Tastykake® Kandy Bar Kakes Review

Tastykake® Kandy Bar Kakes

 Just wanted to write a quick review for Tastykake's new Kandy Bar Kakes. I just tried the "S'mores" flavor this morning, and let me say it was soft and delicious! It's been a while since I've had a snack cake, and I'm also still recovering from my tonsillectomy (full post on that soon!) so this is just my opinion with my taste buds now.

Chomp!

Since my throat is still sore, half of a bar was a good size for me, but I'm sure devouring the whole thing will be no problem in the future! One cake is 260 calories, which is about the same as a regular candy bar but less than a slice of cake or some of the more decadent cupcakes. I think this is a quick snack or dessert to grab if you want something easy and sweet. Definitely goes into the treat category, but we all need that every so often. (I usually "treat" myself once a day, either with sweets or other small pick me up purchases).

I'd be really interested to see how the flavors come out in the York and Reese's kakes! Hopefully Harris Teeter or Safeway carries them so I can do my own taste test. A box usually runs for $4.49 or $1.69 for a single bar.

Check out all the flavors and more at:
www.tastykake.com

 I received this product complimentary for testing and review purposes from Influenster.

Dinner with Andrew WK (+ my obsession with Andrew WK)

I was trying to think of a way to split this into two blog posts, but to keep it chronological and consistent, I thought it would just be easier to start from the beginning. If you're here just to read about the dinner, scroll down, I clearly labeled where that part starts.

It all started when I first heard of Andrew WK. I remember watching "Party Hard" and "She Is Beautiful" on MTV after school one day. I've never seen anything like it before and loved it. For some crazy reason I never actually bought "I Get Wet" in high school and Andrew fell off my radar. Flash forward 7 or so years later when I'm out of college and on my second year internship in Washington, DC. I'm checking my email and I see that Andrew WK is playing a show at the Sixth & I synagogue in Washington, DC with Calder Quartet. Tickets were cheap and I thought it would be fun. A few weeks later the venue ended up changing to the middle of nowhere in Virginia. I was still determined to go. I took a metro and walked a few miles to the venue. It was a strange coffee shop/venue. I got some spinach and artichoke dip (good show snack right?) and sat down. The show was awesome. Andrew played piano and sung his classics that I still knew from high school, but he was backed by an amazing string quartet. They also played more classical arrangements. It was definitely a one of a kind show, so I just had to stay for the meet and greet afterward. I was in line and knew I would miss the last metro, but I stayed anyway. The quartet guys were awesome to talk to, but this post is about Andrew. He was so friendly and genuinely enthused to meet everyone. I got a signed poster and a picture and merrily went on my $60 cab ride back to the city.



From that meeting I was hooked on Andrew as a performer, artist, entertainer and human being. I instantly scoured the internet to get copies of his old stuff and discover his newer albums. I read all the ridiculous conspiracy theories, read into all the motivational speaking and other work he has been doing all over the world. He is truly an inspiration and the party king. It wasn't long until I started following Andrew on twitter and getting his tweets sent to my phone. One night I checked my feed and saw he was performing for FREE at 8am for DC101's Kegs and Eggs. I of course woke up early, dragged myself to the 9:30 Club and got in the super long line. Andrew WK started the show and it was amazing! Complete high energy so early in the morning! He played maybe 5 songs but it was perfect. As soon as it was over I rushed to work, and even made it in on time.


It wasn't long before I found out about the Party Crew Street Team. I officially joined the Party Crew on May 26, 2010. I thought it would be a good way to spread the word about the new stuff Andrew was doing while also earning points to get free merchandise. Since joining I've gotten a pack of buttons, stickers and a t-shirt. (I'm currently just sitting on a whole bunch of points, because I don't know what to get next).

Andrew also does live chats every week. I've written about them before and try to watch them as often as possible. He does lots of giveaways and contests on there too. I won a PARTY HARD patch for correctly guessing Dave Thomas as the restaurant mascot he was thinking of.



My Andrew obsession only grew...

I wrote about my Warped Tour experience which was amazing!

I painted my boyfriend's truck for a street team order:

I dressed as Andrew for the Rally to Restore Sanity:

I also dressed as Andrew for Halloween (complete with bloody nose makeup):

I won a spot on his guestlist at Santos Party House to see Cherie Lily and Aleister X perform while he DJed:

I dug around until I found enough information to get free tickets to The Most Interesting Show in the World, which he hosted and also performed with his full band:

Family, friends and co-workers started asking me more about Andrew and my obsession so clearly I was doing my street teaming properly. A few months after joining the party crew, Andrew announced the Dinner Contest where he would fly the top street teamer and a guest to New York for one night and have dinner with them. I never really thought I would win, and just did every single order I could to spread the word of Party.

At the end of 2010 it was announced that they would be picking the contest winner soon, and it would be based on most orders completed. If you looked at just points I wasn't the top, but I was still in the top 3. Then they revealed the top 5 people with the most orders completed. And there was my name at the #1 spot with 73 orders completed. I couldn't believe it! I still didn't want to get my hopes up though. They said they would announce the winner in a couple weeks on one of the livechats. I was fully concentrated on watching that night when my boyfriend came in right as they were going to announce the winner. I literally squealed with delight, shock and awe when he said my name! I couldn't believe it! I won!

I got a congratulations confirmation from Andrew and his assistant and it said they would organize all the details in a few months. Flash forward to April and I got an email asking me for my available dates, my guest and any information they needed to know. I gave her my best weekends and before I knew it, we had Saturday, May 14 as our dinner date.

Now, since I live in Washington, DC getting a flight to New York seems silly when I can just take the train. The flight is less than an hour, but once you add in getting there and going through security you have just as much time and double the stress. So before I knew it I was sent an Amtrak reservation for that weekend along with the hotel details. About a week before the dinner date, the location was finally revealed. Big Nick's Burger Joint at 9pm.

My boyfriend and I rode the train up to New York and got there around 2pm. There was a slight snafu at the Ramada Inn (they needed to see the physical credit card the reservation was booked with). I kind of freaked out, but thank goodness I had Andrew's assistant's cell number. She was gracious and amazing enough to drop everything and come down. We got to our room, dropped off our bags and then went exploring. We first went to lunch at Pho32 and then got some Pinkberry to satisfy my sweet tooth. Then went on to Times Square, walked around the fashion and theatre districts before becoming bold enough to figure out the Subway system. I grabbed a free 11x17 map at the hotel, and am so glad I did because that thing took us everywhere! We went to the Lower East Side, explored Little Tokyo and many other side streets before heading back to the hotel around 8. Did some brief resting and got ready for dinner. Throughout the day I got a few texts from Andrew's assistant checking in and then saw Andrew tweeted about me and our upcoming dinner that night. It was all so exciting!

(THIS IS FINALLY WHERE I TALK ABOUT THE DINNER)

We took the subway up to Big Nick's Burger Joint and met Andrew's assistant inside. It was a tiny restaurant packed with character. Wall to wall signs, head shots and knick-knacks. The menu was a pretty thick paper booklet. It even had a table of contents on the back! (seriously, check out their menu!) I wasn't even through page 2 when Andrew walked in in his signature white jeans and t-shirt along with an awesome leather jacket. We all stood up and hugged and I introduced my boyfriend. We sat down and Andrew explained his love for Big Nick's and took us on a brief tour of the menu. But before I could go further into the menu Andrew pulled out his new EP from Japan, Aleister X's EP and a signed EP from his wife, Cherie Lily. He said she would have loved to come, but unfortunately couldn't make it. I was not expecting extra gifts, so this really made my jaw drop. I profusely thanked him for everything and he thanked me in turn for being such a great party crew member.


Andrew started off ordering a pizza slice with pepperoni and grilled jalapeno slices. Andrew's assistant ordered a frisco melt, my boyfriend ordered the bistro burger and I got the aloha burger. The slice came first and Andrew piled on the red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese, garlic salt and black pepper. Then sliced into up into bite size samples for us all. It was delicious!! The rest of the food came and I have to say everyone else ordered such tasty food. Mine was just a plain burger with some fresh pineapple chunks on top. It was still good but after trying everyone else's food and eating all my fries (and 2 tator tot garnish) I was stuffed. Andrew went on to order french toast with bacon and we all talked and ate until it was almost midnight. I'm pretty sure I was just starstruck half the time and all of things I had months to plan to say went out the window. Still conversation was fantastic and it's so easy to talk to Andrew. And to listen! He has such great stories.


Andrew got some food to go for Cherie and then paid the bill. At the cashier there were some Big Nick's balloons for children, but you better believe I got one. Outside the restaurant we snapped some pictures and Andrew asked if we still wanted to go to Santos Party House (we asked about what was going on there at dinner). My boyfriend and I said definitely and Andrew hooked us up by emailing some people and giving us a $20 for a cab. We hugged again and parted ways, and my boyfriend and I took the Subway to Chinatown.


There was a little issue with walking past the huge line for Santos and trying to explain to the bouncer that Andrew just put us on the guestlist. But after the 2nd time trying to explain he just sighed and let us through. At the will call our name wasn't on the official guestlist, but said they could get us in for the reduced $20 fee. Andrew's $20 came to the rescue! It was a huge slumber party themed rave and it was out of control amazing! There was body painting and a photobooth (I took full advantage of both) and the DJ was awesome. (They were even throwing free CDs to the crowd, adding to the previous 3 in my purse!). We danced and grooved and finally left at 3am, coming back to the hotel exhausted and completely content.


That morning we went to the Andrew WK recommended Barney Greengrass (The Sturgeon King) where I got Nova Scotia salmon scrambled with eggs and onion with a bialy and my boyfriend got the sturgeon with a bialy. Both were tasty and not something I would normally ever get. Afterward we walked around Central Park until it was time to take the train home.


It was an amazing adventure that I'll never forget, and I'm so grateful it happened. Andrew always says his fans are his friends. And I can't wait to hear more of Andrew's new music, go see him again on tour and be supportive in any and every way I can.

Celebrities of 2010

I have a knack for meeting celebrities. It helps that I try to go to a lot of concerts and am just crazy enough to be willing to wait around to meet them.

Here are the most notable celebrities I had the privilege of meeting in 2010:

OK Go puts on one of the best live shows I've ever seen. Easily in my top 3 ever. Amazing energy and all of them were nice enough to stop and talk/take pictures with the fans after the show.

Elizabeth Ashley played the title role in Mrs. Warren's Profession. I was able to quickly introduce myself before they snapped this picture at the Opening Night party.

I'm lucky enough to live in the same city as Chef Spike and his two delicious restaurants Good Stuff Eatery and We the Pizza. Lucky for me, he did a book signing of his new cookbook at the amazing kitchen store (Hill's Kitchen) that is pretty close by. You better believe I got a toasted marshmallow milkshake at Good Stuff afterward.

I already blogged about how fun Warped Tour was this year. But I have to mention that getting to meet and talk to Andrew WK again was beyond words. He is the most genuine person I have ever had the pleasure of talking to. I am really hoping that there is more AWK and more party in my 2011.


I have loved Tom Green ever since I was a little girl in Canada watching his cable access show. 2010 was the first year I was finally able to see him live. It was seriously a dream come true. He was everything I expected and more.


Jaime Gordon of The Constellations was super nice. We talked about Andrew WK for a good 10 minutes and then he gave me a free CD.


I got to see Electric Six in Baltimore at a club they always stop to play at when they're on tour. The crowd was small, but the show was still fantastic. The drummer talked to me for a pretty decent amount of time and was one of the nicest musicians I've ever met. For some reason I ended up telling him I was Canadian and he told me his current girlfriend is as well and how nice and beautiful all Canadians are. Dick Valentine on the other hand just wanted to get his beer(s), pose and go. (I realize I'm wearing the cat shirt in the last 3 pictures... it's a good shirt)


This year Annette Bening was awarded the Will Award at the Harman Center Annual Gala. She brought husband Warren Beatty and I was lucky enough to meet them both at the after party.


The Most Interesting Show in the World was definitely that! It was beyond incredible and to top it all off it was FREE! I really should have written a blog about how amazing this show was. Andrew WK headlined the show. It was my 5th time seeing him and 3rd time seeing his awesomely talented wife Cherie Lily. She was nice enough to come meet and greet the crowd after the performance. Can't wait to see more of her in 2011!


I got to meet Amy Sedaris as part of her book signing tour for Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People. Her train was over 30 minutes late, so she wasn't dressed up like for her other stops but she was still super funny and genuine. I had to wait until she was done with the call on her iPhoney before she would sign my book.


This was my third time seeing Tim & Eric live. Their shows are always amazingly ridiculous. This was their stop in Falls Church, VA on their Chrimbus tour. I was only able to say a quick hello to Tim before he got on the bus, but I was able to snap a quick picture with Eric.

Noteworthy close calls:

I had to pay $1 for this photo, but chubby Spider-man in Vegas was worth it.

Clearly still in Vegas. This Captain Jack Sparrow was really convincing.

I went to the 2010 Cooking Expo in Washington, DC. I got to see a live cooking demo by Paula Deen, but I didn't want to pay the extra $100 or so it would have taken to actually meet her.

So here's to meeting more famous people in 2011!

Andrew WK live chat

Every Monday night Andrew WK does a party chat on stickam. He's been doing it for months and months, and more often than not it is the highlight of my week. He usually gives out prizes. Ranging from stickers and air fresheners, to shirts and live phone calls from Andrew himself. One time there was even an iTouch giveaway. You win these things through live contests Andrew decides then and there. Lately they have been the first person to correctly identify a picture of someone. I haven't won yet, but it is always entertaining to play.

More fun than the contests though, is interacting live with Andrew each week. He talks about anything and everything. Sometimes he'll have a topic ready to go, and other times he'll answer questions from the fans. In addition to this he also always does massive shoutouts to members on the livechat. This is probably what I enjoy the most. There are many people who are there for almost all the chats, and Andrew definitely remembers. He welcomes old, new and everyone in between. He sincerely wants everybody to have a good time. And it is always amazing.

Lately there have been computer problems on his end, which usually only result in some sound or video lag, but the last 10 or so minutes of today's party chat were utter chaos. The sound sped up and sounded crazy robotic. Simply watching Andrew is just as fun though. I think he realized the sound was messing up, so he just started being himself.

The following are a few screen shots I was able to grab.

(this was before the sound went crazy. He was showing us some of the post-it notes he keeps. The "I LOVE T.V." made me smile)

(this is when the sound was messed up. he started with just a finger in his cheek)

(finger tricks)

(the accompanying robot noises made this even better)

(invisible burger?)

(this is a good look for Mr. AWK)

Things I took for granted part 1

Throughout all of my childhood my mom did my laundry for me. I lived in a magical world where my drawers would suddenly be restocked with clean clothes on a regular basis.

In high school I started doing most of my laundry myself, but every so often I would come home to clean piles of clothes folded neatly on my bed. Don't get me wrong though, I definitely did appreciate it and am fairly certain I thanked my kind-hearted, amazing mother each time, but I'm sure some part of me still took it for granted.

In my first apartment away from home I had a washer and dryer right down the hall. I knew what I was doing and it was free. No big deal. Sometimes dirty laundry would stack up, but it was a pretty easy fix. I could leave it overnight in the dryer if I wanted.

The next apartment I lived in had the washer and dryer in the basement. You had to pay 50 cents to use the washer but the dryer was free. It was a minor inconvenience to haul my laundry down two flights of stairs and knowing that at least 10 people were sharing two machines, but it was still not a huge deal. The worst part of this was getting all of my laundry ready, bringing it downstairs and finding out that there were two loads ahead of me. The other bad part was having my favorite laundry bag taken and it never being returned.

I'm currently living in an old apartment building on the third floor. The laundry room is in the basement. To get to it though, I have to go outside and around the building, cut across the parking lot, go down the stairs and use a key to open an old metal door that leads into a giant cement room.

(at least there's a "safety light")

There are two washers and two dryers in this room. The washers cost $1.75 and the dryers cost $1.50. They only take quarters and you better believe there is no change machine down there. I try to save as many quarters as I can through regular shopping, but every few months I have to go to the bank to get rolls of quarters and store them in my hall closet like a squirrel.

The good thing about these ridiculously expensive machines is that they are a pretty decent size (thank goodness I only have to worry about laundry for one) and that they are pretty quick. Each machine takes roughly 40 minutes. So at least that’s one plus.

A minor negative is that the washers are far away from the dryers. God forbid I drop a wet sock on the journey to the dryer, because that sucker will be covered in filth.

I usually don't mind doing my laundry here, but since it's getting a lot darker a lot earlier, the giant cement room with the old metal door is getting creepier and creepier. The room is 85% empty. The only objects are the washers, dryers, a big sink, a trashcan and an old plastic chair. There is a locked door in one corner and another locked door labeled "GAS ROOM" against the other wall. There is one more door in the room but this one is open. There is nothing in this tiny cement closet except cobwebs and despair.

(spot the two non-working giant electrical boxes and the GAS ROOM)

(so much empty space)

There are some broken electrical boxes and the occasional non-offensive sharpie messages on the wall. There are also a couple signs that would be perfectly normal if they weren’t written in my landlord’s creepy squiggly writing.

(Or I will murder you)

As it gets darker and darker, earlier and earlier I continually get more paranoid. I can only hold onto the fact that daylight savings time will be here soon enough. It could very well be worse though. I could have to go to a Laundromat.

I want to write more blogs

This one doesn't count.
I have ideas.
And really, I should have the time.
I just need to do it.

There are some blogs that update every single day no matter what.
I don't know if I'm that ambitious (or interesting).
But maybe, just maybe.
We'll see.

When It's Time To Party We Will Always Party Hard

I wasn't going to go to Warped Tour at first. The closest one was in Maryland, which was very hard to get to and it was on a Tuesday. I must have went through every scenario in my mind dozens of times. Different ways to get there and my reasons why. The main reason I wanted to go was to get the chance to see Andrew WK play with his full band. Eventually the pros definitely outweighed the cons. (In the end how much does money matter anyway? Plus I had vacation days I needed to use.)

So I made the decision, bought my ticket and anxiously awaited July 20th.

During this time I read about all the different "orders" on the Andrew WK street team site that I'm part of. Simple tasks such as posting a video link earns points, but dressing as Andrew at Warped got you 500. Now, I've dressed like Andrew before just for fun but never around this many people who would actually know what I was trying to pull off.

So the hunt for white pants begun. I must have tried on at least 10 different pairs. None were right. Too tight, too see-through, wrong material, too expensive. I almost gave up, but on a whim decided to try ebay. Jackpot! They arrived the day before the concert and fit perfectly.

The night before the concert I packed a ridiculous amount of things into my backpack. Energy bars, sunscreen, paper, phone, camera, chapstick, bandaids, tide pen, canned vegetables, etc. It was a bit excessive.

It was hard to sleep that night. I've been to Warped Tour before, but that was back in high school. And I've seen Andrew twice before, but I knew this crowd was going to be way more into it. I did eventually get some sleep and woke up feeling ready.

I went through my normal routine. Shower, coffee, cereal, make a sandwich, get ready to go. I take everything I need and head to the metro. I reach the end of the orange line and buy my MARC train ticket for the next leg of the journey.

Somewhere in between the purchase of my ticket and Snapple and the walk up to the trains I see a man stop in the middle of the big walkway. He is talking to me, but I can't really understand him at first. I do hear the word "beautiful" though, so of course I stop. He tells me that he just wanted to let me know how beautiful I was and that I don't need to be a tall blonde to be that way. He seemed genuine and I was glad to get such a compliment dressed like Andrew WK. He went on to tell me he just got out of jail and hasn't seen a beautiful woman in a while. He said his named was 88 Fingers and proceeded to show me the tattoo reflecting that on his bicep. He then asked if he could buy my Snapple from me for $1. I declined saying I just bought it and had to catch my train. He said that that was fine and then asked if I had a boyfriend. I told him I do and he was also fine with that. (The best part is next) He told me that some areas around here are rough, so if I ever had a problem I should tell them 88 Fingers is my boyfriend and they will RUN. He laughed and wished me well.

Got on the train safe and made it all the way to the BWI airport. From here my options were to take a 90 minute shuttle to the mall across from the venue or take a cab that would take 20 minutes. Time is more valuable than money, so I got in a cab.

It was probably the nicest cab driver I have ever encountered. Before he started the meter, he figured out the fastest and cheapest route to get me there. We had a non-stop conversation that lasted the entire ride. He was interested in what I had to say and shared some good stories as well. He got me to the venue in no time and also wished me well.

I started walking to the front gate and the line was massive. Gates didn't even open for another hour. I found the booth that took the food donations and received my "skip the line" wrist band. They pointed me in the general direction of where I needed to go, but that just led me to the box office. So I asked them and they told me vague directions to find a security guard. There was no security guard. After sitting around and watching other people I saw a path off to the side. I followed it through a parking lot, which actually took me to the other side of the venue. And there was the (much shorter) line for people with the wrist bands.

It was a long, hot wait filled with smoking teenagers but all of us got to go in 15 minutes early. I rushed around the entire venue to find the big display sign that had all the set times. (There was no way I was paying for a paper schedule when I could just write it down myself). All the way back at the front of the venue I found it. Andrew WK at 12:55 and Sum 41 at 7:45. Perfect!


Next step was to find Andrew's merch tent and take a picture next to it with his set time.


Next it was time to stake out my spot and to wait for Andrew. I rushed to the mainstage and got to the front row, off to the left. Anarbor came on first and were good. I haven't really heard them before but really all I was thinking about was how awesome Andrew WK was going to be. During the set change I demolished my sandwich and most of my bottle of water. Then, Andrew's band started coming out. The chants of "It's. Time. To. Party." started and the crowd went crazy. I knew this was going to be amazing.

I was blown away. Seeing Andrew backed by a full live band was awesome. And the addition of his wife Cherie Lily just took it over the edge. She stayed so intense the entire set and really got the crowd amped. New role model? I think so.

(love)

My favorite part wasn't just singing along as loud as I could or being with all those people. It was getting to see how much fun they were having on stage and knowing they wanted all of us to have just as much. Andrew WK shows are genuine non-stop parties. Andrew considers his fans his friends. There is never a dull moment and you can't stop smiling, even after it's over.

During the set they threw t-shirts and guitar picks into the crowd. I didn't get one, but knew I would have my own soon.

(best purchase of the day)

After this excitement, it was time to explore. I ate a power bar or two, paid way too much for a gatorade and found as many freebie tents as possible. Free condoms from Trojan, free candy from Wonka and free chicken wings from a 7-11 truck. Awesome.

I tried to make it to the Sum 41 signing, but apparently they "sold out" of the meet and greet passes. Lame.

I decided my best bet would be to sit and wait until it was time for Andrew's singing. I got back to his tent and there was already a couple of people forming a line. I knew I made the right decision. I set up camp and waited. During my wait I met a few of the coolest people I talked to all day. We were all brought together through our love of AWK. And the general consensus was that my all-white Andrew inspired outfit was pretty spot on. (I did see at least one other guy dressed up).

The time was finally right and Andrew arrived. After patiently waiting it was finally my turn. During the past few weeks I had come up with all kinds of potential questions to ask him. All of that went out the window and all I could think to do was walk towards him with outstretched arms and a big, goofy smile on my face. Andrew was seated but he once he realized what I was going for he stood up and completed the hug. I mumbled about how amazing he was and asked if he could sign something for me. While he was preparing that I told him (on a complete whim) that I had a present for him, but if it's too weird he doesn't have to accept it. I pulled a slightly bruised banana out of my backpack. He seemed excited (if you follow Andrew on Twitter you know how much he loves bananas) and sincerely thanked me for bringing him a nutritious snack. After he wrote me a loving thank you about the banana we took a picture together.

(notice the banana in the mug)

After that it was more walking around, catching glimpses of other bands and some really good people watching. I came back for the guitar giveaway, but came out the same way I came in. Which is fine, because now I don't have to learn how to play guitar.

More snacks and shenanigans later, I found myself at the Glamour Kills Stage waiting for Sum 41. Haste the Day and Pennywise put on good shows but Sum 41 is always a crowd pleaser banging out all of their hits. That was definitely the rowdiest crowd I was part of all day. It was definitely good shows and good times all around.


Leaving the venue was a little funny. I must have asked 5 different staff members which exit would be the best to walk to the nearby mall. I was pointed toward a path in a forest. I followed that and eventually found my way to the mall and the correct parking lot where my wonderful boyfriend was waiting to take me home.

I may be several years older than the average Warped attendee, but I definitely would do it again in a heartbeat.

• For more pictures check out my facebook album
• To listen to Andrew WK music, check out his myspace