Category Archives: Stuff I Love/Guilty Pleasures

I Officially Love Kris Allen

Pic from www.krisallenofficial.com

Sorry, Blake Lewis. Sorry, David Cook. I still love you guys, but Kris Allen is my new favorite American Idol contestant. I didn’t watch–no, I refused to watch American Idol the season that Kris was on. It was hard to not know what was happening, though. It was the season of the enigma that is Adam Lambert, that dude with the hat, the girl with the red hair, and Kris’s rendition of Kanye’s “Heartless”.

I probably wouldn’t have heard anything about Kris Allen post-Idol if it weren’t for the fact that I follow @rickey of Rickey.org on Twitter. It was through Rickey’s site that I heard “Live Like We’re Dying,” the first single off Kris Allen’s record. My only issue with the song is that Kris didn’t write it, but it’s a good poppy song with lyrics that make you think, he sounds good in it, and it indicated to me that the rest of the record would be filled with songs that are listenable and meaningful (to him, not necessarily to me, but you know what I mean).

Okay. So the truth is that I liked Kris Allen’s album because it was something I could listen to without really listening to it. It’s benign, has slow and fast stuff, it won’t ruin your day, it won’t rile you up, and you can bop your head and sing along to it if you want to. It’s the epitome of “catchy.” The more I listened to it… the more I listened to it. And then I started to really like it. And then I started to really think about it. Some songs make me smile. Some songs make me sad. Some songs even make my eyes water sometimes, if I’m PMSing or whatever.

Thanks, Kris Allen. You’ve made me feel better on bad days. And for that, you made it on my list of things I love.

Kris Allen Official Site
Follow Kris Allen on Twitter – he’s a fun guy to follow regardless of what you think about his music.

Friction Jewelry

Friction Jewelry is one of my favorites right now. Here’s how I discovered them: I was visiting a friend, we went to a bar, the bartender had on a fantastic necklace, we asked where she got it, she said she got it at a Shecky’s event, I did some digging on Shecky’s Web site and figured out the vendor that she got the necklace from. I friended Friction Jewelry on Facebook and then finally bought stuff from them at Shecky’s Girls Night Out that took place in Chicago this past September. I’m glad to say that my experience with the jewelry makers and sellers both online and in person has been very pleasant.

Their True Leaf necklaces (pictured above) are cute and unique, which I absolutely love. They are made from real leaves that are dipped in gold, copper, or silver. I’m so glad to have a silver birch leave of my very own.

Leaves aren’t their only thing. There are a lot of great pendants to choose from and any girl (or guy, let’s not discriminate) is bound to find something they like from the collection. I picked a silver hummingbird for myself.

Friction Jewelry also makes leather cuffs and tons of pretty earrings. See for yourself at their Web site (www.frictionjewelry.com). You can purchase their stuff online. Also be sure to friend them on Facebook and read their blog to find out when they might be setting up near you. I’ve already got my eye on some more earrings and necklaces for myself!

All pics are from frictionjewelry.com.

Medium, 3 creams, 2 sugars

It’s tasty, it’s hot, you get it right when you ask for it, sometimes you don’t even have to leave your car to get it, and it costs $1 (plus 9 cents tax in Cook County). My friends, I am of course talking about a medium coffee at McDonalds.

Another perk is that it’s less calories than the soy vanilla lattes that I usually get from another popular place. Delicious.

I also absolutely love the iced coffee at McDonalds. Yummy!!! But it’s more calorific and more pricey. Thus, iced coffees are enjoyed in moderation.

Potpourri

I’ve been blogging crazy crap lately. While I hope you have enjoyed the cheesy insight into my brain, I’m going to try and turn things around, make i-cant-drive.net fun again.

Fun? Yes! It’s possible! I’m a fun-loving gal! So here is a mish mash of stuff to tell you.

December is NaBloPoMo or National Blog Posting Month. I didn’t sign up and I know I won’t blog everyday. I did decide, though, that December will be Stuff I Love aka Guilty Pleasures aka Stuff That Makes Me Happy month. Others may also refer to it as Lisa’s Christmas Wish List Hints month. Whatever. The point is, there are things that make me smile, and I’ll share them with you. I’ll keep the “this is what I learned about myself while contemplating my navel” posts to a minimum.

That’s all for now. Check back for posts and stuff. I might even talk about YOU or stuff you make or stuff you say/write. Yeah. YOU. Muwahahahaha.

Why I Love Halloween

I love Halloween because it means that I can finally buy… wait for it… my favorite Twizzlers. I don’t like regular strawberry Twizzlers. If I had to rank Twizzlers that you can usually get in stores year round, it would be (from best to worst) cherry pull n peel > cherry nibs > strawberry twists.

But when it’s Halloween, you can get the little snack size strawberry twists:

I love these fat little twists. They are much tastier than normal strawberry Twizzlers. I walked around all the Halloween candy at the store today and finally found them. Also in the bag were green apple pull n peels and cherry pull n peels. Both are also acceptable.

Yes, I am crazy. But ever since I saw stores starting to set up for Halloween this year, I’ve been anticipating the day that I can finally stock up on these. I bought three fricken bags. That is very excessive, but now I’m set til next October.

Garden Photos

It’s mid-September, so the garden is past its flourishing stage, but Jocelyn and I were able to take some good photos of what’s still there.

Jocelyn and a little ampalaya (bitter melon). Sneaking in up in the right hand corner is a bataw (pea pod thing that isn't a typical pea pod).

Ampalaya blossom

Flowers

The tomatoes are behind Jocelyn.

Jocelyn by the chili peppers

More flowers

Close-up of the peppers. Fun fact: we eat the leaves, too.

Jocelyn holding a bitter melon

More ampalaya

Chinese eggplant. The season's ending so this is about as big as they're gonna get now.

Hanging behind Jocelyn is an upo (or bottle gourd). We had a lot of them this year.

HUGE bug. HUGE. Also in the picture are a bunch of normal-sized bees, but you can't really tell because this one is HUGE.

What I Love About Summer: The Garden

For as long as I can remember, my dad turns our backyard into a plentiful vegetable garden every summer. What’s really great about our garden is that it has veggies that the average person doesn’t grow. Sure, we have things like tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil. But my dad also grows:

  • Mustard greens
  • Banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, and chili peppers
  • Chinese eggplant
  • Sitaw (Long string beans)
  • Bittermelon
  • Saluyot (jute leaves)
  • Upo (bottle gourd)
  • Bataw (pea pods but not really)

Having the fresh eggplants and string beans are the BEST.

I’ll try to take some nice pictures of everything this summer and will post them.