tuesday tunes - hunger games soundtrack.

in honor of seeing the movie this weekend (notes on that below) i'm highlighting the soundtrack. none of the songs are actually featured in the movie, but they all feel like they just accompany it somehow.

i love the haunting "safe and sound" by taylor swift (and featuring the civil wars) ... i have worn. out. that song in my itunes! a close second is arcade fire's (y'all know i love them) "abraham's daughter" ... it just feels very battle-song-ish. taylor and the civil wars both have other songs on the album as well ("eyes open" and "kingdom come", respectively) which are both great. i really like a new side of maroon 5 with "come away to the water" and miranda lambert's "run daddy run". sadly, one of my usual favorites, glen hansard (from the swell season) has a tune -- "take the heartland" that i don't really care for. also featured on this soundtrack: kid cudi, the decemberists, and neko case.

here's the hauntingly beautiful video for "safe and sound"....

Get More: Taylor Swift, Safe & Sound, Music, More Music Videos

ok, now for the movie. thoughts? i really enjoyed it. it moved emotions in me just as the book did (oh man, though i knew it was coming, i just weeped in the rue scene.) i do wish there could have been more of the 1st person narrative and details that the book had, but the reality is it's really hard to fit that much story into 2 1/2 hours of film. so, all in all, i was pleased. and can't wait til november 2013 for movie #2!!!

hunger games + mad men.

this weekend's spotlight is shared by two very-different-but-wonderful pop-culture premieres...

the hunger games released in theaters today and mad men season five begins sunday night! both of these events have a ton of marketing behind them, which i of course love...

first: the hunger games.

y'all know i loved those books. and i have watched the trailer probably about 10 times. there's a little group of equally-obsessed friends and we bought our tickets over a month ago for this weekend. we're waiting til sunday for jeff to get back in town from tour and i cannot wait!! here's the trailer if you haven't seen it yet...

and the marketing is just nuts for this one. the website has created an entire fake city of panem, where you can get an ID card, and join a district. there's capital couture, focused on the fashion of the characters and the plot. the publicity for this movie kicked into gear before production really even started... and i think it's gonna pay off.

second: mad men. i never watched this while it was on the air, but jeff got me hooked when we started on netflix last year. and we finished the last episode of season 4 last week, just in time for season 5 in a couple days. (fyi - if you're out of the loop -- it's been a year and a half since season 4 ended!) being an advertising major myself, it's been so fun getting into this show... and it really is so well done. here's a little preview into season 5...

(hey rss feed people >> there's a video here!)

as for genius marketing around this weekend? well... you can "mad men yourself" into some 1960's fabulous-ness. (here i am just hanging out at the office with the fellas of "sterling cooper draper price"...) and then you can follow a how-to guide for throwing a smashing mad men party.

and my favorite.... newsweek put out an issue with a throwback to 1965 and mad men-era styled ads. it's amazing!!

are you going to be watching one or both of these this weekend?

tuesday tunes - barnes new album!

hey there blog-readers. sorry for the one-day-delay. i took a mini-vacation this weekend to the beach and it has thrown off my whole week!

but, here is your day-after-tuesday tune...

dave barnes is no stranger to tuesday tunes. i've told you about his christmas album, his 2010 release what we want, what we get, and now he has a brand new album out -- stories to tell.

this has been a huge year for dave -- you know, blake shelton cutting his song "god gave me you" and all (which nominated dave for a grammy!!). the mocha club family is super excited for him, as he's been one of our biggest supporters from day one. and we've been anticipating this new album!!

because dave is a gifted storyteller (get it?) i'm gonna let him share about the making of this album...

{and you can listen to the first single, "white flag" here.}

and if you've got some free time, head on over to dave's website where you can play mad libs and help write a song... always a good time.

tuesday tunes - green river ordinance.

first, let me apologize for completely missing last week. even in crazy times, i always try to at-least keep up with tuesday tunes. but, alas, last week i did not keep up. i failed you, my faithful blog followers. (reality: i'm sure most of you didn't even notice my absence!)

which, leads me to a quick detour before tuesday tunes... i LOVE this little piece of word-art i found on fashionABLE's pinterest: (quick plug to follow them!!)

ok, but now onto tuesday tunes... this week's band: GREEN RIVER ORDINANCE.

these texas boys are so much fun, and just released their newest album, under fire. after a roller coaster of a journey the last decade, GRO says this album is a new start, and something they're super proud of. (here's a glimpse of the story -- and you can hear my favorite song on the album "love laid down")

personally, under fire is my favorite of everything they've released. i can't stop listening. (but if you want some of their older stuff for free, go here.)

see for yourself >> here's the first single "heart of me"...

PARDO me? some wedding favorites.

so a lot of you followed along my "31 days of wedding planning"... and probably are wondering how things turned out! i can't believe we've been married for 7 weeks!

i showed a sneak peek back in january, but now we've got all of our pictures so i can show some of my favorites... i'm thrilled to say the least with how things turned out! it was a perfect day :)

*photos from the lovelies at (once like a spark)