Such a good song.

Bon Iver "Holocene"

Still love this.

"Quicker" by I Blame Coco

Christmas is coming early this year. AWESOME. She & Him Announce Tracklist for Christmas Album

Santa Barbara baby

Erica and I went to Santa Barbara the other day. We woke up to it pouring outside but decided to still go because hey, it could be bright and sunny up there in S.B. Itttt wasn't. And it was raining pretty much the whole trip up there. White knuckles gripping the steering wheel for an hour and a half. So relaxing, I tell you. Oh! Also! It was cold. As in, freezing cold. Well, as freezing cold as southern California can get. My Christmas in Seattle should be quite a temperature shock...haha. But I got to wear my hat, so I was extremely happy. So anyway, Erica and I walked around for a while, up and down State Street, perusing different shops. Then we made our way down to the wharf and froze there. On our way out to the end of the pier, we passed a man setting up a picnic on the sand. Erica and I both automatically "aww"ed. So precious. He had little flowers in a vase and everything. Oh! We got cussed out by a homeless man there--so that was a great note to end on. And now after looking at photos from that day, I see that I have horrific posture.

I love Santa Barbara.

Erica captured this pretty well.

At Stearns Wharf

We ended the day with some bread bowl clam chowder. So fantastic. Why do piers always make me want chowder? But only in a bread bowl.

I've been really loving the Palm Pixi commercials because of the song they use. So, I did some sleuthing around and found out that it is called "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit. I'm also loving all the Christmas music. I can now sing along to every store's music playlist. Mostly because they all consist of "Last Christmas" by Wham!, some version of "Carol of the Bells," "All I Want for Christmas is You," and every other Christmas cliche song you could think of. But it's just so great. I LOVE CHRISTMAS.

Happy birthday shout out to my sister, Alicia!!! Yay!!

L.A. Day #tres - International Day

Thursday was another L.A. Day. It was great to get out and do something in the city. Started off the day by walking to the Metro station on Mission Street and dealt with some confusion on which side of the platform to go to. Hah. We almost went to inland Pasadena. Whooooops. But we made it and rode to Union Station. I guess we looked local (yay!) because a lady asked if the train we were on went to Pasadena. Erica told her that it was going into the city so she got off and then asked a train person. And then got back on our train. So that was our cue to get off. Whoooooops. Almost sent a lady to the wrong place. And we almost went to back home on accident. Hah. OH! I almost forgot. Got to the train platform, took out my camera, and found that my battery was dead. My love for documentation was sorely tested on L.A. Day #3. I had to resort to taking photos on my cell phone...and I don't remember how to get photos from my phone to my computer.

Moving on. We got to Union Station and walked to Little Tokyo, about 3 blocks down from the station. It. Was. Hot. It felt like I was walking in an oven, so stopping in at a Japanese place to eat was a welcome rest. Got some sushi, drank a Diet Coke, it was great. We walked around a bit and went in to some shops. It was like lots of little Shirokiyas everywhere. Then we walked back up to Union Station area and walked around Olvera Street. It was a fun street full of Mexican shops and kiosks selling trinkets and hats. Lots of hats. And leather shoes. Next time I go, I'm definitely buying a bunch of those eggs filled with confetti. {Insert picture of confetti eggs here--oh wait, nevermindddd}

Olvera Street (photos from when I came in March)

We headed back to Pasadena on the train with high school kids on their way home. After getting off the train on Mission Street, we stopped in at the Farmer's Market and I got a cucumber for 50 cents. Booya, nice.

If you want something new to listen to, definitely try out "Sweet Disposition" by the Temper Trap. They're an Australian band and ahhh, their album isn't being released in the U.S. till October 13th. Oh the anticipation. And! They are coming to L.A. October 14th at the Roxy. "Sweet Disposition" was on the (500) Days of Summer soundtrack, also an excellent album. Good for sunshine days in L.A.

Momma comes in one week from now!!! It's list time. Where to eat, where to go, what to do.

Lend an ear

Songs on repeat

Keep On Tryin' * Poco

To Take You Home * Frank Turner

I Run to You * Lady Antebellum

My Traveling Star * James Taylor

Birthday * The Bird & The Bee

One of Those Days * Joshua Radin

Girls Just Want to Have Fun * Cyndi Lauper

This humidity makes my hair expand

I've been listening to this song on repeat for the past couple days. Yay for Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson. You may think it's dreary and depressing, but somehow I enjoy songs like that, who knows why. Hah. The video is pretty awesome too. Also, listen to "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. You won't regret it. Does anyone else think that country music sounds so much better in the summer?

On another note, I joined up with Rebekah again for a simple t-shirt design for her photography business. Visit her blog!

If you are ever in need of an ice cream cake while in Birmingham, I highly recommend getting one from Edgewood Creamery. They are right across the street from where I work and they have made many a day 10x better just with their Midnight Chocolate/Cake/coffee and fudge concoction in a waffle cup (not that I'm obsessed or anything...). Anyway, I ordered an ice cream cake for my friend Dana's birthday. Chocolate cake, cookies and cream ice cream, and chocolate ice cream on top. At the last minute, I asked them to put a bird on it. After thinking about it, I probably should've told them what kind of bird I wanted--I was thinking I'd pick up the cake and it would have those two-bump line birds that you draw in 2nd grade. But, they passed the bird test with flying colors. Bahaha.