Baby it’s *good* news – Jenny Lewis @ Observatory OC

Dear phone: Even though your 8M camera is supposed to be awesome, it failed me tonight.

Wooo! As if we’re suddenly 25 again, the husband and I hit yet one more rad show this week – Jenny Lewis at the Observatory in Orange County. I’ve wanted to see Jenny since developing a major girl-crush on her with the release of her solo album “Rabbit Fur Coat.” She did not disappoint.

I love Cali. And Jenny, too.

Jenny’s voice was pitch-perfect and ridiculously powerful for a girl of her tiny stature. Amazingly, the Watson Twins as well as Johnathan Rice from her current project Jenny & Johnny, all joined the party, adding an even more epic feel to the night.

Jenny started with many of my faves from “Rabbit” and moved on to play some new songs, as well as some pieces from Jenny & Johnny. She even played an old Rilo Kiley hit – “Portions for Foxes.”

Not much to say besides – wow. One of those artists who sounds even more amazing live than they do on the album. *Sigh* My heart is happily inspired.

xoxo

A “Once” in a lifetime show — Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard

So -I’m not a girl who buys (or streams … or downloads) a lot of movies. In fact, there are a total of six movies in my personal movie collection. It’s not because I don’t love watching films – I just don’t feel a need to watch them more than once (or clutter my home or computer) unless they truly speak to my soul. The few movies I own are those that moved me like no other films on the planet. They captured and enraptured my little Pisces heart.

In absolutely no order of favorite-ness, these movies include: Control (the story of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis); High Fidelity; About a Boy; Love Actually; 8 Mile; and Once. So it comes as no surprise that I was uber-psyched when I finally had a chance to see Glen Hansard (of Once fame) in concert last night @ The Wiltern in L.A. (*goosebumps*)

First things first – shows in El Lay can be fairly tame. I’m not sure if people just get bored having so many good bands in town every night – but many a show seems to start and end with crowds of people staring blankly / checking their iPhones / chatting glass-eyed with their friends. That wasn’t the case last night. I don’t know if it was a sold-out show, but the crowd was in major love with Glen. One of the most engaged groups I’ve ever seen – and such an engaging performer.

As part of the party, we also enjoyed a few songs by guest (and Glen amiga) Lisa Hannigan, who also happened to be performing in the area.

A great night – an amazing musician – much inspiration.

[The following isn’t my video, but I had to relive his performance of this song the best way I could when I got home last night.]

xoxo

Look out – here comes Spider Baby!

Not to brag, but I *totally* drew that spider free-hand. Pow!

So – technically 2012 will mark Rhett’s second Comic Con experience. However, since he was barely 2 months old for the first one, we decided to make this year his first major “super hero party” milestone – an occasion that clearlycalls for a baby Spider Man costume.

I found this rad spider web fabric on my last trip to Switzerland – the perfect thing for creating a simple super baby cape. (Yes, I do realize Spider Man doesn’t actually wear a cape … we’re exercising some creative liberties here.)

Spider Baby in action! Look out, world!

Since Rhett is still young, I decided to attach the cape via velcro on the back of his shirt – zero choking hazard and less chance for him to try to pull it off himself if he gets bored.

“Dear mom – I will NEVER wear this. But thanks for trying.” – Rhett Lee

I’m fairly certain the mask will never be worn for more than a millisecond, but still – it was worth a try.

All in all, a super cute craft project perfect for my little Spider Baby (who often makes me wish I had 8 arms to wrangle him with).

xoxo
marvel mama

PS: Have I mentioned recently how much I love my sewing/embroidery machine (and super heroes)?

Avengers craft-time at $3 or less

Now that’s my kind of popsicle stick.

My son and I are suckers for all things Captain America. So when I saw this great little craft idea involving nothing but good old-fashioned paint and wooden popsicle sticks, I had to give it a go. (The sticks are actually bookmarks, but considering most of my son’s books have about 10 pages or less, I figured they could double as super simple action figures, as well.)

With a little bit of kiddie paint, plus a white paint marker and black Sharpie, these sticks came to life in no time. I even added some glitter because …. it’s what I do. :)

(Note: This project will not work as well with plain markers – the ink seeps into the wood too easily. Paint is definitely a must, however messy it might be.)

All in all, a super cute craft project for a super cheap amount of money … and both of my monsters are already obsessed with them.

(FYI, I could not figure out a cool popsicle Thor design for the life of me … so it looks like Spiderman is part of the Avengers foursome for the monent :)

Total cost: about $3.

xoxo
Avengers 4vr