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My husband, the rock star

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I’d been trying to think of something to blog about, because I enjoy doing it and I haven’t posted anything in a while, but I spent some time yesterday afternoon wracking my brain and got nothin’. UNTIL yesterday evening!

Craig finally received a message from Hanson about the remix contest, and it said that he officially won! Whoo!!

It’s hard to believe that we just threw our (I use “we” and “our,” but really it’s “he” and “his”) hat in the ring for the fun of it, not thinking Craig’s would actually win the whole thing. And then he did! I’m so proud!

He did great work and his mix deserves to be heard. Thank you to everyone for voting, reposting, and reposting again. And for not getting annoyed with our incessant “keep voting!!” tweets and posts. It was really amazing to see people we knew (and didn’t know) rally together and support Craig!

Then we talked to Issac Hanson on the phone. Well, mostly Craig, but I got to talk to him for a few minutes.

Isn’t it weird how when I was 10 years old and I loved Hanson, I had no idea that one day I would be walking from Belmont to Vanderbilt with them barefoot or talking to Issac Hanson on the phone because my husband is having his remix featured on their UK single release? I think so. 10-year-old me, eat your heart out.

Anyway. I just wanted to take the time to brag on my super talented producer husband and say how excited we are that this is happening!

Oh, and for your amusement, via my friend Noelle, here is a lead paragraph from a real news story today in Florence, Alabama:

A naked man claiming to be Jesus Christ broke into a residence where a woman and her young children were home late Monday afternoon and took all of the photos off the walls before he was taken into custody.

…things we couldn’t make up if we tried.

Kale.

What did I tell you? Kale is all. the. rage.

http://www.eatingbirdfood.com/2011/04/spicy-and-cheesy-kale-chips/

Just sittin’ here on my lunch break, perusing the blogs and sites I usually check, and this was the first article on the blog I was referencing yesterday.

Cam and Mitchell have even weighed in on the kale phenomenon. (Which makes it official.)

Let me know if you’re brave enough to try the kale chips. Let’s just say I will not be running out to Whole Foods to pick up some delicious kale this week to try it for myself. Happy Tuesday!

April means goal-assessment

It’s officially April. Here are the things I have crossed off my to do list for 2011: 1. Finish a book. (one of two. bite-sized goals, remember?)

that’s it.

sigh.

Here are some things I still want to do (and fully intend on completing):

1. learn three songs on my neglected mandolin. (I WILL learn to play it. I will!)

2. finish another book.

3. grow vegetables. yes, grow vegetables. This is a new desire of mine after reading this blog by a girl who eats far too healthy (tofu and chickpeas anyone? boo.). Though this blog continually makes me feel like I’m failing at life if I don’t immediately go buy some kale (it’s apparently all the rage) or run 8 miles, I still find it interesting, and I saw one post in which she had grown her own tomatoes. In a cooler. I thought, hey, I have room enough for a cooler in our super-mini backyard. I could grow vegetables. This may be far too lofty of a goal, particularly if you consider the fact that I have no plant- (let alone vegetable) growing experience. But hey, how hard can it be, right? I just think it would be really cool to start with a seedling and end up with food!

This sounds like a summertime goal, so I think that is when I will start. Maybe May. I think vegetables grow best in warm weather. That seems right. (Once again, first-time grower here.) I think my first-ever homegrown vegetable adventure will start with cherry tomatoes and green beans. I love both, and the internet (and Real Simple) tells me it can’t be that hard or require that much space. At least not the tomatoes. We’ll see how this goes.

Anyway. Maybe I should go practice my mandolin. My sweet husband is up in our music room/office just working away and I’ve been watching House Hunters for an hour and a half.

The world we live in (and other news)

Here are some things that explain the kind of world we live in: 1. I am now following the Bronx Zoo Cobra on Twitter.

2. “Gal swallowed by backyard sinkhole” - CNN. Need I say more?

In other news, I’m so proud of my husband! He did a fantastic remix of a Hanson song (they’re good now, if you haven’t heard), and it’s by far the best one submitted. We think the first-place person is cheating. Seriously. Go listen to it. Also she has about 100 facebook friends and 1100 votes. Hm.. :) Not that I looked her up or anything.

Anyway. Taylor Hanson said it was his favorite so no matter what at least we know they heard it and liked it.

If you’ve already voted for his remix, thank you!! If you haven’t, get thee over to the contest page and click “vote!” That’s all you have to do. Just click “vote.”

Things that are disconcerting

Disturbing headline of the day: Superbug found in California hospitals

EDIT: it’s okay, apparently this is not a literal bug, and here are the steps to being an “empowered patient:”

-wash hands.

-get catheters out.

-eat yogurt.

I can’t make these things up.

Disturbing headline of the day, yesterday:

Deadly Egyptian cobra missing from Bronx Zoo

Really??

Stay tuned for more, as I’m sure there will be.

Things that are awesome, Vol.1

1. Remember Committed? Remember how I raved about them? Okay, well, yesterday I met them. All of them. So exciting! Craig happened to be observing a session yesterday, and who should walk in but the a capella geniuses themselves. Needless to say I was seriously reconsidering my life/career choices as I sat at my desk staring at a computer screen and Craig listened to Committed lay down 6-part harmonies all afternoon. But, God smiled on me and the session lasted until about 6pm which meant I got to go by and hear the tail-end of the session and meet Committed. This studio, by the way, is almost directly across the street from our townhouse complex. You can also file this experience under reasons I love Nashville. 2. Also yesterday, I attended a house concert. This is only the 2nd house concert I have attended, the first of which was at the same family’s house. This great couple from our church take it upon themselves to find great artists and get them to come play in their living room. And they provide food. What could be better? Anyway, last night’s featured artist was Pearl and the Beard. We looked them up on YouTube a few days before the concert to see what we could expect, and we were already won over. But nothing could compare to seeing them live. In a living room.

They’re super dynamic. One minute you need complete silence to hear the subtleties in their voices, the next they’re beating on a drum and singing so loud I’m sure the neighbors could hear. Their band consists of two girls and a guy. One plays the cello (I’m sure she’s trained for years), one plays all sorts of percussion/glockenspiel/melodica/you name it, and the guy plays guitar and sometimes drums. All three do a fair amount of stomping and clapping, as noted in the album credits.

Their songs are beautiful and fun, and they’re super talented. A friend described them as nerd-folk, which I think is a pretty accurate description. But they’re not so hipster-abstract that they completely lack melody & rhythm. Perfect blend of artistry and catchiness. Dude’s voice has the sweetest timbre you’ve ever heard. Also they’re quite hilarious. Love. Love love love. Okay. Done gushing. I have some videos I took at the show which I will post later, but here are some youtube videos to get you started!

Their latest album is called “Killing the Darlings.” We bought it last night (apparently it isn’t technically released yet), and it is fantastic. So keep an eye out for that. They have two others you can listen to in the meantime, though.

Alright, too many words. Gotta wrap up. ATHENS friends: They are playing tonight at Flicker Theater for 5 dollars. If you’re able to attend, do it! You won’t be disappointed.

Gang Vocals and Girlfriends

Note: I’ve been meaning to post this for a few days, and in frustration with the picture embedding I have failed. So…this post is a little dated. Sorry! This weekend has been great, even though my husband has been out of town. A weekend that could have been not-so-fun turned out to be quite lovely.

One of the great things about living in Nashville is that everyone you know is super talented. Another great thing about that is that sometimes you might be in the right place at the right time and get to do something cool with those talented friends.

Some of my friends from Belmont are in a group called Mosaic, and they’re in the middle of recording their 3rd album. They are 6 very talented individuals and they all do different things really well, so their group is really unique.

Anyway, they needed some people to do gang vocals on a few of their songs Friday evening and I was lucky enough to be invited to help out. It was really fun to be a part of! I’ve been in studios a handful of times, but I’m never one of the people on the other side of the mic, plus I have an affinity for gang vocals. Somehow a large group of people singing a simple phrase over & over tends to make that phrase sound more epic to me. So I really enjoyed doing it. I can’t wait to hear the whole album when it comes out!

Also my best friend from home, Noelle, came up to visit/keep me company this weekend, which was super fun. I got to hang out with her and my other best girlfriends in town Friday night. It’s great to have friends with whom you don’t need to plan any particular entertainment, you can just hang out and talk for 4-5 hours.

We got to enjoy the weather Saturday eating lunch outside at Baja (yum) and then getting Las Paletas (gourmet popsicles) and hanging out at Sevier Park.

That night, we headed over to Ugly Mugs in East Nashville for some good coffee and free music. I really loved Ella Sinclair’s set! She’s a great songwriter. She gave away her cd at the show and I’m excited to keep listening. Check her out!

Also file “free great music” and “wonderful coffee shops” under Reasons I Love Nashville.

Alert the media! [and Lydia's SGF]

Attention world: I have successfully completed a novel. Well, by that I mean I have successfully finished reading a novel. And not just any novel: Pride and Prejudice. That is a legit novel. A classic, if you will. And I finished it right to the very last word. This may not seem like an accomplishment to you, dear reader, but to me reading a book from cover to cover is rare. I always start reading them, get distracted and forget to come back to it. But this year one of my goals was to read two books. Yes, two. Bite-sized goals here, people. 9-5 jobs are not conducive to afternoon reads in the park. But then when you accomplish these bite-sized goals you can say, “Hooray! I accomplished my goal!” Instead of, “Aw man, I knew 4 books a day was too ambitious.” So, there you have it. And okay, I may have started this book in January but..the point is I finished it.

Big thanks to my dear friend [and English major] Nicole for lending me a good book to read.

I feel accomplished. Also I will finally be able to say I have read Pride and Prejudice, which apparently every other girl my age has read and loves. Now I can say that I do, too. Even though I thought it was a little anticlimactic, I still enjoyed it. And you feel smart for reading (and comprehending) it because the language is so formal.

P.S. I think Lydia needed a Sassy Gay Friend. Yes? (see this video if you don’t know what I am referring to.) I think it would have gone down like this:

SGF: What, What, What are you doing?? Lydia: [giggle] I’m going off in secret with a man I barely know in the hopes that he will end up marrying me whilst simultaneously bringing shame upon my family! Isn’t that just grand? I laugh just thinking about how the others will react! [giggle] SGF: First of all, gag. Second of all, you have got a lot more going for you than that giggle, young lady! You need to respect yourself and your family and stop throwing yourself at army men! Lydia: But I know not what else to find pleasure in! I love men! My whole life is centered around getting married! SGF: Girlfriend, you have got to know when to hike up your petticoat and get. a. job. You don’t need a man! You need some self-esteem. Lydia: A…job? A woman…working? SGF: Girl get with the victorian times! You are a strong, powerful woman. Now get out there and find some self worth! Lydia: Okay! I will! SGF: Good for youuu! [to the camera] She’s a stupid —- —-. (I can’t in good conscience type that on my blog, but if you’ve seen the videos you know what he should say there.)

THE END.

Committed = A Capella Masters

So about a month ago we had the privilege of going to see Committed, the winners of the show “Sing-Off,” at the Mercy Lounge. The Sing-Off was a show featuring a capella groups and had Ben Folds as a judge. (Music nerds, unite!) I finally got around to uploading my videos from the show and wanted to share the love. The first one is a clip of them singing “Motown Philly” by Boyz II Men.

And then this happened. I think when we look back on 2010, we will remember this song.

Yes, that was Committed feat. EVERYONE ELSE on the Bed Intruder Song. I don’t know why but it brings joy to my heart. Not sure what that says about our generation but, oh well. Enjoy. :)

Resuscitated.

Today I am resuscitating my blog. Welcome back, blog! I’ve debated on this back and forth. Do I really need to broadcast more of my thoughts to the world? Do I really need more than Twitter and Facebook to accomplish that task?

Well, apparently I do, because I couldn’t stay away. At least not longer than a year.

I’m attributing it to the fact that I really enjoy writing and hopefully not to the fact that I just like to hear myself talk. Or…see myself write. Whatever.

And in true representation of my personality, I’m pretty sure I viewed about 30 different themes before settling on the one I’d had to begin with.

Anyway, Craig and I are trying to cut down on our TV-watching for Lent, so that we can do more productive things like read, play music, not watch 4 episodes of House Hunters… [seriously, what is with that show? Why do I like it so much?]

So that makes more time for blogging, too. And time to do things worth blogging about.

Also, as a side note, I was reading the last few entries of this blog, and one of them introduced the concept of “jeggings.” I am truly saddened to say this trend has not only refused to retreat, it came with full force. Sigh. Friends don’t let friends wear leggings as pants.

Tonight I get to celebrate my dear husband and dear friend Jason’s birthdays with my friends, and I am super excited. Also super excited to eat the cupcakes I am going to bake (from scratch, what up) after I get home from work.

That’s enough for now. From now on my posts will be more focused (probably), but, give me a break, I’m a little rusty. And it’s hard to figure out what kind of insight your first blog post in a year should bestow. Turns out not a ton. See ya bye!