best of the fest: nelsonville music festival

Posted in advantageous adventures, familyness, i dig music, love and happiness, weekending by ElaineMarie

dear family,

one of the things i love about us is that we’re willing to give things a try. we don’t put ourselves in a box more than we have to and for the most part, we make things work. we have a lot of fun and adventure in our lives because of those things. we’re great. let’s keep it up and add another to this crew!

love, me.

i know 9 mos pregnant me would not have been able to hang in for the entirety of nelsonville music festival last weekend but dammit if i wasn’t sad to miss out on the all the fun. i was really and truly grateful to head down on sunday as a family of three and just enjoy the day and atmosphere. i can’t say we were as invested in the acts as much as we’ve been in years past. it was more about taking in the atmosphere. maybe it was a little bit about making a promise to ourselves that we’d be back in full force, bigger and better than ever next year.

darla definitely knew the ropes this time and made it very known that she did not need us. that is until she wanted us to buy her something. i desperately wanted to just let her experience this last time down there as a trio in the way she see fit but damn if that girl isn’t having a hard time making good decisions right now. i know she’s a kid. but i’m just a bit flabbergasted at how she comes to the conclusion that things are a good idea sometimes…

anyway, i just want to say i’m thankful to the universe for making it possible for us to attend this past weekend, thankful for my husband and his energy levels, thankful for the weather, and thankful for the beautiful ohio people who make the weekend so magical. unless this next kid is born with that extreme allergy to sunshine or something of the like { please do not do this to spite me, universe. this is only a blog } our tix for next year are as good as bought. boughten? buyed? i buy?

pssst. read our full weekend of attendance from last year here.

19Jun2013

daily moment

Posted in daily moment, i dig music by ElaineMarie

i’m having a little trouble deciding on my daily moment yesterday.

i’m torn between this moment from our last childless night {thanks mom & dad!}:

photo 388116BA-7332-4534-8B7C-6441370499B8-4926-000004358404EB3C_zpsa7c2daf6.jpg

or this moment of seeing some dad country on the big stage:

or THIS MOMENT when i took a really awesome selfie. le sigh.

cast your votes, please!

ps. i just want to make note that the heart around mike and i not so much symbolizes the love we have for one another as much as it symbolizes the love we each have for his authentic olivia newton john shirt. i “borrow” it sometimes.

16Jun2013

Daily moment

Posted in i dig music by ElaineMarie

Since I was standing transfixed, sending little prayers up to the heavens to remember the finale moment for all my days, I’d say this is my daily moment from yesterday.

Local natives & the national was simply the best show I’ve witnessed in a long time. I’ve seen both many times but there was something magical about last night. Anyone who was there will agree.

We barely let the national boys leave the stage. They lined up along the front of the stage and sang an a capella version of Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks with the crowd in accompaniment as their final farewell. There is something about hundreds of humans raising their voices in song together. It really got me in a special place to see so many folks I know singing along and enjoying the moment. I cried. That’s not saying much since I cry all the time but it’s been a while since I’ve been moved to tears at a show. Moved by tears of happiness at that.

If you were there I hope you’ll remember it all your days with me. If you weren’t, we’ll just pretend you were.

3Jun2013

daily moment

Posted in daily moment, i dig music by ElaineMarie

nelsonville music festival is like a mini coachella.

for babies.

2Jun2013

daily moment

Posted in daily moment, familyness, i dig music, love and happiness by ElaineMarie

hubster holding two kiddos we love like our own while watching the circus performance. at this moment i was marveling at how incredibly fortunate we are. this is a good life.

25May2013

way yes

Posted in familyness, i dig music by ElaineMarie

here’s our friday night down at the commons watching Way Yes. i say way yes to this band. i dig. i dig alot. sign me up for their next show! i’m just wearing my doula shirts at all times from here on out so if you plan on going anywhere with me in the next, say, 25 years then you can count on that being my attire. as far as darla’s outfit goes you can reference this post.

also, the commons gets better every year. it’s easily becoming one of my favorite places in this city. darla ran around like a mad fool and we get to veg out to some good tunes. not to mention jeni’s and late night slice are there now.

i want more nights like that one, please, universe.

29Mar2013

spring break

Posted in familyness, let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

do you hear that? no. you don’t. i don’t either. it’s completely quiet around here. darla done gone on spring break to indiana!!! really it will just be for an extended weekend but i’ve plans for getting stuff done. see:

wanna place bets on how much i actually get done?

and here’s just a few more moments from the week that made me happy:

1. donut date with my girl

2. mike and darla painted balloons

3. treated to an excellent show by my best friends for my {upcoming} birthday

4. sunshine in a house of organized mess

that’s all. wishing you a happy friday, a great weekend and a peaceful spring break!

11Feb2013

weekending

Posted in familyness, i dig music, Kiddie Hangouts, let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

exhaustingly good amounts of fun time this past weekend. weekend bits:

1. new bird feeder project 2. selfie before the en vogue show 3 & 4. the terribly anticlimactic show that was somehow still tons of fun and i would go again in a heartbeat 5. tried el camino for the first time. thank goodness for healthy, cheap tacos. and i mean CHEAP. 6 & 7. year of the buffalo in-store at vinyl frontier. Mike arranged his first in store and i have to say, he picked a mighty fine band {biased!}. 8. darla worked her magic and made fast friends with the band. they gifted her a copy of their ep and a guitar pick. it’s been our soundtrack in the car ever since. you should check it out. NOW. 9. finished the weekend with a valentine-crafting & pizza party at our friends’.

weekend also included but not pictured: a karaoke session at mickey’s, sunday brunch with lady friends, darla’s introduction to star wars, and cousin hang-time at our place. all normal things like gym, grocery and housecleaning fit in where they could…or not.

i love busy weekends full of life. keep them coming.

19Jan2013

senses

Posted in i dig music, let me let me update ya, Run Da House, yum yum eat good, zero waste home by ElaineMarie

i am playing along with the weekly senses photo feature from Mary Catherine’s blog this week.

i am a dreamer. i think big and dream bigger. the problem with this is that i find myself not being satisfied in whatever moment i’m in. i’m living in the future or the past too much. i feel that focusing on this photo exercise put some perspective in my day: if i’m experiencing something nice pertaining to all 5 of my senses in one day then i’m doing alright. i have it pretty good no matter what my ambitions are telling me. I was able to find all these little gratitudes in a span of about 60 minutes:

^^^smell^^^

i’ve been making more of an effort to thoroughly use our fruits and veggies before tossing in the compost. the smell of grapefruit after scrubbing the sink with the leftover peel and the smell of fresh veggie stock helped me connect to our blessings in the nourishment department. (yeah, the pot boiled over. so much for the morning stove wipedown.)

^^^taste^^^

darla and i have a little ritual of scooping out the cream from the top of our freshly opened milk jugs. we get them every other week so it’s a treat to each have a spoonful once in a while. the taste of this week’s spoonful helped me connect to this small part of our life that i hope darla will remember when she is older. just she and her mama sharing fresh cream and feeling it’s a treat every single time.

^^^touch^^^

a touch of warmth is back in the sunshine. so that means it is real sunshine now. the kind that you can feel warm your skin. you can see my pasty white skin drinking in the vitamin d. the feeling of warmth connected me to the promise of springtime and brighter days to come.

^^^sight^^^

the fiendish look of accomplishment my girl makes when she’s sneaked a treat. it’s impossible for me to be irked by her cookiesnatching ways. the sight of this smile makes me grateful time and again.

^^^sounds^^^

this one was a given. mike won tickets to Father John Misty & The Walkmen this week. it has been quite a drought since my last concert so i was feeling very thankful to get back to some live music. also, i am grateful to have a husband that has calling in to radio stations to win tickets down to a science. i missed most of father john misty due to a birthworkers meeting but made it just in time for 2 of my favorite songs so it was ok. have a listen to my fave above.

that’s all friends. hope you continue to have a grand weekend!!!! xoxoxoxo

28Jun2012

yeasayer

Posted in i dig music, Travels by ElaineMarie

yeasayer is my favorite band. i love them. i have been waiting in anticipation for their third album for a long time.

i took the sequins vintage skirt i found on saturday as a sign from the universe that sunday’s concert was going to be AMAZING.

my sequins skirt tells no lies – except maybe the fact that it says it’s a size 4. i am not a size 4 – yeasayer sounded great. i’m excited to hear the new material in album form. it was slower than i had expected, a bit more trancier and synthier, but i liked it.

b/c it was still grooveable, shakeable and moveable. that’s pretty much all i care about in life.

i have a confession, in my search for the highly coveted parking spots, i almost ran over anand. and then when i was entering the venue i was pushing on the door while he was pulling and the door swung open pretty fast, almost taking him out. i am devastated that this man probably now thinks his biggest fan is trying to assassinate him ninja style. (my tactics were quite ninja-like, agreed? yes?)

so if my boys are reading this – thanks for a great show last sunday night. anand, i am NOT trying to kill you. i love you too much and i have too many future ticket investments for your shows to do a thing like that.

sorry.