random blog dump: my week + latest reads!

TGIF people. this is the first weekend in months that i have zero plans. i am so pumped to do a whole lot of nothing besides watch football, run, and hangout with my bully girl.

tuesday night i had dinner with my family at 131 main in dilworth. my parents are creepy groupies at the one in blakeney, so it's rare we get them up to our side of town for dinner. half price bottles of wine & filet mignon - yes please!

wednesday night i headed back up to verizon to see kelly clarkson & maroon 5! i am starting to feel like i should pay rent at verizon. after an HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTE drive, we met up with two of rachel's friends from home and made our way into the sea of screaming women. as if there was any doubt in my mind, adam levine may just be the sexiest man on planet earth. well, other than ryan gosling. it was an awesome night with new friends and some of my favorite songs. live music keeps me trucking.

i finished up a few books the past couple of weeks. first being girls in white dresses by jennifer close.

 

total easy reading/chick book. it's basically a bunch of stories of a group of friends that are in their mid-twenties going through the never ending engagement parties, bridal showers, weddings, and baby showers that consume your twenties. while it is really relate able to me, i had a hard time keeping all the friends straight. there were A LOT of characters and about half way through i gave up trying to remember who they all were and just finished the book. i would recommend it for some easy reading on the beach or something, but it didn't change my life. 

 

next up i totally shifted gears & read within arm's length by dan emmett. dan was a officer in the marine corps before joining the secret service and eventually ended up on the personal protection of president clinton & president (w) bush. i am obsessed with all things government & presidential, so i absolutely loved this book. while dan takes you through the steps of his career, you get a true sense of what life is like for someone whose job it is to keep the most powerful man in the world alive. we are so lucky to have so many men & women serving our country who are willing to sacrifice everything to save not only the president, but the rest of our country too.

 

 

 

and last but not least, i have been obsessed with anna sun by walk the moon for a few weeks now. it's awesome & makes me dance in my car.

 

have a great weekend!

we got john mayered.

we are all in our mid to late twenties, with careers & some with mortgages & a lot of other adult crap. but for some reason, we decided to drink an entire handle of fireball before the john mayer concert last night. we're never going to grow up.

{the gang}

{classy}

 

{we ran into sarah!!}

 

and now that i've heard slow dancing in a burning room live, i can die happy.

 

another fun night out with the buds!

two nights: two concerts.

last week my pals, my momma and i headed up to verizon to see backstreet boys! after stopping for dinner, we made it to the concert to hear the last of jesse mccartney. once bsb started, some nice dude that worked at verizon came up to us and asked if we would like to move from the lawn into actual seats, so we ended up getting awesome seats for no extra charge! it was a great night dancing around to music that was the end all be all at the age of 9. and i have to admit, backstreet boys have still got it!

 

{momma // k-roll}

 

{so full from dinner!}

{my babes}

{backstreet boys!}

 

the next afternoon i logged on facebook and saw my friend nicole had an extra ticket to see green river ordinance for that night! so of course i texted her and asked her to pick me. i brought derrick & chigger along, picked up nicole, and headed to the chop shop in noda for the show. i loved the venue - it was my first time there. green river ordinance was absolutely amazing - their music moves me. i am always so thankful for spontaneous plans - especially when it's a night with friends listening to one of your favorite bands.



{green river ordinance}

next up: john mayer on september 4th!

my {country} weekend photostory.

friday after work, sister court & i headed up to verizon wireless for love & theft, brantley gilbert, & tim mcgraw!

 

 

{seriously, this was the best pic we could get all night}

 

{ran into stepmom & her sis}

 

the concert was awesome & we had a great time until i lost my iphone. and then i was like this:

 

 

{source}

 

saturday morning i woke up really early to find my iphone located in the ghetto of charlotte. awesome. so i packed up & headed to columbia and was the first one at the verizon store at 9am. once i got a new phone, i met up with my friends to pack the truck & we headed to the stadium. with my new iphone in hand & smushed in the back of the tahoe with all my friends, all was well in my world again.

 

 

 

{cam made us be ecu fans for the day}

 

 

{there was a dj booth with karaoke next to us - AWESOME}

 

{katt, me, nicole, britt}

 

{ammie's ridiculous new phone case}

 

 

{drinking organic strawberry beer}

 

{seeing my cutie old roomie}

 

 

{the girls minus britt}

 

 

{decided to bring back our glory days of stunting...}

 

{... and "tumbling"}

 

{finally made it into the stadium around 6:30pm}

 

{ammie, sarah, & i}

 

it poured the entire concert. and then we looked like this:

 

 

{source}

 

but when you've had a few (or twenty) beverages, and you're listening to live music with your best friends, who really cares? zac brown band killed it & kenny is always fun to see live.

 

sunday morning i headed back to charlotte & spent the day running around to get ready for this week's festivities - it's gonna be a good one! 



#katjam

last night, derrick, alex & i headed to the fillmore for 96.9's katjam. we found out about this concert on tuesday and bought tickets for $12.95. win!

the line up was awesome: phil vassar, randy houser, unkle cracker (weird), joe nichols & easton corbin. unlike any other concert i've ever been to, all 5 artists hung out on the stage together all night and just took turns singing. it was pretty awesome!

 

a few favorite songs of the evening: joe nichols - tequila makes her clothes fall off. randy houser - how country feels. phil vassar - just another day in paradise & last day of my life. and then to top it all off, they all sang hank williams jr's "family tradition" together at the end of the show.

and of course we couldn't be responsible adults and just go home after the concert ended, so it was onto the various weird bars at the music factory. we'll learn one of these days!

and drinking this on a school night...

 

will leave you drinking this at your desk the next morning...

 

 

i sure am thankful that today is my friday!

 

andrew mcmahon. i love you.

sometime around the age of 14, i started listening to a band called something corporate. their first major album, leaving through the window, is the first album i can remember falling in love with. sometime during the year of 16, i saw something corporate play for the first time in a teeny little punk rock venue called tremont music hall alongside two of my best friends from high school. it was a night i will always remember - i think everyone who loves obscure music will always remember the first time they saw a show in a hole-in-the-wall venue.

in 2004, something corporate took a little break and andrew mcmahon, the lead singer, formed a side project called jack's mannequin. 2 amazing albums later, i saw jack's mannequin open up for the fray in the summer of 2009, the first show to ever be played at the brand new nc music factory. it was an amazing night.

later in 2009, something corporate announced they were going to do a 10 year reunion tour. i was living in atlanta at the time and thankfully the infamous tabernacle was one of their tour stops. rachel, alexis, & i spent a wonderful evening singing along to our teenage favorite songs with a bunch of other people our age who were just as excited to see something corporate one last time.

sometime in late 2012, jack's mannequin posted this letter to fans announcing their break up. in early 2013, andrew announced a solo tour and sweet charlotte made the list. so this past tuesday night, my sis & i headed to the visualite theatre to hear andrew play. i love the visualite, it's the perfect size, maxing out around 700 people. you don't pay $11 for a beer, there are plenty of bathrooms, and every seat place you can stand in the venue has a great view.

getting to see your favorite artist, who is not by any means a big name, play 4 times in 10 years is pretty amazing. tuesday night was a special one, and getting to share the evening with my sister was the cherry on top. andrew & his band played something corporate songs, jack's mannequin songs, and even some new ones i'd never heard before. they encored with konstantine, my #1 all time favorite song that i have now been lucky enough to see live 3 times.

so thank you, andrew mcmahon, for continuing to make & sing music that is so special to me.

{andrew singing konstantine}

 

{set list via my iphone}

 

side note about andrew: in 2005, right before the first jack's album was released, he was diagnosed with leukemia the same day they finished recording the album. he made a documentary of his sickness, treatment, and time in the hospital called dear jack. i HIGHLY recommend anyone watching this great film - it is extremely raw & super real. you can watch it on hulu for free here.

weekend highlights.

friday night i saw yacht rock revue play at visualite! i have seen them play a few times before when i lived in atlanta, and they absoultely rock. i hope they play my wedding someday (if they're still alive then).

 

{yacht rock}

 

{yacht rock}

 

 

saturday night, momma, lola & i headed up to cornelius for the bullie pageant! this was a fundraiser for a bulldog rescue group in the carolinas. our family friend's daughter has a bully too, so we met them up there at the lucky dog bark & brew for the pageant. lola & tonka didn't win any awards - but they had a great time with all the other bulldogs!

 

 

{bear - he weights 90 pounds!}

 

 

{baby bully!}

 

{me & my girl in her fake leather vest with a leopard fur collar!}