things i love: southwest airlines.

so growing up in atlanta, you always fly delta. just like coke is all you know to drink, delta is all you know to fly. you have a drawer full of kiddie pilot wings and you get a skymiles number as soon as you're old enough to say "seat backs and tray tables".

but when i moved to nashville, i discovered a new airline, and literally, my flying-life was changed.
welcome to southwest airlines...welcome to the new way to fly. (it wasn't “ranked #1 friendliest airline” by time.com for nothin')

here are my top 5 reasons why i LUV southwest:
5. the flight attendants are funny! for example, i once heard: "your seat cushion may be used as a flotation device...or to hit your neighbor..." they just plain 'ol make flying f-u-n. (see video below)
4. no assigned seating. (and no 1st class) though the whole "checking-in-within-24-hours-of-your-flight" unique boarding process takes a little getting used to (yes, i was C40 on my first flight...) once you know how to work the system, it's like winning a game when you can get in boarding class A - and hence guarantee your window seat. (competitive person alert)
3. rapid rewards - easy to get, easy to cash in. more free flights = always a good thing.
2. DING fares! just set-up your city and once or twice a day you'll hear a little "DING!" on your computer alerting you of good deals. (this is how i flew to chicago for $35 one way and to seattle for $79 one way!)
1. bags fly FREE. yes, that's plural. up to two bags..FREE. can i get an "amen"?

oh - and did you make a mistake in your online booking and accidentally put june 28 instead of may 28? (i mean, i don't know who would do that...) don't worry about it - you can change it- no problem, no fees. and wait, the may flight is cheaper? alright - we'll credit your account the difference.

and don't even get me started on how much i LUV "the rapping flight attendant"....

tuesday tunes - erin mccarley

today's tune, erin mccarley, is inspired by tonight's event: a mocha club benefit show at lipscomb university with erin, andy davis, ben rector, trent dabbs, & amy stroup. (by the way, nashville friends - u better be coming! more info here.)

i've been a fan of erin's music for awhile. i mentioned her in my blog about the movie he's just not that into you - her song "love, save the empty" was featured in all the promos and at the end of the movie. she is a gifted singer/songwriter and i have worn out playing her debut album. she's also another 10 out of Tenn member. erin's in the studio recording some new stuff, but in the meantime, this is a great album to have. for a little preview, check out the acoustic versions of pitter-pat and lovesick mistake.


and here's the official video for "love save the empty" (filmed in paris!)...

tuesday tunes - dj earworm.

ok, so i have my wonderful friend lyndsay to thank for my newfound love of music mash-ups. she recently introduced me to dj earworm-- specificially his united state of pop mash-ups!!

(random side note -- he wrote a book on how to do it, just in case you want to teach yourself.)

but dj earworm also has some other amazing songs -- like "heartless in a bottle" which masshes the fray's version of kanye's "heartless" with black eyed peas' "boom boom pow" and the police's "message in a bottle". or "if i were a free fallin' boy" which mashes beyonce's "if i were a boy" and tom petty's "free fallin".
but my favorite is definitely the 2008 united state of pop -- "viva la pop" -- mashing the top 25 hits from the year: (though 09's "blame it on the pop" is a close 2nd!)

arrington vineyards.

i love when the days get longer and warmer, because it means one of my favorite spots in nashville is open again for business. arrington vineyards, located just 25 minutes south of nashville, is an incredible little getaway & totally worth the drive. picture this: grassy fields scattered with picnic tables & swings hanging from the trees, a fire pit, and a view of the sun setting over the rolling hills. and on top of the hill rests a little house where you can do free wine tastings! the winery currently has 12 amazing wines you can taste/buy by the bottle (make sure you taste the raspberry dessert wine- paired with their special chocolate truffles from the cocoa tree!) you bring your own picnic, grab a few friends, and you have the ingredients for a guaranteed good time. there's even live music outside on the weekends.

we started making it a routine part of our weekends back in the summer of 08, and over the past 2 years the word has gotten out - we were there yesterday and they told us an average of 1500 people are there on saturdays now! wow.
here are some favorite arrington memories (so far)...

a summer picnic - may 2008

wine tasting w/ the girls - july 2008

katie's bday - (it was a weeknight...aka not crowded...aka we got creative) - june 2009

more wine tastings! julie & christine up to visit from GA - july 2009

first trip of the year! hanging around the fire pit - april 2010

craving clarity.

remember my 2010 manifesto? one of my "i will"s was to read & finish a book every month. not a you're-in-a-book-club-so-you-have-to but more of a this-book-is-exactly-what-you-need-this-month kinda thing. and...so far, so good. january it was madeleine l'engle's walking on water, february i read anne lamott's traveling mercies, and march i finished francis chan's crazy love. this month i've started brennan manning's ruthless trust. all of these are books that i bought used off of amazon on a whim, placed on my bookshelf, and waited to start when i felt an urge that it was time. and each one was exactly what i needed to read in that season...i love how the Holy Spirit guides us in that way.

and this month is no different. God is teaching me a ton on trust. so when i started reading this book, i just wanted to underline and highlight every sentence. i'm only one chapter in so far, and i want to keep screaming "yes!" and "amen!" on every point! here are some great points i wanted to share...

"craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God. fear of the unknown path stretching ahead of us destroys childlike trust in the Father's active goodness and unrestricted love." we (me) are so afraid of failure that we won't risk...if we really believed and trusted God's active goodness and unrestricted love, we would have no reason to fear or doubt.

"the way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future." God doesn't promise to give us certainty or clarity (though that is what i constantly crave) -- but He does offer us His presence and His promise.

manning says that a life of faith requires "a willingness to risk a journey into the unknown and a readiness to trust God even in the darkness." at the end of the chapter, he quotes henry nouwen, with a sentence that i want to repeat to myself every morning:


i think at the core of all of our fears & doubts is the feeling that we are alone and that we are out of control. but -- if we can believe that we are not alone -- that God is with us always (His PRESENCE)... and that He is in control -- and will always give us what we need (His PROMISE) then we can choose to trust.

tuesday tunes - joy williams.

joy williams is my east nashville neighbor (she literally lives 2 blocks from me!) and an amazing singer/ songwriter. joy signed a record deal at age 17 (she declined many at 14 to finish high school) and built a following in the CCM market with 3 records: her self-titled debut album joy williams (2001), by surprise (2002), and genesis (2005). she then left her label and management and started off in a new direction...
she and her husband, nate, started their own music group - sensibility music - under which joy released 3 EPs in 2009: one of those days, songs from this, and songs from that. joy was also a part of the last ten out of tenn crew.

{side note: in addition to her solo stuff, joy formed a little duo - the civil wars - with singer-songwriter john paul white -- but they deserve their own tuesday tune..so more to come on them later!}

and...last week, she released her newest EP, we mapped the world. there truly isn't a song on any of these EPs that i don't like, but here's one of my favorites, "charmed life".... (another fav is "speaking a dead language")

lubanga mari.

so my Gulu team started a little blog called lubanga mari, which means "God loves you" in Acholi.
check it out to meet my fellow teammates & to follow our journey the next 4 months! it will also be the place we update when we're actually on the ground in Africa in July.

things i love: etsy.

etsy (according to wikipedia) is a social commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items.. these items cover a wide range including art, photography, clothing, jewelry, edibles, bath & beauty products, quilts, nick-knacks and toys.
interesting fact: the average sale on etsy is about $15 or $20 and mostly sold by women, who tend to be college-educated & in their twenties and thirties.

etsy sellers set-up their virtual "shops" on the site....and here are some of my favorites:

• nancy's view - she uses sheet music in all of her mixed media paintings! i bought a few of nancy's paintings last year for my bedroom, including "blue bird":
  

and this is a recent one of hers i'm coveting- "city night song":

• popwall - (i mentioned this shop in my modern vintage post) super fun graphic wall art!

• studio mela - thanks to christine, i'm recently obsessed with these little positive prints!

...what are some of your favorite etsy shops?

tuesday tunes - jonsi.

if you don't know who sigur rós is, i am sorry.
1st -- you need to go listen to them here.

but this week, i'm focusing on their lead singer, jon thor birgisson -- nickname? jonsi.
because jonsi's solo album is releasing this week!!!

i was just thinking last week how i wanted some more sigur rós tunes...so i'm stoked for this. right now you can preview his album, go, on npr's website. he's gonna be doing a world tour, making a few stops in the US...unfortunately nowhere near nashville. (but check out the dates & see if he's coming near you!)

here's a trailer for the album:

and here's the video for the 1st song on the album, "go do":