That time it was all about me....

And here lies my completely shallow & selfish post, because when it's your birthday, you're completely allowed to do that, right???


It's finally September which means….my birthday month is over! And a great birthday month it was. Do my friends/family know me or what?! Throughout the month I kept receiving box after box. Eventually I opened up all these gems.

What kind of treasure trove is this? A mix of Disney, Once Upon  a Time & The Walking Dead? It’s hard to get better than this.

And not only did I get a mix of all my shows and Disney, I got my coffee mugs! While I don’t drink coffee at home, most of you know I AM obsessed with tea. (And yes, I drink wine out of them too!) So my twin cousin sent me these gems for the new Inside Out movie! (If you haven’t seen it, you HAVE to,  it’s not only a great Disney movie, it’s an AMAZING message about emotions - and probably something kids really need to learn.)

(They are adorable, and yes, they are all my faves but we pretty much determined after the movie I’m a mix of Joy & Disgust ;) 

After all this,  I rearranged my cabinets, and….I’m pretty sure I’ve got my tv show, and Disney covered with my coffee mug collection?

I spent my actual birthday having lunch with my mom and niece, and hitting Jurassic World in theaters again. Yes, it was the third time, but...it was in the IMAX? Who would skip that chance??

Saturday I went to celebrate at Dolphie’s with the sis, our friend Kim & my best friend.  The Denny’s next to the bar is long gone, but this was the first time we’d gone in a few months….so sadly the Denny’s before and after our night tradition has ended. We grabbed dinner at O’Charley’s beforehand, and ended up going to bed after karaoke was over. Bummer. But still a great, great night.

My sister totally wins on the cake front. HOW ADORABLE is my Snow White dress cupcake cake? Seriously? This is adorable. Because yes, I'm the 32 year old with a 12 year old heart. This is what happens when you're an artist that loves the creative stuff.

 

My sister found it online, so she was so proud she got the bakery to do it exactly like she saw it!

Slight picspam, because there really aren’t a ton of pics to post for once:

And with that....it's off to get my nerdy brain back in photoshop!

But I'm alive & well in Tennessee.....

First and foremost - who heads to the Sweet Sixteen for the 4th time in 5 seasons!?

My CATS, that's who! Go Big Blue!! WHAT a nail biter - it truly could have gone either way in that last minute & I was sure biting my nails. But my Cats pulled it off!!

In other news, the bestie & I spent the weekend with George Strait. King freaking George. No big deal. It was so hard to contain our happiness about seeing him, we've literally been counting down the days since November. 

King George bound!

It was aaaamaaaazing. 2 1/2 hours & 34 songs - which didn't even begin to cover all his massive hits! You could close your eyes and it was as if you had the record going on the turntable - his voice was so amazing. I went in with hopes of hearing my 3 favorite songs, but knew if I heard "Marina Del Ray" live, I would die happy. 

However, George must've heard me...because I got all three of my songs!

this is the result of a quick run to different seats with an iPhone!

We got so so teary eyed to 'Troubador' & 'The Cowboy Rides Away'. I hate this is his last tour, but can't blame him! I'm so happy he'll still be recording. 

Another thing that I loved was the crowd reactions. The true sing along to EVERY SINGLE SONG, no matter if they were singles or not. The massive freak out to "Unwound" - folks, it's hard to get countrier than that song! It's no secret Country Music was my first true love, so it's the little things like this that warm my heart. The want for genuine country music - and not the silly pop crap from today - is still there!

I loved this....waiting for his encore, everyone pulled out their cell phones and used the flashlight app to glow & get him to come back. It looked so awesome. (Glad my phone had SOME use - thanks Bridgestone Arena for not having WIFI and having the worst signals ever. Not being able to use our phones for pretty much anything the entire night was terrible, hahaha) 

"Oh the last goodbye's the hardest one to say....this is where the Cowboy Rides Away...
 Thanks for the memories, King George! 

Saturday was spent in Kentucky, celebrating the sis' birthday! Dolphie's was pretty packed, and we didn't get to sing as much as we normally do. But, we still had a blast and most importantly, Samantha had a great birthday! 

We totally told Metcalf to get his Strait on, we had a full set list of songs we wanted him to sing for us. Apparently, he took us literally - and showed up in his best button up plaid shirt.

The birthday girl brought red solo cup shot glasses (is this one of those "you know you're a southern girl if....you own both red solo cup shot glasses and mason jar shot glasses" things?) and wanted us all to do a shot for her birthday. To make it cuter....we popped out the sharpie and wrote our names on it. Well, kind of our names. Rita & I decided to continue channeling our inner country stars, sooooo everyone took lead from our other names.

with the birthday girl & the bestie! 

After that whirlwind weekend, I need sleep. Happy Monday y'all!

How to spend a Thursday night...

Oh what a crazy, crazy week it has been! Work, sessions, editing - it's been a whirlwind -- and about to get busier.

We did celebrate my sisters birthday on Wednesday at her house - and we celebrate 30+ year olds birthdays by playing Disney games together with the kids, eating dinner & watching "Frozen", hahaha. It was a great night though, and my sister had a great birthday.

Our cousin Mike and his fiance are in town this week for some classes she is taking for work, so last night we spent the night hitting a few places along the streets of downtown Nashville. Which is coincidentally what we did with him the last time he was here 6-7 years ago!

The worst part about the majority of our family being in FL & OH is we don't really see them as often as we want. But when we ARE together, it's like no time has passed and we're instantly the kids we were growing up.  It was fun to catch up & talk (okay, so it was a little more like shouting, hello bars with live music. Welcome to Nashville!) about so many memories... "Remember when we were at Universal Studios and...." "Remember that Christmas Eve that...."

We started out at Margaritaville, where we grabbed dinner!

And then we moved onto Tootsies, which is probably the worst to go and actually think you're going to be able to move or talk because of the insane crowds (but it's where I wanted to take Danielle, since she hadn't been there before! Just playing the good Nashvillian!), but SOMEHOW we lucked out upstairs and got four seats. This never happens when we're there! 

Then we headed over to Silver Dollar, which usually has a pretty good band playing. We saw three bands play &  two were really fabulous, and the last was just flat out entertaining.  However, Silver Dollar has better lighting, which prompted a "THIS IS GREAT LIGHTING, LET'S TAKE A TON OF PICS!" 

Mike was so outnumbered by girls!

The logistics that went into taking a group shot were pretty hilarious. 

We capped the night off at the Full Moon Saloon because the band there usually doesn't play crap - IE; they won't play any of the BS you hear on the radio today. I always get such a delight when someone requests Luke Bryan or Jason Aldean & the band says no, they only play real country music. I love my town. We got them to play us some Alabama, Strait, Waylon & Alan Jackson, did some obnoxious singing along & got Mike to do some crazy dancing for us before realizing it was close to 1am....Danielle had to be at classes on time Friday since she was late Thursday, so we called it a night! 

Such a great kick off to a killer weekend....the bestie will be here shortly & we'll be heading off to our George Strait concert! I am over the moon that it's finally here! We head to Kentucky tomorrow to of course, celebrate Samantha's birthday at Dolphie's!

Happy Friday y'all!

PS: It's SPRING, IT'S SPRING! Don't think I didn't paint my toenails & rock open toed wedges last night!

Happy 2014!

Ringing in the New Year this year was almost identical to last years celebration. We of course, all spent it in Kentucky at Dolphie's! It was busy, but not too busy this year, which meant we had a lot of singing time..

Celebrating with the bestie!

So glad I rang in the past few New Years with these folks!

Metcalf even sang "The Cowboy Rides Away" for us! 

I keep seeing everyone posting about resolutions, and I so hate making a resolution. Mainly because I usually know I won't keep up with it. I suppose my resolution actually this year could be continuing training for my marathon....because I have no choice but to train for it! 

The bestie & I DID, however, make a concert list for this year - artists we want to see - some we've seen 1091202121 times, some we've never seen, so my goal is to make this year even bigger on the concert front than last year. That's a hard feat - we sure hit a lot of great concerts & saw some serious legends. At the top of our list this year:

George Strait - which happens in March!

PL -duh!

Charley Pride

Alan Jackson

Ronnie Milsap

Loretta 

Merle  - which will most likely happen once again on Labor Day weekend, where we'll see him with Loretta again!

Gene Watson

Keith Urban

Emmylou Harris

Steve Wariner

Dolly Parton - we see her in May! I haven't seen a full show of hers since I got to meet her in Chicago! 

Joe Nichols

And I have no doubt we'll hit a gig for every single one of them. 

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! The kids racked up on the presents & were happy, Kadin was over the MOON at his WWE playset (and still keeps thanking me for it), my mom got me the Johnny Cash book I've been wanting & we saw Anchorman 2 -- successful Christmas day!

And in probably the sweetest, cutest thing you've ever seen in your life...
Kadin made lego presents for Mom & myself. He was SO proud of his creation, wrapped them in tissue paper, and wrote on the tissue paper, and put them under the tree. He was so excited he couldn't wait until Christmas Day for us to open them, we had to open them Christmas Eve. But he didn't stop at us. He made a lego present for Granny, and stuck it by her urn. It never left that spot. I love this sweet boy.

In important things this week....

I have created a monster! He watched the game with me, and couldn't have been any cuter. Everytime I'd shout, he'd shout. Every time I stood up, he stood up. Every few minutes he'd clap his hands and go "WOO, LET'S GO KENTUCKY!" I'm so proud. 

But, let's take a minute to reflect:

Boom, GO CATS! 

I'm heading to Kentucky to spend New Years with the bestie & Metcalf - because what is more fitting than ringing in the New Year in one of my favorite places, with two of my favorite people, while we sing our favorite songs? Nothing. 

I just bought Dolly Parton tickets, and one of our first concerts in 2014 is George Strait, so I'd say we're off to a great start! 

No-Show Jones....

This weekend was pretty epic. And considering how much the bestie & I are off running around on a road trip or a show --- or basically never home -- that says a lot. 

The bestie hauled it to town Friday afternoon and she & I headed to the George Jones tribute show Friday night. We technically had tickets for the show as soon as they were available, as George’s final show. We were SO stoked to see him again (and then of course P got added to the guest list, which obviously made this even better!)….and then of course, George passed away. We held onto our tickets to see what the show's future was.

with the bestie at the concert!

The show was so well put together – something I didn’t expect with 100 acts. 4 hours, 48 songs.  There were definitely acts that had us scratching our heads (or more like wincing in pain for our ears. Sorry Megadeath fans….I can’t do metal. Adding Jamey Johnson to the mix did not make the song bearable. I can totally appreciate that Jones influenced genres of all kinds, but yikes. There are some genres that don't need to sing a Country Song, and metal is one of them.), but overall, it was fabulous. (Although the photographer in me was dying at the dreadful lighting!)  Obviously, P was the best of the best, it's what happens when you're as awesome as she is.

Among our other personal fave highlights:

-Emmylou Harris. In the "did this really happen" category:  Emmylou Harris seriously sang “If My Heart Had Windows”. Granted - they put her in a group (I totally get why they had to group people together....buuuuut she's Emmylou freaking Harris, people.), but holy crap. You have no idea how I would kill to hear her sing this solo. 

-George Strait. Sigh. And not only did we get to see him, he sang not only my favorite Jones song, but my favorite song by anyone-- “The Grand Tour”. (Seriously, this is like the greatest country song ever written.) We see his full show in March, and I need this to hurry up.  I've pretty much convinced myself I will die if I don't get to hear "Marina Del Ray" live. 

swoon.

-“Two Story House” – this is totally my favorite Tammy & George song.....and no joke, we do it at karaoke every single time we go. (And because people are lame and don't usually know it, Rita always has to be my George Jones.) People always seem to forget about it! Thompson Square sang it, and we immediately freaked out and sang along obnoxiously. (Not that we didn't do that to every song, but the guy beside us was super amused by us during this one.)

-Jessi freakin' Colter! I’ve never been able to see her before, I was SO excited to see her on the bill. I love her!  Fittingly, she was paired with Shooter Jennings, and I loved their version of “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me”.

-Sam Moore singing “Blues Man” was absolutely out of this world. Perfect song for him, he sounded incredible. Definitely one of the top performances of the night.

-The dude behind us. No really.  Aside from singing along with us to pretty much....everything, he was also completely entertaining. Taking advantage of George Strait's nickname of King George....when Strait came out, the guy behind us screamed "KING GEORGE!! WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!" He may have been the greatest concert go-er we've ever sat by. 

-And again: P was beyond amazing, and the best of the night. Duh. She did “Color of the Blues”, which is probably one of the best songs of George’s that she’s actually cut. Everyone used Jones band, but she also brought Emory along with her. So so proud of her! 

Emory & the Queen Bee

And yes, I’m aware my highlights once again show I was born in the wrong generation, because everyone my age was going crazy for folks like Blake & Miranda, or Kid Rock --- while I was geeking out over Emmylou Harris.

On a side note, how ADORABLE are the shot glasses from his show?! We immediately came back to the house and did shots. And it pairs perfect with my Loretta Lynn shot glass. 

Saturday we proceeded to pretty much have the best girls day you can imagine --- well for music nerds like us anyway. They put up George’s monument at his grave on Monday, and since I live 5 minutes from the cemetery, I ran over there to see it unveiled. I can’t begin to stress what a great job they did on this – absolutely beautiful. Since Rita hadn’t seen it, Saturday morning we headed to the store to pick up some Wine Colored Roses (I will give you a cookie if you knew that was a George Jones song! Pretty sure the girl in the floral department thought we were nuts inspecting the colors of all the roses!), and went over to see it, stopping by the mausoleum to pay respects to Tammy. Since last time she came up we paid respects to Conway, Johnny & June, this time we decided to go lay flowers at the grave of another that stole our hearts – Vern Gosdin. 

soooo well done!

love love love him.

I pass this every week, and I use it as a reminder of why I love Nashville.  The sun was shining so beautifully by it that I felt like I needed another picture of it. 

So, it's no secret that for Halloween next year, I'm going as Tammy Wynette & Rita is going as Loretta Lynn since we're going to Dolphie's to celebrate. It's always been our thing, she's the Loretta to my Tammy -- and quite often, I sing more Tammy and she sings more Loretta when we're at Dolphie's. Anyway, we've started researching our costumes this week soooooo at our Starbucks visit this time, we decided to channel our inner country stars ;)

What's a Saturday without hitting the record shop for more vinyl, right? Seriously, it's an addiction. Give me a vinyl record & I will love you forever.

I was going to say our vintage country music was our theme for the weekend, but is there ever really a weekend where it ISN’T our theme? Before heading up to Kentucky, we ran back over to the Johnny Cash Museum to pick up a few pieces of merch for gifts.....and then hit the road with my sis to meet up with Metcalf at Dolphie's for some karaoke! I love love love when my sister goes with us - it's hilarious to see the differences in song choices. I freaked out that Scotty now has "Long-Legged Guitar Pickin Man", while my sister was dying that was a real song. 

the sis

with the bestie!

celebrating Metcalf & Rita's birthdays a little early! (As Rita clutches her Conway Twitty DVD! Score for the best presents ever! She got a Conway t-shirt too!)

with my two favorite girls, my bestie & my sissy! 

This may have been one of our greatest & most creative karaoke sets. Almost every round we did we somehow tied to Jones. Our first rounds were our obligatory Loretta & Tammy sets, but we signed Metcalf up for "Murder on Music Row" (because it's oh so fitting, and mentions the Possum), "He Stopped Loving Her Today", while we took on "If My Heart Had Windows", "A Picture of Me Without You" -- and then brought out stuff like The Judds "Have Mercy" for the simple line of "I could hear you was playing Haggard & Jones"....or Dolly's "Honky Tonk Songs" for the great line of "I've listened to Haggard, ole Hank...and George Jones", and of course "I was Country When Country Wasn't Cool". 

Moving on, it's a short week for the Holidays, and I'm only working two days this week. I say I'm so ready for a few days of doing nothing after a full weekend this past weekend, but obviously that's not going to happen any time soon. Bring on Black Friday shopping! The sis & I have our plans mapped out.....and of course it's going to be freeeeezing this year.  Thank God for Starbucks! 

Happy Monday y'all! 

It's my party...

First of all....I just said last post how excited the teenage fangirl in me was about this Nsync reunion, and that was no lie. It was short but sweet & totally worth squealing totally freaking out over.

I mean, THIS SERIOUSLY HAPPENED PEOPLE!! 

So, it's officially the big 3-0 birthday week, which basically means it's time to party right? So Saturday sis, bestie & I trekked up to Kentucky for my party.

hitting the road with my girls! 

All was like normal....the girls dropped stuff off inside, and we headed over to Denny's to eat dinner, when Rita tells me I can't drive over to the club and get the room key yet because Metcalf has this "large present" for me that she is afraid he will be getting out of the car when I go over.  We hang in the parking lot for a short bit before I get the okay to go up to our room. Once ready, I wasn't allowed to go down to the club before Metcalf text Rita with an "Okay". 

We head down the steps and into the bar, and everyone gives me a loud "Happy Birthday", and I round the corner and see the twin cousin! She drove down from Cleveland that morning to surprise me for my party. 

First of all, I WAS super super surprised - which doesn't happen often. Secondly, I'm more surprised folks were able to keep it from me. My bestie isn't the greatest secret keeper, but she definitely kept this one! This was also Emily's first visit to our beloved Dolphie's, so she finally got to see what we talk about all the time!

I've said so many times, but I am so so fortunate to have such amazing friends -- and even more fortunate a couple of those folks I'm related to. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday party than to have my bestie, sister & cousin all there with me. And of course, to be with so many of my other friends we love to party with at Dolphie's. 

Before I share a little pic spam, I must say: The twin cousin & I totally rocked "Material Girl", just like we did as children at our family reunion. (And then we did a little "Goodbye Earl", because we've decided to be the next Dixie Chicks. And yes, this was a decision we made while sober!)

So now, tons of pic spam (a mix of camera & iPhone shots, of course!) of my favorites from the party!

Friends decided this year to go on an "Opry" theme to make a nod to my ridiculous love for vintage country music. I don't think this could have been any more adorable! This cake PERFECTLY describes me. Not to mention, it was amazing - if you're in Nashville, seriously, get all your cake needs at Nashville Sweets!

We started off with birthday shots!

with the bestie! love love love this girl! 

my sister decided to buy all this get up....and I voluntarily put it on briefly  -- before we started drinking! Am I a good sport or what?!

with my sissy! (I might be 30, but I'm forever the baby sister, and I still get to refer to my sister as my sissy all I want!)

Rita & Metcalf

cousins 

posing with the cutest cake ever! 

On the way to Kentucky, Rita text Metcalf to get candles. Apparently he thought he'd get a lot - so we could have 30 candles on the cake (31, they gave me "one to grow on")

Major props to my twin cousin & bestie for making sure I didn't catch my hair on fire while leaning in, blowing out my candles. 

So my cousin knows my insane love for Concord wines, and picked this gem up for me at a winery in New York. Let's see how long this lasts at my house. (Maybe I should have opened it and said "Challenge Accepted"?)

Love this girl!!! (Wait, should I hashtag that? Only this girl gave me a birthday card that not only included terms of endearment like bitch, but wrote hashtags inside!)

And my favorite from the night, of me with my favorite girls! (in my favorite place!)

Amazing party -- and a fabulous time with everyone.  There's nothing better than a night out having drinks, singing, and laughing with my favorite people -- and yes -- we all practiced our Nsync dance moves too!