Goin' to the chapel...

Er, not really. We're considering an outdoor space for the ceremony and an indoor reception. No chapels for me! We're thinking about April 14th of next year — the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic for those of you keeping track. I wanted to have a wedding this year, but putting it off means 1. we can take a small vacation this summer and 2. we can save a boatload of money for our honeymoon.

While browsing the Martha Stewart Weddings website, I fell in love with a color scheme that I wouldn't have necessarily thought of on my own: silver, gold and copper.

Handmade boutonniere.

Centerpiece idea.

Silver and gold won't be an issue when it comes to decorating, but I imagine finding copper pieces might be difficult, so I'm considering trading copper for black. Thoughts?

As for the location? Still a mystery. I've been browsing through winery/vineyard websites in the area, and I've also been looking at state parks. I just don't feel like I've found "the perfect location." I'm also still hesitant with an outdoor wedding because I don't want to worry about the weather, but I'm not finding a lot of indoor sites that fit within our budget. Decisions, decisions...

 

Sing it, girl!

And life is like a song.

Life's been a bit of a whirlwind lately. RC and I got engaged on the 12th, we're in the process of buying a house and both of our computers at home are dead. So blogging got put on hold...

Maybe it's because I'm feeling sappy and sentimental because I'm now a bride-to-be, but this song always gets me. Etta James, in my opinion, has one of the most amazing voices in the history of music. It's so unique. Female artists today all sound the same — am I right? There's not a lot of difference between Ms. Spears, Ke$ha or Lady Gaga. But Etta James? You never forget that voice.

KH and I were just discussing popsicles and ice cream because our office is like a tiny piece of hell. Somewhere around 2pm, it suddenly gets really, really hot.

She got me thinking about my favorite treat from the ice cream truck as a kid — a screwball. Apparently, they weren't all that common in TN, but we had them in DE. They consisted of swirled layers of ice cream with a gumball in the bottom. What's your favorite ice cream truck treat?

Loose tongue and arrogance.

I've been a bad blogger.

It's been a really busy few weeks between dance, work and looking for a house, but I'm here!

Chattanooga is flooded today. Not only are streets and yards swimming under several inches of water, so far, two school systems are sending kids home. I know we tend to cry wolf over snowy weather a lot, but rain? Must be pretty bad.

So how am I coping with the weather? With my trusty (and very bulky) North Face coat and my zebra print boots. Now, I found these boots at Shoe Carnival a few years ago, and I think I paid $10 or less for them. I don't even like zebra print, for one, but they're also not made of a material one would normally think could withstand such nasty weather. But here I sit, warm and dry.

Boots by Punkrose

What's another song for a rainy day like this? Two Door Cinema Club's "I Can Talk." Mmmm. I love these boys.

You gotta march!

Since this blog is going to revolve mostly around music (and my life), I've decided to do a weekly feature on a "you oughta know" artist. This week: Sleigh Bells.

The Sleigh Bells story is short and sweet. The two members of the band met in 2008 in a restaurant where one was a waiter and the other a patron with a nosy mom. After recording an EP, they were picked up by M.I.A.'s label. As they say, the rest is history.

Now when I first heard Sleigh Bells in FYE at the mall last year, I couldn't believe my ears. It was one of my favorite songs as a kid, "Mickey," but way cooler and with way more bass. Upon asking one of FYE's overly friendly employees, I found out the song was "Riot Rhythm," off of Sleigh Bells' 2010 release, Treats.

I had first decided to keep the band a secret. What better way to ensure that I would keep loving all 11 songs on the album than if I could guarantee they'd never be played on the radio? But I couldn't resist. I started playing the songs in dance class and telling anyone who would listen that Treats caused, as I put it best, an eargasm.

You'll have to listen for yourself, but if I had to compare them to anything, it would be cheerleaders at a rave messing around with a drum machine. From songs like "Riot Rhythm," "Tell 'Em" and "Kids" (which you may have heard on an MTV commercial), to softer songs like "Rill Rill," which reminds me of something from the 50's or 60's, Treats is surely only the beginning of a long music career for Sleigh Bells.

The best is yet to come.

Have you ever been left out of something? You felt sad, depressed, angry. Then new facts came to light, and you're thankful you weren't included? Yep. I reached that epiphany last night. I guess you could call it karma. "Hey, thanks for leaving me out of that. And by the way, sucks to be you!"

I'm listening to my Michael Buble Pandora station and loving life right now. Workload's pretty light today. I'm working on an article about the climate change's affect on our health, and the sun is shining. What could be better?

I've got to give a shout-out to my favorite blogging diva, Marissa. Her blog, New Dress A Day, is inspiring everyone who reads it (including me) to create new clothes out of old ones. Just check out her latest "copycat" project. I love it.

They give you life.

The sun is shining in Chattanooga! Weather forecast says it should be in the 50s and 60s next week, and I. Am. Stoked.

I've been wanting to take Ava and Sawyer back to the dog park for weeks, but it's just been too cold — and too wet. If the sun continues through the weekend, I'd like to take them out to Greenway. Other suggestions for dog-friendly getaways?

I pulled out an old mixed CD someone made for me in a past life. I'd forgotten how much I love this cover.

89.

I am subscribed to 89 Youtube channels. I didn't realize my addiction had gotten so out of hand until this morning when Youtube said, "Hey. Wanna watch any videos by the 89 channels you're subscribed to?"

Some of the channels are purely for their entertainment value - RayWilliamJohnson, MysteryGuitarMan, JulianSmith.

Some offer fashion advice - julieg713, TheCurrentCustom, MakeupByTiffanyD.

And some are inspirational - AnaheimBallet, KatieSchmatee, YourDanceChannel. The dance channels are my favorite. I love logging on to Youtube and watching dancers in Russia, Australia, Brazil - you name it. It's so cool that I can see what other choreographers around the world are doing. And a lot of times, I come away from the video with a song idea, a new lift to try or even a new formation. How cool is that?

Like fire around the brim.

What a nasty day in Chattanooga. Sleet, freezing cold, wet pants. On days like these, I want to listen to music about warm beds and cuddling.

"Sleepyhead," off the Passion Pit album Manners is one of those songs. I read somewhere (probably on Wikipedia), that the band actually started as a guy who wrote a couple songs for his girlfriend. The album he made for her managed to find its way into the hands of dozens and dozens of people who said, "Hey, man. This shit is good." And it is. And I'm in love. And I'm wishing my boyfriend wrote songs about me.

The best thing about rainy days are the umbrellas, of course. I can't get enough of cute umbrellas.

Bubble umbrella by Totes