By The Way

http://laylawest.tumblr.com/

I've been keeping a blog of my outfits...something to make me get a little more creative with my outfits when I get up in the morning, I suppose. Feel free to look around, although I've just started it so there isn't too much yet.

Music City Did Us Good.

I started this post probably about four different times throughout this past week...and I'm going to finish it for good tonight. Nashville was amazing. It was a lot smaller than I pictured, but it was filled with amazing music and good ol' southern hospitality.

This was in the lounge of our hotel the first night of our stay. While we were eating, a dance group of 40+ year olds came in and began twirling and spinning around the dance floor. They were so in to it! It was a crazy experience.

Our favorite band that we saw...Tom Buller and Just Plain Trouble. They were a quirky group of people who really knew their instruments inside and out. There were two guitarists, a bass player, fiddle player, drummer, and a lap steel guitarist...and almost all of them got their own solo each song. They played a lot of old country music..which is my favorite kind of country and joked around with the crowd. I would recommend to anyone going to Nashville that they catch this band at Layla's Bluegrass Inn...which is one of their usual venues. You won't be let down.

Some of the interesting things we found while shopping around.

This was on a really neat pedestrian bridge that allowed for you to see the skyline of Nashville...which is what is showcased in the picture below.

We were lucky enough to visit Third Man Records while we were in town. The place was super small, but jam packed with amazing finds. If you love Jack White or any of his numerous bands and projects, this is a place for you.

The Greenhornes newest record, ****, which we picked up at Third Man. (No, i'm not scared of curse words, the title is actually pronounced four stars.)

All of our goods from Third Man.

Judi and I both picked up some cowboy boots while we were there...it just felt right. She opted for a badass pair of black boots complete with steel toes and chains, while I fell in love with these red ones at first sight.

Our hotel had some really interesting artwork hung throughout. I decided to showcase my favorite ones.

It moved! There were three other of these.

Last, but not least, this was placed in the hotel lobby. I'm not exactly sure why it was there, but I liked it a lot nonetheless. It's a dress made completely out of pink crayons. Awesome, right?

Nashville, She, and Him are pretty cool.

We made it to Nashville! The snow was a little tricky to get through, but we made good time and are staying in a really neat hotel. :)

For those of you unaware, Dylan and I started a music project about 8 months ago..something that progressed into a full on duo/band, The Static Trees. By using our own equipment and a little inspiration, we've already been able to put out three full-length cds, with a fourth on

its way. We've been playing really any show that we can get, and we were lucky enough to land a showcase in Nashville, TN. We'll be playing in front of different booking agents and record company execs, so we're pretty excited to have gotten this gig! This is all happening on Monday, so I'll be sure to keep you posted. :) While we aren't expecting too much to come from this, we're guaranteed a good amount of feedback..and every little bit helps. Besides that, Dylan and I are both visiting Nashville for the first time, so we've got a lot of good music to hear, museums to see, and browsing to do. No matter what, I can assure you that this trip will be a good time.

I'll be posting photos when I return home, but until that time comes, I'll leave you with a link to an AMAZING performance by She and Him on Conan a few weeks ago. I knew they were good, but Zooey Deschanel blew me away! I'd post the video directly on here, but I'm not quite sure how to do that just yet. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td2UzGPSvmw

2011...what?

I can't believe it, but the new year has already come and gone! I celebrated New Years by going to Jer's apartment with Dylan and a bunch of our friends. It was Paige's birthday (she was the first baby born in Las Vegas on 1/1/91) so we decided to dress up extra special for the occasion.

We were lucky enough to have Right As Rain play before the ball dropped...this means that there was good music and dancing all throughout the evening. A bunch of people showed up during their set and I think they started off the evening perfectly.







Erica was home on break so she came along and made some awesome cupcakes. They had actual sparkles on them and I couldn't help but think that Barbie would be proud. :) Not only that, they were delicious!!



When the clock struck midnight, we were sipping champagne, watching the fireworks from Jer's rooftop. It was a perfect end to 2010 and a perfect begining to 2011 (and Paige's birthday). I can see good things on the horizon!