sorryyyyyy!

I know I've been a bad little blogger lately. We've just had so much going on since his birthday! I promise I have pictures to show you and things to tell you... but not right now.

Right now, we embark on an 18 hour journey to our August home at the lake. We'll be hanging out with our friends and family, and getting prepped to go back on the road in September (excited?!).

We've had a blast being back in New York & miss it already. However, it's time to get back on track. There are things to organize and yoga poses to hold (going to try to start that up again).

not my photo, but it sure is pretty (thanks, wikipedia)

celebrate

happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!

xoxo

vibrancy

Yesterday, I made a stop by the Union Square farmers market. If you live in NYC and you haven't been... um, why? If you're here on a visit, you should stop by and pick up an apple or something! It's truly wonderful. It gets packed, so the earlier you go, the better. There are other great markets around the city & brooklyn, but for the purpose of this post, this is the one we're discussing.

So I took my rented 7D cam out for a spin to get used to it before snappin photos at Ron's show. All I learned is that now I have to save thousands of dollars so I can get one + a killer lens. GREAT. greaaaaat. Just what I need.

Food can be so gorgeous. BEHOLD!

more interrogating

You win! I'll talk!

As I did a little while ago, I'm going to ease your mind and answer a few of your burning questions...

What are the fall tour dates? When can I know? I need to know NOW!!!
First of all, I'm in love with your enthusiasm... but you'll have to remain calm for a bit. We're still figuring everything out ourselves. As soon as we know, we'll let EVERYONE know! DUH, we want you guys to plan to come see us.

Have you always wanted blue hair? 
I can say with confidence that I wanted it when I was 3-5 years old (My Little Pony & Jem era)... and then again in the last couple of years. Unfortunately, that corporate job I had frowned upon an unnatural hair color... but the driving force of wanting blue hair allowed me to follow my dreams and leave that creative-hating environment. So, you to, can follow your rainbow colored hair dreams if you put your mind to it!

What is your job like? 

Every day is different. I work with our publicists, our radio people, our booking agents, and our tour manager to make sure everything runs smoothly and on our timeline. I also make sure his branding & marketing is consistent across all platforms. I ALSO create tour posters & take photos of live shows (we hire really talented people for album covers and press shots). I ALSO run the website (not social sites - he does that). And finally, the least fun part of my job is budgeting, expensing, and keeping a billion spreadsheets to keep track of all financial things. It's a blast, but a TON of work.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
(ps - this was my favorite question so far).
Sam Shakusky: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Suzy Bishop: "I don't know...I want to go on adventures I think; not get stuck in one place."
-Moonrise Kingdom
currently working on keeping this up... 

4:00 AM

...looks like a real pissed off panda right now. I can't sleep due to the overwhelming amount of things running through my head (all work stuff). However, I've been quite productive!

In an effort to quit working, I googled "vegan recipes" & clicked on one of the top hits. According to this farce of a website, these are the BEST vegan recipes:

• guacamole
• cranberry sauce
• mexican bean salad
• chili seasoning mix
• avocado salsa
• texas cavier 1
• hot apple cider
• microwave bread and butter pickles
• bread and butter pickles 2
• chocolate strawberries
• "classic" texas cavier
• muesli
• green tomato relish
• agave cornbread muffins
• indian relish
• sundried tomatoes
• sweet candied lemon and orange peel
• cooked pumpkin
• crepes 

WHAT WITH ALL THESE PICKLES, CHILI SEASONING, AND RELISH - I'LL BE SET FOR LIFE! TWO VERSIONS OF TEXAS CAVIER?? OH MY STARS, WE'LL HAVE IT FOR LUNCH AND DINNER!

get ready for my follow up post on our dinner of cooked pumpkin, muesli, and indian relish. YUM-A-RAMA.

pumpkins are so vegan that they eat themselves. (pic from our trip to the hamptons last year)

summa summa summa in the city

I'm SO glad we're back home for a few weeks. Being on tour is great (most of the time) and I'm so glad I get to hang out in tons of great cities... but there really is no place like home. ESPECIALLY when your home is New York in the summer - can't beat it one bit. There is something to do literally every day. For the amateur, it's enough to make your head spin, stay inside, and cry. As a veteran, we start compiling our summer calendars in March. There are free outdoor concerts, movies in the park, farmers markets, rooftops to drink on, pools to try to sneak into, picnics, trips to long beach, etc, etc, etc. I just love it. I want to shrink it and put it in my pocket. 

Last week, I sent an email announcement to all of our friendsies requiring them to see us at least once before we depart again. First thing on the agenda was a free concert from the NYC Philharmonic in Central Park. So a few of us packed up a blanket, picnic food, wine, & my camera, and headed to snag a spot.

After I dumped half a bottle of red wine all over the bottom of my bag (grrrr!!! raaahhhh!!!! nooooo!!!), I spotted Ron and we were set. The show was absolutely stunning and it was a perfect night for it. Wait - it rained a bit, but that didn't really dampen the mood (ohhh, you're welcome for that pun).

work it!

shoulda known better. my payback was pictures of me eating

yay picnic

the vegan noodle slurp

the vegan noodle nosh

our friends came prepared with ADULT JUICE BOXES. WINE JUICE BOXES, PEOPLE. Amazing.

JOE & his juice

Ron's foot.

my blurred face. For all of you creepy creepsters who ask what color my eyes are.

Finishing the night with fireworks. Perfection!

Lots of other good stuff comin up! We're also crazy busy at the moment with work... If you ARE in the city, please come hang out with us for Rp's birthday! The crazy guy decided to celebrate by working, so he's playing a show! We'll be at Webster Hall Studio @ 7pm on July 21st. GET TICKETS, PLEASE!

See you then :]

Eating alone and other things

How'd ya like that Q&A sesh? Pretty fun, right? Well, I have another one coming soon.... just need a few more Qs to A so it feels like a real post. NO ONE has prompted an interpretive dance yet, though. I'm impressed with you guys.

Anyway - as you've probably noticed from some of Rp's updates, we are living in a hotel in Soho at the moment. Just to clarify - this isn't really by choice. We had another place worked out... that didn't actually work out, so here we are. I'm LOVING living in this neighborhood. I don't know that I'd ever do it otherwise for a long-term situation, so I'm glad for the experience for now. Point is - I'm compiling some pics for ya.

And now onto the realness! Today, Rp and I had completely opposite schedules. Usually, I'm the one out and about working or running errands. Today he was out and I was IN almost all day. Around about 2:30pm I realized I had skipped breakfast... and lunch for that matter. So I pulled myself together and ran off to Sacred Chow in the Village. Ran off meaning, I walked slowly to my destination... damn foot. Sacred Chow is vegan and it's delicious and I didn't care that I had to eat alone... worth it. I know what you're thinking. You're going, "umm.... Ron writes about food. What do you think you're doing?" And I'm here to tell you that I DO WHAT I WANT!

So, even more impressive than eating alone is eating alone AND taking pictures of your food. Nothing says weirdo quite like that. In retrospect, I'm always more uncomfortable after the fact - I could really care less in the moment. People gotta eat, yo! My favorite is when I realize I've just taken a picture of a pickle because it's sliced ever so cutely! That's the best.

Since I was all by my lonesome, I only had one course (plus, it's lunch). I went with the Grilled Western Tofu Hero. Total deliciousness. I know - some of you think you hate tofu. You don't. Not all of it anyway. Go to a specialist & your mind will be blown. BLOWN I tell you!

Anyway - that's all I have to say about that. Gotta run to eat dinner with real people.

interrogation

I admit it!

oh, not that sort of interrogation.... urmmm, anyway...

Now that I'm back in New York and recovering from that surgery I keep complainin' about, I don't have much to tell you guys... especially until I can walk & yoga like normal again (SOON... hopefully). However, I get lots of questions from family, friends, and Rp fans, so I thought I'd answer them here. Apologies if I condensed your exact question; some are basically the same, so I made them into one. If I missed yours, post it in the comments or email travelsizeme83@gmail.com and I'll get to it next time (I already have a few for a post #2 on this subject...). Anything goes! But as I've said before... I reserve the right to answer sarcastically or give you an interpretive dance instead. All depends on the appropriateness!

Do you travel in a bus?
NOPE! I'll refer you to this post where I discuss the van, how it's set up, & the fact that we do not sleep in it. Even if you want to... not allowed.

Do I think the guys have toned down the "guy talk" since I'm the only girl on tour? 
Umm. No. Not even a little. I hear it all... and smell it all, unfortunately. I realize some of you might be enamored with them... but they are still dudes at the end of the day.

How do you handle all of the girl fans? 
I get this one A LOT. I had this big long answer about groupies and how it's not a big deal for me (because, lesssfaceit, they're a fact of life with musicians)... but I don't want to offend anyone or ruin anyone's game. SO - let's just say that I don't worry because we have a relationship that isn't worth losing. Trust is everything.

Would you guys consider doing another Kickstarter campaign?
YES! Totally! It's an incredible platform even though it didn't work out for us last time. I think our biggest mistake is that the fans didn't really understand that their contribution would HELP HIM go to the places they ask all the time. Let's be real - no, he's not going to go to every small, teeny town of every state... BUT the donations would have allowed him to get close enough for almost everyone to see a show. Unfortunately, that's why we couldn't hit all of the markets this tour. So long story short, yes, we'd consider doing it for something that's easier for fans to see exactly what their donation will do (possibly an album)... stay tuned!

Do you miss yoga when you're on the road?
DESPERATELY!!! Most days there is barely any time/space for it. When I do squeeze it in, I basically do the same sequence while trying to throw in a new pose here & there. I did have a fun time trying to teach Zach & Kyle handstands one day :) but, ultimately, YES, I prefer a class environment. It's a bit more challenging mentally & physically. Plus, I just like being around other yogis!

How long have you & Ron been together?
In August it will be the better part of FIVE YEARS. throw up. We broke up once for about 5 months, and then another time for about 20 minutes. We can't get rid of each other!

Do you like working together? 
Love it! We're a really good team & I absolutely love my job. Sometimes working with people in different parts of the world isn't the best for my sleeping habits, but it pays off. Plus, if his business wasn't organized like I make it, I would go absolutely crazy. Organization is my sad, sad drug.

What's your real name? 
Virginia Blair (first/middle). I go by Blair if you see me at a show... so come say hi! I only add people I know on FB, so you don't need my last name at all! :]

All right kids... that's all I feel like answering for now. If you sent me others, don't fret! I'll get to them.

la la land

LA... appropriately nicknamed La La land, put me in just that mood. Don't get too mad at me... but I sort of didn't adhere to my photo taking duties here. LA and I have had a love affair for a few years now, but it's always great to spend some time forgetting about normal life there. After a tumultuous journey from San Diego to LA (the van broke down on the side of the highway... and we were stuck FOR HOURS), we finally made it to the sold out show. We were late, but made it just in time. The club was packed out with enthusiastic fans. Even the ones who hung in the back of the room were singing along to every word. It was fantastic... LA fans may have made a case for themselves as the best on this tour.  Although, come to think of it, they'd probably have to battle Chicago (those people were nuts).

After the show, Rp and the boys wanted to grab drinks at the Chateau Marmont. I happen to think this place is lame. I don't care how many famous people stay there... the bar is incredibly lackluster with a pretentious 'tude. Not my thing. I don't like the Sunset strip much at all... but it was close to the venue & our hotel. Plus, it was their call, so we drank Jameson for a while and called it a night. 

SUNDAY was MY day. Since I had to fly back to NY that night to allow someone to cut open my foot, I made sure we made the best of my last day in town. 

Rooftop pool:

ron face/umbrella/my florescent + fringe bikini

Brunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel & a drive through the hills to scope out a house we were/are thinking of renting next year. A drive through Malibu & the canyons:

hills/malibu

Dinner at an adorable restaurant in Malibu - Savory

Savory

Now, dinner I took pictures of! DUH. If there is one thing I remember, it's to take pictures of my food. Whenever Rp calls me out, I kindly remind him that he suggested this blog and yell "hey, I'm bloggin' here!" and we resume our normal activity. 

This place was INCREDIBLE. We sat outside next to a heater to watch the sunset and enjoy our dinner (for those who don't know, Malibu gets pretty chilly at night). They source everything locally, so even their most simple concoctions taste fresh and delicious. 

We started with the special app for the evening: burrata, smoked prosciutto, and peach pizza, which was to die for. The smokey & sweet combo was perfect. For our main, we split the beer battered cod, summer squash, and beet salad. I'm not sure what birthed this cod, but from the size of the fillet, I would guess it was a horse. Does that make sense? I don't even know anymore, just look at the picture (which it turns out only shows of you 1/2... so use your imagination, geeeeez guys, I'm not perfect). 

beet salad/summer squash + hand cut fries + giant cod

vino! and delicious bread! always a necessity

So with that, my time in California was complete. I was dropped off at LAX to take the redeye to back to New York. Back to the hustle, the bustle, the uncomfortable, garbage scented city that is summer in New York... 

things i need to tell you

1. the case of the missing panda bear at our hotel
2. the fact that we're living in a hotel in New York
3. la la la los angeles
4. Australia... um, hello? I never thought I'd be able to go to the other end of the Earth. 
5. using crutches in New York & how wonderful it is
6. oh, and those wonderful questions I've been getting... you wouldn't believe how inappropriate you guys are!! (just kidding, they are all very tame & normal)

and I think that's it! I wanted to let you know that even though I've only posted once lately that I haven't forgotten about this little bloggette. 

I'll be back soon... 

A Love Letter to San Diego

Dear SD,


Did you know? Did you know the fluttering I'd feel in my chest when I first laid eyes on you? Could you feel my excitement when I saw your plethora of adorable restaurants? Did you notice the way my eyes locked on the water once it came into view???


I'm sure you get this all the time... but, I think I love you. I know we've only spent a small amount of time together, but with your reliable, non-humid weather & my naturally wavy hair... I think we could be something really special. 


You're right - I once said this about LA. I'll admit that much... but that was before I met you! LA is wonderful, don't get me wrong - but she's sometimes a bit of a floozy for tourists (and you know how I feel about that). 


I hope you understand, New York will always have my heart... but please know there's a spot open for my winter mistress. 


xoxo,
VB

spotted a Banksy (we think)

our respective reactions when walking along the water

all right fine, a picture together!

me, me, rp + me. 

palm trees/pirates

SO other than becoming a new obsession, the show was good (but short), the hotel was nice, we had nice food, and enjoyed a night of casual drinks. Overall it was lovely. 

Then the van broke down in the desert on the way to LA. What a way to end that story.

later, dudes! Have a happy 4th of July! Hope it's full of jean shorts, American flags, lighting things on fire (grills/fireworks), beer made in our great country, and bare feet!