earth to victoria

  Summary: Self-reported data from 2000-2014 from the National Health Interview Survey showed that African American women are some of the least physically active demographic groups in the United States.  According to the published survey, only 36% of African American women achieve the national guidelines for aerobic physical activity (150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity, 75 minutes of vigorous, or a combination equivalent of the two intensities).  The low physical activity within AA women are concerning because this group also has high reporting of cardiovascular disease and obesity.  This study took twenty-five sedentary and obese AA women who enrolled in a series of three focus groups conducted over a six week period to see if Social Cognitive Theory can be culturally tailored to design a physical activity program specifically for these women.  Each focus group was designed to target specific Social Cognitive Theory constructs, and each woman attended a...

I knew it wasn’t right the moment he asked.  We were on the London Eye in England and had spent the entire trip arguing.  It was my first time in Europe and I had idealized this holiday my entire life.  Traveling overseas for the first time, but I was caught off guard, and my initial reaction was actually no.  However, we went to a cafe afterwards and discussed what we both wanted and I changed my “no” to a “yes, if”.  If you let me finish school first.  If you didn’t expect to have kids anytime soon.  If we don’t get married in a church.  The list went on.  I knew it wasn’t like the movies, but I thought maybe this is it.  We’ve been together for six years.  He has a good job.  We drive luxury cars.  We own a house together.  We were in Europe together on vacation when he asked, a destination proposal.  Maybe you weren’t supposed to have these big feelings one sees in pop culture, you were just supposed to be co...

  Menopause Risk Assessment, Saving Ovaries Can Better Women’s Health As organs start to fail, other health complexities come with it.   The female reproductive system is no stranger to this phenomenon.   “The primary problem of the gaining population is the serious detriments caused by the aging of various organs and the decline of their functions” (Zhang et al., 2019).   Ovaries are one of these organs that women, and the public, accept will fail on them one day, most likely when they still have decades of life ahead of them.   Organ aging is highly associated with a variety of diseases, and menopause is a cause of this.   “The decline of ovarian function and the arrival of menopause, which then lead to multiple organ dysfunction, such as heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, obesity, senile dementia, and so on…the risk index is much higher than that of men of the same age” (Zhang et al., 2019).   Once one organ starts to go (the ovaries) other orga...

  My Family Does Not Want Me to Donate My Eggs.  I Did It Anyway. By Victoria Vinci There’s an episode of “Sex and the City” where Miranda, a corporate lawyer, is on a date with a man who has hair plugs.  They’re openly talking about how he’s much happier to no longer be bald, even if that means having artificial curls growing out of his forehead.  And over a lamb dinner, Miranda mentions that she’s been considering freezing her eggs, it takes the pressure off the biological clock issue, and she refers to this decision as a “ fertility savings account ”.  Her date tells her this is something she should not do, for as a society we “don’t want desperate women having babies at fifty”.  He goes on to say, “maybe some people aren’t meant to procreate.  Maybe this is the world’s way of weeding out the weak”.  I watched a rerun of this episode at fifteen years old, never imagining I’d be in Miranda’s position, and my family would be playing the role of h...

Ever since I can remember I've worked multiple jobs.  It's how I saved to buy my own house, and it's how I've learned to live.  But this year, 2019, I decided to quit my second job and commit to only one.  This is the first time I've only had one job since I was a teenager.  My main job is at a small bank as a universal banker.  It's not what I want to do forever, but with still taking classes towards finishing my bachelor's degree it's worked into my schedule pretty nicely.  I make a decent hourly wage, about eighteen dollars an hour, and I only work about thirty-eight to forty hours a week.  I have every Wednesday and Sunday off, and I work a half-day on Saturdays.  Overall, it's manageable.  I get great paid time off options and benefits, such as a 401K, tuition reimbursement, a pension, and commission based incentives.  My second job, the one I recently left, was at Sunglass Hut .  I worked at Sunglass Hut for three years and ...

If you're like me, a huge Gilmore Girls  fan, than this weekend was your weekend, Gilmore Girls weekend!  With the premiere of the new Netflix revival, all I've seen on the internet is Rory and Lorelai themed items plastered everywhere, as it should be.  And with that said, I did come across something Gilmore in an unusual place, Groupon.com .  So if anyone is interested I'm sharing my small but incredible find.   Gilmore Girls Oversized Lounge Shirts Starting at $18.99 Gilmore Girls Sweaters Starting at $21.99 I think I'm going to spring for one of the lounge shirts.  If I do I'll definitely post about it later on.  I'm hoping they go down in price tomorrow, Cyber Monday, that'll be the real indicator if I plan on getting one or not.

Glow-in-the-dark "Gilmore Girls" themed magnet pins , so you don't have to worry about ruining your clothes, hats, or bags with small holes everywhere. With the "Gilmore Girls" revival, order your 'Team Jess' pin, because just like me you're hoping he's who Rory ends up with. Pins are white with antique gold plating and black lettering. The background is what glows in the dark. Magnet is very strong, so there's no worrying about losing both pieces. FREE SHIPPING on orders in the United States

"The Rainbow Comes ad Goes" by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt I started reading this book while in line to meet Anderson Cooper at a book signing in Madison, Connecticut.  This was truly an excellent and interesting read.  Gloria Vanderbilt had such an insane and thrilling life, and Anderson Cooper was perfect at interviewing his mother.  I definitely recommend this book to anyone, whether a fan of Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt, or just someone interested in pop culture and biographies.  This was a fast read.     "The Starboard Sea" by Amber Dermont I bought this book because it was on sale and it was inexpensive.  However, I ended up loving it, and I'm so happy it was on sale that day in Barnes and Noble, for if it wasn't, I probably would have never read it or picked it up.   This book is about the lives of very wealthy teenagers at boarding school, but the main character, Jason, is spilling the secrets on ...

Ever since I was sixteen I've been trying to go color my hair blonder and blonder.  I've been a blonde for more than half my life, I started going blonde when I was eleven, but continued to go platinum once I reached high school. With fall coming up, I decided it was the perfect time to change up my look a bit.  I didn't want to do anything too drastic, but I did want a nice change.  So I went to my friend Jen, a hairstylist at Blades Salon in Wethersfield,Connecticut, and she had the most perfect idea, instead of dying my hair another color, she used a red glaze to stain it. Above is a picture of me right before getting my hair done.  As one can see my hair was very blonde.  My friend Jen mixed the glaze together, added a bit of heat, washed it out and boom, I was a red head.  It's been a week now and my hair is incredible!  It's so soft and looks a lot healthier than it's looked in years.  The red adds a beautif...

On August first my Dad, boyfriend, and I rented a car and drove from Connecticut to New Orleans, Louisiana.  It was almost a twenty two hour drive, and with constant stops, we made it in two days.  And what was the first thing we did once we arrived in New Orleans?  We got coffee, at one of the most famous coffee shops in Louisiana. Café Du Monde is a must if you find yourself in the French Quarter.  Located on 800 Decatur Street, this coffee shop had the best frozen café au lait.  My boyfriend and I were fighting over it because he played it safe and just got a coffee.  The frozen café au lait was like a blended coffee drink, with the consistency of a Dunkin Donuts coolatta, but the comparisons end there because it was so much richer and better than a coolatta.  And of course with our coffee we had to order a round of beignets, since Café Du Monde is famous for their New Orleans's doughnuts. The café was packed.  We weren't sure if we...

Vinci 1 Victoria Vinci English 102 Professor Jones March 21, 2016 The Yellow Wallpaper             In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman the narrator claims to have given birth, but isn’t taking care of the baby, because her husband, John, wants her to rest.   John is a “physician of high standing” and he prescribed his wife rest treatment (308).   The treatment takes place in a large summer home, where John’s sister, Jennie, helps take care of the narrator when John isn’t around.   The narrator is confined to a room with bars over the windows, a bolted down bed, and yellow wallpaper that the narrator severely hates.   The narrator fixates on the wallpaper, even believing it gives off a smell.   She claims to see images within it.   The narrator believes to see women, in various situations like being caged and trapped, but claims the women escape during the d...

Nothing fancy, but this was a last minute request for the not for profit I volunteer for, Birthday Cakes 4 Free, Middlesex County, Connecticut .  I got this request from a girl's mom who said her daughter wanted a white cake with blue frosting and something nautical themed.  I only had four days, but I think they came out kind of cute. I got almost all my supplies off Amazon Prime.  Everything but the ingredients for the cake and frosting, but Amazon Prime saved me so much time and money and stress because all I had to do was go to my local grocery store instead of also going out of my way looking for craft store supplies, which probably would have left me checking multiple stores, while Amazon had everything in one place with free two day shipping. Anyway, I delivered the cupcakes this morning and the mother who sent in the request was so nice and extremely grateful.  She sent me the sweetest email I just had to screenshot it.  Hope everyone is hav...

A couple weeks ago the volunteer service I run in my area delivered a Thomas the Train cake to a two year old boy in need of a cake for his birthday. I wish I could say I made this beautiful cake myself, but it was one of our volunteers, Gaye.  She did an incredible job decorating this cake, and the family told me it was perfect, tasted delicious! Jayden, pictured above, absolutely loved his birthday cake. His mom sent me this picture along with the sweetest note telling me how appreciative her family is.  I will definitely be using Gaye again as a volunteer for she did such an excellent job. I can't wait for our next adventure, this Saturday I'll be making some nautical themed cupcakes for a teenager's birthday.  I'll be sure to post pictures to show how they come out!

Today I made one of my yummiest masterpieces yet; a raspberry, brie cheese, and mango habanero pizza!   I was kind of lazy, just decided to use a store bought pizza dough instead of making my own, but once I laid out the dough and created a good crust, using my brand new pizza pan from the pampered chef, I laid out some of Sidehill Farms' special mango habanero jam.  This is what the jam looks like. I first bought it at my local grocery store, but then decided to place an order with the Vermont store itself on their webpage. The jam is spectacular! The flavor is excellent and its unlike anything I've ever tried before. After spreading the jam to the uncooked pizza dough I added some brie cheese, fresh raspberries, candied walnuts, and some Rosemary. Next I cooked it in the oven at 425 degrees for ten minutes and then broiled it for one minute before it was cooked to perfection.  The mango habanero jam is quite spicy, but the brie cheese, raspberries,...

Okay I eat this multiple times a week because it's literally so good!  I use Justin's Peanut Butter (vanilla or honey or whatever flavor you want, I've even tried almond butter which works great too), organic Stonyfield plain yogurt, and just a touch of honey!  Than I mix it all up and dip apples in it, and sometimes eat it just with a spoon because that's how good it is.  It's simple, healthy, and taste great!  Literally my go to snack whenever I'm home. I'm trying to make a lifestyle change, the cliche trying to 'get healthier' and be healthier.  I'm not looking so much for weight loss, even though that's an added plus, but what I really want is to finally tone up.  My entire life I've always killed myself with cardio and would wonder why I never looked that great.  Well now I know why, so that's my goal, get healthier and leaner.