Bucknell University - 15 Year Reunion

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I got to spend some time back at Bucknell University in PA for my 15-year college reunion, which was a lot of fun!  It was great catching up with friends and enjoying our time on campus - especially with so many updates and new buildings since we had been there even for the last reunion.  Of course I also had to get a new mug (the dark grey one in the photo below) and the "new" logo waffle maker in the cafeteria, haha.  I'm already looking forward to the next chance to get back there with friends!

Home Goods - Rae Dunn Ramen Bowl

I am (surprisingly) pretty good about only "window shopping" at HomeGoods, but I just couldn't resist getting this Rae Dunn "Ramen" bowl on my recent visit! I have two other "word" bowls from her, but of course I had to get this one in honor of one of my favorite foods.  I have a feeling that the "Ramen" and "Cereal" (bottom of the stack) are likely for college students, but it's still a cute and useful item for anyone that is a fan of these foods!

Dashboard Confessional - July 22nd, 2015

"Hands down this is the best day I can ever remember..."

On July 22nd, while I was in Seattle, I had the chance to see Dashboard Confessional with Third Eye Blind again (I saw them in Philly back in June), this time with a Dashboard Confessional VIP package!  The VIP package was totally worth it, with an early pre-show meet & greet with Chris Carrabba, acoustic performance of a bunch of songs, signed pass, and a poster that I still need to go to IKEA to get a frame for, haha.  

Despite my brain short-circuiting the minute that Chris Carrabba said "Hi" during my turn at the meet & greet, I managed to take some photos and mostly just take in the fact that he was singing literally an arm's length away from me. He played a bunch of songs that they would not be playing at the actual concert, and it was such a great opportunity to hear some old favorites, as well as some covers/different songs. 

The concert was held in Redmond, WA, at Marymoor Park's concert venue.   It's an amazing venue with food trucks, real bathrooms (yes this is a major bonus for outdoor venues, haha), lots of alcohol vendors, and plenty of tables/seating for people to chill out in before the concert or between the sets. I was seriously impressed with how nice this concert venue was put together, and I would love to come see another show here soon if I am in town for one!

I mainly went for Dashboard Confessional, but I was once again very impressed with Third Eye Blind's live performance- so many great songs, and everyone knew all the words it seemed like.  Also, Stephan Jenkins is 50?! He seriously looked pretty much the same as he did in the "Semi-Charmed Life" video, with slightly longer hair, haha.

What a fantastic night with two amazing live bands! I love that they went on tour together, and now this makes me really want Dashboard Confessional to go on another tour immediately!  Over a week later, I'm still a little overwhelmed by the fact that I finally met Chris Carrabba....!!!

Fresh Baguette - Bethesda, MD

A few weeks ago while I was making my regular pilgrimage to Georgetown Cupcake in Bethesda, I thought I would stop in Fresh Baguette as well.  Location-wise this worked out well, as Fresh Baguette is around one block from Georgetown Cupcake. 

The inside of this small shop smells amazing, assuming you love the smell of fresh baked bread. And if you don't, then I don't think we can be friends, haha.  After looking around at the selection of pastries and breads, I decided to try their chocolate croissant.  Chocolate croissants will always remind me of my semester abroad in London - which I know sounds random but stick with me here. I had an internship one day a week while I was in London, and the office had a coffee shop nearby that other employees would frequent for mid-morning breaks.  The chocolate croissant became one of my regular picks for these breaks, which sounds dangerously unhealthy to me now, but oh well, haha. 

Ok, so back to the chocolate croissant at Fresh Baguette.  This was my first time there, so it could have just been luck or good timing, but this croissant I got was warm, flaky, and SO good.  The chocolate was evenly distributed which was great- I hate when it's only in the first few bites or off to one side.  Even later when I warmed it back up to eat the rest of it, it was buttery and delicious.  It may also be worth noting that while I was enjoying my croissant, a few customers came in to pick up special orders - it seems like they have a number of dishes that would be great for parties, or to bring to a dinner at someone's house. I hope to go back to pick up a baguette or another pastry soon! 

Fresh Baguette

4919 Bethesda Avenue

Bethesda, MD 20814

301.656.0000

Wedding Weekend

I'm off to upstate NY this weekend for my fabulous friend M's wedding! I can't wait for a fun weekend filled with lots of celebrating!! Have a great weekend everyone :o)

Bachelorette Weekend

I'm off to upstate New York this weekend to celebrate a good friend's bachelorette weekend.  It should be a great weekend full of friends and wine, haha. Have a great weekend everyone!

Georgetown Cupcake - Baby Blue Vanilla and Baby Pink Vanilla Cupcakes

This post serves as a reminder (to myself) that thinking that you blogged about something doesn't always mean you actually did in real life, haha.  A looooong time ago I got these baby themed cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake for my friend T's unofficial DC baby shower.  Since they did not know the sex of their baby, I got an assortment of both pink and blue fondant toppers in various animal shapes.  With any special orders, fondant toppers are offered at no extra charge, which is a nice bonus. 

Also included in the cupcake assortment are the Baby Blue Vanilla (bottom left) and Baby Pink (top center) cupcakes, which are special order only.  Both the Baby Blue and Baby Pink Vanilla cupcakes are "tinted traditional sweet vanilla buttercream frosting on a Madagascar bourbon vanilla cupcake".  Taste-wise these are not that different from the regular Vanilla Squared cupcakes (just buttercream frosting instead of cream cheese frosting), but I did want to share these to show how cute their baby-themed cupcakes are :o) 

Florida Wedding Weekend

I'm off to the airport again- this time for a my good friend E's wedding in sunny Florida! I'm looking forward to celebrating such a wonderful couple and enjoying the nice weather. Have a great weekend everyone!

NYC Bachelorette Weekend

Hi everyone! I am off to celebrate my friend E's bachelorette and bridal shower in NYC this weekend!  It should be a great weekend of fun friends, wine tasting, and yummy food!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Girls' Weekend

This weekend I am looking forward to lots of friends visiting!  Three friends from NYC and one from PA are coming down to visit another friend in DC and I, woohoo! 



We are planning on brunch at Co Co. Sala which is always so good and super girly in my opinion, walking around the city, and whatever else we can think of. It's always fun to have college friends visit, I anticipate lots of fun gossip and late nights, haha. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Turkey Hill Whoopie Pie Ice Cream

Mmmmmm.... whoopie pie.  Maybe it was growing up in the tri-state area, or going to college in rural Pennsylvania, but I'm a huge fan of whoopie pies.  For those of you that have no idea what a whoopie pie is, Wikipedia explains it as "The whoopie pie (alternatively called a gob, black-and-white, bob, or "BFO" for Big Fat Oreo) is an American baked good that may be considered either a cookie, pie, or cake. It is made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, or sometimes pumpkin or gingerbread cake, with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them."

I was super excited to come across this tub of Turkey Hill ice cream in Target - Chocolate ice cream with whoopie pie pieces and creamy filling swirl.  Add the words "Limited Edition" + a coupon for a free Turkey Hill ice cream, and I was sold!

 

This ice cream was delicious! Super chocolate-y thanks to the chocolate ice cream and the chocolate whoopie pie pieces, with swirls of a marshmallow-ish filling throughout.  I wouldn't necessarily discern that this was a whoopie pie ice cream, it could also easily be a chocolate cake or Ho-Ho ice cream, but it was tasty nonetheless.  I'm not sure how limited this "Limited Edition" ice cream is (in terms of both when it's sold but also locations it's sold at), but if you come across it, give it a try!

Wedding Weekend in Ithaca, NY

A bunch of college friends and I will be meeting up this weekend in Ithaca, NY, to celebrate H and J's wedding!  I have technically been to Ithaca before, which I was not aware of - apparently my family went when I was very young, on our way home from Canada, haha.  I've heard it's beautiful up there and I can't wait to explore the area and celebrate my good friends getting hitched!

If anyone has any tips/must-see items for Ithaca please share!  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend as well!

Lunchtime Links for June 30th, 2011

• Serious Eats: DIY chocolate covered ice cream bars.
• The Kitchn: 10 uses for ripe bananas.
• Learn 2 Cook: Domo-kun cake pops.
• Small Kitchen College: Red velvet trifle.
• Bell'alimento: Affogato.

Lunchtime Links for March 25th, 2011

• Serious Eats: Koreatown's Food Gallery 32.
• Washington Post: Upcoming ramen spot in DC. 
• Top Chef All-Stars: Recap from TVGasm.
• Endless Simmer: NCAA tournament teams' drunk college food. 
• Beauty and the Blog: Benefit's boxes of powders.