hockey is love.

joe and i went to the first pens play-off game at consol energy center EVER on wednesday. it was amazing. we were like 20 rows back. i was in my glory. i've never been SOBER through a game that i've gone to with the exception of this one. so it was a first for both of us on a bunch of levels.

FACE OFF!!!!!!

mvp status!

i forgot to take a picture of consol in the daylight when we were on our way in so this will have to do!

here is a fun little video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gdv3ynK55w

and an awesome video.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.nhl.com%2Fvideocenter%2Fconsole%3F%26id%3D108621&h=713b1

spring has sprung!

so i tried to go pick up my two rolls of film today. i took them to wal-mart because when i wanted to drop them off it was more convenient than taking them to walgreens. NEVER AGAIN! i always bitch after i've been to wal-mart so why did i think it was a good idea to take film there? long story short, my prints weren't ready yet. since that ruined my good mood i was in (i got a 98% on my psych of ed test and a 24/25 on my legal environment of business test -gloat-) i decided that i'd make myself feel better again by getting my flowers. it'll be warm enough soon and if the stores have them out already that must mean that it's okay to start planting. 

here are a few pictures for you!

flickr

I've been making sure to update my Flickr lately! And with the acquisition of my lens, I'll have tons of film pictures to add to it soon!

Please check it out & add me as a contact, I would love you forever!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellyannee/

The People's Key

The People's Key is the most recent release from one of my all-time favorite bands...Bright Eyes. I absolutely love Bright Eyes. This band helped me get through my high school years and has always nurtured my creativity and free spirit. It's been some time since The People's Key was released, but I'm just now getting around to reviewing it.

***these are just my opinions***

Of course all of Bright Eyes' releases sound different. But I feel like this one is especially different in a way I can't describe. The spoken word recordings (via Denny Brewer) tie together the theme of the album--which seems to be a sort of evolutionary/theological debate seeking transcendentalist enlightenment. The songs will certainly leave you with mixed feelings as we jump from Shell Games to Approximate Sunlight to Triple Spiral. The messages are so strong. Especially that in Ladder Song--a lyrical wake written after the suicide of a close friend. On the flip side, the final track, One for You, One for Me, will leave you in a sort of floating trance. It has the potential to be the Nevermind to Bright Eyes' Nirvana. I don't mean it will be a hit, I mean that it is the album that sounds the most mainstream to me.

Conclusion: I love this album. It's hard to pick a favorite when they all sound so different but this one is definitely my second favorite.  


Also I cannot WAIT to go see Bright Eyes in June!!!!!

current events.

a lot has been going on in my life. so much so that i haven't been able to blog as much as i'd like.

for some time now, i've been mulling over exactly what i want to do with my life, major in and so on. i started out as an education major. i love english and history and everything about teaching gets me emotional. i feel like it's a passion and a calling for me. but then i changed my major. i went from fashion merchandising to psychology to hospitality management back to fashion. then i got to thinking. back in the day, i used to promote bands and put together shows and i loved it. that is a passion, too. so i changed to marketing and advertising/public relations. at the beginning of the year, i began to miss teaching. but i still wanted to study the other two. i didn't want to make one my minor because i'd like to learn as much as i can. i sent an e-mail trying to inquire about triple majoring. i didn't get a reply until recently. i got the okay to triple major. but with all of these new requirement for teachers (i.e. the four year residency) i won't get a real job until the age that joe and i want to start having kids at. that just won't work. despite my love for education, i decided to drop it from my major. it's for the best. i can't spend 7 more years in school.

conclusion: i am now a marketing/advertising/journalism major.

in other news, i got called back to work last monday. which is great because we obviously need the money.

i was finally able to use my film camera! i've had it for how long? haha, i cannot wait to get everything developed.

i've gotten so many new clothes in anticipation for spring/summer, maybe i'll share them!

here are some pictures from the last few days!

my new lens!

the lens case i crocheted.

the apology flowers and card.

the awesome skirt i wore to work yesterday.

mollie (left) and her half-sister lacey!

one of my favorite quotes

adventures in baking pt 2!

I totally forgot that I attempted to make strawberry shortcake two weeks ago!!

Here are the pictures from said adventure!

The shortcakes were a little bit too small because I didn't have a round cutter that was exactly 3 inches, so I used that egg cookie cutter which was roughly the right size. And the strawberries didn't caramelize properly. But for the most part they were really good!

I also attempted to make Chicken a la King that night, too. I looked up the recipe in my cook book, but it didn't say anything about peas and I knew I wanted to have peas in it! So I looked it up online and found one. Well, I ended up buying lima peas (ew) instead of regular peas. I didn't even use them anyway. The online recipe wanted me to cook everything in the microwave in a 13 qt dish. My 13 qt dish doesn't FIT in my microwave. And the flour got all clumpy with the milk so I started freaking out and just decided to, in the middle of the recipe, switch to the one in my cook book which says to do everything stove top. I threw a bunch of stuff together and it actually came out REALLY good. But my kitchen was a mess! Joe brought home a white wine (that we actually liked!) and we had a really nice dinner. We also watched Wall Street 2, Hot Tub Time Machine and Hot Fuzz. I thought Hot Tub Time Machine was really lame. Movies are just so predictable to me now.

Here are some crafty pictures, too!

OMG all the felt!

Good night!

Adventures in Cleveland.

I'm so far behind on everything! Last Wednesday, we had tickets to go see one of my favorite bands of all time--Queens of the Stone Age. I was so excited. I'm still giddy from it. 

We decided to TRY to go up early. However the snow was so intense on the way there that it took us way longer than normal. We still managed to arrive in time to eat at the place that we planned on called Pickwick and Frolic. It's a cute little restaurant/wine bar type deal with a theater attached. They've got a small menu but what we got was amazing. I apologize that the pictures are so dark. It was basically pitch black in there and I wasn't going to look like a freak and turn my phone's flash on!

I got the Farmer's Salad. It's got chicken, apples, tomato, and bacon. It is supposed to come with ranch dressing but I thought that raspberry vinaigrette would be better and it was.

Joe got this three cheese flatbread pizza. He claims that it tasted better than any other pizza he has ever had. But I thought it was comparable to pretty much any place that sells those huge pieces of pizza by the slice.

So we walk across the street to the House of Blues. Of course we're way early and I say "let's stand up front." It's a VERY tiny standing-room only kinda deal so I'm thinking, no one is going to be tweaking out like they would at a bigger venue. Joke's on me! This odd little foursome called the Dough Rollers opened for them. They were rock/bluesy and dressed in 40's-looking suits with slicked back hair. Obviously, I was the only one anywhere near us who is musically well-rounded because no one else could fathom what was going on. They weren't bad but they used the standard blues chord-progressions and what not. The only one I was impressed by was the guitarist. The lead singer/guitarist creeped me out, thoroughly. When QOTSA came on, the douchers who squeezed into the two inches of space that there was behind us started tweaking out, which was obviously something Joe wasn't expecting or happy with because I thought he was going to kill someone. Although, I can understand because he was getting beer all over him. So for two seconds I was 6 feet away from one of my favorite bands.

We enjoyed the rest of the show from right in front of the bar rails. Which was fine. They played their entire first album and 3 of my favorites right after. I was in my glory until I got a joint dropped onto my foot. 

Here are the pictures that I managed to take. (it sucked being on 5'6''). I took them with my iPhone 4, which is SUPPOSED to have excellent resolution and quality, the best out of any phone. But these pictures are terrible.

MELT! #3

Not yesterday, but LAST Sunday we went to Melt. It's slowly becoming a Sunday tradition for Joe, Kelli, Dave, and I. I apologize right now for my lack of pictures of our meals. :( I totally forgot because I was so damn hungry!

I got the Big Popper. Jalapenos, cream cheese, cheddar and it comes with the mixed berry preserves. It was AMAZING. However, just a tad hotter than I would have liked because of the peppers. Trust me, they weren't a normal, like, TGI Friday's popper kind of hot. They were pretty legit. But very tasty nonetheless.

I also got March's special sandwich, the Reuben Melt, to take home. It's pretty much your typical reuben only better because it's from Melt. AND it comes with the Russian dressing.

Don't ask me how, but I managed to get pictures of everything other than our sandwiches.

I found this written on the stall in the bathroom and I fell in love with it. I kinda want to get it tattooed somewhere. Kudos to whoever penned it!!!

Their menus  are pasted onto the backs of old record sleeves! We're always excited to see which ones we got.

I lied. here's a picture of my almost-finished Big Popper.

Etsy Shop Now OPEN!!

Hey everyone! My Etsy shop is now open. There are only a few things in there right now but I'm working on a lot more!

Check it out!!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/HellloKelly?ref=pr_shop

there's an app for that.

i promised a Top Apps post and here it is!

for the longest time i was completely opposed to Apple products. i was on the Robotics PR team in high school and the desktops that we had to use were Macs and i HATED them. looking back now, i guess it was because they were old and the programs were outdated and thus, difficult to understand and use.

but i got an iPod when i was 16. pretty much because i had way too much music and it was the only reliable mp3  player that i knew of at the time. despite that, i still hated iPhones. but now that i realize their awesomeness as a productivity/multitasking/organizational tool, i love mine! of course the first thing i did was seek out the applications that would maximize my phone's potential to be this type of tool. most of them were pretty lame, though. i like to have my schedule written out. BUT i have found some pretty cool apps that i use on the regular. most of them probably aren't that great to other people and some are just games but i wanted to share!

so without further adieu, here are my Top 15 Apps! (these are just my opinions and i am in no way affiliated with the following applications or Apple Inc. products.)

 foursquare. i love love love this app. it is what started the whole checking-in-on-facebook fad. except here, you get points and become the "mayor" of places where you have been the one to check-in at the most. it's excellent for exploring new cities. you can search for specific types of venues and other users can leave tips or "to-do" items about dishes to try, etc. some venues even run specials for mayors or first-time check-ins. you even get cool badges when you meet certain check-in criteria. like visiting 10 pizza places or shouting "Go Steelers" when you check in somewhere on superbowl sunday. i currently have 1923 check-ins, 21 badges and i hold 18 mayorships!

 urbanspoon helps you find restaurants nearby! i haven't gone anywhere new since i downloaded it but it looks neat and i can't wait to try it. you can search for specific foods or prices. it even has a feature where you shake your phone and it spits out a random city nearby, type of food and price range that will show you restaurants that meet your parameters.

 instagram is by FAR the best photography app i have ever downloaded. it has awesome filters to pick from. black and white, old-school 70's-looking, grainy, over-saturated, etc. you can add friends and see their photo stream, as well as linking it with flickr, myspace, facebook, twitter, and so on. HIGHLY recommended!

 foodspotting allows me to do what i did everywhere anyway; take pictures of the food i love and display it for the world to see. it's kind of like foursquare in that you sort of check your photo into the restaurant that it is from along with what it's called and a review of how it was. this is also linkable to all social media outlets.

i'm a nerd, i love scrabble. so when i discovered words with friends (although i was somewhat late on finding it) i was elated. it is just was it sounds like, digital scrabble that you can play with almost anyone. as you can see, i had over 11 games going at one time. it seems like everyone ELSE has discovered words with friends and twitter and are jumping on the bandwagon. it's too overwhelming and not fun to have that many games at once, though so i resigned from all but like, 5 of my games and those 5 are my favorite people.

i'm not going to lie, i'm REALLY obsessed with this game. the original is call reMovem. i have the original, christmas and halloween is my favorite. you have to try to get rid of all of those little circles. you can only remove them when there are two or more next to each other. eh, i'm a dork!

 obviously angry birds would be on anyone's top apps list. i love it. i've got seasons and the newest, rio, which i downloaded last night and played until like 4 in the morning. it's so addicting. also, go on YouTube and look up angry birds peace treaty. it is the cutest and funniest thing i have ever seen. almost.

i pity everyone who doesn't have an iphone and cannot use these! they're essentially just emoticons, but there is food, items, symbols...using them is really fun and sometimes completely lewd.

cover your ears, boys. this app is called period tracker. i love it because i never know when it's going to happen because i'm so not on schedule ever. you can keep track of several things like cravings, cramp intensity, mood, intimacy dates, and also temperature and when you're fertile if you're trying to get pregnant.

 smartsync syncs all of your facebook friends to your contacts. it adds profile pictures, birthdays, places of employment, etc. it helps your contacts be "fuller".

of course twitter is on here. i'm obsessed.

 ...and facebook, too. i'm basically just a social media advocate. i love their practical uses for business, networking, advertising, etc.

 i NEED my scorecenter to stay up-to-date on all of my teams. it allows you to add your favorites and sends you game updates based on you preferences.

 ahh, yes. texts from last night. my guilty pleasure. i remember freshman year of college, someone told me about tfln and i thought it was stupid and not funny. either i was too drunk to understand or not drunk enough to think it was funny but i LOVE it now. people submit their heinous, rude, scandalous, and just plain stupid texts, well, from last night. i love finding ones in my area code.

SHAZAM! a looooong time ago i saw a commercial for this app and was instantly pissed that i didn't have the proper cellular device to support it. music is my obsession and i love finding new music. so this app is perfect for me!