Oct 3, 2012

Friends + Music

Madeline Beard Other Adventures friends, Macklemore, music, recommendations 1 Comment

Today I was lucky to hear from a few faraway friends that I have been missing pretty dearly. Coincidentally, with every new conversation followed a song recommendation. Even when I am separated from these people by miles of road and ocean, music is one of those common threads that can link us back together. I love getting new music recommendations because it encourages me to listen to artists outside my every day indie/alternative favorites. Even if I’m not partial to the particular genre, new music can always draw on old memories — my dear friend Bailey (pursuing a law degree in Las Vegas now) recommended the song “Angel Eyes” by Love and Theft:

It is a country song through and through, and although I don’t usually tune into country, listening to the genre always makes me nostalgic for my Texas roots.

The next recommendation came from the lovely Helen, who graduated last year and just got a marketing job in New York City (congrats Helen!). I had never heard of Morning Parade until she messaged me a link to their song “Headlights”, and now I am tempted to go through and sample all of their other tracks:

The last recommendation came from one of my oldest friends at school, Naomi. Although she is currently studying abroad in Amman, Jordan, Naomi remains a constant part of my life through our weekly conversations via Facebook/WhatsApp/Skype — ah, gotta love technology. Today she introduced me to this Macklemore song and I haven’t stopped listening to it since…

“Love is patient, love is kind.”

All of these songs are so different, but so good in their own ways — there’s something for everyone. To end this post, here’s a song that I have been listening to a lot lately:

Do you guys have any good music recommendations? I’m open to anything, comment or tweet at me!

♥

Sep 16, 2012

Weekend Recap : Bon Iver

Madeline Beard Fashion, Other Adventures Bon Iver, concert, fashion, music, street style 2 Comments

As I reflect on the highlights of my weekend, I am realizing that key parts of it were centered around personal growth. A few weeks ago I decided that I would go to the Bon Iver concert instead of a sorority event that some of my closest friends were attending. I had a few good reasons for making this decision, but I was still unsure of whether I had made the right choice: would I regret missing out on the experience? Would going to Bon Iver be worth it? I figured these thoughts would be a good thing to write about on SLB because in this situation my biggest fear was the unknown, going against what most of my friends were doing.

So, I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and embraced the experience. I went with two good friends, and then met up with another group half way through. Everything about the show was beautiful. It was held at Merriweather Post Pavillion, a venue I have grown to love, and Bon Iver’s music was even more powerful live. While I was there I had the opportunity to snap a few good photos, including street style of some on-trend concert goers:

Sweet friends, Hillary + Rebecca

Overall, the experience exceeded my expectations and all of the doubts floating around in my head vanished by the end of the night. It gave me the chance to reflect, to stare up at the stars, listen to the melancholy chords and realize that beautiful, inspirational things can come out of life’s hardest circumstances. I will end this post with one of my favorite Bon Iver songs, a cover originally sung by Bonnie Raitt:

♥

Sep 1, 2012

Fashion Friday… on Saturday!

Madeline Beard Fashion fashion, h&m, j. crew, madewell, music, weekend 2 Comments

I was all set up to give you guys an amazing fashion post yesterday, however I’ve got another thing pushing me outside my comfort zone that’s a little less tangible than a DIY project or a trip to somewhere unexpected. It is a personal commitment to myself to try to be more flexible. Like my mother would always say to me, “Just go with the flow.” With those words in mind, I went out to dinner for my beautiful friend Lauren Frager’s 22nd birthday last night, and decided not to cut the evening short by running home to write a post. Ideally, Fashion Friday posts will be posted on… Fridays. But when living in the moment is too good to pass up, sometimes you’ve just gotta go with it — stop checking the time, stop responding to email, stop the noise in your brain, and just live. Easier said than done, but here I am trying my best to weave this mindset into the the fabric of my life.

Okay, okay, Ralph Waldo Emerson has left the building — onto the fashion!

These beauties are Cristina Keane and Phoebe Bradford, two friends who I had the great fortune of getting to shoot for my first Eagle article of the semester.