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we took a trip down to jersey to see my dad play.  the venue is called the record collector.  it fits in perfectly in bordentown city.

big daddy has always wanted a record store downtown, and now not only does he have one but he is also backing up one of his idols.  peter stampfel, of the holy modal modal rounders & the fugs.

the space started off as a bowling alley, was a martial arts studio and is now this.  if you are ever driving down the turnpike, 130 or 206, i’d take a detour and grab some records .. and live music if you are lucky.

the show went very well.  mandy joined us and as always, i was uber-proud of my pops. (bob schremser on guitar, mike hoffman on mandolin, zoe stampfel on drums.)

Yep, folks. That’s what I did today. I drove from Bar Harbor, Maine to Brick, New Jersey and then home to Brooklyn, New York. I am finally laying in our bed, with the ac blaring, The Office on and my boys next to me. It was a long, long day. Road trippin’ suits me but not when I have work the following day at 5 am! Night birdies.

Dear World,

I seriously just walked into the living room and Joe is standing in the dark, rapping every word to Rapper’s Delight with his new Yankee Candle lit (Dune Grass) and Stinky is sitting on the floor in front of him, observing. Can someone come hang out with us, please?! I should probably add the only reason I came out of the bedroom was to add The Office Season 4 to my Netflix instant play queue (just finished 3! again!) so I could watch it as I organized my closet and planned new projects for my heaps of yarn and drank my pinot noir. Crap.

Love, Ashley

FINALLY! I am seeing Devendra Banhart live for the first time tonight. He is playing at Terminal 5 in Midtown. I have been waiting for this moment since Nate first gifted me Niño Rojo and fell in love with “Little Yellow Spider” .. anyone else going?

family, boats, beach, friends, pools, yes, yes, yes.

it’s wonderful that I feel so welcome at Joe’s parents house. Mandy came over there while Joe picked up a shift at a local seafood market to make a little moola.

it is so ridiculously hot out, we could only manage to play boardgames and drink strawberry piña coladas. vanessa and ben joined us.

i also found time to save an injured squirrel i saw from the window.  he was in the middle of the road and his left eye was infected.  he couldn’t stop running in circles and cars were FLYING down the road.  an older man stopped to help me, and we managed to manuever him out of traffic and put a box over him.  i called the animal control shelter and they came an hour later.  poor little guy.

It’s a beautiful Friday evening here in Brooklyn. I worked all day (5:30am-3:00pm) and came home and planned on walking across the street and reading in the park. After eating lunch I decided to nap. I couldn’t fall asleep so instead I have been sitting here watching TV and wishing I could go to Jersey now but I know the traffic is out of control (thanks fb statuses) so I am either going to wait until 11 tonight or go super early in the morning. Joe is at the Scottie Pippen induction (he saw Scottie and Dennis Rodman walk in!) so driving alone is not going to be fun, I’ll see him in Jersey tomorrow.

There are so many productive things I could be doing right now- knitting, starting my quilt, painting the radiator in the living room (copper!), re-upholstering our kitchen chairs or even putting away all the clean (thanks joe) dishes from dinner last night. Instead I am watching Seinfeld, creeping all over the internet and guzzling fresh brewed iced tea like a maniac. In the midst of my solo relaxation routine, the house shakes. Stinky goes nuts and I hear children screaming. For a split second I thought something bad happened then I realized all my neighbors and their children are having somuchfun in the courtyard of our buildings. It’s so cute. I’m a creep and took a photo. I really envy all of the surrounding buildings and their rooftop gardens. Also, envy people with people to hang out with on an evening like this. At least I have Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer to keep me company for now.