indiana

game changer.

Something strange you might not know about Indiana: until 2006, we didn’t observe daylight savings time. Why? Because the farmers insisted that their days were controlled by the sun, not the clock and daylights savings would cost them sixty minutes of valuable morning productivity. Hmm. Here’s a thought. Maybe instead of corn and tobacco you guys could try growing a pair. Ha! Anyway, I think all those years of DST deprivation is why I can’t stop telling people (strangers) how excited I am for March 14.
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Sunset at 7:00pm? Yes, puhlease.

library party.

Top Shelf...My Library
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Mrs. Piane {pronounced pee-ahn-eee} has, without question, the best reading voice EVER. She was my librarian from kindergarten through 8th grade and reading time with her was crazy amazing and better than recess and snack combined. Seriously. If Mrs. Piane deemed a book worthy of being memorialized in her rockstar reading voice, you could be damn sure it would be good. No, better than good. It would be .F..U..C..K..I..N..G….F..A..N..T..A..S..T..I..C...
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Thanks for making reading time the shit, Mrs. Piane!

one scoop of lubey lube in a cone, please.

While asking a co-worker about the logistics of owning a car:

Co-Worker: And then sometimes you have to take it to Lubey Lube.
Me: Lubey Lube? Really?
Co-Worker: Yeah, to get an oil change.
Me: In Indiana it’s called Jiffy Lube.
Co-Worker: That’s it! But Lubey Lube would be a great flavor for your ice cream store.
Me: Uhhh . . . I don’t think people like to eat lube.

totally wow’d in the windy city.

Lollapalooza. Chicago, IL

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Back in college, my friend Ezra and his Tufts-based rockband released a CD that could be purchased (with money! through iTunes!) and played at various on-campus coffee shops. I was completely floored and thought that this was one of the most unbelievable / awesome / I knew him when moments of my life. Last Friday, however, I flew to Chicago to visit some really great friends and to see Ezra Furman and the Harpoons perform at Lollapalooza and then later at the House of Blues. Yeah . . . not to make my college self feel like a lesser than peon or anything, but I think now is a more appropriate time to say I knew him when.

I . KNEW . HIM . WHEN

Oh! After Ezra’s 11:45am performance on Lollapalooza’s Playstation Stage, I crossed over to the Budweiser Stage and got to catch a FANTASTIC performance by Delta Spirit. Their music was a superb hybrid of Americana rock and northern soul and I didn’t stop dancing once. Needless to say, I zeroed in on Delta Spirit’s charming and charismatic lead singer Matt Vasquez and wondered if it was possible to get him and his lovely blue-toned flannel button-up to run away with me. This loosely-based / from a distance / not so serious / you’re famous and I’m not tween crush got a heavy dose of up close and personal when Matt came to see the Harpoons at the House of Blues on Saturday night. I somehow avoided my usual celebrity sighting stutters, mumbles, and all-around un-awesomeness and instead miraculously maintained a socially acceptable level of subject verb agreement.

IT . WAS . AWESOME

All in all, it was a mind-blowingly wonderful weekend and I feel so lucky to know people who can not only articulate their priorities and passions, but then go out and pursue them. Okay, Amy. Stop blubbering! It’s time to get organized and serious[ly obsessed] with the impossible apartment search to end all impossible apartment searches. Stay tuned . . .

in the market for a proper treehouse.

fort1 treehouse1 treehouse2 fort2

Blanket Forts and Treehouses. Anywhere, USA

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Most people don’t realize this, but the secret to building any blanket fort worth its weight in bedsheets is having a large number of safety pins at your immediate disposal. After that, construction should be a total breeze. As far as building a treehouse goes, however, I have no idea where to even begin. If you happen to know the secret to building a proper treehouse, please consider this: I will trade you all of my blanket fort building expertise in exchange for just one bonafide treehouse to call my own.

Please and thank you.

a little liquid lunch.

Today my favorite attorney asked me to relax and go to a bar. Okay, so maybe there wasn’t a whole lot of liquor involved, but I did take a leisurely trip to The Association of the Bar of the City of New York to retrieve a couple of legal reference books for her. I was told that the address of the building was 42 West 44th Street, which, for those of you not familiar with New York City, is right in the middle of Midtown Manhattan. {insert rolling eyes and lengthy groaning here} Naturally, I assumed this building would be just like the rest of them; cold, uninviting, uninspiring midtown muddle. In other words, a complete waste of space.

But. But. But. I was totally wrong.

This building was, in fact, absolutely breathtaking. Upon entering, I was curiously reminded of the moody mystery created by the classic children’s book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Stanley Clark School, a private elementary school in Indiana and former mansion whose original entry ways and stained glass windows and tiling were all kept carefully intact. I spent Kindergarten through 8th grade there and I can’t imagine being the person that I am today without having done so. Man, oh man, do I miss that school. Anyways, in case you’re interested, here’s a taste of what I found at 42 West 44th Street:
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I know. I know!
I think I might be in love.
{lady swoons}

a pleasant surprise.

I promised myself I would never do it. Our attraction and desire for each other was unbelievably strong, but I knew deep down it was only going to end badly, most likely with tears and irreparable emotional scarring. Clearly, there were tons of warning signs and everyone I spoke with warned me to stay far far away. But, after a year of endless flirtation and suggestive glances and unanswered late-night booty calls, I couldn’t help myself. By George, it was time.

. . . to visit the Brooklyn Target.

Well, to be honest, the main reason I finally gave in was because I recently discovered the Sonia Kashuk make-up line for Target through a NY Magazine advertisement and my co-worker Andrea and I were more than a little interested. Okay. So maaaybe there was a slightly inappropriate number of girlish squeals and giggles and tantrums and “oooooo nooooo”s echoing from our cubicles. Maaybe. Well, anyway, Andrea was in desperate need of a make-up brush bag and Sonia just so happens to make an adorable one for a totally affordable price. And so before I knew it, I was hopping on the downtown Q after work on Wednesday to break my year-long “Targets That Are Definitely NOT Super” celibacy.

And you know what?

There wasn’t any emotional scarring.
It didn’t even end in tears.
In fact, I’m totally fine.
Really. Really!

So maybe the shelves weren’t very color-coded or clean or overflowing with that oh-so-amazing Targety goodness that makes me wanna do the Risky Business No Pants Dance down the aisles the way my gargantuan SUPER Target in Indiana does, but the Brooklyn Target did happen to have one of Sonia’s make-up brush bags left! Yessss. I then discovered rather quickly that this was the kind of Target that wouldn’t mind taking me out for a casual dinner if I came without a clear shopping list and might even offer to pay if I arrived solo right after work on a rainy Wednesday. But if I tried to look for something specific in a quantity larger than none-1 on a sunny Saturday afternoon with a slowly creeping headache, this Target would probably just graze my boob “accidentally,” ask for my underwear, and then leave me with the bill itching for [no] more.

Oh. No. He. Didn’t.

Well, with me he didn’t. So yay!
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised.
Thanks for dinner, Brooklyn Target.

{awkward hugging}

ummm. I’ll call you!

summer recipe.

taste of chicago sprinkler firefly festival sparklers lake house port-a-pit chipwich camp wild flowers

Ingredients:

1 taste of chicago
1 lawn sprinkler
a couple of firefly festivals
sparklers (for garnish)
1 lake house
a couple of port-a-pit meals
1 overgrown chipwich
1 extra long camp session
1 mason jar always full of fresh cut flowers

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Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and garnish with sparklers.
Keeps fresh for 3 months.

Makes (1) kick ass summer

current crushes.

Dear Brandi, Herbie, and Molly,

Please run away with me.
You can live in my [no dogs allowed] apartment in New York City.
You will eat like kings and life will be GRAND!

Love,
Amy

PS – All of these dogs live at the Pet Refuge, a no-kill animal shelter in my hometown in Indiana. Their website features pictures [and bios] of every dog available for adoption and I have little to no self control when it comes to falling hard for each of them. Again, for the bizillionth time:

I. LOVE. DOGS.

i heart this place.

: The Farmer’s Market South Bend, IN