NYC

Cousin A and I went on our NYC trip to see Hamilton.  We were only there for two full days but we tried to do everything.

Calling the folks

A says, "That's where they eat lunch on Gossip Girl!"  The whole trip was filled with me making references to Friends and her to Gossip Girl.  We speak the same language, just a generation removed.  At least we have Parks & Rec in common.

Girl had never had cheesecake before!

This police officer was:
a) Really nice about helping us figure out the subway, and
b) REALLY excited when we asked to get a picture with him.  His cop-buddy took this picture and told him, "Give them your hat!"

Eating our NYC bagels on the sidewalk outside Tiffany, doing Mr. Capote proud

A found her dream souvenir on Canal St: A knockoff Chanel

Oh, Hamilton.  How we love you.

Months of anticipation for this moment

We may or may not have clutched at each other through the whole first act, silently freaking out.

(Except for Daveed) WE SAW THE WHOLE ORIGINAL CAST

View from our seats

The activities were fun but the company was perfection.  One of the best weeks of my life, no contest.  

Love, J

Hamilmania

One day I stumbled across this:

And it stuck in my head.  I rewatched it a lot before realizing it was now part of a bigger Broadway show:

Then I bought the soundtrack.

Then I memorized the soundtrack.

Then I read the biography the show is based on.  (Well, I'm still reading it.  It's 700 pages.  I'm about halfway.)

At some point in here I learned cousin A is also obsessed with the ten dollar founding father without a father.

And then tonight:

Me:  They're supposed to be making a movie with the original cast.

A:  Really?!  That's great.  I've been trying to find a bootleg copy online.

Me:  Yeah they want to do it while the original cast is there, since their contracts end in July and they'll all start moving on.

A:  Yeah.

Me: ... That's why I got our tickets for June.

As fun as the trip will be, and as much as I can't wait to see Lin Manuel Miranda do his thing on stage, this 20 seconds will still be my favorite.

Love, J

White Cat Pink show

Cousin "White Cat Pink" came to play a show in Spokane.  When he was done with his set, pretty much everyone in the bar wanted their picture taken with him; they also wanted to know when he'd be back to play again.

Love, J

Brandi

Grandma and I went to see Brandi Carlile when she was in town last month.  Amazing.  

If you don't have awesome speakers on your computer, do yourself a favor and wear headphones for this:



Listening to her makes me feel like I can do something great.

Love, J

The Lady is a Tramp

Love, J

PS ~ If anyone out there is looking for a choreographer for their next music video, probably you should give Foxy Shazam a call and ask who they use, because whoa, man:

Old Bear Mountain

I am so very smitten with this band. They are The Weepies meet The Avett Brothers, they're about my age, and they're from Greenbluff to boot.



They're playing the MarQuee tonight at 9 pm, no cover charge. I won't be there, as I have a play date with two awesome pre-teens, but I do get to see them play a friend's wedding this Saturday. (And excuse me, but how cool is it to have a real band play your wedding? So jealous.)

Love, J

Some great local rock

Earlier this summer, we hit the final Spokane concert of Joyfield (formerly known as "Siege of Cranes.") We went because I used to babysit the lead guitarist when he and his brothers were little, and because the concert was on a beach.

Oh. My.

They are all kinds of great, and I'm so bummed I didn't catch on to that fact earlier, because now they have moved down to CA hoping to make it big.

This song's my favorite:



I'm normally more of an angsty-boys-with-guitars type, but this is some good, good music.

They really ought to make it to the top, but before they're super rich and famous, I'm gonna need them to come play our summer party - maybe next year?

Love, J

Zooey on TV

Zooey Deschanel has been in my top 5 girl crushes since Elf (and have you HEARD She & Him?!?) Which is why now, when I am absolutely zombie-tired and ought to be dragging myself to bed, I am instead blogging about a very exciting thing I just learned: she's in a new show this fall! The trailer below actually makes the show look really terrible, but I will watch it anyway. Because I watch tons of really terrible TV, and at least this will be really terrible TV starring Zooey. (Sorry for the reeeeeeally long and stupid ad before this video.)



Love (and goodnight),
J

PS ~ In case you haven't heard She & Him...



And one more, this one also starring one of my top boy crushes:

Kissed a Girl, Unplugged

It's funny how I can hear a song with just a few changes, and go from hating it to really liking it. "Jolene," done by The White Stripes = me likey. The original by Dolly Parton? Not so much.

I normally am not a Katy Perry fan at all, but the hubs loves her music, so when we stopped at the library last week to stock up on CDs for a little road trip, he picked out one of hers.

Lucky for me, this particular album was freaking awesome; acoustic versions of Ms. Perry's hits. When the poppiness is replaced with a jazz bent, her voice is actually really great. I had no idea!

(This doesn't solve the issue of her lyrics, if they bother you - I've always thought they were sort of funny.)



Love, J

Here comes your man

This is my favorite music video right now.

Love the bike, dress, street, lipstick, and weather.



Love, J

I shouldn't be surprised, he's a bit of a diva himself

The hubs went back the the death-shift this week. Not that he sees more dead bodies at night or anything (Or maybe he does. I don't ask about stuff like that). It's just that it feels like every round of graveyard he works shaves a year off of each of our lives, what with the never seeing each other and neither of us sleeping so well, me without him and him during the daytime.

And still, he finds ways to make me smile, even when he's not around.

This morning I drove to the Shala in the dark. It was gloomy and drizzly out, and the radio stations weren't playing anything that fit my mellow, let's-ease-into-this-rainy-day attitude. I wanted to listen to my Josh Ritter CD, so at a stoplight, I hit "eject" on the player. I assumed it would spit out a Metallica album, since the hubs is normally the only one who uses the CD player.

Only, the little disc poking out of the dashboard wasn't full of Metallica songs.

I had never seen this CD before.

It was purple.

And decorated with little butterflies.

And it had the song, "Always be my Baby," on it.

(Which, by the way, was the only title I recognized out of 15 or so songs listed on its face.)

It was Mariah Carey's greatest hits.

Thanks for the laugh, honey, it was an unexpectedly happy way to start my day.

Love, J

(PS: And if you're looking for Mariah, she's stored safely away in the Josh Ritter case. She's all yours.)

I'm Awesome

I heard this on the radio in the car last night, and I think the couple in the truck next to me at a stoplight were laughing at me because I was grinning so hard as I sat there listening to it by myself.

I was going to recommend just listening to this without watching the video, since I think it detracts from the lyrics, BUT: he wears a "Spose" Snuggie around 2:40, so don't miss that. Plus, hello, Fresh Prince homage. 'Nough said.

Love, J

Some French pop electronica to get your day started

Let's pretend that it's June again so that I may share a few photos from when we were visited by my tallest and most musically inclined cousin:

I'm almost positive the hubs took this photo. And I'm very curious as to how/why he included his left ear and part of his head in the shot.

Does anyone else still see the edge of an ear?

After seeing this, I don't think I could open a hot dog and ice cream stand and NOT call it Funhole.

And since we're on the topic, how about some free advertising for that musically inclined (and let's face it, also very handsome) cousin of mine? Check him out here. And here.

Love, J

PS: Oh, okay, two more:

Peas on a bus.

Gum on a wall.

Hometown rant

Spokane is getting on my nerves today.

Reason #1: When I go to the store - any store - in this town and tell the checker (politely, I'm always very polite) that I don't want a bag for my purchase, I am almost always rewarded with a look that is part incredulous, part openly hostile. This happens even when I'm buying only one or two items. And 90% of the time, said snotty checker will try to talk me out of my decision.

Why do they care? What difference does it make? Is the checker who goes through the most bags rewarded with a bonus at the end of the month?

In other cities, this exchange has ended with the checker congratulating me on my commitment to the environment. I don't need such flattery, but it beats the crap out of having to explain myself to an eyes-narrowed, suspicious-of-my-motives employee at Yoke's.

Reason #2: Regina Spektor is playing at the Paramount next week. And the Paramount is not in Spokane.

This isn't me. It's some random, pretty photo from Spokane Yoga Shala's website.

Reason #3: The latest issue of Spokane's local magazine is full of 'Best of the City' lists. They have a yoga category. OZ Fitness is second. Yes, I am a yoga snob, but gym yoga is among the best this city has to offer? Really? I find that hard to believe. Plus they completely left out the Yoga Shala, which is unforgivable.

Reason #4: You need a car to get around in Spokane. Like, actually need one. I have tried so hard to understand the bus system here, and I cannot seem to master it. We've always been a one car family, but I can see the end of that era in the very near future and it really bums me out. Right now we're really 'one car' in name only, since I've been borrowing my step-dad's truck for months to get me to the store and such. I miss the Metro!

I think the honeymoon may be over and I'm going through a little bit of culture shock, being back in the 'burbs. I do appreciate its good aspects, but I keep noticing little things that didn't bother me when I lived here the first time around.

Time to go listen to some Regina on the iPod. If you're in Seattle, go see her for me. She's spectacular (or spek-tacular, rather).

Love, J

PS - This is another good Regina clip. It has her great singing AND encapsulates how I'm feeling about Spokane today. Plus, 'Weeds' is awesome.