The Boxer

Sometimes in life I hear The Boxer and wonder how anything else could anywhere near as good. Who am I kidding? That that happens pretty much every time I hear that song.

It's just sooooo goooooood.

Also, I have some favorite versions . . .

Jerry Douglas feat. Mumford & Sons and Paul Simon
 


Chris Ayer and Matt Simons
  


These guys do a pretty good version too. ;)
 

I Can't Wait

Happy Day After Valentine's Day! I had every intention of posting this yesterday, but time didn't quite allow for that. I thought about saving it for 2014 but then I realized, I love everyone today as much as I did yesterday so why wait? ;)

We all know music ia my one true love, so I put together a list of 11 songs I love about love. Enjoy.  

1. "Everybody" by Ingrid Michaelson 
Everybody, everybody wants to love
Everybody, everybody wants to be loved

2. "Somebody" by Jukebox the Ghost
I don't want anymore heartbreak 
I'm tired of the sound it makes

3. "What You Wanted" by Andrew Allen 
(My life won't be complete until I own a studio version of this).
I met her on Thrusday 
She asked if I like her too 
I heard that she's perfect 
But she isn't you

4. "Emotinally Involved" by Matt Simons 

Saved my soul and it shows, such a friend to me

All I know’s you’re so close, now we’re family
You got on, I got off, we got over it
Have some sense, I’ll be steady with my intent, 

but I know we can’t forget it

5. "Same Changes" by The Weepies
And everyone says this love will change you
Well I ask, isn’t that what love’s supposed to do

6. "Broken Headlights" by Joey Ryan (ft. Sara Bareilles) 

Maybe when I tell you that I want you forever

Im gonna make a fool of me
But I've got the windows down
The heater on my feet
And the skies are opening
It's gonna come pourin down
It's gonna come pourin out
Im gonna say everything

7. "If You" by Rebecca Haviland & Whiskey Heart

Cause I could spend my whole life with you

If you want me to 

8. "The Book Of Love" Magnetic Fields cover by Chris Ayer

The book of love has music in it

In fact that's where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental
Some of it is just really dumb

9. "In the Creases" by Amber Rubarth and Alex Wong 

(I love Alex, but it breaks my heart that there's no recording of Amber singing this with Chad Vaccarino during a show at the Studio at Webster Hall last October).

Once love wakes it never sleeps 

Even when you love a dream

10.  "The Graveyard Near The House" by The Airborne Toxic Event (More on them in a future post).

And then the letters all pass through my head, 

with the words that I was told. 

About the fading flesh of life and love, the failures of the bold. 

I can list each crippling fear like I'm reading from a will. 

And I'll defy everyone and love you still. 

11. "We Are" by Ian Axel

Believe in it
It's more than you and so much more than me

 . . .

 These years comin'

They'll be worth the fight and they'll be worth the wait

. . . 

We are the lucky ones

Bring It On Home To Me

Some pretty awesome things have happened in my life over the past year, making the fact that I basically gave up posting here quite the tragedy. Let's hope I've learned my lesson . . . Here's to catching up and moving forward! And I'll start with a post about my first New York apartments.

Finding an apartment in New York City can be quite the overwhelming experience. Good thing I didn't know how crazy it would be until it was too late to change my mind! I met a girl on a housing google group for members of my church who I wanted to live with, so at least I wasn't in it alone! We both spent hours and hours scouring the internet, calling brokers, and sending emails. I came up one weekend to look at places and thought I'd found the perfect place until the reality of income requirements set in. A general rule for renting in the city is that you need to make at least 40 times the monthly rent to qualify for an apartment. If you don't make that, no worries, all you need to do is find someone who makes 80 times the monthly rent who will sign for you. No problem right? Except the rent for any kind of decent place in Manhattan is at least $2,000. Yikes! Luckily there are a handful of other options that made moving here an actual possibility without having to make $80K a year.

Technically I've lived in 3 apartments since moving to the city. The first was on the Upper West Side. A friend and her husband were leaving town for a month and needed someone to sublet their apartment so I ended up staying there while looking for a more "permanent" place. We found a great apartment on the Lower East Side (almost Chinatown) through the google group, the day after I moved here, which was much sooner than we'd anticipated! The girls were moving out but needed someone to take over the rest of their lease right around the time Chelsey (my new roommate) was getting to the city. We lived there from the end of August until December 29th when we moved to the Upper East Side (almost Harlem).  It's further uptown than either of us had ever intended to move but we have at least twice the amount of space and a washer/dryer in our unit - no more laundromat!! This is a huge deal.

Before we moved Chelsey and I decided to make a little video of the apartment. When we're all settled into our new place (read: get more furniture) we'll make a video of the new place too. So if you're interested, here is what our charming little apartment next to the Manhattan Bridge looked like!



A few pictures of the view from or window . . .

This was definitely not a bad thing to wake up to!

The bridge all lit up! Photo courtesy of Chelsey.

Where did Brooklyn go?! I love the fog . . .

Whereas there are things I miss about this apartment (mostly it's location) I'm really excited to be in a place I feel I can settle into and stay for a long while.

Where Do You Want To Go?

Why I moved to New York . . .

Come Together

Friends! Family! Random strangers who happen upon this blog! I have something VERY important to talk you about, so get ready . . .

These are two of my favorite individuals on the planet:


This is what they do:


And this is what they sound like:
So good, right?! Their names (for those of you who might not know) are Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino and they are seriously two of the most amazing and talented people I have ever met. As we speak they are in the process of recording some of their new material for an EP that will be out later this year and GUESS WHAT?! We can all be a part of making that happen!

Here are Ian and Chad to tell you a little more about themselves and what's going on. (Just as a heads up, when you watch this video you may find yourself wanting to want to sign over your bank account in support of their project. That's great and if anyone understands those feelings it's me, but just keep in mind that you still need to eat, keep a roof over your head, etc. Got it? Good. Now you can watch . . . ).



In all seriousness, any amount you can contribute will be amazing and greatly appreciated. Go here to donate and find out more about the awesome rewards they're offering in return for your support. Note that the estimated delivery date for the music is next month! That means, you back the project today (or within the next 9 days) and sometime in September you could have the music you helped make on your ipod. That is a super fast turn around as far as Kickstarter projects go . . . ;)

Please and thank you!!

P.S. Aren't those the coolest t-shirts you've ever seen?!

Leaving Home

Well, it's been two weeks since I moved out of The Knutson's house. It's strange that I don't live there anymore. I keep having dreams where I find myself in the house or my old room and then I remember that's not my life anymore, so I try to sneak out before anyone sees me. I lived in that house a few weeks shy of 4 years, that's the longest I've lived anywhere save the house I grew up in. The first week was was really tough, especially when I was driving down the street and saw the new nanny driving the kids in the van. That was pretty much the worst thing ever and I tried not to think about too much to keep the tears to a minimum. Luckily I have some pretty amazing friends who not only took me in but also let me talk things through.


Virginia truly has become my home. I love it so, SO much and frequently question my decision to leave. Then I remember when I left Draper. I has an amazing group of friends, the perfect living situation, a new job offer, and was dating more than I ever have in my entire life. Life was amazing and it didn't make any logical sense for me to leave but it turned out to be exactly the right thing to do. There have been so many parallels between my move to DC and my move to New York, I can only assume this will turn out the same. Right? ;)

And in case you were wondering, I miss these two like CRAZY!!!!!

Life Less Ordinary

There are some big changes around the corner. 

A lot of them. 

So I thought I'd start with something simple.

A haircut: 

Now for something slightly more life-altering:

 I'm excited beyond words.

I'm a little bit nervous.

I'M MOVING TO NEW YORK!!