She and Him

So, tonight I went and saw the She and Him concert with M.Ward and Zooey Deschanel.  It was amazing.  Zooey has an incredible voice and the concert was way fun.  I was right up front and my camera battery was dead, so I don't have pictures for you.  One thing I oddly noticed was that Zooey has the most amazing skin.  It is white and creamy looking.  It is too bad that people think they have to tan their skin to death in order to look beautiful.  Anyway, Zooey was adorable, has an amazing voice, and I love how expressive her face is.  M. Ward was great too, pretty amazing guitar player I must say.  So, if they are coming to a town near you...I recommend it.  

Why Accents?

Why do people randomly say single words in a sentence with an accent?  It is such a funny thing to me.  I was out to dinner with some friends last night and I was deciding what type of pasta to order.  My friend Kelly dared me to order my dinner with an accent.  So, I did. When the server came I ordered pasta with (my best impression of an Italian accent) ARRABBIATA sauce.  Unbelievably I kept a straight face.  

Got Chiggers?

I do!

Andy and I were doing a photo shoot at a lake this week.  The scenery was gorgeous and green. Perfect breeding ground for pesty little chiggers.  We didn't wear bug repellant...OOPs.  Chiggers bite and leave a wound similar to a mosquito bite...but it is worse.    

The welts didn't show up until the following morning and I was covered in them...about 60-70 bites.  Strange thing about chiggers is they bite you where your skin is the thinnest and clothes fit you the tightest.  So I don't have any bites where my skin was exposed.  But my thighs, hips, back of the knee and stomach are covered.  And, the welts last up to two weeks.  It is taking all my strength to resist itching these nasty things so that I don't leave scars on my skin.  Go here to learn more about chiggers.  (p.s.  I am making my prettiest face possible for you in these pics)

My Home - Room With a View

I currently live in downtown Nashville. I have never lived in a city before and I am really enjoying the experience. These are some pictures I took from my apartment balcony.

This is our amazing couch that Andy bought for us after he signed his record deal. We are working on breaking it in still.
We have an old church next door (I do live on Church Street).

I can actually see my office building from my room. I love walking to work everyday.



I got this artwork at the local Thrift Smart. It was only a dollar, and it is an original signed by the artist. I don't know who Laura Upton is but I love looking at it and wondering who she is. She obviously loved her home and her dog.


This is my happy home!

Mike Rowe on QVC

Many of you are probably unaware that I love the show Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel and my affinity for the host Mike Rowe.  Apparently he had a stint on QVC.  This made me laugh out loud.  

Quilting

Lately, I have gotten into quilting.  I really love it.  I am very much a beginner, but I am learning.  Some people have made fun of me for getting into a hobby like this at my age, but really, it just means I'll be that much better when I'm 70.  

My first quilt is a crochet afghan.  It took forever, it is actually pretty large.  I used a multi color yarn in fall colors and bordered it in a dark green.  It is a really simple single stitch crochet.  My main goal was to keep the edges even, and it is pretty even, luckily.

Below is the quilt I am currently working on.  I got the idea here from Martha Stewart.com. Again a very simple hand quilted blanket.  Simple in that there are not lots of pieces or squares.  I am hand quilting around each flower group.  Very time consuming I must say.  I will show pictures when I finish...probably another month.  I am finishing the edges with an aqua blue ric rak and an aqua green border around the edge (hard to see but matches the dots on the reverse).

The quilt stand has been a life saver.  

Going Dutch

Last night I was sitting in my apartment with some friends discussing a myriad of things.   The issue of dating and who pays on dates came up.  One couple had the opinion that the man should always pay.  The other couple agreed somewhat that the man should pay only until the relationship is exclusive.  I disagree.  

On the first date whomever asked the other on the date should pay.  If the man asks the woman he should pay for the date and vice versa.  I understand that it is customary for the man to pay on dates if he is asking and courting a woman.  This is simply customary.  But why is it important for the man to cover all expenses all of the time when you are both are working equally hard for your money?  You both want to be together, eat together and watch movies together.  So, both parties are equally enjoying these benefits but only one is taking the financial burden.  It seems unfair and frankly, old fashioned.  Free things are nice of course but it does not make it right for one person bear the entire responsibility of paying for dates.  Why is it that women feel insulted by the idea that they should pay for their own date sometimes?

I realize it is not completely reasonable that a couple will split costs fifty fifty 100% of the time.  However, who pays for dates should be based on factors that MAKE SENSE and not on some antiquated idea that a man has to pay because he is male.