WEEKEND UPDATE

Went to the mall by CJ's work to look at the stars. And J. Crew.

Trekked down to the LES for the pudding from Sugar Sweet Sunshine that I like with all my heart. (I am trying not to say "love" about things because one time in testimony meeting this guy got up and said something about what a kid must think when he hears his dad say "I love you, son" and also say "I love fishing." SO THOUGHT-PROVOKING I CAN'T EVEN.)

This is a candy store that has every candy you can imagine including all the retired candies and old-fashioned nasties like Necco, Circus Peanuts, and those foam saucers with the little balls inside. So gross. We got sour tape! Which we ate in Spain all the time.

I saw this in SoHo and nearly cried because POOR DROSE!

We went to Crate and Barrel because we had some time to kill before we met up with friends. We sat on pretty much every couch in the whole place which is why C&B is the best place to go in the city in the winter when you have time to kill. It's warm and there are couches. Don't know why I thought we would leave without buying something???? P.S. I like this picture of CJ because he is making the SASSIEST face! Haha!

We ate Korean BBQ with our friends Chelsea and Russell. I don't like Korean food that much.

And then we went to karaoke. No trip to Koreatown is complete without a round of karaoke!

Sunday was the Primary Program and I cried pretty much the entire time.  They sang all my absolute favorite songs...this was my year, you guys. Plus CJ is a primary teacher so it was even bettahhh. They hung this banner in the hallway and the kids wrote how they know they're children of God.

My cousin Kai was born and he is the most adorable thing I have ever seen.

On Sunday CJ cleaned the whole apartment while I did nothing. See? There's me being useless. On FaceTime. These are the only pictures you will ever see of our current apartment so really let them sink in. That's our bed........and it has always been like that. And we sleep on it.

I will never have a stainless steel fridge because I absolutely love magnets and hanging things on the fridge. Maybe tacky, I don't even care.

As I was sitting on the bed while my husband buzzed all over the place cleaning E V E R Y T H I N G I realized that it had been 6 months since our wedding.  And I started to cry because I have the best husband and I am not always the best wife...like when it comes to cleaning. I AM the best wife when it comes to cooking though. You win some, you lose some.

Days 1, 2, & 3 in NYC or "A Series of Unfortunate Events"

Yes, we made it to the Big Apple! If you have texted me over the past few days and asked me how everything is going I probably said GREAT, and it is great, but that's not the whole story.

It all started on Sunday when our flight was delayed an hour...and then another hour...and then another hour. Landing us at JFK around 10:30 PM. Fortunately the journey via the subway to our apartment went without any major incidents. Little did I know that hauling 3 suitcases through the subway would be the easiest part of the week!

As soon as we arrived we were basically starving since we hadn't eaten since about 12PM, so CJ headed down the street to our neighborhood McDonald's. Obviously. I took it upon myself as queen supreme wife to put our new sheets on the bed while CJ was gone. Everything was going well until I climbed over to the bottom right corner of the bed and CRACK CRASH BOOM BANG the entire bedframe came crashing down. I could have died...I felt like the worst wife of all time. CJ came home and I had to tell him that I broke the bed. It's about 1:30AM at this point. LOL!!! So what did we do? The mattress is connected to the bed frame by tubes (it's some fancy air mattress thing that is not very comfortable) so we did not have the option to move the mattress to the floor. So we fixed the bed and right as we were putting the last piece in it broke again. So we went through the whole process again and didn't put the last piece on and slept on it without incident. We finally went to bed around 3:30AM.

CJ woke up about 4 hours later for work and there was a rather curt note from the neighbor on the door giving us some "friendly New Yorker advice to not unpack and refurnish the apartment at 2 or 3 in the morning while our neighbors who have to work early in the morning are trying to sleep!!" Thanks, bro. Cool advice. Trust me, I wish we could have slipped quietly into bed when we got home!

Monday was one of the worst days ever. I slept so late because of the time change and everything and I was too scared to leave the house without CJ. I know, I am a dummy but I am pretty much over that fear by now as I basically traipsed through the hood yesterday while the old men kept saying "EY MAMA EY MAMI." And it was fine and I made it to the subway.

Anyway, I cleaned the apartment and unpacked all of our stuff and waited for CJ to come home. Also, our internet was down so there was actually nothing to do and I couldn't google how to get places etc because I also don't have an iphone or anything like that. McKay called me in the middle of the day and I just sobbed to him about all my problems and worries and told him he was the first person I had talked to all day. My sweet brother calling was one of the best parts of my day. Then CJ got home from work and I was so happy. For FHE CJ and I got a treat and CJ dedicated our apartment. It was wonderful.

On Tuesday I finally left the house! Dropped CJ's pants off at the tailor and went to the grocery store where pretty much everything is 4.99. BUMMER. Then I realized that my key to our apartment building doesn't work! HOW COMICAL. So I am standing by the door hoping someone comes down to leave when I think to buzz the neighbor. Yes, the same ones who had written the note. We told them what happened and they felt really bad and told us that they are in our ward and can help us if we need anything, etc. so homegirl buzzed me in. Then when I came up she asked me to return the favor and watch her baby for five minutes. So I did and now all is well with apt 614.

Then I traipsed through the wrong side of the barrio to get to the subway and this abuela helped me find which way to go. Good thing I speak Spanish! I was headed downtown to put our names in the Wicked lotto and meet CJ after work. You have to pay for the tickets with cash if you win so I hauled booty through Times Square to get to an ATM and that was pure misery. I hate tourists.

Alas, we did not win the Wicked lottery but we still managed to have a great night. We walked over to Sprinkles for buy one get one free cupcakes and ate them in Central Park...what a dream! Then we headed over to the High Line for dinner and the free stargazing that happens there every Tuesday night...amateur astronomers of NYC bring their telescopes, it's cool! We got tacos from Chelsea Market  (LOVE) and ate them at the park while we watched the sunset over the Hudson River. I LOVED High Line Park and definitely recommend it to anyone visiting the city!

We came home and were looking forward to watching Arrested Development all snug in our bed when it BROKE AGAIN. R U KIDDING ME? This time it was 10:00 so I didn't feel as bad for the neighbors but we basically just took the entire thing apart instead of trying to fix it again and our bed is now ON THE FLOOR inside the bed frame.

FFW to this morning after CJ left for work as I am sitting at the computer desk and I feel something crawl up my leg. I look down...the biggest cockroach I have seen in our apartment yet! I was so panicked that I didn't even think and I swatted it away. GREAT. Now it was loose in our house right by our bed. Fortunately I found it later and sprayed it with a vengeance.

Just some of our adventures here in Manhattan. Now I am off to meet CJ at the Gershwin Theater and put our names in for the lottery for Wicked tix. Basically my life is nothing like Friends or Gossip Girl or whatever but I DON'T CARE I LOVE IT.

LISTEN UP AND LISTEN GOOD

As you all know, I am approaching college graduation. I am ecstatic! My experience has been better than I could have imagined and I have grown so much, intellectually and otherwise.

HOWEVER. I've started looking for a job and I'm finding it fairly difficult. My degree is in American Studies and my minor is Spanish, and I don't really want to know what I would like to do as a career. Obviously with a major like mine that does not lead to a specific career path, I have a lot of options open to me. When I was choosing a major my freshman year, I didn't really think I wanted to have a career at all, a job maybe...but I pretty much planned on going on a mission, coming back and finishing school and getting married to a wealthy man and having babies. And then I realized that having a career might actually be fun and cool and fulfilling, and I also became a feminist so. Now I do want to have some sort of career.* And this is where we get to the part that, frankly, is starting to get really old.

I REALIZE that my job search would be much easier if I majored in a different field like math or science. I REALIZE that by choosing a Humanities degree I put myself at a disadvantage in a world where business, science, and technological career opportunities are abounding. Don't worry, I have kicked myself plenty of times and thought, "Damn, I should have done Accounting! I could have a job in two seconds!" So I really don't need anyone else to tell me how foolish my decision was. The jokes about how Taco Bell is hiring American Studies majors are not funny anymore. I can joke about it if I want to, and if I feel discouraged and regretful about my major choice, that's my prerogative. But it's really not anyone's place to make me feel like my degree isn't worth anything.

I would be a lousy accountant. And probably super crabby because I don't like math and I'm not good at it. Sure, I could have gone into Computer Science, but I probably wouldn't have cried TEARS OF JOY in class as many times as I have, or felt like I wanted to shout what I had just learned about humanity and culture and feminism and love from the mountaintops. For some people, Computer Science does it for them. Not me, sir.

THE THING IS I AM A DAMN GOOD AMERICAN STUDIES MAJOR. I know it, I live it, I love it. You know why I hardly ever skip class? Because I LOVE CLASS. I enjoy coming to school and I enjoy writing my papers and I love working with my professors. The things I have learned about myself, the world, and America have forever changed the way I think about everything. LITERALLY EVERYTHING. My education is something really important to me that I will treasure forever. Also, I'mma take it with me to the next life where they probably don't have taxes and probably do have art and literature and people and music and language.

The other thing is that I am good at pretty much everything required to be a valuable employee. Working with a team, being nice, hard-working, dependable, good communication, writing skills, not stupid, innovative and creative, leadership, bossiness, getting shiz done, etc. So hire me. Teach me how to do that technical thing that I don't know how to do, and I'm your gal. Employee of the year!

My point is, shout out and a big hug and kiss to all the people who have always supported me in my decision to study America (which is mostly everyone), and a big middle finger to all the haterz out there on their high horse telling me to give McDonald's another shot.** DON'T NEED U.

Haven't written a post like this in a while. Feels good. I would like to close my talk with a quote from Beyoncé, Queen of America.

*Not trying to say that you can't be a feminist if you don't have/want a career.
**I have interviewed at McDonald's twice (in desperation during my teenage years) and been turned down both times.

Scenes from the weekend (no pictures)

I think I am just a hoot because I am calling this post scenes from the weekend but there are no scenes. I need to make myself take more pictures or my children are going to hate me.

On Friday night CJ and I had so much fun! When we were deciding where to go to dinner CJ said he wanted to go somewhere a little nicer. We decided on P.F. Chang's and it was a great decision. I haven't been in a while because the P.F. Chang's in Tri-Cities is TERR.I.BLE. Let me tell you. Just disgusting. I wonder if they have changed their ways but I seriously doubt it and I don't want to risk going back. We shared the Orange Chicken and Crispy Honey Shrimp. In the past I have avoided shrimp even though I love it because it makes me sick. BUT the past two times I have had it I have felt just fine! So that's great. I love food.

Then we went to Sports Authority so CJ could get some new sweats!!!!! SO MUCH EXCITEMENT. We ran into Skyler and Kara in the mall and got to chat with them for a while so that was fun. After we left we headed up the canyon to Sundance Resort to ride the ski lift! During the fall you can ride the ski lift at night when there's a full moon! Funny story...I had planned to take CJ about a month ago the last time there was a full moon. I told him we were going on a surprise date and talked it up a lot and then it rained and stormed the night we were supposed to go. I was so disappointed! But we went to Color Me Mine instead and it was great so whatever. But anyway, basically every time CJ and I plan to do something outdoors it rains. So we got really lucky on Friday night because the weather was perfect. The lift was a little bit scary at first but it was so beautiful and peaceful in the canyon at night. It was wonderful to just sit and talk and enjoy each other's company. (CHEESIN')

Saturday...oy vey/madre mía/etc. I woke up at like seven in the morning, went to Weight Watchers, got some McD's for breakfast (IRONY LOL) and then went STRAIGHT to the library with my diet coke in hand. I was there from 9-4!!!! As much as I hated it it felt so good to get my work done and know that I wouldn't have to do any homework the next day. This semester I have been trying to avoid doing homework on Sunday and it has gone really well so far. I love having Sundays to just relax, go to church, bake, and spend time with friends and family. Sundays really are one of my favorite days of the week. ANYWAY. After I got back from the library, CJ picked me up and we headed to McKay's lacrosse scrimmage. My cousin Kelci who I haven't seen in forever was there and Alyssa was there, too. I could honestly watch lacrosse all day I think it is so entertaining. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, but I always have fun with CJ. Took a trip to the grocery store to get the ingredients for Sunday dinner. We went to In-N-Out (healthy choices happening all da time) and it was dericious. Then we watched Heavyweights (how appropriate) and just ended up falling asleep.

Sundayz r da best dayz. Went to CJ's ward because my ward is at 1:30 and CJ's is at 11...so pretty easy decision there. I wake up at like the crack of dawn on Sundays and it's just really hard to wait around for church to start. After church I made enchiladas that were pretty good and  lemon cookies that were the bomb and we took them to Brian and Shannon's. It's so much fun to hang out with them and we all get along really well...and Shannon loves to play charades so it's like a match made in heaven!

I love the weekends. And this weekend will be ESPECIALLY FUN because it's going to be MYYYYY BIRTHDAYYYYYY!!!! THE BEST DAY OF THE YEAR!

No Points Pasta

So I am doing a recipe post and it's going to be really boring because I don't have a single picture of the food I made because, like I said in my last post, I don't have an iPhone. BUT you really should make this dish because it's really good and easy.

From the time I was about 11 until after I came to college the only thing I knew how to make was pasta with cream sauce. (My mama taught me right, guys.) And I was good at it, too. Didn't even need to look at a recipe or anything. I loved to make it on New Year's Eve while my friends and I watched old episodes of Laguna Beach, or for dinner during my first year at school. It has always been my go-to and I love the simplicty of it. This recipe is the grown up version of that dish. After all, I am almost 21!

(It's called No Points Pasta because I am doing Weight Watchers and this pasta is actually A LOT of points but I just kept joking about how it's not any points because I wanted to eat the whole pot! HILARITY.)

NO POINTS PASTA (adapted from Pioneer Woman's Penne a la Betsy)

1 box penne
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 package white mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup sodium-free chicken broth
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup cream
1 rotisserie chicken, cut up into bite-sized pieces (I used almost the whole chicken)
handful (or more) fresh spinach
dash cayenne (optional)
fresh basil (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)
handful shredded parmesan

Directions:

Boil water and cook pasta until al dente, about 11 minutes.

Heat butter and olive oil in LARGE saucepan. Add garlic and onion and saute until onions start to get soft, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute until mushrooms are almost fully cooked, becoming soft and dark. Then add the chicken broth and let simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once everything is incorporated, add the tomato sauce and stir together well. Then...the cream. Turn the heat down and add your chicken and spinach. Stir well. Cover and let simmer for a few minutes until the spinach is soft.

While the sauce is simmering, chop your basil. You can add as much as you want, I used about a tablespoon but wished I had added more.

If you like a bit of spice, throw some cayenne in the sauce. Then add your basil, and salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Drain pasta and pour it into the sauce. Throw in the handful of parm. Stir until well combined.

You won't be single for long, ladies! LOL but seriously it's extremely delicious.

Iphoneless

I have come to the conclusion that if I had an iphone I would...
take more pictures
blog more
read the news more
talk to my dad more
tweet more (is this possible?)
cook more
work out more
not forget stuff at the grocery store
wake up the first time my alarm goes off
read the Book of Mormon more
So...basically I would be a way better person if I had an iphone. But I don't. So I will just keep on not blogging and not taking pictures of my life, I guess. LOL.

But really, I am finally getting settled into school and my new schedule and stuff and it feels really good. The first couple of weeks of school have been an emotional roller coaster for me because of a combination of fear of the future, a bad attitude, and NOT taking things one day at a time. I am still learning how to do that, but I know for a fact that it will make my life easier if I do. Life by the inch is a cinch, life by the yard is hard!

This past weekend (is it seriously Friday already???) was really fun. On Friday night, CJ and I went and saw the musical In the Heights in Salt Lake and it was so much fun! I saw the show in New York when we went for choir during my senior year and when I heard they would be doing it in Salt Lake I knew we had to go. CJ loved it, too. I am so glad that he appreciates music and theater, even if he doesn't appreciate football! It was really stressful though because we tried to grab what we thought would be a quick dinner before the show and it ended up taking forever so we were literally shoving food in our faces as we were running into the theater minutes before the show started...CLASSY.

I have a love/hate relationship with Saturdays. I have been doing weight watchers and so I wake up really early to go to WW with Chelsea and then I have the rest of the day to either be really productive (LOVE) or be super lazy and eat everything in the house out of sheer boredom. And watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Still learning how to make the most of Saturday...will let you know when I discover the secret but as of right now I actually love watching the Kardashians so...sorry I'm not sorry.

After CJ got off work we went to our friend Skyler's birthday party. Skyler has been working on a movie for the church in which he played a Jew during Jesus' time...basically he hadn't cut his hair or shaved in over 6 months. His birthday party doubled as a beard shaving/hair cutting party so that was really fun and there is actually something very soothing about taking a big chunk out of someone else's hair. (Britney, holla at me!)

Basically, my life is really good. I have the best boyfriend in the world (actually not exaggerating) (I'm at work right now and he's bringing me lunch) (seriously though what more could you ask for) and I have plenty of fun with my roommates and friends when I'm not doing boring stuff like schooling and working. And I have been baking and cooking a lot which honestly keeps me sane. And everything I make is damn good.

INSERT IPHONE PHOTOS OF PRECEDING EVENTS HERE.

P.S. I have been craving jamon serrano for days and I don't even really like it that much.
P.P.S. 2 weeks until my birthday!

All I want for Christmas is for Halloween to be over.

It's Halloween and all I can think about is how I am going to decorate the apartment for Christmas...tonight at midnight...wait, I know what you're thinking. It's one of two things.
Either:
-"OMG, me too!"
or
-"HOW COULD YOU HOW DARE YOU DECORATE FOR CHRISTMAS BEFORE THANKSGIVING/DECEMBER 1ST/DECEMBER 25TH/(insert other ridiculous date here) YOU ARE RUINING CHRISTMAS FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!! WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS!"

I am not being dramatic, either. In the past few weeks I have found that this issue of decorating for Christmas and/or listening to Christmas music is VERY polarizing. In fact, one of my roommates threatened to move out if we decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, which we absolutely doing, so we'll see if she follows through with that. If you follow me and twitter (@cmacmitch) or if you have the privilege of talking to me on a regular basis, you know I am not the most gung-ho person about Halloween. I like dressing up, I love candy, and I love Hilary Norton, but for the most part I am unenthused. I hate scary movies, haunted houses/mazes/mental hospitals/boats/car washes, teenagers on Halloween, and I especially hate Halloween movies and songs. Creepy and tacky.

Maybe one day when I can make costumes for my children and dress them up hilariously, I will like Halloween a little more. But I have a funny feeling that that will just stress me out and make me feel annoyed. On the bright side, LOOK AT THESE BABIES.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Baby, baby, baby OHHHHH

There is a certain amount of risk involved with making your children's names public knowledge...

so I'm not going to. Even though basically everyone who has been my friend/roommate knows them. And I don't think anyone would steal them, but you never knooooooowwwwww! They are weird and as Abby says "ridiculously contrived."

PS Although I like a lot of the names on that postcard, I only see one that is on my list and that's CLAIRE. There. I gave one away.

PPS I'm not pregnant...if you thought that's what this meant, then I'm sorry.

A Little Rant 4 U 2 Read

hahahahaha. i'm not actually crying. i just found this and thought it was ridiculous and super emo.

Okay so...I have had no social life as of late. I mean, I run miles upon miles, go to school, and go to work. And I had been watching the NBA playoffs and American Idol but we all know how that turned out...anyway. So every Friday and Saturday night I come home from work, I am usually home alone, and I just do whatever. Like tonight I put my hair in rollers*, cleaned, made brownies for Relief Society tomorrow, and made myself a milkshake all while blasting country music. The point I am getting to is that as I was drinking my milkshake a thought struck me: how could I ever work every day for the rest of my life?! Is this what real life is? Work and school and hair in rollers and cleaning all aloney on my owney? (Please imagine the look on my face as I came to this realization.) And then naturally I started to think about my future and whatnot.

Anyway, I won't bore you with my entire train of thought. But I was just thinking about boys and boyfriends and love, etc. JUST SO YOU KNOW, there are times when I'm not thinking about those things.

So I was like, am I mad that I don't have a boyfriend? No. Absolutely not. Too mushy and embarrassing. Too much drama, too much touching, not enough time. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not the type of girl to be like OMG I NEED A BOYFRIEND STAT AND I MEAN YOU'RE MALE AND YOU'RE HERE AND I KINDA LIKE YOU SO....OKAY YEAH LIKE LET'S DATE LIKE IT'S FINE.

But I think what I don't like is that I don't give enough of a damn about any guy in my life to even care...you know? Like, I don't know a guy that I would want to be my boyfriend. Besides Jimmer. The fun thing about my life up until this point was that I always had a crush on someone. I feel like. Even if the love went unrequited (so 99% of the time), it was still fun to be giddy and ask the boy for gum during class or something and then chew it obsessively until it disintegrated. And most of the time, I didn't even actually want the love to be requited. Unrequited love is the only kind of love that doesn't freak me out beyond belief. So I guess I just gotta do me and grow up a little until some VERY lucky guy bursts into Zupas in the middle of my shift and exclaims that he can't live without me and he would like an Ultimate Grilled Cheese to-go.

Aaaaaand until then it's brownies and ice cream and rollers, I suppose.

*This woman came into Zupas today with rollers in her hair and they looked way cool and I didn't even realize they were rollers at first so I asked her about them and she told me and I went and got them after work. So we will see if they are awesome like she says.

Hello, hubby

Do my parents and siblings like you?

Do you hate the Los Angeles Lakers/Do you love the Chicago Bulls?

Do you love dogs and babies?

Do you like to go to the beach?

Are you comfortable with doing nothing for a day?

Do you like to dance around?

Do you wear flannel shirts with basketball shorts?

Do you like to read books?

Have you ever mooned someone?

Do you dabble in expressions like "damn straight" or "hell no?"

Can you handle outbursts of dancing/singing/crying/laughing/shouting?

Would you feel comfortable on a farm?

Would you feel comfortable in a large city?

Do you plan to make your first million in the next five years?

Are you a liberal?

Are you a music snob?

Do you weigh 500 lbs?

If you answered yes to the first group of questions and no to the second group of questions, feel free to ask for my hand in marriage.

PROOF & MileyCat

Rapping.

I can see why people think we're twins.

"IS THIS PF CHANG?"

I use Jimmer as a dreamcatcher. Ya dig?

Exhibit A.

Tonight Abby came over.

We ate cookie dough, listened to Kid Cudi, took ridiculous pictures, and made a few prank phone calls. When I was 14 that's basically what I would do every weekend, but I don't think that I expected to still be doing it five years later. Am I surprised? No. Do I absolutely love nights like that? Yes.

Then we went to Canyon and Seth's house and this black cat was kind of stalking us which is pretty bad news because on Monday I accidentally opened an umbrella inside. So my bad luck is just majorly stacking up. The cat's name is MileyCat Gretel Halling but she ran away because Canyon tried to cuddle/soothe her. We fed her tuna but mostly she just drank the water. Then we played Mafia with only 4 people and it was hilarious and I literally could not stop laughing.

Basically I'm writing this because I realized that one day I am not going to be in college anymore and one day I am not going to be fun anymore so I need to be able to prove to my kids that I used to like to party.

5 delicious things you maybe haven't experienced

That's a Chicago dog. TRUE LOVE.

I'm obviously not a food blogger, but I do love food a lot. And I like to watch the show The Best Thing I Ever Ate on food network where people like Bobby Flay say "This is the best burger/breakfast/dessert/pizza I have ever had. And if you're in *insert food mecca here*, you should go get it!" Well guess what. My two places of residence are Richland, Washington and Provo, Utah. Do I live anywhere near food meccas like New York City, the Bay Area, Maine, or Kansas City??? The answer is NO. One day (hopefully for my honeymoon) I will embark on Burger Tour USA (vair romantic) and I will roadtrip across the country eating every burger from the burger episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate. And I will tell you which one is the yummiest. But for now, I will enlighten you with how a college girl gets her yum fix when a J-Dawg is not an option. I should mention that only one thing on this list is even maybe good for you, so proceed with caution.

1) Oreos+peanut butter.

The Parent Trap classic. Actually, that's how Abby and I found out we are long lost twins. She was eating oreos with peanut butter and I was like "NOOOOO WAY ME TOO!"

2) Brown sugar sandwich.

White bread, butter, and brown sugar. And cut off the crust. Yeesh. So good.

3) Li hing powder on pineapple.

Sometimes, I like to pretend I'm Hawaiian. Like how I danced the hula for 4 years. And how I would eat at Sweet's every day if I could. And how I almost went to BYU-Hawaii. But I digress. My friend and former roommate Jessica is from Laie and she was always introducing us to fun Hawaiian treats. One of my favorites was this pineapple! Li hing mui is a salty dried plum and the li hing powder is bright red. Sprinkled on pineapple it is SO yummy. If you can get a hold of some, try it. If you can't, put some salt on your pineapple. I heard that's good too. As for me, I'm moving to Hawaii the first chance I get. Actually...I've never been there.

4) Chips and gravy.

Also referred to as blabbity blah blah blah which is its fancy French name. You might have seen this fabulousness on the Bachelor during Ashley's hometown date with Brad. The first time I had it was when I was probably ten and we went to Nova Scotia, Canada to visit some of my mother's relatives (my grandma was born in Canada). I have been craving it ever since! You can get it at Ed Debevic's (referred to as "Wets" on the menu) if you're into obnoxious novelty restaurants. Or, you can make it at home but make sure you use brown gravy. My mom has made it for me before just using frozen french fries and a jar of brown gravy from the store. Probably not the proper technique, but sooooooo goooooooood mmmmmmm fat.

5) Warm milk with sugar and vanilla.

Call me crazy and tell me that the Myth Busters say I'm wrong, but this really does help me fall asleep! Freshman year of college consisted of some rough, sleepless nights. I remember calling or texting my mom in the middle of the night just to whine about how I couldn't sleep and I was usually in tears! Fortunately, I have the best mom in the world and she told me to drink some warm milk and I probably said YUCK and then she told me what to put in it. I have been doing this ever since! So just heat up some milk in a mug until it gets foamy around the edges, then put in a couple tsps of sugar, then a little bit of vanilla and stir it up. Don't heat it up in a separate cup! Snuggling the warm mug is part of the experience.

So, why don't you try something on this list? I promise I would never endorse anything that isn't scrumptious.

What's your quirky food combination?

Dear gentleman callers.

I am a seamstress.

Disclaimer: My Gran taught me the proper way to sew on a button. Really, she did. But I have since forgotten how, and I didn't have a toothpick handy, either. Maybe she can re-teach me when I go home in a few weeks.

I mean, it's not hard to sew a button on, and I didn't even do it correctly (feel free to cringe when you look at my stitches), but I am proud of myself.

This is like, my favorite part from Easy A. So funny. And also...my life.