Mother’s Day 2020: Ideas and Gifts for All They Do

By Emily Jedell

It is close to that special time of year when all mothers around the nation celebrate what it means to be a mother. That may mean something for some moms and something different for others. One thing they have in common is that there are kids that are there to do something nice for them as a gift for all moms does for them. Here are four great ideas of things to get or do for your mother on this special day.

 

Idea 1: Make Mom a Brunch 

 

For somebody like myself who may not be the best chef, this Mother’s Day I have to find unique and aesthetic food to make as a brunch to celebrate. As pictured, avocado toast has been known as a popular brunch food. Top it with smoked salmon, a poached egg, and everything bagel seasoning and you have yourself a pretty avocado toast. A way to get perfect poached eggs for any brunch occasion is by using an egg cooker appliance. You pick the amount of water to add to the base and that identifies how runny or cooked the egg will be after the timer is done. Another one of my favorite brunch ideas is shaped fruit. Use cookie cutters in your desired shape and make a display of fruit. For Mother’s Day, teddy bear or heart cookie cutters would be very cute. Another option in terms of brunch would be a homemade eggs benedict, one of the most well-known brunch foods. To do so, toast two English muffins, cook two poached eggs with an egg machine and get some smoked salmon or Canadian bacon. A vegetarian option would be to place the eggs over avocado or spinach instead. To top it all off, make homemade Hollandaise sauce to pour over (which you can find here.) 

 

Idea 2: Homemade Gifts

Everyone always says that the best gifts come from the heart. If you can come up with something that is worth a smile, you know it is great. With social distancing, many people have been using their time to create DIY art projects. Some great ideas of things to make for Mother’s day are coming your way. The popular app TikTok has many videos showing teens using resin, tie-dye, sprinkles, and more to make some cute gifts. With resin and a mold of your choice, your mom will love a tray with sparkles and a collage inside for her to display and use. Tie-dye and bleach would be something to incorporate into your present. You can order an oversized zip-up sweatshirt or sweatpants and tie-dye (if they are white) or bleach (if they are colored) to make a fun, cozy outfit for your mom. From my experience, happy pills are such a nice gift to put a smile on whoever you chose to give them to. To start, get a bag of empty pill capsules and fill each capsule with nonpareil sprinkles (the round sprinkles.) Then, place the filled capsules into a mason jar and place a black label on the jar. Write “happy pills” and you are done. This decoration is the perfect way to make someone happy.

 

Idea 3: Jewelry

Jewelry never gets old, but the trends and released pieces do. At the moment, Kendra Scott has some great items catered to moms at this time. Above is the Ari Heart Gold Pendant Necklace (in the color Iridescent Drusy.) This is such a unique shaped heart that would be a great statement. Right now, there is also a great sale going on when you check out the Kendra Scott website here. Heart-shaped jewelry never goes out of style. When choosing a piece of jewelry for a mom or grandma, notice their overall wardrobe. Do they wear simple colors? If the answer is yes, you may want to choose a piece with a pop of color so that colors won’t crash. Do they wear extravagant, bright colors? If so, head in the direction of simple gold, rose gold, or silver jewelry. When choosing between gold, rose gold, or silver, notice what she wears most often or her skin undertones. Blue or purple veins on her wrist means you should aim towards silver, but if the veins are more green or yellow looking, go with gold. This is strange, but it’s also true when looking for the best jewelry for you. 

 

Idea 4: Bring the Spa to Your Home

At the moment, treating your mom to a day at the spa for her Mother’s Day present isn’t an option. Instead, you can make your own DIY spa. First, you can set up a station (as pictured above) so that you have everything prepared for the day. Something fun to do would be making your own DIY face masks using recipes from here. This gives you the opportunity to have fun making what will go on your skin. It also allows you to know that what’s going on your skin is all-natural. Before applying the masks, you can also make some spa water. Spa water is water that you can add lemon, cucumber, fruits of your choice, or herbs to and it is very refreshing. Manicures are also a great way to go. Make sure you have nail polish remover, cotton pads, cuticle cutter/pusher, cuticle oil, hand cream, nail polish, base coat, and topcoat. I like this two-in-one base and topcoat from Sally Hanson that you can purchase here. Another fun addition would be to heat up hot towels to place on your hands after the massage with hand cream. A hand cream I happen to love is the TONYMOLY Im Hand Cream in Green Tea that you can order here.

 

 

Michelle Obama Launches Weekly Reading Series for Children

By Reese Wolfe

In March, former first lady, Michelle Obama, partnered with PBS Kids and Penguin Random House to launch a weekly read-along series titled “Mondays with Michelle Obama.” The series in which Obama reads some of her favorite children’s books with passion and emotion, is planned to run through May 11. Michelle Obama kicked off her series with a reading of The Gruffalo. 

In a statement, Obama explained “As a little kid, I loved to read aloud. And when I became a parent, I found such joy in sharing the magic of storytelling with my own children — and then later, as First Lady, with kids everywhere.” Michelle is excited to give kids a chance to improve their reading skills and hear captivating stories while offering parents and caretakers a much needed break during this time of chaos and stress. 

Obama’s livestream can be viewed at noon on the PBS Kids’ facebook or youtube as well as Penguin Random House’s Facebook. 

 

 

 

Things That Hold Women Back, How They Can Propel Themselves, and How to Create a Supportive Community That Empowers Women

By Jess Becker

Women are held back in so many different ways sometimes causing them to struggle in different aspects of life. There are multiple things that hold back women, however, in my opinion, these are the three most important ones. Some women have a fear of failure. This fear can be about a variety of things. For example, a fear of making a mistake at work could lead to loss of a job, or, even worse, damage to their reputation. This fear of failure can hamper success. Another issue is the fear, which is justified, that if they decide to have children and start a family, their peers will judge them and thus find them vulnerable or not as hard working. Some women also believe that men are stronger leaders, have better ideas, and are more likely to achieve success so they are hurting themselves but not seeing themselves as equals.

An extremely helpful skill for women to be able to do is to pull strength and power from their inner selves to allow for one to push through the rough moments in life and succeed. In order to propel oneself in the world as a woman, one mustn’t feel they have to be a different version of themself in front of the public eye. It’s always helpful to trust your guts and instincts as believing in yourself can do wonders. Lean on your intuition. If you make a mistake, it should be seen as a point of improvement and an opportunity to learn and grow. 

A huge reason why women feel as though making mistakes is a bad thing and not something they can learn from is because of the competitive and unsupportive environments they are in daily. The only way to make women feel like making a mistake is okay because, in the end, they can learn from it is to create communities that support one another no matter one’s gender and empower each other to continue to thrive. A large part of empowerment is leading by example. This enables women to feel they have a good mentor and a guide. Women can learn from each other, no matter the age, level, or background. By openly discussing obstacles and sharing in each other’s success, a community is formed where women can learn and grow. Being transparent about things that hold women back will allow an open forum to create positive ideas that everyone can benefit from.

Carole Baskin is a woman who appeared in a Netflix TV show “Tiger King” that has recently gotten a lot of attention. Her role in the reality tv show details and follows her feud with a man named Joe Exotic who owns big cats and runs a zoo. Carole Baskin, throughout the show mentions her charity that she founded, Big Cat Rescue, that’s goal is to save all the animals in captivity and takedown zoo owners that exploit big cats. She is an animal rights activist based out of Tampa, Florida and continues to work on her charity even throughout all the social media attention that targets her over theories about her husband’s disappearance that the show talked about. She uses her platform on social media to highlight why big cats need to be protected and why they should not be kept as pets. Carole Baskin is very vocal about her enemies in the world of the big cat trade that she often even receives threats trying to get her to stop her charity. She goes to cities and colleges across the US in an effort to educate people on her fight to save these animals. She has made tv appearances and even won awards for her videos that focus on who are the major players in the animal trade world, why it must stop, and how to contribute to the efforts that save them. Carole Baskins mission to save big cats has now been recognized even more with all the spotlight on her from Tiger King. Overall, even with being targeted by many people over theories of her husband she continues to focus on her charity and pushes for her goal to save big cats to be accomplished.

 

 

 

Essentials for Self-Care

By Emily Jedell

In these teenage years, girls are trying every day to find remedies to relieve stress. It’s hard to take the time to focus on yourself when you need to balance school work, hobbies, family, and friends. There are some simple products out there that may help those times of stress or those desperate spa day needs. Some products are for those times you get to cuddle up in bed and others are for when your skin is under some stress as well. Here are my recommended top 5 productions for a variety of your relaxation needs that I use on the daily or weekly.  

 

pacificabeauty.com, $10

Finding a pillow or room mist is a hard thing to do. The scent can’t be too strong or too subtle. It has taken me a while to find a pillow mist (lavender scent in particular) that I’ve actually liked. This Pacifica Lavender Moon Body & Pillow Mist has the perfect balance of strong and subtle. Since it is water-based and uses aromatherapy from plants and no harsh chemicals, you will be sure to sleep well with some spritzes of this on your pillows and blankets. The mix of vanilla, lavender, and rose adds a different type of feeling to it. The hint of vanilla adds a little more warmth to the chill lavender scents. The contents in the bottle are free from toxic parabens, phthalates, SLS and mineral oil. Since I started using this mist, I’ve felt a little calmer and ready to shut my eyes before bed. An extra bonus is that you are able to spray some on your body too for the times when your body needs a little cooling down. 

 

sephora.com, $30

Face rollers have been a trend for some time now, but there’s a reason why. Rollers are able to relieve typical face problems like puffiness, dryness, and regular breakouts. This STACKEDSKINCARE Ice Roller is stainless steel. This allows the roller to become really cool if it is put in a refrigerator. It is for all skin types, so everyone can pop this in the fridge and use the roller as a refreshing tool in the morning to wake up your skin. When I use one, I apply some face serum with vitamins C and E with my hand and lightly roll the tool upwards on my face. Upwards motions prevent tearing and wrinkles in the future. All in all, this tool is a morning boost that will help your face wake up on those sleepy mornings.  

bigelowtea.com, $18.95

Peppermint tea is packed with delicious flavor and benefits for relaxing internally. This flavor of the tea is great for digestion and headaches, it relieves upset sinuses, and it aids with sleep and concentration. While completing homework for hours and hours. Bigelow’s Peppermint Tea has a faint candy cane taste, as well. Personally, I’ve felt a difference in my nightly routine and sleep when I drink this tea at night. The taste is really delicious and it isn’t a super strong taste either. With all the benefits of tea, I recommend this one when you’re stressed. 

sephora.com, $8

Think about the freshness of mint gum for your breath, but on your face. Sephora’s Peppermint Gum Mask is an absolute favorite of mine. I use it once a week when I feel super tired or stressed. The consistency is gummy and the color is really pretty mint green. It firms skin and tones as well. It isn’t a peel-off mask, so you wait ten minutes and wash it off. I recommend moisturizing after any mask, especially one like this. I would say this mask makes my face happy every time I use it. It is also very refreshing and cooling.

 

urbanoutfitters.com, $49 (now $39)

Sleep is super important because you use it as a reset button for the next day. With all the theories out there, the more weight on you at night, the better you sleep. Weighted blankets were made from the idea of that. In my opinion, I feel like weighted blankets are a little suffocating, so I use my comforter on top of some sort of soft, fluffy blanket. Yes, the comfort of Urban Outfitter’s Amped Fleece Throw blanket may be too comfortable to get out of bed in the morning, but for the time it is needed, it is amazing. The shade featured in the picture is Sky. Colors like gray or blue are soothing, so they help you wind down at night before your adventures to come in the next day. Bundled up, you will be able to push your worries away and get some well-deserved sleep.