nye.

it's new year's eve and i am probably the lamest person i know...i have no plans, not even one. and i know it's gonna be a struggle to make it to midnight. but i am kinda okay with that.
for the last week i have basically been around people (a good chunk of the time it was my brother's wife's family...so yeah) 24/7 and while i am an extrovert i need some time where i am not trying make conversation with people i barely know. it's that weird thing where when you enjoy chatting with people everyone just assumes that you want to be the only one talking...well after days of that even the most extroverted extrovert needs a night off. but usually just a few hours, it's not good to leave us alone too long with just ourselves.
anywhoo, i plan on making some coffee (to assist with that not falling asleep thing), flipping over to dick clark's rockin new year's eve, and texting my resolution to my family in far off places when the clock strikes midnight.
maybe i will mumble through an off-key rendition of auld lang syne.
farewell to 2014, cheers to 2015!
xo

best of 2014: concerts

this year was a good fantastic year for concerts. i saw a lot of doubles because i'm a sucker for bands who put on killer shows. these were my top shows this year...they are listed in chronological order because you can't make me choose a favorite if i don't want to.

• andrew ripp and judah & the lion on the simple tour. back in february, bitter cold, first time seeing either of these acts. my roomie bought me the tickets for my birthday and she definitely gets some extra friend points for that one. 

• green river ordinance at the triple rock in march. they played 19 songs, it was amazing. i could have done without the 2 opening acts and just heard the GRO boys the whole time. their last song was played completely acoustic in the pit. love.

obviously not my photo...but i didn't get any from the show :( 

• needtobreathe on the rivers in the wasteland tour in june. it was in a venue i'd never been in before, there were a ton of people at the show that i knew and it was probably the most vulnerable i've ever seen the south carolina boys on stage and while i think vulnerability is a terrifying thing i appreciate it when musicians wear their hearts on their sleeves.

• andy grammar at oake on the water in june. i don't know if i was more excited to see andy or oake but they BOTH did a stellar job. andy has got effortless vocals and oozes charisma and oake is one of the best radio personalities out there. i was a little starstruck by both.

• imagine dragons at the all-star baseball game concert in june. can't say enough about how fantastic they were live. and they just seemed so genuinely excited to be there.  

• sonshine in july. they crushed it with the line-up this year. ravenhill, brady toops, switchfoot, needtobreathe, thousand foot krutch, we are leo, hope country, judah & the lion, family force 5, green river ordinance, harbor & home, household, etc. 

this is a creeper shot i took of drew shirley from switchfoot.
he was face-timing someone before their show. paparazzi status.

• parachute and matt wertz on the meant to be tour on labor day. first time seeing matt and he was surprisingly incredibly entertaining despite that it was basically just him and his guitar. and those parachute boys always make my heart flutter. 

• colony house at the turf club in october. another first for me. they were "ugh, so good" good. 

• switchfoot on the fading west tour in november. does this even need an explanation? 

there were a slew of other concerts that i went to that were phenomenal (i mean, i saw judah & the lion four times this year alone AND i rode on the plane from johannesburg to cape town with south african musician jeremy loops) but these were my absolute favorites for 2014.  

2015 looks like it's shaping up to be equally as wonderful...LIGHTS in february and mat kearney's just kids tour in march. 

bring on all the live music.

xo

the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

if you are feeling like today is the longest day in the history of days because you're going to be off work for a few days after today and all of your coworkers are basically gone already and the minutes seem to take hours then i think we might be the same person.

if you need just a minute (actually it's 2 minutes but who's counting?) of Christmas cheer, look no further than 1D, jimmy fallon and classroom instruments.

seriously, i don't know one person who doesn't like jimmy fallon. everything he touches turns to gold. and those direction boys make me smile. 

i'm actually sad i will be missing their special on NBC tonight. if you're reading this and you have a DVR, could you record it for me and then sometime in january i'll come over to your house (complete with a pizza and diet coke) and we can watch it? or if you'd rather not watch it, i can just watch it by myself. i'm totally secure in the fact that i'm a handful of years older than all of them and still love them more than i should.

may your Christmas be merry and bright, full of love and warm fuzzies. 

xo

12 days of christmas.

we all know the song. it goes on forever and people always get confused as to which gift is what day and if you're singing it with a group and everyone gets one part to sing you always hope that you get "5 golden rings" because it's quite obviously the best part.

but i would actually hate most of those gifts.
who in blazes wants maids to milk cows? i don't even own cows, i live in the city.
if swans poop as much as geese, count me out on both of those.
and if i'm being perfectly honest, i'm not even that big of a fan of pears so to have a whole tree (complete with bird) seems a little much.

so if i were to re-write the 12 days of christmas with gifts i would actually care about/want my 12 days would look like this:

12 concert tickets (one for each month!)
11 iced white mochas
10 pairs of black leggings
9 books to read (fiction and non)
8 boxes of tampons (i hate spending $ on them)
7 burritos from chipotle
6 pairs of oversized sunglasses
5 days at disney world
4 surfing lessons
3 new tattoos
2 plane tickets to s.africa
and an
asscher cut ring for my left hand.

if you'd like to get me any or all of these gifts, tweet at me and i'll send you my address.
xo

frontman friday: nick carter

it's the friday before christmas!
this weekend is going to be cray-balls busy.
present wrapping and christmas goodies making tonight.
shopping, painting a mural, and friend christmas hangs tomorrow.
church, laundry, packing, and cleaning on sunday.
it's the time of year where you barely have time to catch your breath but you don't care because it's all so fun and festive.

and by this time next week i will have met this little elf (my nephew)!

he was called baby bear in the womb so that's what i plan on continuing to call him. it will eventually be shortened to bear. bear isn't his name but it's what his middle name means and it reminds me of bear rinehart from needtobreathe so that's that. bet you all wish i was your aunt or aunt to your children. 

okay, now on to the real reason anyone visits my corner of the internet on friday: frontman-oogling. 

in the late 90's this kid was a heartthrob: nick carter

ah, crappy pictures you find on the internet.

he was in one of the biggest boy bands ever: the backstreet boys

look at that sexy middle part.

i was definitely a bsb fan over an n'sync fan. i wasn't the girl who fought that one was better than the other (because i'm just a huge sucker for boy bands in general) but i know the words to WAY more backstreet songs. 

it was legitimately a struggle to decide what song to put here.

and let's be honest, nick carter grew up to be pretty handsome. 

and by "pretty handsome" i mean...dang.

so good luck with all the tying up of your Christmas loose ends in these last few days before the actual day. bake those cookies, watch your fave Christmas movies, drop some coins in the red kettles, kiss under the mistletoe, sing some classic carols, and carve out a quiet moment to read Luke 2. 

merry Christmas!

xo

best of 2014: albums

i'm gonna do a mini 'best of 2014' series. if you're into lists you might enjoy this. 

some years are dry years when it comes to album releases. this was not one of those years. with so many incredible releases my music heart couldn't help but spill over with joy. below are my favorite releases of 2014. the order is purely coincidental. i didn't have a favorite doll growing up (i was one of those weird kids who had to play with them all equally) and i refuse to pick a favorite here.

colony house- when i was younger

switchfoot- fading west 

judah & the lion- kids these days

ed sheeran- x

needtobreathe- rivers in the wasteland

lights- little machines

switchfoot- the edge of the earth ep

summertime dropouts- no diving

andrew ripp- simple

the classic crime- what was done vol. I

which releases were your favorites? it's okay if it's taylor swift's 1989 is on your list. i mean, i get it, she writes catchy tunes. no judgement. 

xo

and if you're like me, you need...

my twitter bio says: hope.coffee.melody.

most people probably think it's dumb but i love it. i mean, it basically means jesus.caffeine.songs. but slightly more poetic.

it's from a song. which should be absolutely not shocking to anyone. and if you do find it shocking we have clearly not hung out enough.

it's one of those songs that makes you feel like there are others that feel the same things you do.

you should probably just listen to it.

and if you aren't following me on twitter yet (@storiesofagirl) what on earth are you waiting for? 

xo

frontman friday: will pugh

i was up WAY too late last night. like 2am late. or is that early? my brain can't even process that concept at the moment. i'm just gonna stick with late. 

i should probably try to get used to it though, if i'm gonna marry a frontman i feel like late nights come with the territory. and not to toot my own horn but i'd be a great band wife. 

he's seen some late nights: will pugh

white v-neck for the win.

photo credit: no clue

will is the pop-punk vocals of cartel

he vaguely reminds me of matt thiessen.

photo credit: cartel

i was at a show one time (pretty sure it was a mutemath show) and as i was exiting a representative from the militia group handed me a sampler cd. track 7 was luckie st. by cartel. that was my introduction to a band whose album, chroma, i could listen to on repeat for days. 

80% certain this is still in my vehicle. it's super scratched well-loved.

i struggled to pick just one song to upload...they've got so many good ones. it came down to minstrel's song and burn this city. i opted for burn this city because it has the line "at least we know that if we die, we've lived with passion" and is considerably less sappy. though i love them both. 

hope you kids have a killer friday night, i'm going to be in bed by 9pm. 

xo

i never forget a song lyric.

yesterday i told my roommate a story and said "my cousin"...she asked which cousin and then proceeded to name virtually all of my relatives. i think she was just trying to prove how well she listens when i tell boring stories. 

i then tried to name her cousins (because we are super lame and it was monday evening, what else goes on on a monday evening) and failed horribly. i think i got a grand total of 3 right. which wouldn't be too bad but we've known each other since 5th grade. oops. 

today i stumbled on this little gem. i don't know who made it but i'm pretty sure we share a brain. 

ask me what i learned in college and you'll get a couple of theories that presented themselves in every single intercultural studies class i took.

ask me a phone number other than my own and i'll only be able to tell you my mom's number and my dad's number because each of them are one digit off from mine.

ask me the name of the person i was just introduced to and you'll get deer-in-the-headlights every time. 

ask me to sing a song i haven't heard in ten years and i won't miss a line. 

this happens to everyone, right? it's not just me and a meme-generator at quotesfrenzy.com that this happens to...can't be...tell me i'm not alone...

xo

frontman friday: shane west

this week has been a busy one. a real busy one. i'm pumped for a weekend with few concrete plans, days of sweatpants, and above freezing temperatures. yeah, it's gonna be good.

today's frontman is best known for his acting roles and not so much for his musical chops (i can't lie, i'm not overly familiar with his music myself) but i just really think he's handsome and he was the lead actor in one of my favorite movies as a teen so without further ado...

the multi-talented: shane west

it was a punk band, shirtless is about what you'd expect.

photo credit: elaine layabout

his band: johnny was

punk bands really aren't known for great personal style

he has been in numerous movies and television shows but my favorite of his is a walk to remember. how could i not love this movie? i was a teenager when it came out, it's an adaptation of a nicholas sparks book (and all girls love a nicholas sparks book every now and again), AND the soundtrack is basically all switchfoot songs. oh yeah, shane is the bad-boy-turned-good-for-love character. swoon.

yes! 

he had to put aside music due to his role in nikita but i know that somewhere inside this dapper, all grown up shane there is a punk rock kid who would still rip off his shirt and sing his heart out. 

punk never dies.

photo credit: just jared

maybe i'll add watching a walk to remember to this weekend's activities.

xo

frozen, snowmen, and old friends.

yesterday was the radio's 5th annual kick-off to Christmas music 24/7 until the new year. we do it up big with on-air giveaways all day long, decorations galore, and fun activities for the students at the college to do in the station's lobby.

my student team picked the theme of 'frozen.' wasn't super thrilled about that theme but it was 4 against 1 so i lost and 'frozen' it was. in addition to playing the movie on loop on the giant 70 inch screen all day long (how many times can you hear let it go in one day without going crazy? once. one time.), we also had a snowman building contest! 'cause, you know, do you want to build a snowman? 

when the day started i was 15% worried that we would have a bunch of snowpeople with boobs or male anatomy or doing scandalous things but i clearly misjudged the kids, they kept it clean and appropriate and creative. three cheers to college students who don't only think about sex.

here are some of the best from the day:

this one was captioned, "do you even lift, bro?"

spot-on anna and elsa snowsisters.

and this one told the story of the snowman who built his fort too low and was decapitated. one of the most violent of the day but i love a good backstory.

in addition to all the frozen-fun, my original dj-partner showed up unexpectedly to join me on air! it was like the four years that have passed since we hosted a show together didn't even exist, i've missed being on the mic with this dude. 

the day was a success and if i never see frozen again i would probably be okay with that. however, i am going to eat all of the leftover snowman building supplies because it's un-american to let candy go to waste.

xo

just kids.

monday started off like a monday would. and it's super cold. sub-zero cold.

and then this was announced and it warmed my icy heart.

DID YOU SEE WHO IS PLAYING?!

not only will i finally get to see my sasquatch (mat kearney) but my loves parachute and judah & the lion are opening. 

mat, will, and judah: we've got a date for march 17th. i'll wear something pretty and you'll sweep me off my feet with your songs. it's a match made in heaven.

xo

so very thankful.

is it super cheesy to do a thankful post? yes.
am i going to do one anyway? absolutely.

everyone has heard the argument that you should be thankful all year and not just on one day and blah blah blah but does it really hurt anyone to take a day and really appreciate everything you have in life? i don't know why people get so crabby when we pick a day to really celebrate our blessings (thanksgiving) or love (valentine's day) or our keenness for winter (groundhog's day...i swear we ALWAYS get six more weeks). if you're one of those grumpy gus's, shut it and let the rest of us enjoy expressing our excitement for every holiday.

on that note, here are a few things i am thankful for:

family and friends: i've got some of the best and i'd be lost without them.

diet coke: it's a bright spot in the middle of my day and i'm going to feel so betrayed if it gives me aspartame cancer someday.

health: with the exception of a broken tooth and debilitating cramps every month i am relatively healthy and as someone with no health insurance i really appreciate that.

art: from music to dance to photography to most forms of creative expression; art says those things i can't. except when it's like a toilet nailed to a wooden platform, i don't get that type of art.

traveling: my trip to africa was the best part of 2014. you learn so much when you engage with another culture; about them and about yourself.

mouse-free apartments: this one should be pretty self-explanatory.

frontmen: yeah, like i wasn't going to mention them.

hope: i have hope in a God who is bigger than injustice, bigger than failure or success, bigger than my dreams and fears, and loves me in all my shortcomings. it's crazy that some days i forget to be thankful for that.

xo

ps. don't forget to watch the macy's thanksgiving day parade tomorrow...needtobreathe is playing! what?! i know!!!

"is there a Barbie?"

this little girl is my new role model.
look at how calm, cool, and collected she is during this interview.
her questions are on-point.
she knows the spice girls even though she wasn't alive during the height of their fame.
the next time i interview a band, i'm just going to pretend i'm her.

this also further solidifies my love for the dudes of colony house.

happy monday!

xo

frontman friday: kevin cronin

another friday is here. we're less than a week away from thanksgiving!
WHERE HAS THIS YEAR GONE?
because we all know how it goes; it's thanksgiving, you blink and then it's christmas, you blink and it's the new year. it's downright crazy to think that it's basically 2015. remember when 2015 seemed like a really far away time?

i bet that's how today's frontman feels too.

he blinked and had a career of work: kevin cronin

even with the terrible curly mullet (which i'm sure was in 

fashion then) he still looks cool. 

photo credit: ???

cronin is the crooner in REO Speedwagon

there's a part of me that's a tiny bit sad that i wasn't alive

during this era because the clothes and the hair and 

everything are just something else. 

kevin is responsible for penning two of REO's most famous songs, keep on loving you and i can't fight this feeling anymore. i could listen to i can't fight this feeling anymore on repeat for an entire day. 

my parent's have seen them perform several times and have never taken me with. rude, right? 'cause current day kevin cronin has still got it. 

still owning that mic.

photo credit: dave rowland

some fantastic things came out of the 80's including myself and love songs that have stood the test of time so that college girl wearing that "born in the 90's" sweatshirt that i saw earlier today can just shut it. 

xo

london's charm.

england was the first country i visited overseas and london is one of my favorite cities in the world.

on the way back from south africa i got to stop in london for a few days and show my mom (she'd never been there before) all the sights! it's so mind-boggling to think that they have statues and buildings that are older than my country. it's such a historically rich yet amazingly modern and progressive city, it's just fantastic. below are a few of my favsie pics from the trip.

we'd just gotten off the plane, dropped off our bags and headed

to covent gardens to watch street performers and shop.

up bright and early for a ride on the london eye!

killer views of a beautiful (and massive) city.

the clock tower right at the exit of the tube.

bears at harrods. 

i can't afford anything in that store.

selfie at tower bridge!

changing of the guards!

my friend is CERTAIN the queen drove by while we

were waiting for this. i believe her 50%.

union jack, double decker bus, london eye, clock tower.

doesn't get more london than that.

i love this because of my friend's hair. 

it looks like a toupee about to blow off.

we ate at a pub our last night there and my mom was 

really excited because our number was 53 and she's 53. 

on the tube to the airport to leave london.

so sad that all of our travels were nearing the end.

the rest of our trip consisted of  visiting buckingham palace, doing a harry potter walking tour, eating tesco lunch, wandering around picadilly circus, visiting an old friend out in kew gardens, chilling in hyde park, attempting to climb on the lions in trafalgar's square (spoiler alert: i couldn't get up on them), hanging out at m&m world, and TONS more. but some of those pictures are terrible so...

south africa stole my heart and london was a little like going home. it was the trip of a lifetime and i won't ever forget it. huge thanks to my mom and bestie for going on this trip with me...let's do it again???

xo

an open letter to security guards at concerts.

dear security professional:

i'm thankful for your commitment to keeping concert attendees safe.

i appreciate it when you yank down a crowd surfer so i don't get kicked in the head.

i admire how those of you who are placed at the front of stage can stand there with your arms crossed, glaring at the crowd and don't once look back at the show happening directly behind your head; you have way more self-control than i would have.

i think it's really fun that you get to wear all black, it's my favorite color.

but can you please stop rushing me out of the club the second the show is over? i know you're working and you want to go home and i'm preventing you from doing that but i just want to grab an album or say hello to the band. i paid to be here and this is a fun thing for me and i want it to last as long as possible! besides most bands need to get packed up and loaded out so they aren't going to hang out forever anyway. once the band is gone people will scatter within 5 minutes.

i promise i will move out of the way if you are sweeping or taking out the trash. i will even throw shade at the girl who is talking way too long to the band and holding up the line in a vain attempt to move her along. i'm really not trying to be a nuisance i just want the opportunity to tell the lead singer that his ponytail is on-point.

thanks for your understanding.

xo

frontman friday: soul glow activatur

oh hey there, friday! so good to see you.

i don't know about you all but i am thrilled to sleep in tomorrow (and by "sleep in" i mean like 8 at the absolute latest because those are the types of things that happen to your body when you become an adult). some late nights and early mornings this week have made today a coffee AND diet coke kind of day. but it's totally worth running on caffeine for concerts and friend times and photo-book-making (okay, that last one is kinda lame but i did stay up until almost midnight one night working on a shutterfly book of my trip and i feel like i'm paying for that decision now).

i'm guessing the fellas in today's band POUND caffeine before their shows because live they are cray. U.S.Cray to be exact.

he was the orig: soul glow activatur

how american. 
his real name is solomon but his stage name is pretty rad. 

he is formerly the lead singer of family force 5

they just look fun. spoiler alert: they are. 

last year soul glow decided to hang up his hulk hands and pass the baton onto his brother, crouton. so now crouts is the man in the middle.

pretty great but not quite the same. 

they had a good run with SGA as their crunk captain.

good luck filling those shoes, crouts.

so this weekend may you be a love addict, wobble til you can't dance anymore, and hit that cray button. 

xo