waking up to this will never get old.

              

                     oh how i love these cuddly boys. 

school night concert.

monday's are definitely better when they're simply an extension of your weekend. that was the case for us on monday (minus the work part). we hosted some of our concert lovin' friends at our casa for cocktails and snacks before the Cults concert (wiki link). the sold out show (capacity: 250 people) was totally worth being a little slow-going on a tuesday morning. the Cults put on a great show (our friend carlyn is a dead ringer for main singer Madeline Follin) and the Rhythm Room - same venue as this show - is a Phoenix staple that never disappoints. download their album - they'll def be around for a while.

{just your average monday night}

{carlyn, me, ang & alicia}

{alejandro and the briiiight liiiighhhttt}

{the cults laser light show thingy}

{me, the lovely alicia and aunt chilada angela}

{up close}

 {and the night ended with these from juliobertos... damn it!}

rainy day home project :: gallery wall.

we took advantage of a rare rainy day over the weekend and tackled a home project. we didn't have plans to do this, but after a cup of coffee and some chatting about how much we hated the wall, one thing led to another and before we knew it we were in the midst of a home project.

the wall in our sitting room was tragic. it stood as a classic example of moving into a home and just filling the walls to fill them - not waiting until there was something we really liked. for so long we've loathed the wall, the enormous mirror and stale catalogue sconces. it didn't feel like us at all. i've loved the idea of a gallery wall for some time (remember this post?), but never really took the time to assess our frames/artwork collection and see what we had - until sunday.

i went around the house, into closets, storage areas, the bedrooms and grabbed all the big frames i liked and started to arrange them on the hardwood. when we realized we had enough to work with, the fun really began.

thank goodness for perfectionist ting. there'd be 700 holes in our wall if i tried to do this - not him, one for every single frame. oh, and of course i didn't think through the fact that we'd have to remove all the existing nails/screws, spackle plus re-paint before we could start to hang. doh! luckily he handled this. 

it took half the day, but we're so happy with how it turned out. now we just need to print some photos and find some other prints we love.

{we're so glad to see the frame go. you'll enjoy your new home on craigslist.}

{it's 11-feet wide by 4-feet high}

{you probably recognized the Instagram print from this post}

{see that sevilla feria 1946 print? i toted that thing across western europe and have had it rolled up in the closet since i lived in sevilla, spain in 2004. it's a wrinkled mess, but i love that it's finally up on the wall}

{how great is this watercolor painting of miss sydney? my parents enlisted a local artist to make this for us using one of our favorite photos of her.}

{it's nightime, but we're done! now it's time to get some prints and photos for the frames}

radiohead upgrade.

when radiohead announced their tour danny and alex snatched up pre-sale tickets, but days before the show alex had to leave the country and wasn't able to make it. soooo... ting and i went to go see radiohead last thursday night.

i'll be honest. i don't have much history with radiohead, the band that so many are obsessed with. their tickets sold out in seconds, they're a hot topic in the music blogosphere and when they landed at the top of this year's coachella bill i figured it was time i got acquainted with the band. why did i think they were super aggressive 90's music? i have no idea. but, danny loaded up my iPod with a bunch of albums and i quickly realized that i dooooo know radiohead and love some of their songs. oh, and i was quickly put in my place on the "aggressive" when i realized they're actually quite mellow and beautiful. don't know if i should admit all that, but it's the truth.

not one to miss a show, i went along with ting and am so glad i did. as we were walking up to the arena, we bumped into an old co-worker of mine who has connections to the stadium. we said our hellos and then ted ask where we were sitting - showed him our upper level tickets and he said, "here, take my executive seats. i just saw the soundcheck so i'm not gonna go." really?? okay! thanks. his seats were lower level, right off the side of the stage on the aisle of row K. boom. upgrade.

of course we had to pay it forward, so we walked around to find someone to give our tickets too - harder than you'd think. "no, no, no... we're not creeps trying to sell you our tickets we want to give them to you" and then people look at you strange and walk away. we ended up finding a couple guys sitting on the patio of a nearby bar who wanted to go. sheesh.

radiohead, they're a real act. two sets of drums, guitars galore, pianos, keyboards, tons of other instruments, a lead singer with real stage presence and funky moves. good times for a thursday night. 

is it five o'clock yet?

last friday was one of those days when happy hour just couldn't come fast enough. i think i IMed danny about happy hour around 9:30 a.m. - and he was on the exact same page. there was something in the air that had everyone antsy... probably the perfect spring weather. luckily my office typically closes up pretty early on friday, so we were able to hit an awesome patio with friends for an extra long happy hour... which turned into a walk to dinner... turned... yeah, one of those nights. so awesome. 

{leslie & andrew win the prize for longest happy hour... they started at 2 p.m.}

{leslie was playing photog}

{miss rachel, wedding planner extraordinaire}

{sun went down, sunnies came off and twin specs went on. embarrassing. we usually pre-plan}

{must be HAPPY hour}

{the photog was instructing kisses}

{spring has sprung}

{phoenix canal}

{leslie & andrew gettin' their greyhound on}

press play :: geographer

wanna know a secret? i have a new musical obsession - geographer. they're very ra ra riot meets cut // copy and i'm smitten. the violins. the lead signers dreamy voice. the fact that you can understand every single lyric. geographer has been on repeat on my iPod, in my car and at home for 48 hours. oh how i'd love to sway to your sounds at coachella... next year?

i'm slightly devastated that i fell in love four days too late. the minute i was hooked, i looked and up their tour schedule and saw they were in phoenix just days earlier. tear. and yes, i'm still dwelling.

i promise once you press play, you won't be able to stop.

 // original sin // night winds // kites // verona //



daily dose of vitamin d.

a huge perk of my new office space is my enormous just-for-me window. i love having so much sunshine pouring into my office throughout the day. aren't my little chairs, pillows & plant so cute? great space.