JANUARY 30, 2011 WEEK 13

PENNSYLVANIA AUTO SHOW AT THE FARM SHOW COMPLEX IN HARRISBURG

This weekend was all about kicking some tires and fondeling interiors of cars at the Auto Show in Harrisburg.  Luckily it wasn't as cold as it normally is for Farm Show weekend.  It was actually hot in the building.  I had to take off a couple of layers to keep from sweating.

In this year's Pennsylvania's Auto Show we saw all the big name competitors both foriegn like hyundai, nissan, audi, porsche and mazda and domestic such as chevrolet, ford and chrysler.

Now the auto show is set up in sections, each section has a particular competitor such as the ones above.  There were three rooms full of cars.  

The fun part of going to the cars show is getting to sit inside the car and play with all the gadgets, the seats and taking some pics of you pretending to drive a car that costs more then the 4 years of college you had to endure.  

The other fun part of going to the car show is entering into all the contests, such as Enter to win a new Mustang (TAX FREE),  Spin the wheel and get a chance to get an advanced auto gift certificate or get a chance to win a vacation along with 20,000 to spend.  Yeah, let's just keep our fingers crossed!

Finally many of the families that come to the auto show need a place for their children to blow off some energy so they have a section just for the kids!  I loved watching all the dad's with their kids racing cars around a track (some getting stuck and never moving) but fun just the same.  They had a bouncy castle, an inflatable spongebob pineapple house, places to color and Iron man even showed up!!

There was only one thing that disappointed me about the auto show and that was the lack of imagination in the concept cars.  Many of the cars and trucks that I had seen were pretty much the same as the years before.  I didn't really see any major changes.  Except and this is a BIG one, the amount of eco-friendly cars and trucks.  Perhaps it's better that they are changing the inside of the cars to improve the environment than the outside.  Perhaps that will come later. :)
All in all I had a great time.

JANUARY 22, 2010 WEEK 12

SEUSSICAL THE MUSICAL PERFORMED BY THE F&M PLAYERS!

Franklin & Marshall College and the F&M Players presented "Seussical the Musical" held at the Roschel Performing Arts Center. 
The F&M Players are a non-profit student run organization.  The director Dan Deibler is a junior at F&M who is majoring in Studio Art.  This makes this production extra special because it is the students responsibilty to make this play happen!  I would like to be the first to say that it was AMAZING!

As the curtains opened and the upbeat drum beats and flutes filled the air created a very happy bouncy and excited feeling.  The stage was set up with two scenes.  The first scene to the left of the stage and a three level jungle scene including vines hanging from the ceiling.  The second scen to the right is a close up version of a flower, two levels high.  It was to portray the miniture people of the Who's living on a flower.

The cast of characters were several different characters from three or four Dr. Seuss books.  The main characters being Horton, The Cat in the Hat, Jojo the boy, the major of Whoville and Gertrude McFuzz (a bird).

The story starts off with a version of the Cat in the Hat, then turns more towards Horton Hears a Who and then finally with a twist Gertrude McFuzz and The Butter Battle Book.
In the beginning of the show there were some technical difficulties with the sound but I would have to say the lead singers as well as the back up birds were crazy amazing.  Christopher Brown who played Horton the Elephant kept my attention the entire play.  His voice was amazing and he played the character perfectly.
The Cat in the Hat was also played wonderfully by Ian Steffy.  His facial expressions as well as his excentric actions made the Cat come alive with his devilish tricks!  I also had the pleasure of meeting Ian's mother who sat next to me in the audience.  She had said that he loved to play characters as a child and studied at Boston University (her alma mater) and took classes in sword fighting.  You can also see his sense of humor in the program as well.  I think he was a played the great role of Cat in the Hat very well and would be a great actor on Broadway or on the screen!
All in all the experience watching Seussical the Musical for the first time was spectacular.  I had a great time watching the show, speaking to Ian's mother and I enjoyed watching the packed house buzz with activity.  I had a great evening and would recommend watching any play performed by the F&M Players.  They take great pride in their productions!

JANUARY 16, 2011 WEEK 11

THE 15TH ANNUAL CHOCOLATEFEST AT THE HERSHEY LODGE!

Where: The Hershey Lodge and Convention Center!

What is it:  Chocolatefest is an annual event that people can come and enjoy chocolate in many shapes and forms.  Money from the tickets sales goes to the Keystone Human Services.  There were more than 75 different vendors there to show off their confection creations.  Such vendors as The Hershey Lodge, Giant Foods, Matangos Candy, Appalachain Brewing Company, Red Robin and The Hershey Hotel,  Sheraton Harrisburg, Dove Chocolates and Pampered Chef. 

We arrived to the WINK104 Boombox playing the Black Eyed Peas outside of the packed parking lot of the convention center.  Inside there were people to greet you at the door and answer any questions that you had.  We arrived and walked up to the desked and grabbed our tickets.  Then immediately handed them right back to get in.  We walked down a long hall way called the Great American Hall, to the drums beats and jazzy feel of Andrew Bellanca & Friends.  In this hall way there were several tables set up for children's games, boy scouts, banks, vacation giveaways and even the Susquehanna Service Dogs (SSD) and yes I petted the puppies!!!  They were soo cute!

In the main convention center it was amazing!  CHOCOLATE EVERYWHERE!  There were three rows of tables and on each side there was chocolate and givaways and cakes competitions and silent auctions and HUGE basket raffles and more chocolate!!  For the entertainment playing in the background was the Central Dauphin High School Jazz Band.

We were only able to hit the first two row of chocolate.  I would have to say that my favorite was The Hershey Lodge's White Cheddar and Jalopeno Grits with Chocolate chicken.  I was awesome!  The jalopenos made it spicy, the grits cooled it down and the chocolate chicken made it sweet!  It was great!  I would really love to have dinner at the Hershey Lodge to see what else they have!

Now you may ask yourself "what is the KEYSTONE HUMAN SERVICES?
Well the Keystone Human Services is made up of several branches such as services for autisic individuals, homeless, persons with mental illness, the elderly, family support assistance, and theraputic services such as service dogs, therapy and rehabilitaion.  Not only do they fund and support this but they also help CAPITAL AREA HEAD START, CHILD PERMANENCY PROGRAMS, EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES AND FAMILY PRESERVATION AND UNIFICATION.  If you would like to learn more on Keystone Human Services you can go to http://www.keystonehumanservices.org/.

Keystone Human Services not only have Chocolatefest but also several other events that are held throughout the year such as PawsAbilities, Basket Bingo & Silent Auction, Black Tie & Tails, Chocolate Ball, a Golf Tournament and A Night of Design: A Benefit for Children.  I think that these people are amazing and should be supported to then help support us!

I had a great time at ChocolateFest and I plan on going back for more next year!

JANUARY 8, 2011 WEEK 10

GEOCACHING!

What is Geocaching?

Geocaching is a hunting game all over the world by using a GPS.  The object of the game is to locate the cache (which are all different size containers) that are hidden somewhere outdoors and you are to find them.  When have found one/or more, you then log your find/finds onto a computer website called http://www.geocaching.com/.   This will then show other geoccachers that you have found a cache and then you can share your experience online good or bad.

I learned about geocaching from my boyfriend's parents.  They would come home and talk about all the fun experiences they had going into the woods, monuments, neat and interesting places where these caches were placed at.  I became more interested when we went caching with them. 

After awhile I decided to start my own caching page with my own caching name.  Well originally it my boyfriend and I had the same name "Pinkduckie" but he didn't like the name. 

PINKDUCKIE???? Yeah, Pinkduckie.  For my 27th birthday I had made a cake with a pink rubber duckie on the top which was also the same time I started my geocaching page.

I have also cached in New York, Delaware and New Jersey.  In PA I have cached in several different counties and many different areas such as the city of Pittsburgh, the woods in Kinzua State Forest, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Carlisle and Williamsport. 

Geocaching is a fun way to get out and see stuff they you wouldn't normally see. Some of my favorites include one where you had to visit several different wooden statues throughout a town and gather numbers to the final destination.  Another where there were several containers in a tree in Centralia and you had to open almost all of them to retrieve the log. 

I have cached in the winter, spring, summer and fall and I love doing it all year round.  It gets you out of the house and into nature.

This is a picture of geocachers the went to the ASP Geobash!

This weekend my boyfriend and I decided to go on a caching spree to see if we could grab 100 caches in a day.  Since we had a pretty late start we only reached 60 but it was still a record!  We went along with his parents so we had more eyes.  Throughout the day we were caching like CRAZY!  But towards the end of the day we were soooo tired, cold and hungry. 

We decided to stop at the Lantern Lodge to have dinner.  A corona, soup, and a crabcake later I felt so much better!  The evening ended with the long drive back home.  Let's just say we waiting till the next day to log all of our finds!

Currently we are at 1,119 caches and still going!  I am also part of L.O.S.T.  which is the Lancaster Organization for Seeking Tupperware.  They hold meetings every first Tuesday of the month!

JANUARY 1, 2011 WEEK 9

So another year ends and one begins.  2010 wasn't so bad.  I placed my photography in several art shows, sold 3 photos and learned more about photography.  I also learned more about my ancestry, and found out that I'm eligable for the DAR.  I also went to a wedding, phillies game, warren county for geocaching and found myself a new job.  Not to bad..

There were several interesting things that had happened in 2010.  The chilean miners that were trapped for several months to be finally freed.  The volcanic ash the created confusion and flight delays for most of the European continent.  Paul the octopus who predicted the all of the winners for the World Cup.  Sadly, he didn't make it to see 2011.  Not because of one of the losers for the World Cup but from natural causes.  However as a memorial to poor ole Paul, Germany has but up a statue of Paul along with his ashes to commorate is contribution to the game.  Even to finalize the year MTV decided to drop Snooki from "The Jersey Shore" to bring in the new year.  I really don't understand why but whatever.

This year my goals are to get out and do something every weekend (hence the blog), work and pay off several bills and my trip to Cancun!  I would also like to start my photography website, learn how to use quickbooks (for my business), finish my DAR and hopefully there will be a couple a happy surprises in the future! 

ARE YOU SERIOUS?! Gym, Tan, Laundry!

DECEMBER 25, 2010 WEEK 8

DECEMBER 18, 2010 WEEK 7

BAKING COOKIES AND WATCHING CHRISTMAS MOVIES!

Ok so this is not really going out and doing something, however this past week has been nothing but shopping, working, christmas decorating and running errands.  Making christmas cookies was on the list of things to do soo I decided to make it a weekend GOAL!

After consulting with several people on what cookies to make I setup shop.  I made the traditional chocolate chip as well as walnut, oatmeal, peppermint pinwheels and peanut butter blossums.  It took a total of 4 hours to get all the ingredients made and chilled in the fridge.

Meanwhile, I watched the ending of the amazing White Christmas and the fantastic Miracle on 34th Street (the original version).  I LOVE THIS FILM!

With the smell of christmas cookies in the air, the tree lights glowing and the miracle occuring on 34th street, I had a wonderful life, I mean time!