new digs, new kicks, no reason to stop singing

I'll never come out and say I spend too much time on my bike, but Friday I might have come close. I was all decked out in recent birthday presents (messenger bag, pants and shoes), and although it's rare for me to wear new clothes during a full day of heated up biking, a solid pair of shoes only last so long...so in my mind, you gotta blow em out doing things you enjoy. Some like their 'pumped up kicks' preserved and pristine, but I prefer mine weathered and beaten by the end of their days.

chrome messenger bag, uo pants, globe heathen shoes, specialized road racer

...what better way to remember the countless miles traveled than a visibly loved pair of kicks and a hardened set of legs? 
-shane

the gears are in motion, the sun's at our backs...oh the many surprises we have up our sleeves.  its just a tuesday, but so much more right?

transitions.

Well, old apartment, that was fun! I've officially moved back home and am living among boxes and bags that could potentially stay where they are for the remainder of my life. And somehow, that doesn't even bother me*! In the meantime, I'll just have to live vicariously through Shane, who inhabits a fresh apartment that's just waiting to be postered and partied in. That is my new photoshoot location for now..

*not at all true.

anthro top, anthro skirt, vintage belt, modcloth shoes (necklace broke before it made it into the pics!)

We're working on a video tribute to 515 Semple, by the way, so check back soon for that!

-christen

rocky mountain high

view atop St. Mary's glacier

 well it's been real Colorado, and I'm sorry to leave, but I guess this is more of a "goodday" than a "goodbye." it'll be awfully sad not waking up to snow-topped mammoth mountains rising grandly out my bedroom window--only the long open road between you and that next big feature. but I will return. for now, the action was radical and the excitement remained at a constant high. following a morning of ziplining and a delicious lunch of beef brisket sandwiches we hit the rapids along the Arkansas River and fought wall after wall of sheer white water force. only a handful of class 3 and 4 rapids stood between us and a safe trip home, but we battled strong and after a few mishaps, flip-outs and whoop-dee-doos we managed to keep her topside and find land just in time. this journey is a must for all you thrill seekers out there.  fast paced, wild and sweetest of all, the most refreshing thing to do on a hot day in Royal Gorge, Colorado.  so sit back and enjoy this fisheye view of rafting on the Arkansas from a safe and dry distance atop my ever-important helmet.  if you get a chance, go rafting and be free. or, go run up a hillside and see how cool the earth looks from just a few hundred (or thousand feet up). chances are you won't regret the decision. rafting is one hell of a liberation and you never know what you'll encounter along the shores of an ancient railway. it's a bone yard down there and you'll love every second of it. 

before packing it in and heading back to Denver we had a day on the road including a stop and short hike up St. Mary's Glacier where the snow is soft as powder and the views don't get any sweeter. just as lightning storm struck we crested the top and took in one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments before heading back down. at the base stood one of the many ghostly remains of a burned out dream of a quaint life in the desperate mountains of Colorado.

back on the road we hit up sulphur hot springs and soaked away any stress in 23 pools of element rich boiling hot water.  the sensation was incredible especially with a chicken sandwich from Mini's Restaurant.  2 spry old ladies manned the station cooking us up a great meal and sending us happily on our way.

i dug the original sign - most likely straight out of the 50's

Mini's was the spot to be with free Wi-Fi, $5 sack lunches and enough love to bring even the rockiest of folks together.

overall, a solid vacation in the books and I hope you all can enjoy a glimpse into a majestic land with endless boundaries.  i encourage all to get up, and explore. "you are now free to move about the country."  
-shane

your wild colorado

it seems like a lifetime since the family and i have made the trek to the rocky mountain state so, in a flash, we booked a flight, made a few room reservations and off we went! the second i stepped out of the Denver airport that rocky mountain high hit me like a breath of fresh O2; almost like it was hiding right below the surface of my brain... the crispy thin air, the looming mountain monuments and raging waters of the Arkansas River never skipped a beat. we were ready to hit the road. 

day 1 consisted of the usual arrival and seemingly mile long walk through Denver's maze of baggage claims and underground tram ways, then the car rental pickup (we scored a somewhat sporty chevy malibu but the pig takes, literally 10 seconds to hit 45 miles per..) and a departure South towards Colorado Springs.  we spent the remainder of the day at the Garden of the Gods and Seven Falls, which were both as epic as they sound. and let me tell you, there are mountains EVERYWHERE

base of Pike's Peak in Manitou Springs

snowcapped, evergreen topped and some just plain rocky! at Seven Falls you would have thought my hands were coated in squirrel food because the chipmunks and ground squirrels were friendlier than ever and the falls couldn't have been more radical.  after a 347 stair climb we were all feeling a bit woozy but one look out to the skyline and that calming sensation took over with awesome force. 

gnarly set of stairs leading to the top of seven falls 

incredible view from atop the falls

rumor has it small rodents are likely to carry the plague...these dudes were just too cute for me to care!

when you've lost all hope just remember the sky is endless and the sunset is the only the birth of a new dawn
Leadville, elevation: 10,200ft

friday we set out for Canon City and packed in a full day of ziplining and rafting.  here's a quick edit of our day in the mountain scrub sailing at speeds up to 45mph and lines longer than 1000ft.  twas quite an extreme experience but nothing compared to the afternoon's journey down the Arkansas.  let's just say we didn't stay safe and dry in the raft...helmet cam view of a wicked day in the depth's of Royal Gorge will have to wait till tomorrow.  until then, stay wet, stay wild and remember, out west there are no limits.
-shane

Talk to us.

pinterest

Hiya, folks! Have you noticed we added some tunage to serenade you during your stay? We think it's pretty dang cool, but in the end it's you who decides what's up to snuff, so let us know what you think! You can do this by voting in the nifty poll located over yonder, under our list of faithful followers. 


Oh, and by the way, if you have any suggestions for songs you'd like to hear instead (or just songs we should be putting on our real iPods), puhhlease let us know in a comment below! 


Thanks for your input!!


Poll is now closed.

22, woo!

Saturday was my birthday, and although it would've been really spectacular of me to eat 22 slices of birthday cake, or shoot 22 fireworks from between my teeth, or get 22 tattoos, I instead figured I'd just gather some friends together and make a mess in my apartment. A sober mess. A mess that I would later have to clean up myself. Thanks for your inspiration, Katie.

First, I grabbed some paper and arranged it rainbowfully (we've established in the past that the lighting in my apt. is weird, and that nobody knows how to use the settings on my camera, so just trust me that it looked pretty!).

 Then I stuffed it in the retro Osterizerrrr that Lacy's madre so kindly passed down to me, and blend, blend, blended that shiz up!

Cheers, m'dears!

This is where the mess was created. So messy your brain can't even comprehend it, and it's registering as a blurry image to your poor innocent eyes! But not as messy as if they were real drinks we were tossing in the air, so that's a bonus.

Birthday pic! One which portrays how I am truly a horrible model - constantly in motion - so let this be a tribute to Shane, for somehow using his camera to trick you into thinking I'm actually standing still most of the time. It's all a lie. But a good lie! Go Shane!

-christen


PS - Shane is on a trip to Colorado with his family (lucky dog), and will soon be posting exclusive footage of his travels on the very blog you're reading right now, taken from his new GoPro helmet cam! Stay tuned!

bright lights in the dead of night

image: frank franzetta, wolves, 1965

Since our last post, we've packed in more face shredding and eye-ball popping activities than we can even remember.  Between bike modifications for my job delivering subs at Jimmy Johns (whose subs rock, btw) and setting out to light up the night like a wild pack of electronic coyotes we've barely had time to sit back and revel at a few photographs or even say a few words about the past weekend and how it absolutely kicked ass.  So this post is as much for me as it is for you, our beloved followers whom we'd be nothing without (sounds a little more dark wizard than it should, but we love you--simple as that).  To be quite frank about it, i'd be lost in a swirling pool of my own photos, videos and memories without this interweb brain-swap.  Nothing would get organized or get sorted for any kind of second-viewing.  This simple little blog of us trying to connect with you, is the perfect platform to do some, often vague type of transfer from our brains to yours.  We all just want that small hint of reality that we have some similar minds out amidst the massive pit of humanity we live in.  So enjoy this seemingly random mess of photos and yeah, we'd love a comment, but we're damnblasted happy if you simply stop in for a visit and ride a brain wave or two. 

midnight rebirth

everybody do the light stick toss around the invisible tree, oh yeah 

portals do exist

before and after, limited tools leads to long, frustrating nights..completion was sweeet

it's as luscious as it looks. chocolate on top of cheesecake plus the fluffiest vanilla cake for christen's 22nd birthday! 

what if cake came as big as this giant dalmation?..just too insane

and to top off adventurous weekend, here lies the remnants of our tastiest indulgence. we used what we had and never looked back. RIP 7-layer dip

cheers me mateys,

shane

ding dong

This is one of those dresses that turns many heads, but you're not quite sure if it's because people like it or feel bad for me. The main reason I'm on the fence is because the last time I wore it was singing and dancing among cardboard cutout scenery in Oz in my high school's musical. For a minuscule-budget costume, this thing is pretty much as good as it gets. That's why I kept it. Shh, don't tell.

 

This outfit as a whole is pretty extreme vintage for me. It seems like something I'd grant oodles of chic points to if I saw somebody else wearing it, but I felt sort of...je ne sais quois...I think my problem was that I didn't have the right jewelry to wear with it. I don't know, what do you think?

vintage dress, lucky brand shirt (collar), modcloth shoes, f21 bracelet

 

Well anyways, I had fun in it. I mean come on, how can you not have a good day in a dress this insanely bright? I'll have to play around with some outfits centered around it and toss it on here for some advice from all y'all. In the mean time, I'm off to confer, converse, and otherwise hob-nob with my brother wizards :)

 -christen 

you gotta fight for your right!

I figured since I mentioned how my fire escape met its match in the last post, I'd retreat back to show it off to new viewers. That, or Shane was at work and it's the most convenient outdoor location to use the camera timer. But that's embarrassing, so we'll just stick with the first one. :)

target hat, lucky brand necklace, j.crew tank, zara paris scarf as belt, cuff bracelet (R hand) was a gift, cuff bracelet (L hand) martin & osa, free people skirt, payless wedges

Speaking of embarrassing things, it's been me against the world thus far when it comes to this hat. According to all my friends, it has inappropriate jokes just radiating off it and I must be kidding every time I wear it. So normally I don't, which is sad, because I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't find it quirky and fun! But the combination of inspiration from a chictopia user (unfortunately I can't recall which!), and the fact that I was alone aaaaall daayyyy, allowed me to talk myself into to taking a stand and make my love for this hat public. Muah ha ha ha ha!

So what do you guys think...hat, or no hat? (Please say 'hat,' please say 'hat'...)

-christen

PS ~ remember this scarf from a couple posts ago? Too versatile to be true!

iron spires and other ideal things

Today we discovered a fire escape that was slightly cooler than mine. I knew they had to exist somewhere in the world, but I'd conveniently denied it until today I could no more. I suppose I'll just have to camp out there until its current residents realize it must have been granted to me by the fire escape gods and move out, leaving their apartment fully furnished and paid off. That would be ideal.

 

Said residents caught me posing on it, which was awkward. But we held our ground and got past Step 1 of the 6-Step Plan, which consisted of them pretending like they didn't notice us. Also ideal.

anthro blouse, vintage necklace, j.crew shorts, j.crew heels

 

Shane had to scale a roof to get some of these shots...we figured out it's the roof of his soon-to-be new apartment, so he should be well acquainted when he moves in. How ideal! =]

-christen

snowed in at the helter shelter

This is the face of a man excited beyond belief.  This wide-eyed, smiling mug should be found on everyone's face at some point in their lives. So if any of you out there have never been to a live show, you need to put a brick through your computer screen right this second--step out the front door and set up camp outside the closest venue until the next show before the toxins in the water get to you first.  It will be a guaranteed awesome experience and hopefully, if you play your cards right, your ears will be ringing with the thrashing sounds of rock until Christmas.  So for some incentive, I'm here to tell you about our latest dive under the mainstream fabric into a place they call Helter Shelter.

 Three bands from the east side of the state came out and completely blew the roof off.  Snowing, Algernon Cadwallader and 1994! (from Lancaster, my birthplace) were trios of raw power.

The mic broke early on so the sound consisted of super-technical riffs and melodic percussion bounding off the walls of the living room.  Yep, they played in a living room because Helter Shelter is just a punk kid's paradise in another punk kid's house in Lawrenceville!  There was even a hot pot of spaghetti sitting on the kitchen counter to feast on between acts.  I'll let the pics do the rest of the talking but I leave you with this: a roving pit of sweated out humans all slashing their hands and heads to the same beat isn't something machines can produce, or sunscreen can protect from.  It's one of those things that when you're in there with musicians simply killing it, the wave of chills never stops rolling and the juices don't stopping pumping, giving you a memory you'll never forget.

check out our epic shield we went to battle with

slightly different scene from the daylight shot...:)

Our epic night at Helter Shelter was no exception and this gutted car we kicked it on might never get a happier crew of passengers.  Never stop rockin,
-shane