policy: last one with their hands up has to leave the living room and go into the kitchen and get everyone a drink.

Happy debate watching! Don't forget to vote!

xx, laura

Best of the Best

This month marked my tenth anniversary with a very important person in my life. This person has been with me through literal thick and thins in between and we know each other so well that we complete each other's sentences, know every minute detail about each other's likes and dislikes, and despite the fact that I only see/talk to this person every now and then, when we meet we always show up with the same outfit! 

Happy 10 year anniversary to my best friend Joyce!

 

It may seem weird that we know the exact date we met each other but it's not really. We met on the first day of high school as two girls who just moved to the suburbs, new in a school full of cliques. We've been through it all and I can honestly say she's really proven to me that she is the BEST BEST BEST friend I've ever had. She's always had my back, and she's never afraid to give it to me straight when I need advice (and even when I don't need it). If you know me, the things I value the most in a person is passion, loyalty, and nonchalant need to express the truth. Anyway, I've burned through quite a few frenemies, but I know Joyce will always be my best friend. She's proven that many times.

In 10 years, one can imagine we've pretty much done it all. Now that we're older, we decided to get fancy and celebrate at a nice restaurant. We went to Il Covo in Los Angeles, an inspired little italian restaurant with the cutest patio I've ever seen. 

I had the Grilled banzino, and Joyce had the squid ink pasta. My branzino (which is just a fancy word for European sea bass) was cooked well and came with a corn salsa with tomatoes and red onion. The corn salsa was amazing for having such simple ingredients. The squid ink pasta on the other hand.. well, let's just say I have quite the obsession for squid ink pasta now. It had generous chunks of crab in it, however the crab was kind of dry. It also had peppers which gave the pasta a nice kick. Highly recommended!

Il Covo
8700 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 858-0020  

Reservations recommended

inked.

There's a beauty in the simplicity of penmanship. I think these days we get so lost in the momentum of our fast moving lives and we forget about how little things like a handwritten letter from a good friend can make you feel. To be quite honest, I doubt many of us nowadays have given or received a handwritten letter in years! I can bet on that! With Facebook and email it's so much easier to keep up with your friends lives (whether they are aware of it or not).

I often donate to non-profit wildlife and environmental organizations and ever since I've been receiving solitications from environmental groups I didn't know existed until they started spamming my mailbox with complementary calendars, address labels, and greeting cards, along with photos of sad animals pleading for my donation. Pretty ironic, in my opinion.

Think I'm exaggerating? Take a look:

And this was just the address labels!

What a better way to make use of this 'free' cardstock then to treat my friends to a handwritten greeting. Lately addressing my friends consisted of more of keyboard strokes as opposed to pen strokes. It was therapeutic and quite the challenge for a young writer such as myself to refrain from smiley faces and "LOL"'s during a cordial greeting to get my point across.

Who's next?