Hi there! Today I would like to share some of my favorite holiday music. These are the songs that truly make me feel like Christmastime is here. Speaking of which...
Alison Sudol'a voice is so beautiful, and I love her take on 'Christmastime is Here' from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Actually, the entire Oh Blue Christmas album is lovely and definitely worth listening to. I especially love it for snowy, stay-inside-wearing pajamas-and-drinking-hot-chocolate kind of days.
Of course, the classic Bruce Springsteen version of 'Santa Claus is Comin' to Town' had to make my list. In fact, this is the song that officially kicks off the holiday season, as far as I'm concerned. I don't consider it to really be Christmastime until I hear this one! This song always reminds me of my dad-- every year, my brother and I would pile into his station wagon and around looking for the best Christmas lights. My dad would turn on the radio and we'd bop along with all of our holiday favorites while ooooh-ing and ahhhh-ing over the elaborate displays (and concocting stories for if we were caught slowly driving up and down private roads!). Sometimes our mom was with us, and sometimes she was 'too busy wrapping presents for the cousins.' We fell for that line for years, and somehow, we never suspected that she was, in fact, wrapping our Christmas presents. Even when my dad would go check if we could come inside yet. Zach, why didn't we think anything about that was suspicious?!
Mannheim Steamroller's 'Deck the Halls.' So 80's-tastic and fun! There's no deeper meaning behind this one-- I just enjoy some synth-y Christmas music.
Oh, Clarice. 'There's Always Tomorrow,' from the 1964 version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer gets me every time. In an increasingly cynical, technology-driven, and lonely world, sometimes we all really need a concentrated shot of idealism and innocence. I tear up every time I hear this song or watch this part of the movie. And let's face it-- who doesn't need an occasional reminder to 'believe in your dreams, come what may.'
Also from Rudolph, 'We Are Santa's Elves!' It's so catchy, I love the little elf outfits (definitely going as one of the girl-elves for Halloween next year), and it has that iconic line: "WE DON'T LIKE TO BRAAAAAAAG."
Let's finish up with something cozy and calming. I was lucky enough to see Cherish the Ladies live a few years ago, and this performance of 'In the Bleak Midwinter' sums up everything that I love about them. Joanie Madden is an amazing musician and a captivating storyteller. Also, I just can't help loving a Christmas song largely featuring an accordion. I know accordions aren't everybody's favorite, but to me, they sound so home-y and cozy. Watching this video made me want to curl up under a blanket and sip some tea in front of a Christmas tree-- which, conveniently, what I've been doing all day today.
I hope all of your holiday preparations are going well! Mine have been put off a little bit by a poorly timed bout of strep, and the only festive thing I feel up to is wearing Christmas pajamas. Womp wommmmp. Luckily I made it to the doctor early enough that I should be completely fine by The Big Day! Yay!
I'm always on the lookout for more Christmas music-- what are some of your favorites?
edit: It's now Saturday. It turned out that my schedule yesterday evening was already full of important things, like knitting for ten minutes before falling asleep on the couch. Whoops.
The movie In A World... is now on Netflix, and it's fantastic. I've always been interested in speech patterns, which this film explores a bit, and it's an interesting look into the voice-over industry. It also acknowledges a small but niggling annoyance that I encounter constantly on the train: the 'sexy baby voice.' As a girl with a relatively high-pitched speaking voice and a baby-face myself, I definitely understand that sometimes, it's just who you are. Buuuuut other times it's a really bizarre and irritating affectation.
This is the Milkweed sweater by Carol Sunday-- and I am absolutely crazy about it. Flatteringly shaped cables and a moss stitch portrait collar? Yes please! I am itching to cast this on... but it will have to wait until after Christmas because my list of people to knit or craft things for is out of control.
Ew, I wish the logo for this podcast was less gruesome-- but don't let that put you off, because it's the best podcast I've listened to in years. Serial is hosted by Sarah Koenig, formerly of This American Life, and she explores one story through an entire season of podcasts. The first season is an in-depth look at a murder case, including the possibility that the man serving jail time after being convicted is actually innocent. New episodes come out every Thursday and I can't wait for the next one!
Kate Davis, super-cute upright bass player and singer, recorded this acoustic version of Katy Perry's song 'Roar' for the New York Humane Society. I love the song (go ahead and judge me if you feel the need) and Kate has such a sweet voice. And obviously, the cats. Oh, the cats. I want every single one of those little babies.
Peggy Collins takes adorable photos of her chipmunk, Chipper. This 'Tea Party' photo is one of my favorites. Also, hi, of course I want to have tea parties with woodland creatures.
A new album from A Fine Frenzy, Pines, comes out! Yay!
Alison Sudol has released a trailer for it, and it's so, so pretty.
And here's a sneak peek at one of the songs on the album, "Avalanches."
I love it. She's incredible with words. She manages to turn every three minute song into a fairytale.
I am so excited. She's one of my very favorite artists, and it's been three years since her last album came out. I can't wait to spend hours listening to Pines on repeat!
This past weekend was one of my favorite events of the year:
The Deep River Ancient Muster!
For those of you who may not know, I spent pretty much every Friday night and most weekends involved in a fife and drum corps from the time I was eight to when I turned eighteen. It was such a cool experience, and I made some of my closest friends through it. While I haven't been overly involved in fife and drum since graduating out, Deep River is not to be missed. It's basically a huge gathering of fife and drum corps that lasts from Friday until Sunday, in Deep River, Connecticut. My mom and I camped out with hundreds of other corps members from at least fifty different groups. Friday was spent setting up and hanging out at the campsite, then Saturday was a parade and mainstand performances.
My knitting attracted these two kiddles, who then stuck around for most of the parade. Not surprising, really-- for some reason, children have always flocked to me. I'm like Mother Goose, but 22 and a brunette. And sans goose.
I thought this Celtic/steampunk look was pretty cool. I always admire a man who can rock a scarf.
My mom's fife and drum corps! Yay Mom!
The Ancient Mariners, who are known for being a little...hmm... raucus, shall we say.
They always put on a wild show and their musical ability is second to none.
I love that while they dress semi-uniformly, each member adds distinctive touches.
The littlest mariner
Oh, and Santa was there. I guess we know what he does during the other eleven months of the year.
I loved the stud detailing on these snare drums, it gives a totally different look from the usual paint or decals.
This trio of kids cracked me up, especially the little guy on the right. He's just doin' his own thing.
Heehee.
Saturday night was full of good food (hello, steamed clams at 10 pm) and lots of music, then we headed home on Sunday morning.
It was one of the best weekends I've had in ages. I even made some lovely new friends (Hi Dawn! Hi Steph! Hi Carol! Hi Justine!). I'm looking forward to next year already!
After my mom and I finished our picnic dinner, we headed to Moo-Moo's for some of their delicious homemade ice cream.
The store is so cute! I love the flavor-printed walls and the cow spot benches.
random fact: you can get that opaque, brightly colored look from chalk by wetting either the chalk or the board before you write.
The spectacular list of flavors-- I had chocolate chocolate chip and butter pecan, and my mom had chocolate chocolate chip and cherry vanilla. I insist on getting ice cream in a cone even when it's about 90 degrees out. My mom wisely chose a cup.
so many cute little details! I love the retro checkered countertop.
We finished the night at a traditional Irish music session-- my mom plays the Irish flute. I really like going to the sessions with her, it's such a fun, relaxed atmosphere.
Aaaaah, last night was so great! Remember when I mentioned that my ridiculously talented cousin Kaleigh was gong to be playing at The Delancey? That was last night, and honestly, she just blew me away. For the past few years, I've been able to hear her play at family get-togethers, and she's always been talented, but I can't believe how far she's come in the past two years. She opened with "Don't Close Your Eyes," then went into a gorgeous cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire," and a super-fun version of Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa." She also did a fantastic cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Kaleigh's original songs were the ones that brought me to tears though (don't worry, I hid it well. Sort of. Ish.). We've dealt with some similar issues over the past few years and her songs "Walking in Circles" and "I'd Rather Be Living" kind of dealt with those, and ohhh, I am just so proud of her and adore her so much. I'm really hoping she puts out an EP soon because I need more of her gorgeous music in my life. And I got to see my adorable cousin Monica, and my lovely aunt and uncle, and family friends, and just in general a good time was had by all.
Conveniently, the Brendan Benson show I went to afterward was just a few blocks away at the Bowery Ballroom. The ID-checking guy hit on me in literally the most awkward conversation ever. It went a little something like this.
"No way, dollface, you're like sixteen years old."
"Nope. 21. Here's my ID."
"Alright. So... are you looking to mingle? You wanna get together after the show?"
Yeah, dude, that's why I came here tonight, I was hoping to get together with a mildly creepy individual who up until five seconds ago thought I was sixteen. How'd you know?
(I didn't actually say that.)
"Um...no. Thanks though. Can I go in now?"
So that was weird. But the show was amazing! Young Hines opened, and he was really great-- lots of energy, clearly excited to be doing the show, just lots of fun. His album only came out on April 10th, so there's not much of his stuff on Youtube yet (Oh yeah. Rackin' up the hipster points.) but definitely check him out on Spotify. He's actually being produced by Brendan Benson, on his new label Readymade Records. My favorites from the album are 'Don't Break My Fall,' 'Just Say No (Sometimes),' 'Hold You and Scold You,' and 'No One Knows.'
Aaaand Brendan Benson was just as fantastic as I hoped he'd be. He seemed really humble and sweet, if a bit too skinny. Should've brought him some baked goods. (Whoa. We've got an Italian girl here, ladies and gents. And yeah, I've been known to gift musicians with baked goods on occasion.) But the music was really, really great. He brought Young Hines back out for a few songs, and they seemed to be having so much fun that it was impossible not to get caught up in their excitement. He played a bunch of my favorites-- same situation with videos, his latest album was only released on April 24th, so not much on Youtube yet, but he also played a bunch of my favorites from his previous albums.
'Tiny Spark'
'Cold Hands, Warm Heart'
'Sittin' Pretty'
Yay! And the new album is on Spotify-- I especially like 'Happy Most of the Time' and 'The Light of Day.' Also, the crowd was so nice! No pushing, no shoving, no errant beer spilled down my back, nothing. It was great.
Alriiiight, back to working on e-portfolio stuff for me. I'm actually writing this from my school's library computer lab. Here's what I'm up to at the moment.
It's a little tedious to set up, but I'm excited to have digital version of my portfolio that still has the feeling of my actual book.
Heehee... I've mentioned before that I'm into the WTF podcast, hosted by Marc Maron. So this music video for the song 'Sensitive Man,' by Nick Lowe and featuring Marc Maron, is one of my favorite things...pretty much ever.
I can't decide which line I love more-- "Come get me-- don't leave me here--" or "...Christ."
Oh my gosh, you guys. I have the most talented cousin everrrrrr.
Kaleigh just put up her first music video and it is so, so pretty. The music, the softness of the video, it's perfect. So check it out! I'm so proud of her. ♥
If you're in the NYC area, Kaleigh will be playing at The Delancey on May 5th at 7 p.m. You can get tickets here. Yay! Support an up-and-coming artist and hear some beautiful music.
“…and don’t forget to bring your juke-box money!”
The stereo blasts as I make my way through the crowd of dancing legs and hips at my eye level, gathered in the small living room of my house. Between the music and the shouting and laughing of my family, the volume of the room is almost overwhelming. I manage to single out one voice, singing along raucously, and battle my way to a pair of cropped black pants and tall wedge high heels. I tug on the sleeve—my Aunt Fern looks down at me, into my chubby little face with big brown eyes and rosy cheeks. “Heeeeeeeeey!” she shouts, as though she hasn’t seen me in months, even though we sat together for dinner earlier. She’s wearing big dark sunglasses, her long, long white-blonde hair in a bun on top of her head, and the sleeve I’m tugging is covered in gold sequins, glimmering in the light from the lone lamp in our living room. It’s our annual Halloween party, and I’m dressed as a seven-year-old Wednesday Addams. The gray wool dress is buttoned up to my neck making me itchy, and in my free hand I’m clutching a headless Barbie doll—homage to Wednesday’s decapitated companion. Aunt Fern swings my free hand and pulls me into the thick of the dancing. Though I can’t see their faces, I know everyone—my Aunt Annie’s infectious, raucous laugh, seeming to explode from her petite frame, and my dad’s friend Pete, who has a baby doll strapped to a big orange square of foam on his head and a wooden cross in his hand (“I’m the holy Baby Cheez-Its!”). I hug Aunt Fern around her waist, then scoot back out of the crowd. Too close for me. I run out onto the front porch, where my dad and my brother and my Aunt Nan are laughing. Aunt Nan brings a rubber mask for my dad every year—this Halloween, it’s a creepy King Kong mask, which my dad is wearing with a button-down shirt and a pair of the slacks he wears when he substitute-teaches. “Daddy!” I demand, hurling myself into him. He picks me up and sits me on the porch railing, but first he takes off the scary mask. He knows I don’t like them.
“Having fun, Jules?” he asks me, grinning. His hair is a little wild, the brown and silver strands mussed further by taking off the mask. I beam back and nod and keep my hand in his, feeling safe in that little haven even as our house was full of singing and stomping and shouting. “Daddy, will you sing the song later?” I don’t have to specify which song—at family gatherings, he always sings me “My Girl” by The Temptations.
“Of course, as soon as we start playing,” he replies, and I feel like the most special girl in the world. Who else’s dad would get a bunch of loud and rowdy grown-ups to play a special song just for her? Aunt Nan laughs at something my brother says—the Romano family laugh, the staccato ‘ha-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!” that my dad shares with his three sisters and his brother, and presumably his late brother, too, although my only strong memory of him is his sing-song calling of “Juuuuuulie, Julie, Julie!” The air is a little chilly, and I slide down off the railing. “I’m gonna go find Mommy!” I push through the living room full of adults, now singing along with The Grateful Dead’s ‘Built To Last.’ All these trials soon will soon be passed…Look for something built to last…
My dad calls after me.
“Love you, Jules!”
♥
this is an excerpt from my term project for my memoir class, a series of vignettes from my childhood. more info can be found here, as well as another excerpt.
There's a drawer in my grandmother's house full of old photos. I spent a lot of time this winter break looking at them. Aren't these beach photos beautiful? My grandmother took them in Cape Cod, at Nauset Beach, in 1987.
When I'm feeling down or confused, my first instinct is to be near a body of water. There's something so calming about listening to waves and feeling the little kisses of sea-spray on my cheeks. It clears my mind and puts things in perspective. The weather is moody today and so am I... I'm going to put on my rain boots and head down to the park by the river to clear my head.
'See the World,' by Gomez, is one of my favorite songs. The lyrics are simple and honest and they make sense to me.
Ok. Time to go for a walk.
The world is puddle-wonderful.
1. Today is a great day because I had a chance to work on a dress for my leather class-- it's looking so cool!
2. Tomorrow I will work on finishing up my portfolio for my memoir class and on a presentation for French class on Friday. So close to the end of the year!
3. My favorite time of day is mid-morning because it's early enough that the whooooooole day is stretched out in front of me and I can get lots of stuff done, but not so early that I'm wandering around with a vaguely dazed expression if I was up late the night before.
4. Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath, have a cup of tea, and have faith that things will work themselves out for the best.
5. A song that I just can't get enough of lately is "House of Cards" by Radiohead.
6. My favorite accessory is a cute scarf or my brown leather belt. Ooh, or my cute new clogs from Ugglebo Clogs-- aren't they adorable?
because who doesn't love a grainy cell phone picture?
7. My favorite thing about this week was the massive relief that came with being done with senior collection. I wasn't chosen for the show (very, very few people were, the show is very small this year...oh, well.) but I was really proud of my looks and I'm just so glad that the stress is basically over. Oh, and just a moment ago it started raining and my window is open and the city smells fresh and clean and new. ...Aaaaaand now it's thundering, so I'm going to go hide under my covers with a book.
Lauren, who usually provides the weekly blanks, just had a lovely daughter named Fern and is spending some time with her this week. So this week's blanks are from here!
2. My favorite meal or dish from childhood is quiche lorraine-- my mom makes the most delicious one ever, ever, ever. It's incredibly good.
3. If money was no object, I would take a long weekend in Boston, if we're being practical, or Venice or Montmartre if practicality isn't an issue.
4. I feel healthy every time I eat apples! But only some apples. I am verrrry particular with the apples. I like Pink Lady apples, and I like when they're cold. I also feel healthy and happy after my nightly cup of before-bed tea.
5. My favorite song is 'Slow Show' by The National because it's simple and honest and vulnerable and beautiful.
I've posted it before buuuuut here it is again.
6. If climate wasn't an issue I would grow lots and lots of flowers... unfortunately, my dorm doesn't have so much as a windowbox. But I would grow primroses and daffodils and pansies and roses.
7. My favorite hobby is craft-making because it's relaxing and at the end you have a cute new thing! ...To be honest, part of the reason I have an etsy shop is because I love making crafts but I couldn't possibly keep everything I make.
8. As a kid, my favorite Halloween candy was Reese's Cups. Chocolate and peanut butter, a truly divine combination. I was never a fan of the SweetTarts and Laffy Taffy (ew) and Pixie Sticks and that sort of artificial stuff. Although I did like Smarties because they were pretty and pastel and I liked sorting them by color. They also made excellent little dollhouse cakes.
9. One thing I know I'm really good at is giving presents. I really, really like coming up with something that the recipient will love and will know was created or chosen specifically with them in mind.
10. My favorite dish or mug is ....oh boy. I have a lot of mugs.
My collection has actually grown since that photo, and I have specific uses for each mug. The floral one on the front right is excellent for cereal or soup, my 'j' mug is perfect for cold water or milk because it's a bit thin and gets too hot with tea...you get the idea.
Alright guys. So I'm in a class this semester that's all about memoirs-- reading and writing. I love reading memoirs, possibly because I'm the nosiest person ever, but writing one? Not so much. Which seems weird because I clearly have no problem writing about myself (as I write this on a blog...about myself... *awkward collar tug*), but like I mentioned in my last post, there are still things I don't discuss here or anywhere else. There are things that are just too personal for public consumption. But isn't that the whole point of a memoir? Is there any reason to read or write a memoir that isn't super-personal? It's a conundrum. I'm not ready to open up about losing my dad and everything that led up to it, but it's by far my strongest memory and the one that impacted me more than any other. And there are other aspects of my life and memories that I don't plan on ever sharing, both because they're just too private and because sharing them would make them feel less special and close to my heart. So basically I would have the world's most boring memoir. I don't have any middle ground between my wonderfully idyllic childhood and everything hitting the metaphoric fan over the past year, which knocked me pretty directly from childhood to adulthood, skipping any sort of grace period.
On a completely unrelated-ish note, I've been listening to this song a lot since a friend introduced me to it a few weeks ago. It became frustratingly relevant recently. But it's a really fantastic song, and the lyrics are honest and uncomplicated.
I like the vocals in the live version better, but I'm posting the actual music video too because I just think it was so well done. It's subtle and creative and their interaction is so-- hmm. So appropriate? It really captures the feeling of breaking apart from someone you used to care about-- especially how he sort of flinches and looks away when she's singing. The rest of his work is definitely worth a listen, too. Look him up on Spotify or Pandora or Youtube or iTunes whatever you're all using these days.
Okay. I better go try to come up with some non-overly-personal/non-traumatizing experience to write about. Thanks for making it through this ramble-y post.
You guuuuuys. One of my favorite movies, That Thing You Do, is on Netflix right now! Basically, it's the story of a 1960s rock band with one major hit song. It's a really fun movie, and Tom Everett Scott is completely adorable as the leading man, and Liv Tyler looks so ridiculously pretty. Go watch it!
I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately-- by 7 p.m., I'm so ready for bed. I think it's just belated exhaustion from everything that's happened during the last month. I haven't been taking particularly good care of myself recently, because there were other people who needed care way more than I did, but now I'm paying for it. So I'm going to try to get back to yoga more often, and I think I'm also going to cut out sugar, at least for a few weeks. I just feel so sluggish after even a little bit of it lately. Alright. Yeah, let's do that. Has anybody else tried cutting out sugar? How'd it work for you?
Also, since I've been so narcoleptic lately and sleeping instead of blogging, I'm extending the etsy shop giveaway until February 20th. Yaaaay! Enter it! There are only two completed entries right now, so your chances of winning are excellent.
Hope you're all having a fantastic Thursday evening! Or whatever day you read this. I hope it's a good one.
(ok, so that one isn't exactly a cover, it uses a sample from Imogen Heap's 'Hide and Seek,' but still. Not the point. What do you think about that, by the way, musically inclined readers? I know the terms of Imogen Heap's licensing of the sample don't require Jason Derulo to acknowledge it besides a songwriter credit in the liner notes, so legally it's a-ok, but from an etiquette standpoint, do you think he should have mentioned her at some point? Just curious.)
back to an exciting evening of pattern-making!
(weirdly, I am not being sarcastic- I am having a lovely time with tea and pattern paper on a saturday night.)
I know I've posted about it before, but I love the video for Imogen Heap's 'Goodnight and Go' so very, very much.
I love the butterflies on her shoulders and arms, and everything going on in her hair, and the twinkle-lights, and the mix of prettiness and creepiness.
