Warped Tour

Yep, we took the boys. There were a bunch of bands that I had never heard of, and one of our favorites.   

The boys picked out these little straw fedoras, and wore them the entire day.

Christian metal? 

Many half-clothed teenagers...

Vanna, another band I had never heard of, and they were surprisingly really good...

and really nice to the boys afterwards.

Miss May I was the main attraction for the kids, and probably my least favorite music of the day. I'm old.

The Constellations, as good as I remember.

And a new one to me, Champagne Champagne. They were great.

All in all, it was a really fun, tiring day. May become a yearly tradition.

Otherside

I know this isn't a new song, but I've been singing it a lot lately, and somehow it's turned into the refrain in my head at night when I'm drifting off to sleep, something to keep thoughts from turning around and keeping me alert, when counting breaths doesn't work. The words are pretty beautiful, haunting, and sad.

[fyeahtattoos.com]

yay!

Every year, I add a few holiday albums to the mix and listen to them from now to New Years! This years are really exciting:

A Very She & Him Christmas

and We Wish You a Metal X-Mas and a Headbanging New Year

Previous favorites: 1, 2, and 3

girls with guitars

(Erin Wasson by Fred Meylan for Elle France June 2011)

Lately, surprisingly, I've been coming across girls with electric guitars in fashion media. I guess it's the ultimate rocker chic accessory? Although, I've yet to see anyone styled actually playing one, or even pretending to...

(Sarah Frances Kuhn by Olivia Jade Horner for Refinery 29)

(Caroline Polachek by Kava Gorna for Refinery 29)

(Chrissy Miller photo by theselby.com via Refinery 29)

the xx

My hub found this band on satellite radio and they have a really good sound. Their voices remind me a little bit of that one album by Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson. Worth youtubing.

I feel so alive

Yesterday, the little things were so stressful that I didn't even worry about the big things.

Last night, I was so tired and sad and worried, and then I spent the night in a beautiful hotel room with my husband in NYC, which was not at all where I was planning to be, but was still very very nice.

And I guess it's all going to just work out one way anyway, but if you focus on what's wrong you miss out on the right moments in between.

Today, I'm sitting in the airport alone, reading a novel. Tired, but happy. And, corny though it is, these lyrics are stuck in my head:

Everyday is a new day
I'm thankful for every breath I take
I won't take it for granted
So I learn from my mistakes
It's beyond my control sometimes it's best to let go,
whatever happens in this lifetime
So I trust in love
You have given me peace of mind

(Alive, P.O.D.)

magazine inspiration

There's no hiding my love for photographic prints on clothing, and this galaxy print on is my favorite right now (on Kristen Dunst - who I also happen to love - in BlackBook):

It's by Christopher Kane, who is pretty much the king of photo prints, remember the gorilla collection?

And when I saw this spread:

of Gwyneth Paltrow in InStyle magazine, I decided that she has the perfect bangle look:

Just a perfect mix, and reminded me of my studded bangle from Crangi Family Project.

Pretty perfect fixed/messy hair too. And can I just say that this woman is 38, and is totally pulling off not dressing her age. She may be a new style icon...

alternative Christmas

Ready for some holiday fun? Here are a few of the best alternative rock Christmas records I've found (in no particular order, Bright Eyes is my favorite I think):

Let It Snow Baby... Let It Reindeer by Relient K

Deck the Halls, Bruise Your Hand by Relient K

A Christmas Album by Bright Eyes

Alternative Rock Xmas (check out Everclear's Santa, Baby.)

Christmas by Low

Christmas with Weezer by Weezer

I've been listening to my favorite Christmas music non-stop. I'm not too big on most of the holiday originals, but love having versions of my favorite classic songs for whatever mood I'm in.

Christmas!

Time to watch Elf!

I've been listening to holiday music for a few weeks now in private, but now that Thanksgiving is over I can officially force my family to listen to it! I have a huge collection of Christmas music (hey, takes up much less space than, let's say, an ornament collection!), and I add a few every year.

This year, I found a treasure trove of great holiday cds (I love you, iTunes) and just picked my favorite songs from them:

NKOTB? Even better the second time around:

Her first holiday cd is better than her second, I especially love the duets with Nick Lachey and Ashlee Simpson:

This lady has one beautiful voice:

Fiona Apple singing Frosty the Snowman? Yes, please:

My newest favorite version of Baby, It's Cold Outside:

The Constellations

Wow. So, last Thursday we went to see The Constellations play at The White Rabbit in San Antonio. We've been wanting to see more music, love them, and found out they were coming and playing at a small venue. Perfect. Ordered our tickets ($12, c'mon) and took a taxi there so we could drink all we want and not worry about how to get home.

Ok. The venue was pretty sketchy, opened late and horribly disgusting bathroom, but they have a pizza shop attached with really decent pizza and beer, so we did that while we waited. In total four bands performed that night. The first, Heavy Feathers, a local band with a blues rock feel. There weren't bad, but I swear, husband and I were the only two people watching them. The only two. It was embarrassing and a little awkward, I felt so bad for them!

So then, here's the cool part, we got to meet them! The Constellations! My sweet husband asked Elijah to autograph my shirt, and he did. He - all of them - were actually really really nice. We bought a few rounds of beer (seriously, they make bands buy there own beer? How messed up is that?), talked to them for a while, watched them perform from like a foot away, because again there were so few people, maybe like 15 in total in the whole stage area, so we were right there.

Seriously?

They were so good live too, maybe even better because they really looked like they were having fun and I think his voice was even better live, really incredible. And, here's another really cool part, he dedicated a song - Felicia - to me. To me. Yep, said my name and everything. Can you believe it?

After they finished, we skipped the next bands and went back outside and hung out with them some more. By then, I was pretty drunk, (by the way, how do they perform so well after drinking like that? Crazy.), and probably a little bit stalker fan once the inhibitions went away, but, oh well, our taxi came right then so we bolted anyway. It was a crazy, awesome, perfect night.

If you haven't listened to The Constellations, go do it now. They are so good, energetic and original and the singer has a really great voice. Just go ahead and buy Southern Gothic, it's my favorite album right now. And the fact they were so totally cool makes me love them even more.

New (Old) Music Monday: Pink Floyd

What can I say? Like Led Zeppelin, this was one of my dad's favorite bands when I was growing up and I just can't shake the association... even though my husband also loves them.

We listened to The Wall in its entirety on the drive, and then Dark Side of the Moon. So weird that Pink Floyd didn't sound at all like I thought they did. Some songs sounded familiar and I really liked, like Brain Damage and Comfortably Numb, but others are just too weird to me.

new (Old) Music Monday: Deftones

I've always loved the one Deftones song that periodically comes on the radio, Change (In the House of Flies), and whenever I hear it, I remember that I want to listen to some more of their songs, and then always forget. Last weekend, my neighbor randomly played them on his iPod, and I've gotta say, I really liked their sound. Sometimes, it can be a one hit wonder type of thing, but not this time... look them up on youtube!

(They look cool, too, not what I was expecting, but in a good way for a change.)