well friends, it is FINALLY summer! as i said in the last post, there's some crazy magical LA force that changes overnight when june turns into july. and it did not waver this year. it's now sunny as can be, as i'm typing here in beautiful venice, california. i'm spending the day doing some housekeeping things and recuperating from an amazing, albeit busy weekend. i'm sure you all are in similar boats, as most of you probably had fun plans celebrating independence day!

let's have a weekend recap!

fourth of july

i love being in a place that is amply large enough to host a big party. we had about 50 of our collective friends over on the fourth, and grilled out, played games, ate waaay too much food, and then walked to venice beach to watch fireworks. it turned out to be a huge success! here are pics of my gorgeous roomies, and of parker and me:





sunday night
we had almost forgotten about our plans for sunday night, but luckily not totally! a group of friends and i went to the hollywood bowl (an incredible outdoor amphitheater venue in the heart of hollywood) to see a death cab for cutie concert. it was spectacular!! the opening bands were entertaining, and then death cab performed alone and then with the la philharmonic, which was so awesome! the best song in my opinion, was tranatlanticism (one of my favorites of theirs anyway...), but with 19,000 people outside among the hills and trees in complete silence, mesmerized by the light displays, rocking music, and even surprise fireworks--oh man, it was awesome! here are some pictures:







as always, even though things in the career realm are driving on at a regular SLOW pace...i continue to feel blessed by so many things in life. my wonderful ladies that i work/write with are still doing well, and provide enough money to pay the bills (i seriously always scrape by, by the grace of God!) and free time to enjoy the rest of this season of my life. my new home and roomies are also still such a blessing. and of course, my other friends and family are increasingly wonderful, and i still love living in la and enjoying what it has to offer--from free concerts on the santa monica pier in the summer, to the neighborhood organic coffee place, to my sunny, flower-filled back porch--i wouldn't change a thing. as for career, though, i do have an audition for an improv troupe this week, which should be fun, so we'll see! consider my fingers forever crossed...

CELEB sighting: on our way back from fireworks on the 4th. just standing on a corner in venice, we passed none other than hilarious comedian norm macdonald (my favorite role of his is as turd ferguson on snl's jeopardy!! "it's funny. it's a big hat. it's bigger than normal.") he was just chillin out, celebrating america's freedom, even though he's canadian i believe...not gonna lie, though, norm was lookin old! and scruffy! i think he was in town for his recent appearance on the tonight show with conan.



and for a final random fun couple of pics...these were just from a game night with our friends matt and alana, but if you ever want to take funny pictures just shake your head back and forth and you'll get some of these little gems! doesn't it look like we're really taking a hard punch?!? (p.s. i promise matt and alana are actually both beautiful!)





what a lovely end to a post...

i've been very fortunate to learn about many new musical artists since moving to la. i have friends who are pretty tuned into the indie scenes of many genres, and i'm learning a lot. along with funny concerts like hanson, i've gotten to see bands like mates of state (love 'em!), anathallo, gavin degraw, and of montreal. i'm forewarning you that this post is a sappy homage to an new favorite artist of mine...so if you're a music connoisseur, enjoy. otherwise, read at your own risk.




i'm completely taken by andrew bird. (a musician i saw in concert last night) i was just recently introduced to his music, and luckily listened to some of it during the week before the show, so i felt somewhat familiar. but, i had no true idea what i was in for.

we arrived in downtown la, at the orpheum theater. it was spectacularly ornate, and i was immediately nostalgic for days when they actually built theaters like this.




a band called loney deer (yes, loney) opened, and they were great. i'd recommend checking them out. then andrew came on, and i was blown away. i was enthralled, captivated. i just sat there, letting the music surround me, and basked in it. he is the definition of reaching potential. nothing i could write even comes close to describing it. it was by far one of the best concerts i've ever been to, if not performances as a whole. andrew bird's voice was flawless. the harmonies between him and his band made me ache. he whistled like no one i've ever heard, and played the guitar, violin, and incorporated looping, which was so organic and fantastic.

stringed instruments have always been my favorite. i played the violin as a child, and i suppose i feel a certain emotional connection to the strings. to see the amber hued light illuminating the broken hair of the bow, the bursts of rosin clouding the warm golden air--UH!!! so much passion.

it was inspirational. i wanted to write love letters and travel and experience life. i felt spurred to create something beautiful--something that matters. isn't it funny that music can move a person to feel such things? :) it was just a phenomenal evening.

a less mushy sidenote: tally up two more celeb sightings at the show.

1) james spader--80s heartthrob, boston legal star. i saw him in the lobby before the show.



2) jake mcdorman--"evan chambers" from the tv show greek--saw him after the show, just chillin outside with a group of his friends...



it seems i always spot male celebrities, never the women...what's that about...? oh well, i guess all of us la chicas look so similar with out over-sized glasses, they'd be hard to spot...

ok, have a great day, take care, and check out andrew bird--you won't be disappointed!