Day 211

Blurb: I'm becoming a regular movie watcher.

Backstory: I'm the first to admit it, I've never had amazing taste in movies. I prefer slap stick and gross humor over Oscar winners any day of the week. This is something you could probably predict by looking at the ticket stub pictured in today's post: Bad Teacher. It fit perfectly into my type casting categories, just like the other movie I saw this year, Bridesmaids.
This movie was exactly like I expected; short, kind of funny and very predictable. While that may sound like a negative review, it wasn't that bad. I went pretty much assuming that's what the movie could be like and my assumptions were confirmed within the first five minutes when greedy Cameron Diaz is dumped by her rich fiance and forced to go back to teaching.
From the moment Jason Segel is introduced as the gym teacher, who also likes to make fun of people, you know they're going to end up together. As for Justin Timberlake, I wasn't really a fan of his character and the performance was so-so. People are saying he's the next big comedy star but I'm not so sure. This was just something about his performance that was very fake.
Overall I'm glad I saw the movie because it was nice, simple time where I could just zone out and laugh. There were no expectations, and many times that can turn out to be a very good thing. What I'm trying to say is if you go see this movie just turn your brain off and enjoy yourself.

Day 210

Blurb: It's hard being a scaredy cat when you're a dog.

Backstory: While Ginger may have the beauty, courage and appearance of a guard dog, she is clearly not meant for protecting. If you couldn't tell those statements were sarcastic please stop reading now. In fact she's exactly the opposite; a cute, little nugget who's scared of her shadow and loves to be by some one's side when there's lots of thunder or strangers. She also loves spending time under my bed. For some odd reason out of the four beds and numerous couches in the house she chooses to sleep under mine.
The picture you see above is what happens in a thunder storm. When the radar lights up with red and pink she goes running under my bed, bound and determined to spend the rest of the night hiding. I'm happy to let her stay there but it can get a little crowded when the storms get really loud and Sadie also decides she needs to be under the bed. Luckily Sadie decided to saddle up next to me on the couch for the storm's duration, leaving Ginger in her happy place under my bed.

Day 209

Blurb: Having dinner with The 365 Project's biggest fan: my aunt Lilly.

Backstory: I don't know what it is about margaritas and Tres Potrillios; it's like I'm a moth and they're the inescapable bug zapper to which I'm drawn. For the second time in five days I've ended up there by accident. Granted, a lot of my trips to gorge myself in Mexican food and tequila are planned, but just as many of them are not. Originally Lilly, mom and I were going to go downtown to a different restaurant but somehow that got pushed to the side and we went crawling back to our steady.
We kind of had a reason, Lilly had never been there and it was a day that ended in "y." An interesting thing to mention, I actually had a first at Tres today: I ordered desert. It's something I seldom do at restaurants, normally I eat so much at dinner it feels like I'm a food sausage waiting to explode and there's no way more food could fit in.
Today I cast those feelings aside and saddled up to a plate of fried churos and ice cream with Lilly. I must say we were both impressed, they were amazing. They came fresh out of the oven and had the best fried dough taste. Very light but still full of flavor and full of butter with a little cinnamon on top. Couple that with cold ice cream covered in chocolate syrup and you have one delicious experience.
So Lilly, I hope you're reading this and I hope you had a great time with us. We really enjoyed your visit!

Day 208

Blurb: Nothing is as comforting as this image.

Backstory: Growing up you have your favorite food and a must have blanket, chances are you also have a favorite movie, and what you see above is mine. For as long as I can remember Big Business has been one of my favorite movies. Now I won't bore you with the plot details, let's just say it involves two sets of twins getting switched at birth then meeting in a hilarious bathroom situation thirty years later in the Plaza Hotel. While I don't really need a reason to watch the movie I was given one today: it was only $5 on BluRay at Target.
For me watching this movie is a very reminder from my childhood. Growing up it was one of two movies I'd watch at my grandma's house in Indiana. She had taped it off the tv using her VCR and the only time I would watch Big Business was on a trip to her house. It was one of my favorite things about going over there; watching Big Business, Kindergarten Cop and eating butter cookies.

Day 207

Blurb: Hello pretty girl.

Backstory: I know she has an adorable face, and I'm hoping to learn more about it. I've just started reading a new book about the origins of dogs; it will eventually tell me how help Sadie be alone better, which is something she needs. I tell this story today because: 1. I just started reading this book and 2. She let out a crazy squeal today that rocked me out of a dead sleep. It will be very interesting to see if she squeals as much when we move away from mom and dad, because right now she loves doing it. It's kind of like a baby that just realizes it can scream.

Day 206

Backstory: I should have posted a picture of Logan and Mikaela but this one was too funny.

Blurb: Let me start out by saying Happy Birthday Mikaela! I was luckily enough to accompany the Thorpe family on their birthday outing for Hawaiian BBQ. It's always a fun time to see them because this little guy pictured above takes all their time. The last time I saw Logan was a couple weeks ago, and while that doesn't seem like a long time it made a major difference; he's now walking and doesn't sit down. It's hilarious to watch him walk around because he sticks out his little belly and runs. I have no idea why but it's the cutest thing in the world. I was originally going to post one of the adorable pictures of Mikaela with Logan, but this one was too funny. We look like we're making the same face.

Day 205

Blurb: Epic volleyball fail.

Backstory: Right beyond the haze lies what should have been my first Sunday night volleyball game. Instead central Ohio got hit by major storm, some parts of our area got over three inches. The rain started out slow, just dripping on everyone, our team even had a short warm up before the rain just dumped. It was kind of funny because the place where we play has a small pool with a bar and all the drunk people didn't know what to do with themselves. Because of my schedule I couldn't stay to wait out the rain delay, so this is what I got. So much rain.

Day 204

Blurb: Ribs, I had ribs for lunch.

Backstory: It doesn't matter how hot it is, Columbus is ready to have a festival where you eat outside. Today it was the Jazz and Rib festival down at North Bank, it's the first time I've been to an event in this part of town and it was fantastic. My friend Brian and I went and ate a ton of meat and enjoyed the glowing green grass of the park.

Day 203

Blurb: Happy restaurant week!

Backstory: I love restaurant week, but this time around I haven't been able to hit up as many places. While this is disappointing it's good for my waistline and my wallet, which both have a habit of expanding during this week. Tonight my friend Vanessa (see two weeks ago for Sunday brunch at Lindey's) went to a new Italian restaurant called Cibo. The evening did start out with a fail; we originally planned to go to Moretti's in Upper Arlington but apparently you needed reservations, so we headed to Cibo instead.
I was pleasantly surprised by this little place. It was one of the three we'd passed over to go to Moretti's but it proved its worth. The appetizer I had was some sort of fried risotto with prosciutto, and it was amazing. The texture was fantastic and who doesn't love fried pasta filled with meat. Next was the handmade gnocchi, which was good but not the stand out of the meal. This was followed by a scoop of chocolate hazelnut ice cream that was a nice smooth ending to the meal. If you're looking for a little place to go in northwest Columbus, I'd recommend it especially because the owners are really nice.

Day 202

Blurb: It's getting hot in here and I'm not talking about a Nelly song.

Backstory: Today was a big milestone for the city of Columbus, it's the hottest day we've had since August of 2007. This picture was taken just before 7pm in my car, I know that can skew the temperature but it did reach 97 today without humidity. What's ironic is that I found it much hotter in the morning when I left work than I did in the evening when this picture was taken. Right when I left work around 10am, it felt like a blanket of humidity had been laid over central Ohio.
None of this is me complaining, it's just stating the facts. Unlike the cold weather over the winter, which I lamented, I can deal with the hot weather even when it's like this. Whenever people say you can always put on more layers when it's cold I get mad because I always put on more layers but remain cold. In the summer the heat relaxes your body and the sun stays out more. I would take summer over winter any day of the week, so happy heatwave everyone!

Day 201

Blurb: I don't care that it's over 90 degrees, let's turn on the oven!

Backstory: With mom and dad out of town there's no one here to eat the extra bananas. I'm very particular about this fruit, I won't eat it if it's too ripe or too green; so my window is very small. Three last little bananas have been hanging out in the kitchen and I kind of felt bad about wasting food. I mean there are starving kids in the third world that would be happy to have them. Beside for actually being an adult and eating them there was only one option: make chocolate chip banana bread.
I'm not a fan of normal banana bread because it has walnuts and I do not believe in mixing nuts into baked goods. This is a quick way to ruin a pan of brownies or desert bread. Instead I throw in a cup of chocolate chips and BLAMO, a delicious morning treat that will easily last me through the weekend. I'm pretty excited about eating this for breakfast tomorrow, hopefully the extra chocolate chips I added will make it even tastier.

Day 200

Blurb: Why hello there friend.

Backstory: Right now Columbus is in the midst of a heat wave. We've had four or five days of temperatures in the 90s, which is a technical "heat wave." This means you need to drink lots and lots of water to stay hydrated, plus you need a couple beers on the side to keep relaxed. In this kind of weather I can't drink Sam Adams Summer or any of those non-light beers because they just feel too heavy. So yes, I go for watered down beer. I don't care what you say it is refreshing.
I'm trying to make a very important decision: which light beer will be my "steady." Since I've been able to drink my go to has been Bud Light, but I've seem to have lost a taste for the sweet stuff. Recently I've been ordering a lot of Miller Lite when I'm at restaurants so I decided to bring a six pack home to snuggle up with. So far they've been ok, not really hitting the spot. Next half dozen will be Mich Ultra, which I've had some good experiences with. So lift your glass to this unseasonably warm weather.

Day 199

The worst thing about the day after a trip is what you see here, the mess. I have no clean clothing to wear to work tomorrow, so today it's all about rushing to get clothing for tomorrow. So wish us luck as Sadie, Miller Lite and I are looking to do work son!

Day 198

Blurb: This picture is pretty hot, what can I say I'm a fashion plate at 9am.

Backstory: Today's post is much more about the story than the picture. Like Friday I spent most of today traveling between Columbus and Buffalo. I was planning for an incredibly boring day, then someone caught my attention out of the corner of my eye at the Buffalo airport. Actually it was two people, a blond woman with shaggy hair and another woman with brown hair and super expensive jeans. The pair looked like hippies with their shaggy clothing, wavy hair and both were wearing sunglasses. While they looked like hippies there was something different about the pair, their clothing was nice and clean. As I mentioned before one of them was wearing expensive jeans, the True Religion pair she was rocking had to be around $200 and they weren't something you normally see in Buffalo.
As I was waiting to get my ticket scanned it hit me, "I think that's Melissa Etheridge." She just had this really familiar look and let's be honest a rocking lesbian couple, no matter how discreet, just sends out a different vibe catching a flight at 11am. I sat through the whole flight wondering if it was her, then when the plane landed in Detroit I decided with 95% positivity it was her. In an effort to snap a picture and get an autograph I got out of my seat early and pretty much chased her up the jet way. I got ahold of her assistant/handler and asked the million dollar question, "Is that Melissa Etheridge." She quietly said yes it was and when I asked if I could have a picture she politely said, "Sorry she doesn't take pictures in airports."
I was kind of disappointed when this happened because it would have made the story better and I wanted to get her autograph for my friend Katie who's a big fan. But unfortunately she wouldn't come to my window. So instead I went to Wendy's, and you would think this is where the story ends but it doesn't. As I'm quietly enjoying my burger I notice a man with a huge pumpkin head coming off the walking escalators and it's Newt Gingrich. Yes, the current presidential candidate, former speak of the house and all around large headed man was 10 feet away from me as I slammed my post-hangover burger.
I couldn't really believe it because I was only ten minutes from my Melissa Etheridge heart break, and there was another famous person cruising through the Detroit airport. I mean come on, this is Detroit we're talking about. So there you go. A boring picture but a story that I find very amusing and if you see me in person, especially at a party, get ready to hear it.

Day 197

Blurb: Thank goodness they remembered to bring Jack Sparrow to the party.

Backstory: Happy Wedding! This is the day we've all been waiting for, meet Mr. and Mrs. Todd Holbein. They've been together for almost six years and while we all knew they'd eventually get married even though Tina would always downplay marriage whenever it was mentioned. I don't know why but they never really talked about the future openly, until it was time for Tina to move to Chicago for her doctoral program. When Todd decided to make the move we knew that meant they were in for the long haul.
They're such an easy going couple and it was great to see them finally tie the knot. Part of me wanted to post more pictures from the day but I decided this was the one to go with. The photographer had ushered them outside for pictures by the sunset then somehow someone found a Jack Sparrow character running around the patio. It was one of the funniest things I've seen in a while because he was so realistic. He had every little twitch and the character's appearance down to a tea. We somehow hustled the actor over to Tina and Todd during their photo shoot and needless to say he definitely killed the romance but he took the fun up a notch.

Day 196

Blurb: Pick out any song about an airplane you can think of.

Backstory: With my suitcase finally packed I'm headed to Buffalo for Tina and Todd's wedding. Unlike most of my friends headed up north I decided to fly and not drive. As a general rule if it's over a four hour drive I like to fly because I hate sitting in a car for that long. I've tried everything to combat commuter boredom; books on tape, new music and books on tape but nothing has been able to keep me from going nuts. I also have the problem of falling asleep during really long drives, so the six hours to Buffalo presented a problem.
There's also something really fun about going to the airport, I get this sense of adventure whenever I get past security. When you look at this picture there are endless possibilities with this little pond skipper plane. It may only have fifty seats but it's taking me some place away from home where adventure is sure to wait.

Day 195

This is not a very productive way to start packing, but it is a very effective at making you avoid packing. I was going to spend the night getting ready for my trip to Buffalo tomorrow but instead mom and I went to Tres Potrillios. At least I have a few hours tomorrow after work.

Day 194

Blurb: Say hello to old school punishment.

Backstory: During the day I sleep between four and five hours, then I get up do a few things and go back to bed around 8pm. Split system is something that works for me but it doesn't fly with everyone who works the overnight shift. Most of the time this goes off without a hitch, but Sadie is known to get a little restless during the day. This can translate into an earlier wake up call for this girl. Today Sadie decided to wake me up about three hours into my nap. Needless to say I'm not happy about this but I wanted to get a little humor out of it, so here she is with her punishment.

Day 193

Blurb: If we had drank another pitcher this little lady would have come home with us.

Backstory: Today Mom and I committed the cardinal sin of pet ownership: we visited Petland and held puppies. This is a totally acceptable if you don't have a dog at home, but if you do it's pretty much the animal version of cheating on your spouse. You come home and they smell the scent of another animal on your clothes, and they known.
As someone who has a rescue dog, I know going to Petland is the worst thing you can do as a lover of animals. But, after two beers it's a lot of fun to go over there and snuggle the little bundles of joy you know will never come home with you. This little lady is a chiuaua/daschund, more commonly known as a chiwiennie. She only weighed a pound and was so cute and sweet. The only thing that kept us from bringing her home was the fact that Sadie would kill a puppy. It's a harsh reality put it's true. So to make up for our animal holding sins mom bought the girls bones, needless to say they were pleased and forgot about our indiscretions.

Day 192

Blurb: This is what we like to call tv magic.

Backstory: Whenever you're watching Martha Stewart or Rachael Ray you see them pull out finished products from under their Mary Poppins credenzas. Do you need a finished torte? Why I have it right here along with a matching cocktail and perfect Kate Spade china. These things are filled with gifts for the viewing audience, you might think it's all done by some little person bakery hiding under there, like maybe something out of Willy Wonka. It's actually done by a whole staff that you never see; they run through the shadows known only as the mystical creatures known as producers.
All those amazing things you are made by people before hand. While Martha and Rachael have teams of people who make their magic happen, Good Day just has Julia and sometimes me. Tonight it's my turn to make some special things happen, I made a special syrup for homemade soda. What you see above is the beginning of the slurry that turns into the flavoring of the soda. It all starts with smashing lots of raspberries and mixing sugar, then you do some boiling and some straining. With the cloak of mystery I was able to finish the soda in about a half an hour with mom's help. Hopefully this stuff turns out good, if not I hope everyone's acting chops are sharp.

Day 191

Blurb: I'm getting out and meeting my new neighbors.

Backstory: It's still two months before I move but I'm enjoying this time to explore my new street, which is filled with restaurants. One of the best places in the city is just six doors down from me and I've been wanting to try it for months; the only problem is it's kind of classy and that's not something I'm known for. Luckily my classy friend Vanessa was willing to go to brunch with me and escort me into the world of fine dining.
Lindey's reportedly has the best patio in town and I must say it did live up to it's reputation. Granted, it was pretty hot when we went (thanks you Vanessa for sitting in the sun) but sitting out there was well worth it. As for the food it was pretty good. I had this skillet thing with hash browns, spinach, a crab cake, a fried egg and hollandaise sauce. It wasn't overly rich and the crab cake was delicious. I'm looking forward to trying some more stuff on the menu, mostly the french toast. The only problem is I'm not going to be able to go in my white trash clothes.

Day 190

You are looking at the most patient dunk tank participant in the world. She sat there for a half hour while little kids ran up and hit the button to drop her in the tank. Dunks should be earned and these little suckers were clearly cheating. So this one's for you Monica, you have more patients than I ever could.

Day 189

Blurb: I don't know about you but I enjoy it when my burgers have street cred.

Backstory: Today I've finally wrapped up all my work now I'm ready to just rest and get two full nights of sleep. Luckily Jenny's in town and she's my willing partner in crime, and by crime I mean eating out. For months people have been talking about Graffiti Burger, I just haven't gotten around to going. It's the same concept as Five Guys where you get one or two patties and tons of toppings; in my opinion it's better than Five Guys.
The burger was really good and incredibly greasy (which is a good thing). The cheese fries were the only thing lacking in the entire meal and that was because the cheese and fries were so hot it was like eating tasteless lava. I seriously felt like a glutton after I finished the meal but it was a nice way to entire the weekend.

Day 188

Blurb: Putting my nose to the grindstone.

Backstory: This is the view I soaked up for part of the morning and most of the evening. I have four stories due tomorrow, luckily I finished three of them and sent them off this evening. The fourth story is still in the works, the first draft is finished but I want to sleep on it because it's a more complicated study. I wish I had more to tell you but these last 24 hours have been spent writing and trying to shake my cold.

Day 187

Blurb: This is a bag full of work.

Backstory: This is a busy week for me, all my stories for 614 are due at the end of the week. Today I took down one of my assignments by heading to the thrift store to write a piece on a local thrift store blogger. This girl is absolutely adorable (make sure to read the story next month), and she makes thrift store clothes chic. This bag is filled with the stuff we bought that might be photographed for the story, it looks kind of crazy but it will make sense later. On a side note, I found an amazing JCrew bag for only $10, when it was first sold in the store it was around $40.

Day 186

Blurb: It's old folk remedy time.

Backstory: I've been feeling under the weather for a couple days and I'm really looking for any way to kick this cold. I've pumped pretty much every over the counter medicine into my body on a regular 24 hour cycle, so far they're having meager results. Of course this meant I did a little complaining at work. A co-worker bragged about never getting sick, his secret: swabbing his ears three times a week with hydrogen peroxide (it should be noted his guy isn't a crazy old man).
Apparently there's a theory floating around some parts of the Internet claiming colds don't come in through your mouth or nose they come in through your ears. The theorists say your nose and mouth are hot enough to kill the germs that enter the body, the ears on the other hand are cold and an open passage way to your body. This is why cleaning your ears with hydrogen peroxide keeps you from getting sick, it kills the germs just waiting for a one-way ticket to your lungs.
This really attractive picture is me jumping into the cotton swabbing world of cleaning my ears. It was a really refreshing sensation, if you've ever used alcohol swabs on your freshly pierced ears it's like; it kind of bubbled but not too much. I did feel better when I woke up from my pre-work nap, my ears didn't hurt as much as they had before. Apparently you can find crazy theories that work on the Internet.

Day 185

Blurb: Happy 4th of July.

Backstory: It's hard to appreciate holidays when you're working them but today I did get a small reminder of what this day is all about. Right now American Amanda Knox is going through the appeals process for her murder conviction in Italy. The trial has been very suspicious and Knox's parents weighed in with their feelings saying they didn't agree with the decisions that have been made so far.
Well now her parents are on trial for slander, speaking their minds about the decisions made against their daughter. I'm not here to pass judgement on innocents or guilt, but I'm very happy to say that we live in a country were we're allowed to say we think the court made a bad decision.

Day 184

Blurb: This is a rare occurrence, I actually sat down and watched a movie.

Backstory: Today I just laid low, mom and dad were out of town all weekend and I'm not feeling well. I pretty much spent the day on the couch watching tv, I spent so much time there I actually decided to watch a movie I rented from the library. For some reason I'm not big on sitting through movies, I'm much more of a tv person and I can't explain why. In fact I can't even remember the last movie I sat through a movie that wasn't in the theaters.
Today's flick was the classic Cool Hand Luke with Paul Newman, my first exposure to one of America's best actors outside of his organic treats. Newman did live up to every handsome remark that's ever been made, plus he had a very voice. The most surprising part of the movie was how they were able to advice the story with little dialogue. When you watch it you realize there's not a lot of talking, but there's a lot of physical acting. It wasn't my favorite movie but I did appreciate it.

Day 183

Blurb: Too bad this was the best part of my meal, it's the worst fast food item you can eat in America.

Backstory: As a general rule I don't eat at Outback Steakhouse, I'm not crazy about the food and it's notorious for having a high calorie count. But I'm happy to go if someone suggests it because, let's be honest, I just like eating out. Megan and Brian had some wedding gift cards so it was graciously off to the Outback for dinner. Let's just say I was reminded of why I don't eat there, none of us finished our food and Brian and I refused to take our leftovers home. Plus, we're pretty sure our server was on something.

Day 182

Blurb: In real life you can't pick up a Smurf because there's actually a person in there.

Backstory: Today marks the halfway point in the year, and I actually did something pretty cool, even if it was unintentional. The Smurfs movie is coming out this weekend and part of the promotional campaign was bring in three little costumed characters to play with our anchors. This is me with Papa Smurf, Smurfette and Clumsy Smurf. The funniest thing about this is that each of these characters is actually a high school cheerleader. The costumes require a very specific size: you have to be under 5'3 and under a size four and of course the perfect sized person for this is a high school cheerleader.
It was extremely cute because they couldn't see very well with the costume heads on so we had to lead them around. So I was holding a little smurf hand and walking them through the studio. It's probably one of the funniest things I've ever done just because you know these are high school girls, yet these are your favorite characters from childhood come to life. So in my mind I'm just going to pretend that I was holding hands with the real Clumsy Smurf.

Day 181

Blurb: I can seriously not stop creepin' on my new place.

Backstory: For the second time in one week I had dinner at what appears to be my favorite restaurant in the city: Dirty Franks. Jenny and I decided mom finally needed to visit and even thought we were very disappointed in her hot dog choice we had a good time. My little sister spends most of her week in Cincinnati so she's never seen my new place, lucky for us it's only about 10 blocks away from Dirty Franks (this does not bode well for my future).
For the second time in about two weeks I went to my new place and walked around the court yard; let's be honest with ourselves this is very creepy and I know that. I just open the little gate and walk right in like I'm already living there and take people to walk around the house. Thank goodness the tenants who live there right now always keep the blinds closed or else I would have the police called on me. When they move out in August I'm seriously considering getting a jump start on weeding the flower beds and planting flowers. This might require a call to the land lord so my new neighbors don't think I'm super crazy (even though I might be).

Day 180

Blurb: Look at me being an industrious little feature reporter.

Backstory: Even though I've had a couple stories appear in a local magazine I've never been to one of their editorial meeting, but tonight I broke that streak. They had a meeting for their August issue and I went in there, made a couple pitches and ended up with my biggest load of assignments yet. It's pretty exciting but I'm also a little nervous because I have four stories to get done in one week. Working in tv you get used to working on a deadline so this shouldn't be a big deal, but I do have some butterflies.

Day 179

Blurb: Some days you just run out of everything.

Backstory: This week has already started off being a little difficult because my sleeping schedule didn't click correctly on Sunday night. When you work the graveyard shift if that first night of correcting your sleep doesn't go well your week can be very rough. I've been trying to right my sleeping ship but it hasn't gone very well, and today I just needed to catch up on the essentials; that meant picking up prescriptions from Target, grocery shopping and getting my reserves from the library. For someone who works normal hours this wouldn't have been a big deal but my schedule only allows for one activity a night and this trifecta of stops was mine.

Day 178

Blurb: This is what fried Kool-Aid looks like.

Backstory: The best thing about summer is that people get more creative with the things they can fry. This year's new fried food trend is fried Kool-Aid and being that I work in local tv, we put the challenge out there for a chef to come in and make it. This is definitely a more high class version of what they'll serve at the fair; the chef created these little balls by adding Kool-Aid to benya batter then filled them with a Kool-Aid jelly and rolled them in packets of Kool-Aid.
Don't get me wrong, I grew up loving this stuff but it was a little bit too much, even for me. The actual ball filled with jelly was ok but the raw mix took the creation over the edge, and it was not an edge I was pleased with. For all the adults out there who don't remember raw Kool-Aid is actually very tart, hence why we add tons and tons of sugar. My final verdict is that I would not waste your money on this if you see it at the state fair, it's probably the biggest food hoax there.