Stay wide eyed.

I'm 23 now, my favorite number. As a kid, I used to come up with fake birth dates to pretend I was 23. I also genuinely believed I would be 23 when I got married. While I suppose that's not entirely out of the question, it's highly unlikely and of little concern when 23 began with a mad dash across a Safeway parking lot in Ellensburg, WA, triumphant for getting there and out literally a minute before they closed, French berry lemonade, PBR and laughter with an amazing band family in a warm motel room, crossing two state lines and playing to a crowd who sang along and jumped up and down. See? The life I want is actually very simple; it's just not the kind that I knew how to imagine before.

(What do I want then? I want to be a musician and artist with a great community of friends and family who does something brave and beautiful that helps other people feel brave and beautiful. That's not to say I don't want to be in love. On the contrary, my heart's open like a Jersey diner. I just am finding that I don't aspire to a lot of the traditional things I grew up imagining and being able to relate to cheesy romantic comedies for. I think love might be too infinite for that... but it could be a phase I'm going through.)

Anyway... So far my happiest birthdays have been the ones when I get to play shows. We had a couple of them this weekend in Ellensburg and Missoula (both fun!). In Missoula (Saturday night, my actual birthday), I was presented with champagne, a huge, delicious chocolate cake and a card. I have the most wonderful band family - I almost cried! Thank you so much for the best birthday!

So sweet!

Unlike in Seattle, I guess in Missoula you can drink on stage. I brought my leftovers to the merch table. Waste not, want not!

This was on the door of the stall I happened to choose in the ladies bathroom. I love TacocaT! They were playing with Vivian Girls in Seattle the same night.

The folks putting on the show put us up in a nice hotel with super comfy beds! We wanted to hitch the place to the back of our van and take it with us. Plus, our room number added up to 13! Cool!

We leave for tour this week... I'm excited to get back out and see everyone!