OMG. The strip tease workout was probably the most hilarious class I've ever taken. Even funnier than turbo kickboxing. The whole set is an hour and a half. The first half is dance technique - sort of serious ballet moves and stretches. The second half hour is salsa - SO much fun. Thank God Kati has shown me the moves before or I probably would have been lost! The third is, you guessed it, "24 Tease" a half hour of fun filled stripping. Apparently, my body didn't like idea because right before the stripping class started I got a bloody nose. Yes, stripping gives me a bloody nose. So I grab my towel and hold it on until it stops bleeding. Now, it's the same teacher for all three classes and she goes from this salsa queen to a dirty talking stripper. I'm not kidding, I've never been talked to like that. It was so hard to stop laughing. They turn down the lights and start some mild moves, just some hip movements and such. It gets gradually worse until she tells you to grab your prop. Now, I had taken a towel which I had proceeded to bleed profusely onto. I figured swinging around a bloody towel probably isn't very sexy, so yes, I took my shirt off. Mind you, I had a sports bra on underneath (Jess took hers off too!), but I don't normally work out in just a sports bra, so it felt racy. We're dancing, swinging our "props" around and doing some pretty funky hip gyrations. We thrusted, we crawled and we shook it for all it was worth. A total blast. I think it's ironic that every male trainer in the gym managed to need a ball or something out of that room during that half hour. And that a whole lot of guys decided to hop on the treadmills which were conveniently facing into the room.
Seriously, it was a blast. I haven't laughed that hard in a while and the dance technique class kicked my butt.
Yesterday was Julie's spa party - also a blast. She had all kinds of yumminess to eat (chocolate covered strawberries and graham crackers, cheese) and the coolest products. I bought the hand scrub - it's seriously amazing! I also got the little neck pad - you warm it up in the microwave or cool it down in the fridge and then it wraps around your neck. SO NICE! :) Plus we got to try all the other products and pretty much feel totally pampered.
On that note, I'm off to finish cleaning for my jewelry party tomorrow and then to watch "Grey's Anatomy" and "ER". Woo hoo!
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Sunday, September 24, 2006
The Dump and Singing
I've discovered my favorite part of rehearsal. The drive home. Ok, I know that sounds bad, but I mean it in a good way. Today we had a two and half hour SCSO rehearsal. On the way home, I discovered how amazingly warmed up I am after that. There's nothing on the radio that I can't sing! Seriously - all of those songs are written in normal person range, so when you walk out of a classical rehearsal, it's a piece of cake!
This weekend was pretty mellow. My allergies have been horrendous (sinus pressure and a headache that makes me sleepy) and I ended up laying low most of the weekend. I made a trip to the dump with my dad Saturday morning (one of the few productive things I was able to do besides cleaning out my closet and doing my laundry). It was actually really neat - quite different than the dumps I remember from when I was little (it's probably been 15 years since I've been). They actually recycle everything they can, compost a ton of stuff and then bury what they can't do anything else with. It's a pretty smooth operation. I learned something else exciting as well. I have always been more than a little upset that my city doesn't recycle... the Bay Area has those cool little bins and stuff. Well, apparently, my city has one-upped the Bay. We don't have the cool bins or anything like that, but once your trash gets to the dump, they have someone there who sorts through and recycles whatever they can. So basically, you're forced to recycle and have to do none of the work. What a concept!
Speaking of the Bay, I'm going to SF for the day next Saturday with the girls. I'm so excited - I haven't been since last Christmas time. I'm looking for cool things to do there besides shop and walk around the pier. Maybe a trolley tour or something fun like that. It should be a blast and I promise to take lots of pictures!
Well, I'm off to bed. This week is going to be crazy busy - rehearsal tomorrow, book club Tuesday, spa party Wednesday, stripper workout Thursday (did I catch your attention with that one?), and my jewelry party on Friday. I'll update you each day (yes, you have to wait all the way until Thursday to hear about the stripper workout!).
Good night!
This weekend was pretty mellow. My allergies have been horrendous (sinus pressure and a headache that makes me sleepy) and I ended up laying low most of the weekend. I made a trip to the dump with my dad Saturday morning (one of the few productive things I was able to do besides cleaning out my closet and doing my laundry). It was actually really neat - quite different than the dumps I remember from when I was little (it's probably been 15 years since I've been). They actually recycle everything they can, compost a ton of stuff and then bury what they can't do anything else with. It's a pretty smooth operation. I learned something else exciting as well. I have always been more than a little upset that my city doesn't recycle... the Bay Area has those cool little bins and stuff. Well, apparently, my city has one-upped the Bay. We don't have the cool bins or anything like that, but once your trash gets to the dump, they have someone there who sorts through and recycles whatever they can. So basically, you're forced to recycle and have to do none of the work. What a concept!
Speaking of the Bay, I'm going to SF for the day next Saturday with the girls. I'm so excited - I haven't been since last Christmas time. I'm looking for cool things to do there besides shop and walk around the pier. Maybe a trolley tour or something fun like that. It should be a blast and I promise to take lots of pictures!
Well, I'm off to bed. This week is going to be crazy busy - rehearsal tomorrow, book club Tuesday, spa party Wednesday, stripper workout Thursday (did I catch your attention with that one?), and my jewelry party on Friday. I'll update you each day (yes, you have to wait all the way until Thursday to hear about the stripper workout!).
Good night!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Wow
Amber sent me this - I had heard bits and pieces of the story before, but never the whole thing. I am utterly amazed. Please watch the whole video (click the link below after reading the story).
"It's sometimes good to sit back and realize that there are people in this world with bigger problems than our own. It's amazing what the human being is capable of. I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck. Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and peddled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars, all in the same day. Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right? And what has Rick done for his father? Not much, except save his life. This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs."He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution." But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain." "Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that."Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried."Then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks."That day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon."No way," Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?"How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried. Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think? Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way," he says. Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together. This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th BostonMarathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992, only 35 minutes off the world record,which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time."No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century."And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him,"you probably would've died 15 years ago."So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life. Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day. That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy."The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad would sit in the chair and I would push him once."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCTIigaloQ
Makes you rethink all of those times you're "too tired" to go to the gym, doesn't it? I'm completely amazed.
"It's sometimes good to sit back and realize that there are people in this world with bigger problems than our own. It's amazing what the human being is capable of. I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck. Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and peddled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars, all in the same day. Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right? And what has Rick done for his father? Not much, except save his life. This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs."He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution." But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain." "Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that."Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried."Then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks."That day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon."No way," Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?"How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried. Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think? Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way," he says. Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together. This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th BostonMarathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992, only 35 minutes off the world record,which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time."No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century."And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him,"you probably would've died 15 years ago."So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life. Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day. That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy."The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad would sit in the chair and I would push him once."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCTIigaloQ
Makes you rethink all of those times you're "too tired" to go to the gym, doesn't it? I'm completely amazed.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Construction Workers SUCK!
So who in their right mind thinks it's ok to be moving heavy machinery in a residential neighborhood at 6:15am!?! And for God's sake, turn the damn beepy thing off or stop driving up and down the street backwards!!! And finally, don't park outside my window and congregate with all of your other construction worker buddies to chat. I can hear you and I'm trying to sleep! @&%!
It's been an interesting few weeks with the road work going on here. I can't quite figure out the method to their madness... they've repaved patches of the street, but have left others all torn up by the bulldozers. Now, maybe it's just my organized mind, but I would have started at one end and paved to the other until I was finished. The way it is now, you'll be driving down the road and it's all smooth. Then all the sudden you hit this drop in the pavement (I'm not kidding - it's 2-3 inches) that feels like you've just run something over. Then you're back on bumpy road. Scares the crap out of you if you're driving home and not really paying attention to the road (and I mean that in the sense that you're focused on driving, just not expecting that kind of jolt).
Sorry I've been a slacker posting as of late. It's not for any great reason other than I've been busy and lazy. It's an interesting combo, I assure you. I promise to blog more often from now on! :)
It's been an interesting few weeks with the road work going on here. I can't quite figure out the method to their madness... they've repaved patches of the street, but have left others all torn up by the bulldozers. Now, maybe it's just my organized mind, but I would have started at one end and paved to the other until I was finished. The way it is now, you'll be driving down the road and it's all smooth. Then all the sudden you hit this drop in the pavement (I'm not kidding - it's 2-3 inches) that feels like you've just run something over. Then you're back on bumpy road. Scares the crap out of you if you're driving home and not really paying attention to the road (and I mean that in the sense that you're focused on driving, just not expecting that kind of jolt).
Sorry I've been a slacker posting as of late. It's not for any great reason other than I've been busy and lazy. It's an interesting combo, I assure you. I promise to blog more often from now on! :)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
SexyBack
Today Justin Timberlake's much anticipated album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, came out. I absolutely love it. Honestly, it's the best pop album I can remember buying. And I'm only five songs into the album. Amazing. He was definitely influenced by Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna, but there are other flavors in there that I can't quite put my finger on. I have a feeling some of these songs will definitely end up in my top 25 on my iPod. It's a little gritty and a little dirty in that "I-was-on-the-Mickey-Mouse-club-but-I-am-a-25-year-old-male" kinda way. I kinda like it. :)
In other news, I think I figured out why I've been having a hard time sleeping (well, besides the obvious stress). Last week it was the worst and I think it's because I cut back on some of my running. I've been running (or kickboxing) for the last three days and have slept like a baby. Exercise, the miracle sleep aid! :)
Other than that, nothing too new and exciting.
In other news, I think I figured out why I've been having a hard time sleeping (well, besides the obvious stress). Last week it was the worst and I think it's because I cut back on some of my running. I've been running (or kickboxing) for the last three days and have slept like a baby. Exercise, the miracle sleep aid! :)
Other than that, nothing too new and exciting.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Never Forget
So, quick weekend recap - basically went into a mini coma for most of the weekend. My major accomplishment was showering and getting dressed for a party on Saturday. Oh, and by the way, the "big thing" I had going on on Friday was POR, this scary, ugly thing at work where you present to all of these higher ups and pray they don't fire you. It went really well, but I was so stressed and tired from the last three weeks of 15 hour days that I crashed for most of the weekend.
Shout out to Greg, Matt and Ryan who threw an awesome housewarming party on Saturday night. They have a great bachelor pad setup going and I was introduced to the wonder that is beer pong. Apparently I missed out on this in college. I tried to claim it's because I went to Catholic college, but Greg went to Gonzaga and had done it, so my theory didn't float. For those of you, who like me, somehow missed this important lesson, beer pong is a game played with a bunch of red solo cups, a ping pong ball and four semi-drunk people. Now, I was sober sister, so I was only a spectator, but had I not been driving I could possibly have been convinced to play. You fill the cups halfway with beer and line them up like bowling pins on each side of the table. The teams stand opposite each other and try to toss the ball in the other team's cup. If they make it in, the other team drinks. Goal is to be the team that doesn't drink the most. Somehow, everyone wins. It gets more and more entertaining as the hand-eye coordination begins to slip...
Anywho, it was really fun hanging out with the gang from work outside of work. They're some cool cats!
On Sunday Brig and I hauled our lazy butts out of bed and went to the 11:50am showing of "Step Up" - in our sweatpants. Two reasons. One, it was comfy. Two, any guys that we would be interested in were probably not going to be seeing "Step Up" at noon on a Sunday. They're most likely still sleeping off the night before. It was a good movie. The acting was bad, the dancing was "eh", but Channing Tatum sure was nice to look at.
Today is my parents 30th wedding anniversary! How crazy is that? Congrats Mom and Dad! Love ya lots!
Finally, just a little pause to remember the horrific events of five years ago. I was driving to work listening to my local country station and they were talking about everything - it still really gets me all emotional. I'll never forget skipping class to sit at home watching TV with Daniella all day or waiting to hear if Troy was still deploying. They say this is the defining event of my generation - just like many people know where they were when JFK was shot, most of us can remember where we were when we heard about the September 11th attacks. It's a crazy world we live in. The only thing I can draw from it is while there are terrible people out there who do horrible things to innocent people, there are also amazingly brave and selfless people who will do anything to try to save a stranger. That's what we need to remember.
Shout out to Greg, Matt and Ryan who threw an awesome housewarming party on Saturday night. They have a great bachelor pad setup going and I was introduced to the wonder that is beer pong. Apparently I missed out on this in college. I tried to claim it's because I went to Catholic college, but Greg went to Gonzaga and had done it, so my theory didn't float. For those of you, who like me, somehow missed this important lesson, beer pong is a game played with a bunch of red solo cups, a ping pong ball and four semi-drunk people. Now, I was sober sister, so I was only a spectator, but had I not been driving I could possibly have been convinced to play. You fill the cups halfway with beer and line them up like bowling pins on each side of the table. The teams stand opposite each other and try to toss the ball in the other team's cup. If they make it in, the other team drinks. Goal is to be the team that doesn't drink the most. Somehow, everyone wins. It gets more and more entertaining as the hand-eye coordination begins to slip...
Anywho, it was really fun hanging out with the gang from work outside of work. They're some cool cats!
On Sunday Brig and I hauled our lazy butts out of bed and went to the 11:50am showing of "Step Up" - in our sweatpants. Two reasons. One, it was comfy. Two, any guys that we would be interested in were probably not going to be seeing "Step Up" at noon on a Sunday. They're most likely still sleeping off the night before. It was a good movie. The acting was bad, the dancing was "eh", but Channing Tatum sure was nice to look at.
Today is my parents 30th wedding anniversary! How crazy is that? Congrats Mom and Dad! Love ya lots!
Finally, just a little pause to remember the horrific events of five years ago. I was driving to work listening to my local country station and they were talking about everything - it still really gets me all emotional. I'll never forget skipping class to sit at home watching TV with Daniella all day or waiting to hear if Troy was still deploying. They say this is the defining event of my generation - just like many people know where they were when JFK was shot, most of us can remember where we were when we heard about the September 11th attacks. It's a crazy world we live in. The only thing I can draw from it is while there are terrible people out there who do horrible things to innocent people, there are also amazingly brave and selfless people who will do anything to try to save a stranger. That's what we need to remember.
Thursday, September 7, 2006
One...
... more day until the madness is over. Think happy thoughts for me tomorrow between 9:30 and 10:30am!!!
Monday, September 4, 2006
Labor Day Weekend!
What a fantastic weekend!
Friday night Matt came to town and we partied like rock stars. We tried a new club, The Park, that we actually like a lot better than some of the other places we've been to. It was a hilarious night which is pretty much summed up by the following picture:
I know Brig, you hate me for posting it again, but I can't stop laughing when I see it. Amber was getting ready to take a picture of us (believe it or not, this is in the car before we started drinking) and hit the button early. My camera does this crazy anti-red eye flash and it caught Brig and I by surprise. This picture was followed by one where our faces were red and our eyes were watery from laughing so hard we cried. It was awesome to see Matt again! I'm sad he's moving to Orlando, but so happy for him and Lauren. And now I'll have another place to visit! :)
Saturday was a mellow, clean the house kind of day. Definitely some much needed relaxation after my long crazy week at work! We rented "RV" which was actually a pretty funny movie!
Sunday was my favorite day of the weekend. It was Country in the Park day! Brigitte, Alyse, Tori and I went together and since the SCSO was performing I had a VIP parking pass. We got to pull right through this little coned off area and park where the other important people and vendors parked - lol. :) We went in and found a spot for our blankets (which later proved useless) and then I headed back stage to find the rest of the group. Honestly, it was so cool. We got all of the free food we wanted (gourmet food - tri tip sandwiches, sushi, beer, salads, and all kinds of other yummy stuff). Little did I know, but I actually ate lunch next to Josh Gracin's band. It was hard to tell who was who back there. They had the tour buses all circled up around a bunch of picnic tables and everyone was just kind of hanging out. No, I didn't meet anyone famous - they were all hanging out in their trailers. It was a really cool feeling just to hang out backstage at concert and be treated like royalty!
After we warmed up and all that good stuff we went out on stage. I can't even begin to describe what a cool feeling it is to stand on a real stage and look out at 10,000 people. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it! Let me tell you, I could definitely get used to that! Here's a picture of us on stage:
And here's a picture of me singing:
Special shout out to Brig, Tori and Alyse for being my "stage moms" and taking such amazing pictures! :)
After we were finished we hung out for a while and then I headed out to watch the concert. It was so great! We ditched the blankets and stood up front, and when I say up front, I mean first/second row. Most of our pictures look like the artists are singing directly to us! The first band, Heartland, was ok. They came in at the last minute because their van broke down on the way back from Tahoe and they ended up doing a short acoustic set. A little bit disappointing. Josh Gracin came out next and was absolutely amazing! His show was energetic and super exciting. Alyse even caught a drumstick he tossed off the stage! This is Josh singing just to us (hey, four single girls can dream, can't they?):
After him came Phil Vassar who was also an amazing performer. The thing I loved most about him was that even if you didn't know who he was you definitely know at least one or two of his songs. He is a great songwriter and a lot of his music is sung by other musicians. I was wowed by his skills on the piano and by how great he was live! Here's Phil on the piano (he seemed to enjoy it up there):
Finally, Sara Evans closed the show. She was absolutely amazing. I was never a really huge fan (not as in didn't like her music or voice, but I think she just flew under the radar), but she definitely won me over with this performance. First thing, she was beautiful. I can't believe she has three kids and still looks like that! Secondly, she has an amazing voice and is a great songwriter. And finally, I love that her sister and brother are both in her band. There's nothing like the good old family vocals! Here's Sara doing her thing:
She's going to be on "Dancing With The Stars" next week - I loved that show last year and can't wait to watch and see what she can do!
Of course, no concert is complete without the typical Anna/Brig picture. We're not sweating, we're "glowing":
Today I went shopping with my mom. We had a total blast! I bought a new purse.... drumroll please... I got a Coach purse! I NEVER, EVER spend that kind of money on myself and it was definitely hard to do, but I totally love it and am glad I got myself a little treat! Back to saving for the house! Here's a link to see my new purchase:
http://www.coach.com/content/product.aspx?product_no=8543&category_id=200
Mom got some REALLY cute clothes and we had a lot of fun! I haven't been to Arden in forever - and I haven't been shopping in forever!
Well, that's all folks. Email me if you'd like to see the rest of the pictures from the concert - between Alyse and I we have a total of 223 pictures!
Friday night Matt came to town and we partied like rock stars. We tried a new club, The Park, that we actually like a lot better than some of the other places we've been to. It was a hilarious night which is pretty much summed up by the following picture:
I know Brig, you hate me for posting it again, but I can't stop laughing when I see it. Amber was getting ready to take a picture of us (believe it or not, this is in the car before we started drinking) and hit the button early. My camera does this crazy anti-red eye flash and it caught Brig and I by surprise. This picture was followed by one where our faces were red and our eyes were watery from laughing so hard we cried. It was awesome to see Matt again! I'm sad he's moving to Orlando, but so happy for him and Lauren. And now I'll have another place to visit! :)
Saturday was a mellow, clean the house kind of day. Definitely some much needed relaxation after my long crazy week at work! We rented "RV" which was actually a pretty funny movie!
Sunday was my favorite day of the weekend. It was Country in the Park day! Brigitte, Alyse, Tori and I went together and since the SCSO was performing I had a VIP parking pass. We got to pull right through this little coned off area and park where the other important people and vendors parked - lol. :) We went in and found a spot for our blankets (which later proved useless) and then I headed back stage to find the rest of the group. Honestly, it was so cool. We got all of the free food we wanted (gourmet food - tri tip sandwiches, sushi, beer, salads, and all kinds of other yummy stuff). Little did I know, but I actually ate lunch next to Josh Gracin's band. It was hard to tell who was who back there. They had the tour buses all circled up around a bunch of picnic tables and everyone was just kind of hanging out. No, I didn't meet anyone famous - they were all hanging out in their trailers. It was a really cool feeling just to hang out backstage at concert and be treated like royalty!
After we warmed up and all that good stuff we went out on stage. I can't even begin to describe what a cool feeling it is to stand on a real stage and look out at 10,000 people. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it! Let me tell you, I could definitely get used to that! Here's a picture of us on stage:
And here's a picture of me singing:
Special shout out to Brig, Tori and Alyse for being my "stage moms" and taking such amazing pictures! :)
After we were finished we hung out for a while and then I headed out to watch the concert. It was so great! We ditched the blankets and stood up front, and when I say up front, I mean first/second row. Most of our pictures look like the artists are singing directly to us! The first band, Heartland, was ok. They came in at the last minute because their van broke down on the way back from Tahoe and they ended up doing a short acoustic set. A little bit disappointing. Josh Gracin came out next and was absolutely amazing! His show was energetic and super exciting. Alyse even caught a drumstick he tossed off the stage! This is Josh singing just to us (hey, four single girls can dream, can't they?):
After him came Phil Vassar who was also an amazing performer. The thing I loved most about him was that even if you didn't know who he was you definitely know at least one or two of his songs. He is a great songwriter and a lot of his music is sung by other musicians. I was wowed by his skills on the piano and by how great he was live! Here's Phil on the piano (he seemed to enjoy it up there):
Finally, Sara Evans closed the show. She was absolutely amazing. I was never a really huge fan (not as in didn't like her music or voice, but I think she just flew under the radar), but she definitely won me over with this performance. First thing, she was beautiful. I can't believe she has three kids and still looks like that! Secondly, she has an amazing voice and is a great songwriter. And finally, I love that her sister and brother are both in her band. There's nothing like the good old family vocals! Here's Sara doing her thing:
She's going to be on "Dancing With The Stars" next week - I loved that show last year and can't wait to watch and see what she can do!
Of course, no concert is complete without the typical Anna/Brig picture. We're not sweating, we're "glowing":
Today I went shopping with my mom. We had a total blast! I bought a new purse.... drumroll please... I got a Coach purse! I NEVER, EVER spend that kind of money on myself and it was definitely hard to do, but I totally love it and am glad I got myself a little treat! Back to saving for the house! Here's a link to see my new purchase:
http://www.coach.com/content/product.aspx?product_no=8543&category_id=200
Mom got some REALLY cute clothes and we had a lot of fun! I haven't been to Arden in forever - and I haven't been shopping in forever!
Well, that's all folks. Email me if you'd like to see the rest of the pictures from the concert - between Alyse and I we have a total of 223 pictures!
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