Brandi Carlile- All You Need is Love

This is for all of you Beatles fans out there.  This is obviously one of the greatest Beatles songs ever but I love Brandi Carlile's twist on it.  It could be the fact that I think she and I may have been separated at birth and are actually best friends and sisters but I love her music.  I mentioned before (and M. can testify) that I love something until I'm absolutely sick of it.  Then I wait a while and love it all over again.  That is exactly what I do with Ms. Brandi.  I have cycled through quite a few times and I'm currently stuck in a Carlisle rut.  I'm not complaining though, because I love it.  Enjoy.
p.s. The album version is better, of course, but this is a great live version too.

My many looks for the past three years.

So, someone recently commented that I have changed my look a ridiculous number of times in the three years that I've been here in Indiana.  At first I pish-poshed that idea and then started thinking back through the years.  Then I remembered how many times the same people have introduced themselves to me at church, including the bishop a couple times, and realized - perhaps there is truth in that statement.  So here my friends is a yearbook flip-through of my many, multi-colored looks over the past three years.  We'll see how my current drab, semi-long brown hair compares to the looks of old.   I suppose a good place to start is right after I had E., marking it as just over 3 years.  So here begins our journey through my many hairstyles - you tell me what you think.

Luscious curly and multi-colored locks?  Not so sure.

 I then cut all those curls off for a more "me" look with highlights.

 Then came the ultra-pixie.  What was I thinking right? Sheesh, short.

It stayed pretty short for awhile and went from red to brown.

I'm really not sure what this picture is but I somehow morphed into a short bob-ish something?

 It got a little longer then...wait for it...

 Yep, here is some rare footage of my unstable blonde period.  WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!  MIA!

  Then there was the transition phase from blonde to kinda blonde.  Hmmm.

 I have few pictures of this period but it was my fav.  It's pretty tame here but it was a red kinda mo-hawk.  It was fab.

 Then it hit weird grow out phase and I did it unnaturally curly a lot.  A lot.

 Then I got hit with a bucket of the '50's and my bangs got REALLY, REALLY short.  yep, like 3rd grader short.

Which lands us here at the big finale.  And yes, I even passed through some more unflattering hair styles (amazing right?) This is what I currently look like.  Like I said, long boring straight hair.  What do you think?  Weigh in, I guess I should pick a look and stick with it.

There might be a bit of a similarity to this picture, I'm not sure.  Do you see any similarities?

Fun Weekend at Buy the Book!

There are lots of fun things happening around town this weekend and we have our little family agenda full.  One that I thought was cute, (it's around bedtime so we won't be able to make it) happens to be at the Bookstore where I've been selling some of my headbands.  It's called Buy the Book and they're having a family game night where you can bring your own games or play theirs.  They have a really cute kids section and it's a fun place.  If you have a chance to go - check it out!  They just put an article about my headbands on their website - so go support!

A little Virginia

 My sister and her family live in Virginia so while M. had a conference in D.C. we took a little vacation up to the beautiful land of our founding fathers.  Yes, sentimentality is rampant with me when I go back East (just wait until I start reciting the Constitution).

Because we're looking for a new bed (everyone stand and cheer at this because yes, it is a blessed occasion) we stopped  at IKEA which happened to be having some free face-painting.  E. is apparently a sucker for superheros so he went with Batman this time.  Excellent choice over the cyborg option.

We stopped in Athens Ohio (M. applied to a school there and incidentally we ended up staying a bit longer while we got our car fixed - that darn lemon of a car).  So we made the best of it, playing in the pool, watching free cable, and eating a rather gross (but free) breakfast.

 Little Prince in his kingdom.

 We love the East, but we really just don't like West Virginia.  I'm sure it's really lovely but we have only had bad experiences while passing through.  How can Applebees be THAT bad.  Well, I guess only in West Virginia.

 E. occupied himself in the back with his camera whenever he wasn't watching movies on his DVD player.  He was so good.

 He had such a blast playing with his adorable cousins.  He may have started a new, and terrible, game though of hopping onto this table from the sofa.  Bad trend setter.

 These two could have stayed on this little ride at Chuck-e-cheese's all day.  They didn't want to get off.  It's a little roller coaster and they were so zoned in.

 M. went to DC and walked all through the mall.  He spent some time at the Library of Congress, I think he had just a little bit of fun.

 Cramming into the car for some well deserved fun with the whole crew.

We had a lovely time and always love visiting our Virginia family.

Bad Trends

I admit it - I love fashion.  I love following fashion blogs and mostly, I love runway shows. Obviously I've never been invited to one nor do I have (or ever would have) the money to purchase anything ever shown on a runway.  That doesn't mean a girl can't dream right?  Well, I'm sadly reporting that this Spring's fashion trends look awful.  Either I'm getting old and more conservative or I just really hate the fact that head to toe animal print, ugly ;70's jumpsuits, and denim have made their way back into the fashion scene.  Ugh.  Gross.  Just had to get that out there.
Here's a peek at what I'm talking about. These are the best two looks of the whole lot.

Such a fantastic little heart-gem.

Do you ever just have a song of the week? I have listened to this song and not really noticed it for over a year now and suddenly - poof - I'm obsessed.  I love every second of this song, down to the ring-a-ding of the bike bell to the awesome '90's back up "dudes".  Very Dar Williams reminiscent and wonderful.  I dare you to listen to this song and not fall in love.  So perfect for the lovey-dovey holiday coming up eh? If you're single, this song can be your Valentine.  If you prefer the original by the Pixies, enjoy that version here. I personally dig the Meghan Smith version though.  Check out another of her lovelies here.