Entry #2 Strawberries

       Have you ever tried to grow your own food? Me either, until now. Gardening has been something I have always wanted to do. And after a lifetime of excuses and reasons of why I still hadn't done it, my amazing boyfriend bought me a strawberry plant. It's beautiful. I'm sure that most of you have all seen and tasted a strawberry before, but have you seen what the plant looks like? Here is mine. There are many different types of strawberry plants. Mine has red flowers but as I continue to do research most of the flowers are usually white. In this blog I'll be discussing the process of properly caring and growing strawberries.

    First lets start with planting. Be sure that you take care to plant at the right depth. DO NOT bury the CROWN. This is where leaves, flowers, and fruit arise. Although my plant is in a pot, these things are good to know. Especially since I plan on transferring my plant to the ground maybe after its first cycle in the fall.

Second, you must then understand a strawberries life cycle. Strawberries are perennials. Meaning that they die back during the winter and start growing again in the spring. Strawberries need at least 8 hours of sunshine each day and they prefer slightly more acidic soil.  Since I am growing out of a pot I do not need to check the pH level of my outdoor soil. Water them well. Any type of mulch 

(leaves, bark, compost) will keep the soil moist and the plant clean. Fertilize and look for blooming in late spring. The flowers must be fertilized by bees and other pollinating insects before they can set fruit. In sunny warm weather, berries ripen at about 30 days after fertilization. This is what the flower to berry process looks like.

     Finally, pick strawberries in the morning, when the fruits are cool and immediately cool in your refrigerator. Enjoy! I'm excited to see where my gardening adventures take me! Hopefully soon I'll have a full vegetable/fruit and herb garden and a bunch of juicy, ripe strawberries.

  Have you ever grown anything before? Did it go well? Any tips for a gardening beginner? 

Blog Entry #1- Blog or Blah?

Have you ever found yourself reading a book and you get through half the page and forget what you had just read? Sometimes it's not that your mind wanders, it's that you just can not manage to pay attention. The words you're reading just don't interest you. You're bored. This is when the writer lost you. It could be that the topics or things we find interesting or that we can relate to is what entertains us.

Before I rent or purchase a book, I always read the prologue and the first three pages of the book. If the author hasn't captured me by then, I don't get the book. Simple as that. Not that I give up that easy or anything. I have just found that I get bored fast. Maybe it's our culture, this generation?  Maybe it's just me? Who knows? What I do know is that for me, the same goes for peoples blogs. If the blog is not easy to read and all over the place, I get lost. I'm usually browsing social media to find information out and advertise more than to read about your life. Don't get me wrong. I'm still very much interested in your life, but can we keep that to maybe moderate amount or limited that's important and significant to whatever your blogging about? I'm here for inspiration, motivation, information, organization and captivation.

Let's start with Jenny Lawsons Blog: The Blogess. http://thebloggess.com/ I've included the link to her Blog so you can witness and read this for yourself... Did you get lost? Yea, me too. Woah! What is going on here? She has a WHOLE LOT of personality in such small writings. I didn't even know what I was reading. She goes back and forth all over the place in her blog. Don't get me wrong she seems like a nice girl, but I think sometimes my personality is so mellow I have a hard time coping with someone so hyper. So "bouncy"personalities.  For example here on one of Lawsons blog categories "Let's pretend this never happened, http://thebloggess.com/lets-pretend-this-never-happened-a-mostly-true-memoir/  is the tab that you would think is about her book called "Let's Pretend This Never Happened" right? She tells you like 20 reasons why you should go buy the book but never really what her book is actually about. It is not until you reach the very end of the page that it finally does give a TWO SENTENCE prologue. You lost me there Lawson.

Now on the other hand I fell in love with Heidi Swansons Blog: 101 Cookbooks. http://www.101cookbooks.com/ Maybe I'm being biased because as many of you know I absolutely LOVE cooking and she's also a photographer! Another one of us "art-junkies." Her blog is so organized and easy to go through. Swanson's blog not only is a journal, but in fact a cookbook too! How awesome is that!?  Since Lawson is also a photographer she includes photos of her work! Which makes it so entertaining. Her work is flawless and elegant. That right there is what captivated me. You could say it's "my cup of tea."  The cookbook part categorized by ingredient, season, travel, etc. is easy to get around and simple and straight to the point. Exactly what I wanted. For example her in one of her posts about her salad, http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/feta-oregano-salad-recipe.html she includes the title of the recipe, photos of the dish and various ingredients. She also added her life/story that makes it her own by added only a few more photos that tell her story or moment. The information was informative and entertaining.

It appears that I am attracted to more professional/ informative blogs. I'm a visual person and I need something with a lot of and pictures/hyperlinks/examples to give me something other than text to learn from. What are your favorite type of blogs? Can you include an example and why?

Blush And Stuff

In a society today, art is utilized in most of our lives. What is art you ask? ART is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting, or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. I personally get to do art everyday and I even made a career out of it. I love all kinds of different art. Probably one of the reason I became a licensed cosmetologist.

 My name is Melissa Jarosz and I have been working as a cosmetologist since 2009. By performing beauty services everyday, I get to conform art into my everyday life at work. I achieve this by painting on hair color and blending colors with makeup brushes to create a flawless looks in my work. I also get to participate in photography as well by taking lots of photos and getting to do hair and makeup for very vital photo shoots and events. Check out my Instagram for a better idea of my life and work. http://instagram.com/eemmmmiiiiii_mua/

Having a passion for art is probably one of the reasons that my hobbies include all kinds of arts and crafts.You could probably say that I'm addicted to Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/blushandstuff/
From making candles, to pretty much putting glitter on anything I can find, I love to buy stuff and personalize it to make it my own. By personalizing an object, you make something ordinary... EXTRAordinary simply by adding your own unique touch.

 I also enjoy baking. And not just cake out of a box or the easy way. I enjoy baking from scratch and learning new ways to substitute pastry ingredients into the healthy alternative sweets. I can achieve this by doing substituting ingredients such as flour for almond meal - or coconut oil instead of vegetable oil. Just little things like those are more healthy for us, but still taste good. That's they key! Not loosing the taste. I've had plenty of desserts that are healthy and still taste good! Another hobby is the outdoors and working out. Sometimes, both simultaneously! There's something therapeutic about being outside.

My goal is to graduate with a Business Degree from ASU and utilizing my education to one day become a business owner. I would like to run my own salon or even create my very own line of cosmetic/ products that are not only truly amazing but also are safe, organic, recyclable and affordable.

Thank you all for checking out a part of my life. :) What are some of your hobbies that you enjoy to do? Do your hobbies coincide with your career?