New Song On May 17, 2012

A Happy Shirt

So the other day I wore this t-shirt. I had actually never worn this shirt before…I had bought it on tour but never wore it for some reason. So this was its maiden voyage. We were flying to Orlando & from the moment that I walked into the airport people started telling me that they liked my shirt. Like, everyone.

Now, you have to realize. Fashion isn’t exactly my strong point. I love clothes & colors but rarely spend much time plotting or planning what I will wear…so all of this extra attention was a little baffling. The woman sitting behind me, the TSA agent…as I walked by people you could see them trying to read every word. It was really funny.

First I tried to take this pic in the mirror…apparently I’m not the brightest crayon in the box cause you couldn’t read it…hahaha…so I tried taking one myself…tricky.

When I landed in Orlando I walked past one of the “airport greeters”…you know the precious older people that volunteer at the airport in their spare time. Precious. Anyway…I walked past her and she stopped me and said that she sings that song to her grandkids…then she actually sang me the song!! It was maybe the cutest thing I’ve seen & heard…ever.

So there you have it…I had no idea a shirt could be such a conversation starter. It’s now been deemed my happy shirt. Do you have a happy shirt?

I know we’ve been kinda MIA on the blogging…we’ve been busy and enjoying time with friends & family since being off the road…you know…taking a wee bit of down time But, we have lots of blogging to catch you guys up on…like the time we got to sing with Keith Urban & Seal, or the epic Coldplay show at the Hollywood Bowl or the fact that our ALBUM is in the final stages of being mixed & mastered. WHAT WHAT!!!!

So many exciting things coming up. Stay tuned.

Hugs. Love. And a sugar rush.

-j&k-

End of Tour Blog.

We didn’t write this…go read this…

http://owlcityblog.com/2011/11/21/tourism-and-nostalgia/

It perfectly sums up how we feel at the end of tour…so why write it ourselves when someone else has done it so beautifully?

We loved seeing each and every one of you out on the road over the past few months. Thanks for the hugs, waves, cheers, cards, gifts, pictures….and for all of your support in everything we do.

Much love.

-j&k-

New Song on April 17th, 2012–”Heart of Stone”

Follow Up to Blogging From The Sky

So after our neat-o blogging while flying experience, we landed in Seattle. Here are a couple shots I took from the plane as we were landing…

Upon landing, Miles had some problems….

We spent the night in Seattle & the next morning drove to Wenatchee, WA. Driving during the day was GORGEOUS!!! These were some pics that were snapped through the side of the bus window…except for the first one…I opened my maps app to see where in the world we were…I do that from time to time cause sometimes I lose track.

40,000 Feet

Airlines are getting so sophisticated these days. Well that’s a lie. But this whole internet while in the air…that’s pretty rad. Right now I am in a middle seat in an exit row on an Alaska Air flight. Not much to report except that the extra legroom in the exit row is totally awesome.

Currently listening to M83′s song “Wait.”

I am so having a Judy Jetson moment. I just took that pic on my computer. On an airplane. At 40,000 feet. Which I will now post on the INTERNET people. This is crazy.

Gonna post this now. Blogging in real time. I guess that’s called tweeting. Whatever. Oh I see a beverage cart coming…let day drinking commence.

Maybe I’ll give y’all an update on my exciting flight in a bit.

-kate-

FavReds

These always help while songwriting

-j&k-

Stuck.

This post is for all of our fellow creators, writers (both story & song) and anyone that is looking for a little exercise in getting the creative juices flowing. Cause let’s be honest…we all at times have a little bit of writer’s block or writer’s barricade or writer’s great wall of China for peet’s sake–that’s what it feels like sometimes.

One time we were at a song-writing workshop where a well-known songwriter was talking about his experiences, his go-to things while songwriting and he shared something that has stuck with us. At first it might sound silly but it does get the creative juices going if there seems to be a blockage of some sort.

So, if you are feeling stuck, try this exercise. All you need is:

• a piece of paper
• a pen or pencil
• a timer
• a book or a friend

Get yourself set up to write. Set the timer for 7 minutes. Find a book or ask a friend for ANY word (or if you don’t have a friend around, take any random book, open it and put your finger down and whatever word your finger lands on…go with it). Then whatever word you get, write about it for 7 minutes. It doesn’t have to make sense, it doesn’t have to rhyme…just write about the word for 7 minutes. Write, write, write.

This sounds easy…and it might seem like a silly exercise but it’s a great one! In the workshop he had us all do this and the word was “dust.” After it was over, to demonstrate his point that everyone will think of something different he had some people share what they wrote. All of the different things were amazing…someone wrote about the dust on library books, someone wrote about their little league memories of dust rising over them as they slid onto home plate, someone wrote about the dust particles in the room… It was so cool. Everyone had a different take on the word “dust.”

Anyway–writing is definitely a practice and this can be a good way to start practicing writing. Whatever you write be proud of it. Don’t think it’s stupid. Don’t think it’s insignificant. Don’t put boundaries on your writing. Just write. Write. Write.

Cool? Cool. Now go write

-j&k-

Boredom, Running and Scenic Drives

Boredom at its finest backstage.

Okay…maybe THIS is boredom at its finest backstage.

Boredom also leads to sticking tiny silver hearts on our cheeks. Pretty sure you can only see Lesley’s. #picturefail

Y’all have been asking for pics of the birthday girl on her birthday…here ya go!

A little karaoke action in Denver for Jill’s bday.

Birthday hats = serious party time.

Gorgeous drive to Seattle!

Seriously unreal.

Still driving to Seattle…

An afternoon in San Francisco!!!

OO-AH run club run across the Golden Gate bridge…AND back. (pic taken by kate while running…notice finger in bottom left hand corner!)

That’s kate running…

After a fun day of running and wandering around downtown SF, we had fabulous food at the Crab House…and a delicious MOJITO! Yummy.

Jason was all bibb-ed and ready to go.

We saw the sea lions just chillin’ on the pier.

Finished off the night with ice cream….

We just got to celebrate our dear friend & bandmate Einar’s birthday…HOORAY!

Driving to Bakersfield we saw these crazy orange flowers…

After the Bakersfield show we met a new friend TeriAnn & she gave us these adorable purses that she MADE HERSELF. Along with a super sweet handwritten note inside. (Jill’s purse isn’t pictured but it is equally adorable!) We love them & cannot wait to use them.

So there you have it…those are some pics from the last week or so…

Can’t believe it is almost April….wowza.

-j&k-

Spare Change

So being out on the road we always come across situations that we don’t normally come across when we are home. One thing we’ve noticed especially lately is that almost every time we leave the hotel we are seeing/experiencing a lot of folks who are living on the streets.

People asking for a dollar. People asking for spare change.

It’s something we’ve talked about quite a bit…when someone asks for money we want to help. We are very fortunate to have jobs, places to live, etc. and it is easy to grab the change in your pocket or a couple bucks, hand it over and walk away. At the same time, you never know what that money is actually being used for and you don’t know if you are helping or not. So we’ve gotten into the habit of offering food in place of money.

We had a funny encounter today…we walked passed a gentlemen who had a sign that in big, bold writing said “WEED, SEX” and something else….he was sporting a giant hat that had marijuana leaves on it…he was quite a character. As we walked past he looked right at us, held up his sign and said, “Anyone wanna help me get SH!T-faced?” He said it loud and proud…we laughed…and continued walking…ha…at least he was being honest.

Anyway..it’s not easy to know what to say/do sometimes. What do you do when you encounter people asking you for money?

-j&k-