Cross Pollination for Valentine's Day

Are you looking for some fun ways to say, "I love you"? With February upon us and Valentine's Day approaching you might want to mozy on over to my other blog. It's called Fun With Words and the current post is loaded with love quotes that you can insert into a card or letter or say to your sweetie.

After visiting the Fun With Words blog, come back here for related posts about music and more for Valentine's Day. I call this a bit of cross-pollination for Valentine's Day :-)

Are there some posts you'd like to see here relating to Valentine's Day? Please share your thoughts.

Wedding Music Predictions (And More) for 2012

With the new year comes predictions of what will be. Since we are closing in on Valentine's Day, I'm posting the Top 12 Wedding Trends for 2012, from the pundits at onewed.com:

#12--Food Trucks--Fun food trucks are rolling in at receptions and after parties with non-traditional food items like fried twinkies and giant pretzels.

#11--Unique Head Chic--Last year's royal wedding turned headpieces into the "in" accessories, as everyone was looking at who was wearing which unique hat at Kate and Will's wedding.

#10--Royal Wedding Inspiration--Not just the headpieces, but this year's wedding styles reflect last year's royal wedding, too (think simpler wedding dresses with lace sleeves, natural make-up, and ivory bridesmaids dresses)

#9--Letterpress with a Modern Twists--Bold colors on traditional paper makes for a popular stationery choice.

#8--Bijou Weddings--Small guest lists mean that couples can afford elegance.

#7--Two Wedding Dresses--One for walking down the aisle, and one for the reception. It's what Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian did (Kim had three dresses).

#6--Scaled Back Centerpieces--Smaller, shorter centerpieces using unique additions like crystals and antique books.

#5--Touches of Sheer--Transparent necklaces, for instance.

#4--Sparkle--Gold and silver accents are being used for everything from shoes to centerpieces.

#3--Mix and Match Mania--Mixing the dress look for your bridesmaids and groomsmen. They don't need to wear exactly the same outfits.

#2--Ditching Tradition--New traditions are taking place of the old and couples are inventing their own traditions.

#1--Not Your Mom's White Wedding Dress--According to onewed.com, "blush is the new ivory".

Read the entire article at onewed.com.

What about music??? Notice that nothing was said about music! No music in 2012? Ridiculous!

I searched the web, and presently, I could find very little about any music trends for 2012 (at least very little about romantic music trends).

So, here are my own wedding and romantic music trend predictions for 2012:

1. Live Music Makes a Comeback--2011 was the year of the iPod. It was used everywhere, for ceremonies, receptions, and all kinds of other events. The pendulum swings back to live music in 2012. A harpist played at Kate Middleton's reception, and since the royal wedding theme will prevail in 2012, so will live music.

2. Ceremony Music to Fit the Bride's Experiences--More brides will opt for favorite songs as their entrance music, instead of sticking to the traditional (just as they will be creating more of their own wedding traditions and not going with the standard white wedding dress).

3. The Use of Less Mainstream Music--Weddings and events will utilize more music that the couple recently discovered, whether it be Celtic Music, music by independent artists, or music that brings a bit of nostalgia to older generations and is new to young couples. It's their way to introduce something new to their guests.

What are your wedding and music predictions for 2012? 

Hint: You can gather some great ideas for your wedding music from my book The Bride's Guide to Musicians: Live Wedding Music Made Easy and Affordable, published by Hal Leonard Books. It's also available as a Kindle edition on amazon.com.

How Music Can Help You to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

Yes, it has been a while since I've posted, and one of my New Year's Resolutions is to keep my blogs fresher! Many of us have resolutions to exercise more, take the pounds off, and be healthier in 2012. Here's how to keep these health resolutions using music!

To start, I found these wonderful tips from Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen. In an article posted at RealAge.com, they say that research proves that "listening to music bestows mind-body benefits":

1. Music improves your brain. It actually helps to boost memory and mental powers by firing up neurons in the brain!

2. Slow tunes lower blood pressure. Just 30 minutes per day breathing along to the beat of slow, soothing numbers can do the trick (think Celtic harp music, especially music from my Through the Mist CD!)

3. Music keeps your ears young. Did you know that older musicians don't usually experience the typical aging in the part of the brain (the auditory cortex) that often leads to hearing problems? This means that it's never too late to take up an instrument (like the Celtic harp!)

4. Music relieves stress. I'm sure we've all experienced this effect when we've listened to our favorite music. But there's scientific proof of this: Listening to music lowered heart rates by as much as 5 beats per minute in critically ill hospital patients hooked up to breathing machines. This helped them to heal by relieving their anxiety.

5. A good beat keeps you moving. Pick songs with a good beat to motivate you to exercise harder and longer.

Read more of this article at RealAge.com. And read and listen to NPR stories with more proof of the health benefits of music:

• In The Power of Music, Elena Mannes describes how music affects people and how it can take part in the role of health care. 
• In Treating Stress and Speech Disorders of the Brain, hear how one musician uses music to help people heal.
• And Neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks Observes the Mind through Music: how musicians play from memory, music's healing role for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients, and the relationship between music and math.

Here's hoping that one of your resolutions for 2012 is to immerse yourself in the health benefits of music!

Do you have your own stories about how music benefited your health and well-being? Please share them here.

My Thanksgiving Gifts to You!

Here in the U.S., Thanksgiving Day is this coming Thursday. It's a day when we all pause to be grateful for the blessings in our lives.

You can express your gratitude to your loved ones by sending a wonderful e-card. My gift of thanks to you, my readers, is a free, 6-month subscription to Rubber Chicken E-Cards. Click here for your gift subscription.

Or, you can send a card expressing your gratitude to those special people in your life using a unique Banjo Bunny E-Card. To send a beautiful e-card filled with my Celtic Harp Music click here.

Don't know how to express yourself in words to show your gratitude? Try using a bit of Shakespeare--Visit my newest blog for a hand in how to wax elegant like the Bard.

And finally, here's a way to save some money. And you don't need to wait until Black Friday or Cyber Monday for shopping deals...I have a big sale at my website. Huge discounts on everything--CDs and books! But this sale ends at midnight, Thursday night, Thanksgiving. This sale is for the early shopper. So go there now and save, before the sale ends Friday.

Many blessings to you for a wonderful Thanksgiving!

How to be Frugal Without Being Cheap--Plus A Special Gift!

November is here, the stores are stocking holiday gift items, and most of us start looking at our bank accounts to determine what we can afford. It's trendy to save money, and everyone understands this. But there is a big difference between saving money and being frugal and pinching pennies to be cheap. Frugal looks good and is trendy. Cheap looks like you really didn't want to bother in the first place. You can always purchase an inexpensive gift that looks like you put some thought into it.

Find out what your friends and loved ones really want, then start shopping for bargains now. And if that item is completely outside of your pocketbook, get creative. I don't mean resorting to "junk", the stuff that you wouldn't want to receive yourself. Give gifts that would last. Music, movies, and events that create a memory. Here are some creative ideas from thinksimplenow.com. My favorite fun gift sites include Liam Hughes Shard Jewelry and On Purpose, but that's just my style of gift-giving. Really, just Googling the kind of gift someone wants to receive will take you to sites that may contain some inexpensive choices.

Rule of thumb: Don't give anyone something you wouldn't want to receive yourself. Ask yourself before you buy, "Does this gift look cheap?", or "Will this gift make me look like a cheapskate?"

An inexpensive, but in no way "cheap" way out of buying a gift is to send a card. Wonderful e-card sites enable you to send the perfect gift cards to your friends without paying postage and getting hand cramps from writing. If you love harp music, go to Sylvia Woods' website and send wonderful harp e-postcards. Send a uniquely magical e-card from Banjo Bunny, including a wonderful Thanksgiving e-card containing my music! Many thanks to Susan, the head Bunny (and gifted animator) at Banjo Bunny!

Since you've read along this far, I have a special thank-you for you, my wonderful blog readers. It's something you can use today, and you can consider it my early holiday gift to you! My good friend Steve, the "head chicken" of RubberChickenCards.com, has included my music in a couple of his cards, a lovely encouragement card and one featuring Louise the Angel.

Louise the Angel

Now, as an expression of thanks, he has gifted me with something that I am passing along to you:

Get your f*ree 6-month subscription to Rubber Chicken Cards by clicking here

Way cool, huh? I love these e-cards, and you will too. Send as many Rubber Chicken e-cards as you want over the next six months for f*ree!

Next post will contain more frugal (not cheap) tips for your holiday parties and upcoming weddings! Have some ideas you'd like me to share? Post them here or contact me!

Cheers,

Anne :-)

P.S.--Of course, the folks at Rubber Chicken Cards hope you'll love their cards and continue using them even after six months. But this is a f*ree subscription with no strings attached (bad harp pun). Just go there and enjoy sending those cards!

(For early shoppers, all of my products are discounted on my website (for a limited time), including my book that contains money-saving hints for your wedding day in my book, The Bride's Guide to Musicians, published by Hal Leonard Books. It's also available as a Kindle Edition. Go to the facebook page to view some ideas now)

8 Simple Ways to Take Back Control of Your Life

Having a tough time getting things done these days? Juggling tasks as a musician, balancing the day between work and play as an entrepreneur, getting through your "to-do" list for your upcoming wedding--These things all require willpower and stick-to-it-ness.

Here is an abbreviated version of some great tips supplied to me from my friend and guest blogger Eliseo Mauas Pinto from a fantastic article by Tony Schwartz. Any one of these tips might help you to reflect happily at the end of the day that you accomplished what you needed to accomplished.

Tony says:

"Here's the problem we face, every day of our lives. Nearly everything that generates enduring value requires effort, focus, and even some discomfort along the way.  At the same time, we're deeply wired to avoid pain, which the body reads as mortally dangerous, and to move toward pleasure, the more immediate the better. We're also exposed to more temptation than ever....The sirens sing to us, too: Have the dessert. Skip the workout. Put off the hard work. Surf the web. Check your email. Indulge your whims. Settle for the easy way out."


My own suggestions for owning willpower:


1. Make your behaviors automatic--Willpower is hard. But if you make something that's hard to do a habit, it won't be so hard to do anymore. Take exercise. If you go to the gym the same time everyday, it will simply get easier to exercise.


2. Take yourself out of harms way--Would you eat that entire box of cookies at one time if they were in your kitchen pantry? Avoid the problem altogether and don't buy the cookies in the first place. Have problems dealing with certain people? Simply limit your contact with them.


3. Reflect before you react--Do you need to buy that box of cookies? Do you need tell someone how angry you are with their behaviors? Stop and think. "Do I want to do that, or do I need to do that?" If you need to buy a new tie for an interview, do it, but if you have 15 other ties that would serve the same purpose, do you really need to buy another one?


4. Sleep enough to feel fully rested--This is a tough one for me, as I'm always a light sleeper. But it's true that when you are rested, you can tackle the day and make the right decisions for yourself.


5. Do the most important thing in the morning--Get the hard-to-do stuff out of the way. And also keep in mind that what you do in the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day.


6. Eat well--Obviously, if you haven't eaten, your mind is on satiating your hunger, not tackling the day ahead. And if you are trying to have willpower to stay on a particular diet, it is much more difficult to watch your portions when you are hungry. On the other hand, if you are too full or eat foods that do not give you the fuel to tackle the day, you'll tucker out. Eating small meals every three hours that always contain a lean protein balanced with fresh, unprocessed foods will keep you powered up.


7. Focus on one thing at a time--Multitasking means that you are dividing your time between each thing that must be done. Wouldn't tasks be better completed when you aren't interrupted with other things? Willpower is the will to get things done, and it happens when we concentrate on the task at hand.


8. Take a break--Have you heard that saying, "Can't see the forest through the trees." When we take frequent breaks, especially during difficult tasks, we can get a birds-eye view of whether we are on the right track an what needs to be done to complete the task. Taking a break helps to reduce mistakes, because you can see where you are going and can review as you progress.


So, go and finish up what you are doing and get things done today!!!


Please post more suggestions as they come to you...


Anne :-)


(For Musicians: You'll find more suggestions for taking care of what needs to be taken care of in my book, The Musician's Guide to Brides. Purchase a discounted copy at my website and visit the facebook page for updated articles. For Brides: You'll find great suggestions for your wedding day to-do list in my book, The Bride's Guide to Musicians, also discounted at my website and located on facebook.)

Happy Autumn!

From my friend, harper, and guest blogger, Eliseo Mauas Pinto, some Celtic Autumn joy for you. You'll find this lovely image and more like it from Kristen Fox at deviantART.com.

"May this fall season reconnect us
to the ever-changing aspects of our lives:
color, complexity, beauty and mortality."

Bliss and blessings ♥ 

Please add your own thoughts for the season below, and link to music of the season, too (check out my A Light in the Forest Album on amazon.com and iTunes for beautiful seasonal Celtic harp and instrumental music).