Sometimes, I can't resist the power of YouTube. It's pulling power is too strong for me to turn my head away from its pure awesome-ness. Well, anyway, while I was browsing around, I came across this super hilarious video. The marketing team for the Carrie remake that is coming out later this year made this video, and, well... take a look!



What do you think? I'm pretty sure those "unsuspecting civilians" were actually actors, but it's cool nevertheless. The idea is great and it's just... ugh. I can't even begin to explain how much I love this video. I wish I had enough money to pull off a prank like this to my friends. I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF ITS AWESOME-NESS. Oh, mighty marketing people of the Carrie remake, you art thou awesome. (Sorry about my overusing the word "awesome", it's just an awesome word. And it describes this awesome video perfectly. Pun may have been intended. The truth may never be known.)

While I was watching this, I was reminded of another video that I watched a few months before. This one's pretty funny as well. A Brazilian TV show (I think) conducted this prank and it's brilliant. A bit of a warning for those who are scared of ghosts though. That little girl is creepy.



This video and the video above are just pure genius. Where do these people get these ideas?! And where can I get one, so I can scare my friends?


-Barista Mia- Read more »

Those cloudy, freezing autumn weekends when all your friends are away having fun and you're slouching at home on the sofa with a headache. Drowning in boredom, but can't be bothered to make yourself presentable enough to see anyone. Now, guys, weekends are finite, and always worth making the most of! Before we know it it's Monday and we have no time to Live Life. So here's what you should do to embrace your Sundays.

• Take the headphones out. True, we all love to rock out to "Roar"- What's that? You're fed up with a hundred repeats of "Roar"? Awh. Poor Katy. But too much music does give you a groggy head, and then it's less easy to get on with stuff. So throw down your phone and give your ears, and eyes for that matter, a break.

• Go for a walk
Okay, newsflash! Going for a walk is not boring! If you live near some countryside, escape into the woods where the feeling of total aloneness is electrifying. Seriously. If you're not feeling too happy with your life ATM, you can lie down and look at the leaves. I'm not an anthroposophist or a psychopath, but nature has actually been proven to cure messed up emotions. Yes.
If you're not lucky enough to have any nice woods or fields near by, a trip to the shops is just as nice. I may tell you to ditch the iPhone for a time, but I'd NEVER, in CAPITALS, NEVER tell you to stop buying chocolate, crisps, sweets...

• Bath!
If you're really tired and just can't get up, clean yourself up by soaking in a bubble bath. Ooh, warm water on a grey day. Beauteous.

• Get the horrid stuff out of the way
That homework that's sitting on the table. Get warm and make sure your brain's reasonably clear, and tackle it! I find if I just can't concentrate on it, I find going away and making myself just think over the topic helps.

• Try something new today!
Cough, no, I don't work for Sainsbury's, but I'd love to try my hand at TV adverts! It's fun to be ridiculous. See something you think is interesting- it could be anything, from a song to a survey- and bring out your creative side. Instead of passively playing the song on your iPod, play it on the piano. Interview all your friends on Facebook for no reason whatsoever. Write a poem when you're out in the woods. If you like drawing, shade the Periodic Table different colours. Plait your dog's hair. (Just tacked that one on from my amazingly creative mind, har-har-har.)

So, what do you guys think? What do you do on homie Saturdays and Sundays?


-Barista Sabita-

Images:  RelaxingMusic, Franck Mahon, dana robinson, Steven S., Brian Richardson Read more »

I have maladaptive daydreaming, so I'm honestly not an expert at this subject. But I thought it would be fun if both you and I could learn together. I seriously suck at concentration. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll probably see me tweeting about ballet, One Direction, and other things rather than the SAT IIs, which I'm taking in less than a month (eek!). I barely even study for it because, hello? Internet.

I used to be much better at concentration, like when I was studying for my SAT Is, but the IIs are a big problem for me. I just can't seem to stop daydreaming and watching YouTube videos. I'm sure there are others like me, so I'm going to share with you some of the tips I learned recently about concentration. Hopefully, these tips will help both you and I with concentrating because neither of us don't want to end up failures... right?

1. Before you start anything... RELAX

Being agitated before starting your work is the worst idea ever invented. Worries will be running through your head and you won't be able to do your work properly. For example, if I study un-relaxed, I get worse scores on my practice SATs and I get super stressed over wrong answers. But on the other hand, if I'm relaxed, when I get answers wrong, I look over them and try to understand where I got things messed up. See? Much better to have a calm mind than an occupied mind.

2. Make a checklist

Seeing all the day's tasks laid out before you in your head can be really daunting. But if you write all the stuff you need to do down on a piece of paper on your wall, you'll have a much clearer picture of what to do. Keeping track of things in a visible way will give you less stress and give you a feeling of control over your day. Also, when you place a tick next to the stuff you've done, you feel really good about all the things you have done that day.

3. Turn off your Internet

I'm aware that Internet is sometimes necessary for your studies or work or whatever, but when you don't need it, turn it off. For me, my main source of Internet is my cell phone, so I turn off my 4G and WiFi. That way, I won't end up tumblring, tweeting, or doing other stupid things I shouldn't waste my time on especially when I'm freaking STUDYING FOR MY SAT IIS! Ugh. Where art thou, concentration?

4. Reward yourself

When I have a reward to look forward to after I've completed my studies, I find it much easier to push myself to finish everything and to study more. When I don't have a reward, I don't really have much incentive to study hard, but if I tell myself I can watch ballet and eat chocolate after doing a Literature practice test, I push myself to finish the test. When I don't have anything to look forward to, I usually end up somewhere deep inside my mind, daydreaming. With rewards waiting for me at the end of the day, I can actually finish my day's work much quicker too.

As I said, I'm still learning about concentration myself, but I'm pretty sure that these tactics work. My concentration improves when I use these tips. The only problem is actually using these tips of mine. Now that would make a whole separate blog post.


-Barista Mia-

Images:  RelaxingMusic, AJ Cann, Roland Tanglao, John Loo Read more »

I remember the first day I went on the new setout of Facebook and saw the thumbs up button in the message tabs. ("You can 'like' messages? Now my life is perfect!") Gone are the days of awkward end-of-convo smiley messages when you don't know whether it would appear desperate to send another or if it would seem rude not to reply.

But in my eyes, FB is still lacking in a lot of possible shortcuts that would make messaging so much easier. But then, I am exceptionally awkward, so naturally I... 

Anyway! Here are my dreams of the stickers or emoticons a perfect Facebook tab would include:

• The "duh" sign.

This is for that horrifying moment when you're in the middle of a heated debate with your crush or someone, and are doing all you can to make yourself appear witty, and pose an ingenious rhetorical question. Or so you imagined. The moment you've pressed Send you realise you need some way to let him know your power is so great that he can't even see where it ends. And yeah, other than actually saying that. In comes the "duh?!" sign- "Helloo-oo, can't you see how sarcastic I'm being here?!”

• Then, there are the times when you've said something, ahem, a little too sarcastic (there is such a thing as too sarcastic? Wow.) We wanna quickly assure them we don't mean to rude. Like this! That's right, a large head with a tiddly brain, and my crude Snapchat doodling.

• Typo alert! A big fat cross through a big fat mistake- a fun alternative to writing the (often obvious) correction ever time Autocorrect cocks up.

• If you can't be voters to set up a worldwide campaign to bulky Mark Zuckerburg into introducing these tactics, why not just go have a nice cry ( ":::(" tears) and resort to good old fashioned words by having a little experimental game? See how far you can get answering "haha", "lol", or something like it, to every message. It can actually become pretty hilarious. See for yourself!

So, I think it would be cool to have these, but what do you guys think? Any other ideas? I wanna hear them! 

-Barista Sabita-

Read more »

With everyone plucking out their eyebrows nowadays, where has the appreciation for eyebrows gone? All I see on the streets are lines on people's faces where their eyebrows should be. Yeah, it looks messy at times, but a lot of people can actually pull heavier brows off. Plus, it really brings out the eyes if you have lighter eyes.

Now with the deficit of eyebrows, let's take a look at some non-mutilated brows. Check these celebrities out. And let's all admire their gorgeous, thick, bold brows, because we all need to.

Mila Kunis

Do you see how nicely those eyebrows shape her eyes? Or even her entire face?

Keira Knightley

Eyebrows are like the equivalent of hair on your head. You're bald without it and it makes you look like Golum.

Anne Hathaway

I have strong reason to believe that much of these stars' success comes from de eyebrows.

Cara Delevigne

As much as I like eyebrows... uh... Well, at least she can pull it off. I wouldn't try it if I were you though, unless your name rhymes with Cara Delevigne.

Emmy Rossum

Look how happy those eyebrows are making her :) Aw.

Camilla Belle

You see how classy them eyebrows make her look?

Lucy Hale

We have a prime example of beautiful eyebrows right in our TVs!

Lily Collins

Ugh. Thick brows suit her so much that it makes me want to cry.

Sigh. Looking at these pictures just make me jealous as heck. Asian isn't necessarily the best race for eyebrows unfortunately. Well... at least these people exist for me to ogle over their eyebrows. You guys be showing off those eyebrows for me as I can't get me a pair of those.

-Barista Mia-

Images:  Gage Skidmore, Paul Bird, Mingle MediaTV, Cara Delevigne's Instagram, Pulicciano, Joella Marano, Lucy Hale's Instagram, Gage Skidmore

Read more »

So everybody's pretty much watched Britney's new "Work B**ch" music video. And you know what? She looks freaking amazing! Anyway, for me, on top of ogling over THE Britney Spears, I can't help but think of the past decade or so of Britney's career. I mean, she started from "Baby One More Time" and all the way to "Work B**ch", winning a billion and one awards along the way.

Well, now that her new single is out, the time has come for us to take a look back at our favorite Britney music videos.



No list of Britney's best music videos would be complete without her first. Look at her! 16 and already fabulous.



The sheer weirdness of this just makes me fall in love.


IT'S A CIRCUS! Need I say any more?



The first time I watched this video, I fell off my chair in shock at seeing a naked person on my computer screen. That pretty much makes this entire music video memorable to me.



Ah. The classic Britney Spears music video. The diamond sparkles, the air hostess uniform, the sexiness oozing out of every single move Britney makes. Sigh.

Ugh. This woman and her pure awesome-ness is going to kill me one day. I swear.


-Barista Mia- Read more »