Allison's Wonderland

I'm doing it! I'm finally doing it. I have been talking about Ireland ever since last summer and last night we did it. Shaun, Micah and I bought our tickets and we're on our way. I just got done purchasing Lonely Planet's "Discover Ireland" so hopefully that will be here tomorrow! I can't wait. Like seriously. I will say that I am a little bit nervous because this is not really something I have ever done before, but we're going to make it happen. On my list I have atractions to visit such as the Ring of Kerry, Kiss the Blarney Stone, bicycle down some country road, go to a pub in Dublin, lay at the beach . . . the list could go on and on! I seriously can't wait. Now all I have to do is hope and pray that everything runs smoothly. Wish me LUCK!!!

One Republic. O how I love you.
After work on the 22nd of March, Shaun and I drove down to North Carolina to go see One Republic in concert. It was a beautiful day for a 3 hour drive and we were ready to go. As stated in a previous post, going to a concert is great, but the eating before the show is even better. Because we had to drive so far we were unable to eat at a sit down restaurant. So we went to this place called Cookout Burger. It was so good and it tasted exactly like a cook out burger should. I don't know what I was exactly thinking but I was hungry so I ordered a half pound burger thinking it was like a McDonald's burger and well it wasn't. It was freakin huge. Shaun and I were starting to get antsy on the ride down so we made up a song. It goes a little something like this.

"Pidgy Widgy in the air
Little Pidgy Widgy in my underwear
Pecking and Poking and doing weird things.
Please Little Pidgy don't spread your wings."

I think it could be a best seller. :)
We made our way to Campbell University which was completely out in the sticks. Most random school ever. We kind of got lost and ended up being a little late, but all in all it was okay. We just sat wherever because it was general admission, and we ended up in Toolville. Like seriously I felt like I was in Laguna Beach with these people. It was kind of funny. This guy seriously like pummeled me in Shaun when trying to climb to his seat and didn't even say anthing. No excuse me, no I'm sorry, not nothing. Just sheer rudeness. So then we moved to the other side of the auditorium with these crazy people who sat next to me. So we moved again once the security guards were pummeled by the crowd after the pleading of the lead singer to have them come up front. It was an amazing concert and seriously this guy is out of this world when he hits the high notes. I was blown away. He sang "Marchin On", "Secrets", "Apologize" all of the major hits and it was awesome. Ugh...I get chill bumps just thinking about it. This concert will definitely go down in the Year of the Concert as one of the best ones yet. Like for reals. We drove back to Ernie and Lorrie's house in Durham and crashed. Coco slept on the floor right next to me and it was the perfect ending to a perfect concert. :)

The year of the concert is looking like a major success and I couldn't be more excited. I have several good ones coming up in the next couple of months which always tend to get me through the mundane work of my job. March was difficult to pick from because I had two bands I wanted to see really bad. When you have to make a choice, sometimes you just have to choose to do both. So that's what I did. Tyler and I drove down to Charlottesville after work to see Pete Yorn at the beautiful Jefferson Theater. It's the same venue where Shaun and I went and saw Josh Radin. Pete has recently come out with an album where he duets mostly every song with Scarlett Johansson. Now, I've heard Scarlett is a little bit of a diva and not a nice person, but I was secretly hoping that she was going to show up. To my heart's dismay she never did. When I go to concerts one of my favorite things is going to eat before a show. It is a big deal to pick the restaurant.A choice that once chosen can not be taken back. So we decided to go to this little cafe on the corner of the mall called Escafe. I must say. Disappointing! The best part of the meal was the brie and fruit plate that we nibbled on. Other than that...I got nothing good to say. The concert on the other hand was great. I loved the opening act named the Wellspring. I ended up buying their CD and I got them to sign it. It was a little married couple from NYC and their music just made a person happy. One of the best things about concerts other than eating out before hand is the people watching that comes with it.One particular female was making me laugh really hard by the way she was just being. Hilarious! Ben Kweller, who was the inbetween act, was pretty good, but I like his version of Sundress better recorded than live. During the time where Pete Yorn was on stage, he made a comment about this middle aged couple who were dancing their butts off in the balcony. They were hilarious. I sat there and watched them for a whole song along with the bass guitarist who seriously could not take his eyes off of them. All in all it was a good night and I didn't fall asleep on the drive home which is always a plus. Till next concert! :)