I decided that yesterday would be a good day to attempt to spruce up my wardrobe for spring/summer. I felt as if I'd been wearing waaaay too much black/grey for the past couple of years and too many knits so my goal was to work some more light/bright colors into my wardrobe and experiment with cotton button down type tops. It was an experiment in failure to say the least--there is a reason I never wear button down types and haven't since I was about 16 and my chest developed. Enough said.
The bid for a less monochromatic look ended when I said "Ooh, let's go into White House Black Market." Sigh. Well, lesson learned I guess. I did end up getting quite a few cute things, including a dress that I probably would never have picked up myself but the saleslady brought me, and everyone in the store freaked out over when I came out of the dressing room in it. So now I have to be on the lookout for occasions to wear a nice dress.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Coachella Sunday
Arrived around 4 on Sunday and met up with our friends to see Lykke Li as our first show of the day. In my opinion this was one of the best sets of the weekend--I liked her album but absolutely loved her live and have been listening to this album over and over again since we got back! She had amazing intensity and stage presence and I found her fascinating to watch.
After this show we headed to Peter Bjorn and John which was okay but not great. The highlight of the set was when Lykke Li came onstage to sing the female vocals on Young Folks. After that we hit this lull in the afternoon where there was absolutely nothing to be excited about so we ate dinner and found ourselves in front of the tent where X was playing, which I ended up digging.
Following the lull in the action was the hour or two where I needed to be in five places at once. Started out at My Bloody Valentine, everyone was freaking me out about the loudness of the show. I've been wearing earplugs to shows for years so was already prepared. The show started and honestly I wasn't really feeling the first few songs so we left for the dance tent where Christopher Lawrence was spinning. I remember loving his set when I saw him live ten years ago and the first 30 minutes didn't disappoint but then the set started to get all trancey and we left. I could hear noise from the MBV stage and the Kills playing three stages down, and was torn, both sounded so good. Ended up running to the main stage to hear the last wonderful 15 minutes of noise from MBV.
Saw Flavor Flav acting all crazy for a few minutes, then got seats for The Cure. I'm not a huge Cure fan but they were amazing. Robert Smith's voice sounds just as it ever has, and he sells the emotion of the songs so well. A great headliner and end to the festival weekend.
Honestly next year I'm hoping for a dud lineup, or at least a lineup full of bands everyone else likes but I never got into. :) It will be two weeks before my wedding, and I get the idea there will be too much to do to take four days off to party in the desert. If Daft Punk or Rage Against the Machine decide to headline an encore set though, I'll be reconsidering.
After this show we headed to Peter Bjorn and John which was okay but not great. The highlight of the set was when Lykke Li came onstage to sing the female vocals on Young Folks. After that we hit this lull in the afternoon where there was absolutely nothing to be excited about so we ate dinner and found ourselves in front of the tent where X was playing, which I ended up digging.
Following the lull in the action was the hour or two where I needed to be in five places at once. Started out at My Bloody Valentine, everyone was freaking me out about the loudness of the show. I've been wearing earplugs to shows for years so was already prepared. The show started and honestly I wasn't really feeling the first few songs so we left for the dance tent where Christopher Lawrence was spinning. I remember loving his set when I saw him live ten years ago and the first 30 minutes didn't disappoint but then the set started to get all trancey and we left. I could hear noise from the MBV stage and the Kills playing three stages down, and was torn, both sounded so good. Ended up running to the main stage to hear the last wonderful 15 minutes of noise from MBV.
Saw Flavor Flav acting all crazy for a few minutes, then got seats for The Cure. I'm not a huge Cure fan but they were amazing. Robert Smith's voice sounds just as it ever has, and he sells the emotion of the songs so well. A great headliner and end to the festival weekend.
Honestly next year I'm hoping for a dud lineup, or at least a lineup full of bands everyone else likes but I never got into. :) It will be two weeks before my wedding, and I get the idea there will be too much to do to take four days off to party in the desert. If Daft Punk or Rage Against the Machine decide to headline an encore set though, I'll be reconsidering.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Coachella time
It's Sunday and I'm in beautiful ridiculously hot Indio California for Coachella. Brad and I are staying cool in the house and keeping hydrated for the next hour or so to avoid several extra hours in the sun, everyone else in our crew has headed to the festival already to catch some early acts.
On Friday we did the early thing with the rest of them and while it was cool to see Gui Boratto playing some really nice techno (with a bit of prog house thrown in) and then We Are Scientists on the main stage, I think I got a bit too much heat and too little water so I wasn't feeling great later in the evening. After We Are Scientists we headed to the dance tent and caught the end of Steve Aoki's set which was terrible, and then the beginning of Felix da Housecat's set which was also terrible. Having heard good things about The Hold Steady we headed over there, but were similarly unimpressed. Walking past we heard Los Campesinos! and they were actually playing an awesome set that we were lucky to hear the last half of. One of the highlights of the day in the whole "band I've never heard of being really fucking cool" way.
After Los Campesinos!'s set, we headed to the Outdoor Theatre to see Conor Oberst. I like Bright Eyes but hadn't gotten much into his solo stuff and while it's not what I would generally listen to on a regular basis I liked the part of the show we saw. We left halfway through to catch Franz Ferdinand which was awesome. They're one of those bands I never think much about but then realized I knew and liked all their songs.
Next stop was the dance tent for Ghostland Observatory which was awesome, intense, and weird. The one not-so-great spot of the set was when they played one song that went on about 10 minutes longer than it really needed to, but the awesome lasers and rest of the set more than made up for it. Next up was Girl Talk who I was ridiculously excited for, but the area in which we were standing got really crowded, hot, and intense and the sun/dehydration from earlier in the day really started to catch up with me, so we left a few minutes into his set. No great loss though, I've seen him play three times before.
Unfortunately it started to get extremely cold at this point, so we found the metal/fire dragon/snake sculpture to huddle around for warmth. From this area we could hear and see most of Paul McCartney thanks to the giant screens on the side of the main stage.
Learning from my mistake of getting there too early on Friday we waited to get in on Saturday until around 4 which was an excellent call since it was MUCH hotter on Saturday than on Sunday. We met up with our friends at the Outdoor Theatre where we parked for most of the day, hearing Drive-by Truckers, Superchunk, Calexico, and Fleet Foxes--all of which were awesome. Some weirdness during Fleet Foxes though, we were watching the show when halfway through some kid just collapsed right next to us. His eyes were wide open, it was kind of freaky--he didn't have any friends around or anything, some guys carried him off hopefully to find a medic. I've seen sooo many people getting carried off this year--people need to learn that drugs, alcohol, and dehydration don't mix. In any case, spending most of the day at one stage was really relaxing and chill and a nice way to spend the day instead of running all over the place to see this act and that act.
The sun went down during the (amazing) Fleet Foxes set, and we headed out to check out Junior Boys which I really wasn't feeling especially after the soulful acts we'd been seeing all day. Got to the dance tent just in time for the Chemical Brothers DJ set which has been one of the high points of the festival for me so far. They went on with no introduction, no fanfare, and started playing really awesome banging dance music. It was such a refreshing change of pace from most of the stuff I'd been seeing there this weekend, no 80's hair metal, no giant breakdowns every three minutes (I'm looking at you Felix da Housecat). It might have been a little minimal/hard for some people but Brad and I were digging it. After an hour of dancing though I was parched and we had to leave to get water, so we ended up heading over to see the Killers which I wasn't digging at ALL (neither was thisguy gal (how sexist of me) so I'm just going to remember the Chemical Brothers as the end of the evening. ;)
Hoping to get there today to catch Lykke Li, Peter Bjorn and John, My Bloody Valentine, Christopher Lawrence (who I loved when I saw perform ten years ago but realistically I will probably bitch about today. I've gotten so freaking picky about electronic music it isn't even funny!), The Kills, Public Enemy, and maybe a few minutes of the Cure.
On Friday we did the early thing with the rest of them and while it was cool to see Gui Boratto playing some really nice techno (with a bit of prog house thrown in) and then We Are Scientists on the main stage, I think I got a bit too much heat and too little water so I wasn't feeling great later in the evening. After We Are Scientists we headed to the dance tent and caught the end of Steve Aoki's set which was terrible, and then the beginning of Felix da Housecat's set which was also terrible. Having heard good things about The Hold Steady we headed over there, but were similarly unimpressed. Walking past we heard Los Campesinos! and they were actually playing an awesome set that we were lucky to hear the last half of. One of the highlights of the day in the whole "band I've never heard of being really fucking cool" way.
After Los Campesinos!'s set, we headed to the Outdoor Theatre to see Conor Oberst. I like Bright Eyes but hadn't gotten much into his solo stuff and while it's not what I would generally listen to on a regular basis I liked the part of the show we saw. We left halfway through to catch Franz Ferdinand which was awesome. They're one of those bands I never think much about but then realized I knew and liked all their songs.
Next stop was the dance tent for Ghostland Observatory which was awesome, intense, and weird. The one not-so-great spot of the set was when they played one song that went on about 10 minutes longer than it really needed to, but the awesome lasers and rest of the set more than made up for it. Next up was Girl Talk who I was ridiculously excited for, but the area in which we were standing got really crowded, hot, and intense and the sun/dehydration from earlier in the day really started to catch up with me, so we left a few minutes into his set. No great loss though, I've seen him play three times before.
Unfortunately it started to get extremely cold at this point, so we found the metal/fire dragon/snake sculpture to huddle around for warmth. From this area we could hear and see most of Paul McCartney thanks to the giant screens on the side of the main stage.
Learning from my mistake of getting there too early on Friday we waited to get in on Saturday until around 4 which was an excellent call since it was MUCH hotter on Saturday than on Sunday. We met up with our friends at the Outdoor Theatre where we parked for most of the day, hearing Drive-by Truckers, Superchunk, Calexico, and Fleet Foxes--all of which were awesome. Some weirdness during Fleet Foxes though, we were watching the show when halfway through some kid just collapsed right next to us. His eyes were wide open, it was kind of freaky--he didn't have any friends around or anything, some guys carried him off hopefully to find a medic. I've seen sooo many people getting carried off this year--people need to learn that drugs, alcohol, and dehydration don't mix. In any case, spending most of the day at one stage was really relaxing and chill and a nice way to spend the day instead of running all over the place to see this act and that act.
The sun went down during the (amazing) Fleet Foxes set, and we headed out to check out Junior Boys which I really wasn't feeling especially after the soulful acts we'd been seeing all day. Got to the dance tent just in time for the Chemical Brothers DJ set which has been one of the high points of the festival for me so far. They went on with no introduction, no fanfare, and started playing really awesome banging dance music. It was such a refreshing change of pace from most of the stuff I'd been seeing there this weekend, no 80's hair metal, no giant breakdowns every three minutes (I'm looking at you Felix da Housecat). It might have been a little minimal/hard for some people but Brad and I were digging it. After an hour of dancing though I was parched and we had to leave to get water, so we ended up heading over to see the Killers which I wasn't digging at ALL (neither was this
Hoping to get there today to catch Lykke Li, Peter Bjorn and John, My Bloody Valentine, Christopher Lawrence (who I loved when I saw perform ten years ago but realistically I will probably bitch about today. I've gotten so freaking picky about electronic music it isn't even funny!), The Kills, Public Enemy, and maybe a few minutes of the Cure.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Surviving
I tackled one of the tasks I have been dreading for the wedding on Sunday, finding the dress. I can't exactly put my finger on why it was so terrifying. Part of it was this fear that they would only have size 2 samples and I'd be stuck trying to squeeze myself into these things and imagining how they'd look if they fit properly. I think the rest of it was the stress of it...choosing this extremely expensive item that is supposed to be THE PERFECT DRESS.
Anyhow I mustered up some courage and got the process started. I heard you were supposed to get the dress thing locked down about a year out, so I called a place I'd gotten a good recommendation for the other day, thinking I'd have to wait at least a week or two for a weekend appointment, but they had openings right away, so I booked one. Kim came with me while her husband and my fiance played video games and had beers.
For one thing my fears about the size thing were unfounded. This place had all kinds of sizes, I tried on quite a few gowns that were several sizes too large and had to be clipped. I was also pleasantly surprised at how nice I looked in almost all of them, but honestly, they just weren't me. So many dresses were full of beading and lace, I told my lady that I didn't like beading at all. Most of the others were very structured, which turned out just to be too much for me. When the saleslady brought out the dress I ended up loving, she was like "This is not too simple, is it?" Nope, it wasn't, it was perfect. And a great price too.
Happy that I'd easily come under the number I wanted to spend, I decided to have a little fun with Brad when I came home, and tell him that I'd found the perfect dress but it was a little more than we'd wanted to spend. I told him a number about $4000 higher than what the dress actually cost me and Kim and I kept it going for a few minutes before telling him the real price.
Anyhow I mustered up some courage and got the process started. I heard you were supposed to get the dress thing locked down about a year out, so I called a place I'd gotten a good recommendation for the other day, thinking I'd have to wait at least a week or two for a weekend appointment, but they had openings right away, so I booked one. Kim came with me while her husband and my fiance played video games and had beers.
For one thing my fears about the size thing were unfounded. This place had all kinds of sizes, I tried on quite a few gowns that were several sizes too large and had to be clipped. I was also pleasantly surprised at how nice I looked in almost all of them, but honestly, they just weren't me. So many dresses were full of beading and lace, I told my lady that I didn't like beading at all. Most of the others were very structured, which turned out just to be too much for me. When the saleslady brought out the dress I ended up loving, she was like "This is not too simple, is it?" Nope, it wasn't, it was perfect. And a great price too.
Happy that I'd easily come under the number I wanted to spend, I decided to have a little fun with Brad when I came home, and tell him that I'd found the perfect dress but it was a little more than we'd wanted to spend. I told him a number about $4000 higher than what the dress actually cost me and Kim and I kept it going for a few minutes before telling him the real price.
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