someday my prince will come

Last week I went to my cousin Tracie's wedding at Oheka Castle. I have to say that it was really cool. Unfortunately, it was raining (cue: Alanis Morrisette's "Ironic"), but that made it interesting. When we got out of the car near the front doors, there were guys with umbrellas that came over to the car to walk us to the door keeping us dry. My mother looked so cute holding onto one guy's arm as he walked her on the cobblestone path. Inside was beautiful and elegant, but I was more focused on seeing my family than paying attention to the decorations. There were rose petals on the seats to throw after the wedding, but first they needed to get through the ceremony. Tracie had eight (I think) bridesmaids and she allowed the parents to bring their kids up with them so there were a few babies and toddlers.

Between the ceremony and dinner, I received voicemail from my sister urging me not to leave a glass slipper behind. No matter how cute a Prince might be, times have changed. These days, cell phone numbers or email addresses can be exchanged. There is no reason to leave my shoe behind if I met a cute Prince. (I love my sister...) Speaking of my sister, after the Best Man, Maid of Honor, and friend of the couple spoke, I wrote down some ideas of things that I want to talk about next year during my MoH speech. I have a lot of ideas, but the thought of formulating them and making the speech seems so final. Like she'll really be married and no longer share my last name. She already does not share my house, my city, or even my county, but, at least, now we still have the same last name.

Anyways, Saturday we looked into wedding flowers and Sunday we went to another country music concert. Ashlee Page, Cowboy Crush and Andy Griggs were the opening acts for the two headliners - Kellie Pickler and Trace Adkins. Kellie was amazing and hysterical. She has stories for all of her songs and talks about her ex-boyfriends by calling them pigs or other things because they cheated. She has this song "Best Days of Your Life" in which she basically tells the guy that the best days of his life are over and gone since they're no longer together. Another song basically says that the couple whose wedding she crashed won't make it a year so they might as well throw "Rocks Instead of Rice." Trace was also good (though not as good since he didn't have Kellie's personality), but he had this tendency for pelvic thrusts. Apparently, after he made the video for "One Hot Mama," his mother was not happy so he showed her "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" before she could see it on tv and get mad. I had tears streaming down my face when he sang "Arlington" and that was the only song that my dad clapped for.

Other news? hmmm. I got my copies of Eclipse and Breaking Dawn from Amazon so I will be reading them and reviewing them soon.

Birthday

So, the day after I saw Bucky Covington and Keith Anderson in concert (which was the day before my birthday), I invited a few friends back to the fair and we went saw Little Big Town. Of course, this time we sat in the back on bleachers instead of paying for better seats. I think that the only reason Chris and Rebecca attended the concert was to appease me and celebrate my birthday (it was the following day). Of course, we did wander around the fair a bit first and Rebecca actually bought tickets for us to go on rides. I never go on rides at the fair. At theme parks? Yes. At the fair? No. Anyways, they wanted to go on the swings, so I joined them (you know, the ride where swings fly around and around high up in the air). We also rode the ferris wheel, hoping to get stuck on the top to get a good view (though Chris wanted to literally get stuck on the top which reminded me of Mighty Joe Young), and we went through one of the funky house things where the floor moves and stuff.

Little Big Town was awesome, even if I didn't know a lot of their songs. I quickly learned a bunch of the choruses and sang along with all of the songs that I didn't know. The best part was when they played Good Lord Willing which is a song off of their extended album to be released in the fall. They had only played it one time in front of other people before that.

After the concert, we stopped by the 4H barn because my friend Anthony was dj-ing their dance. It was nice to see him since it had been so long, but we didn't really get a chance to chat because he suddenly had "fans," well, little kids making song requests.

We got home from the fair, we were upstairs hanging out with my mom, and I saw Rebecca and Chris both holding their cell phones. Suddenly both friends and mom began to sing Happy Birthday. I guess it was midnight.

On Sunday, we went to Albany to eat at the Barnsider restaurant. The filet mignon was so good. As was the surprise birthday cake that my family brought. Last time we went (Michelle had gotten her new job), I had a mudslide that was chock full of alcohol (it tasted too alcohol-y whereas it tasted like ice cream in Barbados). This time, I had an ameretto sour since it was the first drink I liked when I was 21. Now, I turned 24 on the 24th and had a lot of fun with my family and friends. (And yes, I still read YA novels.)

fair-weather friends

So, last night I saw Blake Shelton in concert at the fair... and well, Miranda Lambert had a few days off so she came to visit him (they're dating). She sang with him on "Home" (as she does on the CD) and "Ol' Red," as well as singing one of her own songs (I think it was "Gunpowder and Lead" - I remember singing along with the chorus but I don't have her album yet so I'm not sure). It was great since she wasn't supposed to be there but, since she was visiting, she was included. Before she came out, Blake said that it was his favorite part of the concert so I though it might happen during the song, then it did and oh my God. Blake and Miranda are so in love. And he is so tall, and she is so short, that when he was playing guitar on a stool and she stood next to him, they were the same height. They are so cute together. A side note - after the first song ("The More I Drink"), Blake threw his pick and no one noticed it go behind the people taking photos and a girl stepped on it. I kept my eye on it and after a few songs, I finally went over and asked the girl to move her foot since I'd "dropped something" and I pocketed the pick.

Here's some links to posted pics from the concert on forums...
http://www.mirandalambert.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=21395
(5th pic - Blake sitting and looking aggravated - he challenged a stagehand to perform after the guy supposedly said it was so easy.Well, the guy rocked the house with Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" fused into Shaggy's "Angel" which eased into Sublime's "Smoke Two Joints" and back to Shaggy. Blake practically kicked him offstage when he finished since he took up so much time and everyone screamed and sang along to The Joker and Angel.)

http://bsersfanclub.com/PHPBB/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14041
(4th pic - a sitting/standing pic so you actually see what I mean about their heights)
Tonight I saw Keith Anderson and Bucky Covington in concert. I may not be as lucky as my sister in how life will just work out, but I'm lucky in some things. Such as, the fact that my mother bought Keith's CD a few days ago since we were coming for Bucky. Such as, she opened it for us to listen on the way to the concert. Such as, I took the insert to read the lyrics as we listened. Such as, I decided to take the insert with me to the concert for the hell of it. Such as, Mom remembered to bring the camera today. Such as, I got there early and was given a pass for a meet and greet with Keith and got his autograph on the CD insert as well as a photo with him. He put on a great concert and was actually quite funny when describing Podunk (re: read his song lyrics and imagine the driving down main street explained...). I LOVED the song "Somebody Needs a Hug" and bought his second CD while there because it's new and that song's on it (it was pre-autographed and only $10).

I swear to you that Bucky Covington is full of Mexican jumping beans. He did not stop moving which made a good picture difficult. I took a lot of pictures as soon as I saw his eyes at one point. I just wanted to take a picture that captured his eyes as piercing blue as I had seen them. When he sang a slow song, he finally stopped moving so much. On "I'll Walk," he actually sat on the edge of the stage directly in front of me (3rd row seats) so I got some good pics, but I was fiddling with the phone and camera so I didn't get a picture showing that he was sitting (I don't think I did anyway). It was also cool on one of the songs because his twin brother Rocky came out from behind his drumset and sang a verse (he's also full of jumping beans). It was funny when Bucky introduced the band and they did their solos because Rocky was given the theme music to, well, Rocky, and came out punching. The last member of the band that Bucky "forgot" to introduce was Keith Anderson who came out to sing on the last song. I ended up buying a Bucky t-shirt for $20.

I may be going to see Little Big Town tomorrow night. I didn't buy tickets, but I can see them in the grandstand free with the price of fair admission. Oh, and Mom and Dad saw the Beach Boys the night before Blake was there. Yes, these people and groups are all performing at our local county fair.

Blake Shelton's pick that he used at the concert; Keith Anderson's autograph, picture with me, and a pre-autographed copy of his second CD; and a Bucky Covington t-shirt... not bad for almost birthday souvenirs!