Thoughts on Demi Lovato

24 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by Meagan Sean in Dirty's Reports, Human Interest

Tags

celeb, Dirty's Report, Human Interest, Other People's Work

It’s rare for a teen idol to be a role model. It’s especially rare for a teen idol to be a role model for an extended period of time. We have Lindsay Lohan in and out of rehab, and claiming to have miscarriages. Rihanna looked pretty good there for a little while but then she got beaten up by her boyfriend and decided to give her image an overhaul, including whips and chains. Miley Cyrus started out as a wholesome girl from the south, then did a 180 and decided to become a hypocritical hip-hop princess, smoking massive amounts of weed and telling the world about how Molly (MDMA) is a super fun social drug. Can I get a “Yuck”?
Basically I’m pretty unimpressed with most of the women who are in role model positions these days. I don’t think young girls need to be absorbing positive messages about drinking, having a bajillion boyfriends, divorce, drugs, or whatever the new trendy diet is. There are so many influential celebrities out there who seem to be using their platforms to market a lifestyle that isn’t appropriate.
Thankfully there are celebrities that have proven their worth by being honest with their fans about what kind of life fame has built for them. Demi Lovato has told her fans and the world as much as she can about her struggles since going to rehab in 2010 for substance abuse, eating disorders, and self-harm. In a time when a lot of celebrities keep their insecurities and character flaws to themselves, Lovato has been humble and open about her issues in order to give her fan base a stronger, healthier role model.

While it’s easy to feel disconnected from a superstar, I’ve found Lovato to be one of the few that I feel I can trust. Having battled myself with self-harm in the past I find myself able to relate to her, and hearing her say in interviews that making the right decisions is difficult, and that mental and emotional health is something to strive toward every day doesn’t sound to me like a phony, preachy celebrity. Lovato sounds like the girl I would want as my sponsor if I were fresh out of a rehab center. We would be able to have some real talk, she would obviously be excellent at sportively reminding me to check myself before I wreck myself, and then we’d eat lunch and talk about boys and fashion and her crazy tour schedule… I’d even let her help me pick out a new tattoo. Okay, basically I’d totally be her BFF if I had the chance.
The fact is, I know for a fact that she’s cool. My second cousin, Maggi, (AKA the most adorable girl in the world) got the chance to quickly meet Lovato at LAX, right after these photos were taken, and she has kindly let me share her story here about what it was like to meet one of her role models.

“I really like Demi. I’ve liked her since she was on Sonny with a Chance. I think she is an amazing person for being able to admit her struggles and being so open about them. She is a great role model. I used to self-harm, and it was amazing to be able to look up to her and see that even a celebrity wasn’t happy with herself but was able to get help. I love how she says what she thinks and sticks up for herself. I also love how although she had an eating disorder, she is recovered and now curvier than some other female celebrities and accepts her curves.
I was at LAX for a flight home, and she was catching a flight to Brazil. She and I were at security at the same time. She was actually being patted down! I wasn’t 100% sure it was her, but I saw her “Stay Strong” tattoos on her wrists and I knew it was her. When I went up to ask her for a picture, her bodyguard or whatever he was shook his head at me and said “no, not today.” I turned to Demi and said “I’m really sorry, I don’t mean to be annoying but I was wondering if I could get a picture with you.”
She made a face at him, came over to me, and said “he’s got a stick up his ass. Don’t worry about it.” I only got one picture because of how hard I was shaking, but she put up bunny ears behind my head that I didn’t get in the picture. She smiled at me and as she was walking away she turned around and said, “It was nice meeting you!” She was really sweet! I kept freaking out because she has been such a role model to me with her self-harm. I wish I had gotten the chance to tell her that or ask her for a hug, but by the time I got my brain together she was already gone.”

See what I mean? I would totally BFF her. And here for your viewing pleasure, the adorable Maggi and Demi Lovato.

Dirty Dozen: Easter Thanks

20 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by Meagan Sean in Dirty Dozen, Holidays

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Dirty Dozen

I am so grateful for the friends I have made who I don’t see very often, which is quite a few of them these days. I am even grateful that I don’t see them too often because it makes the time that I do spend with them become more important.
I am thankful for my family, even though I want to kill them all once a day. Without them I would not be who I am today.
A year ago on Easter my parents and I decided to check out a little church in the Mills because we were hoping against hope that there would be a church in the area to plug in to. God faithfully provided us with a place that would become our community, and it’s been such a blessing.
As I am currently sick I am grateful that generally I am not.
If music were not a thing, if it didn’t exist… well, let’s not talk crazy. I’m so glad it is.
Daylight makes everything better. I’m so happy that it stays lighter later in the day. The sun really has been missed.
Speaking of sun, I get to go visit my dear friend in Texas and hopefully meet her brand new son in less than 2 weeks! I know I’ll be complaining about the heat, but I get to see her and I’ve missed her very much!
I am thankful that while I have been sick I have been able to just rest my body. It shouldn’t seem like a big deal, because generally unemployment suuuuuuucks, but if I couldn’t just snug up in my bed yesterday I would not have made it to church to paint faces of children this morning.
I am thankful that God is still, for some reason I don’t understand, pursuing my heart. He is relentless in his pursuit, and for some reason wants to make sure I get to be the one that celebrates Christ’s fulfillment of the law and victory over death. He just keeps winning me over.
I am grateful for creativity, and being able to make things with my hands.
Thank God that bugs don’t live inside my room. Thank you Jesus!
And I am thankful that even when I am running on empty and almost completely dry I can still manage to find things to be thankful for, even with a small list, because it will lead to a bigger one.

Adventures in Food: Spring Rolls!

14 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by Meagan Sean in Adventures in Food, Crafty Little...

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

adventure, Food, I Made This

I was looking for fun things to make on Pinterest because, well, Pinterest. I came across my favorite Adventure in Food yet: Spring rolls!
When I was growing up I thought Egg Rolls were gross. I don’t really like eggs, and knowing that they might be in that delicious looking crispy shell made me say “no thank you”. But a few years ago I finally asked what was in a Spring Roll when I worked a Chinese restaurant (Shout out to my boys at Gin-Gin’s!) and decided to try one. Well, now I think they are super delicious and am so glad I have yet another thing to eat massive quantities of when I order Chinese.
Then I came across this recipe and knew in my heart of hearts that I had to try it. You can take a look at the recipe through the link, and I’ll narrate to the best of my ability what I did with my various Spring Roll attempts. I will say that this is definitely not a quick kitchen experience, and it’s very helpful to be unemployed when deciding to make 3-4 batches of Spring Rolls just because you have to get the recipe and technique right.

First thing I did was prepare the cabbage, which should be sliced thinly, and I decided to chop it up even more so it wouldn’t be too stringy. I then chopped up some green onions and smashed up the garlic. The garlic goes into the frying pan while you fry up your ground chicken. It smells heavenly.

Here I actually deviated from the recipe for the first batch of Rolls, instead of using the sauce they suggested I made one that was a variation of Caesar Salad dressing. Basically lemon juice, Dijon mustard, Worcester sauce, Parmesan, a wee bit of EVOO. I was being creative!
First step is draining the grease from the meat, then taking it off the heat and adding the rest of the veggies already prepped and stirring it up. The cabbage doesn’t get really cooked here, it’ll stay nice and crispy. I put the sauce I made in and stirred everything up again and put the top on the pan so it would all get steeped in delicious flavor.

Put the entire mixture in a big bowl and let it cool off for about ten minutes. It’s just way easier for the entire Roll process.
Now, at first I thought that Spring Rolls should be made with classic Spring Roll paper… but no, I was wrong. It’s way too tough and sort of ends up plastic in texture. We have a Chinese market in town so I took a walk and picked up some legit Egg Roll wraps. My only suggestion is that you actually get them out and defrost them over an hour before you start this process, because I kept forgetting and while I made it work like a boss they do tare when not defrosted.

The first batch I made I didn’t use quite enough filler to make the rolls really satisfying, so add more than I did in the pictures.

I lined up the Spring Rolls on a pan and brushed a bunch of EVOO on them, then cooked them according to the directions in the recipe. They came out OK.

I even made them a fancy dipping sauce and it was really honestly essential because they were so dry.
Then I watched a commercial about breakfast wraps and decided to design a Bacon-Egg-and-Cheese-Roll, AKA Breakfast Egg Rolls. Yes, now that I’m old enough to tie my shoes and get into rated R movies I do stomach eggs sometimes. I fried up bacon, scrambled some eggs, and added some grated cheese. BAM, filling done. I then made the rolls and decided to cook them on the stove top in oil instead of in the oven, because I love greasy and everything that can be fried in it. These came out better than the oven baked rolls, and I was very happy about breakfast for a few days.

I was still getting the hang of the frying process, so they aren’t as brown as I like them. Also I recommend letting them drain before eating, and letting them drain on a slant so that the oil doesn’t get caught in the roll and make you very unhappy.

The next day I decided not to waste my cabbage and to use some ground pork to make more Spring Rolls. Also, once you start making them it’s hard to not want them all the time. I subbed the Pork in and used the sauce that the original recipe called for. And I fried the crap out of them.

Listen, I’m no chef but these were by far the most delicious things I’ve ever made. I am fully planning on making them again because I want to have one in my mouth right now.

Nope, Life Isn’t Easy.

05 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by Meagan Sean in Dirty's Reports

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Lies My Heart Tells Me

I’ve been listening to a lot of the White Horse Inn lately, catching up on the 3 part series on Job and suffering. Michael Horton was talking quite a bit about Calvin and his works and their relation to the conversation they were having on suffer. It was a very uplifting series to listen to, and here are some truths that I got from it.

It seems that the hardest thing to do when we are in the midst of hardship and suffering is remember what our relationship with God is. When I am suffering I fall back on the rudminary belief that for some reason God is allowing me to suffer because I deserve it, or because He doesn’t care about me. For some reason I still have unbelief in my heart over what I am in His eyes.
It’s easier to think that when I die I will be taken up to an enormous drive-through-movie style viewing of my life and God will make me watch it and answer questions and give me a verdict on the condition of my heart. It’s easier to think that I have some sort of input to the way that I will be perceived by Him who is holy and righteous and just. But what is harder is the truth that I have no say whatsoever. For some reason it still bugs me that I won’t have the option to stand trial and argue my case; because the judgment was already made and the courtroom is empty.

The death he died, he died to sin once and for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. – Romans 6:10

Christ already stood trial for me and took my punishment. He cleared out that courtroom so that we don’t have to go back again. But there are times that I still feel that God has drawn His bow and is aiming it right at me. I still feel like I’m being punished because of what happens in my life, and I still want to blame myself and Him for what happens.
What I can’t see is that God isn’t aiming at me but at the sin wrapped around my neck, slowly trying to kill me. And what I forget is that this was part of the deal of becoming a child of God and a follower of Christ.

If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. – Hebrews 12:8

What’s worse is that I forget that just living in this world is a great way to have horrible things happen to you because the world is full of sin. Add that to following Christ and you’ve given yourself great odds at having a lot of bad things happen to you.
I have submitted myself before and attempt to again almost everyday, because I still wake up with a wild heart in the cage of my ribs that refuses to understand that there are things I will go through that won’t be given reasons in this lifetime. I try desperately to remind myself that though now is my time of grief and suffering I will one day get to meet Jesus face to face and nothing else will matter. I will no longer have the desire to ask Him why, why do these things have to happen, why do I have to walk through this? One day He will ultimately resolve all issues. And I am so looking forward to that day.

Style Inspiration: Kate from Fairly Legal

02 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by Meagan Sean in Inspirations, Style

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

celeb, style

Two seasons were not long enough for me to enjoy all that Fairly Legal was. The main character, Kate (Sarah Shahi) was a former lawyer turned mediator, and managed to make it look like the kind of job I want. The pilot episode revealed that, among other things, her father had just died, his young widow was in charge of his firm, and Kate herself was in the process of getting a divorce while still sleeping with her husband occasionally. Drama drama drama, sure, but also very interesting, funny, and compelling television.
But one thing I could never, ever get enough of was Kate’s wardrobe. She had the perfect blend of classic and eclectic, and used her clothes to reveal her personality while maintaining professionalism. The only problem that I have with trying to write this post is that there are so many perfect outfits that this character wears, and I want to include them all! But I won’t, because I have self control sometimes. I will try to break down what makes her style (from season 1, season 2 will have to wait) so memorable and fantastic.
She has a uniform BUT gives her self room to play: Most of the first season what we see Kate wearing is some mix of a blouse and pencil skirt or a dress with a cardigan or blazer, or a blouse and slacks. She always has a functional and super cute purse, as well as a trench coat of some kind, and usually a belt. Classic pieces, yes, that are easy to throw together and accentuate her hourglass figure without being to revealing or too stuffy.

She gives herself room to play with her separates, usually with the different colors and patterns she adds to different pieces. Generally one piece is black and the other is colorful, and her coat is always a different color… seriously, how many coats does this woman have? I’ll take one of each please. She finds interesting ways to stick to her uniform without repeating, like the sweater over blue shirt with a skirt on the left above, which looks similar to her shirt and blazer with pants on the right. Not the same though, but if you were to switch around any of these items her outfits would still work.

Another way that she gets to play around is by wearing fun jewelry. In the first episode they overdid her necklaces, but after they found her staples of thin chains with small pendants, chunky rings and thin bracelets that can stack right up.
This kind of style wouldn’t be difficult to put into practice in your own life, which I’m sure every fashion magazine in the world has told us all at least a bajillion times. I’ll reiterate though: figure out what shapes of separates look best on your figure. For Kate it’s pencil skirts and blouses that meet at the smallest part of her waist. Then figure out what dress shape works for your body. For Kate it’s a shift or an A-line (flaring out after the hips). Then find some good pieces in different colors and patterns and pick out some fun accessories to give it your own feel. Oh, and don’t forget a fantastic coat.