Simple Soy Salmon with Sriracha Mayo

Like I was saying yesterday, I really need to update some of my old posts. So I decided to dredge this oldie, yet goodie out of the archives and re-post this recipe. I made it Wednesday night for my boyfriend for the first time and he was totally impressed (especially after my epic fail of stir fry zoodles the other night). Anyways, this is one of my favorite go-to recipes because it takes barely any time at all. You can prep everything the night before, and then it takes only less than 15 minutes to cook and serve this delicious meal. Let's get to it.

I don't know about you guys, but I love Sriracha. I put it on everything. I recently tried experimenting with it and turning it into Sriracha Mayo and it was amazing!

Sriracha Mayo Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons mayo.


• 2 Tablespoon Huy Fong Sriracha.


• 1 teaspoon lemon/lime juice.

Directions:

1. In bowl, combine ingredients until smooth.


2. Use as dip or spread for your favorite dishes.

For the salmon, this is my go-to recipe because it's easy and tastes great even without the Sriracha Mayo if you don't like spicy.

Broiled Soy Marinated Salmon Recipe

 

Ingredients:

• ½ cup low sodium soy sauce


• ¼ cup honey


• 1 Tbsp lemon juice


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 4 salmon filets


• Fancy Option: 2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted, for garnish

P.S. Don't put as much excess marinade on the pan because it can burn when you broil the fish. Do as I say, not as I do.

Directions:

1. Mix together the soy sauce, honey, lemon juice, and garlic in a bowl.


2. Put the salmon filets and the marinade in a resealable bag. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. I typically like to marinate overnight so the fish can really soak up all the flavors.


3. Preheat your broiler on high and place marinated salmon on broiler pan. When the broiler is hot, place the pan in the oven and cook for about 9 minutes, or until the outside is crispy and the fish flakes easily. Tip: Make sure the rack is about 5 inches below the top of the oven when broiling.


4. Spoon the Sriracha mayo over top of your salmon. If you chose the fancy option, garnish with some toasted sesame seeds, and serve with a green vegetable.

I chose asparagus for my green veggie, if you want to know how I made the asparagus, check this out! I think it's the best way to cook asparagus without the stalks getting mushy.

My boyfriend and I recently watched the movie Chef, and we thought we could step up our game by doing a cool swipe of the Sriracha mayo on the plate under the fish. Pretty, huh? Don't worry as soon as I snapped this picture I doused the fish with the rest of the mayo on the top.

Now go pick up the ingredients and try it out tonight! I promise it will be a crowd-pleaser!

What is your favorite go-to recipe that is quick and easy to make on weeknights?

35

Maintaining Blog Traffic on Days You Don't Post

We all know that the highest traffic to your blog is when you publish a post. Makes sense. Now unless you are a full-time blogger (I'm envious of you) not all of us can post five days a week. So what do you do on the days that you don't blog? How do you maintain your traffic?

I typically post three times a week -- Mondays, Wednesday, and Friday -- and on the days that I don't post I maintain my traffic in a variety of ways.

How to Maintain Blog Traffic On Days You Don't Post

Read other blogs!

The best way to do this is by following other blogs on Bloglovin'. It will aggregate all their RSS feeds into one easy to find way. Or in less techy talk, it will post excerpts of all the new posts as they come out. It's a great way to follow along with other bloggers. Of course, don't forget to comment on blogs. Often times, many bloggers who receive comments will go to your blog and comment on one of your posts, like Kathy from More Coffee, Less Talky.

 

Take some time to clean up your blog or social media accounts

For example, I've been revamping all my Pinterest boards to make them more cohesive, eliminate any redundancies, and delete old pins. On my to-do list is go through my old blog posts and add new images. All of mine were sized on blogger and look tiny on my lovely new Wordpress site.

[Tweet "On days you don't blog, how do you maintain your blog? "]

Promote, promote, promote!

Get on your social media and promote your blog posts. I typically start with Facebook and promote myself through a a few of my favorite Facebook groups, Blog Passion Project and Show Your Blog Love. These two are my favorite and I use them the most. If you have any others that you love, share them in the comments!

Use Stumbleupon. If you aren't stumbling your blog pages, you're missing out! Jaelan from Making Mrs. M has a great explanation of what it is and why you need to be using it. Even though my bounce rates are a bit higher now that I use it, my pageviews are definitely blossoming because of StumbleUpon. In addition to stumbling your own pages, you need to be stumbling others. Follow other Stumblers and like their pages. My stumble account is here, and if you follow me, I'll add you to the list of bloggers that I frequently stumble.

Organically interact on your other social media platforms. What I mean by this is instead of just sharing posts with blurbs, write something different. Pose a question to your readers, tell a joke, share a picture (not blog related), etc. For example:



Instead of just sharing my sponsors posts or promoting my own posts, I posted a picture of these awesome cheese cart that was at a restaurant I stopped into. That way your followers won't just see your blog promotions but will feel like they can really connect with you (not just your blog) via social media.

 

Lastly, Take a breather!

Your blog will be okay for a day and come back to your blog feeling refreshed and ready to go!

How frequently do you post? On days you don't post do you have any tactics to promote your blog?

 



For more great resources, you can check out my Blogging Resources Pinterest board!

Follow Alanna & Company Blog's board Ultimate Blogging Resources on Pinterest.

110

Humpday Confessions - Surviving Snowzilla

I confess

I did it, I survived Snowzilla! I had three days off work starting on Friday and then the last two days. They've been plowing the main roads in the city but some of my coworkers who live further out of the city are stuck for days.

Poor Starla was hating the snow and the wind the first few days but then absolutely loved it once it stopped snowing. She had a blast running around trying to chase the bunnies running in between the snow banks.



the amount of idiots shocked me. When I was walking Starla, my boyfriend and I ran into a man who was yelling at an old lady to get her car out of the street. Low and behold, it was stuck. Obviously. My boyfriend had to go and diffuse the situation, the man turned around and went back the way he came and we helped to dig the old lady's car out. THEN, as I was driving home for the first time, there was a man snowblowing a driveway out. However, he was blowing all the snow into the street! #Icant...



that my eating habits totally went down the drain the last few days. All I was craving was pizza, beer, and chips. #dietstruggles

However, I did play a lot of Kinect games on my XBOX on the snow days. Does that offset it? #probablynot



Work is totally about to pick up and I am not ready for it. I sense a lot of overtime in my near future.

---

Now onto the link-up with Plucky in Love and I!

Here are the ground rules for the link-up:

• Each Wednesday create a post about what’s going on in your life and confess!


• Grab the button and include it in your post or include a text link back to the link-up.


• Link up with either me or Sarah, so we can see what you're confessing this week.


• Comment on at least one other blogger’s post from the link up.


• Feel free to share on social media with the hashtag #HumpdayConfessions and I'll retweet.


• Enjoy!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.alannaandcompany.com" rel="nofollow" title="My Blog"><img src="http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah316/alannapersaud/HUMPDAY%20CONFESSIONS%20BUTTON%20small_zpsavcvyizn.jpg" alt="My Blog" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Linking up with #HashtagHumpday

38

Breaking Up with Weeknight Wine

I've been postponing writing about this because I wasn't sure how successful I would be with one of my resolutions. It all started with the resolution of cutting down on calories, thus cutting down on drinking. The past few months, I had been easily drinking 2-3 glasses of wine (no, theses weren't just 5 oz pours) every night of the week.

It hit me when I was with my boyfriend, we're on our second bottle of wine on a Thursday movie night and I realize that I had drank through my entire stash of wine. "WE HAVE NO CONTROL!" I exclaimed. Distraught that all the wine I had stocked up at Costco that weekend prior was demolished. And no, don't even think that I was somehow slurring and stumbling. I've been at this for such a long time (hello, post-grad here!) that my silly tolerance is sky-high. No thank you. I want to go back to being a cheap date, please.

So then the resolution grew from cut back on calories to no weeknight drinking. I really thought it would be a lot tougher than it has been, but it's been a breeze. I honestly feel so much better.

Since quitting weeknight wine, I

-I wake up feeling more rested even though I haven't been sleeping any longer than I was before. I definitely need less caffeine than before.

-My skin is a lot healthier. I was looking pale and always had bags under my eyes (probably from aforementioned resting) but my face has brightened up and I feel comfortable wearing less make-up on a regular basis.

-I am way more hydrated.

-Last but not least, I feel a buzz a lot faster. Friday night, gimme two glasses of wine and I'm good!

 

How are your resolutions going? Are you giving up anything that you thought you couldn't do without?

47

For the Tech-Lovers - A Review of CaseApp

Disclosure: I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review from CaseApp. All opinions are my own.

 

I've had iPhones since the 3, and to this day I still haven't shattered or broken one! It's probably because I'm a bit OCD when it comes to my phone's protection. I never have my phone out of a case or without a screen protector, even right after I get it from the store. I like to get super thick cases that cover the back and the front of my phones. I was also more than ecstatic when I bought my first glass screen protector!

But as with most super protective cases, they're not very cute. Most of them are big eye-sores. Also a lot of them also are super heavy and weigh down your purse or can't fit in your pocket.

I was pretty excited when I came across Caseapp. They're an online company that you can design your own phone cases, and guess what? They're super durable, too!

You can then go to their case designer and make any cute design you want! They have lots of clip art, but you can also upload your own text and photos.

As much as I love Starla, I actually opted to go for a pre-made style and customized it a bit myself. No one needs to know how much of a crazy dog lady I am...

You can edit text in different fonts, colors, and placement. The final touch is what type of finish you want on your case: matte or glossy. My final design was $37 for my iPhone 6 custom case. My favorite parts are that it's sassy, pretty, unique, and protects my phone completely. Think of how much you'll usually spend on an Otterbox case that's an eyesore and that everyone else has? Probably just about the same price.

 The only caveat is that the holes for your headphones and charger are pretty small. For me, I have about three chargers lying around at a time. Only one is the actual iPhone charger that it came with and the others are from different brands like Belkin and others. Unfortunately, my current charger doesn't fit in the small hole for the charger. Same thing goes for if you use headphones that aren't as small as the iPhone headphone plug width. So keep that in mind!

As an added perk, Caseapp has agreed to offer my readers a 20% discount for any orders placed within the next two weeks. If you use the code "ALANNA20", you'll get the discount for your phone case. It's totally worth it.

 

What kind of case do you have for your phone?

12

Keeping Dogs Safe and Warm in Snow

For those of you up further North, you may be chuckling at me. But seriously, us Washingtonians (a.k.a. Southerners) lose our minds when it comes to snow. Remember Atlanta two years ago?



Anyways...for dog owners like myself there are a few things you should really think about when you go outside with your dog in the snow. Especially, if they are a short-haired breed.

Salt is caustic to your dogs paws

It may be nice that neither of you are slipping on the sidewalks but salt can be caustic to your dogs paw pads. It can be extremely nasty if they get it stuck in between their paw pads. As soon as I take Starla in from a walk I have dog cleaning wipes that I use to clean off her paw pads and in between her paw pads.

Prep your dog

Another option, which I think we're about to implement, is to get them snow booties. Yes, I know it looks ridiculous but even in the half inch snowfall yesterday, Starla was picking up her paws because they were too cold. This will help with keeping their paws warm and away from salt and ice. Starla also has a jacket for extra cold days. How warm your dog is able to physically keep herself may depend on her breed, size and even age. An easy way to tell is if they are reluctant to stay out in the cold or if they are shivering. If you're unsure if your dog would need a jacket in the cold, just ask your vet.

They still need exercise.

If walking in the snow isn't for you and your dog. Take a devoted half hour to spend playing with your dog. Or even walking them around your apartment building (if you live in an apartment like me) can help relieve excess energy!

Make Potty Time Easier for Them

For me, my apartment has a grassy dog park area that I can easily brush the snow off for Starla to use. If you have a yard or an area that your dog frequently likes to go to, try shoveling or dusting it off so they know they can go to that same spot each time.

Lastly, don't let your dog eat the snow.

As fun as it may seem, the snow may cause upset stomachs or there may be hidden objects in the snow.

How do you keep you and your dog warm and comfy in the snow? Who else has/thinking of getting booties for their dogs?

 



The information contained on this blog is for informational purposes only and is solely based on my personal experience. Please consult your veterinarian for any medical concerns of your pet. 

25

Humpday Confessions - Gimme a snowday

I confess

That I feel like I've been neglecting my blog. Since I had my conference last week, I haven't had time to check emails, barely had time to respond to comments, and of course scheduled four posts for this week. #WHY

It finally snowed this past weekend in Virginia! My crazy boyfriend decided to go on a hike and I decided to go to brunch instead. It's supposed to snow again this weekend and I'm all like "Can this happen on Monday, please?" #beggerscantbechoosers



Having Monday off work was amazing. Went to brunch again. This time a place called B Too. Holy Waffles. They had every type of waffle. I had a waffle sandwich with smoked salmon and a salad. So amazing!



 

I finally ordered the dog DNA test kit for Starla and send it in earlier this week. I can't wait to get it back. I was so excited I googled test result reveals and then I came across this video. #Dontbeamurderer

 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsXpjyA12CE[/embed]

I got my hair cut on Monday and took two inches off. I love when my hair gets cut because it feels so much lighter. Also my stylist complimented me on how healthy my hair is, so thank you to Hask!

---

Now onto the link-up with Plucky in Love and I!

Here are the ground rules for the link-up:

• Each Wednesday create a post about what’s going on in your life and confess!


• Grab the button and include it in your post or include a text link back to the link-up.


• Link up with either me or Sarah, so we can see what you're confessing this week.


• Comment on at least one other blogger’s post from the link up.


• Feel free to share on social media with the hashtag #HumpdayConfessions and I'll retweet.


• Enjoy!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.alannaandcompany.com" rel="nofollow" title="My Blog"><img src="http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah316/alannapersaud/HUMPDAY%20CONFESSIONS%20BUTTON%20small_zpsavcvyizn.jpg" alt="My Blog" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Linking up with #HashtagHumpday

---

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

I’ve teamed up with some blogger friends to give you the chance to win a prize you’re going to love -- a $200 Starbucks Gift Card!

Are you a blogger who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your blog? Click here to join the VIP Email List for details on how to be included in the next giveaway opportunity!

Prize: $200 Starbucks Gift Card

Giveaway organized by: Oh My Gosh Beck! (Please email becky@ohmygoshbeck.com with any questions.)

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter form to enter daily. Giveaway ends 2/1 and is open worldwide. Winner will be notified via email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

30

Keeping Fine Hair Healthy in the Winter

Disclosure: HASK Product samples were provided by Brandbacker.  All opinions are honest and my own. 

Winter is notorious for being harsh on skin and hair. For people with fine hair like mine, it's super important to protect your hair from damage because it happens easily in the winter time. My hair gets dry and brittle very easily, and after that happens breakage always occurs. I find myself going to the hair salon for dead end trims much more frequently when it's colder outside.

For fine hair, it's easy to keep your hair shiny and moisturized but the problem is weighing it down! I've tried Argan oil time and time again, however it weighs my hair down so much I end up having the flattest straightest hair ever with absolutely no body. Here's how I achieve the perfect balance of healthy, voluminous hair in the winter.

Use Sulfate-Free Shampoos

We've all heard this term, but what is a sulfate? Sulfates are just chemicals that help separate the dirt and oil from your hair. They can be natural or they can be chemical. However, since they're super effective on cleaning your hair, they also strip away protective oils from your hair. This can lead to drying out your hair which again leads to breakage.The product I like to use is HASK products, they're sulfate-free, smell amazing, and come in different types like moisturizing, keratin, protein, etc. Another perk to them is that they are recommended for daily-use! I've mentioned before how I've tried to stop shampooing every day, but that just doesn't work for my hair. Since it's so fine, it gets oily in less than 24 hours, no matter what dry shampoo I try to use. With HASK, I don't have to worry that I'm over washing my hair.

Related Reading: The Best Dry Shampoos

After using HASK for a week (from switching from Herbal Essence) my hair was just as shiny, lighter in weight, had more body, and hydrated!

Use the right hair brush

No matter when you are brushing your hair, make sure you use the right brush for the occasion. I almost always brush my hair when it's wet right after washing my hair. My new favorite brush is the Wet Brush. It's a huge paddle so I can brush through large chunks of my hair, however the bristles aren't as stiff as regular paddle brushes so it doesn't pull out as much hair as other brushes would. Detangling combs or tangle teasers are also great for your hair if you take care of it straight out of the shower.

For brushing it before bed or any time when it's dry, I use a boar bristle brush to increase shine and to evenly distribute the oils in my hair.

Blow Dry the Right Way!

All right there's many ways to blow dry your hair that would probably work, however, in my expert opinion, this is the best way to blow dry fine hair. I've been doing this since college and won't go back. First, always heat-protect your hair with products like It's a 10. Secondly, blow dry your hair upside down. It's weird to get used to, but it's okay, bend right over and blow starting at the roots first. I have a whole method how I can blow-dry and brush at the same time while upside down. It looks funny but it works! It gives your roots a boost for the entire day.

Keep it shorter!

I'm definitely guilty of not going back every 6-8 weeks for a trim, especially when I have longer hair! I can hide most of my split-ends and you don't notice the length difference. But it does make a difference if your hair grows fast. The longer your fine hair gets the heavier it gets, and then the flatter it becomes.

I've played around with long hair with layers to keep it light-weight, but it's just making my fine hair look thinner because at the tips of my hair, there's just not much hair there! I've found that the longest I like to go that still feels good is about 4-5 inches below my shoulder. It still looks like a "long" hair-cut but maintains enough bounce because of how light-weight it is.

 

Do you have fine hair? How do you keep it looking great?

13

Why You Want Me on Your Trivia Team

The other week, on a Wednesday, I was bored. It all started with this lovely resolution I created that went along the lines of, "Only one glass of wine per night on weeknights." On the first night of my resolution on January 4th, I looked at the beautiful bottle of chilled Chardonnay and the new Rabbit Wine opener that my roommate received for Christmas. I heard it calling to me, "Open me so you can fall deep into temptation and drink all of me!"

The resolution quickly turned to, "No wine on weeknights," and the alcoholic inside me cried out in pain.

Just kidding, it actually hasn't been that hard.

However, it took away a fun past time I had with my roommate and my boyfriend of drinking and watching ridiculous TV shows or cooking and throwing in some wine to whatever dish I'm making.

Back to last Wednesday. After I had binge watched as much TV shows as soberly as possible, I was feeling a bit bored of my new routine, so I asked Siri, "What's there to do on Wednesday nights in Arlington?" and she promptly replied by showing me the nearest bars around me. Great...Then it hit me, there's trivia every Wednesday night at one of the bars near me!

So I gathered my friends and off to trivia we went. We actually placed fifth out of 15 teams! So without further ado...

Why You Want Me On Your Trivia Team

I scream out all the answer that I might know. This is good because for the most part I'm wrong and the other teams hear me and write down the wrong answers. Score!

Anything sports related, I just write down Tom Brady. Who was the team that won the Superbowl in 2012? Tom Brady. How many players are on a baseball team? Tom Brady. It always wins.

The category I excel at is Medieval history. There's usually tons of Medieval history questions in trivia, so I got your back, don't worry.

I'm really good at pop culture. I use great descriptors like "Ohhhh that skinny blonde girl, right?"

I never get distracted and always focus on the task at hand. Mmmm....burgers.

It's okay, don't all rush to get me on your trivia teams right away. I'm available Mondays through Fridays after six p.m. Please email me for my availability.

Do you ever go and play trivia team? What the category you're best at?

26

Books I Want to Read in 2016

Ahhh a new start! Alright so as I lay out my plans and goals for this year, I obviously need to set reading goals, right? I participated in the Modern Mrs. Darcy reading challenge last year and I am super excited to participate again this year! I carefully am planning out which books to read though so it'll be easier to accomplish.

 

The total books I want to read this year is 30. A lot less than my 50 books that I wanted to read last year. I ended up only reading 24 books by the end of the year.

Related Post: Books I Couldn't Put Down

Without further ado, here are the books I plan to read for the MMD challenge in 2016.

A Book Published This Year: TBD because we've only had fifteen days for books to be published!
A book you can finish in a day: Shopgirl by Steven Martin
A book you've been meaning to read: The Rosie Project By Graeme Simsion
A book recommended by your local librarian or bookseller: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
A book you should have read in school: ?
A book chosen for you by your BFF, partner, or significant other:  ?
A book published before you were born: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
A book that was banned at some point: Looking for Alaska by John Greene
A book you previously abandoned: Yes Please by Ame Poehler
A book you own but have never read: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
A book that intimidates you: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
A book you've already read at least once: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walters

Is it bad that I wanted to put the Goldfinch in about four categories? Previously Abandoned, Own but not read, intimidating, a book that I've been meaning to read. Sadly, no cheating allowed here. I'm curious how the intimidating book from Neil Gaiman is going to go as well as one that was published before I was born. I've tried to read Neil Gaiman before (American Gods) and couldn't stand it. I feel bad though because he's been consistently the winner of the best fantasy books on Goodreads, so I'll push myself to try this one that was selected as the 2013 fantasy winner.

Let me know if you are participating in any other reading challenge that I can join in on or if you have a suggestion for a book that will be published this year! Or if you have any suggestions for the categories that I'm still missing books for.

58

Humpday Confessions | Wordpress is here

I Confess

I just migrated over to self-hosted wordpress! I know I have been a proud "Blogger" blogger for a while, but I kept hitting too many walls and I'd had enough so, I pulled the trigger with my holiday bonus from work and here I am. So please let me know if you see anything that looks funny.

I did the whole migration myself and minus one little hiccup it went alright. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself.

This week is going by in a flash. I'm currently at a convention that will last until Saturday and I've barely had any time to get any other work done. #stressing



However, I love staying in nice hotels. People pick up after me, the bed is always comfy, and the bathrooms aren't 500 degrees like mine at home.

The only downfall is that there won't be an obnoxious adorable dog to wake me up every morning at 5 a.m.

Speaking of the dog, she had a nice fun escape on Monday. I have a leash from Petco so they have a different clasp that if you push on the side, it opens, instead of the typical, pull down latch. With her new no-pull harness, I think it pushed against the plastic latch on her harness, which opened the clasp. I panicked and shouted, "Come here!" at which point she realized she was off her leash and thought it was a great fun game of chase. So she dashed across the street, narrowly avoided an SUV, and ran all the way up to my building.



Meanwhile, I'm on the phone with my best friend (on the headphones luckily or else that phone would have been chucked) and screaming, "STARLA STOP COME HERE!" and chasing her across the street. My downfall was actually chasing her because she thought it was a fun game. I should have just stopped, used my stern voice and she probably would have stopped before reaching the street. Thank god nothing bad happened. #Liveandlearn #Emphasisonthelive.

to continue my bitching, all of this was after the metro had a technical malfunction and I got stuck inside a crowded train for 45 minutes. Instead of waiting over an hour on a train I decided to get off at the first station I could and walk home. Oh and that walk home is a 45 minute walk too. So to say the least, I got my workout in on Monday without even going to the gym! #Fitbitwashappy



I'm more than a little bit ready for the long weekend.

---

Now onto the link-up with Plucky in Love and I!

Here are the ground rules for the link-up:

• Each Wednesday create a post about what’s going on in your life and confess!


• Grab the button and include it in your post or include a text link back to the link-up.


• Link up with either me or Sarah, so we can see what you're confessing this week.


• Comment on at least one other blogger’s post from the link up.


• Feel free to share on social media with the hashtag #HumpdayConfessions and I'll retweet.


• Enjoy!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.alannaandcompany.com" rel="nofollow" title="My Blog"><img src="http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah316/alannapersaud/HUMPDAY%20CONFESSIONS%20BUTTON%20small_zpsavcvyizn.jpg" alt="My Blog" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Linking up with #HashtagHumpday

39

How to Make a Personalized iPhone Ringtone for Free

Do you remember the days when you had your handy flip phone? Do you remember whenever you wanted to customize your ringtone you'd have to tell everyone in the car to shush and you'd hold up your phone to capture some grainy song from the radio to assign to your friend's ringtone?

Or is that just me?

As dorky and immature as this may seem, I still keep custom ringtones for people and here's why. Unless your phone shouts out the name of who is calling when it rings, you have no idea of who is calling thus starting the rushed purse-digging to find your vibrating, ringing phone. I like to keep each of my ringtones customized so I know who is calling just from the sound. Each of my best friends have a separate ringtone, my boyfriend has a ringtone, and my parents have a ringtone. Then there's the basic ringtone.

I love that when I hear "This is what makes us girls," from Lana Del Rey that I know that my best friend from Seattle is calling. Or when I hear my regular ringtone and I have my hands full, I can choose to ignore it and know I'm not ignoring my mom or someone else important.

So now you're thinking, "How many damn ringtones does this chick have?" which is a grand total of six and I didn't pay for any of them. Yep, that's right! No need to go to iTunes and pay $0.99 for a ringtone, you can do it yourself for free and here's how.

Create Your Own Personalized iPhone Ringtone

Note: This tutorial will only work for iPhones not Androids, sorry friends. Also the tutorial is through a windows computer but can be duplicated in Macs, however the screenshots will look different of course!

Step One

Find a song you like and pick the section of song that you want. You will want a section of the song no longer than thirty seconds. Ringtones need to be short and the file size needs to be small, or else this whole process won't work and you'll have to start from the beginning. Usually fifteen seconds is the magic time for me. Write down the start time that you would want to ringtone to start at (for example, if you want it to start at the very beginning it is 0:00. If you want it to start at thirty seconds in, 0:30).

Step Two

Find the song in your iTunes. Once you highlight that song, there will be an ellipses to the right of the song title, click that. Once you see the drop down select "Get Info."

Step Three

Under the Get Info panel, you will need to click on "Options." In that panel you will see a start and stop time. Enter your desired start time that you wrote down in step one. Enter your desired stop time (remember no longer than 30 seconds maximum). Click OK.

Step Four

Now your song will play for that desired time, so just to double check it's the correct timing, double click on your song title to play it. Once you've double checked the correct timing of your ringtone you will again click on the ellipses next to the song title. This time you will select "Create AAC Version." It will take a second and then duplicate your song. It should appear right below or above the originally selected song. This time though, the total play time will reflect that 30 seconds or the total time you ended up selecting for your ringtone. Also, after you've made the copy, be sure to deactivate the start/stop options from the original version of the song so it will play normally the next time you listen to it.

Step Five

Next, you'll need to find your newly created AAC copy of your song. You can do this by clicking the ellipses and selecting "Show in Windows Explorer" ("Show in Finder" for Mac) or you can find it under your iTunes Media folder.

Once you've found it, you'll need to rename the file extension. If your song is just the title and isn't showing the file extension which should look like songtitle.m4a then follow these quick instructions on how to show your file extension.

Once you can see your file extension in your file name, you want to hit "rename" and all you'll need to change is the last letter from an a to an r. (i.e. songtitle.m4a will be changed to songtitle.m4r.)

Final Step

You're almost done! You'll want to delete that first AAC version in your iTunes that you created first. Now drag and drop your ringtone into your iTunes library.

To view your new tone in iTunes, click on the icon that the arrow is pointing to above. If you don't see it, click on the ellipses and then select "Tones." Finally, plug in your iPhone to your computer. Click on the iPhone symbol and go to tones under your iPhone. Make sure all tones are selected to sync and sync your phone.

Viola! You now have a new ringtone on your phone that you can select.

Honestly, looking back at all these instructions it seems a bit daunting but it really isn't! Once you have the steps down, you can make a ringtone in under one minute.

Hopefully some of you take the time to try this or it's helpful for people searching along the internet.

Which of you use personalized ringtones on your phone?

 

P.S. If you do try it and get stumped, tweet at me and I'd be happy to help.

8

Recovering After the Holidays

January is one of my favorite months just as Mondays one of my favorite days (when I remember to set my alarm just like I didn't do this week). It's calm, fresh, and relaxing compared to the past three or four months prior. Often my November through mid-December is hectic and then I spend Christmas through New Years lounging around. By January, I'm ready to start fresh, recover, and get back in gear. Here's how I practice self-care after the holidays are over.

1. Start a new diet. After all the binge-eating of cookies and over-consumption of alcohol, I try to put a defined limit on myself. Eating more fresh foods (pomegranates are totally in season right now!) and substituting more water instead of champagne is a great way to kick-start a healthy diet for the new year.

2. Get up and move. I know it's easy to want to curl up in a ball and hide under blankets, but the easiest way to warm up is movement! I try to take the stairs at work when I can, and just get up throughout the day and walk around.

Related Post: How Your Fitbit is Taking Over Your Life

3. Organize. Nothing feels more refreshing than to de-clutter your house/apartment. Now is the time to go through all your packed away seasonal clothes and donate what you haven't worn.

4. Stretch. I do yoga every Tuesday and that honestly still isn't enough stretching for my body. Feeling more limber, releasing tension, and improving your posture will feel amazing for your body.

5. Take some time to disconnect. Is it just me or do I spend an inane amount of time over the holidays glued to the television. We're always connected to many types of electronics at all times, so take some time to disconnect from tv, phone, etc and entertain yourself with something that's not electronic. I've pledged to read 35 books this year and I'm trying to read every night instead of plugging in and watching the bachelor. Whatever hobby works for your, go for it.

How to you practice self-care after the holidays?

 

30

Humpday Confessions | Bringing in 2016

Oh hey! Welcome to 2016 Humpday Confessions.

I confess...

that I totally missed humpday confessions for the couple weeks I was MIA. I'm glad that I took a little break though so I could enjoy the holidays.I finally got over to the Renwick Gallery. It's been closed for a couple years for renovations, but just opened up a few months ago. It only has 9 exhibits but they are all super cool! It's all about crafts and decorative arts. The building is beautiful too. If you're in the area or visiting, it's a must-see.

 

I went over to the Newseum for New Year's Eve and that was interesting. I've been to some other big Project DC parties for New Years eve before like the Gaylord at National Harbor and Arena Stage. This was the first year that I splurged for the VIP because the benefits were "worth it" or so I thought at the time I purchased. It bragged an early entrance, two VIP floors, VIP bars and buffets. However, we were all let in at the same time and everyone had the same access if you were VIP or not. So FYI if you're checking out their events for next year, don't buy VIP. Not worth it. 


that what was worth it was my Rent the Runway dress. I had a great experience with them. And was able to fit in the smaller size that they sent me for free. Glad they sent both my normal size and an optional second size. Otherwise my dress would have been too big!

I'm half-excited, half-depressed about all my health-related goals for this year. I hope they go well but they are tough, so no more fooling around for me. Time to get my butt in gear.

I'm going to a local conference for work next week, however since I'm there for four days, they've set me up at the hotel which is awesome because the hotel is top notch! Pretty excited for the conference and also just the stay in the Gaylord hotel.

I haven't been grocery shopping in over a month.

that I'm having a discount on my ad spaces! 35% off my two biggest ad spots (in-post banner and large company) using code: NEWYEARS. Go check out all the options here. #Shamelessplug

I'm co-hosting an awesome giveaway with a few other bloggers. So enter today!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Now onto the link-up with Plucky in Love and I!

Here are the ground rules for the link-up:

• Each Wednesday create a post about what’s going on in your life and confess!


• Grab the button and include it in your post or include a text link back to the link-up.


• Link up with either me or Sarah, so we can see what you're confessing this week.


• Comment on at least one other blogger’s post from the link up.


• Feel free to share on social media with the hashtag #HumpdayConfessions and I'll retweet.


• Enjoy!

 

 

Linking up with #HashtagHumpday

50

Bar Deco Brunch

A few weeks ago, I went out for my annual birthday brunch. I don't know about you but the less drinking and more food for birthdays is totally my style the older I get. Being the typical D.C. brunch-a-holic, I decided that I wanted to try something new rather than go to the tried and true brunch spots.

I recently read a review from Bitches Who Brunch, which is an amazing resource for D.C., New York, and Chicago if you haven't heard of them before, and decided to give the new Bar Deco a try. After a quick tweet confirming that they were indeed serving bottomless mimosa, the reservation for 15 people was set.

Related Post: Where to Brunch in D.C.

In addition to offering bottomless mimosas, they had a great menu with lots of variety, and it was a perk that they were easily able to sit 15 people. I've had many functions become tricky as soon as you hit the 15 person mark because then you have to contact the group function manager, etc. etc.

Like the bad blogger that I am, I got caught up in birthday festivities and forgot to take a lot of photos! So you'll have to trust me when I say that this building is beautiful! Bar Deco was built in the Bulletin Building and renovated for a perfect "art-deco" style. I absolutely loved the ambiance and how much natural light came into the building. It also boasts an impressive rooftop (all though it was too chilly for us to go venture out there) that is the only rooftop in the Chinatown/Verizon Center area.

Credit

Our server started us off with fresh cucumber creme fraiche tostinis and started to pour the mimosas. For someone who also drinks a ton of water, I was more than happy that the server left the bottle of water (a whiskey bottle!) on the table for refills whenever we wanted.

For my meal, I ordered the chicken and waffles accompanied with house-made whipped butter and drizzled with sweet Jalapeno jam. I was blown away. I'm pretty picky about my fried chicken and they definitely were a crowd-pleaser with my two other friends who chose the chicken and waffles, too. My boyfriend opted for the breakfast burger which came with side-winder fries that I couldn't keep my paws off of. We ended up ordering a couple extra sides of the fries.

The one downfall of some of the items is that many of them don't automatically come with sides. You need to order them in addition to your entree. Dave, my friend's husband ordered the burrito without any add-on sides. It definitely wasn't enough food for him and he had to snack off of our fries then ended up ordering a second entree.

At the end, they were very sweet and brought me out their massive red velvet cake with a candle for my birthday. At first glance, I didn't think I could finish it by myself but now I'm regretting that I split it with all my friends. It was moist, tasty, and not too rich.

In addition, I have to give a shout-out to our server. She really persevered through the birthday shenanigans and even split the check for our large party. I was really impressed by Bar Deco and I definitely plan on heading back another time to maybe check out the bar or the rooftop. Thank you for treating me for my birthday!

Bar Deco. 717 6th St. N.W. Washington, D.C.

 

32