Casey County Apple Festival

This weekend Emily and I headed to Casey county Kentucky for the apple festival! I really do not know that I was fully prepared for all the interesting things I was going to see ;) Emily is from Campbellsville which is about 45 minutes away from Casey county, so she is friends with a lot of people that are from there. We went down to stay at her parents house Friday night and got up Saturday morning to head to the festival.

It was HOT during the day on Saturday. Thankfully our friend Ben was helping out at a booth and we were able to sit under a tent anytime we weren't walking around.

Emily and I at the booth.

I took this picture early on in the day and it doesn't do the amount of people justice. It was crazy! I just kept asking where all these people came from. If you look down the street a little in this picture, you can get a better idea of how crowded it was. There were times when we couldn't even get through the crowd. Take a closer look and you can even see some of Casey countys high fashion. ;)

The apple festival is the home to the worlds largest apple pie! I was so excited to see this thing. This big red box is the oven that it bakes in.

And here it is! As you can see, at this point they were already tearing into it and serving it to the crowd. According to the apple festival website, the pie contains 45 bushels of apples, 300 pounds of pastry, 150 pounds of sugar, 15 pounds of butter, 2.5 pounds of cinnamon, 1.5 pounds of salt and 75 pounds of cornstarch. They bake it at 350 degrees for 12 hours...nuts!

Doug "Sparky" and Emily

Emily and I

Me and Adam

The original plan was to stay for a few hours, but we ended up staying until 11pm that night! We were there for 11 hours total! I did have a great time, but it sure did make me appreciate Lexington :-) Lets just say there are some interesting people that live in Casey county Kentucky!

Have a great week!

Going Private

Hello all! If you follow me on twitter you probably already know that I am switching the blog to private for a little while due to some crazy things happening. I will probably blog a little about that at some point. I opened it up today so this post would feed to whoever reads the blog on google reader. If you want to continue reading, just shoot me an email at jenniferbcochran@aol.com and I will add you. If I do not know you, please give a link to your blog or some other way to identify you and I will be more than happy to put you on the list :) Hate that I have to do this, but for right now it is really necessary.

I have also made my twitter private for a bit. The only way you will be able to see my tweets is if you get on twitter and request to be a follower. You can do that at www.twitter.com/jennifercochran.

Hopefully I will feel safe to open back up the blog soon! Until then, send me an email :)

I'm working on a new post today, so stay tuned for that.

Wordless Wednedsay

Birthdays and Beth Moore

The weekend before last (August 13-14) was crazy, but a good crazy! Friday night I went down to Rupp Arena with some ladies for a Living Proof Live event with Beth Moore! It was incredible to say the least! I kept thinking about how cool it was to be worshiping the Lord with 11,000 other women in an arena that typically worships basketball. It was sobering, and I loved it. Friday night one of my best friends was having her 25th birthday party in downtown Lexington's piano bar, the Penguin. Despite knowing that I had to be up around 6am on Saturday morning I decided to meet her at the Penguin to celebrate! I had such a fun time and was glad that I decided to go. Every time I was about to call it a night, my friend Emily would look at me and say "stay Jen, you are only young once!" I ended up getting home around 3:30am. I am tired just thinking about it.

Britt and me

Emily and me

The next morning I got up at 6am and headed back down to Rupp for day 2 of the Living Proof Live Event. I can say without hesitation that it was worth the lack of sleep! Day 2 was even better than the first night because she tied the whole lesson together. I love the part in a lesson that it all clicks and comes together to make sense, it's my aha moment!

After the last session, a group of us got the opportunity to go backstage and have a small meet and greet with Beth! Oh my word I was so excited. It was completely unexpected! I have always said that if I could meet 2 people it would be Paula Deen and Beth Moore. I need to pinch myself that both dreams came true in the same year.

I am in the back row to the left of Beth :) Can you spot a tired girl in the last row?! Thats me!

Photo credit, Rich Kalonick

Here is a video that Rich put together of the pictures he took from the event! I loved watching it and thought I would share.

LPL Lexington KY from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

PS- Be sure to scroll down if you missed my last post. My cousin started a blog and I think you should read it ;)

New Blog!

Moi, Markey and Kristin (my sister)

My cousin Markey has started a blog! She has such a witty sense of humor and her posts are hysterical. She also blogged a few times about the National Gene Test Fund which is the charity that her sister started after finding out she had the braca1 gene. Hop on over to her blog to hear some funny stories and learn about a charity that really means a lot to our family. Be sure to click her "all about" section, it's amazing and perfectly sums her up!

Click HERE :)

Watch out Lexington!

Look who's coming to town...

My Aunt Cathy and Grandmere will be here Saturday night! They both read the blog so I thought I would give them a little shout out. I am sure I will have all sorts of funny things to post from their trip.

I thought I would share this video of Grandmere that I recorded on a trip to Florida in January. When we were little we used to play the Babysitters Club Game with her. They have a section that is just like charades and I have such great memories of dressing up and acting all the crazy things out. Grandmere would even bring props with her! So we got out the game in January just for fun and she performed a few things for us. Sorry about the shaky camera work, but I was laughing so hard. I hope she doesn't kill me for posting this :) Enjoy!

NYC Recap Day 4 & 5

I lumped day 4 & 5 together because I got light on picture taking by then. :) Sunday was Dana and Sunny's last day so we got up and they spent the morning packing up all of their things. We left the apartment and tried to get in a few last minute stops before they had to head home. We started off by lunch at S'mac. I LOVE S'mac! It is a macaroni and cheese restaurant in the east village and I always make it a point to go when I am in NYC. They have a list of choices but you can also assemble your own. Emily had her macaroni with rosemary and chicken, yum! I opted for the classic 4 cheese. It is really good, fast and cheap relative to most spots in the city.

Sunny and Dana at S'mac

After S'mac we headed uptown a bit to see Central Park. It goes without saying that this is a must do if you are in NYC. We took the subway to about the middle section of the park and came up on the Jackie Onassis reservoir, so beautiful!

Me, Emily and Sunny in front of the reservoir.

We spent about an hour walking the part and probably didn't even get 10% of it covered! You cannot really grasp how big it actually is. You almost forget you are in the middle of such a huge city. The great lawn is located pretty centrally in the park and it always full of people.

After the park we went over to Serendipity 3 to get a frozen hot chocolate! The wait was about an hour long so we walked a block over to check out their Williams Sonoma! You can't keep us away for long :)

Their store was 2 stories! It made our store seem so little.

Sunny checking out their oil tasting bar.

One of Dana's jobs in our store is to check expiration dates and discount any food that is getting ready to expire. I about died when I looked over and she was checking their expiration dates! So funny! I am happy to report that none of the food that we looked at had expired.

Emily with all the yummy cake mixes and baking supplies.

After Williams we headed back to Serendipity and got seated for our dessert! And as usual, it did not disappoint!

Sunny got a sundae that had a ton of fruit and even a slice of lemon pie at the bottom. It was fabulous!

Dana and I both got the famous frozen hot chocolate!

Emily got a sundae that had pecans, fudge and caramel all over it. There was also a piece of pecan pie at the bottom. Oh my gosh, it was good!

After Serendipity it was time to send Dana and Sunny to the airport. We were sad to see them go :( After they left, Emily and I spent some time just relaxing around the apartment. Later that evening we headed down to Tribecca together to buy a gift card for our gracious host, John. I had talked to him earlier in the week and he told me that one of his favorite places to eat is MEGU. So we went there to buy him a gift card. Well, I am adding MEGU to my list of places to check out. We sat in the bar area while we were waiting on our gift card and it had the coolest atmosphere. I am looking forward to actually eating there next time I am in NYC.

After we got the gift card, we headed back over to the meatpacking district to have dinner at Dos Caminos. My cousin Missy had recommended it so we decided to check it out. We got the homemade guacamole (yum!) and chicken tacos. I really enjoyed the meal, but I have determined that I am not a fancy mexican girl. I like the hole in the wall places over the nice places when it comes to mexican. After dinner we headed back to the apartment and hit the sack! We were exhausted!

The next morning we woke up and our first order of business was to get all of John's sheets and towels to the laundry mat. I just couldn't stand the thought of him coming home to a bunch of laundry to do, which is pretty much the only reason we stayed until Monday. The laundry mat was an experience in and of itself! We had both never used a laundry mat so we had to ask how to put the detergent in the machine. Pitiful, I know! But in our defense, these were commercial washers and looked nothing like the washers I have at home.

This is the only picture I have of the day and it just makes me laugh. I'm sure we looked a little out of place :)

After we got everything washed, we headed back to the apartment, took showers and headed to the airport. We were able to catch a direct flight back to Lexington and got home around 8:30 that night. It was the best birthday I have ever had and I am so thankful that I got to spend it with 3 ladies that I really do love!

NYC Recap Day 3

Day 3 we slept in a little later seeing as we were up so late the night before. We managed to get out the door around lunchtime and headed down to Greenwich Village.

When we got to the village they were having a huge street fair! There was a ton of food, clothing and jewelry. It was a lot of fun despite the crazy heat!

We also stopped at grabbed lunch in the village. Emily and Sunny went and ate at a bakery while Dana and I went to get a hotdog at Gray's Papaya. I had always heard about this hotdog place and really wanted to check it out. Unfortunately it really wasn't that great :( Sad, but I was happy to see what all the hype was about

Emily and Sunny at lunch.

After lunch we walked over to Perry Street to see the townhouse used in Sex and the City. This was the exact place they filmed all the exterior shots of Carries apartment, pretty cool!

Me, Emily and Sunny outside the apartment.

Of course any trip to Greenwich village would not be complete without a Magnolia Bakery cupcake!

Me and Emily waiting in line at Magnolia.

After the cupcake we walked back over to the street fair so we could buy some things. I ended up with some new earrings and a new ring for a grand total of $8! Score! Cute and cheap jewelry is my friend.

Sunny and Emily

Me and Emily (and I am wearing my new earrings!)

After the day in the village we walked over to Bobby Flay's restaurant, MESA grill, for an early dinner. It was good, but not great. My pork had really good flavor but was cold when it got to the table. I will say that the goat cheese appetizer was fabulous! Again, this is one of those places that I am glad I went, but wouldn't necessarily feel the need to go to again. I didn't take one single picture from dinner, whoops! I think at this point my little camera needed a break :)

We got back to the apartment after dinner and then it was time for the 80's prom! Fair warning, there are a lot of pictures coming up, so if big crimped hair and hot pink is offensive to you, turn away now!

Dana let Emily do her hair. Em had to stop a few times and bend over because she was laughing so hard that she thought she was going to pee her pants!

Dana and me walking to the prom. I borrowed my dress from one of my high school teachers and it was perfect! Sunny brought a conair hair crimper straight from the 80's, hilarious!

Sunny and Emily

Emily and me

The 80's prom is an interactive show. So the cast is dressed up as either high schoolers or teachers and actually dance and participate with you! This is Emily with the nerd from school. He carried around that rubix cube all night!

Here is the principal and teacher making announcements. These 2 stayed in character the whole time! He wore those binoculars around his neck and would stand on stage looking through them. He would even break up dancing if it got too crazy.

If you grew up in the 80's-early 90's you will recognize this guy! Screech was the special guest at the prom and I was dying laughing. He was the nerd on my all time favorite tv show growing up, Saved by the Bell.

The prom was a blast and I am so glad we did it!

After the prom we were all hungry (notice the trend of eating! Ha, we ate a ton!) so we went back and washed off as much makeup as we could, changed and then went up to Times Square. We ate at Juniors Cheesecake. It was really good and moderately priced. They even brought me a sundae for my birthday treat. This is definitely not fine dining, but if you are in the city and want a good burger with a good dessert, then I would recommend trying it out.

Me and Sunny at Juniors.

Emily and Dana at Juniors

By this point it was almost 2am and I really don't think my feet could have held out any longer, so we went back to the apartment to get a good nights sleep.

Next up...day 4!

NYC Recap Day 2

We all got up on Friday morning, took showers and hit the town. Since I was one of the only girls that had ever been to NYC, I turned into the tour guide for the weekend, which I loved! So I mapped out our route for the day and off we went!

Emily and me on the subway.

Sunny and Dana on the subway.

We got off the subway in Soho and spent a little time looking at all of the neat shops. Then we made our way down to the little Italy/China town area. We spotted a cute little restaurant just outside little Italy called the Village Tart and decided it looked like a great place to grab lunch. It was so quaint and perfect. We all got something different, which is always fun if you want to share your plates.

Me and Sunny at lunch.

Emily and Dana at lunch (typical Dana, avoiding the camera).

After lunch we spent some time exploring little Italy/China town and then took the subway all the way downtown to the battery. We had every intention of taking the ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island but the line was so long that we decided it wasn't worth the long wait. It seriously would have been a few hours out of our day, and we just didn't have the time. So we settled for the view from the shore. You can barely see the statue in this picture, it is poking out of the top of Sunny's head. We were sad that we didn't get to go see it, but all agreed that the view from the shore would have to suffice.

Next up we got back on the subway and started making our way to Times Square. We had to be in line at the TKTS booth (the 50% off ticket booth) by 3:00. We took a little bit of a detour and stopped at Grand Central Station. This is a must see if you are in NYC, it is absolutely beautiful! I am kicking myself that I didn't get better pictures of it. I did however manage to snap a picture of this wall. It was made up entirely of post it notes! You can read more about the wall here.

Dana, me and Sunny in Grand Central.

After Grand Central we started walking over to Times Square. We took a roundabout way to get there in order to walk by Rockefeller Center. We even stopped by some souvenir shops. Sunny and Emily are modeling their finds.

Dana and I stood in line at the ticket booth and let Emily and Sunny explore Times Square, since they had never been to the city. It took about an hour to get through the line, but the wait was worth it as we got 50% off tickets to see Promises, Promises later that evening!

After Times Square we headed uptown a bit to go by Dylan's Candy Bar. Wow, if you love candy, then this is your spot! I didn't get many pictures of the inside, but even the wallpaper has candy on it. It really does look like something out of Willy Wonka. I had a chocolate dipped pretzel from this fountain, yum!

After Dylan's we decided to go over to Tao for an early dinner. We had made reservations for later that evening, but didn't think we would have time to get ready and then make it to the show on time, so we moved up the reservation. Tao was incredible! By far my favorite meal from the trip. I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a great dinner in the city.

All the ladies at dinner.

After dinner we went back to the apartment, got ready and then headed to the show!

Sunny and Emily in the taxi en route to the show. We splurged on a taxi because we were running a tad late (not surprising thinking about 4 girls getting ready in one bathroom).

I was always in the front of the taxi because I was the only one with any clue where we were going :)

Sunny, me and Emily outside the show.

Sunny, Dana and me outside the show.

We LOVED the show! It was great for a group of girls. We laughed our tails off! One of my friends that goes to NYC a lot suggested that we go to the stage doors during the bows if we wanted to meet Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. I thought it sounded like fun so we left during the bows and ended up being one of the first people outside the stage door. I am so glad we left a little early because the minute the show ended the line filled up!

Emily and me waiting for Sean and Kristin!

Kristin Chenoweth! (also, no clue why my text changed color here??)

Sean Hayes! As you can see, we were up close and personal with them! They were both super friendly and signed our playbills.

The view of Times Square from the theater.

After the show we were all a little hungry since we had dinner around 5:30. So we walked over to the Ellen's Stardust Diner on broadway. I would highly recommend doing this! The waiters would walk around singing and the food was great too! This was the perfect after show snack spot.

Me and Sunny at the diner.

After the diner we were ready to hit the town! A friend that used to live in NYC emailed me and told me to check out the Hotel Gansevoort rooftop bar. So we went down to the meatpacking district to see what it was all about.

This was the view from the top, incredible!

Sunny, me and Emily at the rooftop bar.

Sunny and Emily

Dana (classic, eyes closed) and me.

We ended up staying there until almost 4:30am when they closed! I don't think I have ever had that much fun at a bar, and I wasn't even drinking! We danced the whole time and just kept looking out over the city. So so fun! Check it out if you are in NYC and want a fun bar to go to!

Next up...day 3!