The photos below are three of my favorites from my trip to Tennessee earlier this month. I miss the hills and the fields and my cousins.

My very lovely friend Jessica has a blog called 'onetwothreepeaceful' and she's always doing something nifty. So you should check that out. I plan on making the turban headband happen soon because my pixie is starting to grow out all funny in the back and no one likes a mullet. Especially when it's on your own head. 

I still have so many pictures of Tennessee that i haven't posted and i've even begun work on all the video i took during that week. So exciting things coming up soon. I'm shipping my camera off for repairs tomorrow and they tell me it'll be 7 to 10 days. Praying it makes it safely there and back again. I felt a bit sad wrapping it up... i'm sure the folks that open it up will laugh over the amount of 'sealed air' and bubble wrap i packed in the box. 

Just thought i'd say 'hey' and give a mini update. Things are good in my life busy and dull all at the same time which means it's pretty normal. I'm praying for a restlessly content spirit. Make sense? Life is beautiful and there's so much of it to be lived and my Father is faithful.

Xx christine

I rise as the sun goes down
and I pray my true love and I 

find a way to each other soon or never

music, shmusic.

For the last couple days i've been checking out upcoming releases and nothing has me pumped. (now if there's something i missed that you're stoked about... by all means share, because i want to know about it.) i've made the decision to talk about bluegrass music; specifically Punch Brothers.

I've always been a fan of bluegrass and folksie types of music. One of my first musical influences was country music... 90's country radio is all wrapped up in my childhood. As i grew up bluegrass music has been a more comfortable place for me. (due largely to how much country music has become more like pop music than anything else.) Bluegrass and folk are two genres that have some of the most authentic and natural music i've ever heard. I love string instruments and i really love watching people play the banjo or mandelin or violin; heck i love an upright bass. [: No, but really... it's my favorite type of music to watch people play... there are people in this world that own their instruments and i've always felt like Chris Thile is one of those people.


So Chris Thile... what a guy. [: he has been a favorite of mine since Nickel Creek. If you don't know Nickel Creek i'm sad to say they are no longer a band, but do yourself a favor and look them up on spotify or get their stuff on itunes. Chris along with Sean and Sara Watkins were Nickel Creek and they released some of the best harmonies i've ever heard. A part of my heart died the day they announced the end. But i'm getting off topic... Chris Thile is an incredible mandelin player, singer, songwriter... he's the whole package. He can make his instrument speak... if that makes sense? He also has one of my favorite voices... the man basically makes me week in the knees. [:
He released a few solo-ish things after Nickel Creek, but in 2008 he formed Punch Brothers and they became official consisting of members Chris Thile, Paul Kowert, Chris Eldridge, Noam Pikelny, and Gabe Witcher. I'm fairly new to these guys... their newest release is titled, 'Who's Feeling Young Now?' It's their third release since 2008 when they released Punch; that was followed up with 'Antifogmatic' in 2010. These two I have not given a solid listen to so i can't tell you much about them, but 'Who's Feeling Young Now?' is very good... i can tell you that. [: It's been out for about a month and a half, so i'm late on this one; oh well.

The first track on 'Young' is called, 'Movement and Location' and it's basically a showcase of each members strengths. The track starts out fast and it builds anticipation by dropping off and speeding back up till midway through it reaches a peak and Chris Thile's voice soars hitting some high notes that are just so lovely. it feels a bit like a roller coaster or a horror movie. (or it might be nothing like that.) 'Sooner or Never' and 'New York City' are two of my other favorites, and 'This Girl' makes me feel so happy. It has a catchy melody and i couldn't help but dance a bit and sing along. The whole album this great... these are just four tracks that just stuck out to me while i was listening to the album. 

If you don't like bluegrass you won't like this band... so this tunes-day is not for you. but please give it a chance (just one listen through), because they are coming to Antone's in Austin on the 2nd of May and it's probably going to be an incredible show. So if you're in the area buy a ticket, i plan on it.

"New York City" (Live at WFUV)

Those are my thoughts on 'Who's Feeling Young Now?' and Chris Thile. This is the type of music that one day i will be proud to play for my kids or my grandkids. Which is why i plan on getting a copy on vinyl. In my opinion this is the kind of music that will last. 




Also... Sigur Rós released a brand new track yesterday from their upcoming album, 'Valtari'. It is set to drop on the 28th of May. The song is called, Ekki múkk' and if you don't like this either then... oops. My big sis has never been a fan of these guys, she says she doesn't understand the point. It's pretty music... that's the point. So if you'd like to check out the track, it is here below this sentence; let me know what you think.

Sigur Rós - Ekki múkk from Sigur Rós on Vimeo.

what are YOU listening to today? (i'm going to keep asking this until someone answers me.)

Xx christine

this growing old is getting old
i often find myself here thinking
about the birds, the boats, and past loves that flew away or started sinking
and it’s crazy here without you
i used to think this all was ours
we’d stay up late, debate on how we’d find our way
you say, "it’s all up in the stars"

oh, and you

you’re always holding on to stars

stars by fun.

took this while driving through Memphis on my trip.

i've had those lyrics by fun. stuck in my head all day. so i thought i'd share.

not much to say other than that... i'm going to see the hunger games tonight at midnight. my co-workers all think i'm crazy because i have to be at work at 7am tomorrow. but i'm only 22 once. i feel like i should be a little crazy while i can. i've been geeking out about this movie for months... so it's going to be awesome.

if you haven't read the books i highly recommend them. i read all three in like a week and a half. i could not put them down. 

Xx christine

music, shmusic.

gosh, tuesday comes around fast... hello again. tunes-day is here!



well i stumbled upon this recently and was pleasantly surprised. Jasmine Van den Bogaerde is a fifteen year old English musician (goes by the stage name, 'Birdy') and her cover of '1901' by phoenix is so lovely and it's nearly unrecognizable. i have so much respect for an artist that can take a song (and one that's fairly well known) and create something completely different; something so uniquely their own. so check out this cover... 

(also... i love the blonde's hair; serious case of hair jealousy right now.)

she got recognition from a record label because of of the videos she'd posted on youtube and things took off from there. she ended up covering 'Skinny Love' by Bon Iver which gained her crazy attention from Radio One in the UK. she then released her cover of 'Skinny Love' as her debut single and made it onto the top 20 charts. her voice is so strong and soulful and i'm a fan. watching the videos and listening to her piano arrangements the word that kept coming to mind was 'haunting' and i think that suites her well; beautifully haunting. i cry easily so this may not mean much to anyone, but this brought tears to my eyes...

her debut self-titled album releases today. iTunes has a deluxe version of the album with a few bonus tracks on it to add to the basic eleven track release. iTunes is also giving away a free song 'Without a Word' so check that out cause it's free. i'll definitely be checking this out on Spotify and most likely picking up the album. both covers i posted above will be on the album along with nine others.

01. “1901″

02. “Skinny Love”

03. “People Help the People”

04. “White Winter Hymnal”

05. “District Sleeps Alone Tonight”

06. “I’ll Never Forget You”

07. “Young Blood”

08. “Shelter”

09. “Fire & Rain”

10. “Without A Word”

11. “Terrible Love”

and here's just a few other albums dropping today:

• The Hunger Games OST - hate all you want i love the Hunger Games and i already love this soundtrack. have you seen the artists contributing to this soundtrack? superb! Birdy contributed a song, Death Cab, The Civil Wars, The Decemberists, Arcade Fire and even a little Taylor Swift. 
• Port of Morrow by The Shins
• A Church That Fits Our Needs by Lost in the Trees

what are YOU listening to today?

Xx christine

cup o' joe.

it's monday! and it's back to reality for me... coming off a vacation is the worst, right? since it's monday and  we all need a pick me up i thought i'd share about one of my favorite daily pick me ups: coffee!


last week on my trip it hit me that in tennessee they have Dunkin' Donuts. it then struck me that my cousin, (whom was one of the reasons i was driving around 1,000 miles north crammed in a car with 4 of family members), totally works at a Dunkin' Donuts. pretty sure i yelled and squealed for a solid 10 minutes. (my sisters were not pleased with the volume of my squeal.) he supplied us with coffee and came home from work one night with left over dounts from the day; 2 whole dozens! 


now, i love coffee... i love crappy coffee, good coffee, slightly watered down coffee. i'm not much of a coffee snob, if i can get it i'll take it. well all except burnt coffee... that i will not take, i learned that yesterday morning on our final stretch home. so boo-hoo on the mcdonalds that poured my coffee yesterday, you suck.
i love Dunkin' Donuts for their iced coffee... i could take that stuff in a drip, but unfortunately for me Dunkins hasn't made it's way this far south. i think most people (especially those with a DD on every corner) might think it silly to have so much love for such a place, but it's mostly wrapped in nostalgia for me. in my early double digits age i can remember spending the night at my best friends house and her mom (who i remember always having a cup of coffee within arms reach) would take us down to the DD in my hometown and buy herself a cup of coffee and a donut for each of us. i remember that so fondly... i can still see the route we'd take, the smell of her car, and how groggy i felt on those saturday mornings. but i'd have woken up at 5am for that donut, the hardest part about those trips was picking which donut i wanted. [: at the time coffee wasn't anything i cared about, and now that i live so far from a DD it's like gold! fortunately i can buy the grounds at target or my local grocery store, so that's what i brew at home. maybe one day soon i'll have a DD around the corner.
i also love Stabucks (aka starbees, starbux, the bucks?) with my whole entire heart... over priced? maybe... but i'll gladly pay for the atmosphere, i love grabbing a good book or my mac and sitting for a couple hours. i like to pretend i live in boston, or new york city and its cold. i pretend i actually need the scarf wrapped around my neck while i sip on a hot latte. (this works sometimes, only until another person walks through the doors and i get a gust of hot texas air and dreams shatter.) i love making friends with the baristas... it seems silly, but chatting and smiling is the least i can do when their supplying me with my favorite beverage that 'keeps me alive'. i even have my favorite drinks i order according to the season:

in the fall: caramel apple spice
the winter: peppermint mocha or peppermint vanilla latte (the second is my newest favorite!)
the summer: iced vanilla latte or (for really hot days) sweet passion tea lemonade  


i try not to order them outside of their seasons because then they lose their magic. 


oh and the cups! the christmas cups are magical! i adore the christmas cups... i try and collect as many as i can before the seasons over. i get so giddy over these cups it's ridiculous, but it's one of my favorite things about the christmas season.
this year they had valentines cups as well and i made a whole big deal when i saw them; the barista probably thought i was nuts-o. it's the littlest things, ya know? [:


are you a coffee drinker? what's your favorite things to order at starbucks or dunkins? do you have a favorite local coffee joint? 


hope your monday is going well, enjoy your coffee. [:


Xx christine

me with my Dunkin's, 

my favorite green lady.

somewhere in between greeneville and home.

my trip was great and my family is great.

tennessee is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful parts of this country. especially out in east tennessee where my aunt, uncle and cousins live. i took so many pictures and had a couple mis-haps. specifically losing a ring i got as a gift for my high school graduation and cracking the LCD monitor on my T3i. i definitely choked back some tears when i pulled my camera from my bag only to see it looking so so sad. i did purchase a warranty plan with the camera, so i'm praying/hoping that it will be easily fixed; for now it's just painful to look at.

i'm miserably clumsy and it was on display this week.

other than that i had a great time, took so many pictures and video too. i had some time during the week to work through some of the photos so i'll post a few below. 

tonight i'm here staying in a hotel in a town a bit outside of little rock, arkansas and i'm ready to sleep and get ready for our nine hour drive tomorrow to abilene.
as i said in my previous post 'Anarchy, My Dear' by Say Anything came out tuesday (tunes-day), but i didn't get a chance to pick it up that day. so earlier i stopped by a best buy near our hotel to pick up; stoked to listen this album over and over again during the drive home. 

i've got a bunch of thoughts and ideas rolling around in my head; hopefully those things will produce something worth sharing. for now i'll leave you with a few photos from our drive up to greeneville last weekend.

Xx christine

mum and sisters

my mum

i think i would love to live in nashville one day.

music, shmusic.

i feel like i should have prefaced my first 'tunes-day' post with a little more description of what i want this little thing to be... so i'll do that now.
like i said before i love music, and i love discussing music with people... if you've known me for any length of time i'm sure i've asked you, "so what have you been listening to lately?" the music world is somewhere i feel comfortable in as far as artists, bands, band members, album releases, who's who... things like that.
so it seems only natural to write about all of this. i'm not a music expert and i've never been that great of a writer so if you don't understand my descriptions it's probably because i'm awful at describing what i'm trying to say. [: anyway... if you have any thoughts on any of the music i talk about feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments. again... hearing how other people are affected by music is one of my favorite things.

i chose tuesday because albums come out on tuesday, but i'll be posting on more than just album releases. cause this is my blog and i'm sure they'll be some tuesdays where there won't be any albums that i'm particularly super excited about.

i'm not sure if all of that was necessary, but i said it. [: anyway...

Anarchy, My Dear by Say Anything

OUT TODAY: my favorite thing about Say Anything is the songwriting. Max Bemis writes in such an honest way. there is a depth to his songs that keeps me coming back. i've had moments where a song that i've heard a million times will hit me in a brand new way and i will fall in love with it for a whole new reason. plus bous: for those moments i feel like that hardcore punk that i've always wished i was, but will never be. [;


i've listened through this album three times so far and i'm stoked to get this one on my ipod and jam it. it's got a good amount of anger (for all of the punks in us.) that helps to keep the sweet words for his wife Sherri from being too cheesy. [:
Sherri Dupree (of Eisley) leds her voice for two of the tracks on the album and their voices mix so well. my favorite track, (so far anyway... like i said before these are the types of songs that hit me differently over time), is one that Sherri is on called, 'Overbiter'. it has a fun beat, driven by a strong presence on keys... i found myself tapping along on my desk. the title track, 'Anarchy, My Dear' is another track that stuck out to me, as well as 'Sheep'. 
my thoughts so far are mostly based on how the sound of the music is hitting my ears... i haven't taken the time just yet to read through and dissect the lyrics, but i know i won't be disappointed.
Say Anything's last self-titled effort was less gritty than the albums before it and i think with this newest release, 'Anarchy, My Dear' they've returned to that gritty-ness without backtracking on themselves or creating the same album over again. i give this album a solid high five (whatever that's worth), and if you're not keen on buying it just based on this vague/crappy review head over to here and take a listen. it's free to stream and it's definitely worth at least that much. 


best buy's got the album on sale today for $7.99 so that's cool.


this post is a little short (probably set the expectations a little high with the last post; i got a little excited), but since i'm in tennessee right now i didn't have as much time. 


i hope you guys are well. what have you been listening to lately? any albums come out today that you're stoked about? let me know!


Xx christine

we made it to tennessee last night around 8. we drove all the way here without seeing much for traffic and no accidents until we were about 45 minutes from my aunt and uncle's house and then we sat in traffic for almost two hours because of an accident AND construction! we ended up finding an alternate route; it took us another hour, but it was through the 'country roads' and it was beautiful!

happy monday! i hope you have a great start to your week!

Xx christine

my mum and me.

arakansas literature at the tourist information center; some stuff was a bit outdated.

CRACKER BARREL. this is an essential stop on any road trip my family and i take.

hotel life.

i drink tea pretty much every night.

sunrise in memphis

we don't have any of these in san antonio, so we saw this and screamed a little (or maybe i screamed a lot).
 makes me miss my home back in new england.

best iced coffee ever.

grand ole opry!

grand ole opry!

from the road...

first, thank you so much for reading... i dont know how many regular readers i have, but even if there are just a few of you, thanks for checking in. these little ramlbings haved helped me in channeling my creativity and its so lovely to know that there a few of you out there that enjoy this blog. so thank you.

second, im typing this on my phone from the road. my mum and three of my sisters are headed north to tennessee to visit family. my big sis came up with the idea a while back and im so happy she did. we're headed to dallas now to pick her up and tomorrow we'll start the longer part of the trip. im so excited to take pictures and enjoy the week off of work. ive brought along three of my cameras and im stoked about all the photography potential. im a twitter addict, as well as a camera phone photography junkie. ill be posting a ton so find me on twitter; @christineetoc. say hi!

what are your spring break plans? anything exciting? please share! (:

Xx christine

because i love music so much and this is my blog i have decided to do a weekly music blurb. i love talking about music, listening to music, experiencing music, singing music; basically anything to do with music i love. so every tuesday will be 'tunes-day'... get it? cute, right? [;

I've loved Eisley for years and they are at the top of my list of favorite bands. The entire Dupree family is just so ridiculously talented and they were the ones back in my early teens to push me beyond my 'christian rock' phase into the huge world of indie/alternative music. So when word got out that Stacy, one of Eisely's lead singers, was working on solo stuff i was pretty jazzed to say the least. 

Now Sucré has become my newest music obsession. Stacy King (of Eisley), her husand Darren King (of MUTEMATH) and Jeremy Larson are the creative minds behind Sucré. The first single from the album, 'A Minor Bird' is titled, 'When We Were Young' and i cannot get this song out of my head... from Stacy's dreamy vocals to the catchy drum beat that matches perfectly with all the string instruments; the song has a feeling of 'lightness' and it's wonderfully bright.
The video for the song was released yesterday and i've watched it about ten times just yesterday afternoon (the number is climbing); it's a perfect match to the song. After watching it all i wanted to do was spin and twirl and wear dresses everyday. Spinner did the the song premiere a little over a month ago and they described the track as "dreamlike pop", which i think sums it up well. Sprinner also did the premiere for the video and i've posted it below. (love to see music sites like Spinner backing new music like this!) The debut album is set to drop April 10th with pre-orders being available sometime this week. I'm stoked over this album (obviously) and it's my most anticipated album of 2012. The single is available on iTunes now and check out the video below.

Now onto an album that's less anticipated and more "BUY IT NOW!"

Good Old War is a band that i have known about for a while now; one of those that's been in the back of mind to take a solid listen to, but still hadn't taken the time.
Last week I saw a bunch of re-tweets about their new album 'Come Back As Rain' streaming on their website (which i've linked above), so i decided it was time to take that listen i'd been meaning to have for so long; totally worth it! it's really all i've been listening to since then. The new albums is out today and it's really great. It's got a cool indie-folk vibe that i feel like is pretty popular right now, but they back it with a little more pop and i love the unique vocals. I went ahead and did the pre-order for the vinyl and i can't wait to put that record on. [: It's available today at all the typical places, iTunes, Amazon and also Best Buy. Go pick it up!

One more really quick quick! Two more Dupree's released music today. Bro and sis Collin and Christie make up Merriment and their five track Ep is entitled, 'Through the Rough'. I saw Christie and Collin on Eisley's last tour and i've been stoked for this ever since hearing them play these songs live. Collin is great on guitar and Christie's voice is so pretty, just like her three sisters, but it's distinctly her own. Call me biased (because i am), but i love these tracks and can't help but push this on you. It's great and it's only $4.95 on iTunes or get it where ever you get your music. They will be on tour with Eisley this spring and you'll be able to pick up a physical copy at the merch table if that strikes your fancy better. 

that's it folks,

Xx christine

music, shmusic.

one of my daily activities is scrolling through absolute punk's seemingly endless music news. www.absolutepunk.net is high up on the list of my most visited websites and i really wouldn't be as in the loop without these guys and all their musical inside scoops. i've spent hours upon hours reading through write ups and album reviews. i've been through thread after thread of up to 200 pages or more of fellow music junkies chatting (sometimes arguing) over which album was the best or whether so&so's sophomore album will live up to the hype.
well thanks to these guys i heard about the video below. i can probably say that down the way by angus and julia stone is one of my all time favorite albums; how much weight that holds is debatable since i have a lot of "all time favorite albums". but for the sake of describing how much i love this bro/sis duo we will go with it... [: if you haven't listened to any of their stuff check it out; especially if it's a rainy day.

well angus, of angus and julia stone, is going to be releasing a solo effort in july of this year and i am pretty stoked. The song, 'broken brights', is set to the video of angus and his lady friend frolicking through some fields and it was shot on film in california. the man combined two of my favorite things, film and himself and it looks beautiful. so find about 4 minutes to spare and watch it. it's a super simple video but that's what makes it so great.

xx christine