THE STAVES.

This past we week we paid a visit to City Varieties to see The Staves on their new tour. The venue is just beautiful and I'd been looking forward to going inside again.  This was the first time I'd seen the Staves live and in the words on my brother in law, they have the voices of angels, ha. It's true though, they sounded even better live and those harmonies are something else. Check out the little video below. 

We happened to book tickets for the same night as my parents, not sure if it makes me old or my parents cool but the evening was rounded up by late night coffee and a much too brief catch up.

Looking forward to listening to the new album a bit more!

Xx

The Staves. from indiacarolinajoy on Vimeo.

TAYLOR.

Happy Friday and Happy Valentines!
Posts these days are a bit few and far between and this is not a post about Valentines at all but whatever you do today, love a little bit more because there is no reason at all not to.

Anyway...at the start of this month I popped down to London again to see Taylor Swift on her RED tour! I had talked with two of my younger sisters and my (nearly) brother in law about going for a long time. We went back and forth about whether it was worth it but we bit the bullet and got tickets last minute! I'm really glad we did because it was so much fun, just like a 2hour sing-a-long and dance party with 15, 000 people. Also sister time is some of the best time. I took a lot of photos but here are a few of my favourites.

THAT'S RIGHT, WE WENT FOR IT. TSHIRTS AND ALL. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN RUDE NOT TO.

 WAITING PATIENTLY FROM VERY HIGH UP...

SO MANY PEOPLE AND SO MANY LIGHTS!!

 THE LADY HERSELF

 SINGING WITH ED

 SUPER HAPPY AND EXCITED!

 LOVING THE LIGHTS SO MUCH...

 ...AND THE SETS AND COSTUMES

 THANKS FOR SUCH A FUN TIME TAYLOR!

COULDN'T RESIST INCLUDING THE CUTEST CAT EARS.

Managed to tick another one off my list with this trip, bonus! Have a great weekend again, seriously these weeks seem to be flying by.

x

AUTUMN.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I love autumn and it has definitely arrived!

My very talented big sister blogged some gorgeous photos recently of the changing trees and it just reminded me of how every year I am blown away by how beautiful this season is. It never gets old. 

Seeing as I haven't had the chance so far to do or document any autumnal things yet this year I decided to have a look back at some of my old photos from the last few years...

Just a few things that I'm looking forward to,

Watching films whilst snuggled up inside. You've Got Mail and Dan in Real Life are my go to.
Cooking pies, soups, bread.
Wearing layers. Jumpers and boots. Weirdly there hasn't been that chill in the air yet and I miss it.
Going outside to enjoy the colours in the trees and the sky.
Listening to live music. It seems to happen about this time each year.Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit in a week! 
Traveling to visit friends around the country.
Celebrating bonfire night and the anticipation for Christmas!
x

SUMMER?

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately talking about the end of summer but I don't quite feel like that. Despite the fact that these past few months we have had more sun than England has seen in a long time, for me it feels like summer has not quite hit yet. "Summer" still feels inextricably tied to the six-week break at the end of the school year. This means that although I started to enjoy summer since as long ago as May by experiencing it alongside other people who had actually finished for the "summer", grabbing days or evenings to take time out as the days got longer, I haven't been able to fully embrace it. A part of me has been waiting for my break to properly welcome summer.

In two days time I will be finished. The end of three years . The first "summer" in a long time when there will be no essay, exam or placement lurking in the distance. This next month will be filled with exploring, food, family, friends, sun (hopefully) and lots of not-doing-too-much.
Bring. It. On. 

I will be so happy when autumn arrives. It's my favourite season. It always signifies change and a whole will be changing come autumn which is exciting....but I am more than happy to squeeze some adventures in before it does. Especially in the spirit of living life today.

One thing I am extra excited about is travelling around Italy for two weeks. 
Here is a playlist to accompany my "summer". Quite a random selection, some old favourites, some new, low-key-chilled-out mixed with anticipation and excitement. This pretty much sums it up.

GENTLEMAN OF THE ROAD

In the last two years I have seen nearly every musician on my list to see!  Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to spend a weekend in Lewes with some of my favourite people seeing some of the best bands in the world, including the last few on my list. Originally I booked to camp for the weekend with my lovely friend Jeni but in the end three of my sisters, my brother in law, and Jeni's sister booked to come along.

It was SO much fun and I made a little video of the weekend. 

I apologise for the poor video quality (I don't have the best camera) and the amateur editing skills. Hopefully it's not too bad for a first attempt.