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Weekend Playlist: Labor of Love

By Kirsten|September 3rd, 2011|Weekend Playlist|

I was going to go ahead and continue the West Virginia theme for this weekend’s playlist, but realized that a Labor Day playlist might be much more suited. We all work very hard, so it’s great to finally take a moment and just relax. So enjoy that extended weekend cause you probably won’t catch another day off til Thanksgiving.

The Beatles – Hard Days Night

Donna Summers – She Works Hard For the Money

Todd Rundgren – Bang the Drum All Day

Ludacris – Moneymaker

Barrett Strong – Money (That’s What I Want)

Bruno Mars – Lazy Song

The Offspring – Why Don’t You Get a Job

Calloway – I Wanna Be Rich

AC/DC – What Do You Do For Money Honey

Notorious B.I.G. – Mo Money Mo Problems

I would tell you to go ahead and put your feet up… but it’s time to dance!

xx,

WhyDid

The List Volume WV

By Kirsten|September 2nd, 2011|The List|

As mentioned, I was born in West Virginia. I went to highschool and college in West Virginia. My family is from West Virginia. Needless to say, I’ve been bombarded with ignorant questions and commentary for a large portion of my adult life. Below are ten of the most cliche stereotypes and misconceptions about my birth state:

First and foremost: West Virginia is its own state. It is not the “western part of Virginia.” Do you know how many times people tell me, “Oh! I have friends from Richmond!” That’s wonderful, but that’s also a different state.
I am not, nor do I have any plans to be, married to my brothers, cousins, uncles or any other relatives.
West Virginia is not the poorest state in the country. That honor has been bestowed upon Mississippi. Congrats!
I have all of my teeth. Well, unless you want to get technical- because I did have my wisdom teeth removed. And might I add- my teeth are pretty glorious?
With a 72% highschool graduation rate, WV is actually above the national average.
The movie, Deliverance, (dueling banjos?) has absolutely nothing to do with West Virginia and is actually set in Georgia.
I’m not a coal miner’s daughter.
I don’t say, “ya’ll.”
While there’s still work to be done- we’re not all racists. West Virginia is the only state that was formed by seceding from a Confederate state.
We may not have sports teams, but we’ve got a symphony.

While West Virginia might not be the most cosmopolitan state, it sure is beautiful and there aren’t many people much nicer. They sure aren’t lying when they say, “almost heaven.”

xx,

WhyDid

Beauty Buzz: I’m Only Happy When It Rains

By Kirsten|September 1st, 2011|Beauty Buzz|

This morning I woke up to a most pleasant surprise. No, not breakfast in bed delivered by Brad Pitt (shirtless). I woke up to the sound of pouring rain and skies so dark they trick you into thinking that it can’t possibly already be 9am. The sound of the pouring rain was interrupted only by the intermittent rumble of thunder. Now, I know some of you may be thinking, “What’s wrong with this broad?” No, I’m not channeling Garbage and am only happy when it rains. See, they forget to tell you about all the little things you’ll miss when you head to the West. And when they say, “It never rains in California” it may be a slight exaggeration but even when it does rain there… it certainly doesn’t pour. Nothing compares to the magic of an East Coast thunderstorm.

Enough lamenting. While a good thunderstorm may be good for the soul, it sure as heck isn’t good for the hair. Holy humidity. I also conveniently forgot how insanely humid the East Coast is. I had to call in the heavy artillery.

Alterna Bamboo Smooth Kendi Oil Pure Treatment Oil, $24

I recently discovered Alterna’s Kendi Oil (in a sample no less!) and fell for it right away. It is a double duty beauty product and can be used as a deep conditioner or a styling product to fight frizz as well as breakage. I’ve tested it out both ways and I’d go ahead and skip the “deep conditioner” aspect and just use it as a styling product. (At $24 for 1.7 oz, I’d stick with the coconut conditioner from Target). My hair was much shinier, smoother, and in fact, stronger after just one blowout with Kendi Oil. However, when tackling the most humid weather, I go ahead and skip the straightener and instead sport a loose braid while my hair air dries. This is the perfect way to give your tired tresses a rest and when the rain subsides, you’ll have waves as pretty as the sun.

xx,

WhyDid

Why Did You Eat That: Put Some Pep(peroni) In Your Step

By Kirsten|August 29th, 2011|Recipes, Why Did You Eat That?|

You might have noticed that I’ve been a bit slow with my blogging lately. Well, that’s because I’ve returned to my birthplace. My roots. My home away from home. Wheeling, West by God Virginia. And while I do enjoy laying around lackadaisically, I do not enjoy the fact that my sweet, sweet mother has yet to set up her wireless Internet making me feel as if I am, in fact, in the boondocks.

Anyway, I thought I would share the recipe a little local delicacy known as the pepperoni roll. Here’s the funny thing- I never realized this was a regional delight because while I was born in West Virginia I grew up in Florida. My mom made pepperoni rolls for our school lunches (lot better than a turkey sandwich, eh?) and so I spent my formative years thinking this was a normal thing and everyone’s mom had made them pepperoni rolls at one point or another. That is until I headed to the Big Apple and got the same looks as a person saying, “please” when I mentioned this tasty treat. Upon further research I found that the rest of the world was not privy to pepperoni rolls and so today I’m going to share a wonderfully simple recipe.

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Approximately 5 oz. pepperoni sliced
1 cup marinara sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and separate dough into triangles on non-stick cookie sheet.
Drizzle center of triangle with sauce and arrange pepperoni and cheese on top of sauce.
Roll into a crescent. Repeat for all dough.
Bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Now, I’m aware there are probably some pepperoni roll purists out there shaking their heads and scoffing at my simple recipe– but it’s all I got and it’s pretty damn tasty (in my humble opinion). So, the next time you’re traveling through the great state of West Virginia (HA!) be sure to stop for a snack and make sure it’s a pepperoni roll.

xx,

WhyDid

Why I Can’t Sit Through the VMA’s

By Kirsten|August 28th, 2011|Red Carpet Recap|

Oh sweet heaven above. Perhaps I’m just getting old, but I tuned into the MTV VMA pre-show because you know I love to blog about the oh so crazy fashion on the red carpet. However, after witnessing Justin Bieber arrive with a snake named “Johnson” followed by Nicki Minaj in another one of Lady Gaga’s rejected costumes, I couldn’t take much more. Then Katy Perry showed up with pink hair and Asian garb- complete with parasol- and I’d had enough. I needed to make a cocktail if I was going to attempt to sit through this shit storm. (Irene who?)

When I returned with a Bloody Mary, there was a very strange man performing “You And I.” Was I drunk on vodka fumes alone? Oh, it’s just Gaga.

You know who’s not drunk? Beyonce.