A “Killer”s Concert and a Fab Surprise

I want to apologize for taking some time off from the blog. We got back from vacation and a week later the boys were back in school. I have also taken a position on our school’s PTA board. It has been very rewarding and a lot of fun. Needless to say my time has been focused in other places these past few weeks.

On August 10th,  my hubby and I along with close friends were lucky to see The Killers in Columbia, MD. I have been wanting to see Brandon and the gang for a very long time and I am glad it finally worked out. They did not disappoint, and I would say the concert is in my top 5 list of concerts I have attended.  They have this great energy, and if I may hazard, Brandon Flowers (the lead singer) has a showmanship that evokes comparisons like an “American Freddie Mercury” (voice of an angel). Click here to check out the set list. For once a band played all the songs I wanted to here. They DID NOT disappoint, if you are a fan and they come to your town run, run, run to go see them!

My BFF Vanessa said she would send me a copy of the set list she made. So late last week I got the CD in mail along with this all these fun things from Target. I love getting surprises in the mail, especially when the contents are super fun!

I hade seen this eyeshadow “quad” in a magazine and I was going to get them on my next Target trip. It was really cool she was one step ahead of me. I love, LOVE this eyeshadow! It goes on smoothly and you can just put on one shade and it makes a statement, because of the glitter.

I am always on the hunt for a good makeup remover towelettes. My ultimate favorite are the Korres ones, but they are a bit on the pricey side. These towlettes are great, not only to they do the job they are supposed to, but they moisturize and smell delicious!

This is really a wonderbalm. I put it on my lips and it instantly makes them smooth and soft. You can use them for anywhere you have dry skin. It goes on very smoothly and smells good as well. If you have dry skin give this a try. I think you will be surprised.

Thank you Vanessa for the very sweet package! I wish you all a wonderful first week of September!!

10 year old Dance Party

Today is my oldest’s 10th birthday so I thought it would be appropriate to write about the awesome birthday party we gave him about a month ago.  A few months ago we decided to have a big class party for our son, especially since it is his 10th birthday. I asked him what he wanted to do. He said he wanted a dance party and that he wanted to invite the girls from his class as well. I totally thought we could have fun with it. Since his birthday falls in the summer, we decided to do it the Friday before school let out. It also worked because it was the week of their state test and we thought this was also a good way they could unwind and just let loose after 3 days of intense testing.

We first looked for an invitation. I wanted to find something unique and cool. I googled the phrase VIP party invitations. I found some cute ones on printvilla.com. Click here to view the one we chose. For a while we weren’t sure where we would have whether in our garage or in our house. After much deliberation we decided to do it in our great room. Since our floor plan in open with our kitchen and formal dining room, it was easy to just isolate that space. It was also plenty of room for 20 some 4th graders. Once we decided on the space, all the ideas for decorating came very easily. We decided to remove all our furniture in our great room except for the TV. We got black plastic tablecloths that we put all over the walls and windows in the great room, so it would look more like a “dance club”. We made a red carpet VIP area where I took pictures of the kids with my son as they arrived to the party. For the rest of the decorations we got everything in neon colors and we got a ton of confetti for the drink table and present table. We bought this really cool strobe light that really gave the dance club effect. It was on for the entire party.  We also got glow sticks for the kids to wear at the party. They could make them into necklaces or bracelets.

My main concern for a while was, “What are we going to do with this kids for 2 hours?!”. I made a fun playlist (all clean versions of course), but I knew they were not going to dance the entire 2 hours. We decided to purchase a karaoke machine (which our son decided to pay for with his own money, because he wanted to contribute to his party). I wasn’t sure whether the kids would want to sing, but I figure we could ask. That karaoke machine made the party. That is what they did for most of time. I had other games planned (limbo, stomp and pop, name that tune), but the kids were having so much fun playing and signing that we only played musical chairs. Let me tell you that even at 4th grade they had a lot of fun with it. Another thing the kids loved were the loose balloon and beach balls we put on the “dance floor”. I bought one of those mini helium tanks. Let me tell you it was so worth the $30 we could fill up about 36 balloons. So much cheaper than if I bought them at the party store. The kids had so much fun running around playing and kicking the balloons.  Thank you to my friend Meagan that came and helped blow up the balloons!

All the hard work, time and money we put it was worth it when our son came up and told us it was the best party he could have ever had! His classmates also had a fantastic time. A lot of memories were made. I was really happy we did this for him!

10th birthday party play list

Harlem Shake-Bauer, Jai Ho, I Gotta Feeling-Blackeyed Peas, Runaway Baby-Bruno Mars, Sweet Nothing-Calvin Harris (feat. Florence Welch), Fight For Your Right -Beastie Boys, Call Me Baby-Carly Rae Jepsen, Forget You-Ceelo Green, Titanium-David Guetta&Sia, Good Feeling-Flo Rida, On The Floor (feat. Pitbull)-Jennifer Lopez, Don’t Stop Believin’-Journey, California Gurls-Katy Perry, Cha Cha Slide, Party Rock Anthem-LMFAO, Thrift Shop-Macklemore, Can’t Hold Us-Macklemore, ABC-Jackon 5, Thriller,Wanna Be Startin Something, P.Y.T, Don’t Stop’Till You Get Enough-Michael Jackson, What Makes You Beautiful-One Direction, Give Up The Funk-Parliment, Give Me Everything, Feel This Moment-Pitbull, Gangham Style-Psy, We Found Love-Rihanna, Don’t You Worry Child-Swedish House, I Knew You Were Trouble, We Are Never Getting Back-Taylor Swift, OMG-Usher, Kung Fu Fighting, Glad You Came-The Wanted, Scream and Shout,#thatPOWER-will.i.am, Runs House-Run DMC

A Night of Music

We are really lucky to have the Carolina Philharmonic in our small town. They do wonders for our local community, not only bringing us wonderful music, but also funding programs that cultivate musical interest to children. My oldest was lucky to participate in the Junior Orchestra class the Philharmonic sponsored this past school year. Like many schools, his elementary school fell victim to  spending cuts, unfortunately shutting down the orchestra program.  To the fill that void, the Philharmonic sponsored a weekly class to 3rd and 4th graders free of charge. My husband and I strongly believe that our son’s musical education doesn’t just end with practicing at home and going to his class once a week. Being exposed to live music and seeing other musicians play their instruments is a key element to that education. He and his classmates had the special opportunity to actually play a long side with the Carolina Philharmonic last month. It was a very special moment for all involved.

I was happy to find out that for their June concert the Philharmonic planned on doing their concert outdoors and play movie scores. This bode well for our younger son who is currently OBSESSED with Star Wars.  This concert was also in conjunction with opening a new memorial park in our town.

Since the tickets were free (another bonus), it was first come first serve basis. We got there early so we could get good seats and also enjoy a picnic dinner. The weather was gorgeous we couldn’t have asked for a better night.

The selection of music was from notable movie scores from the last 50 years of cinema. They played scenes from the movies as they played the scores, which provided a really nice touch. It was a very well done classy performance. There was a lot of talent on that stage. It’s really nice that even though we live in a small town, we still get big city talent.

Sometimes the best memories are made when you think outside the box. I was a little hesitant to take our 5-year-old, but he really surprised us on how engaged he was throughout the entire performance, and not just merely the Star Wars portion. We all had a great time and look forward to attending more performances in the future.

 

Joy To The World!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday! Sorry, this is a day late. I was too busy playing Bey Blades, Angry Bird Star Wars Jenga and Apples to Apples. I also had the pleasure of going to see Les Miserables (review to follow at a later date) with 2 of my favorite people.  Our celebration continues today with my Sissy and her family.

Joy To The World: Aretha Franklin (my favorite version of this song)

 

1 More Day: Oh Holy Night….

is quite possibly my favorite Christmas hymn. I can’t help, but always tear up when I hear this song at Christmas Mass.  I have enjoyed many versions of it. Here are some of my favorites, traditional and non-traditional. I have to thank my BFF for helping me discover many of these version through her Christmas compilations.

Jennifer Hudson’s version

Neil’s Diamond version.

Weezer’s version

Tracy Chapman’s version (this is very lovely)

One of my favorite things to do today is track Santa on NORAD with the boys. I think I get more enjoyment out of it than they do. If you would like to check it out click here.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas Eve day and night. I hope your day and night is filled with joy, laughter and love! Enjoy the ones around you, especially the little ones. It is great to see all of this through their eyes. xoxo

 

Day 3: Baby, Please Come Home

For those waiting for love ones to arrive!

An extra clip and songs for all U2 fans out there. If you scroll to minute 5, you can see the fabulous Do They Know It’s Christmas video. It has such a great showcase of the 80s fashion and all the magnificent coif’s of that time.

 

4 & 3 Days Until Christmas: Wonderful Christmas Time and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Sorry, yesterday was busier than I anticipated and I didn’t get a chance to post the song for day 4.  As we approach the last few days before Christmas, please take the time to breathe and enjoy the company around you. These past few days, I have been able to see and hang out with some of my favorite people and it has been wonderful! Looking forward to having s’mores this afternoon with my family and my oldest, oldest friend and her husband!

Day 4: Wonderful Christmas Time by Paul McCartney

Day 3: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Billy Joel (My favorite version)

 

5 Days Until Christmas: Little Drummer Boy (Peace On Earth)

This song is just cool. Bowie+Bing+Snowy 70s set=best Christmas song collaboration ever!

Have a Cool Yule!

One of the more festive songs! I can’t listen this song without having a smile on my face or bopping my head.

One Week Until Christmas

I am going to be posting my favorite Christmas songs up until Christmas. Today’s song is Santa Claus is Coming to Town the Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band version.  I love this song, because it puts a rocking spin on the original and who can resist Big Man’s Sax. Enjoy!