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

Cinco De Derby

Ever fancied a day in the sun, peaking out from under your floppy hat to view a sea of pastels, floral dresses, and bow ties?  Then you should have gone to the Kentucky Derby last weekend!  Undoubtedly the most fabulous sporting event America has to offer, the Derby happened to fall on Cinco De Mayo this year, and since I go to school a few short hours away, my friends and I couldn't resist roadtripping for a decadent day in the sun.  If you ever have the opportunity to go, jump on it! I'm serious, it's a blast.

Mint Juleps are the official drink of the Derby, they're an incredibly delicious concoction of sugar, bourbon, and mint, if you haven't tried one yet you should google a recipe and go make one now!

Half the fun of Derby is the obnoxious hats.  We decided to go a little late so I didn't have time to get a truly outrageous one, but I'm pretty proud of these little babies, they were completely customizeable, really affordable ($30!), and shipped in just 3 days.  From  http://www.marleylilly.com/

The drinks at the Derby are a tad bit expensive, but most of them come in real glasses that you get to keep, here's my collection. 

My dress for the day was a fun little number from Gilly Hicks.  www.gillyhicks.com

-J

Name Change

On a whim today I decided to change the name of my blog in honor of my favorite part of the week.  I believe that excepting mid-afternoon tea parties and drunken heart-to-hearts in women's restrooms the best conversations with friends are had over brunch.  I hope you like the name change as much as I do!

-J

Toga!!

Nothing says "I'm having fun in college" like a toga party.  I'm not sure if it's just because we've all seen Animal House and feel obligated to make it a blast or if wearing a bed sheet in public is really more fun, either way I love them!

The Importance of Umbrellas

As you may or may not know I am an atmospheric science major, so while most people instantly start to complain as soon as they feel rain drops, I tend to get excited.  I know I probably won't be able to get you pumped about radar images and convective instability, but I think you should at least appreciate poor weather as a prime opportunity  to judge people (don't pretend you don't judge people, I know you do), I'm talking of course about umbrella watching.  

1. The ridiculously large umbrella: In general the larger the umbrella the more important that person thinks they are.  It's likely they obtained their absurdly large umbrella at a country club so that they could cover their golf clubs and overpriced shoes at the same time.  Be careful though, they could just be posing as a country club golfer.  

Another fact to note is that the large umbrella carrier is on top of things...aka the weather.  There was no way they could fit that thing in their bag, they knew it was going to rain and they were ready (this goes for people wearing rain boots too). 

2. The tiny portable umbrella:  This person most likely thought "look at how practical I'm being" while buying their umbrella. They may never check the weather channel, but as soon as it starts to rain they smile because they're prepared...until the slightest breeze comes and they realize that the pocket umbrella is one of the least practical inventions to date.  These people tend to act as a comic relief for you the umbrella watcher, as they wrestle their umbrella to maintain it's proper shape and get soaked in the process. 

3. The designer umbrella:  These are the easiest people to classify, anyone carrying a designer umbrella simply wants you to know they can afford designer things...don't let them fool you into thinking that designers make a more sturdy umbrella than say an outdoorsy company, you know better.

4. Last but not least...No umbrella:  These poor souls are either unprepared, lazy, or stubborn, in any case they usually look miserable...unless they're dancing in the rain on purpose, in which case you should join them because they are undoubtedly having the most fun of anyone out in the rain that day.  

Saturday

Saturday was a fun filled day, even if the weather failed to cooperate.  I started off the morning at flapjack frenzy, a philanthropy event where my sorority sells pancakes to support a domestic violence shelter.

Unfortunately it was rainy, cold, and therefore kind of slow so me and Liz had a photo shoot to entertain ourselves, here she is manning the orange juice station

After that we headed over to the Spring football game, it felt so much like autumn being huddled with friends in the horseshoe (Ohio Stadium) for a game, it was hard to remember that it's actually April!

As excited as I am for all of the long summer days ahead, I can't wait for football season to start again!

A Weekend In Indianapolis

Last week I went to Indianapolis for a fraternity formal...it was a weekend filled with good food, friends, and dancing!  There's nothing like a few days away from campus to make you feel like a real person instead of just a student.  We kicked off the weekend with a night on the town Friday...

On Saturday we woke up nice and early and took a tour of the Indianapolis Speedway (where the Indi 500 is).  They have a museum full of old race cars and fancy trophies.  Here's me and my friends with a Lotus formula one car.

We even got to drive around the actual track at the mind blowing speed of 20 mph! (we were in buses and it was raining...).  And ended our little adventure by playing dress up in the gift shop. 

After the speedway it was off to a fancy lunch at a delicious restaurant called Palomino, followed by an epic hotel pool party (sorry no pictures, there was a lot of splashing going on).  And before we knew it it was time to get ready for the formal dance!  Everyone put on their finest and headed over to a lovely hotel where we had the most delicious food (with synchronized dining service, basically the coolest thing ever, you should look it up) and of course lots of dancing! 

I wore a dress from modcloth a great online store that focuses on vintage inspired clothing.  Everything is well priced and really unique, browsing through their inventory is one of my favorite diversions.  You should check it out!  Alright, back to catching up on schoolwork after my fun weekend away!

Pasta alla whimsy

I've been really neglectful lately and haven't blogged in forever, so naturally I thought "what epic blog post can I create to distract them from the fact that i've been slacking" the answer: post pictures of me having a glorious time on some exotic island.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to hop over to the Caribbean so instead I'm going to show you the odd concoction I made for dinner tonight!  

Note: I was feeling rather whimsical when I made this, there was no recipe...First I cooked up some bacon, and while that was going I chopped up some red pepper and onion ( I also wanted to mince some garlic, but I couldn't find any...).  Just before the bacon was done I started boiling a pot of salted water for the pasta.  When the bacon was nice and crispy I put it on a plate in between paper towels, got rid of about half of the grease from the skillet and then poured my vegies in to cook.  

When the vegetables were soft and delicious (aka done) I put them in the pot with the drained pasta (which was done at this point) and this is where it gets weird...I didn't really have a plan in mind so I just poured in random things I thought might taste good.  I started with a little garlic powder (in lieu of the fresh garlic i didn't have) and then I poured about half a cup of whole milk in (thinking I would make a sauce).  It didn't thicken up as much as I'd hoped it would, so I grated in some parmesan and mozzarella.  After crumbling up the bacon and tossing it all together I had a strange yet delicious meal...it ended up being sort of like macaroni and cheese, which wasn't at all my intention but I guess that's what happens when you use macaroni-ish noodles and melted cheese.  

Do you like whipping up random meals too?  I'd love to hear about it, comment with you're favorite concoctions! 

Pizza pinwheels

These little ooey gooey pinwheels of deliciousness are not only easy but low calorie too!  Each one is only 115 calories and taste a whole lot better than any 100 calorie pack snack you can buy in the store.  Here's the link to the recipe I used:  dashing dish pizza phinwheels.  Basically you just mix up pizza ingredients (pepperoni, cheese, pizza sauce, garlic, oregano) and then spread them out on seemless crescent dough, roll it up, cut, bake, and enjoy! 

Also on a side note I discovered that Panera's tortilla soup is back, so this is one of the best days ever.  I bought soup for a group (that's 4 bowls of soup in one container) just for myself so that I can have it all week long...mildly obsessed.  (sorry the picture is poor quality, I took it on my phone).

Hats Off

Today I found this little number on Pinterest, and it got me thinking about how much I miss hats.

Nothing says classy like a nice hat, they're stylish and sophisticated and just the right amount of silly.  I've got my fingers crossed that the lovely duchess Kate will help bring back my favorite fashion trend (doesn't she look fabulous?)

(had to throw a picture of Jackie in there, it wouldn't be a proper post about hats without her!)  

Burrito Battles

I'm currently sitting in the Orlando airport leisurely eating a deliciously unhealthy lunch, because naturally my flight is delayed. Luckily I love airports. No matter where I'm going the airport always feels exciting, I love looking up at the arrivals and departures boards and trying to pick the places I most want to visit. More importantly, the airport offers the perfect opportunity to indulge in lots of fast food. Right now I'm gorging out on Qdoba, which has got me thinking about the Qdoba versus Chipotle battle. I know so many people who are positively addicted to Chipotle, but I have to say I think I'm more of a Qdoba girl...for one monumental reason: warm queso sauce! At Qdoba you can get queso to dip your chips in, or even put it on your burritos or tacos. It's heaven. Until Chipotle gets queso I think my heart will belong to the Qdoba underdogs. Which do you prefer?

Meet my baby...

This is the glorious Mercedes CLK 430 convertible, and my favorite car I have ever driven, which says a lot considering I prefer manual cars and this is an automatic.  Despite getting on in years this is still the most powerful car I've had the pleasure of driving, and it's one of the reasons I love coming to Florida so much, because for one week each year this baby is mine!  Hopefully someday I'll own a beauty like this of my own (or better yet an Aston Martin DB9!)

Welcome to Florida!

Ah spring break at last!  I decided to pop over to Florida for a few days to visit my grandmother, and despite the horrible flight down I'm having a lovely time.  One of the things I love most about Florida is the weather, one minute there's pouring rain and thunderstorms and the next it's endless sunshine, perfect for weather enthusiasts who also like to do a bit of laying around in the sun (aka. me!).  Here's a glimpse of my view as I sipped my coffee this morning...

And Here's the view shortly after lunch, needless to say I spent a majority of the afternoon lounging by the pool soaking up vitamin D.

Cram time

Finals are fast upon us...I have 2 on monday so this weekend I'm devoting my time to cramming.  Here's a list of the things that are keeping me sane on this lovely pre-finals weekend:

Pandora: a perfect place to make a study playlist.  www.pandora.com.  

HGTV: Home and garden television, the best channel to have on in the background while studying.  Right now I'm watching house hunters, it's wonderfully domestic.

Tea:  a strong cup of twining's Earl Grey to keep the caffeine levels up.

Girl Scout Thin Mints: because it's that time of year...

Happy Finals everyone!

TSM Thursday

Welcome to my new blog!  I needed a place to muse about the randomness that goes on in my head!

Last night was TSM (total sorority move) Thursday with my girls, nothing like some frozen drinks to jump start finals studying weekend!