Another month, another playlist. 

NOTABLE TRACKS: 

• Ray Lamontagne's "Let's Make It Last" - Ray's back with a new album and it has all the scruff and swoon that we missed during the Ouroboros era (not that it was a bad album, just a bit less swoony than I prefer). 
• Speaking of new albums, The Kooks are slowly rolling out singles for their new album. Their new track "All the Time" has a pretty catchy chorus and solid baseline. I'm in for this new era.  (While we're talking about new album from British bands, how are we feeling about the new Arctic Monkey's album? I'm not fully invested in it, tbh)
• Rosehardt's "Fall Into You" was COLORS youtube video find. And has been stuck in my head for ages. 
• Justin Nozuka's "All I Need" reminds me of another song or artist and I can't quite figure out who it is. But I still dig it. 
• When life gives you lemons, listen to Iris Temple's "Lemonde".
• Bruno Major's cover of "Like Someone in Love" is the ultimate swoon. I saw him play at a local venue this month, and in a set packed of really wonderful songs, this cover continues to stand out to me. 

Another month, another playlist. 

NOTABLE TRACKS: 

• Ben Howard's "A Boat to the an Island on the Wall" -- After four years away, the second saddest boy with a guitar is back (just barely beating out Bon Iver for the number one spot). His new album is coming this June, but in the meantime, this new track has the musical beauty that he's known for. But it doesn't feel the same as everything he's previously released. (I can't wait to full sob when I see him live in September.)
• Lake Street Dive's "I Can Change" -- Speaking of new music, LSD dropped their third album on Friday. And while I haven't had a chance to get invested in the album yet, their single "I Can Change" has been on repeat for the last few weeks. 
• Zak Abel "Love Song" -- The lad always puts out a jam. 
• Hobo Johnson "Peach Scone (Live)" -- The live video of this song was submitted for the NPR's Tiny Desk Competition, and went viral. For a good reason. Hobo's been building momentum in Sacramento the last few years. 
• Grace Weber "Space Jam" -- Like Michael Jordan, but with killer vocals. 

Another month, another playlist. 

NOTABLE TRACKS: 

• Thirdstory's Over (When We Said Goodbye) - Their first album Cold Heart dropped in March, and this is probably my favorite track on it. I've linked a live acoustic version below. 
• Jordan MacKampa's cover of Walk on the Wild Side - For Mahogany's Covers is so good. Not a massive fan of Lou Reed, but this cover is so lovely. 
• Allan Rayman's Friend of The Devil - Speaking of covers. Honestly, Allan Rayman has become a staple in my musical rotation over the last month. I really dig the tone of his voice. 
• Shawn Mendes' Lost in Japan - Am I ashamed of loving this pop hit? Nah, dawg. 
• Leon Bridges' Bad Bad News - He's back, he's talented. I'm all the way in. 
• Dermot Kennedy's Moments Passed - I think I had a track of his on Feb's playlist, which basically mean we're in love. He's playing Outside Lands this year and I'm going to try to drag my friends to his set.*

*TBH they're not into the sad boys with guitars genre, so I may fly solo on this endeavor. 

This post is in a partnership with Palladio  

A few weeks ago on a sunny Sunday, I headed the thirty minutes down the road to my hometown of Folsom to spend the afternoon doing some retail therapy at the Palladio. Way back when I was in high school, the Palladio was our go-to spot for all events. We'd catch movies at the theater, meet up for Black Friday shopping at the 4 big stores there at the time, and have all our big event dinners at the Chicago Fire there. In the 8 years since I've graduated it's totally bloomed into a full dining, shopping, and immersive experience. To be honest, I'm kind of sad I don't live 5 minutes away anymore. 

As I was driving out to the Palladio, I called my Mom to meet up for a 'Girls Afternoon'. We couldn't have picked a better day to wander around the gorgeous outdoor set up. The sun was shining for what felt like the first time in ages, and was sadly the last time for a few weeks. I guess that's March weather for you though.

We started our afternoon at Petra Greek. Here's what you may or may not know about me -- I exist on almost exclusively hummus. So you can imagine all of my dreams coming true when they told me they had a regular hummus dip, or the option for a triple dip plate that also had a spicy feta dip. We also ordered the spanakopita which is essential a delicious, flaky spinach pie, and the dolmades which is rice in grape leaves. The menu has a ton of options for all you meat eaters out there, but your girl just wants to survive on hummus and veggies. If the photos below don't make you crave all the Greek food, then we probably can't continue this friendship. I'm still dreaming of that hummus dip. 

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After stuffing our faces, we had to walk off all that food. We wandered over to one of the newer additions, Barnes & Noble. Now, I have no shame in telling you this, but it's probably one of my favorite places to hang out. I love a bookstore. And I especially love a bookstore with a restaurant inside. Growing up going to the bookstore was the highlight of my week. My parents could leave me in the aisle for hours. No one is surprised I ended up as an English major. Between the books and the vinyl selection in there, I wanted to walk out spending my entire paycheck. Instead I opted for an album I've been eyeing for a long time now, Ray Lamontagne's 'Trouble'. Catch me crying about Jolene basically forever. I also grabbed "I Wrote This For You" which is a collection of poems from Ian S. Thomas. 

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Then we popped into Charming Charlie, which I always forget has so many accessory options. I'm not a massive jewelry girl, but I do love a new purse. I've been looking for a new bag that is compact, but still fits my camera in it. And by the grace of the shopping gods, I found the best structured black satchel. I've been carrying it around everywhere. It's going to be perfect bag to travel with the next few months. 

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Our last stop, and quite possible my all time favorite store, was Nordstrom's Rack. It could be said that 78% of my wardrobe comes from the Rack. That blue tank? The Rack. Those Topshop jeans? The Rack. Those tan booties? The Rack. I was looking for some more spring attire and found the cacti shirt of my dreams. I paired it with these fringed jeans I found in the sale section. (Hint: You can find some serious treasures in there.)

As always, an afternoon spent wandering around the Palladio never disappoints. Though I wish I would've had time to fit in a movie at their fancy new Luxe Cinema. Maybe next time! 

Thanks to the Palladio for sponsoring this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Another month, another playlist. 

Notable tracks: 

• Thirdstory's Still In Love - They originally posted it as a live video on Facebook like two years ago, and I've been dying for a studio version ever since. Dreams come true kids.
• Frank Ocean's cover of Moon River - Just cry about it. It's fine. I am too. 
• Wolfie's Obi Wan - Solid song title. Just the right amount of groove. 
• Lake Street Dive's Good Kisser - One of my favorite bands and they're getting ready to drop a new album. 
• Joe Hertz/Bassette's Playing for You - I've been dancing to this for more than a month. Start boogie-ing too. 
• Jordan Rakei's Add the Baseline - I don't care what else you do with your life as long as you promise to dance to this song for me. Okay? Thanks. 

Last year my goal was to post a playlist every other week. Clearly, that didn't happen. 

Here's why: 

1. I am terrible at posting anything on here regularly. (Sorry.  Will this year be different? Hopefully?!)

2. I get stuck listening to the same things over and over again. 

3. I ended the year listening to a ton of Ben Howard and Bon Iver. (It was December, and cold, and perfect for sad guys with guitars. 

SO...

This year, I've decided to post a new playlist on a monthly basis. That way you get a longer playlist, that's more reflective of the things I've been obsessed with that month. 

January was a giant mess of overworking myself, getting my creative side up and running again, and a car accident (oops!). I spent most of the month updating this here website -- DO YOU LIKE IT? I do! As well as, taking all of the photos with some of my favorite people. There's plenty of new pictures scattered around here to see, and I'll also be posting more of them here. But these last two weeks I've had to slow myself down. I had the unfortunate pleasure of rear-ending someone on the highway one Saturday morning, and as a result, I've been massively sore and without a car for two weeks now. Luckily it wasn't much worse, but my bank account and my back are definitely not pleased with the current situation. 

I've been doing my best to look at the silver lining of all this though. Because I'm sans-wheels this week, I've been working from home. I kid you not, this week has been the most productive week I've had in MONTHS. Seriously, I've worked into the night almost every night this week. It's great. I love it. I'm not being facetious here. I feel like I've crossed off so many things on my to-do list. How is that possible? (Probably because I don't have to waste time getting ready in the morning, or commuting 30 minutes (an hour really) each way.  

Anyway... 

January's playlist has some notable moments. Eliza (Doolittle -- remember the 2010 hit Skinny Jeans? Well, she's back) dropped Wasn't Looking and it's groovy. That's the only descriptor I'm going to give it. Sorry! I also fell in love with this band out of Alabama called The Brook and the Bluff. They haven't put a lot out yet, but what's available is so worth tuning into. I threw in a little bit of SZA and a touch of Billie Eilish, both are badass babes making real names for themselves lately. SZA was nominated for 5 Grammy's (and subsequently robbed of Best New Artist) and Billie is only 16! But I ended the playlist with Give Hope, a spoken word piece by Anthony Anaxagorou accompanied by Karim Kamar. It's magical and important. Please listen to it. 

August flew by -- a blur of suitcases, cityscapes, and new faces. I spent one a weekend in San Francisco dancing around at Outside Lands, and then popped down to LA a few weeks later to attend Yellow Conference. (Which, by the way, was absolutely incredible and empowering. I'm so inspired to make some changes around here soon.) Somehow we're nearly through September, and it's finally starting to cool down out there. I'm talking one layer of sleeves if we're lucky. But I'll take what I can get. Just waiting for fall to really set in so I can break out my boots! I'm sure we'll be in scarves soon enough though! 

That being said this playlist has been a long time coming. It's been just sitting in my Spotify account since the end of July. It's been in my commute cycle constantly and I thought it was finally time I released it into the wild. 

This is probably the longest playlist I've shared with you all. It's nearly 2.5 hours long, and while it starts out slow and mellow about halfway through it picks up the pace. I opened it with some really beautiful covers from Years & Years (Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now'), Ady Suleiman (Bill Withers' 'Lean on Me'), and the Staves (Bruce Springsteen's 'I'm on Fire'). While listening, please take the time to cry a little bit over Amber Run's 'Haze' and Ben Howard's 'Old Pine'. I'd like to think that Jacob Banks' 'Sink or Swim' is the turning point where things start to pick up. Some of my other favorites are Alice Gray's 'Pink Cadillac', Billie Eilish's 'Bellyache' (Marian Hill Remix), and Ryn Weaver's 'Pierre'. Also, I put a few tracks from Dua Lipa in here. Her debut album was the perfect background for summer. She just did a cover of Amy Winehouse's 'Tears Dry on Their Own' with Gallant for Amy's 34th birthday (Can we just take a second to recognize how immensely talented Amy was?). Lastly, I closed the playlist out with Sevdaliza's 'Human'. It's equal parts dope and weird as hell. 

It was bound to happen, a playlist exclusively featuring songs with Sunday in the title. How gimmicky is that? Super. I know. 

But I searched through a surprisingly saturated selection of songs about Sundays (say that five times fast?) and collected some of my very favorites. 

We have to talk about my love for Etta James, and her song 'Sunday Kind of Love'. It's probably one of my favorite songs in all the land. She was just so incredibly talented. It took me years, but a few months ago I found her At Last! on vinyl and I may have shed a single happy tear. Of course, I threw in some Eryn Allen Kane and Chance the Rapper a la Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment, because I cannot stop listening to either of them.  There's also the ultimate Maroon 5 Sunday classic "Sunday Morning". I couldn't help but add in my favorite emo Sunday song, "Remembering Sunday" by All Time Low. I must it admit it's super eclectic and not really cohesive, but whatever. I'm putting it out in the world, and I really hope you enjoy it. 

It's March! Well, it's been March for a while, but we're only going to acknowledge it here and now. The sun has finally emerged and I can start putting all my winter clothes away. Thank goodness. I've been ready for spring dresses and sandals for ages (socks are the worst). 

It's been a super exciting week over here. I may have a lot more projects in the pipeline, and I can't tell you how excited I am about them. Stay tuned friends. 

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This playlist has a lot of killer ladies on it, including Gabrielle Aplin, AURORA, Sabrina Claudio, and my girl Eryn Allen Kane (Secretly she's on here twice). AURORA's whole album is worth checking out. She has this etherial vibe going on. I threw in Sylvan Esso's new track "Die Young", because they're always killing it. If you're planning on listening to their old album, may I suggest "Coffee" or "H.S.K.T.". We also need to talk about Stormzy's new album Gang Signs & Prayer. It's so good. He's really picking up steam in the UK, so I would bet real money on him breaking America soon. Then there's "Sunday Candy" from Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment, a group led by former Kids These Days members. It's a bit of an older track, but how can you not love a song with Chance the Rapper singing about his grandma. It also features the unreal talent of Eryn Allen Kane, who continues to amaze me and is featured yet again on one of these playlists. 

I hope you have a great rest of your week. Cheers to any upcoming St. Patrick's Day festivities this weekend. I'm off to Oakland on Saturday to see Lake Street Dive. 

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1. Let's just acknowledge it now -- I am the actual worst and should probably never classify myself as a blogger since I'm so terrible at consistently posting. Like, I should probably make a New Year's resolution to put more effort into posting, but I'm just not going to. Soz, babes. I will make more of an effort for you though.  

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2. We also need to acknowledge that it's pretty dope that this is Weekender | V.13 and I'm posting it on Friday the 13th. (Also, considering getting another piercing, because it's cheap and why not?)

3. Today, I went to my local Creative Mornings meet up where I drank all the coffee, and am now very caffeinated. If there's a group in your city, I highly recommend attending their next event. It's a great way to meet other local creatives, hear an interesting lecture, and find some inspiration for your Friday. Today's take away from writer Melody Stone (@Melody_Stone) is "Don't discount that 'What the Fuck' moment." 

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4. This playlist is just a collection of artists I've been obsessed with for the last few weeks. Sinead Harnett's whole EP has been on repeat constantly. Her track "No Other Way" was on my very first Weekender. Basically, I just think the sun shines out of her face, and that there's a strong likelihood we're going to be seeing a lot from her this summer.  Bibi Bourelly's track "Perfect (ft. Earl St. Clair)", is bluesy, and wonderful. Fun fact: she wrote Rihanna's "Bitch Better Have My Money". I'm also obsessing over NAO again. Her song "Bad Blood" was my go to last spring (Weekender | V.5), but her whole album has been on repeat this past week. I'm still really digging Klangstof, Allan Rayman, and JONES, who all have plenty of excellent tracks to check out.  

5. Have an excellent weekend friends! I'll be in search of eggs florentine and bottomless mimosas. Cheers! 

Holy hell. How is it December? I know I say this all the time, but how has this year gone by so fast? If we're being real here, I'm stoked 2016 is almost over. What a crazy year this has been. (I'm side-eyeing you America). 

Anyway.... 

This playlist is just a combination of songs I'd want to dance to and songs I'd probably cry at if need be. Really digging Jessie J's cover of Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, but let us never forget Heath Ledger singing it while sliding down the flagpole during 10 Things I Hate About You.  Also, I'm mildly to moderately obsessed with Daniel Ceasar. I think I threw one of his other tracks onto V.7. I'm anticipating great things from him in the next few years. Labrinth, RY X, Josiah Bell and Mantaraybryn are all so immensely talented and I just want to lightly weep over their music. 

Enjoy. 

Holy shit. It's November. How did that happen? I swear I was just ringing in 2016 a few weeks ago. Apparently not?! 

I've pulled a few of the tracks from this week's playlist from my Discovery Weekly playlist Spotify puts together. If you're not already listening to it every Monday, then you're missing out on exciting musical things. Take note of Nick Wilson's 'Closer' because for some reason I can't seem to get it out of my head. I've also thrown in a song off of Tove Love's new album, which is pretty kick ass. Also, apparently Will Smith's kids have the musical talents, and it took me at least a week before I realized that the track 'Wait a Minute!' comes from his daughter Willow. What?! How?! We also need to talk about Shawn Mendes, because while I recognize that he is probably a teenage dreamboat, he's got a huge amount of soul buried in his little 18-year-old body. The song 'Ruin' is a jam. It was probably one of my most played tracks in October (#noshame). Seriously, I can't stop listening to it. 

Hit play, and have a great weekend. 

P.S. DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON TUESDAY THE 8TH. Seriously though, read up on all the measures and vote for the better candidate at every level. 

August was a whirlwind. I moved out of my parent's house and into my very own space. My roommate and I have been slowly creating a home out of our little place. The weekend after I moved in, I packed up my little weekend bag and made my way to LA. 

It had been a really rough Friday. I had received some bad news early on in the day and was still taking it all on as I headed to the airport. Real talk friends, I was totally the girl full crying at the airport. Thankfully, my plane was headed in the direction of all my favorite humans. So it was into the arms of loved ones I went. While it wasn't the most exciting or adventurous weekend, it was so cathartic and definitely, the space I needed to be in. 

My dear friend Neil picked me up from LAX, and we headed to Silver Lake -- home of the bougie coffee shops, unreal vegan restaurants, and many a wide brim hat. Once in Silver Lake, I was getting rather hangry, and demanded to be fed. Now, I have zero shame in telling you all this. But of the three days I spent in LA, I ate at Flore every single one. Please open a location in Sacramento so I can give you all my money. Their breakfast burrito is every vegan's dream: tempeh bacon, cashew cheese, potatoes, tofu scramble. (Insert praise hands emoji here)

After I fully stuffed my face with the most delicious seitan tacos, we returned to Neil's to catch up and watch my all time favorite movie: The Princess Bride. I cannot count how many times I've watched that movie.  I've also read the original novel it was based on, and if you've never considered opening it, you're sorely missing out. William Goldman is an absolutely brilliant author. It's so incredibly clever and well written. 

Now I didn't just head to LA all willy-nilly. The big, most wonderful reason for my visit was to see the ultimate sob queen, Adele. My college roommates and I had been planning this trip since last November. It was a great opportunity to see an incredible artist, but it was really just an excuse to catch up with my Summer '13 girls. 

As has been well established by now, I have a thing for walls. Bright walls, patterned walls, monochromatic walls -- basically if it looks hip as hell I'm into it. Silver Lake is covered in walls that just demand to be photographed. My absolute favorite was this piece, painted by Dallas Clayton a children's book author and illustrator.  

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Saturday morning in Silver Lake was spent eating Flore, wandering the streets in search of wonderful walls, and a quick stop in the market down the street from Neil's place. After purchasing some dainty pieces of jewelry, Megan and I headed into downtown LA to meet up with Tanya.

Downtown LA is probably pretty cool? I'm really not sure. We spent all of 30 minutes wandering around, but it was mostly spent in front of three really eclectic walls. 

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We hopped into a cab to meet up with the rest of our crew over in the Art District for a few beers at Angel City Brew. 

A few beers, some wine, and a delicious Mexican meal later, we headed into Staples Center to begin an evening of laughter, music, and few tears. Okay, maybe more than a few tears. It was Adele after all. I have a few frames taken of the show, but we were so far from the stage, you wouldn't really care to see it anyway. Just know that she is an absolute angel, both vocally and as a human. For someone who creates such a heartbreaking music, she's the total opposite in between songs. There are very few other artists that create incredible art and are absolutely hilarious on stage. 

The following morning, it took us a while to get moving but we eventually found ourselves back at Flore to feast on all the vegan eats. Food coma or bust, we needed to head for coffee immediately. Luckily Silver Lake is inundated with amazing coffee shops. The previous day we'd wandered into Intelligentsia, so for our Sunday pick me up with strolled into the opposite direction towards Alfred Coffee & Tea. At the time of my trip they were doing a promotion with the dating app Bumble. Every coffee sleeve had a cute pun on it. Check these out. 

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With the remainder of our Sunday, we headed over to Neil's Mom's house for an early dinner. His mom is the actual coolest. She's an author and has just a released her newest book, "Harley and Me". I have it sitting on my nightstand waiting to be read. I promise to get to it one of these rainy days. 

Less then 48 hours from when I arrived, I was in a car traveling back to the airport. It was exactly the kind of weekend I needed -- surrounded by my favorite humans, important conversations, and magical music. 

Happy Friday friends! I've been curled up in my bed for most of this last week. I've been trying to fight off all the gnarly germs floating around, but they finally caught up to me. I was out most of the day Wednesday and Thursday. I'm starting to feel more human, but definitely not fully there yet. 

But I couldn't let another week go by without posting a new playlist. Especially since the last few weeks have been inundated with new albums. I tried to grab a few tracks from some of my new favorite albums. It's seriously been a month or so of fantastic album releases. Important new albums to note are: Bon Iver, Banks, The Head and the Heart, Kings of Leon, and Solange. I've been non-stop listening to the Banks and The Head and the Heart albums. Definitely take the time to listen to them all the way through. You'll find your gems. 

Have a great weekend. Hopefully this rain isn't going to get the best of you. 

This summer's heat was brutal. What the heck sun? Why you gotta be so hot? Though I suppose it's something we expect living in Sacramento. Mildly rainy winters, disgustingly hot summers. I'm sure somewhere in the world there is someone who appreciates the sweltering summer, I, on the other hand, am a fall girl through and through. Yes, I am basic. But I don't care, there's something lovely about the autumn breeze, the falling leaves and layering up, that really pleases me. Though I am firmly against this ridiculous notion of putting pumpkin into a latte. Hard pass on that one. 

As the weather here begins to cool, I should probably recap my quick travel in July. In an effort to escape the heat, and to celebrate my Mom's birthday we hopped into the car and headed to Napa for the shortest day among the vines. 

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Our first stop in Napa was the Oxbow Public Market. It's a frequent destination anytime the family heads to wine country. They have this restaurant there called Kitchen Door. It's so Instagram-worthy. Have a look: 

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After an amazing lunch, we headed off in search of wine. My friend had told me about this winery/castle in Calistoga so naturally, we had to go there. We pulled up to Castle Di Amorosa, and it's actually the most stunning place. I'm sure there are hundreds of people that get married there. While it definitely had that Italian vibe to it, I could only think of the castles in Windsor and Kent that I visited in England.  Did I pretend like I was back there? Hell yes. All the castles, all the time, please. 

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We wandered through the vineyards, the castle's walls, and eventually headed downstairs to taste the wine. They keep all their wine in the cellar, and in order to get to the tasting room, you have to wander through dusty, empty bottles. It was a bit crypt-like down there. The wine itself was pretty great, and while I'm typically a cabernet kind of girl, their rose´was worthy of the ultimate basic swoon.   

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Pressed for time, we sped off towards Sonoma. My dad was desperate to get to Enkidu's tasting room. We had opened a bottle of theirs a few weeks prior, and it was fantastic. In a fashion very typical of my family, we got lost on the way and just barely made it in time to purchase wine. 

The owners of Enkidu recommend we head in Glen Ellen to the Girl and the Fig's sister cafe: The Fig Cafe. Apparently, Glen Ellen is a very tiny town, and they have a similar bridge to the opening credits of One Tree Hill, so you can bet that I sang Gavin Degraw's "I Don't Want To Be" the whole way across it. The Fig Cafe was excellent. It's just this little tiny place, but their food was all farm to fork; and they had figs everything -- the walls, the food, the drinks, even the soap in the bathroom was fig. 

We  sufficiently stuffed our faces with delicious eats, rolled ourselves back to the car, and returned to the heat of Sacramento.  

When I told you we had a lot to catch up on, I was serious. It's been months since I popped into San Francisco on a random Wednesday in June to see Matt Corby play at the Fillmore. 

I rushed out of work with my backpack and a quick snack so I could hop on the 3 o'clock train to the city to meet up with some friends from High School. These two lovely ladies had been my concert buddies for years. We sat outside the shittiest venue in Sacramento many times waiting for shows, trekked to San Francisco a few times as teenagers, and we once spent a day in Six Flags waiting to see our favorite artists. I had texted them the week prior to see if they wanted to catch the Australian prince live in their city. Clearly the answer was yes, and after we grabbed dinner we headed to the venue. 

Let me tell you a secret friends, at concerts I always, always try to get close to the stage by moving to either side of the stage. If you get there early enough, you can usually get pretty close to the artists. It's no use trying to push your way through the center, those folks have that area locked in. You're not moving much, and if you push through you may become public enemy #1.  This method has proved solid for countless shows. Trust me. 

Just as he was the first time I saw him, Matt Corby continues to have the voice of an angel, and the stage presence of a scared spelling bee champion. To his credit, I think he's all about the process of the music, and doesn't necessarily care about live shows. He's not dull in the slightest, but he doesn't inherently rule the stage the way some artists do. But musically he can't be faulted. His voice is rich, and the way he can belt it out is astounding. He even broke out the flute solo. If you ever have the chance, I highly suggest catching one of his shows.

After the show we headed back to my friend's place, and stayed up late catching up on all the life we had missed. 

Luckily for me, I work for an amazing company that doesn't mind if I take a day off to spend sometime in the city. As my friends all woke up and headed to work early, I rolled out of bed (well, their futon) and snapped some pictures of their beautiful, super Instagrammable apartment. Then I headed out for the day's adventure. 

My first stop was the Mill on Divisadero. I was told to order the toast but failed all those who told me so, and just ordered a latte. And boy, oh boy, was it a delicious latte. I sat outside for a while before the San Francisco chill got to me. I crawled back into the warmth of the coffee shop to one of their picturesque marble tables. After taking an obscene amount of photos (I mean... obviously), I sipped on my coffee and tried to figure out some semblance of a life plan. Clearly that's working out well for me.... jokes on jokes folks. Though I did hear the older couple next to me remark on how everyone in the coffee shop was wearing black and on their phones. Am I ashamed to admit I was definitely one of those people? Nope, not in the least. All black, always. 

Slightly caffeinated and bemused, I moved on to another coffee shop whose name escapes me. But they did have a great nitro brew. I tried to finish reading Girl Boss, but quickly realized that the significant amount of coffee, and severe lack of food was probably not in my best interest. Off to Herbivore I went (s/o to Tanya who found this gem with me many years ago before a Mumford and Sons concert). After downing their delicious vegan eats, I headed to the newly redesigned MoMA to cry about art, per my usual lifestyle choices. I mean, they have a giant Mark Rothko. It's both unnerving and calming at the same time. I basically sat in front of it for a good half an hour in happiness. 

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The rest of the museum was stunning. The walls were covered in some of my favorite artists. Each floor brought new delights, and some funny sights. I saw a squad of guys with massive cameras getting those Instagram shots (I feel you boys, I feel you). After exploring for a good few hours, I sadly had a train to catch. I powered walked those 20 or so blocks to the bus station, only stopping at the most glorious marble atrium on One Samsome Street. Then it was back to Sacramento I went.

It's finally Friday!! Let's celebrate!

This week has been busy in the best way.  I'm super excited to be working on a social media project for the office (hence the above gif of my lovely coworker tossing crumpled post-its). Basically, I get to turn my creative on. And as of tomorrow I will be fully moved into my new apartment. 

I was hoping this week's Frank Ocean rumors were true, and this whole playlist could have been his new album. But despite the mysterious video uploaded to his website, the wait continues. 

This Weekender playlist has some jams. I tossed in the new Ansel Elgort (from The Fault in Our Stars) track.  He's been DJing under the name "Ansolo" for a few years, but he actually sings on this new song 'Home Alone'. His voice reminds me a tiny bit of Sam Smith. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more. The sounds of Eryn Allen Kane are the third track in. For such a tiny person, her voice is massive. The song 'Sunday' comes from her second EP "Aviary: Act II". She collaborated with ThirdStory (from Weekender | V.6) and the harmonies are insane. Another favorite from this week's playlist is 'Closer' by JMR. I've had it stuck in my head for a few days now.  

In case you missed it, Instagram just launched a stories feature. It's basically Snapchat stories. But I've been posting a 'Song of the Day' since Wednesday. So if you need something to hold you over in between playlists, find me @chaosofkyra. 

Next weekend, I head to LA to see the ultimate sob queen, Adele. Please anticipate bawling snapchats, and cheesy friendship photos. 

I kid you not when I say that the last two weeks have been a whirlwind. But what it breaks down to is the fact that I am moving! I'm packing my records, wardrobe, and giant comfy chair and moving to Midtown. My dearest friend Teresa and I have found the cutest apartment in the perfect location. You guys, IT HAS A BALCONY. Picture me drinking all the coffee (and mimosas) on it. We move in at the end of the month... which means, I'm stressing about money, but looking forward to the DIY projects, cooking all the vegetarian meals my heart desires, and many Midtown photoshoots. (Seriously, let me know if you want to go exploring!) 

This weeks playlist is a bit of a mix. There's some bouncy tracks, mixed with a few softer sounds. I'm really excited about James Vincent McMorrow's new album. The first single 'Rising Water' is quite different from the ethereal landscapes he painted in his second album. But incredibly enjoyable. His vocals never cease to amaze me. (P.S. He's equally if not more stunning live. Go see him if you can.) I've also included some songs from a few of my favorite UK ladies: Lauren Aquilina, Gabrielle Aplin, and Nina Nesbitt. Nina's 'Live Take' EP used to be on constant rotation. I had a chance run in with her at a City and Colour concert in London a few years back. She was so lovely to speak with and I'm pleased she's started to release new songs. It's rad that her latest releases have been named after cities, like 'Ontario'. I've also thrown in some artists that were on V.7's playlist. Zak Abel did a collab with Tom Misch and Grace's full album 'FMA' was recently released. Her song 'Boys Boys Boys' is a jam. Lastly, I rounded up the playlist with Ryan Gosling (because swoon), his track from the upcoming movie LA LA Land is so good. I love the whistling throughout it.

Have a wonderful weekend friends. All my love. 

You know those days where you just need to get out of town? This was that Sunday for us. We packed our backpacks and headed out for a mini road trip.

Teresa and I have been friends for twenty-two years. Isn't that insane? We met when we were barely old enough to have a full set of teeth, and yet I bit her. The next day she bit me back, and we've been friends every since. I kid you not. Our mom's are the best of friends, and we joke about our days in daycare all the time. Our friendship has crossed states, countries, and the world. I'm so lucky to have her in my life. I hope you have someone in your life that has been there for every big moment. Friendship is an incredible thing. 

So now that you have the context of our friendship, let me tell you about our ridiculous trip to Capitola. The morning began with flashing lights and a speeding ticket.

Yes, I was pulled over for speeding.

Yes, I am an idiot.

Yes, I'm still bitter about it. 

After driving with the speed of your favorite cautious granny, I finally made it to Davis. Teresa helped me feel better about my stupidity and took me to Temple to ease my anger. We grabbed coffee and I forced her to stand in front of a wall (the first of many that day). 

Then we hit the road. Luckily, she prefers to drive, so I could sulk in my ticket shame. We made it to Capitola in a few hours and headed straight for food. We desperately wanted to go to Margaritaville. But there was an hour wait so we headed for the brightly colored walls of Capitola Venetian Hotel. I'm a sucker for bright walls, and so we had a mini-photoshoot. Teresa definitely didn't appreciate the amount of pictures we took, but like she's gorgeous so #sorrynotsorry. 

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We finally ate some tacos and then proceed to wander all around Capitola. When we felt like we'd seen it all, we decided to head to Santa Cruz for some more coffee at Verve. 

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Talk about the hippest coffee spot ever. They have these beautiful dangling lights there, the cutest baristas, and fantastic coffee. We were both heart-eye emoji over the whole thing.  We wandered around downtown Santa Cruz and then decided our time there was done. 

Our journey home was complete with early 2000's girl pop. I'm talking Hilary Duff, Aly & Aj, Ashlee Simpson, and Hoku (Do you remember her big song from the Lizzie McGuire movie?). I think we have some more day trips in our foreseeable future. 

It's been a while since I've sat down to write here. Work has been crazy as per usual. But it's been a really good crazy. I had a chance to offer my knowledge of Instagram to a growing skincare company. It was such a strange thing to be pulled into a meeting just to spend an hour talking about tactics to improve engagement on Instagram. It got real nerdy, real quick. 

This past weekend I spent trying to catch up on things that I've been putting off for the last month or so. I really needed to sit down and work on posts for this blog, as well as fall down the research rabbit hole for grad school. It's only cursory research, I haven't made any real steps or progress towards applying. But it's nice to start considering the future. 

Which leads me to this playlist. It's has tracks from artists I think will really turn heads in the next few months or year. Daniel Caesar comes from the Toronto music scene, and vocally he makes me want to melt. I also really love Zak Abel's song 'Running from Myself'. Australian singer Grace (Sewell) reminds me a bit of Amy Winehouse. Her song 'Hope You Understand' has been on repeat for the last week or so.  Also, did you know Gossip Girl's Penn Badgley has a band? They're called MOTHXR. Check out my favorite track, 'Easy', from their album Centerfold.

Are you listening to anything interesting right now? Let me know below.