As I'm sure you all know, nine lives were taken last week due to the hate and ignorance of one person at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. I personally did not know anyone who lost their lives that day. However, many of my close friends, as we are all from that area, were blessed to know some of those individuals and have been deeply saddened by the events that occurred.

We go through these things called Peaks and Valleys at my job (and every other job in the world, I'm sure.) Peaks are those times when there aren't enough hours in the day and I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off. There are also days when we are falling asleep at our desks, rummaging around for something to do. Well this past week has been the deepest valley ever. While it's been tremendously boring and I feel like falling asleep every minute, I have had the opportunity to play around with InDesign and Photoshop! One of the many creations that I've made are gold watercolor social media tags. I'm currently in the process of revamping my own blog so I just wanted to share some things that might be helpful to everyone else :)

ONE: #McKinney
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few days, you have seen the video of McKinney police officer Eric Casebolt assaulting a group of young African Americans at a pool party. These scenes are becoming all too familiar and I am disgusted by the horrible behavior displayed by someone is supposed to "protect and serve" the local community. Police brutality in general is inexcusable but when it is targeted toward a specific race, it is dangerous beyond means. In no way do I feel like this should be taken lightly, nor do I believe that his recent resignation should be seen as a solution to the problem.

TWO: theSkimm
In between making my morning coffee and reading my Joyce Meyer devotional sitting in AM traffic, I now add "skimming" to my daily routine. For those who haven't heard of theSkimm, just know that it will change the way you obtain news! theSkimm is the daily newsletter that reads the news for you, breaks it down, and delivers it to your email first thing in the morning. So, not only do I know I know who won the election in Turkey on Monday, I know why it matters to me! This awesome newsletter even brought me to the next item on my list...

THREE: Blockbuster Box
Pizza and movies go together like peanut butter and jelly, summer and the beach. Everyone knows this. Especially the PR geniuses over at Ogilvy Hong Kong. This cardboard pizza box turns into a working movie projected powered by your smartphone. If you don't have Netflix, Pizza Hut has cleverly printed a QR code on each box that you can scan with your smartphone to download a free movie! How cool is that?? I know, it's pretty awesome.

FOUR: Mockingjay Part 2 Trailer
As I'm sure you can tell from my summer reading list, I love reading! So, when books turn into movies, I am always the first one in line (normally at midnight) to critique and compare. Fortunately, the Hunger Games series hasn't disappointed me thus far and, after seeing this trailer, I'm pretty sure I won't be!

FIVE: Flibanserin
Yup, flibanserin is female Viagra and it's making it's way through the FDA's approval committee. The drug works to combat sexual dysfunction in premenopausal women. However, this little pink pill works differently than Viagra: instead of having a solely physical effect, this drug works similarly to an antidepressant to get women in the mood.

Cooking is probably as far as you could get from my strong point. Over the past few years, I have had to learn how to cook the basics just to survive but for the most part, I leave the serious stuff to my roommates and my friends. A few days ago, a good friend & classmate of mine, Jawondolyn, snapped pictures of an amazing-looking frittata that I was dying to try. Fortunately, she has allowed me to feature the recipe on my blog for you all to try!