My Second Hip Hop Concert: Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) at D.C.’s 9:30 Club

For my second hip hop concert ever,  I went to see Yasiin Bey formerly known as Mos Def, at D.C.’s 9:30 Club. I remember seeing him act in movies Something the Lord Made and 16 Blocks. Yasiin is really talented. I thought it be a great experience to see him do what he’s most famous for.

I was supposed to stand with my friend, but by the time she showed, the place was packed and the only view she could get was from the balcony.

Thoughts on the Show

Yasiin Bey was quite the entertainer. He danced and really felt the lyrics in which he rapped and sometimes sang. Check it out:

My Big Moment

About two hours into the show, two girls from the front row left. I took their spot as quickly as I could. Though I was not able to take a picture with Yasiin, he did grab my hand from the crowd! It was the coolest!

I had a great time, but after three plus hours of standing around, my legs were beat. I ended up meeting my friend by the crowded coat check. After the concert, we headed over to Ben’s Chili Bowl where I got a very sweet strawberry milkshake to end the night.

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Pictures: The Awesome Nouns Apart of My Life (People, Places, and Things)

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11:39 Run, Under Armour Girl

 Today, I went out in windy 37-degree weather. Only able to complete 11 minutes and 39 seconds. It’s been a while, but feels good to be back. Before running, I had to go back inside to clean off my glasses. I’m certain I’ll be needing a new pair soon (maybe contacts?). I’ll have to see how much an eye exam/contacts will cost.

I took this picture because I wanted to show off my awesome Under Armour shirt. It feels like a light blanket inside and was designed for those that exercise in very cold weather. I also took it because I think I look cool in Under Armour!

More coming right up, stay tuned!

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Corcoran Gallery of Art

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

This morning,  I chose Valentine’s Day cards for some the best teachers in my life: my parents, my manager and my internship directors.

After my internship, I went to Target to see the entire Valentine’s Day candy section completely ravaged through. M & M’s, heart candies and heart-shaped boxes with assorted chocolates inside were in places that had nothing to do with the label beneath them. I, along with everyone else, searched for salvageable chocolate–and found some!

I stopped over at Giant to top off the list: chocolate chips and baking sheets. I made my first batch of chocolate chip cookies. They look amazing, but taste okay. They’re too melt-in-your-mouth on the inside.  I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t have used that much butter–even though it was half of what the recipe suggested.

Bake Rule #1: Too much or too little of an ingredient can make or break your bake. (Lol, tongue twister!)

Sunday: Corcoran Gallery of Art.

On Sunday, my dad and I went to see 30 Americans at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. My camera battery had begun to go out, but luckily I was able to get this shot of Holly Bass dancing in a glass cube above the gallery’s entrance. What an entrance!

I really wish I could have taken pictures of the show. My most favorite pieces were by artists Kehinde Wiley and iona rozeal brown. Their work was very unique; one made me think of a giant human sleeping, and the other made me think of a YouTube video I’d seen some months back about Japanese women and black culture.

A museum assistant told me I couldn’t take any photos, but I found a blogger who took photos at an earlier date, and posted them anyway. Check them out here.

For more on Kehinde Wiley, visit: http://www.kehindewiley.com/

For more on iona rozeal brown, visit: http://ionarozealbrown.com/

Thursday Already?!

I’m so glad tomorrow is Friday!  For the past two weeks, I’ve worked really hard. It’ll all be worth it once I find an opportunity that allows me to write, edit, manage multiple assignments and complete administrative tasks. I’m looking forward to that day–it will be a great one indeed.

Pictures coming soon–stay tuned!

Tweety Bird USB Stick!

I will post something else soon. Stay tuned!

Fry. Bake. Write.

Frying

Today while at work, I put a butter-less egg on the grill and produced something great: a perfect fried egg. Now, I can successfully fry an egg! AWESOME!

 

 

 

Baking 

I baked peanut butter cookies twice this week and used up all the peanut butter. I think I could actually sell my cookies if they were placed in cute packaging. I’ll have to share some with one of my godmoms because she always bakes berry biscuits for me and my dad.

Anyways, I think I’m pretty good at baking cookies and cupcakes. It’s pretty easy when all you have to do is read the directions and follow them. Though, I’ve been halving every recipe because I don’t have a mansion full of people to cook for. It’s just me and my mom. I guess I’m also in the test stage–I understand how to make mini cookies, small cookies and medium-sized cookies. I do it based on feel and then whatever comes out of the oven is the finished product.

Writing

I’ve been working on my article to be published in FIPPs 2012 “Innovations in Magazines World Report” next month. I’m going to have to expand more on a couple of subtitles to make the 1,000 word mark….I’m hoping to finish the story and picture captions in the next hour. If not, I’ll wake up early and complete the rest.

9:47 Run…

Low 40s, rain and wind chill pretty much ended my run before it really began. Frigid, I turned around and ran home.  Tomorrow, I plan to run for twenty minutes. Once I’m  back to consistent forty or fifty-minute runs, I’ll sign up for a much-needed 5K.

Feels good to be back, even if it’s just for nine minutes.

AWESOME!

ABG Finale on YouTube

Yesterday’s  finale of ABG on Youtube included special guest Donald Glover from TV show Community! The entire ABG cast was great. I highly recommend everyone go on Youtube to watch all of season 1′s episodes, they’re 100% awesomely funny.

Issa Rae, the star and creator of the show, is great!

Make sure to check it out!

AGB: 5 stars!

Kafe Leopold’s, Luigi’s and Crumbs

Kafe Leopold’s: 3 1/2 stars for excellent service

1/8: Brunch with Dad at Kafe Leopold's.

This place was packed.

Hot chocolate, whip cream had no flavor. $3.50, refills cost the same.

Hazelnut milk chocolate! I dropped it right in the cup!

Belgian waffle, $11 or $12: not the best I've had, very bland tasting. Musshy on the inside. Waffles should be good by themselves. It was not. The syrup, I liked.

My dad's omelet. I like his meal much better than mine.

Luigi’s: 5 stars for excellent food and service

My chicken parmisiana sandwich, I ate some before I took the photo--it was that good, and I was really hungry.

Outdoor-indoor seating at Luigi's. Best seats in the house.

 Crumbs: 5 stars

1/10: Pink cupcake and milk at Crumbs. Forgot my card, could have been 5 stars away to FREE baked good! Next time...

More Pink cupcake...

The sprinkles just fell everywhere when I opened the wrapper. They were soft and not not overwhelmingly sugar-fied.. I liked it that way.

The inside... all those sprinkles! Cupcakes are pretty gigantic, best to share, or eat alone.