“Midnight Whispers” by Raquel Rodriguez
Genre: R&B/soul
Sounds like: Equal parts Amy Winehouse and Adele, minus a British accent
Worth checking out: Stronger Than Me (Amy Winehouse cover); Wildfire (SBTRKT cover) [Download “Wildfire” for free]
The ideal setting to play “Midnight Whispers”: If you could get someone to stand around with an iPod and iPod speakers, during the last few moments at the end of a great date. For a less dramatic and more realistic setting, put it on as you’re drinking a nightcap.
Listen: Raquel Rodriguez, ‘Midnight Whispers’
Love: in 160 Characters or Less
We are all familiar with the popular bible quote from First Corinthians most often heard at weddings: “love is patient, love is kind…”. In a generation where faces are glued to iPhone screens and heavy sighs echo throughout the crosstown bus at each stop, I often wonder at what point the patience left the equation. Modern technology allows us to have instant access to just about everything: current stock prices, weather in San Diego, even answers to Wednesday Trivia nights in the East Village, given the MC doesn’t mandate phones to be turned off. It’s no wonder that the twentysomethings who have grown up in a world with immediate answers to almost everything do not enjoy the inevitable but enticing mystery of dating. But what our generation seems to forget is that love, like planning a wedding or watching Ben from The Bachelor make a decision on a chick, doesn’t happen overnight. And much to our 4G network’s dismay, it doesn’t happen over a few text messages either. Continue Reading »
Everyone Loves a Bundt Cake!
I woke up a few days ago and thought: Bundt Cake! Then I wondered why I thought Bundt cake in the first place, but quickly got over it once I realized that a class activity was bringing with it the opportunity to bake something and that’s always a good thing.
So, with this in mind, I ventured down to the Broadway Panhandler located along 8th Street to buy the necessary equipment. A Bundt cake pan is really something anyone with an oven should own and I discovered this store has a great variety of cooking tools (at reasonable prices, since I’m a struggling student of course.) It bakes more or less like a regular pan, except that anything you make in it has a fun shape and automatically looks a little fancier. They come in a variety of different shapes,like crowns and castles, but I use the classic dome design you’ll see in the pictures.
Instead of going the more traditional route and making a chocolate or vanilla cake, I tweaked a simple recipe and turned into a lemon blueberry cake. Sometimes chocolate can be a little too heavy and lemon flavored cakes are pretty popular, at least with the people I’ve fed in the past. Continue Reading »
A Different Kind of Fairytale
Many a time I have wondered what I know I’m not alone in wondering,
When will I get my happily ever after? When will I find that guy who’s my own version of a fairytale Prince Charming?
In fairytales, “true love” always seems so uncomplicated. Sure, there are curses to overcome, battles to be won, and sometimes there are inappropriately spiteful dragons that must be slayed before true loves kiss can be had and spells can be broken. But other than this, it’s love at first sight and there is no doubt in either the princess-to-be or prince’s minds that complicate their union. The real world, our world, does not feel like a fairytale, I’ll wager…for about 90% of the world’s population. But yet Walt Disney has made an empire off portraying almost exclusively this type of love story.
ABC’s Once Upon a Time is different. Continue Reading »
Mamika the Great
I like books with pictures in them. This may surprise those of you who know that I have a Bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature. (You know- because that means I read things.) I need to train myself to say “I like photography books,” because that statement will get me mistaken for a much more artistic and interesting individual.
Sacha Goldberger‘s photography book, Mamika, is sure to entertain everyone. Can you imagine a ninety-something year old grandma dressed up in superhero costumes, riding a motorcycle, and even ironing a small dog? Luckily, you don’t have to imagine these things: Goldberger already beat you to it. Flip through these pages and you’ll find surprisingly wise (though often ridiculous) quotes from Mamika, Goldberger’s 93-year-old grandmother (a Jewish Hungarian immigrant to France) who “survived Nazism and Communism”) along with pictures of the delightful woman in fun getups and unlikely scenarios. The actual woman is a wonder, but her model/muse alterego is a real treat.
Pick yours up at Barnes & Noble!
Lemon Bars You Say?
Lemon bars always fascinated me while I was growing up. It’s not that I believed the combination of lemons, flour and sugar could magically transport me to a 60s era, where children were allowed to play out in the street with no supervision and families could go to bed with their doors unlocked. It’s more the fact that no one ever made them when I was growing up because they aren’t a well-recognized dessert in Puerto Rico. Being a bilingual child though, I had seen enough movies and television shows to know that lemon bars always seemed to make people happy and were the perfect treat to make for friends.
So, after searching for a recipe that seemed both easy and true to the lemon bar image I had formulated in my mind as the years went by, I came upon the perfect one.
This recipe is simple (it uses six ingredients), quick (takes less than an hour) and tasty (as per many reviews from loved ones.) Continue Reading »
Manicure Monday: Two-Faced
Do you ever sit down to do your nails and realize that you actually have no idea what you want to do? That happens to me quite often, especially since I have a nail polish collection the size of a small salon. What can I say? It’s kind of an obsession.
This week, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go simple and classic or bright and funky with my manicure – so I did both! Like Hannah Montana always said, you get the best of both words. Chill it out, take it slow, then you rock out the show. With this mani, it’s half chilling and half rocking. Here’s how I did it!
Trend Report: Cute Animals!
Okay, it’s no secret: I’m a tween girl at heart. Sometimes I dot my i’s with hearts. I giggle when I see bunnies hop by. Sparkly eyeshadow and glitter nail polishes are often welcome distractions from the hectic world of grad school and real life. And when I finally make it home at night, I take great delight in washing my face with a product that features three silly ostriches smiling up at me. Spritzing perfume on from a cat bottle evokes another small giggle. Wish you knew what the heck I was talking about? Read on! I am 100% supportive of vegan cosmetics and brands that don’t test on animals, here are some of my favorite products that feature cute animals… but only on the packaging!
Tech Style
Apple iPhone 4S
I have always considered myself pretty tech-savvy. That is until I met my boyfriend. Apparently, being tech-savvy means way more than knowing how to navigate the social media scene and check your email. You have to know about giga-bytes (does that word even get hyphenated?), RAM, pixels, retina displays, 1080p, UI’s, OS’s, and a lot of other terms and acronyms. To be honest, I don’t know about any of that. What I do know about is tech style. I know that, in my opinion, Apple devices are probably the sexiest pieces of technology out there. I might be biased (my boyfriend is a bit of an Apple fanboy), but bulky Android phones have nothing on the sleek iPhone design. Same goes for Dells vs. Macs and any other tablet vs. the iPad. It doesn’t hurt that Jony Ive is beautiful and talks about “a-loo-min-yum” in his lovely British accent. But back to the point at hand – tech style. Regardless of how beautiful (or bulky – I’m talking to you, Droid) your technology may be, you probably want to put a case on it. In my opinion, the only thing worse than scratching up your new phone/tablet/laptop is … Continue Reading »
I can forgive you your shoulder pads, Christian Dior.
Buying a new article of clothing comes with a whole process of making it your own. I’m not even talking about accessorizing: which will of course come, in time. I mean the bond you form with your new piece as you make it truly yours. First you bring your new find home, unpack it from its shopping bag, unwrap it from the tissue paper. You head over to your closet, praying there’s a hanger and a millimeter of space for you to hang it. But it does not all end here. One day, the proper mood will strike you, and you’ll decide that is the day you will be wearing your new piece. You’ll find your scissors and carefully snip away the price tag, the little baggie of extra buttons, the two hanger ribbons, and the shoulder pads. Once this clutter is removed, this garment is 100% yours: no going back.
Wait, back up there a second! … Shoulder pads? Continue Reading »
The Collabor-eight 