speak every time you stand so you do not forget yourself.

Posted on February 25, 2015 by sorellaaglio

Folks, the new Mat Kearney album came out this week (on Theo’s first birthday, what a sign!) and it’s really speaking to my soul.

When I was in college, I was in love with Mat Kearney. His album that came out in 2006 was my life album. The summer I came back from studying aboard my mom took me to Borders (RIP) in Ann Arbor to see him live and get my CD signed.

When I get my named signed on things (which I guess doesn’t happen as much anymore) I always tell people “Jen” because a) that is what my family calls me and b) I hate being like, “It’s Jennie. With an I-E.” So when Mat Kearney asked me what my name was I said, “Jen.”

He wrote “Jenn.” I still have that CD. I strongly considered changing the way I spell my name. (I didn’t.)

I love him and his music, and I am so, so happy that another album is finally here. It’s been a while, Mat.

Onto “Just Kids.”

First of all, the first song includes an excerpt from the above spoken word piece, which just is amazing.

This is one of my favorite parts:

This is for the benches and the people sitting upon them
For the bus drivers who drive a million broken hymns
For the men who have to hold down three jobs simply to hold up their children
For the nighttime schoolers
And for the midnight bikers who are trying to fly
Shake the dust

Second of all, Moving On, Heartbeat, Ghost, Los Angeles…they all are just beyond.

I suggest you take a listen on Spotify today. I’ve made a playlist of my fave Mat Kearney songs from over the years, in case you live under a rock and you don’t know who he is. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

you got the kind of look in your eyes // as if no one knows anything but us

Posted on February 12, 2015 by sorellaaglio

Today is my sister’s thirty-first birthday, and although I am not to celebrate with her I started the day feeling excitedly like it was my own birthday. Nikki’s thirtieth year was absolutely the most exciting one of our collective lives yet…she had the cutest son of all time, and I got married (a marginally less exciting event, if I do say so myself.)

Seeing Nikki being a mom has once again prepped me to follow in her footsteps (someday…calm down people!) and know that I’ll have someone to ask a million questions a day. She did the same for me when she got married, when went to college, when she played high school soccer, when she learned what movies were the coolest in the 90s…I could go on, and on, and on. She’s pioneered my life for me in ways I will never even be aware of (like learning how to put your hair in a ponytail without brushing it for 30 minutes first, driving a car, using dry shampoo, having a 9-to-5 job, a 401K) that I just take for granted.

She’s also hilarious. And she doesn’t take any bullshit. And she loves a challenge. She doesn’t like to talk through things – she likes to ACTUALLY do things. She’ll try anything once (or probably, ten times) and she likes just about everyone, everything, and nearly all foods. She’s basically my hero packaged into a tinier blonder version of myself. (Please see below. That is a strangers house where Jeff told us to go get on the bear…so obviously, we did.)

I cannot wait to see what 31 has in store for her, but I know it’s going to be a good one. I can feel it in my bones. Every year is an adventure as part of the Palluzzi clan, and as it expands to bigger and better things (read: marriages and babies and headstands and everyone finally into yoga thank goodness) I am excited every time we celebrate anything together. I can’t wait to sing Happy Birthday to you via video chat, Nikita. Love you ‘round the moon.

whatever you got on, girl, stay in it.

Posted on January 23, 2015 by sorellaaglio

Happy Friday lovelies. I am in a great mood today and I am excited for this epic weekend that we have planned around these parts, so here are 5 good things to cruise into the weekend with:

1. This weekend is our famed Heart Cake shoot – we are making lots of crafts and getting lots of our friends involved (pretty much our MO for all things that seem overwhelming) and it’s one of the labor of loves that I really, really enjoy doing (especially surrounded by so many lovely friends!)

Here are some outtake photos from last year’s shoot – all the fun!

2. Guys, I have pretty much blown this up all over the Internet, but I am a headstand doing fool. I have been popping headstands all over the damn place, because I can. I am so excited to be getting stronger and doing more inversions, and it’s giving my confidence all over the place in things related nothing to yoga. Up next – forearm headstand, and of course I am working up to a pull up because killer arms, hello.

3. I am now in love with Sam Hunt, so I will be exclusive with him for a bit musically speaking. I had dabbled in him earlier, but he’s everything I love in tunes: singer/songwriter, a little R&B, a little rap, hilarious lyric, and he’s even a little country. Plus, that hair? I’m in.

4. Mat Kearney’s album comes out soon, and after my torrid love affair with Sam I will slide back over to Mat in February and then get to see him in March with a slew of great friends. Talk about lucky. This year is going to kill musically.

5. This baby and animal combo post makes me happy and smiley. Enjoy it as much as I did.

Happy weekend, y’all. I hope you have the best one yet, whatever you’re doing.

friday nights.

Posted on January 16, 2015 by sorellaaglio

Friday nights are for walking steps in your living room catching up on Parenthood until you reach 10,000 steps so you can eat an enchilada and binge watch Law & Order: SVU.

Friday nights are for attempting tripod yoga and pull ups and forearm balance and for Pinteresting yoga poses that you want to attempt someday, someday maybe.

Friday nights are for finding new recipes to try at home, for having two squares of dark chocolate just because, and for catching up on a swath of food blogs that I don’t normally have a chance to read.

Friday nights are for avoiding crickets that are crawling around in your apartment and then learning the consequences of that (as I type this I hear the cricket creaking in my kitchen faster and faster as though it was 100 degrees out.)

Friday nights are for promise. The promise of coffee in the morning. The promise of a wide-eyed weekend of cooking, and meeting new people.

Friday nights are for hope. Friday nights are everything wonderful about life.

And we’re set alight, we’re afire love

Posted on January 11, 2015 by sorellaaglio

Another year of tree burning down. This year we celebrated on January 3, right after new years. There were a handful of people who came straight from the airport, committed to making the family reunion, sleepiness be damned. This year was unusually cold, and we all had a couple extra layers on as the sun settled down across the horizon and the trees flared through the sky.

There was an amazing sunset and it was lovely to see everyone after a holiday apart. These events always bring the love and friendship and really, family, that we have in Los Angeles to the forefront of my mind, and this event is one of my favorite of the year – an amazing start to another amazing year. Plus, I always love heading back to the place where Jeff asked me to marry him in front of these same friends. It’s a reminder of all that we’ve been through together and all that’s yet to come.

Happy 2015, y’all. Thanks to Jeff for the photos, more here.