That one time I went to Martha's Vineyard

 Can I just say, that if I were a white person who lived up north, with tons of money and nothing to do, Martha's Vineyard would be my number one place in the U.S. to vacation in. Seriously this place was so cool to just walk around in, and even though we didn't get to see the entire island and it's towns, it just made me want to come back someday.

 After eating lunch, we hopped into a tour van to take a look around the island. We did some celebrity sightseeing looking at Tom Clancy and Spike Lee's house and saw the creator of Bosom Buddies and Laverne and Shirley walking right by us. The island was also celebrating the 40th anniversary of Jaws, which was shot in location on the island. It felt so surreal to be walking around in Amity and looking at the town hall and the bridge.

Once we got out of the van back in Oak Bluffs, we went to go see the Gingerbread Cottages which are these amazing houses on the right. Every one of them had so much character and style to each cottage that it piqued the first year Architecture student in me. I wanted to grab a bunch of my friends and pool our money together and just live in one of those cottages for a week or two and forget everything else that stresses me out in life.

Once we finished looking at the cottages, we got some ice cream and went to go see the Flying Horses Carousel, which is the oldest carousel in America. The horses had real hair which was kinda weird, but there was a brass ring game on the ride which has silver rings coming out of an arm that the riders grab during whenever they go around, and the rider who grabs the brass ring gets a free ride which makes riding the carousel more fun. Finally, we got back on the Ferry to go back to the mainland and drive back to Boston.

 


                                                    NEXT WEEK! NEW YORK!

Boston Bound

Last week I went to Boston. We spent the fourth of July at our Aunt's neighborhood in a nearby suburb which was the perfect little town to walk around in. There was a lakeside celebration going on a little bit down from the town square where they had a live band, fireworks, and tons of food like ice cream, fried oreos, pizza, and giant corndogs. It was so cliche and perfect that I felt like a character in gilmore girls.

The next day we went to watch the Astros play against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. 

The crowd was so huge and participative (is that a word?) that every time the Red Sox got a run, the entire stadium exploded in cheers, and when the Astros got two home runs in a row, the boos rang throughout the seats. It was pretty impressive to witness what a town looks like when it fully supports it's hometown. We couldn't even get any seats because they were all sold out, so we settled for standing room tickets instead. 

I'll be sure to post more of my trip to Boston soon!

Last week from monday until thursday I helped my sister paint her classroom 

the first day was fine, just moving around things and cleaning the classroom and buying paint and taping the baseboards and outlets, but the next day things started feeling a little bit sour.

We started prepping the first wall with primer and our mom called my sister to pick her up so she left me to finish the wall, which I didn't mind, I spent the time making the wall nice and even with the primer. So when my sister comes back and we start working on the second wall she keeps telling me "It doesn't have to be perfect, we're going to paint over it." but of course it's going to look splotchy and uneven. I decide not to fight it and finish the wall as fast as possible.

 So by the time we get to painting on the third day with one of her friends, we have to apply more coats of paint to the second wall in order to get it to look as good as the first wall I primed evenly. During the time we're painting, my sister keeps complaining about my playlist saying how it's not as good as the one from yesterday and keeps telling me to change it but the thing is that the playlist from yesterday is the same one I was playing today.

On thursday my sister pisses me off before we even get to painting, we go to raising canes to get some chicken and while we're waiting for our food she yells at me that I'm standing too close to her and that she needs space. I guess i exerted enough negative force of will that our car slipped its belt and needs to be towed away. Later our mom comes over to watch since she had nothing else to do today and we finish up the classroom as best as we can since I had to go to the dentist tomorrow.

It was a lot for my first week being off school, and I'm sure it's only going to get better from here.

Hiatus over

Okay okay, Let's get back to blogging. Sorry for being inactive for like, a year.

1.  School

 School is finally over, and I did pretty well. 3 B's and one A in the class I thought would be the hardest. God bless extra credit and test revisions. I got a B- in my Graphic Design class which is okay, but I think I'll rework some of my art boards later on to get them looking their best when I go into art block and need to put up my work to be considered for getting into my Graphic Design classes.

2. New Phone 

I'm off the iPhone train and onto the samsung note 4. The 16MP camera is awesome and the screen resolution is insane. There's a moment when the video on a movie is so crisp that you can tell it's a set. I really like the stylus and the ability to download videos and comics super easily. There's also a game emulator I downloaded to play my childhood favorite games. (I bought the games back in the day so it's ok you guys).

Buko Pie Recipe

makes one 9-inch pie

Filling:
1 C young coconut juice
1/3 C cornstarch
1 C heavy cream
1 1/2 C sugar
4 C shredded young coconut, juice reserved

Egg Wash:
1 Large Egg Yolk
1 Tb Milk

Pie Pastry: (makes enough for one 9-inch covered pie)
2 1/4 C All Purpose Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp Baking powder
1/2 Pound (two sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
4-6 Tb Ice Water

1 In a small bowl, whisk the coconut juice and cornstarch together until smooth

2 In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream and sugar and bring to barely a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the coconut and bring back to a simmer, stirring. Slowly pour in the coconut juice-cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let it cool completely

3. Preheat the over to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out the pie pastry and diving the doe in half. Flatten both pieces into two 14 inch circles. using one of the pastry circles to line a 9-inch pan. Pour in the cooled Buko filling, and fit the second dough circle on top of the pie. Roll the excess dough on the top over and under the edge of the bottom crust, fluting the edges.
Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash and poke 6 vent holes in the top of the pie.

4.Bake for 15 minutes, the lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 30-40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Back to School

Been a while.

So school finally started back up, and being on break for nearly a month pretty much destroyed any hope of me having a schedule or being productive so coming back to school is rough for me.

The counselors finally changed my major to graphic design only a day before school started and I had my doubts if I should even be enrolled in my current college when I could be going to a community college and getting it done faster and for less money. But one of the deciding factors in staying is my friends.

When I started back in the fall, I was pretty much alone until I met Melissa and came with her and met her friends Kim, Kat, and Beth. Never before have I felt so in place with these lovely ladies, I've never really automatically clicked into place with a group of people and it makes me wonder how I could live without these people in my life.

Plus they're all total babes.

Crusin'

Hey y'all happy new year! I spent the first couple days on a boat, more specifically a cruise.
 It was good to get out of winter weather and actually sweat a lil bit south down Mexico way.
  We went to Cozumel and to Progreso and spent a day in each, going to Chankanaab National Park and to Chichen Itza, an archaeological site about an hour of where we docked.
    I ate ice cream and burgers almost every day.