Roll With It

Here I am

I've been preoccupied by the prospect of my boss opening a new location. It will be in Cloverdale. I'm excited for it but feel a little out of the loop. This store is going to change some things and I don't feel prepared. I'll just roll with it like I usually do and things will work themselves out.

Among some other highs and lows this summer it's pretty much the same old stuff around here.

Mumford & Sons released a new album today. I haven't had a chance to listen to the entire thing but so far so good. There is a free show this Thursday at the Mystic Theater with Everest and I'm definitely going. If it's anything like the last time I saw them in San Francisco, it's going to be great!

Also, this got announced yesterday and pretty much ruined me in the best way possible


- 2 nights! (one being NYE!)
- hello it's DAWES people
- in my city
- oh what? Blake Mills is opening too...your welcome
so basically my plans are made but feel free to join! The more the merrier :)

Here's to a smooth transition into the holiday season and  maybe I'll catch you around

Viva Las Vegas

Long time no chat! I've been horrible about this blog since I moved. Speaking of my move, let me give you the rundown. I was going to move the weekend of my birthday but the weather had a different plan. After almost no rain all winter, it poured that weekend but I managed to get in by the 1st of February. I live with Lindsey and Kenny in Cotati. the commute sucks only because the mileage that tacks on so quick now. It takes me about 30 minutes to get to work and I always miss the traffic. It's different having roommates and I'm not super fond of having animals but all is good.
Work on the other hand has been a bit more crazy. Nicole (who has worked there as long as me) left at the end of January. Jessica (the girl who works part time) suggested a guy named Leo. He was great but unfortunately got an amazing job offer after about two weeks with us. Next was a guy named Charlie. I can usually get along with just about anyone but there was something about this kid that just wouldn't jive. After about a month+ we were again looking for someone new. Now we have Nancy and she is great. It's only been a week but I can tell this is going to work. Her whole attitude and approach is so much better.
I was lucky enough to go to Vegas at the end of April!!! I went with Katie for about 3 days. We got a really great deal on the flight and hotel so it didn't eat up my entire savings ;) We flew first thing in the morning and spent the first day mostly checking out all the casinos including the new Aria center and the Cosmopolitan. Gorgeous!! The first night we went to this club called LAX. It was a lot of fun mostly because I didn't spend a dime on drinks. Again all the places are just visually stunning and people watching is always fun. That first day I think I was up for 22 hours. The next day was a big day for me because we had purchased tickets to see The Beatles LOVE by Cirque Du Soleil. It was one of the greatest live shows I've seen. You don't even need to be a huge fan of The Beatles to really appreciate it. After the show we went to a club called The Bank which was also very cool but the dance floor was a bit small. I know I'm a bit spoiled living here in California but the smoking indoors thing really started to get to me in this club. It was packed tight on the dance floor and some chick lights up right next to me. What little air I had was soon overtaken by cigarette smoke. Bummer... Overall it was a great trip and the weather couldn't have been better. I'm not a big party girl so Vegas isn't my scene but it is still a lot of fun to indulge once in a while.
My favorite thing to share of all is the music so I have to tell you about the MUTEMATH show Matt and I went to February 7th. OMG, these guys put on a show! It was my first time at the Regency Ballroom. That place was the perfect size, big enough but still felt pretty intimate. MuteMath played the entire new album along with old favorites from the first two. The lighting on the stage was brilliant,  they ventured into the audience a few times with confetti and had an illuminated air mattress for crowd surfing. See some great clips of all of the above HERE!
I've seen some good stuff so far this year: Yellow Ostrich at Bottom of the Hill, White Rabbits at The Independent... The other night I saw Delta Spirit. It's been a while and man I've missed them. Their live show just gets better and better. I miss the days when they were playing small places like Bottom of the Hill but they definitely deserved their sold out show at The Fillmore. Friday I will get to see PAPA and Milo Greene at the Rickshaw Stop and then Harriet at Brick and Mortar on Saturday. Cory Chisel will be coming around at the beginning of August but no word on Dawes.
So there are the highlights of the first half of 2012. I'll try and update you again before 2013.

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

The River, Work and Bread, Oh My!

It started last weekend when I went to Anthony's family 4th of July BBQ with Crystal. We hung out there all day. Lots of food, friends, alcohol and some karaoke :) (Crystal and I had no idea Marcus and Kelly were mean-muggin the camera!)

We camped out on the property only to wake up the next morning and get ready to float down the river. I had bought some tubes at Big O Tires in Healdsburg which worked out perfect. A friend of Crystal's came up from Monterey, so everyone had something to float on. We started on Fitch Mountain and went to Memorial Beach. That was an all day thing too. It was super nice except for the creeper who will not be named, and getting a little sunburn. The early part of my week was spent working, recovering, and babysitting.
I went to River Rock Casino on Thursday and doubled my money. Don't get too excited... I turned a $20 into $40. Then Friday night, at work, my UPS shipment system went down, then credit cards wouldn't work on the register and then the internet went out. We couldn't close out the day or shut the registers down completely. Lucky me worked this Saturday and had to deal with the craziness of all my systems being down. The general consensus is that our router went out, or maybe it was the modem...no I'm pretty sure the router. Anyways, it's UPS specific so they are the only ones who can really fix/replace it. The local tech guy just won't do unfortunately. We made things work, everything just took twice as long. It's still not fixed so Monday is going to be a blast. Just kidding....
Today I had a bread baking class with my sister in Healdsburg. I was watching crystal's dog too so I've been getting up super early, but I digress... The class was fun. We started at 10am and went until 2pm. Learned how to make foccacia bread, an egg bread, pizza dough, and ciabatta bread. There is a base recipe that all the breads branch from so there were a ton of other little goodies we made and/or got recipes for.

Lunch was sooo good. We had this creamy tomato soup with a grilled cheese made with multi-grain bread and white cheddar cheese. That's when we tasted all the other stuff we made. Lots of demos but lots of hands on too. The instructors were Costeaux owner Karl Seppi and head pastry chef Mairin Rossi. So yummy!
This coming Friday is Crystal's birthday. (She's getting a dog! I'm super excited for her.) I have to work until 6pm but I'm going to try and talk to Anthony about doing something fun that night. San Francisco maybe?!? In a dream world I would go to Santa Barbara the next day to see Delta Spirit's final show of this tour. Sunday I'm for sure going to see Blake Mills at Hotel Utah in SF. I think it's like $7, so if anyone is interested to just hang out and hear some decent live music, call me. I'm collecting a little list of shows I want to go to so I may be bugging you to come with me.
*Sat Aug 7th: Young the Giant @ Bottom of the Hill - This might not happen :( b/c I might have family over
*Thurs Aug 12th: Dawes @ CA Academy of Sciences Nightlife
*Fri Oct 15th: Matt Costa @ Slims
Oh man it's gonna be great! These are all cheap and SF local so yeah, good times!
Well, it's getting late and I have a full work week that starts tomorrow at 8am. Goodnight friends!