i invent's first show.

This past weekend, i invent performed for the very first time. I don't know that I've ever felt so nervous for Sean. I so badly wanted to make sure that everything went exactly perfectly right. I wanted to make sure he was comfortable and happy and excited and changed guitar strings and remembered guitar picks and switched out batteries. I hoped that everything would go smoothly and that people appreciated the work that has gone into this album and that people truly enjoyed their music. 

It was hard to take good pictures. It was dark, no one wanted to pose, the iPhone is incapable of taking pictures with the flash. They didn't go on stage until 12:30. That's a tad late for me -- in fact, around 10PM I went out to my car and took a nap. For real. I slept until 11:30... it's always a good idea to keep blankets in the car. :)

I held my breath for the entire first song. And then suddenly, I realized, that this is what they're meant to do. They're good. They're really good. They have stage presence. They have talent. Seeing Sean on stage, with his friends, performing songs they all worked so hard on and seeing the crowd like the music... made me so happy.   

I can't really describe the feeling of knowing that someone is meant to do something in life. But I think it looks a lot like what happened on stage last Friday. I'm so proud of Sean and his friends/band members. They took an idea and made it into something great. And that's pretty special.

This is the best I can do.

This photo is about all I can muster up right now.
My day consisted of an hour drive to work, being at work for 13 hours, and then an hour drive home.
When I got home, I laid on the floor with Apollo -- because that's totally normal.
I almost fell asleep but remembered that I was sneezed on many times today by some 4 and 5 year olds.
So... I felt a shower was necessary.

Luckily, after my shower, I caught Apollo sprawled out, attacking Sean's sweatshirt strings.
It was worth the extra 30 minutes of my day.
But now, I feel the day is officially done.

A birthday weekend.

Sean's birthday was a major success.
We had a day, filled with his favorite foods, a walk around Boston, a movie, and ended the night with chocolate pudding pie.
Today, the celebration continued with lunch with his parents and dinner with mine.
He loved the idea of spreading out the gifts and making them last throughout the day.
He anxiously awaited each of the present opening times,
and it really extended the fun.

For gifts, I decided against Google's advice of money clips & poker chips...
and stuck to what I know Sean loves:
supporting his friends, beer, and the chance to win millions of dollars.
Plus, a couple of things I'd like him to have.

So, I got hoodies from his friend's clothing lines: Monogram Apparel & Hurt Reynolds,
a Sam Adams variety pack + beer glasses,
lottery tickets (we didn't win),
new sneakers + candy,
a level (so he can evenly hang everything I ask him to hang, ha!),
a French press coffee maker with coffee,
and the new Justin Timberlake CD...
(okay, that's sort of for me, too).

Brown paper packages.

Tomorrow is Sean's birthday.

A few weeks ago, I came across this and I thought it was adorable.

It's a way to spread gifts throughout the entire day to make it fun, exciting, and last.

You get the recipient a bunch of gifts (they can be as small as candy or as big and extravagant as you'd like),

you wrap them individually,

and designate a time to open each of them.

I chose down to the minute 27 since he's turning 27.

In the original post, one gift is given each hour between 8AM - 8PM.

But I know that Sean will want to go do things on the day of his birthday.

So I decided to do a morning (8:27), around noon (11:27) and a night (9:27) thing.

I'm really excited for his birthday to come and for him to open his presents.
Isn't gift-giving the best? :)

Sean's new band: i invent.

Sean and some friends formed a new band.

Which is a good thing because since the break-up of Widow Sunday, his last band...

He's been antsy. And motivated to get something new started.

I'm really proud that he's the type of guy that will make things happen for himself.

When he believes in something, he goes for it and his passion is unyielding.

And when he no longer sees something working out for him, he walks away.

Life's too short, right?

His new band includes some past band members, some long-term friends, and some new friends that will soon become family.

That tends to be how a band works.

You're suddenly in a relationship with four more people, plus their significant others.

It's strange, but interesting.

So, here's to i invent.

...May the odds be ever in your favor.

Wicked Sweet.

via.

This month Sean and I saw Ted. 

(Well, I saw Magic Mike on my own time while in CA...)

Maybe, I thought it was so funny because it's set in an area I'm really familiar with. So all the "Boston", "Massachusetts" and "New England" jokes... I understood. Who doesn't like to laugh at themselves?

At the same time, I will say I don't live IN Boston. I never have and most likely never will. But that doesn't stop me from LOVING movies set around here: Good Will Hunting, anyone??

If you search online, you can easily find those "you know you're from Boston when" forums. Most things are true. I know what a regular coffee is, I probably tail-gate awfully too close to the person in front of me, I order jimmies with my ice cream, I didn't go to school when the Pats won the Superbowl, and I go down the Cape, often. Oh, and there's that word I say. A lot. Do you know it?

via.

via.

Oh yes, wicked. It's a part of my daily speech.
In case you don't know how it's used: "that's wicked cool", "I was wicked upset", "she's wicked smart smaht". I guess it's a synonym for "really" or some other word that just magnifies whatever follows.

Last weekend, Sean and his bandmates in Widow Sunday had a yard sale.



It wasn't your typical yard sale. Intrigued? They sold lots of musical things that I have no idea about it.
There was a bunny costume, discussion about partnering up with children selling lemonade across the street in hopes to "bring in more business", multiple attempts at a Pogo stick and a unicycle, and lots of traffic slowing down because of the signs:

translation: "wicked sweet yard sale, kid..."

Lots of people stopped to look.

Lots of people stopped to buy. 

Lots of people stopped... just to take a picture of the sign.

People thought it was clever, unique, and hysterical.
There's definitely something to be said for laughing at yourself.