i can't ever keep my cool.

so i have an apparel line. i also really like boys in bands. i finally realized that if i gave a boy in a band one of my shirts it would give me an excuse to talk to them as well as promote the apparel line....two birds, one stone.
one of my newer favorites was coming into town and i deemed them worthy enough to wear my shirts. ha! so i studied the lead singer, will, in some of their videos to try and figure out his size, cause how embarrassing would it be to bring the wrong size? i grabbed the minneapolis skyline shirt in a medium (most band boys are mediums right?), made myself look fashionable enough to hopefully believe that i would own an apparel line and got my butt to the show.
it was the first time i was seeing them and i was completely in awe at how good they were live. the music was full and tight with added gems like the saxaphone and the vocals were dead on, even when will jumped off stage and into the crowd, he never went off pitch. the best part though was the encore.....as it usually seems to be. they apparently never plan an encore and when everyone kept on cheering will came back out and was a little flabbergasted. he picked up an acoustic guitar and asked what everyone wanted to hear. the crowd practically called out in unison, "forever and always"- it's a love song and makes all the girls melt.
after the show i hung out for a bit so i could give mr. will his shirt. as the crowed thinned and my opportunity arose i panicked a bit and realized i had not prepared what i was going to say......gah. i almost left but he made eye contact and smiled so i plunged in. what i said went a little something like this:
"hi. great show. i have an apparel line, proceeds go to help end human trafficking. i wanted you to have a shirt, so you could remember minneapolis. it's a medium. i guessed on your size. don't feel like you have to wear it, i just wanted you to have it. really great show. my name is sara. uh."
word vomit. he was sweet and asked a couple of questions about heartsbeatlove, assured me that medium was his size and that he would wear the shirt because he actually liked it not because he felt obligated. so keep an eye out in the next few parachute videos...fingers crossed one of my shirts will make an appearance!
xo

roadtrips and memories.

here's a throw back story cause it's been awhile since i've written one of those:
traveling=love. so when i can combine a road trip with a concert it makes my world that much more happy. remember when i was one of the biggest newsboys' fans around? well i was in 10th grade the year 'thrive' came out and i had not missed a tour since 'take me to your leader' so there was no way i was going to miss this one. unfortunately the closest the tour was coming to my little hometown, minnesota was winnipeg, manitoba, canada. okay....roadblock....me and all my friends were like 16 and there is no way on earth our parents were going to let us drive to canada for a concert. so we put our thinking caps on.
"hey, rachel and ian (volunteer youth leaders) are from winnipeg, let's see if they'll take us!" - they agreed right away and we gathered together about a dozen people, made matching sharpie shirts, found a big ol' van to use and bumped our way up over the border.
of course nothing ever goes as easily as planned and we had one flat tire and one fat face to add to our list of memories from the trip. praise God for random middle-of-nowhere tire shops and vicodin (poor boy had his wisdom teeth taken out the previous day but refused to miss the show- yeah, my friends are hardcore).
once we finally made it to the arena we got to see some of my old favorites (the nb's) and an opening band that would turn out to be one of my favorites for years to come. maybe you've heard of them? they're called thousand foot krutch. funny to think that at the time i didn't know that less than 10 years later i would have met them a bunch of times, told trevor he has pretty enamels and sold their merch on more than one occasion.
never let a few hundred miles stand between you and the things, or people, that you love.
xo
ps. canadians are crazy!

love in the air.

so it's spring, verging on early summer, and that can only mean one thing...weddings, weddings and more weddings. being a violinist for the past 13 years one might assume that i've played in countless weddings. false. i had never played in a wedding until a week ago. and despite the fact that i was super nervous it was great being paid to do something i love! it was one of those moments where i felt like i was actually a musician and not just a girl who loves music and picks up her instrument every now and again....guess it's true when they say "do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life"
anyhow, back to the wedding: the bride is a music lover and wanted "vanilla twilight" by owl city and "only exception" by paramore. the groom is a nerd at heart and opted for two songs from "final fantasy." there was no canon in d here folks- to which i say, "praise the Lord!" (i know it's pretty but i'm really bored with that song).
i had the privilege of playing with a phenomenal cellist...he is leaps and bounds better than i am and when i screwed up "vanilla twilight" during the ceremony he kept us together. thanks j.knicks, you're a gem!
later this summer i get to play in another wedding, this time it will be "lost in this moment" by big and rich" and "i won't let go" by rascal flatts. from electronica/top 40/gamer music to country all the way...love it.
the only downside of weddings is they remind me once again how very very single i am. no worries though, i am going to the parachute concert in about a week and plan on having will anderson (lead singer) fall in love with me. i'll tell you all about it.
xo