no, not for me and ryan, silly. that would be ridiculous, we're way too young. on sunday, ryan's cousin becci married her long time boyfriend ian! they are pretty badass (as evidenced by becci's styling of her wedding dress below) and their wedding definitely had an unofficial old school punk theme. after a sweet & simple ceremony outdoors among the fruit trees, we headed inside for one of the most fun & unconventional receptions i've ever attended. the friend of theirs who officiated the ceremony was also the lead singer of the band that played the reception. he had this total rancid/mighty mighty bosstones throaty punk voice and silly personality and they covered many punk and rock classics. but for this week's speak to me post, i was inspired by the song that the groom ian sang as a surprise gift to his new bride during the reception. i present to you "ring of fire
" as played by social distortion
. **all photos in this post taken by ryan's brilliant mother, kat from photography by sky**
love is a burning thing
and it makes a fiery ring
bound by wild desire
i fell into a ring of fire
i fell into a burning ring of fire
it went down, down, down and the flames went higher
and it burns, burns, burns
that ring of fire, that ring of fire
the taste of love is sweet
when hearts like ours meet
i fell for you like a child
oh, but the fire went wild
i fell into a burning ring of fire
it went down, down, down and the flames went higher
ryan and i have been practicing furiously all week in preparation for our show on friday. tonight we had a really great writing session - we finally finished a song we've been working on for a while and i'm really happy with the way it turned out. i'll definitely be posting more on that soon, hopefully with a new video to share. if you can't tell from my sparse (to put it lightly) blog design, i'm no graphic artist. but my mother actually works in graphic design. earlier this week i was lamenting to my mom that ryan and i didn't have any sort of promotional flyer or business card to hand out to people that might be interested in our band. she played it cool while we were talking and i thought nothing more about it, but then today she handed me these.
our new business cards, designed by ali's mother.
don't they look great? they're printed on this really lovely paper and are just the right size. she modified one of my favorite typefaces to include that little music note and even added a spinning wheel. i'm so thankful that i have a mom who cares enough to take time out of her super busy day to surprise me with something so nice. i'm really lucky to have her. now i feel really confident that we have something professional to share with people if they'd like to book us for a show or learn more about our band.
do any of you have moms this cool? call me biased, but i'm thinking i have the best one. ;)
This past weekend Ryan and I drove up to Lake Placid, NY to meet my parents and my brother Nick. Nick is 12 and a hockey player (you may remember him as co-writer/guitarist of our Harry Potter song) and had spent the previous week in Lake Placid's CAN/AM Hockey camp. My parents had decided to stay up there for the week and use it as their vacation. After much begging and pleading Ryan and I decided to take the long drive up and spend the weekend. Boy am I glad we did.
Crossing the Mohawk River on I-87.
We drove up late on Friday night.
The view of Mirror Lake from my parent's hotel room balcony. Sigh.
The phrase "purple mountain majesties" comes to mind.
Lake Placid and Mirror Lake are so breathtaking. I live in a small city right off of a highway, so views like this are few and far between at home. The air up there was so clear and the water was so clean. It was definitely a little bit magical. Plus I got to spend time with my brother Nick, who I missed so much!
Nick and I. Isn't he handsome?
My brother is growing up so fast and let me tell you he is getting bigger by the day. He's already got an inch or two on me (not that it's hard) and I think he'll be even taller by 2012. There is actually a ten year age difference between Nick and I, but the way we get along you'd never know it. Mostly I chalk it up to the fact that I also behave like a 12 year old boy in most situations. Seriously though, he's an amazing guitarist and singer and a great hockey player. The kid is going places fast.
All in all it was a great weekend. I only wish we could have stayed longer! So are there any other weekend warriors out there who are making up for a lack of vacation time by making weekend trips? Got any more tricks up your sleeve before the summer comes to an end?
PS: I'd like to thank all the people who offered such great advice and kind words in response to my last post. I really appreciated the support. =)
Greetings from Cape May, NJ! Well, actually no, we're home now. But we just got back from a really great weekend away with my family. If you've never been to Cape May, I suggest you make a trip. It really is the cutest little beach town. Everything from the architecture of the homes to the quirky little shops is very picturesque and old-fashioned. I think the best way to describe Cape May to someone from out of state would be this. Picture everything you think you know about the Jersey Shore: Snooki, the Situation, the fake tans, the fake boobs, the you-can't-possibly-be-a-real-person nightmares. Now imagine the complete and total opposite in every way. Welcome to Cape May.
Finally, some photos of our shining faces. More behind the jump!
" as played by social distortion
. **all photos in this post taken by ryan's brilliant mother, kat from photography by sky**
