golden

I've been listening to some new tunes since Christmas. I'd say each of these buys was well worth it.

Samantha Shelton. You might know her.

Think Elf. Connect that to Zooey Deschanel. Samantha is the other half of that duo. (And Zooey has a new partner -- She & Him. Also worth checking out!) Her ep definitely has some twang to it - but not in a ho-down sort of way; Good Morning, Tonight is refreshing and familiar all at once.

Little Joy
Oh my goodness! Take Strokes drummer, Fabrizio Moretti, Brazilian Rodrigo Amarante (of Los Hermanos), and add Binki Shapiro. Moretti and Amarante met in Lisbon, where they both had performed at a festival. Amarante came to the US a year later to record with Devendra Banhart. Somehow Moretti and Amarante met up with Shapiro and musical delight was born! Guitar, bass, piano, melodica, glockenspiel, percussion, ukulele, organ, melotron, and lovely lovely voices!

Emiliana Torrini

Oh just absolutely wonderful. Splendid. I looove this girl! Please, if you are reading this, do me (rather, do yourself) a favor and listen to "Jungle Drum" as soon as you can. You might have heard her in LOTR -- "Gollum Song." Emiliana is from Iceland (just like Sigur Ros! Another of my favorites...their album this year is fantastic) but her dad is Italian. I think. Anyways, she's charming.

this just happened. really. just now.

"I don't want to be sick. I want to be an artist."

-- Danielle, my brilliant older sister.

this made my day

knock knock

who's there?

Mary.

Mary who?

"MARY" CHRISTMAS!!!!

on repeat

Such Great Heights - Iron and Wine

my itunes spit out something amazing

this playlist the other night. mmmm, sooo good!
(click for a better look!)

snowed in

my mom and i made cookies. it began innocently enough....

and then my urge to get creative took over. (not playdough...cookie dough)

voila!

sundog

So turns out all that snow out there was just being blown by the wind. The blizzard is supposed to start tonight and last until tomorrow night. However, it did clear off for awhile to reveal a particularly beautiful phenonoman -- a Sundog. Also known as parhelion, "beside the sun."
It's a reflection of sunlight on ice crystals -- especially when the snow is blowing on a sunny day. This is the view from my house. It is hard to photograph it well, but you can see there are three sources of light coming from the trees. Here are the three up close:

The middle one is the real sun.

Oh it was so beautiful! It looked like rainbows on either side of the sun. It was really hard to get it all in the frame -- not to mention it is freezing outside! That last one is taken through the window. Just Google it for other people's photos -- sundogs are amazing!

let it snow

So. There's a blizzard right now. So much for today's plans.
We're having a white-out instead. Yesterday was lovely,
so i took some photos. I'm afraid this weekend is
supposed to be 30 below. Happy Holidays?

welcome to my backyard

driveway.

gram's house
my house!

our lane.

i'm beginning to look so much like my mother.
it's a little terrifying.

bliss

it's about three in the afternoon,
and i've decided to take a bubble bath

happy holidays!

i just can't get enough

i was leaving my grandmother's house and she stopped me. She points to her kitchen sink.

"Would you believe me if I told you there was a Christmas tree under there?"

since i've been home

After over 24 hours of travel, I finally made it home.

::One of our cats pooped in a house plant. My dad yelled at him.

::Said cat peed in said father's shoe. (Not an accident!)

::Walked across to Grandmother's house. Dog almost attacked a

possum, who then almost attacked him. Without my glasses, I wandered

over to see the hubbub and almost bent down to pet the "cat"

when it turned and hissed at me with its gloriously hideous face.

::Wished Gram a happy birthday.

::Dad took the dog home. As he turned to leave, Mom

said "Wait." Dad: "Yes?" Mom: "Watch out for the oh-possum.

And whatever you do, Jim, do not let him in the house.

Even if he begs or offers you a treat. Listen to me!!

Leave the oh-possum outside!" Dad hung his head,

looking a little dejected. "Yes, Mary."

::Went to my home ward. Love it so much.

::The temperature dropped almost 30 degrees during church.

Dad didn't wear a coat to church (why? who knows)

and "found" one to wear home. He also "found" a

nice new coat jacket that he decided to put on and wear home.

::Came home and had lunch. Fatty the Cat came

charging into the living room and our dog scolded him

for running in the house. As soon as said dog left the room,

said cat came charging full speed, took a running leap onto

our Christmas tree, successfully knocked it over, and broke

a few ornaments. Dad said: "Sure, when the cat peed in my

shoe it was funny, but when he breaks an ornament, Mom is

ready to sent him to the vet!"

::Dad decided to go put gas in the car and wash it

before we pick my sister up from the airport.

He opened the closet to grab his coat and Mom

and I said goodbye. A few seconds later we heard some bustle.

My dad put on snow pants, a coat, and his snow suit, a glove,

hat, mask, and mittens. "Bundle up Dad, have fun!"

I turned to my Mom to ask her what Dad's doing

and she just looked at him like he's an idiot,

rolled her eyes, and shrugged to my question.

It's been less than 24 hours and it's already a bit chaotic. And my sisters aren't even home yet.

I can't wait.

Oh, and my cat's name is Slyvester. Slyvester Winterlake.

two more days

and i get to see my family!!!

dear ma and pa at their high school prom

my beautiful gram when she was young!

my lovely sister, danielle, at mardi gras last year;

she and her husband, ryan, below

and we pick nicole up from the airport on tuesday!!!

it's been a year and a half! i can't wait to see her!!

oh and my dog too! (we're not picking him up from the airport,

he'll already be at the house

i want this

what i want for christmas...

my new favorite christmas album....well one of them.
featuring jars of clay, maria taylor, and the format, to name a few.
i'm loving these right now too:
this one is one is compiled by lots of lovely ladies:
sara bareilles, lenka, fiona apple, and meiko, for example.
oh and this is wonderful! Zee Avi is probably my favorite,
but matt costa, jack johnson, and mason jennings are also a joy.
and i never turn down g.love. oh and rogue wave too!

and of course, sufjan never gets old.
(please listen to "come on, let's boogie to the elf dance!" )

where has the time gone

tomorrow is my LAST last day of fall classes.
already. only 6 more months and i am a college graduate.

i love my roommate

This is what my roommate and I did instead of our homework:

presence

The past week or so I've found a few minutes each day for some leisure reading -- you know, the kind of reading you do for fun, not for a grade. It feels so good. But instead of expanding, I've returned to an old favorite for much needed enlightenment: Eat, Pray, Love. Following are exerpts from a section on yoga.

"The Yogis say that human discontentment is a simple case of mistaken identity. We're miserable because we think that we are mere individuals, alone with our fears and flaws and resentments and mortality.

We wrongly believe that our limited little egos constitute our whole entire universe. We have failed to recognize our deeper divine character.

We don't realize that, somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme Self who is eternally at peace. That supreme Self is our true identity, universal and divine. Before you relaize this truth, say the Yogis, you will always be in despair...

'You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not.' - Epictetus

Yoga is about self-mastery and the dedicated effort to haul your attention away from your endless brooding over the past and your nonstop worrying about the future so that you can seek, instead, a place of eternal presence...

This world [is] an equal manifestation of God's creative energy -- men, women, children, turnips, bedbugs, coral: it's all God in disguise."

I definitely don't have an affinity for yoga. I've tried, and I'm terrible. I find it so uncomfortable and painful. Instead, I like to make up my own poses, ones I find enjoyable and fun, ones that stretch me without feeling like it's tearing me in two. What I love about yoga (and many many other things) is feeling myself in my body, and my body as part of the world.