Thing I’d like to do better in 2017

Basically, I’m ready for 2016 to be over and since I’m on a roadtrip and today was long, here’s a few thing I got better at this year and here’s a few to work on.

Okay, this year was hard but I think I’ve gotten better at communicating with those (physically!) around me and going out and doing stuff even when things, like the weather make me want to close all the doors and stay in bed.

This is also the first year I have managed to create and manage my budget and I’ve actually kept it up from month to month! As a plus, this made it possible to spend a little money getting family presents (or supplies for presents), which has been lacking in the past.

I was also a lot better at keeping up with working out this year, however, the end on 2016 saw a bit of a drop off – we’ll get back to it in 2017.

But onto a few things I’d like to do better:

1. Communicate better overall – As I said, expressing myself in person is up ten fold but otherwise I kind of suck. I always forget to call in and check up on people both near and far, especially those who have been in my life the longest. This is problematic both job wise and with friends, so I need to work on stepping up my game here.

2. Full time employment – While I did knuckle down and work through CVs and getting my resume out there throughout 2016, I need to step this up next year. I’ve met a few people through this trip and have gotten advice on where to go from here so as the new comes around, so will my next rounds of work applications.

3. Proactive – While this could generally mean being proactive in my life, I am actually talking about the skin care line. I ended up giving in and restarting this ache fighting brand right before Christmas. I’ve been really good about keeping up with my normal routines so I figure that I shouldn’t be intimidated by a three step cleaning process anymore.

As I said, keeping it simple, short, and trying to stay positive.

• Taylor Gallagher

Hot Chocolate Pour over.

My early winter/holiday snack of choice.

If you know what a classic pour over is, you can more or less understand what I am going for here. A pour over is ice cream with hot coffee poured over it – you don’t need any cream of sugar because the ice-cream does it all for you and, for an added bit of fun, I know many who spike this with alcohol of their choice (my family leans toward the cinnamon infused Fireball Whisky).

Recently, my mom bought a lite ice-cream brand (Arctic Zero) – lite in flavor and calories – to see what we all thought. While the flavors were hit or miss, I liked the vanilla-maple – it was light but well melded. And with a wonderful,  rich hot chocolate involved in the pour over – perfect.

I can be pretty sensitive to hot drinks – my mouth always needs a break after soup! – so this pour over is amazing because you can drink your hot rich hot chocolate at it cools and the ice cream melts, adding to the creaminess especially if your hot chocolate is water-based. If your proportions are right, the drink should still warm you up plenty.

I like the liter ice cream in this mix because the dessert isn’t overly rich – where you think you’ll go into a sugar crash.

Oh, and for you adult-drinkers, you can add that extra shot of alcohol to make your drink game even stronger. So drink well, drink safe, and happy holidays, all!

• Taylor Gallagher

 

Is it break yet?

This is all you will here from two groups in the next days/weeks: students and teachers. This get super compounded as our class sizes drop because of early vacationers and the oddly strong illnesses floating around.  It’s knocked out teacher after teacher, half our eighth grade class, and has now followed me home through my father.

While I’m all about washing hands, exercising, and green tea all day long to keep you immune system working at full capacity, I’m adding one more thing to my list of feel better/get better list: take a bath.

Always watch the temperature (the true hardest part of bath time – it may start off too hot but then it can go temped long before you are ready!), but getting a good steam in the room will help pull up all the phlegminess out as well as relax any tenderness in your muscles.

Throw in a bath bomb, some natural oil, ginger, salt, teabags, or whatever bit of happiness to suit your needs, help you feel good, and just soak for as long as you can manage it. Catch up on reading, turn on your favorite music, close your eyes for an hour, you really are without many limits – just beware those electronics!

Plus, as a added bonus, If it’s cold a warm bath is a beautiful thing. Personally, I seem to have a natural issue heating myself through regularly generated body heat – my hands are always Ice cubes. However, after a hot bath or shower, my body seems to hold onto the heat for a really long time, especially if I head straight for my warm blankets!

So as the cold season – both illness and weather – comes rolling in, indulge and bring on the bath time and the many ways to enjoy it!

• Taylor Gallagher

New Skill: Embroidery

After my most recent SCA event, one of my friends explained that there is a specific pattern of picking up skills that generally happen when you are a member of this group: your first year you develop three skills; every year after the first, you add another new skill to your arsenal.

Well, next month marks the end of my first year as part of the SCA (not as an official, card-holding member, but a member non-the-less) and thus far, my skills are minimal.

While I do photography in and out of the SCA, as I begin to post more pictures, we agreed that that can be my first skill. Basically, there are members who have been awarded honors for photographing and videotaping events in the past, so even though these are not period accurate skills, they count as part of our anachronisms.

But now that we are heading into Yule – and therefore, the ‘nicer’ events – I’ve begun something brand new: embroidery.

For my first attempts, I kept  things pretty simple despite the Gallagher need to jump in with both feet. I wanted to go straight into knots and color changes, and, while I think I cold have done this passably well, I decided to keep things festive but simple. For my under tunic, I built a color design using two knot styles (two chain stitches surrounding running stitches a looped contrasting color) that gave enough contrast, depth, and visual interest that they could pull the outfit together while letting it stand out from every other outfit I’ve worn this year.

I was a bit more creative and daring with my sister’s collar. I had gotten very good (and fast) at a basic chain stitch so I felt confident that I could do more than simply follow the collar-line in a contrasting color.

Adding the basic points and loops was a lot of fun and by measuring out where changes in shape would occur, I was able to have my stitches shape follow the pattern so that each side stayed symmetrical. The collar stitches move in the opposite direction of the ‘leaves’ and the intersecting circles at the bottom of the pattern are threaded so that each side is sown lower than the middle despite moving from left to right. Each of these tricks are easy enough. It’s all about moving and redirecting your strings to create a better flow, while layering circles is all about where you choose to land a stitch – over your previous stitches or under them.

So yep, that is two skills with a month left to go. However, seeing as I’m working on social skills, maybe I can chalk it up to a third! If you are interested in embroidery, or really SCA in general, I have a few pins up for you to look at and can answer any questions below!

• Taylor Gallagher

 

Bought / Made ‘Spa’ Gifts for the Ladies in your Life.

It’s getting to Christmas which for many of us means cracking your wallet and separating from some (or a lot!) of your hard earned cash. As I am mostly unemployed so paychecks are few and far between, this is a tough time of the year – do I cash in on presents or extra loan payments?

Luckily, even though I have a lot of people in my life (most of whom are women), most have either given me simple tasks, like going out with grandma to plays or picking out pictures to hang in my parents hall to update the hall for my mom,  or have set up a ‘no money, no presents’.

Still, I love the giving part of this holiday so if I can find some easy and cheap ways of putting together some gifts that my loved ones will actually want and use.

1. Store bought leave-in conditioner for my sister. I’ve been using mine once every week to two weeks and I have seen my hair bounce back from some sun damage. My sister is a new mom with little to no time on her hands and she uses a lot more products and tools on said hair. This means it’s a mess that’s lucky to get a good brushing on bad days and gets the full product treatment when she does get to go out. Giving her a five minute leave-in conditioner allows her to take a little extra time to herself while making her morning routine easier in the long run.

2. Making Bath Bombs! I have seen these popping up all over my Pintrest and I love the idea of making these as Christmas gifts. These can be cheap since you can make a good deal of these from cheap drugstore ingredients. There are a lot of recipes out there that are geared toward different ailments – dry skin, congestion, relaxation, ect. One thing I do have to stress: Be very careful about sugar based ingredients. If you are soaking in a bath, water isn’t just around you but in you, therefore, the sugar in the water will also get into you. the result? potential yeast infections all around.

3. If the fizzy bombs are too complex for you or just don’t seem to work, think Bath Salts (but not the drug kind). Again watch out for your sugar – these have a salt base which is great for soaking in. again, you can add herbs, flowers, or oils to create smells and there are plenty of ways to add in funky colors. Remember, this is a salt mixture, not a scrub so you want to keep everything pretty dry so you aren’t dropping giant, hard clumps that don’t dissolve into your bath.

4. If you know your a bit heavier handed, go with sugar scrubs. Sugar and coffee ground scrubs are great at removing dead skin cells while soothing your skin with any oil bases you add to your mixture – I use these before shavings to get the closest shave possible. My favorite has probably been coffee grounds – when they hit the hot water of a shower, you get an instant wake up scent. Again, just be careful to keep your sugar scrubs away from sensitive areas – this time less for infections reasons but more irritation – scrubs can be irritating if overused and/or on skin it shouldn’t be near (like your face!). If you make this a thicker recipe with a body butter/lotion mix, you can set this as a foot scrub.

Again, my list isn’t long this year and each of these homemade recipes can be stretched across multiple people. These are easy to make and everyone can use them; plus, the extras you can keep for yourself!

Have a merry holiday and if you have to order anything, do it quickly because things will be getting busy!

• Taylor Gallagher

Eat and Eat and Eat: Gilmore’s-giving

Copyright Netflix and owners and from official media on Gilmore Girls Facebook page

So now that most of us Americans have stuffed ourselves on Thanksgiving dinner(s) – where we eat and eat and eat – and eat and eat and eat and eat – and eat and eat and eat – we have entered the realm we have all truly been waiting for: the Gilmore Girl’s Revival.

Starting early tomorrow morning, I’ll be putting the last pieces into place for my six hour / six and a half hour marathon with Netflix. This is not nearly the longest marathon I have done – a single season marathon can be anywhere from 9 to 22 hours.

But what goes into this 6 hour trek?

I’ve planned a pre-show (probably not a film by Kirk), a range of Gilmore based foods, a few decorations, themed dishware, and comfy seating for all. Sounds like a lot? Well, do the Gilmore girls deserve anything less?

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The pre-show:

I have recently done the quick version of the shows marathon – it avereaged about 5 or 6 episodes a season cutting the viewing time down extensively – but not everyone else in my viewing party has. Most have see the whole show but others are missing whole chunks of it, if they’ve seen more than a few episodes  by virtue of being in the room during one of my many binges.

Again, this is not me. I’ve watched the whole series from beginning to end probably close to a dozen times with more than a little emphasis on and Jess years.

Still, since not everyone is me, I’m planning on quick reviews via the Kirk recaps that the Netfix social media team has lovingly put together. These minute to minute and a half videos give you some of the big events that happened in each season plus introduce the main players. Plus, Kirk!

Of course, if you need an extra (awkward) two minutes or an intermission, go ahead and through in A Film by Kirk.

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Food:

When it came to working the menu for this marathon, I started wide. I had put together a list of 15 dishes that were series based enough that a fan could have a fun figuring out when the girls would have sampled each part of the platter. That, however, was quite a feat especially for a relatively small guest list. This whittled down to 8 smaller options -for vegetarians and meat eaters alike.

In the end, we went with some mini diner classics – mini pancakes with sausage, Danishes, and sliders; some classic Gilmore snacks – marshmallows, jalapeno poppers, and bagel pizza bites; and Friday night dinner samples – deviled eggs and pudding in crystal bowls (or in our case cups).

But how?!

It’s a six hour marathon without scheduled breaks and hot food; how are things going to run smoothly if you are constantly cooking?

This is Gilmore girls! Even with the Luke throwbacks, I believe in true Gilmore style and working that microwave. I bought pretty much everything except the deviled eggs ready to go with a very detailed plan – the ability to be in and out of a kitchen in less than 5 minutes. My sister loves the deviled egg episode as well as actual deviled eggs so she is in-charge. Luckily, these are also relatively easy to work through so the timing isn’t an issue.

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The set up:

This covers outfits, cushions, appropriate mugs, and whatever other trinkets you can catch.

Minimalist you can throw on a baseball cap and plaid, some bad cut-off and tie dye combo, or whatever you can find that screams Stars Hallow. I’ve got my Gilmore shirt, plaid, and baseball cap all lined up and ready to go.

Set up your viewing room so everyone can snuggle in comfortably. I have done a lot of marathons and there is nothing worse than your butt going numb halfway through because you picked a bad spot. Have plenty of pillows, blankets, and cushions especially for those who might need an embarrassment shield – I’ve watch the show a dozen times and still Amy gives me many duck-and-cover moments.

I always loved Luke’s for the mixed-matched dishware, so for your party you should act in kind. If you have wide, round cups in a variety of colors, you are on the right track. I’m lucky enough to have four WarnerBros official Gilmore Girls merch mugs that will definitely be in rotation tomorrow. We’re also throwing some senior Gilmore aesthetic into the mix and are serving our chocolate pudding in our fancy crystal… cups since we don’t have bowls.

Finally, since it’s all about the coffee, coffee, coffee, I will happily display my Target decor ‘Coffee’ light up sign for that extra bit of Gilmore glam. Throw around some feathered boas, bean bag chairs, Yale and Chilton banners, maybe a ‘No Cellphones’ sign, and you will have quite the place to be.

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So that’s my tomorrow. In less than 11 hours I’ll be queuing up my Netflix and pre-show, dressed in plaid, and eating mini pancakes, settling into ‘Winter’. Stars Hallow is home so my cellphone will be off pretty much all day and I will be happier for it.

If you are looking back at this for a bigger party – a large group, Gilmore pot luck, or a longer marathon, expand on this! I would love some green mac’n’cheese, mini tacos, some mystery bags from Al’s Pancake World, or some mini tacos. Oh and don’t forget the salmon puffs!

• Taylor Gallagher

Zombies, Run! The Book!

I am so excited to finally have this! I know I’ve been talking off and on about the Zombie, Run! app and it’s running program, and if you have been reading along, you know that I am hooked.

This month, however, I have been swamped – between working, photo trips, events (and meetings to plan upcoming events), and holiday stuff – so I haven’t really had any time to keep up with my running (the time change and  it getting so dark so early hasn’t helped this problem either).

For this reason, I’ve been finding as many other kinds of work outs that I can do on the run (as it were). Seriously, start pinning female superhero workouts, super fun and nerdy but at the same time they actually do a good job of working you out. As a SCA member with a Viking persona, the shieldmaiden workout (by Neila Rey) has a very special place in my heart.

And on the topic of nerdy workouts, finally getting to look (and laugh) through my copy of Zombies, Run! Keeping Fit and Living Well in the Current Zombie Emergency by Naomi Alderman and Six to Start (the team behind the Zombie, Run! program). What I love about this book is how it really mashes up everything that is great about the app but works alongside it as a supplement.

The whole point of this program – both the app and the book – is too have fun while working out and challenging yourself, and the book is such a great addition to help you with that goal. I was absolutely cracking up skimming through and looking at all the makeshift weapons fashioned for the apocalypse – not to mention the walk through of practicing your spear work with a friend and a marker-tipped broomstick!

I’m sharing this book with my dad which means I’ll be using post-its over the given spaces, however, I love that you get spaces to mark your progress and notes.

I’m not going to give too many things away – I promise the book is worth getting! – but I do want to finish up by mentioning one strategy I never thought about: in a zombie apocalypse you shouldn’t spend more than 10 minutes in a place like a grocery store (too many places for crawlers and the like to hide); if you are trying to shop better (less junk food), limiting your rime here can be a good idea as well. If you give yourself less browsing time in the food section, you are a lot less likely to pick up all the junk food a hungry roamer may grab on a whim.

So that’s it! Have fun, get fit, and don’t get turned into a zombie!

• Taylor Gallagher

All about the Braids:

Because we can all use a break from politics can’t we?

So as part of my household and barony in the SCA who is new but always willing to jump in, I have become the hairdresser of our group. I love fashion and details and, since braiding my own hair is possible but causes issues when I want to really innovate, I have fallen in love with working on other peoples hair for events.

As I have said, I typically work with a viking persona which involves some fun simple braids that I’m building up, but soon we will be moving to more Grecian and Roman styles which get much more complex rather quickly. Hence, Pinterst!

so both in terms of SCA and my daily life, here are some fun braided looks I am looking forward to tackling:

1.  I’m starting out with this easy to do Viking braid look. I love this because – minus the hair beads (which, again, I love) – this is a relatively easy style to do. It’s all about varying braid sizes  and keeping things balanced without being overly structured.

I love the smallest braids that have been woven and twisted around the non-braided strands. I have thought about creating something similar – a more Elizabethan woven hair net (think Ever After with Drew Barrymore but with a braid net!) but keeping things stringy never crossed my mind. This is definitely the next thing I will be trying the next time I am a viking at war!

2. My second Viking braid is great for those who need to keep their hair out of their face. Unlike braid 1, this is a pulled back look which gives volume and texture with two styles but three braids to create vivid contrast. The issue with doing this myself is centered on the fishtail braid; I have never been able to really master this style on my own head so I can’s wait to work it all out on someone else’s hair. I think this can be just as successful with a regular braid down the back.

To keep up the volume in the front of the style (especially if you have strait hair that doesn’t like to stay in any style), try curing, teasing, and/or use volume/curling mouse the hair that will form your front twists. The stunning park for my is adding the french braids along the twists. To add some volume and lift from these french braids into the twists, consider doing single anchor braids – adding hair to your french braid on one side (the one farthest from the twists) which lifts the un-anchored side which can be pinned to your twist.

*But now onto the next stage of Roman/Grecian styles. These get much more complicated but I am so excited to get my hands into my friends’ hair – many have much longer hair than I have so they will give me more to work with.

3. This look involves braids, curls, twists, and a broken up ponytail; with all the intricacies of this style, this is a banquet/special occasion look, not your average war hairstyle. I have fashioned a whole set of fancy pins which work perfectly for glamming up any style but are definitely suited here. In a quick tangent, these are easy to make – take some easy crafting wire and pearl beads; string the pearl on the wire twice, creating a loop for the bobby pin; twist wire around to secure and snip wire.

As I said, This look takes a lot of work but most of that is curling most of your hair – it shouldn’t matter if these are overnight or quick hot curlers. Based on the curls, expect to have to use multiple types of curlers and curl sizes. Using both curled and straight hair, the styling of these features is what really pulls the look together. I love the over and under twisting between the tight braid spiral and the loose broken up ponytail. And look really carefully! you have tiny woven braids throughout the front of the style. Finally, choose your flyaways carefully and keep it balanced!

4. This is technically four pictures but I am focusing on the on to the top right. Each of these shots show an example of hair from this period and I think they are all worth playing with. The three I didn’t select have harder to pull off fronts – getting those roll curls to stay in place would be hell!

For the one I did pick, again this is a mix of features which is amazing – twists, braids and a low bun. I fell in love with this style from the first for two reason: 1. I love a good faux hawk and 2. there is a great simplicity here that looks complex.

Again, this look is all about volume so the same rules I gave for the second Viking braid apply here – if you do not get volume into your faux hawk, the whole look will disappear. Tease the center section as you braid, use your mouse and braid up and toward the front of your face rather than the usual back braid. I know, this will feel very odd while fashioning this hairstyle but I love a faux hawk pony tail so I am talking from experience. Since your Faux hawk is center stage here, keep yous twists balanced but down play them – don’t make your hair fight with itself!

5. My last pick was hard for me; I could work with a crown braid, a basic faux hawk, or a four piece braid – I love them all. In the end, I had to pick a look that technically isn’t braided but is firmly part of this new stage of persona – which I need in Southern California where it is too hot to be a Viking all the time!

Again, I love all of these ribboned looks and they are so much easier than all the braids which is a refreshing change, but I am going to focus on one in particular: B. the ribbon accented top knot. I love the positioning of the ribbon in this look and how it elevates a very simple but. There are so many times when you need to get the hair off of your neck at an event and this look is effortless and practical yet purposeful – no one can accuse you of simply not wanting to deal with your hair!

The key is to play with texture. Texture will help the ribbon stay in place naturally, though I always recommend extra security with bobby pins. if you don’t have curls or waves and can’t be bothered to do the work to make them (or you just love fancy braiding), you can create texture by making small braids – or a mix of sizes – which lead to your top knot. You can then either lay your crossed ribbon over the braids or wind it through a few for added depth.

Remember, it’s the Society for Creative Anachronism, emphasis on creative. Go play, have fun, and get braiding! Also, If you have any questions, ask me anything.

• Taylor Gallagher

Do or Don’t: Cat Ear Headbands.

Throughout this school year – and more and more surrounding Halloween – varying designs of cat ear headbands have been popping up all over the school yard. While our old principal would never had allowed it, the current standing around school is a simple ‘if you are not distracting yourself or others, wear your headband and enjoy. Every time I see the girls running around with these headbands, I can’t help but smile; they are running around and having fun and it simple makes my day.

This week, one girl who I had complemented on her bejeweled ears suggested that I get a pair. I laughed and let her know that at 25 I wasn’t sure that was exactly in my range of acceptable headgear. Of course, she came back saying people my age – Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande – wear them and since I look young anyway, I should just do it. Now, first mentioning that I am not a famous musician, am looking for a job not at the school, and really don’t need help looking young – I will be carded forever! – I sent her out to play.

However, this has cause me to wonder: at what point so we stop wearing this kind of stuff?

Of course, the answer is changing – these eccentric additions to wardrobes of all types is growing. Each person has to choose what they can handle based on their lifestyles, career, as well as many other personal factors.

For me, I am 25 years old, regularly get mistaken for a teenager, am looking for work on a more corporate environment (like in marketing), and generally move from preppy posh to casual jeans and t-shirts.

I am kind of in love with the cat ear bowler hat that were all over the place last year but I don’t think that I’d be able to do your cat ear headband for anything other than a costume.

Still if you want to look at a few options in headbands here are a few (1, 2, 3, 4) and let me know, where do you stand on the cat headband (or cat fashion as a whole!) trend? Where do you draw the line?

• Taylor Gallagher

On Being Voiceless…

This week began with one major event: I lost my voice.

When I say I lost my voice I mean I went into work on Monday and could barely muster a cracked whisper. This may have been fine in an office setting, however, this week and next I am subbing as a teaching/instructional aide in a first grade classroom. This not only means hours trying to help students who can’t read well enough to write out any help on boards or papers with everything from reading to math, but also means recesses and lunches on the play yard with no way of yelling out when I see and issue nor calling into the office if I need to report an incident or injury.

Luckily – and so no one thinks I went to work sick to infect children! – I was not sick when all of this happened. (And this is your gross out warning). What happened was that I went to the LA Haunted Hayride on Saturday which was fantastic but also very smokey (both from people and overactive smoke machines working throughout the line) filled with a lot of hay which generally got everywhere. These spooky features are nothing new to me and I didn’t scream the whole night but woke up a little raspy.

Sunday, I had a SCA event which was amazing but I talked all day and as I talked, the rasp in my voice grew steadily worse. I had a tiny bit of a stuffy nose from all the dirt from the course of the two days outside but nothing else. I was able to run my evening 10k with no issue so neither breathing nor and sickness symptoms were apparent.

But when Monday morning came around my throat had a fair share of mucus from night drain but my throat wasn’t raw at all. Repeat up until today with a little more soreness, less phlegm and nose grossness, and a stronger sounding voice (in tiny increments) as the week wore on.

While I cannot compare what I went through this week with others who have voice issues regularly, this week as a teacher and someone who doesn’t actually feel like they like to talk all that much on a regular basis, I have seriously missed my voice. It’s like they say (and, please, pardon the cliche): You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

I’ve also learned a lot about the kids I teach this week.

The first graders were amazing. I got get well soon cards and best behavior (for the most part) and a lot of patience as I searched for ways of still helping them out whenever I could. I also learned how much bigger kids can take advantage of a voiceless monitor but how freaked out they can get when I – a tiny 5 foot nothing girl – finally croaks out commands in a voice a few octaves below what they are used to.

So that’s my life this week. I’m happily taking the day off tomorrow as the rest of the staff gathers for a studentless inservice day with some more honeyed tea (or just raw honey on a spoon – I’m serious, it’s so helpful) and vocal rest.

• Taylor Gallagher