Ramble On PaRt Two

So I've been busy sewing and neglecting the second post of my adventures.......but here it is as promised. Grab a cup of iced tea and bounce through my journey with me. :-*

Banana Bouncing through the forest

I think my favorite part of seeing live music is all the memories of of old friends and moments we shared over the same music that flood my mind{{{.....Does that makes sense?}}}

My friends near and far who have shared moments of time with me are forever etched in my mind. I am grateful to think of our time together and dance in their honor.

Anyways.....

Going on a three day leg of Phish was so amazingly fun. Miguel and I saw friends that we had not seen in years......not to mention gettin' down and dirty with the phamour phour.

When ever we have long distances to travel we try to break up the drive. We've found it makes for a much more enjoyable and restful trip.

On the way to Noblesville, Indiana we camped in a sweet State Forest in Southern Indiana to break up the drive up north. It was such peaceful way to begin out lil journey. We and enjoyed one of the trails and saw ToNs of wild mushrooms

trumpet-ly awesome-ness

This one reminded us of sea coral

Miggy fossil hunting

Before arriving at the Deer Creek venue we stopped at a few microbreweries within the town. Yum! We also had a chance to vend before the show on Shakedown....I really need to invest in a Canopy......it was flaming hot. Nevertheless, we took care of business and had a good pre-show time.

happy mama to be rockin the Jedi Mama dress

my lil spot

Anyways, the coolest part about hanging out was I saw a beautiful young lady who had purchased a dress I made and sold on ebay a few years ago. I did a double take when I first walked by her! We exchanged hugs and kisses. She continued to say that it was her favorite dress and she looks for my stuff on ebay. { Now that I am on etsy I forget to post something over there in ebay-land just for meare exposure purposes......**note to self :D }

The first set was really rockin with Moma Dance, Fluffhead, and Ocelot really tickling my pickle. In between the sets there was a CRAZY lightning storm. It was the gnarliest lightning I had ever seen, very ominous. It delayed the second set substantially and they actually let people go to their cars (we didn't go) for re-entry after the storm.

After much anticipation the show started up again. Drowned was a really exciting as well a Possum. 2001 was such a crowd pleaser. It felt good to soak up all that uplifting energy.

06/19/09 Verizon Wireless Music Center (formerly Deer Creek) - Noblesville, IN

1: Backwards Down the Number Line, AC/DC Bag, Limb By Limb, The Moma Dance, Water In The Sky, Split Open and Melt, Lawn Boy, The Wedge, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, The Connection*, Ocelot, Fluffhead

2**: A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing -> Drowned -> Twist, Let Me Lie, Tweezer -> 2001 > Suzy Greenberg > Possum

E: Sleeping Monkey > Tweezer Reprise

Somehow, like crazy people, after the show Miguel and I made how way to a suburb of Chicago. It was a challenging situation because getting out the parking lot took 2 hours. It almost broke me, for serious. I don't know what the deal was, but it seemed like every line we were in didn't move. AnYwAys, these things happen what everyone wants to leave at the same time.

Needless to say we made it safely to Chicago and set out for the sweetest lake house ever. It was right on the lake front, super spacious with beds galore, and very homey. A friend of mine said it would make a great "hippie fall out shelter" because of the seemingly unlimited amount of space..... :-D

All of our time in Wisconsin was SO cherished because we spent time with a very dear friend who we had not seet in four years......I realized that is way too freggin' long to be without each other........

Hanging out with old friends is such an amazing feeling because you pick up right where you left off.

It was SO uplifting and I promised myself never too let that much time come between us again.....

06/20/09 Alpine Valley Music Theatre - East Troy, WI

1: Punch You in the Eye, Runaway Jim, Stash, Ya Mar, Bathtub Gin, Kill Devil Falls, Train Song, Farmhouse, Sparkle, Run Like An Antelope

2: Waves > Sample In A Jar, Maze, Makisupa Policeman > Ghost -> The Lizards, You Enjoy Myself* -> NICU > Prince Caspian -> Waste > Fire

E: Character Zero

My fav's of the night incluses Ya Mar (shout outs and mad love Ashley and Too-La), Sample in a jar, Ghost (I love you Becca!), Lizards, Waste (my sweet Mig), and Prince Caspian.

we had to go for a dip in the cool WI lake to cool off, though the "hot" weather there was a far cry from the southern heat in full swing now

"Let's do dis!!!"

Miguel caught my off gaurd here making pretty eyes at him early in the morning

This pic was bitter sweet....the last night of our "tour".....but geez I love these people!

This night Miguel, our old friend Cliff, and I broke away from our crew to get nice and close to the stage.....well not that close, but closer! We had ample dancin' grass that was flat enough so that you didn't twist you ankle. haha!

The show started with the band's children coming on stage in tribute to Father's Day.....I happily sent my Papa a text messge wishin' him a happy day. It was truely touching. Wolfman's brother was really fun, but Avenu Malkenu was freakin awesome! Trey was so funny when he sang in "just called my probation officer". That's right buddy! Keep your nose clean! ;-)

The second set really did it for me.Down with Disease, Velvet Sea (more mad love to Becca!), Reggae Woman (hooolllaa!), and Slave to the Traffic light.

06/21/09 Alpine Valley Music Theatre - East Troy, WI

1: Brother*, Wolfman's Brother, Funky Bitch** > The Divided Sky, Joy, Back On The Train, Taste, Poor Heart, The Horse > Silent in the Morning, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday > Avenu Malkenu The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday^^, Time Turns Elastic

2: Crosseyed and Painless*** > Down With Disease > Bug > Piper^ -> Wading In The Velvet Sea, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Slave To The Traffic Light

E: Grind, Frankenstein^&^

The encore got crazy! You could feel the happy sadness of the crowd wanting more.....The end of the first leg of summer tour was an amazing ride.......For Frankenstein Trey busted out a 5-neck guitar and Page's cute lil self busted out a vintage keytar he scored from a vintage instrument store in my hometown St.Louis.

here's a carppy pic from the screen, but yo uget the idea

Miguel and I capped off our trip with an evening in Carbondale, Illinois. We hit up a favorite Pizza Place (holla Quatros) and bar (Yeah Tres Homebres). We even walked around our old campus.....More memories flooded my mind.

Miguel in front of his first Dorm....awwwww

The young woman I was and who I have become. It was really humbling to get back to the woods where Mike and I first began our jourey together.

awww

deep in thought on Thompson Lake

All in all, I couldn't be any more grateful for my safe and gratifying vacation experience. My heart and soul needed the freedom of the open road, if only for a lil while. My creativty is bursting my mind as I type this........

Thanks for reading about my trips and I hope that you find yourself on a journey soon!

so much love,

B

Big Thanks to Phish.net for setlists.....

My Summer Musical Adventures--- PaRt OnE

Hey Everyone!

I just wanted to let all my love-ies out there that I am back safe and sound at my homestead for the summer. Ha, I'm home at least for now.....I wish so badly that I could go see more shows. Darn responsibilities! How cumbersome can it get?!

Grab a cup of something tastey and enjoy reading about my travels.

My lil three day run of Phish was so amazing and beautiful. I reconnected with tons of friends and soaked of the cool northerly winds.

Let's talk about Bonnaroo first.

My volunteer experience at Bonnaroo in Manchester, TN was really great. Although checking in took what seemed like ForEvEr and we had to share a car in with our friend because we were not issued a parking pass (it was actually pretty much a nightmare, but I'm tryn' to be postive).

I refused to let those minor glitchs ruin my festival phun. Our volunteer duties consisted of getting cars checked into the grounds. It was as if we were the greeters of the festival. I loved chattin' people up and asking where they were from and what bands they were going to see. One pretty cool thing about volunteering was that we received meal tokens for each shift we works. There were TONS of vegetarian and not food vendors to choose from.

meal token

Our campsite was about a mile from Centeroo, but I didn't care. We were at a cul-de-sac of the campgrounds and had quiet neighbors. I love primitive camping, especially cookin' dinner for all my homies. I could camp all time if I had too. Though in all honesty and truth I need power because it's a necessary componant to sew, serge, iron, and communicate with all my clients.

view from campsite

rockin the Potomac -Nanner fusion

Miguel and I jam packed our schedules so that we were cutting concerts in half to see more music. We seriously danced until our legs were sore.

I was really impressed with the amenities that were becoming permanent sctructures within the festival grounds, especially the wells in Centeroo to refill your water vessels with. We also learned that all food vendors were required to use compostable cups, plate, and cutlery.

wells with faucets all the way around

recycle, compost,landfill

One thing to keep in mind about this festival is that it was scorching HOT. I was reapplying sunscreen like it was my job. They reccommended drinking a gallon of water minimum per person everyday. Though I can say that the heat let up at night so that you could get a good night's rest. I don't know about everyone else, but I need sleep especially after/before a day of groovin'.

Overall, I was stoked to rock out for TwO different nights of Phish while engulfed by even more music.

David Byrne was another amzing experience I had to keep pinching myself through. He is such a genious!! If you ever get the chance to see him live DO IT! Everything from the clothing to lights to dance moves is meticuously planned. It's really a great time.

encore de ballet tutus

I enjoyed Friday Phish alot. A few songs that I particularly enjoyed include The Divided Sky, Stash, Golgi Apparatus, Wading in the Velvet Sea, and let's not forget You Enjoy Myself into Wilson and back to YEM. It was creamy all around.

The weather {At NiGhT} was nice and cool and OpTiMum for gettin' down.

here I am rockin' my rookie hoop skillz.....those mamas behind me were AWESOME!

Saturday was bluegrass-o-rific for us. This is when the most concert boucing occured; all that music is overwhelming and amazing at the same time. Del McCoury was super enjoyable, especially their sweet guest appearances by the ever famous David Grisman and Jon Fishman.

David Grisman, Del McCoury Band, and Jon Fishman

I enjoyed Erika Badu's preformance, but more importantly the late night Nine Inch Nails was so pulsating and invigorating. I had never seen them live before and I realized what I was missing. Hopefully there will be some more U.S. shows in the near furture.

the happy couple kickin' it at the pagoda

Sunday was fun, too. I mean how can there ever be a bad day of a music festival?! It was not nearly as crowded because it was the last day of the events. We relaxed at the Sonic Stage, which entail 45 minute one set concerts. An artist I was excited to discover was Ben Solle, he has a really unique cello style that makes me wanna stitch something up. :P

my friend ashton and i rockin agreenbanana goodness

sunset while hustling back for dinner before phish

Sunday night's Phish show was phun. Bathtub Gin was especially dancy for me. Silent in the Morning rocked my soul while 'Antelope' bounced through my spirit.

It got kinda weird for us though when Burce Springsteen came out for a few songs.....I know that he's Trey's hero, but Bruce doesn't really do it for me. We didn't even go see him (Bruce/a.k.a. The Boss) while were were at the festival. We actually spent a few hours picking up/out recycleables from campsites. They had this grear trading post where you could redeem points collected per bag of recycling. The crowd really enjoyed it, but I took a snack break. :p

Phish finished up with a fun Suzy Greenburg (sometimes I feel way to much like that lil mama) and Tweezer Reprise.

classic and necessary shot

I wasn't too sad that the festival was over because I knew I had alot more miles to travel, friends to see, and Phish concerts to rock to.

I have some good friends volunteering at Rothbury next week who volunteered with us. I am super interested to see how things compare.

All in all I can say that will DEFINETLY volunteer again for any festival.

hugs!

B

"When I think about you, I sew for myself"

Haha I couldn't resist!

 When I think about a festival(in this case Bonnaroo), I think about the chance to show off my skillz and network with other crafty mamas........ I try to gather all my favorite creations and make a few new ones to RePrEsEnT!!!!

 

I created and altered a few outfits for lil ol' me......

The first is a collaboration between my girl Justine and I......She custom made me a batik patch with "Lettuce Head" (yay for vegetarians!)  on some her her KILLER green  hand dyed fabric

I believe it's hemp, feel free to comment the correct fibers J-Bean.................

I've been on a mini skirt kick lately because the blazing Alabama heat is settling in around here. I paired the aformentioned fabric with some polyester stretchy dark green fabric.....stretchy fabrics are a must in mini skirts for maximum dancibility.  :) The pocket consists of the batik patch. I can wear it to the front or back depending on what I feel like......

The next creation is a remix of an old creation.  I took apart one of the first apron tops I made YeArs ago and made it SO much better......I had a pretty purple top that would never look right on me, so I salvaged the fabric........ The bodice design was inspired by Elyse of Elyse orginals and my fellow Gypsy Road member Cory........It features pleats under and across the bust for lots of support and style. 

The "skirt" of the shirt was actually the entire previous shirt.....I just flipped it and did some tiny pleats under the bust. I also added a velcro pocket with a scrap of some adorable Holly Hobbie fabric.

Lastly, I resized and lowered the waist of some shorts that were a kick down from an old friend. I wore them around the house and the flowly rayon fabric was really comfortable, but they looked like Mom Jeans. Ha!

I added a fresh elastic waist, a hip pocket on either side and cuffs at the hem......The best part about these pants are the 9 stars I appliqued to the back leg. There was a stain and I decieded to get funky with covering it up. It turned out so cute, right?

I want to make a few more things, but we will have to see if time allows.

Much love to you all,

Banana