Ouch. Today was officially Lori target practice day at work. Ah, the wonder of the BlackBerry. Blissful ignorance is no longer an option. So I've spent the day apologizing and asking forgiveness.
Keep in mind that I'm two states away from my office. We're just over the state line from KC, in Overland Park. It's weird how you can be so close to a metropolitan area, yet feel like you're in a cornfield on Auntie Em's farm. Thankfully there have been no tornados, but we did get 5 inches of rain overnight.
It was a long day of workshops and small talk during a "working" lunch, but Ashley and I ventured out tonight, with the help of Carmen the Garmin, to the mall and dinner at Macaroni Grill. We stuffed our faces then went to Whole Foods. I could die happily right now.
The weirdest thing is that we've been freezing since we got here last night and haven't turned on our A/C at all. Tonight we had to stop at Target and buy sweaters. Maybe we are in Oz after all.
Showing posts with label Kansas City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kansas City. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
KC Masterpiece
Greetings from rainy Kansas City! So far this trip has been more uneventful than the one three months ago, when Jon Bon Jovi and I touched fingers during "Bed of Roses." Yeah, it's not relevant, but I like bringing that up every chance I get.
When Estella and I were up here in April, I got us lost looking for Hwy 71 South. And I got us lost big time in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, so last week I invested in a Garmin GPS. I don't know how I lived without one. You simply put in a destination (I.e., Walgreens), and it gives you turn by turn directions. Amazing! And you can just type in "restaurant" and it will list them by proximity and by type of food. How cool is that? Ashley and I have named her Carmen (get it... Carmen the Garmin). She is relatively friendly, but gets a bit upset when you veer off course.
So now we're just chillin' in the Doubletree, enjoying our $13 a day Internet. I don't know what I'm going to do next week when the traveling stops, but I am going to the Fort for two days, so that's the same, right?
When Estella and I were up here in April, I got us lost looking for Hwy 71 South. And I got us lost big time in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, so last week I invested in a Garmin GPS. I don't know how I lived without one. You simply put in a destination (I.e., Walgreens), and it gives you turn by turn directions. Amazing! And you can just type in "restaurant" and it will list them by proximity and by type of food. How cool is that? Ashley and I have named her Carmen (get it... Carmen the Garmin). She is relatively friendly, but gets a bit upset when you veer off course.
So now we're just chillin' in the Doubletree, enjoying our $13 a day Internet. I don't know what I'm going to do next week when the traveling stops, but I am going to the Fort for two days, so that's the same, right?
Saturday, April 19, 2008
8 degrees from Jon Bon Jovi
Ok, those of you who think I'm a spoiled brat, read no further. This post will do nothing to change your mind. Let's just say that my trip to Kansas City was one of the best 36 hours ever... good food, good conversation, and brushes with hotness.
I met Estella in Fayetteville at 10 a.m. on Thursday after my trip to the DMV (seriously, do they ever get in a hurry?). We got to KC around 2:30 and checked into the hotel, then we had a fantastic steak salad with a cilantro lime dressing at the hotel restaurant. After changing clothes, we took a cab down to the Power and Light district to have some dinner and relax before the concert.
We ended up at a great Italian restaurant where we had tapas (small plates) and cocktails, then we walked across the street to the Sprint Center.
I was so worried that I'd forget my tickets that I was a bit obsessive about it. I checked my wallet repeatedly to make sure they were there and then decided to transfer them to my back pocket. About 30 seconds later, we heard some guy yelling "Ma'am... MA'AM." We ignored him at first, then finally turned around to have him say, "You dropped your tickets." Oh. my. goodness. How mad would I have been if I had lost the tickets? Especially when you read what happened next...
We finally got into the arena after being wanded like criminals and got to our seats. On row 23. Seriously, I've never been that close to a stage at a rock concert in my life.
Here's 'Stella and me just before the concert.
Daughtry took the stage about five minutes before eight. They were just as loud as they were on Tuesday, but I enjoyed it. They did a lot of stuff off of their album, including "Over You," "Feels Like Tonight" (the Idol Gives Back acoustic version), "It's Not Over" and, of course, "Home," but they didn't do one of my favorites, "Used To."
After a 20 minute break, Bon Jovi hit the stage just before 9 p.m.
I'm not quite sure why Richie likes to look like a pimp, but he really likes purple.
After two concerts of being miles away from the stage, it was a little concerning to be 22 people away from Jon Bon Jovi. At this point, I still can't believe how close we are.
Set list:
LOST HIGHWAY
BORN TO BE MY BABY
BAD NAME
Then Jon shed his leather jacket... wowza
RAISE YOUR HANDS
OLDER (*didn't play in OKC)
SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD w/ Gimme Some Lovin' & Land Of 1000 Dances
BLOOD MONEY*
BLAZE OF GLORY w/ Daughtry (After the first verse, Chris joined Bon Jovi on stage.)
WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN'
TILL WE AIN'T STRANGERS ANYMORE*
IN THESE ARMS*
SATURDAY NIGHT*
WE GOT IT GOIN' ON
IT'S MY LIFE
BAD MEDICINE w/ Shout
I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU - RICHIE VOX
Ok, I knew from Tuesday night that when Richie does "I'll Be There for You," (which I coupled skated to in the fifth grade at Skate Reation), Jon was changing and heading out into the crowd to sing a couple of songs. I looked at the seating chart before we left to figure out if it would be on our side, so I knew he probably wouldn't be far from us. When I looked over during "Bad Medicine" and saw they'd constructed the platform on our row I almost had a heart attack. OMG! I'm freaking out at this point. I tell the chick to my right that he's going to be right there and she looks at me disbelieving. Yeah, who's crazy now?
(YOU WANT TO) MAKE A MEMORY
Confession time... I love the song "Bed of Roses." I have dreams about Jon singing it to me. It has that great line, "Tonight, I won't be alone, but you know that don't mean I'm not lonely." Bad grammar aside, that's a pretty impressive lyric. So he's singing it right there, looking into the eyes of those of us near enough to see him, and during the bridge part, he leans down and we brush fingers. *Sigh.* I touched him! During "Bed of Roses!" And he looked at ET and me and smiled. I can die happy now. Look how close he was!
BED OF ROSES
WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME
HAVE A NICE DAY
KEEP THE FAITH
LIVIN' ON A PRAYER
Man, watching them do "Prayer" with 19,000 people standing and screaming the lyrics is quite an experience.
At this point they'd been singing for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Non-stop. And Jon never stopped moving and dancing and hopping around. No wonder his abs are amazing.
For the encore, Jon and Richie changed clothes again. Richie into something else purple, and Jon into what I can only think is a woman's shirt. Oh, well. If anyone can pull it off, it's him.
ENCORE:
I LOVE THIS TOWN
One of the coolest things about a Bon Jovi concert is the entire arena screaming, "I've seen a million face, and I've ROCKED 'EM ALL!" during "Wanted."
WANTED
After the concert, we were standing in front of the "Kansas City Star" building trying to catch a cab, and people kept stealing our taxi, when two ladies arrived at one about the same time we did. One of them said, "I don't suppose you're going to the Embassy Suites are you?" We were. And then, even weirder, they were from Bentonville. The mom's going to call me so that her son can finish his degree. Isn't it a small world?
Yesterday morning we woke up about 9 a.m., ate breakfast at the hotel, then headed to the Country Club Plaza to shop. We went to Williams Sonoma for some kitchen stuff and MAC for makeup, then had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. We had an unbelievable tuna carpaccio followed by pasta. I was so full that I had to bring my cheesecake home and eat it along the way.
We got back to Fayetteville about 8 last night, so since we were still kinda full from lunch and cheesecake, stopped at Shogun for sushi. After a trip to Barnes and Noble (can you tell we didn't want the trip to end?), I dropped off 'Stella and headed back to Siloam.
My back is killing me after standing up for three-and-a-half hours and dancing on Thursday night. There's some ibuprofen and a nap in my future.
I can't believe how much fun we had. I can't believe our seats were so close. I mostly can't believe that Jon actually sang "Bed of Roses" to me. Granted, we only connected for about three seconds, but still...
Oh, and Lola got 33 mpg. Not too shabby.
I met Estella in Fayetteville at 10 a.m. on Thursday after my trip to the DMV (seriously, do they ever get in a hurry?). We got to KC around 2:30 and checked into the hotel, then we had a fantastic steak salad with a cilantro lime dressing at the hotel restaurant. After changing clothes, we took a cab down to the Power and Light district to have some dinner and relax before the concert.
We ended up at a great Italian restaurant where we had tapas (small plates) and cocktails, then we walked across the street to the Sprint Center.
I was so worried that I'd forget my tickets that I was a bit obsessive about it. I checked my wallet repeatedly to make sure they were there and then decided to transfer them to my back pocket. About 30 seconds later, we heard some guy yelling "Ma'am... MA'AM." We ignored him at first, then finally turned around to have him say, "You dropped your tickets." Oh. my. goodness. How mad would I have been if I had lost the tickets? Especially when you read what happened next...
We finally got into the arena after being wanded like criminals and got to our seats. On row 23. Seriously, I've never been that close to a stage at a rock concert in my life.
Here's 'Stella and me just before the concert.
Daughtry took the stage about five minutes before eight. They were just as loud as they were on Tuesday, but I enjoyed it. They did a lot of stuff off of their album, including "Over You," "Feels Like Tonight" (the Idol Gives Back acoustic version), "It's Not Over" and, of course, "Home," but they didn't do one of my favorites, "Used To."
After a 20 minute break, Bon Jovi hit the stage just before 9 p.m.
I'm not quite sure why Richie likes to look like a pimp, but he really likes purple.
After two concerts of being miles away from the stage, it was a little concerning to be 22 people away from Jon Bon Jovi. At this point, I still can't believe how close we are.
Set list:
LOST HIGHWAY
BORN TO BE MY BABY
BAD NAME
Then Jon shed his leather jacket... wowza
RAISE YOUR HANDS
OLDER (*didn't play in OKC)
SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD w/ Gimme Some Lovin' & Land Of 1000 Dances
BLOOD MONEY*
BLAZE OF GLORY w/ Daughtry (After the first verse, Chris joined Bon Jovi on stage.)
WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN'
TILL WE AIN'T STRANGERS ANYMORE*
IN THESE ARMS*
SATURDAY NIGHT*
WE GOT IT GOIN' ON
IT'S MY LIFE
BAD MEDICINE w/ Shout
I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU - RICHIE VOX
Ok, I knew from Tuesday night that when Richie does "I'll Be There for You," (which I coupled skated to in the fifth grade at Skate Reation), Jon was changing and heading out into the crowd to sing a couple of songs. I looked at the seating chart before we left to figure out if it would be on our side, so I knew he probably wouldn't be far from us. When I looked over during "Bad Medicine" and saw they'd constructed the platform on our row I almost had a heart attack. OMG! I'm freaking out at this point. I tell the chick to my right that he's going to be right there and she looks at me disbelieving. Yeah, who's crazy now?
(YOU WANT TO) MAKE A MEMORY
Confession time... I love the song "Bed of Roses." I have dreams about Jon singing it to me. It has that great line, "Tonight, I won't be alone, but you know that don't mean I'm not lonely." Bad grammar aside, that's a pretty impressive lyric. So he's singing it right there, looking into the eyes of those of us near enough to see him, and during the bridge part, he leans down and we brush fingers. *Sigh.* I touched him! During "Bed of Roses!" And he looked at ET and me and smiled. I can die happy now. Look how close he was!
BED OF ROSES
WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME
HAVE A NICE DAY
KEEP THE FAITH
LIVIN' ON A PRAYER
Man, watching them do "Prayer" with 19,000 people standing and screaming the lyrics is quite an experience.
At this point they'd been singing for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Non-stop. And Jon never stopped moving and dancing and hopping around. No wonder his abs are amazing.
For the encore, Jon and Richie changed clothes again. Richie into something else purple, and Jon into what I can only think is a woman's shirt. Oh, well. If anyone can pull it off, it's him.
ENCORE:
I LOVE THIS TOWN
One of the coolest things about a Bon Jovi concert is the entire arena screaming, "I've seen a million face, and I've ROCKED 'EM ALL!" during "Wanted."
WANTED
After the concert, we were standing in front of the "Kansas City Star" building trying to catch a cab, and people kept stealing our taxi, when two ladies arrived at one about the same time we did. One of them said, "I don't suppose you're going to the Embassy Suites are you?" We were. And then, even weirder, they were from Bentonville. The mom's going to call me so that her son can finish his degree. Isn't it a small world?
Yesterday morning we woke up about 9 a.m., ate breakfast at the hotel, then headed to the Country Club Plaza to shop. We went to Williams Sonoma for some kitchen stuff and MAC for makeup, then had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. We had an unbelievable tuna carpaccio followed by pasta. I was so full that I had to bring my cheesecake home and eat it along the way.
We got back to Fayetteville about 8 last night, so since we were still kinda full from lunch and cheesecake, stopped at Shogun for sushi. After a trip to Barnes and Noble (can you tell we didn't want the trip to end?), I dropped off 'Stella and headed back to Siloam.
My back is killing me after standing up for three-and-a-half hours and dancing on Thursday night. There's some ibuprofen and a nap in my future.
I can't believe how much fun we had. I can't believe our seats were so close. I mostly can't believe that Jon actually sang "Bed of Roses" to me. Granted, we only connected for about three seconds, but still...
Oh, and Lola got 33 mpg. Not too shabby.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Concert recap
I feel old. At the concert last night, I couldn't believe how loud Daughtry was. They were really awesome and it's hard to believe that three years ago he was working in the auto service department at Sears. Now he's got 30,000 people singing his songs every night. During the middle of the Bon Jovi show, he came out and sang "Blaze of Glory" with them and it was fabulous!
We were, unfortunately, sitting in the dull section, with people around us sitting for the majority of both shows. Not standing during "Livin' on a Prayer" is almost as wrong as not saluting the flag (i.e., Obama). One of the goober guys in front of us told his date that he wasn't into it because he preferred soft rock. I wanted to say, "Um, why would you be at Daughtry and Bon Jovi? Michael Bolton is next week."
Hopefully the boys had fun. Taylor decided after the show that he had to have two different t-shirts that were $40 each; he, of course, had no money. So I told him that I'd buy them for him, but that would be his birthday present. He said, "No, Mom will pay you back." That little weasel always figures out a way to get what he wants and he's never out any cash.
Right now I'm doing laundry and repacking for tomorrow night. I'm really tired but can't wait to go to the concert. Tomorrow night we're on the 23rd row on the floor. I hope some of Jon's sweat will land on me.
Estella and I are meeting in the Corridor around 10 in the morning, then we're off to Kansas City for the concert, great food, and lots of shopping. We're staying at the Plaza, and I"m so excited.
Two more days of vacation, then it's back to the old grind.
I got to see my good friend Katie last night at the concert. Her coworker (who's also named Katie) is seeing Bon Jovi three times in a week. It's good to know that someone's even weirder than me.
We were, unfortunately, sitting in the dull section, with people around us sitting for the majority of both shows. Not standing during "Livin' on a Prayer" is almost as wrong as not saluting the flag (i.e., Obama). One of the goober guys in front of us told his date that he wasn't into it because he preferred soft rock. I wanted to say, "Um, why would you be at Daughtry and Bon Jovi? Michael Bolton is next week."
Hopefully the boys had fun. Taylor decided after the show that he had to have two different t-shirts that were $40 each; he, of course, had no money. So I told him that I'd buy them for him, but that would be his birthday present. He said, "No, Mom will pay you back." That little weasel always figures out a way to get what he wants and he's never out any cash.
Right now I'm doing laundry and repacking for tomorrow night. I'm really tired but can't wait to go to the concert. Tomorrow night we're on the 23rd row on the floor. I hope some of Jon's sweat will land on me.
Estella and I are meeting in the Corridor around 10 in the morning, then we're off to Kansas City for the concert, great food, and lots of shopping. We're staying at the Plaza, and I"m so excited.
Two more days of vacation, then it's back to the old grind.
I got to see my good friend Katie last night at the concert. Her coworker (who's also named Katie) is seeing Bon Jovi three times in a week. It's good to know that someone's even weirder than me.
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