Tune in Tuesday: Grace Potter & the Nocturnals

Yesterday, I talked about getting to see the incredible Avett Brothers in concert. I didn't mention, however, that I also got to experience one of the greatest voices my little ears have ever heard, that of one Ms. Grace Potter. I had been hearing a lot of pre-show buzz about how amazing she was, and how excited everyone was to see her. I might be behind the times, but I hadn't ever listened to her music prior to Saturday night.

Boy, have I been missing out.

Grace is sort of a modern day Stevie Nicks, Janis Joplin, and Grace Slick all rolled into one, and she's cute as a button, to boot. And she plays a mean guitar and organ. She just might be my new idol.

Witness Grace & the Nocturnals, in their unedited glory. This video is almost too entertaining for words.



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What artist do you think has the best voice?

Another Weekend in the City

Ahh, Kansas City. Lately, it seems like it's been my home away from home. Honestly, I'd just like it to be my home, but I'll get there someday (soon, I hope!).

Anyway.

After spending the first half of Saturday visiting my sister in Manhattan (the little one, not the big one), wearing more purple than I'm usually comfortable with, being genuinely scared of some ominous rotating storm clouds, and solo dancing in my car to Bassnectar, I headed east to Kansas City with my dad to see the Avett Brothers at The Crossroads. Side note -- Does that win any awards for the longest run-on sentence ever? The show was pretty amazing, even though it had rained almost all day and the temperature only hovered in the upper 50s. If you ever have a chance to see the Avett Brothers, don't hesitate to do so. It's pretty obvious these guys have natural talent and love what they do, which is pretty refreshing. Oh, and naturally I forgot to pack my camera for the little weekend trip, so my couple of iPhone photos is just going to have to do.

Our view @ the show

Our view @ the hotel

Sunday morning, Dad and I woke up and made our way over to the Country Club Plaza Art Fair, which is something we have always missed due to other commitments. The Plaza Art Fair is supposedly one of the top art fairs in the country, which was apparent as soon as the ubiquitous white tents came into view. There were over 200 artists, food tents galore, and two music stages. It was an assault on the senses, to say the least. We split a steak sandwich and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon from Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (after I finished my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the year) and perused the booths. The quality of work was almost more of a gallery show than an art fair, so it was a real treat to finally get to experience this yearly event. And since I forgot my camera, I rounded up photos and websites of some of my fave artists from the show. I apologize in advance to your pocketbook.

Bryan Cunningham (aka: Mutie) Nevermore

Angie Pickman Heavy Things

I bought this print, along with two others. Her cut paper art is so beautiful!

Mark Traughber Sock Monkey

Bekah Ash Uptown Girls

Carolina Cleere Second Nature

Chris Roberts-Antieu Awkward Social Encounters

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Are there any big local events that you look forward to during the year? Tell me about 'em!

Fashion Fantasy: Jeffrey Campbell, Pt. 1

Lately, I have been lusting after a pair of Jeffrey Campbell shoes. Which pair, you ask? Oh, I dunno ... all of them?

Mr. Campell has a knack for designing shoes that are at once tough, sexy, bold, and feminine. Just like me! (only kidding, folks ... only kidding) His amazing brown lace-up boots inspired me to throw together this little dream ensemble on Polyvore. You can pretty much guarantee that I'll be putting together more Polyvore looks influenced by (and including) his shoes. Because really ... how could I not?

Brown, Beige & Gold by sarakate5

See by Chloé Printed silk dress, $390
Donna Karan Cashmere-blend leggings, $495
Jeffrey Campbell Boot, $166
Mulberry Alexa leather bag, $1,150
Bracelet Monogram Luck It, $265
Cubes of Gold, 265 GBP
CHANEL VINTAGE 6194 GOLD GOLD DOUBLE QUILTED C NECKLACE, 634 GBP
Ray-Ban RB4141 Round Wayfarer Sunglasses, $101
Amazon.com: Yves Saint Laurent Fard A Levres Rouge Pur Pure lipstick..., $27
NARS Nail Polish - Candy Darling, $16
12x12 Paper - Old Lace Gold on Ivory Scrapbook Paper - Paper Source, $1.95

Quick Pick: Totally Severe

If you haven't seen the illustrations by Sarah over at Totally Severe, you've totally (see what I did there?) been missing out. Those bright colors, bold patterns, quirky drawings ... oh! I'm in love! You can find Sarah and her work on her website, Flickr, and Twitter, where you can download backgrounds, wallpapers, and other fabulous goodies.

And if you want to see one of her patterns in action, check me out (that's not supposed to be a shameless plug, I really do use one of her backgrounds!).

Seriously ... you can thank me later.

++ EDIT: Oh, I can be such a bonehead! I just realized that the grey scallop pattern in the left column is actually from the Ollibird blog, which listed some amazing Twitter backgrounds earlier this year. Check those out, too!

Tune In Tuesday: Etsy Edition

I decided to put a different twist on Tune in Tuesday this week. Instead of posting a video of a band I love, or a playlist of a bunch of bands I love, I decided to share some fabulous music-related Etsy finds that I'm dying to own. Feel free to send any of these in the mail ... I love random gifts!

Vintage Record Player - The Fancy Lamb

Music Necklace - Meadowbelle Market

Sterling Guitar Pick - PanicMama

Birdcage Music Box - suesuegonzalas

Suitcase Stereo - Iam Simo

Radiohead Print - Salon Mystique

Wedding Topper - Together Forever

Leather Fringe Guitar Strap - Copper Peace

June Carter Cash Day of the Dead Painting - Crafty & Western

Seriously ... I'd be happy to send my mailing address for any willing friends! ;)

A Weekend in Photos

I got back yesterday from a long weekend in Winfield, Kansas for their annual Bluegrass Festival. It was my 15th-ish year in attendance, and it was my favorite year yet ... by far! It was a weekend full of great music, memories made with friends, uncontrollable laughter, campground pranks, fab garage sale finds, a scavenger hunt, and even a pony parade with our new favorite friend (long story). I'm already counting down the days until next year.

Hippie Mobile!

The Wilders + The Wiyos (check them both out!)

Music was everywhere ... especially in our camp!

My father, the clown

Jethro and one of his famous martinis

Shenanigans McGillicuddy, our favorite foil pony

Pony Parade! "Doooooro-thyyyy!"

I absolutely ♥ these people

Home ... with a mess to pick up

Did anyone else have a fun weekend? Feel free to share!

HAPPY 100!

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Wow. 100 posts already? Where has the time gone? I've been blogging since last October, and it has really flown by. I can't believe it's almost been a year since my first post! Thanks to those of you that have been with me since the beginning, those of you that have just started reading, and everyone else in between! I've loved the comments, e-mails, and -- most of all -- the friendships I've made over the past 11 months. So thank you to each one of you!

I'm not yet where I want to be with the blog, but I've really just been taking a lot of baby steps up until now. That's all about to change. I've already started making some bigger investments toward turning this blog everything I want it to be, and I can't wait to share all of it with you. And that shop I've been talking about opening for the past year? It's in the works, too. I don't want to set a strict deadline for myself, but I'm hoping for somewhere shortly after the first of the year. Exciting times!

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But for now, I'm getting ready for what will probably be our last camping trip of the year (sad face!). We were supposed to head out this evening, but some pretty nasty storms (record-setting hail, multiple tornadoes ... YIKES) are keeping us away until tomorrow. So I'm off to finish preparing for a long weekend. See you Sunday!

Tune in Tuesday: Can I Borrow Some Ambition?

Can I let you in on a little secret?

OK, good.

For the past 12+ years (so since I was 14-ish), I've had, on some level or another, a special place in my heart for punk.

Say what?!

Yes, punk. Music, fashion, attitude ... all of it. This was certainly never more evident than during my early high school years, when I cut off all but a couple inches of my hair and dyed it red, safety pinned a bunch of band patches on my backpack, wore studded bracelets, made mix tape after mix tape of parent-disapproved music, and ... well, you get the idea. Thank god I have NO idea where any photo proof of this resides. I'd be forced to burn it all.

Somewhere around my junior or senior year of high school, I started moving from punk into more hardcore bands (I have bands like Sick of it All and Refused to thank for that progression), and from there, into ... who knows what. Whatever I was listening to early on in my college career, I guess. Anyway, my point is that I've drifted pretty far away from punk music, but there's that little corner of my heart that won't ever let it go. I rediscovered how much I really love some of these old tunes as I was perusing YouTube this past weekend. I don't remember what I went there actually looking for, but I ended up spending more time than I care to admit watching music videos I used to hope to catch late night on 120 Minutes, or on the compilation VHS tapes the record labels would put out. Classic stuff.

Which brings me to this playlist. These are songs I used to wear. out. on the tape deck of my '92 Nissan Stanza (ballin'!) on the 15 minute drive to school every morning. I'm kind of bummed that the playlist site doesn't have all of the songs I was wanting to include, but I think this is a pretty good sampling. I hope you enjoy this at least a fraction of the amount that I do. Now if I could just find my original mixes ...

Oh, and just as a side note ... I'm not terribly interested in trying to define what is/isn't punk. I think that's probably evident by some of the songs I included (or excluded) from the list. There are a lot of punk gods you won't find here, but it's not what I was listening to back then. So there.

Mmm Mmm Monday: Sickie Edition

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I'm starting to feel like I'm coming down with a cold (hopefully not anything worse!), so my dinner looked a little like the photo above. Except the soup was in a mug. And didn't have noodles. But same general idea.

We've got a big annual camping trip coming up soon, so I'm going to rest up and get to feeling better before the weekend. I will not be sick, I will not be sick, I will NOT be sick!

Sunday Share: Girl Talk

Just wanted to share what I was doing on Friday night ...

Watching Girl Talk (aka Greg Gillis) might be one of the most fun ways to spend a day (or night). The above clip was from the 2008 Lollapalooza show (for which I was also in attendance, but only for a few glorious minutes), but you get the idea. Take this video, set it at night after an intense rainstorm with crazy lightning still streaking across the sky, add a package of 200 glow sticks and a group of great friends, and you'll have a better idea of what my Friday really looked like. So. Much. FUN.

Are there any bands or artists that you get excited to see? I'd love to hear about 'em!

Tune in Tuesday: Bassnectar

Anyone who regularly reads my Tune in Tuesday posts might have picked up by now that I really, really like Bassnectar. Like, really. I dug his (it's just one guy, Lorin) music before this year's Coachella, but seeing him live sealed the deal. I'm hoping to get the chance to see him in Lawrence next month, but I haven't checked into tickets yet. I know, right? What's wrong with me?!

Anyway, here's Bassnectar's take on the Pixie's "Where is My Mind" from the aforementioned Coachella set. The videographer did a way better job of not totally Blair Witch-ing the camera (like I did, in every video I took at the festival, making every viewer nauseous), and the sound quality is pretty tight, so enjoy!

Happy Labor Day!

Or to my non-American friends ... Happy Monday!

After spending a whole day on the couch yesterday recovering from this, I feel like I'm ready to take on the world! OK, OK ... maybe not the world, but at least the mess in my apartment. Something needs to be done about it.

Oh, and Project 365? I'm still struggling to keep up, but I've been good! I only had to cheat once and use two photos from the same day. They're not gems, but at least I'm making a conscious effort to take photos every day. Here's the latest batch ...

006/365 - Abuelita

007/365 - Pile Up

008/365 - Legs

009/365 - Violet

010/365 - Tunes

011/365 - Sweater

012/365 - Homemade Bling

013/365 - Recovery

Oops, I'ma go / Nails like whoa!

I have been SO unmotivated this week. I've already missed two days of my 365 project, and have done almost nothing creative, but I'm not going to get down about it. Sometimes, we all just have off weeks, right? Right. So to help get myself out of whatever funk I'm in, I indulged in a little bit of retail therapy this afternoon. Consider the funk over!

Earlier today, I realized that I am in desperate need of a good mani/pedi. Since I'm not in the mood to go to the salon, a home job will have to do. I think I might play this song on repeat the whole time! It is by no means new (it's been a favorite of mine for quite some time), but it is crazy good. Kid Sister AND Kanye? How can you go wrong?? I always love a girl that can flow just as good as the boys, and Kid Sister is definitely no exception. Seriously ... skills.

Pro Nails - Kid Sister ft. Kanye West

Happy September!

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