A few weekends back we headed up the eastern seaboard, and met up with about a dozen or so of our friends to celebrate our roommate's thirtieth birthday. We stayed in a classy La Quinta in Portland, and starting wandering the downtown area before the sun went down. It was nice to be somewhat anonymous (and inebriated) in a small town and not the city we all walk daily.

It was a very fun night, one I attempted to capture on film until I clearly became a touch too intoxicated for the public and thus, put the camera away.

It felt more like a twenty-first birthday than anything.
I suppose you can just see for yourself. Turn your volume up and enjoy.



Cheers.

As of late, Matt has been getting increasingly more comfortable around our basement woodshop. And thus, when he found a few dozen free pallets on Craigslist, he immediately (somehow) crammed them into my Civic, took them home, and got started. The first project was a table, "just to see how it came out," he said. I'd say, pretty damn good. Good enough that it found its way into our living room, and I immediately asked for a twin so the couch would be flanked by two pallet tables on each end. The result is lovely and shabby chic and so much more interesting than the red plastic numbers I'd been using as end tables.

After that, Matt took on a bench for the backyard. The top is a little askew on purpose, he assured me. I think it gives it just the right amount of wonkiness to deem it "charming". I also love the "live" and "love" he added with nails to the front.

I'm working on putting together a tutorial of how he created such beauty, but he tends to create when I'm not home (probably so there's not someone sticking their head in the wood shop every sixteen minutes asking if he wants a snack). In the meantime, enjoy:



You can follow Matty on Instagram for more handmade goodness
(And of course, follow me for all the snacks and drinks and puppy pics you can handle.)

Is worthy of song. What song, you ask? It goes like this...
Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday, Where's My Meat Cake,
Happy Birthday to Me.
How Old am I now? How Old am I now? I'm two and/or four-teeeeeeeen...
Either way I'm still cute. BOMP BOMP.




I'll be in the process of setting up a PO Box to accept all your impending gifts, don't worry.
Shots of me in my boyhood courtesy of the Girl. 

Music has always been a huge part of my life.
I've always prided myself on being open to various genres (though I remain most partial to a select few) and discovering new artists to turn my friends onto. I have managed the music feature for the site that employs me for some time, allowing me to meet a wealth of talented artists over the years.
Oh. And I'm marrying a musician. If that doesn't seal the deal, I recently discovered the wonder that is the Grooveshark playlist, that allows you to build, customize and embed your recent musical discoveries for all the Internet to enjoy.

So. Here's my top picks for March tracks. I elaborate on the titles after the jump, including some favorite lyrics, which I spend much time learning and enjoying--perhaps that's the ever-present poet in me. Many of these tunes are not new, but perhaps new to me, and have found themselves on repeat as of late. As the winter (hopefully) winds down, there's still some moody, slow stuff thrown in, but a few uppity optimistic tunes as well. I recommend blasting while in your kitchen cooking up a storm. Spoon-microphone singing optional required.

It's been a few weeks since that adorable beast of a snowstorm, Nemo. Thanks to a few warm days and copious rain, there's barely even any reminders of the first blizzard of the year anymore. But looking through and editing these photos made me recall the weekend almost fondly--it was full of warm food, warm socks, (extra) cold beers, and lovely friends. We drank (a lot--as you can probably tell. "Dude, let's build a BEER. IGLOO. OUTSIDE THE BATHROOM WINDOW!") as the snow came down, then got up Saturday morning to walk around the neighborhood and see just how blanketed we got (and find an open Dunkin Donuts, natch).




(Many more shots after the jump!)