41st Annual Bluegrass Festival

Telluride Bluegrass Festival was flipping awesome. I got to hear fantastic music, visit with old friends, and ring in my 23rd birthday! I celebrated by boogieing down with some girlfriends and an unexpected skunk (see below). It was a birthday to remember!

^^My favorite photo of Luke and I cheesin' and our secret spot to listen to the music^^

I can't help but add a little style pic in front of an old hippie van...

Downtown Sound - Dawes

This past Monday, Luke was home for a quick 24 hours (he was in between vacations - that lucky man). We tried to make the most of it and went downtown for Chicago's Downtown Sound, which is when the city hosts free concerts at Millennium Park all summer long. This week Dawes was playing and I couldn't have been more excited since I had never seen them before! We packed a picnic, made a date of it, and enjoyed the short time we had together :)

The weather started like this ^^ and it rained a little at first, but we didn't let that ruin the concert!  

My semi-beautiful and clearly staged picnic photo ^^ And what our picnic really looked like...

Weekend Trip - Ann Arbor, MI

Last Wednesday I received a facebook invite from my grand friend Emily to attend her housewarming party in Ann Arbor, MI.  I sighed and thought to myself I would love too, but it's too far away and I have responsibilities and yada yada yada. I was about to click decline when Luke reminded me that it was my weekend off from work and we should just go. "We'll make a weekend of it," he said, and that is just what we did! I haven't taken a spontaneous trip in a while and, quiet honestly, it was the best decision I have made in a while. We spent the weekend going out for drinks, eating delicious meals, wandering around farmers markets, and playing with Emily's cute cat Boone! On the way back from MI we stopped at the Indiana Sand Dunes for a quick swim. Luckily, we visited the Dunes before this happened... Yikes!! Finally, we topped the weekend off by seeing Lord Huron and Milo Green at Taste of Randolph. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend off! A big thank you to Luke for being our spontaneous plan maker and to Emily for being an unbelievable host!

Just letting Boone hang out - see what I did there ;)

The beach and Sangria! What more could a girl ask for?!

Beale Street Music Festival

Hey friends! This past weekend I trudged through inches of mud to go to Beale Street Music Festival. As usual, it rained and was freezing, but all of the kick ass music distracted us from the weather. My favorite performances were Phoenix, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Blind Mississippi Morris, and The Flaming Lips. I have seen many of those bands before, but it was my first time seeing Phoenix (pictured above). Their beats were perfect to noodle around to! Also, they are from Paris so how can you not to fall in love with them!

This weekend was the perfect kick off to a summer full of concerts. It was also a send off of sorts since next weekend I will be leaving Memphis. Eeek! Did I really just type that?! I should end this post before I get too sentimental about leaving Memphis - I still got one week :) What did you all do this weekend?

Cooper-Young Festival

Memphis rocks! Thats all I have to say.

On Friday night a few girls and I went to listen to free music at the Levitt Shell. You should definitely click that link and read about its history - Elvis performed the first ever rock and roll show in the shell!

Sorry for the iPhone quality-my camera battery died right when we got there :(

Saturday was the ever so popular Cooper-Young Fest! In their own words the Festival is "a true celebration of the arts, people, culture and Memphis heritage." Streets around the Cooper Young district are lined with vendors of all sorts - music, crafts, food, and drink! It's a celebration of Memphis and its wonderful people :) I purchased an awesome ceramic flask (seriously so cool!) and a necklace made from various pieces of antique jewelry. I'll show you pictures of those later, but for now here are some shots of the weekend :)

Wine, Wilco, and a boat.

This past weekend Wilco, my favorite band, was playing in Geneva, Ill. at the Kane County Cougar ballpark. Due to various reasons I decided not to purchase a ticket. Luckily, XRT was streaming the concert live from the ballpark! Luke and I decided to park ourselves in the back yard, drink some wine, and pretend as if we were at the show. It felt like our own personal Wilco concert. 

My other free time was spent crusin' Lake Michigan with a few friends. It always a good day when you can swim in the lake and float around. My favorite summer activity!