lets go couch surfing!

when i stumbled upon this website the other night i instantly felt the need to experience it. Couch surfing is a network that connects travelers to the communities that they visit. on the site you can search for available couches by city, state, country, etc. hosts offer a free couch, bed or maybe just a nice floor space to travelers looking for a place to crash for a night or 2. who doesn't love a free place to stay paired with meeting new faces?! i want to be a hostess and a traveler so badly! i think its such an awesome and different way to meet so many new people and personalities! i was a bit weary when i first read about the idea but all the reviews are very positive :o) can't wait till i get the chance to become a part of the couch surfing community!

randoms...

• i have an irrational fear that whenever im in traffic, the person behind me is going to rear end me. [its only ever happened once, nothing happened to either car. but i never fail to hold my breath when i look in the rearview mirror.]
• i love the smell of incense.
• i suck at sports, but im pretty fabulous at card games and board games.
• i majored in nursing for a year and a half. made it through one semester of clinical before i decided nursing just isn't the career for me. i liked it instead of loving it.
• i was supposed to be born blind, deaf and limbless. [my mom had chicken pox when she was pregnant with me. the doctors gave her the option to abort. prayer works miracles.]
• i have had stitches 7-8 times.
• i have had surgery 3 times.
• when i was little i dreamed of being a figure skater.
• i love the smell of campfires.
• i love math, hate english but love reading, adore art and don't understand politics.
• me and my sister like having dance parties in our rooms when we're bored.
• i have received a reindeer for my birthday every year since i was born.
• i would love to model.
• theres no way i could pick a favorite movie, book, color, song, band. they are forever changing.
• i could live off of cereal and pasta.
• i really want to travel to greece or italy.
• i loved my senior year of highschool and wouldn't trade those memories for the world.
• i love wedding photography. [theres so much hope held within those captured moments.]

photo: feels.like.flying by ~PatriciaD

i have a thing for eyes. when i get the itch to draw they're usually what ends up coming out of the tip of my pencil.
the thing is, i usually only draw one eye, or one side of the face.
im not sure if its just a mental thing, or if when i do draw both eyes/both sides of the face they end up coming short of the expectations i have for myself.
so, after a while i just kind of came to the conclusion that im just not cut out to draw a complete face.
until tonight.
usually i have to be in the right mood to draw, or else everything that comes out onto the paper just doesn't seem right at all. tonight was one of those nights where i just felt like i had to draw something, get it out of me.
so i sat down and grabbed the rolling stone from the coffee table and started drawing the front cover, who just happened to be brad pitt.
his first eye came out so great i figured, hey why not just keep going, try drawing the nose.
it didn't turn out too bad so i thought to myself..hmm do i just leave it like this? one eye and a nose, like so many other sketches ive done? or do i dare attempt the other eye...

so i went for it. as i started out i was thinking i made a mistake and ruined a perfectly good looking half done brad pitt. but then as i put more detail in, shaded a little here and there i was completely surprised to find that i had just completed a set of eyes and a nose that look like they all belonged to the same face!

here is the sketch..im not sure if i dare push my luck any further by finishing it..

today while shopping at one of the local shops in town i stumbled upon this amazing lotion by Camille Beckman.
i absolutely fell in love with the fragrances, especially the 'persian turquoise'. it reminds me of a little hippy shop in new hope that sells incense and cool blankets and jewelry, which could be why i love it so much. not only do all the products smell lovely, they leave your hands super silky! i came home hoping that they would have a website so i could share my find, and thankfully they do, here!

birds can dance! this video of 'Snowball' may be changing the way we understand the science behind dancing. Dancing was thought only to be a human trait, but Snowball may be proof that humans aren't the only ones that enjoy a good dance session! Read the full story, plus some other interesting ideas of the year, here.

johnson city pagoda

this past week my classmates and i had to do a project detailing the move of a historical building in the area. the historical building was the pagoda pump house located in johnson city. the building used to sit alongside the endicott johnson manufacturing plant, where it provided water for the facility. although the factory and many of the other buildings are long gone, the pagoda still stands but had to be moved in order to make way for a shopping complex [ughh].

so why spend so much time and effort to move the pagoda? why not tear it down? because this is no ordinary pagoda, nor pump house. this building was constructed by the workers of the ej factory sometime around 1920, completely out of scraps. the building walls contain such things as old gears, chains, scrap metal, a fire extinguisher, a bowling pin and even 2 pistols [one of which is missing!]
isn't that fantastic? that the workers themselves constructed the building? and out of recycled materials none the less!
i never knew the building existed until this project came along but now that i know about it i can't wait to go explore it for myself.

makes me wonder...what other treasures are hidden in my area that im not aware of!?

in case you wanted to waste some time...

since i'm so good at procrastination i thought i could share some of my time-wasting gems with you.
although some parts of neave.com are a little too trippy for me, other parts are just crazy enough for me to waste my time looking through. the 'flash earth' section is pretty amazing. the photographs of earth just leave you in awe. the 'television' is wayyy out there, although i have seen the 'rejected cartoons' channel before. i wish my laptop had a microphone so the 'bounce' and 'light' sections would work, they seemed to have potential :o) check it out!

mary-kate and ashley.

me and my friend alyse have been friends for well..forever.
we met in kindergarten when she came up to me and asked if i wanted to play, and apparently i was rude and turned her down [or so she says ;o)] but apparently she's not easily discouraged because ever since kindergarten we have been amazing friends. when we were younger we both loved mary-kate and ashley olsen, and we used to pretend we were them. me being mary-kate since my name started with an 'm' and her being ashley since her name started with an 'a'. how convient!
i don't have a clue in the world what i would do without her. she always has some kind of crazy idea in her head and i love hearing them or carrying them out with her. we have had some amazing, scary, insane, lovely adventures together and dear lord i wouldn't change it for the world. she always understands where im coming from when i have an issue, or an idea, or a worry. and she definitely brings out the fun, crazy, don't care what other people think of you side of me and i love her for it. she is a completely amazing person and i am one lucky girl to have her as my best.

Seasons Greetings

how cute are my cousins?! these beauties are [left to right] Kira, Jacqueline and Grace. everytime i catch a glimpse of this picture my heart can't help but smile. they are just too adorable and i am so lucky to have them in my life! [now i just wish i lived closer!!!]

This place looks so interesting and fun. Hopefully next time i'm in philly i will get to chance to see it myself. The chaos of the mosaic just seems inspiring and im sure there are so many treasures just waiting to be found among the walls. Philadelphia's Magic Gardens was created by Isiah Zagar and is located on South Street in Philadelphia.

Pandora

if you haven't fallen in love with pandora yet, now is the time.
pandora is a free internet radio site, but not just your average radio. you can choose artists you enjoy as 'seeds' and they will find similar artists to play, along with the artist you picked. love a certain song? you can use that as a seed too. they will find songs with similar qualities. once you have a station created you can mark which songs you like and which songs you don't like, and pandora will modify your station accordingly. amazing!
i have discovered so many new artists to fall in love with. if i'm on my laptop you can bet that pandora is one of the first things i start up!
right now i'm enjoying MGMT radio [they just make me want to get up and dance!] and city and colour [which does the exact opposite by calming me down :o)]
you can listen to my stations here: my pandora profile

im currently loving this scarf from SweetAnnieJeanne on Etsy.
i love the simplicty of the design. i also love that is comes in a super cute gift box.

i want one, but theres that voice in my head telling me that this is the season of giving to others, and buying and giving to yourself doesn't really count :o)

Procrastination..

see, this is why i was never able to keep a journal! i am soo bad about getting into a routine. i think its probably because im so good at procrastination. i can always find something to do when i should be doing something else. procrastination is the only routine that i can keep up with...its a horrible habit.
hopefully i'll be better about keeping up with things..

last week i got my christmas/birthday present!
sadly, my birthday falls on december 21st. usually people say 'oh awesome, its probably like getting double the presents right?!' no, no it's not. it's like getting half the presents. everyone in my life has, at least once, combined my birthday present and my christmas present into one. now, i understand thinking up 2 seperate presents may take a little more thought but please, please, pleaseee, just get two little things that at least make me feel like my birthday is a separate event from christmas. you get a separate celebration, why shouldn't i?
This year i gave my parents full permission to combine the two events into one because of the price tag that was attached to the gift that i was after.
i asked for skis. my own set of lovely skis, boots, poles... the whole package.
now that i have them (early of course) i am sooo excited! i can't wait for the snow to come and cover the slopes so i can get out there and test them!
They are Volkl Cielo skis and i am in love<3

Thanksgiving break was enjoyable but the schoolwork is getting heavy now that there are only a couple weeks left in the semester. ughhh. so, since i need all the encouragement i can get to make it through these next few weeks, maybe you do to!
"free encouragement" is a project by 'booooooom' and i absolutely love it.
i submitted 2 of my own and have been checking the site nonstop anxious to see mine appear!

happy turkey day!

Happy Thanksgiving! today is always such a good day to just sit back, relax and spend time with family. it seems like it takes all the stresses away for just a day. there's nothing better to be thankful for than that!


last night i had spent the night at my friend amber's house. she's home on break from college and we have that special kind of friendship where even though we don't see each other every day, probably won't get a chance to talk everyday, when we see each other it's like we never left. we completely understand each other. we can catch up on months of lost conversation in a matter of minutes because we just get each other without having to say a lot. that's a special kind of friendship and i am so thankful that i have her to share it with, especially today- a day dedicated to showing gratitude, giving thanks. amber is like a sister that god forgot to give me and i am so lucky to have someone like her in my life. she always knows the right thing to say, she knows when to let me make my own mistakes and she knows when its time to tell me to stop and take another look at the situation at hand. it seems that we can be completely free-spirited yet still grounded to what is really important in life and lord knows i love her for that.
so, this thanksgiving i'm thankful for not only amber renee, but all my friends.
because this world is an ugly place not to have a best friend.

not your average pancake

i found a recipe for some 'country crunch pancakes' that sounded so delicious that i had to try it out.
i made them a couple days ago for me and my sister and even the batter smelled yummy. apparently i'm not too skilled when it comes to flipping pancakes but they still turned out super delicious!
heres the recipe:

Country Crunch Pancakes

Batter

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons veggie oil
• 1 cup of fruit (blueberries, strawberries) optional

Topping

• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/4 cup chopped slivered almonds (i didn't have any almonds so i left them out, still came out tasting lovely!)
• 1/4 firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. for pancakes, in a large bowl, combine all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon
2. Combine the buttermilk, eggs, and oil in a medium bowl and stir into the dry ingredients until just blended. (if using optional fruit, fold into batter)
3. Preheat the oven to 200F
4. For topping, combine the oats, almonds, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle about a teaspoon of topping for each pancake onto a lightly greased hot griddle. Pour batter by the 1/4 cupfuls over the topping. Immediately sprinkle with another teaspoonful of topping and cook until the top of each pancake has tiny bubbles, about three minutes. Turn the pancakes and cook until the bottoms are golden brown, about 1-1 1/2 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in the oven. Repeat!

ENJOY! :o)

it's a sister thing

Nicole Lynne Veronica. she's my sister, my best friend, my other half. she's the first person i go to for advice, the first person i want to talk to when i have exciting news. lord only knows what i would do or where i would be without her as my big sister. i probably don't tell her that as much as i should, but hey, its a sister thing-- i know she understands.

first time for everything

so, although i have never even written in a diary, let alone kept blog, i figured it was something i was ready to try. what is this blog going to entail you ask? honestly, i have no idea. i suppose that whatever ideas, pictures, videos, words, quotes, songs, art, etc. that are rolling through my head on a given day will somehow get put into a post and hopefully someone else will find them just as entertaining as i do. my first few blogs may be introductory, highlighting the people, places, ideas that have been most important in my life thus far.
enjoy.


this picture never fails to make me smile inside and out, i just can't help it!
[photo: i love peas by ~gnusi]