The first time I ever posted anything about Leslie Hall was almost six years ago when I found her Gem Sweater website and I could not stop laughing. This lady in Iowa had found all these bizarre gem sweaters and taken a photo in each, with the same hair and makeup. The absurdity killed me. When I found she had a band (Leslie & the Lys) and they had a song about her Gem Sweaters, I thought it was even funnier. Hayley and I got the CD and played it all the time in the car.
Six months later, we saw they were on a national tour and as luck would have it, coming to play a show in Chapel Hill. We had a blast, met a bunch of great people, Hayley ended up on stage and even got to meet the band. We were hooked and have been going to their shows ever since – 2009, 2010, 2012 and then this week. It’s hard to explain how great these shows are – it’s part music, humor and performance art. It’s positive, the crowds are always so happy.
Over the years, we’ve gotten to know the band. We always arrive early because I want to get seats off to the side to keep Hayley out of the chaos. We’ve helped with set-up, brought them vegan goodies and had them ship stuff to us to resupply. But this time, we went a step further. Since they had a day off between their DC show and the Chapel Hill one, the band stayed with us for a couple of nights.
I recognize it’s a bit crazy but we’ve kept in touch for years and we knew they’d be great fun to have stay. Life is about experiences after all, right? Hayley was over the moon that they were all here. It was a little mindblowing, they’d given us a lot of laughs and music over the years – and here they were, their crazy van parked in front of our house. After buying more veggies and vegan stuff than I’d ever known existed for our six guests, we settled in for a lot of laughing, chatting, Netflix, making stuff with the sodastream and doing laundry. They really just wanted to relax and recharge. They were incredibly easy, funny and lovely house guests. Plus I love for Hayley to see creative amazing people following their passion.
So Leslie, Mona, Derek, Beth, Adrien and Kristen, you can come back any ole time. Hopefully we’ll see you in a year or so.
Hayley spent two weeks at a great teen film workshop St. Augustine’s. 16 kids, a college professor and some of her students – they had access to the entire campus to shoot and the film department’s gear. They all really worked hard on stuff and I’m really impressed how much technical stuff they’ve done with sound, filming and photography.
Most of the time, she did still photography which can be used for checking continuity in scenes, transitions and for fun slide shows. She was lugging camera gear and her laptop all over the campus. She did makeup for a lot of the actors and then acted in one of the shorts.
In this one, she acted one plus did the makeup and blood. She doesn’t mind acting but the makeup and blood part was her favorite.
We drove down to Charlotte to see Fleetwood Mac, one of my favorite bands. I’ve been waiting for Stevie Nicks to tour with them again and once she agreed, I knew we had to go. Initially we were going to have to go to Atlanta to see them but they added more shows and luckily Charlotte was one of them!
Weird night in terms of the protestors out front and the drunk girls in front of us but it was still a great show! My 70s super group list is almost done – Eagles, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Brothers.
We had a great lowkey Easter at home. Hayley said she figured she was too old for an Easter basket but she’ll never be took old in my book.
Then we headed to the beach with my Mom, Stepdad and Aunt Cathie. It really was a wonderful trip. we got a fantastic beach house and just relaxed! Hayley spend an afternoon as an aquarium assistant down at the NC Aquarium, helping with feeding.
To round out our welcome to spring, we hit the UNC spring football game, a post-game party called The Bash and then back to campus for the 35th anniversary show of the Clef Hangers. We had our neighbors with us and for most of the day, the two kids Hayley babysits. Long but great day!
Hayley with Mason and one of the kids she babysits Alex:
Hayley with Coach Fedora at The Bash:
The Clef Hangers – 35 years of gorgeous acapella music!
We had low-key New Years but we always do. Between the holiday and football, it’s definitely a time to relax and enjoy friends. This year we had a murder mystery at the house for Hayley and her friends who were sleeping over again this year. We’d never done one of those murder mystery kits, thank goodness for a patient group of teens and some goofy adults – oh and a box of silly stuff to wear especially mustaches. But everyone was a good sport and it was a fun way to pass a lot of the evening.
Again catching up on old stuff… Hayley hung out with her brothers and birth/firstdad’s family in Winston-Salem for a fun afternoon at a trampoline park in Winston.
Since Hayley is in a year-round school, our summer was short and she’s been back at Salem for two weeks now – her last year there! This year Mason from next door has joined her.
First day!
With Mason
It was a good summer though. Hayley was at moviemaking camp again and we await their premiere on the big screen later this month. She’s been doing great at riding, we love this barn and she’s got a new saddle now. I need to bring the good camera out and shoot her jumping, even if watching her jump terrifies me.
We took a fabulous cooking class with our dear friend Sara at the always amazing Southern Season. Their store gets bigger every time I’m there, it’s 60,000 square feet now! The cooking school was state of the art and fantastic. I’m so stoked she is old enough to take the adult stuff with me!
Amazing setup – the flat screens could show you what was inside the mixing bowl
With Sara
We went up to Blacksburg VA for the 4th again to spend it with Jeff’s family. I’ll post more photos from that later but I never have my camera out there, I’ve got to do better. Jeff did the 5k again and shaved a bunch of time off – he’s awesome.
Hayley took a ton of photos at the art museum there – looks like Grandma Sharen posed in one with some interesting stuff!
We stopped at Pilot Mountain on the way back and went up to the top.
Right before she went back to school, we got to see Rachel and her family, I’ll post more photos from that later too.
Hayley’s Christmas present to Uncle Jay was a paintball experience down at Black River Paintball. They both came back having taken a shot in the neck but really no worse for wear. They do look pretty badass!
More photos from this set: Regular view(easiest to find one in particular or print) Slideshow view (easiest to see them all)
The first time I ever posted anything about Leslie Hall was almost six years ago when I found her Gem Sweater website and I could not stop laughing. This lady in Iowa had found all these bizarre gem sweaters and taken a photo in each, with the same hair and makeup. The absurdity killed me. When I found she had a band (Leslie & the Lys) and they had a song about her Gem Sweaters, I thought it was even funnier. Hayley and I got the CD and played it all the time in the car. 
