A concert, shop update, and vacation

I'll start with last night.

Cold, wet, and crowded. So crowded. I knew these guys had made it big, but I was really taken back by how many kids love them as much and if not more than I do.  They easily filled up the entire field of grass, mainly with teenagers and parents of kids too young to go by themselves. I felt old, ready to leave by 9:30, but when they came back for the encore they gave a shout out to those of us that saw them play 8 years ago at Kilby Court, a venue that doesn't hold more than 60 people, I swelled with pride and rocked out the last fifteen minutes with them. Despite the age gap between myself and their fan base though, I won't stop going. This was my 6th concert with them, and not my last. I'll most likely be that mom who insists on going to rock shows with her son, even when he begs her not to.

I plan on putting some new stuff in the shop next Wednesday the 4th at 2pm Pacific Standard time. Little smocky dresses and skirts for the girls, a few new ties for the boys, and maybe something for the mama. Check back, I'm finally using some of the fabric I have been stashing.

And today we are off to California. A vacation mainly sparked by the opportunity to see REM, the National, and Modest Mouse in concert. REM is on my short list of bands I have to see before I die, and when I heard they were skipping SLC, I invited myself, Luke and Tom to California to see it with Wade and Kath, dear friends we haven't seen in a very long time. We are beyond excited. We haven't been on a vacation in over year, and California in over seven, so we are headed out in a few hours. Our first stop, Circus Circus, then Laguna Beach for a few days with our friends Brooke, John, Cash, and Ruby, oh how we've missed them since they left us last November. Knotts berry farm, H&M, Modernica, and  the Purl warehouse are also on our list of stops this week. Oh man...I'm excited!

35 mpg

and that's city.

Remember this car? It still is pretty much our dream car with the exception of the 13 mpg it gets. Without much driving in NYC, we were sort of ignorant to the soaring price of fuel, and how much and how often we would be filling up. We knew the need for a second car was inevitable and we tried to live off the one car, but after a few weeks of draining our wallets, we started looking. It didn't convince us completely though, we were still looking at form over function, test driving some of our favorites, and even almost driving this one off the lot. But after sleeping on it for a few days, we decided 26 mpg just wasn't good enough and I needed to do some research. 

The idea of a hybrid and natural gas car sounded best to me. 45 mpg? are you kidding? or a car that only costs $5.00 to fill up? sounds too good to be true right? well ended up that it was. Both cars were way out of my budget, and I wasn't crazy about the natural gas tank sitting in the middle and taking up all room in the trunk. More research was needed.

I came across this website. I must have spent two solid days on this thing researching every year and what cars got the highest gas mileage. The diesels and hybrids were always first, but almost next in line consistently every year was the Honda Civic, and way way down the list was the regular engine VW rabbit, my second dream car. You see, initially I had every intention not to buy a Honda Civic, I've owned two others, and besides being totally reliable, they really don't do anything for me. I much prefer the look and styling of a VW, but the Honda just keeps coming around. It's like I'm forever bound to them. But with 35 mpg city and 37 mpg highway the Civic just wouldn't let me consider anything else.

After test driving several, we decided on this one. A 2001, not a 1994 which happens to be the most stolen car in NYC, something we were lucky enough to confirm. It's smooth, costs between $35-40 to fill up, and will easily fit 2 if not 3 car seats (I've never really understood why baby=SUV, even with just one).

Because I can't look forward to cheaper gas or a better environment, I do look forward to the future when all car companies are forced to make either natural gas cars with tanks somewhere other than the trunk,or  more affordable and a wider selection of hybrids. We can all help this effort by buying more economical cars, driving less, carpooling more, and not buying gas hogging SUV's like we did.
Amen.

Some much needed fresh air

Taking a cue from this post, I took a sewing break, and spent all weekend minus some prior obligations outside. The weather was beautiful, a first really this year, and we spent every minute we could soaking in all that we've been deprived for the season.

Friday, after a free meal at Chipotle, we stopped by the park, had some fun, and took lots of pictures.

Saturday evening we went to Heather's going away BBQ. So fun to see old friends. So sad to say goodbye. And just as I moved back. I made my most favorite dessert for the event, Berry Banana Trifle. The recipe is very similar to this one, just swapped with Angel Food cake instead of the Nilla Wafers, and added berries.
 

 

But the real excitement of the weekend was watching the new baby birds peak their heads from the nest right outside our window.
 

We're open!

Click here for my Brooklyn Bean etsy shop. Come shop or spread the word!!
Lots of boys neckties and girls summer smocked dresses to choose from.

Check back tomorrow

Will be open for business. 3pm Mountain Standard time.
Smocked little girl dresses and ties, and next week some other stuff.

And somewhat related, Kelly from My happy little life, wrote up a little ditty about me and my shop.
If you haven't checked out her blog yet you definitely should, it won't disappoint. She's one talented lady and funny to boot.