Hey friends! As you can tell, we are horrible at fulfilling our promises of podcasting and blogging while touring. We're the worst! Luckily, the shows have just been TOO GOOD so that made us too busy to attempt to continue these side projects. I can't even believe anyone really listened to that podcast outside of our parents, so it has been neat to hear that you guys miss it! Whenever someone tells me that at a show, I'm shocked and suspicious.
Hello my loves! So, it's here. I'm boarding a plane and we're headed over to Europe for the Hell or High Water world tour! I honestly can't believe it's here. Over a year spent working on this record and it's finally out and available for your ears.
First things first! I've partnered with a new app called GPSmyCity to do a little giveaway! I've tested tons of apps like this and so far this is one of the coolest I've come across. The little map will pull up all sorts of things that are around you and will give a little synopsis of each place. Plus it offers various routes depending on what you want to do (shop 'till you're broke, eat your face off, see old things, etc). Plus it works completely offline so you don't have to use international data - woooo! They are giving 20 readers a free full version of the Paris app (iOS only). Why Paris?? Because I love it and you need to put it on your travel bucket list if it isn't already there. Here's what you have to do:
Happy New Year, Dears!
We're back in Brooklyn, celebrated the new year, and now my brain is pretty much ready to roll into 2016. I have a few resolutions that I plan to keep to myself this year. Not for fear that I won't accomplish them - they are just personal things I know I need to work on.
It's that time of year again! Holidays mixed with the frantic realization that I only have a few short, sweet weeks left at home before I reside in a bus for a few months. I get lots and lots of questions about how I pack small for these shenanigans. I'm not going to lie - it's hard. However, I've created somewhat of a formula to this whole mess so it's gotten a tad easier.
Happy Friday, my loves! It's currently 5:30am and I have been in insomnia town for about 3 hours. Blah. If you listened to Popecast numero 4 then you probably remember that our roof sprung a leak during Nashville's latest torrential downpour. Because of that we've been sleeping in the guest bedroom ('cause we have one of those now, whaaaaaat) so maybe my brain is just out of sorts. I don't know. I'm not a brain scientist. Anyway, I decided to give up the fight against awakeness and go ahead and make some tea and write about my feelings.
WHAT THE HELLLLLLL. So much has happened and my brain is totally fried. But it's ok! I'm so excited about all of the things that are going on. Let's recap!
One of the things I always do when we get to a new place is seek out a park. Blame my dad for my obsession. He works in Parks and Rec (think Ron Swanson, but he actually does his job), so I feel it is my duty to document them all over the world for him. Maybe one day I'll make a book - who knows. I love seeing how different they all are across the world and how each culture uses them. In New York there are as many people napping as there are exercising. In Spain it's half circus half party. Parks in England are full of dogs and perfectly manicured gardens. I was ridiculously excited to see what Japan had in store for us. We found that parks here are incredibly tranquil you feel a sense of peace almost the instant you step foot inside. Most are dedicated to a shrine, but there is this beautiful energy all over. I loved it.
Following our casino nights trip, we met my family in the gulf for a little family vacation. We haven't been able to get everyone on the same beach vacation in 10 years, so this was pretty special. I grew up going on massive family vacations that included grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and the occasional friend. They were a blast and we desperately wanted to get back to those. So we loaded up our respective families and drove to Santa Rosa Beach, FL for a week of R&R. We wrangled babies, we played games, we drank more than our share of Miller Lite, and we got more sun than I thought my pale butt could handle (reapply sunscreen, people! It really works).
It’s rare that we have a summer like this one - free of any and all touring, press, and recording. While it doesn’t mean we’re free from work (still have to promote singles, get the tour together, and all of that jazz), we’re trying to relish every second of our low-key summer. Who knows when we’ll get another one like it, yaknowwutimean? So we decided that in order to make the best use of our non-existent vacation fund we'd go visit family in Florida for week one of FLORIDAPALOOZA 2015.
Just when I had started to be a real life blogger, I threw it all away and skipped this weekend.
We spent this past weekend in the Hamptons with some of our close friends (and their cute baby, Max). As you might remember, Ron and I always spend a weekend in the fall out here (read: Anniversary Trip), so it was nice to enjoy some springtime beach weather. Up here "springtime weather" almost always means still very cold -- definitely no swimsuits.
I don't know where you are, but I'm placing my bets on the fact that it's probably freezing. New York has been a frozen ice-hell since we got back from Nashville (which, oddly enough, was ALSO a frozen ice hell. The world is ending). I can't stop dreaming about taking break from life and going on a real vacation. However, according to our bank account, that sure isn't happening anytime soon. I don't know if you've heard, but making record has a hefty price tag. That and buying a house. Oh, and paying taxes. But enough about cash money. Let's talk about one of my favorite spots in the world.
What do you know, here I am again. We spent the past week in Nashville and just had a ball. Ron's was writing and I was working from the Nashville office. Nashville office? Yeah, I'm just kidding, I was just working from a futon in our Nashville Air BnB house. God bless the internets and how mobile this life is.
I've been thinking about Beijing a lot lately. No real reason, just reminiscing I guess. We incorporated a trip to China as part of our honeymoon, which is something most people are surprised to hear. It's not exactly a top destination for newlyweds. However, we wanted to use our honeymoon as an opportunity to explore parts of the world we never would otherwise. China isn't on the horizon for touring and we were craving a bit of a cultural shock.
