sandlercon2k16

Edit 1/19/16: I had bought tickets to Swardson and Friends at Largo the Monday after Sandlercon for Eloy's birthday. We decided to go because we love Nick Swardson, but mostly because we were hoping for an Adam Sandler drop in. Well, I am happy to say the Sandman himself DID drop in and did an incredibly funny, charming, and impressive hour of jokes and songs. It was surreal. I didn't think I could love him more than I already did, but what a downright lovable, talented, genuine, humble guy.

A quality I value most in friends and family is the ability to make lofty plans and follow through with them. 2016 started with the loftiest plan yet - to host a marathon of 20 Adam Sandler movies in a weekend.

This is Sandlercon.

collage by Eloy

While I was in North Carolina this holiday season, I was receiving texts from Eloy and my friends about an idea to host an Adam Sandler convention. We decided we would watch 20 of his movies in chronological order over the course of a weekend. Starting at 10 am on Saturday, January 16th, we would be watching 33 hours of Adam Sandler movies, wrapping up on the evening of Sunday, January 17th. (Yes, we know. There are more Adam Sandler movies. There are 12 more, in fact. 33 hours of Sandler was too much. 50+ hours would have been insanity.)

The finalized list was:

SATURDAY, 1/16

10:00 AM-11:30 AM Airheads

11:30 AM-1:00 PM Billy Madison

1:00 PM-2:30 PM Happy Gilmore

2:30 PM-4:00 PM The Wedding Singer

4:00 PM-5:30 PM The Waterboy

5:30 PM-7:00 PM Big Daddy

7:00 PM-8:30 PM Little Nicky

8:30 PM-10:00 PM Punch-Drunk Love

10:00 PM-11:30 PM Mr. Deeds

11:30 PM-12:45 AM Eight Crazy Nights

SUNDAY 1/17

12:45 AM-3:00 AM Spanglish

3:00 AM-4:40 AM 50 First Dates

4:40 AM-6:30 AM Click

6:30 AM-9:00 AM I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry

9:00 AM-11:00 AM You Don't Mess With The Zohan

11:00 AM-12:40 AM Grown Ups

12:40 AM-2:10 PM Jack And Jill

2:10 PM-4:10 PM That's My Boy

4:10 PM-5:50 PM Grown Ups 2

5:50 PM-7:50 PM Blended

Our friends Nicole and Avalon just moved into a new place in Highland Park, and Nicole just acquired a new projector for Hanukkah, so they decided to throw Sandlercon at their new place. There was a Facebook event page where everyone could share plans and info in the weeks leading up to Sandlercon. Our friend Faye took a poll to see how many of us would be willing to get an Adam Sandler related tattoo. Eloy started planning a Sandler inspired menu and took a headcount of everyone who would be partaking in the 5 course meal. Nicole and Sophia stayed late at work to make a Sandlercon step and repeat and programs with the schedule of movies on the back of Adam Sandler's head. Avalon and Nicole stayed up late drawing Sandart, and Eloy and I gathered ingredients for dinner and necessities like extra toiler paper and bottled water.

While Sandlercon was underway, anytime someone left to re-enter the outside world, they would text asking what we needed before returning (thanks for the garbage bags, Jake.) We even had a sponsor - Town Pizza - who donated two pizzas to our cause. Thank you, Town. An inspiring amount of teamwork went into making Sandlercon happen, and I am so proud to call these people my friends.

archer's nursery

archer nursery by alexandria-koehler featuring black and white wall art

Heather and I spent months sharing Pinterest boards and texting photos and links to things to get for the baby's room. We decided to make it woodsy and smart. Kid friendly, but not childish. We wanted a stimulating, interactive environment that didn't scream BOY, but something he could also grow into.

Heather and I put a lot of effort into making Archer's nursery, and there are still a couple of finishing touches to be done, but I think we nailed it.

polaroid baby

snaps of my time with my newest favorite human, archer (and old favorites, heather and guy)

 nursing mama

 first family photo

first moments inside their home as a family

our family lives to make each other 'happy cry'

baby's first polaroid portrait

 new fam

Heather and Mom

 me, Guy, Carly, and Terra

Christmas selfies

 baby's first Christmas tree

baby's first sunset stroll

Aunt Brittany and Uncle Mike

Aunt Stacey and little Leify

(Leif took an accidental selfie)

The good thing about being an aunt and fairy godmother is that you get to love a baby and also play drinking games guilt free (and rub chocolate on your teeth before a picture)

hello archer

Remember when cousin Heather got married back in August? Well this year for Christmas, I spent two weeks in the Outer Banks meeting and falling in love with my first nephew/godson, (her first child), Archer.

target christmas brights

Ok, anyone who knows me knows I love holiday decorations. It's my thing. From September through Spring I get WAY into it, and then Summer it's mostly just 4th of July and my birthday (4th of August), but I still make an effort. Basically when stores change over seasons I go ape shit.
I think I've painted enough of a picture -

This year, Target is killing the holiday home decor game. They have an entire line of silver decorations, gold decorations, and (obviously my favorite)

BRIGHTS!!

 bottle brush trees in a variety of colors! (there are teal ones, but I bought them)

 felt garland! mini bottlebrush trees! wine sweaters! joy!

mercury glass votive holders!

 i need to drink peppermint mocha while wrapped in that teal throw and leaning on that reindeer pillow

if i don't have this advent calendar, i'll die

I walked away with a large yellow bottlebrush tree, a medium teal bottlebrush tree, and an unpictured snowflake cross stitch pillow from this collection.

Consumerism!

Women of the Hour - Friendship

Recently my friend Yasi recommended Lena Dunham's podcast, Women of the Hour, to me. Lately all I want to listen to is Weezer and my favorite podcast at the moment, Doughboys, so it was a tough sell but I took her recommendation and started with a mini-sode about friendship. In 20 short minutes, Lena and her friend Jemima Kirke talk about the history of their friendship, and the ups and downs they've had navigating a shifting power dynamic while growing together. It made me think about the people I consider my closest girl friends, and I felt guilty for not reaching out to them as much as I should. I worried I wasn't asking them about their lives and days enough. I like to tell myself I don't keep in touch enough because I'm busy, but the hours I've been spending on the Kardashian app could definitely go towards checking in with the people I love.

Here are some of the responses I got..

I contacted a lot of friends from over the years. Calla was my best friend in elementary school and will always be like a sister to me. Rachel is my current bandmate and a more recent friend. Megan and Lauren became my bffs in middle school. Katy and I became friends in college and were bandmates for years. I love them all, and it made me sad that I might not have been there for them enough, but I'm grateful listening to this podcast, isolated in my car on my way to work inspired me to reach out and let my loved ones know they're loved. I'm going to do my best to make a habit of it.

I've since listened to all of the episodes of Women of the Hour. Each one is inspiring, motivating, and educational. I recommend you take Yasi's advice like I did, and start with this bonus episode. And obviously check out Doughboys, cause it's the only thing I care about right now.

UPSET - AWAY

We have a new music video! 

Our EP, '76 came out on cassette in the spring for our U.S. tour with Colleen Green. We were so happy with how it came out, that we decided to press it on coke bottle clear 10" vinyl, which came out on October 23rd, 2015 on Lauren Records. I put footage together from our tour with Colleen, the '76 record release at VLHS, and some shows we played with Ought in October. This is my iMovie directorial debut! Enjoy!

You can buy '76 on cassette and/or vinyl at Lauren Records.

Right now we're working on demoing our second full length, so no shows for the rest of this year, but you will be seeing more of us in early 2016.

Happy New Year!