Magical Night of Music

Last night Eileen and I had tickets to see Marc Broussard (w/Charlie Mars opening) at the Birchmere. For those of you not in Virginia, the Birchmere is a great little music venue with table seating. You line up for a number when you pick up your tickets at will call and then they let people in based on the number. We were 11th in line and ended up with seats in the very front, about a foot from the stage. And, it turns out, directly in front of Marc. :)

We started a conversation with the others at our table and learned that one of the ladies (Becca) was a member of Marc's fan club and had meet & greet passes for the show. She was a die hard fan and we found out we had both seen Marc in Pittsburgh a few years ago at Mr. Smalls. She left to go pick up her meet & greet wristbands and when she came back, she had 2 extra with her. She graciously offered them to us and we were thrilled! After a quick trip to the Birchmere gift shop to buy a CD for him to sign (since I didn't have one with me of course), we got in line for the meet & greet. While we waited backstage (only about 20 of us!), we heard Marc and his band doing a little rehearsing. Then he walked out, said hello and started chatting with everyone. We took photos, he signed stuff and thanked us for coming. It was over quickly, but he was amazing.

I knew he was fantastic live, but this show was the best I've seen. His guitar player (Joe Stark) is young and talented and amazing and I love him. The band (Marc, Joe and Chad the drummer) seem to be good friends and have a great connection with each other. It was the first show of their fall tour and I imagine they'll only get better as the tour goes on. If Marc Broussard is coming to your town...GO SEE HIS SHOW.

The opener was Charlie Mars...a great singer/songwriter from Mississippi. He's beautiful to look at and listen to. And he has a southern drawl that melts me. :)


A great night of music was enjoyed by all who were there...and it was finished off with a kickass version of Steamroller Blues...one of my favorites. Thanks to Becca for letting us join her backstage and thanks to Marc, Joe, Chad & Charlie for sharing your incredible talents!

Lesson of the Day

This is correct.

So is this.









And this will work too.










This, however, is NOT correct.










This is also incorrect. Rhinestones? Really?










And this is TOTALLY and COMPLETELY horrible.










To quote from one of my favorite blogs...
"I don’t care if your boyfriend/husband/whatever bought it for you. Shame on you if you bought it for yourself. We are the Pittsburgh Steelers, not some sissy team from Cleveland. You DO NOT look cute when you wear something like this, you look like an idiot who doesn’t know a damn thing about football! If your boyfriend/husband/whatever wants to buy you a team jersey, make sure he knows the official colors. The same applies to Pitt football, whose colors are Blue and Gold."


Listen to me people, the Steelers' colors are black and gold. NOT PINK. If you want to follow this team, you must wear their colors. If you want to wear pink, then pick another team to support. Yes, I know that the official Steelers store sells these monstrosities. Just because you can buy it, doesn't mean you should wear it. I mean, stores sell spandex in size XXL...does that make it okay for someone who's XXL to wear spandex? NO.

There is one exception to the pink rule...you may wear the pink Steelers baseball cap because proceeds from those sales go to breast cancer research. That is all.

I'm proud to wear the black and gold. LET'S GO STEELERS!!!

Blowin In The Wind

Such a loss. RIP Mary...your beautiful voice will be missed for sure.

Lists

It's been ages since I've updated the blog and I'm pretty sure no one reads it anymore, but I'm in the mood to make a few lists. And who knows, maybe if I start updating this more often, I'll get my handful of readers back!

Driving Way Too Much
1. The threat of rain and being on I-70 seem to be two things that make people forget how to drive
2. Yelling at stupid drivers makes me feel better, even though they don't know I'm yelling at them
3. Just because you flip on your turn signal, does not make it okay to cut me off at 70 MPH
4. EZ Pass is the greatest creation...EVER
5. The best Sheetz is in Breezewood...people should go there just to check out that Sheetz
6. Diet Coke, Junior Mints and Broadway cast albums are must haves when dealing with traffic

Current Obsessions
1. Any and all things associated with the current Broadway revival of Hair
2. Cooking shows (even though I don't cook)
3. Neil Gaiman
4. Finding the perfect shelves to organize the kitchen
5. Pushing Daisies: Season 2

Music I'm Listening To
1. Hair (New Cast Recording) (see above)
2. Ray LeMontagne
3. Marc Broussard (to prepare for his concert in October)
4. Otis Redding
5. Annie Lennox
6. U2 (to prepare for their concert in September)

Praying for Teague

My cousin Sara found out last week that her sweet little boy Teague has a brain tumor and he was admitted to the hospital on Saturday to have it removed. The surgery was successful, all of the tumor was removed (initially, they weren't sure they could remove it all). Now the waiting game has begun to find out what type of cancer they're dealing with. They found out today that he's healing well and the brain doesn't seem to be at all damaged. The tumor was attached to the brain stem right in the area that controls swallowing, but he's been eating ice chips and having no trouble). Please remember little Teague in your prayers (and if you're going to the temple, adding him to the prayer roll would be a great help!). No one should have to go through brain surgery, but especially not a 2-year-old who just wants to be haulin' dirt in his trucks!

Here's the blog that Sara set up - http://sweetteague.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

Reason #761 why I love Stephen Colbert.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Stephen's Angry Mob Will Crush AIG

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Mark Sanford
NASA Name Contest

My newest obsession.

http://www.earthcam.com/usa/pennsylvania/pittsburgh/falcon/

SIXBURGH!

I can't believe I haven't taked the time to blog about the BEST Superbowl EVER! The Steelers are now the ONLY team with SIX Superbowl rings. We have a lot of room on the "Steelers Nation" bandwagon if you'd like to jump on!

Here are some images from my mini-Superbowl party. I decided not to have a big party because I wanted to actually watch the game and not have to deal with people talking. Plus, I tend to get a little bit, well, insane when I watch a Steeler game...especially when it's a BIG game like this.

I have to admit, I was worried for a second, but they pulled through at the last minute (like almost every other game this season) for the win! GO STEELERS!

THE FOOD...which included Pittsburgh favorites such as Sarris candy and pierogies.
Ready for the 3D commercials!
Jen's 1st Superbowl party. Oh yeah, and I've turned my not-caring-about-sports friends into crazy Steeler fans. Yes, my job is done.

Staci's photo of me during the game. I'm on facebook, talking to my family and friends in PA. I really missed being in Pittsburgh for the excitement during playoffs. I was a bit nervous here and trying not to yell at the TV. We had to cover Liz's chair with a blanket because it's red and there was NO red allowed (Cardinals colors)!

Back to Blogging

Yes, it's been a long time since I've blogged. Things have been busy. First it was the holidays (which were fun...it was nice to be home for over a week and see friends & family). Then it was work. Then it was work again. And it's still work. I can't believe it's almost the end of February already! Yes, work is busy, but I'm really not complaining. I have a job. That's a huge blessing. I found out today that Ford had yet another round of layoffs this week. I'm so grateful I made that hard decision to leave 2 years ago. I've had great opportunities with Marriott and I hope that continues.

If you're interested in checking out what's been consuming my life for the past 3 weeks, go to www.marriottalohatour.com. We have our event at headquarters on Tuesday and then it's onto the next project. Though I think there will be a week or two of breathing room first!

I did manage to find time last weekend to go into D.C. to the National Archives to see the display of the Emancipation Proclamation. They had it on display for Lincoln's birthday. I'm sorry to say I'd never been to the National Archives, so we stuck around to see some other amazing documents...the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights. They we headed over to the National Gallery of Art (one of my favorite places to go) to see the Dutch Cityscapes exhibit (which was AMAZING). We finished off the afternoon with some gelato. YUM.

Here are some photos from the afternoon...

The actual last page with Honest Abe's signature.

Entire Emancipation Proclamation
Declaration of Independence

"We the People..."

Bill of Rights