Coffee and Cashmere: June 2012

Kira Willey

:: Guest post from Kira Willey ::

“Every mom I know agrees with me on this: the mom thing always comes first. Even if I were the president, I’m pretty sure I couldn't focus on universal healthcare and Gallup polls and such until I was sure the kids all had sunscreen on.

I am a stay-at-home mom of three, attempting to have a music career, complete with performing and writing and recording albums and everything else. How do I do this, what with all the newsletter-writing, rehearsing, Facebook-updating, and keeping in touch with one’s fans? The answer, like any other mom working at a “real” job or otherwise would say: you cobble it together, and some days are better than others.

Even on days when I have big shows, I spend much more time on the note for the sitter than I do on my set list...

Sometimes (ok, more often than sometimes) I wonder, what am I thinking? Am I not as good a parent because I am writing songs in my head all the time? But it’s who I am, and if I were prevented from doing music, I’d be unhappy and therefore not as good a mom, right? At least this is what I tell myself when I am wracked with guilt for booking back-to-back sitters to cover long rehearsals or sessions in the recording studio.

Then there’s the other side: at dinner, my oldest comes up with a brilliant song title, and we all start to work out the chorus, and everyone loves it. And at bedtime, my husband is rocking our three-year-old, and from down the hall, I hear them both belting out one of my songs. This makes me ridiculously happy.”

Kira Willey is a talented musician who appeals to all ages. You can read about her on my post here.

Don't forget to enter to win a $4o giftcard to either Amazon or iTunes HERE.

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Colorful Music

I need more coffee. Grab a cup and sit down with me. We are heading to visit William's fam later today! We have missed them since they've moved. Tomorrow morning we're even participating in a 3 mile walk for an Alzheimer's organization William's grandmother founded. Should be interesting. Walking + the heat + eight a.m. just isn't my jam. But I'd do anything for Grandmama and for a great cause. Wish me luck.

Our drive there won't be too bad. We have Kira Willey's kiddie folk CD to sit-dance and sing to. I received her CD in the mail last week and am super excited to give it a full listen. My child needs something else besides Adele. Don't get me wrong, I'm very much in love with Adele and her album pretty much stays in my car. Anytime the radio is on, or another CD is playing, Adrienne yells, "Adellllle!!" from her perch as the backseat commander. I always oblige. What can I say? I'm easy like Sunday morning.

Anymychildrunstheshow, the award winning singer-songwriter, Kira Willey produces music that is happy, relaxing, and can even be used as a wonderful learning tool. The song Colors, you guessed it, goes through all the different shades of the rainbow, and then some. That song was even featured on a Dell computer commercial. Hey-oh. Being also a yoga instructor, Kira opened up her own studio in Pennsylvania, Fireflies Yoga, that teaches yoga and music to children.

As much as I want to put in Tupac and get gangster while driving, I can't, because I have my two year old in tow. I need kiddo friendly music and Kira's CD, "Kings & Queens of the Forest", is just that. She'll also be making a guest post on my blog tomorrow! So, be on the look out for that!!

I already packed my camera up, so I used my phone to snap some pics. This is Adrienne's really happy on the inside but doesn't express it on the outside face.

Thank you Kira for sending us your magical music.

Don't forget to enter to win a $4o giftcard to either Amazon or iTunes HERE.

Green Beans and a Giveaway CLOSED

Valentine's of 2oo8 was horrible. Let's reminisce shall we? The night before ended in my friend almost running us off the road. Kids, don't drink and drive. The next morning, I woke up to start my long drive home. I guess I was going a little over the speed limit and wasn't paying that much attention. Trying to find a decent station on XM can be tricky. A state trooper pulled me over, gave me a ticket, and said Happy Valentine's. Thanks, you effin jerk.

When I pulled into my town, I stopped by KFC for, you know, some chicken. The green beans also looked enticing. I ordered and went to the house. As I was getting out of my car, trying to juggle the food, my bags, purse, and phone, I accidentally dropped my phone into the KFC bag. It's fine. It's just chicken. I got inside, put my ish down, and to my complete and utter horror, pulled out my phone from the bottom of the bag. It had been submersed in green bean juice. WHAT tha WHAT?!

My phone was my life. I have never spent 6oo dollars on a phone until that one (and will never spend that much again). I got it the year before, right around the time iPhones were coming out and touch screens were still very new. HTC had just come out with the Cingular 8525. It had the touch screen, a stylist, a pull out keyboard, and I loved it.

Back to the moment of green bean juice KFC rage and fury. I turned the phone off and took the battery out. I wiped the phone and my tears. It felt like I was leaning over a pet that was on it's last breath.Hang in there buddy, please!

My beloved phone never turned on again. My heart was broken. I went back to my lame old Motorola Razor and then eventually got an iPhone. To this day I still have never loved a phone more than that 8525, and to this day I still haven't eaten KFC's green beans.

Here is a stock photo of my "Gianni." Yes, I had named my phone.

Really silly story, but a person's cell phone becomes their life line. I have umpteenthousand pictures of memories stored on my phone. I have numbers I'll never know by heart. I have apps and sites bookmarked that I need on the reg. My phone wakes me up in the morning and puts me to sleep at night. Technology is something crazy.

****THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED****
CONGRATS EMILY FOR WINNING! THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR ENTERING!

I have teamed up with Asurion to give Coffee and Cashmere readers a chance to win a $4o Amazon or iTunes giftcard! Holla!

"The complete Asurion protection package, available through most wireless companies, empowers you with the apps and services that put you in the driver’s seat – everything you need for complete peace of mind so you can enjoy using your smartphone. You’ll rest easy knowing you’re protected with Asurion, whether you need technology to secure your data privacy against growing mobile threats, need a device expert who’s just a call or click away, or coverage to replace your phone as quickly as the next day."

All you have to do is comment on my blog post with your own phone horror story. MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND/OR NAME SO I CAN LET YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE THE WINNER!

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The giveaway will last until next Thursday, July 5th!
The winner of last week's Twotara contest was Loni!

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Asurion.

Winsome Words Wednesday

Changing the quotes up to some funnies. These are all pretty hilar. Check back tomorrow for a giveaway!!

Party Overload

Hey lover loves. How was your weekend? Mine was jam packed. And I'm still tired. William's little bro came to stay the night with us on Friday. Adrienne is obsessed with her uncle "Buh." We had a little cook out and enjoyed our fam and frands. Have you ever had Chorizo sausage?! Um, talk about some nomz. I'm pretty sure my mouth parts are in love.

Saturday we woke up and I cooked a breakfast feast. Then we headed over to our friend's son's birthday party. He turned two and is absolutely adorable. Here are a few pics of the party, because I didn't take that many. It was one of those lazy-not-wanting-to-hold-my-camera type of weekends.