Oh, Mumford & Sons you complete me, at least lately you do. I have been forcing a bit of a transitional period in my life, actually a bit is an understatement, I'm going for a full overhaul of everything. It might have a little to do with my quarter century birthday looming closer everyday but it also has a lot to do the fact that change is good and I'm ready for it—even if I have to force it. So, Mumford & Son's song The Cave has been my theme song for getting things done and making change real. Corny, huh?
Aside from all that, I have a soft spot in my heart for folk-y indie rock and they fit the bill perfectly. Also, they are one more band making the banjo cool and I'm all for that.
Leah is an all around great friend and recently an awesome freelancer who makes the projects I work on look pretty—if you're ever in need of a graphic designer she is your one woman powerhouse or as she would say "the bomb dot com".
I am in love with frozen yogurt—otherwise known as fro yo if you happen to be enjoying it with me.
I love that I can convince myself that it's healthy since the majority of the flavors I enjoy happen to be fat free and I like dressing up my cup with candy fresh fruit. Regular yogurt is usually a part of my lunch/snack time throughout the week but frozen yogurt always seems special. So special that I've made an eating schedule for it. Yep, I'm that neurotic and I have a schedule for eating fro yo.
I have frozen yogurt nearly every Wednesday evening, it's my midweek treat to myself (sometimes I refer to it as my "date night" since it's the most consistent date I've had in nearly two years). I think it's nice to have something to look forward to every week and the more I buy the closer I am to getting a free cup. That yummy marketing scheme gets me every time!
I'm obsessed with the idea of flash mobs. To organize one would be my ultimate Guerrilla PR/Marketing fantasy come true. Unfortunately, that opportunity has not come up yet. Although, I am certain it will—to participate in and plan a flash mob is on my list of career "to dos", strange? But until that day arrives I will have to live vicariously through other people's fun guerrilla campaigns. Below are two of my favorites:
Frozen at Grand Central Station. This was done by an Improv group, not exactly a planned PR/Marketing campaign but it's a great example:
H&M Kids Fashion Flash Mob. This was executed beautifully. H&M happens to be just around the corner from Union Square in San Francisco making it the perfect location for a flash mob that garners lots of tourists and shoppers during the day. Who doesn't love kids dancing their little hearts out in trendy affordable clothes?
It seems kind of silly, but I completely agree. A smile is the difference between a stranger and a new friend or a good day and a bad day. So, I'm going to smile at at least one random person today. It may not bring me a new friend or turn around that persons entire day but the simple act of smiling does make me feel happier. You should try it, you might be surprised.
I made a mix of a few of my favorite bands that require extra outlets. My favorite on the mix is So Many Dynamos, they need to some back to California so I can dance. But until then I'll have to listen to this mix and swivel in my desk chair at work.
Today I am grateful for the kindness of strangers.
On my morning commute to work I found myself doing what I do nearly every morning: listening to KROQ while driving with my windows down because in the summer months I consider an air dry commute to be the perfect solution for not blow drying my hair.
While stopped at a red light, I must have been laughing at something said during the Kevin and Bean Morning Show because all of sudden I heard someone yelling "Hey!". I looked to my right and there was a little old man in a pickup truck perfectly in line with my passenger window, I realized he was yelling at me and instantly thought I was going to get yelled at about my driving. But instead he said "Hey, you're happy aren't you?" I was confused since I had expected to get snapped at so I replied "Well, I guess so... yes, I'm happy". Then he smiled, laughed and said "You have the nicest smile so I hope you're happy".
I had no idea what to say to that but thank you. After that I didn't know what to do, what is the etiquette for red light conversations with strangers? By the time I ran through what may have been a nice reply the light turned green and we went our separate ways. I don't know what made him want to talk to me but I appreciated it and I thought about it for the rest of day, especially since a morning drive to work isn't always the happiest thing. Since I didn't get a chance to say something nice back to him I figured the next best thing I could do was pay it forward to a co-worker. So, I complimented the small detailed things that get over looked but are still very special.
That little old man really made my day and all he had to say was "You have the nicest smile so I hope you're happy."
Whenever I listen to Mason Jennings I feel like a changed person. Not because his music is so powerful that it has caused me to become a different person but because I remember who I was when I first fell in love with his music and the difference between that version of myself to who I am today is infinitely different. I love that music can hold so many memories, his album Bone Clouds has become a time capsule of sound for me. If I ever choose to revisit myself I can always listen to Mason Jennings. In fact, his song Which Way Your Heart Will Go embodies that feeling. You never know where your heart will lead you and how much change (for better or worse) can come from it.
I'm so grateful for the unconditional love of dogs, specifically my little mutt mix. She's always happy to see me, a good listener, always willing to take walks & cuddle, makes me smile everyday and never complains. Now that I think about it she is akin to what I want in mi media naranja. Dogs, other half, same difference? In only the best way of course...
Instead of doing a usual MM post of one band and thought it would be nice to have a mix. I recently made a mix on 8tracks of songs I like to listen to at the gym. I really only listen to my iPod at the gym if I have shown up too late to join in on a class. Gym equipment (like the treadmill) and I don't really get along. I have to listen to something upbeat to distract me from my grumpy "I hate treadmills" attitude.
So, here it is in all its poppy, indie, eletro, sweaty glory:
Friends (they're all so cute) at an Argyle Pimps gig. Their shows are legit—catchy hip hop that doesn't objectify women and a jazz band supplying the beats. Unfortunately, they don't have too many live shows but if you're in the area when they're playing you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not checking them out.
El Ten Eleven is a band that makes you wonder why they haven't gotten the commercial success they deserve. On one hand, I can be a bit of a music snob and enjoy keeping some of my favorite music to myself as if the band is my special secret only for me to enjoy. While at the same time you can love a band so much that you just want to show them off and hope others fall for them too. I feel both ways about this band. A part of me wants to be greedy and keep them to myself but I wouldn't mind being surrounded by others who think they're awesome too.
"Everything that's happening is supposed to be happening" or "It's about the journey, not the destination". And we're supposed to take comfort in these phrases.
The more I think about those things the more I find them to be true. However, I use the universe as my reason for the unknown. I often think:
"The universe will bring it to me when I'm ready"
"The universe is trying to teach me a lesson"
"The universe must have brought this person or thing into my life for a reason"
"The universe is recongizing my karama" and so on...
So, what does that make me? Religious? Careless? Faithful? Unaccountable? Existential? Metaphysical?
I would like to believe that I am a universalist who takes trust and delight in the unknown. Which somedays is just a nice way of saying: I don't know what the hell is going on but I'll find some kind of humor in the unknown until I can wrap my head around my often strange life.
I saw Phantogram a few weeks ago and if you're even slightly into electronic beats you need to pick up their album Eyelid Movies. They're so great that after seeing them I bought it. I rarely if ever purchase CD's but they charmed me, although their set was a little shorter than I would have liked I think it may just be their way of letting me know I'm going to have to catch them when they're back in California.
I spent a sunny Sunday afternoon in Napa with two of my favortie ladies in the whole wide world. This photo was taken in front of Domaine Carneros Winery. It was such a gorgeous day—sipping on sparkling wine, munching on cheese & crackers all while having some laughs was perfect. I signed up for a chance to win a $500 gift card to Domaine Carneros, I am still waiting for there congratulatory email/phone call... it could happen! If you ever happen to find yourself in the area I recommend going, it's a picture perfect place. Next time, I would love to do an early morning hot air ballon ride followed by brunch and sparkling wine. Ah, a girl can dream.
I recently discovered George Winston and his album Summer. I don't think I could have stumbled upon it at a better time. It has been perfect to listen to as I make my morning and evening commute back and forth to work since much of it is on a two lane road through the countryside. I really feel that this album brings this time of year and my surroundings to life, I love it when music can do that—just enhance everything around you and make it that much better.
Currently, this song has been playing on repeat for me:
I have been a slacker in terms of blog posts this week. But I've had to play catch up, having Monday off for Memorial Day was such a blessing as I needed the break but ended up being a burden when I had an inbox full of fun emails to go through.
I'm still feeling the afterglow of an awesome mini vacation despite my office workload. I hopped on a train to Oakland to see two of my favorite people and see one of my favorite bands, She & Him. I was so stoked to see them live. Zooey Deschanel is my style muse and seeing my girl crush in person was rad. M. Ward has got this effortlessly cool vibe about him that gave their set a seasoned feel even though they're a relatively new band with only two albums under their belt.
One of the best parts of the night (it's kind of hard to pick what's best since seeing my best friends, beer tasting at Pyramid, cute merch and a free drink ticket at the show were pretty darn awesome too) was the fact that they had two encores, totally unexpected and completely satisfying. I loved every minute of it. I took some video, which is surprising because I'm usually too busy singing/dancing when I'm at a show to even think twice about video but I love them so much I have to share:
The story of Xena (or as I like to call her, Beaner) is awfully sweet. My family didn't necessarily pick her so much as she picked us. She was a stray dog wandering around our neighborhood when I was about 16. For some reason she decided hanging out in front of our house would be a good place to be, so naturally we felt sorry for her but tried to keep our distance since we already had a dog at the time and didn't think two would be a very good idea. Well, she was persistent and would spend entire days outside of our house and chase our cars down the road when we would leave.
Eventually, I caved and gave her food, played with and pet her. I fell in love pretty fast. She must have too, because the next day I came home and she was in our house. The only strange thing about this was no one let her in. She dug a hole under our fence and let herself in through our doggy door. After that we decided she was ours, or rather she decided we were hers.
Beaner and her "don't steal my soul with your camera" face.
After about a month of calling her random names a kid who lived in a nearby neighborhood identified her as Xena. She had been his dog and his family was going through some rough times and as a result she was forgotten about. Upon seeing how happy she was with us he told us to keep her. She has been a sassy pain in the butt ever since, but I do love her very much. Who doesn't love a pint size dog perfect for cuddling?
Imitation is the highest form of flattery, although sometimes it doesn't feel like it. But having someone be so inspired by your art that they use yours as a basis for their own does sound pretty darn flattering—that is if you choose to look at it that way.
Some of my twenty five before twenty five are really ridiculous, like this:
Yeah, unfortunately I'm that corny. Or maybe fortunately? Unless you happened to be with me while I was getting it drawn, then that's unfortunate for you because:
a) Lots of people felt the need to stare at me like a zoo animal
b) I was pretty darn giddy and couldn't stop laughing during it
c) You had to let the general public know that we're friends, embarrassing...
I didn't realize I had a such a giant forehead until this was drawn. Maybe I should get bangs to cover that monster up. Although, the man who sketched me advised that I make a few hundred copies for all my boyfriends. Flattery works on me because I gave him a nice wink and a tip. Oh boy!
The Black Keys' new album Brothers came out last week and I was pleasantly surprised by how great it is. If you're ever in the mood for some no fuss blues/rock The Black Keys are a great place to start. I have already been peeking at their tour dates trying to decide which one's would be best to skip work for. At this point, I'm sure any would be great.
This is the first single off the album, Tighten Up:
I really like Dawes and this was my third time seeing them live. I almost didn't make it due to only getting four hours of sleep the night before. The sleepless Angela mind works in mysterious ways, meaning I convinced myself that sleep is overrated and I could do without it. "I'll sleep when I'm dead," yeah I said that, sleepy Angela has ovaries of steel because I only got another four hours of sleep the next two nights. 12 hours of sleep over a three day period = major case of the absent minded goof.
Aside from the lack of sleep, Dawes was great and I had a good time. This song was their big finish and it's one of my favorites off their album North Hills:
Missed connection postings can be creepy because let's face it, Craigslist is just creepy in general but I really love coming across the sweet ones even though they are few and far between. The hopeless romantic in me wishes that the post is stumbled upon by the right person and the two of them can have a date to go along with their meet cute. I don't believe in coincidences, I like to think that all things happen for a reason and that maybe missed connections is a second chance at not taking advantage of a good thing in the moment. I'm sure it's rare but wouldn't that be a great story?
It seems like I have been coming across a lot of people feeling stressed lately whether it is from work, school, family, wedding planning, you name it. So, I thought it would be nice to do a post for an Anti Stress Kit. Honestly, this is so simple to do it probably shouldn't be classified as a "craft" since all you need are a few supplies and a thoughtful mood.
Supplies:
Paper bag
A hole punch and paper (to make confetti)
Pennies
Rubberbands
An Eraser
Snickers
Starburst
Hershey Kisses
Marbles (unfortunately I couldn't find any but if you can, add them)
Something to write with
List each item on the bag and what they can be used for to reduce stress:
Eraser: To make all your mistakes disappear.
Pennies: So you will never be broke.
Rubberbands: To help you stretch beyond your limits.
Starburst: To give you a burst of energy at the end of the day.
Marbles: To replace the ones people say you've lost.
Snickers: Laughter is the best medicine.
Confetti: When you feel like throwing something.
Kisses: To always remember that someone cares.
Just toss all of the items in the bag and give it to your sweetheart, friend, co-worker etc. It's a little corny and won't relieve any serious stress but I do think it will put a smile on the face of a person you care about.
The quickest way to make time pass for me at work is to listen to music. But music with lyrics can distract me sometimes, especially when I'm coding so I try to stick to instrumental music like classical or jazz. For the past week I have been listening to Explosions In The Sky while trying to be a code poet and Your Hand In Mine is one of my favorites:
I was recently watching yet not watching TV (you know, that kind of it's on for background noise but you're not really paying attention, kind of TV viewing) and all of a sudden I heard Nick Drake playing in a commercial. I stopped what I was doing and took in the moment. The first time I heard his music was years ago in a commercial for Volkswagen, they used his song Pink Moon and I instantly fell in love, figured out who he was and bought the album. Turns out that folk music is great for advertisements, who knew?
His song From The Morning was playing in the commercial that stopped me for a moment:
I got my income tax money back and if I weren't such a guilty shopper (I tend to talk myself out of purchasing anything that is not on sale or isn't deemed a necessity in my mind) I would snap up these things pronto:
I want the FujifilmInstax Mini so bad. Since I can't get my hands on any Polaroid film (The Impossible Project is amazing but man, that film is pricey) this would be the next best thing for instant photos, besides that, I think it would be fun to have.
I love this geeky necklace. Don't you wish that ctrl+z could work in real life sometimes?
I have this vision of a wall covered in photographs and art, it's basically a jumbled mess of ornate frames but somehow they all flow beautifully together. I'll have that someday and I would like this illustration to be among those random beautiful things.
And I would like a wicker basket for my bike since I have Farmer's Market trips planned out in my head and will need a basket to hold any food that doesn't get consumed by the time I make it back home and a weekend trip filled with sun/sand/water would be lovely too.
Translation: Happy 5th of May! My Spanish isn't very good, my Spanglish is better. I promise I'm half Mexican, but you wouldn't know it.
Today is Cino de Mayo and you'll probably want a yummy snack after you're done polishing off a few Mexican beers or Margaritas, right? This snack is really simple, even Gringos can handle it:
1. Take a flour tortilla and heat both sides on your stove. No pan needed just toss it on your gas burner and flip that baby with your hands, of course be careful not to burn yourself. No one wants to spend Cinco de Drinko in the hospital.
2. Take the tortilla off the burner and put a pad of butter on one side. Spread the butter around so it melts evenly.
3. Sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on the buttered side of the tortilla.
4. Roll up and enjoy!
This used to be one of my favorite snacks as a kid and was a cheap/quick dessert in college when I had no money to buy something to curb a sweet tooth attack.
Have you ever met someone and just had an awful first impression? They didn't look/act like someone you would want to spend your time with and to top it off the converstion was labored and went no where. But then upon running into each other again, something just clicks and it turns out this person is amazing and you wonder how the heck you had ever thought any different of them?
Well, that's how I feel about Passion Pit. It was tough for us to find common ground in the beginning, I thought we wanted different things but it turns out they were just what I needed. The more I listen to them the more I fall in love. I can't get their song Seaweed Song out of my head. "Nobody knows you the way you know you, but I think I do" keeps playing in repeat in my mind.
I've been lagging on blog posts this week and I read Liz's fill in the blank post and decided it would be a quick way to get another post without much planning or thought. I know, lame, but I've been busy. Or at least that's my story...
1. Favorite Hobby?
I love going to shows. Music makes me really happy. I don't care if I know who the band is or what style of music it is (well, sometimes I care).
2. Favorite TV show?
The Office is ridiculous, it makes me smile every Thursday and any girl who doesn't want a Jim of her own is either in denial or has no need to want because she already has hers... jerk.
3. Favorite restaurant food?
Chow Mein? Good. Affirmation wrapped in a yummy cookie? Good.
4. Favortie thing to shop for?
I had a tomboy phase for um... forever until about 3 years ago and now I'm obsessed with wearing dresses and rarely wear pants.
5. Favorite animal?
This was a hard decision because there are so many photos of cute puppies that I would love to make mine...
6. Favorite song?
In My Life by The Beatles is my favorite song of all time. Look up the lyrics and you'll see why.
7. Favorite word?
I almost never get to say it but pamplemousse is one of my most favorite words.
8. Recent favorite YouTube video?
Being Mexi-talian I happen to do an awesome chola impression, I even named my alter ego Rosa. She pretty much sounds just like this chick. "Don't be talkin' to me like you know me!"
9. Favorite movie?
I could watch Almost Famous a million times and never get sick of it.
10. Favorite childhood memory?
On family road trips my Grandma would sit in the backseat with my brother and I. Growing up in a rural area we would always pass by ranches and whenever we drove past a ranch with a white horse she would say "White horses are good luck, spit in your hand, make a fist with the other & rub in into your palm and make a wish." So, we would pretend to spit in our hand and smash it into the other and make a wish. Every time I see a white horse I think about this and make a wish.
Want to play along? Copy & paste the prompts below, answer each with a photo and a description.
