Get Out!

Friday evening we ventured out to hear musical stylings of friends and look at local art downtown. We started out near Stash in this area because they had beer here and I spent the day with children so...

Love their signs!

Summer Breeze Flossing

We got out to our first Summer Breeze concert this past weekend and it was the perfect night. My favorite furry kid was with me...

Cinco de Derby Party

Oh boy! THAT was fun!

This year I kept it simple and just "Put a bird on it!"

It was a perfect day to have a yard party!

#pinning

So I mentioned before that I don't have a Pinterest account because I have a hard enough time keeping myself directed as it is. But that doesn't mean I don't want to pin interesting things for later. That's what my handy, dandy blog is for (sometimes).

The recent cooler weather makes me want to try these recipes (some of these are just in time for tailgating!) :

• Kentucky Hot Brown
• Green Chile con Queso
• Sriracha Roast Chicken with Sriracha Gravy by White on Rice Couple
• Bam-i (I wonder if my mom has a good recipe...)
• Chicken Spring Rolls (Ok, this is not for cooler weather but another awesome dish by WORC that popped into my FB feed the day after the Sriracha Roast Chicken)
• Sriracha Chicken Lettuce Cups (David asked me to make Lettuce Wraps again the other day so maybe we can kick it up a notch this time.)

Music that's been in my BlackBerry (old skool) to get:

• Urban Cowboy soundtrack. I have the cassette and but I want to be able to play Darlin' over and over again like I used to with a friend when we were leaving In Cahoots at the end of penny beer night
• Diamond Rio. Also from boot scootin' days gone by. A few weeks ago I heard they were on tour (!!) so I went looking for my old cassette of theirs when I found another treasure that I have been listening to for days now. 
• Sammy Kershaw. I was not a huge fan but Third Rate Romance has such a good melody for dancing (or vacuuming).
• Paul Simon. I have a few PS cassettes that work just fine, thank you very much. But I think we only have ONE Simon and Garfunkel song in the old digital library. I must correct this deficiency soon! Side Note: Since I found my Negotiations and Love Songs tape, I am inspired to paint "St. Judy's comet" for David. It's on my list to draw/paint now and when I googled around for Paul's inspiration I found another treasure.  This one isn't another cassette, but rather an article on Paul's son, that "St. Judy's Comet" Kid.
• More Willie Nelson - I put Just Breathe into a list on my BlackBerry ages ago and I still haven't gotten that song. I don't recall where I heard it but I knew I needed it. Probably on the road to any smaller town in Oklahoma over the holidays some year. Actually, I heard a female singing a song by the same name and when I googled it I found Willie's song.
• Anna Nalick. Just Breathe. 
• Sheepdogs.  Southern Dreaming. Learn and Burn.
• Frazey Ford September Fields, Firecracker
• Meghan Trainor - heard this song a few weeks ago with my daughter and think I need Like I'm Gonna Lose You. 
• Bruno Mars - love my brother from another mother... 

What about you? Any good food or music that interests you? Care to share?

P.S. I think they should call it "Pinspiration".  I am more than interested, I am inspired so...

Easy Like - Summer Breeze Makes Me Feel Fine

Sunday was a little better in that we were in our own beds. We made it to church and then back to the high school for another basketball game.



Was kinda cool to be cruisin' the hall of my old high school. Cooler than back then anyway...

Don't Ask

What's Up?

Tooooo much, my friends!

In Concert

Lately, life has been abundant with opportunities for time spent with family, outdoors, eating good food and taking in live music.

The Giving Tree Band played at the first Summer Breeze concert of the season and they were really great. Reminded me of being at Winfield.

Aubri learned another life lesson the hard way at this concert. It’s probably hard to imagine that such a cute little dog would nip or scratch when our little Gracie is quite patient with the kiddos, but after years of trying to drive the point home, a concert-goer's dog freaked out when Aubri tried to love on it and scratched her face.

Blowing Through the Jasmine in My Mind

This weekend was filled with lots of kiddo things. Emi decided to played the cello (and I love this!) so we had to find her an instrument.

Beautiful Things

And Emi and David both had their first soccer games of the season on Saturday.

Too Freakin' Cute



And tonight we finally got to go to a Summer Breeze concert as a whole family and it was a good one - we even brought little Gracie along... 

Look at that sweet Gracie Boo Boo, I mean Gracie GuRu...

Let the Music Play

He tried pretending

A dance is just a dance

But I see

He's dancing his way back to me

He's dancing his way back to me

Ok, now that I got that out of my system, here's a recap of my weekend.


Emi's soccer team went undefeated this season so they participated in a soccer tournament this past weekend. Her team won their game on Saturday (No pics because I forgot the camera!) and that meant we had at least one more game on Sunday. After her game, we met my friend Stina and her kids at the house and the kids went swimming for a while while we adults relaxed in the yard before heading out to the Norman Music Festival.

We ran into Sharmin at the Jack Daniels stage where a cool band was playing their version of "Me and Mrs. Jones".

Beyond the Sea (La Mer)

Back in 2010 while I was in Florida for a conference, I picked up a couple of Tommy Bahama CDs for Scott for Father's Day. I thought he might enjoy them because there was a nice relaxing variety of poolside music on them. I never thought I would become obsessed by a song on one of the CDs almost 2 years later.

It seems to be constantly running through my mind at work or while I am doing yardwork or washing dishes.

While I took 10 hours of French in college, I still had to research some of the words/phrases to translate the song for you...

La mer (The sea)
Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs (That one sees dancing alongside the clear gulfs)
A des reflets d'argent (Has silver reflections)
La mer (The sea)
Des reflets changeants (Changing reflections)
Sous la pluie (Under rain)

La mer (The sea)
Au ciel d'été confond (To the summer sky merge)
Ses blancs moutons (Its white sheep)
Avec les anges si purs (With such pure angels)
La mer bergère d'azur (The sea, shepherdess of azure )
Infinie (Infinite)

Voyez (See)
Près des étangs (Close to the ponds)
Ces grands roseaux mouillés (These big wet reeds)
Voyez  (See)
Ces oiseaux blancs (These white birds)
Et ces maisons rouillées (And these rusted houses)

La mer (The sea)
Les a bercés (Has rocked them)
Le long des golfes clairs (Alongside the clear gulfs)
Et d'une chanson d'amour (And with a song of love)
La mer (The sea)
A bercé mon coeur pour la vie (Has soothed my heart for life) 

I could definitely live by La Mer

Ma belle famille

The song reminds me of the time spent on the beach last summer and it's motivating me to try to capture the feeling of being near the sea in our backyard... Maybe some sand and paint can help recapture that vibe...we'll see. Until then, I have La Mer to inspire me.

What about you? What's inspiring you lately?

New (Old) Favorite

I was watching Jimmy Fallon last night when Kermit and Robin joined Jimmy and Roots (the band) to sing When the River Meets the Sea like John Denver did back in 1979. The song brought tears to my eyes...first time for a muppet to have that effect on me...



Very touching song that I imagine would be welcome at a loved one's funeral. {not to sound morbid}  The song ranks right up there with Amazing Grace for me. I was totally caught off guard by the emotion evoked by JF and the Muppets. I recorded it and shared it with the family about 17 times already today. I am hoping that Scott and Emi will learn to play it so we can share with the other family members.

Here's another song from back then:




And another sweet Kermit song:




We've been tracking Santa on NORAD and his next stop is at Mt. Everest, Nepal!

Christmas Classics

We haven't added much music to the Christmas playlist this season because most new stuff seems to be the classic stuff redone but I added a real classic that I love and can't believe I overlooked this in years past.



Love this song! To balance things out in the Christmas music world we also downloaded The Biebs' most popular song this season too.

Ushering in the Christmas Spirit...

...or maybe I'm rushering in the Christmas Spirit since it's before Thanksgiving...I'm not being respectful of the turkey...so sorry.

Lovely Ornament

I will honor the turkey next week for sure (Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, FYI!) but this week I am in the Christmas spirit! Or in the Christmas music spirit anyway.

Another Lovely Ornament

No we haven't put up our tree yet, but soon!

I just wanted to share my Christmas playlist to help get you in the mood and also to see if there are more songs I should add.

Songs I Already Have *:

Pretty Paper - Willie Nelson
Please Come Home for Christmas - The Eagles or Bon Jovi's version
Greensleeves (A Charlie Brown Christmas) - Vince Guaraldi
Blue Christmas - Elvis (Nicole Atkins does a nice version on The Hotel Cafe presents Winter Songs)
Up on the House Top - Jackson 5
A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl & Ives
Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses
Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney
Mele Kalikimaka - Jimmy Buffett
Happy Christmas - Jimmy Buffett
All I Want for Christmas is You - Vince Vance and the Valiants
Louisiana Christmas Day - Aaron Neville
No Christmas for Me - Zee Avi
Frosty the Snowman - Fiona Apple
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - Jack Johnson
Donde Esta Santa Claus - Straight No Chaser
White Christmas - Michael Buble
Mistletoe - Colbie Caillat
All My Bells Are Ringing - Lenka
I'll Be Home for Christmas - Holly Conlan
Last Christmas - Glee Cast (I loved Wham!'s version back in the day)
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause - John Mellencamp
* Plus a slew of the kidlet Christmas songs.
Songs I'll Be Adding:

Shake Up Christmas - Train
Christmas Lights - Coldplay
In the Morning - Jack Johnson also on This Warm December (A Brushfire Holiday Vol 2)
Christmas Must Be Tonight - Bahamas  also on This Warm December (A Brushfire Holiday Vol 2)
Let It Ride - ALO
The Christmas Song - (which version?)
Do They Know It's Christmas? - Glee

For those of you local to Oklahoma: B.C. Clark Jingle is part of our Christmas experience.  Check out Megan Mullally singing it:



I am sure I missed some goodies so please let me know if your favorite Christmas song is not listed... I would love to add more good music to our library, especially since I started off so freaking early.

Pretty and Tasty

What is(are) your favorite Christmas song(s)?

Moving Musical Finds

This past week I found some really good musical surprises that I wanted to share. The first comes with the song Guaranteed by Eddie Vedder {from the movie Into the Wild}. I finally downloaded it along with Beautiful Things by Gungor recently. I listened to these songs briefly before heading out with the kiddos last week and then I picked up my iPod earlier this week and really listened to the songs. When Guaranteed ends, there is a 2 minute period of silence followed by a humming vocal of the song. I thought somehow iTunes botched or merged the recordings until I researched it a little and found out that it was on purpose. Beautiful movie and a beautiful song too.

I know all the rules
But the rules did not know me...guaranteed

I found a goosebump-inducing cover of "Creep" (Radiohead) performed by Scala (a Belgian girls choir) while checking out Danielle's blog, Knotty Yarn. [Side note: I was sad to see that she'd deleted her blog of 9 years but glad to see she's still around and can't wait to read her new content.] You can listen to this song on her theme songs page or on the trailer for the Social Network (which I still haven't seen) or on YouTube. They even make the eff word sound beautiful...

I don't care if it hurts
I wanna have control
I wanna perfect body
I wanna perfect soul
I want you to notice when I'm not around...
You're so fucking special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here...

And earlier this week I found out that I am a fan of Train. (I know! I mean, Drops of Jupiter has been out for only 10 years, right?) I didn't know who sang Hey, Soul Sister before this past week; I thought it was Bruno Mars for some reason. A friend of mine got free tickets to the Train/Maroon 5 concert at the Zoo Amphitheater and she turned me on to her favorite song of theirs, Marry Me. Now that I've heard that song and a few others (including Hey, Soul Sister) I definitely need to download Save Me, San Francisco.

Have you discovered any good music lately?

Hosty Mosh Pit

Last night we went to the last of the Summer Breeze concerts in the park and they definitely saved the best for last: Hosty.  I have been of longtime fan of Hosty, since before they were The Hosty Duo. The band was called Silvertones back in 1994 when we used to catch them at Liberty D's (and we danced to My Ho Drives a Big Red Car), then they were the Silvatones and then they whittled down to Hosty Trio and then Hosty Duo.

As proof: I think I still have the cassette that Mike Byar's brought to me in 1995. I can't recall if they ran out at the performance or if I didn't have the cash that night but he was kind enough to deliver the much wanted music to me.

Last night they were as good as ever and I'm so happy that my children got to experience them. Emi has heard Mike Hosty play before at her school and the Little Ones have heard their music from our home library but none had experienced a Hosty concert before last night. It was a beautiful night in the park and one good thing about not having much rain this summer is that there were no mosquitoes out. The temps were cool too.

We started out at a friend's house near the park. He was hosting a pre-Hosty gathering that he didn't even make it to....he got stuck in Seattle. Nice that he let us hang out and socialize before the concert. Much more trusting a friend than I ...

Hanging at Scott's, pre-Hosty

Scott and I sat in our Winfield chairs and we spread out a blanket for the kids, but they did not sit still for long.  2 of our 3 joined the other kiddos in front of the stage in a little mosh pit of sorts. It was so cute to see them dancing to the music. I love that they will have memories of running barefoot in the park, making friends and dancing to good music.




We sat back drinking Tecate and eating Guacamole Chips and soaking in the music and the good time. Some friends joined us on the blanket and I found out that Hosty's babysitter can also be our babysitter. She lives close to us and even after sitting with our 3 kiddos said that she'd love to watch the kids. I will have to make use of that offer before it expires. ;.)

We bought their new CD (The Mousetrap Sessions) and of course, a Mac and Cheese t-shirt "for Scott".  It was a late night so I will post pictures later... it was a great way to spend 9/11.

So, how was your weekend, friends?

Distractioning & Satisfactioning *

Elvis' A Little Less Conversation has been on my mind so much lately that I had to download it this morning to keep me going at work. I put my freshly charged ipod in my bag this morning and then promptly left for work without it. ;.( I blame my daughters for distractioning me today - I was running around turning out their lights when I should have been focusing on grabbing my bag (they were in the car).


What I wore to work today (not that you asked)



So, anyway, I did something today that I never do (anymore, anyway, since I purchased that skirt above) and I am not ashamed! It's been a while since I splurged and bought something just out and not on sale. (Note: I have 1 pair of Joe Jeans and 1 pair of UGGs that I worked hard for and will keep until I die, likely). But today I didn't want to miss out.

I saw a cute charcoal sweater/poncho and ordered it (along with some cute earrings). I know it's hot as blazes outside but I am trying to usher in Fall as quickly as possible... I hope this helps! (because I will want to wear that sweater the second I get it).

In other news, Emi's hair is coming along nicely. I promised pictures last month but the comb out and style has taken a little longer because we left her hair in braids a little too long...

Emi's cornrows are getting there....my pretty girl!

Love my baby girl!

* FYI, after I got home I listened to my song on repeat until I was satisfactioned.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat (last Friday's lunch hour)

Well, almost. I was going to go to Natural Grocers yesterday to pick up a free Giovanni shampoo or conditioner (NG sent me a coupon in the mail!) and some lunch but I was sidetracked by all of the gorgeous rain and ended up going home to revel in the rain (and document that it really happened). So today at lunch I ran by and picked out a conditioner, grabbed some apples and yogurt and when I went by to grab my beloved chicken curry naanwich, I found there were none left. *sad face* There were some naanwiches of the chicken kebab variety so I grabbed one of those and hightailed it back to work. Oh, friends - this naanwich might even be better than last week's! When I see "kebab" I think of bamboo skewers of grilled meat and veggies, but this sandwich is comprised of a chicken patty and is very yummy....and spicy. I love spice! So I'm thinking we will be having an "Indian Night" at our house soon and serve homemade naanwiches and hummus...  Maybe we can eat our dinner sitting on pillows in the living room and watch an encore presentation of Like Stars on Earth (Ishan!)

In other news, I recently took an online Defensive Driving Course to renew my DDC discount on my auto insurance and learned a new term that I should have known about and somehow never heard before now. How is that possible at 42? Microsleep. [This term was brought up in the sections on impaired driving.] "Microsleeps are brief, unintended episodes of loss of attention associated with events such as blank stare, head snapping, and prolonged eye closure which may occur when a person is fatigued but trying to stay awake to perform a monotonous task like driving a car or watching a computer screen."

I have lived off of microsleeps for the past 25 years! During college I worked at our local psych hospital data center and one semester of my career there involved weekend graveyard shifts. I would get off work at 7:30am Monday, shower and zip into History of Economics at 8:30am, listen to lecture, take notes, microsleep, take notes, zzzz. It was not so easy trying to decipher my notes that semester. You'd think that "macrosleep" would be the opposite - "long, much intended, much needed episodes of total unconsciousness" but I only found programming in Excel links when Googling (or Binging) that term.  Hoping that this weekend brings me some much needed macrosleep!

One last thing, if you haven't heard of Zee Avi (I first heard of her last Christmas from Sundry's Christmas music mix - No Christmas for Me) go to Spinner's Free MP3 of the day and get her Dwell Window for free.

Happy Weekend, All!

Our Flower Girl (15 years later)

We were honored to have this girlie as our flower girl in our wedding! I still can't believe that she is a young lady and graduated from college. I will have to look past the fact that she ended up going to the wrong college (her photo is in an OU frame on our fridge). So proud to know her and her family and share with you her beautiful voice:

The Midnight Special

A few weeks ago Scott purchased this video collection and we've watched a couple of the DVDs with Emi, infusing her mind with yet more musical inspiration (or embarrassment?). I have caught some of the acts while checking my FaceBook account and updating my blog and it's been quite a trip. In the earliest videos (1972), the performers seem kinda wary about busting moves or really getting into their performances. Maybe it was the bright lights or the sober audience? And while we were watching the Bee Gee's performance of Nights on Broadway we learned where Elaine's dance moves originated.

We watched Jim Croce sing Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and thought about how different things are today with promoting talent - how much simpler things were back then.  He died in a fiery plane crash soon after this performance. Back in August 2000 Scott and I were on a trip to San Diego and we actually met Jim's widow, Ingrid Croce, at her restaurant, Croce's Restaurant & Jazz Bar and  in the Gaslamp District. She was kind enough to bring her cookbook - Thyme in a Bottle - to our table and sign it for me! (That was such a good trip for us!)

Each time we watch a performance I am anxious to see if it evokes any déjà vu for me. So far it hasn't happened but probably because I was only 3-5 years old at the time the screened videos aired and probably not up past midnight. And if I WAS up that late, I'm sure I didn't have the TV on. Perhaps as we view the latter DVDs, say 1979-1981 I might have a flashback to when I saw it originally. Until then, I will enjoy (and sometimes cringe while) watching The Midnight Special.

Favorite Things So Far This Month

• U2 360° Tour with the Black Eyed Peas was a great concert. We couldn't find a sitter (in town) because everyone in Norman was going to the concert, so we took Emi with us. We walked to the concert and stayed until almost 11pm, left while U2 was playing Sunday, Bloody Sunday. We listened to the rest of the concert from our house. U2 hadn't been to Norman in 26 years and we felt privileged to be a part of the history...and the "Claw" was a very cool stage...
• Chocomole!!! While we didn't have all of the ingredients to make Jason Mraz's Chocomole, we made up something very deliciously close! Emi and I put 3 ripe avocados, raw cacao powder, cream of coconut and vanilla extract into the food processor and processed it with a little bit of water to thin. The resultant chocolate "mousse" was so rich, creamy and healthy. Next time we will try it out with dates...and take some pics. This comfort food is definitely a keeper!
• Basketball!
• Sleepover with Emi's sisters and seeing them being sisters!
• More time with my family...