Change Of Pace

The blessed cool front that has blown through Texas this past week has shifted the dead of summer attitude to a revived readiness for fall. I think September just might be my favorite month. Besides the literal breath of fresh air, it also has the US Open, the start of college football, the launch of fall clothes and the start of the new TV season. Yes, I believe it is my favorite month.

This past weekend, a great group of college girlfriends traveled from afar to commence our last summer hoorah like pioneer women. Don't be fooled, we were not roughing it. Quite the opposite, really. We had 700 acres, a ranch lodge, 2 mules and a zebra-painted safari vehicle all at our disposal for the best Texas weekend getaway. We rode horses, we bass fished; some of us learned to shoot skeet, and like true city slickers, we all walked away saddle-sore.

We also discovered that there's no better time to reignite your love of the Dixie Chicks like a 6 hour car ride with your best friends! It's amazing how even 10-12 years after they came out, you can still sing every single rift to every single song. There was also a smattering of other old country songs as we confessed our favorite childhood stars: John Michael Montgomery, Doug Stone...Diamond Rio.

But with the close of the weekend and with the temperature returning back to tolerable from stifling, my heart is fully set for the fall. If you're not quite there yet, here are a few things to help set the tone for you:

Arcade Fire's new album Suburbs is amazing, and I haven't really taken it all in yet! I'm the worst about picking 2 or 3 songs and keeping them on repeat (Suburbs, We Used To Wait, & Modern Man). And if you haven't participated in their interactive video, you're missing out on a convergence of musical & technological genius.

www.thewildernessdowntown.com

Fanfarlo is also on my shortlist for fall. I've had the cd since May, but had only listened to Fire Escape because it was the only song I knew. Now that I've broadened my horizons, I'm a big fan. My favorites so far are Ghosts and Harold T. Watkins.

And for your sneak peek pleasure, check out Chris Martin's debut of a new song that he claims may never see the recording light of day. Happy September!

Small Joys

Not much explanation needed to share these little nuggets of joy!

Please listen to Ray LaMontagne's new album, "God Willin' And The Creek Don't Rise". .."New York City, you're killin me..." while I politely disagree, it's classic Ray and I can't be anything but thrilled!

Also, as a former Beyonce impersonator, I feel a personal obligation to post this. Sara B's new album is coming out (and she's touring with Greg Laswell!) in September so she's doing some fun things to help promote it. Check out her cover of Single Ladies for Billboard. She has a style that is much more fitting to me that the original beat's heels and leotards.

Indie-pendence Day

Thanks, iTunes for the catchy title that I just ripped off. Apparently this lapse in blogging and my recent head-first plunge into Corporate America has sucked out all of my creativity. My life may be lacking an appropriate creative outlet at the moment, but it is certainly not lacking in fantastic tunes! It's been the summer of diversity here at A Musical Snack...my playlist has ranged from Passion Pit and Local Natives to Eli Young and Lady Antebellum! I guess that's what it means to be indie in Texas...but I do hate to label.

A very cool find for Dallas folks and web streamers alike is the new KXT radio station. A blend of cool music and the always trendy, yet old-school NPR world news, KXT's tagline is "Music to the Core" which you have to love. I still surf the airwaves for a morning dose of Alejandro, but it has revitalized my daily commute and made my cubicle life a little less droning and cliche by introducing fun, local bands and playing those artists that you never get to hear in a public setting.

Check it out: kxt.org

Another sweet and budget-friendly find came to me from a little facebook birdie! Levi's brand has introduced a new concept they are calling Pioneer Sessions, where current artists re-craft unforgettable hits in their "Revival Recordings". Each week a new artist is posted with a remix of a classic and all are available as free downloads. When you get offered a free download, most people naturally assume a no-name artist butchering a song that you never really liked to begin with, but I'm talking She & Him covering "Fools Rush In", Passion Pit, Colbie Caillat, The Dirty Projectors, John Legend with The Roots, etc. etc. My personal fave is Ryan Bingham (you know, wrote the song for Crazy Heart) singing Otis Redding's "That How Strong My Love Is"...swoon.

"These recordings celebrate the most important part of music: The song, its influence and the inspirational effect on the generations that follow."

Go check out the site, read the stories, see the pics and download your favorites. Who can argue with that?

A Life In The Day

What I wouldn't give to live just one day of this life...

"A Life In The Day" from John Mayer on Vimeo.

An Easy Sell

I'm an easy sell when it comes to taking a trip. You want to go the beach? Yeah, I could probably swing that. Take a Greyhound to Providence? Why not?

New York is my favorite place in the world...so far. So I jump at the chance to go at any time. I think this may be the best reason yet.

March Madness

I know, I know...it's been like a month. March Madness has taken on a new meaning in my life this month, and I'm not just referencing the complete upheaval of the NCAA tournament. (Thanks for nothing, you so-called experts; I've gotten my tail kicked in two separate pools and it's not even over yet.) But really, life has just been crazy lately...so can we just do a little recap action and pick up where we left off? Call it even? Um k, thanks.

First off, San Diego was amazing! We had such a great time catching some rays, catching up with friends and literally eating our way around town. A California burrito stuffed with carnitas, fries and guacamole? Let's just say been there, done that.



Aside from the random snowfall on the first official day, spring has finally sprung in Texas! Earlier this month, Megan had a friend in town for the weekend who'd never been to Texas before. Seeing as it was the first beautiful and reasonably warm weekend we'd had, we all offered up our Saturday to show her that Dallas knows how to have a good time.

An early morning patio brunch was followed by a trip to the Nasher Sculpture Museum, where we were challenged to a drawing competition.


We visited everything but the face painting table, and decided it was just too pretty to call it a day. Why not head to The Ritz to have a mimosa? We walked the few blocks downtown and headed into The Ritz lobby like we owned the place. After being lightly cautioned that the pool was on the second floor and was for guests only, we matter of factly strolled over to the elevators and pressed "2". Worth a try, right?

Right. Not 30 seconds after approaching the locked door, a very friendly pool waiter happily swiped his key and welcomed us right in. After making ourselves comfortable in a row of padded lounge chairs, we ordered mimosas and smuggly snoozed in the sun.


That is until we heard a familiar voice making conversation to our left. Ever so sneakily, I peeked from behind my wayfarers to find a familiar face indeed. Amy whispered "Is that...John Tucker must die?" "Umm hmm."


This is the best shot I could get in my feeble attempt to remain cool. We quietly watched Jesse Metcalfe's every move and eavesdropped on his every word for the next 30 minutes or so. We casually sipped mimosas and enjoyed the view until we could giggle, twitter and text everyone we knew.

Next up, John Mayer. I think a few of you expected a ridiculous, overblown, obsessive post after the concert. (I really don't understand why...?) Truth is, I didn't swoon quite like I used to. Am I growing up? Or is it just all his recent bad press? I don't really know, but he's definitely still a favorite and I'll always jump at the chance to see him live.

This time around I was ahead of the game and pre-sale ordered floor seats a mere 4 months in advance. They were by far the best seats I've had for one of his shows and we got to sit next to Chad, his sound guy, which was kind of cool! His tour crew gets to see the show night after night, so it was fun to watch their reactions; you knew when they were really impressed and when they thought he was being ridiculous.

I wish I had some great photos to show you, but unfortunately this was my view for most of the night:

I hate this about concerts; my perfect (and expensive) view, blocked by love birds and bump-its.

Even still, the show was great. He was extremely grateful, the band was incredible and he showed Dallas a lot of love.


Also, my bracket isn't the only thing that hasn't fared so well through the championship. The Beers? suffered a gut-wrenching loss to end the winter kickball season this past week. There was blood, words were exchanged, and there may have been a few threats to pants their pitcher, but overall we were good sports. We'll be back to take the gold next season...I mean, look at this fierce bunch!


I'll leave you with a quick musical snack. The Temper Trap's Conditions is arguably the best album I've heard this year. I mean it. I've had it in rotation for months now and I'm not over it in the least. I'm seeing them live April 12th, so more to come on them soon.

Quarter Life Crisis

Last year I distinctly remember my friend Micah wishing me a happy 24th birthday and asking me how I felt. Being the slightly-OCD person that I am, I thought 24 was a really solid, even number which gave me a positive outlook on the year. "Ask me that next year," I joked, "25 is a really scary number."

Well, here we are.

Someone else asked me this year, "if you were talking to your little self, do you think you'd be proud of who you are?" - albeit it a very serious question for a birthday celebration, it's worth giving some thought. When people told us as kids that we could be whoever we wanted to be and go wherever we wanted to go, I always believed them. So as my little self looking forward, I think that I'd be proud of the fact that I've taken some chances, learned some lessons, and made a pretty joyful life along the way.

Quarter life crisis? Eh, not so much. It's hard to call anything in life a crisis when you're surrounded by such loving, encouraging and fun people! Birthday plans took shape early this year after rumblings of the fact that I'd never been to Billy Bob's, or owned my own pair of boots. (I think I was called the most "unTexan Texan, ever.") A group of my closest and dearest coordinated a night out in cow-town with a trip to the stockyards for Joe T. Garcia's fajitas and ritas, followed by a Miranda Lambert Concert at the World's Largest Honky Tonk.

My (new) vintage boots, courtesy of Mom!
These babies hadn't seen the light of day in over 30 years!

As I've become accustomed to the past few years, the tone of my birthday was set my a wonderful little snow storm. In New York, it was fun and we were familiar with it, but 12.5 inches in Texas made for a nice little surprise. It also added slight complications to the weekend. I've maybe never laughed as hard as I did while 3 girls in boots & dresses tried to push a BMW out of the snowy Billy Bob's parking lot...only to end up on our knees while the tires spun.

The snow also brought along the illusive snow day at work, and a mid-week sleepover due to power outages! As expected, Robbie was prepared with pizza and cookie cake.

A Brulyssa cookie cake & a New Moon cake?
I think Robbie made enemies in bakeries across Dallas for these novelty items.

All week, Kristen and Robbie had made a point that they wanted to give me my gift on Thursday night before the big day. A little worried that this gift seemed plotted and planned, I obliged and excitedly tore open the Nordstrom bag. If you're unclear on what kind of friends I have, here is a perfect example. In the expertly wrapped box was a birthday outfit - my favorite color blue dress, in the right size and fit, accessorized with a slimming chunky belt.

In case you don't know me at all, let me explain just how special this is. I'm the type of person that anticipates an event like this for weeks, and an hour before stands in my closet frustrated and hopeless because I have nothing to wear. (And sure enough - I had plans to leave work early on Friday and make a quick mall run.) And how many people do you trust to buy you clothes?! I would trust no one else to outfit me perfectly for my 25th birthday celebration; it is pretty much equivalent to me trusting them with my life. I'd do both, for sure.

Flowers, massages, cupcakes, books, cards and facebook messages. I have the best friends and family I could've ever known to ask for. What could I possibly have to be in crisis about?