Dallas BFD 2016 concert

Hey y'all, Happy Tuesday!!  How was your Memorial Weekend?  I had a good one.  My birthday present from Todd was tickets to the BFD concert featuring Collective Soul, Sixx AM ( Nicki Sixx of Motley Crue formed the band), 3 Doors Down, Drowning Pool and Shinedown.  I've posted many songs of Shinedown here on my blog. I've never seen them live and they are one of my favorite bands.  The concert was on Sunday downtown at our Gexa arena. It has lawn seating as well as stand seats that are covered.  We got real seats which is nice because you can come and go and walk around and have the same seat.  If you have lawn seats, its first come first serve and people will move you out of the way if you leave your spot.
The concert was SOOOO  good!!!  I loved every band and Shinedown was amazing Live! They literally sounded so good like right out of the stereo.  Have you ever saw someone live and realized that if it wasnt for all the special effects in the studio, they wouldnt sound good at all?  Surprisingly every band was great.  It felt good to just rock out and sing along and jump and dance with the rest of the crowd.  I lost my voice from all the screaming and hollering and it slowly came back yesterday.  Now thats a good time.  LOL
Oh the people watching was at its best too at the concert. The concerts actually started around 2 and there were 3 or 4 other bands that i had never heard of and didnt make a point to see. SO by the time we got there around 5pm, some people were already toasted from the heat and beers.  The outfits were very interesting too.  The things people where to an all day concert made me shake my head.  Seriously, its Texas people and its blazing hot.
I know i shouldnt do this but i have bought several "HOT" t-shirts that are unauthorized in the parking lot of events.  I did the same this weekend.  Here's the deal though, i had already bought a shirt at 40$ inside so its not like they didnt get some of my money. The shirts ran real small too so i had to buy a xxl and its another 5 dollars for XXL or larger.  They had shirts of course for all the bands and they had the 97.1 BFD shirts ( our rock station hosts the annual concert). I was hoping to buy a BFD shirt that had all the bands listed but it didnt have it. It just had 2016 on it with the radio station logo and BFD.  So i had to choose which band i wanted which was a no brainer because i was there to see Shinedown.   As we were walking back to our car after concert, sure enough there was a guy selling tshirts . They actually had exactly what i was looking for with all the bands listed. SCORE for 20$!!!!  I was a happy camper. Todd just shook his head and laughed because he KNEW i would be getting one.  I will say that i actually wear my concert shirts quite a bit so its not like they just sit in my drawer.

Our Dallas skyline in red,white and blue

Shinedown 

Yesterday was a great day too. We had some people over and it was our first get together since we moved in. I'll tell you about it more tomorrow. I gotta run now.
Here is a song from all the bands we saw. I recorded a little bit with my phone but they dont sound good so these are from youtube.

Drowing Pool- Let the bodies hit the floor

3 Doors Down- Here without you

Collective Soul- December

SiXX AM- SKIN

Shinedown- I'll follow you

Have a great day!!

Mosh posh of stuff

Yall!!! I really did not mean to let so much time go by after my last post.   The A to Z challenge though did kick my butt and I moved the second week of the challenge. I am STILL unpacking but I have most done. I think I’m finally heading downhill with some progress.  Todd had the idea of hosting a small Memorial party at our house and so that has me motivated every night.   

One of my best friends (Kimi) is married to a construction contractor (Craig) and 2 weeks ago, they came over and he built me a kitchen bench with storage. It was a huge game changer for me because I desperately needed the storage space. Our house is so much smaller and we lost tons of cabinet space and storage .  Todd painted it last weekend and I have a friend sewing a bench cushion for us. I will just use throw pillows for the back.  I knew I wanted one when i saw that our dining area had the space for it.  We paid for all the materials and he built it for free as a house warming gift.  So awesome!!

This is the unpainted version. It's now white to match the walls. 

My birthday was Tuesday of this week and so I’ve had some dinner plans after work and didn’t feel like blogging once I got home.  I’ve been having a terrible terrible time with allergies this year and they got the best of me yesterday.  I think I  have a full on cold again which is just great!!! I feel like Poo again and my nose is raw from blowing and rubbing all day long.

So do you guys use Facebook? I will admit that I’m a huge social media fan of Facebook, Instragram and Pinterest. I use Twitter too but mostly in spurts.   Anyway, I love it when its my birthday on Facebook!! I had over 200 friends post Happy Birthday to my page.  It absolutely made my day and reminded me of how lucky I am to have good friends and family.   One of my favorite gifts I received was from my Sisternlaw Paula. She is so talented and is a high school art teacher.  Paula painted portraits of Jax and Lila in costumes.  They are so dang awesome!! I cant wait to hang them on the wall soon.  Whats funny, is that I held the painting of Lila close to the ground to show her and she came right to it like almost in a little jump.  Todd and I both laughed because she recognized something. 

A friend made this meme and posted to my page on my birthday. Jax and Lila in our chair. Lol

May is Lupus Awareness month and I know if you ARE friends with me on FB you’ve seen that I’ve had my profile, cover and posts about Lupus. Well tomorrow is May 20^th and is Put on Purple Day. Purple is the chosen color for Lupus and its just a way to have people ask questions and be more aware.  I actually work from home tomorrow but I will still have my purple on and would love it if you wanted to join in. 

There is not a cure for Lupus yet. It only gets worse. My mom has Lupus and its changed her life dramatically.  Its all she can do to just get out of bed and move to the living room chair.  Taking a shower is an accomplishment some days.  I do this for her and for my sweet friend Marla who is much younger than me and has Lupus. She’s an amazing young woman with quite a story!!
If you want, you can tag me on FB, IG, or send me email of you wearing purple......

Have a great weekend!

A few celebrations

Good morning y'all!  How was everyone's weekend?  I had a very nice one and didn't want it to end. Saturday morning, Todd and I drove out to east Texas to spend the day with my grandma Nanny. Her birthday was yesterday and she turned 88 years old.  I bought her dozen roses that were gorgeous. One bouquet were these orange roses that were incredible. I didn't take any pictures.    

We had brunch at this little tea room that is so delicious. Home cooking and they are the sweetest ladies that work there. They brought out a piece of cake to go for Nanny and it made her day! She didn't even care about the cake but that they would do that for her.  

I asked Todd to take a picture of me and Nanny.  He's not the best picture taker because he won't tell you where to look or when , he just grabs my phone and takes it.  Oh well! 

After brunch we took her into one of her favorite boutiques to look around and then we walked across the street to go into an antique store. Nancy's leg sometimes will just give out and she also has trouble with one of her ankles. She doesn't lift her foot high enough and has fallen a few times. There were lots of uneven parts of the sidewalk and street so I grabbed her hand. We held hands across the street and what I didn't realize was that Todd was behind me taking pictures.  I am so grateful for them!! 

I love her so so much and she is so very precious to me.  

We also stopped at a few garage sales around and I bought a wooden quilt holder for 3$ y'all!!! I love junking in the country!  

Yesterday we celebrated my inlaws 50th wedding anniversary.  It was actually on Saturday but couldn't all get together until last night.  Todd's parents, Todd's brother Kevin and his girlfriend Paula and the two of us had dinner at a nice quaint Italian restaurant called Cafe Amore. It's so yummy and they have great cappuccino pie for dessert. It's heavenly!! It's frozen ice cream pie and it was 102 outside so it was perfect.  

Todd leaves in the morning to head for sturgis.  He is going to stay overnight in Nebraska and then come into sturgis on Wednesday afternoon. I fly in Wednesday evening. We packed last night because my stuff has to go with him. I will take my jacket and a helmet and walk off plane right on to the Harley.  Can't wait to have to need a jacket!! 

Hope you have a great day my blogger friends! 

Fun night of music and friends

Exactly a week ago on Thursday , Todd and I were hopping on a plane headed to Ohio.  We flew into Detroit because it's not far driving distance to Toledo.  Todd's family is from that area and he went to school there some as a young kid in elementary and he went to high school his last 2 years (junior and senior).  He was in a band during those years and have remained in touch with his band mates.  A few of them still play today in other bands which is pretty cool.  They get together every 5 years and they play a reunion concert and this was why we were in Ohio.  The lead singer John organized the gig in a bar called the Bunker Bar that had this huge hall connected to it. Todds band is called Octavian and Johns band that he's currently singing for is Alter Ego.  Alter Ego pulls in quite a crowd because they play locally and have done well with getting their name out.  However, tons of people from Todds high school came to see the band and show support.  A few other members also live out of state now. 

I would say at least 300 people came out. It was so cool!!  

The live show was Saturday night and my birthday was the following day. Right at midnight, Todd and my friends wished me happy birthday.  My friend Janet drove up from Columbus which was a little over 3 hrs away.  We met 8 years ago when I worked there for a few months.  She brought her friend Connie who was a total hoot!! They brought a banner, a pink boa, a strobe light for the table, bracelets that light up, and a toy tambourine  as party favors for birthday. They really made me feel special and also  not alone while Todd played.  

I had a great night and so so happy I went to see Todd play with his friends. 

Here's a few pics from the night.  I still have more about my weekend there but I've got to go now. 

Just as cool in person

Happy Tuesday yall! I mentioned in a post last week that I was going to meet a blogger Laura at
 We Really Got This in person.  It was so much fun!! We met last Thursday at Houlihan's at 6 pm and yall, we didn't leave until 9:00.  She lives about 5 towns over from me so we met somewhat halfway between us both.  I had an idea of what Laura looked like from some pictures on her blog.  When I walked in I saw her and I smiled but then she was talking to the lady next to her so I thought maybe she's with her.  I was talking to the hostess but I kept staring at Laura and she said Are you Holli?  That's how friendly she is just chatting up the person next to her. So something I would do. I get asked by my friends often why I talk to strangers. hahaha!
I can tell you that it was just so easy to talk to her and I didn't feel awkward in the very least.  I was a little nervous because I always have a little fear of " what of she thinks I'm a big goober and we don't have anything to talk about".  It was seamless!  We have so much in common from our age, neither one of us have kids but our dogs,  to our taste in music, down to the exact favorite Mexican restaurant that is not the most popular around Dallas.  Fun! Fun !
I'm glad we put it out there and really set a time and date and had our meeting. I have had excellent luck in meeting my blogger friends around my community. In fact, Julie from A Beautiful Day is a very close family friend of ours now. She helped with my wedding and I don't know what I would have done without her then.  We used to live closer so I miss doing as much as we used to together but we always stay in touch.  Thank goodness for social media too!
If you end up realizing you have some close by bloggers- I encourage you to meet them! Yall are a blessing and we already have the whole blogger thang as a connection.  When I met Deb from Just Keepin It Real Folks in person a few months ago while I was visiting North Carolina- it was the highlight of my week! It made traveling and working away from home so much easier and she was a doll.
I understand that some of yall may be shy and prefer the safety of being behind your computer. That's OK too. I am very social and not a shy bone in me.  For those of you who don't know, I'm a corporate trainer so I have to get up and speak in front of large crowds or via the web almost daily.  So I get very excited to meet people.

Pardon the blurry but my camera was dirty I think.  Anywho you get the jest...

Did I mention that I'm going out of town this week? Todd and I are going to Ohio for the weekend. He has several friends and family there and went to high school for a while somewhere close to Toledo.  Todd is a drummer which I've mentioned a few times and he's playing in a reunion band get together at the Bunker Bar in Holland, Ohio this Saturday.  If you're close by, come meet me and rock out with the band.  We come home Sunday which happens to be my birthday.  Very busy weekend coming up for sure!


Have a great day!

Letter X- is 10 in Roman numerals

 It is really hard to think of a post on the letter X.   The symbol “X” means 10 in Roman numerology. So I am going to write about 10 things I am really happy about.

  I went to an estate sale this past weekend and really scored some fun stuff at great prices.  I stopped by on Friday on my lunch hour and only spent a few minutes there. On Saturday , they lowered the prices to 50% off everything.  Woohoo!

1. I got this bag of vintage clothes pins for only 1.00$.  I bought a small bag that had 3 in them from an antique store around Christmas and paid close to 5$.   So this purchase made me really happy!

2. I bought this beautiful ( to me) handmade full size quilt that I’m in love with.  I love the bright colors and it has orange in it. For those who don’t know, Orange is my all time favorite color!  I have an old wood ladder in my hallway that has quilts draped over the rungs.  I like being able to grab one and curl up on the couch with.

 3. I bought a wooden wine box that had pretty spools of various lace all for 5$.

 

I bought a lovely vintage lamp for only 10$.  I have seen these same lamps go for close to 50$.  And the sockets all work

1.  

   

   I bought a box of fun vintage buttons , and some spools of thread and some bias tape ribbon all for 2$.  You pay a dollar now just for one or 2 of the button sets at junk shows and antique stores. 
2. 
   

   
3. I got to celebrate my 2^nd cousin’s 40^th wedding anniversary. Dad and Deb were there and we had a fun evening.
   
   

   
4. I got a 30% off coupon at Kohl’s which really makes me happy. I rarely get those. They had a sale on house slippers where you buy one pair – get the 2^nd pair for one penny.  My dogs ate my new pair I got for Christmas so I grabbed some for me and mom.  I bought Mom a few other fun things and wrapped her package last night. I just need to go to post office and mail it to arrive by Mother’s Day. 
    
5. I started my rule again where if I buy a new shirt- I donate a shirt out of my closet.  I have a coworker that has 2 boys and her husband cant work. She is on very tight budget and never buys for herself. She loves getting my shirts and I picked out 3 for her that I think she will like.   One of them is a new one but I took the tags off and she doesn’t know.   She would get mad if she knew I bought it FOR HER so its what I do.  I love it!!
    
6. While going through some clothes last night, I also have 2 bags of clothes to donate to a charity I support: Genesis Womens Shelter .  It supports abused women who flee from their homes with nothing, and they also help provide resources for employment, and other support to them.
    
7. This Friday will be May 1.  My birthday is in May and several other friends and family celebrate in May.  I am getting older and that is a blessing! Every day to wake up and be alive is a true gift.  I celebrate my birthday all month. 
   
    

So my numbers got totally messed up. haha!!  I cant seem to fix it either.  Don't try this at home kids. 

We need to make a point to think of at least one thing a day that makes us happy. It's very easy to list the irritations.  

Happy Tuesday yall!!