and this is what i do at work

i literally spent my afternoon playing with fruits and vegetables at a very small desk space. along with the creations featured above, i also made an insane mess and ate a lot of mango in the process.

have i mentioned recently that i love my job?

what's the what around here?

this picture exemplifies my general feelings as of late: i want to hide/christmas-now-please.

1. temple smash is in full swing. which means it is simultaneously the craziest and best time of the semester. this show is full of grandmas in corn husks and men with boobs and it promises to be one of the more bizarre episodes. if you're free thursday at 8 and happen to have access to a computer hooked up to the internet, you can stream the show live from our site! do it!
2. i have been tearing up constantly as of late. not in a sad way; in a very sentimental way. in the past, my crying incidents were very sparse- maybe once a year at most. but recently, i've become like someone's great aunt at a wedding. find out my aunt is pregnant - uncontrollable tears. get a card from my mom in the mall that sings 'celebrate' when you open it - blubbering to k.c. and the sunshine band for an in ordinate amount of time. the king cries in tangled (which, btw is on netflix instant and is totally worth watching) - salt-y drops rolling down my face. all these crying episodes are immediately followed by uncontrollable laughter though as i think about how stupid i am for crying about things.
3. the semester is winding down and my levels of motivation are plummeting. i have a huge list of things to do before the end of the semester and the days in which to do said things are slowly shrinking down. GODS OF MOTIVATION - please tap my forehead with you magic wands or breath on my face or whatever. help me feel like doing this baloney homework stuff!
4. i cannot wait for christmas. planning out gifts for people is possibly my all-time favorite thing to do.
5. soup season is the only season in my book.

i will probably write a longer, more depressing post later about the constant inner-turmoil one must withstand as a senior/citizen-of-earth/human/person-waiting-for-the-muppet-movie-release, but i'll be sure to sprinkle it with pictures of good food so it's worth reading.

also

i cut mike yaz's hair on saturday.

though it may be a bit on the short side, may be a bit more summer-y, and may not be good in the traditional sense, it was free! and it was fun! and thank god my boyfriend is an easy going person who not only looks good regardless of follicle styling but also understands that hair grows back! i started out just trimming it but it kept getting uneven. and just like that valentine's day episode of sabrina the teenage witch where harvey attempts to make a symmetrical heart (anyone?), it just ended up way shorter than expected. it's still ridiculous soft and mikeyaz still looks ridicilously dreamy. another somewhat successful experience to add to my barber resume.

as of recent

it's been a lot of good food.
typical. in the best possible way. how lucky am i that i get to claim it's 'typical' that i'm constantly gorging on insanely delicious food stuffs?

from the top:
- pumpkin and spinach macaroni and cheese. if you're looking for a savory pumpkin recipe, look no further my friends. nothing makes you want to zip through the work day quite like the promise of baked mac'n'cheese with an autumn twist waiting for you in the fridge.
- new food trucks are popping up all over campus. and you'll hear no complaints from this little lady. i am totally in love. i enjoy walking around campus, just because it know it means potential new food truck spottings. yumtown usa served up a mean beer-braised pulled pork sammie on deliciously fresh french bread with picked jalapenos, lime mayo, and red cabbage cole slaw. i spent the following hour debating my finances/morality/fatassness to determine if i should buy a second one. that good.
- hit up a.c.moore with my roomie keiran. we each spent a ridiculous amount of money on yarn and crafting supplies, then twice that amount of time in the car justifying it. it's for christmas gifts! so i'm reallly SAVING money! and i signed up for a rewards card! treat yo' self!
- made donuts! dark chocolate with caramel and sea salt followed by apple cinnamon with baked apples on top. dizzaaamm. to continue the donut spree, keiran, mikeyaz, and i went to federal donuts in south philly. that place has been hella crazy since it opened - it sells out almost every day before noon. the donuts were so worth waking up early for though - i got a warm lavender vanilla donut, a key lime guy, and a pomegranate nutella donut. all were less that $2 a pop. boo yo to the donut gods.

general synopisis for those too overwhelmed by the wordy bits: life is good yo.

asteroid

i don't talk about my improv team very often. which is a total shame because they really kick ass. case in point: this weekend's show. we're a long-form team and we usually do a standard harold. but for the past month or so, we've been practicing a b-movie form. it's roughly based on a harold (starts with a three scene structure) but it's a lot looser/gets a lot more insane/features more ridiculous archetypes/features more screaming and falling around. we get a suggestion of the name of a creature (last nights were 'attack of the mutant eggplant' and 'attack of the killer ducks') and set the scene, then the origin of the creature.

we found out last minute that we had to fill the total hour (freak snow = cancelled other team) and ended up doing two b-movies. it was amazing. we all dressed up in 50's style black and white clothes and looked totally boss. everyone was having a total blast and i think it was really apparent in how we were playing. the pictures above = definite proof. me as a killer eggplant attacking bert, luke as a dead horse, aj fishing, pondering with jess - it was a total whirlwind of silliness.

when improv is good, it's the best feeling in the world. i get ridiculously giddy and hopeful and can't stop talking. that being said, when improv is bad it causes physical pain and serious stress. i've been known to go into funks after crappy shows. but it's completely worth it knowing that there's the potential for amazing shows and moments. because you're making it all up on the spot, with the support of all these other people around you, and you know any choice you make is the right choice - when you get to this really sweet spot when it's completely euphoric. it's so collaborative and it really requires you to follow principles that should dictate your life in all areas: listen to people, exist for someone outside yourself, take chances, listen to your gut, say yes, contribute something else.

i'm so grateful for the role improv has played in my life. when i decided to try out, on a whim, in december of my sophomore year (after seeing the audition event in my newsfeed on facebook), i had no idea how much it would shape my college experience. improv introduced me to most of my friends at temple. it got me involved in temple smash. it gave me to the confidence to audition for my PHIT team, which has lead to me meeting wonderful people and learning more about improv as a craft and as a community.

if you're ever in philly, you should check out a show. my team, asteroid, performs regularly around the city. and even if you're not in philly, you should look up your local improv scene! go support it! it's full of hilarious warm-hearted people who would love to see you in the crowd.

(sorry this turned into a sappy love note to improv dudes. i'll try to keep it together for you bros in the future.)

fondue fundo

i have a fairly hectic schedule this semester (internship, improv, smash, column, social life, full course load, etc.) BUT i have managed to have fridays pretty much totally free. i took advantage of my free fridays a few weeks ago to make fondue! with my groovy yellow fondue set! boyfriend mikeyaz was coming to town so i surprised him with some cheesey beer fondue complete with apples, red potatos, tomatoes, broccoli, and sourdough bread for dipping adventures. sometimes i like to up my girlfriend game. fondue for the win.

hot diggity!

would you like to see compelling footage of a hard-hitting news story on gourmet hot dogs?

well it doesn't exist. so tough luck.

what does exist is this 7-minute homage to hot diggity's banging south philly hot dog shop. the video also features: me staring awkwardly at the camera! magic tricks that involve my chin completely disappearing into my neck! terrible celery cutting skills caught on camera! intensely unnecessary dance moves! sauce covered faces! biting hot dogs straight from the microwave! mispronunciation of several words! so many things that i thought would end up edited out! i write a bi-weekly column for my college newspaper reviewing local eateries and attempting to recreate those eats at home (often with mixed results.) this is the video version. boo ya technology!

enjoy, mis amigos.