happy weekend.

if you're the only one on campus this weekend because of easter or if you have a penchant for baked goods that look like tiny versions of other things, make these chocolate-chip oatmeal cupcakes.

i accidentally (okay, purposefully), used baking powder instead of baking soda.  i can't help it that our suite had 3 CANS of baking powder unopened and 0 boxes of baking soda.  we were hoarding it for the baking powder apocalypse.

and just so you know, baking powder is one-third baking soda, which means your cupcakes won't rise and be fluffy. you're welcome.

chocolate chip oatmeal cupcake "bird nests" original found here
makes 12

ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• shredded coconut
• mini cadbury eggs

instructions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. whisk egg and sugar together until there are no lumps
3. add vanilla extract and butter until smooth
4. add flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, milk 
5. fold in chocolate chips
6. drop into cupcake tray
7. bake for 15-17 minutes
8. frost em up
9. toast shredded coconut over the stove
10. decorate top with coconut + eggs!

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"the soul always knows what to do to heal itself. the challenge is to silence the mind."

- caroline myss

life lately.

{a visit from a high school friend (HI WILLIE!) + me drooling over his finished sketchbook}

{how i feel about the weather in nashville - 80 over the weekend, snowing when i walked out of dinner yesterday. say what?}

{calling all vanderbilt soon-to-be-grads: please get yourself to city house - an unassuming restaurant that sits between construction sites in germantown.  best dinner with the boyfriend yet}

{my sweet pup at home graduating puppy school! dad sends this picture in an email entitled: "Say hi to Dalai"}

{where i'll be next year :)}

decisions, decisions!  finally came to the conclusion that new york city is the city for me, and where i'll be for at least the next 2 years.  let's be real, i knew it all along.  but every so often, when i thought i had made up my mind, doubt started to creep in.  the morning after i thought it was FOR SURE, i get on facebook and the first thing i see on the emory mph epidemiology feed is "top 10 reasons i chose emory over columbia." and then i opened thought catalog, and the first entry i read is "moving to new york: expectations vs. reality." so i closed my laptop, my phone, and my brain, and let my decision marinate for a full 24 hours without distraction. 

but you know what, emory and thought catalog? i like the fact that new york city is huge, and there'll be a bazillion people and other grad students to meet and enjoy and connect with.  we'll share public health knowledge and debate the soda ban while trying every new food truck under the sun. we'll revel together in the fact that the square footage of our 5-person apartment (can you even call it that? maybe a hole in the wall?) amounts to less than that of our bathroom in high school.  we'll - or maybe this is just me - WISH that we had bad vision so that we could buy those horn-rimmed glasses that make you look hip.  we'll have dinner parties together because a potluck of food is a STEAL compared to that sushi take-out down the street.  and we'll wake up every morning to the sounds of the honking cars and tourists on the street and think that this is probably the only time in our lives when it can all really be appreciated.

also, thought catalog posts articles entitled "how to buy a wolf shirt," so credibility points just decreased by 34.  i can't even make this shit up. 

i've slowed down posting on here, partly because i don't feel as if i have much time, and mostly because college life isn't super conducive to this whole thing.  but because i love it so much, i know a better time will come soon. until then, sittin' in starbucks with J happy as a clam :).

"you'll need coffee shops and sunsets and road trips.  airplanes and passports and new songs and old songs, but people more than anything else.  you will need other people and you will need to be that other person to someone else, a living breathing, screaming invitation to believe better things."

- jamie tworkowski

sounds good to me.

{washington d.c., summer 2012}

"there is a voice inside of you

that whispers all day long,

'i feel that this is right for me,

i know that this is wrong.' 

no teacher, preacher, parent, friend

or wise man can decide

what's right for you - just listen to

the voice that speaks inside."

- shel silverstein 

SF, you're my fave.

THOSE STREETS. 

THAT FOOD. 

THOSE PEOPLE.

THAT MISSION.

to kenneth and jennifer and lisa marie, for tirelessly working away at the coalition on homelessness to advocate for a homeless bill of rights.

to isaac and lil' lady, for killin' it during every meeting. 

to dennis, for balancing art school and shelter serving and the warmest demeanor at the same time.

to yuki, for her gracious praise and worldly intelligence that served as a bright light on a dreary day. 

to piper, for taking on the streets of san fran and reminiscing about your old days at tootsies. 

if i could go back, i wouldn't hate it.

"respond to every call that excites your spirit." 

- rumi

san francisco stealin' my heart.

SMSF 2k13 from Amy Lanza on Vimeo.
back from a wonderful week in san francisco, volunteering with the coalition on homelessness and meeting the loveliest people imaginable. more details to come - but for now, enjoy a quick recap of silly times and eric's sick rhymes.