43 years ago today.

january 30, 1969

the beatles made their last live appearance on the rooftop

of the apple building in london (& no, it's not the apple you're thinking of.)

this is one of my favorite songs from that show.

pretty sure y'all already know this, but i think i should have

been there. i mean, come on.

in fact, i'm sure that i was there, in some way or another.

happy wednesday!

32 years.

today marks the 32nd anniversary of john lennon's death.

here is my favorite photo of him EVER.. playing guitar with che guevera (pretty much one of my favorite historical figures. google him.. he's awesome.)

even though i was never even alive while john was i have always felt a connection to him & his music.. he is my third favorite beatle, but my favorite solo artist of the four.  :)

RIP john.

unexplainable stories.

 

my heart has been heavy all morning.

i woke up yesterday to a phone call from my papa, saying my sweet aunt geneal has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

most people know, that's one of the worst kinds to get. she's decided chemo would do more harm than good.. & i don't blame her.

this song has been circling my thoughts, & i think it's very appropriate. give it a listen when you have some time.

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my birthday present.

 

luke gave me the other half of my birthday present over the weekend, & what a lovely present it was.

for those who don't remember, i accidentally found the first part of my present a couple weeks ago while cleaning... two vinyls by the xx. it was a great surprise, even if it came a little early.

on saturday, luke took me & his sister marti to the pie for some delicious pizza nomz, & then we headed over to kilby court to see milo greene play. 

 

we first saw milo greene when they opened for the civil wars back in may. we were amazed at how incredible these guys are.

we wanted to go see them in august but it fell on the same day as our family triathlon...we were kinda bummed about that.

but luckily these guys show utah some love more than twice a year...& we were very excited about that.

luke bought me their vinyl & we even got the band to sign it... all in all it was a seriously awesome day...despite the snow storm we had to drive home through.

 

random art on the bathroom door.

 

so fun!

J'ai passe un bon weekend.

the highlight by far of my weekend was papa taking all of us to les miserables.

it was the third time seeing this play on the "big stage" (i also got to see it in san francisco & SLC) but boy was it just as amazing as always.

broadway (san fran) is always a much bigger stage with awesome effects, but the guys in cedar city did an excellent job nonetheless.

we roadied down..four hour drive..got some cafe rio, & headed over to the theatre on SUU's campus, which was beautiful.

luke gave us a mini-tour & then we sat in our seats to be amazed. i cried three times...of course. how can you not tear up at the end of the play? it's so beautiful!
le francais langue est tres jolie.. j'ai adore' le lyrics et la musique a un bon musicale.

thanks so much papa for taking all of us on a date!

 

the next highlight was the U of U football game...luke took me on a little date to watch his utes dominate cal...our first pac 12 win.

 

all in all a fabulous weekend, and like always, monday is here WAY too soon.

an early birthday present.

 

the other day i was cleaning the house when i accidentally discovered luke's birthday present to me...

two vinyls from the band the xx, one of my favorites. they had a new album come out just BARELY...and i've always wanted the old album on vinyl.

needless to say he knows me well.

i was sad to have to text him, "hey...i may or may not have found my birthday present" & even though he was a little sad the element of suspense is gone, we have not been upset about being able to jam these albums over the past few days.

thanks so much luke!!! you really are the raddest boyfriend in the history of boyfriends. i think i'll keep you around. 

free concerts are my fave.

 

the highlight of this past weekend was REDFEST, a concert held at U of U. thanks to marti's friend who is a U of U student, she got us 2 FREE tickets to brand new & manchester orchestra!!!! we were so excited. brand new is luke's favorite band (other than the beatles) & i'm a huge fan of both bands. brand new especially holds a dear spot in my heart as it reminds me of my best friend adam. he lives on catalina island but both luke & i were wishing he was at the show with us.

 

mumford & sons.

it was a lovely evening last night at the mumford & sons show. i've wanted to see these guys live for years, & i could NOT pass up the chance to finally see them in the great state of utah! they were incredible, way better live than i was expecting...it was at the great saltair so the view was beautiful too!

my little sister gets married tomorrow & so ends the last few weeks of CRAZYNESS. it's been so awesome having all the fam back together but i am ready for school to start & to get back into some form of routine!

happy weekend!

horse feathers.

i'm a bit behind on blogging as august has gotten the best of me & i'm SO SO BUSY!

but last thursday luke & i were able to go to the horse feathers concert at the ogden nature center.

horse feathers are an awesome band from portland..listen to them here and here. i feel like my dad would really like them because they have SO many songs with beautiful string solos. there's a cello, 2 violins, a mandalin, & an acoustic guitar.. rad.

it was a beautiful night out, with beautiful music. we even bought one of their albums on record! it's my favorite when artists release vinyl!

next month...

look what arrived in mine & ally's mailbox the other day.... eep!!

i've been hoping mumford & sons would come to play a show in UT ever since i fell in love with them in 2010. & it's finally happening! ally & i, accompanied by our boyfriends, are in for a night of spectacular folk rock, at a beautiful venue at the edge of the great salt lake.

so excited, so excited!

THIS WEEK.

luke & i have been looking forward to this week for several months now. as you all know, we are musical junkies & live music is one of our FAVORITE things. it just so happens that one of our favorite bands is coming to SLC in 2 short days!

the civil wars! you may know them from their song they did with taylor swift for the hunger games soundtrack. they are such an incredible duo. not to mention i have a slight crush on john paul white, while luke thinks joy williams is rather attractive..so it will be eye candy for both of us too!

also, later this week, is a live musical event for the blog i write for:

it's going to be a lovely time! 

what a great week for live music! i can't wait!

the best saturday ever.

luke & i knew this past saturday was going to be amazing, but it turned out to be possibly one of my most favorite days with that boy...even though we got started at the bright early hour of 7 am! record store day was saturday...which is probably my new favorite day of the year. record stores across the country have lots of great deals on vinyl, & if you know me you know i am QUITE the fan of vinyl! 

we headed to graywhale in riverdale & it was spectacular! we found some awesome deals & came home with about 7 new records to add to our collection: harry chapin, wilco, the carpenters, the postal service, atmosphere (limited edition), lupe fiasco for amy, john & yoko, and fleet foxes! SCORE. after, we headed over to indie ogden's RUMMAGE SALE which was a great success, & we left with some lovely new finds!
after the rummage sale, we wandered 25th street & then ended up going to layton to visit luke's sister's family, & then  i went to my sister's soccer game while luke went golfing. after, luke's dad had somehow decided to see if his 1972 mustang was still in working order..one thing led to another & next thing i knew luke was in front of my house so we could take it for a quick spin.

it was amazing! the best saturday i've had in awhile.

THE STANG!

cruisin'...we got it going pretty fast!

yay record store day!!

fun.

the highlight of our weekend was going to see fun. in concert! i bought luke tickets to this show for his bday a couple months ago, & we've been counting down the days ever since. it was a great day alltogether. first luke & i went to a meet & greet event in sandy, where the band played an acoustic set & signed our vinyl copy of their new album!!

after that we headed to the SLC to go on an awesome adventure. we found abbey road AND the civil wars - barton hallow albums on vinyl...great success!

then we wandered around the gateway before it was finally time to go watch fun.! we met up with our old friend chase & his fiance kaylee. it was a great time.

love these guys!

a springtime mix tape.

DIRECTIONS: Listen to while driving with the windows down, taking a walk, or going on a hike. Hooray for finally warmish weather!!!

1. tom petty - you don't know how it feels (getting so excited to see him next month! AH.)

2. fun. - some nights (also can't wait to see these guys at the end of the month.)

3. sigur ros - hoppipolla
4. gotye - somebody i used to know (i totally judged this song at first. don't tell anyone but i kind of like it.)
5. lcd soundsystem - dance yourself clean
6. regina spektor - us (did i mention she's opening for tom petty? rad.)

7. fleet foxes - blue spotted tail
8. holy ghost! - it's not over
9. rebelution - ordinary girl

10. stars - my favourite book (mine & luke's song!)
11. incubus - the warmth
12. tokyo police club - nature of the experiment
13. pink floyd - keep talking

a new favorite video.

check out these seriously talented people dancing to a favorite band of mine.

this is even my favorite song by them as well!! bonus.

the ending (when they all dance together) is the coolest.

happy friday!

DIY - a magnet board!

I've been feeling especially crafty lately, probably due to it being a good distraction from homework.. I hate homework.

Here is what I recently made:

This awesome magnet board is one of the simplest DIYs I've done. Check out the step-by-step directions here! Also, while you're there, check out my review of local band The North Valley.

SO STOKED ABOUT THIS.

my whole entire life i have wanted to see this man perform.

i remember years ago (i had to have been 4 or 5, max), dancing around my living room to mary jane's last dance. i absolutely LOVED that song, as well as free falling, of course.

the other day my friend ally and i were listening to him, & talking about how it was on our bucket lists to see him perform. so just for fun, we looked up tour dates.

turns out he's playing in broomsfield, colorado, only 8 hours away, in april. so naturally, we bought tickets. I AM SO EXCITED!!! it's going to be the most amazing night of my life, i'm pretty sure. the best part is REGINA SPEKTOR is opening for him!! it's going to be a spectacular evening. two months is going to take forever to go by!

now, here's some tunes for your tuesday:

ps, happy valentines day, yo!! luke & i celebrated yesterday so i have school all day. perhaps i will post about it later in the week, when i'm not busy cramming for a french test :/

el camino - an album review.

one of my fave bands just released a new album and i'm SO excited about it! the black keys remind me of a modernesque led zeppelin...all rockin' guitar riffs, bass lines, and rusty, amazing vocals. the black keys have long been a favorite of mine, & i was super excited when, after listening to el camino for the first time, i realized they still ROCK! 

their newest album is sold at my work, which is a bonus because i get to jam out to a few of their songs while making coffee at work every day. check out their songs the lonely boy and little black submarines. they are by far my favorite on the album.

CAN'T WAIT for these guys to come to SLC in may. 2012 is already lookin' awesome as far as concerts go!

PS speaking of concerts...the COACHELLA lineup was released yesterday:

last year's was also phenomenal, but i'm pretty sure this year's is the BEST. i need to find a way to get to this music festival...now accepting donations.

three of the bands (radiohead, manchester orchestra, & dear hunter) are on my bucket list of bands to see live. & also, a few i've already seen (beirut, bon iver, we were promised jetpacks, the black keys) but i would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see again. especially at a 3 day long music festival in california. *sigh* someday...

11 FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2011.

I did this last year and kinda loved it. Summing up my music tastes for the year was incredibly difficult though. I got introduced to so much new music this year (thanks boyfriend!) that I found it really hard to narrow it down to just ten albums. So I have eleven.. :)

1. Bon Iver's self titled album. Incredible. Give perth a listen. They sold this album at my work & I listened to it for months without ever getting sick of it. It's beautiful!

2. Bright Eyes - The People's Key
This Omaha native never ceases to amaze me. Such a powerful lyricist. Check out this song, all seven minutes of it.

3. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
This band is always great to dance to at parties.. I love the upbeat new age feel of the group. Their latest album was no exception.

4. The Decemberists - The King is Dead
These guys came to SLC this past summer, as well as released a new album that I could not get enough of.

5. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

The most beautiful music I think I have ever heard. This album could possibly take the cake for being my number one favorite album of the year.

6. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
I've always dug the weird vibes of Radiohead. With the exception of Creep, most of their songs are a bit out there, & that is what I love about them. Check out this music vid if you want to see just how crazy/weird/awesome they get.

7. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

The song the album was named after will possibly blow your mind. I recommend listening to it while sitting down, or else your knees might give out. No joke, that's what happened to me when I first heard it. Sheer beauty.

8. Hugh Laurie - Let Them Talk

As if being a sexy old man & a badass TV doctor isn't enough, Hugh Laurie proved to the world that he's also a brilliant musician.

9. City & Colour - Little Hell

A favorite band of mine since high school, they finally released a new album that tops anything they've ever created. 

10. Noah & the Whale - Last Night on Earth

The best happy music you will ever need, these guys influenced my life this year possibly more than any other band. PLEASE give them a listen. They have something for everyone.

11. Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What

Simon & Garfunkel is easily in my top 3 favorite bands, so when Paul released a new album this year I couldn't resist. Turns out he's still amazing, brilliant & incredibly talented.

I sure hope 2012 can top this...but I doubt it.

31 years: john winston lennon.

31 years ago today a legend was killed.

& although he is only my 2nd favorite beatle (team george!) his legacy has forever left an impression on me.

RIP JOHN.