12 States, 2 Countries, 6 days.

Today is the day! I am headed out to LA to enjoy the weekend on the beach before I head cross-country for an epic road trip adventure! I am soooo excited!

My friend Heather has been living out in LA for the Summer bought a car out there, and now needs to drive it back to upstate NY where she's from. I was lucky enough to get the invite to come along for the ride. The plan is to go from LA, back to Phoenix, to Boulder to Mt. Rushmore/South Dakota, to Minneapolis, to Chicago, through Ann Arbor, up to Canada, to Niagara Falls, to Buffalo then ending up in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate NY. Yeah- quite the venture! It's nice because between myself and Heather, we have planned our trip according to places we have to stay. Shacking up with friends, family and old co-workers. We're staying with a friend I worked in Texas with at a summer camp in Boulder is sure he'll show us a good time. We are making a pit stop in SD and getting a cheap motel so we don't have to make the 18 hour drive straight through to Minnesota. Heather has friends in Minneapolis and Chicago we're staying with. Umm, Mall of America in MN and Lollapalooza weekend in Chicago- I'm sure it won't be hard to have fun in either of those places! (I am probably most excited about Chi-town... I've always wanted to visit- and yes I just called it Chi-town like I'm Jay-Z.)

Image via Weheartit.com

From there we're passing through Ann Arbor where I will hopefully get lunch with my roommate and check out Ann Arbor for an hour or so, I've heard it's just amazing there! We'll drive straight up through Canada, eh? Get another stamp on the passport (I think? Do they do that when you drive through? We'll see!). Going to see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side, at night, which is supposed to be the best side and time to see it. So pumped! There's supposed to be a really cool night life in Canada, by Niagara Falls, so her cousins who live right there are gonna take us out before we spend the night at one of Heather's many relatives in Buffalo, NY.
We will wake up in the morning Saturday and head to the Finger Lakes for Heather's family reunion, where I am going to be a reunion-crasher and adopt myself into their family for some wine-tasting, the "Death March" hike, and some swimming and tubing in the lake. Sounds like the definition of a perfect summer weekend, right?! (Okay, except for maybe the "Death March" but she says it's not that bad!)

Well I'm off to LA in a few hours for some jet skiing, Universal Studios, vintage shopping and beach bonfires! I will try and keep you updated on my travels as I am passing through, but follow my Twitter or Instagram for updates if I don't get the chance to periodically update here!

Enjoy the last few weeks of Summer, loves!
Here's to making the most of my final weeks of Summer!
xoxo
Alex

Summer Read.

So I planned on reading a lot this summer, and getting a bunch of good books... but that didn't quite happen. So sad. I did, however, read a hilarious book I think you all need to read!

Image via Weheartit.com

Bossypants is Tina Fey's first book about her life and career, and is absolutely hilarious. It gives a really cool insight to her life, seeing her as a real person and not just a celebrity. You also get to hear about behind the scenes moments at SNL and 30 Rock and about the people who work on the shows with her. I loved her take on life, and the silly things that stress us out and the importance of a career vs. family.

You'll have to check it out and let me know if you love it as much as I did! What was your summer read, or reads if you were more ambitious than I was in the reading department?!

Alex

I Knead More Foccacia

Looking for a new recipe and something to cook the other day, I went on my grandma's Pintrest to see what I could cook for her. I found this recipe, and decided to give it a shot. I've only made bread/dough a few times before- and I'm always up for a cooking challenge!

It is a pretty time consuming recipe, but oh-so-rewarding to say you made the dough and foccacia from scratch! This is a great appetizer, or meal- I nearly ate the whole thing myself for lunch once I finished it!

Here's what you need for this awesome Carmelized Onion, Olive and Rosemary Foccacia:
(Recipe from In Pursuit of More, via Pintrest)

The Dough:

• (2 tsp) active dry yeast
• (2 cups) warm water
• (3 tsp) sugar
• (3) tsp salt
• (4) cups flour all-purpose
• (4 tbsp) olive oil

The Toppings:

• (1) medium yellow onion or(1/2) a large sweet onion, sliced lengthwise thinly
• (1 tsp) salt
• (1 tsp) sugar
• (1 cup) of large black olives (I used Kalamata)
• (2-3) sprigs fresh rosemary - (Luckily my grandma has a bush in her front yard-score!)
• plenty of olive oil (1/4-1/2 cup)

 Add some sugar to add a little extra Mmmm!

After making the dough, you have to let it rise for an hour or so. During this time, have a glass of iced tea, turn on some good music, and dance around the kitchen for a little bit- then continue onto the toppings. (*dancing optional to the success of this recipe) I then carmelized the onions with a little olive oil, which actually takes like 25-30 minutes. I didn't realize this, so give yourself time between getting your groove on and waiting for the dough to rise. Then cut the olives and the rosemary so you have them ready to sprinkle atop your delicious homemade bread! 

Let the dough rise, covered, in a warm place, until it looks like this!

After the dough has risen, punch out the air, cut it in half and save the other half for another treat later! You can roll out the dough in any shape you please, they did a traditional rectangle, I made a circular shape... whatever you please! Then add the onions, olives and rosemary on top and liberally shake some olive oil on top- this adds the moisture so don't be shy with it! 

Bake at 400 for around 20-25 minutes until its nice and golden! Next, cut and enjoy with the ones you love- or enjoy with yourself, all at one time, or save for lunch the next day! You're sure to impress everyone when you say you made it from scratch, so bring part to work and wait for the oooo's and ahhhh's come your way! I dipped it in some balsamic vinegar and it made it that much better, because I am slightly obsessed with balsamic!

If you are new to bread making and working with dough and yeast, please check out the original post here and the directions are super detailed and really helpful! 

Hope you try it and impress yourself, you Iron Chef, you!

Alex

Do Something Phoenix

I love going to new places, and finding quirky places, good restaurants and hidden thrift store gems. So my good friend from LA was here last weekend and I had so much fun really exploring Phoenix more and going places. I get so caught up in my daily routine, work-home-work-meetings, I never go anywhere new I feel like! I drive so much, to the other side of town and back, for work when I'm not living in Tempe in the summer so I hate driving when I don't have to. But this special occasion with my friend, originally one of my besties from Penn State, but is spending the summer in LA so she took a trip out here!

We drove around, went out in Tempe and explored her favorites of AZ- Goodwill, Mill Ave, Einstein's, and more. One of my favorites, which I hope you try (or have already tried) is MacAlpines!

I may have blogged about it before, but you have to go check it out! It's always a special treat when I go here because I don't go very often. They have 99 flavors- for sodas, egg cremes, phosphates, italian sodas, floats, shakes, malts and more! I love getting the phosphates or egg cremes, because the refills are FREE (woo!) and you can get a new flavor each refill. Bad news is I usually get full after like one and a half, but it's fun to always get a new flavor! I have tried Tiger's Blood, Passionfruit, Pistachio, and White Chocolate Macadamia! My friend got a Red Velvet Shake, and it was amazing!!! 

I have so many more flavors I want to try there, like Cinnamon, Dill Pickle (yeah, so cool!) and Wedding Cake! I have yet to try there food, but I have heard it is delicious! There is also a cool vintage shop inside too, so you can look around at all the awesome finds in there too! Next time you're in Phoenix, check this place out- 7th St and North of McDowell!

What is your favorite place to take friends that come into town?


Alex

July Fireworks

So I told you I'd share pictures of my Fourth of July, which was really actually the 3rd of July because I had to work on the 4th! I went to the Miranda Lambert & Darius Rucker Independence Day Music Festival at Salt River Fields. I met up with three other girls from work and we grilled and ate and drank at my friends gorgeous house (more like a mansion, it was sooo huge!). From there our responsible, under 21, friend drove us to the show. We had so much fun running around, taking pictures and talking to people. I'm glad we had grass seats because I don't think we could have sat still in regular seats! I managed to take over 100 pictures in less than a few hours, and they all just make me laugh. So here are some snapshots of some of the pictures I took and the fun that was had!

Driving there!

Loving our lawn seats!

These girls adopted us and were suddenly our best friends!

Love her! 

I kissed Tim McGraw! (Shh.. it was his look-a-like with Kenny Chesney!)

The more the merrier!

Amurica loves country!

The nicest guy took some awesome pictures for us with the fireworks!

 I had an amazing time with these girls, and Miranda was sooo good!  Sang along all night, and secretly hoped Blake Shelton would come out and sing with her... but it didn't happen! Glad I got to celebrate the country's freedom being young, wild & free.. cheesy, but oh well! :]

Hope your July's are going great, cannot believe it is more than half way over- how terrible! I am secretly excited to get back in the swing of things with school and my other jobs, though too!

Alex

PS: Here's the view I had on the actual holiday- working in Tempe Beach Park has it's perks.

The best view in the city, on the dock in the lake!

The lovely ladies I get to work with! Ah, I don't know what I'd do without them.. I'm so lucky!

Boy Crazy Blog

So we all have blogs and websites that we read and keep up with. One that my friend told me about, imboycrazy.com has this crazy, eclectic writer Alexi that says things and talks about things everyone else is too afraid to say out loud, but are definitely thinking. I love reading her blog, and I was lucky enough to have her come out to an event I hosted last semester.

You'll have to check her out, you'll start reading her stories and know exactly what she means- because chances are you've felt the same way! Then you'll get hooked to some of her other more glamorous stories, like meeting rappers and talking to famous directors.. and be hooked after every 'to be continued.' 




I’m so afraid of being sucked in just to have the rug pulled out from under me. but that’s the thing about life: there are no guarantees. that’s what makes it exciting AND scary.

Love this quote, and this story of her new relationship. Hope you check her out!

Have a great day!

Alex

Quiet Down.

Saw this yesterday, and had to share. It's so cool, and so... relaxing to breathe for a minute or so. My mind has been running a million miles an hour this past weekend, and this was just what I needed to quite down. Plus, I love the music in the background!

Check it out here and let me know what you think!

Image via WeHeartIt

Have a great day!
Alex

Yummy, walnut banana bread!

Even when it's unbearably hot outside, there's not much better than a warm treat and some cold milk or iced coffee. So when the group of bananas turned far too brown to eat continued to sit on the counter, I took it as a signal I needed to bake some Banana bread!
Here's the recipe I used, taken right out of my grandma's recipe box!


1/2 cube of butter
1/2 cube or 1 T of margarine
1 C sugar
2 eggs well beaten
4 T buttermilk (I just used regular milk!)
3-4 verrryyyy ripe bananas
2 C flour
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 t soda
1 t vanilla
1/4 C nuts (I added more, the more nuts the merrier!)



Cream butters and sugar, add eggs and mix thoroughly. Add alternately bananas and dry ingredients . Finally add vanilla and nuts! I put this into two separate loaf pans and made two, or you could make one large one- it's up to you! I brought one to work so I couldn't eat the whole thing myself- because I definitely would have! I sprinkled some nuts on top, and would suggest a little cinnamon for something a little extra.

Let me know if you try this! And sit back and indulge in some delicious banana bread!
Happy Monday!
Alex

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

In honor of America's birthday and getting in the patriotic spirit (and maybe the fact we got free tickets from Dutch Bros.) my friends and I went to a Diamondback's game last night. I have lived in Arizona practically my whole life and I don't think I've ever been to a game! I know- I couldn't believe it either! Crazy!

So we went to a bar downtown right by the stadium, Coach & Willies, and had a couple beverages before the game. We got to the game and continued to devour a huge bag of delicious kettle corn and scream for the Dbacks. Unfortunately, our cheering wasn't enough because we lost the game. It was still a lot of fun, and we stayed until the end of the game- which is saying a lot because baseball games seem to last foreverrrr.

I'm off to work, and will hopefully post soon about my amazing time at the Independence Day Music Festival and my delicious banana bread recipe!

Happy Friday everyone!
Alex