The time he brought me to see Taylor Swift.

On Friday night we went to the Taylor Swift concert. For those of you who wrote that I would have an amazing time -- you were right. The girl puts on a show; a spectacle really. I was in awe. I was staring at the stage, and hearing 55,000 people around me shout, and scream, and kind-of/sort-of sing with her and just had this overwhelming feeling of happiness. Imagine, being her for a split second? I just can't even believe that one person is able to captivate an audience like that. It's crazy. In the totally perfect, wouldn't want it any other way, kind of way.

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You know that surprised look that Taylor always has when she wins awards? And from behind the TV, you're like "really? you win like everything, why are you so surprised?" Well, seeing it in person -- I believe it now. I no longer think of it as a "surprised" look but rather a "I'm genuinely grateful for this to still be happening" look.

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I guess I should have looked up what "being at a Taylor Swift concert" entailed. If so, I would have found pictures of girls (young and grown) in sundresses, cowboy boots, cowboy hats, red clothes, cut-off shorts, cut-off shirts, red bandanas, face paint, holding home-made signs, with writing all other their arms, tears in their eyes, and smiles on their faces. Now, on Friday night it was cold. At least, it was cold for July. It rained all day, it rained on and off during the concert and at times it straight poured. But that didn't stop anyone from enjoying themselves. It didn't stop anyone from shouting and dancing and singing. And it surely didn't send people running for cover or heading home.

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The thing I noticed about T. Swift is that she has fans from every decade. We saw children who looked like they just started walking last week; and we saw grown adults who could probably be Taylor Swift's great-grandparents. My favorite people: the parents who so clearly would not be in attendance if not for their children. Sometimes it was a mom, sometimes it was a dad, sometimes it was both mom and dad; shelling out money for t-shirts, holding their daughter's hand-made sign underneath their jacket so that it wouldn't get ruined or wet, and just all around asking things like "are you having fun?" or even better saying "you were right, this is fun".

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Now, Sean and I clearly don't fall into either of those categories of people. I wasn't in red (I wore navy, oops), I didn't make a sign (but was absolutely jealous of all the creativity) and we aren't parents (this treat was for me). Which leads me to another group of people present: couples.

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Sean made an observation that is probably pretty accurate; for every 50 girls at this concert, there may have been 1 guy. Maybe. Most of those guys looked a lot like Sean... as in, they were holding a beer, leaning against something, scrolling through their phone (occasionally were asked to take pictures of the girl they were with), while using up their slightly fake "yeah, I'm totally having fun" face. In fairness, a concert like this wasn't totally horrible for him; there was never a line for the men's bathroom or to buy a beer (perks of being somewhere that the majority of attendees can't drink), and he got to watch Ed Sheeran who is extremely musically talented. But let's face it: he did this for me.

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And for that, I'm so grateful. Because it really was the best time ever.

It's sad but don't bawl over it.

Sean and I went to see:

It was definitely worth it to see it in the theater... on the big screen.

It was moving, triumphant, emotional and of course, so... so... so sad.

Depressing sad. The kind of sad that makes you so glad you don't live in the 1800's.

Or have to fight for revolutions. And thankful we have a government system that works for the people. 

(oh, wait?).

Anyway.

I knew the story. I loved the story. I looked forward to the songs.

I was amazed by the singing. By Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried. 

I was thoroughly impressed knowing they sang their songs on-set, while filming rather than in a studio beforehand.

It was generally flawless. And I'd see it again. I'd actually pay to see it again... and again.

What I wouldn't pay to see again... is the girl sitting in front of us.

Who was crying... no, no... bawling.

Talking to the screen. Mouthing the words to the songs.

Dare I say... clapping?

All of my pet peeves. 

Look, when you go to the theater... please remember, you are among other people. 

Strangers, actually. 

And we don't want to see you cry and look like a hot mess.

It's not like you're going through the French revolution.

Relax.

If you can't handle it, wait until it's out and borrow it from Redbox.

Then you can bawl, sing, talk, wave your hands and scream injustice all you want.

Just please don't do it during my $22 date night.

For real. 

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, part 2.

Last night, I dragged Sean to see this:

He wasn't thrilled about the movie, add in the fact that I made him go to the theater an hour and a half early "to get seats together" and then realized that was completely unnecessary when we saw that NO ONE was even there... made for a very uncomfortable husband. Plus! Our Fandango tickets said 9:20 and when the tickets printed at the theater they said 9:40? What? SO that added 20 extra minutes to the already 90 minutes we were waiting. aha! 

Good thing the movie was so fantastic! It made up for the wait (plus I set him up with popcorn and nachos). I loved every minute of it. Except for maybe the super long opening credits and the strange fake baby that was Renesmee. The twist we keep hearing about? Amazing. Even Sean thought so.

I'll go see it again. Most definitely.

An update.

The little one is plenty settled in. Perhaps too much so. She's found her two favorite places to relax:

On my neck & on the back of the couch.

In other areas of life, I've been pretty frantically preparing for my next seminar (about two weeks from now) & our dining room table looks less like something you would eat on and more of a smorgasbord of binders & books & documents.

We're thoroughly enjoying Redbox although we've forgotten to return these days ago and I'm just now seeing them sitting on the counter...

But anyway...

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I loved this movie so much. I can't believe that I waited so long to see it. I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Seth Rogen but I knew it would be sad and wasn't prepared to watch. I have to admit that I still wasn't ready to watch it but I'm so glad that we did. It was sad, and funny, and heartwarming and worrying! I may purchase it... or apparently just never return it back to Redbox...

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This movie was definitely entertaining. It was basically a modernized "Freaky Friday" aimed for a more manly demographic. But funny. And I love Leslie Mann and anything she's in. It was a nice surprise to find out she was in this.

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Oh, I would love to say how we thought this movie was EXCEPT that it totally didn't work when we put it in the DVD player. It skipped every 4 seconds until Sean couldn't take it any longer. But I was very excited to watch Jonah Hill... maybe another time.

I have twenty three more days of school until the kids are out for the summer and I'm so excited! I have no idea what plans will or will not work out but I'm just so excited to sleep in a little bit, to play with Apollo, to scrapbook, to see the sun, to stay up late, catch up on so many TV shows, to travel, and just relax.

I'm anxiously counting down the days...

The Lucky One

I spent last weekend scrapbooking... which I will show later.

But once I got home I dragged Sean to see The Lucky One.

I couldn't help it. I had to see it.

And I thought it was so worth it.

I loved it. It was what I expected and what I thought it was going to be.

And I love when that happens.

I recommend it. If you're looking for a love story & enjoy Zac Efron.

Sean had a lot of thoughts about it -- none were positive. But he didn't really plan on liking it anyway.

:)

Did you see it?

Summer concerts.

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This is definitely something I need to see. I already told Sean to keep July 28th open because we have plans. It's going to be like 1999 all over again.

:)

26th Birthday

Last Friday, we celebrated Sean's birthday. :)

I planned a night out for us which included eating spicy wings and going to a shooting range.

Wait.. what? I know. It was so scary.

Sean mentioned [more than] once that it would be something he'd love to do and I thought his birthday would be a great time to do something that I told him I would never do!

I was so nervous. And cried, screamed and dropped the gun the first time it went off. Whoops!

But even still -- I hit the target :)

Here's the husband after -- he was very happy!

February...

I know, February is a short month to begin with, but doesn't it seem to be going by so quickly?

Last week, I did SO WELL updating the blog, 4 days in a row, and this week -- I looked, my last update was Monday. What is wrong with me?! I just can't get into the hang of it. And to be honest, last week, I only did so well because I scheduled the posts. Maybe that's what I have to do.

So our week?

Monday seemed to be a day of mourning in New England. Kind of silly. But really, you couldn't go anywhere without the fear of someone breaking down and crying because of the Superbowl. Yup.

Tuesday after work we went grocery shopping which I'm actually starting to enjoy. I like the idea of having food in the house. But still - I refuse to go more than once a week. :)

Wednesday, after work, we went into Boston since Sean's band had their music video premiere. It was very fun.

Thursday, after work, I was exhausted after parent/teacher conferences and literally went straight to bed when I got home. But when Sean got home, I had a panic attack when he woke me up and I looked at the clock and saw that it was 6:00. I thought it was 6:00 AM and that I was late waking up for work! Oh, such an awful and confusing feeling.

Friday, after work, I was alone because Sean's band had shows in NY and left Friday morning. So what did I do with my time? Well, I baked cookies (I should have taken pictures!) and with the help of my friend discovered the Voxer app. It's absolutely amazing. GET it now, please?! It's like texting, except you talk. And the person you are talking to has the option to play it anytime they want. And they hear your voice. It's nicer that texting especially because your can hear emotions in these messages. With texting, I think so much of a conversation is lost. Download it and try it. It's free.

You can also play back the ENTIRE conversation and hear what you and the other person has said. It's pretty funny to hear your own voice. :)

Friday at midnight I was pretty interested in going to Target to get The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, part 1. But when midnight rolled around I was more interested in my bed, so I stayed home.

But Saturday? I bet you know where I was...

Oh, it's wonderful. I cannot wait until the next one.

And today, once Sean wakes up we're having an early Valentine's Day celebration and going to see The Vow. I'M SO EXCITED. I've been waiting and waiting and waiting.

So my goal this week is not going to be to update every day. Who knows maybe it'll just happen. But I don't want to set a goal I'll look back on in a week and realize I've failed. So my goal THIS WEEK is to take pictures every day -- so that if by chance, I don't get around to updating until next Sunday I'll at least have some photo evidence of my week. :)

Marriage Monday: Date Nights.

Sean and I had a date night this past weekend. We went to the jack o' lantern spectacular festival at the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence. It was so much fun and the jack o' lanterns were very impressive. It was also really great to be at the zoo at night... occasionally you could hear the animals but it was a little scary not being able to SEE them.

Basically, the festival included thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands, of pumpkins that people had carved. They fall into a theme by continent and they also have some carved of famous people. Very cool!

I highly recommend going. It's a fun night. We heard about it through friends and didn't really know what to expect but we've decided to make it a tradition! Next year, we've already agreed that we'll buy hot chocolates to keep our hands warm!

Surprises!

My husband had surprises waiting for me when I got home yesterday!

[Water for Elephants dvd!]

AND...

[dinner reservations at One Eleven Chophouse!]

So sweet!

I sort of missed a week of blogging. I don't know what's happening! But it's November...

Which means!...

Breaking Dawn is that much closer to coming out... we already have our tickets. Do you?? Sean is soooo excited about it. :)

He's not really excited, but he says he's seen the first three so many times that now he has to see the last one. Which is true. I mean Eclipse is in the DVD player a lot. Actually, all the time.