Various updates

Hey guys!

First things first--I got an iPad! :D It is literally the light of my life. I adore it. I was thinking of making this post an ode to its beauty, however, that would be boring and slightly creepy. Therefore, I have decided, why not make a list? I'm kind of brain dead and I don't feel like coming up with some cleverly worded observations, so a list = the perfect solution.

This weekend, Lindsey and I painted each of our nails a different color. We used various brands, like Essie, Piggy Toes, etc., but my personal favorite is OPI. Their nail colors are extra pretty and really great quality. There's a lot to love about OPI's nail polishes. Yet, in my opinion, the best part is their highly entertaining and ridiculous nail color names. So I'm going to make a list of the best OPI nail polish names. And by best, I mean craziest, weirdest, most outrageously strange names. Here goes!

1) Yoga-ta Get this Blue!

2) Funny Bunny

3) Pink-a-Doodle

4) Second Honeymoon

5) Mimosas for Mr. & Mrs.

6) Suzi & the Lifeguard

7) I'm Not Really a Waitress

8) I'm a Princess, You're Not! (what the heck???)

9) Fiji Weegee Fawn

10) Who Needs a Prince?

11) Kiss on the Chic

12) What's With the Cattitude?

13) Curry Up Don't Be Late!

14) And This Little Piggy

15) Feelin' Hot-Hot-Hot!

16) Not So Bora-Bora-ing Pink

17) Gargantuan Green Grape

18) Sand in My Suit (LMFAO)

19) Need Sunglasses?

20) Aphrodite's Pink Nightie

21) Who the Shrek Are You?

22) Ate Berries in the Canaries

23) Melon of Troy

24) My Chihuahua Bites!

25) A Good Man-darin Is Hard to Find

26) Don't Know... Beets Me! (in honor of Dwight K. Schrute)

27) Teal the Cows Come Home

28) You're a Pisa Work

29) Chop-sticking to My Story

30) Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It

31) Conquistadorable Color (weirdest. fake. word. ever.)

32) Friar, Friar, Pants on Fire!

33) Can You Tapas This?

34) Romeo & Joliet (my mom grew up in Joliet, so that's why I included this :))

35) Over Exposed in South Beach

So, that's it. Oh, and OPI? These names are really funny, but some of them are a little too odd. I mean, Sand in My Suit? Over Exposed in South Beach? What's the name of that line, Hoochie Mamas in Miami? Just FYI.

Love always,

Marissa :)

Best frienditude :)

Howdy folks!

Lindsey and Marissa here. Both of us together, what a treat!

So, Linds and I (I, Marissa, am the head typist of this operation) have decided that you guys need to know more about us. Because we're kinda cool, not gonna lie ;). Anyway, I came up with this idea that Lindsey and I write lists about each other, and we won't look at the lists until this post is finished. So, here goes :)

Marissa's List for Lindsey:
Funky
Spongebob-obsessed
Photographer
Shy Ronnie
Colorful
Happy
Brilliant
Quirky
Eccentric
Lovable
Curly
Effortlessly cool ;)
Crazy/hysterical
Proud muppet owner
Hippie
World traveler extraordinaire
Camper
Sporty (Go Blackhawks!)
Frankenstein Sticker
Cellist
Friendly
Totally and completely awesome
Great sister
Mature (sometimes :P)
and... MY BEST FRIEND. EVER.


Marissa is...
Intelligent
INCREDIBLE musician!!
Laugh-inducing
Possesses great vocabulary
COOLCOOLCOOL without effort
Smily
brilliant
just all-around awesome
bassoon player!
i was going to wear my four-inch gold heels...
Queen of awkwardness (in an awesome fashion, of course!)
rihanna.
spectacular writer
One of the only friends I have who will polish her nails 10 different colors with me
OBSESSED with the office.
secretly wishes she was a cast member of jersey shore along with snooki and them juiceheads!
cool shoes
loving family member!
MARVELOUS FRIEND!

iPad, and other things

Hey guys!

I really really REALLY want an iPad, and I might get one soon. Problem is, I don't know a lot about them. I would use my iPad mainly for reading, writing, watching movies/tv, gaming/apps and music--not so much for the internet. So, if there are any techies reading this blog, should I go ahead and buy the first generation iPad without 3G, should I wait for a later version to come out, or is it a total waste of money?

Since this post is pretty short, I'm going to make a few announcements.

First of all, I am a member of the Chicago Children's Choir. It's an amazing organization, and with its nearly 3,000 members, it is currently the largest children's chorus in the country. I sing with the Concert Choir, which is the "top performing ensemble" (I know, that sounds kind of snooty. For the record, that's what the staff calls it) and on June 4th, we are performing at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park. You all should buy tickets, because it's going to be kick-butt.

Second, for those of you who do not know what rugelach is, they're delicious Jewish pastries, and you should really have some! The Rugelach Man makes really yummy rugelach. Plus, he's a totally cool guy. So yeah.

Okay, I'm done promoting things.

Love always,

Marissa :)

Cook caramel if you dare...

HEY THERE :)

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to do a small extra credit project for science class. In our class, extra credit can consist of whatever you choose. I chose something I would think to be fun... instead, it turned into a sticky mess.

Eight tablespoons of sugar, and four tablespoons of water. That's all you need to cook caramel. You see, once the sugar becomes heated, it cooks down into a gooey syrup through a process called caramelization. Through this process, new compounds are formed, and they take on the dark and thick characteristics of caramel. (Note: I'm not scientist. Please correct/continue explanation if needed)

Anyways, it took me three attempts to come somewhat close to correctly executing the art of caramel.

Here's the URL for the site I pulled the recipe from, if you're interested: http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-make-caramel

Okay, you want to know now how it went?

First attempt: burned caramel. Sugar started bubbling and I started freaking out because I thought the smoke detector would go off/the kitchen would explode.

Second attempt: all was going well until water was added. Addition of the water resulted in a huge, evil sugar mutant. During this attempt, I ruined my mama's wooden spoon.

Third attempt: went okay... the caramel quickly hardened, though. Now, there is a brick of hard sugar sitting in a class jar at the top of my locker. It's rather malodorous, as the jar was formerly home to garlic.

If any of you brave soldiers are willing to try this recipe, go for it. If it comes out decent, shoot us a pic. I know I'd love to see!

More to come soon!

-Lindsey :)

P.S. Got suggestions? We'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email!

P.S.S. Flickr is only a click away!

Dissecting the dictionary

Aloha!

I am a huge fan of the New York Times' On Language column, which is dedicated to the study of etymology in pop culture, politics, and everyday life. In fact, my dream is to one day be a contributor to the On Language column, since I love words so much. About three months ago, Grant Barrett (a contributor to the column) wrote an article about words that are pleasing to the ear. So I, being thrilled by this prospect, created a list of words that appealed to me, either based on their meaning or their sounds (mostly both). I am going to post them here, and I encourage all of you to add on to it as you please.

1) Blossom

2) Galaxy

3) Glass

4) Crash

5) Crack

6) Luminous

7) Butter

8) Slick

9) Jingle

10) Patchwork

11) Crisp

12) Luscious

13) Cheery

14) Chipper

15) Shimmer

16) Cozy

17) Linger

18) Prowess

19) Pretentious

20) Dwindle

21) Ornament

22) Polychromatic

23) Intricate

24) Jolly

25) Exuberant

26) Sparkling

27) Texture

28) Scribble

29) Pour

30) Quiver

31) Music

32) Water

33) Twitch

34) Shiver

35) Trigger

36) Plastic

37) Enclose

38) Unearth

39) Lullaby

40) Descend

41) Embellishment

42) Qualm

43) Breeze

44) Scrub

45) Polish

46) Waft

47) Scribe

48) Bungalow

49) Brood

50) Conflate

51) Effervescent

52) Imbroglio

53) Labyrinthine

54) Citrus

55) Demure

56) Droplet

57) Whisper

58) Coddle

59) Syntax

60) Phonetic

61) Linguistics

62) Blur

63) Mirth

64) Juicy

65) Fatuous

66) Slender

67) Fickle

68) Myriad

69) Plethora

70) Acquiesce

71) Melancholy

72) Passion

Of course, there are zillions of other words I love, but these are the only ones that came to mind. I'm sorry about these obnoxiously long lists, I promise this is my last ;)

Love always,

Marissa :)

P.S. These words are in no particular order, other than the order they came to mind

P.P.S. Here's the link to the article that inspired this post. I seriously suggest that you all read this column. It is literally AMAZING!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/magazine/14FOB-onlanguage-t.html

Long time no blog!

Greetings, earthlings!

Neither Lindsey nor I have blogged in quite some time, so I figured I would drop in and say hello! My fellow blogger/bestie and I were in D.C. for a class trip last week sans internet access, so it was impossible for us to post anything from Tuesday (at 3:30 in the morning!) to late Friday night. However, we could have posted this past weekend, but due to severe exhaustion, we didn't. Hopefully no further explanation is needed, because exhaustion + teenager = not do anything. Anyway, enough with my boring life story, and on to some even more boring observations!

I've been thinking a lot about this summer recently and I have decided that I am going to do an insane amount of reading. Now, I'm not one to brag--about ANYTHING--but I am a really fast reader. I love reading more than humanly possible, and due to the stresses of school and the general craziness of life, I haven't found time to read much of anything lately. I've done some digging for good literature, and I have settled on 10 or so books so far, most of which are classics, that I will tackle this summer. Unfortunately, 10 books will last me, like, a week, so I definitely need to find some more. So if any of you Flibbertigibbet-readers (and I know there aren't a lot of you, but I appreciate your input all the same) have book suggestions for me, that would be SUPERB. Just comment on this post with the name of a book and that same book's author, and I will try my best to post my opinions on this blog after reading the books.

Thanks so much!!

Love always,

Marissa :)