Travels: Knoxville Road Trip

I love to travel. Anywhere and anyway. But road trips are definitely a favorite of mine. I can’t say I have had too much experience, at least compared to my road trip Obi-Wan Kenobi, but I’ve done a few, and have been itching to take more.

I’ve taken a road trip with a group of friends, and a few with my family, and while I think everyone should take at least one road trip with a group of people (lots of laughing, story time, bonding time, and you can split up driving), there is just something about taking a long road trip by yourself.

I’m not going to lie, driving for several hours on end without much of a break, is kind of painful. But it is well worth it when you consider the fact that you get to drive through new places with new sights to see, getting lost in music you forgot you had, with just your own thoughts.

So, I decided to take advantage of this past holiday weekend and take a road trip to go visit my brother in Knoxville, TN for a few days. The drive down there is about 9-10 hours, and one I have done before, so nothing too outrageous, but still great. If you have never been there, I highly recommend it.

 

A few highlights of the trip were watching the Boomsday fireworks (which were then cut short by a small fire breaking out), seeing the orange-mania that took over the city for the season’s first football game, and simply getting to just spend time and relax with my bro for a bit.

But within my trip was another trip. While I was there, I took a mini road trip to Nashville to watch my brother race, also by myself since he had to travel with his team. However, the only thing I had to get me from Point A to Point B was Google Maps on my phone, which we all know is not always very reliable. Lucky for me though, my temperamental little helper provided me with some nice surprises.

The race was in Percy Warner Park on the outskirts of Nashville. I was a little distracted driving through what was clearly music-executive-mansion-row to realize that Percy Warner Park is huge…with many many entrances. I ended up driving all over the park; through golf courses, up a mountain, down a mountain, around horse farms, until I finally found it. At least I made some friends along the way!

 

Then, after the race was over and it was time to drive back, my phone decided it didn’t know where it was either. So, I drive along looking for the on-ramp that I need, with no clue where the heck I am, when I come over a bridge and…

Oh, hi Nashville

Seeing the entirety of the Nashville skyline, at night no less, when completely unexpected, was definitely a terrific shock. That single moment makes me want to jump back in my car and go straight to Nashville to explore the music city (stopping in Knoxville to pick up someone first of course).

Therefore, as a result of this and some past adventures, I present to you:

Road Trip Lesson #1: Do no be afraid to get lost. You will never know who (or what) you might meet and what you will find. In fact, it is highly likely that you will find some incredible things. Just ask Christopher Columbus. Or maybe not, I hear he wasn’t very nice.

And Road Trip Lesson #2: If you are in a strange city where you do not know anyone, are far away from home, by yourself, parked on a side street (bonus points if it’s called Lucky Street!), on a holiday, in the middle of winter, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, lock your keys in your car. Not that I would know…that is just a for instance.

Take a road trip, take several, solo and ensemble. Just follow my two rules!

Recipes: Summer Fruit Crisps

For the past few weekends, my mom and I have been doing some skill-swapping: she makes me my favorite summer fruit crisp, and I make her hers. Translation: we both get to eat two dishes we love while giving off the appearance of being very considerate and generous. Also, I should probably mention that, for my mom and me, “fruit crisp” is actually code for “Yes, I know this is technically a dessert but it has fruit in it so let’s just pretend it is actually a breakfast food”.

I wanted to share these recipes here since they are both pretty terrific, and I thought it may encourage someone to bake for a family member or friend. It will be the most selfless thing you do all week.

My Favorite: Nectarine Blueberry Crisp

This crisp is a perfect blend of sweetness and tartness, and verges on turning into brown sugar and fruit soup, which is probably why I love it so much.

Topping:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

Fruit Filling:

• 1 1/2 pounds nectarines
• 1 pint blueberries
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. To prepare topping: Mix the flour, sugars, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. 
3. To prepare fruit filling: Pit the nectarines and cut into 1/3 - 1/2 inch-thick slices. Toss the nectarines n a bowl with the blueberries, sugar, and flour. Pour the fruit into a 9 or 10-inch square baking dish. 
4. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit.
5. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is browned and the juices are bubbling. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

My Mom's Favorite: Fresh Peach Pinwheels

This recipe is actually more of a combination of peach crisp and peach cobbler. You get the best of both worlds with a cinnamony-biscuit topping over crisped peaches. It was my mom’s favorite recipe when she was a kid, so her mom would make it for her all the time. And now I make it for her. I’m still trying to figure out exactly how she managed to go from having her mom make this for her, directly to having her daughter make this for her, without any kind of progression in between, but I’ve been working on a Jedi mind-control theory for awhile now.

Peach Mixture:

• 3 1/2 cups sliced peaches
• 3 tablespoons minute tapioca
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon almond, or vanilla, extract

Pinwheel Mixture:

• 1 cup biscuit mix
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light cream
• 2 tablespoons softened butter

Pinwheel Filling:

• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Combine peach mixture ingredients and pour into greased 9x13" baking pan, or ungreased casserole dish. 
3. In a small bowl, combine together pinwheel mixture ingredients. Stir with fork to make a soft dough. 
4. Turn dough onto floured board and knead 10 times. Roll into 6x9" inch rectangle. 
5. Spread dough with 2 tablespoons soft butter, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. 
6. Roll dough, as for jelly roll. Cut roll into ten slices. Lay pinwheel slices on top of peach mixture and bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until pinwheels are golden brown. 

Get out there and make one (or both) of these for dessert breakfast for someone else…and yourself.

My Hurricane Survival Guide

DISCLAIMER: This survival guide should in no way replace the hurricane safety tips that are available and should be followed as the East Coast prepares for a doozie of a storm.

The purpose of this survival guide is to provide you with some tips on how to occupy your time spent sequestered indoors, and hopefully how to take your mind off the apparent end of the world (KIDDING, folks, kidding).

In the hope that a loss of power does not occur for the entire weekend, or longer (or if you are one of the lucky devils in the neighborhood near my house with underground power lines), select a few movies that you have been meaning to watch.

  

Better yet, break out a few of the classics.

   

Or catch up on some television shows that you are behind on.

Then, when you do lose power, but there is still daylight available, pick up a good book or two that you, again, have not had the t*%$ to read.

  

Or tackle that project you have been putting off for awhile. Par exemple, I plan on copying recipes into my new recipe book (yes, I’m 22, and I have my own recipe book, and I am darn proud of it), and furthering my progression on this:

You mean your first thought about the hurricane wasn't "Oh! I can knit my owl sweater!"? Mine neither.

There are lots of things you can do: organize your closet or desk, clean out all the dust bunnies, etc. I still remember my mom spending the day putting photos in albums when we were snowed-in during the Blizzard of ’96. But this time she has big plans to clean out our pantry. She’s a wild one.

Then, when nighttime comes and you are left with just flashlights and lanterns, here’s a novel idea: have a good old-fashioned chat with your family, friend, roommate, significant other, or whomever (I am also not opposed to the idea of having a heart-to-heart with yourself…just ask my car). I would also suggest playing a board game or two, but none of my board game opponents live in the same state as me. Damn you, Adulthood.

And last, but certainly not least, since many people own iPods, and most iPods have pretty good battery lives, put together a Hurricane Playlist. Or steal mine:

1. Une Année Sans Lumière – Arcade Fire
2. New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down – LCD Soundsystem
3. Wheel in the Sky – Journey
4. Shelter from the Storm – Bob Dylan
5. I Feel the Earth Move – Carole King
6. Hurricane – Something Corporate
7. Chaos – MuteMath
8. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall – Bob Dylan
9. Treading Water – Nada Surf
10. Octopuses’ Garden – The Beatles
11. Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees
12. Hurricane Drunk – Florence + The Machine
13. Buckets of Rain – Bob Dylan
14. Rainy Day – Coldplay
15. Baba O’Riley – The Who
16. A Lack of Color – Death Cab for Cutie
17. Blowin’ in the Wind – Bob Dylan
18. Stormy Weather – Ella Fitzgerald

Oh, and we’ll probably want to be in prime shape when the apocalyptic zombies attack to either run away and/or fight them off, so maybe we should try to do some kick-boxing this weekend too?

But in all seriousness, hope everyone stays safe this weekend.

See you on the other side.

A Very StarKid Post

About a year and a half ago I learned that there was a Harry Potter musical, called A Very Potter Musical, which had become a YouTube sensation. Um, a Harry Potter musical? I thought that only ever took place in my dreams?! But, *cough* I didn’t have enough time *cough*, I waited until the end of the summer in between summer studying and school to start watching it, and I instantly fell in love. Thus, another StarKid was born.

A Very Potter Musical is not your ordinary “boy is orphaned, boy lives under the stairs, boy learns he is a wizard and has to defeat the most powerful evil wizard of all time” story. This musical is bursting at the seams with humor, pop culture references, sarcasm, and geekdom (did I make that up?) galore.

Joey Richter as Ron, Darren Criss as Harry, and Bonnie Gruesen as Hermione in AVPM 

Harry is a total “bro”, Dumbledore has no problem being open about his sexuality (just ask Snape), and Draco rolls around on the floor with ambitions of going to Mars in a rocketship to attend Pigfarts. While watching, I burst out laughing so many times that my mom kept coming to check on me to make sure I was okay. You will never look at the Potter characters the same way again (anytime I watch one of the Harry Potter films, I am so darn disappointed that Draco isn’t rolling on the floor!).

Lauren Lopez as Draco Malfoy in AVPM

And if you couldn’t tell by the amount of humor and wit that is in the writing, then the songs will most certainly prove to you that these kids are damn talented! A Very Potter Musical was the brain child of a group of friends (one of whom is Darren Criss of Glee), now known as the theater company Team StarKid, during their senior year at the University of Michigan. If there is anything that can shame me into stop using “not having enough time” as an excuse for things, it is these guys. Writing words, music, and lyrics, building sets, rehearsing, and performing an entire musical on their own during, literally, their last few weeks of college? Way to make the rest of us look bad guys! Not only that, but Team Starkid continues to write and perform original shows and scores, including, A Very Potter Sequel (prequel to A Very Potter Musical), Me and My Dick, and, most recently, Starship (“Damn that G.L.E.E.! They’re always making twisted abominations of everything!”).



Team StarKid, based in Chicago, is able to continue to put on shows, primarily, as a result of the huge fan base that has grown as a result of AVPM, and which is affectionately known as “StarKids”. Honestly, I don’t think the fans would LET these guys stop writing shows even if they wanted to! Tickets for shows and events literally sell out in minutes, and Team StarKid merchandise can barely be kept in stock (although I managed to snag myself a pair of totally awesome blue StarKid sunglasses!).

I am also happy to say that I have made some small contributions to this fandom by insisting that all of my friends watch AVPM until they have now become as infatuated as I am. Proof of point: my friends and I spent the majority of our spring break at the beach quoting AVPM and rolling around talking about rocketships (and for those of you who may not know us that well…we were sober). In fact, there may, or may not, be a video of me rolling on the floor one morning in my pajamas asking for a rocketship. You will never know for sure. But, despite this success of corrupting my friends, I will not rest until I bring everyone I know down with me. And if you are reading this, that now includes you.

Joseph Walker as Prof. Umbridge in a A Very Potter Sequel

So go watch the shows on YouTube, listen to the songs on iTunes or Bandcamp, or check out their supermegafoxyawesomehot (had to throw that in somewhere) merchandise.

But if you are still unconvinced that Team StarKid is totally awesome, then take a look at all of the talent that this group has to offer in addition to their production company. Darren Criss, who plays Harry Potter and wrote the entire scores for AVPS and Starship, is the most publicly-visible member due to his shot to Glee-fame, but in addition to his Glee role, he is one swoon-worthy musician (and my kindred spirit in awkwardness). Joe Moses (an extremely loveable, yet creepy, Snape) performs one-man comedy shows in New York. Nick and Matt Lang, the chief writers for Team StarKid recently illustrated The Bully Book. Then, there is also Lauren Lopez (a.k.a. my hero), Joey Richter, Joe Walker, Dylan Saunders, and so many others, all who never cease to astonish me with their vocal and acting abilities. Sometimes I wonder if the Galactic League of Extraterrestrial Exploration discovered these guys on Talented-Beyond-Measure Planet (that’s only a few light-years away from Farm Planet) and brought them to Earth to spread the delight.

If you were completely lost by that last sentence, then go watch this.

Guess what? Now that I have some free time, I plan on watching all of the StarKid productions all over again!

If you haven’t heard from me in awhile, I either died of laughter, or I FINALLY found a rocketship and went away to Pigfarts.

Mad (Mad, I Tell You, Mad!) Men

I have only ever heard good things about the television show Mad Men. But I had never watched it, mainly because I knew that in order to start, I would have to catch up on a few seasons, and I didn’t have enough, you guessed it, time.

My brother recently began to catch up on all the episodes of Mad Men at the encouragement of his girlfriend, and they both encouraged me to take it up as well. Since the three of us share a deep obsession love for LOST, I trust their judgment when it comes to this kind of thing. But I still had the problem of trying to watch four seasons of Mad Men without having to buy them or have them clog up my Netflix queue (yeah, yeah, I know, what a terrible dilemma).

Netflix Instant to the rescue: all four seasons just became available for instant streaming. Plus, the fifth season does not begin until spring, giving me ample time to catch up.

Turns out, I don’t need all that time. I began my foray into the 1960’s Madison Avenue advertising world exactly one week ago and I already have season 1 and most of season 2 under my belt (let me just say, before you think that I am completely bonkers, that there are “only” thirteen episodes per season). I think it is safe to say that I have officially been won over by Mad Men.

It certainly is not hard to be won over by this show though. It presents a very realistic and fascinating peek into the way society functioned in the late 1950’s/early 1960’s. In their world, no one blinks an eye at a pregnant woman smoking and drinking, the men drink at work starting around noon, and it is rare for a woman to be anything other than a housewife or secretary. Yet, all of these fascinating and provocative tidbits are just on the surface. When you look deeper, you find complex, multifaceted characters.

There is no character on this show that I completely like (except for Bobby Draper…I would adopt him if I could), and no one that I completely dislike. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses about them; they are all flawed. Translation: they are all human (gasp!). I forget that I am watching actors play their roles, instead I often feel like I am spying on others’ lives. And that, my friends, is the make of great acting, on a great show.

This love-hate relationship is particularly true for the infamous Don Draper. I find myself routing for him one second, and then hating him the next. Yet, even while I am routing against him, I feel sorry for him. I think many people are a product of their upbringing and their environment, and I think this is painfully true for many of these characters, but especially for Don Draper. I’m looking forward to learning more of the intricacies of his character.

Next to Don Draper, I think the most complex and intriguing character is his wife, Betty Draper. It is the same situation of love-hate in which my heart aches for her, as she seems to be on the edge of a complete nervous breakdown, and then the next second I am deterred by her moments of shallowness.

Yet, her character is the epitome of what I love most about this show. It is a constant reminder to me to be grateful that I live in a time when it is commonplace for women to go to med school and getting married doesn’t mean that you have to stay at home and have dinner ready on the table when your husband gets home.

As much as I enjoy getting a glimpse into this world, I appreciate that I don’t actually have to live in it. Except for the clothes, I wouldn’t mind getting to wear some of those clothes.

Don't worry! After watching Mad Men, I would still pick scrubs over an apron (but I do love a good apron)!

Soundtrack: Rainy Day Playlist

I love rainy days.

Probably more than sunny days. But not more than sunsets and sunrises.


Today is another rainy day in a small string of them, so wanted to share my Rainy Day Playlist that I always listen to on days like today.

1. Rain - Priscilla Ahn
2. Stormy Weather - Ella Fitzgerald
3. Platano - Cassino
4. The Chain - Ingrid Michaelson
5. Make You Feel My Love - Adele
6. All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
7. That's All - Nat King Cole
8. Brothers on a Hotel Bed - Death Cab for Cutie
9. I'll Be Seeing You - Billie Holiday
10. Infinite Arms - Band of Horses
11. Fly Me to the Moon - Frank Sinatra
12. Save Your Scissors - City and Colour
13. Hometown Glory - Adele
14. Don't Think Twice It's Alright - Bob Dylan
15. View From Heaven - Yellowcard
16. Embraceable You - Ella Fitzgerald
17. Dream - Priscilla Ahn
18. I'll Follow the Sun - The Beatles
19. Control Freak - Copeland
20. Videotape - Radiohead

What do you listen to on a rainy day?

Websites: The Celebrity Edition

The number of webpages on the internet is staggering, and while a lot of those websites are complete rubbish, I have also found some pretty amazing (and addicting) sites during my travels through the world-wide web. And as my friend Alex can attest, I enjoy sharing my finds with others in order to spread the addiction enjoyment, so expect several of these types of posts.

Here are three of my, recently-discovered, favorite sites, all of which happen to be founded, or co-founded, by celebrities.

I have already confessed to my love of Zooey Deschanel so you can imagine that I was pretty stoked when I encountered HelloGiggles.

“Founded by actress/musician Zooey Deschanel, producer Sophia Rossi and writer/Internet Sensation Molly McAleer, hellogiggles.com is the ultimate entertainment destination for smart, independent and creative females. Everything hosted on the site will be lady-friendly, so visitors need not worry about finding the standard Boys Club content that makes many entertainment sites unappealing to so many of us.”

A website filled to the brim with articles, reviews, etc. written by many talented, funny, and intelligent women? Yes, please! Visiting this site makes me feel like I’m reading stories from all of my long-lost friends as opposed to it being “just another entertainment website”. I think that everyone can find something on here that will bring a giggle to their lips, from video-chat karaoke, to reliving all the episodes of Saved by the Bell. Heck, these kickass women can put a smile on your face even while touching on more serious issues. It’s also where I happened to discover the previously blogged about Brother/Sister. Oh, and they are all for revisiting aspects from their childhoods, which is right up my alley. So head on over to say “hello” and share in a giggle or two.

hitRECord

If you are a fan of Zooey Deschanel, then it’s kind of an unspoken rule that you also like Joseph Gordon-Levitt. And if that is not the case, then you are not human in my opinion. Plus, how can you not love a guy that would come up with something like this:

“HITRECORD.ORG is a project I started almost five years ago now, and in 2010, we evolved into a professional open collaborative production company. We create and develop art and media collaboratively here on our site. So rather than just exhibiting and admiring each other's work as isolated individuals, we gather here to collectively work on projects together. Videos, writing, photography, music, anything -- we call them all RECords.”

Since I do not consider myself to be very talented, I have not officially joined this site and collaborated, but I enjoy going on and browsing through all the different RECords. So far, my favorite things to browse are the snippets of poetry, or “mini-stories”, and then seeing the illustrations that people have suggested to go along with the text. If you do not feel like going on the site and browsing through tons of RECords, then maybe try this instead:

Let me just say that the amount and caliber of talent that is out there in the world is truly incredible and hitRECord.org is one endless web of talent and collaboration, one that you have to experience for yourself.

Am I the only person who thinks that Gwyneth Paltrow is pretty much perfection personified? Is there anything that this gorgeous, multi-talented woman CAN’T do? Because of this, if someone were to say to me: “Would you like to receive weekly advice, recipes, and suggestions from Gwyneth Paltrow?”, I would say: “Where do I sign up?”

Oh…right here!

“Goop is a newsletter that will usually come once a week. I will be sharing recipes, my personal travel notes, the advice that I get and follow, and so much more. GOOP is constantly evolving- I'm excited to have you join us.”

The topics for each newsletter consist of suggestions and thoughts on what to Make, Get, Do, Be, See, or where to Go, from how to put together the perfect cheeseboard, to ways to relieve stress.

While all past newsletters are nicely cataloged on the website for easy reference, it is nice to know that you don’t have to go looking for new information since it just shows up in your inbox! I can’t wait to try out some of these recipes and read more of her travel notes!

Hopefully, if you are reading this, you will enjoy one, two or all three of these sites. Or maybe you think I’m behind, if so, let me know what websites you think I may be missing out on.

Cheers.