my heart belongs to knoebels

 

oh knoebels.  you beautiful, strange little amusement park. you do not have super-power loop-de-loop roller coasters or state-of-the-art anything, yet you are my all time favorite amusement park. i think it's because of the trees. you're so green and lush and your rides are so kitschy and wonderful. plus, you're operating on a ticket system, which means i can drive up on a whim with two friends, drop $9 for a ticket book, ride all my favorite rides, split a sundae and some chicken fries then get back on the road. you're perfect in that way. i have to do the roller coasters of course, first the twister, with your hands up the entire time, then the phoenix which is more difficult to ride with your hands up because you're constantly flying out of your seat. even as a twenty-two year old with a beer belly, you still shoot up on the little hills (something you probably assumed you'd grow out of when you passed puberty.) then we move on to the haunted mansion, which might not actually be that scary, but at this point it's so old that it probably is haunted and you start to psych yourself out and get spooked. you insist on smashing all three of your grown-ass bodies into the tiny cart and you scream and claw at each other the entire time as if the plastic mutants might actually come for you this time. then we move on to the cosmatron, the ride i could live on if someone told me that i had to live on a ride. (not sure what those circumstances would be, but regardless, i have my answer.) it's indoors and it's spinning and you crush the person on the outside. and if you're my friends, you yell the lyrics to the song and try your best to dance along while not totally smashing into the outside person. you also try to avoid being the outside person in the first place. then i buy some peanuts for my dad, get chicken fries and squirt out condiments with the weird udders, and finish it off with a hot fudge sundae under the slow spinning pavilion tops. if the photo booth is working, you have to get a photo strip too. 

everything at knoebels is bright and bold and sunny. i love climbing to the top of a hill on the twister and looking out at the greenery of the surrounding mountains. i love walking in the shade between the rides. i love the little cabins that sit on either side of the bridge as you cross into the park. universal is fun and hershey always has something new, but knoebels keeps it real. and it doesn't quite feel like summer until i've been there.

little amps

 

i don't like coffee. it's a little too bitter and a little too adult and a little too yuck for me. but i frequently wish i did drink coffee. when i worked as a barista, i would frequently pour myself coffee (especially french vanilla) in the hopes that today was the day my taste buds would do a 180 and i would suddenly understand the cult of coffee. but alas. no luck. it always smells amazing but i just can't get behind it. yet i still buy it. especially when i'm in a cute coffee shop and i want to support the cuteness, despite not liking the product. such is the case with Little Amps. it's a new coffee shop in the midtown neighborhood of harrisburg and it's friggin' adorable with exposed brick and cool art and drinks served in jars. i'm all about it. so i've been there twice now. both times i got coffee. both times, i was reminded that i'm not a coffee person, but i am a coffee shop person, so i muddle through. and for a non-coffee loving person, both of my beverages there were delicious. so if you're actually one of those coffee fiends, you'll probably definitely like it.

floor picnic

my roommates and i have recently been perfecting the living room floor breakfast picnic. we used to have an extremely wobbly coffee table in our living room, but we got fed up with it and decided to draw and quarter it in our backyard (we made some speeches, our friend julie presided in a graduation robe, and we all ripped that unreliable sucker apart.) with no coffee table in the center of the room, we have infinitely more room to dance/picnic/play around. though it's still not enough space for skip-it, unfortunately. totally different story though. 

our living room picnicking usually involves pancakes because SWEET BABY JESUS IN HEAVEN WE HAVE SO MUCH PANCAKE MIX. we're in the process of moving out and we're trying to live off the things we have in our cabinets. which means i've been eating a lot of pancakes. and topping them with peanut butter or nutella or homemade strawberry balsamic jam or the traditional maple syrup. something about eating on the floor makes a pancakes (especially for the 57th million time in a week) feel more special. or taste more delicious. and when you're down, you can easily just slide down into a laying position, perfect for a post-breakfast digestion nap. INNOVATION.

old timey crush: steve martin

 

found this steve martin record for a dollar in the italian market. even if the record was poop, i still would have bought it just for the cover. on the back, there are four more snapshots of him in this getup and on the inside there are a bunch of pictures of him pretending to smoke twelve cigarettes at once. brilliant. the record is a bunch of his stand-up from the seventies - a couple of the jokes are from his movie the jerk though i'm not sure if this record was released before or after the movie came out. this dude is a genius though - if you have a twitter, you should 100% follow him and if you're a fan of muppets, look up his appearance on the muppet show. it's muy excelente. plus, this dude can seriously boogie on the banjo.

new york feasting

 

when i go to new york, i spend the majority of my time eating or planing what i'm eating or researching eating options. the other chunk of my time is spent digesting. due to mikeyaz's total lack of culinary skills, or his inability to grocery shop, we eat out every meal. and we do it well. no fast food for us. which isn't to say we don't do cheap - we definitely do cheap. we're broke college students. or recent college grads. still broke either way. so we'll all about the $3 falafel sandwich and the 99 cent everything bagels with veggie cream cheese. but we do also splurge sometimes. here's what i ate (and drank) last time we hit the town: split a pitcher of beer is astoria with a friend, munched on some amazing waffle fries at no. 7 subs, had breakfast at the keg and lantern where yaz's roommate is the chef, got blood orange margaritas and quesadillas with a friend from high school, and hit up the meatball shop (amazing) for meatballs and an ice cream sandwich. perfection.

a tale of french bread pizza

 

sometimes you find yourself watching king of the hill at a friends house. and sometimes, Dale makes a french bread pizza. which obviously leads to a passionate discussion among friends about the goodness of french bread pizza. and as it gets later and more boone's farm is consumed, the need for french bread pizza grows. and so, a sacred pact is formed - tomorrow is french bread pizza breakfast. you set your alarm and shake hands with roommates, promising not to hit the snooze button for french bread pizza breakfast is on the line. and at nine AM the next day, you trek to fresh grocer's frozen food aisle, grab a box of frozen french bread pizza, preheat the oven, and wait. your roommates trickle downstairs, and every now and then a soft knock at the door lets you know another f.b.p. lover has arrived and is here to partake in the pact. you might watch heavyweights or little mermaid or some other wonderful breakfast movie. and while your pizzas cook, you make a couple pancakes because you found FOUR friggin' boxes of pancake mix in your cabinet and everyone is starving just thinking about the f.b.p. to come. and then, after the pancakes and the first movie, with everyone sitting around on your living room floor, it happens. we all eat the french bread pizza. and there is no talk of 'breakfast food' or appropriate breakfast meals, because we know that f.b.p. transcends all of that. it is so delicious, with it's crispy crust and it's cheesy top, that no one would dare try to box it in and confine it to only one specific meal. french bread pizza is for all meals. and on that morning, the pact was fulfilled and we all lay in f.b.p. comas around my living room.

the dream house

 

this is my most beautiful friend's most beautiful dream house. it was designed by the main man behind the city beautiful project and it's tucked back in the historic neighborhood across from our old high school. it has a wrap around porch, a circle driveway (with enough room for a trampoline in the middle), marble fireplaces, a little watchtower, chandeliers - everything everyone wants in a home. liz checks out real estate the way most of my peers check out facebook and tumblr. obviously, buying this property is not a reality for her right now. but i can't wait until it is. choosing to buy a place means committing to a location and being a part of a community. this vagabond period of time that is college/post college/your twenties seems like a good time, but i can't wait for the day i decide to root myself somewhere and make that place my home. i can't wait to see where all my friends land.  

park wine vs. park whine

 

the police officer or rule-abiding citizen version of this post: the title of this post is a joke! of course we didn't drink wine in a park. that's ILLEGAL. and we are all sticklers for rules. this is just a prank post. we were really doing community service. the end.

for the rebels and laid-back folks: wine in the park is the best. it's cheap and it's delicious, especially when paired with ice cream sandwiches and good company. so much of my time recently has been devoted to complaining about the future - my roomies, some of my closest friends from college, are moving out of town and it's hard to see the silver lining in a situation like that. probably because there's not really a silver lining. maybe for them - they're getting to pursue new project and jobs and meet new people and live in new places. but i'm a big ol' selfish grump and i can't come up with any benefits for me in this situation. hence, all the whining. but a better way to deal with the situation is to enjoy the little time we have left living in this big ol' mess of a house by going to the park or picnicking or wearing wigs and lipstick and watching bad movies. that feels so much better than moping around. the moping around can come after they leave town. in the meantime, while there is still ample wine to be had, it seems like a waste.

color coded

i have a strange habit of accidentally buying things of a similar color palette when i'm thrifting. it's totally accidental, but inevitably when i get to the car and peek in the bag at my purchases, i notice a prevailing color scheme. coral and turquoise happened at salvation army and marshall's last week. red, white, and black was a result of more salvation army and goodwill. wood has always been my thrifitng go-to.

are you digging on any specific color schemes? do you gravitate towards certain shades? what's your deal?

skills

 

i have 'em. see the above scoreboard for reference. do a double-take if necessary. cartoonish take off your spectacles, breathe onto the lenses, wipe off the condensation with your sleeve and check again.

cause homegirl got a 191.

and what's that i see in the fifth, sixth, and seventh frame? i had no idea it was thanksgiving already. but it must be because SOMEONE'S BRINGING HOME A TURKEY. 

there is nothing better than going bowling on a weekday afternoon with your best friend in weird matching socks and getting an amazing score. this was sweetened by the fact that the only other people in the entire bowling alley were middle-school kids in an afterschool program and professional league bowlers waiting for their practices to start. these are exactly the people i'm looking to impress.

speaking of impressive, the only thing sweeter than my insane bowling skills are my victory dance moves. i have a hybrid will smith in his fresh prince days vs. elaine benes vs. chubby ten year old boy without any awareness of socially acceptable movements vibe going on. it's worth seeing in real life.

hitting the trails

 

i remember not liking camping that much when i was younger. or at least being neutral about it. not really pumped to go, but not totally distraught at the idea. but many things, like dogs and dishwashers, have started to appeal to me as i age and finally make sense. i get why my mom was so jazzed about sleeping outside.

i went camping to rickett's glenn a few weeks ago with some friends. fear of rain and thunder (and more specifically, rain and thunder causing trees to fall onto our tent) caused us to skip out on our first night but we woke up before the crack of dawn saturday morning and drove up in the mini-van. judging by the way we packed into that van, you would think we were moving out west with all our worldly possessions ala oregon trail. in which case my mini van would be a Conestoga wagon. the van was PACKED and we squashed our friend matt in the very back - when i looked in the rear view mirror all i could see was his cowboy hat.

we spent the weekend hiking the trails, splashing in falls, being surprised by how cold it was (pro: no sweating! con: no swimming.), eating food, napping like sardines packed into one tent, making pancakes over the fire, trying to start fires, finding good fire poking sticks, talking about fire, throwing cheese-its in the water (which i'm sure no park ranger would advise) to see if they float, racing our cheese-its down the river, and just generally reveling in the freshness of the air/greenness of the trees/mightiness of the falls. summer in the city is wonderful, but there's something amazing and perfect about being in nature. i think it's the trees.

let's not forget about the weirdness

 

did i mention that sometimes while scouring the shelves at thrift stores, you stumble on some amazingly weird stuff? stuff like this little inexplicable beauty? that's another perk to hitting the thrift circuit. 

how i thrift

 

i thrift on the regular. it's an addiction. i love the hunt- sifting through racks of clothing, honing my eye for neat housewares among the half-burnt candles and mugs that say 'florida'. it's way more rewarding to find a three dollar dress among the racks then to waltz into kohls and pay twenty bucks for something tons of other people have. (not to knock on kohls because, seriously, they've been killing it recently. lauren conrads line is out of control in the best possible way.) 

i consider myself a semi-pro thrifter or at the very least and seriously experienced vet on the central pa thrift scene, and i therefore feel qualified to dish out my thrifting tips: 

1. know what you're looking for. this could manifest itself in a lot of different ways. know what colors you're into, what types of fabric you like (pass on the poly-knits for this lady), and what styles you're into. i'll typically approach a row by going to the colors i want, then doing a feel test - literally running my hand along the clothes to see if anything catches my eye. or hand. you know what i mean. i also like to have a clear inspiration for what i'm shopping for. if i pick up an item, i think does this look like something that would be in the wardrobe of the pushing daisies cast? would anthropologie stock this? could i wear this to a summer party in new england circa 1970? that helps me to weed out anything i might just be attracted to because of the price tag and focus on building a cohesive wardrobe.
2. check for pit stains. maybe tiffany gave this tank top to goodwill because she sweat a little too much on the dance floor. check the pits before moving to the register.
3. think about what you already have. can you wear this top with bottom already in your wardrobe? or do you have to buy something else to go along with it? make sure it works.
4. totally inspect furniture. are there springs hanging out under the couch? is the fabric itchy? weird stains on the flip side of the cushions? do a little detective work.
5. if it makes your heart leap, buy it. it's not going to be there tomorrow and then you'll have heartbreaking dreams about that beautiful red vinyl top table with chrome details you left behind because you weren't sure about the logistics of getting it home. just buy it.

what are your personal rules for thrifting?

slim pickin'

 

  there is nothing more summery and perfect than picking fruit. my grandparents used to have a blueberry bush in their backyard and after spending an afternoon swimming in their pool or picnicking under the willow tree in their side yard, my grandma might give me a little green container to take to the blueberry bush and fill up.

i haven't picked any fruit since then and a few weeks ago my friend jonah suggested going to pick strawberries. my roommates beth and keiran joined and we trekked half an hour outside of the city to linvilla farms. with visions of sweet summer berry picking, we all dressed completely inappropriately for the weather. it ended up being super chilly - so much so that keiran and beth grabbed some makeshift winter wear from my car to warm up (keiran actually has a rug around her shoulders.) we picked strawberries and cherries, ate probably twice as many as we actually picked, and made faces at the thousands of babies who were also there picking berries. seriously. berry picking is prime baby watching turf.

when we got back we made strawberry salads and a strawberry crumble and strawberry pancakes and then bagged up the rest and froze 'em. i'm hoping to make some strawberry balsamic jam later today - seems like a worthy use.

dream couch

 

  i saw it from across the room and suddenly every love song i had ever heard made sense to me. this couch was one hundred percent love at first sight, especially when i discovered it was fifty percent off the already bargain price. the west shore salvation army always has glorious furniture pics - i've had to physically restrain myself on multiple occasions. if i gave in and bought ever piece of furniture that caught my eye, i would have enough to furnish a large country manor. that blue chair in the picture? i would have snatched that up. the orange chair? would have also been coming home with mama. (thankfully, my friend mercedes snatched it up a few short days after i was there.) but i have restraint. i'm a reasonable person. i have held back many times in the past and suppressed my urge to splurge.

but this was a dream couch. it has weird birds on it! and the colors! it's not some brown and orange floral number that are a dime a dozen at my regular thrift haunts. it's the dream couch. so i took it home and now it will rest in my future living room. as soon as i secure a future place to live. that might be an important first step.

harrisburg house tour

 

 harrisburg house tour does not disappoint. especially when you combine all your philly roommates with your parents friends and allow them to day drink over an eight hour period of time. beautiful, magical things happen.

 

secret garden

there's a spot on campus that we refer to as the secret garden. considering temple has 36,000 students, it's probably not that secret. but we like to think it is. it's tucked away behind the 7/11, next to a banquet hall used for various campus events and, unlike the grassy area by the bell tower, there's hardly anyone ever there. you have to descend a few steps to get there and the sloping hills surrounding the secret garden are covered in greenery. it's a pretty sweet spot for a city campus.

it's also a pretty sweet spot for impromptu picnics. we've been trying to squeeze in as many activities as possible the past few weeks, before our lease is up at the end of june and everyone leaves. 'everyone' isn't really 'everyone'. but it's some major players. and the end of june isn't even our real expiration date. beth is moving home june 18th to work at camp, then moves to austin in august for grad school. keiran's starting to shuffle her stuff back home the second to last weekend in june. christine is slowly pushing things into trash backs from her move back to new hampshire. even though the people are still here, watching the packing happen is sometimes enough for me to start to feel sad.

i'm no better though - i took home my first load of stuff last week, including the saggy bean bag will all love to hate. it's literally like sitting on the floor, the beans are so smushed. our downstairs walls were covered in posters and paper since the first week we moved in and when i took them down on Monday, you could see clear outlines where the pictures used to be, protecting the wall from the slight sheen of dirt found elsewhere. the house is starting to come apart. pretty soon it won't be ours.

so we're filling our remaining time with picnics and bike rides and spontaneous brunching and wine'n'wigs nights. which i think is the only option. because the other options are solo wine-drinking and crying to episodes of 'cheers'.