hell yeah

college!

All my friends are leaving! It hasn't quite hit me yet, but I'm sure it will once I realize I have no one to call to hang out with.
10 days!

the policee

Yesterday may have been one of the scariest days of my life.

Four cop cars, eight semis pointed at us, and one helicopter. 

Yeah I know... so freaking bad ass. 

Basically this is how it went down:

Madi and I were driving home in her convertible and cop car starts to follow us, so we pull over. Suddenly they are shouting orders at us, telling us to put our hands in the air and not speak while they pull their guns out, aimed at our heads. Three more cop cars pull up and an LAPD helicopter starts to circle up ahead. 

By that point the entire neighborhood was out on the street and one guy was even snapping shots. We had to get out out of the car with our hands up, side step to the left, step back, step forwards slowly, sit down in the street -- all with our hands shaking above our heads. 

Sitting on the scalding ground in our bikinis they handcuffed us and led me into the back of one of the cop cars where they questioned me. (Did you know that the back of cop cars are plastic?... like there is no seat. Just cold hard really really uncomfortable plastic.)

Turns out, Madi's mom had reported the car stolen earlier that month and had never cancelled it... so we were driving a stolen car. 

I think I kept my cool throughout the whole thing, but it was pretty intense. 

My dad (who was two houses down) told me later that he came out of the house when he heard the helicopter and saw two teenagers handcuffed in the street but didn't recognize me. So when the cops told everyone to go back into their house... he did. Nice dad (its ok I still love you). Oh and when my mom and dad figured out it was me, my mom started running towards us even though the cops were all yelling at her to get back (she said "no").

Epic. Straight out of a movie. 

if you don't have this, get it!

spotify has changed my music world entirely (and now its WAY more awesome).
(if you go to spotify.com and click the facebook link you only have to invite like 2 friends to get the free versions)

its almost too good to be true

love this

sleepless in seattle

why can't life be like the movies?

 

my biggest fear is to never have somebody to say this to

mad men

"Now I am quietly waiting for
the catastrophe of my personality
to seem beautiful again,
and interesting, and modern.

The country is grey and
brown and white in trees,
snows and skies of laughter
always diminishing, less funny
not just darker, not just grey.

It may be the coldest day of
the year, what does he think of
that? I mean, what do I? And if I do,
perhaps I am myself again."

-Frank O'Hara    Mayakovsky


Mad Men not only has an amazingly crafted, intelligent script, but it features some utterly beautiful poetry.
damn.

chocolate mouse cream bites with graham cracker crust and bananas

This recipe is my baby. I invented it about a year ago, and every time I ask my brother what I should bake he suggests these. They are pretty easy to make, they look really cute, they are fun to decorate, and they are like an explosion of deliciousness in each bite. Perfect for so many occasions!

Ingredients:
graham cracker crust-
12 graham crackers
1/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp melted butter
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
mouse- 
1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cream

2 bananas
Handful of blueberries
handful of strawberries
(or any combination of the three)

How to make them:
First make the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
In a food processor grind the graham crackers and sugar until all the pieces are made into fine crumbs. Next melt the butter and add the chocolate chips and butter (when still hot so the chips can melt a bit) to the crumbs and process until combined. The crust is ready when a bit of crust holds its shape when you press it in the palm of your hand.
Press the crust (with your thumb) into either a pam'ed or muffin cup paper lined mini muffin pan. Make sure there is enough crust on the sides or bottom so that they will hold their shape when cooled.
Bake for 13 min until the crust is golden brown (without chocolate) or a deeper brown (with chocolate).
Set them aside to cool and harden.

Make the ganache:
Heat the butter and 2 tbsp cream to a boil and add them to to chocolate chips until melted completely. If the mixture is too thick (not smooth and glossy) add another tablespoon of boiling cream and mix until combined.

Take the crust out of the muffin pan (by flipping upside down and tapping gently). Spoon about 1/2 tsp of the ganache into the bottom of each mini crust.

Make the mouse:
With an electric mixture combine the 1 1/2 cups of whipping cream, vanilla and sugar. Whip the cream on high until it thickens and the peaks formed when you lift the mixer out of the cream hold their shape.
Set aside about 1/2 cup of cream.
With the rest of the cream: Fold a bit of the remaining cream into the rest of the cooled ganache (really make sure its cooled) to loosed it up a bit more. Then fold the loosened ganache into the whipped cream in 3 parts folding until combined.

Using a small spoon, put about 1 tsp of the mouse into each crust (which also has to be completely cooled) so that the mouse fills the cup until the top.

Now for the fun part -- decorating!
Use the 1/2 cup of cream you set aside and the fruit you chose (cut into slices) to decorate the little cups and voilá!