Music Monday

This Monday I am loving me some "Love Letter" by Clairy Browne & The Bangin' Rackettes.

Let me just start by saying I am super excited about this band from the land down under! Definitely a new favorite for me! Ms. Browne's voice fills a void in me previously only reserved for the likes of the late Amy Winehouse. I am sure by now you have grown tired of hearing me go on and on about my love for 60's Soul/R&B and specifically female vocalists of that era or that resemble such, so without further ado I give you the incredibly talented ensemble that is Clairy Browne & The Bangin' Rackettes:

Btw, if the song sounds familiar, it may be due to a Heineken commercial that recently featured the band and the song. This is actually where the hubby first heard/saw them, but didn't even realize they were an actual band.

Oh

, and if you're really digging their sound and are wondering when and where you can catch them live, be prepared to get beyond excited because they are actually on tour right now in the U.S.!  Their official website www.clairybrowne.com has the rest of their tour dates.

Hope everyone has a fabulous week!

-Lesli

My pick for this week is a band I've been digging for some time now.
Unfortunately, there isn't a video for my favorite song, so we'll just make do with audio.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Fleet Foxes!

Happy Monday to all!

Artist Spotlight: Lana Del Rey

So, we have decided to do something a little different for this Music Monday. Instead of our usual individual song/artist picks, we decided to collaborate on a single post dedicated to a mutually beloved artist and debut what we hope to be the first of many "Artist Spotlight" posts.

Now, from the beginning of What's Bippin, Michelle and I agreed we would never blog about certain topics, specifically certain artists, artists that we both feel very protective and passionate about. I think this was due in part to us being in denial and believing if we never talked about it publicly than we could somehow keep them all to ourselves (ridiculous, I know) and also due in part to us feeling there are just no words worthy of describing our feelings towards them.

As silly as this may sound to some, the impact these artists have had on us has made it very difficult for us to share with others and even though we still don't feel 100% comfortable writing about all of them (there are still some we will NEVER talk about on here), we decided since this blog is about US, we could not and should not withhold these things that make up a huge part of who and what we are.

With that being said, we have decided to loosen the reigns a little and dedicate an "Artist Spotlight" to one of our biggest music and fashion icons: Lana Del Rey.

Here are the facts: Michelle loved her first, now we fight over who loves her more but agree that no one loves her as much as we do combined. Don't get us wrong, we love our fellow Lanatics, but only those who discovered her on their own and have no relation to us. Otherwise, we feel like a child at the playground whose toy has been stolen: "Give her back, she's mine!". Obsessed much? You could say that.

Even as the hardcore Lana fans that we are, there are still lines we simply will not cross. For instance, we strongly dislike blatant and direct imitation out of the profound respect we have for her. Which means that covers of her songs, recreations of her looks/photos and impersonators better nail it to a T (in other words, you better have us fooled for the real thang, mkay?), otherwise in our opinion it is an insult. One might argue that imitation is the highest form of flattery, to which I would repeat, if you can pull it off then fine, but most cannot and here is where the problem lies. We don't blame people for trying, I mean, naturally we all want to be her.... but unfortunately we cannot and if you are a true fan, out of respect for the artist, you would be able to recognize that.

Now, that is not say we are not cool with anything "inspired" by Ms. Del Rey. That is perfectly okay with us. In fact, it's more than okay, we love it! We are guilty of it ourselves! She is our muse in many different aspects.

What makes her so special you may ask? This is probably the hardest question to answer being that it's of a more personal nature, since we could both answer that completely differently. We both love her for a lot of the same reasons and then also for our own reasons. So, instead of trying to explain it, we thought it best to compile some of our favorite Lana works and let you see for yourselves.

Our picks:

I know, I know, we probably should have cautioned you before viewing this that your may explode by all the amazing-ness that is Lana Del Rey. It is too much even for us to handle at times. Please take as long as you need to compose yourselves.

Music Monday

Today I am incredibly excited to share with you all my pick. 

Mainly because it's from a band that both Lesli and I adore, and have had the privilege of seeing.

 That being said, today's pick is Austra's brand new single Home.

If you've never heard of this band, please do yourself a favor and listen to some of their other songs. They're amazing. Lesli and I discovered this band, each on our own, and were SO excited when we found out we both liked them. We agree that their dark Synth-Pop paired with Katie Stelmanis classically trained voice is the most stunning combination. And not to mention that hearing her sing live is simply breathtaking! That's why we are eagerly awaiting their new album, but until then, we'll make due with the singles! :D

I hope you all have a swell Monday!

-Michelle

So, I know the Black Keys are currently all the rave and not that it matters and I know this is going to be such a hipster thing to say, but I really did like them before they were trendy. Ever since the release of Brothers I've been obsessing over their cover of Jerry Butler's "Never Give You Up". Covers are really one of those hit or miss kind of things for me, and I know not everyone feels the same, but I happen to think they nailed it. So my pick for this Monday is "Never Give You Up" as performed by the Black Keys. Enjoy!

Happy Monday!

-Lesli

Outfit of the Day

Fresh Spring Rolls

We realize we have been seriously slacking on our baking and dinner posts. We are terribly sorry, however recently we've been trying to really clean up our eating habits, so there have been no delicious desserts and dinners are usually quite boring. Well, I'm over it now. There's no reason healthy shouldn't be fun and exciting, right? It does take a bit more work and creativeness than just dumping a bunch of lettuce in a bowl and drowning it in dressing, but it's totally worth it.

Here is one of our fave dishes: Fresh Spring Rolls!

You would be surprised at how easy it is to make these. Best of all they allow for total customization. You can add or take out pretty much anything inside of them to make them just how you like. Honestly, the most difficult thing about these is the prep time. You need some patience to cut up all the veggies (if they're not already pre-cut), if you are using uncooked meat and/or seafood to cook that also and time cooking the noodles.

So here is what we use to make ours:

Rice Paper

Fried Tofu

Shredded Carrots

Cucumbers (peeled and thinly sliced)

Bean Sprouts

Mint

Green Onions (thinly sliced)

Vermicelli Noodles

Once your Fresh Spring Roll assembly line is formed, you basically have the hardest part out of the way. Now for the fun part, putting them together!

I normally fill a pretty large bowl with warm water, where I will be submerging the rice paper in to make them soft. This happens pretty quickly, takes about 20-30 seconds.

Once they're soft act quick, they're easier to work with while still wet. Note: be gentle as they can tear easily. Lay them out on a flat surface and smooth out. Now, assemble! I usually start out by laying down my mint leaves in the middle, they tend to stick better to the rice paper, then my tofu, then the cucumber, green onions, carrots, bean sprouts and noodles. Keep your portions small, especially if you are using more ingredients than me to help keep the roll from unraveling or tearing through the rice paper. Now you're ready to roll!

I roll mine burrito style, must be the Mexican in me. I fold one half of the rice paper over the middle, then tuck the ends in and roll to the end, all while gently tightening and shaping the roll. This is important. Trust me, a loose roll is very hard to eat, gets all over the place. 

When you've made your desired amount, eat and enjoy! Buy or whip up your favorite Thai peanut sauce or sweet and sour sauce and you're set! Yummy, fresh and healthy treat!

Music Monday

Fitz & The Tantrums: saw this band live before ever even hearing a single song of theirs. 

We all know how fond I am of 60's soul and R&B singers, especially female singers. Although the lead singer of Fitz & the Tantrums is Michael Fitzpatrick, for me the back up singer, Noelle Scaggs, steals the show. She is a insanely talented vocalist! She rocked it live! Again, I'm super into their sound sorta being a throwback to the 60's and excited that they're doing their own thing and don't really sound like anything out there right now. So, now I give you "Breaking The Chains Of Love"...

-Lesli

Ever since the day I came across Sky Ferreira's video for 'One' about two years ago, I knew she was special. Even though I didn't particularly like that song, I liker her. I really even know why, but I think she's really pretty(in that hot mess kind of way). Recently I've decided to give her music a second try, and luckily I liked a couple songs. 'Everything is Embarrassing' is probably my favorite song of hers, although when I first found it the name weirded me out. I'm glad, however, that I didn't let that stop me!
Without further ado:

-Michelle

 Enjoy your Monday!

Music Monday

This Monday I decided to take a more psychedelic route with my pick. I re-discovered my love for The Velvet Underground and specifically The Velvet Underground with Nico. Really, what is there not to love about this Warhol Superstar? In my opinion she was a 60's icon.

So, the song I chose is "Femme Fatale". I feel it displays Nico's unique deep, husky voice perfectly!

Hope you enjoyed and wish one and all a fabulous Monday!

-Lesli

My pick for today is The Flaming Lips' Vein of Stars.

There are so many great songs of theirs but this is my favorite.

Have a listen and enjoy your Monday!

-Michelle

Outfit of The Day

Dapper Day Spring 2013

Dapper Day is an event that takes place at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World. It is inspired by the opening of the park in 1955 when attendees dressed in their best frocks. Although most who choose to participate in this event decide to go with vintage attire or vintage reproduction, it is not required. It is meant to be a "fashionable gathering", which basically means the only requirement is you dress up! Fun, right!? We think so anyway. Most who know us well can tell you we will look for any excuse to dress up. We take pride in putting together our outfits quite a bit of time in advance, with special attention to the details (i.e. the jewelry, the gloves, the hats, the sweater clips, the sunglasses, etc.). Michelle preps for this events a little differently, she packed and lugged around with her a total of 3 different cameras! Obviously documenting these events with photos is of top priority for her. She will tell you a bit more about this:

Yes, yes, three cameras may have been a bit excessive, but I don't regret it!
Each camera had a different purpose. In total I took one digital, one film and lastly a Polaroid camera.
Can't wait to develop the film!
Until then, enjoy these!

- Michelle

We decided to get a room the night before Dapper Day in Anaheim to reduce our travel time the day of the event, since otherwise we would be coming all the way from San Diego, and thus allowing our hair and make-up to stay in place for longer and our garments to be wrinkle free.

Our first stop before entering the park was Disney's Grand Californian Hotel for our complimentary 3rd annual Dapper Day pins! Eeek, so exciting! Oh, and good thing we did that first, as it was later announced they had ran out and sold out of all merchandise.

With our official pins adding the finishing touch, we were now ready to enter the park! Yipee!

Upon entering the park we were greeted by a Disneyland employee, "Happy Dapper Day guys!" This would be recurring through out the entire day amongst other Disneyland employees and fellow Dapper Day attendees. Everyone so very sweet!

Besides the suggested schedule given by the official Dapper Day website, which included a total of 4 meet-up locations, we did not really have a game plan as far as what we wanted to do and see once inside the park. For the sake of vanity and attempting to look as put together as possible for as long as possible, we decided to go on all the mellow, kiddy rides first: Mad Tea Party Teacups (which proved to be a bit more tumultuous than I had anticipated), Storybook Land Canal Boats, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Just so you know, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean are located in what happens to be my favorite area at Disneyland: New Orleans Square. Here's a fun fact about Lesli: I am obsessed with New Orleans, the French Quarter, the Bayou and Cajun culture! Since I currently am not financially in a position to travel there, I will take whatever little bit I can get. While in New Orleans Square, the hubby was such a gentleman and brought Michelle and I two Mint Juleps to quench our thirst while we waited in line for the Haunted Mansion. Mint is so refreshing! Yum, yum, yum!

This gave us just enough time to make it to the first meet up, which was at the Sailing Ship Columbia, which ironically was NOT sailing! It was nice to see so many dapper folk all dressed up in support of the event, however, a bit disappointed that the ship would not be sailing that day we saw no point of standing around and left to continue to explore the park.

Since the line for Indiana Jones is notorious for being one of the longest, we thought it would be a good idea to get a Fast Pass, jump on the Jungle Cruise then kill sometime over at California Adventure. This was Michelle's very first time ever to Disney California Adventure Park, so there were certain attractions that were an absolute MUST for her to experience. First on the list, of course: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror! I should add we got Fast Passes for Soarin' Over California before going on Tower of Terror to go on right after and before having to head back to Disneyland for our appointment with Indiana Jones.

Michelle loved Soarin'. Her feelings about Tower of Terror are similar to mine. It's a love/hate relationship. The whole free-fall thing is a bit excessive in my opinion but we adore everything else about the ride!

So we make it back to Indiana Jones, Fast Pass in hand, almost about to board when the ride shuts down! Noooooo! Literally, we were the next 3 people to board! How does this happen?! Everyone gets escorted out through the exit, where employees are handing out complimentary Fast Passes for any other attraction at the park (excluding Matterhorn) for up to 6 people... Next stop? Space Mountain, duh!

After Space Mountain it was time for the last meet up of the night, The Dapper Derby at the King Arthur Carousel! Such a wonderful way to end the night! I don't know what it is about carousels, they just seem to capture the spirit of eras past so perfectly! So whimsical, so majestic!

Oh, and if you are wondering what happened with the second and fourth meet up spots, one happened to be a "singles meet-up" at the Golden Vine Winery, which we decided to pass on, with me being married and all and obviously Michelle wouldn't be going alone. And the other was for after hours drinks at Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar, which also didn't work out, since we were driving back home that night. 

Last on our list was the Ferris wheel at California Adventure, so we raced over, however we were told it had already been closed for the World of Color and that it would not re-open after the show, so we took that as a sign that it was time to say good-bye.

Our Dapper Day finally came to a close around 9 PM. Unfortunately, before the fireworks show. Although we wore comfortable shoes, standing and walking around for as many hours as we did was far too much for us to handle. We were dead beat, need proof? Please reference picture below:

So, we bid farewell to the happiest place on earth! We came, we saw, we conquered Dapper Day! We were just blown away by the turnout for this event. See you again September 2013 for the next Dapper Day event! Stay tuned for that adventure!