My Fascination Street: June 2015

5 Indie Songs That Define a Relationship

Jun 29, 2015

Break ups are bad. Seriously, they are the worst! They make you want to just sleep until the heartbreak is over. Or lay in bed in total silence until the phone rings and it's that one person. Not your coworker or your cousins, but HIM (or her)!

I'm dealing with one right now that's threatening to drive me over the edge. After over a week of no sleep or having an appetite I'm finally ready to pick myself up and start getting back into things I enjoy. Like music! I haven't heard a single song voluntarily in so long I don't feel like myself anymore. My showers have been quicker, my walks have me leaving voice memos to myself and my commute to work is just a bore. So I need to get back into the groove but what should I listen to? Everything I've listened to in practically the last year reminds me of him which is a downside of being a total music junkie and dating something with amazing taste.

But I can't sit at home dwelling on stuff and instead of creating a Spotify playlist filled with Justin Bieber I decided to throw myself into the one I'd to listen to whenever I wanted to think about how happy I was with him. I know it may seem like the worst idea ever and like it'll only bring me down but one thing that's really helping me through this is trying to find the good that came out of that relationship and remembering the times that I was super happy.

So here are the some of the tunes helping me go to that fuzzy place and that are the best ones to dedicate to that indie music lover in your life.

Pulp-Something Changed

Arctic Monkeys- I Wanna Be Yours

New Order- Thieves Like Us

The Cure- Just Like Heaven

The Pixies- Here Comes Your Man

A week ago I would've died listening to Something Changed or Thieves Like Us. Today, while I still can't listen to a New Order track in its entirety, all of these songs make me smile and I'm sure it's not the last time I'll be sharing these songs. So add these to your 'hanging out with my boyfriend/girlfriend' playlist and enjoy the great mood these will put you in.

Staying Hydrated with St. Ives

Jun 16, 2015

Summertime is finally here in SoCal which means it's time for the short shorts, minis and....dryness. EEK! During the super hot months here in LA I take about 2-3 showers a day because of how hot and sweaty I get which means that I then have to apply lotion an equal amount of times to avoid looking like I rolled around in chalk. There are so many great lotions that I've used that keep me hydrated but take too long to apply because of their thickness. Doing it once a day isn't bad, but when you're doing it three times a day, it becomes a bit of a pain!

Thankfully, St. Ives sent me this amazing package with two of their brand new lotions to try out that come in yummy scents and deliver a continuous spray of light lotion that's easy to blend. Along with the lotions I received an awesome beach bag, a sarong and even a cute pair of shades! I received the package the day before I went away to Tulum so the timing couldn't have been more perfect. I planned on spending a lot of time on the beach and needed a lotion that was light enough to mix with my sunblock and these were perfect. The St. Ives® Naturally Indulgent Coconut Milk & Orchid Extract Fresh Hydration Lotion was my favorite because it has more of a tropical scent but I like that the St. Ives® Smooth & Glow Apricot Spray Lotion gives off a fruitier scent that's also nice but not my favorite of the two.

What I really like about the lotions are pretty much already said. They smell amazing and are really light. It takes me about 1 minute to rub it all over my arms and legs and my hands aren't left feeling sticky and gross afterwards. I totally plan on using these throughout the summer and will keep one in my new beach bag so that I'm always prepared to fight the dryness before it gets out of control!

Buy St.Ives lotion here.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of St.Ives. The opinions and text are all mine.

eat

Cheesy Hamburger Helper® Goodness

Jun 9, 2015

Anyone that knows me personally knows that I love to cook. Making things from scratch is my ideal way to prepare a meal but sometimes, especially lately, I just don't have time for that. As much as I love taking the time to prepare meals I also like simple, all in one meals that are filling and fun to eat. I haven't used Hamburger Helper® in years but I was at Walmart a few days ago and decided to pick up and box and give it a try. The timing is great for me because I'm going away in a few days and have tons to do so I needed to make something that was quick and can be put in containers for the next few days of lunch or dinner. I also just found out that this is National Hamburger Month and I love love love hamburgers. I can eat them all day, every day so the timing of this meal is perfect!

Since it was my first time trying this in years I wanted to make it with no modifications to see if it was just as easy and good as I remembered but once I got home I checked my fridge and saw that I had some onions, garlic and tomatoes that I wanted to use before they went bad. So I didn't prepare it exactly as is, but I didn't make too many changes either. Aside from the Hamburger Helper® box I grabbed ground beef (95% lean of course!) and some milk at Walmart and was ready to get cooking.

I started with the meat-cooking it really well with just a little bit of Adobo seasoning and then as per the instructions I added the rest of the ingredients, waited about 10 minutes and voila, it was done. I didn't have to drain the ground beef because I didn't add any water to it as I cooked it and it was so lean that there wasn't any fat seeping out. The entire meal took about 30 minutes to prepare from start to finish and it turned out to be really good. I added some red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese before eating it, because I put those in almost everything, and the rest was put away in the fridge in individual containers so that I could have it for lunch tomorrow and Monday.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hamburger Helper® . The opinions and text are all mine.

Getting Myself Organized

Jun 4, 2015

This post brought to you by ATracker by WonderApps. The content and opinions expressed below are that of My Fascination Street.

We've all seen the meme that started going around a year or so ago where it tells us that Beyonce also has just 24 hours in a day. I never saw that meme as something really inspiring but it did make me think. We all have 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days in a year and most of us have goals that we 'never have time' to achieve. This got me thinking: where does my time go? How many hours a day do I spend online window shopping, refreshing Facebook and checking out my Instagram feed? I needed a way to account for my time because I knew that it's what I needed to stop wasting time and be productive!

I am a huge fan of apps that can help me be more productive so I downloaded ATracker by WonderApps to see if it could work for me. I find that it's really easy to use and when I enter my activities accurately and honestly, I can really see how much time I spend on non productive things, like playing my 3DS, and how little I spend on my blog. I also see how I can make use of things like my daily commute. I spent 1.5 hours a day commuting to and from work on mass transit. Instead of spending the entire time on iMessaging or being online I can use that time to draft a post each way.

Overall, I really like that ATracker lets me see where my time is going because it clues me in on time that I can use for productive things. My goal is to turn this blog into a real moneymaker and there is no way I can do that if I don't focus and use my time wisely! Here's a short presentation video that shows you how the app works:

I think it's a great tool for anyone that has a day job but also wants to start some side projects or dedicate time to certain activities like reading, exercising or anything else!

A Delicious Boxed Meal Experiment

Jun 3, 2015

Last week I wrote about how I made Hamburger Helper® for the first time in years and the results were amazing. I decided to give it another shot, this time adding some of my favorite ingredients to the mix to see if the taste remained the same. Here's a quick recipe that I whipped together to make a super cheesy and amazing meal. And if you're the type of person that's always looking for a deal you can use this coupon to save some money on a box of these.

INGREDIENTS :

Hamburger Helper® Cheeseburger Macaroni

95% lean Ground Beef

Whole Milk

Olive Oil

2 Tomatoes, chopped

Chopped Onions

Garlic

Chopped Spinach

Goat Cheese

I pretty much started everything off by following the recipe on the box. Once the noodles were in with the meat, cheese and milk I heated up some olive oil in another pan and threw in the chopped onions. When they were starting to brown in mixed the garlic in and then the spinach just for a few minutes. I don't like to overcook both my garlic and spinach so those weren't in there for more than five minutes.

Once everything was done I put everything in the bigger pan along with the chopped tomatoes and mixed it up really nice. Right before serving I put some goat cheese on top and mixed lightly. Goat cheese burns really easy so I like to keep it away from the bottom of the pan if possible.

This was the end result. A delicious and quick meal that had all the elements that I like: cheese, meat and my favorite veggies: