cover: tiger mountain peasant song

I think I have a thing for covers. My latest discovery comes by way of Sweden (along with many other wonderful things – gotta love the Swedes), in the form of two adorable girls (they go by First Aid Kit) covering Fleet Foxes – Tiger Mountain Peasant Song. It’s a great song, and these two girls are very talented, which makes it an enjoyable watch.

i’m into: no cars go

Don’t you love when you re-fall in love with a song years after it’s been released, become popular, and then faded into the past? I really like Arcade Fire’s new album, Suburbs, but lately I’ve been more drawn to the old single ‘No Cars Go’ from their 2007 album Neon Bible.

source

I never even paid much attention to it back in the day. But it’s been on repeat lately for me. Listen here:

What song is getting you through the day right now?

together incredible: new zealand, iggy pop & orcon broadband

You couldn’t really peg me as a person who pays attention to film and/or advertising awards, but when I saw this recent Cannes Grand Prix winner posted on my friend Boz’s blog, I couldn’t resist sharing it. It was made by a small New Zealand agency called Small Group to promote a tiny local broadband company called Orcon.

The whole shtick is that Iggy Pop (who is in Miami) uses Orcon to find 8 New Zealand-based musics to help recreate “The Passenger” via webcam. Because New Zealand is awesome and so are most people who live there, they had over 200 fantastic auditions and actually wound up taking 9 people instead of 8. But that’s beside the point. The final product is pretty awesome and worth a look, so have one:

don’t know what rdio is, but i like it

So, I have a rdio account now (thanks, David R!). I’m still not quite sure what makes this different than your last.fms and Pandoras, but I’m guessing it’s kinda like that, with a little lala.com (R.I.P.) mixed in. So far, I’ve synced my iTunes library (which appears pathetic without half my music on it) and listened to the Broken Bells album (excellent, btw).

If you know what makes rdio so darn special, please fill me in. If you want to follow me, be my guest. If you want an invite – I have 10.

it’s the perfect bathroom trip, man.

Remember when I mentioned making dinner for two uber-awesome YouTube stars on Friday? Rhett and Link were in town last week, and while they were in town, they recruited Julian to direct, shoot and star in one of their fabulous music videos. The song is “Perfect Bathroom Trip” and it’s all about how to have the most hygienic trip to the bathroom possible. I’ve had it stuck in my head pretty much all week – “turn on the tap, apply some soap, lather up, rinse, dont stop the flow, first grab that paper towel you saaaaaved… use it as a BARRIER! when touching the fau-cet AREA!” You can see it in all its glory below, though I recommend watching in HD because Julian’s camera is that amazing. iJustine also has a little cameo in this funny, yet education, music video!

Great work, boys. And girl.

Florence & The Machine Totally Heart Me

What are Florence & The Machine doing with a polaroid photo of ME in their video?

Find out here. Thanks to Seany for sharing!

Things I Love Thursday

Ahhh, it feels good to be back. Holidays and vacations are great & all, but I love a good routine. To anyone else, it may be boring, but for me, I get great pleasure out of knowing exactly when things are going to happen. Of course, I rarely stick to a plan, but I like to pretend.

La Maison Rose (the pink house) in Montmartre, Paris, France… where I’ll be in 4 months!
april-mo

So here we are on Thursday, just a few hours before I get to pick up my man from the airport (!!), ready to share some of the things I’m loving right now.

- Budgets. Saving money. Money blogs. Financial planning. What kind of a nerd have I become? I think it’s largely due to the fact that I’m smack in the middle of listening to the audiobook of The Millionaire Next Door, but all my free time lately has been spent reading and researching better ways to budget, save, and invest. I find our culture’s obsession with spending and consumption sickening yet fascinating, especially considering the pressure we put on ourselves to appear wealthy. News flash: driving a $90,000 car doesn’t make you look rich, it makes you look $90,000 (or more, if invested) less wealthy. I’m in a good place to save right now being somewhat young, able, and with minimal responsibility (no kids!) I’m not a resolution maker, but I’m vowing to increase my net worth by mucho dinero this year, not only to relieve the future me from the burdens of financial stress, but so I can give as much as I want to. Last night, I spent four solid hours creating my very own budget excel spreadsheet because I wasn’t pleased with the ones I found online. Plus, I’m not too crazy about Mint.com and I don’t feel like waiting for Quicken for Mac 2010 or paying $50 for the darn thing. Anyway, if you’re interested in seeing my magical spreadsheet (split into two columns because many of us are paid twice monthly), you can download it here. I added the standard categories, but you can edit to your heart’s desire depending on your needs. It doesn’t include any investment, asset, net worth or debt reduction calculations, it’s mostly just for setting monthly spending goals and recording how you measure up. Just add in your planned income and expenses, tally up your actual income and expenses and enter them in, and the numbers at the bottom of the page should automatically update to give you an overall idea of how you’re meeting your monthly goals.

I’m also pretty obsessed with reading financial blogs, these are some of my favorites:

• Budgets Are Sexy

• Fabulously Broke… In The City
• The Frugal Girl
• Almost Frugal

- Catching up on sleep. That’s what breaks are for, right? Even the night I got back to LA, sleeping in my own bed was downright blissful. It’s remarkable how much of a difference getting a good night’s sleep can have on your day. I read a study recently that teens who sleep less than 5 hours a night are up to 70% more likely to be depressed and 40% more likely to have suicidal thoughts. We aren’t teenagers, but I’m pretty sure the same goes for adults. Not that we’re having suicidal thoughts, but it’s safe to say your mood is ~842x better when you get a full night’s rest. Many people I know brag about how little sleep they need to get by and feel that pulling an “allnighter” makes them look tough and seem more hardworking. Guess what? It’s just going to make you less productive the next day. There should be laws about how much sleep we are required to get. Arianna Huffington even published her Sleep Challenge 2010 and I suggest all you women take a look and take action get some rest! Yes, I’m a big, huge fan of sleeping. Especially if there is no end point in sight (nothing worse than taking a nap when you know your alarm is going to ring in 1 hour… 45 minutes… 38 minutes.. 14 minutes..) Oh, it doesn’t hurt that I’m obsessed with my bed, even though there is no rug under it which causes the bed frame’s wheels to slide all over the floor.

- (RAH)² (AH)³ + [ROMA (1+MA)] + (GA)² + (OOH)(LA)². Sigh. I’m sorry in advance for this. I tried to fight it, really I did, but I can’t stop listening to Bad Romance. Back at Thanksgiving, I asked my nine year old brother what his favorite song was, and he said “Bad Romance” (I guess he hasn’t reached the age when liking a pop song, especially by a girl, is an embarrassment.) At that point, the only thing I knew about Bad Romance was that it was Lady GaGa’s new song and that the music video was always on the top of Viral Video Chart. As I did with all her songs, I rolled my eyes and happily resisted listening to it… until I ACCIDENTALLY heard it on the radio – hello, ear worm! I found myself actually wishing it would come on the radio, shameful I know… then I bought the song. I even watched the video, which I loved, despite the white spandex Slim Jim outfits. So I watched it again. And again. And then started dancing like a mad woman all over my apartment (alone, of course). That’s another thing I love, dancing. I really need to find a good dance class in LA. Why is Lady GaGa so freaking infectious?! Are there subliminal messages in her songs? Am I being hypnotized? If I were 14, I’d gather my friends and make up a dance to this song.

- Scout and Pepper attention after a vacation. I love traveling but I hate, hate, hate leaving my girls behind. Especially Scout, because she is so attention-hungry. I tend to avoid thinking about them when I’m gone, because I know they miss me, strictly based on their behavior when I return. I seriously can’t peel Scout’s fat booty away from me the day I get back in town… and it is so, cute. She has to be thisclose to me at all times, sleeping on my head, laying on my shoulders if I’m on the couch, sitting on my lap if I’m at the dining table, etc. Whoever said cats are mean has never met my Scooba! Pepper is not quite as needy, though she is definitely a black fluffy bundle of love when I get back in town. I woke up to her on top of my head this morning.

- Anna Inghardt’s photography. Um, drool. I could seriously look at her photos all day long. I’m a sucker for soft lighting, pretty bows, comfy beds and cats, so her photostream is completely delicious to me. It kind of makes me want to paint everything I own white, get rid of all my bright colored clothing, and just lounge about all day painting my nails and looking at my jewelry. Too bad I look horrible in white. Cast your eyes upon these beauties, then check out her Flickr.

That’s all I’ve got for you today, my dear friends. I’ve got a humongous ‘Bits ‘n Pieces’ that is just itching for me to write it up. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a headache for two days straight now and I need to go chug some water in an attempt to rehydrate myself if that is in fact the issue here. Until next time! ♥

playlist: chicks rule

I’ve been wanting to post this for a while but am now just getting around to it. For many years, my iPod playlist was dominated by men – mostly men in bands. Recently I’ve noticed a trend, though – women. Ladies who kick butt and deserve to be commended for their God given talents. Here’s a playlist honoring some of those ladies. Some tunes are older, some are newer, and though you might recognize names, most of these are lesser-known compared to your Beyonces and your Mariahs (though I did include Taylor Swift because, well, we all know I have a girl crush on her.) There is also one song that features a man, but because they cleaned house at the Grammy’s last year, I’m letting it slide. It’s that good.

Here is my Chicks Rule playlist! Especially enjoyable while you’re cleaning your house, painting your nails, stuck in traffic, or P.O.ed at the boy in your life. Muah!

Noisettes – Don’t Upset The Rhythm (Go Baby Go)
Adele – Best For Last
The Cardigans – In The Round
St. Vincent – Paris is Burning
Lykke Li – Little Bit (CSS Remix)
Sia – Little Black Sandals
Lenka – Trouble is a Friend
The Bird and The Bee – My Love
Bat For Lashes – Daniel
Noisettes – Never Forget You
Taylor Swift – You’re Not Sorry
Allison Krauss & Robert Plant – Rich Woman
Regina Spektor – Laughing With
Tegan & Sara – Nineteen
Yelle – Je veux te voir
The Bird and The Bee – Come As You Were

Honorable mention to the men who play in these women’s bands.

If you have suggestions for songs, please be kind and leave them in the comments! xo

Miike Snow – Animal

In addition to my recent classical music kick, I’m also really obsessed with Miike Snow right now, especially his song “Animal,” which I’m hearing all sorts of places. The song is creative and infectious, but the lyrics really speak to me, and I’m pretty sure it is because they are so gosh darn easy to relate to. Listen to it, you’ll love it. The video is really cool too.

Miike Snow – Animal
Miike Snow – Animal (Mark Ronson Remix)
Miike Snow – Animal (Peter Bjorn & John Remix)

Buy his album here.

Kanye Needs A Time-Out

Kanye West is a real jerk. No way around it, he is just a grown up crybaby who has to come kick down all the other kids’ sandcastles when his isn’t as cool. His insecurity is definitely not news, he seems to have a real talent for throwing a hissy fit every time he gets shorted at an awards show. He’s either on stage or backstage making a scene, or writing some sort of rude or offensive blog after the fact. Taylor Swift is just about the most adorable thing on the face of the Earth, and totally deserved to win her MTV VMA award. Kanye can just kiss my butt.

But this, this is hilarious:

It seems like Kanye has made some kind of apology on his blog, but that hasn’t stopped all the stars from tweeting harsh words towards him, making statements on public television, and writing on their own blogs about how uncalled for his actions were. Instead of making more enemies, Kanye should be reading this poem on pride. Taylor Swift forever!

P.S. I have a lot to update on, specifically my WONDERFUL weekend that included a surprise birthday party for moi thrown by my fabulous boyfriend! I have more cupcakes than I know what to do with and for the record, I was belting out Taylor Swift in the car on the way to the party. She really is the best. I interviewed her cute little BF Lucas Till (who stars in her now-award-winning video) at Comic-Con, too, and he’s just presh!