I cried at a bar.

Okay... so let me explain.

Yes there were tears shed...by me...at at bar last night.
But it was beautiful I promise!

Let me explain.  I tend to be a grandma/home body during the week and never leave the house once I get home after work.  But my dear friend Ivy (the one that made me this knitted treat) talked me into rallying these old bones to go hear a friend of hers play at a local music venue.  The 5 Spot in East Nashville was recently featured on the new drama Nashville and is a perfect place to hear local musicians.

So I thought to myself, "you should go."
Also I thought "you shouldn't sit down when you get home because you won't want to get back up."
So I cleaned my entire house before meeting up with my dear friend.  (Talk about nerd alert.)

I was getting a second wind of energy after arriving to the 5 Spot.  There had been a lot of build up of high expectations of Luella and the Sun and I was ready for the other bands to speed up their sets so I could hear Luella and then quickly retreat to my bed.  Out walks Luella and the Sun.  First off I am mesmerized by her appearance, dark blue velvet dress, long sheer lace coat, layered with a jingling gold belt and a perfect cat eyeliner.  Once she uttered the first few hums, all I could do was utter "are you kidding me?!?!" 

By utter I mean I screamed loudly at Ivy in shock at the beauty of her voice.

I wish all of you were there to hear what we did.  The way she could belt out her notes mixed with
incredible gospel inspired lyrics brought the entire venue to silence, leaving us all wanting more.  At one point Luella sang her own rendition of "His eye is on the Sparrow."  This is when I couldn't help my self and teared up... yup.  Me in a smoke filled room full of hipsters there stood Luella sharing God's love and connecting us all.  After they had finished all anyone could do was turn to the stranger standing next to them and just whisper how amazing it was.

 

This is why I need to get out more.  To see live shows, to see these incredible artists performing their hearts out, and allowing myself to experience new things.  Maybe it was all of the cleaning supplies that I inhaled prior to the show, but my soul was moved and they are now my new favorite group.

Oh did I mention that I bought 2 copies of their vinyl record.
Did I also mention that I don't own a record player??
I am determined to fill my house with their music so the quest is on to obtain a record player.

You owe it to yourself to watch this video of them performing.  Thanks Luella and the Sun for making my week!  Happy Friday everyone! 

 

 

If you want to hear more or see them live for yourself check them out HERE.

Too Heavy to Hang

I wanted to entitle this post as "To the windows"  in honor of a recent karaoke session on my trip to Korea town in New York, but apparently I have already used that title.  (Lil Jon would be so proud.)

So how about:  DIY Message Board Windows. 
Probably appeals more to my followers.
If you have no idea who Lil Jon is then I was correct in my assumption.

Any who, over Christmas break I got thrifty and wanted to up-cycle some old windows a friend had given me.  Like most things in my life they were stacked against a wall in my dining room.  I sort of cleaned them off, removed the wooden cross bars and went to work painting two different windows brown.

After allowing 3 coats of brown paint to dry, I put the crossbars back into the window, used sandpaper to scruff up the painted edges creating a shabby chic look and set out to use the divided sections for a chalkboard, cork board, message board, and dry erase board.  I purchased scrap booking paper from Hobby Lobby to be the 'backdrop' for my dry erase board and used spray adhesive to attach it to the back side of the glass. 

 

Then on the bottom of both window frames I drilled holes and screwed in burlap knobs (also from Hobby Lobby) adding an extra hanging feature to the window message board.  I am not sure what my mom and sister will hang from the knobs, but come on- they're burlap!

Lastly, on my mom's window I added an extra detail by using her initials with painted wooden letters glued on top of a stencil that I painted directly on the front side of the bottom window pane.  I LOVE how her window turned out!  Since these are real windows they weigh a ton!  So we need to make sure that we securely hang them to the wall... minus toggle bolts. I'm trying to cut down on the swearing.

I'm thinking now that I need to use the rest of the windows and make one for my kitchen for grocery lists, menus, and to display all those adorable Happy New Years photos that people are sending out. 



p.s.  I promise I really have tried to live up to my New Years Resolutions... has anyone else been frustrated with not being able to upload pics to blogger??  Ohhh technology- you keep me young!