What's This?

K— is ready for Halloween!

It's getting closer to that magic hour . . . Halloween. My housemates and I have already decorated our house for Halloween and we're planning our Halloween party and a trip to a haunted corn maze.

I keep jumping the gun and suggesting we decorate for both Halloween and Christmas. Ka— suggested putting snowflakes on the windows, to which K— adamantly vetoed. I suggested we all take a trip down to California and chop down a redwood tree to decorate as our Christmas tree. K— seems to think we wouldn't make it out of the park, but only because she isn't aware of my childhood klepto skills. Jk. I won't steal a tree . . . unless it's one of those Reese's chocolate trees . . . okay but maybe I wouldn't steal those either.

One thing that I have set as a goal for this month is to learn the Thriller dance. K— is mandating that I perform it for the house on October 30th. Wish me luck guys!

Almost Paradise

Yesterday Kayliegh and I went to Islander Middle School on Mercer Island to see the junior high kids their do a musical production of FOOTLOOSE. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, except that I was counting on the "angry dance" to be in there—you know, the dance that Kevin Bacon does in the barn. Anyway, they didn't do it, which was kind of sad. Another thing that caught me off guard was that instead of saying the ever classic "JUMP BACK!" that Kevin Bacon says in the movie, the kid playing Ren McCormack would say, "GET OUTTA HERE!" Kinda wished he'd said "jump back" instead, but oh well, whaddayado? My favorite was the kid that played Willard. He was hilarious and he played the piano in one of the songs and did a great job. I felt like his performance alone was worthy of the ten bones i paid to see the show. Although, by the end I was wishing I'd dropped a 20 spot in an effort to help them raise money to improve the terrible PA system they had the music blasting through. There were also some "guest celebrities" there . . . okay so maybe it was just middle schoolers that had uncanny resemblances to other grown up actors. ;) I swear one of the girls looked like Nasim Pedrad from SNL. A mini-me version of Kay Panabaker was also there, along with a mini-me version of Michelle Trachtenburg. ;) It was awesome! All the students did a great job!

Naturally I'm a sucker for musicals, and since Footloose is one of my favorite movies, I had a really fun time watching the middle schoolers sing and dance and re-enact their version of Footloose. It reminded me of the times I got to spend doing plays and musicals as a kid. It was also really sweet to watch them honor their teachers and the crew that helped out with the production.

Anyway, here are 2 pictures and some videos from the evening:

Opening number: Footloose

(footloose)


(hurts so good)


(holding out for a hero)


(ren fights for the dance)

Earlier I updated my status saying

The J.High show of Footloose DIDN'T include the 'angry dance' :( So I'm going to blast the song while I cook & do my own in the kitchen

And a lot of people requested that I record it and put it on YouTube. I didn't record me doing it when I was cooking, but I DID have one of my housemates record me dancing to it around the house. I had her do it around the house because it would have just been boring confined to the kitchen alone, and because we had to do some strategic filming, since some personal information is on our house whiteboard hanging in the kitchen. So I apologize ahead of time if you feel cheated. I hope it makes you laugh anyway:

The Lights and Buzz

I'm finally done editing my photos from the Jack's Mannequin show!

Okay so for reference, music is my football . . . and seeing Jack's Mannequin in concert is like the Super Bowl! I had SO much fun rocking out with a bunch of JM fans :D

Also, I got to meet Andrew McMahon and I got to talk to him about music and inspiration and his passion for writing and it was just sooooo cool! He is one of my all-time favorite song writers. He truly has a gift for song writing and I glean from his stuff all the time! He also encouraged me as a writer and gave me some words of wisdom to keep me focused and grounded so that I could keep pursuing my passion. Needless to say, (but I'll say it anyway) getting to meet one of my musical heroes was just soooo amazing!

It was great to go to a show and support this music I love and dance and shout and sing along with all the songs that have helped me get from various Point A's to various Point B's in my life. Andrew said this during his little talk during La La Lie, but truly, music connects us—at least it does for me.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the show and 2 videos I recorded. After that are 2 other videos taken by other people, but they were just too great not to share! He has so much passion and energy and his showmanship and charisma are just so wonderful to me! I love to see when artists really get into what they're doing and don't care how crazy they look or may seem. :D

That's right folks, I was THAT close!! :D

I love when he dances on his piano!

I also love when he jumps off his piano! so fun!

Not only is Andrew tons of fun, his BAND is tons of fun. This is Dr. J's (his bass player) amp. He brings the figurines with him to EVERY show and they get to 'join him' on stage, just chillin' on his amp. So fun!

Me and Andrew McMahon!

VIDEOS FROM THE SHOW:

(disclaimer: some of these are obnoxiously loud. consider yourself warned)

DARK BLUE


LA LA LIE


BLOODSHOT


INTO THE AIRWAVES

Ice Cream

We had some housemate hangout time tonight and we went to Molly Moons Ice Cream and then to a Japanese restaurant in Wallingford. I had already eaten dinner earlier, and was still full, so I just got some edamame at the restaurant, and some amazing ice cream at Molly Moons. They had this amazing "Scout" Mint ice cream and it was delish!

So after eating my ice cream, the sugar buzz came and it showed up strong the rest of the night. We were driving around in Karli's car and she was bumpin' some rap music and we would be at stoplights, and me riding shotgun, would whip out my chopsticks (from the restaurant) and start bustin' some moves for all the passersby. It was awesome!! Then we went to the QFC grocery store and I was dancing in the aisles to the music playing in the store. Gina dared me to go up to one of the cashiers and dance in front of them randomly—so i DID! The people in front of me were laughing. I loved it! :D

2 things that prove it was an amazing night:

1. This status update from one of my housemates:

and



2. This video of our car dancing shenanigans: