REgina SPEKTor

i saw her the other night.
at the greek theater.
not only did i just see her, i heard her sing.
i cried during the dolphin song and during "us"
i wanted to cry a number of other times, but those were due to the tone deaf male behind me.
no one should sing out loud at a regina concert. you cannot duplicate her voice. especially if you are a boy. no chance. so uhhh, shut the eff up. when the rest of the venue is quiet and listening to regina's voice float above the crowd and up into the stars, you shut your mouth. ugh. screw you.

anyway.
regina is incredible live. she blew me away. i know i love her records, and i figured she'd be pretty good live, but she could not have been more spot on. she was practically flawless, her pitch was incredible, and she had such grace. her poofy white dress with oversized black bow helped, too. when she began receiving marriage proposals from the males in the house, she just giggled bashfully. when the wind blew her hair in front of her face [it was hella cold. i wore a scarf and hat and jacket. what??] while she was singing and playing piano, she smiled and laughed and went with it. she spoke endlessly of her happiness and how much she loved doing what she was doing.

what a dame.

first blush

the color i just painted my nails.

flashback [for kristina]

in case you forgot what 92.7/96.9 WRRV played during our junior and senior years, i've compiled a list for you [i love when work entails researching music from 2001 and 2002].
you can add these to the bus garage mix.

was going to email you, but thought i'd make it public so i always know where to find it..

Default - Wasting My Time
Goo Goo Dolls - Here Is Gone
The Calling - Wherever You Will Go
The Strokes - Someday
Outkast - The Whole World
Sheryl Crow - Soak Up the Sun
Jimmy Eat World - The Middle
Matchbox Twenty - Mad Season
Aerosmith - Jaded
Eve 6 - Here's to the Night (I took video of Jr. prom and put it to this song. who was i?)
Fuel - Hemorrhage
Shaggy - It Wasn't Me



eh, and just in case you don't follow my blog as religiously as i do yours [you do], i think i'll email it to you anyways.

love you.

7 things.

i'm not particularly fond of like miley cyrus.
but every time i watch this video, i change my mind about her for 3 minutes and 40 seconds.

my friend danny

danny wrote this song.
matt produced it.
it was turned into a video for a show danny is working on.
it is amazing.
please show to everyone you know and make these kids stahs!

praying mantis on the floor

have you ever seen a praying mantis??
they are AMAZING!!!

"mono's got a praying mantis!" exclaimed chris from the dining room.
matt and i went sprinting in, horrified at what we might find.
the little guy didn't look too hot, and mono was batting him around the floor. i grabbed the cat and chris threw him outside.

we sat on the floor and watched the praying mantis [let's call him pete] as he struggled to regain himself. his wings were up, and he looked a little tattered. it was the same one matt had seen out his window the other day. he wasn't walking, wasn't moving much at all, really, except for his head, which would turn and study each of us whenever we made a move. matt got up and left the room at one point and pete's head immediately twisted around and watched him walk out the room. i swear this thing was making eye contact with me. it was unbelievable.

anyway. long story short, pete slowly seemed to collect himself. his wings settled back in, he took some small steps forward, and soon climbed up on the table leg and settled in. he was rocking back and forth and while we thought he was just woozy from his near-death experience, it turns out that pete's kind always do that. they move from side to side when they are in a tree to disguise themselves as a leaf blowing in the wind! ah! brilliant!!
you can read about all of the AMAZING praying mantis facts HERE. they are truly amazing animals. they seem to be above and beyond any other insect. i feel very grateful to have seen one of these alien creatures and to have been able to get so gosh darn close!

anyhow - we kept the cats outside and let pete hang by himself for a bit. when we went to collect him to bring him back outside, we saw that he was gone. worried that he could be in any of a million places in the house, we were relieved when he popped down from under the table. we gently pushed him into a box and put the box in the tree that he hailed from. i assume from there he found his way home.

keep your eyes out for these suckers. yes, it has taken me 24 years to see one with my own eyes, but they are out there. and they are incredible.

heart of india

i just went on an extended lunch date with matt.
we went to our favorite indian restaurant.
heart of india cafe.
we are regulars. and it feels good.
my tummy right now, on the other hand, does not.
i don't feel sick, by any means, just stuffed like a thanksgiving turkey.
i have to crack my back but i can't turn around to crack it because my stomach is too full.

anyway.
if you are ever in the los angeles area, please support this amazing restaurant.
their lunch buffet ($8.99) is out of this world, and their entrees are 2 meals in one. and so good. and if you drink beer, make sure and order a Yeti. it is delicious.
oh, and make sure and get raita with your meal. it is a yogurt/cucumber/mint dressing that you put on top of all your food. it is amazing.

sunny and sehti will take very good care of you.
tell them we sent you.

4523 Sepulveda Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

be nice to me, i gave blood today!

that's what the heart-shaped sticker on my shirt says.
the other sticker is a large circle with the words 'i make a difference' with my name in the middle.
and my bandage is bright pink.
michelle informed me that pretty soon they will be switching to only red bandages. i told her that was a shame. the pinks and purples are what make it fun. she agreed.
we chatted about hiking, cross-country trips, europe, and autumn on the east coast. she was easily the friendliest blood drive technician i've ever had. check plus plus for michelle!
anyhow.
my arm is feeling pretty good. my body is feeling pretty good. the post-donation oreos and cheese nips certainly helped. it's why i go.
well, that and, it's nice to think i'm saving someone's life.

spumante

we decided tonight that spumante sounds like a dirty word.

but despite this decision, i still drank an entire bottle.
i had an incredibly productive [long] day at work and was feeling celebratory [what a great feeling, to be in an extraordinary mood after getting out of work an hour and a half late on a monday!]. plus, i needed something to wash down my impromptu in n out burger.

on my to-do list for what little is left of this evening:
consume a jar of water.
crossword.
bed.

and then i made pie

my afternoon wasn't as exciting as i thought a sunday afternoon would be.
so matt suggested i bake something.
i had, after all, had an excellent morning baking banana bread. so why not bake more? it is the one thing that is sure to cheer me up no matter what.

i just baked an apple pie last week, so i wanted to mix it up.
we decided on strawberry rhubarb. mmm.
but after visits and phone calls to 3 different stores, no one had fresh rhubarb. ugh.
standing by the strawberries, i noticed how particularly tasty the blackberries looked.
thinking about what might complement the blackberries best, i settled on peaches. i grabbed what the scale said to be 1 3/4 pounds of peaches (just under $4). upon arriving at the register, thrilled at the number of peaches i had procured for such a small amount of cash, i saw my total just eek past $20. confused, i looked at my total peach price. $7.42 for 3.43 lbs.
??
i told the woman at the register that their scales in the produce department were wrong. i ended up purchasing double the amount of peaches i had thought! i don't have this kind of money! she said she would mention it to their produce manager. she'd better. i will be back.

anyhow. upon completing our quick pizza dinner, i got to work.
boy, it's amazing how quickly baking to the avett brothers calms me down. i'm lucky i live with 3 hungry boys who keep me from getting fatter than i otherwise would.

so here's the whole point of this post.
[i have yet to taste it. it is still in the oven. i will update immediately if i discover this creation is inedible.]

blackberry peach crumb pie

filling:
8 sm-med peaches
1 c blackberries
1/2 - 3/4 c sugar
2 1/2 T cornstarch
dash of cinnamon

crumb topping:
1 c oats
1/2 c packed brown sugar
6 T flour
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
8 T butter, softened a tiny bit and cut into pieces

-Preheat the oven to 400
-Peel, pit, and slice the peaches. Halve the blackberries. In a large bowl, combine fruits, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Gently mix together and put to the side.
-In another bowl, combine all of the topping ingredients and mash together with your fingers. [the best part!]
-Someday I will take the time to make my own pie dough. Tonight, I use Pillsbury pre-made roll-up dough. [I've had wonderful luck with this, time and time again]
-Pour fruits [and some of the juices] into pie dish.



-Crumble your topping on top of the fruit, so as to cover it completely.
-Place the pie dish on a lipped-cookie sheet [the juices are gonna pour] and place in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes, then lower to 350 and bake for another 20 minutes until crumb topping is golden brown.
-Take out, cool, and eat!!



edit: delicious.
a bit on the soupy side - maybe a bit more cornstarch? less fruit juices?
still more than edible, still absolutely tasty.
make it!



[also, i know iphone photos in low light are not the best way to sell your food..but trust me on this one.]

nana's 'nana bread

it's a banana bread kind o' sunday morning.
so i made some.
and thought i would share with you the recipe [if i already have, i apologize]



nana's 'nana bread

5 T butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c mashed bananas
1 3/4 c flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 c heavy cream
1/3 c chopped walnuts [or more, if you love nuts as much as i do.. :)]

-Preheat oven to 350.
-Beat butter
-Add sugars. Beat.
-Add egg, whites, and vanilla. Beat.
-Add banana. Beat 30 seconds.
-Combine flour, baking soda/powder, salt in a separate bowl.
-Add to butter alternately with heavy cream, ending with flour mixture.
-Pour into greased 9x5x3 bread pan.
-Bake for about 1 hr 15 min.
-Take out, move onto plate, let cool, and EAT!!





mmmm.

my first vegan endeavor

I found out yesterday that a friend/ex-boss of mine just suffered a break-up. For some reason, my first thought was to bake him a vegan cake. Perhaps this is because the last time we went to lunch he requested a slice of vegan cake. I didn't oblige. So I figured this was as good a time as any, and I would even one-up his past request. I would make it mySELF. hah. I got Matt on board and away we went.

Lucky for me, Kristina had just sent me two new foodie blogs earlier in the morning, and I jumped on them right away to see if they had any delectable goodies. I searched the dairy free section of this DELICIOUS LOOKING BLOG and found these cupcakes. You should certainly check out this blog, but I will also re-post the recipe below, only claiming ownership of the substitution of carob chips for chocolate chips :) [I believe the original poster of this recipe adapted it from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World]

Oh, and I also used a different frosting. I didn't have any rum, and I wanted to use a Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese base, so I put together my own little frosting recipe.

So!
Here's what you need and do!

Pumpkin Chip Cupcakes with Tofutti Cinnamon Frosting

For the cupcake [makes 12, by the way!]:
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon each ground cloves, nutmeg, and ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegan carob chips

For the frosting [link above has the intended frosting, but mine was delicious!]
1 8 oz. package of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
2 T Earth Balance Buttery Spread
1-1 1/2 c powdered sugar [this is an estimate - I slowly added until the texture/taste was to my liking]
1 t vanilla extract
2 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.
Put your cupcake cups in your cupcake pan!

-In a medium bowl, stir together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, soymilk, and vailla.
-Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices [sidenote: I do not own a sifter. So this is what I did, and I think it worked quite well: I measured out and combined all of the dry ingredients in a small bowl. I then grabbed two spoons and, using them like salad tossers, i gently picked up the mixture and dropped it back in the bowl again. I did this for a few minutes and then I used a vegetable steamer to sift the mixture in with the wet mix. This way you get all the clumps out!]
-Gently mix by hand until just combined. Don’t use an electric mixer or over mix the batter as it may become too gummy. Once combined, fold in the chips.
-Fill your cupcake liners each with 1/4 cup of mix. I came out with EXACTLY 12 cupcakes when I did this - so you should, too!
-Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick [or fork, if you're unprepared like me :)] comes out clean
-Remove from pan, let cool, and frost!

While your cupcakes are baking is an excellent time to put together the frosting.
Beat together the Tofutti, Earth Balance, and vanilla. Slowly add in your powdered sugar and your cinnamon - keep tasting until you're happy :)
[During my first frosting attempt, I added 1/4 cup of soymilk, per another recipe I had found. DO NOT do this!! My frosting came out more like a glaze and was just too thin to stay put on top of the cupcake. I had to run back out and buy a second container of Tofutti. ugh! It seems that the combination "cream cheese"/"butter" works best.]

See the blog linked above for an amazing photo of what these cupcakes should look like.
See the photo below for what they will realistically look like.
See the 2nd photo below for my reaction after eating one for breakfast this morning.

Oh, and our recipient loved them.
Jessica = 1 Vegan Baking = 0

american beauty

i'm a regular Ricky Fitts.

i was there, i swear

so by now you've probably heard about david bergman's crazy zoom-in-5million-times inauguration photo. and 'by now' i mean 6 months ago. but i was just reading through old blogs and came across my tales from inauguration and was reminded of this photo.
and of how i'm NOT IN IT.
ok. i kind of am.
but see, this is what happened.

at the exact moment that david bergman snapped one of his 220 photos [the one in my direction], i was looking away, and matt blocked me.
see for yourself.



see right smack dab in the middle of the photo, in the upper left-hand corner of the bush, there is a man with a blue winter hat on [that i made]. that is matt. the white dot above his head? that is the pom pom on the top of my hat. i could smack myself for this. why wasn't i engaged at this moment? what was SO important that i just had to turn around at the exact moment that my blurred face should have been immortalized in this amazing documentation?? ugh.

anyway. i really was there. the pom pom proves it.

click here for the complete story of this camera nerd's most famous photo.

good boyfriend

so i'm sitting at work, not doing a whole lot, when my office phone rings. it is the security guard from the front gate. "i've got matt adams -huh?- oh, appleton? here. next time you should call ahead and let me know when someone is coming." "oh! great! ok! sorry! i'll come get him!"
thing is, matt didn't tell me he was coming to visit.
surprises are good. surprises visits at work are even better.
good boyfriend :)

greenjerks

more than once i have been walking down sunset, either to amoeba or borders, and have been stopped by the Greenpeace canvassers. i've canvassed before [servenext] and know how difficult it can be, so i do try and stop for others when i can. i've stopped at the greenpeace fellows before, only to be asked for a monthly donation, which i just cannot afford. i've offered them a one-time donation, and they refused. so you can't say i didn't try.

anyway. i try to steer clear of them now, because i know what they will ultimately ask of me at the end of their spiel, and i don't want to waste their time or mine.

so the other day i was walking out of amoeba when a greengirl tried to stop me. i kept walking and said i'd already spoken with someone the other day [she doesn't need to know it was at least six months ago]. she asked if i had signed up and, still walking, i informed her that no, i couldn't afford it. she said 'afford what?' and i said 'the money thing. i can't commit.' she looked at me like i was crazy and asked if i was sure i had spoken to greenpeace. she got me doubting myself and i told her that i could've sworn it was them, but perhaps i was wrong. she said, 'do you know what greenpeace is?' 'yes,' i answered. 'we don't ask for money!' so i told her i was in a rush and if she was super fast i would listen to her. she told me all about the whales and the rainforests, and then as she was turning to the last page in her info-binder she said 'and you're gonna hate me because i know i said i wasn't going to ask you for money, but, i am!'
"i KNEW i had talked to you guys before!" i was livid. EXCUSE ME?? i already told you i could NOT afford a monthly payment. you told me you were not going to ask me for money. so i stood there with you for a good 4 minutes. and then you tricked me. and you think that is going to change my mind? you think lying to me is going to further your cause? wtf. i told her i didn't have health insurance, i'm driving a death-trap of a car, and as much as i support her cause and would love to help out, i just CAN'T. she tried to buddy buddy me and tell me that she didn't have health insurance either, but that she budgets in $25 a month for GP and yada yada, but she didn't move me. she finally softened and said she understood [or maybe i just wanted her to say that.] and she left me running down the sidewalk to get to where i needed to be so urgently [home].

i kinda did but not really?

i don't know how or why [well, i suppose because i DID go abroad with skidmore, albeit after i graduated...] but i am still on the study-abroad homepage. twice.
i love it :)

http://cms.skidmore.edu/ocse/index.cfm

edit:
AND my photo entry from that skidmore homepage photo contest thing is still on their website.
i really don't know why i didn't win...
http://cms.skidmore.edu/photo_contest/contact.cfm

[and in case you're lazy..]

i call it..Skidmore Squirrel with French Fry

october!

happy october!!
i am thrilled [i don't know why?] that it is october. perhaps because it is that much closer to my favorite holidays [thanksgiving and christmas]. perhaps because that means i get to see snow soon. perhaps because i get to see my red hook friends soon. the phrase "perhaps because" is starting to sound wrong. is it?
anyway.
it is october 1st. and even here in la, there is the tiniest "bite" in the weather. that is amazing. i don't remember when it started feeling like fall last year. certainly not this early. i saw some red leaves on the ground yesterday and i smiled real big. the weather has been appropriate enough for sweaters in the evening and for windows [not a/c] at night. i wore shorts to work yesterday and had to put the heat on. i didn't sweat through my clothes during lunch outside. and when i wake up in the morning i feel like i'm waking up in saratoga.
this is amazing!!!


sigh. i want to go to there.