Happy Chinese New Year!

Last week was Chinese New Year and to celebrate there was a parade in Chinatown! A bunch of Ludlowlians headed out on Sunday to watch and get in the spirit. Luckily the sun came out and it was actually a really beautiful day. The parade went on for just over an hour and everyone had a great time dancing and getting covered in glitter.

RECAP: Omelets and Gelato!

Omelets and Gelato!

EW! Not together! Why would you even think that? Gross...

This past week were two awesome programs: How to make an Omelet and A Trip to Amorino for Gelato!

Everyone had such a great time! We whipped up some cheddar cheesy omelets and dove into the decadent cups of gelato. A resident came all the way from the George Washington Building for some Gelato! Sorry if you missed out on all the fun!

Drink Up, Buttercup

It may be cold out and the only sweat you might break is while layering up everything in your closet, but you still need to remember to hydrate. Especially with the flu going around and my personal favorite, the common cold, staying hydrated is extremely important to stay healthy.

• Stock up on some soups (make your own to cut back on all the sodium)
• Grab a tea variety pack to warm you up and keep your palette interested
• Make sure to always have a full water bottle in class! Out of sight, out of mind... Keep drinking!

If you want to switch it up a bit with the water, here are just a few things to toss in your bottle to add some great flavor:

• lemon + orange
• green apple + lime + cucumber
• watermelon + rosemary
• blueberry + mint
• raspberry + lime

Definitely remember to hydrate over Spring Break!

Swap Meat

In January Ludlow had it's Swap Meat where resident came down with their old clothes to exchange them for cool finds! Thanks to everyone who came down, if it was to bring clothes or even just to browse what we had so far. Some where very serious about making their choices while others were content with trying on clothes and joking around. Either way I had a great time putting this event together, I was even able to find some cool clothes for myself! The clothes which were not taken will be donated to charity.

-RA Desiree

Valentine's Day: Ludlow Edition

As promised, there were cupcakes for all who attended the Cupcake Decorating program last Saturday afternoon. We had about a hundred cupcakes (minus a few for chef tasting purposes, of course) lined up on the tables and plenty of sprinkles and icing for all your edible embellishing needs. Oh, and don't forget the 80's playlist!

Kate and I definitely would not dare to title ourselves pastry chefs, especially in a building with culinary students, but I'd like to think we did a pretty okay job! Thanks to everyone who came down throughout the afternoon and made sure we didn't take all the cupcakes back upstairs for ourselves. We hope you enjoyed a few and if not, stay tuned for next year, there will surely be more to come.

Sriracha: Doomed to Dry Out?!

Sriracha: that spicy red sauce with that rooster slapped on the label that we all love. The taste is god-like, sure, but its company isn't all that bad either. They source all their ingredients locally, so you can feel good as you feel the burn knowing the local economy is benefiting from the production of Sriracha sauce. It wasn't until 2013 that sales truly took off for the 35 year old brand. (Remember that time, the neighbor was threatening to close the factory because the smell and burn was flooding the city? Refresh your memory here.)

Well, unfortunately, it seems this bottle may be doomed to be emptied...FOR GOOD.

Heinz released a Sriracha flavored ketchup and Tobasco has its own version about to hit shelves, too. Both are reportedly sweeter and possibly less intensely heated, but you might just have to taste it for yourself. Huy Fong Foods, the maker of Sriracha is sitting patiently to see how consumers react.

How will you? If you can't decide, take this Oatmeal quiz to see how much of an addict you truly are.

SNL 40th Anniversary

Saturday Night Live has been around for 40 years and this past Sunday night, there was a massive celebration. People do not fully understand how SNL has effect pop culture and more importantly the stars who came out of SNL. Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Bill Hader... the list goes on and on. Through SNL, comedians have exploded and classic skits, bits, and laughs have been infused into our minds.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked every 141 cast member of SNL from it's inception.

http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/lists/saturday-night-live-all-141-cast-members-ranked-20150211/3-tina-fey-20150211

There are plenty of name you will not know, myself included, but then there are name you'll go, "wait... what?... they were on SNL?"

Enjoy! Happy 40th Anniversary SNL!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0XleMIKKNg

Hot Chocolate Festival

NYC holds hundreds of festivals every year. Some are expected - Chinese New Year, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, The Beer Festival. But there are some unusual ones... and currently on now is the ultimate one of all - The Hot Chocolate Festival! It has been so freezing lately that the wind is basically cutting our faces with how sharp it is. The cure? A different hot chocolate every day for the month - delicious.

City Bakery by the Flatiron building are preparing a different hot chocolate every day for the month of February, so why not go check them out? It's a party atmosphere inside and you can also pick up a snack/pastry to go with it.

For more information check out the website here and go get warmed up!

ANTI-VALENTINES DAY

So its valentine's month. Ugh. All those couples and love. Red roses everywhere, overpriced chocolate, big stuffed bears that no one can fit through the door. Imagine, a huge teddy bear that takes over your room in Ludlow. How can you live like that!?

It's not that Im being anti-love but its more of....frustration. You know what Im talking about. The same thing that has been haunting us since elementary when the girl or boy you liked in kindergarten was giving out his or her valentines card to the class and you were hoping that you will get a special valentines day card from him or her but it was just like everyone else's (maybe because his or her mom helped him or her to make them...or he or she probably thought you had cooties). Or middle school when everyone was buy valentine grams and people will show up during class and deliver the valentine grams and you were hoping that maybe someone in the school somewhere had bought one for you. But no. You had to see those couples exchanging gifts and love and everything.

Now, when you thought that you were free of the valentines foolishness from grade school, you start seeing those bears, chocolates, roses, everywhere in the city. Memories from the past start coming back. You are reminded once again that even in this city, valentines day is exclusively for....couples.

Couples.

And we are here, couple-less.

But there is hope. Remember, you do live in NYC. And even though those couples will be posting pictures of their valentines day on Instagram, Facebook, even snapchat, reminding us that we are couple-less, there are some things that couples can't do for valentine's day. Do the couple-less, single fun things that our kind has arranged for us.

So, since I want to look out for all the couple-less, single people in our building this valentine's day, I had hunted down the many activities that you can do! :D

http://www.amny.com/lifestyle/anti-valentine-s-day-in-nyc-where-to-avoid-valentine-s-day-1.9920640

It is time to stop giving these couples more ego. It is time to change the course of valentine's day. It is time to open the doors to valentine's day for everyone, couples or couple-less people. It is time to revolt and show all those love birds that we, couple-less single people, can also enjoy valentines day. And who knows, us singles could even have more fun then them ;)

Get out of the bike lane!

Do you cycle? If so don't you hate it when the bike lane is blocked by some idiot who parked their car in the way. Isn't it so frustrating that people don't notice and only think of themselves? If only there was something we could do to make them aware...

This team are now selling stickers here that should help you out! If you come across a car parked in a bike lane then stick this bad boy on their car. It's neon green and will definitely get their attention (plus it'll be a pain to remove it). You might get some angry drivers yelling at you for sticking it on their car so use caution haha. Let's get our voices heard!

Let it snow! Let it... snow? What happened to the snow?

This post is just a little anecdote revealing how silly people are to think they can predict the weather. If there are people society hate more are weather man. Meteorologists, which is the politically correct term for a WEATHERMAN (or women), are worse than politicians because these meteorologists publicly lie everyday of their lives. They have no idea what the weather for the next day-- forget about the entire week! It takes one second DRASTICALLY change a life and these people think they can predict mother nature for the entire week. I'm curious to see how a weekly forecast changes from Monday to Tuesday.
I bring this up because New York was suppose to be hit by another snow storm... yet the snow storm is probably hiding with Jimmy Hoffa.

In a larger picture, this is a metaphor is for living you life in the present and not always thinking about the future. While I think preparing for future plans is extremely important... the present is where life is happening NOW.

I shall quote the great philosopher, Ferris Bueller,

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around for a while, you could miss it."

Thank you Mr. Bueller.

And residents of Ludlow... if you read this... enjoy the "snow"!

Keep an eye out for February Events!

Hey all! I love seeing these posts about events in our residence hall, but I always get so disappointed when I realize they've already passed! We'll be putting up posters for events a couple of weeks before they happen, but I want to give you guys a sneak peek at all the cool stuff we've got planned for February. Give them a shot, I guarantee they're going to be a lot of fun!

Model Night - Feb 10th at 7 PM - A figure drawing session in the community room!

Meal on a Budget - Feb 11th at 7 PM - RA Thomas will show you how you can make a healthy, budget-conscious meal!

Cupcake Decorating Party! - Feb 14th at 3 PM - Bake some delicious cupcakes with RAs Alli and Kate!

Microwave Meal Cookoff - Feb 15th at 12:30 - RA Omar's going to host a competition where you have to make a whole meal using only a microwave!

Omelets! - Feb 17th at 7 PM - RA Jon's going to do a tutorial on easy omelet making in the kitchen!

Rice Cooker Meals - Feb 19th at 8 PM- Learn how to make some easy, great meals in a rice cooker with RA Desiree!

Best Gelato - Feb 21st at 2 PM - Follow RA Jon to arguably the best gelato place ever, Amorino Gelato!

Chinatown Parade - Feb 22nd at 12:30 PM - Check out the Chinatown New Year's Parade!

Tie Dye - Feb 22nd at 6 PM - RA Shaun's going to show you how to make some awesome tie dye art! Remember to bring a white shirt/sweatshirt/etc to make your canvas!

Oscar Night - Feb 22nd at 7 PM - Watch the Oscars with RA Steven and see how many award winners you can guess!

Juice Springsteen - Feb 23rd at 8:30 PM - Keep an eye out for RA Mike and his juice cart coming down your hall! You can buy a juice box from him for charity!

Famous Chicken Nuggets - Feb 26th at 7 PM - RA Omar's going to show you how to make his famous chicken nuggets!

Free Form Jazz Coloring - Feb 28th at 11:30 AM - RA Mike will give out coloring books for you all to relax with, to some soothing jazz.

Next year residence hall room selection

Hello Ludlow residents,

with the new semester starting and summer around the corner (3 more months!!!) there are some things that we tend to forget or not have as important in our minds. But remember, Room Selections! 

For students that live in the residence halls, you should have received an email stating that room selection is on its way. Remember to keep in mind:

1. Deadlines! 

2. Fees!

There was once a case of a student (cough cough *myself*) that once forgot to re-apply for the same room selection. When this student realized that it was too late to get the same room for next year, my entire life came tumbling down. But then there was a light. Ludlow.

So keep in mind the deadlines, fees and where you want to live. If you wish to stay in the same room where you are right now, fill out the form ASAP! and if you wish to transfer to another residence hall, [ :'( ], remember to attend residence hall tours that are held in the residence halls. Here in ludlow they are Monday - Friday from 12pm until 3pm!

How souper!

Last week RA's Adam and Alli hung out with a bunch of residents and made soup! There was lots of chat, gossip and eating. In case you missed it here are some photos -

Soup is such a good meal to make as it's a) easy, b) healthy and c) thrifty. You can make a big batch that'll last you all week! There are tons of varieties of ingredients you can use so why not mix it up and try something? Let us know if you do!