{T.I.L. #8}

I'm a big traveler and I love taking trips to see people I care about (that's another TIL post though!) or to do something fun. Last weekend, I flew to LA for family and this weekend I drove to Houston for a woodworking class (aha! another TIL post for later this month...man, I'm full of these things.) No trip of mine is complete without a great book and good music.

In honor of my travels, I thought I'd share that...

I kinda hate driving {though my car has helped that tremendously} but I find it tolerable when I can jam out to a variety of bands on my old school iPod. When the screen on my iPod broke a few years back, I thought it was useless. But being able to hook it up to my car's USB port has been nothing short of amazing. And also have it all on my iPhone? Thanks, Apple. I love that I can pick from my entire music collection as I'm cruising through the air at 35,000 feet or about to nod off during the flat stretches of the Texas highways. We may have great sunsets, but a pink sky doesn't stop my eyelids from drooping...Arcade Fire's Reflektor album does.

I wrote about liking good music in my first round of Things I Love, but that was more about loving live music (which I deffo do!) Rather than do a re-hash, I thought I'd give you a few links to new music I'm currently loving. This is soooo the tip of my music iceberg, but I could honestly make a whole month of music posts (March Music Madness? Many Musics March?) I'll just give ya my top three as of February 8:

--Taylor Swift's 1989

I took the pic of Shake it Off but my current fave on this album is the song 'Wildest Dreams'. Can't get enough of it. 

Some people dog on Tay-Tay but honestly, someone that can write so many hits, play their own instruments, put on a stellar performance, and keep cranking it out album after album...and you think they are a hack? That's just silly talk. I don't care if you don't like the style of her music. Hell, I loathe opera music but that doesn't mean they aren't mad-talented musicians. So, I gotta plug my Taylor when I can because I really do love her style, music, and confidence.

--Max Frost 

I really didn't have to include a picture but I have to. Don't let his handsome face and well-dressed exterior distract you from the fact that this fool has soul. 

I love when great music comes from unexpected people. This dude is suuuuuper young (don't ask me why I checked his age) but he sounds like he's been making music forever. His voice has experience if that makes sense.

I'll link his more popular song but check out his website and follow him for reals.

My favorite song of his is 'Nice and Slow'. Weird vid but the song is so so good:

 --Rhodes

Oh, Rhodes. Speaking of music coming from unexpected people, Rhodes is the epitome of this. 

Rhodes on left with Sam Smith--from Rhodes' Facebook

He looks like a Freshman in high school sometimes, but wowee. My mom actually introduced me to Rhodes (the music, not the guy...I'd probably fangirl up and ramble if given the chance) and I've been hooked ever since. I honestly can't pick a favorite but I'll link the first song I ever heard of his:

My mom is ob.sessed. with this next song (and made me and my sister happily watch the video more than once, no lie):

So, there ya go...a peek into my current iPod re-plays. 

Taylor is already coming to Dallas this year and I'm-a-goin'. Max Frost came to Dallas last weekend but I was out of town. Big boo. Let's start a campaign to get both Max Frost & Rhodes to come to Dallas. Together.

My mind would explode.

Things I love Series

Since it is February, the month of love, I thought I'd share about some topics that are near and dear to me. In no particular order (other than because I darn well felt like posting about it that day), here is the first:

I adore music...most genres, most artists. There are very few bands that make me cringe (I'm glaring at you Nickelback!) I love live music, local music, international music--you get the idea.  

I really enjoy going to concerts; case in point, for my 10th birthday, I asked for Def Leppard/Queensryche/Stryper tickets and people to go with. My mom (best mom ever!) took me and the sibs to my first concert. I've been to over a hundred since then and I STILL enjoy finding people to go with me to my favorites. I just realized that I have taken very few pictures at these concerts, but here's a couple:

My sister and I at a 30 Seconds to Mars Concert

Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars at Edgefest

2nd row (for a few songs) at Coldplay in 2010

At Edgefest

Coldplay 2012

And if I can't find someone to go with, I have no qualms going solo! I get lost in music and the whole experience of a production.

In addition to the genuine article, I also get a kick out of cover songs from incredible artists who put their own spin on songs. One that I heard recently really blew me away:

And for most who know how much I LOVE Coldplay, I've now madly fallen for the baby-fied version of their music. I am definitely ordering Rockabye Baby's Coldplay Lullaby Renditions. Who says it needs to be for a baby? Seriously, listen to the sampler. So incredible.

So there ya go. The first post in the many things I love! What is your favorite music or band?

Princess and the Partay: A '33-Mendous' Birthday!

First things first...thanks for all the birthday wishes and for participating in my 'You scratch my back and I'll send you a free Seryn CD' giveaway (and for the record, the word "Prezzie" is short for "Present", not to be confused with "Pretzel" or "Puzzle." Just teasing you, Princissy!)

And the Seryn CD winner is....

Chrissy is one of my longest, 'we still talk & visit' friendships that I have and I love that she supports my dreams, hopes, and life. The beautifully recorded CD is already on it's way to you in a pink package (what else?!)

For everyone who participated, thanks a million! Even if you didn't, I still love you. Kind of. :) But you can still pick up the Seryn CD and check it out, or order them up at iTunes. 

On to the birthday festivities:

I have rarely, if ever, had a friend throw me a party on my actual July 2nd bday. As you can tell from my last post about this, summer birthdays can sometimes be lacking in the friend department (though family is always sweet and accommodating). This means that all the fun school birthdays, surprise parties, birthday lunches, announcements, etc. as a kid were not able to be done. And even as an adult, my workplace forgot to give me my "Birthday Jeans Pass" one year. (Jean passes at my school were like water to a thirsty man. But it's all good, because my lovely office staff accidentally gave me 2 this year...another perk of summer birthdays: they couldn't remember. I wore both and told myself it was for missing it the year before. Ha!)

Now don't get me wrong, I've had many friends who've more than made up for this summer bday prob. Bless them for trying to make my day special in May, late July, the fall, you name it. I feel loved. And I've thrown together my own shindigs on my actual day as well. But there is something about having another person gather friends, make dinner, and bring presents to open on my actual day that you fall/winter/spring folks just can't understand (and probably are thinking I'm going on and on about something ridiculous!) But you holiday birthday people are picking up what I'm layin down, right??

So--a big thank you to my sweet friend Ashley and to my friends who came...I enjoyed every minute of it. Right down to the wee hours of 1:00. You can check it out on Ashley's blog post, but here's a few pikkies:

I knew my birthday was going to be awesome when I got this e-mail first thing in the morning...

Sarah & I listened to him sing 'Happy Birthday' and then we sent it as a voicemail to my mom for her belated birthday wishes. We heard her chuckle from the next room--you gotta love a 60 year old Belieber!!

For the party, I wore my Pink birthday Tom's...

Here was the sign Ashley made outside her house...so sweet!

 The centerpiece...she sewed these cuties together with a piece of thread.

Blurry, but you get the idea...I was told they were 'sparkler' candles. If you must know, I'm terrified of fireworks because my delinquent brother shot a bottle rocket up my corduroy skirt as a child. Haunts me to this day. But they weren't so much 'sparklers' (picture Chris Farley air quotes here) as they were 'little sparks every 10 seconds and then re-light when you blow it out' candles. For some reason, I couldn't handle it. I laughed so hard, my sister had to blow it out from the side.

Here is one opening presents. Yay! for more Tom's (can you tell I love them??); yay! for the Vera Bradley bag & keychain; yay! for my Justin Bieber Never Say Never DVD! (though I opened that one earlier this month...) My friends know and love me well.

I wore my new chocolate Tom's the next day in fact. Here they are:

I must say that I had a very laid-back, relaxing birthday with people I loved...that is the best present of all (do I sound like an after school special yet?) And thank you to all my friends who have made me feel special every year, whether celebrating with me on July 2nd or October 2nd. I even have a best friend (that's you, Amanda Hill!) who sends me packages and makes me wait until my actual birthday to open them. She knows I can't stand the suspense, but does it anyway. Man, I love my family & friends!

Princess and the Prezzie: 33-Mendous Music!

You may be confused by what a 'Prezzie' is...don't worry, you can figure out my categories & words {here}. Simply put, I'm about to have a birthday!! When I turned 31, my best friend Amanda Hill (you'll meet her in a later post) said it would be '31-derful' and I loved it. Some friends helped with '32-rific', and the ridiculousness continues with the fact that I am going to be '33-mendous' on July 2nd. Whoop. Not quite sure what next year will hold, but I'm sure you'll be waiting with bated breath.

A funny thing about birthdays with the Brown sisters: whenever Sarah had a birthday, I pitched a fit until my mom let me open a present too. Because my birthday was in summer (a 7 yr old can only have so many swimsuits), and because I was bratty, it became a tradition for us to get presents on each other's birthdays. This year is no exception. I want to give YOU a present!! (and I mean 'you' singular, cuz I only had change for one gift). BUT IT'S A GREAT ONE!

Ok, on to the point of this post...(there's a deadline, so skip to the very end if you are greedy & impatient like me, ha!)

The category should be 'Princess and the Piano' because technically it is about music. But I have found that life doesn't always fit into neat little boxes. In fact, it NEVER seems to. So, I'll just tack on an extra category if you promise not to tell. Most of you know that I heart music with a passion. From Bieber to The Cure, Tom Petty to Usher...I love just about any type of music. I also really like local music because of the intimate settings and the fact that a member of this band below was one of my Starbucks baristas (she's too cool for that job anyway, so let's help her be famous, okay?)

The band is named Seryn and they are from Denton, TX. They are all beautiful with voices that harmonize like Jesus is returning. You can read how the band got together {here}. It's pretty awesome. I remember thinking my Starbucks barista was so cool looking with her blond dreadlocks (little known fact: I've ALWAYS wanted to sport dreads!) Then I went to Kevin Roden's Drink & Think house show and she was playing in a band! I fell in love with their music that night, and since then, I've been going to their local shows Dr. Seuss style--

I've seen them in a house, 
       I've seem them in a pub,
             I've seen them in a church, 
                  I've seen them in a club.

And now I want to share them with you! I bought their CD today at Recycled Books in Denton. See?

BTW Seryn: this was the last one they had. Yay!

And it's YOURS if you want it! Here's the catch: like any brat, I want you to do something for me before I just give it away. They need our help to win a sweet contest, plus I want as many people as possible to know about them anyway. So this is how you can win the free CD (each one is an entry):

~Link this blog post on your Twitter, Facebook, a friend's FB page, or whatever cool way you talk to peeps on the interwebz

~Go to {this page} and rate Seryn with 5 stars/all other bands lower stars (hey, we want them to win, right?)--voting ends Friday,June 24th!! 
  --> The video quality on that page doesn't quite show how great they sound, so you can also take a listen below. 

~Use a different e-mail address and VOTE AGAIN. 

**Then...leave a comment or e-mail me and tell me all that you did..I'll put your name in for each vote, re-post, tweet, etc. We're going honor system style here, so don't let me down. :)

I will announce a birthday buddy winner on my birthday, July 2nd & I'll send it with love in the mail. Though time is of the essence for the contest (voting ends TOMORROW people!), you can still link/send this to people you think might love them like I do and want free stuff from strangers! And...go!

As a side note, I think all music stirs something in your soul and it is different for each person. Listening to Seryn makes me want to walk in fall leaves, or write a book, or dance, or snuggle up & kiss someone (TMI?)

                             What does Seryn stir up in you?