My Marimos! ♥

Hey guys! I've had these little guys for ages but I never did a blog spot about them! So let me introduce these little guys, my marimos! Kuppuru (on right) and Pixis (on the left). These little, green moss balls make simple, easy, and cute pets/plants! 

Marimo, also known as moss balls or lake balls in English, is a rare form of green algae that is found in some lakes in the northern hemisphere. They are simple round balls of moss that grow on lake floors. They are mostly found in Lake Akan in Japan and Lake Myvantain Iceland! Marimos grow super slow; only 5mm per year but the can live to be 100 years old!

Marimo Aquarium in Japan!

Marimos are not very expensive (price can vary from size and if container is provided). I ordered two small marimos from etsy.com and it was only $14 plus shipping! (one for me and one for Anna~) My larger marimo was a gift from Anna! She purchased it for me at an fish emporium for only $5! You can also buy them from a pet store because they make nice decorations for aquariums. I'm not sure if there is a difference between marimos from America and marimos from Japan so I purchased one online just to make sure I had both!

One of the best things about marimos is that they are VERY, VERY, VERY easy to take care of! All you need is: a bowl, water and light. You can keep them in a jar or in a tank of water indoors and they can't be put in direct sunlight or heat so next to a lamp or in a bright room is good enough for them! Also, you only need to change the water every 2 weeks! I use bottled water every week or two. You can also use tap water, but leave the water uncovered overnight to get rid of the chlorine. When I change their water I give the marimos a quick bath by squeezing them gently to get the dirty water out and rinsing them off. And lastly, whenever you're bored, just push the marimo around gently in the bowl so that they keep their round shape! That's it! Super easy to take care of and super cute! 

Here are my marimos!

Both my marimos!

Kuppuru!

Pikushisu!

So I hope you enjoyed this post! If you have any further questions about marimos, feel free to ask!

Side note: Some moving pixels aren't working for me! Is anyone else having this problem? :c

My SHINee Poster! ♥

Hi guys! Sooooo, sorry I haven't been blogging a lot recently. I've been spending a lot of time on tumblr and just being lazy. Today is August 1st and that means only 18 days until school start. 

I really don't want to go back! But it can't be helped. While I still have time left though I've been going some pretty cool things! One of those things being making a HUGE SHINee poster! I printed out a ton of SHINee  (SHINee is my favorite kpop group by the way) photos/edits from tumblr and glued them all to three big poster boards. It didn't take me too long to finish and I'm happy with how it turned out. After a lot of cutting and printing, I finally get to see my five shining boys everyday! If you have a printer,some nice photo paper, and glue I suggest making one yourself. And it doesn't have to be SHINee of course! You can make a motivational poster; positive notes about eating right, exercising, working hard in school, etc. Or you can make one of just pretty pictures you find on the internet. I got my posters for only 50 cents at Publix and $30 worth of ink will last you a LONG time. All these pictures and I still have plenty ink to spare! 

Final product! Its really tall!

Kind of blurry :c

So try making your own poster! Its a lot of fun and the finished product is awesome! 

Cute finds! ♥

Here are just a few of the cute things I found while browsing around!

Vintage glasses ♥

Gun stockings ♥

Fujifilm Instax mini 8 instant film camera - pink ♥

Transparent Lace Up Boots ♥

"IM A CACTUS" CANDLE ♥ 

Tony Moly Cat Chu Wink Lipstick ♥

Cat Ears Pearl/Crystal Headband ♥

Movie Review: Pacific Rim & The Lone Ranger ♥

Debating on which one of these movies to see when you go to the theater next? I'll let you know what I thought of these movies and tell you which I think was a better choice!

So! The first movie I want to review is Pacific Rim! It was the second movie I saw so its fresher in my mind. When I saw the trailer for this movie I instantly knew I HAD to see it. Giant metal fighting machines have been my thing ever since I was little with The Iron Giant and then Transformers when I got older (even Iron Man is my favorite super hero even though he's not giant). I love, love, loved the idea of Godzilla-like sea monsters coming out of the depths of the ocean and having their butts kicked by huge robots. But while I was super excited, I was also super nervous. This movie came out of nowhere and it could have easily been a bad movie but let me tell you: IT WAS AMAZING.

After I saw the movie, I came home and read some reviews. I heard a handful of people actually gave it poor reviews and I just couldn't understand why. I found the reason was, those people were more focused on the history of the movie. The kaiju classics such as 1954's Godzilla or 1974's Godzilla Vs. Mecha-Godzilla. They wanted there to more of a story and more focus on the kaiju's themselves. The good new is, if you're not critical of the past movie then you will enjoy Pacific Rim. Its new and fresh and shouldn't be compared to older movies.

First off the graphics of this movie were INSANE. During the fight scenes I was literally jumping out of my chair. It seems to me that this generation of movie goers don't appreciate amazing detail and graphics. We are no long amazed or wowed by movies. But this movie was quiet the looker. The kaiju's were incredible and the Jeager's (the robots) were so much fun to watch. When I left the theater all I wanted to do was suit up and kick some kaiju a**.

Also, this movie never dragged. It starts with a little background story then BAM action. There is everything from flash backs, to hand to hand combat and then more mecha vs. monster. I loved it. All the actors were spot on and I even cried a bit during a flash back seen. I was gasping and jumping and cheering the whole movie. I don't want to give away any spoilers but this movie was great! I give it a:

9/10

Next is The Lone Ranger! This movie was completely different from Pacific Rim in many ways. 1. It wasn't all about graphics. Just a Native American and a ranger seeking some revenge.  Now, I heard this movie got a LOT of bad reviews and people actually just stopped going to see it, which made me pretty upset because it wasn't a bad movie!

I think many people went with the intention of seeing a high action, serious movie but while there was plenty of action, it wasn't as serious as you think it would be. My advice for you, before you go it to remember: this movie was made by DISNEY and is more suited to take your 10 year old brother then your parents. If you're going with the intention to see Native Americans and a lone ranger battle to the dead, I'm sorry but you might be disappointing. There are some excellent train scenes though!

Personally, I enjoyed the movie. Johnny Depp is such a good actor but I think he wasn't as suited for the role of a Native American. He uses many of the same mannerisms for each of the charactesr he plays in his movies so half the time I wasn't thinking "Wow look what Tanto just did!" I was thinking "Wow look what Johnny Depp just did!"

My dad was HIGHLY disappointing. He said it was nothing like the TV show he grew up watching. He, like many other, expected more serious acting and he got a silly Native America talking to a horse.

Regardless, it was a cute movie. It could have been better but it was never dull and the action was pretty good! I give it:

7.9/10 

I hope this helps you choose what movie you want to see next!

Tea time + the benefits of Green Tea ♥

Hey guys, I'm a huge fan of tea and I'd like to share a new one I've tried recently!



Sleepytime Green Tea with Calming Herbs!

When I buy green tea, I typically get plain store brand but I thought I might change things up a bit! Since I'm always staying up super late and I have a hard time falling asleep most nights I thought this tea was a great choice. When I saw "calming herbs"I instantly knew I had to give it a try. The first thing I noticed about this tea was its amazing smell. Its a bit minty because it contains spearmint along with lemon, jasmine, lemongrass, orange blossoms and rosebuds! Its strong enough to smell from the outside of the box and I absolutely love it. Then I noticed the packaging. When you open up the box it contains a bag and when you open that you have your tea bags. These tea bags are awesome because they have no strings! It says right on the box "With no strings, tag, staple, or wrappers, our natural fiber tea bags keep 3.5 million pounds of waste out of landfills every year." And THAT is amazing. Instant cool points for me. And to top it all off it tastes great. I was worried that herbs would make it too powerful but its just right. A little honey to sweeten it up and I really did feel calmer and more relaxed.

If you don't know, tea is SUPER good for you. Especially green tea. I try to drink as much as I can because it has to many benefits! Such as...

♥ Green tea increases metabolism and can speed up the rate your body turns food into calories!
♥ Green tea reduces bad cholesterol!
♥ Green tea reduces the risk of esophageal cancer AND I widely thought to KILL CANCER CELLS! Amazing huh?
♥ Green tea helps regulate glucose levels slowing the rise of blood sugar which is great for those with or even without diabetes.
♥ The theanone (an amino acid) in tea leaves is thought to have a relaxing and tranquilizing effect which can help with depression!
♥ It's said to delay deterioration from Alzheimer'sand Parkinson's.
♥ Green tea can help with wrinkles and signs of aging because of their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities!

Drink more tea! If you've never had tea give it a try! A little sugar or honey can sweeten it up if you don't like bitter drinks. I hope you guys like this post, because I'm thinking about posting about some other teas I've tried! Thanks guys!