what we've been up to (and a winner!) / June 23, 2009 by jen geigley

We have a winner!
First off, thanks for all the sweetness on the last post. And the winner of the lovely yellow neckwarmer is... Toni! Email your mailing address to jgeigley [at!] gmail.com and I'll get it sent off to you ASAP.

And now a little Kansas City re-cap. Bo and I drove down for a date-night concert.

(credit)
The venue was KC's Uptown Theater.

Which is totally gorgeous inside.

We weren't huge fans of Rise Against but Rancid was fast and hard and loud and perfect. They could do no wrong.

They played so many of our faves and could have played all night.

We stood on the fringe of the pit, yelled out all the words and wished they would have been the headliners. Oh well. It really was a killer show. We were going to head to the Beaumont later to catch the Rancid after-party, but it got pretty late and we were still standing outside so we didn't end up going. Funny enough, the Aggrolites were playing there – we have a little extra love for them because they're one of the guest bands on our fave kid show, Yo Gabba Gabba. (Watch 'Banana' below.)
The Aggrolites - Banana (Yo Gabba Gabba!)

We had to hit up a local Vespa shop that we happened to drive right past. Which was near this great graffiti wall.

(I loved the Star Wars dudes. You can't see Chewie or R2D2 here but they were rad.) And of course, we stopped at the Plaza so I could take a quick look around Anthro, U.O's, Paper Source and a few other stores.

We also stayed at the same hotel as Great White. We think. This would be based solely on the fact that we saw a brochure for a Great White show in the hotel lobby. It's very hard to tell for sure, because if you look up band photos, you'll find that the lineup has changed twenty times since the 80s. But we're pretty sure it was them. We crossed paths with a blonde rocker (maybe Michael Lardie) and his blonde wifey/girlfriend three times in the hallway. We saw the whole band in the lobby checking in. And again the next morning at the complimentary breakfast. Where we started making jokes about the danishes looking once bitten, twice shy. So that was fun.

And now we're back home with this little cutie. Who's been rocking this t-shirt so nicely.

In moped/scooter news, Bo finally got the '78 Kromag Pinto2 running.

So we've been driving our neighbors crazy by riding it through the back yard.

Actually, it's just me that rides it in the back yard.

Because I don't have a motorcycle license.

(Do I need one?)

scrap, 100,000 hits and a GIVEAWAY / June 19, 2009 by jen geigley

First off, I had fun with a few projects this week. New Dare is up today – go check it! (And if you want to make walnut pesto, here is the recipe I use.)

At the Creative Type, we took inspo from t-shirts to make our pages. (I used this one from Veer.)

Had to document my almost-getting-inked experience.

And today at Work Your Soul, I posted some ideas for using vinyl records and album covers. First, I wanted to jot down a few thoughts about growing up on Led Zeppelin. My dad was very rock and roll and some of my first memories are dancing around the living room to his Led Zeppelin and Queen records.

And then, I definitely wanted to get my daughter's current favorite songs down on paper. (For a two year old, she has very specific favorites that range from punk to metal to indie music!) I saw this awesome children's record at a thrift store about a year ago and the cover made the perfect background for this playlist. (Aren't those illustrations seriously the best?!)

And now for the GIVEAWAY!

Last night while I was sleeping, the hits on this blog hit 100,000. Wow. I never thought that anyone would read this thing. Thank you for coming along with me and sitting through my crafty ramblings, odes to motherhood, random heavy metal and punk concert musings, and so on. I have met so many cool people in this online world, and I love you guys.

Just leave a comment on this post and I will pick one lucky person on Monday night who will get this hand-knit-by-moi asymmetrical neck warmer. The yarn color is called 'citron.' It's mostly yellow with a green tint to it. Just in case the photo doesn't show that very well...

And yeah, I am aware that it is June and that this might be a strange thing to offer up in the middle of the summer. But yeah, I'm hoping you can make good use of it in the fall. Thanks again, blog friends!

the tattoo. / June 14, 2009 by jen geigley

Last night, I went into Skin Kitchen to finally get the tattoo that I've been wanting to get for about two years. When we picked out Lotus' name, I was quite sure it would lead to a lotus tattoo and I'd been dead set on getting it ever since.

Walking into the shop, I was 100% sure about this tattoo. I have a decent sized tattoo on my back, so I knew what I was getting myself into and knew what it would feel like. I was prepared with images and colors and designs that I really, really liked. I had drawn designs on my arm at home with a Sharpie, to see what it might look like. I wanted a big ass tattoo on my arm. I was ready. I had thought this over a billion times.

And this is what chickening out looks like. I saw the drawing and for the first time, totally felt unsure about going through with it. And let me just tell you, this is weird for me – I'm normally not like that at all. A bunch of things flew through my head and I sat there for a few minutes, talked with Bo (who was previously the biggest skeptic and had tried to talk me out of this.) But he said, 'Are you crazy? You've been wanting this forever. You know you'll like it when it's done.' Stepped outside, thought some more, went to the restroom, thought some more. Talked to my awesomely sweet tattoo artist, sat back down in the chair and said 'let's do it.'

Then I jumped up again out of the chair right before she put on the peroxide, went outside once more with Bo, and came back in and told her I couldn't do it. Something wasn't right, I didn't feel like I should go through with it; last night just wasn't the night. Trust me, I felt pretty bad about walking out of there, and even though I'm probably a tattoo artist's worst nightmare, they were extremely kind and understanding. So I came home with a pen drawing on my arm and a chance to think about it. Maybe someday I'll go back. But I woke up this morning knowing that I made the right decision.

up to no good / June 12, 2009 by jen geigley

We're off to spend our evening with these guys. Plus Rise Against. Bo and I are both huge Rancid fans, so this show is an extra awesome date night for us. Have a great weekend!

ode to the tattooed girl / June 10, 2009 by jen geigley

I love to read Inked. (And I love that Brody Dalle of The Distillers was on the cover of the May issue.) I love the tattoos, the photography, and the girls. Strong, beautiful and covered in art. Here are some of my favorites.

pink

misfit dior

(if you haven't already, be sure to click on the links to read these girls' interviews ... )

summer love / June 5, 2009 by jen geigley

Lotus and I have been picking peonies from our yard to bring into the house. We like to 'save' the ones that are bending too close to the ground.

And I'm declaring almost every day this summer 'ponytail day.'

As long as she lets me actually do her hair. Because sometimes it just makes her mad.

But ponytails are just so cute. They make her look so much older!

I got one of these insulated-looks-disposable-but-it's-not Starbucks cups and it makes me happy every day. It keeps my drink cold for hours, too. Favorite thing numero uno.

Well, except for this. Bo got me my first Moop bag for my birthday. I have been eyeing these bags ever since Jamaica blogged about them awhile back. I had to email her to tell her I finally 'Mooped.'

It's The Messenger in gunmetal. I can tell I'm going to be carrying this one for a long time. The shoulder strap adjusts so I can wear it cross-body. Which is very good. It's waterproof inside. It has tons of pockets and straps that aren't a pain to quickly un-do. And all of L's gear (pluse mine) fits perfectly in it. Score!

Erin and I survived our first Market Day last weekend. We had a super great turnout, perfect weather, and the most awesome cupcakes I've ever had in my life.

One of the girls who helped with the craft show made 100 cupcakes for our shoppers and the best, hands down, were the pink lemonade cupcakes.

I sold all but one pair of booties, which was exciting. Sorry, it was kinda dark in there so these pics aren't great.

Met Nathan and Lizzy (not pictured) of Theophilus and of course, hung out with Erin. Good people made the day even better.

And it was my turn to post at Work Your Soul, but I threw out my back/hurt my neck and was on ice for a few days, so my favorite girl Kim filled in for me in my time of need with some gorgeous collage inspo. Love that girl; Kim, I really owe you one!

Here's her lovely work. Go see more here. And I'll try again in two weeks.

New Dare is up – check it out here. I actually worked ahead on this one, so I was ready.

And even though my neck is still pretty sore, this makes me feel better. Bo scored tickets to see Rancid and Rise Against. So the non-stop Rancid playlist is in effect until then. They're absolutely one of our very favorite bands ever. Their new album is fantastic, by the way – the extended version includes acoustic sets that are so incredibly cool. So get the extended version – it's worth it. Highly recommended.