oh, sometimes... i get a good feeling yeah

BOO.





It's almost Halloween folks and you know what that means? Well it actually means quite a number of things... This weekend will just be the greatest. Everyone in costume running around aimlessly having a good old time. One of the greatest things about Halloween is just that it is such an outlet for creativity. I mean yes, all other holidays allow for craft time... but dressing up? Come on, how do you say no to that?

As wittle Kelly, Halloween had to be my favorite holiday every year. It probably had to do something with the fact that there were the beach trips leading up to it, but there is something great about the fact that there are so many fun things going on. With the splashes of orange and black everywhere. Witches and ghosts and pumpkins and scary events and costumes and pumpkins... and pumpkins... and you know the candy doesn't hurt, right?

Of course, there is the classic Halloween movie- Hocus Pocus. Childhood friend Molly and I used to be absolutely terrified after watching it, but now it's almost comical. Actually... it is comical. Shout out music time!

But little to most people our ages' knowledge- the original is so much better...

Such a classic. Last weekend Michaela and I spent the majority of Sunday watching Tim Burton films. I had never watched The Nightmare Before Christmas... and I actually didn't really watch much of it either. But I did watch The Corpse Bride! It was really good, too. Helena Bonham Carter is such an interesting actress. They even drew up the character to look like her, as did Johnny Depp's character. Next up was Corraline... which was down right creepy. I'm sorry, but last time I checked forcing a child to sew buttons into her eyes was gruesome... and not cartoon like. But that's Tim Burton for you, right?

I have not gotten the chance to carve a pumpkin... yet. But that should change... actually it better change or that is just unacceptable. I did get a really cool pumpkin from Grandy Market though!

That's him! Really cool shaped, too. Just the greatest.

Craftgawker once again stole away precious time from studying... but the findings were well worth it.

Really Cool Nail Ideas

 

 Pumpkin Carving 2.0!

Embroidered Pumpkin!

A Million Other Pumpkin Ideas!

Okay, it is Dona Rosa time... time to go pork up some... whoops!!!!

Oh to leave you with this...

Happy Thursday :)

Keeps Me Hungry, Keeps Me Mean

Well here's round two at this. It has been a while, hasn't it? The whole blogging thing is a lot more difficult to keep up with than one would think.

It's been, what?, close to four months? I would post about my job this summer, but there was literally so much that happened that I would never be able to put all of it in a post. Maybe later... but back at school now and it feels amazing. It is already the middle of October, and it is terrifying how fast time is flying! But this is literally the greatest season. Yeah, that's right- better than a white cover winter or a sun filled summer. I am all about that leaf changing, chilly evening, sweater wearing, colorful Autumn. I should start taking pictures of the colors around here, but sometimes college life just doesn't give you the time. October has to be the greatest month, too. What is bad about October? Answer- nothing.

The other weekend, the fam and I traveled on down to North Carolina- specifically Southern Shores- to visit with Nana. She's down there fishing for the fall season. It was so lovely seeing them since it has been since mid-August that I had last seen them. The trip down was a long one from Hburg (5 hours) but completely worth it! My mother and I took the old way, traveling along the Dismal Swamp and through Elizabeth City, stopping for lunch downtown. Once we made it to the beach, it was just great to relax and see family. You know, including the usual trips to Captn Franks (milepost 4.5).

 

I can't remember (nor do I feel like looking back) if I mentioned the website CraftGawker but it is absolutely one of the greatest websites ever. So many cool projects, as well as awesome stuff from Etsy. Always a great time waster. Just today I found a handful of new crafts that I want to adventure into. The main one being:

Homemade Temporary Tattoos

This is perfect- so excited to do it.

So CraftGawker has a sister blog named FoodGawker. If you ever are hungry... don't go to this website. Molly actually showed it to me last year but then in the past month, I began to follow it daily... sometimes hourly (thank you iPhone app). I have favorited about 100 different recipes, but here are some highlights:

 

Bacon Wrapped Scallops 

 

Chocolate Pots de Creme 

 

Lobster Mac n Cheese 

 

Perfect Basil Pesto  

 That's it. I am about to quit school and just become a foodie. How does one become a foodie? Actually, what really is a foodie? It sounds as though it would be the coolest job ever. But what do you have to know? It comes down to tiny little details that most people wouldn't notice. But let's be real- I ate like a damn queen this summer. Eating in DC was literally the greatest thing ever; there were so many options. Crepes as dinner? Literally became a staple to my life. But it wasn't your average crepe. My usual was the California Breakfast- including avacado, egg, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and cheese. Oh nom nom all day long. I also experienced my first taste of food from Afghanistan. Yes, yes, I love America and all, but damn was that one of the best meals I have ever eaten. It was this fabulous combination between Greek and Indian and it was PERF. Under the Afghan restaurant was another favorite of mine: Panas. They sell little baby empanadas and I could have eaten those every hour on the hour. Just kidding it was insanely rich, but still- it was delish. My personal fave was the caramelized onions with cheese, though the type of cheese escapes me at the moment. 

All of this inspires me to have a new section on here- named FoodBaby. Whenever I cook or eat something amazing, that's what the story will be called. Plus it helps to have that nickname. I just love food. But who doesn't? Only weird people...

Well as per tradition, I will leave you with a tune...

So in the spirit of fall, here is some acoustic for you:

 

Willie Nelson covering Coldplay's The Scientist. Not something you would expect, but is perfect in his own twangy way. Love him.

"You don't know how lovely you are."

 

Courtesy of Brooke's introducing me to The Morning Benders. Excuses. It's on a Reese's commercial, but please Benders- don't go mainstream. You're too good for that.

I think I mentioned Fran Healy before... but once again don't feel like going back to look. Plus, this ex-Travis-lead-singer is worth mentioning more than once:

 

Moonshine

"Well my eyes are closed, but my heart's on fire."

 

Sing Me to Sleep

"I want to hear you say it's all going to be alright."

  

 

Anything

"I'd do anything, anything at all."

How about some classic Oasis? Let's go.

 

Stop Crying Your Heart Out

"Cause all of the stars have faded away, just try not to worry, you'll see them someday." 

Well, welcome back to listening to my nonsense! Happy Monday night!  

walked into the party, and all i hear is kick-drum

Well it has been a long time coming, hasn't it? I am about to start week 4 of the job, but it feels as if I just got here. Working in a service industry has certainly been quite the eye-opening experience. So has being in DC. Luckily, as a college student at a school with a fairly spread out campus, I can handle the walking... walking everywhere. But it's great because you end up being able to eat almost whatever you want! Nom nom... Especially living near DuPont Circle means that there are endless, endless opportunities for food babies. ENDLESS. Also, P Street and Connecticut Ave are crawling with restaurants and bars. Sometimes, when my shift ends later at night, I end up walking back home amidst the masses of bar hoppers.

Either way, it has been quite a jam-packed three weeks up here. Actually, it seems as though this needs to cover 4 weeks of events. A MONTH? wow that's huge... where does the time go?

The week at home was fairly laid back. Consisting mostly of doing nothing, doing Williamsburg things, and going to driver's improvement. Yeah... driver's improvement. The longest 8 hours of your life? Yeah absolutely. Seeing as I am a repeat course taker, I can give this piece of advice: take the Budget driver improvement class with Ms. Jean. Just do it. Sooo that was a long day to say the least. Anyways, Heather and I decided to make chocolate covered strawberries. It was quite an adventure; including not having enough chocolate... combining milk and dark... burning some chocolate... having massive food babies... ah, well it was all entirely worth it.



Heather and her family went out across the river to pick fresh strawberries. This time of the summer is perfect in the SoVA area for strawberries. It was awesome, too, to see the deformed ones instead of just the obviously fake massive ones that are from the store. Yummay. We started out with just two things of chocolate but the had to expand into her mom's collection. Just wanted to eat it all... melted or not. Why is chocolate not calories free and just like fruit so that it was a staple to life? OH man. This was difficult because we had to make sure that chocolate didn't burn. Okay, let's be honest, I mostly just did the watching... "supervising" actually.
Ah, the final product. Delish.

So Sunday rolled around and my dad and I decided to go up to DC that night since I started at 7 the next morning. We were trying to catch the train in Richmond, but we get onto 199 and I realize I do not have my blazer. Well, way to go Kelly... that's only 1/3 of the outfit... Congrats. So then we decide to drive up there. We get to the Palomar (Arlington) and staying there is just always so sweet. They make you feel so important. Like you're some boss who needs every need met. Well, it also helps when your dad is Inner Circle. What is Inner Circle, you may ask? Well, as a Kimpton employee, I can tell you just what. See, Kimpton has this program called Kimpton InTouch. Honestly, I don't know why everyone doesn't sign up for the program. It doesn't cost a penny to sign up for and you get like a whole bunch of benefits. Such as free wifi (otherwise $10 a day) and then you get $10 off the minibar each visit. Also, you get points each time you stay which add up to things like free nights and other shit like that. Hey, I'm just sayin, it'd be dumb not to sign up, especially since it is free, dude. Right-o so the Palomar. It's just a dank hotel. My dad got upgraded to like one of the nicest suites in the hotel... so that didn't hurt. Below is the building, right near Rosslyn metro stop and about 100 yards from the bridge going to Georgetown.

The entrance is below a canopy thing... below is the sign.


Okay, not gonna lie. The sweetest part of the room that we had (other than that there were two rooms) was the bathroom. I mean, really, this bathroom was nicer than the master bathroom at home.
The sink just looks awesome, plus there's lost of space. The baskets on the bottom had towels and a hair dryer and a curling iron in them. The soaps and stuff that they use in the hotels is always nice, but they just make it even fancier looking in here.


And now I bring you to the bathtub. Yeah, that is what it looks like. This sweet bathtub that had jets and alllll the works to go with it. They also provided bath salts if you chose to take advantage of the spacious bathtub. It was hard to get the temperature right, though. Yeah, stepping into the bath definitely burned a bit.

As you can see, the shower was also quite nice. A full glass shower and everything. I wish I could pack up this bathroom and take it with me everywhere I go...

Another awesome thing about the room was the minibar. This wasn't specific to the room, though, like the bathroom was. Every Kimpton minibar looks like this. Let me tell you, the minibar is STOCKED. Like, really, you are set. Of course, the prices are like other minibar prices... completely outrageous. But, hey, you gotta pay the price for conveniences. Below is the full view of the refrigerator portion.




You want nice alcohol? Yeah, you can have it. Grey Goose, Bombay, and some other thing. I can't remember what it was, but I know it was not a cheap one.


Want to drink like Chelsea Handler? Totally possible. I give you the mini Belvidere bottles.




Then we come to the drawer above the mini fridge. It had the stuff that didn't need to be kept cool. Such as? Toothbrush, razor, Altoids, a city map, Static Guard, a CD of soothing music... Oh and two bottles of Maker's Mark. No big.


The kicker is this, though. An intimacy kit? Oh yes, perfect, I am so glad you provided this Kimpton. Thank you. Containing, I believe, a thing of lube, a condom, and something else I can't remember. Either way, it definitely made me chuckle when I found it.
My mother came up for two nights out of the week. One of the nights we went to the restaurant in the hotel, called Domaso. It was SO GOOD. As with the majority of the Kimpton Restaurants, the food is just outstanding. I had a mushroom linguine that was just perfect. And we had some sort of mini pizza like thing as an appetizer.

This is the view from the patio of the restaurant, which was on the 4th floor of the hotel. That is the Potomac River and Georgetown. Clearly a fine scenery to see.

The drink menu at Domaso was also of fine taste. Above is the drink I made my dad order- called the Goose Berry. The ingrediants? Yes, it is as obvious as it seems. Grey Goose and cranberry juice. From the color you would probably guess that it was heavy on the cran... but no, it was heavy on the Goose. The raspberries in the drink also tasted of alcohol, but that wasn't so bad.


Well, there is quite a list of things I must get done before tomorrow morning, so it is sign off time. There are still 2 weeks of catching up that must happen! More pictures and stories to come.


Oh... I caved and took the jump to a smartphone... WHAT UP WHITE IPHONE! Hell yeah. My baby looks so pretty... Now just to get it a case so there are no damages.

No I didn't accidentally drop it in my sushi today at dinner...

woah, woah, woah, sail it slow

Good band alter!!!! Called Cults. They're featured in a song by Guard, called Sail it Slow. Also, they have another song called Go Outside. The video is great; it has Dave Franco (yessss James's little bro-ha) and Emma Roberts. I couldn't find that video though, for some reason, it wasn't on YouTube. But there's another one that someone else made that is actually really good.

Sail it Slow - Guard ft Cults

Go Outside:





So yes, yes it has been quite a while since the previous post. Maybe 10 days? Either way, hello, again! Today is my second to last day in Williamsburg before moving to Washington, DC for my job this summer. It's a front desk job at the Hotel Madera off New Hampshire by DuPont Circle. It's really exciting but I'm super nervous about it, too. Yesterday Heather and I took a trip to Short Pump because I needed more clothes that I could wear to the job before I get the uniform. That was fun, dress pants are always nice to wear.

Sooooo let's see. What has happened in the past ten days...

Well, last Thursday, I turned 20! We went to El Charros for dinner and celebrated Cinco de Mayo as well as my birthday. Nommy Mexi food, yes??? Lee and Gabe both got margaritas, which seemed quite a bit strong. Of course, they got the ones that were giant (maybe 27 oz?). Then! Then! Then! Then Michaela and I bought these tshirts that they were selling that said something about Cinco de Mayo, like "Fiesta Time!!" or something of the sort. The best part was that they were only $6!!!! Sooo cheap yesssss. We later went to Southview and it was all a really awesome birthday. Oh!!!! Leonard gave me my birthday presents and they could not have been more perfect. He got me the Can't Love, Can't Hurt vinyl and then a stuffed Angry Birds bird.


Friday night was soooo awesome. Lee and Gabe threw a combo party for my birthday and then also because JT came back for the night! It was such a fun night. At one point, the party blew up at one point, spreading to both floors of their town home. Sadly, Jamie had to leave early :( That was really disappointing, but she had to work in the morning so she had to get home. Jamie (boy) also made a round of Diesel Rockets. It's a combo of Evan Williams, Monster, and chocolate syrup. It is actually the grossest color brown, but apparently it went down well...

Saturday morning, we all cleaned up Tank87, which really took about 2 hours. Afterwards, I could literally feel the dust in my throat. There was vacuuming, wiping, swiffering, and washing. We went through almost an entire thing of Swiffer Wet Wipes in cleaning the kitchen floor, the front tiles, and then Gabe and Lee's bathroom. Finally, around 330 or 4, it was time to go. That was really sad. Isn't it terrible saying bye to the people that you've been surrounded by for so long. But there we go... that's what summer is.

This week has been quite eventful and has flown by. Highlights: Ikea, babysitting, and driver's improvement.

Babysitting- well Addie helped me out and then I babysat from 2-4 on Tuesday and Thursday. Okay... well if babysitting isn't the best birth control ever, I don't know what is. So babies- well they're absolutely adorable right? Yeah... only like 40% of the time! The rest of the time, they are crying or pooping or peeing or eating! All making a mess. And when they cry, they can't tell you what they want. It drives you crazy! It's like you have to continually guess what it is they want from you. An ongoing guessing game that is filled with a shrieking sound that could haunt your dreams. Plus, the little girl (Russell's sister), Laura, was NOT happy that I was there when she woke up from her nap. She just kept repeating "I don't want youuuuu." Actually, on the second day, all I did was walk into her room after her nap and she just started going "noooooo, nooooooo. I don't want youuuuu." So that's a good sign right? Children obviously love me. The money was worth it though. $40 that I can now use for next weekend to come home/go to Harrisonburg. Good news is that I do not have to work on Saturday or Sunday so that means that I WILL BE ABLE TO GO TO THE AUGUSTANA CONCERT! It is almost exactly a week away and it will be the best concert ever. EVER. The plan is to get a train on Friday back to Ashland and drive from there to HBurg and then back to WBurg on either Saturday night or Sunday morning.

On Thursday, my mother and I took a day trip to Ikea to shop for furniture for the apartment in Foggy Bottom. If you have not been to Ikea then you must make a trip ASAP. It is just the coolest damn store ever. There are like a bunch of little mini rooms set up everywhere and the furniture is just so sweet. And it's not that expensive. And then you go downstairs into the warehouse and there are just tons and tons of stuff! Everything is so cheap, too! Like a set of 6 glasses that are only $5.99. And they're actually cute! I cannot wait until I have my own place to furnish so that I can just go effing crazy in there. SO MUCH FUN.
Then Thursday night, Melissa, Cory, and Andrew and I went to Hyashi. It's one of those places where they grill right in front of you. It was so yummy yummy yummy in my tummy!!!!!! And the best part is that one of the sauces they had was Yum-Yum sauce! IT WAS SO GOOD. Lee puts Yum-Yum on everything and it literally tastes good on everything. So that definitely resulted in a food baby.
So yesterday was quite an interesting day. It was Friday the 13th... which would explain why things were going so unfortunately. So Thursday I got a letter in the mail from the DMV stating that I apparently was supposed to take a Driver's Improvement Clinic by June 7th. UM WHAT THE F ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT DMV. Literally, is there a worse department in VA? Answer: NO, there is not. So that is how I spent my day... 8 whole hours of how to be a better driver. It actually was not terrible. The woman teaching the class was hilarious, so that was fairly entertaining. Also, she liked me :) Sooooo I didn't have to take the test thing at the end. Plus, I helped her do the computer work for registering all of the other people in the class... soooo guess who only had to pay $45 instead of $55? This girl. Let's go.

Wellll I am somewhat terrified now about driving. There was a boy in the class who was on his THIRD reckless driving ticket in the past 10 months. Yeah... and the last one? Yeah he was driving 125mph down I-64. Well the officer couldn't catch up to him since they aren't allowed to go over 95mph. So he got the ticket for 95mph. I wanted to punch him in the face. He literally seemed like he had no remorse or hint of taking it seriously. He also revealed that he has rear-ended a school bus at one point, too. And then he also made a comment at one point that was along the lines of "100 mph isn't that fast..." YEAH YOU'RE WRONG, YOU PSYCHOTIC IDIOT. Absolutely blew my mind. Also, there were literally like five or six people who were there for reckless driving. One girl was doing 92. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE. Oh my goodness, gracious.


Heather and I saw Something Borrowed. It actually was HILARIOUS. Seriously. We even saw it twice. Once just us and then we went again with Anna. It is so funny. The story is actually really entertaining and John Krasinski was SO SO SO FUNNY. The beach scene was so funny, I had tears in my eyes. Trailer and Clip:






The interview part is not super interesting but the part where John K does the voice is just a taste of how effing hilarious this guy is. GOODNESS.



Music? Ok.

Gold Mine- Breanne Duren



-White Panda Mash-Up: Why a G6
-Sweet Disposition (Alan Wilkes Remix)

i miss new mexico

ever fallen in love

This just came up on the shuffle on my iTunes. Forgot how good of a song it is. I love this song.

This is Pete Yorn's version and it's awesome:




This is a version by a random band called The Stiff Dylans... but I like it too........

you've got nothing left to fear, we're only here on borrowed time

Well today is the day. Just kidding tomorrow is. Today is May 4th, 2011 and it is my last day being a teenager. I'm going to be an adult... gross. Where did time go? It's amazing.

I hate finals week. It's stressful, sad, and annoying. Seriously really bummed about leaving JMU this year. Last year was exciting to leave, but this year it is a completely different story.

In a post like this (you know, blah blah blah last day of teenage years), shouldn't I be talking about something sentimental? Such as memories, or advice for the younger me, or an attempt to be wise as I watch my youth slowly fade away? OK, that was extremely melodramatic, but hey! Being twenty years old is weird. That means you've been alive for two decades. TWO OF THEM. Ten years a piece. Think about all of the things that we have seen the past ten years (let alone 20 years):

-the new millennium (you know, when the world was supposed to end, Y2K, etc)
-9/11
-The War in Iraq/The War Against Terrorism
-The release of the iPod (all 700 versions), the release of the iPad, and the shrinking size of the cell phone and then regrowth back
-We have a black president!
-Columbine/VA Tech Shooting
-Smoking is banned in restaurants
-There is a car running around that runs on battery power... wait what?
-...Michael Jackson died.
-We captured Saddam Hussein! And the hung him.
-We shot Osama bin Laden. the dirty bastard.
-and finally (of course this was a short list): Harry Potter has been transformed into movie form... ALL SEVEN TIMES. Hallelujah!

As the last few hours of teeny-bopper innocence leave me, I absolutely do not feel remorseful. Of course there are and will always be regrets that we have in our lives, but that could never let you stop and pause your life. Forrr instance- I wish I had played varsity tennis in college... but instead I played club tennis and met one of my best friends... which then led me to meeting Lee. It's crazy how different things lead to the next steps in your life. I have come to find that everything really does happen for a reason. While I don't believe that it is (S)omeone's ultimate plan... but even if things do not go the way you want them to, that doesn't mean your life is over. It just means you get to see Doors 4-100 instead of only one through three. Today, stumbleupon showed me someone's blog that listed 100 ways to Uncomplicate Your Life. I, of course, had no patience to read all of them. So here are a few that I that stuck out when I skimmed:

7. Don’t try to be friends with everyone. Cultivate closer relationships with fewer people.

9. Before getting angry, ask yourself if it will really matter in 20 years

12. Kiss and make up

21. Give away clothes that haven’t been worn in two years

25. Tell the truth

26. Don’t cheat

27. Don’t steal

50. Do the dishes right after dinner

51. Never go to sleep angry

57. Don’t envy others

86. Drink more water

90. Finish what you start

100. If a relationship is over, let it go

Now if any of us would ever really listen to these is a great question, but making them a goal is never a problem.

Oh wow look, I did end up having an insightful babble as a post. Now maybe for something a little more light hearted?

I want to play with a puppy. How much fun would that be? Not sure if I mentioned it in a previous post, or not. Either way, we can talk about it again. I already asked my mother to try to find a puppy to borrow while I am home so that I can play with it. Really, is that a lot to ask? Yes probably.

Accounting exam is tomorrow. SHOOT ME. So sick of studying for this stupid thing. Oh, well... almost over.

Oh! Remixxxxx time. Thanks to Gabe for the Phoenix cover and thanks to Teddy for the TDCC remix. Both are amazing and highly recommended.

-Phoenix: Lisztomania cover by Edwin van Cleef feat Jane Hanley

-Two Door Cinema Club: Something Good Can Work (RAC Remix)


There really is not much else to say. Except, thank you.

Thanks for listening to my ridiculous rambles whenever I feel that I am important enough to spill words into the keyboard. Thanks for being the best friends I could ever ask for. Thanks to the last 19 years for shaping me into who I am today... well I'm saying thanks, but the rest of you can decide whether you want to agree or not.

And with that, I leave you this:



ssss aaaa eeee ffff tttt yyyy

cash rules everything around me, green, get the money. dolla dolla bill ya'll

Some things that need to be posted that have yet to be posted...

First off- source of post title is this sick mashup by 5 & a Dime

I started a stumbleupon! It is absolutely the last thing needed as it is finals week... but it has opened my eyes to some of the coolest things! Mainly... this craft website... CraftGawker.com. The coolest thing ever. Jamie and I have obsessed over it already and made a list of what we will do for next year in CuBeech What is on the list so far:

1. String Chandelier
2. Paper Flowers
3. Wine Bottles
4. Door Frame Decor

And stumble has showed so many other cool sites, too! Such as:

*Sergio Mottola's blog- he's a wedding photographer but that's not why I obsess over it daily. He's absolutely genius and has the coolest composition. I would love to design my life around this style.
*Skittles Vodka- okay this just looks delicious. And even if we made it sans alcohol, then it would still be awesome because the colors are sickkk
*Just this cutest little baby wolf!
*Sweet Hotels- As a hospitality management major, how can I not fall in love with these awesome hotels???
---okay and this hotel in Jade Mountain St. Lucia is just as awesome
and finally
*This hilarious video of a dog doing the salsa...


Can I get a hurray for procrastination? Hurry. Wait I mean hurray.


Moving on- can we discuss music? Okay, cool. Well if you know me AT ALL, then you probably could skip over this recommendation because I have probably already forced you to listen to it... multiple times... hello Two Door Cinema Club!!!!!

Everything they write... everything they do... is amazing. They opened for Phoenix when Julia, Gabe, Lee, and I went about a year ago, but sadly we missed them. We listened to their music anyways and then... boom fell in loveeee <3. You would be most likely to recognize What You Know, Something Good Can Work, and Undercover Martyn. You really should just own the entire CD, but if you refuse to listen to me then you HAVE TO at least listen to these following tracks:

What You Know


Something Good Can Work


You're Not Stubbon

Come Back Home


Now for the best part of it all: Undercover Martyn. See, it is definitely one of my favorites, but this is the coolest part. Gabe and Ben were required to make a music video for one of their SMAD classes (for those who are not up to date with the JMU lingo- SMAD stands for School of Media Arts and Design... and they're awesome). This was done last winter and stars our good friend Peter in and his lovely girlfriend Stephanie. Boom!

Undercover Martyn by Two Door Cinema Club from Ben Surber on Vimeo.

Brooke showed me a cool website. Very hipster actually. It's called DayTrotter and it has a bunch of downloadable acoustic sets and also is a great place to discover new music. It's awesome. Check it out.

Okay... Accounting is calling to me again.

Just kidding. Thissss is a MUST WATCH. I love Community...



Also, have you seen the new Dip and Squeeze from Heinz Ketchup? Absolute genius. Congrats- you just beat sliced bread.

i don't know why the hours move so slow, babe, when i'm with you, i don't want to know

Well my friends, it has been a while. Sadly, the end of the year is very much upon us. Finals have begun. Luckily, I only have three actual finals and the other two are final papers. Ethics was moved to this past Thursday and CIS was just now. Then accounting... dun dun dunnnn... is next Thursday, which is also my birthday! So that sucks... but hey, at least it'll be over. Now Roommate Erin is disassembling her room so that she can return her loft bed... but it is so weird. Roommate Tiffany moved into her apartment today so her room is completely empty. That is also weird. It's not great, to be honest. It is always sad that at the end of the year you have to pack up your life again and move out of your home that you've had for the past 10 months. This won't be a problem though once we are all snuggled into Copper Beech this summer! Let's go.

The other day, I was waiting for Lee outside of ECL and this is what the sky looked like. Creepy? Absolutely. Cool? Yes, that, too.

Well, then about ten minutes after leaving ECL and arriving at Tank87, the skies opened and there was the beginning of the about three day long string of severe thunderstorms. Sadly, as everyone knows, the same storms that have taken over 220 lives in the South. Interestingly enough, tornadoes frequent my dreams. Normally they are joined with water and also in the Outer Banks. Strangely... my mom said that she had similar dreams when she was in college. She said it has to do with natural disasters and feeling overwhelmed. Or change. Or something like that. Another fun fact of my dream past is that one of the first dreams I ever remember is from when I was like 11 or 12. I always remember that it had just been a hurricane and everything was flooded around the house that we stay at in Southern Shores. Then this time last year, I had a dream that ended where that old one started off. So strange.

Onnnn a lighter note! Augustana's new CD dropped this past Tuesday!!!! HURRAH! It is absolutely perfect. Could not be better. It's a little bit of a different sound than their first albums. A little bit Bruce Springsteen-esque? Very good. Fabulous. Perfect.


While the entire CD is just amazing... here are my highlights.

1. On the Other Side



2. Hurricane



3. Just Stay Here Tonight


4.Counting The Stars


5.Shot in the Dark




The ISAT ducklings have hatched! They are absolutely adorable. It's a bit scary how the mother lets them get so close to us! Roommate Michaela said that the ducklings even came up on their own to her and Jamie. They look so soft! Wouldn't it be great to be able to pet one? Yes. It would.



There is a band from Charlottesville that was a free download about three years ago. They're called Parachute and they're graduates from UVA. Their first CD was good, but their new music is soooo much better. It has a better jazz feel instead of a pop feel. Not sure when the new CD is coming out, or if there is one, but here's what you should listen to:

1. Something to Believe In
2. Kiss Me Slowly (written by Lady Antebellum)
3. She is Love
4. Under Control

I actually just looked up their tour dates and they're gonna be in Richmond tonight. Would love to go to that, but may not be feasible. There is also a show on June 4th in Charlottesville, maybe that will work better. Though, it will be difficult since I won't have a car in DC this summer. Meh.


Well, let's recognize two great facts as of today: I successfully passed my driver's test. What? I'm 19 not 16? Oh right... stupid speeding ticket.

But even better news! As of last night- Osama bin Laden is officially dead! Hurrah! USA USA USA!

Sweet silver angels over the sea, please come down flying low for me

Happy Easter! Hip hop hippity! God Bless! All of the above!

Title of post came from Jesus was a Crossmaker (cover by Rachel Yamagata (sp?))

Easter is always a family filled holiday, full of children in pastel colored clothing fidgeting in church in anticipation of running around their yard in the hopes of finding as many eggs as possibly. Also with their parents hoping for minimal grass stains on the sear-sucker pants of their children. Since, well, forever... a group of parents has gone around the neighborhood stamping down a mixture of paint and chalk onto the pavement in the shape of bunny footprints. They go up the driveways and hop around cars and literally line the ENTIRE neighborhood in these footprints. As a child... it terrified me... I did not realize the Easter Bunny was that big. The footprints are probably a foot long, which means the Bunny is about my height. Or as a child, he would have been taller than me. Scary right? I wanted him to be a cute little baby one... not a human/rabbit combination that could bear hug me. Moving on to the better memories of Easter... As a little child I would venture to my grandparent's house in Fairfax to have an Easter egg hunt in their backyard... oh childhood. Once my Nana moved down to Williamsburg and I had aged a few years... the hunt continued but instead of eggs it just became bags of jelly beans. And the hunt carries on today... here's a bag behind a picture frame. Sneaky, I know. Nana's a stealthy one.
I'm pretty sure the current Western Culture's celebration habits of Easter are absolutely contributing to the childhood obesity that has become such an issue. For example... I have a foodbaby from candy... and I don't hate it. Ask me again in the morning and I may give you a different answer. Long run tomorrow after this weekend's eating habits! This is the final collection of loot after my Easter hunt and my parents just receiving candy. Sadly, 95% of that is mine. Jamie brought her candy from her basket with her back here and there's probably enough candy in here to give a 3rd world diabetes. No, seriously, it's scary.
Among all of the candy were two bags of gummies from Trader Joes (3 bags for Lee). These are the BEST GUMMIES EVER. Their little tummies of the animal they are shaped as have sour stuff in them. I opened this bag below and probably half of them were gone in about 30 minutes so I put them away... and hid them. Photobooth = backwards picture. Seriously, if I could marry gummies, it would be these.


As a theme of Easter and Spring... I bring you babies. No, no, no not the human kind. Those cry and drool and look like aliens. By a spring baby I mean a... PUPPY. On Saturday, (after seeing Water for Elephants... but we'll get to that later) I took a drive to Kingsmill to see Winston's new puppy corgy! Her name is Lilly and she is just the sweetest thing ever! She ran and ran that afternoon and chewed on sticks and you know, did puppy things. Absolutely presh.
So on the way out of Williamsburg today to come back to Harrisonburg, we can add another car problem that I had. My father and I stop to get gas and then I drive away, hoping to make it back around 730. Well, that was not in the plan apparently. It felt as though my car was pulling to the left a bit, but I tried to ignore it. Then it became persistent. So, driving down 199, I went over the dip right before the Longhill exit and suddenly it feels like something solid hit the ground. Okay, Kel, it's time to pull over. Sooo pull into the RecCenter and get out and sure enough... I have a flat tire. Lord knows where it came from, but hey- that's what happens. And it wasn't just like oh the air looks low... no, no... it was oh hey your hub cap is actually what is rolling on the ground. As seen below. Thank God it wasn't out on 64 and I had not made it out of Williamsburg, yet. Promptly called my daddy and he and my mother joined me in the empty WJCC parking lot. You know, it's Easter so we had to do things as a family of course. Props to my dad in this situation because I was in a dress and heels and oh also had NO clue how to change a tire! After changing said tire and then having to find the dumb key that goes on one of the lug nuts... I could make it out of Wburg. The whole trip home was a big experiment, though, to see if the untouched-in-ten-years spare tire could make it up the mountain. Que in the traffic and caffeine stop, and then we have arrival of 9 pm. Yes... I left my house at 430. Long. Ass. Evening.

On Saturday, we had a mommy-daughter date to go see Water for Elephants. It was phenomenal. What is even more phenomenal is the book Water for Elephants. If you have not read it, I HIGHLY recommend that you do. It is better than the movie and is probably one of my favorites of all time. The cinematography of the film was perfect though. It completely captured the elaborate and gaudy elements of a circus and also how the whole theme of the book is how everything is just an act and all an illusion- right down to the characters. What is missed in the movies are a lot of details, which is typical of a book turned movie. In the movie, there is a giant focus on the relationships/love triangle that exists between Jacob, Marlena, and August. In the book, the triangle is a big part- but it also discusses the other relationships that Jacob makes as a circus vet. He really becomes part of the family that is the Benzini Bros Circus. Either way, read the book and watch the movie. The post-movie discussion with my mother was interesting, because we attempted to recast the three main characters a bit. We came to the conclusion that August's character- played by Christoph Waltz- could definitely not be replaced. He played that character so on point, it was perfect. Sadly, Marlena, in my opinion, was disappointing. Played by Reese Witherspoon, she just didn't seem to be the same. Of course, Witherspoon is a great actress, but this just did not seem to be the right role for her. For one, there was a massive lack in chemistry between Jacob (RPatz) and Marlena, which was a fault. She had more chemistry with Waltz (August)! RPatz actually did a great job. He nailed the character and he as an actor was a great choice. While he did a great job, my mother made an extremely great point. If this movie had been made 10 years ago... Leonardo DiCaprio would have been the absolute PERFECT Jacob. He would have nailed it so well. While that makes a ton of sense, it was more difficult to find a better Marlena. We were thinking maybe Rachel McAdams if they made her look older. She looks too close to RPatz's age and Marlena is supposed to be an older woman. Not like Graduate type older, but definitely older than a college aged boy (Jacob).

Well Jamie and I are making an early run tomorrow, so it is about time to hit they hay. In light of Easter, though, I believe it would be a good opportunity to recommend some bands that are actually both Christian-based bands, but have become 2 of my favorite bands. As most of you know, Switchfoot is actually a Christian band. Their new CD, though, has a different sound to it. I saw them open this summer for Goo Goo Dolls and they were awesome. I actually got to meet them after, too, which was really sweet. My mom has the signed CD at home. These are my two favorites:

1. Your Love is a Song
2. Enough to Let Me Go

The second band is NeedtoBreathe. While they are a very much Christian band, they are actually one of my favorites... ever. They have a great acoustic feel and are just phenomenal in general. You should listen to everything they have, but here are a few highlights to get your starts.

1. Haley (Actually their first hit that was played on the radio. I heard it maybe my freshman year in highschool? They've been around a while.)
2. We Could Run Away
3. Shine On
4. Washed by the Water
5. Return
6. More Time (featured on PS I Love You's soundtrack)
7. Something Beautiful
8. Lay Them Down

Okay, I should stop. Can't really just pick a few. It's early bed time now... ONLY TWO DAYS UNTIL AUGY'S CD COMES OUT AHHHH

"With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not."-Water for Elephants