New Beginnings

Hello Hello!

I know that normally I share my misadventures and various kitchen escapades here, but today I want to share something a little different.  

In March, my frindle and my future-frindle-in-law got engaged.  Carrie is one of my best friends, former roommate, and a sorority sister.  The frindle designation came one night in college (as so many nicknames do) during a series of texts; technically, a frindle is a ball point pen from a children's book, but in our case, it is a designation for a special friend.  I digress.  So Carrie and Tom got engaged in March, in the spot where Carrie parked on their first date.  Luckily, I live only 3.5 hours away and was able to see them the next day and celebrate!

The Happy Couple the day after their engagement!

So while Carrie and Tom were planning their impending nuptials, they asked me to perform the ceremony.  I was shocked and excited at first, but when I started thinking about it, I got a little overwhelmed.  I mean, what a responsibility!  I don't have a problem speaking in front of people, but this was so different from giving a speech--when we began the ceremony, Carrie and Tom were individuals, two individuals that I care deeply about, and when we ended, they were joined, as husband and wife, together.  

Just marrying my friends, no big deal...

As the honorable Reverend Subs, I was given a unique peek into their relationship.  Anyone who spends time with Carrie and Tom can feel their love and see how strong it is between them.  They are happy, beyond happy, and they deserve to be.  They are each such wonderful frindles to me and I can't say enough how blessed I am to have them in my life or how honored I was to be part of this incredibly special day.

The very happy couple

Thanks to the Universal Life Church, I can perform weddings, baptisms, and funerals.  I can't wait until Carrie and Tom have children so I baptize them!  

Hope you are having a great week!

Rev. Subs 

Small Town, USA

Well, hello!


I have been enjoying my summer and as a result, my blog has been neglected.


This weekend, my cousin, Evan, my friend, Hilary, and I went to the Frankfort Hot Dog Festival in Frankfort, IN.  I mean, once you see that advertised, how can you not go check it out?  We drove a short 30 minutes north of Indy, through some corn fields to the quaint town of Frankfort.  If you watch The West Wing, I just want to let you know that we didn't run out of diesel, nor did we switch time zones.  As you can imagine, it wasn't hard to find the Main Street of Frankfort.  The large Johnsonville Grill truck kinda gave it away.

Hilary and Evan at the Johnsonville Grill

We walked around the festival to see what all it had to offer.  I really felt like I was in Stars Hollow (Gilmore Girls, anyone?)  The festival was set up around the beautiful county courthouse.

We decided to first sample a Indiana classic, the pork burger.  If you ever come across one, I suggest you stop what you are doing and immediately eat it.  De. Li. Cious.

Pork burgers from the local Firemen.  Yum!

We walked around the festival, again, to make sure we didn't miss any booths and so we could work up our appetite to get a hot dog.  I mean, you can't go to the hot dog festival and not get a hot dog, right?  Right.

Evan and Hilary enjoyed Frankie's Hot-Digitty Dogs.  Duh.

#Merica

I love small towns.  Let's be clear, I don't want to live in one, but I can appreciate an afternoon spent strolling around and enjoying the sites and the people.


What adventures did you have this weekend?


Aubrey

I've been tagged!

My sorority sister Jessie (find her here) tagged me in her blog!  


So here are the rules:

1 - Post these rules.

2 - Answer the 11 questions from the person who tagged you.

3 - Create 11 new questions for the people you tag.

4 - Tag 11 people and link them to your post.

5 - Let them know that you tagged them.

And here is the fun part...Jessie's 11 questions and my answers:

1 Where is someplace you have always wanted to visit?  
I have always wanted to go to Greece.  Right now, I want to go to Nashville.  It's a little more realistic since I can drive there.

2 How would you have classified yourself in high school? (geek, jock, band nerd, etc)
Definitely a nerd...I was a math-lete!  We rocked those math relays-be jealous :)

3 What would you want served for your last dinner?
Hmmm, I definitely want filet.  I'm a Kansas girl who loves red meat.  There should be cupcakes, too. I don't care so much about the food, so long as I am surrounded with my friends and family.


4 Do you get sick often?
Knock on wood, I rarely get sick.


5 If you could live next-door to anyone alive or dead, who would you want to live next to?
Honestly, I just want to live next door to my best friends.  We all live far away from each other now and it was way more fun in college when we were all in one place.  

6 Where is your favorite place to shop for clothes?
I am becoming obsessed with Loft.  It's a problem.

7 What are your hobbies?
Definitely KU Men's basketball, cooking, and reading.  Plus I love the Kardashians (judge all you want, I don't care!)

8 What is your favorite place in your house?
I really love my couch.  It is so comfy and great for a good book and a nap!

9 Do you have any pets?
No pets; I travel too much for work.

10 What is your favorite genre to read?
I like anything that holds my interest, mostly chick-lit.  I just finished Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and My Horizontal Life.  Follow me on Goodreads here!

11 If you could choose only one TV show to watch during the week, which one would you choose?
I would pick Whitney because it always makes me laugh.  




Alright, here are my questions for the next group!


1-What is your favorite thing to bake or cook?
2-What was the last book you read and loved?
3-What are the words you live by?
4-What do you order at Starbucks (or other coffee shop)?
5-What is your favorite sport and team?
6-What was your first concert?
7-What is your favorite place you have ever been?
8-Do you love or hate your middle name?
9-Why did you start blogging?
10-What is your favorite movie to watch over and over?
11-What is your most expensive piece of clothing? (shoes count!)


Who I'm tagging:
Diana at DNortonLand
Karen at Strolling up the Canyon
Mallorie at Home is with you
Amy at Inspire. Create. Bake.
Evan at Henceforth and Forever Free
Meredith at Meredith's Daily Angst

Can't wait to see those answers!  Blog away!

Aubrey

Favorite Brownie Recipe

When I was younger, I didn't know that you could make brownies from scratch.  My mom always made them from a box because it is faster and easier.  When Rob first introduced me to brownies from scratch, I wasn't too excited about the long process; boxes were just easier.  I really hate melting chocolate because even with a double-boiler, I can get impatient and burn it.

My life was forever changed with my good friend Mary introduced me to her brownies.  They have a wonderful crust on top, are very chocolatey, and gooey.  The best part is they do not involve melting chocolate!  I made them last week for my boss' birthday.  He loves peanut butter and chocolate, so I added a layer of Reese's.  Here was the finished product:

Hello, lover...

Mary Winter Brownies:

What you need:

3/4 cup room temperature butter (I use unsalted)

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa (I use Hershey's unsweetened)

1/2 bag chocolate chips (dark chocolate is best)

How you make them:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, mix the salt, baking powder, flour and cocoa together.

3. In a different, bigger bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.

4. To this, add the vanilla and eggs, mix well.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients .  I usually do this in 3 parts so I don't make a huge mess.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Pour batter into a greased 9x9 pan.
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (Double batch bakes for 45-50 minutes)

Variations:  These brownies are really yummy with Heath bar, either on top or mixed in.  In the picture above, I made a double batch without the chocolate chips, put in half the batter, placed 25ish Reese's on top, then poured the rest of the batter on top.  A double batch bakes for 45-50 minutes.  Mine got a little too done on the bottom (in a Pyrex) because I didn't want them to be too gooey, but next time I will take them out a little sooner.

Enjoy :)

Weekend Craft: Magnetic Memo Boards

I hate white walls.  I feel like I'm in a hospital when I'm surrounded by sterile white.  Some people might think the amount of things on my walls is overkill, but I just like to cover them.  It's easier than painting since I will probably move when my lease is up, plus, I hate painting.  I'm messy and I tend to bump into the wall.  Butt prints aren't a good texture.  I digress...

Are any of you avid Instagram users?  I love Instagram.  It makes me feel like I'm a real photographer because of all the cool filters.  The one thing I didn't like about it was that it crops all your photos to a square, which made them hard to print-until now.  There is an app called PostalPix (for iPhone) that prints adorable 4x4's of my beloved Instagram photos.  When I discovered this awesome app, I printed about 30 of my favorites to see how they looked.  I got the prints a couple weeks ago and they are awesome!  Ever since, I have been itching to do something with them, which brings me to the weekend project.


I knew I didn't want a cork board and white boards were expensive and kind of boring, so I decided on something else magnetic.  After I found out the cute ones on Etsy were around $100, I decided to make something myself.  I found my inspiration from Better Homes and Garden (see it here).  I went to Walmart (yes, I hate that place, but I knew they would have a cheap option) and found this:

That's right, my magnetic memo board only cost $0.97!  I liked the suggestion of covering the middle in scrapbook paper, so I went to Michael's and found a simple design.  I used the sticky stuff that was already on the cookie sheet (from the above paper) to adhere the scrapbook paper.  You could use tape, too, but I just went with what was in front of me.  Since there wasn't a hole in the pan to hang it from, I used the 3M Command strips with the velcro.  Lastly, I arranged the photos and used some small magnets I picked up at the craft store.  The finished product:

I didn't intend on making one colorful and the other more B&W, but that is what happened. I'm excited to keep updating  the boards as I take and print more photos.  The best part is how inexpensive and simple they were!


Enjoy!

25 was a great year!

I'm pretty sure the only people that read this are people who actually know me, so I feel safe assuming that y'all know my birthday was this past week.  I was thinking back on what a crazy/wonderful year 25 was...here are some of the highlights:


1. I graduated with my Masters.  Like, I officially graduated.  I walked across the stage, got my fake diploma, finished my last 2 papers, and got a letter that says I will be getting my diploma sometime around March.

2.  I decided to kick the carb crutch, started Atkins, and lost 40 pounds.

Michelle and I last January (2011)

Michelle and I this January (2012)

2.  Our posse (yep, I said posse) expanded by a pod this year.  We spent many a Monday during the last year at Morts, enjoying half-priced martinis, Wednesdays at Trivia night, and had 1 or 2 ridiculous weekend shindigs.  I miss my friends daily and I can't wait for my next trip to the Sunflower state to see them.

The Tropic of Cancer team for Crawl for Cancer (aka Pod)

3.  I traveled the world.  Literally.  I visited Alyssa in Seattle in February, Di in Madrid in March, Carrie in Chicago in May, Evan in DC in July, the Iowa State Fair in August, Elise in LA in September, not to mention all the random trips to KC.  In November, Carrie and her family were sweet enough to have me over for Thanksgiving since I couldn't go home.  

Alyssa and I were excited for the Harry Potter exhibit.  Obvi.

Di and I in Toledo, Spain

The kids at the White House.

Elise, Minnie, and I, ya know, chillin' at Disney Land.

Iowa State Fair!

4. In October, I accepted a new position and moved to Indianapolis.  I have already been on a couple work-related trips and made friends!  I am loving my new city and can't wait to keep exploring.

Allison and I cheering on the Celtics at the Pacers game.  

This past year was beyond amazing.  I don't know that there is an adjective strong enough to describe how fantastic it was...I can't wait to see what 26 has waiting for me! 


P.S: If anyone wants to visit me, I have an extra bedroom...

November...now you see it, now you don't

I have gotten settled into Indy and I really like the city, so far.  I don't have to venture far to get where I need to go; pretty much everything is on the north side and off of 86th St.  I haven't had to use my GPS yet!  Well, ok, once to get back from the mall because there was construction and I was confused about which entrance I came out of.  But, other than that, I haven't gotten lost!  Today, however, I did have to go to three different Walgreens before I figured out which one my prescription was at.  It's really confusing when there is one on every corner.  

Tree in my apartment complex

I have turned in the second draft of my final grad school paper and I'm looking forward to finishing it!  That has taken up my time, so I haven't really explored the city yet.  I want to go downtown, to Broad Ripple, and Mass Ave.  Downtown has some cool buildings and monuments.  Broad Ripple and Mass Ave are neat little shopping areas.  I might wait for a nice day since it's about to get cold :)


So even though I have been living here for almost a month, I have only been in the city for about 2 weeks because I've been on the road again! (cue musical interlude)  I had to go to NYC for work...rough life, I know :) While I was working, I had a little bit of down time to play.

The view from NYU: Washington Square Park.  You might remember it from August Rush.

Mmmm, chocolate.  Max Brenner is amazing.

 Chinatown has gotten a lot more sophisticated since I was there last time.  If you want a fake LV, Michael Kors, Coach, or Tory Burch bag, you just have to walk down the street.  Just listen to the people standing around and they will repeat the brand names over and over.  If you want one of them, just ask and they will promptly whip out a laminated catalog of what they have.  When they tell you the price, offer them half.  I offered a little more than that and it was eagerly accepted, so I totally should have offered more.  Oh well, next time :)

My super shady back room deal from Chinatown.

HP ad in TSQ!

The Lord and Taylor window display.  I love the light bulbs.

One of my faves.

I love cities at night.  Seriously, look at those gorgeous lights!

Christmas tree abstract.  When my mom saw this she asked why it was blurry.  I told her it is art.

On our way home...look who is in the background!  I hope you were nice this year!

This year was my first time celebrating Thanksgiving away from my family.  It was outrageously expensive to go home for Turkey Day, especially when I'm going home for an extended Christmas break in like 3 weeks, so I went to see one of my best friends and her family in Chicago.  

Atkins approved pumpkin cheesecake. YUM!

The official vodka of the Klipp family.

Racing cars, a favorite Klipp family pastime.

Thank you to Carrie's dad for finally putting on my license plate holder!

All-in-all, a great first month in Indy!  Maybe when I stop traveling I will attempt some real cooking instead of burgers on my George Foreman...