Come on down!!!

Ah, that magical time of summer where I am actually excited to see school supplies.  I'm weird like that though.  I like the fresh new start, goal setting, new faces, brand new supplies that comes with a new school year.  There's also a big part of me that clings to each moment of summer as it fades away.

I'm pretty stoked that August is off to a great start.  I traveled to the mountains of California for the Kozak family reunion.

This didn't even look real in real life!  Ah...kayaking on Big Bear Lake.  So fun...and SO SUNNY.  Life lesson - when in the mountains, you're closer to the sun.  Wear more sunscreen than you normally do or you'll have mangled shoulders like me or full fledged lobster status like Johnny and Tony.  Aloe is your friend!!!

The reunion was great because it gave a chance to get to know A LOT of people that may be at the wedding.  I would HIGHLY recommend attending a reunion or something before a wedding - it's made me super excited to see HIS side of the family too!!

After the reunion, Johnny, Tony, and I stuck around to get into more shenanigans.  The three of us made a great team.  First, after leaving their aunt's house at 4am to bring their dad and another aunt to the airport, we picked up our rental car.  I have crazy incredible luck with rental cars - this time from Fox Rental car.  For less that I would have paid at another place for a 2 door something or other, I got THIS:

mmmm...Ford Fusion!  Satellite radio, review mirror defrosters, TONS of space inside and in the trunk.  Plus, what a cool color - eggplant!  This could be a contender for my next car, I loved driving this car!  Plus, I thought the company was cool too - Fox Rental car gets a thumbs up from me and probably my business again soon!

We took the car to THE PRICE IS RIGHT!!!!  BUCKET LIST!  I've always dreamed of going to the show.  We got in line around 5:30am (uff da!) and espressoed ourselves up for a LONG day.  The process is quite long, there are many steps to becoming and audience member, but with good company it passes quickly.  We left our phones in the car so we wouldn't have to wait to pick them up - all electronics are collected so there are no pictures in the studio or looking up of answers.  They interview EVERY PERSON in the 320 person audience.  EVERY PERSON.  They want to make sure they're going to have a contestant that's excited and entertaining.  All three of us had a lot of fun chatting it up with the producer during the interview and with the people around us.  One of the steps before going in was the picture in front of a green screen.  We had no idea what the background would be, but when we saw this, we thought it was hilarious so we purchased a print:

hmmm...that Anthony guy looks a lot like my future brother in law, Tony

The air date for the episode is November 13th.  I wish I could see it beforehand...I'm pretty sure I look like a blathering idiot most of the time, but I guess that's the point.  We were right on the aisle, high fiving everyone who came down.  We jumped up and down and yelled out numbers until I almost lost my voice.  It was hard to keep up the energy on 4-5 hours of sleep for the entire show, but I'm sure we looked pretty excited regardless.  I won't say any more, just that you need to watch the show on November 13th.  It's a Wednesday.  Mark it on the calendar or set a reminder on your phone, it'll be worth it!!!

How was the show?  Oh, I dunno...you'll just have to wait and see!!

We didn't make it to Conan, but it was worth it.  Now I have fulfilled my childhood dream of seeing a taping of The Price is Right.  FORTY YEARS of coming on down.  I would HIGHLY recommend the experience - it was so much fun!!  

One of the cousins met up with us at our hotel and cabbed it to the Hollywood Bowl where we saw Phish.  My 14th show, Tony's 3rd, and who knows what number for Johnny and cousin Joe.  We had our own little box and we danced and jumped and had a great time - surprising ourselves at how much energy we STILL had.  CK5 made use of the iconic architecture.  Wow...I am hooked for life and this show solidified my new found phan status.  I mean look:

Option 1: go with the normal light show which has reached legendary status

OR

Option 2: Supplement legendary light show with highlighting the architecture of the famous Hollywood bowl.  Mind. Blown.

I'm still in disbelief over such a great trip.  Johnny and I had so much fun with Tony, when we went to our separate terminals to go home, we kept thinking we were still a trio, looking over our shoulder to see if we needed to wait for him.  Johnny will be going out to see more Phish shows (of course) with Tony in a few weeks.  It's so cool to see siblings become good friends as they become adults.  I couldn't be more excited to be joining such a great family.

Well, from 50+ Kozaks to John's dad-brother-2 aunts-a couple of cousins to the Johnny-Karen-Tony trio, to SOLO!  I'll be playing a SOLO show at The Acadia this Friday when i like you and Johnny are out of town.  I have a lot of surprises in store and am excited to share new material with you.  I play late (12ish?), but come down early as the WHOLE show is going to be fantastic.

I'll leave you with an oldie but goodie before I get ready for John (and the pop-off camper)'s return from The Big Wu family reunion (where I played THREE sets with THREE very different bands in more than THREE different styles until THREE THIRTY in the morning on Thursday...more on that some other time though).  OH and Happy Gnome tonight too!  Be there!!

How's this for a throwback!

You'd make a face like this too if you realized you signed on to play a show BY YOURSELF!!  

Circa 2006 - Stevens Point, WI

Please come to my solo show on Friday.  Please please pretty please.  Acadia - West Bank, Minneapolis.  I will play cool things on my violin and hug everyone.  Please.

I'm a little teapot short and stout!!!

The last weekend of June!  Wow! So far a great summer, except for the crazy storm on Friday, but overall pretty cool!  My mom lost 3 trees...maybe 4.  The tree doctor is checking it out, fingers crossed for #4.  She was very VERY lucky, but anytime a tree loses its footing is sad to me.  I know it's a circle of life, but I literally hug trees.  I love trees!!

Ok, done with sad things and on to happy!  One of John's sisters (my future sister-in-law!) graduated high school this year!!  I remember my senior year, graduation, open house....such exciting and yet uncertain times, yet I wouldn't trade that feeling for the world.

As a violin/viola teacher, I get invited to a lot of open houses.  I have yet to be able to attend any!!  My students do a fantastic job of planning their open houses when I'm out of town or playing!  Someday...

***Spoiler alert...I'm going to talk about graduation gifts.  Jennifer, it IS safe for you to read further.

My friend's mom was also a teacher and went to MANY open houses.  She had a really great plan of giving graduates handmade clay pots.  Mine has collected change and small trinkets for the past few years.  Since I received that gift, I wondered, what would my "Olsen Pot" be?  My friends and brother were so excited knowing it was coming.  The closest I've come to something has been an electric tea kettle.  Just like my precious Jet Boil, you can cook so many things in it without the inherent fire risks that a Jet Boil in a dorm may cause.

So friends with lots of teenage friends and family members....do you have a go-to graduation gift for these individuals?  Something special, perhaps useful?  Comment and let me know what you think!!  I'm standing behind my electric tea kettle for now, those things are awesome!!!

THIS WEEK IN MUSIC....

Tomorrow night is Johnny and my turn to play at Turtles with Jason Dixon!  This is such a fun show because we all take turns trading songs in a very relaxed atmosphere.  Plus, he always makes us great posters for Facebook.  Here's ours for this time around:

Saturday will be my first of a few summer gigs with award winning songwriter, Jerry Vandiver!  If you haven't seen the promo video, be sure to check it out on last week's post.  If I could link it, I would!!

Sunday FUNDAY!  We don't have the i like you. Happy Gnome gig this week, but The Big Adventure will be joining our good friends Black Market Brass at the Nomad in Minneapolis.  FREE SHOW!  9pm!!  Come dance!!

Happy Summer, everyone!  Take it easy on all that graduation cake!

Festi-us!!!

Ah, that magical time of the year: Festival, or "Festi" season.  This week I'm not going to talk about gigs for the week because really all I have on the docket is Project Earth.  I'm pretty stoked to be heading down to the beautiful Harmony Park to play music.  I'll be a special guest with "Smokin' Joe" Joe Scarpellino as well as some very special acoustic style jams with i like you later Saturday night.  If you're heading down (or "heading home" as they say), come find me!  However, if you haven't heard of Harmony Park, Wookiefoot, or much about that last paragraph, it's cool.

SO!  Being Festi season and all and with this weekend being my first of the year 2013, I wanted to share some of my favorite festi or camping hacks.  I've seen many more via pinterest and whatnot, but here are some I like and would LOVE if you'd comment with your own.

FIRST of all...packing
At Harmony Park, you park your car and then have to walk in to find your campsite for the weekend.  Portability is key.  I have observed people with Radio Flyer wagons (genius!) and other such wheeled thingies, but here is what I do when I'm there solo.  When Johnny's with me, we pull out all the stops with a camp stove, screen tent, a pop-off camper, and sometimes portable air conditioner and shower.  It sounds luxurious and it is by Harmony Park standards, but in real life, it's pretty interesting!  No matter if I'm solo or duo, my cooler on wheels is great.  It's a little big for just me by myself this weekend, but hey, it makes great campsite seating too!!  Especially if it's going to be hot, I freeze a gallon jug of water to keep it my food cold and I can drink the water as it melts.  Not as soggy and very useful!  I also freeze any meat that will be used the 2nd day and by day 2 it'll likely be thawing and good to go by dinnertime.  I haven't decided if I'm bringing it this weekend, I like to try to keep it healthy and not only eat vendor food, but it may be a dry good weekend this time around.

Get it in there!!!!

While in college, I had the opportunity to study abroad for the summer.  I picked up this awesome REI backpacking backpack for that adventure, thinking the wheely suitcases you usually see would be awful on the cobblestones of the old cities.  Fast forward 8 years (WHAAAA???!?!?!? THAT WAS EIGHT YEARS AGO?!?) and this pack is still just right. 

When flying solo, I get to use the little tent I bought back in 2009 when I had just started playing music.  My little REI half-dome has been many places - just big enough for me and my fiddle.  The bonus is that it is small enough to fit in my backpack alongside my sleeping pad.  I have seen a camping hack where they use those colored padded floor tiles used for kids rooms.  Good idea!

This weekend, I'll only be there 1 day if that.  With John out of town for work this past week, I kind of want to make the trip back, but since i like you has a late set, perhaps I'll stay.  We'll see.  All excuses aside, here I've packed my pjs (since that's all I'll really need) in the flap pocket.  I roll EVERYTHING whenever I travel.  It saves so much space and when you're going humid places like a music festival, laying stuff out in your tent will steam the wrinkles out.  Besides, have you ever been to a festival?  I think wrinkles are the last thing on people's minds!  Not pictured is the side pockets - If staying longer, there are spots on the side to put more clothes.

I actually don't have a sleeping bag that I can find.  I know there's probably a bunch at my mom's house, but they're pretty bulky.  I usually bring a thin fleecy blanket and a quilt made by my high school friend, Naomi.  The quilt I put down, sometimes doubled and it gives extra padding.  The fleecy blanket gives just enough blankety goodness when its a hot summer night.  Again, rolled, the fleece fits in one of those side pockets.

Bonus!  I managed to cram the quilt into the bag as well!!  DONE!  Backpack now contains all shelter, bedding, and clothing needs.  There isn't any swimming options so no swimsuit, but I would recommend a microfiber towel and a plastic bag in case you pack up with it still wet.  Toothbrush and stuff will go in the pocket on the very top - accessible but separate.

 I can't take credit for the solar lights.  Someone in the God Johnson crew had these last year - they're a MUST if you want to save people from tripping over your tent lines or if you want to be able to see when getting into your tent way late.  Yeah, I know true festi people go to sleep after the sun come back UP, it's ok.

I would be lost without my Jetboil!!!!  I asked at REI for the easiest way to make coffee when camping.  Coffee + Karen = happy fiddler.  I LOVE this contraption, shown in assembly order.  The orange thingy folds out and the fuel snaps in to be stabilized.  The metal piece screws on the fuel and with the turn of a nob and the flick of a lighter, you have a cooking element!  You put water in the canister and it boils SO FAST even when you watch it.  You'd be amazed at what you can make with this and water.  Coffee with the Starbucks VIA things, oatmeal and cream of wheat (a favorite breakfast of mine), pasta, ramen, anything you make with water!  John and I will do the Velveeta shells and cheese because you just make the shells and dump in the sauce, the possibilities are endless!!

I did lose the cover for it and another piece that I don't usually use :-(   However, it still can be used as a REALLY BIG coffee mug which is a necessity some festi days!

HEY!  It has a handle!!  You know how they say if it fits, it ships?  If it has a handle it sips!!

It is also pertinent to have proper beverage attire.  A koozie can let you express yourself and keep track of what's yours.  I need to personalize mine, but I'm kind of biased....this one is really cute!!

When it comes to camping and festivals, I do love some time to relax.  I would HIGHLY recommend a hammock!!  Everyone in i like you has an ENO one that is so great!!!  They are so easy to put up - all with carabiners.  I have a double + so it's big enough for 2 with some room to spare.  I've used it and John took it to summer camp, but we have yet to use it together!!  I hope to change that in 2013!  Check out all the band member's hammocks!!  This was from Plunderfest last year :-)

I have other upcoming things too - 6/27 with my sweetheart Johnny Kozak as our duo, "The Twin Cities" with Jason Dixon at Turtles in Shakopee.  Come see us sing together!!

Then on June 29th...ONE WEEK FROM NOW I get to make my debut with Jerry Vandiver as the fiddle player with the One Match Band!

Cool video, eh?  Jerry gets to MN next week from Nashville and I'll be rehearsing all these songs I've been listening to and working on by myself.  Time to get my country fiddling on!

6/30 with The Big Adventure at the Nomad with our good friends Black Market Brass!!!  I'll sing for you!

i like you. wil be playing Park Rapids on the 4th of July and the Gnome on the 7th.  OK, it's getting late - I have to get out to the Cabooze to go see Arthur with Hyentyte!!  bye!