Best Friends, Florida, & Framing Hanley

Last weekend was a good one.
I figured I'd throw together a little post about it.
Friday morning we headed out, on our way to Florida for the weekend.
Two purposes of this trip was; 1- spend the weekend with my best friends & Doug to go fishing with M's hubby. 2- For C, M & me to go see Framing Hanley. (It was M's first FH show too!)

The show was Friday night, so we got to M's around 3 and got dressed real quick & headed out, we had about a 45 min- hour drive to the venue, which was in Jacksonville.

We leave, decide we'll get Taco Bell since we thought we were pushing time. It was about 4-something and because we didn't know where we were goin, we wanted plenty of time to get there.

Well, plenty of time we certainly had..

Let me back up..
I got an email on March 22 stating that the time had changed from 7:00 to 6:30. No biggie, really.
So that was factored into our rushing. We wanted to stop and get dinner at a sit down restaurant but figured we wouldn't have time. Even though FH was headlining & would be going on last, we wanted to get there when doors opened.
Now...then venue.
Let me set the scene...we're driving & are now in an area of Jax that M (who lives there & is familiar with Jax a little) is not too familiar with. So we just follow directions & it has us pull into a shopping center. The only legit store in the center is a Dollar General on the end. Then there is like a nail salon & a couple of other stores that I can't remember. On the opposite end there is a club (or something) that M see & says, "oh, there have been shootings there before." Holy God. Great.
Well, after driving back and forth & being blind, we finally see the venue's sign on the building, which happens to be right next to the other club.
I called to double check that we were in the right spot & to ask when doors opened, thinking it was at 6 or 6:30 since, ya know, that email. Nope. Doors open at 7. What?
So, here we are, in a sketchy ass area with an hour and a half to wait for this place to open up.
We pulled across the road to a nicer looking gas station & I ate my food while we sat and talked.
Finally it's almost 7 so we went back across to where the venue was. Thankfully there was a small line formed. So, we found a parking spot as close to the door as we could & then got out.
We felt a little better then & finally at about 15 or 20 after 7, the door opened.

There were 4 or 5 openers. That's a lot. And I didn't get into all of them.
Actually the only opener I really like was the one right before FH, and there were called Avenue of the Giants. (Check 'em out).
We got our merch & chatted with the guys before they went on.
And then around 10:30, or maybe even 11, Framing Hanley went on stage and all was right with the world! They played a lot of their new material & of course some of their songs from the past 2 albums. As always it was an amazing show. I may be biased but, that's honestly besides the point. If you've never been to a show, go. Tickets are always reasonably priced. :-)
After the show we chatted a little more & M & I took a picture with them.
We got home about 2am.

The rest of the weekend was good & bad. My lovely husband was supposed to go fishing Saturday with M's husband. BUT, poor D, he ended up waking up with a stomach bug. So, while M's husband went fishing & us girls went to do a little shopping, he stayed on the couch allllll day. So much for hoping he could have a little break. :(
We stayed in and watched a movie Saturday night.
Sunday we just sat around until time to say good-bye. Thankfully D was feeling better so the long ride would be too miserable.
After saying bye, we stopped at Chili's for lunch. (At which we saw a woman who looked like she was about 8 months pregnant enjoying the hell out of some margaritas. -We are bout 90% sure she was pregnant, it wasn't like a fat belly, it looked like a pregnant belly, belly button sticking out and all-)
And then we took the looong drive home.
And viola! That was my lovely weekend! The only thing that would have made it better was is D wouldn't have gotten sick.
Did you make it to the end of reading?
If so, yay!
Remember how I said I took a shit ton of pictures at the show & only a handful came out. Here they are...

Blurry, but I love it.

Avenue Of The Giants

Guitarist, AOTG

Devon, lead singer, AOTG

Nixon
Framing Hanley

Jon
Framing Hanley

Nixon
FH

Ryan
Framing Hanley

Jon, Brandon, Nixon, Chris, and Ryan
Framing Hanley

Jon & Nixon
FH

Nixon, Jon & Ryan
FH

Nix

Ryan
FH

Chris
FH

Brandon
FH

Framing Hanley & Me
4.11.14

After looking if I did a little editing, there are a couple more that would probably be halfway decent, but oh well...

Framing Hanley has a new album coming out April 29, it's called The Sum of Who We Are.

If you're interested in following or keeping up with them you can either:
Like their FB
Follow their Twitter
Follow the FHan Twitter
Follow the Street Team Twitter (A lot, not all, but a good number of the tweets from it are me)
And then of course there is their Website.
And the FHan site

Look for The Sum of Who We Are in stores on April 29.
You'll here me mention it more, obviously! :-)

And, I'm out!
Lovins!
♥♥♥
Brandy

Concert Fever.

I've got it.
I've got it real bad.

It's really one of the best escapes.
There is nothing like your mind clearing of everything except for that moment...and the music.
Do you know what I mean?
For at least 2 to 3 hours you just forget about the stress, drama, or whatever is troubling you and it's amazing. Gives you chills and such a rush. Surely I'm not the only one who is impacted this much by music, let alone live music.

Music is my drug.
And I'm ready for my next hit.

There are so many concerts being announced and I am dying to just buy tickets to all. of. them!
I'm going to try to make it to as many as I can.

Here's my concert "wish list" for this year, in no particular order:
subject to change (& by "change" I mean "have more added to it")
Fall Out Boy & Paramore
Luke Bryan w/ Cole Swindell
Def Leppard and KISS
Linkin Park, 30 Seconds to Mars, AFI
Framing Hanley
Panic! At The Disco
Jason Aldean w/ Florida Georgia Line & Tyler Farr
Journey & Steve Miller Band
The Backstreet Boys
George Strait and Sheryl Crow

& I wouldn't mind maybe seeing...
One Republic
Brad Paisley
Alabama
Willie Nelson & Allison Krauss
Queen (w. Adam Lambert)
Dave Matthews Band
Alabama


There are some more that I wouldn't mind seeing but I'm not looking at Ticketmaster at the moment & so my mind is a little blank. :)

So, yeah.
There you have it.
There are some that I prefer more than others. Shows I'm convinced I need to go to.
So, we'll just see how it goes.

I have 3 planned for sure already. 2 soon and 1 in October. lol
I'm ready to add more to the plans!

Any of y'all have any concerts that you'd like to go to or are planning to go to??

Lovinsss!
♥♥♥
Brandy

P.s. Sorry it's been so long. I miss y'all!♥

Zumba?

So...
any of you ladies do Zumba?
My bestest started it about a month ago and she is loving it. She's been urging me to try it because she knows that I love dancing as much as she does. Problem is, my confidence with dancing is zilch nowadays.
But, as I've mentioned before.
I have already bought 2 dance DVD's.
Well more than that, one of them is the Step Up Revolution DVD & the other is the Hip Hop Abs set.
Anywho...I have being thinking about Zumba.
I think I'm going to get a DVD and check into it more.

But the main reason I'm even talking about it is because I stumbled across a Facebook page that is a girl that posts video of her routines. They look like a lot of fun and a good workout & I just wanted to share it with all of y'all.
Go check out & "Like" her page HERE!
Her name is Jessica and she looks amazing! You can tell she put a lot into working out & she likes what she does. She's apparently been teaching Zumba for like 3 years. I kind of want to learn some of her dances/routines!
I like her "Timber" dance & her "Go Buck" dance.

I haven't weighed in on here in a bit,...
let's see where I am...
Last week & the week before I was at 154.1
Today I am at 152.6

Didn't expect that. At all. I won't even lie.

I feel like my endurance it pretty good, about time to challenge myself a little further, as far as cardio and how long I can do it.
I don't feel smaller or much better in terms of being in shape. I still have quite a few days of feeling bloated. Then every so often I have a "small day". I'm ready for those to be more frequent. I'm not pushing myself enough right now, other than on the treadmill. I really need to dive into more strength and toning.
Doug & I went to Dick's to checkout workout equipment like dumb bells and such & I need to go buy some more.  He's also back on the workout train again. & he's feelin' it. He's starting slow as well, I think that's key. Now I just have to help him get a handle on his portions again. Boy can eat, which, honestly...if I weren't watchin portions, I could too. Love food. lol

I haven't posted a playlist in a couple of weeks. Here is the first one I posted.
So here's another...
Let's go for POP this time...
(in no particular order)

1. Pitbull & Kesha- Timber
2. Ellie Goulding- Burn
3. Aloe Blacc- The Man (loooove this song!)
4. Ed Sheeran- You Need Me, I Don't Need You
5. Jessie J- Do It Like A Dude
6. Cher Lloyd- Swagger Jagger
7. Britney Spears- Work Bitch
8. Avicii- Wake Me Up
9. Little Mix- Move
10. Alex Clare- Too Close
11. Little Mix- Wings
12. Zendaya- Replay
13. Ollie Murs- Troublemaker
14. Demi Lovato- Neon Lights
15. Kesha- Blow


If you would like to suggests any songs, I'm always open to them. Any and all genres welcome here.

Welp, off to sit around and wait to go play in the snow.
Snowpocalypse for us in North GA. I'm gonna try to not snack my way throw the next couple of days. That's all I want to do. haha.
Lovins!
♥♥♥
Brandy

You say you want a revolution...

Did anyone what the Beatles Tribute Concert last night?
If not, you missed out.

Via

If you have been living under a rock and don't know what I'm talking about, it was a 2.5 hour concert paying tribute to and celebrating 50 years to the day -Feb.9 1964- of when The Beatles first appeared on "The Ed Sullivan" show. (aka, The Beatles were introduced to America, sparking the British Invasion.)

It really was so great. All of the artists involved did amazing renditions of The Beatles' songs and then Paul and Ringo performed which was the icing in the cake.

Via E! Online

The only thing that could have made it better would have been if George and John were still alive.
I think it was a great tribute & I loved that it told a bit of a backstory of not only the group but also about the guys individually. Left me with wanting to get all of their albums, which I sadly do not have. I was familiar with all the songs played though so, I wasn't lost or anything.
I can't help but think about how great it must have been to see them live back in the day.
Ahh, would have been so fun!

It'd be awesome if they released it on DVD. I'm gonna keep a look out for that. You should too!

So, my weekend...
was again, so good..

Friday was low key. I balanced my checkbook & Pre Ordered my "The Sum of Who We Are" package! The free song that you get to download instantly is so good! We did movie night at home. We watched 2 Guns and Last Vegas. Both were very good. 2 Guns stars Mark Wahlberg & Denzel Washington, they are two undercover agents working on a case together. It's a crime action/comedy. It's a really good movie. I don't want to describe it too much, I don't want to give anything away. Last Vegas stars Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, and Michael Douglas. It's a comedy about 60-something men take a trip to Las Vegas to for a bachelor party. I thought it was funny & I recommend it as well.

Saturday was a QT day for Doug and me. We slept in, he finally got me to wake up sometime after noon...oopsie. And then we headed out to do a little shopping. Our main mission was to go to Dicks and scope out their workout stuff. I need some heavier dumb bells and would like to have a medicine ball, but we were just checking out prices for now. He also hit up WalMart, Kohls and Old Navy. Our haul included some jeans for him, me some flip flops and house shoes. A new computer mouse (I had the touchpad thing & my mouse finally died) and some other random but needed things. We wanted to have a date night, we had Texas Roadhouse gift card, but uhh,..at 6:30 there were already people waiting outside the restaurant. Uhh, yea. Five Guys won that fight by a landslide. I loooove a good Five Guys burger!
Then it was home to relax.

Sunday- Went up to my ma-in-laws to check out the trail cam and refill the deer feeder and Doug ended up going to a movie with his mom & bro while I skipped out and came back home to try and help mom meal plan and make a grocery list. Sunday night ended with the Beatles Tribute on TV.
Oh & then this happened...

Sooo, so, so happy/proud about that! I'm also proud of the fact that I probably could have kept going. I didn't really tire, which tells me that my endurance is getting better. Usually I only go 30 to 45 minutes depending, but I just felt good enough to keep going.
Also the first time that I've gotten to and past 3 miles since I've really started to used the treadmill -seriously- again. (Nov.) Accomplishment for sure!

Family, good food, good music & quality time with my man! Pretty perfect weekend, to me. :-)


And then there's today, oh Monday...
It's actually not all bad. My patience is just nonexistent. We're supposed to get more snow over the next couple of days & that sends folks into a frenzy around these parts. So, while mom and I are trying to just to our weekly grocery shopping, everyone else is trying to "prepare" and ugh, it was just annoying. You can definitely tell the difference between the people who were there just doing typical grocery shopping and the people who were there because "omg, it's gonna snow". Ridiculous. And the same goes for people on the road. ASSHOLES. It's not even doing anyyyything yet, it was drizzling RAIN, and I mean barely & everyone was still in rush mode. And on top of all of that. I was just baffled by the amount of people who were at Wal Mart and Kroger in general, I mean, did they not have to be at work? It was morning & afternoon time....ri-damn-diculous. We're supposed to get at least 1-2", at most I think 3-6" of snow. However, that could end up being ice/sleet instead. So, shit...we'll see. Just pray our power stays on!

(Go ahead northerners, laugh it up, I know this is nothing compared to what you're dealing with. But just remember, this household pretty calmly prepares. My Dad's an Ohio-an, he's actually dealt with real winters before.)

How was your weekend?!

Happy Monday y'all!
♥♥♥
Brandy

Is it time for bed yet?

Is it bad that I want to be done with today already?
Not that it's necessarily bad.
I'm just in the mood to be warm and cozy in my room.
And let's be honest, if I'm in my room, I'll more than likely be in my bed.

I'm also trying not to worry about myself with these stupid ass headaches.
I hate talking about what's wrong with me because I feel like here lately there is always something.
I'm more so annoyed that I'll probably end up having to go to the Dr because I'm not down with random headache/neckaches reoccurring.

I have been a terrible blogger lately. No doubt about it.
I honestly haven't had much to talk about, or so I feel.
So,...ya know...
I've just been reading others and commenting here and there.

I asked 3 times last week for song suggestions for a workout playlist.
I got a few people who answered, to them, Thank You.
So, I also decided to go through my 1200+ songs on my mp3 player to pick some.
I'm going to break them up into multiple lists.

Today's is rock. More of a "harder" rock selection, so if this isn't up your alley, it's okay. Feel free to still throw out suggestions.

So, in no specific order...

1. Trapt- Headstrong
2. Three Days Grace- Pain
3. Chevelle- The Red
4. Bullet for My Valentine- Your Betrayal
5. In This Moment- Adrenalize
6. Avenged Sevenfold- Nightmare
7. Marilyn Manson- The Nobodies
8. Linkin Park- Papercut
9. Breaking Benjamin- I Will Not Bow
10. Limp Bizkit- Break Stuff
11. Staind- Mudshovel
12. The Used- Take It Away
13. My Chemical Romance- I'm Not Okay
14. Taproot- Poem
15. Korn- Coming Undone

Thanks to Jordan for her suggestions.

Now, I need to motivate myself to get back on the treadmill tonight. I have made excuse after excuse the last couple of days and I can tell the consequences. That & I had a tiny gain this week instead of a loss or a repeat weight. No good for me. But, no ones fault but my own.
Once I get that treadmill time in THEN I can call it a day. Right?
;-)

Happy Humpday everyone.

♥♥♥
Brandy

WIW. What's on your playlist?!

Cranking out realllly quick a post while I have the time before finishing up supper.
Shredded chicken tacos, YUM!
It smells sooo good, by the way.

So, it's WIW.

I'm really just posting to ask the same question I asked at the end of my post on Monday, & on IG.

What do you listen to when working out? What song or songs motivate you?
I'm wanting to make a playlist (if I get enough people to answer), so please feel free to give me as many songs as you love! Country, rock, rap, I don't care,...it's ALL welcomed!

I'll post on here once I get it. I'm gonna wait til either tomorrow or Friday to see how many, if any, more songs I can get.

If you answer I'll also include a link to you blog in my post, or if you go to my IG and answer I'll leave your IG handle! :-)
I've had a few people answer, so I owe a thank you to them.
And thanks to any of you in advance.
:-)

Working out is going okay.
I almost ended up with shin splints last night, but didn't. Thank God.
Jordan posted the other day about being fitted for a proper shoe and I'm now convinced I need to do this.
I just have to ask where to do it around here.

I'm down a little. Less than a pound, but I'll freakin take it!
I want to be out of the 150's...but more importantly I want to feel like I'm out of the 150's.
Know what I'm sayin'?
:-)

Sorry so short today.
And sorry it's only a WIW.

Talk to ya laterrr!
♥♥♥
Brandy

I hung out with Peter & Ariel this weekend, nbd. Edited: I have a question!

Peek-a-boo.
I feel like I'm the Queen on MIA lately...
Boo to me.
Anywho, hows about a wee update?

First off, I hope everyone has had a great first couple of weeks of 2014! :)
Mine have been pretty good.

-We're still trying this no-spend thing, although, it's still only going "okay". I still feel like I'll be happy about come February, so that's all that matters to me. Post about that to come.

-I'm happy to say that I am not sick anymore, those antibiotic did their job for sure & I have felt relatively normal for the past week or so. I say relatively cause I still get a good headache every so often, but I think I may chalk that up to my hair...It's long (and thick, making it heavy) and I keep it I a bun--a lot, that shit causes headaches. I need to take about 3 or 4 inches off. So I'm looking into maybe doing that in February.

-I'm since me relative normal-ness has come back I'm trying to throw myself back onto the treadmill. Which I fell off of last night! LMAO. There's a first time for everything, right? I did 45 minutes last night and it felt pretty damn good. I haven't had a mountain dew since Jan 4th. My face is about to melt off, I want one SO bad. And I know I will drink them so this isn't a "I'm giving up cokes" thing, but since -for whatever reason- I've gone without them this long, I might just see if I can go a whole month...actually I know I can. But I might do that. Also squats are the devil and I fuggin' hate them....unless they cooperate with me and there is no knee pain, then they're good.

-I need to clean. That's the most overused statement, I swear. I always need to clean! lol. Am I the only one still putting stuff up from Christmas? And by stuff I mean the gifts I got. I have a box with gifts in it that just haven't made their way to their designated spots. I need to get on that.

-I'm still planning to do a 2014 post. It'll be up soon...ish. As will my baby situation update. I'm such a broken record, I swear.

-My to-do list is already stretching and stretching, or so I feel.

-I get to go to Nashville sometime in the coming months...I just don't know when or for how long yet. lol

...um..I think that's about it...nothing much to really update on. Been kind of laying low.

Let's talk about this weekend....

-This weekend I partied hard Saturday night at a hotel for Carla's birthday! lol Who rents a hotel room, one county away, just for her and on of her friends to sit and WATCH DISNEY MOVIES?! This girl, that's who! Since my living room is non-functional, and she has no privacy either. We decided to rent a room & I took my DVD player, I brought a movie and she brought a movie and after we left Applebee's for her birthday dinner, we went to the room got in our onsie/footie jammies got our beer [that we drank out of Disney cups] and sat in bed and watched Peter Pan & The Little Mermaid & talked. It was perfection. A quiet night for us to talk about whatever the hell we wanted with no one to eavesdrop, butt it or judge. lol Went to sleep late, woke up an hour before check out & felt great.

Disney Night♥

-Which leads into Sunday...oh Sunday, sweet, sweet Sunday. How's about MY BRONCOS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL! I was SOOO happy & now I get to really gat pumped up for the Super Bowl! Time to hit up Party City for Bronco supplies. Which is really conflicting. It's hard being a broncos fan when we are typically a very strong anti-orange&blue household. (Gators, Auburn) So, to like the broncos, whos colors are the same as Auburns,..yea...tough. lolo Mom was really hoping the 49ers would win, that's always been her team kinda, and so she was hoping for 49ers VS Broncos, but they just didn't pull off. Too bad. Would have made for an interesting Super Bowl Sunday at my house. lol So it's Bronco vs Seahawks. I'm hoping we take it all the way & shut that loud mouth Sherman up! Uhh, can we say JERK? I feel like Erin Andrews handled that 100 x's better than I would have. I'd be all, "don't be yelling in my face."
Anyway, that made me so happy. The rest of Sunday was spent going through stuff, working a little on a puzzle and then I got in a good little workout.


Source

One more huge thing before I leave ya today.
My girl Karla has taken on a new adventure & has opened an Etsy shop!! A little backstory, just in case you don't follow her (um, you should, she's the greatest), she was given some paints and cavases by her husband's grandmother & started to explore more into painting. Upon doing so she realized she had an amazing knack for it. She so talented and loves to paint & so she decided an Etsy shop would be a great thing to try out. Her shop is called "Three Winks Originals" and her paintings are so good. Definitely go check them out. I'm so excited for her!! Spread the word! ♥

Karla's info: Blog | Etsy | Three Winks Originals Facebook |  Twitter | Instagram: kay_em_ess

 

 

That's it for today lovelies.

It's already well past lunch and I have yet to eat.

So...later, loves!

♥♥♥

Brandy

EDIT:
One more things...I have a question to ask, and I'm going to ask on Twitter and IG too...
I'm gonna make compile the answers and playlist of the answers I get, if I get enough for a playlist, and of course I will post it.
So, my question is...

What are some of you favorite songs to listen to when you are working out? If you used to work out, but don't anymore, you can still answer. Any and all songs/genres welcomed!

If you don't workout, you can still answer, it'd just be more along the lines of what are some songs that motivate/push you?

I just think it's interesting to see what motivates everyone!
So leave me one or as many as you would like!!
I'll also ask on Twitter and IG to see what some folks who may not have a blog say.
I'll give it a couple of days before I make the list!
Thanks everyone! :-)



Star 94 Jingle Jam 2013

Finally gonna rave about Jingle Jam that I went to 2 weeks ago.
I went to the Star 94 Jingle Jam again this year and it was pretty damn amazing, if I do say so myself.
If you've been around these parts, you may remember my post raving about it last year. I was SO excited to be seeing Ed Sheeran, and the other artists that were there were all amazing as well. Jason Mraz? Duh! Andy Grammer, Alex Clare, Grace Potter & Phillip Phillips? All amazing. You can read it here if you'd like.
This year, I decided I wanted to go again, depending on the line-up -of course.
It felt like it took FOREVER for them to announce the line-up and I remember when they did.
I was driving home from running errands, patience at an all time low with idiots on the road & I was listening to the station that puts on the show & all of a sudden there it was, "Star 94 Jingle Jam, featuring *plays music*" It confused me at first because I thought, "why the hell would you start an announcement and then cut it off half way through to play a song?" Then it dawned on me, that's who was going to be playing! Well, one of the artists anyway. And that artist/band alone was enough for me to say yes. I called Doug immediately, I'm talking as soon as the announcement stopped, and told him I'd be buying 2 tickets to this show AS SOON as they go on sale. And I did. And I even bought FLOOR seats, a first for me in a "bigger" concert. And boy was is worth it! And luckily Carla went with me (and had just as much fun as I did.) ;-)
I'm honestly still kind of pinching myself.
The line-up? Colbie Caillat, Avril Lavinge, The Fray, The Goo Goo Dolls,...and...The BACKSTREET BOYS.
Never in my life did I think I would be able to see them live. Ever. Same with the Goo Goo Dolls. Like, what? I think I knew them even before BSB.
Let me just start from the beginning.
They show was on December 16th.
We got there early, because I'd rather sit in the parking lot & wait than to be stuck in traffic.
Found our seats fairly easy & was blown away at how close they were. Definitely closer than I thought, and I am not complaining.
I feel like it was a good build up of artists. Started out slower with Colbie & ended with the big finisher BSB. Every artist in between built up the energy more and more. With a snag or two.
Colbie Callait was actually great. I like her music. I feel like some people don't because all or most of her music is more mellow and slow/soft, but I like it. It's good, chill music. So I think she was a great opener. And she seems just as chill as you would imagine in person.
Avril. So, you know Avril Lavigne, right? Pop-punk princess. Rebellious type of attitude/image and all? I didn't get that vibe out of her performance at all. She wasn't awful, but I honestly expected more from her just based on her music and such. I didn't fully get that punky attitude that you'd expect. I don't fully know how to explain it. Regardless, I still sang along. I was just a little sad at how it ended up sounding.
The Fray. They...are...amazing! Not even exaggerating in the slightest. If you ever get the chance to see them, I would take it. I like their music anyway so I was okay with them being in the line-up, but there was a small part of me that thought someone else could have went there. BUT, let me tell you, they fit RIGHT in. Isaac puts me in mind of someone from the 90's and I cannot for the life of me think of who it is by name right now. He's got kind of a nasal-y crackly voice and I loved it. He even walked out in the audience (he stopped about a row in front of me) and stood up in a chair and sang. Then he sang on top of his piano. They have great stage presence & the entire band in amazing. I know that they lead singer always get's raved about, but it has to be said that they whole band was great. 200% pleasantly surprised by them. Love it.
Goo Goo Dolls. I mean a dream come true for anyone old enough to appreciate 90's music, right? Duh! It doesn't even matter that they were the oldest artist/band in the line-up, they were amazing. And getting to hear some of your favorite songs from years ago, live, is just amazing itself. But unfortunately this is were the snag came in. They had a 30 minute set and they ended, of course, with their major hit "Iris". Holy excitement! Well, about halfway through the song, Avril comes out and decides she want to sing with "one of her idols" -as she said-, SHE. DIDN'T. KNOW. THE. WORDS. She fumbled the song, wasn't singing the right line in the right place, and just kind of seemed like a space cadet. The just when you think she's going to leave the stage to they can finish the song properly, she doesn't. She just continues to butcher it. I sat down. I couldn't take it. I know it's probably rude to kick someone off the stage when they want to come out and accompany you in singing, I mean it should be flattering right? But Johnny so should have booted her somehow. I don't know. I was sad about it though. So was Carla, and so were the people behind us. It just one of those things. I don't know....I was embarrassed for her. I actually hope she was drunk.
Backstreet Boys. I'm seriously so excited I got to see them live. I cannot express that enough. I'm also glad it was in the venue it was in, cause even though it's an arena, it's a smaller one. And you know what? They are ahh-mazing. I'm not kidding. For them to be a 90's boy band, all grown up and having gone through some of they things they have and just life in general, they are amazing. I'd totally pay to see them again. I also recommend if you like or liked them that you go see them. Not only will they make your preteen/teen dreams come true by singing some oldies, their new stuff is good as well. They did I don't remember the exact set list, but it was a mix of new and old & they threw in a Christmas song so there were only a few songs I didn't really know. The rest of them I belted out at the top of my lungs while trying to contain myself just a bit. Haha.
Overall it was an amazing show, very well worth the money. Such a fun experience. Star94Atlanta did great again with putting together a great show as well as getting together a great line-up. Even though I wasn't fully happy about Avril, I'd still recommend seeing her, especially if you're a fan. I was happy to see her because I have liked a lot/most of stuff she's put out since the beginning so seeing her for that alone was good. That's just one of the risks of a concert, you have to know that there is a possibility that they won't sound the same. But everyone else sounded as they do on radio/album if not better.
Also, there was a photographer there that was walking around taking pictures of the show and the audience. He stopped and took pictures of Carla and I a couple of times. I do not know who he was taking pictures for but I would surely appreciate finding him so I can see those pictures because I feel like I look ridiculous because we were kind of having a blast! lol. Leave it to me to throw in comments about the photographers. I just want to do it. Star 94 should get an extra photo pass and let me try it out. I would love to shoot a concert with my Rebel as opposed to my P&S. Maybe one day.
Anyway, here are photos & videos!
Photos are mine, videos are not. Sources will be below. :-)

BSB- I Want It That Way

source

 

BSB- Everbody

Source

 

The Fray- How To Save A Life (long)

Source

 

The Fray- Over My Head (Cable Car)

source

 



I'm not going to post the Iris video,...but you can watch it here.
And if you want to see any other performances just look up "Star94 Jingle Jam 2013" in YouTube.
:-)

Lovins
♥♥♥
Brandy

I still can't believe I saw AJ & Nick & Brian & Kevin & Howie live. LIVE. Mind Blown.

I want to write a song...

I'm not saying I could be some kind of lyrical genius.
I won't even say I'm a poet or anything.
I can't sing.
I wouldn't be able to put a beat together for a demo, or whatever.
But, I do. I want to write a song. Or two.

I have several thoughts that pop into my head that I think might work in one.
I'm observant, so even though I may not write about my own happenings, I find inspiration from others.

My fears (if I were to actually try):
-There are so many genres, so many musicians, etc. that there are a long of songs that seems so unoriginal. I'd probably fall into that unoriginal category.
- Having lyrics that are too similar to already existing songs.
-I never have (can't) write music (or play music for that matter). Or sing. Both of which are usually helpful when songwriting.

So why do I even want to?
The challenge of it, to challenge myself. I like writing but I honestly haven't really written since I was in school. I've lost my touch with it. I was never amazing at it. But I could write a poem or short story. Of course, this was all back in my school days, so criteria and all has changed & something that was good then can be shit now.
But I've kind of wanted to get back into writing a little. It's not a SUPER passion or anything, but it can be fun and therapeutic & when you have a head full of thoughts or whatever the hell else is floating around in there, it's good to get them out.

It's not like I'm wanting or expecting to write a hit & have a label pick it up & an artist bring it to life. (Although, let's be honest, that'd be pretty awesome, amirite?!) I just want to see if I can even do it. To see if  I can basically write a poem that can be sang. haha.

It's something to think about.

So, as I sit here thinking about music, I'm mean it's almost always on my mind.
Songs. Lyrics. Instruments. Beats.

About those songs, and those lyrics...
I was wondering...
What makes a good song?

Amazing lyrics? Storytelling? Slow ballad-y feel? Fast paced and dance-y? Rhyming? Not rhyming? Long? Short? Funny and witty? The types of instruments used?
All of the above.
None of the above...

For me, it's all of that.
All of it, and sometimes none of it.

There are songs for every mood, for every emotion, for every occasion.
And I love that.

What about you? What makes a good song to you? What are some of your favorite songs and/or lyrics?

♥♥♥
Brandy

Five on Friiiiday & I am backin that azz up with excitement!!

Oh hot damn, this is my jam!
(if you didn't just sing that, then you're wrong)
Oh yes, today, Friday, is. my. jam!

I've felt better today than I have in a couple of weeks, with pcd turning into a full depression with everything that happened last week, I told myself I was digging out of the hole & thank goodness I was able to do it in time for this weekend. I actually think the upcoming fun-ness that should happen this weekend is what helped pick me up.

Anywhooo...let's do this business!
Linking Up with Darci & Whitney today!

-ONE-

It's Gold Rush weekend. A festival that happens in my town every year. Shuts down the middle of town and there are booths and fun as far as the eye can see. I've loved it since as far back as memories go & I still love it. It's one of those things you always look forward to. So, I am SO ready for this weekend!

-TWO-

Doug said we could carve punkins! YAY! I don't know what I want to do to mine, but I'm excited as shit. (Remind me of this if you see me complaining on Twitter about it. lol) I'm thinking either another Framing Hanley pumpkin or an old school, simple face)

-THREE-

I'm finally deleting texts off of my phone in hopes that it will free up some storage space so I can receive fucking notifications again. Seriously it's ridiculous. I don't get ANY notifications anymore. And texts...EL OH EL...The number I had on my phone is embarrassing...let me give you a very, very small idea of the number...I already deleted one thread of message, from a number that hasn't been a working number for over a year...that thread? Had over 4,000 messages in it, with the first on in it dating back to August 2011 (when I first got the phone). Between that and another thread and some other random messaged that I haven't deleted for what ever damn reason I think I've deleted close to 10k...so far.
DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT. Anywho, if this fixes my little issue and helps my phone even a little bit, I'll be able to hold off on getting a new phone for just a while longer, which would make me and my wallet happy.

-FOUR-

I updated a couple of apps last night & MFP was one of them...apparently updating it logged me out. So I type in my info to log back in and it says "please be patient, this might take a while.." Yea, I'm still not logged it...It's still "taking a while". Shithead. Speaking of...if you're my friend on MFP,..you'll probably be big-eyed as hell this weekend, cause today I have a constant craving for moutntain dew and this weekend I am going to try my damnedest to get me some Sbarros because I have been craving and talking about it for a couple of weeks. Hey, at least I'm doing a lot of walking tomorrow & maybe Sunday. Maybe it will balance it out. ;-)

-FIVE-

AND FINALLY! So you know how some radio stations put on/sponsor holiday concerts. "Jingle Balls", "Jingle Jams" or whatever. Well there are a couple of our stations that do that also & last year, I went to my first Star 94 Jingle Jam, I blogged about it here. I got to see Ed Sheeran (EEK!!), Alex Clare, Grace Potter, Andy Grammer, Jason Mraz (EEP!) & Phillip Phillips(EP!), it was an aaahhhmazing show. I went for Ed & was blown away by EVERYONE that performed. SOOO,...I decided I might go again this year & I have been WAITING for the announcement of the line-up and when tickets go on sale and blah blah blah...WELL, Wednesday I happened to be listening to that station in the car when I heard them FINALLY mention it...and then who was going to be on the line-up. Let's just say my jaw dropped and I called Doug right then and asked told him I was probably gonna get tickets if that was okay with him. He said yes. Which means I actually told and asked. :) Anyway, tickets were set to go on sale today at noon & I was awake before 10a.m. and watching the clock tick by. Noon hit and I GOT MY TICKETS!
YAYY! So who am I seeing?
These guys:


These guys:

This girl:

& these guys:

OHEMGEE, I am sooo excited right now! I don't know if there will be anymore artists added to it or not, but I'm excited about just that line up, so I hope it remains the same (in other words, I hope no artists have to bow out). 90's & pre-teen Sissy is SO HAPPY right now! And I'm pretty excited about The Fray too.
Above all else. I'm seeing BSB. LIVE. FINALLY! (O_O)
And the Goo Goo Dolls!
And Avril!
Holy God.
And I'm sittin right about here (the star)

My first time (EVER) having floor seats to a concert at a big venue. So I'm excited!
:-)

Now I'm just ready for my hubby love to get home!
I'm all smiles today.
I really hope it lasts all weekend,
I hope this weekend turns out fantastic
AND I hope it turns out fantastic for you as well!!

TGIF & HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
Love ya, Later!
♥♥♥
Brandy

New Framing Hanley...

If you've been around here for a hot minute, you know that one of my number one bands is Framing Hanley.

And I talk about them, a lot.

So why should today be any different?

They had to push back the release of their very long awaited and anticipated third album, again.

This time there was no new release date announced.

But, since they did have to push it back, again, they released 3 new songs.

3 songs off the new album.

Three FREE songs!

The are called:

Crooked Smiles

No Saving Me

Walt and the Wolves

I encourage you to go get them.

They are free so even if they end up not being your cup of tea,

at least they didn't cost you anything.

You can listen to below, but those are lower quality.

The high quality ones are the ones you download.

They are the exact ones that will be on the album.

To download them, click "Download all 3 tracks FOR FREE RIGHT NOW".

Follow the instructions.

Boom!

The album is called "The Sum of Who We Are" and it's going to be amazing!

And please, if you like them, share the link (www.framinghanley.com) on FB, Twitter, Pinterest, your blog, IG, wherever! 

Thanks a ton!

♥♥♥

Brandy

 

It's here...Friday!

You get a mild case of Rando Brando today!

-First and foremost, I know some of you -if not all of you- have read about Lora having to give birth to precious Harper way early. If you haven't read; in short Lora unexpectedly gave birth to her precious baby boy, Harper on Sunday. She was only 25 weeks along & Harper was born weighing in at 1lb and 9oz. Thankfully he has made it pass the first 72 hours, which her doctor said is the most critical. He still had quite a long road ahead & he will have to be in the hospital until at least December. A few amazing bloggers have started a fundraiser to help them with bills and other expenses. If you'd like to donate, you can do so here.
And of course if anyone who is a prayer warrior could keep them in mind, that'd be appreciated too. I remember when I first "met" Lora and we were both talking about wanting to get pregnant and some of the issues we were having & I was so excited when she announced her pregnancy. I'm pulling for Baby Harper to keep growing and get to go home to his mom, dad & big sisters as soon as he's able to!

-I am so ready for this weekend! SO. READY. Today is my MIL's birthday & we are going up to spend the night with her & my bro in law. I've made her banana pudding for her birthday "cake" & I'll be making chicken enchiladas and tacos for supper! Tomorrow? Well, I'll be at the Fall Out Boy & Panic! At The Disco concert that has been a long time coming. As in I've been waiting for about, ohh...8ish years -for BOTH bands-!
The downside to that is I am going to miss my Dawgs play! And they are playing LSU. I'll be a nervous wreck, but Doug has already been told that he'll just have to text me the score every so often. And I'll remind him of that several times.
And while we are on the subject of football (and the weekend), all four of my teams are playing on Sunday this week. ALL FOUR! Geeze. The only two I'll get to actually watch are my Broncos & my Falcons & they are spaced far enough apart time-wise that I should get to watch both in their entirety. I'll just have to DVR the laundry list of Sunday night show that I watch.

-And I'm bout to close this shiz out with some music. Duh. I find it so hard to pick one song...seriously. So, you get 6 today...yes, 6.

First one is this one...I heard it actually just this week I believe and I actually really like the sound of it.

Since I'm seeing FOB & P!ATD, I'm gonna do 2 songs from each....
FOB:

 Fall Out Boy- Sugar We're Goin' Down Swingin'

Circa 2005

Fall Out Boy- My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)

Circa 2013

P!ATD:

Panic! At The Disco- I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Circa 2005

Panic! At The Disco- This Is Gospel

Circa 2013

And last but definitely not least...

a completely different genre of music.

This song is stuck in my head. To the point where I literally had YouTube open in a tab the other night & was playing this video on repeat. Over & over & over again.

And I have to hear it at least once a day.

It won't go away. But, I'm not complaining.  ;)

Luke Bryan- That's My Kind Of Night 

 

So, yea...

TGIF everyone. 

Til tomorrow...

♥♥♥

Brandy

Good Day Sunshine!

Ahh, Monday. It's here again.
Good Morning everyone! My lovely husband is off, so our weekend technically isn't over and I'm hoping we still do something fun today.
Since I'm hoping for a good day, I thought, "what better thing to do than try to help others have a good day?" So, here's my attempt to try to help you have a good day!
How so?
With music, of course! This is me we're talking about.
So, if you're having a rough morning or just don't want to be at work, can't seem to wake up, it's a rainy day, you're just in a flat out bad mood, whatever the case. Take a listen to one, some, or all of them!
If I can make at least one person smile or help one persons mood or day start off good or improve, that make me happy!

Here we go...

1. The Beatles- Good Day Sunshine

2. Andy Grammar- Keep Your Head Up

3. P.O.D.- Alive

4. Nappy Roots- Good Day

5. Kottonmouth Kings- Positive Vibes

6. Len- Steal My Sunshine

7. Bob Marley- Be Happy

8. U2- Beautiful Day

9. Natasha Bedingfield- Unwritten

10. Alicia Keys- New Day

11. Jimmy Cliff- I Can See Clearly Now

12. Katy Perry- Firework

13. Eminem- Lose Yourself

14. Travis Tritt- It's A Great Day To Be Alive

15. Florida Georgia Line- Cruise (original & remix -love me some Nelly-)

16. DJ Khaled & T-Pain/Luda/Snoop Dogg/Rick Ross- All I Do Is Win

17. Smash mouth- All Star

18. NeYo & Cher Lloyd- It's All Good

19. Jessie J- Domino

20. Macklemore- Can't Hold Us

What are some songs that put you in a good mood, or that you like to start your days with?!
What would you add to the list?
Leave a comment & let me know!

Have a good day!
♥♥♥
Brandy