I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Archives for June 2012

Geotag

I took this photo last Friday. I think it is my favorite photo I have recently taken on my iphone. It makes me love living in/close to a city. Boston does not compare to ‘The City’ (New York) to me but that is okay. As much as I have been here for almost 9 years I am constantly learning to live with what it’s got. It has a lot of history, charm, rough edges*, and beautiful things to experience all over. I think that buying a house in Chelsea has opened up my eyes to the things I see around me, esp in Boston. We’re stuck with each other for a while now we we better figure out how to work together harmoniously. So I’ve been trying to do more in Boston, and New England in general, like new restaurants to try, history to learn about, adventures to take, and places to discover. So far, so good!

That being said, I’ve fled Beantown with Pricer & we are currently on a short cruise up to Canaidia. It’s nice to get away for the weekend. Right now we should be be relaxing with a drink by the pool as this scheduled post is published. Maybe watching demonstrations on how to carve ice sculptures. I’ll be missing the buns ears perk up when they see me come in to feed them, but at least they are relaxing in their AC’d room & getting good care from my coworker. I’ll be hoping that my extensive watering of the plants was enough for the 90+ heat passing through this weekend. But mostly I’ll be trying to tune off my mind and relax!

Hope you have a great weekend!

*one thing that will never change is my deep down twitching reaction to the ‘Boston’ accent. I can promise you that!

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Dinner in 20: Pasta with Veggies and Cream Sauce

I have not been the mood to do anything lately. Well, that is not true. I want to scrapbook all day, every day. I just don’t feel right not being able to be creative. Thinking about how far behind I am working on Project Life makes me want to break out in hives. I left off at week 12… it is now week 26. kill me. And no, I don’t have to continue, but I want to. When I work at it I feel good, I really enjoy it. So I just need to get set up for it, and find some time, and I’ll feel like myself again.

 

 

Being so disinterested in cooking I have been gravitating towards quick fix dinners. Salads have been gracing our table a lot lately but this Pasta with Veggies and Cream Sauce dish was a big winner. I had just restocked the fridge and pantry from moving so I didn’t have to run out last minute to grab something. I love when that happens. I also love Philadelphia Cooking Cream. We use a lot of this to add to pasta dishes, casseroles, or on eggs. It adds a lot of flavor to dishes easily. I’m not singing their praises because they are sponsoring me, I just really like the cooking creams. Man I would love to be sponsored by them, that would be so cool since we go through so much of this stuff. Ha!

Pasta with Veggies and Cream Sauce

Serves 6

Ingredients

Process

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to directions for al dente pasta.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, saute the red pepper and mushrooms together in the olive oil. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
  3. Add the cooking cream to the vegetables and mix together until fully incorporated.
  4. Add the cooking cream onto the pasta when you serve it.

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The day we went zip lining: Berkshire East – Charlemont, MA

As a continuation to my post about the Bridge of Flowers and our May Surprise Date, I am sharing the rest of the afternoon adventure which took us zip lining through the trees in the Berkshires.

How did I pick that we would go zip lining for our May date? Well, in 3 short days we will be on a cruise heading up to Saint John, New Brunswick.  And… Saint John has this pretty cool thing going in that it the rapids at the mouth of the Saint John’s River at the Bay of Fundy reverse direction. You can zip line over this bay and see this phenomena occurring. Since I figured that could scare the ever living bejesus out of us me it would be great to try zip lining before we go.

I booked a tour at Berkshire East when I saw a Gilt City coupon. Regardless of the coupon their tours are affordable ranging from $30-100, I just jumped at that since we have a budget on our surprise dates. So at the end of May, in the midst of the chaos of moving, Price and I took a Sunday to spend the day out in the Berkshires.

After getting stuck at the loooongest rail road crossing, we made it to Berkshire East to begin the adventure. I signed us up for the Mountain Top Tour which has 7 zips that range from 250′ to 800′ in length. The highest platform is 45′ in the air in the canopy and at times you zip 100′ off the ground. You get to relax before and after the zips on the ski lifts that take you up/down the mountain.

 

Berkshire East has a wind turbine that generates 2.2 million kWh of electricity each year, providing 100% of the power for their facility. They even have tours of it a few times a year where you learn about the 3 year process in getting it installed and its production of sustainable energy.

 

One of our awesome guides as he was first demonstrating how to zip, the gear set up, and the lines. After he zoomed over to the first line our tour adventure began!

 

Price went off backwards. I think this was the highest platform at 45′. yikes!

 

We took a moment to wait to see some other zip liners go across the valley on Extreme Zip 1, aka X1. This is 2300′ long zip isn’t even the longest zip in the Valley Jump Tour. I imagine this would be incredibly scary (!!) and beautiful to do in the fall.

I actually took this photo mid zip line on the last zip!

gangsta

 

And back down the mountain we go.

I highly recommend zip lining with Berkshire East and this tour to everyone. It was such a blast. We loved it. It was thrilling and the views were the icing on the cake. The guides were very skilled and took safety and fun very seriously. We are already discussing our next zip to see the fall foliage!

Berkshire East

66 Thunder Mtn. Road

Charlemont, MA 01339

413.339.6617

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Cheesy Garlic Knots- SRC

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club I was given Suma Rowjee’s blog called Cakes and More. As usual I forwarded this info on to Price for him to pick out the recipe that I should make. I was happy that he went through her extensive recipe index consisting of breads, cakes, cookies, and many, many vegetarian dishes and picked out the garlic knots. We love garlic bread so I think that is made him pick out the garlic knots.

 

 

 

I’m glad he picked out that recipe since it was so easy. Which was great since I waited ’till the last minute, as usual, & started the dough last night! Ha! I made the knots this morning… Yummy breakfast! (I made Price some scrambled egg whites to go with it!) really, no matter when you eat these you will love them. Light, fluffy rolls with tons of garlic flavor. I added cheese to them before baking, because I just couldn’t resist!

I’m quite intimidated when it comes to making bread. I know I shouldn’t be but I don’t work with yeast often so I get a little nervous about it. But Suma had great instructions & a quick tweet to Amanda helped make things painless!

 

 

 

The dough was so easy to work with, in fact I did not knead the dough at all. I just worked the dough with an oiled rubber spoon for a while & it came together easily. With that I didn’t have to get my hands & counter super dirty then. I only worked the dough when I was forming the knots & that was easy with a bit of flour on the counter & my hands. Forming the knots was quick work and became intuitive quickly. The result was a garlicky knot that I would serve with dinner without a lot of fuss!

 

 

 

Cheesy Garlic Knots

makes 12 knots

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. lukewarm water (110-115 degrees)
  • 1 tbsp. sugar
  • 1 package of instant yeast
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • ¼ cup milk, lukewarm
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1¼ tsp. salt
For the garlic glaze:
  • 4 tbsp. melted butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 pinch of black pepper
  • 1 pinch of red pepper flake
  • 1 pinch of oregano
  • grated Parmesan cheese

Process

  1. Combine the water and sugar in a large bowl, add the yeast to proof.
  2. Once the yeast has proofed add the oil, milk, flour, and salt to the bowl. Using a large spoon to mix all the ingredients together. Mix with the spoon or knead for 10 minutes. Oil the bowl thoroughly, return the dough to bowl with a kitchen towel and let double in size. The first rise will take approximately 1 hour.
  3. Divide the dough into 12 balls by dividing the dough in half, then half again. Take each of those 4 sections and divide it into 3, resulting in 12 equally sized balls.
  4. To create the knot, take one dough ball and roll it out to 10″ long strip on a floured surface. At 40% through the strip bend the strip so the 60% portion is looped over the point where your started to bend the strip. Loop the loose end through the newly created center, then tuck that end under the outer loop. The remaining tail gets flipped over the loop and tucked into the center hole. Place on a greased baking sheet. Repeat for all knots.
  5. Cover the knots on the baking sheets with a kitchen towel to let them rise again for another hour.
  6. When you are ready to bake the knots, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Also prepare the glaze by combining all of the glaze ingredients, except the cheese. Brush the glaze on each knot, sprinkle a little bit of cheese on the glazed knots.
  7. Bake the knots for 11-13 minutes, or until they cheese is golden brown.

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Secret Recipe Club

Check out my previous Secret Recipe Club Posts:

May: Berry Brownie Torte

April: Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

March: Sauteed Green Beans with Lemon and Almonds

February: Fried Pickles

Jan: No SRC postings

December: Shrimp Sriracha Stir Fry

November: Vegetable Enchiladas

October: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Check out the rest of the reveal day posts!


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How To: Labeling Your Garbage Cans

Since we moved in I’ve been saying that I would spray paint the garbage cans so there would be no mix up when we take them to the curb. Everyone else’s is marked so this is not a ‘this is mine, don’t touch it!’ sort of thing. You just never know if your garbage can will go blowing down the city block after it has been emptied. I didn’t just want to freehand spray paint the cans with our house number… I wanted to give them some curb appeal!!

  

Well, after weeks and weeks of saying I would do it I finally got around to doing it this morning before work. Thankfully, it is super hot now so standing out side at 6am was nice as it was already 80 (I love it!!). We were armed with the stencils I made with my Cricut, but you can even make a stencil by hand or just buy some. We also had some painters tape and some Rust-oleum spray paint. It was pretty easy job and I am happy with how it came out. Still there are some things I would do differently:

  1. Wear gloves. I only put gloves on for the last # and now part of my left hand is bright green even after scrubbing the crap out of them.
  2. Make more stencils. I only made one ‘7’ and one ‘fleur de lis’ thinking I would just reuse it. Unfortunately, it was getting tricky at the end to reuse them and not make a horrible mess on the trash cans & my hands (see above). Should have listened to Pricer!
  3. Mask the stencils differently. I would first position the stencils and then put the mask on. I think it would have allowed me to work easier and get crisper lines as the stencil would have been taped right to the can.
I’ve written out directions below on how I would do it next time. Once I sprayed on the first things I realized immediately the mistakes I made setting us up. Follow the directions below and you will have an easy time labeling your trash cans. 

Curb appeal… I was thinking of doing a pineapple on the trash cans but our mailbox has a fluer de lis already on it so I went with that. Pick a symbol that you like to enhance the overall look!

Damn… we look good!

Labeling Your Garbage Cans

Supplies

  • Stencils, sized to fit your trash cans
  • newspaper
  • scissor
  • painter’s tape
  • gloves
  • spray paint*
  • garbage cans
  • ruler, optional

*I really suggest getting Rust-oleum’s Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover. This works on a variety of surfaces, including plastic, and there were a lot of nice colors. I used Key Lime.

Process
  1. Identify where you want the number and/or symbol to go on the trash cans. Put a strip, or several, of painter’s tape on the trash can to create guides to position the stencils. Use a rule to help center or keep lines level, as needed.
  2. Tape the stencils(s) to the garbage can.
  3. Cut a piece of newspaper the size of the stencil in the center of the piece of paper. Place the newspaper shield over the stencil and tape into place. 
  4. While wearing gloves, evenly and gently spray paint the can at the stencil.
  5. Remove the newspaper shield and the stencil gently. Lastly, remove the tape guides from the trash can.

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Filet Mignon Eggs Benedict @ Cafe Mirage, Port Chester NY

In the past my mom has ventured up to Boston to spend mother’s day up here but for the most recent one Price and I went back to G-town to spend the weekend there. It was a whirlwind weekend, as per usual, because my nephews were also performing in a local performance of Beauty in the Beast. So Saturday quickly became Sunday and we found ourselves at Cafe Mirage in Port Chester, NY.

I had called all around for Mother’s Day brunch reservations and thankfully we got one at Cafe Mirage. They don’t normally do brunch so I don’t think a lot of people thought of them  for the typical M.D. brunch. We were able to get a table for right when they opened. Score! I was so glad that I thought about Cafe Mirage because it is one of my favorite places in the area. We’ve gone there to celebrate my birthday in the past as well as just go out for a great meal.

My mom and I both ordered the Filet Mignon Eggs Benedict that Chef Dave Haggerty created for the brunch. As soon as I saw that as an option I knew I would have to have it!!! (Price had the Chicken and Waffles and loved it.) And I was so happy that I made that decision when it was brought out to us. The pieces of filet mignon sat on toasted cutouts of hearty multi-grain toast and on that set two perfectly poached eggs and a spicy hollandaise sauce. The eggs has to have been so fresh since the yolks were so bright. The hollandaise was also very bright, but it was studded with fresh peppers and tiny piece of vibrant green chives.

Hello lover…

Each steak medallion was rather large and carefully seasoned. But in general the steak really spoke for itself, which I really appreciated. I had ordered it medium-rare and it came out medium but it was still so very good. I guess it was good that it came out medium anyway as the foundation of the eggs benedict was a piece of toasted multi-grain bread. It  was nicely toasted and tasted really good. I would have enjoyed it more on a sandwich (oh my gawd thinking about a chicken salad on that… drool!)  more than the eggs benedict. I just think that it did not stand up to the steak juices and hollandaise very well, but that is just me.

The eggs benedict did not come with a side but the meal itself was more than enough. Hello!?! Steak!!! But that made me even more glad that I did order a bloody mary. Our waitress told us that co-owner Katy is a pro at making bloody mary’s and that were in luck that she was there to make it for us. Thankfully it did live up to the hype! Plenty of horseradish and lemon, and just a tiny bit of pepper.

Rating

Multi Grain Toast– 12 pts

Filet Mignon– 18 pts

Poached Egg– 25 pts

Hollandaise Sauce– 25 pts

Bloody Mary– 9 points

Total: 89/100

While Cafe Mirage does not always serve brunch you should still give them a try for lunch and dinner. Some of my favorite dishes are the Bangkok Mussels, Old School Chopped Salad, and Coconut Curry Shrimp. They have a great selection of dishes you can try out. Give them a call when the next holiday approaches and see what they have up their sleeve for brunch.

Cafe Mirage

531 North Main St

Port Chester, New York 10573

914.937.3497

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Garlic Butter Noodles with Scallions and Sambal

When the cat’s away the mice will play.  Or in this case, when Price is away, Nicole will eat garlic noodles. And Price was just in Vegas for a guys trip so I obviously made these!

 

 

Years ago I saw a post on White on Rice Couple for Garlic Butter Noodles. They were sharing a recipe they adapted from Jaden’s new The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. Umm, big whoop! I’m Italian so I grew up on pasta with butter and a bit of garlic. Well, shutthefrontdoor this is totally different and amazing. I knew I would have to immediately make this recipe. The noodles, garlic, butter, some sugar, and fish sauce were all calling out to me.

 

 

I was hooked from the start. Price, not so much. So this is now a dish that I make when he is working late or away. When he works late the second he opens the door he exclaims ‘YOU MADE GARLIC NOODLES!!! NOOOOO!!!” Why does he protest so much? Because no matter how many times I brush my teeth I still stink of garlic. I don’t mind but I’m not on other end of it. So you have been warned, but I swear it is worth it.

The combination of the butter, garlic, and brown sugar is out of this world. The garlic is slowly cooked in the butter just enough to bring out the flavors. (Don’t burn it! If you do,  start over!) Then when you add the brown sugar it becomes caramel-y  with the butter. That alone is great but then you add the fish sauce and soy sauce and the whole thing get a 1-2 punch with umami flavors. The scallions are a nice touch for flavor and texture. I add the sambal bajak for some some heat and spice, which I can’t get enough of in this. The recipe is quick, addicting, and will be a favorite in no time!

Garlic Butter Noodles with Scallions and Sambal

serves 1

Ingredients

  • 4-6 oz spaghetti pasta
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup chopped scallions
  • 1-2 tablespoons of sambal bajak

Process

  1. Bring water to a boil in a medium size pot. Cook the pasta until al dente. Before straining set aside a 1/4 cup of pasta water.
  2. In the empty pot that you cooked the pasta in, melt the butter over medium- low heat. Add the garlic. Stir constantly to prevent the garlic from burning. Once the garlic is golden brown add the brown sugar in. Constantly mix the sugar until is starts to bubble.  Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, and pasta water. Turn up the heat to cook until it just comes to a boil. Remove from the heat.
  3. Add the pasta back to the pot with the scallions and mix until all the noodles are evenly coated. Enjoy with some sambal bajak (and a breath mint!)

What do you make when your significant other is away? Seafood? Wine and cereal? Dinner becomes eating cake while standing over the sink. 

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50 Shades Movie Casting Couch

Pinned Image

Have you read the 50 Shades trilogy? If you have not heard of it you have clear been living under a rock for the last few months. I won’t judge that harshly. So if you read it… did you like it? hate it? could not have cared less about it? could not put it down?

I fell along the lights of being indifferent to it but not being able to put the books down. For real- glued to my hands. The writing is garbage. I feel like it would be a great drinking game. For every time a ‘twitchy palm’, ‘fithy shades’ ‘Mr Grey’, ‘Mrs. Grey’ is said take a god damn drink! You would not be able to get a chapter without alcohol poisoning!!

Now that the movie rights have been secured there is a lot of talk about who will be cast in this porn movie. Who will play Christian? Who will play Anastasia? I’ve read that Alexander SkarsgÃ¥rd says he was ‘born to play Christian’. Whatevers. He is 36 and looks 36 to me. Christian is 27. Nice try, stick to True Blood. If Kristen I-can’t-close-my-mouth Stewart is cast as Ana I will burn down Hollywood.

So without further adieu, my casting couch picks for Fifty Shades…

-Christian Grey-

Trevor Donovan

-Anastasia Steele-

Deborah Ann Woll 

-Kate Kavanuagh-

Amanda Fuller

– Ethan Grey-

Matt Czuchry

Matt Czuchry

-Jose Rodriguez-

Carlos Pena Jr

-Jack Hyde-

James-Marsters_l

James Marsters

-Dr. Grace Trevelyan-Grey-

kristine sutherland buffy

Kristine Sutherland

I hope that who ever plays these roles does a good job and has a fun time with adapting the books into a porn movie.

You have not read them then I suggest you pick them up…

Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy
Fifty Shades Darker: Book Two of the fifty Shades Trilogy
Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy

or you can just by the 3 volume set…

Fifty Shades Trilogy: Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, Fifty Shades Freed 3-volume Boxed Set

Who do you think should play these roles?

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GIRAFFES!!!!!! {cheyenne mountain zoo}

Giraffes!!!

When I went to visit Amanda back in early May one of the only things we planned was to visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. (We did not plan Sunday night’s ER visit for a certain 2yr old who fell & but through the tip of his tongue.) I truly have a love hate relationship with zoos… I love that I get to see the amazing animals! I hate that I can’t take them home with me! So when she previously told me about the giraffes and how you can feed them I knew that I would love it. Err, I mean, I knew the kids would obviously want to go again and I would helplessly follow them around…

So armed with bubble teas, Amanda and I took the kiddos to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on Saturday morning. Even for early morning in May I was shocked at how hot it was. I was really thankful we stopped for the bubble teas. Also, thankful the top was on securely when Benjamin accidentally knocked it out of the wagon. Anyway… We parked, paid the admission ($17.25 for an adult), and were on our way to having a great time.

For just $2 you get veggies to hand-feed the giraffes! This is the largest herd at any zoo with 20 giraffes, so this is the big attraction. They were eager, and yet very polite, to get fed.  They used their tongues to grab the food from our hands. Did you know that their tongues are 18-21″ long with the last 6″ of it purplish-black. Crazy! If you can’t make it to see the giraffes in person you can atleast check them out on the Giraffe Cam!!!

These are such beautiful knobby animals!

After the giraffe feeding we continued on getting to see monkeys, boa constrictor, lizards, moose, !

There was a farm area that had goats, chickens and bunnies. These 2 were an adorable pair. The small grey one was so trying to be so cuddying with the big white one (I’m assuming femal because of that massive dewlap) by wiggling under her.

We also visited the reptile house were I got to touch a boa constrictor, check out some small lizards, and several turtles.

The tiger was hard to spot at first. (Thank you zoom!)

They boys had a great time. L1 even got to ride on a little choo-choo train, B opted out. And I needed some baby fix so held L2 for most of the zoo trip resulting in jello arms but it was all worth it with him conked out in my arms under his sun hat. Of course after the zoo trip we asked the boys their favorite part & they announced seeing the hippos…. we did not see hippos that day.

There was a bear enclosure with a very sleepy bear lounging around. The fish were more entertaining to the kids.

The zoo was under construction but was still very accessible and very clean. The areas under construction were fairly limited so it did not feel like we were missing too much. We missed out on the African Elephants but at least they are getting a new home, and that is all that matters.  I was really impressed by this zoo. (Much better than when I visited Franklin Park Zoo in Boston.) If you are in Colorado Springs then I suggest that you visit the zoo and see their 550 animals representing 119 species.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

4250 Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Road

Colorado Springs, CO 80906

719.633.9925

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A beautiful day: Bridge of Flowers- Shelburne Falls, Ma

As part of my June surprise date we went to see the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, MA. (After that we went zip-lining but more on that later!) If you have not heard of the Bridge of Flowers it is an old 400′ trolley bridge that has been filled with beautiful plantings that are a favorite to everyone who sees it. Quickly after it was taken out of service in 1927 it began to be overrun with weeds. In 1929 the bridge began it’s full transformation the eyesore to become a ‘thing of beauty’, as it was envisioned by resident Antoinette Burnham. Since then the bridge has been voluntarily taken care of by the Shelburne Falls Women’s Club. The bridge, and it’s 500+ varieties of flowers, is such a great spot to visit in New England.

of course my favorites…

I highly suggest visiting the Bridge of Flowers (April 1st – October 30th). Wander around aimlessly while taking tons of beautiful pictures. Then grab some lunch at McCusker’s Market (on the western side of the bridge) and enjoy it siting along the Deerfield River.

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Double Yolk

This morning I brought the contractors I work with on my big project a cake to celebrate the end of Phase 2. I have made things plenty of things in the past but I wanted this cake to be a double whammy so I doubled the recipe and resulting in 4 layers and lots of chocolate buttercream frosting. Sad I forgot to take a picture of it. whomp!

Well, while I was making the cake I did manage to pull out the camera, but I did have a good reason…

I know that double yolks are not that rare in the grand scheme of things but I have not come across one in years and years. Plus they are supposed to be good luck. Or maybe bad,  depends on how you look at things. I’ll thinking glass half full so I’m going with good luck!!!

Hope you have a great weekend. 🙂

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A dream come true…

a beer vending machine!!

Last Thursday night, Price and I went to Arnold Worldwide‘s headquarter’s for a fun networking event. It was centered around ‘The World’s First Social Beer Vending Machine‘.  It was a fun event that allowed us to meet some great people, enjoy some burritos provided by Boloco, and beer provided by the vending machine and other sponsors.

What is Arnold? Well, Arnold is a advertising agency (don’t think Mad Men!). You know their work if you watch TV or flip open a magazine. Those Progressive ads with Flo, the funny cranberry guys for Ocean Spray, and the sip worthy Southern Comfort ads (I <3 SoCo) are all from Arnold. Check out their work, it’s really quite amazing.

 

Besides their ad work, they have a lab that they use to develop different ideas and technologies that can be used towards different applications, even their ad work. This ‘Gifinator’ creates Gif’s of people moving and interacting in front of it, which are then sent to you later. One of the creators was explaining the process to us, how it was developed, and has been evolving overtime as it is put to use in different fun social settings.

 

The whole premise of the event was about ‘Make Shit’. Basically do something, create something. And that is exactly what Arnold did.. they created a beer vending machine. Besides the fact that it dispenses beer it is very interactive telling your about the beer, even creating an account to know what you like based upon your selection. Pretty cool right? Well, it doesn’t stop there… they made the beer!

Now if only my office could get one of these!

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