Recap of a road trip

About a month ago, I decided to finally bite the bullet and drive a pretty lengthy distance by myself to see my sister for her birthday. She goes to school in Albany, and I've barely driven into Brooklyn alone, so the 3.5 hour trip seemed pretty intimidating. But with the help of a global positioning system, Cat Power, and Starbucks I arrived to my destination safely, in one piece, with a great sense of accomplishment! I even drove over my first bridge!

Action shot.

It was really great to spend time with my sister during her school year when I wouldn't normally get a chance to see her. I love her more than anything. When we had some downtime, I took a solo walk around Albany which was really nice. Her house and her housemates were all so cute and they threw a really fun cowboys and indians themed birthday party. Bombers Burrito Bar lived up to the hype and we split a gigantic margarita that cost nothing! I've been so ridiculously lazy about uploading and editing my photos, but here are a few from my phone from that weekend.

Victoria Michelle :) my angel wings

Here I ordered baja fish tacos.. delicious. I've been craving more ever since.

Nobody is more beautiful to me.

This.. is definitely college.

One of these days, all of my recent photography will make it's way onto my photo blog. But until then, I hope these squares suffice. xo!

Fall Festivities!

I have been seriously slacking.

The end of summer was pretty uneventful, however. I was right smack in the middle of a big transition, or a few transitions rather. But here I am, new job, positive outlook, and ready for fall. A friend of mine recently compared me to the ever changing season, and though some might think that sounds unstable, it's not. It's great. Every year around this time I can really mark my growth and I see more improvements through slightly more constructive behavior. Things are good. I am happy, really and truly. Das it.

Last weekend, Andrew and I along with a few friends went to the Long Island Fall Festival. I've gone every year for the last five. It's definitely an indication of summer's end, and it's a lot of fun. Festival food, rides, and craft vendors (that SADLY, I did not get to browse this year, since we went on Friday night before they arrived. But it's cool.)

Lauren, whose wedding is so soon and I'm so excited about it!
Babe.
Mozzarepa? So much yes.
(I don't even care that the Gothamist article decided to add "copious amounts of fat" to the ingredients. Shit's delicious.)
Fall favorite!

Matt!
Some friends we made while walking around the park.
So, autumn is officially here.
What are some of your fall traditions?
More of mine to come. (Note: Very craft heavy!)

What I ate

I can't resist chocolate chip cookies. Or any cookies, really. With a tall glass of milk, it's just the most perfect night time snack.

After a particularly blah day, I treated myself to sushi for one. I deserved it, and I felt super great afterward because I wasn't embarrassed or anxious to be eating by myself. I went to Hoshi in Stony Brook and ordered a crunchy spicy tuna roll and a Philadelphia roll. Both delicious, though next time I'm going to think outside of the bento box and order something completely new to me. Gotta keep expanding those horizons.
Because Andrew and I live together, and he's a star employee at the Whole Foods in our neck of the woods, I get a discount card! I went on a mini shopping trip the other night for some coconut oil and pumpkin seeds and such. Saw these babies sitting on the very top shelf of their section and brought them down to my cart. Fall is fast approaching, and I think these bars might become my healthy alternative to all of the pies and pumpkin cream cheese muffins and pumpkin breads that are going to start making their way to coffee shops (that is not to say that I won't be sampling all of those treats.. pumpkin time is the most wonderful time of the year). Delicious.
Another Whole Foods treasure is Guayaki yerba maté. I've been weaning myself off of caffeine, but yerba maté contains a naturally occurring, "clean" caffeine, so I figured it'd be okay to cheat a little bit with this. The bottled kind wakes me up, but for some reason these cans make me feel euphoric for at least an hour. Weird? Maybe. Awesome? Yes.

Okay check this out:
- 365 brand Oats & Flax instant oatmeal
- Fresh cut strawberries
- 1/2 tbsp. coconut oil
- Sliced almonds
- Sunflower kernels

I brought all of the ingredients to work with me and mixed em up at lunch. Definitely fueled me with enough energy to make it through the rest of the work day and then some. Super food!

I've found myself making open face tomato sandwiches for the past few days. I did this all the time when I was a kid because of Harriet the Spy. She really opened my eyes to a lot, but especially this great simple snack.

A really nerdy post about a concert I went to:

I'll keep this short, but sweet, because I promised. Last weekend, I took full advantage of the opportunity to see one of my most favorite bands EVER for the first and last time ever. The Movielife was a Long Island based band that got kinda big and were signed to Drive Thru records in the late 90's-early 00's. This was the band that helped me "find my place". I had a Texan pen pal that I met on a message board in middle school (me and the internet are like this). Once she sent me this really perfect mixtape (that I still have the case/handwritten track listing to. the actual tape is gone forever and it still hurts when I think about it). On it were songs by Alkaline Trio, Recover, Jimmy Eat World, The Mr. T Experience, Saves The Day, just so many bands that shaped me.. and The Movielife. And a Movielife sticker! Fast forward to winter of my freshman year when I fell for a boy with bleached hair and a Movielife hoodie. Get the idea that the band was basically the soundtrack to my late adolescence. FAST FORWARD THROUGH THE REST OF THAT, the band was supposed to play walking distance from my house in 2003 and then they BROKE UP and my admission fee was refunded and my heart was broken. Side projects were made, and I got my Movielife experience vicariously through seeing those bands live, but.. never really got over it. Until now, because a month or so ago the band announced an absolute FINAL show (they played Bamboozle, but unless you're 16 or an alcoholic or a roadie, those kinds of festivals are pretty lackluster), and to wrap this all up: I bought tickets and I went and I saw them and my heart and stomach did flips as I sang along to every song and had the most fun ever. AND BRAND NEW WAS THE SUPRISE OPENING ACT. And here are some pictures. Hope you enjoyed my story. Share your story of your favorite band experiences, if you want. I'd really appreciate them!

Brand New can do no wrong in my eyes. As The Movielife was the band of my teen years, Brand New has been a band of my teens AND twenties and they get better with every album, as well as every time I've had the opportunity to watch them perform.
It was so much fun to watch over an entire crowd of people who were just as psyched, and who it was probably just as meaningful for as it was for me.
Thus finally concludes a huge chapter in my life.
Or at least the footnotes.

That thing you do

I've been working on this scarf for my sister. I'm going to bring it up with me to Albany for her birthday. Hopefully she doesn't read my blog. She barely uses the internet (which is something I can't wrap my head around. A nearly 21 year old girl in 2011 who hates the internet? She's also way more productive than me in other aspects, so more power to her.)

The other day, I had some sort of revelation. I've wanted to start focusing on a craft that I can share with whoever's interested. Crocheting is awesome, and I love to do it, but it's very time consuming and I have to plan gifts about a month in advance. With autumn upon us, I started to think of what I could do with my favorite thing (leaves), and then I realized - hair accesories! Went out to the store that day to buy a hot glue gun, ribbon, and bunches of artificial foliage. Right now I'm experimenting with materials, but hopefully if I work hard enough at it I'll come up with a "product" I'm super duper proud of. I've given three of my starter clips away so far, and the recipients seemed pretty stoked. So, this is something I'm pretty excited about.

Just some yummy brownies I made the other day for Andrew and I.

Last night, something wonderful happened. But I'll have to leave you in suspense, until next time, because I'm hungry and it's time for me to prepare some pre-hurricane Irene meals. Everyone please stay safe and dry! xo