Humble Beginnings

Today I participated in my second ever craft fair, and I really enjoyed it! Even though it was a church basement and I made a total of $10, I can definitely see me doing bigger and better events in the future. It sounds outrageous to sit for five and a half hours and only make a couple of bucks, but I'm really in it for the experience at this point (and I didn't have much to sell as it is). It's so much more gratifying to sell my work, things I've made, versus a retail hourly job *ho hum*

For this fair and the last one I did I had the support and company of some awesome ladies from the Student Arts League on campus. Our work combined made for an wicked cool display. I had my little corner of stuff in the basket and some hand building stuff, one friend brought her pottery, one friend had his ceramic planters, and one friend had beautiful watercolors scattered about. What's funny is that it's much easier to talk up my friend's work to customers than it is to talk about my own. We all feel this way so we're glad we're all there together to help each other out. Go team!

We plan on doing more and getting progressively better with each craft fair adventure. I already have a list of what can I do better? going on in my head. Baby steps, ya'll. I can't wait for the next one!

TTFN!
-Avé

Durham Fair!

Long ago before school smacked me in the face, I went to the Durham fair with my friend Danisha! Neither of us have ever been but it's one of the biggest fairs in Connecticut so we had to check it out. Best decision! Tons of animals, vendors, and yummy things to try. OH YEAH and LOTS of pumpkins.

1st place for painted pumpkins!

1st place pumpkin!

1st place for watermelon! My brothers would have loved this.

 Danisha and I bonded with this particular llama in the petting zoo. He was pretty rad! We also made friends with a camel named Polly. At one point I had taken her picture to post on instagram (of course) and as I was adding the caption looking at my phone, Polly comes within inches of my face and my phone like "hey, whatcha doin' there?" It shocked me but it was pretty funny!

The pumpkins weren't the only compositions going on. They had needle work, paintings, knitting, and all sorts of arts and crafts to be judged. However, my favorite would have to be the tractor pull. These tractors were pimped out painted like monster trucks :O) The task was to pull a truck as far as they can. This one here is doing a pop-a-wheelie.

Of all the food we devoured, the one I absolutely must mention is the deep fried cheesecake. I cannot express how heavenly this was! probably terrible for me but with each bite, the calorie count mattered less and less. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was a bit like fried ice cream. The cheesecake was still cold and pretty solid, while the crust on the outside was light, warm, and delectable. The chocolate drizzle sent my taste buds over the top.

Lastly, I should probably mention how much I love llamas. I don't really have a reason other than I think they're awesome. At the fair, there was several buildings and one was dedicated to just llamas. Each farm had their own little section to show off their llamas. SO MANY LLAMAS

So glad I got the chance to go this year! There was so much there that I could do (and eat) it all, so I definitely can't wait till next year.

TTFN <3
-Avé

Greek Odyssey Festival

FUN FACT: My fiancé is Greek! Every Labor Day weekend his church hosts a huge Greek Festival filled with food, vendors, dancing, and LOUKOUMADES! I look forward to it every year and I usually go two or three nights out of the four, since it's free parking and it's the only time of the year to get Greek food this good.

Here's a basic breakdown of what they have at the festival--this is just what's inside the church! Outside there's three food tents, two live bands, two dance areas, and seating scattered about. They have a couple of events too. Every day of the festival, the priest does a presentation on the iconography shown in the art in the sanctuary. This picture really doesn't do the beauty of the paintings justice. Also, every night they have a group of talented kids and teens dress up in traditional clothes and do traditional dances. Not gonna lie, their moves make me a bit jealous.

Although there's lots to enjoy at the festival, my main reason for going is loukoumades. What are they? Sweet delicious balls of fried honey dough with cinnamon sugar on top *drools* They make them fresh, so they're always hot. When you bite into them, sometimes they burst with honey. I seriously have to learn how to make these!

 If you're in the southern CT area around Labor Day weekend be sure to stop by the Greek Odyssey Festival. If for nothing else, the food! You'll definitely find me there next year (probably in line to get more loukoumades. or a gyro. or spanikopita. )

TTFN! <3
-Avé

Red Hot Chili Peppers LIVE in Newark, NJ: Two Nights of AWESOME

My awesome fiancé outdid himself yet again; for my birthday back in february he surprised me to not one, but TWO sets of Red Hot Chili Peppers concert tickets. He knows how much I love them so it was an obvious gift, but still! totally unexpected. Three months later, two days after the shows, and I'm still in shock. The whole weekend was just so surreal.

Sleigh Bells opened for RHCP both nights, and will be with them for the rest of the east coast leg of the tour. I found out about them when I used to work for Urban Outfitters; Treats was on heavy rotation, but I didn't mind. They're loud, fun, and filled with so much bass I had to find out more about them. I was SO BUMMED only because they're new, so not enough material to fill my aching needs. But alas! Their second album Reign of Terror is out just in time to promote it by opening for RHCP. How awesome is that?! 

I might have been the only fan of theirs in the section, but people were diggin' it. You may be asking,"Hey wait isn't there only two people in Sleigh Bells?" I later found out that the second guitarist is Jason Boyer who plays with them on tour. Honestly I couldn't tell Boyer and Miller apart--they had similar haircuts and style and everything. They played eleven or twelve tracks evenly split between the two albums they have out. Their set included a simple striped banner in the background and of course, their twelve Marshall amps, stacked in all their glory. Who needs twelve amps? No one, but it was awesome. 

Both Sleigh Bells and RHCP dedicated their performances for the 5/4 show to the late Adam MCA Yauch. Beastie Boys tracks were played before, during intermission, and after the show. Kiedis had MCA written on his shirt, as well. A sad day for the music industry and beastie boys fans was turned into a celebration of a wonderful life at this concert. I think this gave both bands extra motivation to kick ass on stage.

As I'm writing this post and I get to the part where I tell you about Red Hot Chili Peppers, my heart rate  increases and I can't breath. This should give you an idea of how glorious these shows were. I prefer the setlist of the first show over the second while Zack prefers the second over the first--they were both just too good. Both nights I think maybe a fourth of the songs were from their newest album. What really got me was they went all the way back to the days of SIR PSYCHO SEXY from Blood Sugar Sex Magik in addition to songs from Californication, By The Way, and Stadium Arcadium. The Friday night show I swear they knew I was in the audience because of all the songs in their discography, they did two of my favorite tracks, "Throw Away Your Television," and "Higher Ground." Not only that, but they also played "Did I Let You Know" with a bari sax solo thrown in there.

They were the fun loving band I always thought they would be on stage--skipping around, hanging from the lights, walking on their hands....I loved every single shenanigan they pulled. After "Under the Bridge" Flea goes, "That was a pretty gentle song. We'd like to take a moment for all the little babies who are trying to get to sleep and all the old ladies who need it quiet 'cause it's getting very late. They're very old, so we'd like to play the most quiet, mellow song. But not me for me when I was a new born baby my mother had to play me Black Flag to get me to sleep. Anyways what we're trying to say is we're going to play the slowest, quietest thing we've ever played right now," then promptly go into "Goodbye Hooray." I see what you did there, Flea.

The graphics they had on the screens above and behind them were pretty impressive and matched up with each song perfectly. My personal favorite was the boy riding the horse. Prior to the show they took pictures of some of the attendees across from the merch table to display in the last song, which was "Give It Away." I didn't see Zack nor did I see me (pout!) but it was still a really cool idea. 

My one and only tiny complaint about their performances was the lack of audible harmonies. Frusciante had that sweet sweet falsetto that I fear could never be matched. Josh can do it, and he was, but it just wasn't loud enough to hear. Other than that, both shows in my eyes was flawless. I am SO thankful to my fiancé Zack for giving me one of the best weekends of my life. All together now, "awwww"

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens | Brooklyn Museum - Field Trip!

Yesterday the SCSU Student Arts League went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and the Brooklyn Museum. For my first time in Brooklyn, this trip was perfect.

The botanical gardens was honestly the most relaxing and inspiring venture I've been on in quite some time. The conservatory included exotic plants from tropical, desert, and warmer climates; where I drew the most inspiration from. The textures and shapes in some of these plants were hard to ignore. I can't wait to incorporate it in my sculptures next semester! My favorite part was the Cherry Walk. There were two rows of the most beautiful cherry blossom trees I've ever seen. The weather was gorgeous--a slight breeze...toes between the grass...sun shining....ahh! So great. 

Between the garden and the Brooklyn Museum, my friend and I wanted to find a bite to eat. We walked a couple of blocks past the library to stumble across a farmer's market. I was NOT leaving the market till I had a cup of fresh apple cider :3. There were also a couple of venders selling tees, jewelry, and hand made totes. I fell in love with a pair of $65 earrings but sadly I couldn't afford to impulse buy, le sighh. 

The Brooklyn Museum was super great from what I saw. I only had enough time to wander on the fourth and fifth floor. I'm not the greatest museum buddy; I tend to wander around without a map and without a mission. However, I'm glad I saw two particular exhibits: The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago and Keith Haring: 1978 - 1982. Haring is one of my most favorite artists, so to see some of his early work was amazing.

The Matrix by Keith Haring in the Brooklyn Museum

Afterwards we had dinner at The Pour and caught the last couple of innings of the Yankee game (I'm not one for baseball, but it was a pretty good game!) I treated myself to a turkey burger complete with avocado slices and tatertots. Yes. Tatertots. Best tatertots I've ever had (Napoleon Dynomite would be proud). We made our final stop at The Strand. Our advisor described it as if "you were to open up your laptop, and walk into the book section of Amazon.com." It was a pretty accurate description. There's four floors, one of which is dedicated to just art books. Used, new, rare, cheap--all awesome. I will definitely make a trip back to The Strand with money and time to spend. It was a perfect ending to well overdue field trip. I've been a college student for four years a while and have yet to go on a field trip; I need to take advantage of what my tuition is going towards!

Internet's Busiest Music Nerd...On Campus!

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Anthony Fantano of the b/vlog, The Needle Drop. WSIN radio, where he got his start, hosted the event. If you haven't heard of or seen it yet, The Needle Drop reviews music from all sorts of genres focusing on those of the "independent persuasion."

We talked about how he started, how he makes a living, advice for future media entrepreneurs, music stuff, etc etc... It was slightly surreal to meet a youtuber I'm so used to seeing on my computer screen, but it was really awesome! He was super nice and helpful, just what I needed as I'm kicking this hobby into high gear :).

There were two little gems of info that I gained from this Q&A session (three if you include the birth of Cal Chuchesta):

1. Post content consistently, using all social media sites to your advantage. He used a rapper by the name of Little B (Lil' B?) as an example. He's certainly not the greatest rapper (to say the least), but he's constantly uploading mix tapes, music videos, and posting on twitter--so much that it leaves little room to breath and consume it all; but it's effective.
2. As long as you provide an original perspective on a topic you love, people will come back and might even follow. This is especially true if you share content with others that they may not have learned otherwise.  It also helps if it's content that people would want to share.

There were a bunch of other things like how he handles his diverse fan base and requests, where does his income come from with advertisements, and more businessy type things, but I'm not quite there yet :P Still, super cool to meet him and learn behind the scenes things about a young, successful entrepreneur. Hope to see him again sometime!