The Ones To Watch (Volume 1)

This is really just a good excuse to put a plug in for some friends of mine who I truly believe in. These are people you're gonna need to know. I hesitate to call them "friends," only because I don't want anyone to get the idea that I only listen to these people because they're friends. Nope, I only listen to good music (aside from the occasional Lady Gaga :). So here are three to watch:


Eric Vinson - Eric is six foot seven. True story. He just released a brand new EP, Free, a few weeks ago and in one of my favorite songs he says: "And if today you may need a helping hand, I'll stand as tall as all my inches say that I can stand. And I would die before I'd bend and let the world break your heart." Gorgeous, yea I know. Eric and I play together a lot and he's just a great, prolific, acoustic-indie artist. You will love him. Oh and his wife is pretty phenomenal, too. Laura. Her voice will melt your heart.



The Four Kicks - I am going to go out on a limb and say that this band is Nashville's next big thing. They are working with local producer Mitch Dane and are in the recording studio bringing us new tunes as I type. They were working on a new song today (which I am obsessed with...not sure what it's called yet, but it says "I'm knocked down, I'm not dead") and I thought they sounded like The Beach Boys meets The Beatles meets Southern Rock. They are way too cool for school. So check them out.


Julianna Zobrist - This is my best friend. And she's great. I'm so happy I can speak about her gift with conviction because it makes it so easy to be supportive of her. Jules also worked with Mitch Dane last fall and released her first EP, The Tree, in January. It's kind of Imogene Heap meets Regina Spektor. She also wears the coolest clothes of anyone I know...and she always keeps it interesting. Jules is quirky and fun to watch and she has a heart of gold.


Check them out and let me know what you think!!!

Kevin is a Grown-Up

Well, my brother did it. He managed to graduate from college with a MUCH more impressive degree than me. He majored in Marketing with a minor in History. Well done, Kevie. I truly am proud of you. I went home (to Kansas City) a week and a half ago for this momentous occasion and it was so good to be with my family for 3 whole days...non-stop. Have I mentioned that I love my family? I love them. So, Kev, here's my graduation wish for you (and there will be a video posted soon):

Please get married soon and have babies so that I can be an aunt. OK?????

The Remedy

I love unexpected surprises. My friend and fellow musician, Wes Pickering, invited me to play a show with him this weekend in Park Springs, North Carolina. We set up a few more shows along the way. Sometimes these small shows are great successes...and sometimes they are just relatively uneventful. It's hard to know what to expect.

So last night we played in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee at Remedy Coffee. It was amazing!!! Not because a million people showed up, but because the people who did show up were just incredibly beautiful human beings. Davis, Jennifer, Sean, Angie, Sara...you are all SO cool! Thank you for making Wes and I feel completely at home. This is Remedy's motto:

"A place for coffee and conversation. A place to meet new friends and gather with old friends. A place to sit and relax. A place to be."
Remedy Coffee

Apparently, Remedy is also where Knox Life Church meets, which I'm confident is a great church after having met Sean, the pastor.

Another cool thing about Remedy. They are not out to make a profit. Every cent of profit made goes to local organizations or charities...or just people with great ideas that need support.

So Wes and I showed up there last night not knowing what we were getting ourselves into. And we were blown away. Remedy has actually only been open for a week, but it is a perfect place. And Wes and I had the pleasure and honor of being their very first musical guests. Wes also had the pleasure of hosting a sparrow on the headstock of his guitar for the first time ever. There is a first time for everything, I guess.



So, thank you Remedy Coffee. We love you.

The evening ended on a perfect note because we headed to Pigeon Forge to stay the night with one of my best friends, Tiffany. Remedy had the cutest hand-painted mugs so I got one for Tiffany and one for myself (as you can see below). It was so great to see her and reconnect. I miss that girl. Tiff said that she is happy I am so talented so I can travel and play shows and come see her all the time. I told her that I'm sad she is so talented because if she wasn't very good she could just move back to Nashville and get a regular job and be my roommate. Come back already!!!



Next stop: Winston-Salem, NC.

Peace.

On a "Need To Know" Basis

I have a weakness for these dumb survey things...I love them. My friend Katie sends them to me all the time and I have so much fun reading her answers and sending them back to her. So, feel free to fill this out yourself and put it in my "comments" section.

3 things that are always in my fridge: those Lean Cuisine Panini's, eggs, Caribbean Cinnamon Creme coffee creamer (don't ask what cinnamon and Caribbean have anything to do with each other...but it's pretty amazing stuff).

Most recent guilty pleasure song: "POKER FACE." I LOVE LADY GAGA!!!!

Favorite class from high school: Creative Writing with Susie Schweiker. That lady is awesome.

If I could grow anything perfectly in my backyard it would be: Peonies. I love them. Eric and I bought two grape plants to grow in his backyard a couple of months ago. I got so excited about eating grapes! But then, after we got it back to his house and read the directions it said it would take 2-3 years to produce fruit. Now the plant is sitting on his front porch, unplanted. The idea of waiting 2-3 years to get to eat the grapes kinda killed the dream.

Most Used Gift: My guitar. My Grandpa Bugs found a violin at a garage sale in his little town in Kansas. He bought it for $25 and gave it to me. I played violin for a few months and then sold it for what it was worth (a LOT more than $25) and bought a guitar with it. And now...well...I use it a lot.

Talent I wish I was born with: Painting/Drawing/Art

Color I would paint my fingernails if I painted my fingernails: OPI Ruby Slippers - My friend Betsy got me turned onto it. But I never paint my fingernails anymore because the polish chips off the second I touch my guitar. It just seems pointless. Shoot. I love that color.

Favorite thing to find in your lunchbox as a child: One of my mom's sugar cookies

Age you would not like to revisit: 13 (braces...ugh...I had those clear ones that were actually worse than the plain metal ones 'cause they just turned whatever color the food I ate was)

Age you would like to revisit: 22 - that was a hard year but I am so thankful for it now.

Book I still haven't finished but is on the top of my finish list: "Gilead" - my friend Julie Gorman gave it to me and just raved about it. It is a great book...beautifully written, but it's taking me forever for some reason!

And, finally,

Favorite Childhood Pet: Lilly Vanilli (ok, so maybe she wasn't a childhood pet...but she's my favorite pet ever!)

3-D. No, Really.

I got new glasses this week. I have had the same glasses for the past 6 or 7 years, believe it or not. And the past few months I had been feeling a little nauseous. I figured my prescription had changed. Well, it was either due to that or the fact that sometimes I forget how big I am and I run into things and bend my glasses out of whack. I went to Target optical and found these frames - I had tried on so many that I think they all started to look the same. But I kinda liked these. And they wanted $149 for the frames. Which isn't horrible, but it isn't good. Anyway, before committing to them I checked online and found the exact same frames for $60. No, I'm not joking. Can you believe that? Anyway, as soon as I got them in the mail I kinda freaked out a little. I'm still undecided. I feel like I look like a completely different human being. They're just kind of dramatic. But, hey, so am I :)

Now I'm having serious headaches from the new prescription. I can see REALLY well, though - I am actually seeing in 3-D. Or it feels like it anyway. How many days should one allow oneself to get used to new glasses before deciding that they might actually be too strong?? What is the waiting period?

So moral of the story is...look online before you buy stuff. It might save you a lot of money.

Oh, THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

I climbed the Great Wall of China. Well, sorta. I mean, not the whole thing. Obviously. I think it's about 50,000 kilometers long. And if I had retained my knowledge of the metric system from back in high school, I would have been able to convert that into miles for you...but I seem to have lost my scientific intelligence, so I'm sorry about that. Just trust me, 50,000 kilometers is long.

Anyway, my family went to China in the summer of 2007 and my brother Kevin and I climbed the giant hill to the Great Wall as fast as we possibly could. We then attempted to make our way to the top of the first tower. I made it. But, I also made myself sick. As soon as I reached the top step I threw up over the side of the 2,000 year old Great Wall. Anyone who knows me well could have predicted this. I have a tendency to embarrass myself in these sort of physical situations.






Take the time when I was in spin class at the Y and I had to RUN out after only five minutes to hurl in the women's locker room trash can. Or the time when I went to a step aerobics class with my friend Julianna and I blacked out in the middle of class. The teacher made me walk around the room but I couldn't...so I ended up just lying on the floor at the back of the classroom. Embarrassing. Or the time when I went on a bike ride with my boyfriend and I had to pull off the side of the road to throw up. I always feel much better afterward, though. So don't feel too bad for me.

I'm only telling you this because I am about to put myself through something I would have considered torture only two short months ago. I am going to run a half marathon in September. 13 miles. Yes. I am. I have the right shoes (the guy at the store told me that I wasn't allowed to choose my shoe based on its look...shoot!), the right socks, and several pairs of new running shorts that I found on sale for $2.50 to get me into the running spirit (so what if they have Jayhawks all over them). Oh, and I also have a running friend, Rebekah Mitchell!!!




Last summer I started going to Hot Yoga - I had to quit going in March for several reasons, but I think the Yoga must have made me a lot stronger than I thought. Before when I would run...well...I wouldn't run. I'd just stop as soon as I started hating it. Which was pretty much before I started. But a few weeks ago I thought I'd try to run a little. For one, it's free...and you don't have to drive anywhere to do it. Plus, Nashville was getting ready for the Country Music Marathon and Rebekah and Ryan were training for it. It just got me thinking. So I just started running. AND I LOVE IT. When did this happen? I ran five miles last week with Rebekah and it felt so good. I didn't even want to die...which is how I used to feel when I ran. I figure I'm off to a good start.

So. Rock'N'Roll Marathon (or 1/2 marathon in my case). Virginia Beach. 2009. Here I come!!!