Music Monday: a playlist

bluemountain thyme, flickr

Hope everyone has a great week. Here's some classic rock jams to get you through your Monday blues (I've got them bad today...)

Rock n' Roll Ain't Noise Polution from ATLGeorgia on 8tracks Radio.

Hi, Weekend!

Well, winter is definitely on us up here in New York. I didn't realize it could be so cold your face hurt! But overall we can't complain- I live a short walk from the hospital, and according to my colleagues it's actually unseasonably warm. That hasn't stopped me from planning a Florida getaway to look forward to, though ;-) 

Speaking of winter, this cold has given me a new appreciation for warm socks! I think I need to go the wool route as the temperatures drop...this pair's definitely on my list.

I was never a huge fan of Mark Zuckerberg until he posted this. Vaccines are important, and with very few exceptions all children should be vaccinated according to the CDC schedule. I've been wanting to write a post about vaccines for awhile now...maybe it's time...hmm...

I found this list after we got back from London. Of course. But that's not stopping us from adding it to our ever-growing London to-do list, haha! Some of those locations just look so gorgeous, it's hard to believe you can reach them on the tube.

I went through a weird phase this past couple of days and started making playlists on 8tracks again! It was really fun- I've had this one in particular on my iPod for ages but never put it up until now. 

Our ideal pet situation. 

Valuing time more than money is linked to happiness- a good thing to remember in the upcoming year. (Thanks for the link, reddit.)

I so badly want to see the rest of this clip- Channing Tatum lip syncing to Let it Go

The drawers situation at our has has gotten a little bit...ridiculous? Let's just say living out of cardboard boxes as a chest of drawers is not ideal. I found this one on etsy and it's not crazy expensive...what do you think?

I'm kind of dying to try out this recipe one weekend...call in London withdrawal ;-)

Just discovered this Mommy-doctor blog and I'm pretty impressed- Laura makes this intern business look easy, haha! 

Have a great weekend. I'm working today, but in the ED so hopefully it will be a good- and maybe even fun?- shift. And tomorrow- pumpkin spice pancakes with one of my favorite people :D

Music.

somewhere on the blue ridge parkway, 2015

I've said this before, but one of the things I've really missed since starting work (finally! at the ripe age of 26!!) is the time I used to spend discovering new music. All to often, when I'm working long hours, I plop down on my laptop and just play 1989 (it's the only new album I've bought on iTunes, and all my old stuff is inexplicably hidden in some part of my hard drive.) It's the equivalent to eating junk food all. the. time. If I'm lucky the husband will pop one of our records on, but apart from Leon Bridges (genius that he is,) I haven't really gotten into any of the new (and I'm sure great) stuff lately, which is a bummer.

So I've been trying to change things up a bit in the first month of this new year. I skimmed through Rolling Stone and NPR's best of album lists, not to mention a trustworthy blog here and there (these guys introduced me to Jason Isbell, for example.)

So here's to a year of good music, new discovery, and all that that implies :)

The best of Indie Folk 2015 from rbieze on 8tracks Radio.

What are your favorite albums/new artists or songs of 2015?

-G

Into the Clouds

I think a regret for both Peter and I was never managing to scale Psiloritis while we were living on Crete together. When my Dad was a kid staying in our Horio in the 70s, they'd make the trek straight from the village- hiking down into the lush, wooded valley, then climbing up the mountain from the South face, guided by a neighbor who knew the place like the back of his weathered palm. He's well over 90 now, Kyrio Stelios, and he doesn't go up there any more, though he's one of a handful of people who still regularly go to the Horio and spend time out there in the mountains.

So obviously, we weren't going to get married on Crete without getting ourselves up there.

We called it a bachelor/ette party of sorts. Figured that was one good way to convince our family and friends that this idea wasn't actually crazy and might work. We left from Rethymnon in 3 cars with some vague idea that we needed to drive South. A few wrong turns and some directions from a goatherd in exchange for a few cigarettes landed us at a sort of base camp. Within a half hour of walking the air had become thick with clouds and icy wind.

We found what we were searching for, in the end (that is, after getting lost on the next peak over. This post is a little more of a what-not-to-do one, if you catch my meaning.) A tiny chapel, built of slate and stones, is nestled at the peak of Psiloritis. Services are held only once a year, at a summer Panagyri. It's not accessible in the winter, when snow blankets the mountain trail.

We huddled together inside and said the prayer for marriage, had a shot of raki, and enjoyed the fragments of view that we could catch between the clouds: mountains on mountains, and a few glimpses of the Libyan sea shimmering to the South.

We made it down alright in the end, but not without getting lost twice (whoops.) I wouldn't recommend doing it as we did: don't go to early in the summer (snow was still covering some of the trail;) don't go without good hiking boots, and for goodness' sake, bring a guide, or at least a map. It was worth it in the end, though- as we descended back out of the clouds the mountains opened up into stunning views of the valley below. It felt like we were in another world.

The hike is actually part of a trail that spans the length of Crete. One day, maybe, we can go back and do the whole thing...one day :)

Happy New Year, everyone. Wishing you all the very best in 2016!