Exciting news! I have made the big move to a whole new revamped blog brought to you by yours truly. It is called Rappsody in Rooms. I am very excited to share this new blog space with all of you. Not only will it have more of the same type of content you have seen from me but more focused projects and design for the house.
So please, click on over to the new blog. Don't forget to sign-up to follow the blog there, as well as follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest! I'll see you at Rappsody in Rooms!
Monday, October 8, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
The Ole Switcheroo: Blogger to WordPress
It’s Official. Yes, so Official that it is a Proper Pronoun.
This weekend I am switching from Blogger to Wordpress. Eek! For the past two
weeks I have been researching, experimenting, designing, and scaring myself
silly as I try to make an educated decision (not spur of the moment that causes chaos) about whether I should make this
change or not. After all of my what-ifs and should-I-really moments I decided I
was going to do it. Not only was I going to make the change, but I was going to
give the blog a whole new makeover.
I had already mentioned in this post that I was most likely going to change the name of the blog. I loved the idea of “The Mego Blog” but I don’t think it showed enough of my personality and the purpose of my blog. It also broke a "cardinal rule" of blogging to not have “blog” in a blog name. But really, can blogs have rules? Suggestions, yes. Rules…blogs were meant to defy standards and be all about how you want them to be.
So after weeks of constantly thinking about names and polling every single person I knew in person, over email, through text, on Facebook, and on the phone about their opinion on a name, I found it. I knew it the moment it popped into my head. I didn’t need to ask anyone if it was a good one or not. It was The Name (there I go with those proper pronouns again), no doubts about it! That name then gave me the inspiration to start the design on my new page and help narrow in and define its purpose.
I had already mentioned in this post that I was most likely going to change the name of the blog. I loved the idea of “The Mego Blog” but I don’t think it showed enough of my personality and the purpose of my blog. It also broke a "cardinal rule" of blogging to not have “blog” in a blog name. But really, can blogs have rules? Suggestions, yes. Rules…blogs were meant to defy standards and be all about how you want them to be.
So after weeks of constantly thinking about names and polling every single person I knew in person, over email, through text, on Facebook, and on the phone about their opinion on a name, I found it. I knew it the moment it popped into my head. I didn’t need to ask anyone if it was a good one or not. It was The Name (there I go with those proper pronouns again), no doubts about it! That name then gave me the inspiration to start the design on my new page and help narrow in and define its purpose.
I don’t want to go squealing on the name yet, as I am sure
many Google happy people will go in and find a half-finished site, but I can’t
just leave you hanging. So here is a teaser, in the form of a logo I came up
with for the site. Eek! I made a logo and it feels so good!
So please forgive me this weekend if you try and go to this site, as I’m not quite sure how the exporting process will affect it.
So wish me luck and here I go. Catch you next week on the other side!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Mego Caving into Change
You know I can’t help to give a good tease, which I most certainly
did on Monday, but you know that I couldn’t just leave you hanging like that!
So here’s your reward: You get to see where some of those oh-so-cute (and
cheap!) knick-knacks ended (only some because some are still waiting to find a
home in our casa) and see a few bonus updates in the Mego Cave!
Remember the before? What a mess!
After:
Before:
After:
I’d say this is an upgrade for this little corner of the room. I couldn’t just let this corner get a makeover without seeing the lonely stares from across the room. So I remedied that by a little pound of a hammer (aren’t I a loving home owner?) and viola! More updates!
Let’s start with where those super-deal thrifty finds went.
Check out the majesty of the combination of those sweet little items and some of the bigger ones!
Remember the before? What a mess!
After:
Before:
After:
I’d say this is an upgrade for this little corner of the room. I couldn’t just let this corner get a makeover without seeing the lonely stares from across the room. So I remedied that by a little pound of a hammer (aren’t I a loving home owner?) and viola! More updates!
From this...
To this lil' update!
Just a little change but it brings more of a balanced look
to my eye. Let’s take a close look at that piece of artwork though, because it
has an amazing story. Aren’t those the best artwork pieces to have?
This is one
of the pieces that I bought in China, hence the slightly Asian flare.
Decorating Asian isn’t totally my thing, so I tried to buy toned down
Asian items so I would actually use them in my home. This piece is just
magnificent though. Looking at it from far away it is fun to just enjoy the
picture. Then you get up close and you get to thinking, “Wow, this looks so
light and airy. Wait a minute. Where’s the paint or pencil lines?” Well my
friends, there aren’t any. This whole piece was cut, by hand, from one piece of
tissue paper. Did you get that? One. Piece. Of. Tissue. Paper.
Apparently this one only took a few hours, but some larger
items they sell in the store can take months to cut! It’s just incredible. Can
you ever even fathom having the skill or patience to create something like
that? I sure can’t! So of course something that stunning needs a more front and
center place in the home. Thank you talented Chinese artist half way around the
world. This post is devoted to you!
Just one other little update in the room to share. Of course we can't forget the amazing chair appearing act. A little dated but still pretty spectacular for now. I thought adding perhaps a pillow or throw to it would snazz it up a little and make it more modern. Thankfully TJMaxx's clearance section came in for the win! Check out the result.
So there they are, a few random updates in the Mego Cave. Little updates, lotta punch!
Monday, October 1, 2012
A Thrifty Saturday
You ever have those days where you just want to sniff down a
good bargain? I’m talking about sifting through junk up to your elbows to get
that super-deal high afterwards. Well, the urge strikes me quite frequently,
so on a Saturday I started off on a thrift store adventure. I was
in search of super deals. Not really looking for anything, just looking for pretty
things to fill our house.
My first stop was Goodwill. This actually isn’t one of my usual thrifty haunts since the collection at our Goodwill in the housewares section can kind of be slim, but I thought I would give it a go. After this trip I might retract my Goodwill statement! I got so many fun little finds for the house; most for under $1! Here’s my loot, maties.
Look at all these wonderful little knick knacks I found. I am usually not a knick knack person (or I try not to be but my house may say otherwise) but with the projects going on in the Mego Cave, I need decorative items. Since these were all a super bargain, I went for it. For such a steal, they may eventually find their way back to Goodwill, but I call that a win-win. I get something for the house for a while; Goodwill makes a double sale on an item!
After Goodwill I was ready to continue the search. After so many successes at Goodwill I headed over to our furniture heavy DAV store. Known for being a little overpriced, you can still find some great bargains (like the side tables in our guest room I got for $25 for the pair!). They had some knick knacks but I was a little knick knacked out, so I honed in on the furniture section. I was nonchalantly looking for a side table and lamp for the Mego Cave. Man, did I ever make out!
I was originally looking for a lamp with good lines that I could paint a pop of color, but what happens when you find one that already pops? You buy it of course. You also look for a lamp shade with a good shade that you could possibly cover. Well, that is until you find one you actually like and don’t have to cover. As much as I love to DIY anything and everything, you can’t pass up something beautiful just because someone took the work out of it for you!
So you know I mentioned right at the beginning that I get the urge to sniff out a deal frequently? Well, I kind of meant daily. Since that isn’t realistic, I satisfy that urge with my good old friend Craigslist. It is lots of looking at cheap old things with lots of potential (and many hopeless cases way overpriced). So part of my daily routine is to just do a quick lookie through Craigslist. It lets my creative juices flow yet it is basically impossible to spend any money impulsively (it takes time to set-up a Craigslist buy). Anyways, that same weekend I was taking a look around and found something so amazingly wonderful for the Rapp family. I don’t think it could have gone to a more appreciative family. It was a Japanese toaster oven. Look at this baby.
Check back in on Wednesday to see where all my other thrifty finds have settled in at the homestead.
My first stop was Goodwill. This actually isn’t one of my usual thrifty haunts since the collection at our Goodwill in the housewares section can kind of be slim, but I thought I would give it a go. After this trip I might retract my Goodwill statement! I got so many fun little finds for the house; most for under $1! Here’s my loot, maties.
Look at all these wonderful little knick knacks I found. I am usually not a knick knack person (or I try not to be but my house may say otherwise) but with the projects going on in the Mego Cave, I need decorative items. Since these were all a super bargain, I went for it. For such a steal, they may eventually find their way back to Goodwill, but I call that a win-win. I get something for the house for a while; Goodwill makes a double sale on an item!
After Goodwill I was ready to continue the search. After so many successes at Goodwill I headed over to our furniture heavy DAV store. Known for being a little overpriced, you can still find some great bargains (like the side tables in our guest room I got for $25 for the pair!). They had some knick knacks but I was a little knick knacked out, so I honed in on the furniture section. I was nonchalantly looking for a side table and lamp for the Mego Cave. Man, did I ever make out!
I was originally looking for a lamp with good lines that I could paint a pop of color, but what happens when you find one that already pops? You buy it of course. You also look for a lamp shade with a good shade that you could possibly cover. Well, that is until you find one you actually like and don’t have to cover. As much as I love to DIY anything and everything, you can’t pass up something beautiful just because someone took the work out of it for you!
So you know I mentioned right at the beginning that I get the urge to sniff out a deal frequently? Well, I kind of meant daily. Since that isn’t realistic, I satisfy that urge with my good old friend Craigslist. It is lots of looking at cheap old things with lots of potential (and many hopeless cases way overpriced). So part of my daily routine is to just do a quick lookie through Craigslist. It lets my creative juices flow yet it is basically impossible to spend any money impulsively (it takes time to set-up a Craigslist buy). Anyways, that same weekend I was taking a look around and found something so amazingly wonderful for the Rapp family. I don’t think it could have gone to a more appreciative family. It was a Japanese toaster oven. Look at this baby.
It first caught my eye because Eric loves everything
Japanese, especially the crazy-kooky stuff they have/modify over there. We have quite a
bit of funky Japanese stickers and such around the house. I knew this would be
an awesome surprise for him. But when I get excited about something I want to
burst and talk about it. So I burst and told him, and we were
able to be all excited together. The excitement mounted as we got our arranged
meeting place and saw that it was an actual Japanese family. Why does this make us excited?
Because that means it really is authentic and came directly from a Japanese
store! (Okay all you Debbie Downers out there, don’t go telling me that almost
all of our items we buy in the US are actually built in China or Japan or
places like that. Don’t ruin this for me.) This piece was originally going in
the basement as part of Eric’s Japanese memorabilia, but this was tool cool for
basement banishment. It took up a space front and center on our beautiful kitchen
countertops!
Don’t you love those little pictures of food? How cool are
the characters? The pictures make me giggle since the Japanese are into all
those little cutesy things, like making that shrimp picture look adorable. Not only does it make me really happy every time I
look at it but it was only $10 and heats like a charm!
This may go down as my best Craigslist find ever. So I will
continue my trolling fresh off the victory of my little toaster oven (aww
anyone else just flash back to the Brave Little Toaster movie?!). Check back in on Wednesday to see where all my other thrifty finds have settled in at the homestead.
Friday, September 28, 2012
How to Pick a Paint Color (in the Mego Cave)
Ever find yourself dying to change
something up in the house? One of the easiest and most cost effective ways (in
my opinion) to make a dramatic change in the house is to change the color of the
room. However, in the past I made the process of picking a color dramatic as
well. I don’t recommend it. Remember when what I experienced a “paint emergency” inthe basement? Then my just “ok” reaction to the guest bedroom color? Then I
have also had a few huge successes where I just want to hug the paint color
(like the master bedroom and kitchen)! All those ups and downs and questioning
whether I would like a color when my paintbrush hit the wall were worrisome and
kind of made me stress out about painting walls.
Then came the Mego Cave, full of its rough wood paneled walls. I once thought I would never paint those walls, looking at the time and complications this room hads But once I got underway in the Mego Cave I knew it was imminent. I also knew I didn’t want to just get an “eh” color reaction. I want to LOVE the color and keep it for a long, long time, since I am anticipating a long, arduous painting process. So I decided to get it right before I loaded up on gallon cans and set to work. Here’s my color picking advice.
Then came the Mego Cave, full of its rough wood paneled walls. I once thought I would never paint those walls, looking at the time and complications this room hads But once I got underway in the Mego Cave I knew it was imminent. I also knew I didn’t want to just get an “eh” color reaction. I want to LOVE the color and keep it for a long, long time, since I am anticipating a long, arduous painting process. So I decided to get it right before I loaded up on gallon cans and set to work. Here’s my color picking advice.
1.
Go to the paint store with a color scheme in
mind. Remember that colors can really set the tone of the room, so have an idea of the type of feel you want the room to have. If you want a relaxing, cozy room go for warm colors (like green or blue). Want to punch up the energy? Go with a yellow, red, or orange. Purple and black families can be dramatic, although black and white can also be simplistic and pure. I like to load up on the paint chips. I pretty
much pick every chip they have in the color family I have in mind that attracts my eye. Then, I
step back and think outside my color palette. I always like to bring home a few
off the wall (haha for on the wall!) choices I hadn’t thought of before. That way I won’t just settle
for the same palette or comfort zone (not that that is bad, but I want to
explore with color in our home!). This helps my mind stretch and bend a little
and break outside the box.
2.
When I get home I spread the samples out and
then start taping them on the wall with painters tape. I try and pick a place
to tape them that is near the focal point of the room or an inspiration piece.
In this case I used my artwork since that is one of my biggest inspirations for
the room.
3.
Automatically discard the ones that just look
wrong. Go with your gut on that one. If you have that reaction
immediately, it's gone. Keep all the ones you like up on the wall for a while. I like to just live
with them for a few days/even week. It seems that after some time the colors
really begin to sort themselves in my head and “speak” to me. Yes, I think all
colors should speak to you!
4.
As those little chips are getting vocal, I start
separating them a little bit. A few more will probably jump out at you as no’s.
Take ‘em down. There will probably still be a lot up there and it may be
overwhelming still. So I start moving them into the love pile and the just like
pile. It’s no big deal if your categories move around a lot. As you play and
look, and they speak, you will slowly start to wean out the ones you don’t like.
Keep in mind the feel of the room you want. Do you want a bold, dynamic room?
How about a soft and sweet room? Or maybe a bright and cheery room? Keeping
this in mind will help you decide which paint color to go with.
5.
I try and narrow it down to just a few of my
absolute favorites. At this time start moving them around the room, putting them by
other pieces of furniture and seeing them in natural light and at night. This
is just to test that the color doesn’t look great on the light side of the room
but get all wonky and wrong in the dark corner.
6.
Once you have it narrowed down (I narrowed it to
3), go buy the genius little samples they sell. At only $3 a pop with quite a
bit of paint, not only do they help you choose your color but leave enough
paint for a later project. (The three pictured are Valspar Tempered Spring, Olympic Thin Ice, and Olympic Glimmer.)
7.
Then slap those samples on the wall. If you are
like me you are giddy with excitement and just stick your finger in the tub and
smear it on the wall. But, it would probably be better with a brush.
8.
I put the samples up by the focal art piece and
one just screamed out at me. Can you tell which one? So then I proceeded to
paint a few samples around the room, once again checking for wonky corners and
seeing how they look in all lights.
9.
At this point the right color seems to become
obvious: Valspar Tempered Spring. The one that makes your eyes
light up and seems to have a certain glow about it. When I look at my color
choice it seems to be lit up in a haze of majesty. Like it is glowing off the
wall saying, “Pick me!”
After that process I now have no
doubts in moving forward with painting the Mego Cave. I know I will LOVE the
color and can’t wait to get started on it! How about you? Have you figured out
a way to make these sometimes overwhelming choices?
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The Art of Failing: Slipcover Gone Wrong
Sometimes thing just don’t go the way you expect, or want,
them to. Take these homemade brownies I tried to make with a can of black beans. Definitely a mistake.
Thankfully, most of these things aren’t disastrous by any means, just mistakes. Well, my
friends, I have come close to disastrous with this new little experiment I
tried. As you all know, I am working to make our carport room into my Mego
Cave. You can see its progress when I began making it over by starting with this fabric artwork project, then got this steal of an antique door desk, and changed around the layout. When I got the new, super, awesome FREE chair, it kind of changed the direction I was going in the room.
Originally I was going to get a chair that complemented the blue loveseat. Now
that I have this electric blue chair, I think the combo with the soft blue
loveseat is just a little too…blue. And you know we don’t want any blues in
that room!
Boy was I excited when this came in the mail. So excited that I don’t even have pictures of the packaging. After I found it waiting on the front porch for me after work, I ran into the house, ripped it open, and practically flew down the stairs. Soon cushions and covers were flying around the room as I worked to get the new slipcover in place. Although, I did have a little inkling in my head that this wouldn’t work, so I had picked a place with free shipping for both delivery and returns. I also made note of the packaging before opening it, so I could best replicate it and get my money back if I returned it. Weird that I had that foresight but didn’t actually take pictures of it. Did I mention I was excited?
Before I knew it the seat cushion covers were off and the t-cushion
slipcover was on. It looked promising, right?
It was wrong. All wrong. It wasn’t even a Band-Aid solution.
It just wasn’t a solution at all. Although I knew this was a real possibility it
also made me sad. I let it sit on there for a few hours, but I knew it
wasn’t the perfect solution. I didn’t want to settle for “okay” or “it will do”.
I wanted to scream and shout for joy at the result. Done are my days of filler pieces. I want
everything brought into the house to make me oh-so happy and be absolutely
right. So off it came and back to the store it went.
So I had this super-great idea (or so I thought). I would
bring the blue loveseat to the basement to complement its blue walls down there
and bring the more modern lines of the basement loveseat upstairs. The only problem was this
loveseat was horribly ugly. It is a hand-me-down from the in-laws (from a looong time ago) and hopefully
there are no hard feelings that I just called something they bought ugly.
Although I am pretty sure I have told them that before. Moreso in the words, “It’s
just not my style.” Anyways, we were planning on slipcovering this guy anyways, so I
thought, why not bring it upstairs and slipcover it to fit my Mego Cave?! Makes
sense right?
I know, I know. You are thinking, “Duh, Megan, slipcovers
always end in disaster.” Well, I’m not a believer in that. I just have a really
hard time getting rid of something that is in perfect shape just because it’s
not pretty/my style. There has to be something I can to do it to make it
pretty! I thought perhaps going with a high-end slipcover (aka me not cheaping
out!) would be a good solution. Then, if it didn’t work then I would feel
slightly better shoving the old loveseat out the door. So after quite a bit of research, I settled upon this slipcover.
Boy was I excited when this came in the mail. So excited that I don’t even have pictures of the packaging. After I found it waiting on the front porch for me after work, I ran into the house, ripped it open, and practically flew down the stairs. Soon cushions and covers were flying around the room as I worked to get the new slipcover in place. Although, I did have a little inkling in my head that this wouldn’t work, so I had picked a place with free shipping for both delivery and returns. I also made note of the packaging before opening it, so I could best replicate it and get my money back if I returned it. Weird that I had that foresight but didn’t actually take pictures of it. Did I mention I was excited?
Then came the more challenging part of fitting the second cover
over the loveseat. You had to find the tags marked “Front Center”, “Back Center”,
“Left Arm”, and “Right Arm”. Then it really wasn’t that hard. Just push and
pull a little bit. Then it was time to sit to see the result.
I guess it’s just one of those live and learn moments,
right? Although, I still haven’t written off slipcovers for good. I think this
loveseat was a challenging fit, especially with the t-cushions, which are a lot
harder to find slipcovers for than the box cushions. I think slipcovers would also work better
for more plush couches. This one had thinner arms and a straighter back, so it
didn’t fill out the slipcover enough (even though the packaging said the slipcover
would fit the size). It's sort of like baggy pants on a really skinny person. It's just an odd look.
So what's the plan now? To save up for a loveseat that I not only love now, but will love for many years. I am looking for an investment piece, one that will make me jump up and down for joy every time I see it. So that's what I will be doing for the next few months: saving and searching for that right piece. Gosh, it feels good to not cheap out for once. Some things are worth the wait.
What about you? Any mistakes you made that eventually led to something better? Or taught you a lesson along the way? Or just made me you at its ridiculousness?
So what's the plan now? To save up for a loveseat that I not only love now, but will love for many years. I am looking for an investment piece, one that will make me jump up and down for joy every time I see it. So that's what I will be doing for the next few months: saving and searching for that right piece. Gosh, it feels good to not cheap out for once. Some things are worth the wait.
What about you? Any mistakes you made that eventually led to something better? Or taught you a lesson along the way? Or just made me you at its ridiculousness?
Monday, September 24, 2012
Words From My Heart…
I really love living my life on the blog. I am pretty much am an open book and love to share my thoughts, dreams, adventures, successes, and mis-steps. So in full disclosure, I am thinking about making some changes to the blog.
Change #1: WordPress v. Blogger
The first change that I am thinking about making is
transitioning from Blogger (my current blog host) to WordPress. Originally when
I was beginning my blog, I signed up through WordPress and started designing
the blog there. Then, I got a little further into the process and thought I
should check out Blogger. My limited skills and my eagerness to just begin
already made me a little frustrated with the limitations I (thought) WordPress
had. Since I support most everything Google, I switched over to Blogger
(powered by Google) and that is where I stand today. As I think about the
functionality of my blog, the features it offers, and its room for growth, I am
feeling a little limited by Blogger. Yet, I am also a little nervous to make
the switch to WordPress.
I am concerned that I may have to pay more fees through
WordPress. Right now I don’t have any, and technically I don’t have to pay
anything through WordPress either. But, if I am actually going to make the
transition, I want to buy my domain, which is a low annual fee. That’s no big
deal as Blogger asks you to do the same. I am concerned though that the farther
I get into WordPress the more fees I will have to pay. I just wonder if it is
all worth it.
Another concern I have is losing all my content and
followers. Thankfully WordPress has an import tool that assists you in this
process, but it still makes me a little nervous! I also definitely don’t want
to lose any followers! Hopefully, this would actually make life easier for
followers, since it seems like WordPress makes it easier to follow and to
comment on the blogs (two of my biggest complaints against Blogger). So I am
almost 100% committed to making this change but would love to hear anyone’s
thoughts, opinions, advice and stories about Blogger v. WordPress.
Change #2: Blog Name
Yup, I am thinking about changing the name of my blog. Here
is my internal battle: I want my blog to stay true to me, but I want to do
everything I can to encourage it to grow and blossom. Which makes me think a
name change would be a boost to the blog. I love the title “The Mego Blog”. It
is so true to me and fitting. But, the downside is, that if you don’t know me,
it doesn’t jump out and yell “read me”. I think it actually makes you just say,
“Huh? What’s that mean?” So I am looking into changing the name of the blog to
still represent me but to also tell a little bit more about the blog and me.
Something that may pique readers’ interest a little bit. The hard part is
coming up with a new name! I am struggling to hit on something I love.
Here are some ideas that I am just throwing around (bold are my favorites thus far):
·
Live Without Trying
·
No Boundaries Life
·
The Mego Diaries
·
Mego Love
·
Design by Mego· Simply Mego
· The Sparkling Daily or A Sparkling Daily
· A Sparkly Life
· Live Life Sparkly
· Glittery Dreams
· Shimmering Reflection
· Mego Styles
· Shining Stories
· House Reflections
· The Mego Life
· Mego Design
· Mego Cents
· The Mego Style
· Mego Dreams
· Life According To Mego
· Mego Styles
· Life Tales by Mego
· Mego Makes It Happen
· Mego Mania
· The Tale of Two Settees
· Housin’ Around
· House O' Stories
· Ginger Inklings
· Mego Mood Board
· Ginger Snapshot (I think this is my favorite!)
I originally didn’t think I would post about this process like this. I first wanted to just make all the changes, announce that I had made all these wonderful changes, and bam, it would happen. Then I thought, maybe I should be more real and tell you what I am thinking, share my thoughts and concerns. That’s why I have this blog, right? So I am telling you as it is and also reaching out to my readers. Any great name ideas that you would let me use? Or, do you even think the name should change? Do you like “The Mego Blog”? Any feelings about WordPress or Blogger?
PS – I asked my friend Carrie from DreamGreenDIY who is a
WordPress whiz her opinion and she was good enough to write an entire post
about it! Thanks Carrie!
Picture Source
Picture Source
Friday, September 21, 2012
Front Row Musings at Kelly Clarkson
Something very exciting and unexpected happened to me last
week. It was just like any other normal Monday, or so I thought. I was driving my 30 minute
commute to work, listening to my favorite morning show (shout-out to the Mornin’
Thang with Danny, Zack, and Monica! Love them!). They always have something
amusing going on that makes me laugh all the way to work. This morning they had
a few things happening, one of which really piqued my curiosity. They said they
were giving away front row Kelly Clarkson tickets! Sweet! I’ve been a fan ever
since the first season of American Idol. I have all her albums, own From Justin to Kelly (sigh, I shouldn’t
admit that), and have even been to one of her concerts, albeit from the
nosebleed seats. I just really enjoy her music and her personality. I like that
she seems like a really down to earth, sweet Southern girl with a little ‘tude.
Plus she has a song for every mood.
Anyways, back to the amphitheater. We were pretty excited to document every moment. Here I am just in the parking lot. See? Excited? Oh, and showing off my front row ticket!
Oh, did I mention The Fray were also on deck? Awesome! Know what was also awesome? To head in and go all the way down to the front. WOW. I’m so spoiled. I never want to go to those back row seats again!
One of the fun parts of being in the front row was that we made friends with all the security guards there. They were all really nice and we had fun joking around with them between musicians. I even got a sneak peek at the set list and a heads up that there might be some interaction with the audience!
The first band up was Carolina Liar, who was pretty good. I ended up knowing their last song, yet I don’t know how I knew it. Anyone else heard of them or knows of their songs? They were pretty entertaining.
So call that part of the concert a huge success. Then came the big act: Kelly Clarkson. [Warning: The light for her part of the concert in conjunction with her fair complexion and newly blonde hair did not an easy picture take!]
I just love her! She gives a great show. There is a good mix of singing her big hits, singing a few covers, a little bit of talking and connecting with the audience, some pranks by The Fray, and her bringing up her adorable nieces on stage who you could tell adored her. Oh yes. She winked at me too. Directly at me. If you know anything about her, you know she has this really good, quick wink. I got it.
If you squint really hard you can see an image of Jason Aldean projected on the curtain. That's how they sang their duet. It was a little...odd. But still neat! I can't say anything bad about the concert!
See those cute little girls? Kelly said that she should start calling Charlotte home because of all the family she had in the audience. Then she brought all her cute (totally enamored by her and wearing Kelly Clarkson t-shirts) on stage. They had so much fun dancing and singing along to the finale song "Stronger".
Anyways, to enter into this contest for the tickets all you had to do
was text in your name and location to be entered to win. Then,
starting at 8:45am they began calling random people picked from the texters. You had to answer with this and nothing
else, “I’ve got some cheese but not a cheese grater”. Don’t ask, cause I don’t know
what that phrase is all about, and they didn't explain. All I heard was an easy way to enter to win tickets. I
not a big one for having to do too much to try and win things. It’s not really
worth my time. So I got to work, texted in, and wrote down the phrase on my
notebook, just in case. Ok, I was playing along, even carrying my phone in my
pocket in case they called.
So 8:45 rolled on by and I made a wayward comment to a co-worker, in a joking manner, “Shucks! It is past 8:45. Guess I didn’t win.” Just joking around because of course I wasn’t going to win. So there I was, just working away on a Monday morning at my desk, when a random number popped up on my phone around 8:55. The look of disbelief on my face must have been priceless. I had no idea who this number was, so it was either K92 or a random telemarketer. So I answered with a pretty excited, “I’ve got some cheese but I don’t have a cheese grater!” Well blow me over with a feather! I heard the Mornin’ Thang on the other side of the phone!
So 8:45 rolled on by and I made a wayward comment to a co-worker, in a joking manner, “Shucks! It is past 8:45. Guess I didn’t win.” Just joking around because of course I wasn’t going to win. So there I was, just working away on a Monday morning at my desk, when a random number popped up on my phone around 8:55. The look of disbelief on my face must have been priceless. I had no idea who this number was, so it was either K92 or a random telemarketer. So I answered with a pretty excited, “I’ve got some cheese but I don’t have a cheese grater!” Well blow me over with a feather! I heard the Mornin’ Thang on the other side of the phone!
They started whooping and hollering; I started whooping and
hollering. I had won! I had actually won the tickets! People came running over
to my cubicle as I yelled about some cheese and started doing my happy dance
(along with some high kicks) up and down the office hallway! During that time I
actually had a full-fledged conversation on the radio. They actually gave me
some pretty good time. It’s kind of priceless to hear. You can listen to the
podcast by going here and then clicking on the September 10th 8am podcast. I am about 20
minutes into it. It’s definitely hilarious. I guess I was actually the seventh
person they called (which my why I received the call so late). Either the other
people didn’t answer the phone or they didn’t answer with the right “cheese” phrase.
Wowsers! So I guess it was meant to be.
Here’s the kicker. Once I was off air and they were getting
my contact information, Miss Monica tells me to pick up the tickets either
Monday or Tuesday because the concert was WEDNESDAY! What?!?! I had entered not
knowing when or where the concert was. I didn’t think I would actually win! So
the deal was I needed to get the tickets in Roanoke (about an hour drive from
my house each way) and get to Charlotte (three hours away) for a 7pm concert in
TWO DAYS! What?!? My first thought was, “I can’t go,” but fortunately I have
the most flexible work schedule ever. I also have great co-workers, one of whom
lives in Roanoke and picked up the tickets for me.
Then came the hardest part: finding someone to go with me!
Apparently no one else has a flexible schedule like my job! So after asking one
husband, three local friends, a DC friend, and my mom who lives in New Jersey
(hey, it’s only a train ride away), it was Tuesday and I still didn’t have
anyone to go with. Uh-oh. What to do?! I had these awesome tickets and yet I
couldn’t find someone to go with. Then I thought about how much fun I have with
my co-workers. So I asked one of them and she said she could! Hurray!
So Wednesday rolled around, all bright, sunny, and perfect
weather for a long day of driving and an outdoor concert (technically an outdoor amphitheater).
We headed out from work early afternoon and had a nice drive down in the trusty
Cube, blaring Kelly Clarkson all the way of course. We got there before rush
hour traffic, had a nice dinner, and then headed to the amphitheater. Only miles from the amphitheater we passed Ikea and I had a very sad, pouty moment. To be so close but not be able to go was heartbreaking. So much so I documented the moment.
Anyways, back to the amphitheater. We were pretty excited to document every moment. Here I am just in the parking lot. See? Excited? Oh, and showing off my front row ticket!
Oh, did I mention The Fray were also on deck? Awesome! Know what was also awesome? To head in and go all the way down to the front. WOW. I’m so spoiled. I never want to go to those back row seats again!
One of the fun parts of being in the front row was that we made friends with all the security guards there. They were all really nice and we had fun joking around with them between musicians. I even got a sneak peek at the set list and a heads up that there might be some interaction with the audience!
The first band up was Carolina Liar, who was pretty good. I ended up knowing their last song, yet I don’t know how I knew it. Anyone else heard of them or knows of their songs? They were pretty entertaining.
Next up was…The Fray! What a bonus! I love them, and they
know how to give a pretty good show. They weren’t just an opener. They gave a
full length concert!
The best part? They came out into the audience. This is how it went:
The best part? They came out into the audience. This is how it went:
·
The lead singer came over to our part of the
stage.
·
He jumped down directly in front of us.
·
He barreled through the barriers right in front
of us.
·
He nearly knocked down my co-worker as he came
through past us. We each got a touch (how creepy do I sound!?) and he knocked all my
stuff off my chair. Classic.
·
Girly screaming and squealing ensued.
So call that part of the concert a huge success. Then came the big act: Kelly Clarkson. [Warning: The light for her part of the concert in conjunction with her fair complexion and newly blonde hair did not an easy picture take!]
I just love her! She gives a great show. There is a good mix of singing her big hits, singing a few covers, a little bit of talking and connecting with the audience, some pranks by The Fray, and her bringing up her adorable nieces on stage who you could tell adored her. Oh yes. She winked at me too. Directly at me. If you know anything about her, you know she has this really good, quick wink. I got it.
If you squint really hard you can see an image of Jason Aldean projected on the curtain. That's how they sang their duet. It was a little...odd. But still neat! I can't say anything bad about the concert!
See those cute little girls? Kelly said that she should start calling Charlotte home because of all the family she had in the audience. Then she brought all her cute (totally enamored by her and wearing Kelly Clarkson t-shirts) on stage. They had so much fun dancing and singing along to the finale song "Stronger".
The only bad part? The drive home. That. Was. Rough. We got
home at 2:30am, and I passed out on the bed. Whew. Don’t want to do that anytime
soon again! But was it worth it? YES!
So how’s that for a spontaneous and fun week? Have you ever
won something off the radio or anything else?
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