Vinyl Soul

Last Saturday, my cousin Zac released his first solo album.  He's studying upright bass at Berklee College of Music in Boston and he's pretty stinkin' talented.  He also has some talented friends, and together, they created a night of music and art that was entertaining and all-in-all a great evening of fellowship.

If you'd like to see more, you can do that here.  If you'd like to hear some of Zac's music, check out his Facebook page, and finally, check out AJ's music on his website or Facebook page...he's working on his own album which he hope will be out next summer!

VINYL SOUL

Last Saturday, my cousin Zac released his first solo album.  He's studying upright bass at Berklee College of Music in Boston and he's pretty stinkin' talented.  He also has some talented friends, and together, they created a night of music and art that was entertaining and all-in-all a great evening of fellowship.

If you'd like to see more, you can do that here.  If you'd like to hear some of Zac's music, check out his Facebook page, and finally, check out AJ's music on his website or Facebook page...he's working on his own album which he hope will be out next summer!

Rainy Days, the Beach, & a Concert

Last week, my family headed down to Ocean City, NJ for a little beach getaway.  My aunt and uncle had rented a beautiful condo two blocks off the sand and had invited us down.  AJ and I drove down on Wednesday evening and my parents joined us on Thursday morning.  I planned (and packed) for three days of sun, sand, ocean, and a tan.  What we got was rain, wind, and more rain.  Big bummer.

But, we had an awesome time anyway.  We played a lot of mini golf (seriously...my dad is a complete champ.  He wins the hole-in-one prize hole like every time), had an Apples to Apples and Mafia game night, and then spent our one sunny day driving through the Jersey coast and Atlantic city and then home to PA.

driving through Philly // on the way to the beach!

on the way home // cousins/couples hanging out on the boardwalk

my parents, AJ & I // with the Shriver's taffy man

my dad and his prize hole free game // visiting Lucy the Elephant in Margate

Then, on Monday night, AJ and I headed back to Philly for a Relient K concert (can you say throwback?!).  These guys were my favorite band when I was in middle school and high school.  I still like them (their newest album dropped two weeks ago and is pretty good), but this concert was more reminiscent of all of the times I stood in line for hours as a teenager with my friends, waiting to see them at grungy Philly venues, and less about their new stuff.  They're so much fun live, Matt Thiessen is just full of witty banter and they're pretty goofy.  We also fell in love with one of their opening bands, The Rocketboys.  So much so that we walked away from the show with a vinyl, CD, and t-shirt!  (for a grand total of $40.  I love when band merch is incredibly cheap)  Anyway, I highly recommend you check them out. They're very chill rock, and their newest album, Build Anyway, is magic.

In other news, I'm a terrible photographer.  I never take my camera anywhere with me anymore and I feel awful about it.  I took it to the beach and it never left my backpack.  I sort of blame my iPhone.  I mean, it fits in my pocket.  I can't say that about my DSLR.  But I really do need to make a better effort to take real, good photos more often.  

RAINY DAYS, THE BEACH, AND A CONCERT

Last week, my family headed down to Ocean City, NJ for a little beach getaway.  My aunt and uncle had rented a beautiful condo two blocks off the sand and had invited us down.  AJ and I drove down on Wednesday evening and my parents joined us on Thursday morning.  I planned (and packed) for three days of sun, sand, ocean, and a tan.  What we got was rain, wind, and more rain.  Big bummer.

But, we had an awesome time anyway.  We played a lot of mini golf (seriously...my dad is a complete champ.  He wins the hole-in-one prize hole like every time), had an Apples to Apples and Mafia game night, and then spent our one sunny day driving through the Jersey coast and Atlantic city and then home to PA.

driving through Philly // on the way to the beach!

on the way home // cousins/couples hanging out on the boardwalk

my parents, AJ & I // with the Shriver's taffy man

my dad and his prize hole free game // visiting Lucy the Elephant in Margate

Then, on Monday night, AJ and I headed back to Philly for a Relient K concert (can you say throwback?!).  These guys were my favorite band when I was in middle school and high school.  I still like them (their newest album dropped two weeks ago and is pretty good), but this concert was more reminiscent of all of the times I stood in line for hours as a teenager with my friends, waiting to see them at grungy Philly venues, and less about their new stuff.  They're so much fun live, Matt Thiessen is just full of witty banter and they're pretty goofy.  We also fell in love with one of their opening bands, The Rocketboys.  So much so that we walked away from the show with a vinyl, CD, and t-shirt!  (for a grand total of $40.  I love when band merch is incredibly cheap)  Anyway, I highly recommend you check them out. They're very chill rock, and their newest album, Build Anyway, is magic.

In other news, I'm a terrible photographer.  I never take my camera anywhere with me anymore and I feel awful about it.  I took it to the beach and it never left my backpack.  I sort of blame my iPhone.  I mean, it fits in my pocket.  I can't say that about my DSLR.  But I really do need to make a better effort to take real, good photos more often.  

MY VINYL COLLECTION

I've been MIA for a week.  Somehow, this past week got away from me.  There's been work and a full cleaning of my room (Seriously.  It's the best it's looked since I moved home two years ago.  This is big.).  I went to Boston for the weekend and now we're headed into finals week.

The plan is to get ahead and have things scheduled for this week, but that has yet to happen.  Traveling does that to you, you know?

For today, I'd like to give you all a little peek at my vinyl collection.

AJ got me a record player and a few vinyls for my birthday back in September, and my little collection has slowly started to grow.

There's just something about a vinyl...like somehow, I've gotten more of the music than I would have if I just bought a CD or MP3.  I love the crackle and static and the homey feeling that listening to music in this format creates.  Needless to say, I highly recommend it.  And here are a few of my favorites!

So that's what I've collected so far.  I also have an Amazon wishlist started, of course.  And it's growing.  

But some of my favorites have been the ones that I've found in thrift stores.  Those Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin albums?  $.47 at Goodwill.  

Yes, please.

a saturday in baltimore

on saturday, we headed to maryland to see mute math & civil twilight in concert.
mutemath is aj's favorite band, so to win the "best girlfriend ever" award, i surprised him with an hour-long guitar lesson with their bassist for his birthday.

we spent the day in baltimore, hanging around the inner harbor and fell's point, where we had dinner at bop...brick oven pizza (soooo good) and gelato from pitango. then, we headed to the concert, which was great...the mutemath guys are incredibly entertaining and even though i only knew about half of the songs they played, it was just fun to go and enjoy my boyfriend's favorite band with him!