Weekend review

Who wouldn't want an overcast day that feels like the Scotland/Ireland climates to get homework done on a Sunday? It was a brisk 45 degrees in Worcester today and there was not much going on.  Quite the contrast from yesterday's hot hot hot 65!!!!! Intramural softball started up, frisbee and footballs were being tossed outside, and a badminton/volleyball net was set up outside of Mulledy beach (the grassy area in front of the freshmen dorm fondly called the beach).  I would call that a successful weekend. 

Dressed in pink skirts and ponytails, my softball team, The Girls Next Door, played the Bet Wetters, a team of sophomore boys who apparently like to wet their beds.  This non-competitive, approximately 4 inning long, fun game allowed us to catch some of spring's early rays.  The opening pitch was thrown at 1 p.m. on the freshmen fields while an actual women's varsity softball game played along side us.

For those of you who aren't in the 32 team league of softball players, I suggest that you join next year.  It's an ongoing tradition and unless you take a ball to the face, it is fun for everyone no matter what the skill level! 

Pretty soon the Sox will be back in town to PLAY BALL!

What to name my children

So I have a generic name, Anne, which is a patron saint of something and is conservative and common in my family.

Does that mean I have to follow the trend in my family, or is it P.C. to branch out and give my children absurd modern names? 

I'm having a tough time with this puppy- it's not like I'm fifth generation of the Anne Catherine Brown lineage (not that that is possible, because women typically take on their husband's surnames), but what would be more appropriate: to name my children after traditional conservative Christian saints or after something that I find either inspiring, fun, or spiritual in my own way.  I've been wrestling with this since 7th grade, even though I don't plan on having kids for a WHILE.

Here is a link to both funky and some more generic names

Good thing I have a few years to make these decisions... 

or is now a good time to tell my parents that this belly isn't from college drinking, but that I'm preggers?

Tonight on Jimmy Fallon

Tune into NBC to see Anna Kornikova, Mike Meyers, and my brother, Matt.  He was hired as an extra on the set, is wearing a page's costume and helps set up a beirut table for a skit.  He had a tough time keeping cool with all the famous people surrounding him, so most of his time on camera was cut.  Luckily, he makes an appearance for about 3 seconds.

SO TUNE IN AT 12:30 on NBC!! 

And in third place...

...is Annie. Tuesday night was Kimball Kreations, our school's version of Top Chef which took place in our cafeteria, Kimball.  

First place made a double veggie burger with lettuce and honey mustard on a plain bagel.

Second place made a tex mex chicken with sour cream on tortilla surrounded with salsa.

Third (and best) place made a two-cheese pita pizza, with steamed spinach, corn and tomatoes, along with an appetizer of spicy lemon hummus with cucumbers.

CLICK HERE to see the Press Release on the Holy Cross Website.  Note that the recipe submitted by the winner is completely different. (from Mac and cheese to a veggie burger sandwich? what?)

Club Passim, Cambridge MA

Loved it.  A few friends and I went to Cambridge to see the Broken Blossoms play tonight.  It was a quick refreshing trip and we returned to campus in high spirits.  Club Passim is in Harvard Square, and also serves as Veggie Planet during the days which has delicious vegan and veggie options.  The Broken Blossoms released half of a new album, so they called tonight they're half release party.  Great music, fun, warm setting with small tables, and they just started serving beer and wine!

Manchester for the night

Oh to be by the sea.  Here is Tuck's Point, a town land mark that is picture perfect in all seasons.

Even just for the day! I toured the town this afternoon, showing my friend, Abigail from Chicago, the ins and outs of the town.  We only have 5,300 residents but we have a lot to offer if you like ice cream and the beach.  All are welcome to Manchester, and most people accept that invitation in the summers as an escape from Boston's city heat.  The train from North Station only takes 40 minutes and gets off right at the beach.

Lucky me- it's only a five minute drive.

Wrentham Outlets, Wrentham, Mass

Today was my first trip to the Wretham Outlets and I was shocked by the size and quality of the stores, their merchandise, and the PRICES! This place was hopping and my friends and I had a successful day hitting up deals at Under Amour, Cole Haan, the Gap, J. Crew and Saks off Fifth.  To all who are or aren't being hit by the recession- hurry up and get yo buns over there for spring shopping.  

Themed parties. BRING THEM BACK

This fall there was a boom of theme parties. I guess they're still going on, but they aren't attracting many festive costumes, because they are boring. (Highlighter/ black light, Golf pros tennis you-know-what's,  Principals and school girls (very odd), Get lei'd (lu'au), Toga, Jerseys, Anything but clothes, 80's, Cowboys and Indians, Risky Business)

Fanny pack party:

We wore fanny packs and looked good doing it. This was pretty cheap and funny, we still got to wear dresses. Practical as well-- we kept our phones, IDs and cameras on our waists all night.

so let's throw some ideas out there... 

Spice Girls party (yeah, guys would half to go tranny, no big d)

Rockstars

Your Favorite American

Guido/ gaudy 

Power couples

5th graders

Masks

Letter party (dress up as anything that starts with the letter...)

Club Tennis begins tomorrow

For some of us who are going to live in Palma next year, we have to brush up on our tennis skills in case we run into sexy stars like this one>>correction: Rafael Nadal is from Palma NOT Roger Federer>>

So some of my friends got together and founded HC club tennis. The weather is now nice enough in Woo for us to embrace the fresh air and hit the courts.  See you in Palma, Federer.

St. Patrick's Day/week

When St. Patrick's day falls on a Tuesday, our school celebrates from the Friday before up to the day of.  This was quite the week at the Cross.  ( I use the term "celebrate" to broadly define all forms in which fun and positive merrymaking occurred).  The dining hall was a zoo last night with everyone dressed in some form of green, whether it be shamrock leggings, green suspenders, shot glass necklaces, green striped top hats, and nudity, and there was a lot of fun without anyone getting hurt (to my knowledge).  Lucky for some of us, me, some professors gave out tests today, the day after the week-long celebrations ended, which means I got to put lots of extra studying time in last night!! 

The Worcester police had their hands full between the dining hall, monitoring and ticketing all of the parked cars on and off campus for visiting guests, shuffling kids around on the streets, and most importantly enjoying the holiday with college men and women who truly appreciate and love to celebrate.

Congrats to Holy Cross for a successful celebration that comes but once a year (but at least we make it last)

Spring and sandals

It's time we break out our favorite flip flops. Today's high was 61.  My current favorite pair are not Reefs, Rainbows, or Jack Rogers, but eco friendly sandals from "Envi" on Newbury St. in Boston. Not only are they made from recycled materials but they are recession-friendly (for those of us who are constantly aware of the economic status).

check out their site here ( I had the golds last year but now I sport the blacks)

Matt Makes a video for HC alums

This is a video that one of my older brothers made (Matthew Thomas Brown, who will someday be on IMDB.com for his acting and producing fame). It is hilarious and should be posted on our school's website. He was asked to produce a video that shows "A day in the life of a Crusader" and this mocumentary is what he came up with.

The school posted it to their alumni facebook group.

Kimball Kreations contestant

I submitted a recipe and was selected to compete in our school's version of Top Chef.  There will be 6 students competing later in March, suited in our very own Kimball Dining Hall chef coats.  The competition is during regular evening dining hours, so that others can observe/ laugh/ be mesmerized by my cooking skills.  I am preparing a Farmer's Pita Pizza (vegetarian) which will give me some extra points for having an edge.  I hope they enjoy it as much as I do.  

I'll wow them like Emeril:

Note: It might even be better than the Weight Watchers pizza in X-roads that I blogged about earlier.

Sidenote: I am not a vegetarian.

Kittens Inspired by kittens

You must watch this entire video.  This girl's parents film her doing cat voice overs.

If SNL hired this 6 year old girl to film this video, I would believe it.  It's so random and hilarious.

Kittens inspired by kittens video

Check out her other bizarre videos, like the one where she describes WWII.

It makes me think I must have been this weird as a kid, but I just don't remember it.

Asher Roth is not coming to HC. I REPEAT- NOT COMING TO HC

He backed out and has to go on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that night.

Boo.

Whatever, he looks pretty gross. 

Kentucky obsession lives on

Obviously our group was the best looking. I think this deserves a submission into the HC magazine.

Or maybe even People magazine?

WCHC 88.1 FM (my show airs Weds nights @ 8)

The Blonde Ambition Expedition: (Annie Brown and Ellie Miller wednesday nights 8-9. Tune in!!!)

For all of you in or out of the Worcester radio wave community, you can tune in to my show on Wednesday nights.  My co-host, Ellie Miller, and I are on the air from 8-9 p.m. talking and jamming to a variety of music that we tailor each week to current events in our lives.  Here are two djs that I do not know, but it's a great pic of our studio in action.

We have an extensive music library filled with laternative and not so alternative

Tonight's theme was spring weather and how we are pretending that there isn't snow on the ground.  We played "Uptight" by Stevie Wonder, "I Wanna Be Your Lover" by Prince, "Let My Love Open the Door" by Peter Townsend, and "Brown Eyes Girl" by Van Morrison.  

Not bad, eh?  We fool around between songs, I pretend to be guest stars on the show and do imitations (like Robin Leech from "Fabulous Life" VH1 or all three characters from "Summer Heights High") and Ellie has a routine top 10 list, which is always a hoot.

**click here to stream if you aren't close enough to hear us from your car or home radio.

WCHC 88.1 FM

Polar Beverages

A family run company (I'm pretty sure it's 5 generation) and owner of Wachusett Mountain ski resort, Polar Company has a factory just down the street from HC.  They make the best seltzer drinks and I always have my eyes peeled for them at grocery stores, CVS stores and Targets in Massachusetts.  I'm not sure how far they distribute, so I can't say I look for their drinks in many places outside of New England and New York.  They brew ale and flavored ale, which I have never tasted but am sure they are tastey, for those who are 21+.

They even sell beer taps from their company's website-->>

They supposedly sell variety packs of different flavors in cans which I have yet to find anywhere. And here is a colorful video from Youtube that displays their many flavors.

*I'm currently gulping down some of the diet Raspberry Lime 2 Liter bottle.

Asher Roth coming to HC

"I Love College" by Asher Roth is ranked as the seventh most popular song #7 on itunes right now. AND he's coming to perform on campus April 28th. Just dandy.

This song points out the most embarrassing self-absorbed qualities that our generation embodies- sadly enough it is true for many young college folk. BUT THIS SONG IS STILL CRAZY GOOD.

Check out the video- I'm sorry for all the parents that watch it and then think that their children are mistakes.

I love college

thiiswhyyou'refat.com

HAHA this site is disgusting and worth a quick look to laugh at the people who find pleasure in these fatty processed concoctions.  

Hot dogs sandwiched in a twinkie with cheeze whiz drizzled over it? no no no

However, some of these don't look too bad, but I wouldn't dare try them.

Take this for example: deep fried moon pie on a stick with powdered sugar.

Big winnerss over Colgate and Bucknell

HC Men's basketball has made it to the Patriot League finals. Senior forward, Colin Cunningham, #33, was featured in the program and he kept the game exciting and, as always, was very fun to watch.  (side note: AGAIN there was no mascot). They face American on Friday and will be on ESPN at 4:45.

SMOKINNNNNNN

An ode to dear old Tucky

What a beautiful part of the country!  Our group of 14 Holy Cross students split up each day to help out in various ways around Whitley City, KY, in one of the poorest counties in the U.S.  

What we did in our spare time at night--->>>

Many of the residents abuse drugs and alcohol, live of of social security checks and food pantries, and are accustomed to domestic violence.  Most of the natives we met lived off of  low income and had very little to call their home.  What they had plenty of, however, was kindness and laughter.  I assisted in repairing the Darling family's dilapidated house for two days and in talking to Karen Darling, the mother of the house, became much more familiar with the ways of the mountains.  Most of us value our education as a means of earning a college degree, climbing the corporate ladder and planning for retirement, but the locals have an invaluable education of knowing how to survive.  Karin told me all about how she knows when her chickens will lay eggs, identifying which chicken will sit and raise chicks while the rest lay eggs for the Darlings to eat.  She knew how to pickle vegetables and cook squirrel, seal jars of jam and stewed apples, and how to hang clothes to dry in the winter.  She said herself that she was a 'pack rat' and thought it completely normal to save scraps and trash that littered their house and its front yard. 

A few kids in our group with the Darlings-->>>

Midway through the bathroom renovation

at the Darlings

On the last day my group hiked Eagle Falls, part of a national park in Kentucky that winds through forests and has amazing water views of the Cumberland River.