Thursday, January 29, 2009

Video (01.29.09)

I am huge fan of YouTube. I think it's fabulous and tend to spend more time than I should watching videos (especially when it's bedtime). I decided it could be kind of fun to do a video of the week, highlighting something entertaining I found on youtube. We'll see how it goes. I thought I'd start it off the right way by posting a clip from a recent episode of one of my favorite shows, Scrubs. Listen closely . . .



One guess who's singing the song . . . ;)

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Elements Combined

This is probably going to come as a shock to you, but Saturday night I went to a great concert and I am now going to blog about it. :) I saw a group called Fiction Family play at the Jammin' Java in Vienna, VA. You've probably never heard of the group, but it's likely you've heard of its members. Fiction Family is part Nickel Creek (guitarist, Sean Watkins) and part Switchfoot (front man, Jon Foreman). They met a couple years back when Nickel Creek and Switchfoot were playing a show together and talked about collaborating. Lucky us they followed through and the result is amazing! Fiction Family's debut album is sure to be a favorite!

These guys are incredibly talented (check out Sean's mad skills here) and super cool (check out what Jon did for some fans here) and I had so much fun watching them on stage! It was just so apparent that these men are passionate about what they do and that the passion is why they do what they do. They played a good portion of the album along with a few of Jon's songs from his EPs, a Nickel Creek song (*sniffle, sniffle*), a couple covers and a new song. The chemistry between the audience and the artists made this a top 5 favorite show in my book!

Here are a few pictures from the night and then for those of you who want to sample Fiction Family, I'm posting the music video for their first single, When She's Near. Enjoy!


This is Jon Foreman, like I said before, he's the front-man for Switchfoot . . . You know, Dare You to Move . . . He also has four solo EPs that are fantastic. :)


This would be Sean Watkins, 1/3 of my all-time favorite group, Nickel Creek. There is nothing quite like Nickel Creek and seeing as they're "taking a break," it's nice to still be able to see them perform individually . . . even if it is a little sad.


And this is Fiction Family! I sure hope they tour again soon!



And here I am after I got home from the show with my copy of the album. Note the necklace I'm wearing. It's the first of my music inspired creations. "The Fox" is one of my favorite Nickel Creek songs and so when I saw the fox pendant I knew I had to get it. The brown things are little acorns that Spencer had drilled holes in. Kinda fun. :)

And now the video:


Fiction Family - When She's Near from ATO Records on Vimeo.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Oh What A Night!

What an exciting time to be in DC! Seriously, there couldn't have been a better time to move. I've learned a lot about politics and have formed a lot of my own opinions from the various things I've seen an heard. I wasn't able to make it into the city for the Inauguration and I don't know if I would have tried, did you see how many people were there?! Instead I watched as much as two playful children would allow me to watch on TV. Don't worry though, I did party it up later at the Western States Inaugural Ball! My boss had tickets and wasn't going to use them, so I was lucky enough to get to go.

Spencer came over and we both got ready, then we took a cab into the city. There was so much traffic, but we made in just under half an hour. Thank goodness we didn't have to wait in line because it was cold outside! We got there early enough that we could have been about 5 feet from Pres. Obama when he came out, but after an hour of being pushed around, leaned on, and well, just plain annoyed we decided it wasn't worth it! We'd rather walk around and enjoy the evening than be miserable for who knows how long until the President got there. So abandoned our spot in front of the stage and wandered around the rest of the evening. We didn't see anyone super famous, but we did get to see Marc Anthony perform, in Spanish, of course. He even brought out the Mrs. for his final number . . . you should have seen the people rush to a picture! It was pretty funny.

As we were walking into the convention center we noticed a lady wearing one of the dresses we'd seen when we were out shopping. We didn't think too much of it until we kept seeing that same dress over and over and over again. Spencer eventually suggested we start counting how many of those dresses we were seeing. By the end of the night we saw 36! Now there were a few different versions, short, long, skirt, two toned, but still! It was hilarious and a great way to pass the time until the guests of honor got there. It was about 10:30 when the Bidens got there. Joe made his little speech, they danced and then left. About an hour later the Obamas made it in and he too made some remarks before dancing with his wife. I can't believe I got to be in the same room as The President of the United States to help him celebrate his Inauguration . . . It was definitely a once in a life time experience.


I walked away from the ball thinking this . . . Regardless of your political affiliations, you have to admit, it was quite the day in American history and how cool is it that we were around to witness it? Also, no matter who the president is, he only wants to improve the life of the American people. Now that doesn't mean that everyone is going to agree on how he goes about doing it, but he is still just trying to do good and I think we all should hold off on complaining until he does something to complain about. You never know, maybe President Obama will be just what this country needs. :)

You would think the night ended there. Nope. We still had to get home. It took us over two hours to get back to my house! We had to take the Metro because there were so many people and there was no way we would have got a cab. Unfortunately that's how thousands of other people felt and we ended up missing three trains! Luckily it was easy to get a cab from the metro to my place . . . at 2 am! Seriously, we were exhausted. And I may never wear heels again. Okay, that's a lie, but feet are still sore!

You didn't think I forgot the pics did you? ;)












It was insane trying to get a clear shot of The Obamas! This is the best version I have. ;)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Lucky

No, Christmas isn't here again. It's probably not your birthday. It is your lucky day though! Take a look at this:



And while you're there, you might want to get yourself a delicious vanilla bean blended cream frappuccino. And if you really want to treat yourself, have them add a shot of cinnamon dulce flavoring. It's sugar free so you don't have to feel so bad. ;)

P.S. I really hope that people pick up on my sarcasm, otherwise, I they probably think I'm crazy. No comments on that last statement please. :)

Friday, January 9, 2009

These Photographs

Quite possibly the year's biggest tragedy . . .


And this is how I mourned . . .

FYI, I did not eat that all by myself. It was a hard time for many.

The music gods continually smiled on me, especially when it came to Joshua Radin. From him remembering having met me the year before to running into him in the lobby of the Hilton, I had some priceless encounters. Here we are in Boise when he brought me backstage to play a, then unreleased, song:


I became an Aunt! Baby Landon (the cutest baby on the planet) was born 04.18.08:


More failed attempts . . .

At least I'm having a good time!

I went to some amazing concerts, including the Hotel Cafe Tour:


I met Ingrid Michaelson, along with some other new friends:


I was in charge of FHE. The hardest, yet most fun, calling I've ever had. This was the closing ceremonies of the South Mountain 12th Ward 2008 Olympic Games:


A major life-changing event took place. Harmon's opened up down the street from my house in Draper. Man I miss that place . . . These are the flowers I won for spinning the birthday celebration wheel:


I got caught up in the Olympics. Especially swimming. One of my favorite moments:


I said good-bye to some great friends:


And started making new ones:


Because I made a big move:


I fell in love with two of the cutest/funniest kids ever:




I went to Nantucket:


I visited the fam in Tennessee:






I was in the Capitol rotunda with John McCain and only about 100 other people:


I stood outside the future President's office:


I participated in a history-making election:


I spent some quality time with my best friend:


I stayed friends with my super cool concert going buddies:


And I did a bunch of touristy things when my friend Anne came to visit:

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

The Naming of Things

I realize we're already a week into 2009, but I still feel the need to recap 2008. Besides, this is the time I usually write my yearly journal entry so it's fitting. And I'm sure you're all dying to read my journal anyway. ;)

One of my favorite things about New Year's is making lists of the things I've done in the past year and things I would like to do in the coming year. So here you have 2008 in list form. (Good thing I got a jump-start with my last post).

Places I visited:

-Boise, ID
-Rexburg, ID
-Park City, UT
-Nantuckett, MA
-Washington DC (duh)
-Baltimore, MD
-Harrisburg, PA
-Fredricksburg, VA
-Annapolis, MD
-Nashville, TN
-Murfreesburo, TN
-Miami, FL
-Salt Lake City, UT ;)

Favorite movies I saw in the theater:

-Across the Universe (I realize it came out in '07 but I saw it in '08 and it is easily one of my all-time favorites)
-Wall-E
-Penelope
-21
-Hmm, I can't come up with any other movies I really liked . . . then again, I didn't see too many movies in theater.

A few mportant lessons learned/interesting observations:
-I can do scary/hard things and survive.
-Utah drivers have earned their reputation (good thing I'm not one anymore :) )
-Always, always, always back up your files . . . especially the music!
-There is nothing as beautiful as Virginia during the fall.
-Zach Braff is a genuis.
-I am terrible with directions!
-I like sci-fi stuff . . .
-Making requests to your favorite musician can really pay off!
-I should have been going to Sundance for years.
-Heavenly Father always, always, always puts you where you need to be when you need to be there.

Concerts I went to:

-Miles To Go, Alex Boye, Peter Breinholt @ Springville High School
-Alexa Wilkinson, Ingrid Michaelson, Joshua Radin @ Club Sound
-Alexa Wilkinson, Ingrid Michaelson, Joshua Radin @ The Big Easy
-Buddy, A Fine Frenzy @ The Avalon
-Ingrid Michaelson @ Best Buy
-Hotel Cafe Tour (Meiko, Jim Bianco, Dan Wilson, Cary Brothers, Ingrid Michaelson) @ The Avalon
-Glen Hansard, Maketa Irglova, The Frames @ The Depot
-Cary Judd, Joshua James @ Agenda Clothing
-Emerson Hart @ Hard Rock Cafe
-Lexy Sayok, Shark Speed @ The Avalon
-Greg Laswell and Ingrid Michaelson @ The Avalon
-Erin McCarley, Joshua Radin @ In The Venue
-Joshua Radin, Missy Higgins @ The Underground
-Slow Runner, William Fitzsimmons @ Jammin' Java
-David Ford, Newton Faulkner, Ingrid Michaelson @ The Birchmere
-A couple open mic nights @ random locations

Favorite Albums of the year:

-Hideaway-The Weepies
-The Sparrow and the Crow-William Fitzsimmons
-Three Flights From Alto Nido-Greg Laswell
-Mermaids-Slow Runner
-Limbs and Branches-Jon Foreman (it's the best of his Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer EP's, two of which came out in '07)
-Simple Times-Joshua Radin
-Viva la Vida-Coldplay

Favorite music discoveries of the year:

-Greg Laswell
-Ingrid Michaelson
-Slow Runner
-Jon Foreman
-James Yorkston

And finally, the list I take most seriously my Top 25 Songs Listened to . . . (Really, it's quite ridiculous. I make sure I listen to songs in their entirety so they get counted, I add up times played on both i tunes and my i pod, and of course I reset play counts at the end of each year . . . I should probably see someone about my OCD . . .)

1-Sky by Joshua Radin featuring Ingrid Michaelson (apparently I spent 9.88 hours of my year listening to this song and that doesn't include the live perfomances)
2-Lovely Tonight by Joshua Radin
3-You Got Growing Up To Do by Joshua Radin
4-The Fear You Won't Fall by Joshua Radin (gee, that's funny, I just listed JR's Unclear Sky EP . . . It's like it came out the day after I bought my new computer and it was my first i tunes purchase or something)
5- The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson
6-One of Those Days by Joshua Radin
7-Sundrenched World by Joshua Radin
8-I'd Rather Be With You by Joshua Radin
9-Winter by Joshua Radin
10-Today by Joshua Radin
11-What a Day by Greg Laswell
12-Everything'll Be Alright by Joshua Radin
13-How the Day Sounds by Greg Laswell
14-Go to Hell by David Ford
15-Song for the Road by David Ford
16-We Feel Alone by William Fitzsimmons
17-Long Ride Home by Patty Griffin
18-Breakable by Ingrid Michaelson
19-We Are Okay by Joshua Radin
20-The One I Love by Greg Laswell
21-Can't Go Back Now by The Weepies
22-Glimmer by Aqualung
23-Keep Breathing by Ingrid Michaelson
24-Free of Me by Joshua Radin
25-The Glass Parade by Cary Brothers

If I could track the number of times I listened to songs on youtube or myspace, I guarentee William Fitzsimmon's Passion Play would have made the list and The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson would have at least made the top 3. And I swear, the list gets much more diverse when you go beyond 25, I do listen to more than just Josh and friends.

Stay tuned for the pics . . . ;)