currently :: 012

image via weheartit

lots of things happening in life lately:

< thunderstorms. particularly one that i drove thorough that felt like a scene from Twister.

> $6.50 movies on Tuesdays. one of the best kept secrets in this town.

< plans on plans on plans on plans. so many plans.

> no sleeping. that's definitely not happening!

< buying my friends baby shower gifts. two of them are getting ready to have babies soon!

> watching Jurassic Park and kind of wishing that was real... without being eaten by a dino. also, when i was in Hawaii, we boat-toured around the Na Pali coast where it was filmed. awesome.

< looking forward to some traveling: Philly, the beach, and Vegas are coming up.

> sending Laura tons of Buzzfeeds that make me think of her. that site is such a timesuck.

< dealing with some rough things and choices to make, but weathering the storm as best i know how. 

>  feeling very thankful for a job that i like going to every day and coworkers who i am getting to know better.

< playing around with some covers-- Elastic Heart is my new favorite. (listen on my Instagram!)

> visiting my best friend Dan, my godson, and his new baby brother. holding my friend's babies never gets old.

< spending too much money these days. i always have a month once in a blue moon where i just keep buying things. they are things i will use and like, but it's still a bad habit!

> speaking of... in love with my latest Kate Spade. no regrets.i also got it for less than it's showing now!

< i rearranged my room last week. it feels so refreshing. i brought my desk up from the basement because my gorgeous iMac wasn't getting any love with nowhere to put it. i'm proud of moving it all by myself, but the bruises on my legs and arms aren't so pretty.

> the bikini top struggle is real. A-club for life and it's equal parts great and terrible.

< bonfires out in farmland at Brooke and Bob's. their goats always greet me and i love it.

> watching all the season 4 episodes of The Hills before they disappear from MTV OnDemand. (it's time well spent, trust me.)

< when i feel strongly that i need a puppy, i go here and play with them. my friend's sister is the manager, so that helps!

until next time!

music monday :: the weepies

image via google

The first time I ever heard about The Weepies, I was in college going to a show at World Cafe Live to see Teitur (so many hyperlinks in one sentence!). Teitur was playing downstairs and my friend Bryan, who was the musical genius of my friends, saw that The Weepies were playing upstairs and commented on it. After that, I became obsessed with their music and to this day I wish I could have gone upstairs to see them! They've been around for a while and have such a cool story. Finally, the day has come! I am seeing them tonight at Ram's Head On Stage, which is pretty much perfection as it is one of the more intimate venues in the area. It's one of my favorites and I'm so excited to finally see two of my favorite people perform live. They bring such a unique writing and vocal style to the table. (If you've heard Deb Talan sing, you will be as intrigued as me to hear her speaking voice! Haha.) PS - they basically have my dream story. They liked each other's music, met, formed the band, ended up getting married and now have three kids. 

They just released a new album this year, and it's so good. Here's one of my favorites.

camping at assateague + mumford

It's been a super busy few weeks. Last weekend I went on a camping trip to Assateague. This is a trip that has happened for the last six years, and it's planned by my roommate, but I could never go! Between the years of wedding celebrations and just overall having plans in place, I've had to miss it. This year everyone insisted I put it on my calendar months in advance, so with that and some declined invitations, I was set to go. And I'm glad I did... this is not your average camping trip! This is 36 people, beach, campfires, thunderstorms, tons of food, secret sangria, hiding in a tent drinking wine, etc. It was awesome. Not to mention the wild horses are always part of the fun!

Flamingo bikinis!

 Love these girls.

 Dance party in a rainstorm. My stuff got flooded in the tent, but oh well. 

And Wednesday night, I saw Mumford & Sons again. They are always such a dream to see live. Marcus Mumford's voice is CRAZY. How does he give it so much power and still have any voice left?! One of life's greatest mysteries. Pictures aren't the greatest because we were on the lawn, but it was fun. Also, it was in celebration of my friend Meghan's birthday. So it was even better!

 I tend to ignore outrageous concert prices and drink ALL THE THINGS. This blueberry vodka lemonade was so worth it.

Last night my soul sister Jude texted me trying to get rid of Lana Del Ray tickets... and I was oh so tempted. But it was at the last minute, an hour away, and a weeknight when everyone is busy. I tried not to feel lame for saying no... but the feeling still haunts me. 

One more thing. My high school band director is retiring after 41 years! Click the link for the article the Baltimore Sun wrote about him. Before you go off on a "nerd alert" tangent... this man is incredible. He is the best, not in a biased way, but in an "every Maryland band director wants to know him and be him" way. I played flute for 10 years, and four of those years were under him. He is a tough director and challenged me in the biggest ways. My courage to perform music in front of others and my love for classical comes from the music I played with him. Some of my favorite memories are winning championships, taking trips with the band every year, and football game halftime shows with the marching unit. Tonight kicks off his weekend-long celebration and I am so happy to be able to go, give him a hug, and see fellow alumni. I'm so proud to have been a part of this band and to have been influenced by his talent. There's no one better.

featured :: curated [old town]

image via Curated

I'm not normally a person who wins things. Half the time I don't enter contests because the odds are not ever in my favor. I don't get the ticket-winning gene from my dad (who spends a lot of time calling into radio stations, but also spends a lot of time enjoying country concerts and flying to the iHeart Music Festival in Miami). It's safe to say that I don't care enough to put effort into winning things :)

My friend/old roommate Twila moved to Arlington, VA recently, and found this new shop in Alexandria. A notification popped up on my Instagram telling me she had tagged me in a random drawing to win $25 from the shop. We actually won! I was so excited to actually win something, I forgot to check out what the shop was all about.

Curated is a brand new shop in the heart of Old Town Alexandria-- so new, in fact, that they weren't even open yet when I won the contest! They kept my interest as I browsed through their Instagram, though. So may cute things I wanted to snatch up! I just had to be patient and wait. But the owner, Page, was great about emailing me and making sure I wasn't forgotten. And since I'm not local to VA, she sent me a code once the online store opened to use for my $25 credit.

They have a beautiful selection of items, and I highly recommend checking them out if you need a gift for a girlfriend or just to treat yourself! I walked away with this mug and this journal, and I'm so excited for them to arrive in the mail. Sometimes it's just nice to get a little something for yourself that makes you feel good! Head over to Curated before everything sells-- I have a feeling it will go quickly!

Clark Beckham InstaGems

If you guys watched this season of American Idol, you know who Clark Beckham is. If you didn't, observe.

I'm not normally an avid AI viewer. I used to watch when I was in high school, of course, but as the years went on I just kind of ignored it. But Laura still watches, and it just so happens that Clark was on it and he is the best. This kid is too good for American Idol, if we want to get real about it. Hear for yourself:

ANYWAY. The point of this is not only to tell you how great he is, but to give you insight to the crazies out there who follow Clark on Instagram and blow up his feed with thousands of weird and generally WTF comments. The first time I read some of them, Laura was working on our bathroom remodel and I was lounging on our stairs. We basically stopped breathing because we were laughing so hard. Thus, "Clark Beckham InstaGems" was born! I started sending them to Laura at work and they have made our lives so much richer. #blessed

I realize that I should have shared these when the show was actually on, but some of the best ones have come about after the fact. But let's get back to basics.... here are Rounds 1 & 2 of InstaGems, as dug up from the depths of my work email "Deleted Items" folder! (With my notes in brackets for reference.)

Round 1:

 You are grear [not "great"... also, with heart eyes emojis]

You sure got some good kissing lips boy

Ur too cool BRUH hahahaha

I literally beg you to see my video

@clarkbeckham must be constipated or something...

This gives me life

I felt really excited when I heard Taking It to the Streets at this fudge place because I knew the words to an 80's song because I listened to your performance of that song like a million times [most importantly: did he get fudge at the fudge place?! I need to know!]

You're adorkable, lol!

Dat sharp 11 doe! Dang. [um, what?]

Round 2:

Don't get naked Clark

CLARK ILYILYILYILYILYILY [IYL = i love you, in case you didn't go to middle school]

My love Clark, I hope you win. End of story.

PUNCH ME CLARK [possibly my favorite comment of all time]

WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO PROPOSE?

clark let's somehow trade eyes. for real though

I think you are the third best white male American Idol contestant after Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken

God bless your parents they have created a masterpiece [hahahaha]

And a personal favorite for me and Laura:

I'm 9 1/2 months pregnant and now wishing you were the baby daddy. Jk I love my husband.

 ...

More to come! Stick around and check back for more InstaGems. The best is yet to come, I promise :)