I am a huge fan of the roots revival music of the last few years. Like Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers, and now The Lumineers. There is something about the rustic, heart-on-the-sleeve music that kind of nods to tradition while setting off into uncharted territory that I love! It's soulful, sweet and fun to sing to. I've brought up the Lumineers before on this blog here. Last night was their (sold out) concert. I paid $30 for two tickets and after seeing them perform live, I would have paid double that for each. They were awesome. When we got to the Santa Ana Observatory, where the concert venue was. I was a little concerned. It was right behind my old college, yet I never knew that it existed. Although Wes likes the Lumineers too, he wasn't all to excited to stand in line with a bunch of hipsters near the back of an Ikea parking lot. But once inside the place was pretty cool. It was like a low budget house of blues but waay smaller. They had a full open bar and even though it was all general admission with no actual seating we got a prime standing spot where I could see the stage perfectly and felt close enough that I might as well have been part of the "mosh-pit" area.
When The Lumineers came on stage they looked exactly the same as they do in this picture. We had said in the car ride there that the show wouldn't be the same unless one of them was wearing suspenders and wouldn't ya know, the drummer was!
In fact, I think that's the only thing he wears.
Although the 3 main band members consist of: The lead singer, Wesley, the drummer, Jeremiah, and the cello player, Neyla. The base player and the keyboardist had pretty large roles as well.
Between every song it took them a minute or two to change instruments. I was surprised that each of them played at least 3 instruments and they all swapped with each other. At one time there was a cello, a mandolin, an accordion and a xylophone and a tambourine. That's talent.
Plus, they were a ton of fun to watch. The sound was great, they got the crowd really going and maybe, I'm just a little bias but Wesley was sexy. My Wes is pretty hot too though ;)
They were so good live that I left the concert thinking that it had to be the best one I had ever seen. It probably helped that the venue was so small that the intimacy made the music more special.
Their whole self titled album is only 42 minutes long but they played for over an hour singing cover songs of Bob Dylan and some of their new not even named yet stuff that will be on their next album. After only hearing a couple of their new songs once, I know that I'll be buying the album as soon as it comes out.
Incase you've only heard their one hit song on the radio, "Ho, Hey" I have posted a couple of their songs that they performed live, so you can see for yourself just how good they are!
This Summer was a life changing one. In 3 months I've learned so much about who I am and what I want in my life. I fell in love with my dream man and lost an important member of my family in one season. This time of year always reminds me of one of my favorite Death Cab for Cutie songs, Summer Skin. It's the perfect song to conclude the summer. Here are some of the main events that have happened in my life the last 3 months plus some sprinkled song lyrics here and there.
Squeaky swings and tall grass The longest shadows ever cast The water's warm and children swim And we frolicked about in our summer skin
In June....
We celebrated Memorial day weekend in Palm springs at the Riviera Spa and Resort. This was also the weekend that the "L word" was used for the first time. :) Now it's a constant one in mine and Wes's vocabulary and I hope it stays that way!
In July....
We honored the 4th with a relaxing day and an unexpected romantic firework viewing. It was wonderful!
My Dad turned 49. He's quite the party animal!
Who enjoys a stiff drink every so often. Below is his version of a margarita. Ick.
My Mama moved to Vegas and made a pit-stop in Orange County to visit little ol' me!
...And Wes took us to see Young the Giant. They were A-maze-ing live!
Our family suffered a painful loss when my grandfather passed away. Just days after his birthday... He had a good life and was loved by many. I know that even though he's not with us in person, he will always be with us in our hearts.
(my Grandpa, my Brother, Me, and my Grandma)
On the night you left I came over
And we peeled the freckles from our shoulders
Our brand new coats so flushed and pink
And I knew your heart I couldn't win
Cause the seasons change was a conduit
And we left our love in our summer skin
I went with Wes and a couple of our friends to see Tears for Fears and we shouted it out!
In August....
Wes's parents came all the way from Connecticut to visit us and California for the first time on their cross country RV trip!
Unfortunately, his parent's Shitzus freaked out his cat, and Wes was attacked.
A 3 hour ER visit and 4 stitches later, he was good as new. The cat however, took a week to recover from the trauma and spent 2 weeks after the event, hiding in the closet.
We said farewell to this lovely couple as they left OC to get hitched and start a life together back in their home state of CT. The wedding is October 20th, which means that I'll be taking a little vacay soon! Woot, woot!
We went to LA's H20 Festival to see Wes's friend Nick perform with his band, Santa Mamba.
Where I also got to meet freaking Snoop Dogg/Lion! That shizzle was off the hookizzle. You can get the lowdizzle on that story over hizzle. I'm done with the Snopp talk. Sorry.
In September....
This sweet little muffin turned 4 years old. Or 28 in puppy years!
We had homemade pupcakes and hot dogs for dinner in her honor! Read all about her day and get the cupcake recipe here.
I don't recall a single care Just greenery and humid air Then Labor day came and went And we shed what was left of our summer skin
I helped Jesus Jugs and her Ginger Hubs move in to their very own home! She has a cute and witty post on her blog explaining their 'Hunt to Homeownership in Numbers!' Check it out ya'll.
The weekend after we had a much needed girls cowgirls night out at Incahoots in Fullerton.
I turned 27.
Wasn't I a cute little baby?
Wes turned 31 the same day so we took a mini trip to Catalina for the night. It was Beautiful! And super fun.
Just look at this place! Click here to see the whole trip in detail.
And for your musical enjoyment....
I hope everyone had a great Summer as well! I am so excited for what the rest of this year has in store. Peace out Summer! Finally.
Two, dos, (2) weekends in a row I went to Los Angeles. Both times were for a very good reason, but if you live in Orange County, LA is a place that is tried to be avoided at all costs. Seriously. Going a couple times a year is enough for me....
So now my quota is filled till January.
I just dislike everything about it. As soon as you pass Disneyland and get out of the perfectly manicured green foliage, the freeway begins to narrow. Traffic starts to congest and graffiti and homeless people seem to be the usual scenery. Plus I swear there is a faint smell of urine that is locked between the asphalt and the smog. And I have to disagree with Gwen Stefani and her Orange County Girl song. I think what's behind the "Orange Curtain" is just that bad.
Clearly, I'm not a fan.
Anyways, lets get off why I don't like the city of Angels and talk about the cool things I got to do the last couple of weeks!
First, We went with Jesus Jugs and her Ginger hubs to our friends 24th Birthday Party at Tokyo Delves. If you've never been there, the only way I can describe it is it's a Sushi restaurant, club and shit show all rolled into one. Despite the fact that it smelled like a roller rink. (You know that smell where you can't decide if it smells like stinky feet or just ass?) And the sushi was below par, we had a fabulous time! At one point Wes was rapping to Vanilla Ice and I did N'Sync's "Bye, bye, bye" dance while on a chair in heels. I gots skillz y'all. Oh and did I mention they had gallon kegs of beer and every so often our waiter would make us do a saki bomb? Well they do and he did.
Here are some pics.
I got this from the Tokyo Delves website. This wasn't us but they looked like they were having so much fun I felt obligated to put it up.
This was our crowd. Sushi restaurant or Club? That is the question.
The Birthday girl herself!
Wes and I did not get one good picture the whole night. I just put this one up because my sock bun looks cute.
Then this last weekend we went to LA again to see Wes's friend perform at the H2O Festival.
Let me just begin the story by saying that the festival started at 3:00 pm Saturday afternoon. It takes about an hour to get to downtown from where we live in orange county. I was thinking that we would have the morning and part of the afternoon to be lazy and enjoy the day, but Wes was ADAMANT about leaving the house at one. I took my time getting ready with him eagerly badgering me and telling me how much he hate's to be late. We left at 1:30 and he whined the whole way there. We got to the festival at 2:30. Plenty of time. We got in the line at the gate and literally stood there in the hot sun in 90 degree heat for an hour. They ended up not opening the gates until 3:30. Lets just say I was a good sport about the whole thing and Wes felt bad. Now the next time we go to an event we will get there on my time. Sometimes fashionably late is in fact better. Boys are stupid. I've said my peace.
Back to the festival. Wes's friend's band in Connecticut won a contest to be able to perform at this festival. Pretty darn cool. We got V.I.P tickets because we knew the guys which was pretty awesome. What I did not know was that this band is a Latin American Band. Funny because the only hispanic person is the lead singer. The rest are super nice and really cool white nerdy guys. I liked them right away.
So the Band is called Santa Mamba
The dude in the center is Wes's friend Nick. Apparently Connecticut only breeds men with long hair.
The Festival was fun! We were the only white blonde people in the whole vicinity though. I should have guessed with Santa Mamba being a Latin band that the rest of the festival would be as well. Yup. It was chola central. No offense to any sassy senoritas out there. I've just never seen that many sharpie eyebrows in one place before. It was fascinating.
I was really glad that we had V.I.P because while most of the crowd had to deal with the disgustingly hot weather and pay for overly priced beer and fair food, we got to enjoy an air-conditioned tent with free booze and mediocre food. But it was free mediocre food! Also, while everyone else had to use a port a potty we got to use airplane style port a pottys. SO much better! Santa Mamba didn't perform until later and we didn't know most of the bands playing, so we stayed in our little tent like happy campers and took advantage... Or at least I took advantage of the free alcohol. Wes is a saint for putting up with my "I'm so sexy dirty terrible dancing." I just can't help myself, the alcohol brings out the sex kitten in me.
Some other performers there were:
I'm not sure who she is. But she was very pretty when I saw he on stage.
I don't know these guys either. Couldn't tell you if they were good or not.
I did see him perform a little. Coincidentally he is dating Christine "Chrissy" Teigen. A now super model who went to high school with me and she sat next to me in Algebra. I remember when she dropped out of school to move to LA and become a model. We all thought she was stupid. She showed us. She's living a celebrity life in NY, and I am a waitress. A pretty happy waitress though!
Moving on.
Gym Class Heroes were supposed to be there but they were a no show. However, Snoop Dogg/Lion was!
D - O double G!
Santa Mamba was set to go on stage at 7:30, right after Snoopy. The way the place was set up was there was a large stage and then right next to it a smaller stage. we were right in the middle of both so we got to watch snoop on the big stage and then when he was done we turned our heads and Santa Mamba was on the smaller one. They were really good.
Here's a video I found of their most popular song if you're interested.
After they performed we got to go back stage with them and who did we run in to? Wait for it.
Oh yes. Snoop Dogg's diamond encrusted hand is on my shoulder and Wes made it into the background too! I love that the security guard looks sketched out by him. I had to make the photo black and white because the red eye in it was so bad I looked like a Twilight character.
So there you have it my friends. Two weeks of interesting yet really awesome weekends in LA. Hopefully the next time I have to go there again will be next year ;)
Not working a 9-5 job is really killing my personal life. I'm home all day while the BF and all my friends are at work, and then I'm working nights and weekends when they have off. It's really a catch 22. Do I want to be working an office job making 14 dollars an hour or do I want to work a few hours a day and make 18-20? Right now my student loans, car insurance and rent are choosing the latter.
I digress. What this post is really supposed to be about is the movie, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
I wanted to see it when it came out in theaters but never got around to it. Tonight I closed at the restaurant, so when all my peeps were going to bed, I had dinner and put on HBO movies on demand. I practically squealed the ruby club out of my mouth when I saw that Crazy, Stupid, Love. was on the free list. Obviously, I turned it on. And it was SO good.
It made me laugh, tear up and it was relatable. It doesn't hurt that Ryan Gosling is so hot he pretty much starts a fire in my panties. And I really like Emma Stone. Also Steve Carell was good too. But man. Ryan. WOO! Definitely number 1 on my top 5 celebrities to sleep with. Sorry Dad. I know you read this.
Digressing again. If you haven't seen it, check it out on HBO on Demand while its on. There was this really cute Dirty Dancing scene, that try as I might I could not find the whole thing on youtube to post.
But the movie ended with a great song. Blood, By Middle East. That I did find on youtube.
It's not very often these days that a movie ends and ya think to yourself "Wow! That was a really good movie." And then it puts you in a happy mood for the rest of the day. That is this kind of movie. So thanks.
I would consider my music taste to be eclectic. I like all different kinds and don't limit myself to only one style. But my absolute favorite genre is folk/ Indie. There is just something about a banjo that I love! Here are my favorite songs at this moment, PLUS a song from Mumford and Sons new album that won't be released until September 24th called 'I Will Wait.'
I heard this song first when my brother posted it on my Facebook page and 2 months later it was a hit on the radio. The kid has a knack for finding songs before they become popular. I think this song is so sweet. The Lumineers will be in Orange County October 7th and you can bet your sweet bippy I'll be going! Tickets are only $15.00!
The Lumineers - Ho Hey
Although his parents must have hated him when he was born for giving him the same name twice. Phillip Phillips showed them by winning last seasons American Idol and my little ear drums. You may have heard this song in an Olympics commercial that has been playing recently. I Adore this song. I've had it on repeat all this morning.
Phillip Phillips - Home
Of Monsters & Men is an Icelandic folk/ indie pop group who became famous for winning their hometown's battle of the bands. Their Song "Little Talks" is popular on the radio now. Listen to their album. I like the whole thing!
Of Monsters & Men - Love Love Love
Mumford and Sons! I believe that this band is the start of the kind of music played by the bands above. Marcus Mumford's (the lead singers) voice is so unique. And I really like that they don't actually have a drummer. The song below, 'I Will Wait' is from their new album, Babel. You can listen to 5 of their new songs here.
I Finally figured out how to customize ringtones on my new phone that I got for Christmas and man am I excited! Yep! What song did I choose your'e wondering? why "Lonely Boy" by The Black Keys of course! I can't wait for people to call me so when my phone goes off I can dance around like this guy:
Believe it or not that is the "Official" video for the song. I love it!
My old ASB Teacher used to tell us: "Shoot for the moon and you will land on a star." Totally lame. I used to do the teenage eye roll every time he said it. But now that I'm older, I kind of like this cheesy little line, it's actually kind of cute.
This post is going to be about the things that I wish or would really like to be able to do. Am I going to shoot for the moon with all of these? Probably not, but hopefully I'll land on a couple stars anyways.
1. I would LOVE to be able to sing. Or even just play an instrument. One day hopefully I will learn. Its bands like the Civil Wars that make it seem so cool and easy. I wish I could be that cool. Um, plus the male singer is smoking hot! Johnny Depp's twin for sure.
2. I would really like to be a guest at a soiree like one Gatsby would have thrown at his large estate in the Hamptons. Beaded flapper dress, Champagne and the Charleston? Yes Please!
And how fabulous is this already put together ensemble I plan on wearing from Miss Baloo?
3. It would be so romantic to have a love epiphany and figure out the one I was supposed to be with, then run to him like in the movies with this song playing. Of course he would love me as well and we would make-out furiously as the song was ending....
4. I would like to have sex with Don Draper. This needs no explanation.
5. I think it would be nice to sleep in, pretend that it's the weekend, snuggle, and of course make banana pancakes. This could happen on any given day, but it never or rarely does.
6. I would like to produce this: .... By this I mean a sweet little girl. - not anytime soon though!
7. I would like to be recognized for my work in a magazine like Better Homes and Gardens. OR Coastal Living. Definitely Coastal Living.
8. Another movie scene. I wish I could drive in the rain and feel a sense of calm and contentness and have this beautiful song come on. Songs never come on when they're supposed to. Doesn't it sound like a rainy day song?
9. I would like to know how to dance. Well. Not hip hop. Real dancing (sorry), like Swing dancing and 'Western' and Salsa and Waltz. Man that would be fun!
10. I would die to have mermaid hair that looked like this:
11. I wish I had a gay best friend or relative (I'm not picky) like Cam from Modern Family. He is totally my favorite character on the show.
12. I wouldn't mind driving around in one of these little cuties.
13. And lastly, I obviously need a place to park my new car... What better place than an adorable little cottage, maybe one that looks like this. With a little yard for Rox.
So there you have it. Just a few strange little hopes and dreams that I wish will happen in the nearish future of my lifetime!
