Math

Question

What do you get when you add:

1 gymnastics meet

1 hour too many in the sun

2 baseball games (+1 cup of boiled peanuts)

2 family members in town

3 chapters of "Physics for Scientists and Engineers"

3 beautiful sunshiney days

70 degrees

a little bit of cleaning

a lot of extra sleep

Answer

1 really awesome and refreshing weekend

Pointless

Here are some cheesy pickup lines to brighten your day...
Let's make like a fabric softener and snuggle.
If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U and I together.
Are your legs tired, because you've been running through my mind all day long.
POOF! (What are u doing?) I'm here, where are your other two wishes?
Do you have a Bandaid? Because I just scraped my knee falling for you.
Life without you would be like a broken pencil...pointless.

Workplay

This past Thursday I had the pleasure of being serenaded by Ben Rector and Steve Moakler at Workplay.  This was my third time in less than a year to hear Ben, so it's safe to say that I'm a pretty big fan.  It doesn't get much better than a good concert and a long weekend.  {Time to hit the books.}

Note Worthy

Dear First Baptist Opelika, Thanks for officially letting me join the church and for being so welcoming as always. Dear girl scout cookies, How did you become so addicting that I was able to destroy a whole box? Dear Canon Rebel T1i, I become more obsessed with you every day... Marry me? Dear literature essay, You caused me to get way less sleep than normal. And I'm sorry I ripped you up and started over after 3 and a half pages. Dear Rooms, Thank you for being Awe-to the-some. I will miss you this weekend. Dear Mr. Updyke, You are evil. You really are. I feel sorry for your children. Not only did you poison some beautiful trees, but you killed a tradition. At least you made Bama fans look like idiots on national news. Dear Toomer's Corner, Get well soon. Football season would not be the same without you. Dear Boyfriend, Thanks for being my partner in crime for a whole year. I think we're a better team than Batman and Robin. Dear Spring Break, HURRY UP. Please and thank you.

My Valentine's Date

So for my Valentine's date I decided to cheat on Mr. Homework and go out with Mr. Crafty.

Actually, a more accurate story would be that I bought an 11*17 picture frame really cheap at WallyWorld back in August with intentions to get a poster-print picture for it.  Turns out its REALLY hard to find someplace that prints that size...  Thank goodness brown paper grocery bags are a little easier to come by. 

And just to set the record straight my real-life Valentine is already responsible for my consuming 1,850 calories of dark chocolate (per my TI-84).  For real.  

Don't worry, Mr. Homework, you know I'll always come back to you.

Be My Valentine.

Happy Valentine's Day!
Although there are many people who hate this holiday, here are some reasons I think it is awesome:
1. Cards. Whether you admit it or not, everyone loves getting cards. If you feel that you are being cheated out of your money then it's a great excuse to get crafty and make some of your own. Here are some of the ones I made..

2. Love. Valentine's Day is all about love, which reminds us that God's love is far greater than anything we are capable of and we are so lucky to be loved by Him.
3. Candy. A perfect excuse to eat lots of chocolate and not feel guilty. Sometimes your chocolate even gives you compliments like mine did...

Reason #374 why i love chocolate.

So go tell someone you love them and eat lots of candy.

Oh and P.S. make your boyfriend promise never to get you a singing-gram that serenades you in front of your entire English class. so. embarassing. But if he breaks that promise, then tell him to buy you some pretzel m&ms and Hershey kisses. It will make it all better.

Letter {to me}

Dear Brad Paisley,

Boy, do you know how to entertain.  I've been to a few concerts in my day, and you've really outdone yourself.  Props on your opening acts: Jerrod Niemann and Darius Rucker were superb.  And your band.  Woah.  My personal favs were the backup singers with their tight harmonies, steel guitar player, and fiddler.

All.  So.  Perfect.

A few questions:

How do you manage to sing with perfect pitch AND play lead guitar?  I mean SHREAD lead guitar.  I can't touch you on either.

How do you get your music videos that play while you jam to coincide PERFECTLY with every beat?

How did you get a last name like Paisley?  It just screams, "Hey, I'm gonna grow up and rock the country music world."

How do you run all over the stage, waving at fans, singing, and playing your guitar all without falling?  Oh wait...

Thanks for being so patriotic.  You never fail to salute the red, white, and blue.

Thanks for honoring the country stars of yesteryear.

Thanks for playing "Dixieland Delight" two years in a row.  And laughing at our football traditions.

Thanks for playing an acoustic set a little bit closer to my seat.

Thanks for coming to Birmingham again after just 12 months.  Please come back soon.

So stay classy, Brad.  And God bless America.

Sincerely,
 
Caroline

P.S.  April 19th can't get here fast enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More awesome pictures of the awesome concert by my awesome roommate.

Sweat pants kind of week

This past week has been super cold, filled with way too much school, and not enough sunshine. Those three things create a very unmotivated and frustrated college student. Despite the past week of awful weather and dreaded classes, Friday night made it all better. Two words. Brad Paisley.
I'm sure Caroline will also fill you in on the awesomeness of the concert, so I'll keep it short and sweet.
Jerrod Niemann + Darius Rucker + Brad Paisley= Best. concert. ever.

The Upcoming "Holiday"

I've always thought that Valentine's Day was a really dumb holiday.  And I still do, but I've just accepted that Valentine's is just one of those "just for fun" holidays.  AKA another ploy to make Americans spend money.  Yeah, there's the story of St. Valentine and all that, but it's all a little bit too irrelevant for my taste.  {Aside-- If we got out of class for Valentine's Day I might be more appreciative...  Like back in high school when Columbus got us TWO days off.  Go Columbus!!}

So here's my attempt at a Valentine's Day card.  Happy V-Day!

Photo Inspiration

So I got sucked into the black hole of the internet the other night (as I often do) and stumbled upon this site. The photographer in me then went on to look through every single picture. Needless to say, I'm officially a fan of Vivian Maier. This is what is written on the website that is dedicated to her:

"THIS WAS CREATED IN DEDICATION TO THE PHOTOGRAPHER VIVIAN MAIER, A STREET PHOTOGRAPHER FROM THE 1950S - 1990S. VIVIAN'S WORK WAS DISCOVERED AT AN AUCTION HERE IN CHICAGO WHERE SHE RESIDED MOST OF HER LIFE. HER DISCOVERED WORK INCLUDES OVER 100,000 MOSTLY MEDIUM FORMAT NEGATIVES, THOUSANDS OF PRINTS, AND COUNTLESS UNDEVELOPED ROLLS OF FILM." 

These are some of my favorites which can be found on her website...

Ok, i seriously love all of them so i won't post them all here. Thank you, John Maloof, for discovering her work. 

Lazy Days and Cookies

I spy 2 Auburn gnomes, Yoshi & Princess Peach

While I normally find myself buying the break&bake cookies for lack of time and effort, I decided to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch to eat during the super bowl. So on Saturday, I bought everything the recipe called for and headed to Kevin's apartment since  the dorm lacks an oven. After making these delicious cookies, we finished the day by playing some N64(You're talking to the reigning Mario Kart battle champion. Go Toad!) and watching The Social Network (which was surprisingly good). Anyways, here's the recipe in case you get in the mood to bake...

Basically the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

Ingredients:

1 cup butter flavored Crisco (comes in packs of 3)

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs (room temperature)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups flour

1 12 oz pkg of semi-sweet chocolate chips (sometimes I only use 80% of the bag)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°

1. In a large bowl with a wooden spoon (no hand mixers allowed), cream together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. This can take about 3-4 min to do).

2. Stir in the eggs.

3. Add & mix well the vanilla, baking soda, and salt.

4. Add & mix in the flour.

5. Stir in chocolate chips (I usually use a little less than one bag)

Form large spoonfuls (about the size of a golf ball) onto an ungreased (light, not dark colored) cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 min. 

Barton Hollow

So.  Luckily for my media-bubblish self, I have lots of culturally savvy friends who are always stumbling upon new and edgy music. 

A little over a year ago, I was introduced to The Civil Wars.  They're a relatively new duo, but their music is catchy, raw, beautiful, honest, and relevant, unfortunately rare qualities in our increasingly dubbed and synthesized music industry.  They've had an EP out for a while, and a free live album (you have to scroll down a bit to find it) download available from their website.  So you have absolutely no excuse not to have a bit of them in your life.

Here's what Joy Williams (the female singer and co-author) wrote about their song breakout ballad "Poison and Wine" (featured on Grey's Anatomy last year):

"Poison & Wine is a musical snapshot about the dichotomy of love - that while it can be the thing that destroys you, it can also be the very same thing that beckons and builds you. JP and I are both married have been for several years now - and we got to talking one day about what a tug and pull our individual relationships can be. The longer you know someone - and the longer you allow someone to know you - the more the light and shadows inside each person become more vivid. This song was our attempt at being as brutally honest about the dangerous and beautiful process of knowing and being known."

I actually got to hear The Civil Wars last September in Waverly, AL (and they're coming again in March!  yes!).  Their striking harmony of melodies struck me as almost bittersweet but still effortless.  Like many things reproduced or copied, their recordings only give you a hint of the depth that is their music.  Well worth the 10 bucks and the 20 minute drive.

Anyway, their popularity has exploded over the past year, and they're quickly breaking into the mainstream music industry.  They released their first full length album, "Barton Hollow" on February 1st, and were featured on the Tonight Show last month.  The title track is featured as the free single of the week on iTunes, AND the album is currently number one on iTunes.  Cool.

Favorite Things (cont.)

I will let these pictures speak for themselves.

Handwritten

{just click on the image to make it bigger if it's too small to read}