Un-mixed?

Last summer, I was really intrigued by the meaning and message behind the song "Sweetest Girl." So, I was researching it and listening to it and happened upon this different version by Niia. Hanna and I listened to it so much, and randomly a couple nights ago, she played it again So, there you go. These are all different versions of popular songs, and in the case of the last one, it sets an entirely different mood than the original song. (The Hot in Herre music video is pretty odd...)

Sweetest Girl with Niia


Hot in Herre by Jenny Owen Youngs


Flashdance (What a Feeling) by Hollywood, Mon Amour, Yael Naim

why hello there.

I took a little walk through campus on Thursday and snapped this shot once I realized I couldn't get to West Bank from the Northrop side of East Bank so I would have to wait for a bus. Of course, I probably could have ventured a little further and walked but, honestly, it was incredibly muggy out! I forgot how humid summers get. I have been so used to being in the super cold confines of the office:
I have been slaving away (not literally...) at a really big project at work this week. I go through hundreds (thousands?) of pages of paper from previous studies, and need to correct or adjust a few things on almost every page. I then mark the page that I have corrected with a sticky note. I have gone through at least 15 packages of those little yellow sticky notes, and I am not even halfway done yet. It's not difficult work, it's just very tedious. I am a study aid, so it is legit that my signature is on all of the pages of this particular study. In other words, this next photo will probably be famous in a few years...ha! (probably not...)
They ARE really large binders, though. You have to at least agree with me on that one.

Not only have I been working away at my job, but I have also been doing a ton of work for my internship this week. Lots of scripting (I have the four podcasts I am going to do almost completely finished), lots of time meeting with my boss, LOADS of emailing (I have my own email address at Redwood now), and tons tons tons of research. I am really starting to get into a good working groove and we are finally seeing finished products of a few initial goals. I still have a ton left to accomplish before Monday and so much more before the end of the summer, though. I have my first workshop as the marketing and communications fellow on Wednesday, and we went over a lot of good information on what we should be presenting on. There will be 30-40 high-end wealth management advisors watching, so that's not nerve-wracking at all...I don't think there will be a break in work now until Independence Day, and we are already setting up appointments for the following weeks. I can only imagine the business connections I will be making in the next month and a half.
I leave you with a random picture of SD after a storm last Friday. I had the most miserable drive home last week. I thought it was going so well as I got out of the city in really good time, but then I was stalled almost entirely for about 2 hours. I seriously started reading a book. I called multiple people and freaked out. I made fun of the lady with the "SOCMNKY" license plate who also had 6 sock monkey stickers around her car, complete with an actual sock monkey in the back window way too much for my own good. I thanked my lucky stars that I had grabbed a water bottle and some M&Ms for the trip. And then, when I got through the stall and the construction that proceeded it, it started to downpour so I couldn't go very fast. Finally, when I got through all of that, I had to stop and I got splashed pretty good by a nice semi. Needless to say, by the time I made it home I never wanted to drive again, and my dad brought me a nice drink.

Thankfully, people are coming to see me this weekend! I am patiently awaiting a few friends by cleaning up a little bit and rewarding us all when they get here with a little ice cream. Yum. Hope your week was great and your weekend is starting off wonderfully!

ode to kayla.

My little sister graduated high school late May, and I promised her I would blog about it. BUT she STILL has not sent me pictures that I took of that day on her camera, so I can only blog the few pictures I have on my camera. (I asked nicely, Kayla, so sorry if you are disappointed with the few photos.)

Haha - one of my favorite moms ever came over to help clean and get things ready the day before.

Kayla walking in like she rules the world.

Her val speech. Val as in Valedictorian.

Her class! I <3 our small school.

Traditional grad hugging parents and walking out with them. :)

It was definitely a happy day! I got to see all sorts of family and friends and eat delicious food - some of it not at our place but at other graduates parties. Yum yum. A couple friends and I played bean bags in our backyard and I had SO much cake, it would probably be a sin in some countries. Such a good day.

On another note, I have been really busy with work and my internship this week, which explains the lapse in blogging. I have been doing some fun things, too, and my roommates and I have been cooking/baking so there are lots of things to share once I get a spare moment to put them all together. And! I get visitors this weekend! My cousin and a couple of her friends come tomorrow until Saturday night and then my mom and sister come Sunday until Tuesday for her orientation (yes! she is coming to my college!) It's going to be a good time with lots of stops at Sebastian Joe's for ice cream, if I have my way. :) I hope everyone is enjoying this summer day!

it's a quick playlist.

Nothing is in order, so if you can, feel free to shuffle. I was just putting together some songs I have been listening to lately or that I always enjoy. The goal was to make this into something that I could keep and eventually make a CD out of for my friend Chan. But, it won't even let me put it on Facebook as a wall post, so it is going to be hosted on here while I work on my technology skills. Enjoy!

all i ever wanted: my girls

I'm a big fan of Kate Earl this week. You can listen to her 4-song EP "Introducing Kate Earl" for free at AOL right now. I'm not sure how long this link will last, but click here to listen.

"All I Ever Wanted" is probably my favorite and the only one not available on youtube. I found it on imeem, so hopefully this embed works. The others (Melody, Everlasting, Nobody) can be found on youtube.

All I Ever Wanted - Kate Earl

The second song of the day is "My Girls" by Animal Collective. The first time I heard it this week, a few of us were driving back into the city after a night outside. It is a wonderful driving song, so if you have the capabilities, download it, whatever, and drive while listening to it.


Congratulations go out to Chris and Emily, who are getting married today! I grew up and graduated high school with Chris, and he is the first person from my class to take the plunge. I am very excited to see everyone at the wedding and share in their special day!

lately, i've been...

scared, wet from water rides (haha!), becoming famous for my singing and dancing on stage at the "Shout!" concert, and having chills of fright/cold at Valleyfair with these wonderful people:

outside of the city for a night, on a really large, beautiful farm with so many other fabulous friends and SO much delicious food:

figuring out all sorts of surprises the Blackberry Curve has in store for its users.

reading, reading, reading, reading!

making really great progress on a large to-do list. :)

and, finally, charging my camera battery, so look out for better quality pictures than what my phone camera can take soon!

wanna hang out? wanna watch some more infomercials?

I go home soooooooooon! The last time I was home, I was hanging out with a couple friends, watching a hilarious Will Ferrell SNL episode and then, to my complete enjoyment, watching an infomercial for a '70s compilation CD set, if I remember correctly. I can't wait for the next big round of fun. :)

These last few work days I have been busy focusing on my internship. After quite a few hours of research and brainstorming, podcasts are suddenly not so scary to me anymore and I am actually really excited to start producing them. The goal set for me is to have 4-6 scripted, filmed, edited, tagged, and RSS feed(ed) podcasts on the website by July 31. I am going to be working doubletime to fulfill this deadline, but hopefully it will all pay off in the end! One very cool part is that we are getting music specifically created for the podcasts and I will be working with high-end ($1000) software to produce them. I am still thinking of doing a little test run with Audacity (a free software to create your own podcasts) so I can have a small portion of background with sound editing software before playing with the big guys, so, if I make a test run, I will be sure to post it on here for inquiring minds.

In other news, I am really excited for these two movies to come out! I haven't been to an actual movie theatre in much too long. Summer is definitely the season to hang out with friends outside, but also to spend lazy Sunday afternoons at a movie. Right?

Away We Go - I am beginning to form a slight obsession with John Krasinski, possibly better known as Jim Halpert on The Office. (Thank you to Joe who let Ashley/me borrow his seasons!)

500 Days of Summer