Happy New Year!

Christmas came and went, and I did not blog. 

Why? 

I had a lovely dental emergency involving a root canal.
I'm still in the midst of it all. 

I'll save the gory details for an in person conversation if you're into that sort of stuff.
But just FYI people, I got an abscessed tooth because of childhood trauma to my tooth NOT because I don't brush my pearly whites.
Thanks. 

2010 has been such a mixture for me! The first half was...sucky but luckily I am finishing out the year on a high note! Oh I am so thankful for that. 

Tonight I am spending New Years Eve with some of my favorite people and I cannot wait! 

Here are a few of my favorite things at the moment.

 

I am currently burning this candle as I type this and it is so lovely! My dear friend Lauren bought it first and I just copied her but if you love the smell of the store Anthropologie, then this is your candle!

Ok, so this was also a purchase inspired by my friend Lauren. This is a Lily Pulitzer iPhone case and I love the design and the fact that I can actually grip my phone.   

 

Sometimes, a burger and fries is necessary. My family has been raving about this place for awhile and I finally tried it this week. It's called "Maple & Motor" and the food is delicious. If you're a tater-tot kinda person (which I am) then this is a great spot to get them. They also serve Dublin Dr.Pepper (made from cane sugar) out of their soda fountain and that alone won me over!

If you're curious, here is what the food looks like: 

 

My mouth is watering. 

Today I had an afternoon of shopping and chatting with Lauren and relaxing until the festivities tonight! It has been a much needed day. 

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and safe New Year! 

-Erin

The Holidays Are Here.

 

Looking gross and eating homemade BBQ in my PJ's- all is right in the world. 

Now I Can Breathe.

First, in regard to my last post...what was I on? Seriously that post is wacky. I'll blame it on 'finals brain" 

Finals are over! It feels strange to relax after being studying for the past two weeks. 

Now I just have to watch and see how my grades pan out! (Big Man upstairs...you're my only hope for Math 141) 

I'm so over talking about finals and school so I thought I'd share some of my favorite movie trailers.  

I can't wait to see all of these films! 

I lied.

Remember when I said that I wasn't gonna post until finals were over? 

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So not true. 

Why? 

Because I am so stressed and burnt out that I would much rather type something fun and lighthearted than type about how fat-blockers can make your poop oily (thanks nutrition 202!). 

I have this weird "thing" I'm working on.

But I hope I'm not the only one who does this. 

When I am working out, I over-think about what channel my TV is on. 

I dunno, I just don't like that other people can see what I am watching. Like, this morning for instance, I saw that "16 & Pregnant" was on MTV but I didn't want to watch it while working out even though I know others "secretly" watch it too. 

I have become better about this though. Now, when I work out in the mornings, I turn on "The View" at full volume so I can hear it while working out, even though there are usually 10 guys "lifting" in the room with me. I think this was a bigger issue when I was a couple of years younger because I didn't want people to judge me. 

 I am slowly entering my "I'm an adult, who cares what they think" phase and leaving behind my teen angst-ey "ugh. everyone will think I'm so weird" phase. 

And this pleases me. 

Moral of my story? Watch whatever the heck you want while you work out because if you're like me, it is the only thing that keeps you from leaving your workout after the first five minutes.  

Or, if this post makes no sense to you then....go about your business as usual and forget I ever admitted this... 

* could I have used any more quotation marks in this post?*

Takin' A Break

This will be my last post for about 2 weeks cause... 

IT'S ALMOST FINALS WEEK YALL. 

Gross. 

Never ask me for study tips during finals because this is what usually happens to me:

- I forget to eat
- I forget to sleep 

- I forget to shower
- I forget to change clothes

- I forget what day it is 

- I forget to leave my room 

- I forget that crying while studying for math 141 will just make my notes wet.
- I forget my mom will read this and be horrified.

- I tell myself "next semester I'll do better"...every semester 

Alas, I don't want to leave you all (Hi Mom, Travis AND SARAH!) on a sour note. 

So here are some things I am looking forward too! 

- Going to Starbucks in Highland Park Village under the lights  

- Getting my camera 

- Hugging my mom 

- Holding my puppy 

- Having a kitchen 

- Getting my camera 

- Seeing friends and family 

- Being able to go to a real mall 

- Driving around looking at christmas lights 

- NOT HAVING TO DO SCHOOL WORK 

oh and 

Getting my camera :)  

Here is a kitty cat for your viewing pleasure.  

P.S I'm lovin' my Christmas-ey lookin' blog, wahoo!

Happy Hannukah and Merry Finals week. 

Musings from this week...so far.

- Today, the girl standing behind me at Starbucks had a stopped up nose. Every time she would sniffle, it sounded like her nose was farting. Stop. It. 

- An ear infection in both ears sucks

- My left eardrum ruptured on Tuesday morning at 3:45 AM. Drainage occurred. It was just glorious.

- A lot of things happened this week regarding my ears. The doctor at the health clinic asked if I could even hear.  

- Due to such activity in my eardrums, I have a developed a fear of going deaf (seriously though)  

- I have gone to bed around 5 AM 2 nights this week, and 4AM one night, me sleepy. 

- I've decided that my room reflects my stress level. When I am stressed, my room is a MESS, I feel for the ladies who clean my room, sorry :/ 

- I want Mexican food, BAD 

- Can't wait till exams are done but it's bad I'm already feeling this way because they haven't even started.

This Shall Be Mine.

Some may not know, but I am very interested in photography and film. I used to take alot more pictures when I was in high school and I was also in video tech at that time. I have always wanted to continue those hobbies but never had anything to supplement my ideas (an SLR camera).

I have been asking for one of these for years.

This shall be mine oh so soon. 

 

Some may call me obsessed and you know what I say to that? Yes. I am. 

Not only does this camera take incredible pictures but it also has HD video recording, so I am getting two dream gadgets in one. 

Here is some sample footage, the picture quality is unreal. 

 

Be sure to go to the bottom right corner where it says 360p and change it to one of the HD settings, ya know, for full effect.  

Can't wait to hang out with my camera this Christmas break! (could I get any more dorky?)

Happy Videos for a Happy Day

Just try and watch this one without getting goosebumps... 

and try to watch this video without tearing up or feeling warm fuzzies in your heart... 

I originally titled this post "Happy Videos for a Happy Friday"

Then I realized it's Tuesday, this Thanksgiving Break is messin' with my head! 

Have a Happy Day!

Unexpected Suprise.

This morning I volunteered at a local organization. 

I was required to volunteer for an hour and let me just be honest...I was not a happy camper this morning having to wake up early and do goodness knows what. 

However, when I got there I was assigned to help adults in a G.E.D class. I had no idea what I was in for. I was just hoping that there wouldn't be anything too difficult. When I entered the classroom,there were some adults taking tests, some just practicing how to write and do math problems. A young woman waved me over who needed help with math. 

Crap. 

I suck at math. 

When I sat down though, I saw she was working on measurements...yes, as in inches to centimeters, yards to meters etc. This young woman has never done math before in her life, let alone used a ruler. To think that I learned that kind of stuff at such a young age and this woman had never learned it was..well..appalling. 

 I'm no professional teacher and I honestly felt a bit uncomfortable telling someone older than me what to do. She wasn't allowed to use a calculator so I just watched her write out the problems and then checked her math. She told me about how she is expecting her 2nd child, a girl, we talked about how both our dads are the "strict ones" in our family and how annoying long division is. 

It took us an hour and a half for 12 problems. Kinda makes you thankful that you can read this post and use a measuring device, huh? 

After we were finished, the class instructor walked me out and thanked me for my help, he then said he usually has a bit of trouble working with the woman I helped because she gets frustrated at his explanations.

 Maybe she was just nicer to me because I was a stranger but I'd like to think I helped her in a different way than her usual instructor. This is easy to connect to Thanksgiving because it's just around the corner. I am so thankful that I can read,write and count. But I am also sad that there are people who live in a different world than me but in reality are only miles away. 

Ok, I'm stepping of my soapbox. Just a little story to make you think.

Lessons From the Past Few Weeks.

1) The t-shirt you are wearing can also serve as a napkin. 

2) Invest in a plunger if you have your own bathroom. 

3) Jamba Juice smoothies go bad...very, very quickly. 

4) Sneakers do not go with khaki's. (frat guys beware) 

5)  If you feel you are a bad luck charm for an intramural team, do not attend games. 

6) When Facebook stalking, do not accidently "like" anything on that persons profile. 

7) *See Lesson 2*

Now ponder on these things... 

And 

Have a Happy Weekend.

Honeycake.

This recipe is very special to me. 

It was one of the first things I baked (mostly) by myself when I was a little younger. Also, it is a cake that is supposed to be made during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. I am not the most devout Jew in the bunch but this was my contribution. Sadly, I haven't made it in years but I hope whoever reads this blog might try it! It is so delicious and is perfect for a snack, dessert, even breakfast! I could (I have) eat my body weight in this cake, it just tastes like fall.

Majestic and Moist New Years Honey Cake 


3 1/2 cups flour 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
4 teaspoons cinnamon 
1/2 teaspoon cloves 
1/2 teaspoon allspice 
1 cup oil 
1 cup honey 
1 1/2 cups sugar 
1/2 cup brown sugar 
3 eggs 
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 cup strong tea 
3/4 cup orange 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the 10-inch tube pan and line the bottom with lightly greased parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Add the oil, honey, sugars, eggs, vanilla, tea and orange juice. On slow speed, combine the ingredients well and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place the cake pan on two baking sheets stacked together and bake until the cake springs back when you touch it gently in the center. Bake for 60-70 minutes. Let the cake stand for 15 minutes before removing from pan. Then revert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

*Recipe from Jeanne Zamutt*  

Note: I don't think I have ever done the whole "stack two baking sheets" thing and it turns out fine. The cool thing about this cake is that you can cook it in one big pan, in bread loaf pans, as muffins, whatever really, just monitor the cake because the cooking time will be different.

What's in a name?

In terms of this blog...nothing. 

I can't think of a more creative name so I am calling it "Bloggy Woggy" for now. 

Why? 

You see, Russell Brand wrote a book, it's called "Booky Wooky". Then he wrote another book that's called "Booky Wooky 2". Well, I just think that's funny!  Hence, "Bloggy Woggy"...a better name will come soon hopefully. 

Speaking of books, this is what I'm reading now:   

I know I am behind on the times here but wow, I've already read six chapters after getting it yesterday. 

In other news, as I was walking off the bus today, the doors shut on me, squeezing my shoulders toward each other. I made a really strange "OH" sound and then I was released. Also, a random lady walked up to me today and gave me a compliment on the shirt I was wearing, my self esteem ballon was inflated accordingly. 

Thanks lady!  

I made this blog for fun and hopefully it turns out to be slightly entertaining. some people my age write blogs and honestly, I don't like a lot of them. Too much information, too much personal drama just...too much! I hope to not bore the few people that read this (HI MOM!) but I also hope to offer some sort of positivity and humor to my day and yours by seeing what the blogging world has to offer. 

What this Blog will not be.

There is one thing for certain.  

This blog will not be full of rants. It will also not be full of deep (boring) discussions about my personal life. If that is the kind of blog you like (barf)... 

Sorry.