Kelsey Leah

Tostado Nachos

Posted on March 12, 2010 by KelseyLeah

So I made dinner the other night and basically made it Mexican night. Mexican night consisted of tacos and nachos. And tacos are the normal thing but the thing I want to share with the world is the nachos. I got this idea from the night of my 21st birthday where I bought Noah these from TGI Fridays in payment of being our DD. My version of this is slightly different then the ones at TGI Friday’s in the fact that I added color… at least from my memory that is.

Ingredients

• Tostado Shells

• Refried Beans
• Cheese
• 1 Roma Tomato
• Ice Burg Lettuce
• Red Onion - the type isn’t really that important, I just used red onions
• Sour Cream
• Guacamole

Directions

Place tostado shells on a plate. Warm the refried beans to loosen them up a little and to add some warmth for later.
Spread the refried beans across the tostado shell, the more of the shell covered the better. Cover the beans with as much cheese as desired and stick in the microwave. Heat until the cheese is melted.
Cut the tostadas in half.
Cut the tomatoes, onion, and lettuce then spread them about the tostado shell and enjoy.

The sour cream and guacamole are used as garnishes and are optional. All we did for the guacamole was cut up avocados and add salt, pepper, and lime juice to taste.

Enjoy!

Posted in food, mexican, recipe, TGI Fridays | Leave a comment

Take Action Tour

Posted on February 5, 2010 by KelseyLeah

On February 27th, 2010 the 9th year of the Take Action tour will be hitting the Gothic Theater in Englewood, Colorado. The Take Action tour is a tour that gives artists the chance to shed light on different issues from suicide prevention, depression, and many more issues.

This was the first concert that I ever paid for and this was my second concert ever back when I was a junior in high school. At the time the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus was the headliner with Scary Kids Scarying Kids, Emery, Kaddisfly, A Static Lullby and the focus was suicide prevention. My partner in crime for the evening was the lovely Maddy who got to experience on only this concert with me but my first ever concert.

The headliner is We the Kings who just recently released their sophmore album “Smile Kid” on Dec. 8th 2009.

Then you have Fueled By Ramen/Decaydance recording artist A Rocket to the Moon who put out the album “On Your Side” in Mid October.

Also on this tour is Mayday Parade, a band that did a cover of a Pussycat Dolls song, who with the last two bands has put a new album out in the last six months, October 6th, called “Anywhere but Here”. These boys are the main reason that I’m stoked for this concert, they are one of my favorite bands.

There is also There for Tomorrow, who released a studio album, “A Little Faster” mid 2009.

Stereo Skyline is another act for this tour who recently has been seen on tour with Hey Monday. They have an EP out from 2008 and are currently working on a studio album.

And the last band on this tour is Call the Cops who have an EP out called Motion Sickness.

Personally I am more familiar with the bands We the Kings, Mayday Parade, A Rocket to the Moon, and Stereo Skyline… all bands that in the last year I have seen in concert. But I’m pretty stoked for this concert, not only for the good music that I’ll enjoy, the live concert experience but also for the fact that its going to a good cause.

If you want to learn more about Take Action visit their website and look around.

Posted in A Rocket to the Moon, Call the Cops, concert, Mayday Parade, music, Stereo Skyline, Take Action Tour, There for Tomorrow, We the Kings | Leave a comment

Taco Casserole

Posted on January 26, 2010 by KelseyLeah

My family likes to get together and have a theme to the food that we will eat. IN the past I didn’t really partake in this but I decided to join the festivites and make something. The theme for this gathering… MEXICAN. Which worked perfectly for me cause the first recipe that I personally added, nothing my mother or family added, was a taco casserole from a coupon clipping years and years ago. Its so yummy I decided to share it with all.

****I took this straight from the recipe but it was branded so for the most part I have deleted all mention to specific brands cause it doesn’t really matter. That and the prep and cooking time… totally a lie – unless that was just me.****

preparation time: 10 min • cooking time: 35 min

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup water
1/2 cup ORTEGA Thick & Smooth Taco Sauce – Medium
4 ozs. Diced Green Chiles
1 can (2.25 oz.) sliced ripe olives, drained, divided (I HATE olives so I don’t use this but feel free too..)
1 package Taco Seasoning Mix – Regular
1 package Taco Shells (12 ct), broken
2 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes (optional)
1/8 cup sliced green onions (optional)

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.
COOK beef, onion and garlic until beef is browned; drain. Stir in water, taco sauce, chiles, 1/4 cup olives and seasoning mix. Cook over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes.
LAYER half of broken taco shells on bottom of greased 12 x 8-inch baking dish. Cover with half of meat sauce; sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat with remaining shells, meat sauce and cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Top with remaining olives, tomatoes and green onions.

Posted in mexican, recipe | Leave a comment

Darling Parade

Posted on January 1, 2010 by KelseyLeah

I got a friend request on MySpace from this band and I actually liked them so I felt like sharing. Sady and I decided it was like a combination of Evanescence and Flyleaf. And this is a rough estimate of the band, but still check them out. :-)

Posted in music | Leave a comment

Goodbye 2009 Hello 2010

Posted on January 1, 2010 by KelseyLeah

Again I am spending another New Years Eve with no big plans. Just chilling on a couch watching TV drinking a little (thought this aspect hasn’t always existed…) and waiting to watch the ball to drop. And since I am currently by myself it has gotten me thinking about the past year and whats to come and maybe some of the past too. My mind is working overhaul this evening.

The beginning thought is where I was ten years ago. Ten years ago the year was becoming 2000 and we all had the Y2K bug on our mind. The world as we knew it was going to change, possibly end. *GASP* At that same time the Mayan’s predicted that the world will end in 2012 so the Y2K bug couldn’t end the world, duh. People died from duct taping themselves within their houses thinking that it would save them from this “bug”, can we say survival of the fittest? I was in middle school and still roughly as nerdy and lame as I am now

Now its time to take a look at the last ten years minus roughly 2 hours. I’m still lame and nerdy, its just a little more obvious. I’ve graduated high school and moved on to that thing people call a higher education… aka college. I’ve added family members to the equation and seen new and old family members move. The extents of moving range from moving from Colorado to Vegas and from house to house. I’ve seen my brother graduate and move out, and then move back in. I’ve seen events on the small scale, those that occur around me, and then I have seen events happen on a large scale, like 9/11, a black man getting elected president, and more. The last ten years have been interesting and dull, kept me on my toes while putting me to sleep.

Now its time to look towards the future. Already I have road blocks that are popping up left and right. But I’m hoping to pull through by being lame and nerdy, it works for me. What I really am unsure about is what my goals are going to be. I know some and looking at some road blocks they might not be attainable, but a girl can dream right?

New Years Resoultions

Get to Ireland via study abroad
Get another semester of higher education out of the way
Celebrate turning 21 the way I want… via the Take Action Tour concert
Get Niki to come to Warped Tour ’10
Lose the weight
Finish at least one piece of writing

I know that there will be more that I can thinking of later from either a couple hours, to a couple days, hell it could even be a couple months. Anything past a couple days aren’t going to New Years Resolutions but they will be goals, some that will happen and then some that will fail, but thats the nature of life.

Now, I hope everyone starts 2010 on the right foot or at least a good foot. Enjoy the time you have, give in only with you kicking and screaming, There is no better way to live.

Hugs and Loves, see you next year.

Posted in 2009, 2010, New Years Resoultion, Y2K | Leave a comment

AP Poll 256 That Got Me Thinking

Posted on December 15, 2009 by KelseyLeah

AP Poll 256: Is it okay for bands to use celebrities as passports to the mainstream?

This was a poll on Alternative Press’s website a while ago and it got me thinking… and its taken me till now to really think and jot down my thoughts on the matter. I’m torn on my answer to this poll question since personally I believe it can go either way, okay or not okay. So I’m going to explain both POV’s on the topic and I would love to hear other peopls thoughts on the matter.

So here we go….

Yes - I’m not in a band or really know anyone in a band but its my perception that one of the goals of a band is to get their music heard. And using a celebrity to draw attention to your band is one way to achieve that goal I would think. Using a celebrity could get the band into a new market for their music and thus achieving more of the goal to get their music heard. So when you look at the question with this goal in mind using a celebrity as a passport to go mainstream is perfectly acceptable, in my thoughts. But I do think the band needs to think long and hard about what celebrity that they use so the acceptablity of using the celebrity as the passport stays just that – acceptable.

Another thing that makes it okay to use a celebrity as a passport to mainstream to me is that celebrities can be role models or insprations to the general public. Using a celebrity to hit mainstream gives the band a better chance at getting their voices heard about issues and to just plain out help people. You always hear about people whose lives changed because of a band, from their music, from their voices, if the bands didn’t hit mainstream they might not have changed that persons life. So using a celebrity to hit mainstream looking at the advantage of being mainstream in this way instead of all the partying and fan girls or boys they can get, it totally okay in my books.

No - For the oppsosing view point, I think a band needs to be really careful and thoughtful which celebrity they use. It would not be good to use a celebrity that gets bad publicity a lot since it turn that might get the band the same bad publicity. This would be why it wouldn’t be okay for a band to use a celebrity as a passport to the mainstream. With bad publicity you increase the chance of losing fans due to their moral/ethical/religious/etc beliefs. Personally, I think that deciding to like a band or not on who they associate with is stupid but there are people out there that are so little minded. Though at the same time if your band is trying to get a message out to the world by supporting certain organizations or just thoughts in general, some celebrities can hurt the band in making it mainstream due to people not taking them serious or something. And lastly, using a celebrity to hit the mainstream may cause fans to think the band sold out, but then again what is selling out?

I know my thoughts are slightly rambles that are totally not organized properly so I apologize if what I am saying doesn’t quite cut it. I’ll work on editing this and getting it in better form. :-(

Posted in AP Magazine | Leave a comment

VersaEmerge

Posted on December 15, 2009 by KelseyLeah

I heard about this band sometime over the last year and planned to see them at the Denver Warped Tour 2009 date but failed to do so, so when I heard that they were one of the oopening bands for the Boys Like Girls concert this last October I was stoked. Now I’ve seem them live and really enjoy them not just from their recorded material but also their live performances. I highly recommend these guys and gal to anyone open to all venues of music.

Note of interest: It took me one or two listens of them to really start to enjoy them, but everyone should give all music a chance, you might find out that you like them better then you originally thought.

Posted in band, music, VersaEmerge | Leave a comment

The AP Tour just Killed My Master Plans

Posted on December 14, 2009 by KelseyLeah

So I’m planning on doing study abroad through the community college I’m currently attending so to show that I’m serious about it I’ve decided that I will go to two concerts this coming year* one being Warped Tour, which could be counted as like a bunch of concerts, and the other being the Take Action Tour with We the Kings and Mayday Parade. But today Alternative Press and their AP Tour 2010 jsut slightly killed that thought by adding a band I REALLY like to the bill. Now what am I to do….?

Take Action Tour - click the link to learn more about it.
Warped Tour – The Vans Warped Tour is the longest running traveling music festival and is entering its 16th year. Click the link to find the dates closest to you and as of Dec. 18th learn what bands are playing. I have been attending this festival since 2007 so I am a baby compared to others but with the exception of the heat this is one event that I really enjoy and plan to particapate in for years to come.. I hope.

Posted in AP Tour, concert, music, Take Action Tour, Warped Tour | Leave a comment

AP Fall Ball

Posted on September 4, 2009 by KelseyLeah

Hey… check out this concert. Go if you can, tickets are pretty cheap. Mayday Parade and The Academy Is… is co-headling. They are supported by the bands, You Me At Six, Set Yours Goals, and the Secret Handshake. Denver show is at the Gothic.

Posted in AP Magazine, AP Tour, concert, music | Leave a comment