Allison's Wonderland

Shaun and I hit up yet another concert...I only have one more to go and then it’s no more concerts...well, maybe there will be more concerts, but there will not be anymore "Year of the Concert". Not going to lie this year has proven itself to be a tad bit expensive in the way of live shows. It was worth it though...every cent I do believe. Anyway, I know I have said this before but one of the best parts about going to a concert is eating first, and eat we did. I messaged my roommate’s friend Ben on Facebook who is a Charlottesville food connoisseur. Well, maybe not all that, but he knows the area and supposedly he knows good food. He recommended a little hole in the wall called "Continental Divide". He said it doesn't even have a sign out front pointing people there. Those kinds of places are indeed my favorite.

So, we drive down to Cville after work with the address punched into the GPS. We wouldn't have seen the place otherwise. The only sign marking its whereabouts is a green neon sign that reads "Get In Here". This place is pretty small, and every table is full. Shaun and I got the last booth! Woot Woot! We get the Hummus as an appetizer which was just okay. I'm not a big hummus kind of person anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal. But the main event was the Bison Meat loaf. This place is very southwestern hence the name, but it is so good. The Bison Meat Loaf came with these southwestern potatoes and these vegetables that were cooked to perfection. I really couldn't have asked for better. SOOO GOOD!! After our filling meal we headed to the downtown mall and went to the Jefferson to see Matt Kearney.We found some seats in the balcony for the opening band which were called “The League”. I liked them a lot. I've been impressed with most of the openers we've had. The worst opener I’ve heard this year definitely Lady Gaga. I'm glad I only heard like one of their songs because they were terrible. I don't even remember their name, but like I said...terrible. “The League” was good though and Shaun and I danced our butts off in the balcony like no one was watching...which someone was, but whatever...WE DO WHAT WE WANT!


During the break we went down to the main floor so I could get some better pics. That's where we met a girl and her Dad from Lynchburg. She's actually in the Physical Therapy program at LC which is what one of my besties is doing. It was just cool to meet people that have some common ground. He opened with “Count on Me” which I didn't know very well. He played "Fire and Rain" while we were down on the floor which is one of my all time favorites. After we had our fill of getting crowded, pushed around, and unable to see, we went to the third floor balcony. Where we danced again. :) So fun. This couple behind us was making out hard core, but we gave them a show too of our mad dancing skills. I got mad though because Matt got off stage and started walking through the crowd right where we were standing and started taking pictures with people. Coulda been there. Oh well, coulda, shoulda, woulda, it didn't happen. He ended with “Hey Mamma” which is a wonderful dance song! UGH so good! Bad ending to the night though. I went to the Merch table to pick up his latest CD and their credit card machine wasn't working. The girl ran my card like 3 times...so I went to the ATM. Checked my bank account today. Yep. Doubled charged, like I knew would happen. Rude. Whatevs...the concert was wonderful! Couldn't have asked for better! Till next month. :)

Oops...I did it again. :) Another concert under my belt! WooHoo! I've been looking forward to this one for awhile. As you can tell, well maybe you can't by the title...I went and saw BRITTNEY SPEARS!! Shaun and I have been trying to get all the big ladies seen this summer (Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Beyonce' etc.) In order to continue our journey we HAD to get Brittney! We drove after work on Wednesday to Raleigh, NC to the RBC Center. On our way there we were going to stop at Cookout Burger but we took a different direction and couldn't find one around. So we had to take the alternative and stop at Chik-fil-A. It'll have to do. :) We got to RBC and found our seats. They were pretty good. I'm not going to lie, I did good this time. I even snuck my camera in! Woot Woot! There were these crazy old women who sat in front of us that were all in Easter egg colored wigs. They were really terrible and the one in the purple wig, who we called awful puyple, kept giving us dirty looks. Hate that! The beginning act was Paris and Desiree or something like that. They were bad. They were from the Disney Channel. Then Pauly D from the Jersey Shore did some DJing. I liked that a lot and danced a lot to it! Loved it! Shaun and I were fist pumping like CR8ZY!! Then Brittney came onto the scene and boy was it a scene! She opened with "Hold it Against Me". And it was good. There was one song though that she did called "Dropped Dead Beautiful" that had a bunch of naked men on the screen. Weirdest thing ever. I couldn't stop laughing. The song "Toxic" was this Samurai sword number and it was so cool. I also loved the Egyptian themed song she did. Her last song was "Keep On Dancing Till the World Ends" where she ended it with a curtain of like fiery stuff and confetti and she flew up with these wings. So Cool! At the end when we were leaving we blasted Britney Spears on the way out and then I got a picture with the gayest guy dressed in this weird plastic red outfit. Gross but hilarious as you can see! Almost done with the year of the concert. Once September gets here I'll be done, and it will be sad. :( Till next time!

My July concert was a last minute kind of a pick. I kept looking at all the venues remotely close to me and they had squat. All the good concerts I want to go to, are the first week in August when I will be in Texas. I'm excited for Texas, but I'm a little disappointed I can't see the concerts I want to see. After researching for what seemed like centuries I ran across The National Venue in Richmond. I got to see Legwarmers at the National back in January which was one of my favorite concerts through my whole Year of the Concert Series. July 8th they were having Jack's Mannequin in concert and I was so excited to find one that I really wanted to see and was somewhat close! The problem was finding someone to go with me that liked them just as much as me. So I asked around and most of my friends hadn't even heard of the band. Most people who don't know the band you're seeing are not fun to go to concerts with. I remembered thought that Tyler really liked these guys and was actually the person who first introduced me to them. So I call him up, well text him up I guess you would say, and he was totally on board. We drive to Richmond after work on Friday and stop at Chik-fil-A for dinner. Today was cow appreciation day, so if you dressed like a cow you would get free chicken. Unfortunately Tyler and I left our cow costumes at home, so we had to pay full price. Bummer.

On our way there, a rainbow was practically following us. It was extremely weird. I totally saw the end of the rainbow and there was not a pot of gold. It was the most beautiful I've seen. Better than Ireland. We arrived at The National a little late which wasn’t too awful because the two opening acts were not anything to write home about. The first band was called Steel Train and the second was called Lady Danville. The first band I felt really bad for because they left half of their band in Pennsylvania (Not sure why) so all they had were three guitarists. I think they would’ve been a lot better if they had their whole band. The second band, Lady Danville, I liked a lot better. They had some pretty catchy songs. The one song I loved was where they sang just acoustic around a mic about a girl who they were in love with who hated their guts. So funny! Tyler and I sat in the balcony for the openers and then moved to the floor to listen to Jack. He was so flipping good! Way better live than on the CD I think.

The only sucky part is #1 I’m short so standing behind a bunch of people was a problem. #2 These drunk guys in front of me would NOT stop talking. I wanted to hit them in their face and say, “If you want to talk, Go outside!” Why pay 40 bucks to go to a concert and talk when you can do that for free at a coffee shop. Ugh! Last but not least #3 The girl standing behind us was tone deaf but loved to sing. Seriously woman SHUTUP! That is my only complaint(s). I think my favorite song that he did was “Bruised”. He didn’t sing “Miss California” which made me sad, but he did play “Dark Blue” in his Encore. His piano skills were mad out of this world. I liked it when he also climbed up on the piano and started singing and going crazy. There was this one point and time in the middle of the concert where he just started dancing CRAZY. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. It seriously was mesmerizing. So fun! After the concert I took the weird scary way home that comes out by Appomattox Court House but we had a blast. We put on Mumford & Sons and screamed till our lungs hurt. I kept feeling like the rain was coming through the car come to find out it was Tyler’s spit that was ricocheting off the windshield onto me. I started laughing and gagging at the same time. It was a pretty stinkin good concert. Probably will go down in the top five for this year for sure. Till the next concert!

I have out done myself this summer. I do not even know how all these events came to be, but you do not hear me complaining one bit! I love adventure and I love to be busy. Two things that should have made themselves clear when reading my blog. That sounds real hoity toity, but I am not meaning it that way. It’s just who I am.

Ireland was amazing. It will go down in history as one of my favorite vacations, but this summer is packed with a number of great trips. Micah, Shaun, and I got back from Ireland on Sunday the 12th. Before Ireland was ever scheduled Shaun and I bought Katy Perry tickets for June 14 in which we had to travel to Raleigh, NC which is about 2.5 hours. My family booked a cruise to Bermuda for the 15th of June in which we had to drive 7 hours to Charleston. You see how crazy life is!?! I had a bad attitude about Katy Perry and did not even really want to go. My room was a mess and I had not yet packed for Bermuda. Laundry wasn’t done, and I was cranky. But, Shaun said he would drive so that made it a little better. We left work early on Tuesday and started our drive. We ate at Cookout Burger again, same as we did on our way to One Republic. I tried to meet up with my brother and sister-in-law, but they’re not too spontaneous so they couldn’t come to dinner. Sad day. After our wonderful dinner of Burgers, fries and peanut-butter shakes we headed to the concert.

Like I said, I had a bad attitude. After paying the guy $10 bucks to park the car, we made our way to the venue. Our seats were kind of in the nose bleed section, but somehow we ended up on the second floor and got past an usher. We find our way to this awesome bar area where the seats are cushy and you have little tables right in front of you. We were like SCORE! We had to lay low so that an usher wouldn’t kick us out. Meanwhile we’re enjoying the opener (which wasn’t that great, btw) and this lady comes up and is like, “I think you guys are in our seats.” And we’re like, “Oh really? What ticket number do you have?” Knowing full well we were in the wrong seats. Whoopsy! Sometimes you just got to play it smooth. So then an usher comes over and is rude and kicks us out. Bummer for us, but whatever. We knew it was a long shot. We find our seats which aren’t too awful, but I’ve got this like 7 year old behind me who is enjoying kicking the snot out of my seat. I was about to bust some heads ( Not really, she was 7. What do you take me for?) but then Katy Perry got on stage and she stood up. Praise the Lawd!

Katy’s concert started out with this weird whacked out video with butcher’s and kitty’s, but it was cool.I will say I liked it. Shaun and I started taking pics and then this usher comes up and YELLS at me and tells me to put it away saying he doesn’t know how I got that in past security. I was like, “Sorry dude, I didn’t know.” So needless to say no more pics the rest of the concert. I was SOO tempted to pull it out, but I didn’t because I told him I would keep in my purse just for him. Worst.

Anyway, I loved her songs so much! And like I said I had a bad attitude before and didn’t even know what I wanted to hear. She played Teenage Dream, California Girls, Circle the Drain, Peacock,Kissed a Girl, etc. Kissed a girl was gross cause she had these female dancers all in gold dancing all sexy who kissed at the end. Yuck. There were little girls everywhere and I was like WHAT KIND OF EXAMPLE IS THAT KATY?!? Anyway, her set was awesome and was a blown up Candy land game board. It was very cool. One of my favorite numbers she did was “Hot n Cold” where the lyrics say, “You change your mind, like a girl changes clothes.” She probably changed her outfit 15 times on stage and it was like magic. Her clothes would just change right after she would walk in behind a curtain and then walk right back out. It was bizarre but so awesome! I also loved Fireworks because they actually shot off legit fireworks at the end of the show. Needless to say it was a good concert and I might even like to see her again.

Well it's the first of May, and what better way to start off the month then with a concert? Jason Derulo was coming to town! I told myself I wasn't going to go, but since it was just 20 bucks and only 15 minutes away, I said why not? I had to go to this one, because it is not often this part of Virginia sees a good concert. So we went. I met up with My sister and her friends Lauren, Kali, Jacquelynn and Rachel. We walk into the venue (a college gym) and see some of the weirdest people there. Like seriously weird. Not to be rude, but, the concert goers were a mixture of Ghetto fabulous, redneck and white trash. Not exactly sure where we fit in with those categories, but it was just funny to look at. The opener was pretty good. Not something I’d go out and buy, but pretty decent considering the venue and the kind of concert it was. His name was Jerry Evans and Kali and I broke it down on one of the songs that he sang. The transition to Derulo took so freakin long. We were up towards the front but the whole time it was like war to keep our spots. We were packed in tight next to each other and there were these really obnoxious people that kept being like excuse me excuse me in order to move up. One line cutter totally thought he had me, but I pressed up against the person in front of me and they were only able to get a leg through. SUCCESS!! It was kinda fun, but annoying REAl fast. Then this one Mom and her daughter were like all over each other. They seriously had to be high on something or strung out on coke. The guy next to us was making fun of them cause they were seriously making out with one another. It was extremely odd. Then the girl walks up to Sista and says, “Do you want to dance.” All sexy like. And Kelsey just gave her the Kelsey look of death which translates, “Are you seriously talking to me right now? Drop dead.” That kind of a face. Then she asks Kelsey if she’s scared and then moves out into the crowd. Weird. Like I said, very interesting people in that place. Jason was really good. His back up dancers were pretty good as well. One of the best parts was when he ripped his shirt off. Of course… The last song of the night was “In My Head” which is my favorite. He also did a Michael Jackson number that was fun to watch. One of the songs he pulled a girl up onstage and was all over her! She looked so uncomfortable and her boyfriend was standing in the crowd. It looked like he was going to kiss her and make out. We all felt a little awkward and were glad we didn’t volunteer for the job. Not sure if the concert was worth $20 bucks but it was fun to hang out with Sista for the evening!

This past summer Shaun and I listened relentlessly to two amazing artists. One was Ingrid Michaelson and the other was Sara Bareilles. April's pick for concerts left me ecstatic because Sara Bareilles tour started in May and two weeks into the tour she was going to be in Winston-Salem, NC! Shaun, Jen, and I scooted our butts out of work early and headed towards the southern city. On our way we stopped at Carrabba's which is probably my most favorite Italian restaurant ever. I have been to Italy tasted Italian food there and still Carrabba's remains top on my list. The waiter we had was a little gay, but still nice, and warned us of the snobs of Wake Forest where we were headed. On our way to the ooncert we passed some of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen. On Ticketmaster's website it said the concert was going to be held in the Winston-Salem Entertainment Complex. Come to find out it wasn't and we started to panic because we were lost. I had my GPS, but if you don't know where your going it's hard to get there even with the latest in navigational technology. So, I do it the old fashioned way and stop at Subway to act some old hillbilly woman to direct me to the campus of Wake Forest.We find it and are all in a tizzy because it's 7:50 and the concert supposedly started at 7:30. We run up to the Wait Chapel where the concert is to be held to be greeted by a huge line that wraps around the campus lawn. So, there's only three of us so we decide to just kind of add to the line. The girls we cut in front of were NOT having it. They started getting pushy about it and were like, "did you guys just cut in front of us?" And I just said yeah we're from Virginia and don't know where to go. Play, the "I'm the lost damsel" card. Nope weren't having it. Just rude. So I just say, are ya'll going to get pissed off if we stay here in line? And the girl just goes "ugh it's whatev." Okay...whatev to you idiot. We've been driving in the car for 2 1/2 hours. We're all going to the same place. Annoying. So we got Jen's ticket at will call and got back in the forever long line. Come to find out we end up getting better seats than those rude girls in line. Take that! HA! Made our way into the Chapel only to hear some of the worst music ever. This girl was cackling like a cat and it was not good. I have had good luck with opening acts lately, but definitely not this girl.Her name was Ximena Sariana. She was Spanish but was not good at all. We got the best seats ever on the 2nd row except for the fact that there was this really nerdy tall guy standing right in front of the stage blocking our view. The second act was awesome. I loved their rendition of "Put the Lime in the Coconut." The band was called Elizabeth and the Catapult and they were so good! And then there was Sara. Oh Sara. So in referene to my title, one of the first things she gets up and says is, I feel so weird cursing in a chapel, and then proceeds to sing Cee-Lo's song, "F You". Which was funny but still a little inappropriate for a church. She sang Basket Case which I filmed. Oh and that's another thing. When we got there we specifically asked if we could take pictures with our camera.Then these little bratty girls come up to Shaun and I in the middle of the concert and tell us we can't have our cameras. I'm like umm..the ladies at the front door said we could when we specifically asked. Then she tells me I can speak to her supervisor. I'm like no I'm not going there...we'll just keep our frickin cameras in our purse. So then they came by later and said that they were mistaken and that we could have them. Rude. She played Mumford and Sons, "Little Lion Man" and I felt vindicated because I LOVE THAT BAND but they're going to be in NC while I'm in Ireland. So I won't be able to see them. :( She also played Coldplay's "Yellow" which was awesome. I loved her and the concert so much. I wish it went on longer. On our way home we tried to go to Krispy Kreme but got there at 11:10 pm when they closed at 11. So we tried another one downtown and found out that it was Krispy Kreme headquarters. I was so mad. Oh well. Tried drivin home and not falling asleep although I seriously dozed probably 5 times. Thank you Jennifer Crews for keeping me awake! Work the next morning at 8 :( ICK!

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! :)

By my title you probably couldn't tell what I am about to write about. So, I will elaborate. If you haven't guessed, it's February and that means another concert. After researching over twenty artists that I would love to see in concert I came up with zilch. Big fat goose egg. Every band/singer I wanted to see was either in Europe or Australia on tour. I contemplated buying a plane ticket to Munich, Germany just to see Maroon 5 along with Sara Bareilles. Money is a little too tight for a trip like that so I reverted to something a little closer to home. My friend Shaun approached me with the idea of seeing Josh Radin, a singer you could say I was pretty unfamiliar with at the time, in Charlottesville at the historic Jefferson Theater. I researched and found out that Josh is a pretty cool guy and had a hit I really liked off of the "Dear John" soundtrack. For two weeks straight I tuned into Josh Radin Radio on Pandora and discovered my new love. We left work early on Friday the 11th and took the journey to what the locals call CVille. We got dressed up in our best hipster apparel and headed downtown. Thanks to my handy GPS we found it in a jiffy. We contemplated where to eat and decided on the C&O Restaurant(www.candorestaurant.com). One of my favorite things in life is trying out a new restaurant. Three things I look for in order to meet my restaurant standards is character, atmosphere and good food. What started out as a railroad bunkhouse, has blossomed into one of the “must eats” in Charlottesville. Let me tell you what. Best meal I’ve ever had. Like seriously. Maybe not ever had, but one of the best. It was wonderful. I had two glasses of their cheapest wine (cheap wine tends to be the best) and then ordered the Steak Chinoise with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus cooked to perfection. I was in edible heaven. Shaun ordered the rabbit which was good, but not as good as my steak. We stayed at the restaurant for almost two hours enjoying the atmosphere and the obnoxious couple sitting behind me who, whenever they spoke to each other where in a constant state of arguing and hostility. Awkward. Next was the concert.The Josh Radin concert was held in the historical Jefferson Theater (www.jeffersontheater.com) located on the downtown mall. Beautiful theater. Simply beautiful. One of my favorite acts was Andrew Allen who opened for Josh. I actually ended up buying his CD and I’ve already listened to it way too much www.myspace.com/andrewallenlive). I also loved Anya Marina (www.anyamarina.com) who was the second act. She was so different than anything I ever heard before and sang her rendition of “You can Have Whatever you Like” originally by TI, and her song “All the Same to Me” which incorporates the children song “Old McDonald” with a line in the chorus containing“E-I-E-I-O”.I had to buy that song as well..She was awesome. Josh Radin was everything I hoped he would be. We moved to the balcony to watch his act so we could see better. We got out of there at like 10:30, made our mark on the downtown mall chalkboard and headed back to the hotel. Next day we had lunch at the Michie Tavern(www.michietavern.com)which was established in 1784.Charlottesville is the home of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, and showcases his home, Monticello as one of the main attractions.The Michie Tavern is a mile down the road from Monticello and has some wonderful, home-cooked, soul food. While we were there they had a cozy fire and we were able to eat off of pewter plates and mugs. So awesome! After our time at the tavern, we once again ventured to the downtown mall and visited antique shops and the quaintest book store where John Grisham,(www.jgrisham.com) writer of best sellers such as “A Time to Kill” and “The Rainmaker, frequents often. All in all it was a wonderful weekend and I can’t wait to do it again! Next concert…Josh Ritter! Not sure what the “Mystery” part of my title really was…but hey, it rhymed 

Leg Warmers. What era do most Americans associate with leg warmers? If you guessed the 80's then you are like most Americans. This weekend I had the opportunity to head to Richmond and experience a band like none other. Let me give you a little background information . . . Jessica, a girl I a work with, was turning 25 this weekend. We have become pretty close at work, since we are in an office full of nerdy guys. The situation only lends itself for us to get to know each other well. She invited me to her birthday party where it would be 8 other girls including Jessica of which I didn't know any of them except for her and one other girl. I graciously accepted and asked if my best friend Jessica C. could also come along. I needed a wingman. We'll call Jessica C. J Carn because it might get confusing if I don't. I hadn't decided what concert I was going to go to in January, so this seemed to work out perfectly. We left work at 4:00pm on Friday and hopped in a car headed to Richmond with Kellie, Jessica, J. Carn, and Mandi. We got dressed up in some pretty awesome 80's gear that we found at Rugged Warehouse a couple days before which did include leg warmers. I spent over 40 bucks on stuff I will never wear again including bright pink Apple Bottom High top sneakers. Yipes! We got two rooms at the Double Tree which was pretty sweet. There were a total of ten girls. Kim, the planner and leader of this whole escapade, called The National (The venue where the concert was) two days before and tried to get tickets purchased in advance. The guy laughed at her and said, "This show will not sell out." So we thought we were in the clear. We take a shuttle from the hotel to the venue and come to find out Mr. Rude Phone Guy was wrong. It was sold out. Kellie and Kim had been on the street corner in 14 degree temperatures without a jacket scalping tickets to this band no one has ever heard of. We were fortunate to get 8 tickets before the second group got there. But we were short 2. J Carn and I hit the streets asking people for tickets like little beggars. It's funny how crappy people will treat you when you're asking them for something. It's like we were asking them to cut off one of their limbs and give it to us for 20 bucks. I asked a skeevy guy for tickets and he tells me to follow him to a parking garage so I did like an idiot. Then I see these nice women walking across the street before I get to the garage and accost them for tickets. She said she had one extra so I follow her and pay her 20 bucks for a complimentary ticket that she got for free. My job was done...and I scored my ticket. We just needed one more. We walk from corner to corner asking people with no luck. Finally we cross this little old lady whose as sweet as sweet can be and she sells us her ticket for twenty bucks. EUREKA! We've got them! We went from zero to 10 tickets in an hour and 1/2. We were on top of the world. Now for the band. Boy do I have stories to tell! The band was freakin awesome. They did every 80's song you could ask for in a span of 3 1/2 hours of which we danced our hearts out the entire time. We made new friends, danced in the aisles, head banged, made idiots of ourselves and had an amazing night. After the ridiculously awesome concert we went back to the hotel. I ordered two pizzas because I was starving and pizza is always amazing at 2 in the morning. We talked till three about life, love and happiness and poured out our souls. The next morning we went to Trader Joe's of which I've never been and Dave and Buster's for lunch where I won 696 tickets with the help of some guy who handed me about 400 just cause. It was a great weekend. I think I need to do this more often.

My Dad loves the song "Christmas Eve – Sarajevo” by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Every time it comes on the radio during the Christmas season he gets really excited and turns it up as high as it will go. I had to pick my concert for December since this year has been dubbed, “The Year of the Concert” but nothing of interest had crossed the pages of the internet as I researched. Then I looked at the Greensboro, Coliseum and to my surprise the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was to perform on December 8th. I called Dad right away and asked if he would be interested in going. Of course he was, so I bought his ticket for him as part of his Christmas gift and we were ready to go. We drove to Greensboro, NC and ate at one of my favorite restaurants in the world, “Carrabbas”. The restaurant is an amazing Italian joint that has everything a foodie could ask for. I have been to Italy and have tasted the Italian food there, but honestly nothing can compare to Carrabba’s. That made me blasphemy but that is a statement I am willing to make. We got to the Greensboro Coliseum and got in pretty smooth although our seats were non-existent. For some reason our seats had disappeared. We were in the very last row on the floor and someone had simply gotten rid of our chairs. We got reseated but then we changed to better seats anyway where we could actually see. The guys in the group looked like they stepped out of the 80’s and there was so much “Hairography” as the show Glee creatively labeled the movement where all you do is flip your hair around, but all in all it was a good show. “Christmas Eve –Sarajevo” was my favorite number. Throughout the entire concert they did some pretty sick guitar runs, awesome violin sounds, and used plenty of fire machines. I enjoyed it immensely! I almost fell asleep on the way home, but decided to call Grandma B who is a night owl. She kept me awake while Dad snored in the passenger seat. Nice. We made it home safe and it was all worth it.

Last night was the big night. Jess and I drove down to Charlottesville, where Dave Matthews is originally from, and grabbed some dinner on the downtown mall at Eppie's. It was pretty good, but come to think of it we should have gone to Miller's since that's where Dave bartended. Oh well, should've thought about that a litte earlier. Anyway, we went to the chalk wall down there and took some pictures. There was this couple we met at Eppie's who had driven all the way from Detroit to see the band. Someone also wrote on the chalk wall saying they came from Russia to see them. Pretty crazy stuff. After eating we went to JPJ and got there pretty early. We walked around the first floor to see where all the VIP's were sitting. Our seats were pretty crappy so it was like we were the poor people just hanging around tryinig to see if anyone important would befriend us. Our master plan didn't work unfortunately. So we went to our crappy seats in Section 311 Row W. For some reason Jess was not willing to budge her butt because there were seats EVERYWHERE. During the Lady Gaga concert we were able to move to a better spot, but like I said Jess wouldn't have any of it. I was going to move somewhere by myself but I thought that might be a little rude. So we sat in the nose bleed section and enjoyed ourselves even if we were up a mile high. The band that opened was phenominal. They were called "Trombone Shorty" and when I got back that night I immediately downloaded their song, "Something Beautiful". It was a band that consisted mainly of horns, but they blew them things to high heaven. When Dave got onstage everyone went crazy. Charlottesville is his hometown so it makes sense that people would be ecstatic about him being back. I think Dave's Mom was even in the crowd He played all of the songs I wanted to hear like, "Satellite", "Proudest Monkey", and "Cornbread" but he didn't play "Crash" which was a huge disappointment. That is my absolute favorite song by him, but oh well. What's a gill to do? Jess and I were dancing and being stupid which is something that you always need to do anytime to you go to a concert. Overall it was amazing. The only thing that sucked was the drive home because we were so tired and the $20 bucks it cost us to park. Still trying to figure out my December concert so if you have any ideas...Let me know. :)

So I haven't written in awhile just because I have been a little busy with life. I am currently involved in our Church Christmas program which is eating up my life and I am in a Managerial Finance class for my Master's Program which is a bear. It's awful and I don't understand any of it. Like seriously. Anyway, back to stuff that is a little more interesting.
I’ve dubbed this year, “The Year of the Concert”, just because I want to see a new band every month. I listen to my music on my iPod or on the radio but there’s nothing like seeing a band live. My quest for concerts started in September with Lady Gaga at the John Paul Jones Arena. I already wrote about that in my previous post so I won’t waste time explaining the details of that one. October was the month I saw Rogue Wave at Cat’s Cradle which was awesome. I stood on the very front row. Close enough to see the googily eyes that one of the stage hands put everywhere. After the show they threw them out into the crowd. I had a great time. I dragged my brother and sister-in-law to see them too and paid for their tickets so they wouldn’t complain too much. The venue was a little different than I expected. Lorrie described it as "dirty sex." Haha…I wouldn’t have described it quite that way, but ya know. To each his own. So this weekend, get ready for the big drum roll I’m going to my November concert. See if you can guess who it is. This particular band, named after the main singer, owns a vineyard in Charlottesville that I went to this summer. The initials of the band can be found in the website for the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com). Okay if you haven’t guessed it yet, this weekend I’m going to go see Dave Matthews Band with my best friend Jessica! I’m completely stoked! I want to bring my new camera but we don’t really have the best seats considering we waited till the very last minute to get them, and I’m not sure I can convince Shaun to let me borrow his telephoto lens. Ugh…can’t wait! This week has been crazy what with the tree and Ashley’s wedding, but I have been looking forward to DMB all week so this is the icing on the cake! I’ll post later with details about the concert!

As a child I thought my parents were the coolest people in the world. I wanted to be them. There was nothing wrong they could do besides tell me to go to bed. When I became a teenager I had a different outlook. I thought my parents were weird and somewhat embarassing. What I failed to realize as a teenager is parents were once kids with dreams and goals of their own. I love to find out interesting things about my parents. As I make my way into adulthood (although I'm fighting this tooth and nail) I find more and more interesting things about the lives of my parents. Information like my Mom always wanted to be a race car driver, or my Dad got busted for possession of marijuana and spent a night in jail. These are the things that kids want to know.
This is what I want my kids to know. I want them to know that their Mom really lived. I don't know them yet, and who knows maybe I never will. Maybe I won't even have kids. This is where nieces and nephews can come into the picture. I want my kids to know that on September 8, 2010 my friends Shaun, Phil and Jen went to a Lady Gaga Concert.
Now granted, I don't want my kids going to a Lady Gaga concert. Not something I would recommend for them. It would be similar to my parents experience with the Rolling Stones, Kiss, or Madonna. It will be cool for my kids to know about, but not to experience themselves. The concert was absolutely AMAZING! It was part of the Monster Ball Tour and featured songs like, "Bad Romance", "Poker Face", and "Show Me Your Teeth". It was a great night and we all got to dance and be crazy. The opening band, "Semi-Precious Weapons" was absolutely atrocious. They would just scream the "F" word and their music sucked. Like I said not something I want my kids to hear.
The four of us all dressed up pretty crazy. Jen and I landed a spot on Lady Gaga's website which is listed with the post. I got to be a featured "Monster". I raided the local Goodwill to find my costume and borrowed a bright purple wig from my roomate. Don't ask me why she has a bright purple wig. All I know is it worked. The guys...meh, didn't dress up too much. Shaun tried real hard and put makeup all over his face and Phil. Well Phil went as Phil. If you're going to see Lady Gaga you seriously need to go all out. It's the only way to go. The best part of the whole concert was when Lady Gaga sat by herself played the piano and showed her true talent. She played the song "Speechless" and that's exactly what it did. It left the audience speechless. Me being one of those audience members. It was amazing. The girl is talented. You have to give her that. All I know is one day I'll tell my kids about my crazy college days, although I'm not in college anymore I sure feel like I never left. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I still work at the University I attended. Who knows? I want to live and I want to live life to the fullest. I want my kids to know that's what I've done.