Goo Goo Dolls

Sunday night we able to go to the Goo Goo Dolls concert in Tupelo.  Rachel scored us AWESOME seats and Meet and Greet with the band.  I do not have pictures from the Meet and Greet yet, but I will share once I have them (we could not take pictures with our own cameras).  It was a great show, but we all felt bad at the poor turnout.  It was like being in high school again!  Our seats were so good it was like having our own private showing (due to the small crowd)!!  We were the old people and left before it was over; hey, it was a Sunday night and already 10.  I did wish we got to hear Iris, but oh well. 

I was able to snag a video of Name.  I was afraid my camera was going to die on me before it was over, but I got it all.  I forgot how much I like this song. 

Artists Den

FINALLY!  This show was one of my favorite shows of all time. We had a blast jamming out to the Black Crowes and friends!  I have yet to find what channel on DirectTV (in Tupelo) this comes on.  If anyone out there knows please let me know!!  Oh, you might even catch me and Brian on TV from this show. We were the second row in front of Rich.  If you get PBS you must watch it!

She & Him

What a lovely weekend we have had!

Yesterday we got a mid morning start to the day by heading to Chick-fil-a for breakfast.  After breakfast I wanted to run by Hallmark to pick up some ornaments for this year.  Yes, I know it’s July, but this is when Hallmark has their ornament open house.  I picked up the ones I get Emma and Lauren, then two for myself. Brian didn’t see one he wanted this year yet (more will be out in October). We then hit the road to Birmingham. 

Once we go to 5-points we checked into the hotel and wonderful up the street for drinks.  We spent the afternoon at The Mill.  I found a new summer beer I LOVE.  Hard Cider by Original Sin Brewery.  LOVE THIS.  It’s tastes just like champagne.  Which could be a bad thing. :)  Highly recommend this for everyone this summer.  Not sure if you can find it in MS, but maybe you can. While we were there the band (not Zooey or Matt) for She & Him came in for lunch and drinks.  Granted at the time we did not know until we saw them later on stage; but hey, still cool.

The show ROCKED!  By far one of the best shows I have seen in awhile.  The opening act was the Chapin Sisters. They were great!  It was just 2 sisters singing and strumming.  The last 2 songs the band from She & Him joined them; last song Zooey came out to sing back up for them.  Zooey is teeny tiny. She is no more my height and Lisa frame.  Brian and I both were surprised at how small she was.  Gorgeous as ever too.  She & Him were incredible.  Brian was really surprised at how rocking it was.  He was expecting it to be a laid back, mellow show and was being a sweet husband and going with me (plus what guy can say no to getting to look at Zooey all night), but he was pleasantly surprised.  M. Ward is a small guy as well.  I didn’t realize how cute he was either.  He was amazing on guitar.  Zooey really took charge of the stage and commanded.   When we saw them on Letterman back in the spring, she looked so scared to be performing but live was completely different. Only negative thing about the show was you weren’t suppose to have cameras.  I could have snuck mine in if I had put it in my pocket, but didn’t want to take a chance. I did grab a few pictures with my phone, but they aren’t the best.

Sloss Furnace. The building to the left in the picture is where the stage was.  This is right outside.

Inside.  You can see how big this place is and how cool.  From what we were told it’s haunted.  Next time we will know not to “dress up” but wear shorts and flip flops. 

The Chapin Sisters

The Chapin Sisters with She & Him band.

She & Him.  Wish it was better picture but you can see M. Ward & Zooey.

She & Him.

She & Him.

Zooey playing the mandolin

Wreath & music

Although summer is half over I finally found a summer wreath for the front door.  I can’t wait to get it in!  It’s made fresh before shipping.  I wonder if there is a spray you can put on fresh/dried flowers/herbs to help prolong their life.  Anyone know? Tonight is the first Down on Main concert for the summer series.  John Paul Keith & the 145's and Hill Country Revue will be playing tonight.  Brian and I are volunteering for the first couple of hours then we get to enjoy the rest of the night! 

Saturday we are heading to Birmingham to see She & Him at Sloss Furnace.  Looks like it is a cool venue.  I’m looking forward to a fun night downtown Birmingham.  We are staying at one of my favorite never fail hotels, the Doubletree.  Casey, where are some fun places to eat downtown? 

Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows

What a wonderful weekend we had! 

Friday night we celebrated Ruff’s birthday a month early with a surprise party for him.  Angelia did an AMAZING job with the party, food, decorations, etc for being 8 months pregnant!  Ruff was pleasantly surprised to see everyone there to help celebrate the big 3-0 birthday. 

Saturday, we got up and ran a few errands.  It was nice getting things done early and still have the day ahead of us.  We picked up a few veggies and fresh bread at the farmers’ market for dinner that night.   We had brunch at the Stables with Tommy and Rachel since Miss Sadie was spending the weekend with the grandparents.  The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and preparing for supper.  Brian cooked a drunk chicken while I cooked a veggie stir fry.  Drunk chicken is one of my favorites due to how moist the chicken is even after an hour and half on the grill. 

Sunday afternoon, after Brian was finished with work, we headed to the movies to see Grown Ups.   Great movie!  We laughed through the whole movie.  It reminded Brian a lot of his buddies, we even decided who Randy will be (sort of already is) in the future.  Allie, you and Chad must go see this. 

We were sent the new album of John Prine music; Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows:  Songs of John Prine.  I LOVE John Prine.  This album is great.  It is a tribute album performed by various artists.  I really like this album. 

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend!  We are looking forward to a long weekend (well for me).

She & Him

I know you all are looking for new music.   I picked up the album from She & Him, Volume Two.  She = Zooey Deschanel; Him = M. Ward.  I love Zooey as an actress (plus she is married to Ben Gibbard who I love) so I was curious to see what her singing voice was like.  M.Ward as many know is part of Monster of Folk (another great mix of talented artists).  I love how the press describes She & Him as “make music for an eternal springtime, when the temperature is warm enough to go riding with the top (or at least the windows) rolled down and the radio turned up.  They occupy an alternate universe where the saddest of songs feel as warm as sun showers; the rain may be coming down, but somewhere nearby, everything looks bright.”  This is exactly what I do on spring days.  I open up the sunroof, roll down the windows, put in that cd that makes me forget about everything else and enjoy the day, and crank up the volume.  She & Him does this for me as well.   Zooey’s voice is soft but powerful. On top of having the vocals, she wrote all but 2 of the songs on the album. (If her and Ben ever have kids not only will they be stinking adorable, they will have more talent then anyone will know what to do with).   Now I just need to go and get Volume One.