One Small Step

Hey-yo!

So did I tell you that I had dinner with the Pope last night? Cause I TOTALLY did!!

See . . .

It was good times!

There's really nothing exciting to report today, except I'm really happy that this morning I got a slew of Media Messages from my buddy Sean, showing me the package he's shipping me in the mail! And what pray tell is in said package?

Oh I dunno, maybe a replacement iPod Shuffle!!!

I feel like it's been forever since I accidentally sent my previous Shuffle (R.I.P.) to a briny death in Davey Jones' Washing Machine.

A moment of silence please . . .

But luckily, I have awesome friends like Sean who are willing to ship me their iPod Shuffle as a free-placement!* So when it gets here, I'm gonna load it up with some new stuff I've been listening to on my phone.

So I figured I'd take some time to share more music with you guys, since I haven't in a while. I hope you enjoy these!

1. LIGHT OF THE MORNING by Band of Skulls

Okay so last night I was watching TV with the housemates and this song came on a Mazda commercial. After fumbling for my phone to SHAZZAAM it and failing, I quickly typed in the lyrics I remembered and me and Gina both anxiously waited for the results to show up—we loved it! So then I found out it was this song by Band of Skulls. Much like tunes from BRMC, this song just makes me feel like a rock star. So I celebrated by playing air guitar and air drums this morning while listening to it!



2. LET'S GO by Madi Diaz

My friend Jessica gave me a link to Madi Diaz's Myspace and after listening to Let's Go and Heavy Heart, I quickly added them to my iTunes! I really want to learn to play this song on my guitar!



3. LAST OCTOBER by Green River Ordianance

One of my friends on Twitter recently introduced me to Green River Ordinance and I bought their album in one of the sale deals going on at Amazon.com. I'm really glad I did. I recently had this song on repeat when I was doing some screenwriting—I love when great music inspires me to write! Apparently, someone likes to listen to it while they watch WALK THE LINE, cause this is the only clear version I could find online ;)




4. LIGHT UP THE SKY by The Afters

My friend Esther's brother is in The Afters and I love their sound! This song is a comfort to me on a daily basis!



5. THE WAY WE WERE by The Season

The Season is a new band, and they don't have a video out that I can embed here, but if you click the link, you can listen. I'm going to see them play live here in Seattle in a couple of weeks and I'm SO excited!

The Way We Were by The Season (COLORADO SPRINGS TONIGHT!)


6. NOT EVERYONE LEAVES by Camera Can't Lie
I will say, listening to Camera Can't Lie is what led me to listening to The Season. The lead singer for Camera Can't Lie, Eric Arjes, helped produce that record for The Season. Recently, Camera Can't Lie released their EP called NOT EVERYONE LEAVES, and this is the title track, which I just LOVE!



*see what I did there? ;p

The Way We Were

I just got back from an amazing weekend on the Oregon coast with some WONDERFUL people! I joined a small group of wonderful gals and took a trip down to Newport, Oregon to stay at a beach house for my friend Tabitha's Bachelorette Party!

We seriously had so much fun and there was so much shenanigans involved! I loved it! It was also great to meet the other people in Tabitha's life and enjoy spending time just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Here are some of my favorite pics from the weekend:

I lost every game of PIT that we played

Breakfast with everyone was definitely a highlight

The Dollar Tree is too good to me

Kyle bought play-dough, so I made a penguin

The view from the backyard

Even in our struggling economy,
beach front property is an affordable possibility

I LOVE the beach!

I could play all day at the beach

The Roosevelt House girls representin'

Me and Kyle's matching loot from The Dollar Tree

Giant Chinese man sighted in Oregon!

I figured I should let my pizza know how much I love it

Fake tattoos and glow bracelets make any day better!

ALSO . . .

I think it's safe to say that I officially met my soul-brotha this weekend! I'm pretty sure Kyle and I were separated at birth or something. Let me just say this, when we were together it was nothing but random fun and laughs! We share the same snark-infused sense of humor and the same fun attitude.

This is a video we made at the Tillamook Cheese Factory:




And as a BONUS, one of our outtake videos (we had 3 tries to get it right)

Looking Through The Eyes Of Love

Me and Heather J.

This past Sunday, I got to join my friends Heather and John as they celebrated a very special day in their lives: Their marriage to one another!

It was such a beautiful wedding and I was so honored to be able to see two friends become one and start a new adventure together!

Here are some pictures I took from the wedding:

This guard dog was making sure no one parked
illegally in the handicapped spot. Fierce!

Pre-ceremony pics with the Bride & Bridesmaids

Looking down the aisle

View from behind the altar area

Enter the flower girls . . .

Heather's Grand Entrance

Mawwahge is what bwings us togwether todway . . .

I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. John Jolly!

The happy couple!

Heather and John are both avid dancers, so their
first dance together was nothing shy of mega awesome and fun!

They know how to get down!

Girls Just Want To Have Fun

This past weekend was so jam-packed with FUN!! I had such an amazing time at the Women's Retreat and it was so cool to see the comedy sketches I had written actually come across as funny to the ladies in attendance. It gave me a little more confidence in my ability to write comedy at a basic level.

After a refreshing time with inspiring women, I got to spend another bonus evening with some other spectacular women who joined together to celebrate my friend Heather, who is getting married next weekend!!!!


Heather is such a great friend and is so full of awesome and fun you almost wonder if it's possible to be that amazing and still be down-to-earth . . . but let me assure you, it's possible . . . and Heather J. excels at it.

It was fun to go to a bachelorette party that was so uniquely catered to the personality of the person we were celebrating. You see, Heather is a dancer. She's tons of fun and she likes to get down while she's having fun . . . or is it the other way around?? ;p

For her party, we went to a belly dancing studio and learned some dance moves and got to all dance together and just spend time laughing and enjoying each others' company. We got to wash Heather's feet, massage her hands with extravagant lotion, fan her, and someone even gave her a back massage.


As part of all the fun, we got to dress up in all these scarves and jingly belts. Our favorite thing was moving around to make the coins on the jingly belts jingle! Our teacher was very patient and a lot of fun. She didn't even seem to mind that I had 2 left feet and on occasion almost ran over her because I forgot to turn and go the other way. ;p



The party was very "Heatherish" and thus full of spontaneity and jokes. She was never at a loss for fun poses when the cameras came out.


Our teacher even did a dance for Heather called 200 Blessings On Your Wedding Day (or something like that) and got to give Heather a great big hug and some kind words to encourage her as she gets ready to embark on a new adventure!


They also gave her a bowl of rice and told her to swirl her finger around in it. As she did, words written on slips of paper would be found in the rice. Words like: Love, Honor, Blessing, Trust, Patience, and a bunch of other sweet and tender blessings for her marriage.

After the dance lesson, we got to hang out in the studio and eat and open gifts. It was a lot of fun and we had a lot of laughs. Me and Heather were trying to orchestrate a photo where it looked like I was flying and she would try to lift the fabric up and jump out of the picture just in time to make it seem it was floating down. It didn't work because the camera took a while to focus and couldn't capture the shot. So I started jumping up and down and then Heather tried to be funny and gently kick my butt, and it led to one of my absolute favorite pictures ever. Cause it pretty much sums up the both of us perfectly. Love it! :D


Then afterwards, she invited everyone out for Karaoke! And since I'm a sucker for karaoke and fun with Heather, and the fact that I don't drink (thus making me the perfect designated driver), I couldn't resist and joined the fun!

I wanted to do more songs, but the wait time was ridiculous—this place was crowded!!! So I ended up doing a Spice Girls number (WANNABE) and took advantage of the fact that the crowd was swarming with boozed out ladies! It was a LOT of fun! Don't believe me?

See for yourself:

(please bear in mind that I am singing while still battling a cold)

It was definitely the cherry on top to a wonderful weekend with the girls!

10. A.M. Automatic

Who lip-syncs along to their favorite jams while they're getting ready for work in the morning?!?

THIS CHICK RIGHT HERE!!!

This can only mean one thing . . . time for another music round up! Here are some of the songs I've been singing while getting ready in the mornings:

| ONE SMALL STEP by Sparky's Flaw (aka Parachute) |

I've actually had this one on the good 'ol iPeezy for a while, but it came on the other day and I just put it on repeat for a good 20 minutes and it's made it's way into my morning routine. It's peppy and it's a real get-up-and-go tune.




| I WOKE UP IN A CAR [ADAM YOUNG REMIX] by Something Corporate |

In anticipation of the upcoming "Best Of" album by Something Corporate, titled SPACE, they released this remixed version of I Woke Up In A Car by Adam Young of Owl City. I'm not really a fan of how he Auto-Tuned Andrew's voice, but the mix overall gives a kinda of pop sound to a punk rock tune, and I can appreciate that in moderation. I do like this mix. :D

CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING THIS LINK

| BYE, BYE, BYE (cover) by Further Seems Forever |

While we're delving into the wonderful goodness of punk rock tunes, let's talk about how sad I am that I only just heard this cover recently . . . and it's been out since 2002. Shame. Just shame. In any event, it will no longer go ignored ;)




| MY DARLING BELLE by Bobby Long |

So I bought this on iTunes, but there is no video of it on YouTube for me to post here. But Bobby Long is one of my favorite indie folk artists. I love his voice and his style, so bold and poetic. If you get a chance, listen to (or buy) the track on iTunes. It's a good'un. ;) In the meantime, here is a live performance of Bobby playing My Darling Belle in Vancouver, BC.




| AIRPLANES by B.o.B. Featuring Hayley Williams from Paramore |

I promise you there is crack cocaine stuck in every nook and cranny of this hook. It has been stuck in my head so much. It's so catchy and it's very clever lyrically. And did I mention that I absolutely LOVE Hayley Williams?? Cause I do! She's one of the best things that could have ever happened to punk rock! And, as THE JIGGLE'S PUFF says, "you can now go ahead and add rap as well."




| HEARTLESS by Justin Nozuka |

This is a great one that gives a sweet soothing vibe in the morning. It's off of Justin's new album, which just came out this morning and has been added to my iTunes. This is just a great song that reaches to that smooth music vibe I dig.

Sing It Out

I think we've established that I've got a wonderfully quirky side, right? Right. I thought so.

In that case, it should come as no surprise to you that I do wonderfully quirky things on a daily basis. Things like singing along to the songs playing on my iPod while I'm waiting at bus stops or walking to and from places. What can I say, I love music and I love singing. I really love when a song comes on my iPod that is the perfect song for the mood or what I'm looking at. For instance, one morning I was riding the bus to work and Hello Seattle came on just as I looked over and saw Puget Sound peeking through, waves glimmering in the morning sun between streets. It was gorgeous, and the song was perfect.

For the record, I've gotten NUMEROUS texts and Facebook messages from friends here who have seen me walking from one place to another or standing at a bus stop playing air guitar and/or singing to the music coming through my headphones. I like that a lot—both doing those things and getting those texts. Is it a bit embarrassing, yeah a little. But it's cool because though they may seem mildly embarrassing to me at first, the smidge of embarrassment is quickly dissipated when they tell me that it made them laugh/smile.

With that, I thought I'd share some of the tunes that have been playing in heavy rotation on my iPeezy as of late:

1. AMBULANCE by EISLEY



2. CASUALTY by CAMERA CAN'T LIE



3. DREAM CITY by FREE ENERGY



4. TIMES by TENTH AVENUE NORTH



5. GOLD GUNS GIRLS by METRIC

Is not "embeddable" :( and I really only like the acoustic version . . . so if you want to hear the acoustic version, click on THIS LINK.

It's been a nice mix lately! And if you happen to be in the area, be on the lookout for the quirky mexican chick rockin' the air guitar at the bus stop! ;p

Ice Cream

We had some housemate hangout time tonight and we went to Molly Moons Ice Cream and then to a Japanese restaurant in Wallingford. I had already eaten dinner earlier, and was still full, so I just got some edamame at the restaurant, and some amazing ice cream at Molly Moons. They had this amazing "Scout" Mint ice cream and it was delish!

So after eating my ice cream, the sugar buzz came and it showed up strong the rest of the night. We were driving around in Karli's car and she was bumpin' some rap music and we would be at stoplights, and me riding shotgun, would whip out my chopsticks (from the restaurant) and start bustin' some moves for all the passersby. It was awesome!! Then we went to the QFC grocery store and I was dancing in the aisles to the music playing in the store. Gina dared me to go up to one of the cashiers and dance in front of them randomly—so i DID! The people in front of me were laughing. I loved it! :D

2 things that prove it was an amazing night:

1. This status update from one of my housemates:

and



2. This video of our car dancing shenanigans:

You Wait For Rain

This morning I walked out the door ready to face the elements. What I didn't know was that the elements would be a hard rain, as opposed to the normal weak rain we tend to get here. This wouldn't have been so bad, had I not misplaced my umbrella somewhere.

The good thing, is that I don't mind walking around in the rain. It's quite exhilarating actually. It brings this fresh perspective. It's like things around me are being cleaned by the rain, and every puddle is an opportunity for a splash fest. ;)

And what's more, is that while I was waiting for the bus this morning, Kyler England's YOU WAIT FOR RAIN came on my iPeezy. It's like my little Shuffle knew what I needed ;)

Here's the song for reference:



But it was really inspiring this morning when I heard it after I had just gotten done traipsing through the rain, with my shoes soaking wet. I thought to myself, I always want to chase the storms. (Insert cheeeeeeesiness here)

One of the funner things that happened when I was at home, was walking to the store with my dad. He kept INSISTING that we use the sidewalk, and I kept INSISTING that we walk through the dirt and grass. I don't know if there's a deep down psychological want/need to embody the wildness of Lizzy in Pride & Prejudice (cause that's all I imagine when I walk through dirt and grass and rain and mud) but I'd like to think there is a part of me that enjoys walking off the beaten path. I don't always like doing things the way everyone else does them. Sometimes I do. But more often, I don't. I like to use my imagination and be wild and crazy. I like to be different—not for the sake of damning the man—but just because I do. I have this urge in me to do random things . . . a lot. In fact, I recently saw this featured on another blog and I was like, "I WANT TO DO THAT!!!!"

And I'm confident I will! In the meantime, I'll continue to chase the storms :D

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PS: If I catch my "death of cold" from being out in the rain today, I give you FULL permission to come back to this post (once I start complaining about having a cold) and commenting: I TOLD YOU SO.

PPS: If i should ACTUALLY catch my DEATH from said cold, I would like to be cremated and given to Guilermo Del Toro as a Christmas present. Also, I'd like for my iTunes collection to be commemorated in the Billboard Hall of Fame. Also, I'd like for everyone to leave me cupcakes, not flowers. ;)

--end.ridiculousness--