18. Luden's

Photo Credit: pfiezerch.com

I give you: the elixir of life. Luden's Wild Cherry Throat Drops.

Fact: They do very little to help an sore throast.

Fact: They taste so good so I don't care.

Seriously, they're like candy. I could eat an entire box and think nothing of it I'm sure. One time, when I was starving late at night and didn't want to go to the kitchen I just ate like a million of the mixed wild berries ones (also good, however are individually wrapped aka not as environmentally friendly).

I'm worried if I get sick I won't be able to find them in London. Not that they will do anything, but they're just so darn tasty!

17. J.Crew

The question: If I could only wear clothing from one brand for the rest of my life, what would it be?

My answer: J.Crew, of course! Easy.

Man oh man, if I had the budget, you bet that I'd be rockin' everything from that store!!

Preppy, classy, sophisticated...all I ever wanted. Sigh. Only slightly obsessed, obviously.

Let's break it down, shall we?

I'm ga-ga for anything with a ruffle, and J.Crew has plenty of that!

Photo Credit: jcrew.com

And note the color...

And J.Crew dresses seriously make me want to die. Like in a good way.

Photo Credit: jcrew.com

Well hello! LOVE a graphic print.

Whenever I'm a little upset at school, I browse on over to J.Crew's sale section. Which then sometimes makes me more upset when I realize that even on sale it's too expensive!! Luckily, they often make these ridiculous 20 percent off, free shipping deals...so hard to pass up, I know.

J.Crew - I love you. Your clothes make me feel like a beautiful person inside and out. I know that I will never be ridiculed in a J.Crew outfit. Never go away. You are eternal, and we mere mortals can only bow down to your beauty.

And holla! Now I can even get married in J.Crew. Now THAT is my dream wedding.

16. My Cat

This is dedicated to a very special boy ... my cat, Charlie.

A few days after bringing the litte guy home.

And late this past summer. Aww, how he has grown! He's practically a year old now. A year older...not so much wiser, the poor guy.

Some fun facts about Charlie:

- He likes to watch TV.

- He likes to bite everything. And no, naming him Charlie because of the biting habit never even occured to me.
-He is like a dog and likes to go on walks. What a freak.

-He is gay. He has a boyfriend, named Scout, who is identical to him and lives across the street. I think Charlie's the more masculine one in this relationship.

- I miss him everyday (aww so sentimental, I know).

Oh and shout-out to my dog, Toby!

You are a sweetie and I don't love you any less. But you are in love with Mom and only pay me attention when I'm eating. And also, I have a reputation as a cat-person to uphold. But I miss you, too!*

*Yes, I just wrote that as if Toby is online and reading this blog. I'm a tool.

15. Cheese Samples at Whole Foods

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but I am in London! www.adventuresofelh.blogspot.com - shameless promotion.

Confession: When I was younger, probably up until sometime in high school, I did not like cheese. Sure, I loved pizza, and cheese on tacos was good. And I'm sure there were other exceptions, like on Italian pastas and stuff. But just cheese? No thank you.

The times have changed. I am cheese crazy!!

Love love cheddar. Like on anything, but a cheddar cheeseburger hits the spot.

Feta - Such a good salad topper!

Mozzarella. Wow, like this stuff is heavennnnnn. I love love paninis with this and tomatos and basil and yummm.

Never even used to like American, but hey that stuff is good too!

Well anyway, this post isn't about cheese. It's about Whole Foods' cheese samples.

You learn about SO many new cheeses this way. And you can to eat just small bites of them! For free!

I've definitely had some weird ones - the bacon cheddar, that's often on display by the meats? Well I was dying to try it forever, but it was always out. Finally got some. The verdict: not worth it. Juts a heads up.

Yes, lots of samples at Whole Foods are delish. One time, I got an entire half of a blueberry muffin. But, that can be hit or miss, sometimes they don't put out any cookies! But the cheese - is always there. And I won't judge if you go back for seconds.

Or thirds.

14. The Boot Happy Hour

Ahh, the Boot. Our first bar. Mmm, 50 Cent Night.

Those days are over.

Until I was re-introduced to the Boot vis-a-vis Happy Hour!

Reasons I love it:

1. The drinks are HUGE. And cheap, for their size. Cranberry Vodka, yummm. Also, the beers are like three for a dollar. Hot diggity!

2. Outdoor drinking. If you are lucky enough to snag one of the outside tables, do it. Or just loiter around outside. If you're there early enough, the sun will not yet have set and it's just lovely!

3. "City-wide pre-game," as I have lovingly nicknamed it. That's basically what it is. A pre-game, with a ton of other people!

My favorite way to start off a Friday night of drinky, drank drunkenness.

Just be careful - triple shot drinks are good, but deadly!

13. The Routine

This favorite thing is closely related to #12. From the TV show "Friends" I give you: The Routine.

Ross and Monica are at a taping for a New Year's Eve special, where they are two dancers in a crowd. In order to get onto the platform and have a better chance of being on camera, they decided to break out their secret weapon: the Routine, a dance that middle school Ross and Monica performed to win Honorable Mention in the Brother/Sister dance category.

What follows is a moment of television and dancing brilliance. Face slapping, leap frogging and a bit of faux-moonwalking complete this amazing-ness.

As a birthday gift to our dear friend Margie (yes, the same birthday that we made her a Billy Mays cake for), Hannah and I secretly learned the Routine. We then busted it out in front of fifteen other girls at her b-day pre-game. Oh we were hot.

(I was Ross and she was Monica. Fitting, no?)

Hannah and I also have our own Routine, made up mostly of moves inspired by "Scrubs," plus some own little numbers we made up ourselves. We like to break this out and dance by ourselves like tools.

12. Quoting TV Shows

I truly think that I was put on this earth to do one thing, and one thing only: incessantly quote TV shows.

"George likes spicy chicken!" (Seinfeld)

"Does this hat make my hair look flyeth?" (Scrubs)

"Aww man, it itches." (Spongebob)

"What's a bajingo?" (Scrubs)

"This episode was filmed in front of a live ostrich." (Family Guy)

"Baby, you weren't done cuddling yet? I wanted to go over to JD's half-acre. He's got a slip-n-slide, and I wanted to show off my moves! I've got a new one, I call it the Captain." (Scrubs)

This is only a small smattering of the uselessness I say when I'm not forming my own thoughts (which let's face it is limited to about two waking hours a day).

I also enjoy quoting movies, most notably the Wayne's World movies and Clueless. In fact, the other night I watched the latter and quoted about 75 percent of it out loud. Can't tell if it was sad or not.

"And will the suicide attempts please be postponed until the next period!?"

And OK, some might say I watch a little too much TV. But, most of these quotes have been the product of bonding with my friends and family. Isn't that a good thing?

"You fed the horse Beef-a-Rino??"

"I overstocked!!!"

Photo Credit: seinfeldonline.com

11. Crossword Puzzles

These things make me feel smart on days like today, when I successfully completed the one in the Times-Picayune. However, progressively throughout the week, I will feel stupider and stupider until Sunday, when I figure out three clues and cry.

Crosswords: Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

On a sidenote, it's only Monday and I could only do half of the one in the New York Times! I should count my blessings, I suppose.

10. Eating Cereal

Yay! Have reached the double-digits and am ten percent there.

I love breakfast foods. Especially cereal. In fact, I could eat it any time of day, doesn't have to be in the morning! Pour some in a bowl, add a splash of skim and I'm good to go!

Breakfast Cereal Hall of Fame:

Special K Chocolately Delight

Photo Credit: viewpoints.com

This cereal is really an integral part of who I am, I think. You know, "Hey, this is my friend Elizabeth. Yeah, she's a junior at Richmond. She's a journalism major. She loves Special K Chocolately Delight."

Hard to say when my obsession with this tasty cereal started, but the peak was last summer. I was on the Special K diet. Yes, I lost a few pounds. But it gave me an excuse to eat this cereal constantly. Oh my god what a treat. Best summer ever.

I've recently let some other cereals into my life. Such as Kashi's Heart to Heart. I started eating it this year at school, but then I made the decision that it was worthy for my family to actually purchase at home. It's delish! And I'm also doing something good for my health I guess.

Also when I'm at school I like to eat Honey Bunches of Oats occasionally. Although I'm still scared thinking about when I found a piece of cardboard in my bowl. And for a treat I like to add some craisins and chocolate chips! (I cannot take credit for this creation, it was inspired by my good friend Kelly.)

Cereal. Does the body good.

9. Melding of the Groups

I've got my core group of friends. Who doesn't?

But I really love when we're able to connect with another group of core friends. A little thing we like to call "melding of the groups."

Sure, maybe they're not your new best friends. But isn't meeting new people a beautiful thing?

8. Prince Harry and Royalty, in general

I'm going to study abroad in London this semeser...

And my goal is to catch a glimpse of my favorite royal, Prince Harry!

Photo Credit: thejournalista.wordpress.com

Yes, he's got a bad boy streak to him, but nothin' wrong with that!

I just think royalty are so fascinating. Obviously, I have my dreams of meeting Prince Harry and him falling madly in love with me, me getting an English citizenship, having a fairy-tale wedding and moving into Buckingham Palace...but royals are just down-right cool!

HRH Queen Rania of Jordan:

Photo Credit: tetongravity.com

She's beautiful and glamourous. She wasn't born into royalty (she was born in Kuwait and went to school in Egypt), but she's livin' the life now! And she gives back and wants to improve Jordan. Also, she's a dedicated mom! She's so cool!

I think the Norweigian Royal Family is really awesome, too. Not sure why.

7. Harry Potter

I should hope that Harry Potter would be included on most people's lists of their top 100 favorite things.

The laughter: You-Know-Poo, the constipation sensation that's gripping the nation.

The tears: Dumbledore's and the many other deaths. (I don't care if I just spoiled it for you, it's been out long enough!)

The disapointment: Hello?? Epilogue? What the hell!

But mostly one of the best stories I, and many others, I have ever read.

Photo Credits: barnesandnoble.com

And the movies aren't bad either!

6. Bravo

Few things bring as much joy to my heart as the TV channel Bravo. Let's examine some of the fine, fine things this network has brought to the world.

Project Runway:

Photo Credit: asocialitelife.celebuzz.com

This is the original show that attracted me to Bravo, way back when in the first season. I could devote an entire post to some of the fantastic things that happened on this show!

Santino's impressions of Tim Gunn. Daniel V.'s adorable-ness. The Andrae face. Nick Verreros' stories about Paris Hilton walking on the beaches of Greece with her boyfriend. And that's only season 2!

It's the show that led us to start doing German accents. To wonder if we could create a dress out of ordinary supermarket items. To make us believe that we could become fashion critics.

Thank you Project Runway, for entertaining me mindlessly since the tenth grade. Danke.

The Real Housewives of (Fill-in-the-Blank)

Love love love these. Except for Atlanta. HATE IT.

But the others are fab!

Photo Credit: carinaecasting.com

Orange County: great, great. The original. Nothing wrong with it. However, as the original, I guess the producers didn't know to what heights they could take these beyond-rich women to reality television stardom.

Disclaimer: I don't care what anyone says, I love Gretchen. Yes, her husband was old and rich but they were in love!!

Anyway.

New York City.


Photo Credit: webtvwire.com

These women all have a touch of cray in them, I'll admit. But I love 'em just the same. My mom and I have talked endlessly about them and which ones we like the best, and which ones we hate but love to watch the most, etc. etc.

I'll break 'em down for you (L-R):

Ramona: Girl has some crazy eyes going on. She is crazy. But you know, she loves her daughter, Avery, and I think it's sweet. Although Avery has begun to develop the crazy eye, poor thing.

Jill: Love the accent (Jewish, holla!). In fact, all aspects of her are very Jewish. She and Bethenny are hilar together.

LuAnn: The Countess DeLesseps, excuse me. She once chastises Bethenny for not introducing her properly to a driver. Whatever. I think she's very nice and classy, but she's totally upper-crust and knows it. Tennis in the Hamptons, that sort of thing.

Bethenny: Love her!! She's this natural food chefs (and not technically a housewife, since she's unmarried but whatever.) She's just really funny, and I like her hair a lot.

Alex: Don't really like her as a person, but she makes for great entertainment! Her husband has a gay vibe about him, but I think it's just because he's European. They're trying to climb up the social ladder, one benefit and gallery opening at a time. She has strange teeth but I think it works for her.

And now New Jersey


Photo Credit: examiner.com

THEY ARE GREAT!

Like so beyond tacky, it's great. I love their accents. I wish I could record myself doing impressions for everyone to hear but trust me they're great.

Memorable quotes:
"Mummy can't run, honey. Her bubbies are too big." -Dina
"This family is as thick as thieves. If you're messin' with my family, you're messin' with me." - Caroline
"Love my girls. Love, love, love my girls! Mwah, mwah, mwah!" -Theresa
(In response to his wife getting breast implants) "Happy wife, happy life." - Theresa's husband.

I hope they bring this one back for a second season!

NYC Prep


Photo Credit: arktimes.com

I don't talk to the TV. Pretty much ever. Except when I watch this show. I'm constantly all, "Really? Really??" or "PC, listen to yourself you crazy."

And these kids they are crazy (L-R):

Kelli: Almost the most normal one out of the bunch. Except when her dog died and she stupidly asked, "Is she in there?" Meaning is her dog in the little box. Yes, your dog is in the coffin!!

Sebastian: So-called "ladies' man". Yes he gets a lot of girls. Yes he's like 15. "I hook up with between two and 16 girls a month," he says. Wow.

Camille: Gah, stop talking about stupid Harvard (not that Harvard is stupid). It's not the only school. Although I did feel pretty bad for her when she went on the admissions tour and that lady was the devil to her.

PC: Could very possibly be gay. Often looks like is wearing guyliner. And he's so goddamn pretentious you can't help but watch.

Jessie: Cross-eyed. It's the in-breeding, I tell ya.

Taylor: Gahhhhh stop caring so much what the private school kids think! Honestly though, she's not that much better than the rest of 'em.

God I love watching these kids mess up their lives on TV. Gives me hope. Or something like that.

5. Oyster Po-Boys

The majority of the entries thus far have been centered around food. This will be a recurring theme in this blog, because, hey, I love food!

So here's another lovely food entry: Oyster Po-Boys.


Photo Credit: thewaspyredhead.com

Mmm, doesn't that look delish!?

I appreciate po-boys of many different types. Shrimp are also delightful, and I've had a few good roast beef po-boys in my short life (although I'm not a big red meat person). However, I will always turn back to my favorite, the erster.

We (my mom and I, who usually shares with me), used to be about the mayonnaise, lettuce, pickles and maybe tomatoes. But now we're straight butter and pickles people. Mmmm. Pickles.

My favorite oyster po-boy in town can be found at Parkway Tavern & Bakery. This will definitely be one of the spots I have to hit up before I go to London for the semester! Not only is this po-boy delightful, they also have really good sweet potato fries, and is the only restaurant I've ever been to with Diet Dr. Pepper! That truly is a rarity for this fake-sugar-lovin' girl.

I miss many things about my hometown when I'm up in Richmond for school, but this definitely is near the top of my list.

4. Dead Celebrity Cakes

What do Elvis and Billy Mays have in common? Besides the fact they're both dead?

They have both been immortalized onto cakes baked by myself and my two dear friends, Shelby and Hannah.


Photo Credit: Shelby Siegel

The original cake, a white cake with white icing.

"He King Long!" Shelby said.



The most recent cake. Texas sheet cake with white icing. As you can see, this was a cake for our friend Margie's birthday (woo 21!). We gave her the choice between the enthusiastic spokesman and Michael Jackson. I think it was the right decision.

The three of us, we make a great team. Shelby, she has a lot of experience baking. Hannah, she is one fabulous cake decorator. And me. Well I just putter around in the background a lot, but it seems to work out OK.

Why dead celebrities? Well what better way to immortalize the famous people we care about than on a baked good that we will later munch on!

So who should the next cake be of? Maybe a political cake, for Ted Kennedy? It's been a little over a year since Bernie Mac's death, maybe he should be next! Heck, we should just make a batch of cupcakes with little portraits of all our favorites!

3. Preppiness

Preppiness. I'm all about it!

Can't say that I, myself, am super preppy. But I more than appreciate it and try to incorporate a little grosgrain in my life whenever possible.

I am loony for some Lily.*

Photo Credit: Lily Pulitzer

Joyful about Jacks.

Photo Credit: Navajosandals.com

Rad for rugby shirts.

Photo Credit: Ralph Lauren

Can't wait to sit on a yacht off of Nantucket, in my madras bikini with my L.L.Bean tote.

Oh, yeah, livin' the pink and green dream.



*Yes, this post has some grossness in it. Deal.

2. Navy Blue

I LOVE this color. It's preppy, it's nautical, it's casual, it's dressy.

"You better not come home with another navy blue dress. "
- My mom before I leave to go to the mall. Because I own a lot of navy blue dresses. But what's the problem?! I know what I like!

Fun navy blue things:

Photo Credit: J. Crew
J. Crew Silk Duponi Rosette dress - I don't know who would ever actually wear that (because it's crazy expensive and is dry-clean only) but it's navy blue and covered with rosettes! Lovely!




Photo Credit: FemaleFirst.co.uk

Prince Harry (my favorite royal, but that's another post) wears navy! How dashing.

And in case you were wondering, the name navy blue comes from the color of the officers' uniforms in the Royal Navy since 1748. Figures.