Justin Timberlake 20/20 Experience World Tour

This was quite possibly the concerts to top all concerts. It's pretty high up there on my list, tied for #1 with Smokey Robinson, who is a true legend onstage. Justin is definitely on his way to becoming that kind of legend.

I paid a pretty penny to be fairly close to Mr. Timberlake. Yes, I acted like an annoying teen girl the entire time. I don't give a damn.

And now, a few photos...

 Lainey and me, giddy for the concert. 

Sorry for the blurry-ish photos. One, I was dancing/jumping around too much to really care about clarity of photo. Two, it's time I invest in a newer/ better camera + camera lessons. I think that might be the next hobby I take up! 

Anyway, the clear platform you are seeing in the photo above and below was an ingenious moving platform that raised above my section and traveled back and forth across the stadium. How fantastic is that?!? Of course I was ecstatic that Justin walked on the part of the platform that was right above my seat. He knew, he just knew. 

And a couple grainy videos for you to see the intensity of the dancing + the angelic singing machine that is Justin Timberlake.

Justin, I'm just a jun-jun-jun-jun-junkie for your (music).

Punch Brothers, My New Love

I'll make this short, because talking about concerts never does them actual justice.

If you like blue grass mixed with classical, check out Punch Brothers! They'll be touring the States very soon, and it's sooooooo worth a ticket. Simply, it is now in my top 5 favorite concerts. And if you are wondering what instruments you're seeing, there is the mandolin, fiddle, guitar, bass and banjo. Genius!



Also, sorry for the blurry video, but Chris Thile playing Bach on the mandolin is well worth a listen!


 

The band was nice enough to talk to fans after the show, and Chris even took a picture with a gushingly happy Mel...

This was one of my best nights in London: red wine in a plastic cup and beautiful, beautiful sounds to uplift my soul...ahhhhh...

Favorite Thing Thursday

1. Having High School Friends Visit

Andy, who goes by Andres now (so mature!), visited last week from Texas. His first response was, "It's so cold here!" ha! That's because Texas is a boiler room! We had a tremendous amount of fun frequenting wine bars and finding the best California Burrito. Next stop for Andy and me will have to be Vegas (we decided).

2. Coffee Addiction

MUST. FEED. THE. ADDICTION. COFFEE ZOMBIE! Aaaarrrrgh!

3. Remembering Aaliyah

When I was 16, I remember thinking Aaliyah was stunningly beautiful and simply fantastic. I'd watch "Are You That Somebody" and "Try Again" on TRL and try to emulate her moves. I even cried when I learned of her death. It's been 10 years (to the very day) since that plane crash and I thought it fitting to include her in my favorite things. 16-year-old Ashley approves.

4. Going to the Adele Concert



This is about the only video I took during the whole Adele concert. I didn't want anything in the way of me soaking in her velvety, gorgeous voice. I've never been so mesmerized by an artist's voice at a concert! If you notice, the audience is pretty silent because everyone just wanted to listen and not ruin the beauty of it. And to top it off, she did a rendition of "Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Rait, which brought me to tears...AND I DON'T CRY IN PUBLIC. Dammit Adele! It was sooooooo damn good.

ONE Heck of a Saturday!

I am VERY giddy this morning, especially after last night! Here are the reasons:

• It's raining outside. YES! San Diego has actually been getting fall weather!

• I'm drinking Peppermint Mocha Creamer. AHHHHHH! My favorite! You don't get it--I wait for this creamer to come out all year long. It makes the mornings actually enjoyable!

• I went to the Maroon 5 concert last night and it was OUTSTANDING. OUT-STAND-ING. Easily in my top 5 favorite concerts. Adam Levine channeled Mick Jagger last night with his dance moves, and was a deviant little sex fiend on stage...and the ladies in the audience ate it up! ha.

• I got in free to said concert last night. How? I volunteered for a cause that Maroon 5 supports, and Bono helped start. It's called ONE. Check it out, it's definitely a worthy cause that's trying to end world poverty and the transmission of HIV from mothers to babies (mainly in Africa). After volunteering, my handy little wristband got me 5 rows back from the stage. FIGHT WORLD POVERTY AND THE SPREAD OF HIV? Check. GO TO THE MAROON 5 CONCERT? Check. I think that's a pretty productive night :)

• Oh! And because I was wearing the ONE t-shirt at the concert, and so darn close to the stage, I pointed to Adam Levine during "Sunday Morning," to which he pointed right back at me, after seeing me represent his cause! I GOT POINTED AT FROM SEXY ADAM LEVINE. HECK YEAH! It was like a "Thank you" and "I see you!" all wrapped into one. hahahahaha! (I sound crazy).

Pretty damn good Saturday night, if I do say so myself.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled program...

...to bring you photos from the Robyn concert!!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Robyn's ALL HEARTS TOUR was one of the best concerts I have EVER EVER EVER gone to. It helped that I was literally right against the stage, and I got to hold her hand. teehee. It also helped that she is a fabulous singer (in all senses of the word) and knew how to work the crowd.

Robyn's little bird symbol on the drum got me excited!

Opening act. hehe.

Really weird opening act (there were 2). This one I called the "black-eyed peas wannnabes"

Rachel and me getting ready for Robyn!!

Here she is!!

She rocks.

And sings beautifully :)

And she has a sense of humor :D

...and I took a little snippet of Robyn singing "Dream On," but I can't figure out how to rotate it (haha) and the quality is poor because the crowd is SUPER loud. Just know that she sounded awesome, even if you can't tell in the video. Sorry that I am bouncing around like crazy while shooting it! I couldn't help it! I was dancing like a nerd at a Star Wars convention! Wait, erm...I am a nerd. :D

Day 09 - Take a picture today that showcases motion

So, I didn't take this today...sorry! But here it is:

It's a picture of the Del Mar Fair in San Diego. It is our county fair, and this picture takes me there: I can smell the fried goodness (or badness?), I can hear the crowd whizzing by, and I can feel the hot summer air as I squeeze in past the people to get to the rides.

Nothing too special, but it's a memory forever imprinted in this little snapshot.

P.S. I am seeing Robyn in concert tomorrow. I am beyond excited for this because Robyn hardly ever tours in the U.S.!!!!!!!! YAY yay YAY yay YAY!!

Day 03 - A picture of your street

I knew this would be the most boring picture out of all of the challenge. I don't live in some cool metropolitan area with fascinating architecture. I live in suburbia...I've pretty much lived in suburbia all my life. Maybe that's why I'm itching to get away...and maybe that's why I chose a sepia tone for the picture. ha. It's also SUPER gloomy today, so everything looks nasty! (and yes, I took this picture in my car--see the reflection?--because I felt slightly crazy taking pictures of a suburb. haha).

Well since I got that ugly pic out of the way, how about I show some more interesting ones from the weekend?

Friday night, I went to the Goo Goo Dolls concert. And herrrrreee's Johnny!

Johnny Rzeznik ^

I get a kick outta 40-year-old stars that still rock their old hairstyles. heh heh. But that is besides the point, because this man sounded AMAZING! "Name," "Slide," and "Iris" were captivating to listen to (and it was nice that we were so close).

The only drawback to the concert was this crazy lady that was standing by us. And when I say crazy, I mean a tiara and a fur wrap-wearing, sippin' on (TOO MUCH) Gin & Juice, CRAZY LADY. What began as an annoyance, became a reason to change spots when she hollered out, "Being depressed sucks!" and," I know you're laughing at me, but I don't care!" When she started yelling at a tall dude in front of us for being...tall, that's when we took the cue to find a new spot.

But I digress, because on Saturday and Sunday...I was in Ensenada, Mexico. Yep, here are some more pictures:

Gotta have the water shot!

Wine-tasting :)

This highly inappropriate banana dude creeped me out!

Watching the U.S. vs. Ghana game. Sad that we lost, but at least we didn't get slaughtered like England and Mexico. Ouch! Especially because I watched that Mexico game in Mexico. Pobrecito!

That was my weekend. Did those pictures make up for my boring shot up above? Hope so!

Dancing With the Lady

Went to see Lady GaGa last night. WOW. Just WOW. A totally glamourous, sexy, sticky, insane, glittery mess of a show. I swear, there were more fruity men there than in a freakin' gay bar!! The outfits were epic: wings and sticks and, oh yeah, S&M outfits to boot.

It was an experience.

And she sounded great. Don't compare this chick to Britney, she made sure to show her singing chops.

And as you can tell by the photos, we were super close :)

BALLER STATUS!

Motown Philly, back again!

Eatin' blackberries at the moment...Mmmmmm...and realizing that I forgot to tell you about an AMAZING CONCERT I went to last week. :)

Whom, might you ask??

Boyz II Men!!!!

haha. Last minute, a friend told me she had a few tickets to go, and asked if I would attend. I think my answer was along the lines of, "Duh."

Ohhhh man. It was a great concert. Here's why:

• I forgot how damn good Boyz II Men (and older acts in general) sounded. They sounded like perfection. Talk about orgasmic harmonies! Listening to some acts that are popular today, those fools ain't got nothin' on old R&B and Motown.
  
• Which leads me to my next point as to why the concert was ballin'--they did a few covers of Motown songs. As you can imagine, I was belting out every word and dancing like a maniac during this section. *sigh* I love Motown.
• This concert was just an overall feel goooooood concert. People stayed way past the end of the show to slow dance to "One Sweet Day." The audience was just happy!
• It brought be back the 90s. And I liked the 90s a whole lot. :)

So yeah, that was my adventure last week. And I still have "End of the Road" in my head...

Monster Ball

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Tis the name of the Lady Gaga tour I will buying tickets for in about 20 minutes.

Oh, THAT'S RIGHT...I said Lady Gaga.

Currently in the process of buying a purple bob wig to wear to the concert. Uh-huh. I'm totally going for the drag-queen effect. Except, I am, er, a girl. But you get what I mean.

hahaha. Ok, I'm off to shop today for cool Halloween decorations!!!!

Looking After the Fray

I'm about to fall asleep, even though it's only 9:00 pm. This job is wearing me out!!! However, I feel like I've been neglecting this blog just a wee bit, so here's a post...

About The Fray Concert!!! They. sounded. amazing. Seriously, it was one of the best concerts I've been to!! There are certain bands that just sound better live.

The best song, by far (in my opinion, which means the most, of course) is "Look After You." Ahhhhhhh, it was so damn beautiful to listen to live, I was freakin' out. Here is the song and lyrics in case you're curious:



If I don't say this now I will surely break
As I'm leaving the one I want to take
Forgive the urgency but hurry up and wait
My heart has started to separate

Oh, oh,
Be my baby
Ohhhhh
Oh, oh
Be my baby
I'll look after you

There now, steady love, so few come and don't go
Will you won't you, be the one I'll always know
When I'm losing my control, the city spins around
You're the only one who knows, you slow it down

Oh, oh
Be my baby
Ohhhhhh
Oh, oh
Be my Baby
I'll look after you
And I'll look after you

If ever there was a doubt
My love she leans into me
This most assuredly counts
She says most assuredly

Oh, oh
Be my baby
I'll look after you
After You
Oh, oh
Be my baby
Ohhhhh

It's always have and never hold
You've begun to feel like home
What's mine is yours to leave or take
What's mine is yours to make your own

Oh, oh
Be my baby
Ohhhhh
Oh, oh
Be my baby
I'll look after you

Can You Follow Me?

Called in sick to work today...am I sick, though? Not really, just knew I needed a day of rest.

Random thought: It's always funny to find out old school friends have become lesbians. Straight-turned-gay boys don't really surprise me. Lesbians do.

Rode around with my sis today. Destination: nowhere. Our purpose was just to drive (she's from Santa Barbara, and I don't see her often).

I feel random today, can you tell?

Life is but a series of random pearls strung onto a string and made into something worth it.

Side note: Being random puts me in an extra cheesy mood.

Update: I'm going to the Fray concert tonight. Heck Yes!

A "Smokey" Fourth

Happy Fourth!

I'm pretty much all moved into my new house. Maybe after I put up a few decorations and photos, I can take some pictures of the house for you all.

Tonight, I'm looking to go to our County Fair and get into one of the free concerts. Who, might you ask? Smokey Robinson! People who have read my blog for awhile know my love for Motown...and Smokey is a STAPLE of Motown. The only problem is the concert is first come, first serve. I'm gonna have to knock all those baby boomers out the way! *Crossing my fingers* (and lifting some weights).

Cause you're the only song I want to hear.

Where soul meets body, indeed.

DEATH CAB ROCKED!!!!!!! It's the one concert I've been to where the band sounded the most like the album...Ben is a great singer...and a great writer...well, he's just GREAT.

Can I say much more? It's too hard to put a concert into words...

Where Soul Meets Body...

...is at a Death Cab concert, which I will be going to in April. OHHHHH YEAH! I haven't been to a concert in quite some time (unacceptable), so buying tickets was a must! I haven't seen these boys in concert yet, so I am stoked! (how can you not love Death Cab? They are true poets...)

Speaking of tickets, I am racking my brain trying to find a way to get a plane ticket to London. Yes, London. My friend Colleen is going to visit her sister there in August (and possibly visit Ireland and France too) and asked if I wanted to join her. AHHHHHHHH!!!!! I must find a way. Plane ticket, why must you be $1,000?!?

I'll find a way. haha. Traveling is the demise of my savings. But worth it.