Playing Catch-Up

Hello my friends!!

I know, I know, it's been too long. At first it was because nothing that interesting was happening (well except for a spray tan that left me darker than I've ever been in my life...) but don't worry, after nearly a month, I have plenty of fun happenings to report :)

I went home to Ohio for a week over Easter which was wonderful! Except for the part where I had a major cold... which quickly became laryngitis. Oh, then I had to get my wisdom teeth all removed :/ It's alright though, I'm just glad that I was home for all of that and could be taken care of by my sweet parents.

Ohio was filled with family events, church, ice cream dates with my sister, recovery, amazing home cooked meals, and a little thrift shopping. But I did, for the first time, actually miss the city and especially my friends here.

Back in New York, I jumped right back into work at Hill Country. Arriving on a Thursday afternoon (after many delays and what ended up being a 16-hour bus trip) and heading into work that night.

Last weekend I felt like I was living at HC. After working there 8 months I finally had my New Hire Orientation (a 3 1/2 hour event, it did include pastries from our sister restaurant so that made it worth it). It wouldn't have been so delayed except the last orientation was scheduled on the same day Hurricane Sandy rolled into town...

I'd taken my laptop into Manhattan and got to relax at the wonderful Birch Coffee, a new favorite spot of mine, between orientation and the time I actually went into work.

Friday morning, there was a semi-secret concert by Brad Paisley at HC. NashFM, the first country radio station in NYC has been hosting a few little events in our downstairs area and let me tell you, when I picked up the phone my first day back from Easter to hear a guest wanting to make reservations for after the Brad Paisley concert, I got pretty excited! I woke up early and headed into HC once again, and got to watch Mr. Paisley live and up close, playing for just a couple hundred people, packed into the club level of HC. What a great perk of my job, no?

I had another fun, cultural experience on Saturday. My friend Mindy is part of the company at Elisa Monte Dance which had their 32nd Anniversary Season Gala last weekend. After some schedule shuffling, Selina and I, as well as some other HCers who we saw there, were able to go out and support our girl! It was an awesome show.

I'd never been to a dance gala like that or seen much modern dance. I was in awe of the grace and synchronization of the dancers as well as the abilities and endurance of a well-trained human body.  My dance repertoire is mostly fun and I hadn't experienced pieces that held so much emotion and stirred up feelings like these did.

My latest new experience was last night -- I went to my first Broadway show!! My high school always has a senior trip to NYC (I didn't actually go on the trip my senior year, having gone to France the summer before and not having the money for both. Oh well, I thought, NYC is close enough to Ohio, I know I'll make it there someday... Little did I know that 3 years later I'd be living here!) and lucky for me, one of the chaperons is not a fan of the Broadway show part of the trip, and gave me his ticket! Yay!

Yesterday morning I found out there were two tickets up for grabs if I could find a friend who wanted to join me, so I called on Samantha who also had never been to a Broadway show! I have to admit I was a little skeptical of seeing Spider-Man: Turn Out the Lights on Broadway... I mean, it's action-packed Spider-Man! And what, now he's gonna sing? But it was great! It took me a bit to get into it but by the end I was loving and very impressed with the stunts and special effects. They stayed true to the comic book nature of the story as well as bringing in the musicality and choreography of Broadway.

It was a nice night (loving this warm, spring weather!!) and we kept it true to New York form. Grabbing dessert at Roxy Delicatessen in Times Square before hitting up the Broadway show then finishing the night by meeting up with Selina for supper (at 11 o'clock at night... we run on a different time schedule than most) in Koreatown.

I hope your last few weeks have been just as delightfully eventful as mine! And I'll really try to do better at consistency... TTFN :)

Happy Friday :)

I'm heading home to Ohio for a week over Easter and I couldn't be much more excited!! I've made a list of all the foods I want while I'm there, have appointments made, tickets bought, list of things I need to take there and bring back with me, lists of what I've just gotta do while I'm there..

Today I stocked up on some travel-snack-junk food (buy one, get one free mini boxes of Cheez-It and Oreos, say what?!) I also went to the library and stocked up on new books for the trip as well as my time at home since I'll probably be getting my wisdom teeth taken out and have plenty of down time. All I need is one of those travel neck pillows (something I've been wanting for the last couple years and need to just hurry up and buy!) and I'll be all set!

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy New York and all it offers :) Tonight I'm going out for a late supper with a friend. I said I was craving mac n cheese and she suggested a couple places that specialize in and only serve mac n cheese, because stuff like that happens in the city! (Hehe, it still kindof amazes and ahhs me). And later meeting up with some friends at a ping pong lounge place.. Should be a fun night :)

Snow, Cafeteria, and Singles Awareness Day

Hello all!

It was a snowy weekend here in NYC, we got about a foot up in my area of the Bronx. I'm not a fan of snow or cold weather in general. But I do feel that if it's going to be freezing cold it should at least have the decency to snow as well. And snow is pretty. I'm always in favor of a good photo op and walking to the subway Friday night after work provided just that. It's a nice walk anyway, right by the Flatiron Building and through Madison Square Park, and with snow coating everything and more coming down it was lovely.

Monday, I went out for supper with a friend from HC for a birthday celebration! My birthday was at the end of January and she wanted to take me out so we went to Cafeteria in Chelsea. I hadn't been before and it was de-lish! 

Cheesy Macaroni and Cheese Spring Rolls, Spicy Pork Meatball Sliders, and White Chocolate Raspberry Bread Pudding to finish it off! A-mazing!

Last night I made banana muffins to take into WeSell today. We had a huge discussion last week about muffins versus cupcakes and what was the definition of a "plain muffin." It was very inspiring. In the sense that it made me want to make some delicious banana muffins which I must say wowed the office and brought everyone together like only food can do :)

Tomorrow is the day of truth. I'm supposed to finally have my evaluation and find out where this internship is leading. I've been there almost 4 1/2 months and am a little anxious about it all but will be happy to have a definite answer, whether good or bad. Wish me luck!

Oh, and since it's after midnight Happy Valentine's Day! Or Singles Awareness Day as I secretly like to refer to it as ;)

XO Ash

I'm a Paid Artist!

Hello all!

I've had some excitement this week starting with friends visiting this weekend. As usual, we had crazy-full days but had some awesome experiences! From strolling through Central Park to eating noodles from a street vendor in Chinatown, from walking on the beach at Coney Island to having a drunk guy ask to sit with my friend and telling her he just wanted to bite her... it was a classic NYC experience :)

It was great to see my friend from college again as well as meet new friends and make memories. We watched Pitch Perfect every night and listened to its soundtrack every morning - I hadn't seen it before and I'm now obsessed! Overall it was a lovely weekend and I couldn't have asked for better house guests :)

It's so fun to have extra people around! Having visitors helps me remember how fun and exciting this city I'm living in can be!

In other news, I am now a paid artist! In college, I had drawn a picture of a sunflower in a storm which actually turned out pretty good. One of my professors saw it and said it would be prefect for an award he sends out in the winter and wondered if I'd be interested in selling him the rights (he offered to buy the drawing also but I couldn't bear to part with it just yet). I said of course and today in the mail I received a sample of the award as well as a check.

It's so exciting to have your work out there, even if drawing isn't my forte or target area. I do still love it and it feels awesome to have something I've created be recognized and appreciated. And worth money :) I feel honored to have been asked to offer up my work and feel so blessed for the opportunity. And am as excited as ever to see what else God has in store for me!

My Year in Review

Happy New Year everyone!

I love journaling.

Usually.

Sometimes, I get really distracted and can't write, no matter how many awesome things I have to say. I'll literally just sit, pen in hand, and stare into space, usually thinking through the words I want to write but my hand can't keep up with my mind and the words are lost....

But usually journaling is very therapeutic for me. It's how I put my thoughts together and record memories. And one of the best rewards is going back through old journals and remembering fun or hard times and seeing how God pulled me through situations that seemed earth-shattering at the time.

Some days I like to pull out an old journal and flip through to see what I was doing on that date (or around that date...) one year ago. At the end of the year, I like to flip through my journal from the past year and see how my thinking has changed or look at all the things I went through, all the fun times I had, and how things ended up. Plus, there are so many beautiful journals out there, how could you not want to write and fill it's pages?!

I usually go through one journal a year but this year was a big year for me and I went through two! Since it was such a big year I wanted to share some of the big adventures :) and hopefully encourage you to look over your year!

2012
January: Felt real old, like an actual grown-up, turning 20!
Spent my birthday on a college visit :P but with one of my besties!
Visited home twice!
Got my first internship at Doric Concrete Vaults (designing tombstones ;)

February: Hmm lots of ups and downs in that month....

March: Spring Break! at home... it was fun though!
Dressed as Tinker Bell for Pick-a-Date
Played Cobweb (rocker fairy!) in Hesston's 80's style Midsummer Night's Dream

April: When the schedule became - class, lay out, Sonic :)
Was offered internship in Brooklyn at Resource

May: Got my helix triple pierced
Graduated from Hesston
Said goodbye to all my friends :(

June: Becca graduated!
Visited New York City for the first time.... and moved there 2 weeks later :)
Road trip to Iowa! For Jodi's wedding
Started web design internship at Resource Magazine

July: Celebrated the 4th on the roof with popcorn and chocolate covered strawberries
Used my days off to visit free museums and attractions
Saw Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
Had my first visitors! Gingeriches
Boob Auction...

August: Started working at Hill Country BBQ Market as a hostess
Visit from Wendy!
Moved Becca to college

September: Decided to move back to Ohio at Thanksgiving.... yeah that didn't actually happen
Internship at Resource ended
Visit from EMUers

October: Started graphic design internship at WeSell.com
Extra time = gone (working every day)
Hurricane Sandy

November: Granny passed away - went home
Emily's wedding in Indy
Thanksgiving at Hesston!
First Black Friday shopping experience

December: Worked 60 hours every week
Home for one week at Christmas
Visitors! Mom, Dad, Becca, Grandpa

My resolution: Start a new adventure :)

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Home, sweet home :)

After working 60 hours each of the last 2 weeks, I am finally home and ready for a break! In typical fashion, I took a Greyhound last night at 11 out of New York, expecting to arrive in Columbus at 11 this morning. Well the bus that I was transferring to in Pittsburgh was running late, it was also coming from New York but was supposed to leave an hour before us and hadn't left when we did... After a 2 1/2 hour delay in Pittsburgh we were on our way again!

I was able to sleep on and off during the trip and was amazed that every time I opened my eyes, the scenery was more an more white! It was in the low 40's in New York and the more east I got the worse the weather became! I got in around 1:45, two hours and 40 minutes later than anticipated, and was happily reunited with my family :)

On the way home the roads were bad and the snow continued to fall and blow. Right in front of us, a man in a 4-wheel Dodge slide into a deep ditch. We pulled over and helped him get a tow and were reminded to drive slow and be wary. We passed another car being pulled out of a ditch on our own road later.

Once we were home, we were ready to settle in for the evening and enjoy being together again. I'm very excited to have this break from work and stress (hopefully) while taking care of a few things I need to do here. But most of all, I'm thrilled to be back with my family and ready to pick up on all our Christmas traditions and make new ones. It finally feels like Christmas to me :)

Things I'm Thankful For

Sometimes it's easy to just look at the negatives (like that I'm going to be working about 60 hours a week for the rest of the month or that my space heater is trying to kill me or that I lost 2 $30 MetroCards over the weekend...) and it's times like these where I just have to enjoy the little things that make me happy. So I thought I'd make a quick list of some New York-specific things that have happened in the last couple days that have made me happy.

1. The super/man (hehe he's not Superman, he's a man who's the super of a building I walk by on my way to the subway) who's usually sitting outside his building and says hello and tells me I work too much and that I need to take some time to have fun because life is too short to work all the time!
2. Getting a computer right away at the library THEN getting my tickets printed no problem AND finding books I actually want to read! (Going to the library has always caused me problems here...)
3. Being asked by another graphic designer if I'd just redesigned the header on a website at my internship because it looked really cool! (Check it out if you like and if the background is just black, refresh it)
4. All week the D train has arrived at my 34th street station right as I was getting there and I was able to get on it right away!
5. My new phone. My first smart phone (I'm finally in the 21st century!) which I probably would not have felt the need to get if I weren't living in New York.
6. That I live in a house with some cool people who go into action when they hear the carbon monoxide detector going off in my apartment instead of a) not knowing what it was or b) ignoring it and waiting for me to get home and deal with it.
7. The awesome people I work with at Hill Country who notice that I haven't been around much and tell me they've really missed me.
8. Having entertainment during my commute on the subway - usually awesome breakdancers. Tonight a troop of 4 brothers, the oldest about my age and the youngest probably 8? They were done after performing for the car I was in, then they just turned on their music and were flipping and jumping off the doors and twisting around the poles just for fun and it was so fun to watch. Those guys are so talented! Much respect for breakdancers.

Those are just a few things off the top of my head, but those are the things I need to remember. Being thankful for the little things isn't something that should be reserved for Thanksgiving, it should happen everyday.

Munchkins on the Counter Make My Day

Back to work today! Buses were "partially running," what that meant exactly I wasn't sure but I set out at 9:45 to catch the 10:01 BxM4 Xpress bus into Midtown, hoping to make it to work by 12. There were other people at the bus stop which I saw as promising and took to mean that they probably knew the bus was indeed running. They did not actually know this, I found. Everyone was on the same page, not knowing for sure when or even if this bus was coming. And it didn't, not the 10:01 AM bus at least. Around 10:30 we saw a BxM4 driving in the opposite direction, towards Yonkers instead of Manhattan. We all grew hopeful then, knowing that the bus was at least running! 

It was interesting to see the little community that built as we all waited. A British man helped out a dog walker by informing him that the buses honestly were free today and that he didn't need to keep counting that pile of change and making sure he had $5. The dog walker then opened up to him about his latest bout of struggles and how everything happens at once. An Irish couple "here for a fortnight" nervously joked with anyone who talked to them that yes, this was the stop for the BxM4... if it ever showed up.

Finally, the bus did show up! We saw it there on the horizon, squinted to see the numbers, and all exclaimed with joy (no really, we did) when, at last!, they were the combination of numbers and letters we were all hoping for. We all piled in at about 11:20, happy to get out of the cold and be on our way. We even all got seats! 

It was about a 2 hour bus ride, hitting bad traffic once we got into Harlem. I enjoyed being above ground the whole time and seeing the sites of the route I usually am traveling underneath. Surprisingly, I didn't see a whole lot of destruction, not as much as I thought I'd see at least. There were some trees down and some caution tape and some windows/storefronts were boarded up. I suppose everything along the road had been cleaned up though, so the buses could actually run, understandable. 

I got to work around 1:10 and found only a handful of people in the office. There's probably 35-40 people who work there and today there were maybe 12 of us. There were also Munchkins sitting on the kitchen counter.... as in donut holes from Dunkin Donuts :) They seemed to be fall flavors (like pumpkin!) and they honestly made me feel that going into the office was worth it. 

It was a pretty good day at the office too. With so few people it seemed like I got to chat with more people. I also got to create the flier for an upcoming pubcrawl which makes me feel like a real designer! 

Getting home was another experience. I decided to take the same bus as in the morning so that I didn't have to make any transfers. I left work a half hour early in order to catch the 7:55 bus. Wellllll, just like the morning version, it did not come. Once again there was a little community built as a group of us waited for the bus to arrive. A man told us how he was glad that the bus was free today because $5.50! He could easily buy some rolling paper and weed to fill it with for that money. A guy from Peurto Rico told me about his first experience with a hurricane and how the sky had turned red. I also noticed the oddity of looking to my left and seeing the city full of light while to my left side the only lights were headlights, the lower many streets still being without power.

It was pretty chilly, mostly due to the wind and, once again, it was a long wait for the bus. Another hour and 20 minutes, actually. The trip home was shorter, thanks to less traffic. Plus, when I arrived I found a lovely package of popcorn and goodies waiting for me! (Thank you Grandma!!)

Overall a successful day! I'm very happy that the subways are open (at least the trains and stations that I use) tomorrow! The bus might be a nice change every once in awhile but I don't understand it well enough (and neither does ANY other New Yorker) to have the stress of HAVING to use it. 

The Heat is On!

It's been getting pretty chilly here in NYC. I fell like I was just wearing shorts 2 weeks ago (oh wait, I was) and now it's already jacket weather! It got cold quick, and I'm not a fan of cold weather. This sudden change in weather makes me wish I was back in Kansas where the winters were extremely mild and unseasonably warm, the two that I experienced were at least.

My apartment doesn't hold heat very well and has been almost as chilly as it is outside! That might be a slight exaggeration, I do think it's been warmer than 50* in here... Nonetheless, I'm naturally cold pretty much all the time and having only a little space heater and only a few warm clothes (I was only supposed to be here for the summer after all) meant that I was drinking a lot of hot chocolate and tea and bundling into the few pairs of sweats I had with me.

Towards the middle of the week things improved with a wonderful care package from my parents, full of sweaters, dress pants, and shoes that I had left at home but now needed for my internship, and the chilly weather, plus a lot of food! Yay for my wonderful parents :)

Then, this morning, the heat was on!! There are two heaters in my apartment, one in the bedroom and one in the living room. Apparently  the heat for the whole house goes through these before getting to the rest of the house so I'm not in control of my own heating. My days are shivering in my own apartment are over! (Ok, it wasn't really that bad) In fact, from what I hear it'll be so toasty that I'll probably be wearing shorts around my apartment in the dead of winter--which is fine with me!

Because the heat was on (well, I'm guessing that's why) we had an unexpected visitor (I wasn't expecting him at least): the gas and electric guy. I was still in my pajamas and about to do some yoga when he and Danny, who lives upstairs, came to my door to explain that he needed to come in and check the meters which are conveniently located in my apartment. That was a lil awkward... Mostly because he couldn't find the electrical one and neither Danny or I knew where it was and the guy was in a hurry and impatient with us as he had a big route to do today.

Oh well, we'll look forward to another visit from him next month and for now I'll enjoy basking in the heat :)

Happy Days at Hill Country

One really cool thing about working at Hill Country is that celebrities are frequent visitors! 

Living in New York, I could, and probably do, walk by celebrities on the sidewalk every day and have no idea-- there's just so many people and honestly, they usually look just like anyone else. I can pick models out of the crowd but television stars, musicians, and actors are a little trickier. 

Which is why working in a nicer restaurant is great! Celebrities often eat there (Idina Menzel, Neil Diamond, Jesse Jackson, John Legend are just a few I've heard about in the last couple weeks) and someone is bound to recognize them and spread the word that so-and-so is sitting at table 43. 

I'd been working at HC about 3 weeks before my first celeb sighting. It was Jaclyn Smith, one of the original Charlie's Angels. I was at the cash register and had no idea who she was or that she was even famous as I searched for a Small tank top she was buying for her daughter. Luckily, she was more in the other cashier's era and he urgently whispered "Do you know who that is?!" 

I've been waiting for another celebrity to come in and, hopefully, to actually know who they were and recognize them. This weekend I got my wish! 

I worked a double Saturday and while I was on my break and eating downstairs, a server came over to tell Ebony and I that The Fonz was there! Honestly, I've never seen Happy Days, but I do know who The Fonz is and have seen some of Harry Winkler's movies. I happened to end my break and get back to work right as he was leaving which led to me being the one to check him out at the cash register! I was pretty stoked to actually talk to him a little. 

He was super nice and shorter in person than I would have thought (although I hear they always are!)-- I had a good 4 inches on him in my cowgirl boots! Here Comes the Boom is his latest movie coming out soon and he was recommending that to everyone. He also said he loved the place and will be back so maybe I'll get to see him again!

It definitely added some excitement to the evening and is a fun fact to tell people!

Day 2 and Cafe R

Today was my second day at my new internship and it went really well! Maybe even better than yesterday because I was past the first day and already knew what I was supposed to be doing.

It's amazing the differences between the two places already. Everything from the atmosphere, to the work, to the style and setup, the office itself, the size of the operation, the hours and people... I'm thankful for my time at Resource, I had a good experience there and definitely learned a lot, but I'm happy to be in a new environment.

Now, because I love food and am completely in love with the food opportunities open to me in New York, I have to talk about my lunch today. At Resource I packed my lunch pretty much every day to save money, and I'll probably do that a lot at WeSell as well. But this morning time got away from me and there was no time to pack. So, come lunch time (which was actually more like early suppertime), I explored a little and found that there's this awesome deli/cafe, Cafe R, right across the street from my building!

I was always impressed by Bridge Fresh, the deli we frequented in DUMBO, but this, this was ridiculous. Literally any food you could imagine or want was at this place. The sign for a sushi special attracted me and at first all I saw was sushi and Chinese food, which you could order at counters and have made right in front of you. Then I noticed how big the place was and how many more counters and signs there were. Then I noticed the buffet of food ($6.65 per pound) in the middle. Then I saw the little grocery area. Then the packaged foods under the counters (like Easy Mac and Chef Boyardee). Then I realized there was a whole other side lined with counters. And these counters where you could order food were in addition to the coolers and cases in the middle where you could grab ready-made sandwiches and sushi and fruit salads and cookies and wraps and... well you get the idea.

Basically this place was overwhelming, but in a very good way. After glancing at the menus for sushi, Chinese, soup, Teriyaki, and Korean I decided on some orange chicken with lo mein. It was prepared right in front of me and delicious! Plus I could only eat about half and had leftovers-yay!

They had seating at both ends of the place, so I stayed there to eat and gawked at all the food options. Pizza, a bakery, "American grill", Mediterranean, hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches (both having pitas, paninis, and wraps), Mexican, Philly Steak, breakfast bar, pasta bar, beverage bar, salad bar, smoothie bar... I, of course, looked them up online later and, although they don't have a website (guess they need a good web designer's help ;), I did find their Facebook page which even shows their specials for every week! 

Maybe no one else finds this interesting and I'm sorry if that's the case but I am a lover of food--places like this amaze me and are just another fantastic thing about New York :)

If I don't post for a few days it's because I'm crazy busy working at HC. Pulling a double tomorrow and Saturday plus working normally Friday and Sunday. Gotta make the money to buy these new clothes I want so bad! Haha, or at least to buy lunch for myself every once and awhile ;)

Internship #2

So remember that exciting thing I promised to "talk more about later" last weekend? I'm finally going to talk about it.

Two Fridays ago, I had an interview for an internship at WeSell.com, a large advertising and event hosting site located in Manhattan. I felt like the interview had gone really well, but didn't really want to share too much until I had heard something back from them, preferably something positive.

I had been told I would hear from them after about a week and when I didn't hear from them right on Friday (or Saturday... or Sunday) I got a little disheartened. I mean, I felt very good after that interview! But that's life I guess... Who actually gets the first thing they interview for?

Friends advised me to follow up so I planned to call them back today. Well, last night, right in the middle of writing my Mug Monday post, I got a phone call and what do you know, it was David over at WeSell inviting me back and wondering if I could start today! I was ecstatic! I literally jumped up and down and screamed a little, which isn't something I do, like ever.

After fretting over the definition of "Business Casual" I figured out an outfit (I've been longing for new clothes and eager to do some shopping in NYC and now I actually have an excuse to get some new, professional clothes!) and headed off for my first day today! It was awesome. I actually have my own desk, complete with dual monitors! Everyone seems pretty friendly and it's such a professional setting, while being young and fun. Best of all, just the little taste of graphic design work I got to do today made me excited and remember how much I love graphic design. Oh, and did I mention it's a paid internship? A rarity, I assure you.

I'm ready for a new venture and so excited to be doing graphic design work! This is such an answer to prayer and I just wonder what else is in store for me...

Weekend Visits and Apple Upside Down Cake

Hey All!

It seems like forever since I've posted. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I've had a lot of excitement the last few days! Over the weekend, a couple of my friends going to school in Virginia drove up for a visit. They brought a guy friend who had two friends from Germany who were on holiday in NYC. It was a fun weekend of seeing old friends as well as making new ones!

We packed a ton of stuff into Saturday: Central Park, Times Square, lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, Grand Central Station, snacks from Crumbs bakery, Staten Island Ferry, Little Italy, supper at Puglia's, the Brooklyn Bridge... And that's not even including all the extra things we saw/did on the way to those places--street performers, street fairs, we even stumbled across the Pagan Pride Day gathering in Battery Park!

Getting a great view of the Manhattan nighttime skyline
from the Brooklyn Bridge

It was a busy, wonderful day followed by a relaxing Sunday brunch at Argo Tea on 58th Street, before they headed back to college.

I'll talk more about the other exciting stuff tomorrow! Because tonight, it's Mug Monday.

Inspired by the fall weather and the fact that I was going to have guests, I bought a bag of locally grown, gala apples and yum! My inspiration has carried through to finding tasty fall recipes using these apples.

Today I'd like to share a recipe I found for Coffee Cup Upside Down Cake. This recipe originally came from The Wichita Eagle (which made me like it all the more as I went to college 45 minutes from Wichita) and appeared in an article featuring four mug recipes, all of which look pretty delicious.

When I think of Upside Down Cake, I always think of pineapple but I thought that using apple would be a nice tribute to fall and that, likewise, the caramel-y topping would pay a nice tribute to the apples :) I was not disappointed.

Apple Upside Down Mug Cake

2 Tablespoons butter, divided

3 Tablespoons brown sugar, divided

1/2 apple, thinly sliced

1/2 egg

2 Tablespoons milk

Few drops vanilla

1/4 cup flour + 1/4 teaspoon baking powder + 2 shakes salt 

(or 1/4 cup self-rising flour)

2 pinches cinnamon

Lay apple slices, 1 tablespoon of the butter, 2 tablespoons brown sugar in the bottom of a coffee mug. Microwave for 1 minute. Using a fork, mix remaining butter with sugar until creamy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Add flour and cinnamon and stir until smooth. 

Swirl the coffee mug to coat all the apples with the sugary butter mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Pour batter into cup and microwave for 1 minute or until the cake is done. 

If you want to actually see the apples and prettiness of this cake, take a small plate and place it upside down on the top of the mug. Holding the plate to the mug, flip them over so that the cake falls onto the plate, apples up. 

Yum! Happy Fall, happy Monday, happy baking, happy eating :)

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/04/17/2301171/coffee-cup-cooking.html#storylink=cpy

It's All About Who You Know

Funny story for the day:

I work as a hostess at Hill Country BBQ Market and got the job after a chance meeting with one of the owners at a mutual friend's impromptu comedy show. We met briefly and chatted and when I mentioned my need for a job as well as my waitressing and restaurant experience he gave me his card and said he thought he could set me up with something. Later that week I had an interview with the general manager and 2 weeks later I started training!

I've seen the owner a few more times since then and he has always been friendly and occasionally my co-workers would say something about 'aren't you guys good friends?' I would respond with the story of our random meeting and my good fortune that came from it. 2 days ago however I found out the reason for they're inquiries.

This time I was standing next to a  manager when I saw the owner, from whom I received a high five and compliments on how I was doing. After he left the manager asked me about how exactly we knew each other, through church right? Ummm no... I explained our chance encounter and she burst out laughing. She then told me that when I first started here everyone was nervous and a little scared of me because they all thought I was best friends with the owner. I, of course, had no idea "everyone" knew that I had any connection to the owner and found it hilarious that anyone would be scared of me.

We both had a good laugh and she exclaimed how great it was to find this out on that particular day, which was her last day working there. I still just think it's funny that these crazy rumors were going around about me that had people a little on edge. It does make me wonder how many people are under the impression that I'm some sort of VIP worker... and has that impression changed anything about my working experience there? I don't think so, but who knows?!

Hope this can give a laugh, or at least a chuckle. I know it did for me!

xo ash

The Obligatory "About Me" First Post

Well hey there :)

I'm Ashley and here are 20 fun facts about me

1.) I'm 20 years old. (Hence the 20 facts)
2.) I grew up in a small town in Ohio (like the less than 2,000 people kind of small)
3.) I went to a 2-year liberal arts college in Kansas (Hesston College woot woot!) and majored in graphic design.
4.) I worry that those 2 years of college might have been the best years of my life.
5.) I love music! I listen to a wide variety of genres and love finding a new bands that I enjoy.
6.) I moved to New York City at the end of June to do a web design internship at a Resource Magazine, a photo/video magazine in Brooklyn.
7.) I knew no one in NYC before moving here, which was kindof scary but I figured when else am I gonna have an opportunity like this and just be able to just pick up and move to the Big Apple?!
8.) I always spell the word opportunity wrong. I put a "u" where the second "o" goes and get a little red squiggly line underneath. Every time. Thank goodness for spell check!
9.) During the 4 days of the week I'm not interning at Resource, I work at Hill Country BBQ Market in Manhattan as a hostess.
10.) My favorite color is lime green although really any bright colors are great :)
11.) My favorite time to do yoga is in the evening on a rainy night.
12.) I love to cook and bake! One of the most fun parts of living on my own has been cooking for myself and finding new recipes that I can make for just myself and without an oven.
13.) I originally wrote "funnest" in the last fact but knew a certain grammar obsessed friend would mock me for it...
14.) I love to travel! I have been to most states in the continental US and traveled overseas to England and France.
15.) I dream of living various places before settling down anywhere, which is another reason I picked up and moved to New York City right after college. And where I'll go next, I have no idea.
16.) I love taking personality tests and seeing how accurate they are as well as using them to figure out more about myself.
17.) I would be totally fine with being a stay at home mom when I get married.
18.) I'm a Christian. I was raised Mennonite and am in the process of figuring out what that means exactly.
19.) I come from a very close-knit family consisting of my two amazing parents and my wonderful younger sister.
20.) I'm a total night owl and like to stay up late and wake up leisurely to a cup of tea.

That's just a little about me. But stay tuned for more on this crazy, random, adventuresome (or sometimes awkward and boring) life I lead :)