Apple crisp isn't complete without Ice Cream (9.27.2013)

Inspired by the delicious and UofM invented honeycrisp and sweet tango apples of the farmer's market, Josh and I decided to make apple crisp this weekend. This is seriously one of the better ideas we have ever had. We had already purchased our apples on Wednesday and had all the other ingredients we needed at my apartment, and so on friday evening we got to work. His mom sent him his grandma's recipe, so that was very promising. The crumble was very straightforward and easy, as was peeling and slicing the apples. In short order we had heaven baking in the oven at 350 degrees and realized that we were missing one very important thing. Ice cream. Once at the CVS we realized that Edy's has pretty much a monopoly on ice cream sales at the U of M. For a decent sized container of vanilla they were pretty much the only choice - no cheap Deans or Country Fresh or Land O Lakes. Even though it is somewhat expensive we did what we had to do and bought ourselves a container of Edy's ice cream and returned to a much better smelling apartment.

Selling Ski-U-Mah

Despite having worked at the bookstore for about a year now, until this point I haven't bought one single new piece of gopher gear for myself. One would think it would be pretty enticing, I am there quite often, I know every item in the store, know what sizes are available and know how to get any size that I would need, and get an employee discount. So why haven't I? There is nothing wrong with displaying gopher pride, and there are quite a few items in the store that I really really like and would definitely wear. Part of the reason that I don't buy anything is that I strongly associate being at the bookstore with being at work, and I don't think that I should be spending excess time in the store without working, and feel bad tacking extra time on to my shift, on or off the clock. Whenever I have things to do at the bookstore that don't involve work (usually involving buying supplies) I know exactly what I need and am in and out quite quickly, because if I am scheduled to work that means I don't have time to and therefore don't have a lot of time to kill because I need to be somewhere else in a hurry. However, this Saturday I caved. I was working before the Homecoming football game and knew the weather was just a bit on the chilly side. I do have two Maroon and Gold sweatshirts to wear, and was in fact wearing my old maroon hoodie with a big felt gold M emblazoned on the front, but despite the chill had been quite hot to walk around in and be outside in. The only Gopher tshirts I have have all been free or basically free - shirts from welcome week and from hockey and football season tickets, so they are all short sleeved. Recently I had been thinking it would be nice to have a long sleeved MN tshirt to wear in weather like this, or at hockey games when it is slightly chilly but not always cool enough for a jacket. And when I say recently, it has been almost all year that I have been contemplating getting a long sleeved shirt. The homecoming sale was going on and everything was 25% off, 5% more than my employee discount so I figured I might as well take advantage of this sale and get a shirt for even cheaper.

The shirt I had been thinking about is our most basic, most plain, and always in stock or on order tshirt. There are four color options white w/ maroon, maroon w/gold, gold w/ maroon, and gray w/ maroon. It is a basic unisex long sleeve tshirt style with "MINNESOTA" written across the chest in a slight arc in heat pressed letters. Like I said, it is so basic that it is one of our staples, and therefore it is also slightly cheaper than many of our other long sleeves at 19.99 full price. The reason I liked this shirt was because it was so basic and classy - nothing extra, nothing that will get really outdated really fast, and  it is super easy to look at and read. I chose the maroon with gold letters because I don't like to wear large amounts of gold, I already have quite a few gray short sleeved tshirts, and because white gets dirty so quickly and it would be worn in the winter which and is a little more of a 'summery' color choice. So anyways. Also, the maroon with gold combo is also the exact colors of our university so it is maximizing the school spirit possible :)

I have been thinking more recently that I'd like to do my display project on something to do with "selling ski-u-mah" and the promotion of school spirit. How students buy in to it, alumni, fans, family members, etc buy in to the school spirit of the U of M and the many outlets they have to do that. Gopher pride clothing at the bookstore or at Goldy's locker room, buying sports tickets, the new goldy statue and fundraising efforts, having the gopher mascot bopping around campus, and how the U creates and/or promotes a sense of school spirit.

Early Morning Errands

Although the U is very well located and students have access to many resources nearby, there are a few that are lacking. A grocery store and Target nearby being two of those. Recently I discovered another more obscure resource that was lacking, a UPS pickup location. I had ordered some books off of Amazon for classes and by my error turned out to be the wrong edition or something. I needed to return it, but the return label was for UPS service and the package would need to be brought to a UPS pickup destination. A quick google search showed that the nearest pick up location was two miles from campus. So, this morning, I jumped on my bike at 7:45 to make the 8am opening and headed up in to Como.

Rainbow Run

Living in an apartment, we are really starting to feel the pain of not having a grocery store near or on campus. There are a few within decent biking distance 1/2 miles, but by the time I am done with work and class and would have time to run to the grocery store it is much too late and getting dark and not safe or feasible to take the time to go get groceries with the terrifying amounts of work I need to get done. So naturally, I decide to go in the morning. Before work at 8am. So, I awake at 5:30 AM, leave by 6, bike two miles to the Rainbow two miles north, and arrive by around 6:15. I have to closely adhere to my list and keep in mind that I have to carry everything myself on my bike back. I have come prepared with my backpack and a couple reusable bags to carry my groceries in but I really don't want to have to use the reusable bags. Because that is just annoying to carry on a bike handle. My grocery list includes, milk, bread, sandwich meat, raisins, broccoli and almonds. So nothing too out of the ordinary. I was able to fit most of my purchases in my backpack, but decided to keep the bread out and carry it in a reusable bag to make sure it would not get squished. I had cut a few rainbow coupons out of the flyer they sent us and so was able to save some money that way, in addition to taking advantage of a few sales they had on certain products I was interested in, so score. Overall this wasn't a bad experience, but it was slightly inconvenient.

Colorful Candles

Yet another bookstore find. While marking sale items down I came across some birthday candles that had flames burn different colors. Now normally these types of trinket-y things do not attract my attention, but they attracted my attention because my friend and Roommate Kelly's birthday is coming up in October. And these are definitely something she would like. For the irresistible price of 1.97 per pack, these candles would light up her birthday! (Oh my gosh that is such a terrible pun but I had to do it). Anyways! I decided to purchase the candles because Kelly is such a great and wonderful person, and these candles would reflect that! Plus it is her 20th and she deserves something special!

Children's Books (9.26.2013)

While working at the bookstore I passed the dangerous section, the general books department. I normally don't work in that department, but my project that day took me on a track past the department, where my eye was caught by the clearance books. SO DANGEROUS. As I continued to look I saw a children's book - Amos & Boris. The front was a simple watercolor of a whale and a mouse riding on his back. It looked so simplistic I couldn't help but pick it up and flip quickly through it. The pictures were so simple - basic outlines with pretty much one color fill but something about them drew me in and I really really liked them. I put the book down with the intent of coming back later to look, because I was on the clock and really shouldn't be wasting time. I kept my promise and after coming back to work, but before clocking in I went back to the general books to look at the book again. After checking the price - it was discounted to $2 and something cents, I used the employee discount as rationale and decided for whatever reason that this book was something I wanted to be able to spend time reading and pouring over. As I perused the rest of the children's book section I came across Blueberry Sal. I distinctly remember my mom reading this book to my sister and me when we were younger, and I remembered the illustration style, and the entirety of the book was just so nostalgic to me (except the glaring new-ness of it) that I decided to get it too. So now I purchased two children's books for myself as a sophomore in college and I am more than okay with that!

Nivea

When I finally made the connection between using Burt's Bee's chapstick and having dried lips all the time I switched to Nivea chapstick and it has been the best switch. For one, the actual chapstick looks great, but the packaging is also really well designed and thought out compared to conventional chapstick. The cap is the majority of the visible  tube, and is very easy to click off and on of the tube because how much available space there is to grip the cap. Basically, I really enjoy using this chapstick for mainly that reason. Their graphics and visual packaging isn't over the moon amazing, but they have a very recognizable font/logo, and when they need to include a decent amount of health and safety information on a package so small as a chapstick tube there isn't a ton of room leftover for creative liberties.

Put the team on your camelbak

The title is not really indicative of what this post is about - the only thing the same has to do with camelbaks. I use a camelbak. A clear 750ml camelbak with a gray top and gray spout thing. It goes pretty much everywhere I go - in my backpack to class, to work, on my desk all evening at home, to football games (empty through the gates of course) and wherever else I happen to be. The design of the camelbak makes it very easy and convenient to drink an entire 750ml waterbottle in an alarmingly short amount of time. It is one handed operation and a one movement operation versus screw tops and other varieties, and while it is in use mode it is not easily spillable. This is probably a contributing feature to why I drink so much, it is easy to passively sip water down very quickly because there is also no need to tip the bottle back. The straw reaches all the way to the bottom and allows people to consume water while continuing to face forward and, for student users, they can stay focused on their work. Other waterbottles that require a screw on cap etc are more cumbersome to use.

Left out of the IOS7 club

The new IOS 7 system for iPhone was recently released, and it underwent a huge facelift from the last version. The apple default app icons such as music, messages, settings, etc. are all "flat" now, instead of rendered to appear multidimensional. Honestly, this is about as much as I can knowledgeably describe because although I do own an iPhone, it is of the 4th generation and is not totally compatible with the new update. As a designer, this might be an upsetting thing. I'm stuck with the "outdated" and older look and many of the processes in the new update have been streamlined for usability, etc. From what I have seen of the new design from friends' phones, it looks very clean and simple which I definitely appreciate. However, from a technology standpoint I really couldn't care less that I have the older version and the older now "dinosaur" phone that is not fully compatible with new updates. Everything works just fine - my phone hasn't died yet, it isn't particularly scratched or beat up, and the new improvements to technology since I got my phone, despite all the promises otherwise, are really not that revolutionary or innovative. The memory and battery life have gotten better, the cameras have been upgraded, the color has changed a bit, and the screen got taller. Thats about it. Thats all I found worthy of remembering off the top of my head anyways and none of that is particularly innovative. So thats that. My phone works just fine, and even though I'm a designer and naturally attracted to pretty things such as ios7, it is not enough to justify me getting an entirely new phone. The two year contract is up and I am "due" for an "upgrade," but that is according to the companies and not the actual user of the phone. How different would the cell phone industry be if the 2 year upgrade rule was not imposed? There would be less anticipation associated with purchasing a new phone after two years because it wouldn't be a special advertised milestone, it is just another day with a phone that likely works just fine.

Making Money

In my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class we are working on developing our own business idea and will be pitching it to our classmates next week. When formulating a business idea and plan, one item that is stressed is the importance that this idea will be able to make revenues somehow. Consumers or investors of some kind will, in exchange for money, be able to consume the goods or services being offered. This seems like an obvious point but all the ideas I come up with are not so focused on consuming as they are sharing - sharing experiences, sharing resources etc. and I don't know how they will make money. I'd rather have my ideas generate positive ripple effects for people than profits necessarily, but unfortunately that is not how life works. Feeling frustrated with consumerism right now!

Get it Daily (9.17.2013)

There are so many free handouts of random publications on this campus. You can't walk down the mall without being presented with a flyer for a club or a discount coupon for a yoga studio or an advertisement for research studies and who knows what else. There are career and internship and community involvement and study abroad fairs all with handouts and information packets galore. Walk in to many buildings on campus and there will be a row of newspapers and other publications waiting to be picked up and read by somebody, anybody. So much paper goes in to the distribution of all of these various publications and much of them just go unread and unheeded. The one free handout I do like to make sure I get a copy of is  the MN Daily. It is such a good resource for the news on campus and is even cooler because it is entirely student run! If I remember I usually save all of the handouts I receive on campus and save them for my collection purposes just because I feel there is some sort of significance in the act of promoting your organization with physical pieces of paper put in the hands of a representative - not only is your organization being represented by the information on the sheet but by the person who distributes them. Which one is more effective? Who actually reads the information sheets? Does your organization gain members? Is it an effective way with cost and time to promote this way? And a million other questions and observations surrounding the constant bombardment with information students are presented with outside the classroom. (not to mention the chalkings and other promotional posters/ads/email lists etc)

Splurchase (9.16.2013)

Splurchase! I suppose I procrastinated a bit on this as I made my splurchase the day before it was due, but I honestly don't shop anywhere often enough and wasn't even in a position to make a splurchase before today. So thats okay I guess.

When making my splurchase I didn't really have the full shopping experience. My item, a University of Minnesota "M" shaped cookie cutter was purchased at the bookstore along with another item I actually needed (staples) during my work time. My shift was from 1-6 and I had been working all afternoon when I finally remembered to make my purchases at about 5:20 pm. I didn't enter the store with the main intention to purchase anything, I was mainly going there to go to work. I was in the work mindset and quickly made my purchases before returning to work. No other looking around. The weather today was a perfect fall day, the atmosphere in the store is the same as on every other day so far this year - super busy and the floor is a mess and we all have so much to do, hence my rush to get back to work. The splurchase was supposed to be impulse and it was to an extent because of the lack of deliberation made once the thought to purchase a cookie cutter entered my mind. I had made the decision of intending to purchase a cookie cutter earlier in the day, but didn't act on it until 5:20. I decided to buy this cookie cutter because I really like making sugar cookies and decorating them! My family has one of these at their house and when I lived there it was a frequently used shape. Now that I live in the cities I'd like to have one of my own to use the next time I make cookies. Making these cookies can often be an all day affair and the decorating can get very involved with sprinkles sometimes going on one by one to create elaborate designs. Now I am even more so looking forward to making cookies! The cookie cutter was a bit more than $2, but it was something I intended to purchase anyways. The packaging wasn't particularly influential in the purchase, I don't really think it is that great. It is just a product I know I will use and am looking forward to using!

I love Farmers

On the vein of loving farmers there is this song/video/commercial I am obsessed with

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HItiJYwAPGQ

This is a promotion for the Chevy Silverado pickup truck, and although there isn't a lot to say about the video visually besides the fact that it could be well made, is cohesive, doesn't overly and obnoxiously flaunt chevy silverados etc etc etc, I still find it a good story, which is just as important if not more than having attractive visuals when wanting to sell something. Today I have probably watched/listened to this at least five times. Which is bad because I really need to be doing homework and it is distracting me but it is sooo good.


Also having to do with loving farmers is the farmers market on church street which I visited on Wednesday. I only had half an hour before my class ended on the west bank and when I had to be at work at the bookstore, and so I decided it was a good day to use my bike. After class I pedal to the metaled over to Farmer's Market and made a quick purchase of Tomatoes, Peppers, and Green beans for a grand total of $7 before biking quickly back to our apartment to stow the valuables quickly in the fridge, then hopping on my bike to get to work. Thankfully I made it in time! I really hadn't premeditated what I wanted to get at the market, I just went off of what looked good when I got there! So far the peppers have been crisp and zingy, the tomatoes juicy and red red red, and green beans crisp and flavorful.

I am a huge fan of the farmers market because 1) it is convenient 2) it's cheap 3) its fresh 4) and healthy - all fruits and vegetables! Also it is fun to be out in the sun with all of the colorful fruits and vegetables for the senses to drink in.

Free Tshirts

Recently, I took a position with the Minnesota Daily as a brand ambassador. This is an unpaid internship position in the marketing department and involves promotion for the daily – attending events, passing out papers, and assisting the marketing department with other various tasks. At our orientation we were given MNDaily shirts, sunglasses, and other random MNDaily items, because they wanted us to be able to represent the Daily when at events, or just being on campus. The shirts are baseball tee style with maroon sleeves and a gray body. The Minnesota Daily logo is a gold shape of minnesota with the words “MN Daily” showing through to the gray tshirt. There is another color option with yellow sleeves, a white body, and a maroon logo. Although both of the shirts are very nice I chose the gray bodied shirt because it is less likely to get dirty! I really like the style and design of the shirts and so I am likely to wear it on a regular basis, and not just for daily events, which I suppose is the point. Walking poster child for the MN Daily right here and I don't even mind because it looks good! 

My Burger (9.15.2013)

In search of lunch after church, Josh and I hit the streets around the UofM with an open mind and no idea of where we wanted to go. In the true spirit of adventure we decided to try a fairly new place and somewhere neither of us had ever been before, My Burger. We'd heard it been described as a "less greasy Five Guys," and although less greasy than five guys could still get pretty greasy we also acknowledged the fact that it also appears to be a nicer looking version to Five Guys. Five Guys is black and white and red and block letters and bags of potatoes and boxes of peanuts and more black and white and greasy. The storefront is very narrow and is sandwiched in between two other businesses (no side walls visible from the outside) it is not altogether sketchy, just very plain and almost dreary in a garishly stark bright white bouncing light away. In contrast, My Burger is lucky enough to have two entire side walls to decorate, which they took full advantage of. These walls are painted with gray and orange simple graphic pictures of gophers (appropriate) and burgers (also appropriate). A slogan on the wall states something along the lines of "home of the double original / aka the original, doubled." Is it just me or is this redundant, or is redundant? Their sign is a very simple but interesting flat picture of a mainly orange colored burger. Everything is very minimal, yet very intentional in the way that it is outlined and interacting with other art elements. The storefront is a garage door that can be left open in agreeable weather and the wide open space to walk through is an extremely welcoming entry way in to the restaurant in which the first thing I notice is the brightly colored chairs. I notice the brightly colored chairs for two reasons 1) They are brightly colored in orange and blue and a shiny finished graphite gray color 2) These chairs are almost identical to my desk chair. My desk chair is from target and is supposed to be a dining room type chair but I decided I liked it so much that I would use it for a desk chair.

The interior...
The menu board was very well done. It was simplistic and easy to read with different sections partitioned off by well defined and different colored headers and good spacing. The background was gray and the letters and numbers were done in white which just seemed to have more thought and character than just black writing on white boards (like at five guys). After we ordered (I chose an original and Josh choosing the redundant double original) we took a gander at the rest of their interior set up. We were most intrigued by the back portion. It had two higher tables for six with orange stools and walls covered in various orange green and blue graphics on a white background. Once again, these graphics were all cohesive despite being of very different things - bookworms, burgers, books, pencils, and other things I can't quite recall at the moment. My favorite thing about the back area was the wall of clocks. There was a series of clocks on the wall labeled with different locations on campus and all set to different times - the time it would approximately be if you were to leave My Burger that minute and walk to that location. How cool is that. That is just seriously the neatest idea. Of course everyone walks at different speeds and aren't always going to those exact places, but it would give you a ballpark. I just can't get over how cool I find that idea. GAH. After we felt we had expressed sufficient wonder over that portion of the restaurant, we returned to the front and took a seat with perfect timing because our burgers had just been finished. While eating we were able to take in the rest of the building - the cool wooden portion of the ceiling with space cut out for lights, the clever sayings in the napkin holders, the references to campus streets such as Ontario on signs near the ceiling, and the smart combination of blue and orange found everywhere. Blue sometimes surprises me as a bold choice to use in restaurants because I had usually heard it lessened appetite. However, there wasn't much blue at use here, just pops of it here and there.

So yes, I really like My Burger. It's cool and good and lives up to the name of being a less greasy five guys. In the spirit of adventure I don't know that we will be back anytime soon just because there are so many cool places to explore, but if I ever really need a burger it will definitely be my choice.

JUST GOT HOME FROM THE MICHAEL BUBLE CONCERT.

(Advance apologies for the long winded entry to follow)

I can just never get enough of that lovely classy jazz and am now typing this to some more Michael Buble playing in the background. What an amazing time, he is really such a very nice man for singing for people and sharing his wonderful talent because his music is such a joy to listen to! So thank you Michael!

This whole experience came about because while talking with Kelly and Hailee one day over the summer. One of us had discovered Michael Buble was scheduled to perform at the Excel Energy Center on September 11th and shared this information. Half an hour later we had tickets. So it was a snap purchase somewhat splurge/impulse buy to the max, but I know none of us could be happier with our decision after tonight! Our tickets were in Section 219, Row 3, seats 1/2/3, and they cost (after fees) about $92 each.

I usually don't go to high profile concerts like this, the only other one I've been to that has been comparable is a Luke Bryan concert in 2011. It was in Bemidji MN and in a much smaller venue than the Excel. Our seats were about 14 rows back on the floor, and the tickets only cost about $45, so quite a bit cheaper than similar Michael Buble tickets would be. Luke Bryan was still definitely a great time as well - my friends and I are all familiar with his music and could sing along. I suppose thats the most important thing when attending a concert - to chose an artist you truly enjoy. I guess I also had free tickets for the B.O.B. homecoming concert last year and went to that, but not knowing much B.O.B. it wasn't as great.

One reason I don't really go to concerts like this is the fact that I didn't grow up in an area where they were available in my area - small town rural northern Minnesota. Also, I don't totally understand the total fascination with them. Sure you get to see this artist in person, but you don't know them personally. They are singing for you but you also have their album at home. I guess a concert is more of an experience than anything, so that is the benefit.

The one and only thing I would say I didn't not enjoy about the concert was the video displays they had playing during each song. While they were for the most part well done, complementary to each piece, and followed a general theme throughout the concert, I found them distracting and unnecessary. They often seemed cheesy or contrived to me, and I would much rather prefer a plainer backdrop - the singing should be the main focus in a concert, not the over produced stage set up.

Overall what I am feeling about concerts is that they are often too overproduced and showy. I still had oodles of noodles of fun at the Michael Buble concert, but I don't feel the need to go to another concert anytime in the near future. Unless it is for a Basses Wild, but thats another story.

(Cheerios + Craisins + Milk)^2 (9.10.2013)

Breakfast habits. I am a breakfast person. I really love my breakfast. All kinds. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is eat breakfast, pretty much every day. This morning, I awoke at 6:30 or 7, I don't quite remember exactly because I can't function until I eat breakfast and of course I hadn't had breakfast yet at the moment I woke up and looked at the clock. Maybe it is just out of routine more than actually needing food the moment I wake up. Anyways, right now my breakfasts have consisted of Cheerios and craisins because 1. that is a wonderful combination, and 2. I have a huge honkin box of Cheerios I need to eat. So I pour myself a bowl of cheerios and craisins and top it off with some skim milk. This morning I decide to station myself near the window to eat breakfast to take in the view, but on mornings when I sit at the counter to eat I always leave the box out to stare at it and contemplate it and read and examine every square inch of that box while I mindlessly but gratefully eat my Cheerios. Cheerios boxes are some of my particular favorites actually, even though they do get boring more quickly. They are such a bright and happy yellow color, and the backs are often very plain. SO NICE. No silly advertisements for movies I have never heard of. No off brand box craft projects instructions for making a mosaic pot. No extra cereal information. Just another picture of the cereal in a bowl and a nice font in a large size spelling minimal words. Which is nice because I don't feel so overwhelmed and over stimulated by looking at this box that I am so compelled to contemplate over breakfast every day for no particular reason.
This morning, however, I am not staring holes in to the cereal box with my eyes, I am taking in the great outdoors of developed areas of the wonderful city of MPLS. I eat my cereal out of the plastic orange baby bowl I insisted on buying at target. (I needed to have my small baby bowls because they are the perfect size for everything - we have them at home and as a 19 year old college student I use them every day). I use a blue tin spoon because I like to feel like I am camping even while in the middle of a city. The cereal level in the bowl is dwindling and I realize that I am going to have some extra milk at the bottom of this bowl. Because I do not enjoy drinking milk out of the bottom of the bowl, I uproot from my riveting view and flip open the cupboard to fill the bottom of my bowl with just enough cheerios to take care of all the remaining milk. Waste not want not?

Bookstore Again (9.9.2013)

I feel as if I am forever needing to go to the bookstore to buy some more supplies or random things. Yesterday, I purchased a Minnesota pennant for $12.99, a set of notecards for $12.99 and three composition notebooks for 2.14 each. The pennant was purchased on the request of my high school's counselor and student council advisor. I had TA'ed for her my junior and senior years, and she wanted to have a representation of the U of M in the counseling offices at school. My sister is still in High School and is on the student council, so this request was communicated through her. As my sister has a volleyball tournament in the Cities Area this weekend I will be seeing my family and will pass it on then. The notecards are for the necessary thank you notes that have to be written on occasion. There isn't anything I need them for right now but I want to make sure I have them on hand. The composition notebooks are for classes - I had been taking notes in my sketchbook because I enjoy taking notes on unlined paper, and that way everything I need to record is in one location, but I realized that my sketchbook would soon be full of irrelevant notes and that is not something I want to have to sift through.
The bookstore is the most convenient place to get everything I need. Because it is affiliated with the University, I can be sure they will have the correct supplies that I need for my classes. Also, because I work at the Minneapolis location, going to the bookstore doesn't always require an extra trip to Coffman or the St. Paul Student Center.

Silverware (9.8.2013)

So I posted earlier about the Roomie Dinner. And now I have to make a separate post for the silverware we used because I just love it so much. This silverware was purchased from Target by my Hailee as part of her contribution to our kitchen supplies, because none of us had any coming in to this, and it is seriously the best. I just might buy myself some because I'd like to have it for the rest of my life. It is so clean and simple and light and simple and light and perfectly brushed and wonderful. I just love eating anything with this silverware. So yes, I would be willing to purchase this silverware and store it until I actually need silverware of my own. Pre-meditated consumption of its own kind I suppose. Consumption for anticipation. Consumption for a safeguard against any possibility that this silverware will not be around when I need some, and heaven forbid I should have to use any other silverware!

Birthday Present (9.8.2013)

Got an email from my sister today about getting a birthday present for our mom, whose birthday is November 18th.

She had found this on Etsy.com and thought it was something our mom would really like. I know it is definitely something our mom would like and so I said Sure! Lets order it! So, for $39.00 including shipping, this wonderful basket with three vases (flowers not included) is on it's way! 

Roomie Dinner (9.8.2013)

One thing we intend to do as roommates is to sit down at least once a week and have dinner together and taking turns to cook. Today was Roomie dinner day and it was Hailee's turn to cook. She had been craving tacos so after a trip to Cub for some ingredients and other groceries we were in need of, she returned and made some taco meat, and set out all the other ingredients. We owe her some money for milk, potatoes, and eggs, but that money has yet to be figured out and divvied up.
We want to have roomie dinners because although we are all hanging out in the apartment together all the time, we want to make sure we are all still connecting and not secluding ourselves to work on homework all night long without interacting. As we are all good friends this really isn't an issue, but we just want to make sure we are taking time to talk to each other about our day/week. Living in the dorm we got this time regularly, as we would normally go to as many meals together in the dining hall as schedules allowed. As we were physically separate from our homework during that time we always had fun chatting and laughing around a huge table with our friends. Now we are responsible for making our own food and I've found it really enjoyable so far. even though it is usually nothing fancy at all, it is just so much more satisfying to have control over what I'm eating and to have any semblance of a choice about what I am consuming food wise. I also feel that it is easier to eat healthier because of limited supplies of food and not wanting to spend money on food that will not sustain me well.
Back to dinner today. Although it was quick and easy and plain, it was still really satisfying to take a the time out of a homework packed Sunday.

Nelson's Ice Cream : Selling an experience (9.7.2013)

http://www.nelsonsicecream.biz/

This place though, seriously. On Saturday the 7th, after traveling to Stillwater with Josh to see his family, we all took a 10pm venture to Nelson's Ice Cream, and were thoroughly  warned and cautioned by Ellie to

GET A CHILD'S SIZE. Do not get a small. Seriously. Split a child's size. Just do it.
Okay Ellie. Is it really that bad?
Yes.
Okay.

Thank you for the warning and advice Ellie. Because oh man do they serve you up a huge serving of ice cream. As it was 10pm and who really has business eating that much ice cream that late at night we did decide to split the child's size which was a good choice, because although that ice cream was SUPER YUMMY, there is no way we would have been able to finish a whole one ourselves.

The stats (child's size):
Challengers: Josh and Abby
Cost: $3.25
Size: enough for (3 regular sized scoops/1 nelson's sized scoop) of two different flavors
Flavors: Monster Cookie and White Chocolate raspberry
Awe: mouth gaping disbelief


As we stood in line, Joe posed a question regarding what Nelsons was actually selling.

They aren't selling ice cream here, what are they selling? Abby you should get this.
They're selling an experience.

Nelsons sells an experience, they sell a wow factor, they sell excess, they sell consumerism, they sell indulgence, and variety with their extensive flavor list, they sell to a wide range of tastes, they sell being overwhelmed, they sell summertime, they sell a challenge, and they sell it out of a building so small the ice cream must be kept in a separate building. They sell the fame you get for finishing the legendary lumberjack, and the novelty of the congratulatory tshirt. They sell the "Aughh!!!" you get when you tell your friends you went to Nelson's. Nelson's attracts consumers of a good time, and groups of friends for sharing the ice cream with. They encourage variety by providing the option for trying multiple flavors, and they attract you back again and again because there are so many flavors to try. They also sell their story by posing news articles and photographs on the walls. And they sold me, I'd totally go back again!

We're Having a Luck (9.6.2013)

We're having a luck. It's like a pot luck, sans the pot. Because we don't do that stuff. Its also lucky because we have such wonderful friends, we are all back on campus, we all had super fantastic first weeks even if we don't know it, and we are all able to make it to the Knoll to eat a ton of random food, play frisbee, and catch up. Yeah, we're pretty lucky. The original idea was to have a potluck, but as no ones apartment is big enough to accomodate the masses of people we anticipated showing up, the Luck, as we referred to it, was moved to the Knoll area on the East Bank, near Eddy Circle. Also, being college students no one really has the time or resources to make the type of food one would usually bring to a potluck, and as the event was to be held in an outdoor setting, there was not facilities available to create a wonderfully well rounded meal. So the Luck consisted of chips, green beans, chips, hamburger cookies, pretzels, chips, salsa, corn, potatoes, and puppy chow with coffee grounds instead of powdered sugar. This last contribution was the brainchild and project taken on by Josh and myself as our contribution to the Luck. At the last minute we decided to make puppy chow but were unable to obtain any powdered sugar. The remaining ingredients of rice chex, chocolate and coffee were purchased at cvs, and we already had peanut butter in the apartment. So five minutes before this Luck was due to start, operation puppy chow was set in motion. After a huge mess of las minute frenzied activity and dirty dishes, the makeshift puppy chow was ready to go and soon joined the mass of other random edibles. Consumption today was a social affair, and we all sampled random bits off food in the loud and rambunctious atmosphere created by the laughing and merry chatter. The athletically inclined tossed frisbees and footballs while trying to avoid trees. It was a great time and a great feeling to be back with all our friends, and personally, I found the food to be of secondary concern to the wonderful people.

Country Girl

Don't get me wrong, I love my roomies. All beautiful girls, but whenever I get a spare moment in the apartment to myself it only takes about 30 seconds for me to start jamming to the country music because I feel bad making the others listen to it. The songs I'm listening to now are off Luke Bryan's new album which was given to me by my best friend before I left for school again this year. She knows me too well. Many of the songs include lyrics about consuming beer. Something I am not doing. But nevertheless I still love jamming out. 

On Lock

Today I was a consumer of products to help protect other products I have consumed - a combination lock at a cost of $6.60, and a U-Lock for my bike at $22.95. Both were purchased at the U of M bookstore, because I need to have the ability to lock my belongings up, and because the bookstore is the most convenient place for me to make the purchase although it is not always the cheapest. Having to think about and plan for locking my belongings up is a new concept for me. Living in a small town of <2,000 people since the age of five meant leaving an unattended and unlocked bike outside the grocery store or library for extended amounts of time with absolutely no worries about it being stolen. Having your bike stolen wasn't even in the realm of possibility, and if your bike did happen to be stolen you would be able to find out who it was if they were stupid enough to ride it around. The combination lock I purchased I intend to use at the aquatic center on a locker while I swim. Again, having to lock my stuff up while exercising is not something I am used to. While at swim practice in High School, leaving your locker open was totally normal not to mention much less of a hassle. Now, it is not that I believe all people in the city are bad, it is just that the probability of stealing incidents occurring increases with the number of people around. 

 Preventing belongings from being stolen by purchasing these locks would evade issues such as using a bike for transportation, and then not being able to use it on a return trip, which would take a long time. Also, I would no longer have a bike which I would find very upsetting as biking is a favorite activity of mine. So, the purchase of the bike lock is a good price to pay for preventing these things from happening. The combination lock for the pool locker ensures that while I am away from my belongings such as clothes, towel, phone, keys, or money, I will not have to worry about them being taken and leaving me with only a wet swimsuit, cap, and goggles, and frustration. I can focus on my workout without having to worry about what is going on in the locker room.

Consuming Ink and Information

8.3.2013

Consuming Ink and Information:

Armed with a pen and a supply of paper, soon to be supplemented by syllabi and other course information packets, I can feel totally ready to start the semester off, first with typography, then later with Design and its Discontents (whatever that means). My utensil of choice today is labeled Uni-ball Onyx eco micro,  which cost me approximately 60 cents after my employee discount at the University of Minnesota Bookstore in Coffman Student Union. This particular pen was purchased just yesterday, but I have to admit to owning more than a few pens of this variety as I find them easy and fun to use. They don’t have fancy grips or clicking to open systems, they only have a simple pull-off cap. The ink flows easily, and doesn’t bleed which is another bonus. Since receiving one of these pens last year on college day at welcome week, I have been hooked and will only reluctantly use many other types of pens.

Much of the ink consumed from this pen today went towards doodling.

This ink was consumed while simultaneously consuming information about Fall 2013 courses, Typography and Design and its Discontents through syllabi and other course information pages which quickly turned in to doodling outlets as well. Typography was actually quite boring today. There was also some definite Déjà vu, as it is in the exact same room as my last semester’s Graphic Studio class, and has many of the same people in it. The class structure also seems similar which I am not sure I am excited about as I felt it moved somewhat slowly. Anyways, although syllabus day is not expected to be very exciting it was made more bearable by doodling through the day, and forces me to concentrate enough to still pay attention to what the instructor is saying, without crossing over in to the mindless drawing and doodling and sketching mode I often find myself in.  Eventually, every scrap of paper in my possession pertaining to classes usually ends up with some sort of doodle on it, which sometimes can later get on my nerves but never enough to prevent me from doodling in the first place.

Consumption of information:  Well the cost of attending class at the University of Minnesota would include the cost of sitting in a classroom or studio and consuming or absorbing the information imparted there, but I don’t know what the exact cost breakdown would be because there are a few ways it could be broken down; by credit, by hour, by time spent on types of information, by perceived value, etc etc etc. Cost could also be the value of the actual time spent listening to the information, a cost which would be paid at the time. In effect, I bought in to this time spent receiving information when I confirmed my enrollment at the U last year, a choice I made based on my desire to study Graphic Design and the U’s offering a program, gut instinct, and the fact I liked being on the U of M campus, and liked the college of Design.