Derby, Mint Jubilee, 7M3, Parties, Garde

Current mood: busy
La la la la la.

That's a little line from my new record: La, la, la, la, la.

I put it in there, intending to find lyrics to plug in, but decided that the "La la la" actually fit the song better. And i've been singing that a lot lately. "La la la la la," because honestly, I just feel like singing.

It's spring. People are happy again. I am sleeping far too long because my allergies are so bad I can't open my eyes in the morning. But I don't care. It's warm.

I planted part of my garden on Sunday. Post-Derby gardening. Every gardener in Louisville knows you musn't plant before Derby. This makes the Sunday after Derby especially auspicious.

I've got a front yard full of edible plants. The chives have the most glorious purple globe flowers. The oregano and mint are on opposing sides of the sidewalk eying each other suspiciously .. which one will jump the sidewalk first? And my tomatoes live in a little island bed in the middle of my front yard. Yes, I am that neighbor who plants the vegetable garden amidst her landscape plants in the front yard. Stop by, help yourself to some basil. Just don't eye me oddly for putting peppers by the shrubbery. Your little boxy hedge row looks nice, and it keeps your yippy dog in your yard, but you can't eat it.

* * *

Derby.

I just love Louisville this time of year. The celebrations began three weeks ago, but I was out of town so often, i only caught the last week.

Thursday night, Peter Searcy opened for Seven Mary Three at 4th Street Live. We played at the Angel's Rock Bar, where the waitresses don't even have to get dressed to come to work. I think I wore more when I was a lifeguard. These girls strut around all night, ejaculating syringes full of J-ello shots into the mouths of drooling out-of-towners. My parents came to the show. It was nice of my dad to pretend not to notice the girls. To their credit, the servers were all super-nice.

The Seven Mary Three show was fun. I played accordion with them again on "Upside Down," a Gram Parsons-esque tune off their new record. We also rocked out "Dead Flowers," and the crowd cheered wildly at the "Kentucky Derby Day" line.

Bedtime Thursday evening: 5:30am

Friday morning: Oaks Day! Brunch with Peter and Layla, and a bunch of running around. Then Stacy Stiletto painted my face all vintage glam, while Trudy gave me a big ol' Rita Hayworth 'do.

The Mint Jubilee!

If you're going to wear a red satin dress, then you've got to go all out with it. No hiding behind black flats or a ponytail. I donned the reddest lips you've ever seen and let my curls fly down my back. It was fun fun fun.

I joined Mr. and Mrs. Peter Searcy down the red carpet special celebrities-only VIP entrance to the Mint Jubilee at the Galt House, where photographers snapped photos and reporters snatched soundbytes. Regular, plebian, party-goers took out their cel phones to take photos of us as we walked in. Granted, they had no idea who we were. It's all about the framing.

When I ran into some photographer friends of mine there, who were on assignment for Louisville Magazine, we had oodles of fun pretending they were the paparazzi. Several times, I walked through the room, and they ran up and took about a thousand photos of me, exclaming, "Ms. Kaelin, Ms. Kaelin, over here!" A few other party-goers had their photos taken with me later, just because they thought I was someone famous. Hee hee hee, so fun.

I then party-hopped over to the Greys' house, where Danny Flanigan and the Rain Chorus were playing. Again ... i made quite the entrance in my red satin dress, followed by my friends in their tuxes. Even Danny Flanny didn't recognize me.

Maybe I should have been insulted when people said, "oh my god, i didn't recognize you; you look so pretty!!!!" But that would be a silly silly silly way to take that.

I like playing dress up. I mean, if you're going to wear a red dress, you can't be a wallflower. Actually, I think it's impossible to be shy with a red dress on.

Bedtime Friday evening: 7:00am

There is no last call during Derby.

Saturday, Derby Day

I stopped by a Derby party around 11am, after four hours of sleep, and grabbed some "breakfast." Then went home and cleaned up a bit, heading back out to a party around 1:00pm. Then, mostly party-hopped the rest of the afternoon and evening.

I danced a bit at the Johnny Berry show, but I couldn't handle the smoke.
Bedtime: 2:30am
Ok, this is beginning to feel like a captain's log, so I'm just going to stop. I have much sleep to catch up on.

****

Come to Live Lunch at WFPK in louisville on Friday! Or listen to the streaming broadcast at www.wfpk.org. Noon-1pm, Eastern time, I'm playing for an hour with my band.

Saturday May 10, i'm playing a set for Kentucky Homefront, a live-audience radio taping. Shannon Lawson will be there too, so expect much fun and good ol' Kentucky music.

and mark your calendars: Louisville CD Release Party: Sunday, May 18, 4:00pm @ St. Francis of Assisi. It's free and it's all ages.

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