Have you Heard? // Broods - "Sleep Baby Sleep"

New Zealand and Australia seem to be turning out so many talented young musicians these days. Vance Joy, Lorde, HAIM, and Broods. I love it!

Broods is a brother - sister duo with vocals that will give you #allthefeels and lyrics you can't stop singing. Their music came to KC in early 2014, and I was pretty hooked. Maybe you've heard Bridges? Last summer they played at  festival we went to, but they were an early act so we missed them. I decided they were a band I wanted to see headlining a small show soon. 

So I was pretty jazzed when the Buzz announced their March show at the Midland (Where we saw Jack White as well as Vance Joy @ Prom). The tickets were $9.65 (the station is 96.5 the Buzz) so we jumped at the chance to buy them. I'm so glad that we got to go, the show was amazing!! - But I'll write about that another time. :)

I love all of their music, but I think these two are still my favorite songs. :)





These are both from their self-titled EP, and I would definitely recommend it, especially at $2.99 (USD). The full length album is $7.99 (USD) right now on iTunes.

What do you think? Do you like Broods?

What have you been listening to lately?!?

XO,

Alexandra

June + July = #AllTheTravel // HELP!

Hi Guys! I hope that May is still treating you well! 

Here things continue to be busy.... but manageable. We've been filling in our calendars with concerts, trips, visiting friends and family... and it's just hitting me... we are going to be going non-stop until August 1st! - Wow.

I need your travel recommendations and tips!!

I love to travel (duh) and I love to plan it out as well.... but this time I definitely need some ideas! There is a lot to plan in a short period of time! Please share in the comments if you have recommendations!

In June we are headed to Indianapolis for just about 24 hours for a concert. What's there to do in Indianapolis? Where should we eat and get our coffee? Wishing we could spend longer... maybe next time!

In July, magical July, we found out we are heading to Alaska for work. FOR WORK*! But, we will also get to leave a little bit early and spend my birthday weekend having fun before we're on the clock! We'll be spending a week in Anchorage, and need your recommendations on places to eat, shop, and get out and about. (preferably without driving too far, my goal is to not over-plan) Alaska has been my dream destination since the 5th grade, so I can't wait to get there, and can't believe it's for my birthday!! :) *Business travel tips oh, so welcome. It's my first time travelling for work!

Also in July we head to Florida for a wedding and following family vacation. We are spending time near Tampa and Clearwater. We'll spending lots of time with KC's family, but will also be planning our own stuff to do while we are there. I'll be the only Florida newbie in the bunch. What's there to do? Where do we need to eat and what should we see? Any tips on vacationing in a hot climate when that isn't your thing?!?!?! 

I'm so excited about each of these trips for totally different reasons, and I can't believe that we will be so far on opposite ends of the country in July alone! 

Do you have any recommendation for me?!

What are your upcoming travel plans? (real or imagined. . .I'm not picky) :)

Thanks in Advance!

XO,

Alexandra

DIY // A Little White Paint Goes A Long Way // Upcycling Wooden Items

Every time I go to a thrift store, I find a handful of items that just need a tweak.

You know, the dress that needs hemmed, the lampshade that needs recovered, the jewelry that needs repaired.... and a lot of it... . gets forgotten (at least for a little while). It gets tucked in a drawer, or stuck in a box. But other times I end up with quirky little wooden, plastic, or metal items that can be easily painted, and therefore given new life.

One of my favorite projects so far has been this wooden owl. Before... it looked very dated. I nearly passed it by upon first glance. But with a little wash, and a few coats of white paint. It is so much more modern looking.

Materials:

Wooden Object to Paint
Washcloth with water and a tiny bit of mild detergent
Acrylic Craft Paint, Acrylic Painter's Paint, or Latex Wall Paint
A Paint Brush
A Drop Cloth or Paper to cover your surface

1) Gently wash your object with your washcloth. Don't use too much soap. Make sure to get the washcloth in between in any grooves or crevasses where dust or dirt might be hiding! Let air dry.

2) Place a drop cloth or newspaper on your work surface to catch drips. Get out your object, and begin painting a thin layer over entire surface. If it is easier to place your object on one side, paint the layer on just that side, then alternate sides as you add layers of paint (make sure they are dry before you add another layer!).

3) Continue painting on thin layers, letting dry in between coats, until the object is covered. You might like a faint, white washed look on your object or a completely solid painted look.

4) Let dry completely and admire.

What do you think?

What are some of your favorite DIYs for the home?

Would you like to see more DIYs in this space?

Thank you for reading!

XO,

Alexandra

Springtime Hues // $38 Outfit!

Happy Monday! The sun is shining here. :) 

We've officially hit that phase of spring in Kansas where the rain and the storms hit. I really don't mind it. I don't particularly have a fear of storms, or tornadoes (I know you're thinking it - everyone who has ever seen the Wizard of Oz...).

I threw this on the other day, and I just love it. It's a little bit girly, a little bit bohemian, & really easy!

Blouse: Hand me down, from mom, $0

Jeans: Target, $20

Flats: Target, $8

Necklace: World Market, $10 (BOGO Black Friday Price)

Total: $38 (!)

I love that the color in the top matches my jeans, but it doesn't look too planned out. The long necklace and little bit of pattern mix keep it from being too stuffy as well.

What is your go-to easy outfit for spring?

Do you get lots of thunderstorms where you live this time of year?

XO,

Alexandra

The Second Annual Kansas Food Truck Festival // Hometown Happenings

Well, with life slowing down on the career / crazy entrepreneur endeavors front... the first weekend off would be packed full of social plans. It was great, and a little tiring... but so worth it.

See what we did Friday @ Afentra's Prom with VANCE JOY! :) 

Saturday I dropped off my cat-themed bridal shower invitations to my customer, hand addressed and all. She loved them! (hooray!)

Then we headed downtown to meet some friends at the 2nd Annual Kansas Food Truck Festival (Last year's post). This year they capped the number of attendees, doubled the space, and the number of trucks... so we were pretty excited to give KSFTF another go!

KC and I decided to share everything, so that worked out well. We got to try more foods than last year.

Truck #1: We started with some tasty street tacos, they were REALLY good. I liked that they used flour tortillas - corn never makes me feel great. And the cabbage on top was tossed in a coleslaw dressing before it topped the taco. The pork had this really nice chili sauce on it. It was one of the messier things I've ever eaten... .but it was delicious.

Truck #2: Then we moved on to BBQ. Poor BBQ... living in the Midwest means that I am often burnt out on it. But it was pretty good, kind of spicy.

Truck #3: Then we walked over to the Torched Goodness food truck and tried some of their adorable and delicious mini crèmes brûlées. KC and I shared s'mores, Michael tried a toasted coconut, and Elijah tried the traditional vanilla. None of us had actually had crème brûlée before, so it was fun to try!

Truck #4: Later we visited Wilma's Real Good Food, and I tried a meatloaf slider. It sounded a little crazy, but it was actually really good. Very flavorful, a nice small size to share. I think that their truck (or trailer rather) is a lot more artistic looking than some of the others, and it was signed by Mumford and Sons.... not too shabby.

Truck #5: Then we made our way down to The Jeweled Gypsy truck. That's right, a truck for shopping. Danger, danger! Oh my goodness, I bought my mom a mother's day gift, and may have bought myself a few bracelets... : /  To be fair, my wrists are tiny, and these are an adjustable kind that works well for me... plus they are so pretty. And... I bypassed the $108 purse that caught my eye, and the $88 scarf.... So I don't feel too bad about it. :)

Kid Stuff: We saw my parents briefly, they got OE's face painted and gave her a sno flower. :) My dad said the face painting line was by far the longest. haha

Downsides: Sadly, the amazing Artillery Bar from last year, with the gorgeous cocktails wasn't there. I hope they are back next year.

Another great night out, with a lot of standing... whew our feet were quite dead on Monday.. :)

Have you guys ever been to a food truck event? Are there good food trucks in your area?

XO,

Alexandra

Vance Joy @ Afentra's Prom // May 2015

Well, with life slowing down on the career / crazy entrepreneur endeavors front... the first weekend off would be packed full of social plans. It was great, and a little tiring... but so worth it.

On Friday KC and I met a bunch of our friends in Kansas City for Afentra's Prom. 

Prom is a concert thrown by our alternative station every year, because one of the main DJs was not able to attend her high school prom. So every year, she throws her own prom. It's a free show, but you have to make it in the door before it's full, and you have to dress up.

This year Vance Joy was headlining.. and I have been swooning over his dreamy lyrics since July! (am I alone you guys?) And was a bit distressed after I found out he would be world touring with T-Swift for the rest of forever. I love T-Swift as much as the next person, but it will make his shows more difficult to see live for this album. Leave it to the Buzz, to book him right before he is unattainable for years! ;) As soon as it was announced, I knew we had to go!

Turns out several of our friends were also getting really into his music, and/or had recently bought great dresses ... and had no where to wear them.. :)

It was an extremely busy week still, so I grabbed my red dress I wore as Cruella DeVil (thrifted, $6) and my new Target necklace ($20) and dashed out of the house. We got dressed up, drove out to KC, managed to eat in line without spilling on ourselves, and made it inside despite the amazingly long line!

We found a decent spot in the middle and stood through the opening bands (Hembrey, Joywave, The Kooks). I don't have too much to say about them, other than they had good energy. I don't particularly like Joywave, I'm not familiar enough with Hembrey (but they did a great cover!), and The Kooks are a little hit or miss for me. They didn't earn points with me for going way past their time slot.... Then we had to sit. 5 hours of standing on concrete is rough on the feet! (no I didn't wear heels this time!)

We found some seats in the balcony, and waited for Vance Joy to go on. He was great. His songs sounded just the same as they do on the album, and he picked a few of them up in speed as well, which I think engaged the audience a little more, I wouldn't be surprised if many were unfamiliar with some of his album. He also played Emmylou, which is on his EP... which was just recently released on US iTunes. I love it, so that was a great surprise. Thank you 96.5 the Buzz for bringing him to KC.

I got a T-shirt that says Georgia on it, and threw it on over my dress. We walked back to the car, and I was so tired on the way home. It was a long night, but very worth it.

It had all the artists talking about their real proms. Most of them weren't great, and most of my friends didn't have the best proms either.... I went to four, and most of them were pretty fun! :)

So... here's what I'm wondering... how was your prom? 

XO,

Alexandra

My First Bridal Show! // April 2015

Hi all! Happy MAY! :) 

As you may have read, April was pretty awful for me. I'm not going to rehash that here.... I'm just going to share the end of the month with you! :) The last two weeks were busy with more work, and lots and lots of prep for my first bridal show!

I finally made it there, I was scrambling down until 5 minutes after it started, and my mom was admitted to the hospital two days before the show.... but we somehow all made it. :) 

We set up a little assembly line of bridal show projects in my mom's hospital room. We talked and shared ideas, they helped me put polka dots on my business cards, punch out hearts in my color samples... etc. While I finished designing a few more samples.

We pulled very late nights, my mom got to go home and is feeling SO much better! I was near tears so many times, but there wasn't time to cry, just time to keep going! Somehow, with everyone's help... I made it there.

And it was so great. :)

As soon as the brides started rolling in I was in my element, in my booth, chatting away with sweet new people. I was having the best time sharing invitations with attendees and hearing about their unique ideas for their weddings.

I left with an overwhelming ache in my legs (heels the first 3 hours was an awful idea), and gratefulness in my heart. 

Thank you to everyone who came to the show, who liked my social media accounts, who punched out hearts, dotted dots, carried things, ironed my curtain backdrops, picked up Chipotle and brought it to us for lunch, let us take over their tables and floors... ordered a fabulous custom sign for me, and more. I could not have done it without you.

I hope to do more shows in the future, thanks for helping me figure this first one out family. :)

If you like pretty invitations and calligraphy... or just wanna help a girl out... you can follow my accounts on FB and IG. :) I am currently populating my Etsy.

What have you guys been up to?!?

XO,

Alexandra