Music to my Ears: Summer Concerts

Whenever life gets stressful this time of year, I instantly imagine my summer respite hovering right around the corner. I mentioned here that I've been daydreaming about lazy days by the pool reading juicy books and it just cannot come soon enough.

Another part of summer life that I absolutely love other than roadtrips and reading is going to concerts! There's something so fun about listening to music you absolutely love while being surrounded by people who are in the same moment, too.

While we're on our roadtrip this summer we're hoping to snag a couple local shows, but we're also hoping to see some local shows too. I finally broke down and bought tickets today for what ended up being a better deal than I could have possibly imagined!

I'm sure by now you've heard the Alabama Shakes; they've been buzzing around the southern rock circuit and have been recognized by SPIN and PASTE magazines on a regular basis. They also are in this month's issue of my personal favorite, Garden & Gun. Long story short, the closest the Alabama Shakes are coming to us this year is to an outdoor concert near Richmond, VA which is a little under 3 hours away. For me, no distance is too far from seeing a band perform, especially when I love them as much as I love AS.

So when I logged on to order tickets, I realized that instead of buying tickets, I was actually buying season passes to a Friday music festival! I was paying $40 for access to 10 AMAZING bands (including Carolina Chocolate Drops--read about when we saw them in 2010 here)! So now that we have our season passes ordered, we just pay $5 at the door to see each individual show. That is completely worth it to me! It'll make for some fun Friday roadtrips down to VA during the first few weeks of the summer. This small payment is turning into a huge way to keep us occupied over the summer. I'm just hoping we can convince a few of our friends to join in on the fun, too!

Here are some videos of a few of the bands we're scheduled to see. Maybe you'll like them and find someone new? Or maybe you live near Richmond and will join in on the concert-going fun?

Alabama Shakes:

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears

Carolina Chocolate Drops

ALO

xo,

Best of 2011 Mix

One of my favorite holiday traditions that Cory and I started a few years ago was going to Reston, VA for a day or two to visit our dear friends, Rich and Beth. You know them from our wedding, from their wedding, and from our annual Auburn University road trips, too. 

Since we're all teachers, the holidays usually push our budget a little tight, so we started a tradition where instead of exchanging gifts, we would make a playlist of the best songs of the year. This is the 3rd year in a row we've done this challenge and so far, I think it will be the best. Last year was really rough for me, because I never really found any songs that hit home for me. So, when it came to making our mix, Cory completed an excellent mix, and I decided to go with what drove me crazy all year long: the worst songs. The end result was "The Worst Songs of 2010" which included a lot of Katy Perry and Ke$ha. This year I'm trying a little harder and I think they'll like it! I have pretty strange music taste, so I'm sure you'll think to yourself, "these songs don't belong in the same room as one another." Which is fine. I get it. However, it's a mix of the entire year, so there's no compartmentalizing!

I would like to challenge you to the same task. Come up with a mix of 10-15 songs that you think are the BEST of 2011. Share them in the comments so I can be sure to check them out!

And, of course, here is my mix. The best songs that were new (either to me, or to music in general) in 2011! I hope you enjoy it!

Create a MySpace Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Suggestions please!

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Lovely readers: help me! My tiptoes are facing a 3-day weekend where I plan to surround myself in yarn and books. I have one novel already in the works that needs to be finished ASAP (Freedom), but would like to add to my "to read" pile.

I'm also in need of new music. Bands that I typically enjoy: The Black Keys, TV on the Radio, Arcade Fire. I am open to any and all new varieties though!

Plus, any new Netflix finds? I watched Paperman earlier this week and loved it. Ok, I'm not going to lie--the story wasn't stellar, but the couch was AMAZING. lol. Whatever it takes, right?

Music! Books! Magazines! Blogs! Share with me (in the comments) what you're into or what you're listening to!

Thank you in advance :)

Liz

My worlds just collided big time.

So, like everyone else, I'm pretty excited for She & Him's Christmas album to be released at the end of this month. Pink Martini's Joy to the World was constantly on repeat in our home last year, and I'm SO excited to pair them with one another!

Anyway--so I'm reading the little blurb at the bottom of She & Him's website and I realize... dum dum dum...

A portion of the album's proceeds are being donated to 826 National!

826 National!

Okay, so think back to my San Francisco Trip last May. I went out of my way to stop by 826 Valencia, the original 826 location.

826 is a non-profit writing organization that was founded by one of my favorite authors (and people) Dave Eggers. 826 locations are beginning to pop up in many major cities around the country in effort to help support public school children who need a safe place to do homework after school or have a desire to be the best writer they possibly can. The main focus is creative writing, but the organization provides many other services. I mean--AWESOME.

As a nerdy English-teacher-book-lovin person, 826 hits a heart string with me to begin with.

And then there's Dave Eggers' books. I mean hello: he's brilliant. I posted about his books in my Favorite Non-Fiction Reads. A few weeks ago, I trecked to D.C. via metro and met up with a former Eggers lovin' student (she's now in college and is a total book nerd--I'll call that a success!) to meet Mr. Eggers at the National Book Festival. I'm a Book Festival alum, as I have gone the last 4 years running and absolutely love it. The fact that Eggers was going to be in attendance made my heart jump like crazy.

So here we are, in mid-October and I am so pleased to have one of my favorite music groups supporting an organization I love so dearly.

To find out more: 826, Eggers, LOC National Book Festival, She & Him

xo,

Liz

What I'm listening to...

With every season comes a desire to have fresh music that matches my current frame of mind. There's no doubt about it, I'm a pretty upbeat lady. I try to look for the positive in most situations and I try to hold back any/all complaints unless I feel like there worth the time to talk about them. Since it's really warming up in Maryland and I'm finally enjoying a few days of un-interrupted summer time, I wanted to share what I'm currently listening to...

I was so thrilled to see that Elsie and Jeremy chose the last track of this album, "Razzle Dazzle Rose" to be part of their wedding, and then use it in their wedding video. Such a sweet song and so perfect for a summer wedding!

Sidenote: If I could find a bedspread that matches the backdrop print of this album cover, I would be in heaven!

What are you currently listening to?

I'm always looking for new (or new-to-me), fun music!

I'm in love with this photo...

Johnny Cash with his custom guitar.

I love you, TV on the Radio.

One of my favorite bands is Brooklyn based TV on the Radio. Their song, "Ambulance" was the first song Cory and I danced to at our wedding and it made the entire evening magical. They're releasing a new album in a few days (4/14/11) and I am beyond excited. They have such a different sound--a mix between soul and funk. I can't help but get into it every time I hear their beats. It's almost like you can drink them. mmm..

Anyhow, this time around they decided to have an independent artist, producer, illustrator, etc. take a song and create a short film for it. INCREDIBLE! Now, they're in the process of combining these films into a feature length film. So cool.

Here's an awesome video from New York Times featuring the band and this idea. I'm sharing it with you because it speaks heavily of the DIY movement and how easy it is to embrace and nurture it!

Enjoy :)

xo,

Liz

The Weekend That Was...

Greetings! I thought I would hop in for a little weekend re-cap.

Maryland Public Schools were closed on Friday for what we like to call Association Day. This is when the Maryland State Educators Association holds its annual Teacher's Conference in Ocean City, Maryland and offers the entire state off school so teachers can attend. You are not required to attend the conference, but I've heard it's pretty beneficial and is a good opportunity to head to the beach for a weekend and unwind but still get some good stuff for your classroom. I've never been...

Alas, Thursday night started the weekend! I am so sad that I do not have pictures from this weekend, as my cell phone couldn't capture the light properly and my trusty Nikon dslr was at home in it's case napping... I digress.

Thursday night Cory was able to FINALLY enjoy his wedding present from me! We headed down to the D.C. area for dinner and then made our way into Arlington, V.A. to The Birchmere where we saw Carolina Chocolate Drops! Amazing!

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They put on a heck of a show and Cory and I loved their modern twist on old school bluegrass classics...and their bluegrass twists on modern classics, like Blu Cantrell's "Hit 'Em Up Style." I mean... really... so cool! Check 'em out if you're in need of some new music. Here is a youtube video of my favorite song, "Cornbread and Butterbeans."

Cory and I spent Friday at a Collegeboard training for AP English and AP World History. It wasn't a valuable use of my time, but I got paid and was able to hang out with a few people I rarely see... so it wasn't a complete wash.

As you know, most of my Saturday was spent crocheting with my cats (ha, I sound like such an old maid)! It was time well deserved in my couch. I am selling cowls so, so quickly at The Muse, our local handmade shop. I am sending in anywhere form 8-10 a week and selling them like crazy! If you haven't seen our new cowls, head on over to le shop and pick one up! I can make them in any color you desire!

Have a lovely rest of your Monday :)

Music

Hi there! I just got back from my work trip in San Diego. It was such a fun and rewarding experience to visit San Diego with some of my closest work friends and get to know the AVID program. I'll be talking about AVID a lot throughout the upcoming school year (I am teaching a group of AVID students), so there will be more to follow...

When not in our training sesssions or meetings, my week was spent discussing music, literature, and education theory. It sounds dorky, but it was a really cool experience. After hanging out with my colleagues for 6 days straight, I was able to get a mountain of song/artist recommendations. Some of these are recent releases and some of them are older, but they're all great (in my opinion). Recently I have been listening to a lot of bluegrass-folk-alternative music, so if you're into that, you'll love:

I am SO happy to be back and sleep in my own bed. Oh my gosh. So so happy.

What have you been up to since I've been gone?