battle of the matts – round 2

Are you ready for the second installment of my “Battle of the Matts”? As you may recall, from this post, I had a week of concert ticket purchasing, which resulted in me with tickets to see both Matt Nathanson and Matt Wertz in concert within about a week of each other. I was lucky enough to have a friend willing to join me on my concert going adventures throughout the two weeks, and it was really fun to see to singers I really enjoy listening to.

Matt Wertz  was definitely a Pandora discovery a few years back, and now he’s one of my go to happy place music people.  Naturally, some of his songs have a breakup theme (something I realized I am drawn to, which is probably bad in a way, oh well), as well as some really happy songs that make me sing along (which I hope my neighbors enjoy). First off the venue for this show was much more intimate then the prior one, being at the Highline Ballroom. My friend and I were able to sit at a table right up front and have dinner and drinks before and during the show, I pretty much felt like I could almost touch the stage – or that at least the band could probably see me.  I really enjoyed being so close to the band and getting to hear so many of my favorite songs. I was sadly unaware of the latest album so I had not done my own due diligence in prepping for the show by spending the week prior just listening to the new stuff, however Matt played all my old favorites too. I was a happy camper based on the fact that I could sing along and annoy the man in front of me (sir – it’s a concert, you are supposed to sing along, not shoot dirty looks at those of us singing).

Highlights:

Favorite Songs: 5:19 as the original closer, Get to You, Someone Like You

Philanthropy: Finding out about the Mocha Club, a great charity helping out in Africa to provide clean water, among other things to those in need

Bonus: For the encore playing snippets of favorite songs, often after an audience member shouted it out, before bringing back the band and the opening act to finish the show

So, you may be asking, who won my battle? Well, I’ve been listening to Matt Wertz for two weeks solid since the end of his show, and trying to see when he’s coming back to town again, so I think he’s the winner from that alone. Both shows were so different, but I truly enjoyed the smaller venue and feeling more a part of the experience.

 

winner winner chicken dinner

I am a daddy's girl through and through, honestly I think when I came along the idea of a son was far fetched at that point, so I became my father's football child. I really do enjoy watching football, probably in part is that I could always upstage my sister and spit out some statistic about the Patriots. As someone who works in a male driven industry, I've been an active participant in the football pool for years at the office - it's always my goal to best the guys at work, not necessarily win the pool (small victories count a lot in my book). Anyways, this past year, the football pool guy decided to add a survivor pool to his offerings - something that I have been pretty good in the past. Well this past week, week 11 in the NFL, I finally did it- I am the sole survivor, in a winner take all.  This makes me so excited just to have the bragging rights at work. I couldn't have done this without a few teams helping me along the way, to the Jaguars - thank you for beating the Titans and making a huge upset last week, bringing down most of the boys. I would also like to thank the Cardinals for winning this week, not allowing the Jags two weeks of victories, by picking the Cardinals, I sealed my fate to at least make it to week 12, which would have just complicated my life. Finally, I have to thank the Raiders for defeating the Texans- which knocked out the other guy left in the pool, making me the last woman standing ( I was the last woman in the pool by week 5). I am a very happy person this Monday morning, and better yet, my dad is so proud of my football skills.


football kids photo from pinterest (they were so cute - what can I say, I am cute sucker).

friday, i'm in love

Oh thank goodness it’s the weekend, anyone else have that feeling like the weeks are getting super long? Part of it for me thinks this due to the fact that the sun is setting so early that I am at my desk and it’s pitch dark outside and only 4:45. I miss leaving work and getting to enjoy the sunshine.  Anyway, I am pretty excited that it’s finally Friday.  On tap for the weekend includes mostly household chores, decorating for Christmas (judge all you want, but if it doesn’t happen this week, well it’s not going to happen), and hot yoga. I’ve been particularly addicted to Bikram Yoga these days, it’s feeling very therapeutic for me – I feel so free during and after. It might be a reaction to all my city living these days.  Wishing you and yours a great weekend!

picture via pinterest

lose my memory by Wednesday week

Happy Wednesday, in the last full week I have on my plate for a few weeks. Next week I have to take a vacation day before I lose it into the next week, so I'll have a nice short week, followed by a short week for Thanksgiving. I definitely have had a case of Wednesday today- it's too far away from both weekends at this point, and I am out of cereal and bananas, so I have to go to the grocery store on my way home - which I don't really want to do.  Anyways, that's my ramblings for today. Luckily, tomorrow we are one day closer to the weekend- thank goodness.

photo via home 2 me

resolutions

I am not waiting for January to start some resolutions up.  Rosie over at Cider with Rosie (she’s so cute, and makes me feel so old) has done a series of Monday morning resolutions for a couple weeks. It was so sweet and endearing to see her promise herself to do something to better herself each week. Most were little goals for the week, which I like – in order to make big changes, sometimes you just have to start with a few smaller tasks.  I want to continue to grow as a person, so why not start having some mini goals each week to help me along the way.

This week’s resolution – become a better commenter on other blogs. I read a ton of blogs, some once in a while, others everyday – but one thing I don’t do a lot of is comment. Personally, I love when people comment on my blog, it makes me really feel like people are reading what I write, so I need to share the love back to others in the world.  My goal is to comment on at least 5 posts by other bloggers this week, leaving a personalized note related to their post.

Do you have any goals this week?

image via pinterest

Letters to Norby #24

Dear Norby-

One year ago, you came into my life as the best little gift I could have ever received (thanks sis!). You came a little sooner than the family was expecting, at near 3 in the morning, when we were expecting to hear about you later in the afternoon. I’ll never forget that I was on my way down to Maryland to a wedding for two friends (who’s wedding anniversary I’ll always remember) when Grammy called me frantic, telling me you were here and that she knew nothing else.  All of a sudden, I was your auntie and all that mattered was that you were healthy.

Being your aunt is one of the best jobs I’ve ever had, I get to watch you grow, I get to play and have fun. I get to do some of the less then fun things like change you, pick up tons of toys, and I always get to return you to your mom. This past year has been full of many things full of you!  You’ll not believe me for years on how you use to fit in the crook of my arm and how you’d like when I rolled my Rs for you and cooed like an owl.  I can hardly believe the little baby you were has grown into a grilled cheese eating little man.

Looking forward to the next year of adventures with you. Happy Birthday Norbs!

Love your favorite auntie


(image via fun4kids)