Last night Jimmy and I decided on a whim to drive 70 miles down to Felton, CA to see one of our favorite bands play at a tiny venue. It was a rough Monday. All I really wanted to do when I got home was curl up in a ball and watch Dexter. But I know that two of the things in this world that make me feel best are 1. spontaneous adventures with my love and 2. singing and dancing to live music. So we picked up some deeeelicious pumpkin cider, and went on our way.

The venue was tiny (in the best way). We already had plans to see them at the Fillmore this Friday, but I'm so glad we got to see them in this small, intimate space. Highlights of the night were a quiet and emotional Watch Over Us, and an absolutely beauuuutiful cover of Slip Slidin' Away.

Check them out in the videos below and let me know what you think! Have you been listening to any new bands lately??

 

Live Music Weekend

The Fillmore^^ 

^^Hanging with The Stone Foxes. But more importantly, the new friend I met on the left there was meant to be my new bestie after a great night of gallivanting together...but after the show I lost her phone number!! Sad story! If you know her, give me a holler ;)

Jimmy and I had a weekend o' music. Rocking out, dancing and singing my heart out (interspersed with the laziest lazy days) was exactly what I needed after a trying week. We got so amped up by the two great shows we went to, that we also grabbed tix to another upcoming show, and spent the rest of the weekend scouring for new artists on Spotify.

Care to hear some new stuff? Here's a little mix of the shows we saw this weekend + shows coming up + new stuff we found this weekend.

Have you had your live music fix lately?? Who did you see?

Have a wonderful week!

Bodega (Part 1):: According to iPhone Pictures

Last night Jimbo asked me the most wonderful little question before bed. He said "what have been your happiest moments lately?". I went on to list about a million from the past few months, but there were quite a few strong recurring themes. In each of my happiest "wow I am so lucky" moments, I was:

1. outside

2. with friends

3. exploring a new place

4. next to Jimmy

Usually with some food or beverage in hand. And always with some beautiful nature expanse before me, whether it be a field of flowers, the ocean, or a star filled sky. The memories were a great way to fall asleep.

It's nice to know what makes you happiest, and it's even nicer to know how often I'm coming across times like these lately. Since we've moved here, we've been lucky enough to have quite a few fun, food and nature filled weekend. One of which was when our dear friends Caitlin and Eddie, fellow explorers, came to visit from Boston and we ventured up to Bodega Bay together.

We ventured up Route 1 (the scenic route of course) and camped at Bodega Dunes Campgrounds, right in Sonoma Coast State Park. We slept on a little sandy knoll under the pine trees, and had the beach and the Pacific as our backyard. Our first day was for beach exploring and relaxing; sunsets, card playing and beer. 

The next day we tasted wine at one of our favorite wineries; Dutcher Crossing in Geyserville.  We explored a couple more in Dry Creek as well, then stopped at the Dry Creek General Store (which by the way is one of those adorable places you could just wander around all day. amazing local books and wines. rustic Italian sandwiches. rustic everything. a bar. wrap around porch and people watching. LoVe!).

But we made sure to save some energy for Oysterpalooza in Valley Ford, at Rocker Oysterfeller's. Ahhhmazing. Six bands, two stages, BBQ oysters, Fried Oyster Po Boys, BBQ Brisket, Lagunitas on draught, Dry Creek wines, hay bales, fairy lights, dancing, and friends. How can you beat it?

 

There are actually even more pics from this happy-inducing trip, but I will save those for another time. And did anyone wonder why my own face was popping up so much more than usual in these photos? It's because the lovely Caitlin shared her gems with me! Thanks @caitk86 for sharing your instagrams!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Mercantia!

Ciao a tutti! What a crazy couple of weeks we've had here in Italia. Everything from broken noses to cross-Italia roadtrips and ocean views - needless to say I haven't had time to blog! Here are just a couple of things we've experienced in the past couple of weeks:

• visits from 4 of our closest friends
• pigs getting loose (twice)
• many dinners composed of cheese. only cheese.
• visits to Florence, Pisa and Rome
• our first and hopefully last scooter accident (don't worry, everyone is ok!)
• road trips all the way up to Cannes, France and all the way down to Positano, Italy
• a broken nose (sorry, LuLu!)
• a broken bottle of red (sorry, rental car)
• more than 5 but less than 10 burratas
• approximately 1,000 bottles of wine
• renting a boat for the day to cruise along the Amalfi Coast
• more than a couple skinned knees
• countless laughs & immeasurable scenic beauty!

Aaand the rest you will see in good time. Once I'm caught up on my posts here...so in the interest of time, this post will be 99% pictures. All from our night in Certaldo Alto, an adorable Etruscan hill town about 20 minutes from us, where once a year they hold an international festival focused on street theater. We had no idea what was in store for us before we went - we almost didn't even go! But I'm so glad we did, it was absolutely amazing. I would return to Tuscany again and again just for this festival, it was that incredible.

Read more about it here or here if you're interested, but basically the festival focuses on performance art and theater, and people come from all over the world to show off their skills in everything from marionettes to mimes to jewelry making to bubbles. Yes, bubbles. We only knew about it from our Italian coworkers and I don't think it's advertised much outside Tuscany, so there were no tourists in sight. Our eyes were popping out of our head the whole time - make sure to go if you're ever in Tuscany in June!

More soon - a presto!