Summer Fun!

Well summer is in full swing around here and so far its been great.  I have always enjoyed summer for several reasons, including:


1) Pool time (magazine and book required)
2) Baseball (Go Rangers!)
3) 4th of July and Fireworks
4) My Birthday
5) Annual trips to Florida
6) Full concert schedule


And lucky me it is mid-July and I have accomplished all of the above items on my summer to-dos.  


1)  I have been enjoying great pool time on Sunday afternoon's after church.  Very relaxing and good time to get caught up on my reading (hello People and Real Simple).


2)  I have gotten to go to a few games already this summer, most recently Mom, Dad, Amy, Chris, and I went for a Friday/Saturday weekend in Arlington.  We watched the Rangers beat Oakland, it was a good time.

Me, Dad, and Amy (Dad really liked his shirt, it says Feel the Grip...haha)

The whole fam (love that we finally have another boy)

The girls.

The original Byrd clan (we got dad the hat for Christmas, he finally got to wear it).

Sisterly love.

 Since the game was on a Friday night we got to stay and watch the fireworks.  They did a TV theme and it lasted over 30 minutes.  Very good.

 Another firework shot.

Finally, the weeping willows, I love those.

3) (See above for the Fireworks).  The 4th of July was great.  I spent the weekend at the lake with some work friends and watch fireworks with my friends Nicole and Ashley in Highland Park.  (I didn't get any pics though, but the ones at the Ranger game were much better).

4) My birthday was super fun this year.  Thanks to an awesome roomie (Love you C), I got to celebrate with lots of friends from Dallas, OU, and work (we also had a party with the fam at home, complete with homemade ice cream, thanks Grandmommy!  I didn't get any pictures from that party though).  For the Dallas party, we went to a great Mexican place called Monica's where you get to dance on the stage if it's your birthday and they do a Conga line complete with a tequila shot at the end.  Yes Please!

 Me, Casey, and Audrea at dinner (my necklace was a gift from Sarah for my bday, I LOVED it).

 Having fun with Casey.

 Haylee and I at dinner.

 Getting to dance on stage with my tambourine.  The orange shoes were a gift from Heidi for the bday (I really liked my bday presents this year).

Me and my strawberry cupcakes Casey made for the party.  They were really good!

After dinner we went a Piano bar and got to sing some good songs, including a Disney song from The Little Mermaid and "Thong Song"....let's just say that the piano player was really well rounded.

All in all it was a great birthday and I have a good feeling about 26 (as Holly always says, she likes even numbers, so I have kind of started to lean that way too....26 is very well rounded number, don't you think?)

5)  Each year Heidi is nice enough to invite me to come and stay at her and Dr. Chapman's condo in Destin.  I have gone every year since 2003, except for last year when I was too busy with work to get away.  So this year, I wanted to make sure to get it back in the rotation again.  And what was super special about this year was that both my mom and dad got to go as well.  Now my dad hadn't been to Florida since 2003 so this trip was extra special for him.


Every year it varies on who all goes to Florida with us.  I have been with Jackson (Heidi's son and the brother I never had) and friends, work friends, Holly, and twice I have gone just me, Heidi, and Chapman.  No matter who goes we always have a good time.  This year the lineup was Mom, Dad, Heidi, Chapman, and Paula and Bert.  Mom, Heidi, and Paula have all three known each other since kindergarden and Dad, Bert, and Chapman put up with lots of old stories.  I was the youngest person on the trip by about 25 years, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.


We normally split the trip down there into 2 days, spending one night in New Orleans on the way.  I had a wedding in Oklahoma and actually ended up flying to Florida to meet the gang, but they got to drive through New Orleans and go to Cafe du Monde and the whole she-bang.  I was really sad to miss the drive because it really is one of the most fun parts.  I know most of you don't believe me, but we have a really good time driving across the country.  Particularly because we play the license plate game along the way.  In case you don't know what that is it is a game where you try to find all 50 license plates from the start to finish of your trip.  We play every year and we have only gotten all 50 once or twice.  Normally it comes down to some hard states like Vermont or Delaware (extremely hard to find).  Anyway, it makes the trip super fun.  Heidi and I are really good at it, and we keep each other in check (the hard states have to get double confirmed by two people, unless it is coming from a reliable source....which in Heidi's mind she is the only reliable source although I have kind of proven myself over the years).  The trait comes in handy, I can spot random license plates from a mile away.  I digress....more about the trip....


So I got a call from my mom on Sunday telling me that we were actually not able to stay at Heidi and Chapman's condo because it had been inadvertently rented out.  So we were being placed in another condo managed by the same rental company.  They thought it was going to be a disaster.  However, the replacement condo was great and we all liked it.  It was a good alternative since there was nothing we could do about it and they had already driven all the way to Florida.


I met the gang early on Monday morning after flying out from Oklahoma after the wedding.  I actually got a really good picture on the plane:

Once I landed I got a taxi (no one wanted to pick me up because they were all at the beach) and drove to the condo.  Once I arrived I was so excited to see our view from the new place:

I didn't take great notes on each day of the trip like I normally do, but our routine each day was about the same:  Breakfast on the patio followed by beach time for several hours.  This was normally followed up with lunch and adult beverages (we also checked in on the Casey Anthony case each day as it was airing while we were down there).  We then had more beach time followed by showers and afternoon shopping.  We normally returned in time for happy hour and appetizers at the condo and then would go to a late dinner and then off to bed to start the whole process over the next day.  Now that is my kind of vacation.  Very low key, but very fun, full of good food, good laughs, good shopping, lots of drinking (during the day and night....somehow the six of us went through 2 48 packs of beer and several bottles of wine during the week....as my dad said "I am on vacation and going to enjoy myself"), and good beach time.  


There were lots of funny moments and quotes from the trip that I wrote down, but somehow I could not find when I was trying to write this blog entry.  So, pictures will have to do.


Here are some fun pictures from the trip:

Dad, me, and mom at dinner one night.  We went to a good seafood place with the best hush puppies ever....so good!  This place also had the Voice on TV, which was another obsession of ours during the trip. 

 Bert and Paula

 Mom and I in our matching coverups purchased at Target.  Heidi got one too but wasn't around for the picture.

 Picture night on the balcony.  Normally we would do it on the beach but we were up on the 10th floor and decided to just take pics from the patio.  My dress and headband were trip purchases.  Dad has a great smile in this pic.

The whole gang (besides me because I was taking the picture).  

Now I have to explain this picture.  This was my riding companion on the drive home.  It is a Chinese New Year dragon costume.  Now I have been on a million trips with Heidi where she has found things for the store that ultimately have to get home somehow.  So we either have to make room for the said item(s) or get them shipped to Ardmore somehow.  These have consisted of a wedding cake pinata, a ceramic frog, a gigantic ice cream cone (this had to be delivered in a semi), pieces of a Carousel, and a 6 foot wrought iron chicken, among several other items.  She already had this piece picked out before I got there.  We walked into the antique store and she said "Can you see what I want in here?"  I spotted it immediately.

That pretty much defines our trip in a nutshell.  I always enjoy our Florida trips and I am glad my dad got to go this year, it made it extra special.

6)  Concerts:  Please see my last entry for the most awesome concert ever....(NKOTBSB!!!)

Audrea and I have tickets to see Keith Urban at the end of August, and I think Casey and I are going to see a cover band at the Dallas Arboretum.  I am really looking forward to that.

I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I am enjoying mine!

Until next time, Ciao for now!

NKOTBSB!!!! (Glitter Tops Required)

This last weekend, a time lapse happened to me.  I was transformed back into middle school with my discman on my way to a drama competition listening to the one and only Backstreet Boys.  I am not going to lie....I was a boy band junkie in middle school.  I loved them all:  Backstreet Boys, NSync, 98 degrees, O-Town, even LFO who had that "Girl on the TV" song with Jennifer Love Hewitt in the video.  I have no shame.  So, when I found out that New Kids on the Block would be touring with Backstreet Boys this summer, I knew I had to get tickets.  My friend Sarah from high school is doing an Optometry internship in Dallas for the summer and staying with me...after a quick phone call she was on board, along with her sister and my mom.  I got onto ticketmaster and got us pretty good tickets....bottom level halfway back.

Concert day came and we all met up to head over to American Airlines center.  My mom was super excited, but wasn't sure which band we were going to see....she mentioned both the 98 degrees and Boyz II Men.   I had to inform her that we weren't going to see either of those bands.  We then played the NKOTBSB cd in the car on the way over so she could familiarize herself with their songs.  I have to admit, I was a little young for New Kids on the Block growing up, so I had listened to the cd during the week to familiarize myself with their other songs besides just "Step by Step" and "Hangin'Tough".  However, Rachael, Sarah's sister, was a New Kids fan as she is a couple years oler than us.  Together, we had all angles covered.

I ended up having an extra ticket to the concert because Heidi was supposed to go, but had to cancel last minute.  Casey had no desire to see NKOTBSB (what was she thinking!)  My friend Lindsay called to see if I wanted to go on a walk.  I told her that I had a little bit better of an offer than a walk...how about a free ticket to NKOTBSB?  She was so excited and said she could be ready in 10 minutes.  She showed up and off we went.

A few of my friends from work had asked me to go with them to the concert about a month before.  I laughed when I told them I already had tickets and was going with my mom.  But they made sure to get seats right by us.  They were super stars and dressed in their full on 80s attire (Catherine even had a large Joey button attached to her shirt....so cute!)  We met up by the merchandise table before the concert started (where I secretly wanted to buy a shirt but refrained....I still regret it....I might buy one online....)

Below are my friends from work:  Catherine,  Lindsay, Anneliese, and me.  Why did someone not tell me to put my drink down?

Here we are in our seats:  Lindsay, me, Sarah, Rachael, and Nance.  Little did we know how good these seats were....

Then the concert started.  Now let me just tell you, I didn't have that high of expectations.  As much as I love BSB, it has been like 15 years since they were big and even longer for NKOTBSB.  And my favorite member was Kevin Richardson, who sadly did not join the group for the reunion tour (man, what an idiot).  I expected them to come out, do some songs with their old dance moves, maybe sing one or two songs together and that would be it.  Oh no.  This was WAY more than that.  

The opening number was huge and lasted about 10 minutes.  The show lasted over 2 hours, with a 15 minute finale.  The bands sang all of their original songs along with some new stuff and the finale was a battle between BSB singing "Everybody" and NKOTB singing "Hangin' Tough".  It was freaking awesome!  

There were two main stages with a long runway between them.  The two bands switched back and forth from the two stages and the stages raised up and down, there was fog everywhere, flashing strobe lights, fire and other pyrotechnics, major glitterized tops, hats, and shoes, 9 guys running around singing and dancing their butts off.  It was out of control!  In a really good way.

Some take-aways:

1) While the boys are older, they are all still in great shape and look great....especially Donnie Wahlberg who ripped his shirt off twice.

2) They can all still dance....like really good....only thing is there was a lot more pelvic thrusting and grabbing than I ever remember when watching their videos when I was younger.  Especially by Donnie Wahlberg and Nick Carter.

3) I forgot how great their songs were...swoon!

4)  The crowd was great.  It consisted mainly of 25 - 40 year old women, some gay men, and then some couples with straight guys that obviously hated their lives.  There was also the one off dad who brought his young daughter....so sweet.  Anyways, everyone in the crowd knew every word to every song, which made them all that more enjoyable.

5)  Our seats were great!  So, I must say I bought the tickets so randomly I didn't realize our seats were in front of the second stage.  Well, at one point in time during the concert the BSB boys picked an aisle to come down before they went to the stage....that aisle just happened to be my aisle...and our seats were on the end!  Not gonna lie, it was awesome.  I got to touch both Nick Carter and Brian Littrell while they walked down and sang "Shape of my Heart".  

Now I'm not going to hold anything back, I loved Brian in middle school.  He was my second favorite BSB member after Kevin.  But Nick Carter?  Not so much.  I thought he was ok, but then he grew up and the only thing I can put my finger on with him is that he sometimes is on the Carter reality show that doesn't air anymore and he dated Paris Hilton a few years ago....that's really it.  Well when he walked by you would have thought it was freaking Patrick Dempsey or something.  I was swooning....it was a little embarrassing.  I shook his hand, and when I say shook, I mean attempted to hold.  Anyways, this only lasted a second and then he was gone.  I thought, oh well, I got a good picture and moved on.  

Right after this occurred my phone blew up with text messages.  I hadn't even thought of it but when Nick walked by I was on the jumbotron....OMG....so now 20,000 people saw me freak out over Nick Carter, and I don't even care for him.  I was just caught up in the moment.  What I didn't realize is how many other people that know me were at the concert.  I received no less than 5 mesages in 5 minutes.  The texts varied from "I saw you on the big screen" to "Emily....Nick Carter....seriously?".  But I thought about it some more and decided I am not ashamed.  I got to freaking hold Nick Carter's hand....I decided to wait a day to take a shower.  

6)  As you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert.  After it was over, we waited by the tour buses and got to see Howie from BSB and Jordan Knight from NKOTB walk out and to their bus.  There were 13 buses.  We decided that they all probably had their own and made the stage hands share.

7)  After all this excitement we decided to head home.  The consensus amongst all of us....best concert ever!  I am serious, on a scale of 1 - 10, it was a 15!  Sarah and I both decided that we would pay the $100 ticket fee tomorrow and drive to another city to see them again if necessary.  It was that good.  And my friend Lindsay said that she was officially a teeny bopper, 10 years too late.  And my mom said that she really liked the show, but she thought there were 5 members in Backstreet Boys.  I told her we would discuss that later.

Ok I won't bore you with anymore chatter.  Here are some of the best pics from the night:  

The opening number.  Notice Joey McIntyre in his cutoff vest.  Major glitter required.  (Mom also got confused here because she thought that Joey was Joey Fatone...I had to tell her that was NSync, and that we weren't seeing them).

Working the runway.

One of the two stages, with fog enhancement.

BSB performing in their satin suits.  Their outfits were really out of control.

Donnie Wahlberg singing "Covergirl".  After he literally ripped his shirt off.  I mean the man is in his 40s and still has a 6 pack.

He's still got it, and he knows it.

My interaction with Brian Littrell.  Mom also got to shake his hand and she kept going, "He was looking at me Emily".  Mom lay off, he is married.

Nick Carter.  Apparently my new crush.

Finale of the concert.  They finished all wearing Mavs jerseys.  It was pretty awesome.

And what's a concert without confetti?

Lots of it....

Huddle up where the guys probably thank their lucky stars that someone thought about a reunion tour.  There is no telling how much money they are going to make this summer.  Genius idea.

Action shot of Donnie throwing his Mavs jersey into the crowd.  The man couldn't keep a shirt on.

End of the show.  Good job boys.

Sarah and I after it was over.  We were excited as we fit into the "Glitter Tops Required" theme of the night.

  

Hope you enjoyed my recap.  It doesn't even to scratch the surface as to how good this concert was.  Judge if you must, but for one night I got back in touch with some of my old favorites and first crushes.  It was good fun!

I want to tell you all about my recent Florida trip with Heidi and the family.  I have some great stories and pictures.  Coming soon....

Until then, Ciao for now!