Thankful...

I am thankful for the fact that I do NOT participate in the madness that is Black Friday. Instead I am sitting at work in the solitude of my quiet cubicle getting shit done.

We had a wonderful little Thanksgiving with our friends. We watched football, old videos from Hayden's second Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I cooked a traditional meal for the five of us.
The videos of Hayden were great. He looked like this back then:

And Now

This year has been a roller coaster for us. Good things, bad things, upside down turns and sudden stops. Such is life. We've survived and we're stronger for it. 

Here's some great advice from Rock N Roll Bride on Happy Marriage.

DomRockStar Fall Wishlist

This year's Fall hasn't really been much of a Fall yet. It's still in the 70's during the days here in Vegas and then kind of cold at night. It's a little bit of a weather change here and even just that little makes me want to curl up in a nice comfy blanket, drink and eat lots of stuff with apples and pumpkin, and keep my extra dry skin from cracking. My skin and hair hate the cold weather.

Here are some of the things to combat cold weather on hair and skin and just some general Fall goodies that I like:

1. Demon In The Dark Soap, 2. Mystic Divine Nourishing Oil Treatment, 3. e.l.f. Studio 27 Piece Mini Makeup Collection (only $20!!!) 4. Mexican Pumpkin Travel Candle Tin 5. Leopard Faux Fur Throw
6. Boho Fringe Cardigan  7. Body Drench Tahitian Monoi Oil Body Lotion 8. Day Dreamer Tie Die Scarf
9. Skulls Pullover 10. Day of the Dead Wrap

Nor Cal Homecoming

This past weekend our band .bipolar. had an amazing mini-tour in Northern California. We hit the road Thursday evening around 10pm and drove 10 hours to Sacramento. Our friend Vincent from Mozzchopz Photography joined us and captured the trip with some amazing photos.

Once we got to Sacramento I was instantly home sick. The weather was beautiful so we headed downtown close to where Brian and I had rented our first apartment together. Some of the stores and restaurants may have changed names but overall the vibe and feel of it is the same as it was five years ago when we left. Walking around those streets just flooded us with so many awesome memories that seem like a lifetime ago.

Our friend let us crash on his floor for a while before we could check into our hotel which was totally needed after so long on the road.
The club we played at was Harlow's an awesome venue right in the heart of downtown Sacramento. We never had an opportunity to play there before and were super excited to finally get to do so. They treated us so well and the atmosphere was just great.

After arriving at the club for check in, the rest of the night was full of hugs, reminiscing and so many good times with friends we hadn't seen in forever.

We had such a great time. The show itself was wonderful. Our friends packed the house and we got to play 10 years worth of great music for everyone.

The next day we had a bit of time to kill before our next show so we headed to Old Sacramento for some fun.

We headed into the Bay Area to Vallejo and chilled at the hotel until check in time.
This night was full of our Bay friends and we had a great time hanging out with all of them. The bands we shared the stage with were all supportive and we sold a lot of merch which helped our cause. We made some new friends as well as getting friends who had never seen us before to come out.

The whole experience was pretty awesome and I am a little sad to return to reality with work and stuff. We were just amazed with the love and support from everyone who came out. My heart is completely overwhelmed and I can't wait to head back up there in maybe six months.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the shows.

For the entire gallery go here.

The Best Times of Our Lives

Look at that kid up there, that smile, it kills me. 
Brian keeps saying that these times right now are the best times of our lives. I kind of agree. Kind of just because I hope those times over there are going to be the best too.
Things have been up and down this year emotionally for us with loss of family being the low and great things for our band and careers being the high.
Right now we're moving forward in a positive pace and things seem to be chugging along smoothly. With that being said the pessimist in me is waiting for the other shoe to drop. Even if it does I know my wonderful husband will be there to pick it up for me.
It's no secret that if you choose to think positively your life will be filled with happiness and positive reactions. That's totally worked for us. We eliminated the drama, negative forces a couple years ago and so far so good on the positive flow ebbing in. Not to say everything is honky dory every second of every day and we don't have stress, disagreements or bad days. We do, we face them head on, but now with the change of thought and the "best times of our lives" greeting us every hard time is a little easier to handle.

The band is on to good things as well. With a celebration of being a band for ten years we've taken a stronger approach on making positive things happen.
Two years ago we returned to the stage of the Boardwalk in Sacramento after being away in Vegas for three years. Now, we're headed back. This time though, we're playing at the fabulous Harlow's.
We're hoping our friends will show up and help us celebrate this milestone.
We've also been getting better shows here in Vegas and earning a reputation as a hard working band.

So my advice to those in a hard time or a lull is to chin up. Things WILL get better. But they don't get better on their own unless you're pushing away the negative and pulling in the positive. Reduce that negative self-thinking.

I found this quote on galadarling.com and its so fitting right now I think.

“I sincerely believe that energy grows from itself and the more energy you expand the more you create within yourself. I also believe that energy is habit — which can be created quite easily. In other words, use your energy and more energy flows and then it is very hard to stop it — as if one would ever want to!” (Diana Vreeland)

Halloween 2013

Every year Hayden's enthusiasm for Halloween just grows and grows which is great since my enthusiasm is beyond imaginable.
 Hayden dressed as Ratchet his favorite video game character. He was so excited that he saw no other kids with the same costume.

I tried my hand at some scary skeleton makeup, per a youtube tutorial. I ran out of the stuff I needed most so I tried to make the best of it.

Brian took Hayden trick or treating while I handed out candy. It was great seeing all the neighborhood kids. Our house was completely decked out and I had bought a shit-ton of candy. We had so many kids we ran out at like 8:30pm. We refilled with one more bag and had kids until 9:15.

Even Barley got dressed up as a football player.

I made mini caramel apples for our friends. They were great and super easy to make.

The night before Hayden and I carved the pumpkin and it came out not too shabby for a freehand design.

Overall our Halloween was pretty great. We finished our night with some scary movies and Hayden was so tired he passed out around 8:30.
Hope everyone else had a great Halloween.