our stay on the farm - 5/9

the photos pretty much explain it all.
we stayed with denise and her husband jason. she spins wool. BEAUTIFUL wool.
they raise sheep and chickens and live off the land.
we heard owls all night long and were awoken by a rooster.
perfection.

nectars - burlington, VT 5/8

i drove.
crossing the border was truly a piece of cake. the dude tried to scare me and confuse me and i was like "whatever."
and then he asked how many t-shirts we have and i was all like "whatever."
and when he asked who our manager was, i was like "uhhhh, whatever!"
CAUSE THIS IS MY UNITED STATES OF WHATEVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we paid the toll and we were back.
the drive to burlington was beautiful.
we found a hotel, checked in, showered for the first time in days and ate a really healthy dinner downtown.
from there we walked down to the marina to watch the sun set over lake champlain.
we killed nectars. it was, by far, the best show out of the last four or five.
i wasn't nervous in any way, shape or form.
jess and andy killed it too, besides these two hairy dudes that kept going up there between songs and telling her what to do. idiots. truly idiots.
i got up and sang fangs with her.
we were all drinking red ribbons.
we gave some dude from burton a ride back to his hotel and then went back to our room and made popcorn. we were rowdy, but not loud. father cheadle turned out the lights at 4am.
we all love vermont.

i just have a few things to say...

SCISSOR!
SCREECHING EAGLE!
OWLS!
BAAAAHHHHHHH!

montreal - 5/6 to 5/8

we ate a really greasy breakfast and hit the road, andy at the wheel.
my stomach was not happy, but it held on to itself.
six hours later, we were driving around, trying to find the hostel where we would be sleeping.
we were all tired. and starving.
we hadn't eaten since breakfast.
by the time we "checked in" and "got settled" it had been nearly nine hours since we had seen food.
we walked around for a bit, trying to pick a random place. none of us could make a decision. we were like lost children. i paid WAY too much for postcards for my grandmothers at some random store.
we finally hopped into a cab. our driver pulled out bullet-proof glass and a periscope for entertainment purposes. no lie. this dude had an entire comedy act. i think that was the highlight of my night.
he dropped us in a better part of town, away from all the tourists and flashing lights and titty bars (sorry mom, but that's the real truth.)
we decided on afghan food. heaping, steaming plates of brown rice and raisins and chicken that fell of the bone. so very good. so very good indeed.
i started feeling really homesick for the first time on the trip.
we ended up at some pub, in the back garden, towering walls covered in vines, trance music blaring, nobody speaking a lick of english.
you'd swear we were on a different continent.
the music was literally making my stomach turn. it was just plain AWFUL.
we left to head back to our beds. we were sleeping in a room with about ten strangers.
we all felt itchy... bedbugs? Scabies? CRABS! AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!
it was kinda funny, but i think we were all a little weirded out.
some of us didn't sleep at all. i was in and out, really hot, having very strange dreams.
as soon as the sun came up, the strangers were up and showering and walking around on the creakiest floors in the history of man. it was hard to sleep at that point.
we ate breakfast and surfed the net, trying to find somewhere to stay that night.
no luck.
we left to find a TICKET flapping around in the sunshine, under the windshield wiper. our gift from montreal. it was wrapped and folded and sealed. you had to figure out how exactly to open it.
sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet.
42 canadian dollars later:
the venue seemed cool.
we ate very mediocre burritos and then walked around for the rest of the day, aimlessly.
went and hung out in some park. we laughed a lot and semi-napped in the sunshine under the trees.
we left around six to meet the girls from darling arms, who we would be playing with. so very sweet.
the show was good. people showed and seemed to love it.
we drank canadian-brewed, apricot beers that were DELICIOUS. and only $3 a pop.
we were losing money like crazy in canada. not sure why, but the dollars were flying out of our bank accounts for the first time on the entire trip.
we were hooked up with a place to stay.
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm....
1: there were mushrooms growing in the bathtub.
2: there was a smell coming from the toilet vicinity that i cannot even begin to describe.
3: there were centipedes.
4: someone came ah' knocking at 4am and scared the CRAP out of me. i made cheadle get up to check it out and then wouldn't let him go further than two feet from my blow-up bed.
5: we were grateful for the free place to sleep, but TLS didn't sleep. shekeeps did, thankfully...
soooooooooooooooooooooo...
montreal, you are a beautiful, old city that i want to get to know.
but this time around, i REALLY couldn't wait to get home.
xox

ps. we took NO photos in montreal. i'm giving you what i got. and what renn got. and what jess got.

CANADA, OH CANADA

crossing the border, in a nutshell:
the dude was straight-faced and so serious it made my mouth dry and my hands shake!
he of course told us to pull over, where this burly dude with a crew-cut opened the back door, eyed our stuff and told us to get out of the car. i think the thought of searching our van, packed full of crap, right before lunch was too much for him to handle.
we were told to go inside.
andy had to pee, so he went to the bathroom.
the woman that took care of us was NOT pleased.
"why did he go to the bathroom? you were told to come straight to me."
answer number one: um, he had to pee??
answer number two: we were told no such thing
answer number three (jess' answer): why are there bathrooms right inside the door, accessible, if you don't want people going in there?
we all got really nervous for a few seconds. i thought for sure we weren't getting in.
she took our passports and paperwork and disappeared for about 10 minutes.
she was sweet as pie when she came back out.
we were in.

toronto - 5/4 to 5/6
rolled into the drake hotel and were handed the keys to the artist apartment, which, by the way, was tagged with renn's name, short one n.
FREE two night stay at the drake for playing a show.
gee, life is hard.
ok, the apartment was kinda sorta dirty. like you can throw beverages over your shoulder, chevy chase style, and not worry about it (cheadle).
but the linens were sparkling white and very clean and we had internet and beds.
jeff, the dude i set the show up with, told us of existing youtube footage from the apartment. he recommended we not watch it until we had checked out.
apparently the spank rock dj did some serious damage there.
i'm too afraid to watch it.
we sound checked, bought beers and hung out upstairs until the show.
renn's friend maria brought some people in, which was cool.
we both played good shows, but i was still feeling nervous and shy.
we were done by 10:30 and loaded out, trying to avoid the 20 huge bouncers with headsets and the hundreds of people showing up for various events at the hotel.
where we had played only 15 minutes ago turned into a huge dance party where they played nothing but golden-era hip hop.
some damn good stuff.
we went across the street for a few drinks and ended up back at the hotel, shaking our booties until 2am, at which time jeff showed back up and came to the apartment with us to throw back some beers.
we all slept until one or so and walked to wolf down some amazing breakfast burritos.
we then took the streetcar to meet maria and her beau jay in the kensington part of town, which reminded us all of different cities: venice beach, new orleans, san francisco, brooklyn...
they took us to this little place to get pupusas. oh my god, i got the bean and cheese and it nearly made me weep. i could have eaten 20 of them. i ate it slowly and savored every bite.
we walked around, parted ways, met back up for some amazing italian food and wine.
spent the rest of the night back at the apartment, having some beers, taking photos and hanging out, just the five of us.
i woke up hungover for the first time on the trip, which didn't make for a pleasant six hour drive to montreal.
reminder to self: wine and beer don't mix.
reminder to self: when checkout is at 11, checkout is at 11.
jeff, dude, you showed us a really good time. thank you for everything, especially the chance to grace the stage at the drake.
maria, i'll be waiting for the billie line.

PS. i have been seriously slacking on my photo taking. there is just too much going on, in my head and otherwise, to think about my camera like i usually do.

we are now, at this moment

in the mountains in vermont.
on a farm.
no cell phone service.
sheep and chickens and cats and a dog.
the llama is on its way.

smalls bar, detroit - 5/3

left ann arbor with full bellies and sandwiches in our bags.
miss bette bought salami.
if you know my mother, you know this is a first.
headed to the amber sands south, aka jason meyer's first home.
quite a nice pad, right off of 11 mile in d-town.
he had bell's beer chilling for us in the fridge.
hells yes.
we hacky-sacked in his front yard for a bit.
it had us all cracking up.
j played records.
headed to smalls.
the bartenders were so damn nice. a married couple, the owners of the place.
it was a really slow night.
the show was good, fun, better, but still not quite up to par on my end.
still recovering, i guess.
jess introduced us to a new friend: some dude who called himself jessie beverage and talked about grand rapids and glazed carrots. hilarious.
GOOD TO SEE YOU JP.
LOVELOVELOVE.

yes, i'm behind

ANN ARBOR, the blind pig - 5/1 to 5/3

sooooooo incredibly good to see my family and my MOM!!!!!!!!!!
brought me to tears, actually.
we ate a great meal (auntie mary hooked it UP!) and loaded in.
the moon was really full, and the crowd was just plain random: high school friends i hadn't seen in years, unexpected people.
jess & andy sounded amazing.
i was NERVOUS.
nervous enough to feel like puking right before we went on.
i've always held the blind pig in the highest esteem, and i played the worst set of the whole tour so far (honest).
loaded back up and headed back to my aunt and uncles.
we walked around the pond and took photos of the moon.
was up with my cousin until 4am, talking.
heavy talking.
rebekah catherine, i love you so very much.
was SO SO sad when my mom and bek left in the morning. i was tempted to drive north with them.
i slept more.
spent the rest of the day talking with auntie & uncle jer and waiting for the rest of the kiddies to jump in the pond (they finally did.)
threw the ball for emma & sam quite a bit.
ate GREAT food, hung out on the dock and relaxed.
had a huge bonfire later. j meyer showed up and we told ghost stories, bear walks and all.
ended the night watching caddyshack.
ask renn to dance like rodney dangerfield sometime. CLASSIC shit.
thank god for family (and wonderful mothers.)
auntie mary & uncle jer, thanks for opening your amazing home. i'm going to miss it when you move.
xox