holy bananas!!

it has been much too long since we last spoke, this i know. and even now i can't stay long. this post just to say....

thank you for reading this blog. 

we'll be back soon!

victoria and I have a work-date set for this friday where we will be using sewing machines and writing a post together, so stay tuned!!!

-L

Tour Last Day - Los Angeles

Well we did it and now The Nightingale Tour has officially come to an end...oh so bittersweet!  Last night was incredible and such a fun show with our friends at Room 5 in LA.  Room 5 is one of my favorite venues, it boasts great seating (yes you actually get to sit down!!), yummy food, a great staff and Joel always makes you sound amazing thanks to his skills on the sound board.  So needless to say I always want to play here!  We had the AMAZING Kris Karlsson join us on guitar and bgv's (you can see him in the corner of the pic below) Kris is the genius behind my album and if you ask anyone who knows him they will tell you he is one of the most talented and humble musicians in Los Angeles.  So we lucked out by having him join us!!  Lucky girls!  

  

Tour was a whirlwind that brought tons of growth in each of us and solidified an already strong friendship.  Needless to say there are few people in LA that I love as much as Stevie Scott, and I couldn't have been more excited to share my first "tour" experience with her!!  And just in case this is the first time you've visited the blog and don't know the brilliance that is her music you can listen to it here  www.StevieScott.com and buy it on Itunes!

Thank you to everyone who has read this blog over the past few weeks and who have made it out to a show, I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be able to do this everyday and to share parts of my life with you.  Thank you for stopping us after a set and saying hi, for your kind words and encouragement, thank you for buying our cd's, bracelets and shirts, thank you for wanting to know more about She Dances and picking up their card at our merch table.  I have walked away from each encounter feeling thankful for you and the fact that you chose to take the time to say hi.  And even though the tour has ended and I'm back at home I still carry around little pieces of you and it is changing me for the better, and for that I can never thank you enough!!!

xoxo

-V

transition

i'm in transition again.

Actually, I think I was born as the living icon of transition. Part self-induced and part fact of life, I have moved 8 times in 8 years, I have changed careers, I have all but shaved my head and grown it long again, I have decided to live in Paris but left there and moved to LA instead, I have lost family members and gained new ones, I have owned 6 cars since moving to Los Angeles and am currently looking to both sell my current car and move from my current house.

Again. Transition. 

Top that off with this summer bringing new jobs for both me and my husband and we have a lot happening.

However overwhelmed I would actually like to feel I can't help but be happy about all of this. I love a good challenge that I know I can win. Scrabble anyone?

That statement is how I'm going about all of this change in my life. I could be emotional about it, but fact is, I'm freaking blessed. I have amazing friends who are my family. I have a wonderful man as my teammate in this crazy life. And I'm gonna get that new job... whatever it may be.

So, chin up!

-L

Magnets aren't just for sewing anymore!

I got tired of always loosing my bobby pins so I decided my huge sewing magnet (where I kept all my straight pins) would be perfect for them.  Works like a charm! ;)

-V

Tour Day ? - Santa Barbara

Last night we played Jitter's Cafe in Santa Barbara, a cute coffee shop located on State street with doors that opened to the outside. The location was great as it directed a lot people in off the street, and we didn't have to play on the precarious ledge that overlooked the baristas. ;)

We had 2 amazing girls (who were still in high school) opening for us they were wonderful and such sweethearts!!  Check out their music here  www.facebook.com/lilyandmarleymusic

We left LA a little early so we could spend some time hopping from thrift store to thrift store and are happy to say we both found some very fun items!  One of mine included a wool green jacket with belt for only $16!  I'm a sucker for a nice looking coat, even if it June and I live in California!! ;)


After finding our thrift store gems we were ravenous so we decided that pizza had to happen!

This friday we play the last stop on the tour at Room 5 in Los Angeles.  I'm so sad to see our little adventure come to an end but I must say for my first tour I couldn't have had a better time!  Here's to many more tours to come!!!

Tour Day 5 and 6

Sacramento ---> San Francisco ---> San Jose ---> Los Angeles

That's what my last few days have looked like!!!  Tomorrow we play Santa Barbara and then return to end the tour in Los Angeles on June 24 at Room 5.  ;(

 I had never been to San Francisco and I learned that it was an especially good day to go because the sun was shining and that doesn't always happen!  yay for me cause I LOVE THE SUN!!!

We used our time to walk around the wharf and even managed to find a great little market place that sold tons of fresh fruit, flowers, chocolates, cheeses, succulents and tons of other things. Stevie and I had the best time walking around sampling the food and grabbing some hot coffee after lunch.  By this time the clouds were rolling in and my dear sun was fading away making it pretty chilly.

We even got to see the seals...my favorite animal growing up!

 The streets of San Francisco

After our little site seeing trip it was time to head off to our show at Red Rock Coffee in Mountain View.  Red Rock is a great little venue with live music upstairs and baristas downstairs, we played to a very friendly and fairly full crowd and I even managed to throw in a Justin Bieber cover.  ;)  Mountain View is the cutest town and everyone at Red Rock was so nice and fun!!  After our show we grabbed dinner with my amazing friend Megan who had made the trip from Stanford (not that far) to catch our show for the second time!  What a great friend!!!

The next day we made the trek to LA admiring some beautiful scenery along the way.  California is a gorgeous state!

 xoxo 

-V

I'm working on something...

-L

Tour Day 4 - Sacramento

Yesterday we had the day off and we spent it with the Scott family, whom I have fallen in love with!  A family of 4 kids they are loud, loving, fun, musical, kind, generous, talented and completely amazing.  It's sad to say goodbye to them as they have so graciously opened their home to me, but today we trek to San Francisco for the day and then head over to San Jose for tonight's show so i'm afraid I must.  ;(  Last night Mrs. Scott made an amazing meal of Calzones (which were gigantic) needless to say I did NOT finish my meal! ;) 

 our HUGE calzones!

Shenandoah or Shen as she is so affectionately known decided to give me a fantastic henna tattoo while we were at coffee.. ;)

After dinner we had a little jam session in their living room, so fun!  Then Stevie, Shen and I spent a few hours talking about and sharing videos of our favorite artists and then headed off to bed.  

This morning was full of coffee, hugs and homemade brown bread (yum)... San Francisco here we come!!

THANK YOU TO THE WONDERFUL SCOTT FAMILY FOR BEING AMAZING HOSTS AND FOR MAKING ME FEEL SO AT HOME!!! <3

xoxo

-V  

Tour Day 3 - Stanford

Day 3 - Stanford

 Last night we played at Stanford's coffee shop called CoHo or as I affectionally dubbed it "Frontierland" due to it's log cabin style tables and chairs.  (i forgot to take a picture of the venue..oops!)

(Our merch suitcase is looking good!   Shen played another show with us!!)

I didn't take into account that school was not in session, so we played for a handful of students and my good friend Megan came out to support!  It was great catching up with her and trying out some new songs.  The campus was beautiful and we met some great new friends...err interesting ones... and even had some luck selling a few cds. ;) 

Along the way over we found the man (above) talking on this banana yellow phone...AMAZING!

Today we have enjoyed our day off in Sacramento, we took a morning walk down to the river with Stevie's parents and brother and are cooking a family dinner later tonight.  Tomorrow we are headed to San Francisco (yaaaaayyyy i've never been!!!) and then are playing Red Rock Coffee in Mountain View later that night.  Hope to see you there!!!

xoxo

-V

lovely handmade inspiration

its wedding season. The sun is shining, the kids are on break from school and young love is everywhere.  I've been married for a million years now, but I still get excited about weddings. I still love going to celebrate a couple's love and I still love helping my friends during the planning process. And, I still love my wedding.

Lately, and this warms my heart to its core, DIY love is everywhere in weddings. My wedding a million years ago was a picnic... literally. We ate on the ground. Everyone I knew was in on the planning and creating and the result was that everyone at the wedding felt they had a special part in it. It was wonderful.

So, this ones for the girls. =)  

The great thing about looking at wedding blogs is that I find a ton of great ideas that extend beyond weddings. Summer parties, back yard bbq's, and one of these days I want to play a show in a field on a stage like the one you'll see below.  A girl can dream about playing in a prairie....

via labellebride.com

K, cutest idea for a bouquet yet. Take the idea beyond that and I can see a cute and easy spring table decor that won't cost more than the time to collect all your wayward buttons and plugging in a glue gun.

 via bowtiesandbliss.com

 Ikea lanterns a-plenty and suddenly you look fancy. Or, cans and candles, Mason jars and candles and whatever else you can string from a tree and stick a candle in. Or, if you are especially jazzy with your weaving skills, I would very much like you to make me some of those wooded twinkle light globes please.

via bowtiesandbliss.com & thegreendandelion.blogspot.com

 So, do you see what I mean about the field and the stage and the me playing music on it? That stage setting was built by some lucky ladies fiance. Wasn't that sweet? 

Plus, I love the pinwheels and kites in the arch above. I know that most boys don't get it, but I wouldn't mind just having one in my house somewhere. It would make walking into the next room somethin' special.

via theknottybride.com & bellethemagazine.blogspot.com

I love succulents. Los Angeles may have grass but it isn't native. Neither are the palm trees, but that's another thing. Succulents are the cutest and easiest plants for dry climates and I love the idea of using them as decoration. As we are planning my good friend Kiersten's wedding, I saw this and immediately thought of her. She, like me, has a special place in her heart for the cute little things. 

via hatunot.squarespace.com

 duh. love for any day.

 (nobody says duh anymore. yet I still keep holding on.)

via emmalinebride.com

Perfection.

via www.bijouxbride.com

yes please. next birthday party I will be having an oreo tower.

Simple. Love.

via ruffledblog.com

-L

Tour Day 2 - Sacramento

Wow day 2/show 2 is already under our belts and I can't believe it, last night's show was amazing!  I'm loving Sacramento and it's slower pace of life, we played last night at The Naked Lounge to a wonderful crowd (if doesn't help that this is Stevie's hometown!).  Not only did I get to meet a lot of her friends and family I also had 2 college friends that stopped in to say hi!!!!!  So exciting to have all of us reconnect after at least 6 years of not seeing one another....fun fun fun!

Paulette and Jenn!

So after saying goodbye to the lovely B&B in SLO we made the long 5 hour drive to Sacramento.  We rolled in around 5:30, spent some time with the lovely Scott family, rehearsed and then headed over to the venue.  Not only does Stevie come from a wonderfully loving and sweet family they are also incredibly talented.  So we had Stevie's younger sister, Shenandoah, who is AHHMAZING, hop on stage with us to play Mandolin, BGV's and Percussion!

Stevie and Shenandoah ;)

Here are a few videos from last night's show thanks to Stevie's friend Allison!!!

Stevie Scott and Victoria Clemmons, Nightingale Tour

Victora Clemmons and Stevie Scott, Nightingale Tour

Tonight we hit Stanford, can't wait!!  We hope to see you there!  Stanford Coffee Shop, 9pm. ;)

and check out Stevie's take of the tour at StevieScott.com !

xoxo

-V

roast those beans

Well, the time has finally come.

Hi, my name is Laura and I'm addicted to coffee.

Its not something that I would typically say is a problem, but when you count the many ways that we can create offerings of coffee in our home, you might say that I should seek help. So I did. I went to my local Groundwork Coffee location, purchased a half pound of green coffee beans - Ethiopian, Single Origin, Fair Trade, Organic - for just $3.00 and set to work. I figure that the therapy of roasting my own next cup of espresso would "help" me appreciate it even more. Which I do.

 HIGHLIGHTS:

• 1 lb of Groundworks Organic Espresso roast: $12.75
• 1 lb of home roast: $6.00
• Roasted beans are good for up to 2 weeks.
• Green beans are good for up to 2 years. 
• micro roasting makes me feel awesome.
• My house smells amazing. 

I really enjoyed this mornings roasting process. Listening for the first crack. Sipping my americano while I waited. Skipping breakfast entirely because I was having too much fun.

 First timers should always keep notes. Like how hot my gazillion year old oven really gets when set to "500*".

 Steam and smoke and fast swirling.

Bean color check!

Kind of amazing right?

Now to practice patience while let them rest. I have to wait to share them with my man tomorrow because we are going to see the Civil Wars tonight. Which is even more exciting than roasting my own beans... if you can imagine that.

-L

The Nightingale Tour DAY 1 - San Luis Obispo

Day 1

All loaded up and ready to hit the road!

Got into San Luis Obispo with enough time to check into the cutest B&B I've ever stayed in.  Called The Sanitarium, it is a must if you are ever passing through and need a place to stay.  WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!  Suzi and Vince are the nicest. ;)

After a quick rehearsal on the lovely deck off of our room we headed over to Kruezberg for our first show. 

Kruezberg is a live music venue/coffee shop/library with a flourishing music scene and a great crowd.  We made friends with the band playing before us, some great guys from the LA area do yourself a favor and check out their music here!  www.deriknelson.com

We grabbed a quick dinner with Derik and Jack, talked about the show, music and mutual friends, then headed back to LA and we went back to catch some zzzz's before heading to Sacramento today.

Thanks for having us San Luis Obispo and Kruezberg!!!