Linds

Days Gone By: Sailing

2011-12-28T13:29:00.001-07:00

There is a very generous family in our area who takes the Relief Societies in our ward sailing on the Chesapeake every year. I've only been on the trip twice and this was the first year I made it on to a boat (we decided not getting home until later would be worth it). It was SO much fun! There are so many amazing women in our ward, I tell you what! I love having the opportunity to get to know the new girls better and being around long time friends.

Days Gone By: OBX

2011-12-27T13:27:00.002-07:00

I was able to spend Memorial Day weekend at the Outer Banks in North Carolina with a bunch of my friends and about 1,000 other young single adults. It's a long running tradition among YSA's all over the East Coast and beyond.

Mormons as far as the eye can see!

Saturday was spent on the beach! At least half of us left that afternoon with not-so-awesome sunburns . . .

Sunday after church a group of us went to see The Lost Colony. Unfortunately it started to rain, but we had fun anyway! Plus we gave the people working there something to do.

This is also where I realized the full extent of my special talent.

We came back home for Sunday dinner and a group picture.

All the Aviators! Whoo!

The rest of the weekend we did a lot of hanging out . . .

. . . had sing-a-longs . . .

. . . played in the pool . . .

. . . invited friends over for dessert night . . .

. . . did Zumba . . .

. . . and had several hot tub parties that frequently turned into 80's sing-a-longs.

Really, it was a great weekend full of quality bonding time with some pretty fantastic people. It was sad when people had leave, but don't worry, whenever a car would take off the remaining housemates gathered on the porch to sing individualized good-bye songs and wave.

We also took more group shots. ;)

No trip to the Outer Banks would be complete without a little traffic. Lucky for us we got to park the van and hang out on the side of I-95 for while. Good times . . .

Days Gone By: Go Caps!

2011-12-26T11:29:00.004-07:00

My blogging skills this past year were pathetic, especially considering how many awesome things happened. Over the next few days I'll do my best to try and capture the awesomeness that was 2011, starting with my first NHL game!

In case you didn't know, DC is a ho-ckey town and I had no idea until I had the opportunity to go to a Caps (Capitals) game back in April. Here's how it went down. The Knutson's had tickets for a playoff game but they couldn't go so they offered them to me. I figured it'd be a fun thing to do seeing as the only other time I'd been to a hockey game was for a sorority date night. Worst blind date idea ever by the way . . . Before the game Karen told me everyone wears jerseys and/or Caps gear to the game. Luckily she lent me some of theirs because it was clear the second I showed up at the metro I'd stick out like a sore thumb if I'd opted to wear anything other than red!

I was able to take a few friends with me to cheer on the Caps.

We had fantastic seats, to say the least!!

The crowd was amazing! I really have no feelings about hockey, but sitting in the Verizon center with people that were so into the game was SO much fun!! In fact, it makes me want to take trips based on cities where the sports teams have intensely passionate fans . . .

The Caps won making the rest of the day that much more fun. We grabbed a bite to eat back in Arlington and the restaurant was filled with Caps fans. I swear, if you want to make friends around here all you need to do is invest in Caps jersey and wear it on game day. We chatted it up with every other person in the place! I also shared a "go Caps" moment with two guys in the self-checkout lane at 12am. It was awesome. As much as I can't stand the negative aspects of competition, I love that sports can bring out such camaraderie among complete strangers.

P.S. The Zamboni was my favorite part. < o >

So Simple, So True

2011-12-25T21:41:00.006-07:00

Merry Christmas!! I know it's been ages since I've posted anything but I wanted to take a minute and share a quick experience I had few weeks back while out to dinner with the kids I nanny. When we go out to eat we like to play drawing games; this time Ingrid and I were making a Christmas "book" on sticky notes. We had drawn pictures of all they typical Christmas items i.e. trees, presents, stars, etc. Then Ingrid draws this:

Being together.

Leave it to the six year old to get at the really important things.

I hope you all were able to spend Christmas with people you love.

The Gift

2011-08-22T21:08:00.011-06:00

I have a hidden talent. Okay, so it's not exactly hidden seeing as I tell people about it all the time . . . or rather I show them.

That's right folks, I am one heck of a self-picture-taker!! I don't remember exactly when it was I discovered this particular talent but I tell you what, it comes in handy all the time. I swear it's not as easy as it looks!! Here are a few of my favs . . .

Smash and I in NYC! Note the random yet important object between us - tricky! Be impressed.

Some of my favorite people after our pre-HP7 Pt.2 Thai dinner in Old Town.

FREEZING our butts off in Philadelphia as we wait in line to see Joshua Radin. You know you have good friends when you make them line up super early for a concert, in less than desirable weather, and they don't hate you.

After Ian and Chad opened for Ingrid Michaelson at World Cafe Live in Wilmington, DE. We were the last ones there and no one was around to take our picture. Not that I would have asked/let anyone . . . No need!

Speaking of not asking anyone to take a picture for you . . . If you travel alone as much as I do, this is a necessary skill! Here I am in front of the "I'm a Mormon" billboard near Time Square. Bonus story: One night in NYC I really wanted to ride in a cab with the "I'm a Mormon" ad on top but it was taking forever to find one. Ironically enough I ended up going to my bus in a "Sister Act" cab. Too perfect.

OBX 2011! This was the first record breaking photo taken that weekend. I thought 10 was a lot until . . .

I got all 19 of us in the shot, on the first try, at the Lost Colony. This was among the proudest moments of my life. Don't judge.

I'm sure some of you are still saying, "Pffft! A talent? Yeah right!" To the non-believers out there, I give you a challenge: Next time you're with a group of 20 of your nearest and dearest, take a picture.

This is the current record holding photo, taken a few hours after the 19 people pic. The Outer Banks must be a magical place . . .

If you just can't get enough of my mad photography skills, you can see more pictures here on the FB. :)

Carry That Weight

2011-07-26T09:59:00.005-06:00

A little inspiration from Gunnar . . .

Gunnar is so funny, he picks up these weights and flings them around like they're nothing! Crazy dog!!

They Say It's Your Birthday

2011-07-25T13:33:00.010-06:00

I seem to be getting less and less crafty/creative as I get older, at least with my own ideas. I'm getting really good at replicating the creativity of others though, especially when it comes to birthdays! The two things I've tried recently come from the same awesome blog, Oh Happy Day! I decided to end my blogging hiatus by passing on these brilliant ideas because, quite frankly, they're just too good not to share.

IDEA #1: Birthday Post Cards

I had been trying for a while to come up with something fun to do for a friend's birthday for but nothing seemed quite right. I had seen this particular idea on Oh Happy Day! and wanted to wait and use it, not as a birthday thing, but as a "we think you're awesome" kind of surprise another time. The closer July got the less I wanted to wait so I went ahead and did it! Here's how it went from a thought to something tangible . . .

I found the perfect picture on the internet of a cartoon version of The Beatles and I downloaded The Beatles font to go along with it. I printed out a couple pages out and traced them onto a transparancey.

As luck would have it there is an overhead projector in the library at my church, so I used that to trace the images onto a poster board.

Then I took it home and colored it with my handy dandy Sharpies.

Next I cut the poster into postcard sized pieces. Okay, so they were bigger than your standard postcard, but it's the same idea . . .

Then I asked people who love Chad to write on the post cards. Some people know him personally others know him through his music but they all know Chad's birth is one worth celebrating. Several of these people don't live in VA so in order to enlist their help I sent emails explaining the idea and asking for participation. I then took the birthday greetings they sent back, printed them in various handwriting fonts, and glued them on the back of the cards. I also laminated them for an added measure of security.

I sent 3 or 4 cards each day until they were gone. Ideally I would've had the whole thing ready earlier so they would have trickled into his mailbox a little slower but this worked too! I sent some from VA on July 5th and from NYC on the 6th and 7th. Chad lives in New York so the cards from the 5th and 6th got there the same day. Ooops! Oh well, a lot of birthday love all at once never hurt anyone, right?

Confession: I'm always waiting for people to realize just how crazy I am and then flee as far as they can from me. So even though I was excited about the cards I was also worried they would lead to Chad's "wow, Lindsie's a nut job" moment. Luckily that was not the case. I was sitting on a broken down bus on my way home from New York when I got a phone call from Chad who had just found 7 awesome notes in his mailbox. The only thing I heard in voice was excitement . . . Phew!

There are a couple of things I really love about this project. 1) It's super exciting to get a few cards in the mail. It's even more exciting when the person realizes that in order to complete the puzzle on the back more must be on their way. 2) It's a fun way to extend the birthday love for more than just a day.

Something risky about the project: You are relying on the postal system and things can get lost. For example, I got the following picture from Chad saying how much he loved the cards and that he thought one piece might be missing.

I would have been fine if it were a corner piece but the middle?! It felt so anti-climatic! The missing card also happened to be one I wrote and had put a decent amount of thought into so I was just praying one day it'd turn up. At least I could see the missing is the piece in the picture of me mailing the cards so I knew I wasn't the one who lost it!

Thankfully I got this picture a few days later! The puzzle could be complete!!

I tweaked the original idea a bit, so you should check it out here. She also has a ready-made version you can use!

IDEA #2: Scavenger Hunt and Gift Wrap

Sara and I actually came up with the first part of this idea on our own. It was March and we were going to be in New York around another friend's birthday. We wanted to do something super fun and decided on a scavenger hunt. The original idea was to leave presents at several locations, give clues, and go pick them up. It wasn't too shocking to find that stores in New York City wouldn't hold strange packages for us. We ended up writing clues for various destinations along a particular route and bringing all the gifts with us. When we got to the locations we would ask a question for everyone to answer or we'd take funny pictures, then we'd hand over a gift to be saved and opened later. This way it was more than just going from one place to the next; we had fun and got to know random things about each other.

Thanks to modern technology we could even do video clues!

Sara, Ian, Chad, and me in front of the Amish Market "where you'd be most likely to find friendship bread." ;)

Now we could have just wrapped the gifts in any old paper, but we did this instead!

This is where the creativity of others came in!
I got boxes for everything and wrapped them in brown paper. Then I took various colors of yarn and tied them around the boxes. After it was sufficiently covered I trimmed the yarn down. There would be photographic evidence of this step if I hadn't lost my camera while we were there!

Some had patterns, others were random, all were awesome. It takes time but it's super easy! And if you happen to have a four hour bus ride it's a great way to pass the time . . . :) Seriously, they're so cute, why would I ever want to wrap a gift any other way?!

Plus it's really exciting to get presents wrapped like this.

The wrapping was inspired by Oh Happy Day! It was an idea that she had seen somewhere on the interwebs and passed on to her readers. Here's her post about it.

Oh, and if you're wondering what to do with the yarn after the gifts are opened, Chad has an idea . . .

What a day for San Francisco!

2011-04-28T12:54:00.004-06:00

Sometimes I get crazy ideas in my head and rather than talking myself out of them, I just plow straight ahead and see them through. This usually occurs when I find a concert I want to attend in a state other than Virginia, hence my trip to San Francisco in March. Several months ago I found out Cary Brothers was joining Joshua Radin on his upcoming tour but not until after he'd played DC. This did not sit well with my music obsessed soul so began to research dates, cities, and airline tickets. As luck would have it, the tour was ending on a Saturday in San Francisco. A Saturday!! When I saw that a plane ticket was reasonably priced I knew exactly where I would be on March 12th.

Thanks to two delayed flights I was able to spend quality time at airports in DC and Cincinnati. I could have been super annoyed by this, but instead I was able to do make some fun playlists, plan some birthday stuff for a friend, and listen in on a concert I was missing via cell phone. I guarantee I was the happiest person at the Cincinnati airport that night! All in all it took me 16 hours to get to San Francisco, but it was worth it!

I met my pals Trent and Brian there and we spent Saturday and Sunday exploring the city and rocking out at the concert! It was so much fun! I would definitely do San Fran again!

Friends at The Golden Gate Bridge

Trent showcasing his brilliant photography skills!

What ever happened to predictability? The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV?!

We didn't see Michelle OR Uncle Jesse, despite Trent and Brian's best attempts at calling for them . . . I almost left them there!! ;)

Random shoe garden in Alamo Square Park (aka Full House park).

I may or may not have made out with Bradley Cooper while we were there.

It was the last night of the Joshua Radin tour (another big reason to go) and the show was full of pranks. Like this one . . .
The sound engineer walked on stage in his unmentionables with I *heart* LJ written on his torso. LJ stands for Laura Jansen, the first opener. She was playing her quiet, tender song, Single Girls. She made him stay on stage.

Is that Zach Galifianakis?! Nope, just Brandon Walters . . . Everyone busted up laughing when Brandon came on stage sporting this shirt.

The ever-so-talented Cary Brothers. Love this man!

And then there was Josh . . .

Rockin' out with some of his bff's!

We were among the last people in line to say hi to Laura and Cary (Josh stayed backstage, which isn't too surprising seeing as there were a lot of family members and family friends at the show). Laura had one last CD that she was giving away and it was between me and the boys. I said one of them could have it since I already bought it. Cary cheered for that and it sparked a little conversation. I told him we came specifically to see him open for Josh. He asked from where and when he found out he came out from behind the table and hugged me. We got to talk for a few minutes and take this picture . . .
While we were talking I told him that my friends and I met at the last Hotel Cafe Tour (what is that, you say? Watch this). Then he gave us the best possible news one could hope to hear . . . they are bringing back HCT this fall!!!!!! You can bet I'll be getting tickets to as many of those shows as I possibly can . . . :)

The next morning we got up and headed down to Fisherman's Wharf . . .
Friends looking at Alcatraz

Sea lions lounging around at Pier 39

Wandering around the pier

Trying on nerd glasses . . . We look so smart!!

It was a quick little trip but it was awesome! Thanks to Trent for emailing me all these pics! (I lost my camera in NYC and hadn't been able to upload anything from this trip).

P.S. If you don't know what song this post title came from, let me help you out because it is among the more incredible songs in existence . . .

Awake My Soul

2011-03-18T14:08:00.003-06:00

I can't find the words to accurately describe how amazing the first five days of March were for me and I've been trying for 2 weeks! Here's my best attempt . . . After a month of feeling completely dead inside followed by a month of playing the "fake it til you make it" game, that week was exactly what I needed. I wasn't dead anymore and I wasn't pretending to be fine. Life, while still uncertain, no longer seemed meaningless. My smile was real. I was genuinely happy. I felt loved. If you boil it down, I went from feeling like crap to feeling like this:

It started in February when Sara and I were relaxing at my place; relaxing meaning the two of us on our computers in the same room, chatting and laughing. I was trying to figure out how to fix some computer problems when all of the sudden Sara says, "Umm, Ian just emailed us!" (Ian, being Ian Axel). It had been far too long since we'd seen him and Chad (Vaccarino, look him up, you'll love him), and it just so happened that they were playing in Pittsburgh that weekend and we were going. It was kind of ironic/awesome that he'd email us then. We had been talking about doing a house concert with them for a while and the perfect opportunity had come up. He and Chad would be in VA for a show at Jammin' Java and could come down a day early for a house show. As soon as Sara and I got the go ahead from Karen, we started throwing out ideas. I'm not even kidding when I say I was so excited that could not fall sleep. Think Christmas Eve when you were 7 or 8 years old . . . TIMES TEN!!

Pennsylvania was awesome, see?!! We were able to hang out with a bit and go over some of the details for the show. On Saturday night I mentioned to Sara that it would be awesome if Mike Campbell could come with them, but he still has a full time job, so we weren't going to bring it up. Then on Sunday we were talking about openers and Chad said maybe Mike could take the day off and come down. Apparently it was meant to be because by the end of the night Mike was on board and we were counting down the days until March.

The next month was spent talking to people about the show, sending/responding to emails, managing FB events, moving furniture to do a mock set-up, figuring out the food, cleaning, shopping, cooking, and coming up with perhaps the most brilliant idea I've ever had (I'll explain momentarily). Thankfully I had friends offer to help with the setting up and cooking parts! I was pretty confident we'd be able to get a decent crowd to show up, but I was overwhelmed by the intensely positive responses we were getting. Every time I went to church or some other social event, people would ask about the show and talk about how excited they were. There came a point when I started to get nervous about not having enough space for everyone who wanted to come!

March 1st finally arrived and I felt good about all the preparations that had been made up until that point. There was some minor stress that day but I decided to let it go and guess what? Things went off without a hitch! I could sit here and give you a detailed account of everything that happened from the moment I woke up until I went to sleep that night, but I'll save that for my personal journal and give you the cliff notes version with pictures, videos, and links to videos. :)

The biggest help I could have gotten for the show was with the food! We had four delicious soups, cowboy salsa, and tons of sweet things! Thank you to Sara, Ashley, William, Amanda, Kendra, Natalie, Michelle, Melissa, Lois and Hadar for saving my sanity by bringing things and helping out!! I love you all!! Also, thank you Lois and Hadar for several of the following pictures, can't wait to see you guys again, hopefully at one of Ian's shows in New York!! :)

The most brilliant idea I've ever had . . . .
That's right folks, Ian Axel fortune cookies. I wanted to do something special for the show that would be specific to Ian and his music. I looked up several things that could be personalized, and then late one night it struck me-fortune cookies! I did a little research and found the perfect site where I could get exactly what I wanted, Fancy Fortune Cookies. They let you have up to 5 different fortunes in your cookies for free, they have several flavors to choose from, and they are reasonably priced! I went with blueberry and coconut but could not narrow the fortunes down to just five. There were 8 I really wanted, but opted for six.

Aren't these awesome fortunes? They are all lyrics from Ian's songs! I also wanted to use "just close your eyes and let it rain" (maybe my favorite of their lyrics) and "shorty don't wait in line, shorty don't wait til the sun don't shine." I think Ian and Chad are ordering more of these, so if you go to one of their shows you can get your very own cookie/fortune by signing the mailing list!! *hint, hint*

Now the music . . .
Mike Campbell did and awesome job opening the show. Click here and here to watch two of the songs he performed. We need more music from Mike in our lives!!

Chad joined Mike for a bit, singing Don't You Worry and Days Gone By. They sang those songs when we saw them for the first time in Albany. Tender doesn't even cover it! I've said it before and I'll say it again, going on that road trip was the best decision I made in 2010.

Ian joined the mix and they sang All The Love. I freaking love this song. And these guys.

We took a little break between sets and then it was time for Ian. Before the show even started the feeling in that room was incredible and it only got better. Ian started off with Leave Me Alone. A friend made this comment after the show and I totally agree, she said she was pretty sure that last night's "Leave Me Alone" was my favorite performance of any song ever.

I forgot to dim the lights so I only got part of the song, but I think it's pretty clear that we were all having a good time!

I love watching Ian play . . .

Both Ingrid and Matthew were excited for the show. It was getting late though, so they headed up to bed before Ian's set, but as soon as he started playing, Ingy's face lit up and she begged Karen to let them go back down! She came and sat on my lap and hugged me tighter than I think she's ever hugged me! We frequently have Ian Axel parties in the van where we each pick an instrument and rock out. She can also act out the entire music video for This Is the New Year and even play a small part of it on the piano. Not gonna lie, I got a little teary eyed with her sitting on my lap watching people I love do what they do best. Again, tender doesn't cut it.

A portion of the audience.

Chad, of course, joined Ian for several songs. I might just love Chad's voice more than any other voice on the planet. Seriously, when he sings it is impossible for me not to smile. M-a-g-i-c! Ian sang Say Something and then Chad came up and they did You'll Be Okay. I'd heard the song several times before and loved it but I never really connected with it until the Jammin' Java performance the next night.

It would be impossible to pick a favorite moment of the night but this ranks near the top for sure. The kids had once again gone to bed when Ian dedicated This Is the New Year to them. Karen knew Ingrid would be crushed if she missed it, so she called upstairs to have the kids get out of bed. They came and stood right in front of me. I asked them each separately what their favorite part of the show was, both of them had the same answer:

This song was a huge surprise! Ian played it in Albany, and every time I've seen him pull out his ukelele since then I hope that's what he's going to play. It never is, but we get Pacific Sun so all is right in the world. This time we got both and I LOVED IT!!!

They closed the show with Shorty Don't Wait. The performance could not have been more perfect. In fact, the whole night could not have been more perfect. I loved every second of it.

Post show pictures. Our serious faces. Too bad I cut off Mike's eye . . .

This picture just makes me happy . . . I love these people!!

The evening would not have happened without William and Ashley's help!!

Sara stayed for a while and we just sat around talking with Ian, Chad, and Mike. If you would have told me a year ago that this night would have happened I would have thought you were crazy. A good crazy though. :)

The next day was soooo good. I talked with Chad, taught Ian how to make scrambled eggs, and got to spend some time with the two of them (sadly Mike had to go back to New York) while they did a little work. Then that night they played at one of my favorite venues. A few weeks ago I was at Jammin' Java and the door girl (Mei) asked if I wanted to do merch for Ian's show and of course I said yes.
Here's what the "Ian Axel Merch Store" looked like that night. You know you want to buy a shirt . . . :)

The show was as awesome as ever!

The next morning they had to leave for CT, but we got to eat breakfast together before they went. I was sad to see them go. I spend most of my days alone or with a 5 year old and it was kind of nice to be around friends who are adults. Luckily I knew I was going to see them again in 2 days, so it wasn't too bad.

Saturday they played at Night Cat in Easton, MD. I went up to watch and help with the merch again. We had some time before the show so we went and got some yummy sushi at a nearby restaurant. It was quality bonding time for sure.

Then there was the show. This crowd was a little different than the last two . . . the average age in the room was probably 65, but as usual they easily won over the audience and everyone enjoyed themselves.

We had more good times watching the other performer (Ian appreciated her more than Chad and I could), kicking Chad's PTSD into high gear when he thought I was shutting the trunk on his head, hanging out by the merch, etc. It all culminated in the Denny's parking lot as we sat in my van and listened to music that is going to blow everyone's mind in a few months. This time saying goodbye was harder. I knew this week wasn't "normal" life and I was going to miss them. But as much as I didn't want to leave, I had an hour and a half drive ahead of me and it was late. Next time I'm getting a hotel!! As I drove away I started missing my best friend a ton. The time I spent with Ian and Chad felt a lot like the time I spend with Spencer. It never ceases to amaze me how the exact right people are in your life at the exact right time . . . That was most definitely one of the best weeks of my life.

You may not believe me, but I promise that was the Cliff Notes version of the story . . . :)

Music Moves My Feet

2011-03-07T14:40:00.009-07:00

As you may know, I work out at Curves, an all women's gym. I joined 5 years ago and have found much success when I stick to their program (I need to get back on track, like yesterday). I love working out there for several reasons . . .

1-It's a 30 minute work out. I go in, bust my butt, and walk out doing what it would take me an hour and a half to do at another gym.
2-It's all women.
3-I don't have to create my own work out, it's already set up for me.
4-For some reason all the old ladies love me and frequently comment on how hard I work. It pushes me to not slack off, even when I really, really want to! Of course if they were 30 years younger they'd be giving me a run for my money . . .

About a year an a half ago I bought an ipod shuffle. I named him Charlie after Charlie from LOST (obviously) and he has changed the way I work out. Curves has music on overhead but it's usually the same thing over and over again and it doesn't exactly motivate me much. I have found that when I choose my own music I burn 150+ more calories, so that's what I do!

I've had several people ask me what my workout playlist looks like, so I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. Keep in mind that for me, if I love a song it's incredibly motivating!

Chase This Light (Jimmy Eat World)
Sweet Disposition (The Temper Trap)
Models and Dancers (Harper Blynn)
This Is the New Year (Ian Axel)
Afterglow (Ian Axel)
Leave Me Alone! (Ian Axel)
Uncharted (Sara Bareilles)
King of Anything (Sara Bareilles)
Animal Arithmetic (Jonsi)
Soldier (Ingrid Michaelson)
Locked Up (Ingrid Michaelson)
The One I Love (Greg Laswell)
You, Now (Greg Laswell)
The Ones With The Light (Joshua Radin)
Here We Go (Joshua Radin)
The Road to Ride On (Joshua Radin)
We Are Okay (Joshua Radin)
Ghost Town (Cary Brothers)
The Chase (Greg Holden)
Almost Everything (Wakey! Wakey!)
Hands Open (Snow Patrol)
This Is Your Life (Switchfoot)
Hello Hurricane (Switchfoot)
Stand Out (Tevin Campbell)
If I Am (Nine Days)
New Version of You (JJ Abrams)
All Those Pretty Lights (Andrew Belle)

Okay, so that's more than a few! But you get the idea. Tell me you don't think I'm crazy . . . Please. :)

The Last Hour

2011-02-28T21:22:00.007-07:00

I wanted to make sure I got one post in during the month of February. I realize there are only 37 minutes left to do it, but I still make the deadline!

So January wasn't the greatest month ever, in fact it's a strong candidate for the worst month ever. February has been crazy and busy, but in an awesome kind of way. And I can basically guarantee that March is going to be hard to top. Ever. In life.

Here's a glimpse of some of the awesome things that have happened over the past 28 days . . .

Seeing Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino in Pittsburgh the day before the super bowl.

Being serenaded by Gabby, Harmony, and Olympia at Chocolate World.

Making Valentine's Day videos in Hershey with Ian and Chad.

Third times the charm!

Picasso's Guitars at the MoMA. Worth the whole trip!

Being silly at FAO Schwartz.

Eating delicious pancakes in Brooklyn!!

Front row for Joshua Radin!

What's On Your Mind?

2011-01-12T18:56:00.014-07:00

What follows is a brief insight into the inner-workings of my brain this evening. Prepare yourself and know that I try hard to reign in the crazy.

Colors

My skin is kind of sort of brownish
Pinkish yellowish white.
My eyes are grayish blueish green,
But I'm told they look orange in the night.
My hair is reddish blondish brown,
But it's silver when it's wet.
And all the colors I am inside
Have not been invented yet.

-Shel Silverstein

I read a bunch of Shel Silverstein to the kids today and really liked this one. Probably because it reminded me of Nickel Creek lyrics . . . (You dream of colors that have never been made, you imagine in songs that have never been played ).

When I think about Nickel Creek, I think of how I have to see Chris Thile play this year to complete my trend of seeing a different member of the band perform each year (Sean in 2009, Sara in 2010, there's really no other option for 2011). Then I start thinking about how I really, really, really want to see him at Rockwood in NYC. Then my brain starts conjuring up all sorts of things related to the World's Capital and that can go on for hours . . . This thought process reminds me of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie but it is 100% true!

Then there's this:

I've been mulling over the "compare where you are to where you want to be and you'll get nowhere" part all day. This is a current battle in several aspects of my life.

Since the lyric comes from a certain Sara Bareilles, I'm going to take the opportunity to explain my feelings about her . . . I did not like Sara Bareilles, nor did I want to. After the extreme over-play of 'Love Song' a few years back I had had my fill of her music to the point of extreme disdain. When Kaleidoscope Heart was released last September it went straight to #1 on Billboard and several of the musicians whose opinions and taste I respect were raving about it. I was sure no one knew what they were talking about, even after Sara B. was nominated for another Grammy. I ended up seeing her live in October when Greg Laswell was opening. If that man is playing within a 100 mile radius of my home I have no other choice but to go - he's that good! I also hoped to catch a glimpse of why people love this woman, and let me tell you, they love her.

The show was sold out but a friend and I got in by volunteering to pass out download cards for Greg after his set. It was great, he sang, wore an awesome orange sweater, and proved yet again that How the Day Sounds is a perfect song. Then we pushed our way (gently) through the crowd and interrupted (politely) people's conversations. We were giving out free music, so they were cool with it. The place was packed and there was no way to get back to our original spots before Sara came on. Pushing through the crowd to get closer to the stage is the quickest, surest way to get make enemies at a concert. It's also among the douchiest things you can do at a show, so we just hung out in back near the merch table.

I walked away baffled at the intensity with which people love Sara Bareilles. Men and women! I enjoyed seeing their passion for an artist, that's something I can relate to, but I left the venue less impressed with that woman than I was when I walked in. Let me explain. Not a whole lot phases me, but with Sara it honestly felt like she was getting paid to drop the f-bomb repeatedly every 3-5 minutes and there wasn't near enough charm smooth things over. I'm sure it didn't help any that 48 hours earlier I was at an Ingrid Michaelson concert. I've never seen anyone win over an audience as quickly and completely as she does. I've seriously thought about making a shirt that says "I'd rather be at an Ingrid Michaelson concert."

Fast-forward to the week after Thanksgiving. Amazon was offering several albums for $1.99, one of them being Kaleidoscope Heart. For 2 bucks I decided to get it, do a little analysis, and find out what it was I did not like about this woman's music. A week or so later this song came up on random on my ipod. It was beautiful and unfamiliar so I looked to see who the artist was . . . Not long after I fully understood what all the Sara Bareilles hype was about. This lady is good at what she does. If you want to hear the best pop album of 2010, look no further.

P.S. I came on here for the sole purpose of posting the poem and then being done. This is why I need a music blog . . .

This is The New Year: 2010 in review

2011-01-04T19:48:00.009-07:00

2010 was an incredible year! I made new friends, hung out with old ones, went crazy fun adventures, learned some lessons, and attended a handful of concerts. Here are a few fun facts from the year.

Books I started and completed:
-Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne
-Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
-The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker
-Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (re-read)
-Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (re-read)
-Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
I feel like I'm missing some . . . regardless, this is pathetic! I need to read (and finish) more books this year!!

Cities visited:
-New York City, NY (5 times)
-Salt Lake City, UT (3 times)
-Nashville, TN (twice)
-Charlottesville, VA (twice)
-Baltimore, MD (twice)
-Paris, FRA
-Nantucket, MA
-Los Angeles, CA
-San Diego, CA
-Albany, NY
-Annapolis, MD
-Hoboken, NJ
-Asbury Park, NJ
-Philadelphia, PA
-Spokane, WA
-Hershey, PA
-Outter Banks, NC

Number of days it would take me to listen to all the music I purchased: 1.77

Best decision made: Going to Albany to see Ian Axel, Chad Vaccarino, and Mike Campbell play at Bread and Jam Cafe

Concert stats:
Number of shows attended: 56

States those shows were seen in: VA (40) MD (5) NY (4) NJ (2) CA (2) PA (1) UT (1) MA (1)

Most seen artist: Ian Axel (7)

Favorite venues:
-Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1 (NYC)
-Bread and Jam Cafe (Albany)
-Lestat's (San Diego)
-Sixth and I Synagogue (DC)
-Jammin' Java (Vienna)
-The Southern (Charlottesville)

Number of movies seen in the theater: 23
The 10 favorites (no order):
-Inception
-Despicable Me
-Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows
-Waiting For Superman
-Toy Story 3
-How To Train Your Dragon
-Babies
-Leap Year
-The Social Network
-Hereafter

Top 25 most played songs:
A miracle has occurred folks, Joshua Radin does not sit atop this list for the first time since I started making it. It's bittersweet, but when you consider who took over it's not as surprising. Unfortunately my ipod has a glitch and the play counts are waaay off! With the help of itunes and common sense here are the songs that made the list.

The entire This is the New Year album-Ian Axel*
Afterglow-Ian Axel
Home-Ian Axel
Here We Go-Joshua Radin
Sympathetic Vibrations-The Paper Raincoat
Take Everything-Greg Laswell
Streetlight-Joshua Radin
The Ladder-Andrew Belle
We Go Together-Luke Brindley
Right Angles-The Paper Raincoat
Odds of Being Alone-Trent Dabbs
Dig with Me-Allie Moss
I Knew Prufrock Before He Was Famous-Frank Turner

*According to my ipod/itunes I listened to the title track 2,656 times. That may be slightly off seeing as it equals over six full days of listening to nothing but This is the New Year. Despite an obvious over-estimate it is definitely my most listened to song of the year . . . and life. :)

2011 sure has a lot to live up to!!

All or Nothing

2010-12-31T12:16:00.009-07:00

I got home late Wednesday afternoon after a wonderful Christmas visit to Utah. I had all these plans for how I would use the rest of my time off. Continue the never ending process of cleaning and organizing my room, read, do laundry, get a little crafty, clean and organize Matthew's room, hang out with friends, make a day trip to NYC before New Year's eve, and catch up on my blog. I thought I'd start out blogging since there's tons to catch up on. I turned on my computer but the internet wouldn't work. I turned on the tv, the cable was out too. I called Verizon and while the customer service guy was one of the best I'd ever come in contact with, we could not fix the problem over the phone. He said the soonest they could get someone to the house would be in 3 days. My blogging dreams were crushed. I could have moved on to other things on the list, but no. Instead I've been doing a whole lot of nothing . . . well, not exactly nothing.

I discovered what all the hype surrounding Angry Birds was about. I played so much yesterday that when I would close my eyes all I could see were birds and pigs.

I watched a lot of Scrubs and by a lot I mean the last 8 episodes of season two and all of season three. It's probably a good thing I don't own season four. Yet. :)

Matthew got a pop-shot basketball game for Christmas. I've been perfecting my game so I'll be ready to take him on when they get back from vacation.

I also made it to the gym, walking there and back so I felt better about my lazy day, went late night grocery shopping, visited with a friend, picked another friend up from the airport, and stuffed invitations for my boss. I have eaten delicious Thai food for every meal, gone to Target, and am currently sitting at Barnes and Noble enjoying the free wi-fi before I go see if they have season four of Scrubs. :)

See, not nothing.

Single Ladies: The Garden State Pt. 2

2010-11-18T07:43:00.008-07:00

Why go to New Jersey you ask? To see these awesome people of course:
Ian Axel, Allie Moss, and Lauren Zettler

If you're really really, really lucky, Chad Vaccarino will be there and he'll sing with Ian. Poolside.

You could hear new songs, like You'll Be Okay.

Ian might do a cover of Greg Holden's Are We Wasted. Not a song you're likely to ever hear him perform live ever again. Solo at least. (he, he, he)

Then if the stars have completely aligned, Allie will join Ian and Chad in singing Shorty Don't Wait.

If you want, sit by the pool and discuss the future of Ian's career, the similarities between your belief systems, aliens, and tips on moving to NYC. If Ian and/or Chad happen to mention going to lunch next time you're in NYC, you will know they don't think you're completely crazy.

Observations:
-The look on someone's face when you completely and utterly surprise them is still among my favorite things ever.
-Allie Moss' mom makes delicious food, including homemade marshmallows.
-If you see an artist 3 times at 3 different house shows in 3 different states, all in one month, she might greet you with a kiss on the cheek.

Post-game analysis:
-Bring a sweater in case you get the opportunity to experience your first dose of fall weather.

Single Ladies: The Garden State Pt. 1

2010-11-17T20:03:00.011-07:00

Get in the car and drive to New Jersey. That's right, New Jersey. It helps if it's the weekend after Labor Day. Still warm and less crowded. Also, bring your soul twin.

Stay in a slightly creepy, yet charming, old hotel with the slowest elevator on the planet.

Opt for an ocean-side room.

Do awesome things that I will post about tomorrow . . . ;)

The next morning take a stroll down the boardwalk. People watch, it's awesome.

When you see signs that tell you there's an Oysterfest in the area, follow them.

If you've never eaten oysters, try them. After all, you are at Oysterfest.

When you've taken part of enough of the festivities, stock up on kettle corn and start the somewhat long drive home.

Observations:
-Oysters are slimy, even when fried. The buffalo sauce and blue cheese do help though.
-Not all of Jersey is bad, in fact some of it is magical.
-Sometimes hotels only give you shampoo and lotion, no conditioner. Lame, I know.
-Lotion is not a good substitute for conditioner. Check bottle before using.

Post-Game Analysis:
-Bring blankets, sometimes the AC in your hotel room only has 2 settings: perma-freeze and off.
-Go with the peanut butter balls instead of the chocolate covered cheesecake-on-a-stick.

Single Ladies: Handsome AND Talented

2010-11-16T19:40:00.005-07:00

Go to concerts for bands you've never really heard of as well as for the bands you absolutely love. Enjoy the show, rock out if and when it's appropriate. However if you want to make the most of your experience, you should probably stick around after and meet the rather attractive rock stars. For example:

Mikel Jollett from The Airborne Toxic Event.

Or Noah Harmon, also from The Airborne Toxic Event.

Andrew Belle is super nice and will blow your mind with his talent.

Chatting with Joshua Radin post show is always must. Duh.

Observations:
-Waiting until the crowd dies down to talk to an artist can be the best idea you've ever had or it can mean not meeting the artist at all. It's a gamble, so go with your gut.
- Paying 50 bucks to hear Joshua Radin play 2 songs from a 30 minute set is totally worth it.
-If I weren't already secure in my beliefs, I'd probably opt to become Jewish because of the magical experiences I've had at the Sixth and I Synagogue.

Post-game analysis:
-When going to a show, take the route you think is best, even in Garmin tells you to go another way. Otherwise it could end up taking you almost 2 hours to make a 20 minute drive. (Josh was still worth it).
-Bring a working sharpie.
-Think, then speak.

Single Ladies: Good Old PA

2010-11-15T10:55:00.006-07:00

Decide at midnight to go to Pennsylvania with your soul twin. Leave by 7am. Drive around, take in the beauty, then go to Hershey.

Observations:
-Hershey really does smell like chocolate.
-Chocolate Peanut Butter milkshakes must be the nectar of the gods.

Post-game analysis (what I would do to make the trip even better next time):
-Take more pictures!!!
-See what movies are playing at the drive-in so you can plan that into your trip if you'd like.
-Bring a lawyer who loves to fish so he can go fishing in a magical stream while you read a book and wait for your soul twin to be done with a bridal shower. Eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse with said lawyer and soul twin.

Single Ladies: Introduction

2010-11-14T19:27:00.009-07:00

I can count on one hand the number of weekends I've spent at home over the past 4 months. It seems life has been one fun adventure after the next. Sometimes I wonder how long this can possibly last or if this is actually the new "normal" for my life. Either way, I feel extremely blessed for the opportunities that have been presented to me and for the friends that I've been able to share these good times with.

I was sitting outside eating a more than delicious meal in Park Slope this summer when the friend I was with made an observation. She said, "If you have to be single, this is how to do it!" This is something that's stuck with me ever since and seems appropriate more these days than ever. I was discussing this attitude (I guess you could call it) with another friend and he told me to watch a particular clip from the TV show Brothers and Sisters where Sally Fields' character is giving advice on a call-in radio show. She said, "You have to give up the life you've planned to find the life that's waiting for you." I am definitely not living the life I thought I would be at 29, but the life that I am living sure is amazing!! At least to me. :)

Now you might be asking what the point in telling you all that is? Well, it's because is the theme of my next several posts is going to be "if you have to be single, this is how to do it." Check back over the next week to see what I've been doing instead of blogging! ;)

P.S. I put a new playlist up of songs I've been loving lately. It's right over here ------------------>

We Are Only Getting Better

2010-11-12T07:40:00.002-07:00

Well folks, I am now the big 2-9. Yikers! Kidding. This is going to be my best year yet! Twenty-eight was one rockin' year, but I have a feeling it was just setting the stage for 29. Insert Joshua Radin song here. :)

I had a fantastic birthday filled with well wishes from amazing friends and family, delicious food, and awesome gifts. Among those gifts was this:

So here's what happened. My awesomely thoughtful, gutsy, brilliant, and best friend ever, Sara emailed Chad and Ian earlier this week and asked if they'd record themselves singing happy birthday to me. We were sitting at dinner while Sara was texting Chad about it and she spilled the beans. She really couldn't hide it seeing as there are few things in life that can cause the amount of joy she was exuding. We finished up our meals, ate a delicious dessert (Cashew Butter and Jelly "Sundae" aka French toast ice cream, concord grape sorbet, cashew butter sauce, toasted brioche, cashew brittle), and booked it back to my place to watch the video. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Best surprise ever? I think so!

P.S. I have had an insane amount awesome adventures over the past few months that I have neglected to blog about, so stay tuned. I have a nice little plan formulated to share them with you over the next week as I count down to another adventure-Paris! :) :) :)

Keeping Warm

2010-11-02T21:23:00.003-06:00

Welcome back dear friends, I've missed you!

Friday I'm in Love

2010-10-15T20:36:00.003-06:00

Reasons I love New York City #274: It's pretty much a guarantee that you will witness something awesome, random, hilarious, strange, or disturbing every time you get on the subway.

Unfortunately I was not on the B train this day, I did however, see a Mariachi band on the N train last Monday. Their accordion had flames and everything! ;)

This would fall under the awesome category . . .

Ready To Start

2010-09-27T08:34:00.003-06:00

Last week Ingrid went shopping with her mom and came home with a present for me.

Later that night she asked if I'd written in my notebook yet. I said no, but promised that I would. I've been thinking lately about how I need to make a better effort to write in a physical journal, and by better effort I mean any effort at all. I have gone on so many fun adventures and had awesome things happen to me and I want to have a record of them. Ingrid must have psychic abilities or something because that little gesture was the perfect thing to get me going. The very next day Ingrid asked again about me writing in my notebook and I was happy to tell her I had. She then told me that she "picked out this very beautiful notebook because your other one was getting so filled up." How cute is that?

Last night as I was writing in my "very beautiful notebook" the entry included in the words Twitter, Garmen, and Craigslist. I started to laugh as I imagined some future person picking up my journal and trying to figure out what on earth I was talking about. Perhaps we should consider making glossaries as a companion to our journals. :)

Give A Little Bit

2010-09-26T07:06:00.003-06:00

Remember this guy?

His name is Greg Holden. I first saw him was a year ago when he opened for Ingrid Michaelson and it blew me away. The last time I saw Greg was a week ago and again, I was blown away. The thing that makes this note worthy is that it was the 8th time I've seen him live and every time I am more impressed than the last. I guarantee I wasn't the only person in the room having that experience. To me this speaks volumes of Greg's incredible talent as an artist.

Greg is an independent musician, meaning he doesn't have a record label backing him. He does this so he can put out the music he makes how he feels it should be heard. This also means that he has to come up with his own funding. Kickstarter is a really cool way for musicians and others to raise money to fund their creativity. From what I understand, an artist sets a goal for how much money they need to raise and takes it to Kickstarter. They launch a campaign and ask their fans to donate to the cause, offering various rewards for their generosity. If an artist reaches their goal, the campaign will be funded. If they don't, everyone who donated keeps their money and the artist goes back to the drawing board. You can read more about the ins and outs here, it's actually pretty interesting.

Greg raised the $20,000 he was looking for in the first 2 weeks of the project so he will get the money when the deadline comes around. It costs a whole lot more than $20,000 to make an album so the more money he can raise, the better. There are only 4 days left to donate and any amount will help. If you're already a fan, check out the awesome rewards and donate here (*hint, if you're going to buy the album you should donate and get it for "free"). If you've never listened to Greg's music then you've been missing out and that needs to change. Now. Let me help. :)

This is a song of his last EP. If I were to make a soundtrack for my life this would, without a doubt, make the cut.

This is one of his unreleased songs called Are We Wasted. Easily one of my favorites.

If I went to a Greg Holden concert and he came out, played Bar on A once, then walked off the stage it would be a show worth seeing. This song is the fan favorite. I'm pretty sure it's shouted out as a request at every show and has always ends his set. In my opinion it's a perfect song. I say this as a person who doesn't drink, so you know it must be good!! :)

Hopefully I've convinced you help Greg out!

Drive Me Crazy

2010-09-02T21:35:00.006-06:00

You know what I hate? Mosquitos. I've always hated them, but never as much as I do at this very moment!! I have a grand total of 44 bites from these little buggers on my body (that I've counted). That would be 8 on my chest, 9 on my face, 17 on one of my upper legs, and 10 others on fingers or legs. I swear it's like a chain reaction, as soon as one of them starts itching all the rest follow suit. AHHHHH!

Can't Complain

2010-08-31T21:44:00.004-06:00

Nantucket this year has been a little different than the past two trips, but great none the less! Seeing as the trip is just about over I thought I'd start coving some of the highlights . . . Our first night we were here we went and saw the Boston Pops play at Jetties Beach. It was a whole lot of awesome.

Just thinking about this gives me chills! Hearing such amazing talent in such a beautiful setting is truly magical.

There were SO many people there! And quite the variety We joined a bunch of the Knutson's friends and picnicked close to the shore so the kids could play. Ingy waded in the water at first, but eventually gave in to the temptation. Luckily we brought a dry set of clothing!

My delicious sandwich from Something Natural. If you ever visit Nantucket, you're going to want to check them out.

Boats were lined up in the water watching the concert.

The night ended with some of the most incredible fireworks I have ever seen. What a great way to kick off ACK 2010!

Baltimore

2010-08-29T22:54:00.001-06:00

Next up in our site-seeing adventure: Charm City! I've been to Baltimore a few times but haven't been able to wander around the city, and as I'm sure I've mentioned before, that's how I prefer to see a city.

The National Aquarium and Torsk aka a submarine.

The U.S.S. Constellation, the last Civil War vessel still afloat.

Rafal and me in front of The Constellation.

City buildings.

It really was a lucky weekend for us. First we see the President, then we arrive in Baltimore only to discover that there is a Japan-amation convention in town. Hours of laughs and entertainment! Pictures cannot do things like this justice. Hundreds and hundreds of hard core fans were dressed from head to toe in costume. In 90 degree weather no less!

Edgar Allen Poe's grave. This was kind of a cool place to visit, lots of old graves and such. We also went and saw his home, though we risked our lives to do so. Let's just say it isn't in the nicest part of town. Never go there alone or at night.

Now on to the main event of the weekend: The Swell Season concert!
Market Irglova and Glen Hansard. You may recognize them from the movie Once . . . their song, Falling Slowly won an Oscar for best original song back in '07. It was a magical moment for sure.

The Swell Season performing Gold. This is the second time I've seen these guys perform and I would see them a million more times. Too bad they're going on hiatus after this tour . . .

Passion for music runs through this man's veins. I don't think it's possible for him to give a sub-par performance. He's awe-inspiring to say the least.

Rafal and me post concert in front of the venue, Rams Head Live. Confession: I did not take this picture, Rafal did. And actually several pics from the last post I got from him. I need to work on my self-picture taking skills where backgrounds are concerned. ;)

Some guy put together clips from the show. Watch the whole thing if you'd like, but at least check out 10:16 on. So incredible. These people are amazing.

The Tourist

2010-08-28T22:34:00.004-06:00

I've lived in DC now for 2 years and I still have so much I need to see. Luckily friends come to visit and I get to play tourist. My friend Rafal came out about a month ago and we hit up Old Town Alexandria, DC, and Baltimore. It really was so much fun!

We ate lunch at one of my very favorite restaurants, Vermillion. Then we wandered down to the waterfront and through some of the neighborhoods.

I saw The White House on my first visit to DC, but hadn't discovered my talent for self-portraits yet. I went inside at Christmastime in '08 but it was so stinking cold we didn't take any pictures. Finally I have documentation.

Protesting in DC is pretty common. I now have a cause I can really get behind! :)

We had to go move the van to another parking spot and while we were on our way we noticed road blocks being set up. Whenever there are road blocks, it's a guarantee that a crowd will form in hopes of finding out what all the fuss is about. This is exactly what happened.
The suburbans kept on coming. Several men in black suits jumped out of the vehicles and ran into the Spy Museum. This alone would have been noteworthy in my book.

Then we looked up and saw snipers on the roof. You don't have snipers on the roof for just anyone . . .

I'm sure one of these folks got a picture of the President. We however did not. Apparently he, Michelle, and Sasha were visiting the Spy Museum after it had closed. I tell you what, it's not everyday you just happen to see the President as you're walking around DC. It was kind pretty exciting.

After dinner we headed over to The Mall and wandered around.
We saw the Capitol.

The Washington Monument.

See, we really were there. :)

And our last stop was the Lincoln Memorial.

A piece of advice for all those planning a visit to the nation's capital, see the monuments at night. There's just something about seeing them after hours that you don't get during the day. And in the summer that includes the heat.

Friday I'm In Love

2010-08-20T00:08:00.001-06:00

Do you know what this is a picture of?

The happiest place on earth.

There's no place quite like the temple. Life just makes more sense after going inside. Things are put into perspective and you can't help but feel love for all the people and every good thing in your life.

If you have no idea I'm talking about, you can go here and get more info. :)

Sigh No More

2010-08-11T20:39:00.005-06:00

Current musical obsession:
A friend of mine gave me this album a couple weeks ago and I've listened to it at least 20 times. When I love something I can't really get enough of it. Which makes keeping track of my most played songs each year that much more fun. Anyway, this very album is on sale on Amazon for only five bucks! Five bucks my friends! You may wanna look into that. ;)

And just in case you need a little preview of their sound:

Pieces

2010-08-09T14:14:00.002-06:00

Confession time: I love puzzles. A lot. My Grandparents gave me a 1000 piece puzzle for Christmas of stamps from all 50 states. I'd been waiting for just the right time to bust it out and finally decided my week off in July would be it.

I got all set up on a table we have in the basement. I sifted through the pieces and found the edges. When the edge was nearing completion I realized the puzzle was going to be too big for the table. Oops. I brought out the table from the playroom and put it between the couch and the TV. Probably a more comfortable set up anyway.

A thousand pieces didn't seem like too much. I was wrong. Especially for a puzzle that would be darn near impossible to do without the box.

I wasn't home for a good portion of the week, but whenever I was I'd work on it. I caught up on a few TV shows and even got in a some movies. Slowly but surely I made progress.

Then one day it was finished!

Me and my "masterpiece" before I took it down.

I'm probably more proud of this than I should be . . . :)

Wade In The Water

2010-08-09T13:57:00.008-06:00

As part of my carpe diem'd week last month my friend Kendra and I went to the beach at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis, Maryland. We swam in the Chesapeake and worked on our tans . . . or in my case, burn. Oops. It was decent weather after the streak of 100's we'd had, but I tell you what, I've never walked on sand as hot as that. The water was perfect though! We bobbed around for an hour or so in the water, hung out on the beach until we decided we were sufficiently dry, grabbed a gelati and headed to our hotel. Why a hotel? I'll get to that in a second. First, our view:

We needed a room so we could shower before going to a concert! I'll wait a minute while you recover from your shock . . .

Greg Holden and Katie Costello performed at Night Cat in Easton, MD, about 45 minutes or so from Annapolis. Like I could miss that! And since I had the time (and so did Kendra) we decided to make an event of it. My friend Julie joined us after the beach to go to the show.

Unfortunately we got there close to on time. I say unfortunate because the opener was terrible. I've seen several bad openers and this among the worst. Every time she finished a song she would kick up her heel, tilt her head to the side, and giggle. Her lyrics were beyond cheesy, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if she wrote them in junior high. Her last song had some potential . . . then again, maybe I thought it was decent because it meant her set was over.

Contrast her with the beautiful and brilliant Katie Costello. This woman is incredibly talented. Not only does she know how to craft a song but she also has such charming stage presence that you can't help but love her.

I met Katie for the first time at Night Cat back in March when we saw Ian Axel and Greg Holden. Then later that month when I went to L.A. and San Diego I heard her perform a few songs at the Greg/Ian shows I was at. It was fun to finally see her play an entire set. She has an EP coming out later this year and a full length album next year. Can't wait!

Then came Greg. I shudder to think what would be missing from my musical life had this man not gone on tour with Ingrid Michaelson last fall. ;)

Something was up with the amp so Greg did his entire set unplugged. I loved it! And this was a great venue for that kind of performance.
What a great show! The only thing that could have possibly made the night better would have been if Ian were in the line up. Of course, I'd probably say that about any concert I go to . . .

I recorded a couple of the songs from that night. I forgot my Flip camera so the quality isn't too great. And I can only get three minutes of video at a time, so there's a bit of a break in the song. Worth it though.

There was a five year old in the audience so this is the "edited" version of one of his newer songs.

I put in a request as soon as I found out Greg was coming back to Easton. It's one of my favorites and I'd never heard live (probably because he doesn't play it live anymore). I honestly didn't think it'd happen, but I got lucky. Good thing I remembered how it started. That would have been embarrassing.

And just in case you need a little dose of Katie Costello, here's a video of one of her new songs.

Seize The Day

2010-07-28T22:47:00.009-06:00

Once upon a time (July 6th to be exact) I woke up and was checking Facebook while eating breakfast. I saw a post from Greg Laswell stating that he, Cary Brothers and Harper Blynn were kicking off their tour that evening in Hoboken, NJ. Out of curiosity I google mapped how far away that was. The answer: 4 hours and 31 minutes.

The wheels in my brain started turning.

Hmm . . . If I want to see these guys, it makes more sense do it when I have the time off, rather than taking more time off to see them in Baltimore next week.

Hmm . . . I wonder how much a hotel would cost?

Hmm . . . I really love Cary Brothers and I haven't seen him live in 2+ years. I really, REALLY love Greg Laswell and I haven't seen him live in 6+ weeks. I've heard of Harper Blynn, it'd be cool to see them live.

Hmm . . . If I leave by noon I could make it in plenty of time.

Hmm . . . Where's my wallet? I'm doing this!

And thus it began - The Solo Summer Road Trip of 2010, or SSRT as I like to call it. Kidding, I've never called it that.

I decided to enter "avoid toll roads" on the GPS since I had the time and it would save me some money. In the end it didn't save me any time, but it was worth it do drive on roads like this:

Eventually I made my way to New Jersey. I felt very welcome.

After driving down one of the most confusing/annoying roads I've ever been on I made it to my hotel. I checked in, got ready for the show, and was on the road again.

Lucky me, I got to drive down that same confusing road nearly the entire way to Hoboken. As I got closer I became more nervous. It looked like I was going to drive right into New York City (yikers!) up until the last possible moment when I turned left and saw this:
Phew!

The street I drove down to get to the venue looked like an awesome place to explore. Had the temperature been under 100 degrees I may have considered it. Instead I found a parking garage near the venue and walked around Frank Sinatra Park for a few minutes.
And I talked to Sara on the phone. :)

I can't even tell you how tempting it was to stick around an extra day and go on another NYC adventure.

The show was at a place called Maxwell's. What a great little venue! Don't worry, I was the first person in the room. It was kind of awkward, but I just went with it. They have some steps to sit on along the wall, so at least I didn't have to stand the entire time. There weren't near as many people at the show as I would have expected. Either they didn't know about it or they're just plain crazy, because the show was a-ma-zing!

The evening started off with a little Harper Blynn.
They're awesome. Check out their music video that's totally kicking Katy Perry and Justin Bieber's trash on MTV.

Next up: Greg Laswell - take 9.
And it never gets old!

Yep, that's Harper Blynn again. They are the band for both Greg and Cary this tour.
This was the first show they played together and they hadn't even had time to do rehearse. You never would have known.

Cary Brothers. I love this man.
So glad he's finally touring in the US again!

Cary and I attempted 2 pics. Neither one was that great.
I stand by the first impression I had of him 2+ years ago: Nicest. Musician. Ever.

"Get me back, get me back to New York!" I thought the red, white, and blue was fun. And patriotic.

The next day on my way home I stopped by Princeton. Beautiful. I can only imagine what it looks like in the Fall.

Proof that I didn't just steal these pics off the internet . . .

I figured since I was at Princeton I should do something smart. So I played Scrabble.

There was a bit of construction on my way back to the highway and I was stuck behind this car:
I couldn't help but laugh (and snap a pic) when I saw this. I'm all for loving animals, but this is a bit much for me. But hey, it did entertain me.

Philly . . . I love how many awesome places are within a few hours of DC.

This is when I knew I was almost home! Man I love that place . . .

It was a long day and a half, but totally worth it!

I read this in an article recently and in it the guy said, "One can never feel bad knowing that they carpe'd the hell out of that diem." I whole-heartedly agree.

Mother Freedom

2010-07-15T21:48:00.006-06:00

Ever wonder what the 4th of July in DC is like? Crowded, hot, and awesome! I was excited to be in DC (last year I was out of town) and celebrating America with good friends!

My friend Kendra was able to get us spots on the rooftop of her office building to watch the fireworks. We had a little picnic, chatted, and enjoyed one another's company as we waited for the show to start.

The view as the sun was going down . . . finally! :)

Let the magic begin!

Seriously, so amazing.

Thanks to Kendra for inviting me!

Kendra, Don, Natalie, and Me after the fireworks, but before we braved the crowded metro.

The great thing about a holiday landing on a Sunday is the extra day you have to celebrate. Monday night for FHE a bunch of us went and visited the Lincoln and FDR memorials. Monuments at night are one of my favorite things to do in DC . . . smaller crowds and cooler temperatures just make for a better experience all around. Cooler is what we live for these days since it's so hot and humid here that when you walk out the door you feel an immediately need to shower. :/

Friends at the Lincoln . . . not that you can tell that's where we are, but my arms weren't long enough to get Abe in the shot.

Okay, really people, tell me this isn't a gift? EIGHT people (okay, seven and an FDR statue) in one shot. On the first try. I don't know why I'm so blessed, but I am. ;)

I love this quote . . .

The FDR memorial is a favorite. So peaceful and beautiful. I had only ever been here in the daylight, so it was cool to experience it at night.

This summer has been packed full of so many fun adventures and there's still more to come! Life is pretty dang good . . .

Brooklyn Blurs

2010-07-12T17:00:00.006-06:00

I recently had a good chunk of time off from work and was able to go on 3 mini vacations, spend quality time in DC, and do a little relaxing. Don't worry, I'll break the craziness up into several posts so as not to overwhelm you. Or me.

As you may recall, my friend Sara and I have a goal to visit NYC every season this year and then at Christmas time. Summer schedules are a bit crazy and 4th of July weekend was the only time both of us could do it, but we didn't want to miss the 4th in DC, so we decided to just do a day trip. I tell you what, there are very few things that could have happened in those 12 hours to make the day any more incredible than it already was.

We got on a bus around 6:30 and got to New York just before 11. We jumped on the subway and headed to heaven. I mean Brooklyn.

Yep, that's right, we made it to Brooklyn. On the subway. By ourselves. I'm kinda proud seeing as the other times we've been to New York we've had someone else navigate our usage of public transportation.

We decided to document our feet everywhere we went, so here they are at the subway station.

Our first stop in in Brooklyn was Tom's Restaurant, a diner recommended to us by a friend, located just down the street from the Brooklyn Museum and the Botanic Gardens.

They bring you cold orange slices and cookies while you wait to be seated.

Our feet at Tom's.

Cherry Lime Ricky. Mmm.

Sara's Mango Walnut pancakes and my Lemon Ricotta pancakes. They give you strawberry, cinnamon, and citrus butters to top off the delicious food too.

Next up the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. With temperatures in the mid-80's and very little humidity, this was the perfect day to wander around outside. Seriously, if you spent the day in the shade you never would have broken a sweat. Must have been the calm before the major heat wave. :/

Our feet at the Botanic Gardens.

After taking in the beauties of nature we decided to head over to Park Slope, my first choice of places to live in NYC. As we approached Grand Army Plaza, we came upon a woman who had given blood a few hours earlier and was about to pass out. Along with 3 other strangers we shaded her, got her water, and called 911. It was one of those experiences where you can't help but have a feeling of love for people, which, let's be honest, is hard for me sometimes.

After the ambulance got there and the woman was being taken care of we continued up Union St. Sara remembered there being a bunch of shops on 5th Ave. so that's where we decided to go. Several of our favorite musicians live in Park Slope and we kept joking about running into one of them. We'd point out places and say "oh, that must be where so-and-so lives!" It was a funny little game for us as we made our way to 5th Ave. We looked in a few shops and took in the scenery, including several good looking men. ;) As we crossed the street I looked into the window of a corner restaurant. I thought to myself, wow, that looks like Greg Holden. Oh wait! That is Greg Holden because there's Katie Costello! Sara thought I was joking until she saw the shocked look on my face. As luck would have it, they were getting up to leave so we pretended to be looking at a store window until they walked out. Greg recognized us and asked what we were doing there as he hugged us. We chatted for a few minutes and got their advice on where to go in the area. After taking a few pictures we told them we'd see them again next Friday at their show in Easton, MD.

Our feet + Greg and Katie's feet on the streets of Park Slope.

We were getting pretty hungry and happened upon this delicious little Italian restaurant called Peperoncino. We ate bruschetta, eggplant something-er-other, fish, and smoked mozzarella ravioli with artichokes. Oh yeah, then there was some of the most delicious coconut sorbet one could ever imagine. So good in fact, that Sara shared it with the people sitting next to us. :)

Our shadows as we walked back to the subway. I love New York.

We went and saw the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park at sunset and almost walked smack dab in to the middle of a movie shoot. You know, they really should make it a little more obvious that they're filming something . . .

Have I mentioned how much I love New York?

We had time to kill before heading to our 11:00 bus back to DC, so we headed up to Time Square. After an awesome shoe purchase (Sara's, not mine. I know you're shocked) we got an awesome deal to go to the Aveda Salon next time we're in town. Which is kind of funny because we'd talked about getting our haircut all day long. The super awesome thing about the deal is that it includes the haircut as well as 10 other salon services! Good times are ahead, that's for sure!

Tired and happy we got ourselves back to Penn Station with time to spare. The bus we took stops in Baltimore before going on to DC and I woke up as we were approaching Charm City. Sara had discovered the one thing that could have made our trip better. Being there to witness parts of this being filmed. I try not to think of the irony too much and stay grateful for a perfect day in what may very well be my favorite place on earth. I learned my lesson though. I need to upgrade my phone to a smarter one so I can read tweets that say things like, "Playing street pianos all over NYC today. First stops: Columbus Circle and Lincoln Center #playmeimyours" or "Next stop...times sq and Bryant park #playmeimyours."

Friday I'm In Love

2010-06-18T17:21:00.002-06:00

I love this game. A lot . . . A lot, a lot.

In fact, I love it so much that one day I am going to make a table similar to this:

I'm even reading a book about the world of competitive Scrabble players. Don't worry, I draw the line here . . .
;)

All Summer Long

2010-06-16T22:47:00.004-06:00

Summer is in full swing around here! We've already been to the pool a few times, several parks, and even a museum. The kids have a long list of thing they'd like to do with their time off, so we shouldn't get too bored!

Of course I forgot my camera, but at least I had my phone so we could document some of our adventure! :)

Ingy's first ride on the DC Metro.

Ingy loves horses of any kind.

Me and Matty riding the Carousel on The Mall.

After our museum adventure we went and chopped Ingy's hair. SO cute!

Friday I'm In Love

2010-06-11T07:48:00.003-06:00

This is Charlie McDowell and he is hilarious. He lives in LA, owns a production company, writes, etc and happens to be the son of actors Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen. Charlie lives in an apartment building below a couple of girls who aren't terribly bright. Their conversations are easily over heard and Charlie had the brilliant idea to start writing "letters" to the GAM (girls above me) based on things he hears them say. I laugh out loud nearly every time he posts.

Here are a few gems . . .

Dear GAM, Have you started talking in your sleep or just REALLY needed to have a 2:14 AM conversation about "Suri Cruise's cute top"?
Dear Girls Above Me, The louder u play Shakira, the louder I play Moby. Dont care u think I "must be gay", I found your kryptonite.
Dear GAM, I'm not "building a boat" nor am I "that Dexter guy." It's called a woodpecker. However you could make the argument I stalk you.
Dear Girls Above Me, Please stop referring to Bill Cosby as the dad from Family Matters. Then who's the dad from The Cosby Show?
Dear Girls Above Me, You got a ticket for parking in handicap even though you "limped into the store"? Almost smart...almost.
Dear GAM, I’m sorry you sprained your ankle and "aren’t hot anymore" but Chanel crutches don’t exist...yet. Thanks for another golden idea.
Dear Girls Above Me, Don't you ever wonder what I'm up to during one of your parties? www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ih0yv3WfGg

To read more go here! His letters can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

For You

2010-06-09T19:39:00.002-06:00

Yesterday when we got home from school Matthew went and got a piece of paper and a pencil and started writing. He asked me how to spell oy. I was confused and asked him what he meant. He responded, "you know, oy, as in enjoy. I smiled and helped him out. A little while later he came and told me there was a special surprise in the bathroom. I was a little worried about what I might find, Matthew is a 7 year old boy and a special surprise in the bathroom isn't necessarily a good thing . . . I told him next time I was by the bathroom I'd check it out. Later I was going to the closet to get something and remembered I had something waiting for me. I poked my head in the bathroom door and saw this note sitting on the counter:

"frum Matthew ingoy the ring" which translated means, from Matthew enjoy the ring.

How sweet is that?! Totally made my day!

P.S. Don't worry, we'll work on spelling this summer. ;)

Streetlight

2010-06-06T07:53:00.003-06:00

So I'll be the first to admit, I was skeptical about the more rock-ish direction Joshua Radin is taking with his music (I don't do well with change). I didn't think it was the Josh I had come to know and love. Boy was I wrong! After seeing him perform some of the new material live I was sold. Josh announced this morning that the new album comes out September 7th, and I can't wait!! Luckily he released an EP earlier this week, a little something to hold fans over until we get the full length album. Check it out! :)

And just because I can, a little sample of his not-so-whisper-rock . . .

Friday I'm In Love

2010-06-04T06:55:00.002-06:00

Well, I think I've found the love of my life . . . Zachary Levi.

Obviously we're made for each other . . .

Plus, he's a spy . . .

Party All The Time

2010-06-01T11:43:00.003-06:00

Who doesn't love a good party? :)

At the beginning of May we had a party for my good friend Sara's birthday at Great Falls National Park. What a beautiful place!

The Falls

Me and Jen-one of my favorite people on the planet!

Sara being sneaky.

I was in charge of bringing dessert. I wanted to make something delicious and summery so decided on a fruit tart. I looked up several recipes online when I came across this one. Winner, winner! They were pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself!

I split the filling and added lemon in one and Nutella in the other.

I added a bit more lemon zest than the recipe calls for. I was kind of sad there wasn't any filling left over . . . though it's probably a good thing! ;)

Then there was the party six years in the making . . . I got together with a handful of friends to watch the series finale of LOST.
We had Dharma Beer (root beer for those of you who are questioning the extent to which my fandom may take me), water, and potato crisps, and Ashley made yummy numbers cupcakes. Some cupcakes were frosted with peanut butter, a tribute to Claire and Charlie. The oranges are there for Locke's orange smile at Kate in the pilot. (Thanks to Ashley for this cluster of pics).

We couldn't watch the finale without tissues. I may or may not have decoupaged this box for the occasion . . .

And let's not forget about the "wild boar on a stick!"

I won't go into all my thoughts and theories about the finale, but I will say that I love, love, loved it!!! What a perfect way to end one of the best television series to ever hit the air! I look forward to the day something comes comes along that comes close to being as good as LOST. If that's even possible . . . ;)

Then there was Memorial Day weekend. I spent the last three days at Duck Beach in the outer banks of North Carolina. Somehow I didn't take one picture. It was a blast though! Hundreds of LDS young single adults from the east coast and beyond go down and rent beach houses, hang out on the beach, play games, swim, hold volleyball tournaments, eat, karaoke, play music, relax and have a fabulous time!

Despite a few mosquito bites and a slightly nasty sunburn it was a great weekend! Sara and I left late Friday evening, rolled down the windows, and blasted tunes as we made the 6-ish hour drive. Saturday was spent on the beach, in the pool, and having good times with friends. Sunday several of the people from the beach went to church. This awesome ward/branch (I'm not sure which) does an awesome job accommodating 500+ people in a building not designed for that size of a crowd. They have parking attendants, the bigger rooms are filled with chairs and the halls are lined with them as well. Church is an hour long because it would be impossible to do anything else. This particular sunday the Stake President and his wife spoke and a choir of young single adults and local members sang. It was a perfect Sunday meeting. After church we relaxed, ate, and enjoyed one another's company. Monday we spent more time at the beach, made a Dairy Queen run, cleaned up a bit and then headed home in the late afternoon. It was sad to have to leave and come back to real life but what a great way to kick off summer!!

Some of These Days

2010-05-27T18:59:00.014-06:00

Previously in Lindsie's life . . . (said like this)

It was Easter weekend and I had several days off. Fun things happened.

I went to the National Botanical Gardens to see the Orchid exhibit with my good pal Sara. It was a-ma-zing!

This flower is yet another way I know that God loves me . . .

I am in awe at the detail in these!

I have well over 50 photos from the exhibit, and if you'd like to see them all, I'd be happy to show them to you.

While we were there, we decided to go see the Cherry Blossoms . . . a must-see in life.

The next day I went and visited two of the cutest kids on the planet!

Dang straight!

You can just see the love on her face, right?

Landon had a great time with the Easter card Grandma and Grandpa sent him!

This is how Katelyn watched general conference.

This was my attempt in entertaining Landon.

Happy girl!

Making silly faces for Grandma and Grandpa via Skype.

Look at those eyelashes!!

My first thought: Oh no, he's one of those kids! aka a wood-chip thrower.

Katelyn hanging out at the park.

Despite the look on her face at this particular moment, she loved the swing!

A few weeks after going to Nashville I went to NYC, for work. And boy did I work hard!! ;)

My friends Michelle (visiting from Utah but now moving to DC-yay!) and Sara came with me! First thing we did? Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.

How Sweet it is! Is right!! I will live here one day. Park Slope, here I come. Mark my word.

We ate some delicious pizza at Grimaldi's

Hanging out in Brooklyn!

The Manhattan LDS temple. Trying to get a shot with the 3 of us and the temple didn't work out so great . . .

Tribute quilt for those who died in 9/11. We went to ground zero but didn't take any pictures. The quilt was pretty awesome though. There's a square for each person who died.

Cupcakes from Crumbs! Sugar? What sugar?

Central Park!!!

Thanks John.

The view from our hotel room . . . What did we do at the hotel?

Watched these adorable 4 and 5 year olds while their Mom's went out to dinner! This is where the work part comes in . . .

First we had a dance party!

Then we painted nails-the girls were SO excited for this!

We made a little waiting-for-your-nails-to-dry station for the girls before putting them back into bed.

We had The Princess and the Frog going the whole time to entertain the girls. Funny story about that . . . When I turned on the TV to pick a movie I immediately knew we were going to have arguments over which one to choose. So I explained to the girls that one of the rules to having a slumber party is that you must watch a "chick flick." I then proceeded to explain to the term to them (a girl movie-in case you were wondering). I told them it's not a real slumber party unless we watch a chick flick. One of the girls then spoke up and asked what if boys are having a slumber party? Smart ones they are . . . I responded by saying, boys don't have slumber parties, they have sleep-overs. And just like that, no arguing. Dang, I'm a good nanny . . . :)

It may have taken all night, but we finally got all the girls to sleep! (FYI, I "borrowed" these pics from one of the Moms who made a super cute scrapbook for the girls).

Sunday morning we went to Alice's Tea Cup. Such a cute place!

Me and Michelle

This is the picture you get when you hand a 13 year old your camera.

We went to the MoMa and saw the Tim Burton exhibit. That dude is crazy. And a genius.

All you need is . . . LOVE!

I tell you what, that was the best work weekend ever! Okay, well that and working in Paris . . . ;)

There are more tales to tell, but I'll save those for another day. :)

L.A.

2010-03-31T22:44:00.007-06:00

I went to L.A. this week to visit my friend Spencer who moved there last summer. We've been fortunate to be able to see each other several times since the move, but this past stretch is the longest we've gone in a while. I arrived Monday evening and we drove around several different areas in L.A. Then we headed for a yummy dinner at a place called Bright Spot Cafe. Everyone who worked there was a real character. Very entertaining. It was pretty late so we headed to Spencer's and called it a night.

The next day is when the real fun began . . . :)

First up, a trip to the flower/fashion district in L.A. There are a handful of people out there who know about my deep and abiding love for orchids. Every time I go to a store that sells orchids I have to go look at them and then talk myself out of bringing one or two home with me. I'd compare it to an animal lover who wants to rescue every cute little puppy they see. So imagine what it was like for me when we went to an ALL orchid flower shop! I was in Heaven as well as Hell. It's quite the tragedy in my life that I'm an orchid killer. I need to work on that . . . Anyway, after the orchids we walked around a bunch of fabric stores and made some purchases at an incredible bead store-the biggest one I've ever been to. Talk about over-stim!

Next we went to a beach in Malibu!

We played Scrabble and walked around on the beach.

There were all these cool little caves on the beach to hang out near, or in this case, in.

Me relaxing on the beach!

Spencer and me! It was such a beautiful day to be at the beach!

One of the cooler rock formations on the beach . . .

The view from towards the top of the cliff, overlooking the beach.

When we made it back to the car, Spencer had received a phone call from one of his friends saying that he had tickets to a fashion show that night for us. How could we say no to that?! Luckily we made it back in time to get ready and make it to the show on time. It was very cool/very interesting. After that we ate some delicious Thai food and listened to an Asian do covers of the greatest hits from the 80's and 90's. You should be sad you weren't there to hear him. Too bad I didn't take any pics at the fashion show or the restaurant.

Wednesday was spent in beautiful San Diego! Luckily we made it there in the 2 hours google maps projected and didn't get stuck in traffic at all. We were heading down for a concert (pretend you're surprised) and decided to make a day of it. We ended up hanging out at Balboa Park beading, reading ridiculous magazine articles, and doing crosswords.

Here's Spencer modeling some earrings he made and snacking on turkey jerky. Attractive, I know.

Of course the only picture I have of me at the park is my sandal. I have several pictures of my shoes at the various placed I've visited. Is that weird? Probably.

After the park we did a little shopping. I may or may not have bought a few new pairs of shoes (a future post will come with pictures because, well, I love them that much).

We headed to Lestat's (the coffee shop the show was at) a little early to grab a bite to eat and when we walked in Ian Axel, Greg Holden, and Katie Costello were sitting there chilling. They each jumped up and gave me a hug. We chatted for a bit and Greg mentioned that the show didn't start until 9 . . . TWO hours later than we expected. The food at Lestat's looked pretty darn good, but we decided to go a few doors down to a pizza place we walked past. Thank goodness we did! We ate some of the most delicious pizza I have ever tasted! Different than what you'd expect too . . .

Mmm! Chicken with caramelized pears and then eggplant, tomatoes, craisens, and a greek yogurt sauce. My mouth is watering just thinking about it . . . We also played another game of Scrabble while we ate/waited.

We went back to Lestat's and busted out our computers since they were still sound checking. You know, every time I think I've found the coolest little coffee shop, I find another one! They're all different from each other but awesome nonetheless. Too bad none of them are in DC . . . While we were waiting we met a cute/crazy lady who just move to CA from NYC. She was meeting a date and dreading it. We devised a plan for her to meet up with us at the show so she could cut the date short. I didn't think she'd actually do it, but she totally came in towards the end of Ian's set. Sometimes I just really love people.

Spencer and me waiting in line.

Ian Axel. I wonder how many posts this year have included Ian . . . If you haven't checked him out yet, I don't know what you're waiting for! ;)

Greg Holden. I really need to thank whoever set him up with Ingrid Michaelson's tour last fall . . .

I didn't get a good photo of The Paper Raincoat, but I did however get a snippet of one of their song on camera. Featuring Ian.

The next morning, Spencer had a read-through/costume check for a webseries he's doing. It's a LOST/Jersey Shore parody. How can that not be hilarious?! Anyway, we hit up Amoeba Records, Urban Outfitters, and Borders before he had to go, then I started wandering around Hollywood. I was considering just heading back to Borders to take advantage of their free wi-fi and give my blistered feet a break when a thought struck me. I wonder how far I am from Hotel Cafe? For those of you who don't know what Hotel Cafe is, it's a venue that where a community of singer-songwriters perform and/or got their start (FYI-my being brief with that description is difficult). Check out the FAQ section on their website, it's very entertaining. I knew I needed to find someone to look up the address and not think I was crazy. So I called my friend Trent who I met at The Hotel Cafe Tour in 2008. Turns out I was .1 miles away. How do I know God loves me? The thought struck me to look for the venue as I was crossing the street it was on.

Here's me talking to Trent in front of the mother ship. One day we will go inside!

Me still talking to Trent as I wandered up and down Hollywood Blvd. Interesting place.

Later that night after taking naps, Spencer and I headed to Santa Monica . . . because the opportunity to see Ian Axel 5 times in the space of 2 months could not be passed up!

This time we got to hear Katie Costello play a short, 3 song set. I just love her. She's so sweet and very talented!

Then more Ian. I swear I'm not a stalker. Or a groupie. It just so happens that it's possible in my life to see him perform . . . frequently.

More Greg Holden love.

Spencer and I at the Apple Store for the show.

The Santa Monica pier. Next time I go to L.A. I am definitely going back here. When we got there people were still wandering around, but everything was shut down. A few people out there may recognize this spot. Think Sydney Bristow, Michael Vaughn, and a pager.

Spencer and me at the pier. Sometimes I forget how much I miss/love him. Another reason I know God loves me: incredible friends.

The next morning I was off to the airport and headed back to good old Virginia. It really was the perfect little trip. I will be back.

Open Arms

2010-03-30T22:26:00.004-06:00

Guess who I get to squeeze on Friday???

Everybody

2010-03-22T00:05:00.003-06:00

Okay friends, I need a little help.

Ingrid Michaelson is having a contest where people cover her song "Everybody" and post it on youtube. The 10 people with the most view counts by the 29th will go on to a voting round. The top 5 of those videos will be viewed by Ingrid and she will pick a winner to perform the song with her on stage at one of her shows. My good friend Melissa made an awesome video and has submitted it. We need to get as many people as possible to watch this video and if you can, watch it a lot (sound is optional, seeing as we realize how listening to the same song over and over again can eventually get old).

We're not sure if the play gets counted if the video is embedded, so here's the link! Watch and enjoy. Then tell all your friends. And watch it again. :)

I look handsome I look smart . . .

2010-03-08T21:38:00.002-07:00

We have a lot of funny/interesting conversations while driving home from school. Here's one with I had with Matty a few weeks ago.

It was a typical drive home, we were talking about the day and how things went at school, when Matt mentioned that some of the older kids at school think he is stupid. I told him that those boys don't even know him, so it shouldn't matter what they think. We talked about how all the kids in his class who know him and spend time with him think he's great. We saw that by what they wrote and drew on his birthday card the day before. A few minutes later is when it got funny.

Matt: You know, a lot of people in my class think I'm a movie star.
Me: Oh really? Why do they think that?
Matt: Because I'm just so handsome.
Me: And they are right!

A few minutes later to himself . . .

Matt: You know, I really am handsome.

Here's the proof!

Don't You Worry

2010-02-27T22:10:00.002-07:00

There are no words for how much I love this:

Especially from 1:50 on . . . and Mike's whistling. :)

Crazy

2010-02-24T19:24:00.007-07:00

This past weekends adventure started when my friend Sara and I were looking at tour dates for our most recent favorite artist: Ian Axel. We knew of an upcoming show in the area on March 12th with Greg Holden but we also noticed a show coming up with his good friends Chad Vaccarino and Mike Cambell (they're in the video for This Is The New Year and Chad sings on the track). It was in Albany, not terribly close to DC, but it was on a Saturday, a day neither of us had to work . . . We google mapped it. Six hours and 24 minutes from my door to the door of Bread and Jam Cafe. Then Sara mentioned we could stay with her sister in Connecticut . . . 2 hours from Bread and Jam. Without further discussion the decision had been made and we never looked back . . . until we were sitting in the car at the gas station. Sara looked at me and said something to the effect of "you know we're crazy right? We don't have to do this." I agreed, but at the risk of our mental health we started our journey.

It was a beautiful drive, despite the fact that we're still in the middle winter. I guess there are reasons to be thankful for the snow . . . There's a handy little feature on GPS that will calculate a route avoiding tolls. Because we chose that option we got to drive through some cute little towns as well as some big cities. If you're going to be in the car that long, it's nice to be surrounded by so much beauty, be in great company, and have an awesome concert to look forward to.

Turns out the show was just outside Albany in a place called Cahoes. We planned on walking around a bit then grabbing some food at the venue before the show. Turns out there's not much to the town, so after a short walk up and down the street we went to the venue and made ourselves at home. We had nice chat with the owner of the Bread and Jam Cafe. He's a former musician who was able to have a band, tour, etc and then decided to settle down with his family and live part 2 of his dream: to have a music venue. If I ever am fortunate to own my own venue, I want it to have the same kind of feel as Bread and Jam. It was so cozy and they had yummy food. The stage was surrounded by comfy couches and chairs, behind those were diner-esk tables and chairs. The walls were lined with bookshelves and covered in original artwork. If it didn't take so long to get there, I would visit this place all the time!

When the Ian, Chad and Mike arrived someone must have told them we'd made a trek to get there because when they came over to where we were sitting (on a comfy red couch right in front of the stage) they asked us about it. We admitted to our craziness and explained that we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to hear them all play together. They seemed a little surprised, but in a good way.

Ian was up first and played a fantastic set, including a song he wrote for his sister that we'd never heard before. Then when Chad and Mike were up, he plopped down on the couch next to me to enjoy their set. I had listened to the songs on Chad's myspace and a few on youtube, enough to know that I'd like it, but I wasn't prepared to love what I heard as much as I did. These guys are just starting out-they have a mailing list and are putting their stuff up on youtube. Recordings can't come soon enough! Unfortunately it'll probably be a while. At least we have the internet!

After the show we stuck around and were able to chat with them until it was time to pack up. I love when the opportunity presents itself to tell an artist what their music does for me. Most of the time there's a few minutes to say hi, great show, and can I get a picture? Nothing terribly personal. I don't feel the need to to tell most artist how I feel, but there are a select few that I'd really like to share that with. These guys are on the list, and I feel like in part, that was able to happen Saturday night. I guess I can equate it to needing to say thank you to someone who has done something to make your life better.

Okay, on to the pictures! (It's about time, I know. Congratulations if you've made it this far).

Ian Axel. Jump on the bandwagon now, this guy is going to go far!

Ian and Chad rocking This Is The New Year.

Chad and Mike doing their thing. Anyone want to come to NYC on April 8th with me? Seriously. If you do, let me know! :)

This just makes me happy. These guys honestly could not have been nicer. I can't wait to see them again!

The whole trip would have been worth it just to hear This Is The New Year and Shorty Don't Wait. Being completely blown away by the rest of their stuff was just icing on the cake! Here's the video I took of Shorty Don't Wait. I realize it's blurry and that Chad's head is cut off (not on purpose). Sorry. But the sound quality is great, so listen up! :)

To hear more of Ian's music, click here.
To hear more from Chad and Mike click here and here.

Snowfall

2010-02-22T08:19:00.006-07:00

In case you were wondering, I've had enough winter for a while. Don't get me wrong, there was fun to be had during the "snowpocalypse" of 2010, but I'd be okay if I didn't feel like I was in Rexburg anymore. The weather has been in the high 30's to mid 40's, so I'm thinking the end is in sight. We may even be able to see brown grass before April! Here are some pictures of our 7 day snowed-in adventure:

I tried to get pictures similar to the ones I took of the last snow storm as to compare the difference, but I waited a little too long. These are pictures after a little melting . . .

Ingy and a friend sliding down 4.5 foot snow mounds.

Matty and a friend working on one of 3 snow forts.

Me and Ingy embracing the all the snow we got. Ingrid more so than me. ;)

We spent most of our time indoors playing wii, watching movies, doing puzzles, dressing up like princesses, making art projects and building intense lego structures that took 2 days. At one point I showed the kids the "Photo Booth" on my computer. Whenever I had my computer out they'd ask to take pictures:

Sometimes it's hard to get us all in . . .

The Ingrid mask.

Matt's pose of choice.

This is me as an albino Avatar.

This once cracks me up! The kids always ask for this setting, I think it's their favorite.

Ingrid all decked out and dancing at the ball.

It wasn't enough for Ingrid to dress up, she wanted me to put on my princess dress and go to the ball with her. We had a good time. She even helped me do my make-up.

Enough of the winter fun, let's get on to playing at the park and swimming!

All You Need Is Love

2010-02-10T20:05:00.002-07:00

Hold the phone, I think I found a Dharma engagement ring. I bet Ben was saving it for someone special . . . ;)

I found this a while back and have been meaning to post it. Seems like an appropriate time to do it!

Get me back, get me back to New York . . .

2010-02-10T19:59:00.002-07:00

Last fall I found a great deal on bus tickets to New York, the only thing was they had to be used by January 31st. I had talked with friends about going for so long and it just never happened, so I figured I bought tickets with a deadline I just might get there. In October January seems like plenty of time. Note, I waited to use them until the last possible weekend. But I Used them! Friday night my good friend Sara and I boarded a bus and were on our way to the big apple. My first time, mind you. And I fell in love. New York now runs through my blood and I cannot wait to get back!

We got there pretty late and made it to our hotel in time to finalize our plans for the weekend. It wasn't easy to nail down what we wanted to do because there was just so much. Sara and I looking for a little inspiration. We found it in Ian Axel's This Is The New Year.

We found even more inspiration when we synched the video on our computers. And don't worry, this wasn't the last time this happened. If you haven't checked Ian out yet, you can do it here.

Saturday morning we got up and went to breakfast and Time Square while waiting for 2 other friends to arrive.
My first visit to Time Square. It was so cold that hardly anyone was there! Well, comparatively.

We ended up going to the American Folk Art Museum. So amazing. And of course I didn't get any pictures of us there, so just imagine it. :) It was so cold that we ended up wandering around the city and going into any stores we thought looked fun. Here are some of the places we went:

Project Runway anyone? :)

Kendra, Natalie, Sara, and me in front of Radio City Music Hall.

Sara and me freezing out butts off in front of Rockerfeller Plaza.

"If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it! Wo oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh ooh oh oh o!"

We paid a little visit to FAO Schwarz to see the BIG piano. Sorry about the sideways pic. It doesn't look that way in my picture file, but this is how it comes up on blogger. Eh.

More fun at FAO Schwarz. Guess what I'm wearing on my head. Ten points to whoever gets it right!

Finally we made it to Serendipity for dinner before making the concert rounds.
Sara, Kendra, Natalie, and me at Serendipity. Everything we got there was delicious! Tip: if you ever eat there you can pretty much share everything on the menu. The portions are huge! Good thing our hotel came equipped with a kitchen.

Okay, so I made an exception to my no sugar in 2010 rule for 2 minutes. Long enough to take a sip of frozen hot chocolate through a straw and get this picture. Boy was it delicious. My spoon may have found it's way into the bowl too. But only one time. Let's just say it was a very good thing I was sick and making sure I didn't share my germs!

Sara and I waiting for Adam Crossley. And hating the opening act. Seriously, they make the list of top 3 worst openers I've seen!

Concert #1: Adam Crossley. Love him. No really, I do. He only has one song available on itunes, but you can stream a good portion of his album here.

Concert #2: Rosi Golan at Rockwood Music Hall. Check her out here.

Second Time Square visit. Lots more people this time, but still not near as many as I was expecting. I guess that's what happens when it's 15 degrees outside.

Sunday morning we got up, packed our things and headed to Greenwich Village to wander around. I loved New York before coming here, but this is where New York became a part of me. I. Love. This. Place. I would die to live in Greenwich Village one day. And who knows, it could totally happen . . .

Washington Square!

From Greenwich Village we headed over to Canal Street to do some shopping. Crazy/fun experience. While we were waiting for the other girls to make some purchases, Sara introduced me to bubble tea. (Apparently I'm a fan of links today).

Doesn't it look delicious?! Trust me, it's better than we make it look. And really I had almond milk with "bubbles"-SO good!

After this we headed back to the hotel to pick up our stuff and send Natalie and Kendra back on their way home. Our bus left a little later, but we were exhausted, so we spent some quality time at Starbucks before going back to Penn Station to board our bus.

On this trip Sara and I made a goal to visit New York in every season this year and at Christmas. Don't worry that I already have a ticket for April. :)

Stand Out

2010-02-09T06:39:00.003-07:00

Is it wrong that this is one of my favorite songs to work out to?

I rediscovered my love for it last night and now I am sore. Good sore though. :)

LOST!

2010-02-02T06:48:00.002-07:00

Tonight is the beginning of the end.

You know something is blog-worthy when you willingly post horrid pictures of yourself. Just keep in mind I was sick and the temperature was about 15 degrees. ;)

What I Done

2010-02-01T20:21:00.005-07:00

I've been sick for almost a week now and it's really not my favorite thing. It probably didn't help anything that I spent the weekend in FREEZING cold New York going, going, and going (more on that to come). I figured today I'd take it easy in attempts to recover. So, after work this morning I came downstairs to lay down for a few minutes and woke up 2 hours later. I had about 30 minutes before I needed to pick up Ingrid, so I did a few things in my room and got dressed. The quickest route to the van was through the snow. Luckily there was already a little footprint for me to step in. As I put my foot out I thought to myself, that's funny those aren't the shoes I wanted to wear. I stepped back and looked down. This is what I saw:

I'm going to blame it on the sickness.

P.S. I realize that neither of these shoes were an appropriate choice for the weather. But really, how often is that a factor in my life? :)

This Is The New Year: Cliff Notes

2010-01-21T23:07:00.004-07:00

On Facebook there was an application that generated you year in status updates. I did it and thought it was kind of lame as far as representing 2009 for me. Twitter on the other hand was spot on.

Bonus: This Is The New Year by Ian Axel

This Is The New Year: The Extended Edition

2010-01-21T08:30:00.019-07:00

It's only three weeks into the new year, I think a recap of 2009 is still okay. And if it's not, oh well! :)

2009 was a crazy year! It went by so fast, but I feel like learned a lot about myself and made some great memories. Unfortunately most of my resolutions last year didn't stick past April, so I have nothing to report in that regard . . . But I did plenty of fun things, hence the blogs I wrote. Feel free to review them if you feel the need. I'll just go over a few things that stood out that I didn't take the chance to write about and go over some of my favorites in books, music and movies. :)

Places I visited
-Phoenix (Fun to visit, but I'd never want to live there)
-Gettysburg (creepier than one might think. Bring snacks)
-Philadelphia (3 times and I lived to tell the tale)
-Boston (Driving here was quite the adventure. As was finding the temple. I wish I were smart enough to go to Harvard.)
-Tennessee (3 times to visit the cutest kids on the planet)
-Chincoteague Island (It's kind of magical)
-Salt Lake (2 times)
-Nantucket (Beautiful, even when hurricanes blow by)
-Paris (My favorite place on the planet)
-I also drove through every state from Virgina to Massachusetts. I hated New York. (Never drive there!) I'm hoping to my opinion changes next weekend . . . :)

Favorite books of 2009

Who am I kidding? These are 2 of my favorite books ever! If you haven't read them, get on it! Warning: once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down. And when I say put down, it'll probably be more like a slam. Thanks Al for introducing me to yet another amazing series! :)

Movies
2009 was a great year for movies! Much, much better than 2008 . . . I saw very few movies that I hated. My top picks, in no particular order are:

-Up
-Up In The Air
-The Brothers Bloom
-Adam
-Away We Go
-The Proposal
-Slumdog Millionaire

Music
I tried to keep track of my most played songs, but it gets a whole lot trickier when you throw an extra i pod or two in the mix (I got a touch for Christmas last year and I also bought myself a shuffle to use at the gym). I'm going by my computer because that's as good of a guess as I have. I'm fairly confident that these are the songs I listened to most, the order might be a little off though. Except for #1. There's no question about that.

When You Find Me-Joshua Radin
Are We There Yet-Ingrid Michaelson
The Myth Of Us-Joshua Radin
Bring It On Home To Me-Joshua Radin
They Bring Me To You (Acoustic)-Joshua Radin
Sort Of-Ingrid Michaelson
Off I Go-Greg Laswell
Not Sure-Fiction Family
This Is The New Year-Ian Axel
Mountain and The Sea-Ingrid Michaelson
Maybe-Ingrid Michaelson
Fall Apart Today-Schuyler Fisk
Thinking of You-Greg Holden
Elements Combined-Fiction Family
Hazy-Rosi Golan
Falling Is Like This-Ani DiFranco
Skinny Love-Bon Iver
Abraham-The Kin
Friend To A Stranger-Emerson Hart
War In My Blood-Fiction Family
Serendipity-Greg Holden
What A Day-Greg Laswell
Not Out-Greg Laswell
You’re Scaring Me-Greg Holden
She’s Got Something-Greg Holden

Honorable Mentions:

Goodbye Midnight-The Spring Standards
Can’t Save Yourself-Luke Brindley

Ian Axel fought his way to the top starting on December 27th. He's pretty much guaranteed a spot on the 2010 list. A-ma-zing. There will be more about him in later posts, I'm sure.

Concerts
2009 was an excellent year for live music! I went to 29 shows (that I can remember) and each one of them was incredible. I could list them all out for you, but I won't. I'll just post a few pics of some of my favs.

Had it not been for a friend having an extra ticket, I never would have even known Andrew Bird was in town. I like him, but I didn't love him like a lot of people do. I went his show at the 9:30 Club and it changed my life. Top 5 concerts. Ever.

Mr. Ray LaMontagne with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Wow. He didn't say one word the entire time, other than introducing the other musicians and saying thank you at the end, which would normally bug me, but not this time. He was that good. Of course, the show would have been much better had the couple in front of us not been trying to make a baby. You think I'm joking, but I'm not. I get a little nauseous just thinking about it. Seriously people, stay home and put on a CD, you'd save yourself 100 bucks! *shudders*

These are the lovely ladies I went to the concert with, Melissa and Annie. You should check out Melissa's music here. She's pretty much amazing. These Strums and Thinking of You are my favorites these days.

Fran Healy and Andy Dunlop from the group Travis. You know Travis, before Keane and Coldplay, there was Travis. Friends of Oasis. You'd recognize their stuff. Anyway, I luked out because this show was sold out. I knew it would, I just didn't get my ticket in time. After the 3rd time posting, someone finally responded to my plea on Craigslist. The was an intimate look into the life of Travis. They played 22 or so of their songs, in the order they were written and between songs they brought slides and told stories. Loved it. The picture is Fran talking about their song, Flowers In The Window. It's a picture of the envelope he wrote it on. Super cool.

They were cool enough to stick around for 2+ hours after the show to meet and talk to everyone. I waited in line for over an hour and a half. They were just as nice and friendly to me as I'm sure they were to the people who waited 2 minutes. The coolest part of the whole thing was at the end when they were signing my CD, Fran mentioned that he really liked my eye make up. This launched a conversation about his wife doing make up for Shirley Manson of Garbage. He then asked if he could take a picture of my make up and send it to his wife! Of course I said yes, but when he reached in his pocket to get his phone he realized it wasn't on him. Still, freaking awesome that he even asked! :)

And let's not forget the time I saw Joshua Radin play at a Synagogue . . .
I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical about the show. I'd seen youtube videos of some of his new material and wasn't quite sure I could get behind the rock 'n roll version of Joshua Radin. Well, I am here to tell you that I whole-heartedly support all versions of Josh. I can't wait to get my hands on his new album!

I went with some of my favorite friends from the ward Jen and Sara. While I was waiting for them to get there I met nice girl from the Netherlands, Carolien. We would have had a few more friends with us, had the show not sold out.

We almost didn't get the chance to talk to Josh, but luckily some fans nabbed him outside of the tour bus. We got in line and as soon as he finished talking to the person he was with, he looks through the crowd and says "Hey Lindsie, how's it going?" I nearly peed my pants. I figured he'd remember me, but how the heck does he know my name? Seriously. I wish I would have thought to ask . . . Anyway, he proceeds to sign CD's and take pictures until it's our turn to say hi. He gives me a big hug and asks how I've been. Then he starts telling everyone how much he loves me and how I'm his first fan, which is not exactly true. Biggest fan, without a doubt, but first? I wish. But we'll let him think whatever he wants. Anyway as he's talking about how much he loves me, Jen goes "If you love her so much, why don't you kiss her?" So he does. And Carolien snapped the picture. I love my life!

I can't not mention this:

This would be me meeting Sean Watkins after a show for one of his side projects, WPA. Sean freaking Watkins people! It was extremely difficult, but I was able to keep my cool when talking to him. Of course before and after was a completely different story. P.S. You know this was a big deal for me because I look like crap and still put the picture up.

As much as I want to go on, I'll stop now.

There is just something about experiencing music firsthand and I cannot get enough of it. I'll probably beat my 2009 record in the first 4 months of this year, and I cannot tell you how excited I am about that!

Really this post should have been labeled Lindsie's 2009 music review. Thanks for bearing with me. If you read this whole post, let me know, you deserve a prize. :)

Mash It Up

2010-01-12T12:19:00.003-07:00

Of all the things I need/want to post about, this one has to be first, because it's too funny!

Best mash-up ever? I don't know, but it's definitely in the running! :)

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

2009-12-20T19:07:00.003-07:00

I haven't left my house for close to 48 hours. Why you ask? Because of this!

Just so you have something to compare it to . . .

It's crazy! Sure, I grew up in Utah and went to school in Idaho, but storms like this are fairly common there, here, not so much. They are telling everyone to stay home so the plows can get out and do their job. The airports, public transportation, and nearly every store were all shut down. Church was canceled for crying out loud! That's only ever happened once in my life, and it was in Utah where your church building is just around the corner. Crazy is the word!

Of course I've taken advantage of the time. Saturday I watched eight episodes of LOST and four movies while I caught up on a bunch of things that needed to be done. I did five loads of laundry and at one point cleaned my room (needs to be done again, I hate how that happens). I made three necklaces, six pairs of earrings and one bracelet. Fifteen Christmas cards were written and addressed. I also folded and set aside most of the clothes I'm bringing home. I was all geared up to make today just as productive, but that didn't exactly happen. I did however watch a few more episodes of LOST before turing on Fa, la, la, la Lifetime to watch cheesy Christmas movies while working on some more Christmas cards and dabbling in other semi-finished crafts, and catching up on blogs. It's been nice relaxing all day and not feeling guilty about it!

Don't worry, I'll probably make it out of the house tomorrow . . . :)

Mix

2009-12-15T20:44:00.004-07:00

(I realize this is 9 minutes of your life, but I promise it's worth it! Listen while you do other things and thank me later).

Just in case you missed this on facebook . . .

See what I mean? ;)

Hey Me, Hey Mama

2009-12-13T08:50:00.002-07:00

One of the fun things that has happened over the past month and a half or so was a visit from my mom! She came to visit over my birthday and we had a great time! I loved showing her around DC and giving her a little taste of what my life is like here.

We went to the American History Museum, which was fun because it's the first time I'd been there without kids! :)

We walked along The Mall. Note that I took all these pictures. I tried to get the background right, but sometimes it didn't work out so well. Eh, still fun!

I took my mom to a few of my favorite places in the area, one of them being Eastern Market. Here we are enjoying our delicious crepes!

We used the metro quite a bit, not that you can tell, but that's where we're headed in this pic!

Next up, another favorite: Old Town Alexandria! We walked up and down King Street and along the pier, then had yummy Thai food and ice cream before heading to the outlet mall. Fun, fun, fun!

Sunday morning we went to Arlington Cemetary. It was a first for me. Loved it! A great Sunday activity too.

More of Arlington Cememtary.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

A view of DC from the cemetary.

Here we are in DC on my birthday. We tired to go to the botanical gardens, but they were doing construction and we couldn't figure out how to get in! We went to the Natural History Museum instead and looked at the gems! Afterwards we headed back to Old Town and had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Vermillion. My mouth is watering just thinking about it . . .

Last, but not least, we went to Mount Vernon! Of course it was raining the whole time we were there, but it was still a good time. I love that place!

Thanks mom for coming out to see me! I hope you had as much fun as I did! :)

Perfectly Perfect

2009-12-09T22:43:00.003-07:00

My cute little niece Katelyn Jane was blessed this past Sunday and I was able to fly out to Tennessee for a little visit. She was born on October 30th and I was actually there that weekend as well to take care of Landon while Ben stayed with Kyra in the hospital. Considering how far away we live from each other, I've been able to spend quite a bit of time with this adorable little baby, her big brother and their parents. It's been a lot of fun and of course, as any good aunt would, I took tons of pictures!

Me and Katelyn the day she was born.

Boy does he love his little sister!

Landon didn't want me to take his picture, he wanted me to pound his fist. This picture cracks me up!

I'm such a good aunt. Pretzel stick, milk, and PBS in the morning.

This kid does not sit still, so this is the best picture I have of the two of us from the weekend Katelyn was born.

And now for some cute pictures of the kids from this past weekend.

I wish the quality of this one would have turned out better, I think it's SO cute!

Look at those BLUE eyes!

I may or may not have taught Landon a few things I shouldn't have. Oops!

Landon was so cute when he saw the Christmas tree! Of course he kept taking off the "balls" and playing with them.

This is the bracelet I made for Katelyn.

Katelyn in her Christmas outfit!

I pulled an Aunt Jane this weekend by telling both Landon and Katelyn that they are my favorite. Separately of course. I was pretty convincing too. As long as they don't talk to each other about it, I'll be safe. :)

I miss them already!

Dream Awake

2009-12-08T00:36:00.003-07:00

The past six weeks or so may have been the most blog worthy weeks I've had since I moved to DC. Too bad my blogging habits don't reflect that. It's okay though, I wouldn't be me if I didn't procrastinate and then play catch up later. I'll work backwards over the next few days to get y'all up to speed. ;)

I FINALLY used my passport! The family I work for decided to go to Paris for Thanksgiving and they took me and my best friend along with them! Best. Trip. Ever. If you would have asked me a month ago, Paris probably wouldn't have made my short list of places to visit. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to go, but there were several other places I dreamt of going first. Now it's almost like I'm homesick for Paris and am plotting ways to get back asap! In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm going to take a French class or two next year. :)

We were scheduled to leave at 5:30 pm Tuesday the 24th. Our plane finally took off around 10:30 pm. Not the most fun thing, but at least it made it easier to sleep for most of the seven and a half hour flight. We got off the plane, got through customs, grabbed our luggage and were on our way by about noon Paris time. As soon as we started driving I was in complete awe. I couldn't believe I was actually in Paris! That feeling stayed with me pretty much the entire trip. It was so incredible.

The apartment we stayed in was located in the 6th Arrondissement, not too far from Notre Dame. Before we got there we figured we'd all be crammed in some little apartment. We were wrong. It had 3 nice sized rooms, a big living room, huge dining room, 2 bathrooms, and a nice kitchen. Honestly, a family could live there quite comfortably their entire lives. Here are some pics.

We did so many fun things, saw so many beautiful places, and ate lots of delicious food in the 5 days we were there. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Deyrolle, the Arc de Triomphe, the Christmas market, a boat ride down the Seine . . . ahh, I just LOVE Paris!

I could write a book about the trip, but for your sake I won't. I'll just show you some pics and explain a little bit. If you want the extended version, feel free to give me a call or set up a lunch date. ;)

The first set of pics are kind of random. There's the Ferris Wheel we rode, which was actually a first for me. I'm not the biggest fan of heights and several of the things we did helped me to get over that. Spencer and I rode it our last night in Paris. There's a pic of Spencer and I outside the Pompidou (modern art museum) on Thanksgiving. Too bad they were on strike both times we tried to go! Don't worry, there's a lot of fun shopping in that area. The other pic of us was taken while wandering around our first night in Paris. Then last, but not least, we have the Knutson's! I am one lucky girl to have such fabulous employers who are fun to travel with!

One of my favorite places we visited was Deyrolle. It's probably not a spot tons of tourists visit, but it's definitely worth checking out if you're ever there. Here's a great little review of the place. I got a butterfly that looks something like this:

Spencer and I met up with the Knutson's Friday afternoon to ride the Bateaux Mouches down the Seine River and see the sites of Paris from a boat. It was super cold, but super fun.

We froze our butts off at the Eiffel Tower and of course I opted to wear my jacket over my coat on the coldest day we were there! If only I would have known . . . Despite the temperature, the Eiffel Tower was stunning! We went up to the top, which is so much higher than I ever imagined and had yet another awesome view of the city. Ingy didn't love all the walking that went on, so Spencer gave her a piggy-back for a while. Then afterwards we took a cab back to our apartment. Me, Spencer, and Matty in a cab with a driver who didn't speak any English! At first I was a little worried, but it wasn't even a problem. :)

Here are a bunch of pics from the Louvre. There's so much to see so I figure the next time I go to Paris I'm going to spend an entire day wandering around the entire museum!

We spent a good portion of our last day at Notre Dame. We climbed to the very top of one of the towers and let me tell you, it was a hike! So worth it though. We were also able to go inside during a mass which was an incredible experience.

When we were on our way to meet the Knutson's at the Bateaux Mouches we came across a Christmas Market. We didn't have the time to visit that day, so we came back our last day. It was so much fun to just walk around and be in Paris!

As we were planning out that last day we really wanted to get to the Arch de Triomphe but we didn't think we could because it was pretty far away and we hadn't ever figured out the Metro. But as we made it to one end of the Christmas market, I looked up and started laughing. There right in front of us was the Arc de Triomphe! Okay, so it was right in front of us, we still had to walk a ways to get there, but it was way closer than we had expected! So we went. :)

Let's not forget about the food! I didn't take pictures of everything, but here's a good sample. Nutella drenched waffle, gelato made to look like a rose, pistachio/peach tarts, the most delicious open-faced ham sandwich you'll ever eat, chocolate covered orange peels, crepes of all kind, and of course, my Thanksgiving dinner: a hot dog. FYI, my mouth is watering.

Everything good you hear about Paris is true. Times ten!

Now that this took all night, I think I'll go to bed. :)

Countdown's Begun

2009-11-03T23:29:00.006-07:00

What will I be doing exactly three weeks from today at this very time? Setting foot in Paris!!!!!

Streets of Philadelphia

2009-11-01T13:01:00.001-07:00

One of the best things about living on the east coast is living so close to so many fun and exciting places. Last weekend I made trip #3 to Philadelphia with some friends and we had a great time. Let me just put one myth to rest. It's always sunny in Philadelphia? Yeah right, it rained on and off the whole day! Don't worry, we didn't let that get us down, we were still able to make the most of our excursion. We saw a tons of stuff, but there's plenty more to see, so I guess that means trip #4 is coming up at some point in the future. :)

The Liberty Bell. Try and get a decent picture by the bell on a Saturday, I dare ya! Warning: watch out for the Asians, they'll shove you aside . . .

Inside Christ's Church where several of the founding fathers worshiped. The tour guide here was amazing!

Inside Independence Hall where the magic happened.

Me and Kendra ouside Indepenence Hall.

Fall!

Philly!

They ran up the Rocky steps in the middle of the pouring rain! Luckily I did this the last time I was here, so I could stay dry . . . I mean take the pictures. :)

Like you don't eat a Philly Cheesesteak when in Philly!

Mmmmm! Cheesesteak, cheese fries, and a diet coke . . . Such a healthy meal, I know.

So good though!

Dan and Kendra on the way home!
Dave and me on the way home!

Philly 3 times?! And I haven't made it to NYC yet . . . What the? Don't worry I'll remedy this by January 31st, the day my bus tickets expire.

Teach Your Children

2009-10-30T11:59:00.006-06:00

This is how I know I'm doing a good job at work:

Ingrid can recognize Ingrid by both sight and sound!

Also, for the rest of the day I heard her singing "Oh, oh, oh!" as heard here.

Septemeber

2009-10-11T18:52:00.013-06:00

Warning: this post may get a bit lengthy. Though it's mostly pictures. :)

September was a great month! So many fun things happened that I always meant to blog about, but I never quite made the time to follow through. Seeing as we're almost halfway through October I figured it's best not to it off any longer. So here you have it, the highlights of September.

The 9/12 March

I'll be honest, I didn't know too much about the reasons behind the march before I showed up that morning, but I figured how many opportunities do you have to walk right down the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue alongside 2 million-ish other people? So I went. Since then I've formed several thoughts on several things regarding the march, but I won't go into it here. Instead I'll just show you the pics.

The protesters: Jonathan, Stephen, April, Dan, Dave, Kendra, Me

Getting closer to the capitol.

I thought this was too funny. Silent No More . . . Really? Because it doesn't look like you're making too much noise.

The humor in this one was was purely by chance . . .

Ingy turned 4!!!

We celebrated by going out to lunch before ballet, then afterwards getting a "cherry" and eating cupcakes. Let me clarify, I had a cupcake, Ingrid had frosting.

I went and got Ingy a princess balloon while she was at her ballet class. The look on her face when she came out and I told her it was hers was adorable!

Me with the birthday girl!

The Ingrid Michaleson Concert
or "The Other Ingrid" as Ingy puts it.

I went with a bunch of friends from my ward to see the one and only Ingrid Michaleson. Of course it was phenomenal, I don't expect anything less from this woman. I honestly don't think it's possible to go to one of her shows and not walk away a bigger fan than before. And lucky me, I'm going again Nov. 4th!

Ingrid Michaelson performing some new stuff.

The whole gang singing You and I: Dan Romer, Elliot Jacobson, Greg Holden, Ingrid Michaelson, Chris Kuffner, Bess Rogers, and of course Allie Moss

The highlight of the night for me? Okay, so there were several, but none quite as exciting as when she brought Greg Laswell out to sing a new song they wrote together. This better make it on to a record! You can listen to it here. Trust me, you'll wanna check that out. :)

Oh, and once again the music gods have smiled upon me and Greg Laswell will be one of the openers for the show in November. I love my life!

Greg Holden, the opener whom I adore! He's the other opener for the November show. Can't. Wait.

Kendra, Greg Holden, and Me

Dan, Mary Beth, Kendra, Me outside the 9:30 Club

More shows . . .

David Mead at the Jammin Java (my home away from home)

The Brilliant Inventions. Opened for Dean Fields. They were very entertaining. And attractive.

Dean Fields! I saw him do an acoustic show at the end of July and loved his stuff. This time around the band was there too. It was every bit as good! And I may have a little crush on the drummer.

The Gang: Dan, Dave, Kendra, Me

The Gang and Dean

All in all, September was a pretty great month! October's not half bad either. Maybe I'll consider posting things a little sooner this month. Maybe. :)

Makes Me Happy

2009-10-04T20:46:00.003-06:00

Come on, tell me your not excited . . .

Summer Town Pt. 2: The Pictures

2009-09-30T20:53:00.002-06:00

Nearly a month has passed since I got back from Nantucket, I'd say it's about time to post the pics! :)

(Click to enlarge)

The trip was quite eventful for Matty, he lost a tooth and learned to ride a bike! And let me tell ya, this kid roasts a mean marshmellow!

Ingy is a little fish, she loved going to the beach!

The Knutson's were nice enough to fly Spencer out to Nantucket for the better part of a week. It was so much fun, despite the fact that it made me realize how much I miss him.

One night we had ourselves a photo shoot. We paid for it too, the mosquitos were out in FULL force.

Karen and Kent were out of town for a few days while Spencer was in town, so we took the kids to the beach and had ourselves a good time. We played in the water, built a kingdom in the sand and turned Ingy into a mermaid.

This is just a small glimpse of the beauty of Nantucket . . .

We had a pirate party with all of Matt and Ingy's friends who were there (I'd guess close to 30), hence the pirate cupcakes I decorated and the costume Ole is wearing. We went to a demolition derby one weekend, don't worry, no BMW's were harmed! We saw several seals at the beach, unfortunately I didn't get any super great pics, but I tried! Then of course there were the puzzles! I believe this one was a "more than 500pieces" one. And the only puzzle I did that didn't belong to Ingrid. And then there's the horse shoe crab that Ole was scared of! Seriously, it was so funny to watch him circle and bark at the empty shell! :)

All in all, Nantucket was great! It's sure good to be home though! :)

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep because my dreams are bursting at the seems . . .

2009-09-16T21:59:00.004-06:00

I have a post almost ready to go with pictures from Nantucket that I could be finishing right now. Or I could be sleeping, which would be the smart thing to do, but alas you're getting this.

A friend on facebook updated her status with some lyrics to this song and it reminded me of how much I love it. It's not something I would typically be drawn to, but it was a free download on itunes in July and I remembered a friend telling me about this guy, so I got it. I didn't listen to it for a few weeks, but when I did I became a tad obsessed (hard to believe, I know). It's a fun little song with interesting lyrics. I actually ended up buying the album. And I really like it.

The music video's code was disabled, but here's the link if you want to check it out. It features a Speak and Spell, gotta love that!

P.S. This guy has a song about going to the dentist that cracks me up. Love it.

Never Forget

2009-09-11T17:41:00.003-06:00

Eight years ago today I was in college. My alarm clock went off and I was so tired that it took a while to realize that the radio was playing. As I reached over to hit snooze I remember thinking, wow, that was a strange/scary dream and went back to sleep for 7 more minutes. When the radio went off again I saw the time and jumped out of bed (sometimes in the morning I struggle with the concept of time; it's not a good thing). I was quickly walking down the hill to the Taylor building when I saw my friend Nick walking home. He asked me if I'd heard about what happened at the World Trade Center. This is when it hit me that my dream was not a dream at all. It was shocking and everyone was affected by the news. We talked about it, we cried, we prayed in classes we didn't normally pray in, and we were glued to the tv. This was the kind of thing that you learned about in history class, not something you lived though. It's something I will never forget and that instilled in me a great sense of patriotism that I try my best to keep present in my life even when it's not July 4th or September 11th.

A friend posted a link to this video, done by the church, entitled "Finding Hope" on facebook and I thought I'd pass it along to you.

Low

2009-08-28T20:58:00.004-06:00

A friend posted this on facebook and I nearly peed my pants! Yes, it is that funny. Pay special attention to the kid in the red shirt. :)

Note: You'll want to turn of the music player so you can fully enjoy the video . . . sorry about that.

Bring On The Rain

2009-08-25T12:23:00.000-06:00

Here's a post I've been meaning to put up for a while now . . . In July I went with a bunch of friends from my ward to hear the National Symphony Orchestra play the music of John Williams a Wolf Trap. It was awesome! They played selections from Saving Private Ryan, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, Harry Potter, The Olympics, Indiana Jones, and the entire second half was Star Wars. We had a great time despite the rain. That's right, rain. Remember, Wolf Trap is a National Park for the Perform in Arts. Park would suggest the even was outdoors. We were soaked! It started pouring down buckets of rain as soon as we sat down and pulled out our dinner. Of course none of us thought to bring umbrellas, so we just decided to go with it. Honestly, I think it enhanced the whole experience. How often in life do you get to hear Harry Potter or the Olympic Theme with thunder and lightning as the backdrop? And to have it played by the incredible NSO . . . Such a good night!

Dave, me, and Kendra after the rain had stopped.

Some friends stopped and picked up garbage bags that we transformed into ponchos.

The National Symphony Orchestra

The whole gang! Five of us stuck around for the second half. So worth it.

Our pruney hands at intermission.

Darth and Co. showed up to add some fun to the night.

Everybody

2009-08-25T11:25:00.007-06:00

The day we've all been waiting for! Okay, well, the day that I've been wating for . . . the release of Ingrid Michaelson's new CD Everybody! You can listen to it here and see if you want to buy it, but trust me, you will. You can download it for $6.99 on Amazon.com or $7.99 on itunes. Talk about a deal!

I love this album! All the songs are excellent! Except for maybe Incredible Love, I don't so much care for that one . . . My favorite track, however, is Are We There Yet? followed closely by Sort Of.

I can't wait to see these songs live on September 17th! And again on Nov. 4th. And possibly one other time this fall. Hey, if friends want to go, I'm there!