I love how cleaning up my desktop can make my computer feel so much neater.
Here is my most recent Desktop (true confession: I play sims to de-stress every once and a while)

I made it myself and I am absolutely in love with it. The image is of Lake Balaton in Hungary, where I studied abroad last summer. Believe it or not there is no filter on that bad boy. Lake water that blue? I can hardly stand it.

To get this as your desktop background-or maybe phone, iPad, whatever, here is photo

Have a good night! See ya bright and early tomorrow!

I love to bake. Truly I love it. There is no easier way to relax and make other people happy than baking them something delicious. Baking, unlike cooking, is a precise combination of chemistry and magic. There isn't the free-wheeling attitude of cooking, where you add a pinch here and a pinch there--its as I said precise. For my first recipe post, I want to give you a very simple recipe, the recipe for popovers.

What you'll need for the popovers is very simple

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Now it is important to follow the instructions as carefully as possible. If you are a first time baker and things don't go as planned don't worry about it, baking takes practice and eventually you will get a sixth sense about it (I promise!)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease and flour a muffin tin (for a 12 muffin tin, I grease every other to allow for 6 nice and big popovers)
   
2. In a medium bowl beat eggs slightly, Beat in flour, milk and salt until just smooth; being careful not to overbeat. Fill custard cups 1/2 full.
   
3. Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 20 minutes. Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for 20 minutes more. Immediately remove from cups and serve piping hot.
   

It is as simple as that. I hope all is well and your popovers turn out wonderful! Have a happy Sunday!

If any of y'all see what I tweet you know how often I give a s/o or a RT to the Sunlight Foundation. I stumbled onto them one day and I honestly believe everyone should know the work that they do. Keeping up with Congress and the government in general can be difficult. Honestly, it is a full time job and that's why we have journalists (or that's why we originally have journalists--don't get me started). The Sunlight Foundation has tools so that you can be aware of the politics that matters most to you or you can learn more everyday. 

The first tool I love is Scout. Scout is amazing. You simply type in the issue, bill, politician or topic that matters most to you. From there you can either get emails or texts when your item is discussed or voted on--how cool is that? If you want to keep up with what your represetative is doing? Great! Want to know what's happening with student loans? Awesome! Scout can help you keep up with whatever you need to keep up with.

Another great tool is Churnalism. In my Media and Politics class, we learned that often times, the things we read in the newspaper are actually not from journalists but from PR firms, trying to put news out there about their client, products etc. Churnalism is great because if you are reading an article online, you just click the toolbar button, and it analyzes the article to see if it is related to any press-releases. Talk about knowing that you are getting the cold, hard truth. 

Open Congress and Clear Spending are great ways to learn exactly what the government is doing with Open Congress allowing you to track bills, votes and discussions as it happens in real time. Clear Spending allows you to see if your tax dollars are being spent in a timely, orderly fashion. 

This is just a handful of the tools they provide people across the country and the globe. Check out sunlightfoundation.org for more information about any of their products and the work that they do to make our government more accountable.

Student loans have been in the news recently, and as someone who is in the target demographic for that debate, I have been paying attention to what’s going on (or at least have been trying to)—easier said than done. Something that seemed like sort of a no-brainer has turned into something that directly affects anyone who has, or will have student loans, so I thought I would share with y’all.

What: The Stafford Loan is a loan eligible to students who are attending university in the United States. These are THE student loans that everyone complains about after graduation. Something special about these loans is that the U.S. government guarantees them—so even if the student defaults on their payment, the bank is still getting paid. These loans are typically offered at a lower interest rate…typically.

Who: Congress. About two-weeks ago, the interest rates on Stafford loans doubled from 3.4% to 6.8%, costing students anywhere from $2,000 and up…something that really matters to people who are trying to maintain a budget (aka every college student ever). It is important to note that this current increase doesn't affect those who already have a loan taken out, their interest rates will stay the same.

Democrats: Want a cap placed on the interest rates to ensure education is attainable to all (but where would we get the money from in our cash-strapped government?)

Republicans: Do not want more government spending (in this instance it would prevent the hike in rates)

Both sides have very good points and it’s up for the members of congress, and their constituents to decide. To find out ways to contact your congressmen (either telling them you want the rate decreased, increased, free college education, etc.) click the link below! 

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

With the crazy-ness that is in the world, I honestly believe that being positive, whenever it is possible, is the best thing to do. At my internships (which I am loving now more than ever by the way), negativity is a major thing. From a coworker with a sour attitude about everything to people fretting over voter turnout and canvass shifts, for a while it was just too much for me. We have a 70% confirmation rate? That's great! We can improve, but let's just acknowledge how great that is!
People are unaware of how toxic their negativity can be, but I'm sure you know what I am talking about. Their negativity spreads, like a cancer, around the office, causing people to be rude to one another as well as bring down the general office environment. Campaigns are hectic, with people on limited amounts of sleep and addicted to caffeine stimulants, but I think despite all this activity that we should work hard, make the effort, to "be a rainbow in someone else's cloud." That Maya Angelou is a very smart lady.

So smile, get treats for the office, and put your best foot forward. 
Tomorrow is Friday!

Commitment. It takes a lot to have it and most people want it. Few people truly have it. To have commitment, it takes strength, perseverance, and determination to see your goals to fruition.



Recently, I have been lacking in the commitment department. I started this blog to do what I love and fill the void I believe there is concerning politics and style. From this point forward, I intend to be stronger and work harder to see this goal come to fruition.



I never knew writing a blog was such a commitment, but it truly is and now that I know that, I know what I must do. So sorry for the recent absence. Hope y'all are well. I'll be back in the a.m. to talk to y'all again.



Hope all is well,

Cornelia

Wow. Talk about rainy weather. Just as I was leaving my house to head into the campaign, the sky opened up, and a down-pour commenced. Thank goodness I checked the weather and was prepared with my rainy outfit. I love love love my raincoat from target-I've gotten an insane amount of compliments on it and it wasn't even that expensive. A great switch from the sorority windbreaker I typically wear during the rainy season. Paired with some standard Hunter rain-boots and a simple umbrella, I was all set to take on the day. 
As far as the campaigns go, things are getting busy (as they typically are) so I am all hunkered down in the office working away. I hope y'all have a wonderful week and are ready to take on any challenges you have!