healing through music

Came across new music the other day. Jetty Rae - she's an acoustic solo artist. 

Fell in love with her style and honest lyrics so I started to read her blog...

I soon found out that in the middle of recording her new album she too lost her baby girl, Ella. 

I anticipate her new album will be very raw since she only lost her baby 9 months ago. And although I know her music is coming from the same place of sadness I have been and will absolutely tug on many heart strings - I am anxious to hear how she is healing through creating. 

Here is a video of her covering A-Team and Jar of Hearts. So awesome, I love her Front Porch Sessions she posts on her Google +

t.g.i.f.

Phew...what a rough week. But it's Friday. and it's the first day of Summer! I made it through without biting someone's head off, I didn't run out of work in tears, and I didn't give up on hope. Although that's exactly what I felt like doing.

Thanks to Chris for not giving up on me too. Did I mention I was PMSing on top of everything? Yikes!

We are both off tomorrow which is rare. I am thinking we will wander around the city, maybe go to a neighborhood we haven't been to in awhile. Then on Sunday I get to babysit my niece and nephew which is a guarantee for a good day!

Even just having a relaxing weekend is part of our Operation: Heal our Hearts summer. I have been trying to follow Henrik Edberg's 10 small steps to having a happy summer. Give it a whirl!

10 Small Ways to Make This The Happiest Summer of Your Life

1. Go slow
2. Say yes to the new
3. Say no to the "should" of summer
4. Just do nothing at all
5. Be the summer you want to be
6. Be kind in small ways
7. Savor the summer moments right here instead of being lost in the future or past
8. Ask yourself what you can be grateful for so far this year
9. Just accept how you feel instead of pushing it away
10. Spend more time doing what you love

.operation: heal our hearts

This summer is officially Operation: Heal our Broken Hearts. Our goal is to have the most fun and to continue living our lives. This is in no way to try to forget our loss, it is more to remind ourselves of who we are and why we fell in love. We are different now, there's no doubt about that. My priorities have certainly changed but life needs to go on. It's so easy to get stuck in the sadness and forget about the greatness that surrounds us - the great people, the great places. 

A quick, simple, and relatively cheap way to guarantee fun is to buy concert tickets! Last night we saw Of Monsters and Men; the first of many concerts this summer. It was at one of my favorite venues in the city, Festival Pier at Penns Landing, which is right on the water! Only a cab ride away but felt like we left the city for a few hours.

Music plays a huge role in our relationship. Chris and I used to spend hours talking about our favorite songs and playing them for each other. 

Music has also helped get me through many different situations whether it was a broken heart, falling in love, or feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. I am not very articulate so sometimes when people ask "what's wrong?" or "how are you doing?" I just want to hand them a playlist and I think they would understand that better than I could ever explain.

There is also something very comforting about hearing someone else sing their heart out about a similar situation you are going through. You suddenly don't feel alone. So if I get the opportunity to see that person live, I am there! I don't want to call it an escape, but it is definitely a 3 hour mini vacation from reality. At the end of Of Monsters and Men they dumped confetti out on all of us - it was awesome! Who doesn't like when it snows confetti on a summer night!?