etsy excellence

Unable to hold a job in my current condition, I have become unabashedly obsessed with Etsy. It's gotten pretty serious over the past week and I've been spending at least an hour a day looking at artwork, vintage clothing, and quirky housewares and home decor. Dave and I will be moving wherever the wind takes us in August - it could be north to Rochester or south to North Carolina (depending on whether or not I get accepted to a PhD program or whether I decide to not attend graduate school at all) and since this is one of the only things I have to look forward to, I have been bookmarking dozens of items for our future and imaginary apartment. Really though, Etsy has such a great assortment of products and here are just a few that I have put on my favorites list. There is something for everybody!

Vintage Clothing:

1. Chisolm Block - Nice, simple pieces.

2. Santoki Vintage - A bit steep in price, but a great selection of clothes and shoes!

3. Sweetie Pie - Adorable and extremely feminine dresses - think schoolgirl meets Zooey Deschanel.

4. The Tailor's Stories - Hand-tailored and updated vintage pieces.

5. Pascal Vintage - A stellar selection of bags and shoes.

6. Dear Golden Vintage - Neat, clean, timeless and chic. What vintage should be!

Item I'm obsessing over?

Hate bikinis. Love quirky cover-ups.

Jewelry:

1. Marolsha - Handmade, vintage-inspired, ladylike pieces. Lots of bird and flower details.

2. Sweet Findings 4 You - Nature-inspired pieces. Lots of leaves, delicate beading, flowers and birds.

3. Trash & Trinkets - Steampunk jewelry! Bold, lots of brassy tones and super-quirky. The lockets and timepieces are totally awesome.

4. White Owl - Lace jewelry! So unexpected, dainty and beautiful.

Items I'm obsessing over?

Cameo Earrings by Marolsha.

Orange Blossom Bracelet by Sweet Findings 4 You

Housewares/Home Decor:

1. Thailand Craft - Real insect collections!

2. A. Hierloom - Custom-made wood cutting boards shaped like each of the 50 states!

3. Creative ADB - Awesome tree wall decals and other wall art.

4. Oh Little Rabbit - Screenprinted organic cotton napkins, dish towels and produce bags. Go green and stay adorable with drawings of Russian nesting dolls, bunnies, fish, anchors & ships and more!

5. New Hampshire Woods Creations - Birch and moss creations for eco-friendly rustic weddings. Everything in this store makes my heart melt.

Items I'm obsessing over?

Real butterfly collection! I'm sort of a creep about butterflies.

Butterfly garland! Really, I'm too into butterflies for a 23 year old.

Yes, I know I am not getting married, nor am I engaged, but that does 

not mean that this flower girl basket isn't the most adorable thing ever created.

Photography/Art:

1. Sixth and Main - "Romantic and dreamy Los Angeles Photography"

2. Fringe Art - Vintage and French ephemera for scrapbooking, journals, wall art. Cool dictionary art!

3. Lola's Room - Nostalgic, vintage, whimsical photography. Lots of pastels!

4. Ellie Moss - Dreamy and picturesque. Reminds me of Edgar Allen Poe meets The Virgin Suicides.

5. Monster Gallery - Prints, linocuts, and accessories. I think the highlight of the store are their mini dictionary prints. 

Items I'm obsessing over?

"I am Alice" poppies photograph. I want to live inside this photo.

Green Lichen on Branch photograph. I actually purchased this.

Mini Antique Skeleton Dictionary Art

Bouquet of Roses Digital Dictionary Art.

Hopefully someone has enjoyed this post and has found something they love - whether you love vintage clothing, eco-friendly home decor, handmade one-of-a-kind jewelry or dead butterflies under glass, Etsy has something for you, I guarantee it. So embrace that quirkiness and get yourself something new - or old. But if any of you buy that hideous Barbados beach cover-up, fear my wrath.

Love you all!

- Al

girl talk: celeb-obsessed

This is slightly off-topic, having almost nothing to do with Snowbirds. Except for the fact that Dave and I have become big fans of movie nights, during which our dinners consist of popcorn and beer. This weekend, we had a genius idea. I wanted to go to the movies, but really, I just wanted movie theater popcorn. So Dave popped into Montgomery Cinemas (hidden gem), bought a large popcorn and bounced. This place is dirt cheap and the popcorn is only $4.25 for a large - WHAT?! I KNOW. So we moved movie night to my house and rented It's Kind of a Funny Story. And we were smitten.

For real. Zach Galifianakis was charming, the rest of the cast was great, there were laugh-out-loud moments and parts where I may or may not have cried (okay, I cried). And now I'm maybe more than a little obsessed with Emma Roberts.

I die for these boots.

But this isn't all irrelevant, because I will be recording the vocals to three tracks that have been lingering all lonesome and lyric-less for months. So get ready for more tunes coming soon!

No one reads this.
I love you anyways!

- Al

a very merry february

Hello, everyone! This month has been pretty bonkers, but on the Snowbirds front everything is going damn  well. Songs have been written (with several more on the way), shows have been booked and played and EPs have been made and sold. Probably the most exciting day of this month (for me, at least) was the 16th, when Dave and I played the Stanhope House with Melissa and Paul. It was my birthday, which made the event all the more exciting, but a lot of friends and family came out and made it the best birthday I've had in... well, in 23 years. As some of you probably know, these past five months have been a whirlwind for me. Being hospitalized and diagnosed with cancer at such a young age have certainly taken an emotional toll on me and one of the few things that have kept me together is writing and playing music with Dave. In the weeks leading up to my birthday, it all felt very bittersweet but being able to perform for such a loving and supportive group of people meant the world to me (and to Dave, too!) And being able to sell all of our EPs was the icing on the cake. So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, from the bottom of our little ole hearts to everyone who came out and made the evening so spectacular. We were lucky enough to have some videos recorded of us performing, so check them out below!

And don't forget....

We are playing a show this Sunday, February 27th, at Eyeconik Records in Franklin, NJ. It's free and all-acoustic and we will be playing with Melissa and Paul and some other great people! We will also have more EPs for sale.

And on Saturday, March 5th, we will be playing at Curmudgeon Records in Somerville, NJ - check out the event on Facebook here. We're not listed, but we're playing, I swear.

A video of our first two songs of the night, "I Might Be Wrong" and "This Thing We've Got":






And a few more!

"God's Gonna Cut You Down" Cover
"Head South"
"Predator"
"Bitch"
"Romeo and Juliet" Cover
"Boys in Bands (with Beards)"



And a few pictures!

Love you all!
- Al