Foods that Improve Mood
Many of you have probably heard the saying before: "You are what you eat." There is much truth to this saying, especially as it relates to a person's mood.
There are a number of foods that help to stimulate the body and elevate one’s mood. There are also foods that can bring you down. Take, for instance, food that contains monosodium glutamate or MSG. After licking the bowl clean you may begin to feel tired and drowsy. It's likely the effect of the food you ate containing MSG.
Knowing what healthy foods are out there can help you improve your immune system and your mood. It will also help reduce the chances of you getting sick and feeling down in the dump.
Some foods to consider for improving your health as well as your mood include:
 Almonds – The      crunchy nut offers the body two important vitamins – B and E. Red and      white blood cells are improved with almonds. It also improves the immune      system with antioxidants and helps maintain cholesterol levels. All you      need is a handful a day.
 Avocados – Also      known as alligator pears, they help to reduce blood pressure and offers      monounsaturated fat and potassium. If you are looking to reduce your      sodium and cholesterol intake, this makes the perfect option.
 Chocolate – Not all      sweets are bad. In fact, all-natural dark cocoa can help lower blood      pressure. Take it with a cup of milk and you are set to a relaxed mood      with the production of serotonin increased.
 Sweet      Potatoes – These sweet tubers offer similar effects as all-natural dark cocoa. They      are high in carbohydrates and help the brain produce serotonin. 
 Oatmeal – This      breakfast staple is both comfort food and good for the heart. Oatmeal is      high in carbohydrates and rich in fiber. When you have that, it helps the      body manufacture serotonin to help put you in a tranquil state. The body      also absorbs it all slowly, so you aren't going from a quick high to a      quick low. It's also extremely easy to prepare.
 Pistachios – These      nuts are a friend of fiber, antioxidants and unsaturated fatty acids,      which all help to lower blood pressure. That also means feeling less      stress. Just like almonds, you only need a handful per day.
 Eggs – Take the      whole egg, not just the egg white or egg yolk alone. If you maintain your      intake to one egg a day, you can benefit from choline and phospholipids      that have been shown to help enhance memory.
There are a number of other foods that can help with mood, including salmon, sardines, walnuts, sunflower seeds, soybeans, beets, lentils, spinach, blueberries, pineapples, and oranges. Many of the food options indicated are ones you can easily prepare or eat on their own. However, if you have a cooking degree under your belt, you can whip up a variety of delicious meals with the ingredients above.
Be creative is preparing dishes with a variety of colors, adding nuts to create a crunch to the meal or fruits to add a tangy or sweet taste to your recipes. Other foods can also help mix up the texture of each bite you take.
Just remember that if you are ever feeling down and depressed, and it's not a chronic issue, the foods above may help to change your mood. On the other hand, if what you are feeling does not go away and is out of the ordinary for you, always seek professional help.
Eating whole, natural and healthy foods on a daily basis will help you maintain better health and your well being as you continue to grow older each day. Take pleasure in what you eat and live a happier, healthier life!
Sources
CBS News (2007)
iVillage (2012)

Winner of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on VVB32!

I entered a Giveaway back in December over at VVB32 reads and... I won! I never win anything! I'm so excited to read this, it's been so long waiting to get a chance to read this that I'm bursting at the seams now!

If you haven't stopped by VVB32 Reads yet, get on it! There are always great reviews and giveaways and well, just some really cool stuff!

Right now there are two pretty cool things going on:

There is the virtual book event Glamorama ending today! So go, now!














And there is a Giveaway: Book Appeal Game Giveaway
Enter to get a chance to win a Hunger Games book!


So check out the site and enter in some awesome giveaways!

I love this dress and I want it now...

I wish I could find someone to make this dress for me. If anyone knows any companies that make mock-ups, let me know

Sweet Coconut Mango Sushi

We had a sushi night the other night, so I decided to make dessert sushi too.

Wedding Wednesdays ~ The first post!

Hello all and welcome to the first Wedding Wednesday post!

As you know I just recently got engaged, so I'm in a super peppy mood lately. We have already started planning for the big day! I have also been thinking about bridesmaids and my maid of honor, but have yet to make a decision. I know that I want my two favorite flowers in the wedding, orchids and lilies. So I found some preserved dyed orchids at Save on Crafts and get this, they're Brittany Green! I just had to get them! They are super cheap, 30 for $12! So I'm excited to be getting those soon to mess with and find out what we are doing with them. We also ordered the lime green orchids too.

 If you haven't guessed it already, my colors are Green (chartreuse if you want to get technical), white, black and gray. Gorgeous right? We also have a tented wedding in mind... at night... in the summer!

Also, here is a sneak peak at my engagement ring. Isn't it pretty? I was over-joyed last night after telling my parents and family! How exciting right?

Congrats are in order, people! Come lighten up my day!

As some of you already know, your dear Random Girl is going off the market. Me and my honey Cian have decided to tie the knot. To fuel my bridal needs I'm going to be adding a new segment, Wedding Wednesdays! Yep, to keep me sane and to see what's going on in my head, I will be indulging wedding paraphernalia every Wednesday until that special day.

Since we are completely on the broke side of things, we are going to be doing this wedding all by ourselves. Don't think that means you can't help out! I'll have a donate button to your right and our registry links if you want to be a doll and contribute. 

The big day is already scheduled so we have over a year to plan things our way. And with doing it on our own, we'll need over a year to get everything down. I'm hoping after we get our Monster book done, that it will bring in a little extra money to go towards the wedding. 

The Big Day is July 13th 2013! We knew what month we wanted, but not the day so we literally picked a number out of a hat. And up came my lucky number, what a coincidence! So, if some of you notice a little skip in my step or a rather happy tone around here, enjoy and join in! I'll still have the zombie love going around and I'll try not to bore you too much. 

Have a wonderful day! I love you all!!!!

This new blogger is pissing me off!

I had to reload blogger about 7 times before I could make this post because it wouldn't let me do a new post. But now that I'm here, I have lost my will to blog at the moment. Hopefully I can post again soon : /

Morbid Zombie Mondays - Let's go Bowling!

I want one of these in a special little Bub bowling ball bag. I would be the envy of every little girl out there who dreams of rolling severed heads down a bowling lane. Too much? Well these are just too perfect. I want one with my own face as the zombie and the finger holes going trough my eyes and a bullet wound to the head. What do you think of that?

Well in any case, 13 street got it pretty close to my little morbid fantasy. Check out the close ups of these bad boys.

13th STREET – Bowlingheads (Case Video) from RUOK on Vimeo.

A picture for you and Weapon of Choice

Here's a picture from our coloring book Zombtivities. Just for you to print and color yourself.

Mine was my cat, Astrid. Yeah, scratch that zombie ass up! What is yours? I want to know! 

What if you could pick anything what would it be? A grain tractor? Let me hear your thoughts, I haven't heard from any of you in a while! I miss you!

I wanted you all to be the first to know...

There will be wedding bells in next years future... I'm so excited I could faint.

Get to know your Bloggers - Living Dead Girl Nicole

Name: Nicole

www.artworkbylivingdeadgirlnicole.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LivingDeadGirlNicole

Flaming Hot Cheetos all the way. When I was in high school we use to have the cafeteria lady pour nacho cheese on them.

My art. I needed a place to update everyone on what I am doing creatively. I realized I was able to do this through blogger for free and that's how I decided to go the blog route instead of the full blown html site route. It's been the best move I have made on top of opening my Etsy shop.

Fiber One 90 Calorie Brownie and Almond Milk.

Hmm I think I am a little in between.. so I guess that makes me a tidy sailor girl ha ha

Robert Englund/Freddy.. I met him and gave him a portrait that I drew of him. It's on his site under fan art and also on my site under "Faces". You can even buy a print of it in my Etsy shop! When I gave it to him he was in shock that I was giving it to him and really liked it. 

Teenage chic flicks.. I love movies like Mean Girls, Jawbreaker, Clueless etc. Add in horror elements like Ginger Snaps and Jennifer's Body and I am even more hooked. 

Just being able to use it share my art with the world. Art is my passion.. it's what keeps me going. I love the feedback I get from my readers and customers.

It's Not Easy Being Green and Other Things to Consider by Jim Henson, The Muppets & Friends. I am a little bit of a Jim Henson fanatic ha ha

I would have to go with Dr. Pepper. But the buttered popcorn ones freak me out. It's like futuristic food ha ha

All of the above. I love horror and scary movies and it inspires a lot of my art. If I had to choose which I would want to be I would pick a vampire.. hot, sexy immortality and it would be sooo fun to glamour someone ha ha

I love Shock Rock and hard heavy rock music.. so Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, Ozzy Osbourne etc. Me and my husband love watching Metalocolypse. I also love Classic rock and am a huge Aerosmith fan. I also love bands with powerful female lead singers that can sing like angels but scream in your face like a demon.. such as Otep and One Eyed Doll. 

Red. It's always drawn me in. When people ask "what color crayon would you be?" I always say fire engine red :) I actually dyed my hair red so many times that Red became one of my nicknames and I am a brunette ha ha. I also love black, lime green, purple, orange and hot pink.

sushi!!

as a child I would say Labyrinth and Beetlejuice as I was so inspired by Jim Henson and Tim Burton growing up. There is a beautiful movie called Ink that doesn't get the credit that it deserves. I saw it a few years ago and cried when I watched it. It was so beautifully made. I highly recommend it. I also would say the movie The Notebook (I know sad sappy love movie) because it depicts what true love really is all about. I can't watch that movie without balling my eyes out. And also the whole horror movie genre. I have met so many wonderful horror movie actors and actresses and have been able to thank them for their inspiration by giving them my fan art and those have all been rewarding and memorable  experiences that I will never forget. I have to mention Bram Stoker's Dracula as it was the theme of mine and my husband's Halloween Masquerade Wedding. There was a quote from the movie in our invitations, Love Never Dies was used in many things and my wedding dress was a design inspired by Mina's red dress in the movie. So I would say that movie has played a meaningful role in my life. 

My teeth.. I want to join em no fight em :) 

my all time favorite.. "be yourself.. everyone else is already taken"

The one thing I love about blogging is getting to meet more bloggers with similar interests to mine. Me and my honey also love to watch the ol' Metalocalypse and our music taste is quite similar. Being an "artist" myself, I am always happy to spot another artist I haven't heard about yet and share them with my lovely fellow bloggers and followers. After looking through some of Nicole's work, I wanted to interview her and get to know her a little better. So here ya go... check out her blog here.