Summer Road Trip pt.1

Hey y'all! Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. A whole week today actually. I've missed my Music Mondays, WCW, and everything! And I haven't been able to read any other blogs either. I've got so much catching up to do! But I have been working soooo much lately. I just finished working 8 days in a row. 8 DAYS! That's insane but I've made it through...just barely haha. Every night I got home I went straight to bed lol. But I'll be back to my regularly scheduled programming soon. As a reward for my crazy work schedule I'm taking a nice little road trip with my friends this weekend to see one of my favorite bands ever, Fall Out Boy!

 

Last year when Fall Out Boy came off "hiatus" they announced a full summer tour all over the country. Being as it had been 4 years since I'd seen them last and I had(along with everyone else) assumed they'd broken up(I was truly devastated lol) so of course I was gonna see them. And multiple times haha. So around this same time last year my friends and I planned a road trip to go to a few of the concerts. First was the Atlanta show, then we drove to Orlando to see them again and spend a few days at Disney. That next week we drove to Indianapolis for a show(with a pit stop in Knoxville to pick up our other friends) then back down to Nashville for our last show and which also happened to be the last show of the tour.

This year they're doing another summer tour and it's finally time for the shows I'm going to. And what makes it super fun is that it's with the same friends I went with last year. So today my friend Ashley and I are driving up to Knoxville to meet up with our other friends then Saturday morning we're driving to Cincinnati for the Bunbury Music Festival. I was really excited that FOB was playing this festival because now we get to see other artists as well. Plus I love music festivals in general.

We're staying in Cincinnati and then driving down to Nashville to see them at a venue called The Woods at Fontanel which I hear is a pretty cool outdoor venue. Atlanta-Knoxville-Cincinnati-Nashville are all about 3-4 hours apart so the drives won't be too bad. One time me and Ashley drove from Georgia to New York overnight on a whim...now that was a drive! Haha!  I'm super excited and can't wait to get on the road. Of course I've waited until today to start packing and cleaning up my house lol. But that will at least give me something to do until it's time to leave. I'll make sure to write about the trip & shows when I get back home. I'm sure it's gonna be an adventure!

I'll leave y'all with one of my favorite pictures from last year's road trip(and one of my favorite pictures ever!). Me and Patrick Stump(lead singer) after the Indianapolis show. :)

 

*Patrick Stump is the nicest person ever and gives the BEST hugs* 

Do you have any Summer trips planned? 

MKD 

iBake: Angel Food Cake, Berries, & Whipped Cream dessert

Happy 4th of July y'all! I hope everyone is having/has a great fun filled day! This year is actually the first time I don't have any set plans. I might just end up chilling at home and resting. I know that sounds super boring but this weekend I have to work and it's going to be insanely busy. At the museum the first weekend of every month is free for residents of the county the museum is located in as well as for Bank of America customers/card holders. Our free weekends are ALWAYS super busy/crowded/crazy and we're expecting that times 1000 since it's also the 4th of July holiday weekend. So I'm gonna need to rest up to prepare for that lol. I also live right next to a park that does a huge fireworks show every year and I can see the show from my backyard so I can get my fix that way if needed lol.

But anyway, if you're in need of a last minute dessert to bring to a BBQ you're attending today or something quick to make at home if you've got unplanned guests coming over, try out this Angel Food Cake, Berries, and Whipped Cream recipe! Sorry, I couldn't think of a better name haha! It's super easy and only takes 3 ingredients. Plus you get that lovely patriotic feel with the colors.

Angel Food Cake, Berries, & Whipped Cream

• Angel Food Cake
• Bag of mixed berries(I used raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries)
• Whipped Cream 

For the Angel Food Cake you've got a couple of options. You can just buy a pre-made cake, buy a box mix, or make it from scratch. Since this is supposed to be a quick and easy recipe I would go ahead and just buy a pre-made cake. Cut the cake into little bite sized pieces and place a layer at the bottom of your serving dish. Cover with a layer of whipped cream and repeat the layers as many times as you'd like or until you've filled your dish. After the final layer of whipped cream top with your berries. Et Volià! Great last minute dessert. I buy a big enough cake to get at least 2 serving dishes out of it. I love making this because not only is it super easy, but it's also a great refreshing summertime dessert. Enjoy!

 

How are you spending your 4th of July? 

MKD 

Music Monday: Esperanza Spalding

Today's Music Monday feature is the extremely talented musician, Esperanza Spalding. Esperanza is an American jazz bassist, cellist, and singer. In addition to jazz, she also plays jazz fusion, bossa nova, and neo soul music. She's been playing music since she was very young. She was inspired to start playing when she was only 4 years old and has seen Yo-Yo Ma perform on an episode of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. By the time she was 5 she had taught herself the violin and was playing with the Chamber Music Society of Oregon. She was definitely a child prodigy! In addition to playing multiple instruments, she also sings in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Esperanza has won 4 Grammys, one of which being Best New Artist at the 2011 Grammy Awards. This was the first time I had ever heard of her and probably lots of other people lol. For the award she was up against, Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence + The Machine, and Mumford & Sons. Talk about competition! I think everyone expected Bieber or Drake to win. I'm a fan of all these artists(except Bieber. No thank you.). So I was pulling for any of them to win. But after she won I went and looked her up and fell in love with her voice and music and realized that she totally deserved to win. With this win she also became the first ever jazz artist to win the award.

She has 4 albums out now. On her third album, Chamber Music Society, it opens with a beautiful rendition of Little Fly, a poem by William Blake. With her most recent album, Radio Music Society, she hoped it would help to showcase jazz musicians in an accessible way and suitable for mainstream radio. I think the album can definitely be enjoyed by anyone, jazz music fan or not. And I think that's a testament to just how truly talented Esperanza is. You can listen to her albums here on Spotify.

Here's a video of her performing the William Blake poem, Little Fly.

And here are 2 neat videos of her performing at the White House for President Obama and the First Lady.

 

If you've never given jazz music a shot or have been wanting to get into it, I think Esperanza would definitely be a good place to start.

Happy Listening!

How do you like Esperanza Spalding? 

MKD

   

iKnit: Summer projects

If you guys recall in my last iKnit post I made a Keyhole Scarf and it was the first major knitting project I had undertaken. Well I haven't made anything since then lol, but I do have a few really fun projects lined up to work on this summer! Within the past two weeks I have gained 2 new beautiful baby cousins. My aunts gave birth a week apart! So there's a lot of excitement and baby fever running around in my family. And since I'm not having babies any time soon(they're cute but not for me right now haha) I feel like my contribution will be some cute knit items for baby girl Evangeline(Eva for short) and baby girl Logan.

Each of these projects/patterns I got are again from the wonderful website, Craftsy. I love the huge variety of patterns they offer and they have them by skill level. So all the ones shown below will be at a novice/beginner level.

First up we've got the most adorable cardigan and it has teddy bear ears on top! Can you imagine a little baby all snuggled up in this?!?! I really like this color so I might stick with the blue for this one.

  Baby Cardigan with Teddy Bear Ears 

This next top is the perfect addition to a cute little dress. And I love this lilac color so I think I'll try to find the same and maybe do one in pink as well. 

 

Baby Angel Top P057 

This next cardigan might be my favorite because it totally looks like something I would wear haha. I need to figure out how to make this in an adult version. Again, I like this colorway so I might try to find this yarn and keep it the same. 

 

Baby Stripe Cardigan by Rocket London 

And lastly. I really want to make a blanket and I really liked this design. It's a basket weave pattern called entrelac. I'm thinking for baby Logan I'm going to do her blanket in pink, green, and white because my aunt was in the AKA sorority and their colors are pink and green. So I think she'd really like that. And for baby Eva I'm thinking pastels, like maybe a pink, purple, and blue. 

Entrelac Baby Blanket 

I'm excited to get started on these. I've got a couple of road trips planned for this summer so I'll definitely have time to do them then lol. 

Do you have any summer projects?  

MKD

WCW: Kay Murray

As I mentioned in my About Me, my favorite sport is soccer. It has been forever and I religiously follow the different leagues as well as the major tournaments. And unless you've been living underneath a rock, we all know that the biggest sporting event in the world is taking place right now, the FIFA World Cup. My life has been completely taken over by it and I wouldn't have it any other way(I'm sure the people that follow me on Twitter/my FB friends wish it was over haha)! I mean it only comes once every 4 years so you've got to get it all in. And it also doesn't hurt that the country I support (GERMANY!) is one of the favorites to win it. But anyway, in keeping with this, my Woman Crush Wednesday for this week is the amazing Kay Murray, Football(soccer) Broadcast Journalist extraordinaire!  

*Kay interviewing Cristiano Ronaldo for Real Madrid TV*

In a field dominated by men, Kay Murray is one of the best soccer sports journalist out there. She began her career working as a presenter for Boro TV in England, Middlesbrough Football Club's official channel. She then went on to become the senior presenter/pitch side reporter/producer-editor-writer for numerous shows for Real Madrid, one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world! *They're also the club I've been a supporter of for the last 12 years. Hala Madrid!* This is where I first came across Kay, through Real Madrid TV. She's fluent in Spanish which helps being as Real Madrid is a Spanish club lol. She's also co-hosted the FIFA Ballon d'Or award ceremony(it's like the Oscars for soccer) twice and done a fabulous job each time. 

Now Kay works for beIN Sports, a global network of sports channels. She works for the North American version of the channel. She currently hosts The Express Xtra, a post-game show that provides up-to-date news and analysis on the soccer matches of the day. She also contributes articles for the beIN website as well as other sports magazines/websites. 

I think one of the things I respect most about her, besides her being a boss in her testosterone laden field, is that she manages to remain objective while reporting/analyzing. Kay is a Madridista, a term used to describe fans of Real Madrid. If you follow her on social media she proudly shows it(another reason why I love her). Yet when it comes time to work, she's able to put that aside and put on the journalism cap and do her job. I only say this because sometimes the other journalists/presenters(men!) she works with are not objective at all and it's so annoying when you just want to hear the facts, not people's personal opinions. 

I've spoken with Kay through twitter a couple of times, mostly during Real Madrid games and usually when they're losing and we're both frustrated haha. But she's really cool and seems like she would be a fun person to hang out with. :)

Who is your Woman Crush Wednesday?  

MKD 

Music Monday: Emeli Sandé

Today's Music Monday artist is another songstress hailing from the UK, the wonderful Emeli Sandé. She's a soul and R&B singer songwriter. You might have heard of Emeli, if not her music then at least her name. She's wildly popular in the UK with her album spending 7 weeks at number 1 and it was the best selling album of 2012 in the UK. The album also ousted The Beatles, Please Please Me album as the chart record holder for spending the most consecutive weeks in the top 10(66 weeks!). Her first US single Next to Me also became pretty popular here in the States. She also performed at the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics. Needless to say, 2012 was her year! And if there are any PBS watchers reading this, she also performed on Austin City Limits last year!

It was also earlier in that year that I first heard Emeli. It was actually my younger sister that introduced me to her. She told me she was listening to this new singer from England that she just knew I would love. And she was right lol. I went out and bought her debut album, Our Version of Events and fell in love with her voice but especially her writing style. She's definitely one of those artists whose songs I can relate to on a personal level. You can listen to the album here on Spotify.

So far for my Music Monday features I haven't had the opportunity to see any of the artists perform live, but that changes here! I saw Emeli perform last summer and it was absolutely amazing! She did a summer US tour and I got tickets for myself and my little sister Ashley for her 21st birthday. Since she was the one that introduced me to Emeli's music, it was the least I could do for her. As good as she is on her album, she's 1000x better live. It was a sold out show and everyone sang every word from start to finish. And to top it all off, after the show I got to meet her! When the show ended I walked up to the stage and asked one of the roadies if I could have her set list and he gave it to me! So I gave it to Ashley as another b-day gift lol. And when we left we walked around to the back of the venue and waited to see if she would come out and she did! So Ashley got her set list signed and we both got pictures with Emeli. She was such a sweetheart and stayed out and met with every fan that was waiting out there, even when it started to rain.

 

Ashley with Emeli and her signed set list. 

 

Me and Emeli! 

Here's the video for her single Next to Me, which was her first single released here in the States. 

And here's her video for the song Clown which was the last single released from the debut album. It's also one of my favorite songs from the album.

Her next album is scheduled to come out this November and I can't wait! And I'm hoping a full US tour will soon follow.

Happy Listening!

How do you like Emeli Sandé? 

MKD 

WCW: Rachel Khoo

My Woman Crush Wednesday for this week is the lovely Rachel Khoo. She's an English chef, cookbook author and broadcaster. I first came across Rachel on The Cooking Channel through her show The Little Paris Kitchen. I love to cook and bake so I watch a lot of cooking shows lol. So when I first saw Rachel's show I was hooked. The show is set in her little Paris apartment, and when I say little I mean little lol. But she makes it work. And it is so cute! Most of her recipes are traditional French recipes that she has taken and made her own/made easier for the home cook to make. And did I mention that she lives in an apartment in Paris?! lol

She has written two cookbooks in French but her third book is written in English and is titled the same as her show.

Something really cool she had going on for a while was that she turned her little apartment into a restaurant. It could only seat 2 people and was essentially in her living room/bedroom and she would cook right there in the kitchen in front of them. It became so popular that people were taking out reservations months in advance! Now that she has her tv shows that film in her apartment the home restaurant is no longer open but I bet it was really cool while it lasted!

As a budding chef/pastry chef I definitely draw a lot of inspiration from Rachel. She's young, seems down to earth, and is really good at what she does. And she makes cooking fun. Here are some videos of Rachel in action making Raspberry and Lemon Madeleines and a Quiche Lorraine. :)

 

Who's your Woman Crush Wednesday?     

MKD