the best thursday night i've ever had

i almost titled this post "the best night that i've ever had," but that seems dramatic. i'm pretty sure that it is the best thursday night i've ever had, though.

i can't really remember the moment when something clicked and i became o b s e s s e d with jack white, but i know it was sometime around my freshman year of college. considering the only time i've ever seen him live was with my least favorite of the jack white bands (the raconteurs), this was long overdue.

can i be real for a second? i spent ALL MORNING while austin was at work deciding what to wear. i know. it was like a legitimate 5 hour game of dress-up.

i decided on a black tank top, a 70s skirt that has just been hanging out in my closet, my dollar store frankenstein socks, and my doc martens (in case i needed to stomp some people to get to the front, obviously).

the socks were kinda weird but i was a little obsessed with his eyes peeking over the top of the boots. plus they matched my skirt!

i also brought this goofy purse that i got in dollywood. it's teeny and goes over my shoulder and is perfect for my phone, money, id, chapstick, whatever. unfortunately not for a tshirt and poster, which meant i was carrying a tube around all night, too. but whatever! totally worth it.

i was so giddy. like a child. i posted something on facebook along the lines of, "i'm sure that you can imagine how much i'm annoying austin right now," and the only other person who has seen me at a jack white concert liked the status. ;)

we did have car trouble on the way there? which was weird, and i freaked out a little (read: a lot). but i took this cute picture of austin:

and then we were basically there. we stood in line for about 2 hours before we were let in, and then i annoyed (probably) everyone around me for an hour and a half before the concert started.

i could talk/write about this show forever probably, but i won't.. i guess. the "set list" (jack doesn't have set lists, which i only know from my pre-concert research) was a really cool combination of white stripes, raconteurs, dead weather, jack white, and bluegrass/country/blues-songs-i-didn't-recognize. he played with the guy band, which i ended up being really into, even though i thought i wanted the female band. okay, but - i really want to see him again, but with the girl band! you know, for the different songs! i didn't get to hear "love interruption" live, and i'm wondering what else he would've played with them. one huge shock (on my part): i only cried once!! i teared up consistently, like every time austin acknowledged what i was watching (by hugging me or rubbing my back or whatever), but i only full-out cried when he played "hotel yorba." i have no idea why. also, his encore was 6 songs long.

you guys, it was just so much fun. we were lectured about not taking photos or videos, because they had a professional photographer onstage and the pictures would be free on jack's website (so you can imagine what the background to my laptop and phone is going to be for the rest of forever). also my cell phone pictures just would. not. turn. out. so really, you probably don't believe me that i was there. i actually can't believe that i was there.

so, i'm glad i bought this poster.

i'm going to end this here, or else i'll gush for another two hours. of typing, which is like probably 7 more paragraphs.

i promised austin that we would never, ever miss another jack white show, ever. <3

ps, my ears are STILL ringing. ~no regrets~

if i had an instagram..

i know, all i ever talk about is how my phone is too old for instagram. one day i'll get an iphone (i'm up for an upgrade, i just HATE cell phone stores and i'm lazy and i'm putting it off in a serious way.. especially now that they announced the 5), but until then.. i'll snap pictures solely to share on the blog.

when i got home from chicago, our jack white tickets were waiting for me!! it's officially less than ten days away and i can't wait. i'm SO EXCITED AH. i think i bring it up like 5 times a day to every person i speak to. what am i going to do when it's over?! haha.

one of my favorite employees (i know, i know.. no favoritism. but i can't help it!) had a birthday this past weekend, and i couldn't help but grab one of our favorite keychains for her. i made a little bow quickly out of random scraps of paper, and it was a sweet little present. :) it ended up being the hot cocoa, which was one that she had wanted from the start. so exciting.

austin and i joke sometimes that if something makes us laugh, we immediately buy it.. and this coffee cup was one of those. it's hilarious! "one day closer to retirement" hahahaa. i've been carrying it in place of my starbucks cup, and it cracks me up every morning.

well, that's all. until next time.. <3

this is me actually geeking out

the last time i saw jack white live (with the raconteurs) was at the new american music union (american eagle music festival) in 2008.
i lost it then, too.

on friday, i got tickets to see jack white on september 27. even though this has obviously been my number 1 musical dream (besides the white stripes........ which is impossible) since he released his solo album, i didn't think it was going to happen! he was consistently playing in towns i couldn't figure out a reasonable way to get to, on days that didn't make sense for my job. BUT. he's playing less than two hours away! on a thursday night! it's a dream come true.


since i found out, i've been super nerdy and googling about his tour and watching live videos and seriously just psyching myself up so much that it's all i can think about. he tours with two bands: one all female, one all male. i had basically convinced myself that i HAD TO see him with the all female band (he chooses right before they go onstage, so really my NEEDS won't matter, haha), but the more live videos i watch, the more i really just don't care. the live video above has two songs - the first he plays with his male band, the second with his female. the two songs are basically my two favorites from the album, too. :)

even though he's obviously touring on his solo album, i read online that he's been putting white stripes songs into his sets. i'm a little nervous that i may just melt into a puddle right then and there to never be heard from again. especially if he plays this one...


AH, i don't even want to get my hopes up. i'm just SO EXCITED, i don't even know. are there any musicians that you would kill to see?! <3

currently

hi! today has been a ridiculous mayday. i don't even want to get into it, eep.

i decided it'd be fun to start doing currently posts, inspired by danielle of sometimes sweet.

reading: "super sad true love story" by gary shteyngart. i've had this book on my kindle for a few months now, and i had even attempted beginning to read it several times, but never fully committed to it. well, apparently saturday was it's day, because i started it again, and i haven't stopped! it's dystopic literature, set in a futureish america (something i can't get enough of lately..). it is also scaring the crap out of me, but things like this do things like that to my overly sensitive sensibilities. :) i'm about 30% of the way through it, and so far, pretty awesome.

watching: lately, austin and i have been switching between "psych" and "louie." in case it isn't clear, "psych" is usually my first choice, and austin always goes to turn on "louie." i can't help but have a bit of a crush on shawn and gus, and austin thinks louis c.k. is hiiiiilarious (i spend half of the show laughing out loud and the other half being overly offended).

thinking about: my job, my business, my future.. sometimes i think i'm having a pretty serious quarter-life crisis, but i think these thoughts are things every deals with, pretty much as soon as they get their first "real" job. i know exactly what it is that i want to be doing, it's the process of getting there that i'm stuck on. i just keep wondering when that one moment that makes my current job not worth it anymore is going to happen.

loving: it's really silly to say this, but lately i've been super loving austin. like more than normal? i don't know about that, but my love is deepening for him all of the time. it's ridiculous. i spent a couple of hours the other day being really nostalgic about how i'll never have another first date or first kiss or any silly things like that, but then i realized that i'm totally cool with that, because for the rest of my life, i get to have firsts with him. because i figure those are never going to go away? there are always going to be things we haven't done together, and i want to spend the rest of our lives doing them.

anticipating: my day off! ;) i have a couple of plans, but mostly on my days off i get the most excited to see my sister and niece. and we're going to do a photoshoot for the store, since we'll have another update in a couple of weeks!

listening to: i've been switching back and forth between ben kweller's new album, go fly a kite, and (obviously) jack white's new album, blunderbuss.

i've been listening to ben kweller since i can remember (literally, elementary school with his 90s band radish), and i have a serious soft spot for everything that he creates. this release reminds me SO much of his early solo stuff, and even though i really did love his foray into country music, i missed his indie pop side even more.

after searching for this song to post, i got sucked into this youtube rabbit hole of ben kweller live videos. i just think he's so cute, and i'd love to see him again sometime soon.

eating: grilled cheese has become my current go-to meal while i'm at home. i've been trying to cut down on the mall food, because it's disgusting, but grilled cheese isn't that much better. ;)

feeling thankful for: my grandma, for her kindness, her understanding, her help, and just for always being there and believing in me.

hope you're having a good week so far! <3

i went to nashville, part 2

so. i was in nashville. but why? i mean it's a pretty cool city in it's own right, but i think people were confused as to why austin would take me there rather than somewhere closer/bigger/more interesting, whatever.

anyone who knows me, probably knows that i idolize jack white. in a pretty serious way. i have these strange tiers in my head of my favorite music/bands, and his bands are generally at the top of each tier. especially the white stripes. so, when i read years ago that his record store in nashville, third man records, was like a teeny tiny sorta white stripes museum, i dreamt & dreamt of the day i'd be able to see it.

well. saturday, april 14th was that day!! unfortunately, i'm real awkward and i was SO nervous (SOOOO nervous) to even be in the place, so this was the only picture that i took. however. i can highly recommend the store to any vinyl, white stripes, third man, or jack white fan. :) i think i got most excited seeing the 'fell in love with a girl' lego pieces ;)

luckily, this trip DID coincide with my birthday, so i had some extra birthday money to spend.. not nearly enough, seeing as i wanted e v e r y t h i n g (honestly. everything.), including a lil white stripes onesie with the pope and the devil shaking hands for my niece (i passed on that, though).

here's a really blurry cell phone picture of my third man swag that i took on the hotel room bed when we did a drop off because i was scared of my records warping in my hot car (i know, i know)!
(clockwise l-r: 3 free prints, the white stripes' 'under great white northern lights,' the white stripes' 'white blood cells,' first aid kit's 'universal soldier' 7 inch [which i didn't know existed! and freaked out about! did you know that jack is doing his european tour with them?! what a dream.], jack white's 'sixteen saltines' and 'love interruption' 7 inches, a cute little third man records tshirt, and the teeniest white stripes peppermint swirl button. <3 austin had to drag me away from the mini record player (it came with 6 wrapped 1-inch records.. what in the world so cute).

even though this was the most important and most exciting part of our little road trip, we still did so many cool things! but i'll save those for later. <3