Rants & Raves

Hello loverlies,
I feel like I have so much & nothing to share. All my little events seem so mundane but here goes nothing.
Summer is wrapping up next week and I don't think I'm ready for the winter.
I'm definitely growing these next year!

August came and went and now September is almost gone. I seriously can't keep up lately. Dillon's birthday was the 1st. (He's 12 now, if you can believe it!) Laura had a nice little pool party for him at her house. Speaking of Laura, she just got back from vacation. We sure missed her at the store. It was a bit crazy but better that than being super slow. Now my parents are on vacation for their anniversary. 25 years this year! They went to Yosemite and then to Reno for the air races. Samantha's birthday is Saturday and she is turning 21. I was surprised to hear she is planning a big party. I'm going to go for a bit. This reminds me I need to go shopping for some gifts for everyone ;) Next is my turn for a vacation. I need one badly! The family goes to Disneyland mid-December so my concerts will be my mini vacations until then.
I should be at a show right now. The Romany Rye is playing with the Moondoggies at Cafe Du Nord in SF. Matt and Lindsey were working tonight and Crystal just refused to call me back. I would go alone but it's not as fun. Sunday, Matt and I will go see Jonny Corndawg at Hotel Utah. I'm curious to see what Matt thinks of Corndawg! I love that he is totally doing his own thing. Also, I've never been to Hotel Utah so that will be cool. My mom and I are kicking off Hardly Strictly weekend with The Jayhawks at Slims that Friday night. Last but not least, I got tickets to see The Head & The Heart next month and found out tonight that Release the Sunbird will be opening. I've been hearing a lot of good stuff about Zach Rouge's side project. This is a really great video by In The Open.

In the Open: Release the Sunbird - Running Away From Me from In the Open on Vimeo.

Ok, so, fun story:
Yesterday I saw a tweet from ATO records asking to email them if you want to do some street team stuff for Dawes upcoming tour. Seeing how I usually get some posters to help out I thought this would be really convenient since Petaluma is so close. I emailed them last night and first thing this morning I see an email asking if I want to be a "street team CAPTAIN for your area" They get pretty serious about this stuff apparently. I thought it was so funny. They want me to come up with contests to promote the show and list some places for promotion, since they don't have people in this area. I'll help out but I'm not going to go crazy (like I did when I first did this). I don't have that much extra time to get all involved but helping out your favorite band is fun. We'll see where it goes. I'm stoked for the show.
And can Blake Mills please come back to the bay area?! Please!
Alrighty well, those are my rants for this evening. This took way too long to write because my internet hates me tonight. I really shouldn't complain because it isn't my internet. ;) I promise to be back sooner next time. Goodnight everyone

Spring Fever

...more like Dawes fever!

Hello Hello, lots to update on tonight...
On the 3rd I saw Middle Brother at The Independent with Blake Mills (and The Botticellis) opening. Needless to say, I was kind of freaking out.
Blake's set was brilliant! Danielle Haim was on drums and Taylor Goldsmith sat in on bass for most of the set. It was so neat to see them play together. I know they've been friends forever and their chemistry is obvious. "Wintersong" is my favorite and I was so excited to hear it live. I wish there was some footage of the set but a few pictures will just have to do.

Photo by Jay Blakesberg

Then it was time for Middle Brother! Everything sounded great and they performed every song on the album. They just have a ton of fun with each other. Matt ran from mic to mic during a song, John was dressed like a hippie after he claimed to have ventured to Haight & Ashbury during the day, and at one point Matt carried John offstage so Taylor could perform a song. They were joined onstage by Griffin Goldsmith on drums, Wylie Gelber on bass for some songs, and of course Blake Mills. Jonny Corndawg was missed but not forgotten. They evening was perfectly wrapped up with Matt Vasquez, acoustic, on the sidewalk of Divisadero St. I heard him do "Lovers Waltz" by AA Bondy and then "Trashcan" by Delta Spirit. So much fun but made me really antsy for some new Dawes and Delta Spirit.

Which leads me to this amazing news...
New Dawes album "Nothing Is Wrong" is set to be released on June 7th!

 

I could go on about the new album for days so I'll restrain myself tonight.

Continuing on the music theme I got The Head and The Heart's album this week. I was hoping to see them Wednesday but the show sold out before I got my act together. So sad... Next time maybe?!
Dillon and I went to see Young the Giant at Slim's on Friday. That was good times. Strange Birds and Man In Space opened. Strange Birds are from southern CA and are good friends, if not related to, the guys in Young the Giant. Man In Space is a local group who are mostly ex-members of Dizzy Balloon. Their set was great. You can tell they know what they're doing. Their music is just really fun and has a unique funk/pop/hip-hop sound. I got their, I guess it's an EP. Listen to it here!
Now, this was my 3rd time seeing Young the Giant. The first time they played to about 40 of us while a rave was going on in the other, larger, room. The second time was at The Rickshaw Stop to a decent but comfortable crowd. This was little more crazy. I felt like one of the older folks in the audience. People were pushing and fighting their way to the front. Super rude and annoying. Just tried to not trip off it and enjoy the show. As you can see, by the last song craziness ensued. Caught my first stage dive ;)


This post is taking me forever to put together but I have to at least tell you about Travis' Birthday. The little man is 2 now! Ashley had his party at Howarth Park and he loved it. Every time the whistle on the train would blow he would stop, and his eyes would get all big, and he'd grab the nearest person and try to run to the train. So cute! James and his mom and aunt came. Candy, Vicki and Matthew came. Also, some of Ashley's friends including Matilda and her dad. They watch Travis every Tuesday so it was nice to finally meet them. Lots of toys, cake and the park. Mother Nature was on our side and gave us some sun too!

I still feel like there are things I'm leaving out but this will just have to do for tonight! Hope you had a Happy Easter!

Hello 2011

Hello new year! Sorry that I let things go for so long. The last little bit of 2010 absolutely flew by and being sooo busy didn't help things. Where do I start?!...the beginning seems like a good place...short & sweet

November:

Consisted mostly of work, babysitting and promoting the Dawes show. I got super lucky and got free tickets for working so hard on promotional stuff. The Romany Rye were supposed to open the show but their van broke down and they didn't make it. :( But I did find this little gem on The Romany Rye's tumblr...

The show was AMAZING and I'm seriously considering seeing Dawes again in February. Thanksgiving was nice with the family. Last but not least, I rented the trailer on the DuVander Ranch. Affordable and all mine, no roommates!

December:

A fantastic Delta Spirit show (The Fling opened),

family drama, and spending money like crazy on my new place and on Christmas. I went from my little bedroom to a full house. I need so much stuff. That got put on the back burner the closer Christmas came.  Work was so busy! I was totally impressed by the generosity of our customers though. I got all kinds of candy, wine and Starbucks gift cards. Thanks again everyone! I got some overtime but had no time to shop for Christmas. It doesn't help that I'm a horrible shopper and got sick a few days before Christmas. I whipped it out though, and we had a really nice weekend at my parents. Uncle John, Sandra and Aunt Regina all came over. Dillon got some rockin' stuff and I got a lot of things for my new place. John built the new computer that I am thoroughly enjoying since my place doesn't have internet. Hopefully that will change soon.

So now here we are in 2011. Pretty exciting but hard to believe. Time is absolutely flying. I'm hoping to have a Housewarming/Birthday party on Sat the 22nd. Your all invited! Today is Ashley's birthday though. She is out, while I watch my crazy nephew Travis. OMG he is getting so big and we are definitely getting into the terrible two's. It's so much fun though ;) Here he is on the new bike he got for Christmas.

Here's to a happy and exciting new year!

Just Keep Swimming

The last two weeks have been hectic to say the least. There has been a birthday, 100 degree weather, overtime at work, painting, house hunting, babysitting, and a 3-day weekend. It's doesn't sound so bad but believe me it's been crazy. Work has been the hardest. With a manager gone, and then back, and gone again, a lot of weight has fallen on my shoulders and I'm not sure I like it. It's great having the responsibility of closing the store but the lack of planning & help has made things very difficult and unfortunately I will pay for that tomorrow.
Sorry to start off that way but I'm really feeling it right now, so that's what came out first.

Dillon had his birthday at Driven Raceway in Rohnert Park. I went with my mom to help her with the boys. The place is ok but the glow-in-the-dark golf is kind of a joke. $6 a person for the same thing over and over. The whole place is pretty over priced in my opinion but I think all places like that are...I'm just more aware of it now. He had a lot of fun and gets to have a second birthday weekend with his mom so all is good. I can't believe he is 11 now.
I've been scouting Craigslist just about everyday. There isn't a whole lot out there that I really like but I think I need to not be so picky. (So hard for me!) I looked at two places and want to look at more I'm just working so much that it makes it hard. The 3-day weekend was nice though. Dillon has his party Sat. then I helped Crystal paint her room Sun. Mon. was a big chore day, boring I know but I just needed to chill out and catch up on some stuff at home.
Some awesome news today...I passed my Notary test! Now all I have to do is get finger printed for my background check.  That is going to take a while but I know I'll pass that. Well, there was that one time...no I'm kidding. This whole process takes forever but it's a nifty skill I can add to the resume. That sounded pretty corny. Moving on.
I pretty excited about the music coming to town this fall! There is always a slew of shows I would love, love to go to but I have to be picky most of the time. I'm lucky that bands I like play small clubs and have cheap tickets but I'm seeing that change for some of them. Some shows I can't miss are:
The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival  Oct 1, 2, & 3- I want to go to this free show every year but don't for some reason. This is the 10 year anniversary and I have the weekend off so we shall see.
Jack Johnson Oct 5 @ the Greek Theatre - This will be quite the family affair.
Matt Costa Oct 15 @ Slims - He's Back!
Dawes Nov 20 @ The Independent - The have a great opener too...The Romany Rye
and rumor has it Delta Spirit Dec.7 @ The Fillmore - Holy Crap!
(If someone knows how to post mp3s on a blog without a ton of crap to do and download, I would be forever grateful if you shared that with me!)
Goodnight everyone! Wish me good luck for tomorrow, I'm gonna need it. One day off on Sunday then another full week. Here is an awesome little duet between Justin Townes Earle and Dawn Landes that was originally done by Chet Atkins and Dolly Parton. Enjoy

Full of Fluff

This is long overdue, I know. My only excuse is that nothing exciting has been going on. Easter was good but low-key. It poured all day. The next Sunday was Travis' birthday. It rained again of course, but it was nice and Travis had fun.
In his Birthday outfit

Cupcake time

New Toys

This was taken tonight. Dillon cut holes in and painted this old cardboard box to make it look like a little house. Travis posed so perfectly while playing in it that I just had to throw it in.

I've been working a lot so I haven't had time to do too much fun extra stuff or I've just been too tired. I'm getting my car worked on tomorrow (cross your fingers they don't find anything weird.) That pretty much sums up my April so far.

Since this is a pretty boring post I'll try to jazz it up with some fun new music stuff that has had me all excited this month:
I heard about this song just last week. Now, I'm am not a hip-hop fan. There are good songs here and there but I usually pass. This song however features a Hayley Williams from Paramore. I'm pretty sure it is the only reason I like this song. Once again her vocals are amazing and this is a nice little chorus.

Ok, that was fun, now check this out. This is a little youtube clip that Hayley posted herself. Don't like Lady GaGa? Well, you will now!

I spent a huge chunk of money on concert tickets this month, let me elaborate...
First I'm going to see 30 Seconds to Mars w/ MuteMath on May 13. I can't believe how close it is already.
Then I bought tickets to a Local Natives show after I procrastinated on their first one and it sold out. Their new cd is in the mail, as we speak, on the way to my house. Enjoy this live version of "Camera Talk"

Another highly anticipated show isn't until October but it will be worth the wait. Jack Johnson is coming to the Greek and I'm going (for a pretty penny). Here is his new single "You & Your Heart." I think he directed the video which is cool but gets repetitive pretty quick.

And last but not least is my favorite guys Delta Spirit. This is off their new album and this clip is actually from the SF show I went to in early March.

This little gem is also off the new album. This is a stripped down version that I just cannot get enough of. His voice, the piano, just amazing! The full band version is great too but this is pretty special.

This post really took on a life of its own tonight. Fun stuff! Well, time for me to go to bed. Goodnight ;)