River's Edge Music Festival

I know, I know. I haven't blogged in forever and I have been getting a lot of grief about it from friends and family. It's not because I've been "too busy." My blog just started feeling a little too personal now that I have a "big girl job" (not that I'm not very careful of what I write on here), but I think I'm just being paranoid.

I decided to post again for a very important reason. This weekend I traveled to St. Paul to attend the River's Edge Music Festival. Mainly, I went to see Brand New. For those of you who have been here since the beginning, you know this blog's name is inspired by Brand New, so I felt like I owed it to "the blog" to share my experience. (I am also bursting at the seems with excitement and want to shout from the rooftops how AMAZING the experience was and how in love I am with Brand New!!!!!!!!) So I will. :)

The River's Edge Music Festival was a 2-day event on Harriet Island downtown St. Paul. This was a first year of the festival, and there were a lot of well-known bands there (Dave Matthews Band, Tool, The Flaming Lips, Sublime, Coheed and Cambria, Mutemath). So much good music, good food, and good people watching. It was an awesome atmosphere and I would definitely go again. I had never been to a music festival like this, and BOY was I missing out!

Brand New is my favorite band period. I have never seen them in concert and have been DYING to see them since I first started listening to their music 3 years ago (they've been around for 12 years...I was a late arrival.) Seeing them in concert was truly a dream come true, as lame as it sounds. 

Tonia and I arrived at the venue at 10am, 2 hours before doors opened. Completely unnecessary but we did it. We walked right up to the front of the stage Brand New was set to play on (at 6pm). Yes, again, unnecessary. There were 2 bands who performed before Brand New, so we were adequately entertained while we waited.

"Kinky" was the first band. They were a Mexican rock band who sang only in Spanish, but they were awesome! They were very entertaining to say the least. The best part was one band member dressed as a sort of police man (on accident I'm assuming) who occasionally played the accordion. He would strut to the front of the stage and play, as if he was saying, "That's right, I'm playing an accordion, I'm awesome."

Next up was Coheed and Cambria. I had heard of them but wasn't familiar with their music. Overall, wasn't impressed. The lead singer had a MASSIVE amount of hair and I never really saw his face. Their music was just OK. The highlight was when they covered "Somebody That I Used To Know," which you may know I declared my love for that song in this post.

Alas, BRAND NEW!!!! It was the coolest feeling seeing this man that I have watched on YouTube SO many times, literally feet in front of me. We were front row center, couldn't have been closer! My first thought: "Wow, he is so much more attractive in real life than I could have ever imagined!" He's beautiful. (Sorry, Kevin!) He was sporting a newly shaved head and scruffy beard, which just does me in! Ok, moving on... :). They sounded awesome. Even better than I could have imagined. Their set list was impeccable and I enjoyed every single minute. It was a great mix of songs from each album. They interacted with the crowed and looked like they were having so much fun. Their music means so much more to me now that I've seen it and heard it first hand. My 4 hour drive home from St. Paul was rather enjoyable, listening to the set list with my radio blared, jamming out by myself! I've been singing to myself all day, and going on and on to Kevin about how awesome it was. SO AWESOME!

For you Brand New fans, this is the set list:
Tautou (opener)
Sink
Sowing Season
Millstone
The Archers Bows Have Broken
Mix Tape
Soco Amaretto Lime
Jesus
Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't
Bought A Bride
Gasoline
Degausser
You Won't Know (closer)

I promise, there are other band members who are also amazing musicians... :)

(Vinny)

(Garrett)

(Brian)

(Jesse)

More pictures for your viewing pleasure:

(I couldn't help myself)

We spent the rest of the night eating yummy food, taking in the atmosphere, and we also listened to Sublime. It was a great experience and I would do it all again in a heartbeat! 'Twas a beautiful day and evening!

Music Notes

I'm not a big American Idol fan, but I do watch it on occasion. We have been DVR'ing it and when we have time, going back through and watching the performances. I don't know what it is, but there is just something about this Phillip Phillips guy that intrigues me and I like watching him play. Let's move beyond the fact that he has a ridiculous name and some may say he's a Dave Matthews repeat. He's got something going on there. His rendition of "You Got It Bad" by Usher has me hooked. I will shamefully admit I have watched it a few times.

I was also introduced to a new song called "Somebody That I Used To Know" that is becoming increasingly popular. I heard it a few times on our local indie/rock station, but now I'm hearing it more mainstream, too (annoying, I know.) I really like this song a lot. He did a duet with Elise from American Idol (who is no longer on the show) and I love it. Her voice was awesome and I'm sad she didn't stick around longer.

Ok, one last video! I looked up the REAL video for this song, and it's also very intriguing for some reason. A very strange video but it has me hooked!

Hope that provided some adequate procrastination time for those who need some! It's been a busy week for me. I have a lot of posts lined up in my head but I just can't sit down to put the adequate time I want to devote to them. Unfortunately, I will be busy for a few more weeks, folks! My 5 year class reunion is this weekend (I know, crazy!) and I'm a co-host. I'm planning Tonia's bachelorette party this week, too, calling around to hotels and making plans. Tonight I had drew the invitations and I'm pretty excited about them. I'll be sharing them once the recipients receive them! This week at school teachers have been getting rid of stuff from their rooms they don't want/need anymore so I have been a scavenger and have scored a lot stuff! I've also been getting a head start on my room for next year. Then I'll be headed to San Diego in 2 weeks! PHEW! Lots of fun stuff going on over here! I will share soon, I promise!

Hope you all are enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having! Summer is right around the corner (6.5 days for this lady!)

Ok, I'll share one embarrassing story. Today I was on a run and a rock came out of no where (I swear!) and put itself in my path. I didn't see it and I full on tripped over it (it was about the size of a golf ball, urgh), twisted my ankle, and whipped out HARDCORE! Like tumbled and rolled like a fool. I immediately looked around to see if anyone noticed after I realized I had maintained all my limbs. Well, there was a guy standing nearby who CLEARLY saw this whole thing unfold and he quickly turned around and pretended not to notice! Can you believe that?! I don't know if he was trying to be nice and save me the embarrassment, but I would think he could have made sure I was ok. My ankle does hurt but I shall persevere! ;) (I don't know why I just shared that story...but there you have it. Embarrassed again.)

Happy Mother's Day!

Just bopping in to wish a very happy Mother's Day to my mom! Thank you for all you do for us! Another big Happy Mother's Day to my future mother-in-law, Jolene! I hope all you mothers out there are enjoying this beautiful weather and relaxing. Mom--sorry you had to spend another mother's day at a softball tournament :)

The Best Week EVER!

It still hasn't sunk in completely that I officially have a BIG GIRL JOB! Teaching contracts, benefits, IPERS...all that good stuff! All that hard work has PAID OFF and it feels amazing. I'll be teaching kindergarten at the school I am currently a long-term sub at. I'm so excited to be able to stay where I am--I feel comfortable there, I know the staff and students, and it's just a really great place to be!

The original excitement is starting to fade a little, and I'm realizing I have a lot of work ahead of me. I may not have the carefree summer I had envisioned, but I am 100% ok with that! I have started collecting tons of ideas for my classroom and got some great things at garage sales this morning.

I feel so incredibly lucky to have this job. I know I'm one of the lucky ones getting a teaching job right out of college; there are a lot of teachers out there and not a lot of jobs right now. And to get my DREAM JOB right out of the gate?! Are you kidding me! I was very stressed for a few months of no interviews, but now I am so RELIEVED I can enjoy the summer and have 3 months to start planning for next year!

My favorite part is that I can say, "I'm a kindergarten teacher!" :)

Healthy Smoothies!

I started making myself healthy smoothies this week. We got a blender to make margaritas for card club, and I have been taking full advantage of it. I first got inspiration for making smoothies from Iowa Girl Eats. If you're not familiar with her blog, you should be. It's very popular and she posts SO many healthy and delicious looking recipes. I can't cook so I don't attempt any of them, but they sure do look yummy. I even saw her on the news last week! Did I mention she lives in Des Moines? Even better!

Anyway, she made this Green Monster Smoothie and insisted it didn't taste terrible. It included lots of spinach, so I was skeptical. 

All this week I've been trying different concoctions and I've been thoroughly enjoying my smoothies. I make them each morning and sometimes after my workouts. I have actually lost weight eating these smoothies! I think it kick starts my metabolism in the morning. My fitness says "The second most important meal of the day is the meal you eat after your workout," because your body is a sponge. I think the post-workout smoothie is also doing my body good.

I don't have a real "recipe" with measurements (of course), but I will tell you the kinds of things I throw together. 

Frozen strawberries (about a handful)

Frozen banana (half a banana--I would suggest cutting it up and freezing it first)

Frozen blueberries (about 1/4 cup)

Pineapple (about 1/4 cup)

Skim milk (about 1/2 cup)

Orange juice (about 1/4 cup

Greek yogurt (2 tbsp)

Peanut butter (1tbsp)

Spinach (1 large handful)

I make this about 10 minutes before heading to school, and then I put it in the freezer to get it extra cold. Sometimes my blender makes it a little too frothy, but I think that's because I keep it in there for too long. I also bought kiwis and oranges that I'm going to try out. I use Greek yogurt because it's high in protein. I haven't been brave enough to try the Green Monster yet, I wanted to make sure I could commit before I spent extra money on Almond Milk and Chobani Greek Yogurt. For now I'm using A&E Skim and Yoplait Greek and it's doing just fine.

I really can't say enough good things about this smoothie thing! It saves me time in the morning because I can eat breakfast on the go, and it re-energizes me after boot camp. Go make yourself some healthy smoothies! 

Sweet Summertime

Summer is almost here! I truly cannot believe it. I only have 3 more weeks of school, then I'm off to San Diego for a week! After that I'll be returning to my summer nanny job and having lots of fun with two awesome little ladies. Yesterday on my run I was thinking of all the fun things I wanted to do this summer, mostly to keep my mind off of how much I wanted to stop. Nonetheless, I kept the list going when I came home and ended up with a lot of things I want to do! I thought it'd be fun to document how many things I actually do through my blog this summer. Here is the start of my list, I want to get up to 50 so I may add more before the summer actually gets here.

1. Go pedal boating at Gray's Lake
2. Secure a job for the fall
3. Put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean
4. Spend a weekend in Galena, IL
5. Go on a hot air balloon ride
6. Go to the downtown farmer's market twice a month
7. Try Yoga In The Park at Gray's Lake
8. Write a kick-ass maid of honor speech
9. Get a lot of wedding planning accomplished
10. Read 2 books per month
11. Hit up a lot of garage sales
12. Get started with Big Brothers Big Sisters again
13. Volunteer at a youth shelter
14. Visit the Humane Society
15. Visit each of my bridesmaids 
16. Go on a picnic
17. Participate in the Color Run in Minneapolis
18. Make another sock monkey
19. Read the Des Moines register each week
20. Cook one new meal per week
21. Jam out front row to my favorite band IN THE WORLD Brand New with my best friend and fiancé!
22. Introduce my parents to Kevin's parents
23. Go to a few I-Cubs games
24. Run in at least 2 road races
25. Go to the Zoo Brew at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines
26. Go to a comedy show
27. Go to a drive-in movie theatre
28. Keep a food log
29. Grow something other than mold
30. Make a new friend
31. Sew a blanket
32. Get organized
33. Print off more pictures
34. Go to 3 outdoor concerts
35. Float the river
36. Get in the car and just drive
37. Rent bikes downtown
38. Go to the state fair
39. Go camping
40. Send one piece of snail mail per week
41. Make an inside fort
42. Throw a themed party
43. Watch a few of my sister's softball games
44. Work on that farmer's tan
45. Get our engagement pictures taken

There you have it! If you have any other suggestions of fun summer things to do, throw them my way! Especially if you live in the Des Moines area :)

All photos are from my summer in Italy two years ago. The photos are from the Amalfi Coast.

Love.

I know I gave you a photo overload earlier today, but I don't care. While Kevin and I were at Gray's Lake yesterday just hanging out, I of course had to pester him with a photo opportunity. Let's just say it got a little out of hand and this is what happened.