Nico Vega

So most people who've known me for more than three seconds know that I like to go to shows and that I have made it my life's mission to find out about new bands every single day (which, for the most part I accomplish with little effort). One such band I found sometime last year, and Faith and I had the pleasure of seeing live at Emo's last Saturday was Nico Vega. Now I've been to a LOT of shows in my life and seen a lot of really incredible bands, but it has been a long time since I've had my face rocked off as hard as I did while standing on the front row of a Nico Vega set. This three-piece, L.A.-based, female-fronted power house plays a unique style of rock that is a bit hard to describe. I definitely haven't heard anyone else doing quite what they do, but I guess if you put Sleater-Kinney, Joan Jett, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Janis Joplin, and a splash of Tina Turner all in a blender it'd come close to describing this genre-defining group. Front woman, Aja Volkman can bring her voice from a gentle whisper to a full-out rock snarl like she was born for it. Drummer, Dan Epand beats his skins like he literally wants to kill something. And guitarist, Rich Koehler has a set-up so complex he actually plays through three different amps at once to achieve their distinctive sound. Their lyrics, though occasionally leaning slightly toward the unwholesome, are nonetheless centered around love and a passion for social justice. And from a performance standpoint these three put on a show that should never be missed. It was unquestionably an experience that I will never forget.

Black Friday Cardi, and my dear little helpers

I've finished the Black Friday cardi!






I'm very happy with the way it turned out. It's always nice when something fits well after all of the hours it takes to complete it.

Elijah would have gotten the credit for these pictures -- I set the camera up on the tripod, and was going to have him push the trigger button. However, he was very distressed when he realized that his paper airplane was not going to be featured in the shots (long story, and it won't make much sense if I explained it), so he was having some stormy moments. Thank God for the timer setting. Oh dear.

Apparently, they also used the camera themselves while I was inside putting my sweater on.















Elijah's been sick for the past two days with puke, etc., so he's been home instead of going to school. I've tried to make our days as gentle and nurturing as possible to help speed his recovery, and we've enjoyed many books, videos and cuddles together. There have also been some manic moments, but that's to be expected.

He did manage to take this picture of a hat that I just finished.



The jury's still out on whether I should actually wear it or not, but the important thing is that it's warm and soft.



And in a hat, that's probably what really matters, after all.

Where I've been...

Three things have kept me from blogging as of late.

#1) I have finally joined a gym and have been working out there on the weekday mornings after dropping the boys off at school. (I'm not going to put a hard number on the amount of baby-weight I need to drop, but believe me, there is some serious Firming Up that needs to happen over here. My jeans hold it all in and smooth it all out, but I'm tired of the illusions. I'm living a lie.)

#2) Someone has decided that he no longer needs his afternoon nap.



I beg to differ.

#3) I just can't seem to put my Black Friday down.


Girl Friday sweater. Knitting 2 sleeves at a time, nearly complete with sleeve-cap shaping.

I'm so close, I can smell it. Or see it. Whichever. I've wanted a black sweater for so long now, I am terribly impatient to see this one done!

So if I've seemed absent lately, now you know why. I'll be back though.