cultural spotlight: leah mason

Leah Mason is an up and coming artist in the London area. I was introduced to Leah at the Little Noise Sessions concert series in London. She was the first opener and immediately, I was hooked.  Her live performance was amazing, as you will see in the "Borderline" video, which happened to be from the LNS concert! Her voice is rich and beautiful. I cannot wait for her to produce a record! 

Favorites:
St. Antoine
Borderline

to my husband:

Darling,

You must love England.
Because we are going to live there one day.

Love,
Your Future Wife

love advice from hans

"Sarah, don't go and get any more boyfriends zis semestar. I vant you to focus on your jurman."

I never thought I would hear a professor tell me this. Let alone in a thick German accent. #reasonswhyilovehans.

twenty-one.

Dear eight year old Sarah, 

Because you are your father's daughter, realize that when he is in his "put-honey-on-everything" stage, yours will quickly follow. 

Keep showing mom all those cute puppy pictures. She will finally give in and buy one in two years.

Go with dad to all the DC museums. You will love them so much more than you realized once you don't live there anymore, and you'll wished you had spent even more time in them when you did live there. I'm serious.

I know you love hot chocolate now, but after you live in England for a few months, you will always prefer a cup of herbal tea instead.

Yes, you will live in England. Live up every moment. Seize every opportunity while you're there. Keep your heart open. Take risks. Before you know it, you will be back in America.

Embrace your love for your pet crickets now. They will terrify you later.

Yes, you still have an aversion to candy corn and horizontally hung tire swings.

Spend more time with your sisters. They will still be your best friends in thirteen years.

Listen to mom. She's right. Boys love peach pie.

And the day you turn twenty-one there will still be so many things you haven't figured out. Crazy, huh?But you will have learned a lot too. So remember to learn from your mistakes, always choose people over problems and never forget how blessed you are. 

Love,

Twenty-one year old Sarah

happy birthday, allie!

Today is my dear sister, Allie's, birthday. Yes, we were born two years and a day apart. Growing up, our mom always made sure we had separate parties, presents and cakes (vanilla for Allie, chocolate for me) just to make sure we each felt special. And even though she still makes the same sweet effort today, there's nobody I'd rather share my birthday with than with Allie. :)

Allie, you're truly one of a kind. As my older sister, you are innately "cooler". So many times I wanted to do things because you did them: ballet class with Dawn, jazz class with Krissy, hang in the cul-de-sac with the older neighbors, have a million friends (girls and boys), take A.P. Psych from Shauna Kay and Honors U.S History from Mr. Loose, go to BYU, get married in the temple, have kids ... the list goes on.

But the thing is, not only did I want to do these things to be cool, but i knew that if you did them they were something worth doing. To this day, I still consider dance a part of who I am and occasionally make up a routine or two. And to be honest, having kids still scares me to death, but seeing you with Mark makes me realize that it is so worth it.

So thank you for being such an amazing example. Thank you for blazing the trail before me. Thank you for letting me tag along with you. Thank you for letting me sleep on your couch. Thank you for listening to all my problems. Thank you for being an excellent example of optimism and faith. Thank you for being the best older sister a girl could ask for.

I love you! Happy birthday!

this weekend.

Pizza pie cafe date night with Ahlin.

Getting a much appreciated and a much overdue phone call from an old friend - thank you, dear friend. I needed that.

Babysitting little blondie and watching State of Play with Allie and Danny.

Meeting my second cousin at church. (after all those years of Christmas cards ... )

Giving Chula (our fish) a bigger home.

Obsessing over this song. Thanks for sharing with me, LO. :)

Loving this quote: "Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals." - MLK Jr.

today.

Obsessing over this song. 

Loving these lines:

I'd like to bring a little light

To shine a light on your life

To make you feel loved.

Wishing I was in Paris.

Painting my nails hot pink.
[and loving them.]

Listening to [and loving] The Arctic Monkeys.

Drinking my third cup of tea.

Laughing at How I Met Your Mother.
[Fans of the show - I am so Ted, yes?]

Distracting.

stick with love

"I've decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." - Martin Luther King Jr.

last thoughts for twenty-ten.

confession: i really wanted to write a cool new years post. but to be honest, this is the best i could come up with ... so here you go, twenty-ten in a nutshell:

the bonding of four and two-oh-three.

the immigration of leslie.

roadtrips with best friends.

a summer with a little blond baby named mark.

the legends of corey dong.

three roommates' weddings.

suitcases, passports and airplanes. 

living in my favorite city in the world.

thirty-seven people that changed my life.

boat ride on the seine river and lying under the eiffel tower. 

a day in ambleside.

seeing fernando's house.

front row seats to the concert of a lifetime.

cambridge: take 2.

thanksgiving in scotland. 

the clique.

home.

thank you twenty-ten for an amazing year. 

lastly, here's a cover of a classic to ring in the new year!

happy twenty-eleven!

- sm