Audiences' show at the Hard Rock Cafe in Chicago on July 10th

On Wednesday, July 10th one of Timmy's and my favorite bands, Audiences, will be playing at the Hard Rock Cafe in Chicago. The last Audiences show we went to was April 20th, so, Timmy and I are pretty bummed that we won't be able to make it to this one! Considering July 10th is Timmy's birthday and the performance is at the first venue we went to specifically to hear Audiences, it feels like we were meant to be there. We are going to be in Dublin on vacation, so, of course I am excited about that, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really bummed that we can't make the Audiences' show.

If you live in the Chicago area, I cannot recommend enough that you check them out! The show will at 8:00 pm and it will be free. You can get more details about the show here.


Here is Audiences performing "Ghosts" for Audiotree:





Today I was trying to figure out which of the Audiences performances that Timmy and I have went to was my favorite; I realized that it was just too hard to choose, even though there have only been five, because each time has been special for its own reasons.

Was it the first time we saw them perform, which was at a Reddit meetup at the Irish American Heritage Center? Timmy and I have a hard time agreeing on music; we range from thinking each other's music is okay but not great, to we will tolerate it if we don't have to hear it often. Before Audiences, the only other musician we both loved was Ingrid Michaelson. So, there was something extra special about discovering Audiences, as Timmy and I both love them equally.

The second time we saw them was at the Hard Rock Cafe. This one was meaningful as it was first time we went to see Audiences specifically. Also, Timmy and I, in our infinite social awkwardness (especially me) actually managed to go up after the show to introduce ourselves. I was quite impressed with the singer Billy's skill for remembering people (he remembered me from posting a blog entry about Audiences).

The third Audiences show we went to was their record release show at the Metro. It was the first Audiences show we saw at a more "official" venue. This experience was amazing because there was such a great turnout, and we could just feel the excitement everywhere in the room, as performing at somewhere like the Metro is an honor.

The fourth Audiences performance we went to was at a record store for Record Store Day. It was an interesting experience watching a performance right in the middle of the record store. Since it took place in a record store, it was a more intimate performance with a turnout of about 30 people or so. It was also a BYOB event which was a nice perk.

The fifth and most recent Audiences concert we went to was at the Tonic Room. This performance was awesome because it was the first time we brought friends to an Audiences show (we don't know many people in Chicago, aside from coworkers). We also really loved the venue as it is a small bar, which meant no matter where you stood in the bar, you felt part of it all. I also really loved the two other bands they played with (so much so that I've checked their sites several times to see if they were going to be playing in the area again).

My point? No matter which Audiences show you go to, you know it will be amazing; so, if you haven't already checked them out, please go do on July 10th!

Watercolor pencil drawing - Elephanté and Cupcake

Watercolor pencil drawing I did of Elephanté and Cupcake.

Zombie Jesus

Me: That bar logo looks like Rob Zombie.
Timmy: More like Bob Marley. (pause) If Bob Marley was a zombie Jesus.
Me: So, in other words, Rob Zombie.


Photo credit: Ming_Man


On my old blog at LiveJournal, I used to post conversations between my boyfriend Timmy and I that amused me. They were always some of my favorites to look back on, so, perhaps I should get back to that. This conversation was from last night when we were at Lucky's Sandwich Co after Vaudezilla's Burlesque Bandstand show.

Vaudezilla's Burlesque Bandstand 2013

Next weekend Timmy and I are going to go to Vaudezilla's Burlesque Bandstand, a live band burlesque. I am so excited that we get to make it to one of their live band shows this year. I think they only have the live band shows once a year, and since Timmy and I are trying to save money right now for our vacation, we might not have been able to make it if I hadn't of scored some comp tickets on Vaudezilla's Facebook page.




Timmy and I have went to two Vaudezilla shows previously. Our first was "Junk in the Trunk: A Naughty Nostalgia Burlesque". The second one we went to was a Burlesque Bandstand show. While both were great, the live band in the second show made it feel like a two-for-one experience; we got a burlesque performance and a musical performance.

If you would like to attend one of their shows, you can buy tickets by visiting the Shows & Events page on Vaudezilla's website. I highly recommend buying your tickets in advance as the shows will likely become sold out.

What I Wore - Orange and pink striped dress

I wore this outfit yesterday.










My bangle watch is one of my favorite pieces of jewelry; I love that it is cute enough to be considered jewelry rather than just a functional item. Truth be told, I am so used to not wearing a watch that when I am wearing this, I still often check the time on my cellphone.






I love whenever we get to snag a seat on the very back of the train because it offers some unique views of Chicago. These photos were taken through the window of the train; the tint on the window had bubbles in it which is why the photos are warped in some places.






This awesome buffalo sculpture is in front of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.




I love the view from the pond at the Lincoln Park Zoo; I love the contrast between the nature and the skyline.

Dinosaur cookie cutter and stamp set from ModCloth

A couple weeks ago I shared three new shoes I bought, including a pair that I bought from Modcloth with my referral credit. ModCloth has an awesome setup where I can give a $15 credit off a $50 order to any new members to ModCloth, while receiving $15 in credit myself.

Anywaysss, I used my referral credit to not only get those gorgeous shoes I shared previously, but also a set of the most awesome dinosaur cookie cutters called "Paleo in Comparison Cookie Cutter Set." The set comes with three cookie cutters, and three cookie "stamps" to press the shape of their fossils into the cookies. Here is one of ModCloth's official images of the set:




I used the cutter and stamp set to make about two dozen cookies to bring to work.






This one is my favorite cutter and stamp pair:




And in case you are wondering, if you prefer not to ice the cookies, they still look pretty cool without:




I used a cookie mix because I wouldn't have the patience to roll, cut, stamp, and decorate cookies after making the dough from scratch. I did, however, make the simple icing from scratch. What you need for every bag of cookie mix:

1 cup (shifted) powder sugar
1 tablespoon water (you can use milk or juice if you prefer)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Then I just put the icing in a Ziplock bag (I used a snack size), and cut off a tiny corner of the bag to pipe from.


I am honesty completely terrible at decorating cookies; I have a shaky hand and whenever I try to decorate cookies they tend to look like they were decorated by a child. The stamps that came with these cookie cutters made icing the cookies really easy since you just have to fill in the indentations; as long as you don't make the hole in your Ziplock bag too big, you will have no trouble icing these cookies.