Tuesday Tunes {Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood}

One of my favourite songs for this randomly freezing cold Tuesday in Austin:

celebrate the small things | Feb 13

So much to celebrate in Austin this week!  While the rest of the country still firmly sits in the clutches of winter, battling temperatures close to freezing and snowfall every other day: Austinites have un-offically welcomed Spring!  The sudden appearance of dandelions attests to the splendidly sunny days we've had, while trees and other flowers are budding all around.  The best news however, is that my own flower seedlings (planted on Monday) have already sprouted!  Here are a couple of pics of my Bachelor Buttons babies, that I took just 15 minutes ago:

 
I've also planted some Cosmos that are sprouting and daisies, (that I'm still waiting on, but) beyond excited all 'round!!  The warm weather has also brought more outdoor excursions for the pups, so they are thrilled.  Here's a pic of Baxter from a recent hike we went on:

And some more evidence of Spring in the photos below that I took on various walks around the neighbbourhood throughout the week:

More exciting news is that I enrolled in an online writing course and am loving every minute!  It's rather challenging but each successfully completed task provides a much needed confidence boost so I'll be starting this Valentine's Day weekend in rather a giddy mood.  :)

And finally (for once) I'm celebrating the swift passage of time which enables me to say that I only have 9 days left until my fabulous anniversary cruise!  Yipeeeee!

Have a great Valentine's weekend!  Hope you're spoiled rotten!

X days to go!

Omg! Only 10 days left until our fabulous, fairy tale cruise of the Caribbean!  I can hardly wait :)  Cozumel, Belize City, Roatan Bay Islands and Costa Maya, here we come!!  Oh, that's not even all - we're also spending the day before we take off in one of my most favourite places ever: New Orleans!  Hooray!  

I feel like I'm constantly daydreaming about the palm trees, aqua water, coral reefs and Mayan ruins.  All I have to do is close my eyes and I'm there with white, powdery sand beneath my feet, iguanas scurrying around and island music ricocheting off the dark green jungle background, as I sip a pina colada straight out of a coconut.

We've researched each destination and have every day roughly planned out.  I say roughly because Will hates binding schedules and timelines on vacation ('the point is to relax...') so I've left him several unplanned, carefree days, but what we do have planned is: 

- riding scooters around Cozumel with stops at San Gervasio ruins, San Miguel for lunch and some pristine island swimming 

- a cruise down a river lined with crocodiles and monkeys swinging tree to tree, in the middle of a jungle until we reach two thousand year old Mayan ruins!   

- going snorkeling in the worlds' second largest coral reef Honduras, where a buffet lunch, open bar and live, chilled Island music awaits us on the shore

- more Mayan ruins and a meet and greet lunch with an actual, surviving Mayan family and their traditional cuisine!

This is shaping up to be the best vacation we've ever taken.  I'm so excited, I already have all my outfits planned and necessities bought: my seasick bands, biodegradable face wipes, sun cream, bugspray and waterproof camera (I'm so excited they still make these!!) 

current craze | fringed hangbag

Marni

I've wanted a fringed handbag for ages now but can't seem to find the exact one when I'm at the store searching.  The ones within my price range are all either too dark, have jewels or the fringe is too long.  I really want one that looks like any of these uber expensive ones:

Saint Laurent 

Stella McCartney

Proenza Schouler

Marni

tuesday tunes {Cheek to Cheek by Bennett & Gaga}

By now it's more than obvious that I ain't a mainstream type-o-gal and I certainly don't care about/ wasn't sitting at home on Sunday night watching The Grammys.  I was however, curious about (current obsession) Hozier's duet, so on Monday I YouTubed it.  Nothing to say on THAT particular subject (sad face), so moving right along:

YouTube did that thing on the right side of the screen where it inferred my preferences and made recommendations.  One recommendation was another performance from the Grammys: Cheek to Cheek by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, which I really liked!

This song probably wouldn't be considered mainstream without the Gaga, since pop legend Tony Bennett on his own has long since been dubbed 'easy listening,' 'classic' or 'big band,' but I think they sound ab fab together!  Gaga has a great voice and if you close your eyes to shut out the way she grinds up and down on the man, it sounds very classy indeed!

tuesday tunes {Hozier}

Will was travelling for work all of last week but it was bearable this time because by sheer coincidence, the day he left I downloaded an album that caused me to cheat on him.  Majorly. Blissfully. All week long.  What? Cheat on Will? But he's sooo wonderful AND taking your ass on a cruise!  I can hear your indignation at this fact already, but yes. I have mentally and repeatedly cheated on my husband, with another man.  His name is Andrew Hozier-Byrne and he holds my very naked soul in his bare hand this week.

Surely by now everyone's heard Take Me To Church, which is undoubtedly terrific.  I've loved it as much as any other and have manipulated its meaning to soothe my own pain for a time. Yet, truthfully, it's one of the worst songs on the album.  Aside from  Angel of Small Death and the Cocaine Scene, which I just can't get into, the rest of the melodic and lyrical combinations on this holy grail of an album are liquid sex.  Nope, not exaggerating.  The clarity of Hozier's deep, reverberating voice, combined with those chilling choral echoes and deep guitar strums, hang suspended in the thickness of silence long after the song is done, literally stirring the slumbering parasites within:

Didn't that give you goosebumps? It's insane the extent to which music can move you and this album is a perfect example. Hozier's voice and the raw blatancy of emotion conveyed within it, turn my insides to goo. Every girl's dream to have a guy sing these kinds of songs about her - or perhaps simply to meet a guy capable of feeling and expressing himself this way... and it doesn't hurt that he's a total babe either.  Ladies, honestly, if your sex life is somewhat stagnant at present (or your husband is on the road ;) ) do yourselves a favour and download this album!!  You'll want the bonus track version because Run is the musical orgasm you've been waiting for all your life.

Some of Hozier's lyrics guaranteed to emote:

i'm all but washed in the tide of her breathing

screaming the name of a foreigner's god, the purest expression of grief.

darling don't you join in, you're supposed to drag me away from it

when my time comes around, lay me gently in the cold, dark earth.  no grave can hold my body down, i'll crawl home to her.

a rope in hand for your other man to hang from a tree

never feel too good in crowds, with folks around, when they're playing
the anthems of rape culture loud, crude and proud, creatures baying
all I've ever done is hide from our times when you're near me
honey, when you kill the lights, and kiss my eyes, i feel like a person for a moment of my life.  but you don't know what hell you put me through.  to have someone kiss the skin that crawls from you. to feel your weight in arms I'd never use.  it's the God that heroin prays to

run until you feel your lungs bleeding

babe there's something so wholesome about you, get closer to me

the weekend

My weekend went by in a brilliant haze of champagne bubbles, giggles and fake tattoos: perfection in other words! I was one of the 20 or so girls helping Meredith celebrate her bachelorette weekend at a Texas Hill Country hideaway in a six bedroom house that sat on the back of a huge block, amongst a maze of live oaks and cacti, right on the bank of a creek <3 It was the most idyllic setting for an obnoxious, overly loud and drunk group of girls, wanting to dance, sing, scream and "wooooo..." a lot.

I actually think a place like this would be the perfect location for any kind of weekend: romantic, family or friend alike.  Here are some pics of the house:

I won't soon forget this house or this weekend.  Right now I'm off to bed though....