music | herlongwayhome

Posted on October 18, 2020October 18, 2020 by Hailey Matesic Posted in Lifestyle, Quick Bites

Leave a comment

Playlist for a Long Fall Drive

One of my favorite things to do on an early Saturday morning, is hop in the car, stop for coffee (and an apple cider donut) and then take a drive upstate. It’s such a treat to go for a drive on a fall weekend and see all of the leaves changing – it’s truly magical!

What a luxury it is to drive with no destination and no itinerary – with absolutely nothing to do. Let yourself get lost in the hills, find a cute spot to grab a bite to eat, get some fresh air, and go home.

This quarantine is definitely starting to wear on me – it hadn’t been since we had Harper and have been so busy adjusting to life as new parents. We don’t socialize as much, we haven’t been traveling, but these Saturday morning drives have been breathing life into my weekend.

I’ve found that music has been helping a lot to set the tone for us – for our day during the week, for our mood. I’m all about a good playlist for a drive – always changing up the music depending on the season.

Quarantine is weird, isn’t it – you kind of feel like you’re home “doing nothing,” but then you take a step back and realize how busy you are. It’s a constant cycle of cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, cleaning more, cooking more. Meetings and emails. All while being home “doing nothing.” But a slow weekend – not even necessarily a lazy one – a slow weekend is really helping me savor this fall season.

It’s been nice to take a break, slow down and just enjoy. It’s fun to explore when we typically save exploring for traveling. It’s fun to be able to soak up and savor the moments with our little family.

Posted on November 21, 2018November 21, 2018 by Hailey Matesic Posted in Entertaining, Holiday

Leave a comment

0 Likes

Thanksgiving Playlist

The food is bought and prepped. The table is set. The wine is chilled. The turkey is roasting away in the oven. Don’t forget about the music!

Here’s our Thanksgiving 2018 playlist. If you follow it on your own Spotify, you can ask Alexa to play it by just saying, “Alexa, play my Thanksgiving 2018 playlist on Spotify!”

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Posted on December 16, 2017December 13, 2017 by Hailey Matesic Posted in Holiday

Leave a comment

0 Likes

Holiday Entertaining Essentials: Music

Whenever we host a gathering, I like to think about how I can set the mood and music is always a part of that planning. Putting together a great playlist is a wonderful way to set the tone for your celebration and only takes a little bit of uninterrupted thinking. With just a week until Christmas Eve, I’ve started to put together the music we’ll play for our guests during our celebration.

When I put together a playlist there are a three things I like to consider:

What time of day is the gathering? If it’s day-to-evening like our Christmas Eve celebration will be, I start a playlist with up-beat music and shift into low key music for dinner and after.
How long do I expect to be entertaining? I try to include as many songs as I can to cover the time we’ve invited our guests..
Who will be joining us? Hubby and I love country music, but not all of our guests do. I try to make sure I include music I know everyone will enjoy.

Here is our Christmas playlist you can subscribe to on Spotify – I’ll be editing and adding music to it over the next week. I’m always rearranging my playlists as I listen to see if I like the way the songs transition. I know. A little crazy.

Happy listening!

Posted on October 11, 2012December 12, 2017 by Hailey Matesic Posted in inspiration, lifestyle

Leave a comment

0 Likes

thoughts provoked

one of the songs i posted in my october playlist over the weekend, brandi carlile’s that wasn’t me, has been stuck in my head all week. there’s this one line – do i make myself a blessing to everyone i meet? – that is resonating with me. it’s such a great perspective to take on your life and who you want to become.

i think when you’re in your 20’s, and i’m just days away from my late 20’s (which i think starts at 27 so this is the BIG ONE), that you really blossom into the woman you are going to be. there are of course traces of her throughout the years and at certain milestones, but now it’s becoming set in stone.

when i went away to college, my mother said to me, if you’re not having fun you’re not doing it right. i sort of internalized that at 17 and have always carried that with me until now. i vowed to tell my children the same, but i think someday this line is going to have to be added to the list of things i want to bestow upon my children – be a blessing to every one you meet. you dedicate yourself, your life, to being someone who is kind and generous and loving. what could be better than that?

Posted on October 6, 2012December 12, 2017 by Hailey Matesic Posted in lifestyle

Leave a comment

0 Likes

the perfect october playlist

something you may not know about me, or you might, is that i love music. i mean LOVE it. all caps – that kind of love. i love exploring new bands, albums, genres. if it’s got a beat, i’ll probably like it.

so, i’ve curated a list of fantastic songs that just sound like fall to me and really round out a weekend. listen to it in the order that this playlist has been made in. i worked really hard on it to have good transitions. and if this isn’t totally your cup of tea, give it a shot. you never know, it might surprise you!

you can subscribe to the spotify playlist here.

have a great weekend, pups!