John Mayer

Yesterday Lauren VM, Dia and I went to see John "the love of Dia's life" Mayer. He's just like he is on his albums. So if you love that you would die of happiness to see him live. If you don't love it, you aren't confronted with something unpleasant or unfamiliar.

I like him (not love). I did have a fabulous time at the concert. There was an insanely drunk girl in a conservative sweater set in the row in front of us. Betting on whether she'd do a header over the railing in front of her was really entertaining.

After the show we went to the Capitol, took some pictures and did not get arrested. But barely. Good times. Lauren has the pics, I'll post a few when she uploads them.

What being at a concert really did for me though was get me excessively excited about Joe Firstman! Woooooo! I'm trying not to get myself worked up too early (still a month to wait) but its hard.

Today after dragging my unrested butt to Spanish and 368, Melissa and I went and got her Pierced!!! The dude had just opened and he made us wait like an hour in his frigid cold waiting area, but it was worth it. Melissa was so brave, she didn't even scream. She did curse. But I mean how could you not? Plus she has the cutest little tiny tummy thats starting to get tan and muscular from the crunches and self-tanner. She's too hot to handle.

Pics to follow-
Abby

Abby and Dia's Adventures

A Brief History of Abby and Dia's Concerts
Oct. 2004- Gavin DeGraw in Greenville, SC. Michael Tolcher Opens.
Aug. 2005- Gavin DeGraw in Raleigh, NC. Michael Tolcher Opens.
Nov. 2005- Michael Tolcher in Atlanta, GA. Family Force 5 Opens.
Oct. 2006- Family Force 5 in Columbia, SC.

A Brief History of Abby and Dia being Lost
Oct. 2004- Lost in Greenville looking for Gavin. GHOST DOG!!!!
Nov. 2004- Lost near the SC/NC state line. Are we in North Carolina?
July 2005- Lost in Columbia looking for a two-story Starbuck's with a balcony.
July 2005- Lost in Columbia looking for a mall.
Aug. 2005- Lost our minds while receiving a speeding ticket somewheres in NC at 3am.
Oct. 2006- Lost in Columbia by taking the wrong turn, and turning the wrong way- twice.

A Long History about what happened Last Night.
Last night Dia and I made the 2 hour journey to Columbia to see Family Force 5 give a free outdoor show at 5 Points. We left approximately 1.75 hours after our planned departure time. But we looked fabulous. I wore my teal Chinese shirt and my red cords, Dia had French jeans on with a button-up tied over a black tank. Tres chic!

We did not get lost on the way there. Nearly, but not quite. Go us! We drive up and find $3 parking right across the street, which was probably a huge rip-off, but we Chicagoans were thrilled.

We walk up and the concert is on a big open lot (probably a parking lot by day) that has a 20x20ft "stage" in one corner. The "stage" is really a 4ft high walled in area that looks like it should be a garden or something. There's a tree in it. Pretty classy. The lot has a little beer stand and a snack stand and the building on one side of it seems to be occupied by a bar and a Starbucks. A two-story Starbuck's with a fricken balcony. You should have seen Dia's face.

The opening band was called Mean Wiener. They were ok, an older, local-looking rock band. We got Bud Light in plastic bottles. Those things freak me out.

Dia had this idea about putting on a French accent and telling people she was French. Some guy walked up to hit on me (he complimented my shirt) and Dia just jumped in. It was amazing. His tongue was dragging on the ground. He thought her frenchness was so sexy. He totally believed that she was my French cousin. It was positively the most awesome nonsense Dia has ever pulled in front of me. I'm now learning accents for the exclusive purpose of picking up guys.

Anyway, eventually Family Force 5 came on and they were so brilliant. They are great live and they are so energetic. Plus they are nuts. The guitarist jumped down off the stage and did a lap around the lot with a stop to play a solo on the curb for passing cars. One of the guys did the worm on the 1 foot wide ledge. The lead singer spent a lot of quality time hanging over us on the light post on the ledge. So crazy, so fun. Afterwards we got pics with the boys and signatures.

When we left, Dia turned on the wrong road. But we found our way to the interstate and promptly got on going the wrong way. Luckily there was a Waffle House at the next exit so we went in and grabbed some coffee and grub. Our waiter was totally high. We ate and got pecan pie to go. We got back on the road in the right direction and then got on the next road going the wrong way. It happens. We made it home in one piece anyway. Good Times.

Yay getting lost and concerts and finding that damn Starbucks a year after we gave up on it.

joe

Or, The Best Night Ever

As it turns out, shooing a fly from you car can drastically change your luck. Notes from Miranda and my adventure to the Double Door in Chicago to see Joe Firstman

Occurrences Before Fly Removal:
-Gravity and Lipstick conspire to ruin Miranda's shirt
-the dryer makes the shirt more wrinkled
-Abby is cut in line at McDonald's
-Cheese and ranch dressing fall on Randa's black skirt
-Construction and traffic drive us onto an "alternate route"
-The alternate route went through a sketchy weird neighborhood

Occurrences After Fly Removal:
-Alternate route leads back to the Dan Ryan sans traffic
-We find free parking
-We've accidently arrived an hour before the doors open
-But our new best friend Curtis Peoples lets us into the club
-Where Joe Firstman is doing sound check
-And then calls us pretty
-Hours later we see an amazing show from a distance of 3 feet
-Afterwards Joe's tour manager invites us to an after party
-We got hugs and pics with Joe
-Joe said Miranda had a memorable face
-Joe's new CD was amazing all six times we listened to it on the way home

Joe is perfection. He's so good and he had a bass cellist in his band. Here are our pics.