Happy Holidays

I Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry and early Christmas/ Happy Holidays! I hope you all enjoy your holiday break! Its a time to relax and have fun and to not worry about everything else going on in your life! So put whatever is making you upset or worried in the back of your mind, sit back and enjoy the peace the holidays bring with with friends and family! Have a good one!

Ghirardelli Chocolate History

In 1849, when Domingo Ghirardelli immigrated to the United States from his homeland of Italy, he has dreams of striking it rich in the California Gold Rush. After trying his hand and failing at mining, he settles on opening a tent-store in nearby Stockton, CA, selling various supplies and confections to fellow miners. With his new business proving successful, Domingo decides to open a store and hotel in San Francisco. After a major fire in 1851 destroys his businesses, he begins to rebuild. In 1852, he forms a new confectionery company that is to become the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company.

Today, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company has built on its signature taste and time-honored manufacturing processes to become America’s premium chocolate company. Here is a timeline of important events that led my favorite chocolate today; Ghirardelli!

1837: At the age of 20, Ghirardelli marries first wife, and sets sail to Uruguay to partake in the South American chocolate trade. Here, he takes a job in a "coffee and chocolate establishment."

1838: A year later, attracted by opportunities in Lima, Ghirardelli sails around Cape Horn to Peru. Fatefully, Ghirardelli opens a confectionery store next to a cabinet shop owned by an American, James Lick.

1847: Enticed by the stories prosperity in North America, Lick leaves for San Francisco, taking 600 pounds of neighbor Ghirardelli’s Chocolate with him. Meanwhile, Ghirardelli continues to operate his store in Peru, soon replacing his Italian name with its Spanish equivalent, Domingo.

1865: Around this time, someone in the Ghirardelli Company makes an important observation—by hanging a bag of chocolate in a warm room, the cocoa butter drips out, leaving a residue that can be processed into ground chocolate. This technique, called the Broma process, is now generally used in the manufacture of chocolate.

1892: Domingo Ghirardelli retires as head of the company, turning the management over to his three sons.

1893: Needing additional space, the company purchases the Pioneer Woolen Mill building, and manufacturing moves to that location, on San Francisco’s northern waterfront. This is the present location of Ghirardelli Square.

1900: The company sells its coffee and spice business, limiting its products to chocolate and mustard. A two-story warehouse (now called the Cocoa Building) is built on North Point Street.

1923: The company adds two floors to the Cocoa Building and the four-story structure becomes the base for 15-feet high, illuminated letters spelling "Ghirardelli." Visible for miles, the sign becomes a welcoming sight to ships passing through the Golden Gate.

1963: The Golden Grain Macaroni Company, which is owned and operated by the De Domenico family, purchases the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company. The purchase includes the company name, product, formulas, and equipment.

 1982: The owners apply for and are granted National Historic Register status for Ghirardelli Square. The management at Ghirardelli Square seeks to enhance and improve the ambiance of the Square by adding more greenery, trees, and flowers to the landscaping. New outdoor umbrellas enliven the interior of the Square, contributing to the visual appeal and atmosphere. With more than 75 tenants offering cuisine, art, and merchandise from around the world, Ghirardelli Square becomes a model for the restoration of classic buildings throughout the country.

1993-2003: Ghirardelli opens retail stores around America! 

2004: Ghirardelli Chocolate Company launches its first national television advertising campaign.

2004-and to this day: Ghirardelli Chocolate Company continues  to launch its first limited edition flavors every season! 

My information about the history of Ghirardelli came from http://www.ghirardelli.com/

Dance Marathon

This year I joined Key Club and I am so glad I did! It has introduced me to so many new things! The one I want to talk about today is the Dance Marathon! In Iowa the most well known one is The University of Iowa's Dance Marathon! This is way bigger my schools like 50 people who show up but its still fun. Anyways at our one this year some Iowa girls came down and they recruited me and a few of my friends as soon as they heard me say that I have always been curious and interested in theirs!! Our dance marathon was only like 3 hours and I was tired but I am excited to go to the BIG EVENT this year anyways! A little bit more about the dance is they raise financial and emotional support for kids who have pediatric cancer being treated at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. They do events all throughout the year with the families, but it all leads up to the BIG EVENT in February! The BIG EVENT is a 24-hour dance where we don't sit, we don't sleep, and we don't drink caffeine! Sounds pretty tough but it truly isn't so I have heard! At the BIG EVENT I have been told there are a lot of fun events. You obviously get to dance with your friends, you get to dance with some of the cancer patients, you get to hear families speak about what they have gone through and how Dance Marathon has helped them! Apparently there are games- both video games, and games like life-sized candy land and lots of food to eat too! If you are with a group that either raises the most money or gets the most points from going to different events you get to go to swim at the Iowa rec Center. And apparently that is just a few of the great things about the BIG EVENT!
For more factual information, this is also on my page but it says;
"Dance Marathon is a student-run philanthropy dedicated to supporting oncology patients being treated at The University of Iowa Children's Hospital. It is a year-round organization that culminates with a 24 hour long BIG Event in February. To date, Dance Marathon has raised over $12.7 million dollars for children being treated for cancer.
Gifts to Dance Marathon are made through The University of Iowa Foundation, a nonprofit IRC Sec. 501(c)(3) organization that is structurally separate from The University of Iowa. The University of Iowa Foundation exists solely for the UI's benefit, serving as the preferred channel for private gifts to all areas of the University."
Hear is a list showing you how what you are donating can help!

$7 pays for a meal at the hospital

$11 pays for a “Cancer Fears Me” chemo cap

$15 pays for an overnight stay at the Ronald McDonald House

$17 pays for just ONE day of parking at the hospital

$20 pays for DVD’s and video games to fill the playrooms

$40 pays for a food and beverage cart for a grieving family

$55 pays for a peace plant for a grieving family

$75 pays for playtime activities in the hospital for 12 patients

$100 pays for a Gift Card for each family to purchase holiday gifts for their family

$150 pays for the monthly meeting of the sibling support group

$200 pays for the Continental Breakfast for every unit every Friday

$250 pays for a new wig for a child who has lost his/her hair

$300 pays for a hospital party for 15 patients

$326 pays for a sibling of a pediatric cancer patient to attend a summer camp

$425 pays for a pediatric cancer patient to attend summer camp

$600 pays for a dinner out of the hospital for TEN families

$1,000 pays for pharmacy medications for one YEAR

$1,500 pays for a semester scholarship for a cancer survivor

$5,000 pays for funeral expenses for a child dancing in our hearts

Please help me out raise $400! Every donation can help! This is a link to my page and where I got a lot of the info! Leah Beman Dance Marathon Donations

Giving Back

If you are looking for a good way to give back during Christmas time Feed my starving children is a great organization to help with kids hunger around the world. We need to do something's about world hunger before it gets even worse. In the world today we make enough food for every person to eat 2800 calories a day. Lots of countries are struggling with obesity while others barley have any food at all. World hunger has went up from 840 million people to other a billion people over the last phew years. 18 thousand children wont live to see tomorrow of the 400 million children hungry. There are many reasons to why this is happening such as political problems, famines, and natural disasters. Instead of letting this go on, feed my starving children began to help in 1987. This is a Christian organized group. There mission is to feed gods starving children hungry in body and spirit. They say if you can donate time or money that they ask you at least pray. If you do have spare time to go volunteer you can go to one of their locations to package food. You make meals of rice, soy, vegetables, and chicken flavoring in one bag which ends up feeding 6 kids. Volunteering only take two hours of your day to help and kids of all age can do it because every person makes a difference. After everything is packaged they pray before sending it off. They are shipped around the world to at least 70 countries. Since there isn't a place where you can volunteer here you can always make a donation. 25 cents is enough to feed one child's meal. Feeding 5 children for a month is only $33. You are guaranteed that 92% of donations go directly to the food program. Today they have produced over 600 million meals total. The Kennedy women's swim team goes there every year on the Minnesota trip. This past year we packaged enough food to feed 76 kids for a year! Each table for us is a team and we have a competition and it ends up actually being really fun to race and see who can pack the most bags in the two hours. You really don't even notice how long you've been there because it is fun. The little bit of time really can make a difference in the world! For more information go to http://www.fmsc.org/ about how you can help!

Christmas Gifts

Christmas time is right around the corner and there is so much to do and so many gifts to buy! ! I absolutely love shopping and buying gifts for other people!! This is my favorite of all seasons and my favorite things to do! Seeing all the smiling happy faces as they open the presents, nothing is better, especially little kids reactions to it! Anyways I know that it can be a lot of money to buy all those gifts for people so I  thought I would talk about all the great places to shop and small gift ideas you can get for people that are general but still can seem more personalized then getting everyone just the same m&ms in a candy cane and hot chocolate for people every year!
My first suggestion would be don't go to the mall. Unless you know something specific there that you want, it is way to overwhelming to go their first. I suggest somewhere like target where they have a lot of things you need and for pretty cheap as well! The variety of things makes it way easier and you don't have to run from store to store! After that if you don't find something there that you need then you should go to a specific store.
I know that buy gifts can be expensive and people, especially high schoolers don't have a lot of money to spend but I am really not a fan of home made gifts. I am okay with written letter with the gift, but lets me honest a lot of homemade gifts…suck. That not to say I haven't got good ones in the past or anything cause I have and that's great. But for example, the layered food in a jar to make some recipe..no thanks. When high schooler give that I get semi confused if we are old ladies who are making it for their get tougher coffee days or..? Anyways my point is not to be rude or sound snobby but I'm just saying be careful with the homemade gifts. Think will this person actually use this if I make it for them.
When buying presents if you don't know what to get them just look around for things and if it remind you of them some how or you have a memory that goes with them and that item,  and they can get use out of it then that's your item most likely! I tend to avoided getting everyone like the same thing in like different colors or versions of that item. It makes it very  not personal. Over all you don't need to spend that much but just make sure it something you know they will enjoy and actually get use of and love a lot! The goal of Christmas is to spreading cheer and what better way then with a great gift!

Memories in Songs

Music can bring back so many memories when you really think about it. Almost all songs I listen to, I listen to them because they bring back an emotion or feelings in the past or how I feel at the moment. Sometimes good and sometimes bad but still always there when you listen to it.
I picked a line or two from some of these songs that bring back memories for me. Try it sometimes and really think about why they are so important to you!

This is what dreams are made of by Hilary Duff.

“When I see you smiling, I go, oh oh oh, yesterday my life was duller Now everything's Technicolor” (best part of the song and in the movie)
This song was my favorite song growing up as a child. I loved Hilary Duff with my whole life. I think at times I thought I actually was her. This song speaks to me because it reminds me off childhood and how much I wanted to be pop star growing up and do everything with singing. It makes me glad that I stayed doing show choir and I didn’t give up which lead me to making happiness this year!

Already there by Lonestar
“I’m already there, take a look around, I’m the sunshine in your hair, I’m the shadow on the ground, I’m the whisper in the wind and I’ll be there tell the end.”
This song was the song I always listened to when my dad was traveling. When I was younger I would hate when my dad would go out of town and he had to a lot for the job he has. This song always made me sad at first but in the end it made me feel better after listening to it a few times.

Material Girl by Madonna

“Cause we are living in a material world and I am a material girl, You know that we are living in a material world and I am a material girl!”
This song kind of describes me growing up. I have always been the girly girl who loves material things and is picky. I always would love the boys and want to date them all but I would like pick and choose through them to try to decide which one was the best and I would straight up tell them without a problem how much I liked them.

Hey there Delilah by plain white tees

“I’m a thousand miles away but girl tonight you look so pretty yes you do, time square cant shine as bright as you I swear it true”
This song has a lot of good memories for me. First off it has memories from 5^th grade boyfriend named Alex but him and his friends changed the words to “Lindale fountain can’t shine as bright as you I swear it’s true.”  Also relates to my 8^th grade boyfriend Drew who learned it on the piano for me and would sing many new versions of “Hey there Leah” so that was always a good time.

You’re the reason By Victoria Justice 

“You might be crazy but have I told you lately that I love you? You’re the only reason that I’m not afraid to fly”
This was one of those songs for me and my friend Quinlan that we would scream sing and dance around every time I went over to her house. We would try to make music videos for it and stuff too. We were best friends so it was our song because we always were there for each other and used each other for support!

Here in Your Arms by HelloGoodbye

“I like where we are, when we drive in your car, I like where we are, here.”
This is Amelia and my song to listen to when we are in my car driving around. It our song for our future boyfriends that we also like to scream sings! We like to talk and drive in my car a lot and this is always our first song of choice to listen to because it’s so upbeat and easily puts you in a good mood!

Black Swan

Nina has been at the New York CIty Ballet Company for a very long time. For almost all her life she has been taking ballet and has dedicated her life to it. She still lives with her very over protective mother Erica who is constantly trying to control what she does and is very obsessive when it comes to controlling her daughter. Her main boss and dance teacher Leroy knows that Nina has beautiful technique but she doesn't have the emotion as the new dance Lily has. He knows that Nina could play the part of the white swan just fine but the black swan will be the struggle  for her. He chooses for Nina to be the part even though he isn't completely confident with his decision. Through all the practice and hard work, Nina becomes very stressed. When she is stressed she tends to scratch herself in her sleep. She is also having hallucinations that she is actually turning into the black swan and hallucinates many other things throughout the movie. Lily and Nina friendship grows as Lily shows her how to live a little and takes her out. This leads to having them party and do drugs which Nina has never experienced before. When she gets home her mother being very upset with her doesn't wake her up the next morning to go get ready for the ballet but calls her in sick. This makes Lily take the part since she is her understudy. Rushing in late to her performance she thinks Lily is trying to steal the part from her. Nina, angry insist that she is fine and will do the part of the swan without a problem. Before the act when she goes on as the black swan she imagines that Lily is in her dressing room getting ready as the black swan trying to take her place. She thinks she is fighting her off in her mind and believes she kills her by stabbing her with the mirror so she hides her in the shower of the dressing room. She goes on stage acting like nothing happened and plays the part of the black swan beautifully. When she comes back to change into the white swan Lily comes and tells her good job which makes her confused that she didn't kill her. She realizes that she was only slowly killing herself not Lily and she stabbed herself with glass. After this she continues to go on stage though and dance through the final part of the ballet. In the ballet her part dies in the end because her lover feel for the wrong prince and when she falls and dies in the ballet she is actually already dying. The come up to congratulate her when they realize she has hurt herself. Her last words were, “I was Perfect” before she died.
This a great must see movie filled with action and drama and I would recommend it to all if you can get past the parts that can be a little weird and confusing!

Ugly Sweaters

Around the month of December is when people start to bring out their ugly Christmas sweaters! People have so many reasons to bring out their Christmas sweaters. Some do it for parties and some do it for being in the spirit of Christmas and some just for sheer enjoyment of lovely Christmas sweaters! They started out as just wearing them as just an ugly sweater but now they are actually a fashion! I know a lot of people, including myself, that actually enjoy wearing them because we think "ugly Christmas sweaters" are actually kind of cute, ironically!
The problem with these sweaters is they are actually very popular and hard to find! You want to buy them as early as possible that way you can have a wide selection! To be honest, I actually bought most of mine in August because as soon as it gets remotely cold, that's when they start to go. The best places to buy them are thrifts shops and used clothing stores. Salvation Army and Goodwill is usually where I go to find the best selection of them!!
One of the main reasons I love sweaters is because they are oversized and comfy! It's okay because they still look good too! You can wear them with jeans, leggings, and really anything! They just always look cute around Christmas time! It puts you and others around you in the holiday spirit!! What could be better? So next time you are out shopping, look for that Christmas sweater that will make you and everyone else's day around you a little better!

Carrie Diaries Fashion

I am always trying to find new good shows to watch at home in my spare time! I stumbled upon this new show called The Carrie Diaries. It looked like a girly TV show that I would normally like and I found out that it is the prequel to Sex and the City. Sex and the City is one of my all time favorite shows ever because Carrie Bradshaw has the most unique fashion. I always wonder what she will wear next but I also just enjoy the show! I went through an obsessive stage where I would only watch Sex and the City, so I was pumped when I found out there was a prequel! Seeing a younger version of "her" got me really excited so maybe I could even steal some fashion ideas! She is 16 when the show starts in high school, and trying to deal with her mom dying and keep up with her social life at the same time. There is a new kid at her school, Sebastian Kydd, who is the hot rich kid whom she has a thing for. The show is a great mix of drama and things that high school kids can truly relate to. She gets the chance of a life time to work for a fashion magazine and work in the city! She wears some amazing outfits through out the show and so if you like fashion and drama, this show is for you!
The show is based in the 1980's and I don't really think they all are 80's clothing but I still wish I had them all. Everything she wears is so unique, bright colored and fun! It makes me want to dress more like her. I was doing some searching of styles from the show when I found this website which I absolutely love now. It shows the TV shows and where you can find outfits from the TV show or something similar. Here is a link to Carries Diaries Cute outfits that you can find! Carrie Diaries outfits To see more fun and cute outfits also here is a good website of some one the best outfits from season 1! More Carrie Outfits

In the picture above is one of my favorite outfits from season one! This picture is one of my favorite because it shows a lot of the great and crazy fashion ideas in this show! Larissa (way left) is the editor and chief of a fashion magazine. She is crazy and fun doesn't care what anything thinks of her! She is wear a very bright and crazy full body jump suit which I love and wish I had the nerve to wear because it is so adorable! She also has an orange statement purse and purple headband that are solid colors which draw your eye away for the crazy outfit for a bit. Carrie (blonde in the middle) is the main girl and she is a sweetheart and who always is on top of the latest trends! She has one of my favorite dresses on from all season one!! The pattern is adorable and something I would totally wear! I like how it is tight on the top and then flows out on the bottom. Also the black tights with the shoes always make a good look with almost any dress! Jill known as Mouse (on the right) is known as kind of of the nerdy smart girl but she has an adorable black and white dress on with the top and bottom contrasting each other. She is also making the black tights and shoes work with her dress like I said they work with a lot of things. This is just one of the many outfits in the show I love a lot and you should defiantly check out more of them if you like this one! Overall all the outfits on the show are cute and its a great show so you should check out The Carrie Diaries on Netflix!!