Types of: Coffee Drinkers

Happy #NationalCoffeeDay!

There are many varieties of coffee, coffee-hings, and coffee drinkers. To celebrate this glorious, caffeinated day, I want to share the different types of coffee drinkers out there. Which are you?

 

1. The Aristocrat 

This person sips lattes that have fancy designs in the foam and some spices sprinkled dramatically one top. Coffee is only served in a white mug on top of a white plate and must be drank with one pinky finger extended. Stay away from me, peasants.

2. The Businessperson

This person has more to-go cups in their car than they do gas in the tank. I mean, who can really get through a work day without coffee? And they totally judge people at the office, who don’t have coffee on their desk.

 

3. The Brit

This person doesn’t drink coffee and makes sure to announce that at least once a day. I mean, it’s so bad for you. We know you don’t drink coffee, Karen, but cocaine is worse so I win.

 

4. The Neurotic One

This person has SO much coffee in their body at all times that they start to prove science wrong that people need water to survive. It’s basically just brown water with an extra kick, anyway, right? #sohealthy

 

5. The Gibbs

This person drinks black coffee only. No cream. No sugar. No cup. Just straight  black coffee. They regularly call out those who put other things in their coffee. I’m sorry if I don’t want to drink acidic mud.

 

6. The Sorority Girl

This person drinks only Starbucks coffee. Coffee is Starbucks and Starbucks is coffee. Naked, green mermaid for lyfe.

 

 

7. The College Student

This person can be combined with any of the above, but the difference is that this person did not ever drink coffee until their first college exam. That was the end of all innocence. I just want to go back…

Comment below which coffee drinker is you!

—

Until next time

xOx

Expectation vs. RL: Fall

It’s finally officially fall, which means a lot of raw emotions. New flavors at Starbucks, new candle scents from Yankee Candles, re-decorating your home in burnt orange and leaves, and finally SCARF and BOOT wardrobe combos.

But, like everything, the autumn we have made up in our minds will be a little off from reality. So, please enjoy this next segment of Expectation vs. Reality!

 

1. Drinks

Expectation: Warm, comforting drinks that both taste like and smell like fall

Reality: PSL’s haunt your Starbucks stops, your work encounters, your social media, your friendships, your nightmares….

 

2. Fashion

Expectation: Skinny jeans with knee-high boots and the cutest scarf

Reality: Sweatshirts… every… day…

 

3. Holiday Cooking

Expectation: Successfully trying out new recipes you found in Southern Living

Reality: Burning the potatoes….even if that’s not even possible

 

4. Thanksgiving 

Expectation: Worked out months before and only eat small portions

Reality: Gained ten pounds after the first round of Thanksgiving, then you go for seconds

 

5. Decorations

Expectation: Jack-o-Lanterns, candles, a new door mat, and maybe even a cornucopia

Reality:  You’re a poor millennial, so you are forced to be creative

 

6. Cozy Nights In

Expectation: The fire crackling, chai tea breweing, and the Hallmark Channel

Reality: You watch Hocus Pocus on replay, by yourself

 

Happy #FirstDayofFall!

Until next time

xOx

Types of: Coworkers

As we begin our life in the workforce, we realize that every job has the same people. Well, maybe not the same looking people but the same types of people. So, the real question is where do you fit in this group of misfits?

 

1. The Cookie Monster

This person goes around to everyone’s office and takes whatever sweets, candies, or snacks they can find. You think they are coming into your office (or cubicle) to say hi, but really they just want a piece of candy that’s sitting on your desk. This person even goes into offices after people leave to grab some sweets. You garbage disposal, you.

2. The Pushover

This person goes above and beyond to make sure everyone is happy, from replenishing the coffee to make copies of stuff for you, to organizing and reorganizing the entire office every other day. You need to take like just one chill pill, man.

 

3. The Therapee

This person talks to everyone about everything because they obviously don’t get enough attention at home from their spouse or their cat. Either way, they treat everyone like a therapist, and it’s so stressful. I CAN’T HELP YOU WITH YOUR COOKING FAIL AT YOUR IN-LAWS LAST NIGHT, SARAH.

 

4. The Confucius

Unlike the actual Confucius, this person has literally no idea what’s going on in life. Sometimes they even make you wonder if they know they work here. They walk around asking everyone else what to do or how to work something. This may even be the upper-level employees. How do you still not know how the coffee dispenser works?!

 

5. The Juggler

This is the person that has just WAY too much to do. They are barely in the office and when they are, they don’t have time to talk to anyone unless you literally trip them in the hallway to talk for the few seconds it takes them to stand back up. Usually, it’s the bosses or the VPs because they have a million meetings to attend, but chances are that they have no idea what the meetings are about…even after they leave.

 

6. The Millennial

This person is constantly on their phone or social media accounts. Every time you walk by they are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest…or even blogging…  Anyway, no matter the age or if they are actually a millennial, this person can’t stop socializing online. Hopefully, they also have a job in social media marketing or something similar so that they can cover up their addiction and not get fired their second day.

 

7. The Mom

This person is the one who would bring in pastries on Mondays and remember people’s birthdays so there was a cake for them. It’s more than likely a female only because most men can barely remember their own birthdays, so let’s just be sexist for this one. Anyway, this is the person you want to be friends with right away because they’ll probably tell you first that there’s free food in the conference room.

 

Comment below which is you!

Until next time,

xOx

Harry Potter Has A Sweet Tooth

What’s better than baking sweets? Baking Harry Potter themed sweets, duh.

What’s a better way to celebrate everyone receiving their Letters to Hogwarts (this past weekend), while also having a Hurricane Hermi[o]ne party? Having some magical baking fun, duh.

Harry Potter impacted the world in so many ways, but little did J.K. Rowling know is how much it impacted food.

All of the following creations and associations to books are my original ideas. Photographs are all mine, as well. So please, enjoy!

 

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

“Only a person who wanted to find the Stone – find it, but not use it – would be able to get it.” – Dumbledore

Ingredients: Chocolate Cupcake + Strawberry Rock Candy + Red Icing  + Gold Flakes

Meaning: Rock candy = the Philosopher’s Stone

Red and Gold topping = Gryffindor colors

 

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are…” – Dumbledore

Ingredients: Crescent Rolls + Chocolate Chips + Powdered Sugar

Meaning: Sorting Hat = Helped save Harry in the Chamber by bringing him Gryffindor’s sword

 

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

“Eat [chocolate]. You’ll feel better.” – Professor Lupin

Ingredients: Recipe  + Blue Food Coloring

Meaning: Chocolate = makes you feel better after a Dementor attack

Blue-colored mint = the color of a Patronus spell

 

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

“While we may come from different places and speak in different tongues our hearts beat as one.” – Dumbledore

Ingredients: Ice Cream Cone + Chocolate Cake + Blue Icing + Silver Edible Spray + White Fondant

Meaning: Ice Cream Cone = the goblet

Blue Frosting = fire from the goblet

White Fondant = Harry’s name on the paper coming out of the fire

 

5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

“We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on.” – Sirius Black

Ingredients: White Chocolate + Balloon + Sprinkles

Meaning: White Chocolate Globe = prophecy bulb

6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

“It’s the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness.” – Dumbledore

Ingredients: Chocolate Cake pop + Chocolate Melts + Green Frosting + Black Fondant

Meaning: Cauldron = potions class, Snape’s class, etc. Snape Snape Snape ❤

 

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

“I open at the close”

Ingredients: Cake Pop + Yellow Melts + Gold Sprinkles + White Fondant

Meaning: The Golden Snitch

 

Here’s to prove that I did in fact bake all of these myself, for all of you non-believers – and thanks to my mom for taking the evidence pic.

 

Follow me on Instagram @ZachriellePhoto or @shaylaokeeffe for more baking and photography fun! And leave comments or suggestions below; I love feedback!

 

Until next time,

xOx

 

Expectation vs. RL: Single Adulting

We have all been (or still are) that single friend. You know how people say that each day brings new surprises? Well for the single adults, those new surprises consist of who is engaged or pregnant.

 

Friday Nights

Expectation: Girls night!

Reality: Girls Plus Ones night!

 

Social Media Stalking

Expectation: Everyone is worse off than you and are horrible at life… ha ha

Reality: Diamond rings galore

 

Waking Up Every Morning

Expectation: Arms wrapped around a sexy companion

Reality: Retainer wrapped around your hair

 

Party Invites

Expectation: Someone’s birthday on a yacht or in a rented out bar

Reality: the two BS’s: bridal shower or baby shower

 

Bar Scene

Expectation: Lots of attractive people milling around, sipping their cocktails and charming it up

Reality: Lots of couples clinging to each other

 

Reunions with High School Friends

Expectation: Laughing about all the stupid things you did together and gossip about old classmates

Reality: You go through a list of everyone who got engaged in the last couple months or who now has a billion kids…gross

 

Holidays

Expectation: Party after party with spiked eggnog after spiked eggnog and ugly sweaters that are actually sexy sweaters

Reality: Dodging questions from your relatives about your [lack of] love life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mouse, Spouse, Whatever Challenge

I was challenged by popular demand (so, no one) to post pictures of my spouse, I mean cat, for seven days to promote love and fur balls.

Instead of seven days, here are seven pictures because ain’t nobody got time for that.

And honestly, this challenge is basically a way to re-post your most flattering photos with a significant other and nothing else.

 

Day 1: We share a hatred of selfies

 

Day 2: We both love to lay around and dream of food

Day 3: Speaking of food, we both don’t share well

Day 4: We both incessantly judge people

 

Day 5: We both hate having to dress up for holiday parties

Day 6: We liked to pretend we workout a lot but secretly just lay on the mats at the gym texting

Day 7: We accept that we are stuck being single, I mean together, forever

 

 

Happy #internationalcatday and #spousechallenge everyone 😉

REMEMBER: ADOPT FUR BABIES

SAVE A LIFE DON’T BREED A LIFE

Expectation vs. RL: Work

Graduation comes and goes, everyone is happy, everything is confetti-filled and sparkly, hugs and gifts come pouring in from family, and loads of pictures are taken. Then, it’s on to the real rat race. We go into the job search pretty optimistically; I mean, we do have a bachelor’s degree that cost us thousands of dollars, right? So, it can’t be that hard. Every employer will want us, young, educated millennial beauts.

 

The Job Search

Expectation: Quick look online shows 100+ jobs perfectly matched with your skill set

Reality: Zero jobs open, nothing requires the skills you possess, and no one wants you as an intern anymore

 

 

Job Descriptions

Expectation: All with a Bachelor’s degree in (your field of interest) welcome to apply!

Reality: Master’s degree plus 3 – 5 years of experience required for a janitor position

 

 

Jobs Open to Apply

Expectation: “Great hours, all holidays off, pay is competitive, your time is valuable”

Reality: Below entry level, pay is worse than at McDonalds, and your boss is younger than you, so you are wasetfully over-qualified

 

Interview

Expectation: Friendly employer, who casually converses with you, keeps you at ease the whole time, and asks if you meet specific qualifications

Reality: A couple of mid-level bosses with blank stares make a psychiatric evaluation of you: what are your weaknesses, where do you see yourself in 10 years, what could you bring to a team?

 

Work Environment

Expectations: Fun and casual fellow millennial coworkers, who are all dressed in the latest Banana Republic styles

Reality: Your coworkers are all super aged, and they just complain about their high-school aged kids and insurance

 

Week Nights

Expectations: Going out with your coworkers and trying out a different fun bar every Thursday

Reality: Drive home half asleep at 6:00pm and pop your dinner in the microwave

 

Weekends

Expectations: Plenty of time for fun and adventures now that you don’t have schoolwork piled up like in undergrad (everyone remembers those cram-filled Sunday afternoons that involved studying and writing papers simultaneously)

Reality: Sleep….because it’s free, and you can’t afford to go on any adventures

 

The Actual Work

Expectations: Fun, creative projects that will change the company and propel you upward to promotion after promotion

Reality: Lots of graphs, paperwork, and stapling

Keep an eye out for the next installment of Expectation vs. Reality!

xOx

 

Expectation vs. RL: Dating in Postgrad

Everyone knows the postgrad life is not exactly what we imagined….or what we had mentally and emotionally prepared ourselves for; so, this segment of Expectation vs. Real Life will focus on the dating scene and what to actually expect. It is not at all like the Disney suggested. Although, those princesses were basically pre-teens, so I guess we should have already accepted that we missed our prince charming.

Friday Nights

Expected: Going out every week and flirting the night away with your large group of friends

Reality: Getting home from work and barely being able to make it to the couch to turn on Netflix

   VS.   

Dating Apps

Expectation: Mutually swiping right for a select few compatible mates

Reality: Aggressively swiping right for everyone because you are desperate and no one swipes back

  VS. 

Flirting

Expectation: Professional, confident, likable, and cute

Reality: Completely oblivious to everything because it’s been so long and you are totally behind the times

   VS.  

Compatibility

Expectation: Opposites attract, like-forces attract, you can make anything work

Reality: Anything and everything that is just a little bit different between you two is a GIANT pet-peeve

 VS.  

Meeting “The One”

Expectation: Some adorable, romantic, once-in-a-lifetime moment

Reality: Making a pact as children to be stuck marrying each other if you weren’t married by 30

  VS.  

First Dates

Expectation: Romantic, unique adventure that ends with staring up at the stars

Reality: Typical chain restaurant that ends with you two walking separately back to your car

  VS. 

Date Conversations

Expectation: Cute and sexy 20-questions

Reality: Complaining about loans, lack of money, a horrible job, and life as a twentysomething

   VS.  

Social Media

Expectation: Candid photos showing how in love you both are, whilst showing off how much fun you are having in life

Reality: Continuous and unappealing selfies that make you two look more like a mess than anything else

   VS.   

Have anymore expectation vs. real life dating scenarios? Comment below!

xOx

Shark Bait Hoo Ha Ha

In case you were not aware, Shark Week 2016 is already halfway over. Only 4 more nights of terrifying yet captivating television until Scandal comes back in the fall.

Here are some mid-week facts to fuel your shark interest:

 

1. Sharks mature very slowly

A whopping 12-15 years actually, which may be quick to humankind (especially for males…), but it is pretty delayed compared to other animals.

 

2. Tiger Shark embryos eat one another in the womb

And then it starts eating the unfertilized eggs in its mother. Talk about tough sibling competition.

 

3. If you are being chased by a shark, pray it’s a Whale Shark

Sounds horrible, whale + shark = gianormous; but, these big guys swim away from humans. They do not have time to chase dummies like us.

 

 

4. Not a Whale Shark after you? Then, next hope for a Greenland Shark.

It’s rare to find this shark since it lives in freezing waters, BUT it is the slowest moving “fish” ever recorded. So there’s that.

 

5. It estimated that 270,000 sharks are killed daily

One article found this number through conservation organizations’ research. It may seem good news to us, but it is very bad for shark populations and survival.

 

6. They can’t be bony

That is because they do not have bones. Sharks are just giant blobs of cartilage.

 

7. Respect your elders

Sharks were around before dinosaurs, so I would say it’s smart to just steer clear and let them do their thang.

 

8. Rough bedroom role playing

Female sharks have tougher/thicker skin because males tend to bite while mating.

“You went too far this time, Jim.”

 

9. Keep sharks in the wild

Captive female sharks can reproduce without a male’s assistance… yes, cloning. What’s scarier than a shark? A cloning shark.

 

10. Out of balance

Multiple species of sharks and rays are near endangerment, which can severely impact the balance of life under the sea. Head to WWF to learn more.

 

 

 Want more random, fun facts to out-smart your coworkers and friends?

Check more out here.

#SharkWeek #SharkWeek2016

xOx

 

 

 

#NationalBestFriendDay Post-Grad Style

The idea of our “best friend” has evolved as awkwardly as we have since childhood: there are many phases of best friends and many types of BFFs. Some stay with us since childhood and others we are lucky enough to pick up along the way.

We have gone from the best friend, who we played make-believe games with as toddlers.

To the BBFLs in elementary school, who we tried new sports with and pretended we were “big kids.”

To the best friends in middle school, who we mutually helped get through the inexplicable awkwardness of 6th-8th grade.

To the best friends in high school, who we acted like pure fools with and thought we could handle a lot more than we actually could.

To the sistas (or bros) in college, who we cried in front of, who knew our secrets, who tested our limits, and who struggled hard with us.

To the current besties in our post-grad life. They are a special kind of best friend. There are different life experiences to explore, different stories to tell, different problems to tackle.

Here are the types of best-friend-moments you will have in your post grad, adult-like life:

 

1. “Going Out” means going out the door (only slightly) to get the pizza delivery 

 

2. “Girls Nights” are more like laying on the couch (or floor) and just complaining 

3. “Shopping Days” are when you run into each other at the grocery store and can both only afford a maximum of 6 items

 

4. “Movie Nights” are Netflix marathons that turn into weekend-long endeavors 

 

5. “Drinks Night” consist of getting all dressed and ready, only to realize it’s already 9:30pm and close to bedtime, so you stay in and drink cheap wine from a bag instead

 

6. “Adventures” are more like finding a new, trendy place to eat that is all over social media and pretending you are “cool” or whatever that is these days

 

7. “Gossip” is more like pulling up the Facebook accounts of old high school peers and either 1)laughing until you snort or 2) punching the computer screen 

 

8. “Laughing-fits” are when you both realize that you have nothing going for you LOLOLololo…. 

9. Text conversations are just sending each other memes about your day or sending Buzzfeed posts that are scarily-accurate of your current struggles

10. Birthdays are more like a set actual nights out that you force each other to do 

 

 

So happy National Best Friends Day 2016, you poor kids!

xOx