Mattie and I snuck up to HSU a few days ago for a little concert on campus. Helloooooooo Greg Laswell! I was so excited when I found out that he was playing! His song "Sing Theresa" was one of my favorites for a long time and there is something really special about hearing a favorite song performed live.
It's a small tour with Lenka headlining and rather than having a full band he just has a cello/guitar player. The cello parts were just so beautiful! I actually talked to the guy afterwards and he was really nice. Bonus. (When I met one of the guys from Boys Like Girls he was kind of rude to me and it really turned me off to their music). Lenka is a cute girl and has fun music but she was a beezy. Not a fan of her as a person either.
I just think it's sad when performers aren't kind to their fans. They wouldn't have a career if it wasn't for the people in the audience! Be a little gracious please.
Here's a little video I took at the show. I adore cover songs and this one just had me laughing when I realized what it was! Mattie knew after the first line of the song but it took me until the chorus.
If I had to listen to one song on repeat for the rest of my life it would be Roxanne, the Moulin Rouge version. Ewan McGregor's voice has so much emotion that sometimes when I'm being ridiculously emotional (read every other day) it can even make me cry. I can attest to the fact that I wouldn't get sick of it because I in fact have tested this theory. My senior year of high school my jazz choir performed at the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival (we did quite well!) and you know how music nerds are. A trip to sing means vocal chords must be in use at every possible moment! On the drive back Roxanne and Creep (by Radiohead) were the most requested songs in the car. And luckily my mom indulged us and was oh so patient.
P.S. The movie version is better than the CD so here is a little treat :)
Thursday, February 24
Here are some things that have struck my fancy this week
A sign like this would be so cool in an overgrown garden or a park
Grandma and I are going to make pesto baked potatoes with dinner tonight!
The blog this recipe is from is probably going to be my go-to recipe file forever. It's the creation of a Dutch woman (don't worry, it's all in english) and her adventures as a food blogger. She takes excellent pictures and I love that her measurements aren't exact in the slightest! The ingredient list will say 1/2 a cup and then in the recipe it says 1/3 of a cup...could be a typo, or could be someone who cooks like me and changes their mind about what's going in the pot! I think a recipe should just be a guide to figuring out food for yourself.
My mom and I watch Psych pretty much every night. Its true love. You know that's right. I think that it satisfies my need for friends my age since I don't have many out here in California. I get my daily laughs in with Gus and Shawn and even thought eventually its easy to figure out the formula of who-killed-who there are always twists that are unexpected. All time favorite: when the theme song changes depending on the episode like the Bollywood one and the a capella version.
Yellow Brick Road is a great pattern and I just pieced another twin size quilt this week. I'm working on a pieced back for it and I think that I'm going to hand quilt it. (this one was made by someone else)
Baby platypuses! They look so velvety soft and I want one in my pocket. You have to admit that they are almost cuter than a kitten..
And of course, Hipster Ariel now has a following. I think Tiana and Belle are my favorite new ones.
In music this week: My little sisters and I have been singing Kokomo for about a day straight. It all started with this funny spin off about all the weird names of cities in Utah
When it came time to put together this year's V-day playlist I turned to my friend Sarah for inspiration. She's pretty much the coolest person ever and has the most rockin' little family so she knows a lot about true love and how important it is to share that love. Sarah also has premium taste in music so naturally we had to pool our interests to bring you this soundtrack for your day of love!
This fantastic shot was taken by yours truely, at our Camp Rock party.
More like Camp WE ROCK!
The playlist is as follows:
1. Guns and Horses - Ellie Goulding
2. Call 'n Return - Hellogoodbye
3. Can You Feel The Love Tonight - Elton John
4. When I'm Sixty Four - The Beatles
5. No One's Gonna Love You - Band Of Horses
6. Meet In The Middle - Diamond Rio
7. Old Park Bench - Inside Out
8. Poor Boy's Delight - The Infamous Stringdusters
9. Second Hand News - Mates of State
10. I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab For Cutie
11. If - Bread
12. January Wedding - Avett Brothers
13. You Don't Know Me - Ben Folds feat. Regina Spektor
Well technically my everyday is in California. But I couldn't think of anything else creative to say. In about 15 minutes my fake cousin Cheyenne will be here so I can do her hair for the Winter Formal. She's a sweet girl and I've been the go-to girl for fancy dance up do's since I was her age. It'll be fun to play around with her pretty blonde hair.
Also today: Kelli and Hector Marquez's wedding reception. Aren't they just gorgeous?
My friend Court is the bassist in this great band J.Wride and the have a cd coming out on the 18th of February. They just put a preview of the album up on facebook. They did a collaboration with MIMS (you know, the guy that sings "this is why I'm hot") on their last EP. Want to hear it? Yeah, of course you do!
Also, Jesse's collaboration with John Allred. So great. I'm a huge fan of cover songs.
I'd like to also give a little shout out to my one follower on Bloglovin! It doesn't show me who my followers are, but I like that one person a lot :) Bloglovin is a great website that manages all the blogs you read so that you can just click from one new entry to the next without forgetting any!
Finally I have come to my last week of work at Porter's. And it started out kind of sucky. Register day. Not my favorite. Beep beep beep scan scan money. Next?
But a young child brought some joy into my day. Feliz Navidad was playing on our non stop Christmas music station and this little boy started humming along to it.
He looks up at me and exclaims,
"We sang the police la-de-da song at my school last week!".
So I will admit to a post that never was finished. I had an entire collection of Star Wars themed Halloween ideas and it just never made the final cut of being interesting enough to complete. This however, is far too cool.
Apparently this guy Chris McVeigh posts all kinds of lego tutorials. Who knew there was even a program dedicated just to lego designs and instructions?? James and I used to play legos together on Sunday afternoons while we listened to Weird Al. That is some serious sibling connection time right there! I would build these really cool intricate houses and he would make giant cars and roll over them. Ok, so he would usually ask first but not always. I mean, little brothers are supposed to be destructive right? Like the time that he got a remote controlled car stuck in my hair...
One other super awesome Star Wars decoration for the holidays,
Darth Vader snowflakes! So cool! The directions can be found here for Vader and a Boba Fett and Storm Trooper version. I attempted one last night and I was surprised how simple they are to make!
Back to joy and gladness.
You might not believe me, but most of my presents are already done and one is even wrapped already! With the big move I had to be on top of things this year especially since I decided to do an entirely handmade Christmas. I'm not saying what I made because that would sure spoil the surprise for my family :) What I can say is that I completed and sent my ornament for Strumpet's Ornament Swap!
I based mine off of these stacked fabric trees by The Small Object (tutorial here)
Mine are a little modified (think only 3 layers and I used fusible fleece rather than thin fusible web)
Holiday tunes are one of my favorite parts of the season! Here is a little treat for you readers, the first of at least two parts of Christmas music! Its a short one since I'm bumming off of Shanda's computer again, but they are each little gems!
I think it is time that I make some introductions via blog post. Meet Erika.
Erika is my bestest friend and we literally spend all of our time together aside from working and sleeping (except sometimes we sleep in the same twin sized bed. Our guy friends think it is especially weird that we are comfortable with that, but dudes, girls start sharing beds with each other from the time they are like 7. Its just standard procedure.)
We just celebrated our one year anniversary in October and will probably have a fiesta for it every year since our friendship officially began at a Halloween party. I had just moved to a new part of town and the atmosphere was completely different than any other part of campus that I had lived at previously. It was much more quiet and you had to already be part of a group to be invited to things (Except for wolf howling lessons. I think that's a different story though.) Erika and I lived in neighboring apartments and she came over a few Saturday mornings to invite us to her apartment's breakfast parties. Something in me was shy and intimidated and I only went once, very briefly. Luckily she is a persistent little thing and didn't think that I was anti-social. The day of our ward Halloween party she came over looking for markers and yes, I have every craft supply necessary, so I let her borrow mine as well as the crown from my birthday party. What on Earth could this costume be? None other than the Queen of Hearts! I was some kind of witchy thing. My real costume wasn't ready yet.
I have a slightly obsessive personality so when I meet people and get along with them I just want to spend all of my time in their presence. We quickly realized that we are both extreme literary and grammar nerds and bonded over facebook flair and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. We even signed up for two of the same classes winter semester so that we would see each other every day on campus.
I have to add that after typing "grammar" into google images I found this one and I started laughing uncontrollably. I think I should probably lay off the candy pumpkins for a little bit. Oh whoops! They're all gone!
Back to the subject. We have now spent 12 months of constant companionship guaranteed to drive each other's roommates nuts and we just get cooler and cooler! There is nothing better in the world than finding people that fit perfectly into your puzzle. We both have best friends from growing up but as life changes so do our needs in our support group and we're just great for each other. I was thinking the other day that if I had gone on a mission like I had planned I wouldn't get home until next April at the earliest and we never would have met!
Here's to my best friend. The one who knows just what I am thinking, enjoys being ridiculous, is not ashamed of who she is, works harder than anyone I know at having balance in her schedule, rocks the most amazing ugly sweatshirts, prefers moccasin slippers to shoes, indulges in eating out when we both know we can't afford it, likes starting new traditions, has an adorable freckle on her nose named Hammy, doesn't get mad when people tell her that the animal she looks most like is a mouse or a hamster, will handle my repetitive boy talk and then dish her own out to me endlessly, comes to see me at work while braving the wrath of my sometimes super grumpy boss, lets me come to her office to brave her usually crazy boss, race reads young adult novels with me, MEETS ME IN THE FOREST (uh, go watch Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs please), adores henna tattoos, quotes crappy movies like House Bunny with me, and harmonizes to Ke$ha and Nelly with me on freezing car rides!
Now you may enjoy many pictures that show some of these fabulous things :)
Super excited about our Mockingjay pins and desperately wishing we'd win a copy of the book! Alas, Erika did win something, a 75 cent soda at Horkely's.
Please disregard my Draco Malfoyish hair and crappy t shirt. I started this day in California. You'd look like poop too.
Making faces in the crowd of J.Wride's concert
Birthday orange dreamsicles and the funniest henna tattoo of all time
Yay! She helped me throw the best birthday party!
Showin' off those buff Rosie the Riveter arms she developed in our weight lifting class.
This is our tradition of "attack cake". Didn't I promise a post on that? Remind me of it later please.
Sampling the delish food at Sammy's. We had a little chat with Sammy himself that night and talked him into letting us have the first ever peppermint shakes. That happened like 3 days later :)
I'm trying to convince her into being a blogger because I know she'll be fantastic at it, but its slow business. Give her some encouragement! The Key of E
We have a most musical friendship and this is the best way to share that
I can't just settle on one favorite band to choose a picture of so we'll go with my top 5:
Brand New:Deja Entendu is the best cd ever created.
3Oh!3:Sometimes all I need is a little booty shaking bad boy music to get me going in the morning. And afternoon. And night.
Jason Mraz:There was a period of time that I only listened to Jason Mraz. He covers so many different moods that his music is always applicable!
The Avett Brothers: My mother will gladly tell you how proud she is that her taste in music rubbed off on me. But not Annie Lennox. You'll never get her on my iPod mom. No matter how hard you try.
Buddy Holly: I've had a crush on Buddy Holly since 5th grade.
I didn't only choose guys intentionally, I'm just really picky about what female singers I like and none of them are really my absolute favorites. I think its because there is something so attractive about a man that can sing and they really have to be unique.
Most recent giveaway that I've entered:
I have a severe need to wear all things comfy and these hoodies are ADORABLE!
Erika just showed me this video of Katy Perry's new song and I really like it. It is a great reminder of potential. I think we all forget our value and worth sometimes and are terrified about what other people think. Letting go of that fear is hard at first but the release of all cares is like flying with brand new strong wings. Try it please. Face a fear. There is no better time than now.
How on Earth did I forget about this song??? It brings back beautiful memories of my senior year of high school and one great trip to Santa Cruz. Also what? Johnny Depp is in this video? Weird.
Musicals. They get me. Deep. And when I get a craving for one it won't go away until it has been thoroughly satisfied.
For the past two or so months its been The Music Man. My love for Meredith Wilson's spectacular spectacular goes back to childhood. For a long road trip my grandma made a copy of the soundtrack on a tape for me so that I could listen to it on my Walkman (Whoa. Remember cassette tape days?) and that thing was played and replayed until the tape wore out. One year for summer school choir we did a staged version of "The Well's Fargo Wagon" and I reveled in mocking the hilarious voices of the actors. Oh man oh man. I love that this musical is about real people! The character's and actors aren't glossed up doll faces that sing in perfect harmony. Except for the school board barbershop quartet. Mmm!!! Their voices are like melty warm sugar.
So an interesting fact about The Music Man is that it is President Monson's favorite musical! That justifies my fascination right? I adore the fact that his sense of humor is so great. I don't need to go into detail about how great the musical is or why its ok that I love it, I just want to share my obsession. Some people drive down Main blasting their Top 40 hits radio with the windows down to get attention. I prefer Robert Preston telling the absolute truth about my dating life. I'd rather have the boy that's been around the block. One who isn't a pushover. It's the sadder, but wiser, boy for me. Really, "I hope and I pray that Hester will win just one more A" is probably my favorite literary reference in the whole thing, and that's saying something since the names Balzac and Shakespeare are thrown around like rice at a wedding through the whole thing.
Now stop reading and head out to Grecian Urn rehearsal! You're going to be late!
Have you ever gone to the library and come out an hour later thouroughly engrossed in the next chapter of your life? Maybe this is just something I experience. As I walked into the young adult section in the Humboldt Library I ran my fingers over the books on display. They stopped on a light blue binding and I slid out the volume to see the cover.
You see, I've got two views on the "don't judge a book by its cover" rule. I do judge books because sometimes the picture shows something I'm really just not interested in. In fact, when I worked at Borders last year I was not interested in most of the books I shelved and sold. But some hooked me with their covers. But many books have different covers based on print editions and publishing houses. If we're going with good old Harry Potter, I'm completely hooked by Mary GrandPre's illustrations but the British Edition doesn't look remotely Hogwarts to me.
The story inside is the same, but I'm prejudiced by the artwork.
That was a long side note, back to yesterday at the library...
Here's the cover:
And let me tell you, I'm not into baseball. Not in the slightest. Something was calling to me out of this book though and I couldn't resist taking a deeper look. I opened the front cover and I was charmed by the witty banter of the flap copy (the summary of the story as I learned from this book's flap copy). I pulled back a hard wooden chair at a table in the room and turned to the first page. An hour later I managed to pull myself out of the binding, 100 pages in already! I'm still working on it and I don't really want the story to have an end. The writing is so personable that I feel like I really know the characters. I've laughed out loud several times, which can be embarrassing when you're in the break room at work... Read it. And no I won't give you a summary because I wasn't given one when I began reading. I just jumped in with both, um...eyes.
What are some new things going on in the life of Elle? I've been making progress on my summer tan while working odd shifts and I'll let you know my secret:
That's right, I'm a fake tanner now. And I love it! My little routine begins with exfoliation. Take a small handfull of epsom salt, pour a little baby oil in so it's just saturated and rub into your arms/legs/feet in a slow circular motion. Follow up by shaving, but instead of using shaving cream or gel use conditioner! I know it's the bottle that always runs out first, but maybe it's time to invest in a bottle just for your legs. Because it's totally worth it. After you're completely exfoliated and smooth, dry off and pull on an old pair of basketball shorts. The bottle of tanning lotion recommends putting a thick creamy lotion on your dry spots like knees and elbows, but if you've just exfoliated with baby oil you don't need to, in fact the process works better if you don't. Now that all the prep work is done it's time to do the real damage! Only it's not damaging because there's no UV involved! The first time you tan use just a thin application to see how it reacts with your skin. Work the lotion into your skin in a circular motion and make sure that you coverd everything evenly. Don't forget to jump right up and wash those hands of yours though, or they will turn orange! And no one likes Oompa Loopma hands! The lotion takes a little while to set into your skin and a full 4 hours for the color to develop. I've done it right before bed, so I don't know if it rubs off during the night, but my white sheets are still pristine, so don't worry about that. This lotion isn't a gradual tan, but it can be used as one. I haven't used this product on my face and it isn't made for that, but I'm sure it would work. Just mix it into some of your face lotion to dilute the pigment. Good luck bronzing baby!
Since I'm a music nerd I have to add a new favorite song to the page:
I also have to add that I'm almost done learning "Anyone Else But You" by The Moldy Peaches on guitar. It's G and C chords for those of you that play along. And If I can learn it just by knowing the chords anyone can! Oh Juno, you've started a revolution.
Oh and p.s. Note the new items in the shop! Finally it's a store and not just one bag!
Camp Rock, the Jonas Brothers new Disney Channel movie came out on friday night, but of course I was working. My friend Sarah tivo'd it (yes that is now a verb) and we're having a Camp Rock bash tomorrow! Delight in the cheesiness please! I love those boys with most of my summer of 2008 heart. A small part goes to Hannie Montanie too. Of course. So, I'll talk about the party later if I remember to. Here's some Bonus Jonas for ya!
And let me tell you, I'm not into baseball. Not in the slightest. Something was calling to me out of this book though and I couldn't resist taking a deeper look. I opened the front cover and I was charmed by the witty banter of the flap copy (the summary of the story as I learned from this book's flap copy). I pulled back a hard wooden chair at a table in the room and turned to the first page. An hour later I managed to pull myself out of the binding, 100 pages in already! I'm still working on it and I don't really want the story to have an end. The writing is so personable that I feel like I really know the characters. I've laughed out loud several times, which can be embarrassing when you're in the break room at work... Read it. And no I won't give you a summary because I wasn't given one when I began reading. I just jumped in with both, um...eyes.