Roger Waters Concert

So- last week I got an email from GE Smith asking if I'd be interested in seeing the Roger Waters Concert at the Q on Tuesday night. GE is currently touring with Roger and gets two tickets per show. I was so incredibly flattered that he invited us!!! I called Sean who was so excited and jumped at the chance. After checking with my boss, since that is how I have a relationship with GE, I immediately emailed him back and said we would love to go! He told me the show started at 8, but that they really didnt come on until 8:15pm. I was so glad he told me that! We drove downtown and I couldnt believe how many people I saw. I didnt realize how big a show this actually was- but the Q was sold out. I should have known- with how big Pink Floyd was- it was jam packed! We got to will call and there was an envelope with our name on it. The ticket lady opened it up and handed us the contents...

First- our ticket


Section 109, Row 5, Seats 1 and 2! we were on the right side of the stage (not floor) but lower sides (right side when facing stage but I guess to the artists left?). Fantastic seats! I forgot to bring my real camera, but a pic from my cell phone

Also inside my envelope were hospitality passes- woot woot!

How cool is that? it allowed us to get to the hospitality area to see the band prior to admission and intermission. We didnt make it down prior, but went down in intermission. It was a nice little area they set up in the visiting team's locker room at the Q. They had couches, restrooms and then an area with beer, water and chips. A few of the band members came down but it was pretty rushed. It was kind of funny to see some girls, completely dressed up....groupies maybe? LOL.

The show itself was amazing. The Plain Dealer took some great shots of the show:

You can see GE in the first shot playing guitar (hi GE!)

What a neat experience- such a fun night! Best part- it only cost us $10 for parking!

My lunch today- SOYCZ

Haha- two posts in a row. I wish I would have waited to do my post. i didnt realize my lunch would be a part of the step outside your comfort zone.



Exhibit A- My lunch today:

I am so incredibly lucky to get breakfast and lunch at work. This is what they were serving today!

red wine marinated london broil, potato crusted tilapia, pasta primavera, fried raviolis and cajun roasted asparagus. I totally stepped outside by comfort zone- twice. I would normally not have tried the tilapia (especially when London broil was being served) and I'm not a marinara person. Both- amazing!

SOYCZ

My new thing- stepping out of your comfort zone! Recently, after being inspired in a cheesy, corny way by my friend Tara at http://www.pineapple-grass.blogspot.com/, I decided to start stepping out of my comfort zone. I dont know how she did it, but every once in a while, she would post restaurant reviews and what she and her husband ate, etc. I started noticing, she would order different items wherever they went. I am pretty predictable. I go to a restaurant, I order a steak...all.the.time!

So- I went to Champps about a month ago and ordered a bruschetta cheeseburger. It was amazing! (I am in a big tomato kick lately so it really hit the spot). So- I had a thought... dont order what my husband will think I'm going to order. Step outside the box. Try something new. So- I started getting tomato, mozzarella and basil salads... and started ordering them at different restaurants. Amazing. again- tomatoes.

I went to Houlihan's and ordered the stuffed chicken breast with veggies and mashed potatoes. The chicken breast was stuffed with garlic-herb cream cheese. It was so good. This got me thinking- the next time I go out to try something new.

So- Friday night, we had a much needed date night and went to Bonefish Grill. We hadnt been there before. I am not much of a seafood person, will eat fish if its mild, but am up for trying things!

We looked at the menu and we were set! We ordered baja fish tacos as an appetizer and split them.

They were amazing... I could have eaten more. They were cajun grilled and had a mango salsa. The perfect mix of flavorings. For our dinner, we ordered the ocean mixed grill- dinner for two. We figured that was the best way to try everything... it came with jumbo shrimp and scallops, chilean sea bass, wild grouper, salmon, two sides (we ordered asparagus and mashed potatoes) and we each got a salad. I loved it. The shrimp and scallops were cooked in a pan asian sauce and were my favorite, while Sean enjoyed the grouper the most. It was such a great night- and I was so proud of myself for SOYCZ- stepping outside of your (my) comfort zone!

The rest of our weekend was great! Did some shopping, H had a cross country meet (scored 17:25- 1 minute faster than his last meet and 2 minutes faster than when he ran the course a year ago) and lots of laundry. I dont know how we manage to get 8-10 loads of laundry a week. I realize we're a family of five, but I didnt realize how much space in a washer even the little people's clothes are!

Looking forward to the week ahead- we have a menu going for the week to avoid eating out, two cross country meets, and a concert. Should be busy and fun!

Taken from http://fatcontrolfreak.blogspot.com- here is our menu planning monday!

Sunday- meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli

Monday- Jack Daniels Pork Loin, baked potatoes

Tuesday- kids are eating pizza or fish sticks

Wednesday- tacos

Thursday- chicken and pasta

Friday- chicken fajitas

TV Talk

Remember this post?

http://twodudesandadiva.blogspot.com/2010/05/tv-talk-greys-anyone.html

Yeah- I couldnt stop talking about it. Loved the episode- everything about it. The season premiere was last night.

Major Letdown.

I dont know what I was expecting, but I was disappointed. I even fell asleep partway through it and had to rewatch what I missed this morning.

I get that it would be hard to pick up exactly where they left off, but to come back into it and see them through thier counseling sessions, etc, didnt do anything for me. The only positive was seeing Bailey vulnerable again. Though- I do hope she can let the "tape and glue" dry and end up with the anesthesiologist.

Best line in the show?

Christina "How is Owen"
Meredith "Owen is fantastic"

Haha. I had to smile.

Maybe I should stick with my shows that dont require me to think. LOL. Teen Mom, Bachelor, Real World/Road Rules Challenges, Survivor... I love that stuff!

So- at least its Friday. We dont have much planned this weekend. We got our babysitter for tonight so Sean and I could go on a much needed date night. Not sure where we are going yet. Aside from that, I hope to do some shopping and cleaning this weekend. And spend time with my children. Have a great Friday!

Fantasy Football

So this year was my first year I decided to take a crack at fantasy football. I figured, why not? I know A LOT about football, could draft a good team, this could be fun...

So- here is the team I drafted...it sounded good on paper:

QB- Tom Brady

RB- Adrian Peterson, Reggie Bush

WR- Austin Collie, Miles Austin, Anquan Boldin

TE- Jason Witten

Packers Defense and Special Teams

K- Nate Kaeting

Bench- Carson Palmer, Percy Harvin (he was originally in my starting lineup- may need to move him back, Owen Daniels, Garrett Hartley, Kenny Britt, Vikings D and I recently acquired TJ Houshmandzadeh)

Well- I came up with a fun name for my team since I seamed to have taken all the Kim Kardashian lovers... we were called Miles of Bush (though she recently just broke up with Miles Austin). So- how am I doing? Lost both games so far and Reggie Bush just broke his leg. I think I'm cursed.

Make-Up

Want to know what I did this weekend? I shopped... for make-up. I could have bought something of substance (purse, shoes, clothes, etc), but instead, spent a whole lot of money on makeup. Yikes! But- I think I am happy with my purchases. Want to see what $230 gets you? For starters, I bought the foundation I had been wearing and ran out of- Make Up Forever HD Foundation- color 120. I also grabbed the nars concealer after the kind makeup gal told me about the dark circles under my eyes... I guess I'm an easy sell (picture below).

I was supposed to buy powder but figured I would hold off until my next trip (must remember to get color 220 next time for that). I then walked away with concealer, eye shadow, blush, eye liner, eye primer...eek!

Here is my eye liner- I absolutely love the Lancome liquid eyeliner in noir. I then went and purchased a eye lash curler. I never curl my lashes and wanted to start so purchased what they recommended...

I needed a new blush so went with Nars powder in the color sin. I love it- though the first time I tried it, I didnt realize how much grabbed to my brush and it went on a little dark. But- I finally had cheeks! or cheekbones I should say.

I wanted to start working on my eyes a little more so purchased a primer. I didn't realize that you needed a seperate primer for eye shadow in addition to the face. So- me, still in sticker shock for knowing what I was about to purchase, decided to choose one and buy the other another time. So- I bought the nars smudge proof eyebase. Totally makes a difference. My eyeshadow and liner finally lasted all day! After deciding on the base, I went with some eye shadows as well. Nars abyssinia and duo kalahari (not these purple colors shown- ha). I then finished the eyes off with the bad gal mascara. I already knew I was a fan of that one after trying it one day when I was unimpressed with diorshow.

All in all, a fun trip to the mall. a lot of money spent on makeup. I must find the comparable items for cheaper... help? Our shopping trip ended with me accidentally hitting the straw from my chic-fil-a cup onto the ceiling of my car only for it to burst through the bottom. I drove him in a coca-cola nightmare. I'm still finding sticky spots I missed when cleaning it up. Yuck. Thought it was entirely my fault, I blame chick-fil-a.

My bedroom...

So- I keep thinking about my new bedroom. How can I make it look more complete? Here's a total lame question... dont laugh. Ok- here is the image from the store site...

Here- in my room with my bed...

You cant even see the euro pillows... which, we never really use anyway. They end up on the floor. So- is this cheesy? Follow this train of thought... I have the coverlet as seen in the professional picture that matches the euro pillows fabric. You just cant see it in this image. My thought is...what if I take the fabric from the euro pillows and use that towards some sort of valance over my windows? I have 3 windows in a row... could that work? or, would that look stupid? Here's an image with similar windows...the 3 in a row... it could all tie in then maybe?

This picture of course, isnt my room. Just a view of windows...

Or- am I having buyer's remorse... This is the bedding I amost bought instead...

I really liked how they paired the white bedding with gray sheets and the bedding had the green accent with the cool green accent pillow. But- if I did that, I would have wanted to paint my room gray with green accents around the room for a "pop".

Now- with my room- I feel like I dont have anything to "pop" or decorate with. Any ideas?

Karma's a Bitch

what have we been up to this week, you ask? for starters....


On Monday, we went to play the answering machine and caught a call that Hunter didnt answer fast enough. It went something like this:

Caller- Hi Hunter? this is Simon
Long Pause
Hunter- How did you get my number?
Caller- Well you know in 3rd grade, we got a directory of everyone's phone numbers....
Hunter- yeah
Caller- well I looked and saw I had yours
Hunter- so
Caller- I was hoping you could help me out with social studies
Hunter- why
Caller- I didnt understand...
Hunter- it was due already
Then all of a sudden, he hung up on him.

I couldnt believe it. We were horrified. here some poor kid wanted help on his homework and Hunter didnt want to give him the time of day. i thought I raised him to be better than that, to be nice to people, etc. So- he got grounded, had to call the kid back to apologize, etc. We were angry. Later that night- we all went to bed as normal. Well- Hunter ended up in the hospital for 10 hours on Tuesday. He woke up Monday night very sick... lots of stomach pain (to the point of almost tears and doubled over) and vomitting. After throwing up about 8 times, I finally decided to take him into the emergency room to rule out anything such as appendicitis. In the middle of a vommiting episode, Sean tells him "karma's a bitch" So- on our way to the hospital, that was all Hunter could think about. Hopefully- lesson learned. Though- a tough lesson at that. We got to the hospital about 6am. He was in so much pain, they gave him an iv with zofran in it and decided to run tests. After an ultrasound, cat scan, blood work, morphene, etc, they determined it wasnt appendicitis and we finally got to go home about 4pm. all the tests were inconclusive, but he was getting better, not worse, so they sent us home to monitor. All is well now. The pediatrician, after reviewing his chart, thinks it was just a really bad case of gas, which caused his bowels to dilate and become inflamed which caused obstruction, that led to the vomitting. I'm just glad he's better. I hated to see him in so much pain. He looks better here though, right? This was after the morphene...


On a different note, we got our king size bed! After much debating and deciding, I went with the Vera Wang textures collection for the bedding. I am happy with it, however, we dont like the sheet set at all. I wish I didnt wash it first and then put it on the bed. It is so not soft, it makes noise, it crinkles, such a disappointment. Sean asked me if I went shopping at China Town and purchased Vera Wongs instead. So- needless to say, I am returning the second set I bought and will buy a plain white sheet set to use as well. The coverlet, duvet, pillows, etc I couldnt be happier with. Sorry for the bad pics, this is what I get for using my cell camera... I am so lazy, I havent downloaded real pictures yet from the camera.

My room looks really plain though. I need to find curtains, artwork, etc... My internet friend Karen is having a giveaway for a Target giftcard... that could come in handy on redecorating my room... stop on over to her blog http://www.adayinthelifeofkaren.blogspot.com/


She has such great decorting ideas and her daughter Jillian is absolutely adorable. Speaking of adorable... Quinlin turned 8 months old!

She is so funny lately. She sees the camera and starts smiling and laughing and all of a sudden opens her mouth so wide. It's hilarious! She is talking up a storm...little baby babbles are the best. She hasnt been to the doctor lately, but I'm guessing she's about 18 or 19 pounds. Still size 3 diapers and wearing size 6-9 month clothing. She is so fun. Owen is really starting to like her now too as she interacts with him more. She cries and he says "why are you crying baby"? or he'll say "hi baby" or "give me the ball". It is so fun to see both of their personalities really coming through. I love my little monkeys!

Labor Day Weekend Recap!

We had a great weekend. It started out with my parents coming over for pizza and football on Thursday night and we hung out in the basement watching the Browns. I didnt work on Friday so staying up late this time was enjoyable for me.

Friday I dropped the kids at daycare and had a "me" day. I started at Kohl's and purchased the insert for our duvet, pillows, a mattress protector, etc. This new idea of a king bed has suddenly gotten very expensive! After Kohl's, I treated myself to Panera and went on to the salon to get my hair done. I tried a new place... I liked it...but at the cost, I dont know. I dont feel like my hair looks much different, which could be my fault too. I wanted to keep the length so just had the color redone and some layers put in. I bought a roundbrush so have been playing around with it. It must be working though as my father in law gave me all sorts of looking younger compliments. I'll take it. After the salon, I came home, ran some errands with Sean and picked the kids up. Hunter had Michael over for dinner, which was nice. Low key evening and we were all in bed by 9:30 because Hunter had a meet the next morning.

Saturday morning we woke up to crisp air and wind...Hunter had to be at the school by 6:15am for his meet and we made the decision that it was too cold for the babies to watch him run. So- Sean went to the big early bird invitational and I stayed home with Q and O. They got home about 10:30 and Hunter was so excited that he dropped his time by over a minute. He finished his race at 17:20... so proud of him. wish I could have watched it. Sean's parents came over about noon and we left them with the kids and went to Ed's store to buy a mattress. So excited for the one we picked out-- I cant wait to get out new bed. We came home and started making chili in preperations for Carrie's 8th Annual Chili Cookoff. After making it last weekend, I think we got a bit cocky. We decided to double our recipe... (didnt think it would change the taste, but it did). So- we did 6 pounds of beef instead of the 3. from the beginning things went wrong... we cooked the meet, added the peppers and onions and started stirring with a wooden spoon. The porcelain handle of the spoon broke and we had to throw all the beef away so we didnt risk anyone ingesting a piece of porcelain that we didnt fish out.... 6 pounds in the trash... so Sean went back to the store and bought more meat, peppers and onions... he came home with 5 pounds...Ugh! so- had to go back again for the last pound of beef. we started cooking- added all our ingrediants and found out we didnt have enough dortmunder... back to the store Sean went. so frustrating. We let it simmer, etc. and it was good. it just didnt have the wow factor as the first time we made it.

Sunday was busy! we had our chili simmering again and went to the Wolf's annual labor day party. Lots of fun, but rushed. we only stayed for about an hour and a half, came home, grabbed our chili and off to the cookout we went. We had a great time, but it was hard because we constantly had to chase after the kids so didnt get to visit with our friends, etc. And when I say "Chase after the kids", I guess it should be rephrased to "chase after Owen". He had the time of his life. The chili cookoff was a success. We didnt win but placed around 4th or 5th. My friend Kelli helped count votes and said we had a really good amount. Oh well. It was worth a try! Of course prior to the cookoff, we said we would never enter again as it forced us to have to be there at a certain time, etc. However, upon leaving, Sean was already thinking of how he wanted to make his chili for next year.

Monday we cleaned and then made our way to Jennifer's for a cookout. Came home, bathed the kids, put laundry away...nothing exciting. Looking ahead already to next weekend. Hopefully the week will go fast. Hunter has another meet today. Wishing him luck as I have to miss it... :(