This past week was the 10th anniversary of High School Musical. Where do I begin? The star-studded, dreamy Disney cast of my childhood has aged ten years since the musical hit televisions all over the US, giving young elementary schoolers like myself unreasonable expectations for high school. Never once have I broken out into a flash mob dance routine in my cafeteria or had the guts to smash pasta with red sauce on top of the school mean girl. Regardless, High School Musical will forever hold a place in my heart. You can then imagine my horror when, on the night of the anniversary, I was stuck babysitting and as we sat around the kids' Ipad playing Cross Roads and doodling, I asked the them about whether they would like to watch the 10th anniversary special: "High School Musical? Who even watches that?" Needless to say I dropped the conversation and went on to win my first high score in Cross Roads. But it's been ten years, meaning I've aged ten years, and meaning that the ten year old I was babysitting wasn't even near the generation that was able to obsess over the cafeteria flash mobbing, basketball dance-routining, melodramatic Troy and Gabrielle beloved musical that submerged much of my childhood. I. Am. Old.
It's now my senior year of high school, and I've changed more times over the past ten years than I could count on my fingers and toes. I've immersed myself in silly trends and tried my best to be #fashionable. I've been dependent and independent and scared and emotional and brave and done my best to navigate myself through life. I've tried to seize the moment and often failed but when I didn't fail...well, those moments are some of the best that I can remember. But never has the saying "You're not getting any younger" made so much sense to me. And I'm not necessarily sad about it....yet. There will be times for me to be sad. But for now, I am looking towards the future with the utmost excitement, fear, and uncertainty as I dive into the next chapter of my life, looking to become a senior prom go-er, high school graduate, college freshmen, and a little more experienced at life. I was able to catch the last twenty minutes of the movie and seeing the unity, togetherness, and love between the cast makes me treasure my experiences in high school even more. Who knows where I'll be in ten years?
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Avocado Toast – 2015 might very well be the year of the avocado. The art of avocado toast has been upgraded and simplified again to make this delicious new breakfast, lunch (and yes, dinner) favorite more fun to eat each time we break open an avocado. It has even inspired a new culture for hip restaurants wanting to advertise vegan, vegetarian and overall healthier options to their customers. Avocado in itself has a high nutritional value, more potassium than banana, healthy fats, and is proven to help lower cholesterol. Lunch Bowls: A new food revolution? Absolutely. Lunch bowls give opportunity for people to add an abundance of color and nutrition to their daily lunch as well as an easy way to find healthier options at your desk. Through mixing and matching grains, greens, veggies, meats and nuts, lunch bowls provide hearty fats, satisfying crunches, protein and a new opportunity to diversify your food palate. Breakfast Bowl: Like its counterpart, the lunch bowl, a breakfast bowl provides a delicious twist to the simple cereal and milk culture our country has adopted. With newer, healthier options like the popular acai berry mix, chia seed pudding, oatmeal, and eggs with avocado, breakfast bowls have become a new, delicious staple, providing an array of hearty and colorful super foods to help you get your day off to a better start. Grilled Cheese: If you’re growing tired of this overplayed favorite, don’t give up just yet. A classic, delicious choice, grilled cheese has been reinvented by many a brilliant foodie to make it more appealing to us at home, who’s fridges are always brimming with an overstock of bread and cheese. Switch up this old school lunch with some crusty Italian bread or try a recipe like blueberry and balsamic. Matcha: If 2015 had a color, it would be green. A rise in health-consciousness is perhaps the biggest overarching trend in foods this past year. Matcha, a finely ground powder of specially grown green tea, has spiked in popularity, appearing in innovative new recipes like cupcakes, lattes and cookies. Ramen: Often revered as the food for college students on a budget, ramen is changing its game to filter itself into mainstream dishes. It’s initial appeal still does stem from that simple, cheap “student on a budget” idea, however, this Japanese noodle has been popping up in upscale restaurants all over the country, often getting paired with egg, stir-fry and broth (or all three). Latte Art: A popular trend among hot drinks, latte art is often appreciated for the cute instagrams they inspire. The prospect of sitting with a friend over coffee has grown a little bit more exciting due to the anticipation linked to dreamy, bubbling latte art, the design created by the barista in your latte’s milk froth. Most easily found at your local hipster coffee shop (that isn’t a Starbucks). Kale: An “oldie” but goodie, kale is a widely known super food that has been the main feature of many new dishes in 2015. Although kale has remained a staple ingredient in hearty salads, people have been experimenting with dishes such as couscous and kale, kale in soup, and kale with pasta. Hopefully these delicious dishes will make you even more excited for what we foodies can expect to see for 2016!
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