Disneyland Christmas Vacation

Well last night I got back from an eventful trip to Disneyland. My family decided not to do a big Christmas this year. Instead we would go to Disneyland! My mom has been planning it for the better part of 2011.
The trip started at 3am Saturday morning for me. I had to sleep over at my parents. I slept horribly, mostly because I'm so not used to it anymore and I had to be in the front room. Anyways, we were off by 4ish. Travis and Dillon were woken only to be put straight in the cars. I was driving because I had to come back early. Starbucks wasn't even open yet so I had to suffer for a bit.
Our first break was in Castro Valley. I needed coffee by then and I knew they were open. My favorite part of the drive was the Altamont Pass because the sun was beginning to rise and my ipod had the perfect soundtrack.
We made a few stops more for gas and to let the kids stretch out. Rolling into Los Angeles was pretty exciting. I haven't been in years and I'm more familiar with the different areas now that I'm older and pay attention to where things happen & come from. The frustrating part was following my mom. I kept getting separated and didn't really know the way there.
When we finally got there it was so neat because we stayed at the Disney Hotel. All the talk and planning and now it was finally happening. Travis was so excited! We got pins and special keys and chocolates on the bed. The headboards would light up and play a song which Travis wanted to remind me of everyday. We had park hopper passes for Disneyland and California Adventure. We did pretty good and saw quite a bit of both parks. CA Adventure has improved since the last time I was there and by the looks of things they are still working at it. Two new major areas are due to open next year. We saw the World of Color show which is pretty amazing. Fantasmic wasn't playing until after I left but I think everyone else got to see it. We did see it snow on Main St. which was beautiful with all the Christmas decorations. Travis even got to meet Mickey Mouse and go on most of the rides.

It rained on Monday but it actually worked in my favor. A few days before we left for LA I heard about a free show in Hollywood with PAPA and Jonny Corndawg. How fun would it be to see these guys for free in LA! Well, I put in my RSVP just in case it worked out. Good thing I did because Dawes announced they would be Jonny's backing band for the night. I knew I had to try and go. We came back from Disneyland to the hotel early because we were all soaked and tired. I was a bit nervous about driving over there but it couldn't have been easier. We parked right across the street. It was this cool night club type place with a small little stage. Everyone sounded so good! I couldn't believe how many faces I recognized either. Besides the obvious (like all the Dawes guys, Jonny Corndawg, and Darren Weiss) there was Danny Fujikawa from Chief, Ethan Gruska of The Belle Brigade, Alex Casnoff, Jason Boesel, and Jackson Browne! Oh my god, I was star struck. So weird/awesome to see someone you've only seen in the media in the flesh&blood. Anyways, sooo awesome!
Like I said earlier I had to come home early to help with Christmas at the store. The ride home was not as fun as the way there but I really do enjoy driving by myself. It wasn't to hard to get back to normal but I'm so happy to have had a vacation. It was way overdue!

Long Overdue

I do apologize for the lack of updates. Things always get a little crazy this time of year! I warn you...this will be a long one :)

Alrighty, to start off, October was my music month and I kicked it off with a weekend in SF. The Friday (last day of September) my mom and I went and saw The Jayhawks at Slims. She has played their stuff since I was a kid so I'm fairly familiar. They just came out with a new album with all the original members, so this show was kind of a big deal. Carrie Rodriguez opened the show and was really entertaining. The Jayhawks played for over 2 hours and seemed to be enjoying it as much as the audience. Unfortunately, we ended the night by returning to the car to find the back window smashed and our bags missing. Now, I carry a purse about 2% of the time. I knew I was going to be out all weekend so I had some extras with me. My mom however has a "mom" purse with all kinds of important info. We covered everything up and the seat was pushed back slightly over the bags so someone had to be watching us get out of the car. I mostly lost my keys, Rx glasses, and camera. I felt worse for my mom who now had to replace a window, cell phone, ipod, and other key info in her purse like her RN license and Chemotherapy certification. Way to start the weekend :(
Well, the next day we decided to not let it ruin our weekend since there was nothing we could really do at that point. We took my car and headed back down to SF for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. That day could not have gone better! The weather was brilliant, we found reasonable parking, and someone called about finding my mom's purse. This girl found it thrown across a sidewalk about 2 blocks from Slims. She collected it and managed to find a phone number. We met up with her on our way home. The phone and ipod were gone but all her other essentials were there! After seeing Patty Griffin, The Belle Brigade and A.A. Bondy, (who all put on great sets!) we had really turned things around.

The rest of October was filled with some great shows. The most anticipated was the opening night of Dawes & Blitzen Trappers co-headlining tour. They played at the Mystic Theater in Petaluma. It was my first time there and I thought it was a pretty cool venue. Dawes closed the show but I have to say Blitzen Trapper was quite the act to follow. They put on an amazing set and rocked a lot harder than I expected. Another act that I was pleasantly surprised by was The Head and The Heart. They give off so much energy, it's just infectious! They played the Independent with Release the Sunbird.

The Fling rounded out the month with a small opening set at Bottom of The Hill. I saw them play a couple of songs at The Fillmore when they opened for Delta Spirit but this was much better. I love getting to see bands when they're still up-and-coming. After suffering through a local band opener (yikes) I got to hear them play almost, if not all, of their new EP What I've Seen. Needless to say I bought it right after and it has been on constant repeat at my house. They are coming back in a couple of weeks with Yukon Blonde...already have tickets!

The Fling "Dogpile" (Official Music Video) from Chad Huff on Vimeo.

Halloween came and went. I actually dressed up and went to Lindsey's so it wasn't too bad. Work at the store has been weird. The girl I work with keeps getting really sick and then takes off for days. It's been stressful but hopefully she is done with that for a while. Saw Dawes and Blitzen Trapper again at The Fillmore...just can't get enough! John came down for Thanksgiving. It has been sooo long since I've seen him so I was pretty happy.
Now December is here with some of the nicest weather. It's so weird. My family is headed to Disneyland for Christmas this year. Timing isn't great for my job but it is what it is at this point. I've got most of my X-mas shopping done, now it's just pack for LA. I'm so excited to be having any kind of vacation. I can't remember the last one. It's gong to be so fun seeing Disneyland with the first timers Dillon and Travis!
Thanks for hanging in there and I'll be updating more, sooner than later.

The Leaves Are Falling

Whew, it has been a rough month. Fall is here and October is a day away. I'm kicking things off doing what I love most...music obviously!! Tomorrow is day 1 of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. I have to work for most of it but I will be seeing The Jayhawks at Slims so it evens things out. I'll be there all day Saturday but I'm still thinking about Sunday. I was going to be there for The Civil Wars but since they've canceled I'm not too sure I'm up for a 3rd trip to the city. The rest of the month looks pretty good for shows. Dawes is in a week! I got the poster and handbills the other day so I'll be promoting at Hardly Strictly. The handbills looked pretty rough and working were I do I knew I could make better ones.

Also, The Head & The Heart will be in SF on the 15th. It already sold out but I got tickets early this time! Then I'm going to try and see The Fling since I missed them this last month.
Everyone is already talking about Halloween. I have no plans as of yet. I think I have that weekend off but I'm not sure. Halloween falls on a Monday which is a bummer. I guess more so for the kids but still a weird one. Lucky me I can make plans for all this stuff now that I'm not watching Travis anymore. Ashley's hours were getting cut so she started working opening shifts instead of closing ones. I'll still have him every once in a while it will just be more on my terms.


Well, just a quick little update tonight since my internet hates me more than normal. I'll leave you with this song I've been really into this last week. Goodnight!
   Beirut - Santa Fe by Revolver USA

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

Cue The Music

Happy almost weekend everyone!
I'm bored tonight. Crystal is in Vegas for the week...jealous...and I don't have much money to go out and spend. I had to smog my car and pay registration yesterday so I'm spending whether I like it or not. I did have a $20 off coupon that took some of the sting out of smoging the car.
I can't believe it's already the 11th. How is time moving sooo fast?!? July ended pretty shitty for me. Two concerts got messed up for me by means beyond my control. I didn't/couldn't go to either one. Needless to say I was pretty heartbroken, especially missing Matt Costa. We did have the kids (Dillon & Stevie) up from the bay area for two weeks. They had a good time while they were here. Dillon went to Ramp Rats almost everyday and spent a lot of time with his friends. Stevie was content to spend time at home with us which was nice since we don't see her nearly as often. One of the days we spent at the Sonoma County Fair. I met up with everyone after I got off work. It was a bracelet day and even Travis was big enough to enjoy the rides. He was the cutest flipping thing.

I'm living vicariously through NPR tonight and listening to sets from Newport Folk Festival. This Middle Brother set is killing me in the best way possible. I want to travel and see these things live so badly. Music saves me everyday so I feel lucky to be in CA where live music is prevalent. Those festivals and the Daytrotter Barnstormer tour are brilliant events that I'm going to need to attend at least once. Lollapalooza was last weekend, Austin City Limits is coming up and Outside Lands is this weekend. I feel very lucky to be going to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival this year. Unlike all the previously mentioned, Hardly Strictly is free and has an amazing line-up to boot! No word on Dawes being there but I still think it's possible if they back M.Ward like a week longer. ;) I've been wishing those boys would come back to Northern CA and then they announced a tour that begins and ends here! It's a co-headlining thing with Blitzen Trapper which is kind of a bummer but I refuse to complain. I'm still shocked that they are kicking it off in Petaluma, seriously Petaluma! Anyone who wants to go with is absolutely invited. I bought tickets for the Petaluma show and the SF show. I am super excited! My Delta Spirit boys have been on the down-low recording some new stuff. They are all of a sudden hitting a bunch of these festivals and bringing some of those new tunes. I'm hearing new album buzz for February and couldn't be happier. This is a new song called "Empty House" that they performed at Lolla. I like!


So I'm going to try and go concert crazy since I feel like I've been slacking. You should come with, because they are good times!
Enjoy the rest of this foggy summer. I'm curious to see how the harvest pans out around here. Hopefully we get some hot August nights pretty soon...

Ready, Willing & Able

Delta Spirit "White Table" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.
Meet me darlin', won't you?
I've been waiting for you
At my lonesome white table
Ready, willing, and able

Hello, Hello...

What's new? Unfortunately, not much. Working all the days and trying to save for my big escape early next year. Plans are very vague right now but I'll keep you informed. It's basically going to consist of visiting some people I haven't seen in a really long time.
Hope everyone had a good 4th! My store was closed so bonus holiday. Our camping trip got canceled while my parents house goes through some changes. The fireworks I did see were pretty good. Plans got a bit weird-ed out, so next year I'll probably going with other folks. Travis enjoyed the little poppers you throw at the ground...well he did once he figured out how hard he had to throw them to make them pop.
Celebrated some birthday's last weekend. Crystal's is a week from today. I'm not real excited about floating down the river, especially out of Forestville, but it's her birthday so we'll see. Healdsburg is having the Water Carnival next Saturday. It's this big celebration they used to do way back when and they're trying to bring it back. Looks like a lot of fun. Maybe, we could check that out instead?...
I made a tumblr account two days ago. I know I'll be a habitual re-blogger. I've been looking at different peoples and I'm finding some really cool stuff. So far it seems easier to use than this but I think it will be a more interactive twitter-like-thing. I like writing stuff out here more. Man, I'm such a nerd...I need a life! We'll see how long it lasts.

And now for my favorite things...
I heard an announcement that Matt Nathanson will be playing an evening concert at Mill Creek Winery in Healdsburg on Wed. the 27th. I went down to the radio station and got on the guest list. I have the day off so Matt and I will be going. I was so bummed when I missed him at Latitude a while back so I'm excited to get a second chance. His new album seems to be getting good reviews.
Three days later I'll be seeing none other than Mr. Matt Costa in Berkeley. I saw this quick little post on Facebook.

I went down there and was amazed at the cute little shopping district that I never even knew existed.
So awesome! I got tickets and couldn't be more excited to see Costa again. It has been way too long and for it to be such a small little gig makes it ten times better!
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is beginning to announce acts. I'm absolutely going. I have the weekend off and will even spend the weekend at Uncle John's & take BART if need be. The lineup already looks good but I'll be crossing fingers for The Civil Wars, Dawes, Delta Spirit, you know...all my people!

Sorry for the short update but that's just how it goes these days.

Time Flies

Time is flying... I can't keep up. The odd thing is that I'm not even that busy. Same old work and babysitting makes up the majority of my days.
It's finally starting to feel like summer around here. ( Thank Goodness! ) We have had about a week of sun now and temperatures are rising. I did manage to catch a non-rainy Sunday and ripped out the ugliest plant you've ever seen. It was right next to the steps on my porch. I haven't replaced it with anything but just not seeing the old plant is a million times better. I also got some sunflowers into the ground but the snails got to them... replanting tomorrow.
For mother's day I got my mom and I tickets to see Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt at the Marin Civic Center.

The show was just over a week ago. They did an acoustic 2hr+ session. They would chat and then one would play a song, some more banter and then the other would do a song. It was a good time with my mom. She played John Hiatt all the time when I was growing up. His entire music catalog is embedded in my childhood, and I'm not complaining. Now I need to figure out something special for Dad and I. I can tell he is going to be a bit more tricky.
As far as the music lately, I missed a lot of shows I would like to have gone to. Money is tight and I don't always have someone to go with. To top if off, usually, the act I want to see is just an opener. A 30-45min set doesn't outweigh the drive and cost of going to the city. The one I did catch, spur of the moment, was The Romany Rye opening for Hayes Carl at Slims. I went with Matt and we met this cute couple from TX that now live in Napa. Apparently they are big Hayes fans. When the girl asked how long/familiar with Hayes I was, I told her I was there for The Romany Rye so she was all interested. She and her husband really liked the set and wanted to get their cd and to know more about them. I thought that was pretty cool. Anyways, it was fun to get out and see The Romany Rye again especially since they couldn't make it to the Dawes show that last time.
Speaking of Dawes, their new album came out on the 7th and it's as brilliant as I expected! Hearing the studio arrangements is awesome. I'm so glad that their albums sound different from their live shows. It makes each a little more special. They seriously can do no wrong in my book! I hope Alex Casnoff is getting all the props he deserves for his work on the album. Seeing Tay with Dawes again will be fun. I see them open for Brett Dennen next Saturday at The Fox Theater. I wish (and I'm kinda shocked their not) that Dawes was doing some headlining shows. Maybe next time around?!
Although we might not have had this amazing cover... (Seriously Griffin's vocals?!) <3

Pretty mundane stuff going on. This sunshine should be bringing some more excitement, like a KRSH Backyard concert with Everest and a camping trip after the 4th. I promise I'll check in sooner than later this time ;)