The District Prepster’s Guide to NYE

Good evening D.C.

Believe it or not we only have 27 days left in 2015. So many things have happened this past year for college freshmen; we’ve gone to prom, had our last day of high school, graduated, said goodbye to our very best friends, and have lived away from home for the past 3 months. It’s been an emotional year to say the least. I’m really looking forward to 2016 and everything the New Year will bring. I’ll be out in Utah on a ski vacation with my family for NYE, so I won’t be off partying too hard but you all deserve to let loose! Celebrate all that you’re accomplished and all the good change that has happened in your life.

Stages of NYE

I’ve hope you enjoyed my list and that you have a freakin fantastic New Years Eve, but always ALWAYS remember to be safe. New Year’s Eve is a fun, but dangerous night so always look out for yourself and your friends.

Signing off,

The District Prepster

Crafting for Christmas

Happy Holidays D.C.!

A large part of the holiday season is all about gifts: buying, wrapping, giving, and possibly exchanging for something better. It can be a lot of shopping if you have a large family, close friends, or are doing several Secret Santas. This can put quite the dent in one’s wallet if you’re not careful. What I’ve found that makes the best gifts is DYI crafts; not only are the inexpensive to make, but are also made with love and a certain person in mind.

One of my favorite gifts to make is these DYI painted mugs; you can definitely make them with your friend’s favorite colors or in holiday patterns. If you want to make it even more special, decorate each cup with college colors! My friend made a ton of these during graduation season for all of her good friends and they absolutely loved them.

DYI Paint Mugs

Supplies:

• Mugs ($1 at Dollar Tree stores)
• Oil Based Sharpie Paint Pens
• Oven
• Scrapbook Stickers

Instructions:

1. To do a monogram design you will need a scrapbook stickers. Pick the monogram/design you want and stick it on your mug. I did a “G” for our last name. You will want to make sure it’s in the right place/angle etc.

2. Next you will want to make dots ALL around the scrapbook sticker. Follow the directions on the markers to get the paint going. Do some practice dots on some cardboard before hand. Once ready, start filling in the area around the sticker with dots. Really fill in the area. Add a second color if you like. If you mess up, wipe away with some rubbing alcohol on a q-tip.

3. Once you have the design you want and it’s dry – carefully peel off the scrapbook sticker to reveal your design. Do touchups if you need to.

4. Making sure your area is well ventilated – turn on your oven to 350, set your mugs inside and let them bake for 30 minutes. Once 30 minutes is up, turn off the oven and let the mugs cool down inside. I left it in the oven for a few hours.

5. Then of course, fill and enjoy with your favorite beverage.

I think this craft is really creative and a super great gift for Christmas. If you have any other craft gift ideas-let me know! I would love to hear about your favorites.

Love always,

The District Prepster

 

Snacking for Success

Helllooo D.C.!

I hope you’ve been surviving the craziness that is the Christmas and finals season; nothing says stress quite like the holidays & a bunch of tests! In continuing with the theme from the last post, this post is all about snacking for success. Everyone knows food is an essential part of survival and this is especially true during those all night study sessions. Below I’ve listed some recipes for late night snacking and my favorite snacks to eat while studying!

Kind Raspberry Granola Clusters

I’ve never been much of a granola person up until going to college. I figured to avoid gaining the freshman fifteen, I should have semi healthy snacks so I picked up a bag of the Raspberry Clusters from Target and I’ve been addicted ever since. They’re great to eat straight out of the bag or you can add them to your yogurt in the morning! The clusters come in several different flavors that I’ll definitely be trying out, but for right now I’m so hooked on the Raspberry ones!!!

Kashi Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars

I have loved these granola bars since the dawn of time practically. The bar is the perfect mix of healthy and chocolate goodness topped with coconut and walnuts. Its the perfect snack when you’re craving chocolate, but you want to convince yourself that you’re on a “health kick”. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Creamy Peanutbutter Dip

The perfect dip for endless amounts of apple slices stolen from the dining hall.

Peppermint Bark Popcorn

The perfect holiday treat & midnight snack! Plus its been proven that peppermint improves memory so you’re sure not to forget the quadratic formula for that big math exam.

Happy snacking!!

The District Prepster

Survival of the Fittest

Good afternoon D.C.!

D-Day is approaching. The apocalypse is on the horizon. The end is near. Yes, its finals season and college kids across the nation are stressing themselves into a frenzy over all the group projects, research papers, and exams quickly approaching. Thanks to my handy dandy Kate Spade planner, I haven’t really fallen too behind on my work and the panic has not yet set in, but that doesn’t mean I’m not counting down the days until its all over- 14 DAYS TILL FREEDOM.

This and my next post are going to make up a sort of survival guide for all my college readers out there; whether you’re a finals veteran or a newbie like myself, I’m sure you’ll find something to laugh at or smile over.

8 Signs You’re A College Student During Finals Season

1. You ask yourself what the heck a Reading Day even is.

2. Study breaks consist of 17 minute naps on the floor of your room surrounded by your laptop and thousands of notecards.

3. You’ve began creating a fort in your very favorite study area and are preparing for long term hibernation.

4. Stress eating is the new normal- whoever says that eating an entire pizza alone is a little “extreme” doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

5. The thesaurus has quickly become your best friend in helping you make your BS essay sound like it was flawlessly written by a Founding Father.

6. You’ve forgotten what it’s like to smile or see a smile. Campus seems like a sea of stress, sadness, and scowling.

7. You suddenly become a wiz at math…not actual math, please-but at “what is the lowest grade I can get” math.

8. You begin to strongly relate to the struggle of James Franco in a 127 Hours except you’re living in an endless week of 168 hours…so basically you’re better and stronger than that guy.

However, the golden rule of Finals Week is this: no matter how tired you are, YOU TAKE A SHOWER EVERY 24 HOURS. Just because we’re living in an academic warzone doesn’t mean you abandon personal hygiene.

May the odds be ever in your favor D.C.

The District Prepster

Holiday Happenings

HEY WHATS UP HELLOOOO D.C.

If you couldn’t tell by that introduction, I’m very energized this evening-it must be all that holiday spirit in the air (plus some air pollution). The holiday season is always full of activities no matter where you live, but since we happen to live in the wonderful city of D.C. there is even more holiday fun to do! Here are some of the events I’ll be definitely be hitting up in the next few weeks.

ICE! at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort & Convention Center

Address: 201 Waterfront Street   National Harbor, Maryland 20745

ICE! is an interactive winter wonderland located a little bit outside of the city in National Harbor, Maryland (accessible by Metro). In the winter wonderland, you can walk through a frozen ice garden, slide down 5 ice slides, and carve your very own ice sculpture.

ZooLights at the Smithsonian National Zoo

Address: 3001 Connecticut Avenue  Washington, D.C. 20008

ZooLights at the National Zoo is a month-long event going on after regular zoo hours and is FREE to the public. ZooLights is every night from 5pm-9 and has a little bit of everything. The entire zoo is decorated with over 500,000 LED lights and live music & food is provided! Animal exhibits are open later, snow tubing is open, and there is plenty of hot chocolate for all. My hometown has a similar lights exhibit that I’m definitely missing out on, so I’m excited to check out ZooLights this Friday!

The National Christmas Tree

Address: The White House

Every single year, the President of the United States hosts a tree lighting ceremony in which some very lucky DC citizens get to attend. I unfortunately did not win it big in the Parks Service lottery so I’ll be forced to watch the tree lighting either from my TV or perched on top of a statue of some sort. However, I’ll have the chance to visit the tree every night this December after the tree lighting tomorrow night. If you want a specific day to visit, I’m going to shamelessly promote the Men in Grey who will be singing on December 9th from 5-5:30. They’re cute boys in uniform…what more could you want?

Happy holidays D.C.!

The District Prepster

 

The Munch Brunch Bunch

Good evening D.C.!

Ever since I moved into the city three months ago, I have observed the brunch craze. Brunch is simply not a meal down here…it is an experience.  D.C. residents sure love their mimosas, french toast, and getting all gussied up in their Sunday best. I haven’t participated in the D.C. brunch experience quite yet, but my good friend Kelly recently had a glorious brunch experience on her birthday this past Saturday at Founding Farmers. I have been to Founding Farmers before for dessert one time and if breakfast is anything like their carrot cake, it is sure to be out of this world.

I am here to report that Kelly’s brunch experience was everything that she dreamed of and more. The exciting news for me is that SHE BROUGHT BACK LEFTOVERS!!! (Unfortunately I was not so quick to claim my territory and they quickly disappeared). According to Kelly, Founding Farmers brunch has “the most amazing bacon- I really don’t know why its so good, but…it is.” But what really caught her attention was the carrot cake pancakes; two, huge, rich pancakes filled with carrot cake deliciousness. You can bet all your money in the world that I will be ordering those when I visit for brunch.

However, while I was home for Thanksgiving I had my very own brunch experience and while it wasn’t Founding Farmers, it was pretty darn amazing. There is a restaurant in my home town that has been there forever, but it wasn’t until recently that my mom and sister tried out breakfast there. Ever since that fateful visit, I have heard about the famous “brioche doughnut” I kid you not every day. My mom demanded that we go while I was home, so that’s how I ended up in a food coma at approximately 11 am in the dining room of Charcoal.

My family ordered quite the spread (I wouldn’t expect anything less). My sister ordered the cinnamon raisin french toast, my brother got chocolate chip pancakes; my mother got her typical eggs benedict and I got the special of the day: Marble French Toast . My dad got the breakfast sampler, or as my sister called it “the Ron Swanson“.

After completely stuffing ourselves, my family was more than ready to roll ourselves out the door but we were stopped by my mom. She refused to let us leave without having the damn “brioche doughnut”. Although our pant waistbands protested, we reluctantly tried the doughnut. In short, it was worth all the hype (even though I only had one little bite).

After typing all this up, I am now seriously planning a pre-finals brunch with all my friends at Founding Farmers. I can’t resist the allure of carrot cake pancakes much longer-maybe I’ll see you there!

Stay hungry D.C.

The District Prepster

 

Dear Santa

Happy Holidays D.C.

It’s officially December which means CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!! There is nothing more exciting than Christmas music, Christmas movies, Christmas shopping, and of course Christmas cookies. My life is Christmas everything right now and I have no shame.

The most popular topic on campus right now (besides finals) is Christmas lists. Now, college students are simple folk; we simply want money. Whether its for that Chipotle burrito bowl, extra two ply toilet paper, Metro fare, or for those really cute shoes you saw online- we want/need/crave it. However, I find it kinda rude to just ask for cash; there simply isn’t much feeling behind it. Due to this unfortunate circumstance, have created an extensive Christmas list that I thought I would share with you.

The District Prepster 2015 Christmas Wish List

1. Chipotle Burrito Card

Just because I’m not an elite professional athlete doesn’t mean I should be denied the glory of 365 days of free burritos.

2.Madewell’s Norwood Jumpsuit

This jumpsuit is guaranteed to make anyone look like they have 10% of Beyoncé’s fierceness.

3. Seth Meyers

King of Weekend Update & my heart

4. Ray Ban Highstreet Sunglasses

The perfect pair of shades to dramatically wear as you gracefully parade down the Capitol stairs or as you enter Founding Farmers for brunch with your squad.

5. A career writing BuzzFeed quizzes

It would be a privilege to ask the REAL and RELEVANT questions our country needs answered

6. Madewell’s Mini Transport Crossbody

The perfect place to store everything and anything (including that cookie from Baked & Wired)

7. Ina Garten as my grandmother

NO ONE and I repeat NO ONE does a roast chicken like queen Ina

8. Spotify Premium

I cannot tell you how many dance sessions have been interrupted with ads for Premium…THE ADVERTISING WORKED I GIVE IN YOU WIN

So citizens of D.C., put on Mariah Carey CD (you know you want to), pour the eggnog, and start trimming the heck out of your tree.

Love always,

The District Prepster

Friendsgiving

Hello D.C.!!!!

Tonight at dinner my friends & I came up with a great idea for this holiday season and I felt that I absolutely had to share with you all! We decided to plan and have a Friendsgiving in our dorm the night before we all leave for break!

I know the idea of Friendsgiving isn’t too new, but we’ve decided to put our own twist on it. Instead of having traditional Thanksgiving food, we’ve decided to have a potluck of the most random food. So far the menu is comprised of Chinese food, Nutella & crescent rolls, guacamole & chips, milkshakes…it looks like I’ll be gaining the freshman fifteen all in one meal.

We are also planning on dressing up because I don’t think I know a single girl who doesn’t love looking classy and eating. Plus this meal has the potential to be the most Instagrammed event of the year! However, you got to respect Thanksgiving traditions, so there will be the typical “What are you thankful for?” game and a lot of turkey decorations. It wouldn’t be a thanksgiving event without all of that.

I hope you all enjoy your turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, gravy, rolls, green beans, etc. Don’t forget to watch out for the “fillers” and follow the golden rule: PACE YOURSELF.

I’m thankful for you D.C.

The District Prepster

Stuck on Stickers

HEY D.C.!

Like a true prepster, I love to accessorize every part of my life which recently has come to include my laptop! Many of your may have heard of the website Redbubble; Redbubble is a website where artists sell everything from stickers to posters to t-shirts to home wares! The newest trend I have discovered is Redbubble stickers & I just ordered some for myself. There is a sticker out there for anyone and everyone-trust me I’ve seen it all after spending over two hours adding over 20 stickers to my cart.

The cool thing about Redbubble is that if you sign up for emails, you get 10% of your first purchase, however BEWARE!!! This coupon only lasts for 48 hours so get shopping and buy quickly! I didn’t notice the time limit on the coupon and was very disappointed when I went to order my second batch of stickers about twenty minutes ago. The stickers are super affordable and really high quality; plus they look great on anything! Another perk of Redbubble is that if you order six small stickers, you immediately get 50% off every sticker you buy. As you can probably tell, I’m obsessed. Here are the stickers that I just got in the mail today (more are on the way!!!!)

Embrace your inner nerd/prep/craft goddess & go crazy!!!

Love always,

The District Prepster

Dining Hall Hacks for the College Foodie

Good evening D.C.!

Warning: this post is a RANT. Last night was the last straw; I didn’t think it was possible for the food at my dining hall to get any worse but I was very very wrong. Last night there was literally nothing appealing to eat….so I had to do the unthinkable. I settled for the cardboard pizza, yes the very pizza that I was just bashing earlier this week. It was a low moment, a moment of no hope so I’m writing this post to rant a little bit but also to inspire hope. Despite my dining hall challenges, I have found a couple of hacks that make eating enjoyable. These hacks involve basic ingredients that majority of dining halls have and are super easy to put together.

1. Trail Mix!!! Trail mix is always a super good snack for those late night study sessions or for those of use who feel healthier by eating chocolate mixed in with those “lesser” ingredients. To make your own, grab some granola or cereal at breakfast to make the base of your trail mix. Then mix in m&ms or chocolate chips from the ice cream station and dried fruit/sunflower seeds from the salad station.
2. Chocolate Chip Waffles- every college dining hall has a waffle maker…I’m pretty sure that is a national requirement and its honestly a blessing- the waffle maker has saved my life several times this semester. To spice up your waffles add chocolate chips, Oreos, or any other chocolatey fun to the batter and enjoy your perfect circle of carboliciousness.
3. Hot Chocolate- I bet your college campus has either a Starbucks or a Dunkin, both which sell hot chocolate. If you’re looking to save a few bucks, make your own! My dining hall has a hot chocolate machine so I fill up a to-go cup and then top with whipped cream and chocolate chips from the ice cream station. I save money and get all the whipped cream a girl could possibly want.
4. Ice Cream Floats-I’m not much of a soda fan, but all my friends make these whenever they want a special dessert and they certainly look AMAZING. Simply fill up your cup with soda and then add ice cream! Some of the combos my friends love are root beer + vanilla ice cream, Coke + chocolate ice cream, and Fanta + vanilla ice cream for a creamsicle treat.
5. Brunch Panini- this is perhaps the most ingenious dining hall hack that has been discovered. Every weekend there is an awkward period of time in the dining hall, the time between 10-1 when you are just waking up from a long night out and you can’t decide what you want to eat…breakfast and lunch options are available and the choice is daunting. You don’t have to choose one, choose BOTH. Make the ultimate brunch food…a breakfast panini. Take two waffles and use them as the bread of your “panini”; fill up your sandwich with cold cuts from the deli station and TA-DA you have the ultimate meal. Of course the ultimate dining hall hack is not eating there at ALL-which is an option I often choose but the other hacks do make life worth living.

Stay hungry D.C.

The District Prepster