top eleven on the eleventh

Well, it's that day!  That day when this page loads extra slowly because I posted a whole bunch of videos to it that you may or may not watch.  Those of you who are extra hip judge me for taking so long to latch onto certain songs, and others of you judge me for liking Ke$ha a little too much.  But either way, you get a little peek at my iPod.  Yay April!

11. Sweet Disposition - Temper Trap (Heard in every commercial on TV right now. You probably already know it.)




10. What You Know - Two Door Cinema Club (If this music video doesn't make you want to dance, well... fine.)




9. Blow - Ke$ha (Some people party with unicorns and have conversations about Muenster cheese with James Van der Beek in their music videos. DBJ.)




8. Numbers - Jason Michael Carroll (I just downloaded this song on Saturday, but I already love it!)




7. Do It Like a Dude - Jessie J (My sister finally sent me this song after I had been in love with it for a month. This girl is six feet of pure attitude, so I can't post the real video on here in good conscience.)




6. Don't Come Easy - Matt Wertz (I mean, he can't write a bad song.)




5. You Lie - The Band Perry (Best line: "Never liked the taste of crow, but baby I ate it.")




4. No Sleep - Wiz Khalifa (I'm pretty addicted to this song. Sometimes I dance in the metro.)




3. Next 2 You - Chris Brown feat. Justin Bieber (Chris Brown AND THE BIEBS?!? Hoooooooly dance party.)




2. Then I Did - Rascal Flatts (I'm pretty embarrassed that it took me so long to fall in love with this song, but I pretty much scream it in the car. People stare.)




1. Science & Faith - The Script (I really, really can't get enough of this album. Of course, they'll be in DC while I'm on vacation. GRRRR.)

pinterested?

I have a new favorite thing.  (I know.  Watch out, Oprah.  I'm comin' after you and your holiday giveaway.)  If you're like me and your crack of choice is a pretty picture or a crazy font or any other exceptional manifest of creativity, then I think you're gonna get hooked, too.

It's Pinterest!  Quite simply, it's a huge mood/inspiration board of pictures and quotes and lovely, unique things that you never thought of but wish you had.  Half of it I want to hang in my house, and actually, this little laugher is on its way now!

Here are a few more of my favorites, including...

the most creative wedding invitation ever...

a sign I'll probably hang in or outside my cubicle...

...and a little love for my roommates.

So, if you're ever bored at work or just need a little inspiration, this website is totally searchable and will totally get those neurons firing!  Happy Friday!

scenes from philadelphia

Most of you probably don't know this, but I actually was in Philadelphia from Saturday to Tuesday night for a conference!  But because I love you guys so much, I had already written Monday and Tuesday's posts on Friday and scheduled them to post themselves.  I try not to post where I'm going to be just because there are creepers on the internet, but I'm sure none of you are those people.  :)

Anyway, every year and a half, ICMA and the EPA cohost the Brownfields conference, and if any of you don't know what a brownfield is, a) don't feel bad because I didn't before I started working for ICMA, and b) it's basically an abandoned industrial field that has become nothing more than an eyesore to the surrounding community.  After both world wars, America's industries boomed and took over a lot of space that has since become decrepit or contaminated or both, simply because most of our industrial work has moved overseas.  So, these areas need to be cleaned up and turned over to the citizens, whose taxes pay for these areas to be functional anyway.  Many of them turn into parks or new office complexes that are built using green energy.  In fact, companies like my dad's are often involved in designing these sustainable structures and seeing them through.

Ok, hope you haven't fallen asleep on me!  This was only my second time visiting Philadelphia, but I absolutely loved it!  We stayed near the Pennsylvania Convention Center, which is a beautiful area of town.  I didn't have time to go visit the Liberty Bell or Independence Hall, but I did get to step outside for a few pictures, so enjoy!

That's City Hall with William Penn hanging out on top...

And that's part of the convention center on the left.

A couple of my coworkers working the Mobile Workshop counter...

On Sunday, I went to the Opening Plenary session, which was basically a panel of local and state government leaders who talked about brownfield reclamation for an hour.  But it was moderated by Howard Fineman, who is the Senior Political Editor at the Huffington Post (and used to write for Newsweek) and appears a lot on the 24-hour news channels, so that was kind of awesome!

Nearby was Reading Terminal Market, which used to be a station along the Reading Railroad but is now like an indoor farmer's market on steroids.  It has a very retro feel, and most of the food counters there are local to Philly.  I loved it and ate this turkey sandwich there pretty much every day!

Philly's not really a place you can turn into a weeklong vacation, but if you're on your way to New York City or something, you should definitely stop in!

poor butler.

I really, really wanted them to win.  I really did.  Grieving over their loss to Duke in the national championship last year pretty much erased a whole week of my life, and I even bought a Butler t-shirt to make myself feel better.  I have been to the state of Indiana exactly once in my life.

And it was such a terrible game, from what I could see.  I actually had a horrific stomach virus on Monday night and spent most of the game sleeping and hurling into a trash can, which I thought was pretty poetic, given the outcome.  I distinctly remember curling up into the fetal position when Duke won last year.  I guess history does repeat itself after all.

Maybe they'll make another run at it next year?  I might just put them in the finals of my bracket as wishful thinking.

Speaking of brackets, here are the results of our house bracket pool!

We will be buying Paul the fanciest of Rieslings, because he not only beasted the rest of us by putting Butler in the final, but he did so because of Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind.  No scientific strategy, just hardcore celebrity worship.  A little love to Adam Brandt, who held down the #20 spot for the entirety of the tournament.  Hats off to you, sir, for validating the rest of us, even as we crashed and burned in a pile of play-in final four contenders.  And it seems my sister has beaten me once again.  Par for the course.

One last thing... since Carolina's official season ended about a week ago, some of the team have been going around to the rec courts on campus and playing with the students, which I think is just extra awesome.  The students always know they'll be there because pretty much everyone follows them on Twitter (including yours truly), but it actually looks like they have a lot of fun!  I'm sorry, but not every team would actually do this.  Some of them really have their panties in a wad, so I gotta give it to our team for staying connected to their fans.

Hope your bracket wasn't a total disaster!  How long until football season?

grilled portobello mushroom steaks

I used a recipe in Mad Hungry to make these last Thursday night, and they were so delicious and easy, I had to share!  I adapted it a little bit because I like my herbs cooked rather than just sprinkled on top, but either way works well!

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
as many portobello mushrooms as you care to eat
6 to 8 sprigs of fresh herbs, such as sage, oregano, and rosemary (ground herbs work, too!)
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions:

1. In a baking dish large enough to hold the mushrooms in a single layer, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Lay in the mushrooms, top down, and pour a small amount of EVOO on top of the mushroooms.  Sprinkle the fresh herbs on top as well.

2. Prepare an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan.  Remove the mushrooms from the marinade.  Grill the mushrooms for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once or twice.  Remove from the grill to a platter.  Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the mushrooms.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

I served the mushrooms with a side of asparagus with feta cheese.  Asparagus is one of my top five personal addictions.

Happy cooking!

videos from the matt wertz & ben rector concert

Well, eight billion years later, YouTube finally loaded my videos from the concert I wrote about on Thursday!  So, enjoy a couple of my favorite artists and what they do best!

By far, my favorite of the night.  Ben Rector?  Singing about Carolina?  Yes, please.




Oh, look!  Matt Wertz also has a song called "Carolina"!  It must be a pretty special place.  ;)




"Someone Like You"...




Ok, back to Ben... here's "White Dress", which was super loud but super awesome.




...aaaand one of my favorites.  "When a Heart Breaks".




Hope your Monday is extra fabulous, and if you're totally in love with what you heard, you can find Matt on iTunes here and Ben here!

don't forget to sign the guestbook!

In our house, we have a little bit of an unconventional guestbook, but it's a BIG hit!  It actually wasn't meant to be a guestbook at all, because it's really a coloring book from Anthropologie!

So, we just keep some colored pencils and crayons next to it on our coffee table, and not only do our guests love signing it, but we love reading it!

It really wouldn't have been complete without the bow.

Here are a few of our favorites!  Each page has instructions at the top on what to draw, and this page said, "Make it rain."  So, naturally, my whitest friend, David, drew money falling from the sky.  We've been friends for six years for a reason.

Molly's BFF, Paul, drew us our very own boutique.  He is a hall-of-fame friend.  Also, I don't think my last name has ever been written that beautifully. 

Stacey's friend, Corey, is extra good at drawing stereotypes.

And this page, which is probably our favorite, was completed by all the friends who went with us to New York City for New Year's Eve!  There are a TON of inside jokes on this page, so if it doesn't make sense, you're not missing anything.  ;)

So, come visit us and "sign" our guestbook!  Or get one of your own... I promise your friends will be on board!