Where's Abby (+ Dylan and dogs)

If this trip didn't deserve a blog, I don't know what would. Mom and I just had a blast on our first (stateside) road trip together.  Mom started of the trip in perfect Julie Ross fashion, packing a picnic lunch for us along the way.  We made our way to Hendersonville, NC to the cutest little lodge at Highland Lake. It was a lovely little retreat with a lake for kayaking (in warmer weather), an organic farm, chickens, and fall leaves. Saturday We had a lovely reunion with her friend Jenny and her hubs who are always so good to see. Italian dinner Friday night and downtown shops and lunch the next day with this wonderful couple. From lunch, Mom and I ventured over to Carl Sandburg's house, a must see for anyone in the area. I didn't know much about the guy before but now I love him and his wife and their goats. (If you want to be surprised on the tour, skip the next paragraph!)  A Swedish immigrant longing to be American, writing poetry ab...

In recap of this wonderfully refreshing, inspiration filled day,  I started off with journaling. This was definitely the turn around after a discontent, reminiscing night last night. I went from thinking about my next move, with CPH on my mind, and plans to research my move today. But after journaling, I just crossed that off my list and focused on today.       Off I went on Hendrix (after paying more to fix him yesterday than I did to buy him) to do some "research" at Bookmark , a bookstore in Neptune Beach, just down the road. This research consisted of finding some awesome children's books that sparked some ideas for my own books that I'm super excited about.  With ideas a brewin', I went on over to Lillie's for some brainstorming and poetry, and met an interesting dude sketching a Zombie Bieber. I also got to FaceTime with Chris, Mom, and sweet Adaleigh and talked about some of my ideas.  With a hungry belly, I came on home...

The other day, my neighbor informed me that his brother's band was coming to town. "So there would be a lot of musicians running around. Hope you're cool with that..."  "Of course that's cool." ..."And they're all single? This week's looking up." Throughout the week, I saw them a couple times while hanging out on the porch. I later tried to assure them that I wasn't out there just because they were here... I always drink my coffee out there. And that I was really worried about them seeing me doing yoga, half naked, in my apartment, making it look even worse. That's just what I do. Thanks to Neighbor's free tickets, I actually made it to the concert after work and was thoroughly impressed. Vegabonds . Check em out. They're an awesome group of Alabama dudes with some great southern rock jams. One interesting superlative about the concert? The fans were the best smelling concert fans I've ever smelled.  ...

          Mentioned in this post , here's the band I fell in love with from the CPH Listening Room. They're really great singer/songwriters from Austin, TX. Their songs are just so real, genuine, and unique! Check em out and buy their songs here!  No one steal this for your wedding. It's mine! ;) Just kidding. But if you do, don't tell me.

Happy Friday, all! Off to try to get myself a job so I can properly celebrate Labor Day Weekend. If not, I'll be celebrating taking off from job searching. For now, here are my high fives for this week!            1. An incredible sight of fireflies in our front yard. If only a video or camera could do them justice. Just come on over and we'll sit on the porch and see em  live ! 2. Learning to play the piano again. Thanks, Dad for the lessons. Sorry, fam for the beginner's noises. 3. Getting back in touch with a friend from several years ago. We connected when we needed a buddy for our wild pups, now she got be back into yoga with plans of scalloping, kayaking, and being overall awesome. Her and fiancé are so cool. That's her new pup, Brody in the picture. 4. My beautiful parents celebrating THIRTY SEVEN years of marriage this week. So amazing. And my dad wrote a lovely little song for her. 37 lines he's ever said to her with a lot of...

So, remember that guy... that cute, Danish one... really good guitar player... Does awesome cover music... Writes me sweet songs?  Well, that guy, Sune Grip, joined a mix of Irish and Australian guys to form  Niall Rainey and the Dirty Bullets, to make some easy listening, folk sounds.  They just released their first album, "Roll on Someday," and you lucky dogs in Ireland can see them on tour from July 23-28th! They're awesome musicians, with great sound and entertainment.  Give em a listen here .  Get tickets  here ! Aand check em out live online on Monday, July 22, at 3:00pm! :) (Picture from facebook)

                       Last Wednesday, Sune and I  went to an awesome open mic at Drop In for him to meet a girl he might sing with. There were so many great bands and it was awesome seeing him play... He's so good! And so cute. And I'm not biased at all! ;)  Some guy kept telling me how hott and amazing Sune was. I obviously agreed.                        Lisa, the girl Sune was meeting to play with, was a really cool character. She was so nice and just very unique. We both said how she was "just an interesting human." A good singer too. She has a cool, blues style, with lots of attitude during her song. She had a pretty interesting story too... She's from Vermont/New York, lived in China for 9 months and then moved here with her Danish boyfriend.                      I got to meet Sys Bjerre ...