Summer time, the nights are so long.

Warped Tour was THE BEST! And yet - how many bands did I watch? One and a half. I arrived in the midst of Motion City's (always stellar) set, and watched the All-American Rejects later in the day. But the music wasn't the main event for me yesterday. I hadn't seen Jesse in three weeks (!!!), and thus I was elated to finally embrace him.

Apparently in the middle of the MCS set he told his tech to check if I'd arrived. Ha! I had, with empanadas for everyone, courtesy of my Mom (she makes amazing empanadas, fact). And after he got off stage, we were pretty much inseparable. Well, until he had to do a signing. But then he was back!

A great big bunch of friends were there, and after Jesse and I had a nice time catching up over delicious Mexican food, the activities began. Whether it was watching a crap movie on the bus, sitting outside the bus under their tent, or playing wiffle ball in the parking lot with some random ladies and some dudes from The Swellers (we won!). I love reuniting with Jesse - nothing feels so good than to be back in his presence, taking in all the little things I missed so much.

We were so busy having so much fun, this is the only picture that came out of the stellar day:

Me up at bat!

Alas, I had to say goodbye. He'll back back home in a week, but after only a few hours of seeing him, I miss him even more now.

Also, thanks for all the Warped memories! Loved my own memory being jogged by some of the comments, and seeing pictures! Got any more? How was your weekend?

She thinks that she can fly and she might.

Here's the deal: it's been a busy week. You could say it's been too hot to post. It's true. Next week I'll be back, but until then - I'll be relaxing at my parent's home in Massachusetts, and getting to see Jesse this Sunday at Warped Tour. And Warped Tour, my friends, is always good for a laugh. Take, for instance, this picture I scanned from the 2002 Warped Tour:

That's me in the middle, wearing one arm warmer (in the humid DC summer, I mean, c'mon, Jessica) and enthusiastically posing with the band Something Corporate (when I was totally in love with Leaving Through The Window - not many songs incorporate my name into the lyrics, this album did it once!). On that day, I remember Alkaline Trio were the first band to play, and after that I planted myself at the Drive-Thru stage. I saw RX Bandits, The Starting Line, Finch there, stayed near the front for the moshing, and got covered in dirt. My friends and I ended the extravaganza by bouncing around to New Found Glory. I had had "the best day ever." And that's what's fun about Warped Tour: you get to see a bunch of your most favouritest bands play all in one day and jump around and be surrounded by other people who are into it in just the same way.

Of course, this year, there's no act I'm more excited to see than my husband and his arms hugging me.

Do you have any Warped Tour memories? Are you going this year? Let's all share the good stuff - who'd you get your picture taken with? Best Warped act you've seen?  A funny memory? A horrible memory? I know you're out there! Let's discuss.

You really got a hold on me.

A followup! Did Liz and Jessica have a great Independence Day weekend? Did She & Him satiate their need for swoon-worthy guitar playing and hip-shaking live music? Did their Liz & Jessica In the Sun Tour 2010 live up to all the hype?

YES. YES. YES.

I took a quick Amtrak train to Philadelphia on Friday afternoon in time to meet Liz, grab some dinner and then head to River Stage. I loved coming upon the venue - it's a smallish amphitheater with the Delaware River as it's background. Liz, two of her friends, and I had a great view at the top ridge of the stone steps and had enough room to bop around to the music.

The show! The show was fantastic - with a long setlist that I'm pretty sure covered nearly their entire two albums, along with three or four other covers in the mix. I squealed when they started playing "Home" - my favourite track on Volume Two, and Liz got excited to hear the duet "Ridin' in My Car." Both, like all the songs, incredible. We danced, we sang, we did that thing where we clutched our chest when we heard M. Ward sing his first notes.

For some reason, many people I've encountered believe Zooey Deschanel's voice is nothing to get excited over. I've never understood this; I enjoy her singing on the albums. However, live? She'll blow you away. She hits every note and she knows how to belt it out. Of course, she looks ridiculously adorable while doing it!

Also, I just found and bought this signed & numbered poster for Friday's show:

After the show, we went out in Philadelphia for a bit of dancing, avoiding the weirdos, and then Liz and I winded up at her apartment playing songs on her friend's iPod and discussing certain musicians and songs one-on-one. That's the thing with Liz - I'm pretty sure we could discuss music for hours. I think I knew that when I first discovered her blog a couple of years ago, though.

Friends, River Stage, Massive French Toast, Liz - On Our Way to NY!

On Saturday, Liz and I made it to New York and decided it was the right night for a Williamsburg DANCE PARTY. So we gathered up the usual suspects (aka my amazing friends), gussied ourselves up, and headed to The Woods! Unfortunately, the DJ couldn't decide between good music and horrible music, so every other song was abysmal. No worries, though, as we danced it up anyway in good fun!

Erica, Kells, Liz, Amber!

On Sunday morning, Amber, Liz, and I got up early, grabbed some bagels, and headed to Governor's Island for the 4th of July free She & Him show! The line for the ferry was perhaps the longest line I'd ever seen - and we showed up three hours before the show was supposed to start. Also? It was 95 degrees, blinding sun. At any rate, we made it to the quaint little island (which I hope to explore more of in the future!) and settled into the heat to await She & Him.

That's Matt Ward and band soundchecking!

Me. SPF 70. The only beer I had that day because I spent my money on water.

Amber & Liz.

Our view of Manhattan and the BK Bridge.

On to the show, right? (All these pics are from Gothamist or Brooklyn Vegan!)

M. Ward's crooning, Zooey's 4th of July outfit.

She always coordinates with her backup singers! Love it.

Their shows have a great deal of energy, too.

Please check out this pic I found and photoshopped! And laugh.

The show, again, did not disappoint! Zooey and her backup singers sang a little patriotic diddy in the encore, the duets were beautiful, and even the heat couldn't hold back everyone from dancing to their last song, a cover of "Roll Over Beethoven." However, after the show was over, we were covered in dirt, dust and sand that stuck to our sunscreen and sweat: we were ready to go home. We got back on the quick ferry, and said bye to Liz who had to head back to Philadelphia.

And so: the weekend was a BLAST!!! Great friends and live music - how could you go wrong?

How did you spend the holiday?!

PS Um, just in case this post didn't inform you about how in love I am with this band - tonight...I'm going to see them perform at Terminal 5. Yes. Commence questioning my sanity.

And he can't sing like I can sing, oh baby, it's so hard.

Alert! Alert! This holiday weekend I shall be in two cities, seeing the same band, with fellow blogger and female extraordinaire LIZ!! And, if you haven't guessed yet: we're seeing She & Him. The band that we are both semi-obsessed with. Just kidding, we're full-on obsessed. We girl crush Zooey. We think M. Ward is so cool. The music rules! (I mean remember how fangirly this post about seeing them was?? Okay, every post I write about them is fangirly - let it continue!)

Today I'm getting on an Amtrak train to meet up with Liz in her home base of Philadelphia and we'll grab some dinner, catch up about "real life" as opposed to "blog life" (yes, there are unblogged exclusives, HA - I said "exclusives") and go to the show where we will surely sing, dance, and be super awesome fools. Afterwards: apparently things are planned. Excitement Are I.

Then we'll head back to New York on Saturday for more shenanigans and then on Sunday, another She & Him show! At Governor's Island! It's free! I can't stop exclaiming, it's true!

And now, I shall close my post with a collage of She & Him pictures, since I have a legitimate reason to post their enviable prettiness:

What are you doing this long weekend?!

I was ready to set the world on fire.

Today I'm revving up and getting ready for what is panning out to be a great holiday weekend. More details on that tomorrow, but for now: got any questions for me? Amid my furious working and later, cleaning and packing, I'll answer them on my Formspring!

Here's a list of things I've been super-digging:

• My commenters' Top Five Girl Crushes lists. I almost made a Honorable Mention list. Almost.
• Liz at Dance to the Radio's Monday Mixtapes
• We all know I'm a huge Dashboard Confessional fan. Total geek. I love this new tumblr dedicated to the band, but with a mocking tone. I'm all for the die hard "I love you" fans, but I also know how easy it is to make fun of their emo reputation and, it's true, everybody takes a bad picture sometimes! It seems all in good fun. The best is their Dashboard Confessional show etiquette post - I quote - "7) DON’T yell for hands down every other song. I SWEAR TO YOU, IT WILL BE A COLD DAY IN HELL BEFORE THAT SONG IS NOT ON A SETLIST."
• A Great Big Pile of Leaves' new album getting a 93% rating on AbsolutePunk.net!
• This recipe for Tequila-Soaked Watermelon Wedges - delicious summertime snack
• How I realized I'm actually interested in The City's storylines about branding your fashion line and working at a magazine. Boys, schmoys - I like seeing them work!
• The Best American Magazine Writing 2009 - great, sometimes emotional, but always eye-opening reads
• And finally, a picture of really cute cheetah cub, the best animal in the entire world: