What...A Riot

THREE THINGS:

1. The title of this post is in reference to Chelsea Handler's new book, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, which I just started today. I think my favorite part so far is in the book's dedication where she wrote: "To my brothers and sisters. What...a bunch of assholes." Lol. Seriously though it's really good so far if you appreciate Chelsea Handler humor. It's one-of-a-kind. My bestie Madison has actually taken to acting like Chelsea without even realizing it and is so good at it that I sometimes have to stop and tell her, "Omg that was so Chelsea." Ya we're weird but whatev.

2. I seriously cannot stop listening to Florence & the Machine. Her newest album, Lungs, is so so wonderful wonderful.
"“I want my music to sound like throwing yourself out of a tree, or off a tall building, or as if you’re being sucked down into the ocean and you can’t breathe,” says Florence Welch. “It’s something overwhelming and all-encompassing that fills you up, and you’re either going to explode with it, or you’re just going to disappear.”
What else can be said...just listen to her.

3. This week is Spring Break and I will be in Austin, Texas to spend time with a bestie and crash a few SXSW parties. Yes! Not that I am opposed to those making the trip to the beach- I'm quite the beach bum myself- but since I will actually be in Gulf Shores in May, I decided Austin would be a perfect little trip for the break. I can't wait to take loads of pictures, hear good music and drink coffee at Spiderhouse.

Ok I lied I have a fourth thing...

4. My bestie Kelsey gave me an award! Yep that's right...
Thank you Kelsey!! (her blog- Writing Left Handed)
Now I'm supposed to pass it on to other bloggers who I find worthy... so congrats to my friends Madison of Are You There Hollywood? It's Me Madison, Corey at Coreymahan.com, Sam's My Thoughts for Today, Emma's blog and Paris blog, & Kristen's My Life Abroad!

Upon receiving this award- post it on your blog, pass it on to other bloggers and then post 7 random things about yourself....

so here goes mine:
1. I wish I had freckles
2. Something about that Walmart commercial with the older man needing help with his reading really gets me.
3. My minor is French but I'm pretty terrible at it
4. I have an unnatural obsession with dogs and know it is my destiny to have the most wonderful dog in the world some day
5. I have witnessed a robbery...twice.
6. I've kept a journal since the 9th grade. It is a wonderful thing.
7. I started watching How I Met Your Mother because I thought it looked dumb and couldn't understand what all the fuss was about- now I'm hooked.

Sorry this was long post but I was in the blogging mood and now I need to go prepare for the eventful week ahead!
Happy Spring Break!

Oscar Love

Favorite Oscar moments:

Best Actor Winner Jeff Bridges
"Movies are more than entertainment; they're connecting us and music is the same way. Both music and movies are a common link for all of us." - Jeff Bridges
I honestly cannot say it enough but again, go see Crazy Heart.


The Hurt Locker taking the biggest awards of the night: Best Director, Kathryn Bigelow (FIRST FEMALE TO WIN IT) and Best Picture. It's a great movie; it deserved every award it got. Jeremy Renner is seriously wonderful and I'm looking forward to what he does next.

Best Actress Winner Sandra Bullock alongside hubby Jesse James. Her speech was my favorite; she was very humble and personally complimented each woman in her category.

I was really pleased with the results of the awards as well as the show overall and feel that all of the winners were very deserving.
After last night I plan on finally seeing Inglorious Basterds and A Single Man. But I still have no desire to see Avatar.

Now for the fashion...
I wasn't blown away with any of the dresses but I did love Maggie Gyllenhall's as well as Miley's and Vera Farmiga's:

My favorite hair/accessories/makeup were SJP & Carey Mulligan:


What did YOU think?

Credit: People Magazine, Yahoo, InStyle

PJ Work & Inspiration

So our assignment in photojournalism the past two weeks was a photo essay based on a location. I decided on The Bartlett Center for my pictures and was pretty pleased with what I got. Here are a couple of my favorites:

I definitely recommend going to see the rest of my classmate's pictures on our blog- everyone did a great job!
In addition, our class got to video chat with photographer, Allison V. Smith, whose work you can see here. I've been a huge fan of her since I first heard about her last semester so I was super excited that she took the time to speak to us. She's incredibly nice and really talented. Plus she lives in Dallas- holla. And takes a lot of pictures of dogs. Here are a couple of my favorites of hers:

©Allison V. Smith

©Allison V. Smith

In Case You Missed It...

Watch the Post-Launch Campaign Video from President Burns Hargis here.

Or you can visit the campaign Web site to learn more at www.OSUgiving.com.

Earlier today...

It's an MKA thing.

I loved too much about this not to post it.

Credit: Olsens Anonymous

The 24/7 Job

Well friends as much as I (we) wanted to make this blog mainly fun and pretty, there is an important event coming up (tomorrow, actually) that I wanted to discuss: OSU's Communications Networking Expo.

I attended this expo last year and really enjoyed it. My thoughts about it can be read on my old blog here: Time to Network.
At the time I was looking for a summer internship and being able to meet the representatives (for where I wanted to go) was a huge benefit.
This year I'm hoping to meet potential employers for a full-time position but the networking doesn't begin and end at the event tomorrow. Networking is a 24/7 necessity when looking for a job or internship. In a way, I think it's true what they say-"It's not what you know but who you know"- but once that connection gets you in the door, it's going to be what you know that keeps you there.
I feel that OSU prepared me well for whatever opportunities lie ahead. I've had amazing professors at the journalism school as well as in the foreign languages department. I'll never forget the impact they made on me and how willing each of them was to help me continue to learn and grow as a student and an individual.
A part of me is almost excited to be thrown out in the real world- yes, it'll be scary and suck a lot and I'll be poor- but honestly I'll be proud to say I'm an OSU alum and show why that makes me an asset to whoever I may work with.
So back to the point- come to the Communications Expo tomorrow in the Student Union Ballroom. It's from 1:30- 3:30 p.m. Dress nice and bring your résumé!
To see who will be there go to its Web site, here, for a full list of the Expo Participants.

Nothing Bundt Good Cake

I hope all of you had a wonderful Valentines Day!

Saturday night my bf and I made dinner instead of going out and he was in charge of the main dish while I was responsible for dessert. Now usually I probably would've pulled out some slice and bake cookies and call it a day but I decided to put a little extra effort into it and actually bake something. A chocolate bundt cake that is. I'm not much a baker or really a cook for that matter but it wasn't too bad. With a little help from my roommate and her bf, it came together pretty well. Now I've decided to share the recipe with you! Even if you don't like chocolate cake, like me, I think you will like this because it's not made with chocolate cake mix... see below:

MAMA'S CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE

Ingredients:

1 box Duncan Hines yellow cake mix

1 cup oil (Canola or vegetable, not olive)

4 eggs

1 small box instant chocolate pudding (make sure it's the instant kind)

1 pint sour cream

1 6 oz.pkg. semi-choc. chips

Instructions:
preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease your bundt pan with margarine (make sure you grease into the 'valleys' of the bundt pan creases otherwise the cake will stick there and not come out easily)

Combine all ingredients except chips. Layer batter with chips in your bundt pan.

Bake about 45 minutes. The top of the cake will start to 'crack' into little sections as it bakes- if those little valleys still look too cake-battery after 45 minutes of baking,

it's not quite finished. You want those areas to look fairly set. (The middle of my cake didn't finish baking all the way so I probably needed to have put it back in the oven another 5-10 min).

Let cool for 20 minutes or so and then place a plate on pan and turn upside down to dislodge cake. You may need to take a knife and gently

slide it down and around cake sides to help it dislodge when you turn it upside down.

Voila!

Enjoy!