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At the beginning of summer Rob received an email alert that Dave Matthews Band was playing in Chicago at Wrigley Field in September. He asked me if I would like to go, but let’s be real here, my opinion didn’t matter because inside his brain we were already there on the field listening to Jimi Thing.
So of course he bought the tickets, summer flew by, and then last weekend rolls around and there we were; standing in the middle of Wrigley Field jamming to Dave and 50,000 other fans.
It was my third Dave concert, Rob’s sixth. We got to talking to some people on the L on the way there and one girl said she had already been to 42 Dave concerts, which makes me think that she probably wears Dave Matthews Band underwear and doesn’t hold a steady job.
I was pretty stoked not only to see Dave, but also because Jason Mraz was opening, so we arrived at Wrigley plenty early so that we could find a decently up-close spot on the field. And we did! Here’s where we were:
But what I slowly realized as the time drew closer for the concert to start was that there were zillions of other people trying to also squeeze up close to the stage. When Jason Mraz started to play we were squished, but still had enough breathing and dancing room to thoroughly enjoy Jason’s awesome voice and great music. I have always liked Jason’s music, but seeing him in concert gave me a whole new appreciation for his talent.
Also: Jason is hot.
Then he was done, the stage crew began setting up for Dave, and all of a sudden it happened: a giant vacuum sealer dropped down out of the sky and sucked out all of the extra air around us, compressing 20,000 people so close together than I practically dry humped three people in front of me. Everyone wanted to move up closer and get a better view of the stage, so everyone was pushing and shoving and trying to finaggle his way up to the front because “my girlfriend is up there hooking up with some other guy!” (says the stoned seventeen year-old Slim Shady look alike), to which Rob replied, riiiiiiight, why don’t you go to the back then and find your own hookup?
Not only was I dealing with mild claustrophobia and unintentionally feeling up my neighbors, I had another completely new experience. Guys, I’ve never smoked anything but four cigarettes in my entire life, but I’ll admit that that night I was totally a second hand pot smoker. It was unavoidable. The close quarters left me no choice, which reminds of a great one-liner from that night, spoken by a short, squatty, Southern dude with a drawl as thick as molasses: I would eat a baby for a joint right now.
Then at one point there was someone in front of us who was about to pass out, so she decided to sit down and chill for a minute. This person was, as we quickly found out, the “boy” half of a lesbian couple. While she was sitting on the ground, someone was trying to push through the crowd and almost stepped on her and shrieked, “dude, what’s that guy doing down there on the ground?” The “girl” half of the lesbian couple looked up at the guy with a look that could kill him dead and replied, “that’s my GIRLFRIEND, she’s a GIRL, we’re LESBIANS, you JACKASS!” Funniest moment of the concert, right there.
Over halfway through the concert (which, obviously, was awesome) Rob asked if I’d like to make our way back and out of the crowd to maybe grab a hot dog and some fresh air. I immediately agreed, and then came the hard part – shouldering our way through a mass of people thicker than the patch of hives I was about to sprout. It was a difficult feat, trying to shove through pissed-off people sick of being pushed around, but lucky for us, Rob’s physical charm helped us out. I remember at one point during our ten minute trek to the back of the field a girl locked eyes with Rob and proclaimed, “you are VERY good looking, you go right ahead” and stepped out of his way to let him pass.
Well.
We spent the rest of the concert at the back of the field where we had much more room to move and breathe and enjoy some good old Personal Space. And to stay far away from the girl so blitzed she threw up in a paper bag.
Ah. So many memories.
Oh, and the craziest part? We found out today that someone planted a bomb that night in a garbage can outside of Wrigley Field. Thank goodness that, unbeknownst to him, he actually bought what was a fake bomb from an undercover FBI agent. That would have made for a slightly different blog entry…
Last week I had some girls over for our first book club meeting, a random hair-brained idea of mine, finally brought to fruition after rolling around in my brain for most of the summer. I figured it would be something fun, something to look forward to each month; a chance to get out of the house, see friends, and generally be my main source of social interaction.
After putting the idea out on Facebook, there were ultimately ten girls interested in participating in a book club, way more than I ever suspected. Because let’s be honest, a book club? Those two words together, book and club, it’s like they’re reserved for geriatric Patsy’s only, and you can almost smell the moth balls and putrid perfume permeate up from those eight letters. Why is that ‘book club’ has that kind of connotation written all over it?
Because book club is AWEESSOOMMME!!!
Though we were sad that not everyone could make it to the first get-together, those of us that were in attendance had an absolute ball. We ate fish tacos, drank lots of red wine, got acquainted with one another, told embarrassing stories, and then finally at the end picked which book we intended to read first. (The Help, by the way. So good!)
From texts and Facebook messages here and there I can already tell that we’re all really enjoying reading the book and have totally used the excuse “but I HAVE to lay here on the couch and read instead of doing the laundry – it’s for book club!” a time or two. Or, wait, is that just me?
I’ve already discovered that this book club is about so much more than reading, and is absolutely more about the people than the books. Who knows how much we’ll actually discuss what we read or not; what I do know for certain, though, is that every month we’ll all talk about what’s going on in our lives, how we’re doing, what really sucks at the moment, what’s really spectacular at the moment, how our husbands really pissed us off, how our husbands really made our day. And you know what else we’ll do? EAT. And DRINK.
So all of that to say, I’m really looking forward to the first Tuesday of every month, and even though it would be possible for me to feel like an old granny dork, I don’t. So there.
(And really, Rob’s just jealous.)
Although Avalon’s real birthday was Thursday, we decided to have her birthday party on Saturday. It sort of made her actual birthday a little anti-climactic, since the party was still to come, but it gave us all something to look forward to and was definitely worth the wait.
Since I’m not really the theme-y, character-y type, I decided to simply have a loose polka dot theme running through all of her birthday details. I’m a sucker for polka dots myself, obv, and polka dot stuff is easy to find and readily available, making it an easy idea to work with.
I turned our kitchen table into the dessert table. I hung the banner I made above it; it’s hard to read, but it does say ‘happy birthday.’
The cake took center stage, and I thought it turned out super cute. I had one of the best bakers in town make it since I can’t bake to save my life. The ‘polka dots’ are simply multi-colored sugar cookies, and I love the way how bold the colors are.
Not originally in my plan, I decided somewhat last minute to use the apothecary jars I bought last fall to hold candy that could be put into little bags as party favors. The kids seemed to like it, plus it just looked so cute! If I didn’t fall victim to such sugary goodness, I’d keep those jars filled like that all the time…but no doubt, my sweet tooth would get the best of me and they’d be empty in about two days anyway.
The other party favors were these cookies, the same cookies (only bigger) that were placed around the perimeter of the cake. I put them in cello bags and wrapped them up with cute polka dot ribbons.
Avalon’s birthday invitation. From Orange Tree, obviously.
And here’s the birthday girl in her party dress!
I was so glad that we were able to get the swingset up before the party, because the kids all loved it and spent a lot of time playing on it. Not sure what they would have done without it, really. Probably played in the dirt and ate bugs or something. Again – so glad for the swingset.
She was clearly LOVING all of us singing Happy Birthday to her.
Then came the cake…I’ll go ahead and let the photos can do the talking, from the ‘what the heck do I do with this?’ to ‘ZOMG, this is AWESOME!’ to ‘I just discovered the buttercream facial’:
Then, of course, birthday presents! She received a ton of great loot, so much that it looks as though the toy store just blew up inside my living room:
I had so much fun planning her party, and it turned out exactly as I had hoped. I know that she won’t remember it, but at least she can see the photos for proof of all the good times and all of the friends and family who celebrated her first year of life with her. Thanks to everyone who helped make Avalon’s day so special!
First, I think all the world should know – in case there is anyone left who hasn’t heard – that this is Courtney’s wedding week! We’re all counting down the days and hours until she walks down the aisle and are taking the remaining time to help Courtney with whatever last minute preparation there is left to do, as she’s been such a busy bee lately, running a thousand miles a minute like a pretty little chicken with its head cut off.
Brides out there: we all understand that so well, don’t we?
Anyway, I wanted to point that out before I started in on my birthday party she threw for me a couple of weeks ago because of that exact irony. Courtney – a bride-to-be, with a job, business of her own, wedding to plan, and a summer social agenda that most likely rivals that of Kourtney Kardashian’s – threw me a surprise birthday party. Something that she obviously didn’t have to do, but wanted to do for me. If you know Courtney this doesn’t surprise you at all because you know she is the most generous, giving, thoughtful girl you’ve ever met. She gave me such a fun little party that I fear that I will never be able to repay her for awesomeness. Sniff.
She planned the party to be on my exact birthday, a Sunday, and I was truly clueless about the whole thing. I was under the impression that Rob was taking me out for a birthday dinner and that was all. So when we got to my parents’ house to drop Avalon off, I had no idea that all my best friends and family were there waiting for me.
My dad told me when I got there that I needed to go outside. It seemed a little fishy and weird, so I walked out there slightly skeptical about what was going on.
OMG! OMG! SO MANY PEOPLE! HIIIIII!
Wait, whaaa? You were in on this, too? Is this really happening? DO I LOOK OKAY? I’M SO UNPREPARED FOR THIS!
I feel so loved! Wahhhh! Am I dressed okay? Lord knows, I don’t do spontaneity very well.
Mmmm. Foooood.
Oh look! A blog theme! A banner! Photos! Blog entries! How adorable!
Aww, I love ya. You got me, you sucker. For probably the first time in life, I really (REALLY, I WAS) was surprised.
After the initial shock was over, Courtney sat me down and gave a really sweet toast that made me blush and cry into my beer bottle, some of the nicest words I had heard in a really long time.
Then there was the food! All of my favorites – jalapeno poppers, asiago cheese dip, steak bites, cheese, more cheese, and then some cheese. Courtney claims that she doesn’t know how to cook, but I was very impressed because she had quite the spread laid out.
And, duh, cupcakes for dessert. I may have had one or five of these.
Finally, as part of my birthday gift, Courtney gave me…my own domain! (www.CheapTherapyBlog.com)
It’s not currently up and running yet, but I hope to be there soon. So fun!
Courtney, thank you. You worked your butt off and gave me such a fun, memorable birthday. To everyone else who also had a hand in it, thank you too. It meant the world to me.
I’ve been delaying writing this post for two reasons: 1) I’m still waiting for some photos to come my way and 2) I’m having a hard time finding the words to fully express my gratitude for last weekend’s events.
Long story short (long story long to come!), I turned 26 on Sunday and my sister Courtney and my hubby Rob threw me a surprise party. And it was blog-themed! They invited all my close friends, made delicious food, delivered a beautiful toast complete with special notes and well wishes from a few of my favorite blog friends, and made me feel so overwhelmingly blessed.
Also, I received Crocs after totally knocking them in this post. Somebody slug me quick, because I kind of like them:
26 is off to a great start, at least from the ankles up.
One of my blog friends, Molly @ These Little Moments, just gave birth to a sweet baby boy not long ago! And bless her soul, before she went into labor she was organized enough to think ahead and ask some other bloggers to prepare guest posts that she could put up on her blog after little Owen came along, knowing that she’d be too busy nuzzling and cuddling and munching on little baby toes to write on her blog during the first few weeks post-partum.
I was honored that Molly asked me to write something, and being that I had never written anything as a guest blogger before I may have squealed and then knocked my water glass over out of such giddy excitement. Then I wrote a post containing the word ‘vagina’ and laid awake all night after sending it over to Molly wondering if I crossed any blogger etiquette boundaries.
But then Molly had a baby. And she understood me.
Anyway, head on over to her blog today and say hello to Molly and Owen!
In my bird post last week I mentioned that my sister and My Bff Mo had given me a baby shower. Although it was almost a month ago, I wanted to wait to blog about it until I had pictures. And now I do! Because my other friend, Shannon, used her mad skillz and took some awesome photos throughout the day. (She’s really good.) I’m so grateful that she was there and offered to take pictures because I have this problem where I never remember to bring my camera ANYWHERE. This has got to stop after Avalon gets here. I think I’m going to need to super glue my camera to my hand.
They had lots of good food. And made a cute little bird nest-thing around the chip bowl.
The gifts. Isn’t that Moses Basket cool?
This is, of course, where the birds came from that are now framed in Avalon’s room. Such a cute idea at the shower.
Action shot! Although some couldn’t make it, I loved having my close friends with me that day.
Getting ready to open gifts. I must have been excited. Sorry Avalon, your mama is a dork. But I’m sure you’ll figure that out yourself in about thirteen years.
Cute shtuff. I got lots of cute shtuff.
My proud and excited mom, soon to be Mamie. She has already spoiled Avalon a lot. This could be dangerous.
The breast pump that my mom bought for me. Do you ever think my mom thought about the day when she would buy her daughter a breast pump? I’m guessing no, just like I’m choosing to not think about me ever buying Avalon a breast pump. LA LA LA, SHE’S NEVER GOING TO GROW UP, LA LA LA.
Thanks for a great baby shower, guys!
This year for Mo’s birthday she asked me and Rob to join her and some friends at Tabor Hill winery for a wine tour, wine tasting, and dinner. We started the evening with the wine tour, where we heard all about the history of the winery and went on a guided tour through the wine distillery. (Is that even what it’s called? Wine factory? Wine makery? WINERY, MAYBE?)
The tour was very interesting and informative, but the bad news is that because I am two years out of college and have a textbook case of Mushy Baby Brain, there is only one cool fact that I remember from all of the random wine knowledge that I was bombarded with and I forget what it is.
Just kidding. I remember. It’s that there have been three past Presidents who have requested Tabor Hill wine to be served in the White House – Reagan, Carter, and Clinton. Considering this place is just a little podunk winery in the middle of Michigan, I’d say that’s some pretty cool fame and glory.
And now I give myself permission to wipe this from my memory and give my cerebellum some breathing room, as I’ve recently noticed how limited its capacity is.
After the tour we did some wine tasting, and by “we” I mean “everyone but me because, oh yeah, there’s that baby thing going on inside me.” Luckily, however, Tabor Hill has a tasty selection of non-alcoholic sparkling wines, including peach and raspberry flavors, so I was able to play along and pretend that I was as sophisticated as all of them, sipping and swishing their glasses around distinguishing the hidden spices and flavors in each wine. Frankly I didn’t really mind, as I thought my sparking stuff tasted better than the actual wine anyway, but it’s possible I was just playing tricks on myself, which does tend to happen from time to time.
Here’s our whole group. We had so much fun, and laughed a lot. Ate a lot too. And we may or may not have but definitely did drink a lot. (Minus me, duh.)
(Me, Rob, Laurie, Lane, Mo, Andy)
(Me and my cutie. He was loving All The Wine.)
Finally we then sat down to an awesome dinner, followed by some killer desserts. Mo requested carrot cake, and they decorated her plate all cute and birthday-stylish:
Happy Birthday, Mo! Thanks for letting us spend it with you!
Last night, Colton Samuel was born at 9:13 pm, weighing in at a hearty 10 lbs, 5 oz!
His mama was a ROCKSTAR last night! After almost four hours of pushing, the Doctor told her that she could push one more time and that they were then going to get her ready for a c-section.
Even though my rising blood pressure and I were in the waiting room at that time, I can picture it perfectly: Mo in the birthing suite, exhausted, frustrated, and in major pain, being all SCREW IT! I’M DONE! HE’S COMING OUT! ARRGHGHGHGGH!!!! AAAAGHGHGHHGH!!!
And out he came. On her last-chance push.
He’s healthy and beautiful and perfect.
I’m so proud of them. Congratulations, Mo and Andy! Welcome to parenthood 
When I started my blog last February, I became flat-out ADDICTED to blogging. Blogging became my drug of choice, or at least took the Silver medal (do I have Olympics on the brain?), because we all know that Coke Zero reigns number one on my “Instead of crack, I chose_____” list.
I enjoyed blogging so much that I was positive that everyone I knew should do it, too. And no one did until now.
Finally (FINALLY!) My BFF Mo has joined me in Procrastination At Its Best. What I mean is, she started a blog! And what perfect timing, as Colt is due to pop out within days. Because who wants to scrapbook about a child’s life when you can blog?
Anyway, go over there and visit her.
Just don’t be alarmed by those gigantic feet.
