it's been one week

Ways in which the internet won this week:

- Simultaneously making me feel better and worse about life in NY: http://theworstroom.tumblr.com/ (conclusion: I can never move apartments)
- The Celebrate Brooklyn lineup was released this week, and looks great!
- Parks and Rec was renewed!
- Adding nothing but amazingness to my week / making me want to go on a road trip with John Krasinski and sing Katy Perry songs (which he probably has some time for now that The Office is ending. Emily Blunt can totally come with.):

- I'm gearing up for GoogaMooga #2 next weekend and praying that it has worked out some of the kinks since last year. At the very least, I hope it isn't quite so hot and sweltering, because the temperatures + lack of shade + consuming allofthefood is what really did us in.

- But the real highlight is that my friends Alex and Kendall are visiting all of us from high school here in NY this weekend and I could not be more excited!!! It's gorgeous out today, so I'm going to go be a tourist this afternoon and soak up some sun.

march danceness

Day #2 of "spring" is March Madness if I've ever seen it. Winter, you were a really lame non-starter this year and now your turn is over. Step aside, bro.

I'll have to settle for warming myself up with a little impromptu dance party. You know you want to, too.



+ bonus, not-available-on-Spotify track, which is guaranteed to get stuck in your head:

you're all right

Happy Valentine's Day! This holiday isn't particularly important, but I love it in a very not-taking-it-seriously way. I've always been a fan of going overboard and wearing a ridiculous amount of red and pink clothing and giving my friends silly cards or cookies (or senior year of high school when I made the craziest heart-shaped pink layer cake surrounded by chocolate-covered strawberries). To be fair though, many days in my life look like a Valentine's Day costume because I have red jeans (which I wore yesterday) and two red coats.

This year I launched a shop on Society6 of drawings/cards (one of which you can see above). And of course, I also made you this mix of things I've been listening to lately. because I love puns, and I love these songs/bands/artists.

hands up and touch the sky

See you next year, summer. I'm a little sad to see you go, but I'll be glad to see 90+ degree days leave us. It's been pretty laid back, but a lot of stuff snuck in there -- the best kind of summer I think.

Summer 2012 tally:
- 2 weddings (with #3 coming up in a few weeks!)
- 4 Lou Malnati's pizza parties
- 5 concerts in Prospect Park (Laura Marling; Ghostface Killah; Childish Gambino/Danny Brown/SchoolboyQ; Wilco; Wild Flag)
- many first times including a trip to LA, hanging out in Jersey City, standing up in a friend's wedding, swimming at a NYC beach (the Rockaways!), and going to a bachelorette party (this is that scary part of our 20's where there's some kind of snowball and everyone gets married, isn't it?)
- a visit from two of my favvvvvorite people ever
- plus, 12 weeks of fresh summer vegetables (CSA!) and subsequent super delicious stuff being made
- this also just might be known as the summer of the frozen zombie fishbowl...we had a few too many.

I have no way to quantify the number of times I actually listened to Starships, but it's way more than what I recorded on last.fm. It definitely wound up being my song of the summer. I tried my hardest to avoid Call Me Maybe, but it was totally inescapable, particularly watching any sort of Olympics swimming coverage. yikes.

bring on it on, fall -- I have a sweater and some new shoes I'd love to wear. thanks. ::cue exit music::

we made it in America

To wish America a happy 236th birthday, I made it a mix. It's full of newish and oldish songs and everything in between. Tributes to various states and places. Songs celebrating freedom, summer, capitalism, youth, and all those other 'merican sorts of things. I'm just hoping to not melt like I have the last two years.

4th of July from thewarehousedream on 8tracks.

Track Listing:
Hot As Day - Wye Oak
National Anthem - Lana del Ray
Rise To The Sun - Alabama Shakes
Coney Island - Death Cab for Cutie
The Great Salt Lake - Band of Horses
Summer Days - Bob Dylan
Brand New Colony - The Postal Service
Niagra Falls - Harlem Shakes
Young Americans - David Bowie
Blink and You'll Miss a Revolution - Cut Copy
Your English Is Good - Tokyo Police Club
Decatur, or, Round of Applause For Your Stepmother! - Sufjan Stevens
Freedom at 21 - Jack White
The First Single - The Format
Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National
We Almost Lost Detroit - Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr
California Waiting - Kings of Leon
1000 Julys - Third Eye Blind
I'm Free (Hot Chip Remix) - The Rolling Stones
Mississippi - The Griswolds
Made in America - Jay Z/Kanye
Bonfire - Childish Gambino
Americano - Lady Gaga
Firework - Katy Perry

all of the leches

Last week, amid all the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry madness, my friend also turned 26. So, my Saturday was spent making a Cinco de Mayo fiesta appropriate cake (not just tres leches, but muchas leches.) It was fairly involved, but I think it turned out well:

Muchas Leches birthday cake

This cake involved more whipping of various egg parts and cream than I have ever gone through before. But, I learned a lot about the massive volume increase you get from 7 egg whites... Also that making sugared almonds is insanely sticky, and cake doesn't absorb milk at the rate I thought it would (read: dripage).

All those relative non-issues aside, the cake was a big hit, and the party was a ton of fun. There were tacos and margaritas, and multiple kinds of guac. And a pinata!!

Pinata time on the roof

In addition to cake-making duties, I also made this little mix for the birthday girl. Happy birthday again, MC Manzana! ;)

Birthday Fiesta from thewarehousedream on 8tracks.

lion low

I've been a little m.i.a. -- laying low both online and sort of in real life (exception: super fun visitors a few weeks ago and a "spring break" party). It's been a bit of a concert dry spell in anticipation of some upcoming shows in late-spring/early-summer. However, in the mean time I've been spending a lot of quality time with my Spotify account and falling in love with a few things...

dandy lions from thewarehousedream on 8tracks.

I first started this mix when I was listening to First Aid Kit a bunch, and have now finished it as I've spent the last week listening to Of Monsters and Men on repeat. Rounded out with a bunch of other good stuff that all just happens to reference that king of animals.

Other exciting/notable things lately:
- Instagram on Android!!! (sorry iPhones)
- Port of Morrow did not disappoint, and the new video for The Rifle's Spiral is great
- I can't wait for Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (so soon!), GoogaMooga (yum!!), and summer fun times in general

get motivated!

I don't believe that it's February for several reasons, including but not limited to the unseasonably warm weather/lack of snow, and also the feeling that it "can't possibly be February already!" But somehow it is February, and all the summer wedding related paraphernalia has started to trickle in which is just a little scary (so! many! weddings!). I have a few friends who have been applying/interviewing for new jobs, or just generally in need of a little kick in the pants to keep them going all week. And so, I made them this fairly cheesy mix to push them forwards. A lot of it also literally moves me forward, because half of these songs are on my running mix! Enjoy the (more than) 8tracks below:

cheesy motivational music from thewarehousedream on 8tracks.

12th night...er, day.

Twelve days into 2012, these are the things I've been amusing myself with:

...a (belated) New Year's mix:

Welcoming 2012 from thewarehousedream on 8tracks.

...anticipating the new album from my 2009 album list toppers, Fanfarlo, who have a slightly updated sound:


...and, reliving a highlight of 2011 (and possibly of my entire music-listening, concert-attending life):


Otherwise, I've sort of been hibernating and cooking a lot of things with my CSA vegetable share (still trying to find the best use for turnips... but I love this cauliflower soup!) and watching Downton Abbey and wondering when it will actually look/feel like winter around NY for more than 2 days.

welcome to the space jam

Saturday night I fit a seemingly impossible number of people into my one-bedroom apartment for a space themed housewarming party. It was overflowing with aluminum foil, pop rocks, and really awesome friends who dove head first into the theme. I also threw the party so it coincided with several friends visiting from out of town, which made the festivities extra fun. I'm having some party-planning withdrawal now, though - it was all pretty consuming! The various elements included:

An almost 4-hour-long mix of space-related songs. Highlights here:

The playlist was visually-aided by a (mute version) of this Youtube playlist.

It got pretty middle-school-dance-ish with silver stars hanging from the ceiling, alongside a homemade galaxy (lit with christmas lights). Plus, more tin foil made an appearance to decorate an unused Ikea lampshade I had lying around.

There was "rocket fuel" made of Jager and Dr. Pepper (which wound up being my undoing), plus some sweet treats: Blue Moon cupcakes, and adorable alien rice krispie treats made by my friends Ana and Tiffany.

My friends came as a wide variety of spacey things...almost every costume involved aluminum foil, as you can see:

 space test animals (an elephant and a cat...)

the satellite that recently crash-landed on Earth, and the solar system 

generic foil/space hipster

Now that I've fully recovered (and my apartment no longer looks like the apocalypse happened), I'm definitely in search of a new project. Thanks to all of you who came out - my apartment is nice and warm now :-)

summer lovin

Happy first day of summer!!

While it has certainly been warm enough already to qualify as summer, today is officially the first day. To celebrate the longest day of the year, I have a pretty long mix prepared for you all. I'm excited for some of the trips and things that I know will be summer highlights already:

• Newport Folk Festival
• the final installment of the Harry Potter movie franchise
• the first wedding I'm going to of a friend/peer (rather than a family member, etc).
• plus, visitors & housewarming parties & whatever free outdoor shows still exist in New York!

[image found via the Glamourai]

come the war

The new video for The Decemberists' song "This is Why We Fight" ties in perfectly with my post from a few weeks ago. The kids in this video, though, remind me a lot of the movie Hook (and why is this "king" dressed kind of like Prince?)



This is also an appropriate segue into a playlist I've had hanging around.


[this is why we fight | rebellion (lies) | life during wartime | atomic | 16 military wives | i fought in a war | ask | bomb repeat bomb | ares | bomb yourself ]

look and sound like a movie (part two)

The flip side to my last mix*: songs that remind me of these movies every time I hear them. The first two tracks/movies I completely blame attribute to my parents as I was growing up. Other major players: John Hughes movies, and somehow I've doubled up on Frankie Valli songs. (This was originally inspired by a post on Design*Sponge.)



These songs are from:
Dirty Dancing
Top Gun
Almost Famous
10 Things I Hate About You
The Breakfast Club
Pretty in Pink
Napoleon Dynamite (clearly all clips of these have been kicked off of YouTube)
Say Anything

And two bonus songs/scenes:


Can't Hardly Wait


* EDIT: I made the last mix so quickly I forgot to put on one of the major songs I thought of in the first seconds of its conception before I started the dragging and dropping process of playlist creation.  So, here's the addendum: Grace Kelly (Mika)

look and sound like a movie (part one)

I was doing work earlier and "Barbara Streisand" came on, leading to being totally distracted making this mix on 8tracks. A complete stream of conscience, songs making direct allusions to old-timey actors / stars.

Track List:
Clark Gable - The Postal Service
Barbara Streisand - Duck Sauce
Fred Astaire - Lucky Boys Confusion
Buddy Holly - Weezer
Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes
Steve McQueen - Sheryl Crow
Busby Berkeley Dreams - Magnetic Fields
Hollywood Ending - Sleater Kinney

freak out?

[image via The Sartorialist]

Somewhere between turning 25, the New Year, and a constant onslaught of snow/sleet/rain, 2011 has made me pretty restless so far.  I have an itch to make a change, to do something - I just don't know what that thing is quite yet.  Hibernating is nice and all, but winter makes it seem impossible to get anything done in this town.  I'm also on the hunt for a new hobby - suggestions are welcome.

• Lost In The World (feat. Bon Iver) by Kanye West
• Freak Out by Tapes 'n Tapes
• I Want The World To Stop by Belle & Sebastian
• Wasted Hours by The Arcade Fire
• I Can Change by LCD Soundsystem
• What You Know by Two Door Cinema Club

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Of course, my solution to dealing with this so far has been to make a mix.  Definitely enjoying the new Tapes n Tapes album for the most part.

11 songs to ring in 2011

Happy New Year's (Eve)!  This past year has been jam-packed (mostly with work), but I just came back from an exceedingly fun week at home where I had my first Christmas, saw lots of friends, ate my favorite foods, and turned yet another year older.  I came back yesterday to the remaining horrors of Sunday's blizzard, with snowbanks almost as tall as I am blocking in half the cars in my neighborhood.

My parting gift to the year that was 2010 is a little mix - songs to end the year, and a few to bring us into 2011.  I'm ringing in the new year with a large group, seeing more friends, and then perhaps I'll just hibernate this winter...or at least until this snow calms down.

• Future Reflections by MGMT
• The End Has No End by The Strokes
• Finish Line by Fanfarlo
• End of a Spark by Tokyo Police Club
• We End Up Together by The New Pornographers
• Is This It by The Strokes

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Sugar Assault Me Now

Happy Halloween everyone!  Here's a little mix to cover all your all Halloween-y occasions. 

Last night I went to a Halloween party dressed as Sailor Mars.  I was accompanied by a "Katy Perry on Sesame Street" and "Amber from Teen Mom."  It was a pretty strange mix and as we discovered, none of us were super recognizable.  As for today, I bought some candy after brunch (such a shame you can't trick-or-treat when you're in your 20's).

• Thriller by Michael Jackson
• Halloween Mask by Electric Owls
• Magic's InThe Makeup by No Doubt
• Perfect Disguise by Modest Mouse
• Jackie, Dressed In Cobras by The New Pornographers
• Vampire by Antsy Pants

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books on tape

It's been a while since I've had a real themed playlist on here.  Going along with my book post from a few weeks back, here's a little literary playlist for your (music) library:

• Young Adult Friction by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
• Let's Write a Book by Field Music
• Wrapped Up In Books by Belle & Sebastian
• Amsterdam by Guster
• Bright Pink Bookmark by Frightened Rabbit
• Fables by The Dodos

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The whole playlist was conceived one morning while I listened to NPR and Ra Ra Riot's lead singer Wes Miles talked about how their song Each Year was inspired by "To Kill a Mockingbird" (and then the whole conversation got a little depressing, because the song was also written by their former drummer John Pike who died a few years back / he was the first drummer I saw them perform with / we started listening to RRR in part because my friend's brother is friends with the band...).  But then everything snowballed when within the past few weeks I have also seen the Pains of Being Pure at Heart perform, put "Let's Write a Book" on my summer playlist, and just today made "Fables" my new ringback tone.

with the sun shining down over me and you

This mid-week musical moment is really 10 moments: a mini-mix of songs I've been listening to to kick off the summer.


10 for early summer '10:

• hand me downs by The Morning Benders
• Everlasting Light by The Black Keys
• Miami by Foals
• The Weekenders by The Hold Steady
• I Can Talk by Two Door Cinema Club
• Favourite Colour by Tokyo Police Club

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collect the love that I've been given

Dear _[insert your name]_:

Happy Valentine's Day!

A little gift from me to you, to warm your ears and hearts.  I'm running out the door to a Valentine's day potluck, followed by some pre-President's day shenanigans.  Shenanigans!  Wish you could be here with me.

love, Miriam

<3 & Valentines 2010