Classic Christmas Songs.

As I've grown older, I've noticed how the holiday season is just a consumer playground. The bad things about the holidays become more apparent, noted.
As I've grown older, I've also noticed how the holiday season still feels like Flushing on Christmas Eve and sneaking stuffoli when my great grandma's not looking and seeing yourself in the reflection of a mirrored Christmas ornament if you look past all of the bad things about the holidays.
But what also helps to make the holiday season so special, you ask?
I will tell you.
Vintage Christmas music.

I was raised on Phil Spector's Christmas album. And sure, he's kook'd...and yes, he held The Ramones at gunpoint in his home, but normally good ol' Phil sure knows the key to making a good song sound even better. When it comes to his Christmas album, it's apparent that he really knows how to bring us all back to a time when we all felt like this:

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite songs from
A Christmas Gift for You, From Phil Spector:

"Frosty the snowman" -- The Ronettes
"Sleigh Ride" -- The Ronettes
"Christmas (baby please come home)" -- Darlene Love

I hope you like them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jason and I were supposed to drive from Madison to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving to spend it with his family (it was supposed to be my first time meeting them also! Scary!!) but I got pretty sick, so we decided to take advantage of our 4 day weekend and get some good rest while we could. I was pretty bummed. I'm used to cozy family Thanksgivings, and I was worried how I would feel about Thanksgiving without my family. It is my first big holiday without them.
Although I did miss my family very much today at dinner (and yes, I even missed my dad's stories that he tells over and over and over again), it was nice to have a quiet dinner with Jason that we cooked together, and it felt especially nice to start new traditions and try new things.


Really, the newest thing about Thanksgiving this year was that we made tofurkey.
It's tiny and kind of salty, but it was a good alternative.


I also made my own cranberry sauce, only I tried it with less sugar, and it tastes better that way!
Recipe:
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar (let the two boil together)
3 cups cranberries

Let cranberry skin pop and serve. Easy peasy.

Happy Thanksgiving from my crazy family to yours!

November House Show, Part II

The last house show of November was so much fun! I wish everyone could have been there to listen to the music and experience the fun!
We made some new friends, played with kids, ate a lot, our brains were blown by great musical performances, AND no one was mean to Willi. Hooray!

Eli August played, and he did a great job!
I especially loved his ukulele songs, however, I am biased when it comes to uking til you're puking. In fact, the topic of puking even came up during his set! (Not in a gross way, of course. It was fitting and humorous.)

Plum Union graced our presence once again. It feels so nice to have a circle of friends all over the country, however, it feels comforting to know that there are some right by you that you can always visit with and smell the garlic and tea tree oil mixture on them when you hug them! Not only that, but to hear their lovely singing voices almost whenever you please!
Edwin of Plum Union just had a birthday on Wednesday, so I baked a cake for him from scratch, and I decorated it with some runny homemade frosting.Cat also played some solo songs, which were a real treat! It was the first time I've seen her perform live by herself.

Cowboy Motif played some pretty upbeat, acoustic pop songs with an Animal Collective backbone, which I am always a sucker for.
They were very young and very sweet and kind.

Let's do this again, and again, and again, please!

November House Show #2 flyer.

Tonight is the second and last of the November House shows.
If you are in Madison or nearby and want some free food , music, and company, please feel free to stop by! Click on the photo for more info on the event!
You won't regret it!

Flashback Fridays.

Today I was walking my favorite two year old, in hopes that she would fall asleep on this lovely day that we were completely blessed to have (50 degree weather in November...in Wisconsin. I'll take it!) On my walk, I passed many scents.
Food being prepared, crunchy leaves being burned in the distance, and of course, the smell of something crawling up your nose and and proceeding to die there.


Whenever this happens, I am brought back to when I visited the Great Salt Lake on my first tour, and how completely disgusting it was.
It smelt, looked, and felt like pure yuckfest 2008.

Rob illustrates.That stuff that looks like plantlife....yeah, it's actually bugs clumped together.

By the way, although the Great Salt Lake was repulsive, it was worth seeing,
and I would rather picture that whenever I smell something gross rather than something that might make me want to puke.

My work with Resin, Part II.

For those who were wondering, I've documented the drying process of Resin.
Day 1 of drying: smells like death, sticky, not dry.
Day 2 of drying: still smells like death, sticky.
-----------------------------------------------------
Day 5 of drying: no smell, sticky.
Day 8 of drying: no smell, completely dry!



Well, there you have it.
Resin is a pain in the ass, but it's so lovely when it's complete, isn't it?

Can an Iphone app interpret your baby's crying?

I listen to NPR everyday.
I love it.
It's how I stay updated with current events.

Today on my way home from work, I was listening to All Tech Considered, and I found out that the Iphone has just released a Baby Cry Translator. They put it to the test.
You can listen to it here.


So Can an Iphone app interpret your baby's crying?
I say: Not a chance.

Christmas Prep?? Before Thanksgiving!?

I hate Christmas decorations preparations before Thanksgiving (especially before Halloween...) however, this year I am guilty of it.
This is my first holiday season away from home. I mean away, away, awayyy from home.
So I feel like I have to take extra care in getting things done, and getting them done early.

• Baking (how soon is too soon?)
  
• Creating
  
• Etsy/Local Shopping
• Shipping to Pennsylvania

So because of this, I decided to do some online shopping today, as well as make all of my Christmas cards.
If you would like to be included, please feel free to message your address to me via facebook, or email it to me @ stronglikenanacy[at]yahoo.com.



Also, last year I wrote a bunch of Christmas songs in, oh, I don't know...February.
So I'm thinking of finally recording them and releasing a Christmas EP.
Busy Bee!

November's House Shows, Part I

I didn't get to take pictures at October's house shows, so I haven't posted anything about them, but they were very lovely.
Last night I made sure not to forget about taking pictures for November.

Flotation Walls
Epic music from Columbus, OH in my living room.

Adam Balbo
Singer songwriter with very quirky/cute/clever lyrics, from San Francisco.



Other News:
1.) You might notice that I've changed my blog around a bit.
Let me know what you think.
I haven't decided what I think about it yet.
(I'm worried it looks soccer-mom-blogish)


2.) Willi was spayed, and she had to wear a soft "sunflower" (as Jason and I liked to call it) so she would not harm her stitches. She has not calmed down at all since her operation, but is more moody, embarrassed, and of course, naughty.
Here is an example of such naughtiness, while she tries to wriggle her way out of her "sunflower".

"If you love freedom, thank a vet."

When I was a kid, my parents had this bumper sticker that said "If you love freedom, thank a vet."
As a little girl, I thought that the bumper sticker was referring to Veterinarians.
Needless to say, I think it's stupid that people only say thank you to Veterans about as often as they take their pets to the vet.
I think we should say thank you whenever we can.

My best friend, Ant.
I'm thankful and proud of you everyday, not just today.

Free To Be...You and Me!

"We've begun to raise daughters more like sons, but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters." -- Gloria Steinem

Just a friendly reminder to not forget our boys (and men) in a world of traditional crafts, mostly dominated by women.






(Ft. Roberta Flack and Micheal Jackson)

These two videos are from Free To Be..You and Me!, a movie that was made in the 1970's which is the only film I remember seeing and loving during my elementary school years. I certainly hope it's still shown.

My work with Resin.

This past week I've been experimenting with Resin.
It's my first time using it, and so far I've been finding it to be very frustrating.

1. It smells horrible.
2. You have to be extremely cautious while using it because it involves chemicals (don't use it if you have small children, unless it's in an area where they will never be able to get to it until it's dry.)
3. I CAN'T GET IT TO DRY!

Now, here is my question for people who have experience with Resin and Catalyst:
How long does it normally take to dry?
My goodness!

Bloggers Ornament Exchange

I've just signed up! You should too!

Spoonflower

When was the last time you fell in love?
Oh, I remember my last! Yesterday when I discovered Spoonflower!
Spoonflower is a site that allows you to design your own fabric and get it printed without being limited to the size or weight!
Isn't that amazing?!

Monkey Doll All Teal by vo

Deer Fabric by emrick123

Just thought I would share! <3

Halloween fun!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!
Jason played a house show at the Red Manor and we both had a fantastic time with our friends and strangers alike.
We went as Mad Men!

What did you go as?