Music Monday

So in maybe seventh (?) grade this boy made me a mixed tape (cause that's what you did back then when you liked a someone) and for some reason, a few of the songs that were on it have stayed with me in my mind. (James Taylor's' "Mexico"? huh? I mean good song but kinda weird for a mixed tape in 1991. From a boy.)

So I'm at the gym the other day and one of the songs that I loved from this tape but hadn't heard in forever started playing. As I was boppin' around the cardio machines, singing along in my head I had to be impressed with little Ryan Gioradano for his stellar music selection.
I'm sure its pure chance, or perhaps the influence of an older sibling, that lead him to put a Violent Femmes song on my little mixed tape but, you know what? Mad props.

Today's song - "American Music" by Violent Femmes.

I like Roy's legs.

So last night at the bar while watching the UNC game THIS commercial came on.

When Coach K came out the entire bar just started screaming and cursing at the TV......then Roy came out and seriously? The bar went completely silent and everyone just sat there slackjawed, staring at the screen. Then at the end, everyone erupted into cheers and claps.

It was the strangest, collective emotional rollercoaster I've ever been on.

Sidenote: I enjoy Bobby Knight saying "we're playing the Guitar Hero" versus "we're playing Guitar Hero".

Second Sidebar: Roy plays fake guitar SO MUCH BETTER than Mike. Please observe.

Go Elizabeth!

I'm proud to report that my cousin, Elizabeth Mann Smith, successfully ran and completed her first half marathon this Saturday in Raleigh! Yahoo!!! Good work E, we are very proud of you! Wish I could have been there to cheer you on, but I'm excited for your big visit in June for our 10K :) Jeez, that should feel like a breeze to her now. I'm going to be huffing along while Elizabeth makes calls on her cell phone and eats an ice cream cone.

Goodbye Duke!

After a tough loss, there is nothing better than a good massage from your teammate.

Music Monday

Happy first official Monday of Spring everyone! This post is dedicated to my little sister for obvious reasons. A little over a week ago I got to see Britney Spears in concert for the second time...that's right...SECOND time. Some might think this sad considering my age...I consider it AWESOME.

So this week's song is "Circus" by Britney Spears.

When tickets first went on sale, Miss Britney had just hopped off the crazy train and we had a tough decision to make. Was she just hopping off to use the bathroom or perhaps pick up some Cheetos and then jumping back aboard? Or was she hopping off for good, cashing in her ticket and getting her life and hair extensions back together. If we bought these expensive tickets in December there was no guarantee that there would even be a concert in March, much less one worth going to. But we held strong to our hope and belief that Britney would get it together and IT PAID OFF. The concert was great, much better than I expected and since my little sister couldn't be there I took no less than 14,000 pictures and videos. (Apologizes in advance because you can hear Carrie, Emily, Fay and I singing, cheering and encouraging Britney in the videos. At one point during the dance breakdown in"Toxic" Carrie even shouts out "There you go girl!" just in case Britney needed a little extra encouragement. That's how strongly we believe. "Yes, I confess, I still believe. (Still believe!)" Name that tune....

Click below to see pics!

Britney

So. Terrible.

Surprise, surprise. Coach K is whining.

Don't be hatin' on Obama just cause he didn't pick Duke. The poor man has a right to enjoy March Madness like the rest of us...He probably deserves a moment off to enjoy it MORE than the rest of us....WE can't help it that he picked Carolina to go all the way :)

Go Heels!

Its March Madness and everyone is getting into the spirit, including Rives....who clearly knows who to cheer for!

Monsters stink.

Old school, but still wonderful. Here you go.

Greg Paulus dates JJ Reddick

Last week/weekend I was in North Carolina visit family and friends, going to the Carolina/Duke game and in general hanging out and enjoying the 80 degree weather! First thing I did when I arrived was go see my main little buddy, Rives, who shouted out "Hey El!" and then proceeded to show me his new toys with so much excitement in his eyes, you couldn't help but laugh! ("want want SLIDE??" which roughly translates to..."Aunt Ellen, come check out my new slide! Its the BOMB!")

Friday morning, Mom and I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and played a little golf.....or maybe I should say Mom played...Mrs Hamrick and I essentially wacked at grass...Then Friday night I got to go out with some high school guys friends....

Saturday night was the NC Museum fundraising black tie event - so fun! Got to spend quality time with some high school friends and my college roomies Anderson and Sydney and their significant others. (Shot out to John and Rob!) Thankfully my camera was almost dead because the photos on Sydney's camera are ridiculous. The evening cumulatedwith the three of us (that's right, the hubbys had gone on to bed because they are smart) ordering and downing Pokey Stix from Gumby's. Ahhh....college.

Then Sunday was the Carolina/Dook game. My camera was on its last battery life so I didn't get more than 3 pics but Katie snapped a bunch so here are hers :)

Carolina won, OF COURSE, for the second time this year. Many hilarious shirts/outfits in the stands ranging from your basic "Duke girls are ugly." and "Duck Fook." to more creative ones...we saw a Tarheel dad and a Blue Devil son rocking matching shirts, a guy wearing a Snuggie, a shirt very specifically targeting Singler with some language on it that isn't appropriate for the internet, etc.

Michael Jordan was there and sat 5-6 rows in front of us which was neat and then at the end, we stayed for Senior Speeches and then mom and dad treated us all to a delicious dinner at Bin 54.

Thanks everyone for a great week, I'll see you soon! Click on below for pics!

NC

I Heart David Bryne

I forgot that I had these pics and videos on my camera so when I found them I thought I would give you a taste of one of the best concerts I've ever been to. David Byrne (lead singer of Talking Heads) performed at Radio City Music Hall a few weeks ago and it was, in a nutshell, AMAZING. The venue in itself is just so great - small but not too small, cushy seats that aren't crowded, lots of history in the place, etc. Then David Bryne came out and was just fabulous. I took some pics and at the end are a couple videos I took of him performing some of his Talking Heads hits. He came out for an encore wearing a tutu, with twenty other dancers wearing tutus, and sang "Burning Down the House" which just made made my night. Please try to ignore Claire and I singing along in the background. Click on photo below to see them all!

David Byrne

To Protect and Serve....Cheeseburgers.

Some people are truly living in their own world. Click here.

"Ma'am. We are not gonna go down there and enforce your Western Bacon Cheeseburger."

Gimme back that filet o' fish

Now, you all know that I enjoy weird commercials that don't really make sense - see here.

Well, props to my friend Allison who sent me an email that simply read "I would like you to watch this commercial and post and discuss on your blog". Straight and to the point. I like it.

So I clicked on her link and was rewarded with THIS. I almost fell out of my chair. People beware, I can see me DEFINITELY singing this song for the next 2 months.

Sidebar: At the end, how delicious do those Filet O' Fish sandwiches look, all thick and buttery with nice fattening tartar sauce on them. Mmmm. If only that's what they looked like in real life.

Just another Wednesday night

So last night I went to one of my favorite neighborhood sushi spots for dinner with some friends - its a BYOB place called Poke if anyone is ever in the city and hungry for sushi!

As we were walking in, we had a minor celebrity (? I guess I would call them celebrities for lack of a better word) sighting. Lizzie Grubman and Sean Stewart were outside smoking and were actually seated at the table next to us. For those of you that don't know, Lizzie owns a PR firm and does work for a lot of celebrity clients. She also had a reality TV show about her firm on MTV for about 1/2 second BUT is probably most famous for the fact that she drunk drove her car into a crowd of people in the Hamptons a few years ago.

Sean is the son of Rod Stewart and was briefly on the TV show "Sons of Malibu" with Brody Jenner and Randy Spelling (of Tori and Aaron Spelling fame). He ALSO was recently on the TV show "Celebrity Rehab" with Dr. Drew.

So you can see why the two of them hanging out is a good idea.

Now, all that being said with a catty undertone, when we walked in the door we couldn't find the handle (idiots, we know) and Sean was standing there and was very nice and joked around with us. And, despite myself, I find him to be cute in a cracked-out, wannabe rocker kind of way.

So 2 points for Sean.

This is what smoking and a tanning bed will do to you.

Sean

Music....Thursday?

Ok, I apologize that I have been a very bad blogger. As my brother has so kindly pointed out, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Just because you aren't sitting in front of a computer all day anymore doesn't mean the rest of us aren't and don't need something to read. You have been slacking." Well.

I was recently in North Carolina and so this past Monday I was busy spending time with my nephew and didn't get a chance to post my music selection...more posts to come on that trip, I promise.

So without further blabbering from me....here is this week's song. Late, but still good.

"Believe" by The Bravery - Now, I actually think this song has been out for a while but I just discovered it and really enjoy it. And how did I discover it? It was actually used in a promo for the TV show "Friday Night Lights" and every time that commercial came on, I loved this song. So with some fancy googling, I found it, downloaded it and have enjoyed it as part of my running mix ever since.

That's one way to wake up.

At first I was all "What's the big deal, my dog 'runs' in his sleep sometimes." Well, not like this people.

I found this and stole it from one of my favorite websites, dooce.com, so I cannot take credit. Please enjoy by clicking here.

Music Monday

Happy Snowy Monday! It seems that the entire East coast is covered in snow which makes me grumpy. I'm currently in pajamas watching Oprah and then I remembered that I had not posted today's song. And by remembered, I mean I got no less than 10 emails asking where it was.

SO.

Today's song is "Where Does The Good Go" by Tegan and Sara. Love, love, love this song. Love the lyrics more. And luckily the people who post these kind of things on youtube.com created some sort of video with the lyrics so instead of me having to type them, you can just click above and listen to the song, whilst reading the lyrics. I've reached the height of lazy. Enjoy.