4, 3, 2, 1...GO!

I apologize for being rather neglectful of our little brunch of late, but I've been busy preparing for the trip of a lifetime!  In 24 hours I will be on a plane with one of my best friends, Caroline, for a grand tour of the United Kingdom...4 countries, 3 weeks, 2 friends and 1 hell of a time, I am beyond excited.  This trip has been years in the making and I can't believe it's actually happening.  I'm not sure how much time or opportunity I'll have to blog from across the pond but I promise to bring you back loads of pictures and stories.  Avoir America!

Here's Caroline and I on our last holiday together 5 years ago in the Caribbean, you can't really tell in this picture but I (on the left) was sobbing at the time because I was so terrified of the giant stingrays swimming around us (which you also can't see in this picture but I promise they were massive and beyond terrifying)

This vacation ought to be a tad bit less dangerous, but just as adventurous.

-J

Magnetic

Meet my latest purchase...magnetic nail polish!  It's nailpolish with metal in it and a magnet on the cap so that if you hold the magnet over the wet nails for 15 seconds (just hold it there don't wave it back and forth) you'll get a wavy pattern on the nail, it's kind of hard to see in the picture but it's really cool looking! I love this stuff it's fashion meets physics, tons of nerd fun! I want to get every color.

Here's the magnet on the lid

The one I bought was $10 at urban outfitters, but I'm pretty sure other brands are making them as well so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

-J

Oreo Truffles

Unless you live in a sad vegan (or strictly lactose intolerant) world then I'm sure you've had oreo truffles before...in case you haven't, or you have but you want a recipe, I'll give you mine!  It's incredibly easy (and just a little messy) here's what you'll need...

• 1 package of double stuffed oreos (regular oreos would work too I'm sure but I'm partial to the double stuffed)
• 4 oz of cream cheese
• Some melting Chocolate (I think it looks prettiest if you use white chocolate)

And here's what you do...

• Use a food processor (or your food crushing device of choice) and chop up the whole package of oreos so that you have fine crumbs.
• Transfer most of the oreo to a large bowl (leave a little bit to sprinkle on the truffles at the end) add the cream cheese and mix together (your hands work best to do this, like I said this is messy)
• Roll the mixture into 1 inch balls (doesn't need to be precise at all, in fact I've seen people make little footballs instead of spherical balls and it was a perfect pregame snack!) and transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.
• Place the sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes, and while the truffles are freezing melt your chocolate according to the instructions on the package.
• When the 15 minutes are up dip each ball into the warm chocolate, transfer back to the baking sheet, and sprinkle a little bit of oreo crumbs on top.  
• When you've done them all pop them back in the refrigerator so that the chocolate sets, and you're done!

How to make a paddle

As you may have surmised by now I'm a proud member of a sorority.  There are loads of traditions that go along sorority life, and one of them in my particular chapter is decorated paddles.  When a new member is initiated their big (basically their mentor) decorates them a wooden paddle (don't worry they are purely for tradition/decoration purposes...not for hazing!) and in turn when their big graduates the little makes them a paddle.  Luckily my big will be around for another year, but as she's a senior and will become an alumni of the chapter in a few days, it was my turn to craft for her.

Now I'm not particularly adept at painting, so I decided to mod podge fabric onto the paddle.  It ended up looking really cool and was a very different/awesome texture (which you can't really tell in the pictures so you'll have to trust me.)

Step 1: I started off by washing, drying, and pressing my fabric, then I put a layer of mod podge (a kind of glue, primer, and finishing gloss all in one) on the fabric so that when I cut it it wouldn't fray.

Step 2: I very carefully traced the outline of the paddle onto the fabric and cut it out (this was by far the hardest step, it needed to be the perfect size.)

Step 4: I went outside and sprayed the paddle and wooden letters with spray paint

(it was lovely outside and a perfect time to soak up some rays)

Step 5: paint a layer of mod podge onto the paddle itself, line up the fabric and smooth it down (i used an empty vitamins bottle to roll out any creases, they sell actual rollers at craft stores though that are probably more user-friendly/official).  And finally I added another layer of mod podge over the top of the fabric to give it a glossy, finished appearance. 

Step 6: I stuck on the wooden letters (the ones i got had adhesive on the back so this was really easy), and tied a big bow around the handle and here's what the finished paddle looked like

-J

Beer Around the World Club

Recently a new bar opened up on High St. in Columbus, before we even set foot in the door B and I decided it was going to be our new neighborhood hangout (so we may have been biased) but we absolutely loved it!  I'm talking about Chumleys, it has a huge selection of drinks (and food...all I've tried so far is onion rings but they were delicious) and a very relaxed atmosphere.  They even have a selection of games that you can have brought to your table...we played a hilarious game of apples to apples while sipping on our imported beers...

speaking of imported beers, the best part about Chumleys is the beers around the world club, which is free to join.  They give you these adorable passports and inside are pictures of 50 beers from all over, each time you buy one of those beers you get a little "good work" stamp, and if you get all 50 in a year you get a shirt and your name on some plaque or something...basically eternal glory.  B and I are pretty confident that this time next year we'll be experts in international brewery.  Everyone (of age) should go pick up their own passports and play along with us!

My first stamp!

The beer below was from Mexico, imagine drinking a liquid version of a chili pepper...it was just like that.  In fact there was actually a chili in it, it was very strange.

This should be fun!

-J

Fun!

I don't mean to get preachy, but something has been bothering me lately and what better place to vent than to you!  Of late I've heard a lot of people saying things like "I don't want to go there, I didn't have fun last time," or "that's never fun," and these excuses really confuse me, because I've always believed fun is something you personally make, not something that exists and is associated with places or actions.  I think that 9 times out of 10 if you go into a situation with a positive attitude and an openness to new experiences you'll have a good time.  Sure there are things that are beyond your control, but how much fun you have shouldn't be one of them, at least not all the time.  This is your life, take the reigns, there are positives associated with every situation, find them, dwell on them, speedily deal with those nasty negatives and I promise you'll be a happier person :)

^ Me and M having a blast before formal!

-J

Cinemagram

If you have an iphone i suggest you go download cinemagram.  The way it works is you take a few second long video and then choose which part you want to be animated, the rest will just be a regular picture...it's endlessly fun and will make you feel like a crafty student at Hogwarts.  I made this last night at a concert, you can browse through some more impressive examples here http://cinemagr.am/showSingle/7520929 .  Once you download it you can follow me at JesseV and then leave your account name in the comments section here so I can follow you back! 

Created with cinemagr.am

-J