artist of the day

today's artist: chiddy bang

today's artist is chiddy bang, for obvious reasons. little old west minnie will be graced with the presence of chiddy bang this evening.  A 30 degree night with a snow storm warning in effect+a rapping/dj-ing duo gaining more & more popularity by the second=one fun night ahead.  chiddy bang might not know how to act around a bunch of middle class white kids, but we're oh so prepared for some great rapping tonight. chiddy bang takes some of my favorite songs (like mgmt's kids) and adds their own beats/words over top and it's actually pretty awesome...coming from the girl who only likes about 5 rappers/hip-hop artists. 

mind your manners,

hill

Give me some 'tude.

i now understand why a picture is worth a thousand words. pictures capture facial features and often they are more telling and honest than the words that may be coming out of your mouth. 
also, a phrase my mother used to say to me ad nauseum, "it's not what you said, but how you said it," have been gaining a lot more relativity to my life. take the phrase, whatareyoutalkingabout and place it into two different situations. a playful one with your friend who just said something crazy and your loving response, is "what you talkin' about girl" or something to that effect. contrast that to telling your friend a thought you had, have them half listen and then bite back, dripped in disgust, "what are you talking about." feel it? so different. 

words have also their poignancy with casual and incorrect uses being accepted by the masses. three phrases come to mind immediately: "iloveyou," "that'sgay," and "that'ssoretarded." the last two are socially inconsiderate, rude and unacceptable. mental retardation effects 1/35 children in the unitedstates. last time i checked, that kind of pain and sadness should not be used to describe an assignment a college professor assigned. along with those lines, the word gay at one time meant happy; glad to see that the unitedstates has just negatively connotated one more word. observe the two phrases, "i love tacos" and "i love my mom." don't get me wrong, i love tacos, but don't even try to tell me i love tacos as much as i love my ma. this word has lost it's depth and when we look into the eyes of our loved ones and say the over used phrase, "iloveyou," is there any way for them to know which 'love' you are talking about? 

there is an awfully large amount of pessimistic and cynical attitudes being spit through the teeth of many of the students at westminster. where is the sincerity in our voices? how can we show love and kindness to each other when we are stuck in our own selfish nightmares that people so often mistake as daydreams?
willa cather once said that "a child's attitude toward everything is an artists attitude." children understand true uncorrupted emotions and don't feel hatred or cynicism. unfortunately, we cannot be children again, so we must turn to being artists; let us construct the world around us with kindness and add color and live positively. 
be mindful ofwhat you sayhow you say itand what you mean by it
go spread the love, rach.

tye dye lovin'

there's nothing quite like taking the rubberbands off a recently tye-dyed t-shirt, rinsing out the excess dye, and discovering the unique pattern created on an originally bland white t-shirt. 

but today's post is about a different kind of tye dye. the kind of tye dye that is edible. but it's not tye dye cake, cookies, or jello.  it's tye dye cheesecake. that's right. it's heaven sent from the tye dye gods.  while on pinterest (probs one of the best sites ever), i ran across this little recipe and kelc, rach and i are gonna attempt this before the end of the semester, and it will definitely be documented. the hippie in all of us fell in love at first site with this recipe...and surprisingly, it seems like a piece of cake (pun intended).  

here's the blog with the recipe/pictures. 

tye dye cheesecake!!

and hopefully ours will end up looking like this:

happy tuesday!

love,

hill

Joe the Coffee Drinker

The United States import in excess $4 Billion worth of coffee per year.

So, that basically means, Americans spend about $164.71 on coffee and will wait in line nearly 45 hours each year. Wow.

32% of Americans say they depend on coffee to make it through the day.

The top three coffee retail sellers are (in order): Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and Caribou Coffee.

35% of coffee drinkers prefer black coffee (KELCEY and ME)
65% prefer to add sugar and/or cream (HILLARY)

Nicaragua, Fair Trade, Equal Exchange, from a local store.

400 million cups of coffee are consumed in the United States.

The average cup of coffee is 9oz.

Men drink as much coffee as women, women seem to be more concerned about the price.

The average consumption of coffee in the United States is 3.1 cups.

Coffee is the world's second most traded commodity, taking a backseat only to petroleum.

Coffee beans are the seeds to a fruit that is similar to a cherry and come in pairs of two, except when there is only one, slightly smaller berry called the peaberry.

The peaberry is considered the caviar of coffee.

The first coffeehouse opened in Europe in Venice, 1683, though coffee was available since 1908 (only to those who could afford it).


The historical origins of the coffeehouse indicate that is was a popular meeting place for revolutionaries to conspire together and engage in political debates.

Christian priests believed that Satan has invented coffee as a substitute for wine which Muslims were not allowed to drink.  Since Christians used wine in their services, clearly coffee must then be the drink of the Anti-Christ.

Now, coffee has a universal appeal to people of different income level, ethnicity and religion.

get your joe on,
rach

artist of the day

today's artist: the avett brothers

today's artist is the avett brothers.  introduced to me by my sorority mother jane larson before i even attended westminster, i fell in love after first listen.  leah hunter burned me a copy of their "i and love and you" album and i consistently listen to it on repeat cause they're just that good.  rachael, kelcey and i were talking on our way to brunch this morning about how perfect "the laundry room" is because it's basically the kind of love story we all want to have.  specifically the laundry room portion for me. they're wonderful, and i will see them in concert any chance i get because they are GREAT live.

teach me how to use the love that people say you made,
hill

sometimes just to lay in the grass is enough

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time”-John Lubbock

Promise me that sometime in the next week you'll walk outside with nothing but your water bottle, sunglasses, blanket, and a book in hand.  That you'll go find a quiet spot in the sun. And just sit. Soak it all in.  Take advantage of this opportunity.  Reflection is good for the soul.

love,

hill

I'll Fly Away

This an ode. An ode to my favorite bag. I purchased this bad boy at a vintage consignment shop. I dished out a whole $2.  It is my favorite color.  It used to be a flight attendant's bag. It has a lock zipper contraption and sadly, I do not have the key for it. I find this bag is a hit among the ladies, and by that I mean old people. But that's okay, the bag is glorious and serves its purpose well. Enjoy some documentation of the bag in action. 

if the color isn't it's best feature, what else could it possibly be?

today, it is full to capacity including(but not limited to): laptop, charger, Spanish text book, notebook, Kashi granola bar, can of oranges and some V8 fruit and veggie juice. 

full effect with the outfit and all of it's glory. 

gotta love the cross body straps. 

don't forget to love the little things, 
rach