For the majority of my life I have pretty much had a strong dislike in sports. I didn't understand the concept of how watching other people exercise could be fun. That was until last summer when my mother asked if my family and I wanted to go to a baseball game. We shrugged and said why not. It was the summer and trying out a new place to tan sounded pretty tempting to me (everyone has their motifs people). It wasn't till I actually understood half of what was going on that I realized that I enjoyed watching the game of baseball. So I kept on going to games- over 12 last summer in fact- and enjoyed myself every time. A year later, and four games and counting for this season, I have found myself having a routine for each game. Here are just a few tips on how to make each Minnesota Twins Game the best yet (and while staying on a budget friends).

#1) Bring food with you into the park

Yes, my sister has brought in peanuts to the park in order to just take pictures like this one

#2) Bring cash

#3) Check light rail deals

My sister and I during Student Night (=free light rail ticket with college ID)

#4) Stay warm

#5) Explore downtown afterwards

The infamous concert is back at it again this weekend. Still don't know what to wear to the concert? Well here's some help! Let us know what outfit you would pick out of all the sets

As many of you have heard by now, one of the worlds greatest musicians passed away yesterday afternoon. As a 22 year old, I wasn't fortunate to have the opportunity to see Prince in the 80s or truly comprehend what was going on in the 90s. Every time I would travel outside of the state and people asked where I was from usually the question of Prince would pop up. It's something that us Minnesotans are used to hearing by now. "Have you seen Prince lately?" they would ask with wide eyes, of course for many of us Minnesotan and Twin Cities natives the answer was no. But somehow or someway we were connected to him.


For myself, I had been a fan of Prince since I was a teenager. My love for Prince became huge around 15 years old. Nick Jonas had decided to form the Administration with many of Prince's latest band members, and as a Jonatic and Prince lover, I couldn't help but fan girl over a funk collaboration that I could have only imagined in my wildest dreams. I remember the first time I saw First Avenue, many years after the property had been sold to another owner, in awe that Prince once stood right where I was. I was hooked. My ringtone was 'Kiss' and my background photo of my phone was of Prince (naturally) shirtless with a look that could only be described as a mix of being content and yearning mixed into one complex look. As a journalist in high school, I had the chance to interview some local musicians. My dad drove me to the meeting at a random house in the middle of no where Minnesota (or as others refer to it as the suburbs). If you didn't know any better you would probably image that the house had a family that celebrated birthdays, watching TV while eating popcorn on the couch, and read bedtime stories to the kids at 8pm. This was not that suburban house. Instead I was greeted by one of the musicians that I was interviewing. Right away I could hear music playing upstairs. There was a piano on the first floor, with a staircase leading to yet another piano and couches. As I went up the stairs for my interview I was baffled by the amount of pictures I saw. Picture after picture I saw the same men group of men posing in different venues. Of course at the moment when I recognized the trend of who the men where in the pictures I stopped breathing. I was in the same house as some of Prince's band members. My 17 year old self attempted to stay professional while attempting not to just burst out and cry and thank God for this moment. Instead I took a deep breath and pretended as if they were anyone else that I had interviewed. Of course later when I was in the car on the way home it finally hit me that I had been in the same presence as those who had worked with Prince himself and I balled like a tiny child.


Five years later at 22, I still remember this day and many other Prince related memories. I can remember when I worked with one of his long time friends in downtown Minneapolis and she was telling me about how Prince disliked a new mural that had been painted. Yes, I had learned how to remain professional in front of high profile clients, but still hearing his name and knowing little facts about him from his friends baffled me. I was born when Prince was a super star. To me he was never the boy who lived across the street, the kid that was in my biology class in high school, or my cousins prom date. He was a legend who somehow decided to live in Minnesota of all places. When I heard that Prince died yesterday I thought about the difference that Prince made- not in the messages he had within his songs- but also in my community as well. At times I was ashamed to say that I lived in Minnesota. It's not a large city like New York or Chicago with things happening 24 hours in the day. The death of Prince reminded me that we not only lost a great artists yesterday, but more importantly a community leader within the Twin Cities. The reason why so many of us have stories about Prince, large or small, is because he wasn't ashamed of upbringing. Instead he took it in stride. He will be a reminder for many of us restless Minnesotans that they too can make a name for themselves if they have the persistence, creativity, and perfectionism necessary to make a mark on the world.


So thank you Prince for being not only a truly spectacular musician, but also a wonderful community member. Thank you for creating a voice for the Twin Cities, and for many other communities around the world, and making us (fan or not) realize that we do have the potential to create an impact on one another. Even though I may have never met you I will always cherish this message, your love for pancakes, music, and your amazing sense of humor.


Rest in Peace my idol,

I've been a huge fan of Leonardo DiCaprio pretty much since the day I could talk. I'm pretty sure one of the first phrases I ever muttered out as a kid was 'I want to marry Leo' after having seen parts of Titanic when I was five years old (don't worry, my parents fast forwarded certain scenes). This post isn't about his acting though. It isn't a tribute to how happy I was when he won an Oscar this year or how attractive he might have looked snorting cocaine in 'Wolf on Wall street'. No. The reasons why I like Leonardo DiCaprio is because of his environmental activism.

Leo in a shoot for Inhabit.com

If you've followed my academic career, blogs, or personally know me- then you might have heard me rant about the dangers of palm oil. I didn't know about the dangers of this tiny red fruit until my sophomore year of college. It was 2014 and I had decided the year before to become a pescetarian for environmental reasons. After having watched documentaries form Al Gore's production to one's with religious arguments I couldn't help but change my lifestyle. With our earths temperature rising every year and the ozone level depleting faster and faster, I need to learn how I could make a change. So I said goodbye to meat and rode my bike to school. I thought that I had done enough of my part when it came to lifestyle changes. I wasn't eating meat, I ate local produce, and began walking to work.

A photo of palm oil deforestation

Then I heard about palm oil. The documentary 'Years of Living Dangerously' came out in HBO that year and of course I HAD to watch it because Ian Somerhaulder had a feature in it (priorities right?). You might be asking what palm oil is, and if you're a US citizen there's probably a reason why you might not know about. Compared to our European friends, Palm Oil in the US is known more commonly as 'vegetable oil'. It is used in a large majority of your food and beauty/ health products such as frying oil, soap, lipstick, cookies as well as biofuel.

So what makes these tiny red fruit so bad? According to NASA, deforestation is the third largest cause for the increase of greenhouse gases. Indonesia, where palm oil is produced, has the highest amount of greenhouse gases in the world because of the production of palm oil. There production of palm oil is so large- that you can see  black carbon being produced on this island from outer pace. What makes matters worse, is that the production of the fruit doesn't seem to be stopping. The production of the fruit is estimated to double; ultimately causing the forests in Indonesia to continue to be cut down carbon-rich peat lands that are releasing extra stores of C02 due to deforestation.



You're probably wondering were Leonardo DiCaprio comes into this. Last month, he decided to visit the island and shed light on the problem. Though some European countries are starting to find alternative measures, the production of palm oil hasn't stopped. It's environmental and ecological impact still plays a crucial role on our environment today. Since learning about palm oil, I have practically cut out eating and buying products that contain palm oil (you can see a list here of products that contain it here). Yes, this means that I don't eat chunks of Neutella anymore or certain chips. I'm the person on the grocery store that checks the ingredients and gets mad at Trader Joes because even some of there products contain palm oil. Until the process of production changes I cannot stand by knowing that I'm a part of the palm oil system. So if that means I can't have a PB&J sandwich anymore so be it. We each play a vital role in this world and our decisions can make a difference.


Until next time,





 

Bella Hadid

Kylie Jenner

Chiara 'The Blonde Salad'

Paris Hilton

Vanessa Hudgens

Kendall Jenner

Bella Thorne

Taylor Swift

Last week on April 12th, woman's earnings finally caught up to men who were paid in the previous year. According to CNN , woman were paid 59% of what men were paid in 1964. Fifty years later not  much has changed. Woman are paid on average 79% compared to their male coworkers because of one thing: they didn't have a penis.

Sure there have been SOME improvements since 1964. In 1972, Title IX was passed making discrimination against any person based on their sex in any federally funded educational programs in America illegal. BUT we have to remember that this primarily only worked for woman that were white and who wanted to attend public universities. Private colleges were still allowed to go about their ways in selecting their student population off of  bias views. Eight years later in 1980, woman and men were enrolled in American colleges in equal numbers for the first time. Fast forward to 2012 were American woman have surpassed men in obtaining a college degree by 71% compared to their male counterparts with 61% (Pew Research Center).

This made me scratch my head. If there are more woman who have college degrees in America compared to men why are we as woman being payed less than our male counterparts if we have likely received a higher education than them?  According to a recent study by Pew Research Center, one of the key reasons why woman are being payed less and aren't receiving executive business positions are because of standards. The study noted that 43% of people believed that woman would be unsuitable for political jobs compared to men because of these double standards compared to men while in the business sector 53% believed that men will continue to hold top business roles. Sigh...I guess that's just how it's going to be right?

What makes matters worse is the fact that woman are loosing even more money if we don't fit into how society deems us as woman. Compared to our male counterparts we have to invest not only in more time, but also money to be deemed 'professional' looking. This means that we have to invest in extra beauty products not by choice, but because it is actually apart of our employers dress code policy that we wear makeup and have our hair groomed a certain way. Oh and lets not forget clothes. Thanks to the 'woman's tax' Business Insider , estimated in 1995 that woman spend on average $1,351 a year more for the same products as men. That means that we as woman are loosing money at the start of our interview process even before we have become hired by employers.


 Reading these statistics makes me almost want to chuck my college diplomas out of my window and put on an apron for the rest of my life. Almost.... I have been told that my degrees in French, Communication, and International Journalism are almost useless by men unless I have good looks and a 'nice rack' . I have felt uncomfortable in job interviews when I see that there are no female employees. I have felt discouraged reading statistics that I am deemed lesser than my male counterparts solely based off of my looks even if I have more education and job experience than him.  It shouldn't take 4 months and 12 days for a woman IN 2016  to catch up  to her male coworkers simply because she lacks a penis. It's a simple thing to do: just pay us all the same dammit.



Until next time,