Halloween & New York City Go Hand in Hand

This past weekend, Halloween weekend, was such a blast. Between happy hours, halloween parties, lazy days with the girls and more halloween parties on and pumpkin pancakes it was pretty close to perfect. Check it...

created last min out of my closet

the girls

pumpkin deliciouso

Holly's Eggs

Pumpkin Pancake Fab-ness

Great it Snowed. Terrible. 

lazy Saturday after staying out too late on Friday

that happened

That's pretty much the weekend in pictures. Minus the great Sunday dinner I had with my friends in Hoboken. It was great! Love Partying in New York.

Music Weekend Wrap-up: Florence & the Machine, Metallica, The Cranberries and MORE

I'll be putting together my Halloween in NYC weekend wrap up later today, but I figured I would start this Monday off with a little summary of some interesting music news that came out over the weekend.

- Metallica Fans in India SMASH the Stage after cancelled Show

• So apparently Metallica had to cancel a show in Dehli due to safety reasons with stage barriers and what have you. The crowd was so enraged that they TRASHED the stage and most of the venue as well. Good call boys on cancelling who knows what could have happened during the show. Yikes.

- The Cranberries are Attempting a Comeback

• I don't know about you but this definitely peaked my interest. This will be there first album in over a DECADE. The last Cranberries tune I really even remember is due to the fact that it was on the Romeo & Juliet Soundtrack - you know the flick staring Leo (swoon) and Claire Danes. I'm excited to see what this album will be like. Click HERE for a mini preview.

- Florence and the Machine Currently Streaming Their New Album in it's Entirety!

• Need I even say more!!! GO CHECK IT OUT NOW. This sophomore album from the gang will not disappoint!

Their 1st album Lungs also great

- MTV Tracks Down the Star of the Los Lonely Boys by the Black Keys Video

• As you know the new single/video by the Black Keys is pretty darn catchy - as featured right here on City Melody last week. To learn more about Derrick T. Tuggle yourself read this.

That's the eye catching news from the weekend - let me know if I missed something.

Pandora Discoveries

I LUOOOVE Pandora Radio for a multitude of reasons:

1. It understands me better than most people
2. It knows what I want before I do
3. It plays an incredible mix of indie, pop, rock and country that no other radio station could provide
4. But MOST IMPORTANTLY - It helps me discover and/or re-discover great music I would have never heard or perhaps forgot about.

Para Example:

Discovery: The Blow - Their Song True Affection - is amazing. 

Discovery: Coconut Records - first off HOLY HOTNESS secondly check out his tune West Coast.

 Re-Discovery: The Shins - Almost forgot how much I love them, and almost forgot how much Caring is Creepy

Re-Discovery: The Weeks - I don't care if you don't like them because I do just like I like Buttons and who doesn't like buttons?

Have you ever found something UH-MAZING via Pandora?

Friday Jam of the Day

This came on my Pandora and I love it and cannot help but jam out to it all day long....

Say What? Coldplay Covers Rihanna!

While we know that Coldplay teamed up with the diva herself Miss Rihanna on their newest album: Mylo Xyloto, and well if you don't know now you know, it's still a bit odd that Chris Martin and the gang decided to cover her song: We Found Love.

I'm not saying it's bad but it's definitely different. If you're not a Coldplay fan in general you'll probably hate it. But hey check it out for yourself:

Rainy Day Activity: Pinterest

So today in NYC it's raining. No shock there I feel like for the past bizzillion weeks it's rained at least once. On days like this the LAST thing I want to do is go out and explore any part of the city - that's including my own neighborhood. I have friends that live within a 10 block radius and nope sorry I still don't want to leave my warm cozy apartment to visit them (ignore the fact that I may or may not be sitting in my office on days like today).

My point is when it's raining face it you don't want to go out and do anything. Well thank goodness for the site Pinterest. If you don't know about it already let me throw down the basics for ya. Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board site, where you can create multiple boards for inspiration, organizational reasons or just for plain old fun. Have you ever been surfing the net and came across an image that you love so you save it to some rando folder on your hard drive only to never revisit it again. Or you have to print it out because you just love it so much. Well my friend these days are behind you with Pinterest.

Pinterest Homepage

A few of the boards I have created include: Syle, Home Sweet Home Someday and Music finds that I always share here! Not only do you get to create these boards but you can explore other peoples as well to find even more inspiration. People can also "repin" your items to their boards if they like them - which i guarantee will make you feel totally cool and awesome. You can check out my Pinterest collection by clicking the button on the right or by clicking here :) Or just go to the site and stumble around it yourself. Either way you'll definitely fill tons of time with it!

Feel Like Dancing?

If you're ever in the dancing mood or just wish you could get into one you should defffffinitely check out The Black Keys new single Lonely Boy video off of the duo's new album "El Camino." These guys are teh real deal and everyone should love them.
Have an office/apartment dance off and ENJOY :)

An Embarrassing Tale of Shoe Shopping

So as you know this past weekend was jam packed with activities from museum visits to street fairs. Basically I covered a lot of happenings in the City. I also however needed a new pair of sneakers so after getting ready for my Saturday affairs I decided to run down to Union Square to check out the athletic apparel store: Paragon.

Amazing Asics

As you can see I completed my mission successfully picking up a great new pair of Asics, but that's not to say there isn't a slightly embarrassing story to be told. So if you recall from my weekend wrap up entry I was wearing this outfit:



me in my rocking outfit


Well at Paragon they like to be efficient and make sure that you leave the store with the best sneaker for you. This is great right! Who wouldn't want to leave with the best, that fits like a glove and caters to the awkward graceful way I run? What I didn't realize was to determine what shoe would ultimately fit this criteria I would have to run barefoot - Or in my case in TIGHTS - on a treadmill for all to see. Please picture the scene. Me running on a treadmill in the above outfit in a store full of people who just came in from the gym. Holy Awkward.

To top it all off - I apparently run in a slightly strange manner. I'm sure this doesn't surprise most of my friends but WHATEVS. One leg hits exactly the way it should straight on in a straight line while the other (my left) hits at such an incredibly weird angle that the girl was amazed I haven't blown out my knee yet. Thanks for that. She was so stumped that she had to call over other employees to also take a look. Not embarrassing in the least.

She finally succeeded though and I've been rocking the new sneaks out at the gym all week so - so far so good - hopefully I don't hurt myself anytime soon wearing them.

What about you any embarrassing shopping experiences in your past?

New York City in the Fall Part Deux

So my New York City Fall weekend was Perfecto. I did get a lot of things on my hopeful list from Friday's post completed.

perfect fall outfit

Pumpkin Picking in Union Square

Drinks at McSorleys

Hester Street Fair Beer Garden

Hester Street Fair

Soda Pop - Original

Halloween Dessert Fun

Want. This. Sandwich.

Spiciest Chili Ever.

New Shoe Purchase

Things that weren't pictured are my trip to the Museum of Natural History. Sorry the guys weren't exactly patient with me so I felt bad snapping away every 30 seconds. Also I did get a new pair of sneakers, which ended up being a minorly embarrassing experience but we can discuss that at a later date. I made it to the Hester Street Fair to pick through some delicious goodies as you can see. I also had a great brunch Sunday morning at this great place on 3rd Ave between 88th and 89th street called Uptown Lounge, which coincidentally is where I had dinner Friday night with one of my best gal pals Leora.


Speaking of my beautiful friend I want to congratulate her. Her fab boyfriend proposed to her this past weekend making her officially ENGAGED!!!! I'm so happy for them both and wish them nothing but the best. We'll be celebrating one night this week so be sure to check in for an update soon :)

We Love Zooey

Zooey Deschanel is such a little button. I love - love - LOVE her. Check out her World Series National Anthem performance. Seriously how can you not love her.

New York City in the Fall Part Un

Central Park in Fall

As you know from an earlier post this week, I LOVE THE FALL, but I especially love the Fall in New York City. Seeing as this is my first Fall season living here I'm trying to pack in as many activities as possible. Granted I haven't really been able to do a whole lot yet due to my many weekend travels (weddings, family dinners, surprise 50ths etc.) but this weekend will be different because I refuse to leave New York.

The only problem now is that I have a list with practically a million things I want to do and well I mean there's only so much time ya know? I'm definitely kicking off the weekend (aka today at 6pm as soon as I leave the office) by having dinner with one of my favorite people in the world my friend Leora. We went to college together and now just happen to live about 10 blocks from each other -I love when things work out like that.

The rest of the weekend though I have back to back to back ideas/plans so on and so forth that I want to do. So far this is what the list looks like:

• Museum of Natural History
• Flea Markets
• Vintage Shopping
• Halloween Shopping
• Bake Pumpkin Treats
• Hestler Street Fair (Grub Fest it's a must)
• Buy New Running Sneakers
• Brunch with Some of the Gal Pals
• More Pumpkin Treats
• Chill Out in the Par

 

Museum of Natural History

  

 

Flea market

 










Pumpkin Treats



Brunch goodness










And somewhere in the midst of all of this I need to clean my apartment. It's getting... well by most people's standards it's probably very clean but I'm a nut about that so yeah. Any WAYY... I'll have to make sure my iPod is fully charged for all of the running around that is bound to ensue. I'll let you know what ACTUALLY got accomplished on Monday.

Did I leave any fun NYC fall activities out? What do you like to do in the Fall?

Music News that Makes You Smile

So there are a few things in the wide world of music that happened this week that really just made me smile. I love hearing quirky things occuring in the music world, that don't necessarily have all that much to do with the music itself sometimes. Here are just a few things that made me happy this week:

• Ke$ha is going to be featured on the newest Bob Dylan Tribute album. This made me smile for two reasons. One I LOVE Bob Dylan so if there's a tribute album coming out consider me excited. The second reason is - the idea of Ke$ha singing Bob Dylan - well that just makes me chuckle. Other artists such as Adele and My Morning Jacket will be featured as well.

• Adam Levine (sigh) told Fox Five News to basically Eff Off - I'm sorry but this is great. As someone who also hates Fox Five News I had to smile when I heard this. Adam Levine took to twitter and demanded that Fox Five stop playing Maroon 5's music during their broadcasts. And I quote: "Dear Fox News, don't play our music on your evil fucking channel ever again. Thank you," Come on that's GREAT.

• Garbage is releasing a new album. Enough said. Smile Ensued

• The divine Bette Midler will be selling a collection of her costumes, jewls and etc and donating the proceeds to charity. One anything Bette Midler should make everyone smile and secondly charity - smile done. 

Any music that made you smile this week?

Somebody That I Used to Know

Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye feat. Kimbra was featured on my Fall play list yesterday, and I must confess:

I'M OBSESSED.

I first heard this song on the August play list that Miss Moss put together. This song is so great, and I'm not sure what it is specifically, but I do know my co-workers are probably getting sick of hearing it blare out of my speakers all day. What do you guys think - GREAT SONG? PERFECT FOR FALL? Let me know...

 

Pumpkin Coffee & Mixed Tapes

Fall is my favorite time of year. The crisp weather, the fact that you can wear boots again, bulky sweaters, layering, apple cider & most importantly Pumpkin Coffee - I mean really is there anything better than Fall?

Fall not only calls for a swap in hot beverage choices and wardrobe necessities, but it means its time for a music switch up as well. It's time to say good-bye to the music of summer and play lists that entertain you during your car rides down the shore, and hello to some long afternoon drives through the changing leaves music.

Here's a sample cut of a Fall play list I'm currently jamming out to - get inspired to get in the Fall spirit <3

• Blitzen Trapper - Love the Way You Walk Away
• Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans
• Gotye  - Somebody that I Used to Know
• Radiohead - High and Dry
• Lady GaGa - You & I
• Fleet Foxes -  He Doesn't Know Why
• Florence and the Machine -  Howl
• The Beatles - Hey Jude
• The Gaslight Anthem - The Queen of Lower Chelsea
• The Gaslight Anthem - The Diamond Church Street Choir
• Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
• Wilco - You Are My Face

What are some other great Fall Music Mix Jams?

Love Me Some Nicki Minaj

Like many other's out there - I love me some Nicki Minaj - but I must say this leetle 8 year old loves her more. Check it -

Garden State + 500 Days of Summer = A Good Day

So I think my Pandora is able to read my mind sometimes. It seems to know EXACTLY what to play at the EXACT right time. Okay yes I've entered in enough bands and songs and such that it should know but this is not the point. The point is - it always comes through...

Two of my favorite movies in the entire world are 500 Days of Summer & Garden State. Not only are they great effin flicks, but they have great soundtracks. Granted I realize these movies aren't for everyone. They don't exactly have stellar happy endings but choose to depict how life really is. To this day my dad constantly gives me shit for LOVING the movie 500 Days of Summer. He yells about how Summer is a bitch but really she was just honest - she wasn't feeling it so sue her. As for Garden State well half the people I talk to don't even understand that movie and they think I only like it because I'm from NJ (Shh don't tell anyone).

But the soundtracks I mean they are UH-MAZING and apparently Pandora agrees. I'm pretty sure throughout my work day today I've heard over 60% of both soundtracks singing through my speakers. Regina Spektor, The Shins, The Smiths, Feist, Coldplay, Frou Frou, Simon & Garfunkel.... you get it.

I love music days like this! Such a great way to get through an otherwise busy, tedious stress filled work day!

What are some of your favorite soundtracks? Or work day jams?

Life Update aka Wedding Extravaganza

So I've been slacking MAJORLY with the blog updates. I've been pretty busy the past 2 weeks with work and family but I'm getting back on track starting now. Since I've been M.I.A for a while I figured I would just give a quick little update of some life events and the songs that went with them.

Last week kicked off our Fall Conference season at work (I know pretty exciting stuff let me tell you) so I'm pretty much OWNED until Christmas. It went pretty well only a few hiccups but hey there's always next time - which happens to be next week. (Cue Everybody's Working for the Weekend).  



Much more interestingly/importantly my Cousin finally married the most wonderful girl last weekend! The fam and I road tripped it down to VA for the weekend to watch these 2 fab people get hitched. It was such a great time! The rehearsal dinner was Friday night with close friends and family of the cutie couple in attendance. It was so great to see everyone so happy. His sister and Puja's (the bride) brother gave great speeches and it set the perfect tone for the weekend.



(Walking down the aisle while he watches)

The wedding ceremony was on Saturday and was a full traditional Indian ceremony. It was so different than any other wedding I've been to but it was so awesome to be a part of. I loved it! Everything went off without a hitch thank goodness and I had a great time dancing the night away with my family <3.  

Speaking of dancing their first dance was PERFECTO. It was honestly the only time I cried (I'm NOT a crier so trust me that is serious). They danced to Dave Matthews Band's You and Me. While I'm not the hugest fan of this band, I think it was so fitting of them!

You & Me (Dave Matthews Band) by Wolfhowl

What do you think? Great Wedding Song? What other songs are perfect?

Blue Jean Baby - Almost Famous

This past weekend I watched what is probably the best music movie ever - Almost Famous. It pretty much depicts the life I would kill to live. (Yes I want to be Penny Lane don't judge me). It also depicts the decade/time-period etc. that I was clearly meant to live in, but sadly someone messed up on that one.

This film is based on director Cameron Crowe's experiences when he was younger. The movie tells the story of a teenager trying to make it as a Rock N' Roll journalist, the things he experiences while traveling on the road with the band Stillwater, along with his efforts behind getting his story published in Rolling Stone Magazine. It's during the time (1973) when real live for, die for, all I breathe rock n' roll was fading fast. It was being replaced by "musicians," that just wanted to make it big and didn't care if they had to sell out to do it. Not to say that some GREAT bands didn't come out of that time period, but I mean the 60's really shaped some of the greatest artists of all time - I digress.

The best part of this movie - besides the wardrobe options - is definitely the soundtrack. Elton John's Tiny Dancer, Simon and Garfunkel's America, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man, The Who's Sparks... NEED I GO ON. Every time I watch this movie I can't help but smile after and wish I had been there to experience some of these moments first hand. To be able to watch some of the greatest musicians of all time, forever and always, play their way across America - Le Sigh - Perhaps another amazing decade will strike soon.

Here's hoping...