Florence and her Machines / Thom Yorke

Jaw to the ground.

That would describe the past two nights of music that encompassed every ounce of my energy and attention. Two of my favourite artists back to back;

Thom Yorke &

Florence + The Machine.

Ideally, I wanted to be front row for both, but the reality will unfold later and through pictures.

So Thom was GREAT. He is in a new band called Atoms For Peace which consists of members such as Flea from RHCP and drummers that played with Beck & R.E.M. aka these guys know what they're doing. The show was absolutely phenomenal. They played 'The Eraser' in its entirety and in order and after that set Thom appeared and played two Radiohead songs; "Like Spinning Plates" & "Airbag". This followed with a few Atoms For Peace song. It was great because it was mellow dramatic, yet very upbeat and enlightening--we were surrounded by good people. Unfortunately the place was packed, but it's Thom Yorke. What the hell else do you expect?

So after coming down from such a great show, the next night I saw Florence + The Machine with Cady. I introduced her to Florence's wonderful, wonderful music. I was extremely excited to see her live. Her voice is a powerhouse. I have got to say this is one of the best shows I have ever been to. I have been in absolute love with her album, 'Lungs' since August. If there is any regret from the entire experience it is that I did not purchase a ticket for each show of the tour. I snagged front row more than halfway through the concert and was like, a foot away. I got a set list as well! She played every song from her album, minus one which would be "Girl With One Eye", which would have been great to see live, but oh well. She played another song that is not on her album, "Hardest of Hearts", which was really good. What an amazing performer! She has this amazing energy when she performs and she talks to the crowd a lot which I really like. The crowd at this show was pretty good--I seem to get lucky at shows and make good with the people around us. It's just a better overall experience if you feel comfortable with people around you. This applies to all situations, but especially shows. I actually threw a little something up on the stage. Back in August when I first fell in love with her music I was in N Carolina--Asheville more specifically and I was in a little hippie shop and they had a huge basket of pins. I got about 5. I got one for the main reason of it looking like Florence. I loved that pin. But since I scored tickets to the show, I figured she should have it. So I attached it to a note and threw it up on stage just as the main set ended before the encore. A random set dude picked it up and put it by her water. I think Ill wonder forever if she ever got that pin. I sure hope so--she rocks. so anywho...here are the visuals!

I feel very, very lucky to have seen both of these artists!

Aside from shows--our big home repairs have neared come to a close! (crosses fingers). Hopefully this will last. I'm loving our new sink that gave us some major problems, but all turned out okay in the end. We just need to get some additional stuff cleaned up in the room/office. I really hope to tackle some gardening soon! I have quite a project ahead of me. Nothing a trip to Borders to purchase a gardening book can't solve! (I always end up walking away with a bargain section book)

ALAS! TOMORROW IS FRIDAY! I cannot wait. Casual Friday! Love it. I think that working in a cookie shop should be grounds to wear whatever you want. It brings out my artsy side so I always look forward to Fridays so I can ditch the polo. I got the sweetest pants today--They are purple velvet spandex! I love them very much and snagged em on sale! I feel like Johnny Depp, well wardrobe wise, in Willy Wonka when I wear them.

Today I received a great compliment!: "Tessa isn't normal..."

this wasn't said as a bad thing but isn't that a great thing regardless of how it's said?

Smile! :)

-Tessa

We have nothing planned for this weekend (I want to convince Eric to go to Lalo's! I'm in need of a good chips n' salsa fix along with a fishbowl size margarita. Man oh man! I hope he is down for it.

I might have to lose an eye!

2 different hardware stores in one day? Why yes, this occurred today.

Sprinting through Ikea to get "just what we need" (which turns out to be what I'd like to call A dream come true in the kitchen)--why yes, this occurred as well;

A faucet with a freaking restaurant style sprayer!

After working in food service for the working years of my life, living without a sprayer seems absolutely ludicrous. My darling made this dream come true after our kitchen faucet failed big time last night. We knew this was coming. When it rains, it pours...

So since this mishap went down, we did some research, decided to just get a whole new sink and do it up right. What a success. We went with a cast iron black sink from Kohler. What a freaking beauty. Eric is hard at work installing it now. Of course all was worth it when we went to our favourite local Chinese restaurant to take a break from all this jazz. BAMBOO GARDEN! Absolutely amazing. The couple that owns it is adorable and always fun to talk to. Every Chinese place you ever went to ain't shit compared to this place. If you're in the south suburbs of Chicago--GO HERE. Even if you don't live in the south suburbs of Chicago--GO HERE.

Man, we are whipping this place into shape. It's becoming live-able again!

So I have two big big big shows coming up. I may have mentioned this half-assed in my last entry. So tomorrow is Thom Yorke. For the unfortunate population out there that has no clue who Thom Yorke is, he would be the front man of Radiohead. One of my favourite bands of all time. His music makes me FEEL. It can really move my mood. After missing them 2 years ago at Lollapalooza (and hating myself for it each day after the fact), my wonderful boyfriend surprised me with two tickets to see Thom Yorke. It's solo Thom, but still the same effect as Radiohead. Not only is it Thom, but it is going to be a band compiled of random well-knowns. I cannot even believe my luck. Not only is this going to be an amazing experience (we will be front row at one of our favourite venues), but the next night I am going to be seeing Ms. Florence Welch herself on the House of Blues stage as part of FLORENCE + THE MACHINE! Another one of my favourite artists. Her album single handedly brings me back to August of '09. One of the most emotional months of my life for the best and for the worst. Her voice is a freaking powerhouse and I've been telling EVERYONE about this UK star. She deserves every ounce of fame. I do not get starstruck, but for YOU

THOM YORKE

& FOR YOU...

FLORENCE WELCH

I would gauge my eyes out.

{please do not hold me to doing so...I'm just saying}

;)

so for the next two nights my musical senses will be heightened as I am exposed to great great music. I am so excited I might cry during both concerts. How lame, I know, but DOESN'T MUSIC MOVE YOU?!?!

Please...tell me which artist/s move you!

shared spaces.

So let's make this all official;

It's official that I am moved in with Eric. Finally. After spending 8 months worth of weekends here, I no longer need to live out of a suitcase shoved in the corner. I now have things here that make it mine as well as his. We have things here that we picked out together and have made our own. Soon enough this house will be beaming with personality and decor more so than it already is. In a few weeks our biggest projects will come to a close. We have crossed so much off of our list in the past 3-4 weeks;

.. Knocked out a closet and made the master room bigger

.. Painted our "lounge/closet" room an awesome shade of royal blue

.. Painted our bedroom a fantastic shade of grey

.. In the process of painting the walls & ceiling in the bathroom

.. Sanded the ceiling in the bedroom/master bathroom

.. Set up numerous things from Ikea (we have a love/hate relationship)

.. Brought in all my shit from home (clothes, dresser, desk, & all my random crap) i threw out a ton!

There is way more than this that we have accomplished over these few weeks. We have a lot of determination to get things done and organized and we are so close to being there. I just want all of this to be over with so I can keep things consistently clean. Things get dirtied up so easily because of all the work that is being done all over the house, heh. It has been so worth it though. The moving in process has gone quite smoothly. Of course, there have been some near murder/suicides, but all gets resolved so quickly! ha ha. We compromise so well but most of the time we don't even need to. There have been quite a few things where the decision is made right away in agreeing, like our kickass curtains and carpet. Along with our huge Ikea closet organizer. Once its all done it will be fantastic. I cannot wait.

One unfortunate thing we have learned in this process is that city recycling does not come often enough. We have so much recycling it is absolutely ridiculous--probably enough to fill one truck. Clearly this place does not take Ikea into account because anything you but from there takes 2 hours to take out of the package and about 2-3x that time setting it up. Not a fan. But once it is all done it is wonderful.

So what do you do when your government refund check is a hell of a lot less than you thought it would be? Eh, take $100 out anyway and head out to shop.

I stumbled across a really great site last night & of course there is an intro story:

So people have asked me many times of I do any sort of art. I decorate cookies so people naturally think that transcends to paper. Now, I have never been a great artist. I am right brained, so my brain whips out cool ideas, but sometimes it's easier to conceptualize than to produce. Sharpies, pens, and frosting are my best friends when it comes to producing anything artistic. So I came across this site last night and was inspired up again. My sharpies are one of the things I still have at home that weren't as important to bring as other things. But last night they became important. Of course this meant a trip to the store to muster a few sharpies and poster board. In the midst of trying to find art for the place, I decided to try and conjure something up. Something is in the works. Hopefully this turns out well.

I have been LOVING this rainy/severe weather that has been passing through. Unfortunately it is pretty much moved passed by now, but rainy days just make me feel better about doing the slightest thing that day. Or it is a great excuse to be lazy or extremely productive.

It was one week ago today that we saw Spoon, one of our favourite bands. This show was phenomenal. We were front row, like usual for this particular venue. There have been so many good shows that I have seen in the past year and there are so many good shows coming up to look forward to!

For now, cleaning and super Target are calling my name. I want to enjoy this day off.

-Tessa

Listening to:

All For The Best by Thom Yorke