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}