The Truth About Love

As the title of P!nk's current tour, she truly did teach us the truth about love Thursday night at the Verizon Center. To say the show was good is the understatement of the century. Words like "Amazing", "Incredible" and "Tremendous" don't even do it justice.  It was, hands down, the BEST live show we have ever seen.  Ever.  Period.

Going to see P!nk live in concert has been on my bucket list for a while.  I wouldn't call myself a super fan, but I've always liked her and thought that her show would be entertaining.  I convinced Ed to get tickets for last night's show and reluctantly, he joined me.  I say reluctantly because he figured the crowd would be 90% women and 10% the men whom they dragged with them.  Turns out he was wrong.  The crowd was much older and there were a lot more guys present than he thought.

We made our way to our nose bleed level seats and were pleased that we were in the first row of the section.  We struck up a conversation with the couple next to us who had commented on the giant coffee that Ed was holding and bonded over the fact that we now, as parents of little ones, drink coffee at concerts vs. alcohol.

If you know anything about P!nk's current tour, you will know that it is a spectical.  Not only is there singing and dancing, but there are acrobatics in the style of Cirque du Soleil all performed by P!nk herself while singing.  It wasn't a concert; it was a production!  She started with a bang by entering the stage from above on a bungee while singing one of my personal favs, Raise Your Glass.  There were about half a dozen dancers, 3 to 4 big burly men who were all in on the acrobatics and lots of fire.  Quite a start!  She continued with jams including Just Like a Pill, Try, Just Give Me a Reason (a new favorite!), Trouble, Slut Like You, and Blow Me (One Last Kiss).  One of my favorite parts of the show was when she sang Who Knew acoustic style.  Beautiful!

  

In between all the great songs and performances, she was a Chatty Cathy.  She's funny, silly, and down to earth.  She loves being a Mom and spoke about Willow a lot.  It was great to see the human side of this "larger than life" pop starg.  Under normal circumstances, I could totally be friends with this girl!

She saved the best for last.  The first song of her encore was So What.  Check it out:

You see that white light that is floating around the screen? Well, that is P!nk who is strapped in a harness flying all around the Verizon Center.  HOLY CRAP!!!  It was INCREDIBLE!  Our video does not do it justice - check out this video from a concert in Montreal from a few days ago:

The truly amazing thing is that she is singing while peforming these amazing feats.  I mean, c'mon!  She really is a wonderful performer and I would absolutely go to another show.  I think Ed would too without any extra prodding.  Seriously, check out her tour dates and if she is in your town go see her.  These days, we don't get out too often, but when we do, we try to do it right.  Thank you P!nk for an AMAZING date night and for showing us the Truth About Love!

Coo Coo!!!

Not us.  The weather.  Last week, it snowed on Wednesday and by Sunday, we were in the park on a swing.  What the heck?!  It's safe to say that Mother Nature has lost her marbles, but hey, we'll take it.  Variety is the spice of life, right?! :)

As per usual, the media hype on the snow storm that hit our region last week was ridiculous.  Before the snow even arrived, the term "SnowQuester" was being thrown around.  Well, in true Northern VA fashion, everyone freaked out and bought all the bread and milk in the stores and closed schools the night before.  Hell, event the Feds closed up shop! 

We saw about 6 inches of very wet snow which we took advantage of despite James' request.  We should have known when we were getting him into his snow suit that this was not the best idea.  Cranky is not the word!!  We managed to stuff him in it and snap a picture so we can document the "I-can't-put-my-arms-down!" moment.  Ralphie would be so proud. :)

The snow was still falling when we hit the slopes (aka side yard) and James was not happy. I don't think he cracked a smile the entire time. Se la vie - it was a milestone moment for him to be dragged in his new sled for the first time.

Now cut to the weekend.  We saw temps in the mid to upper 60's so we decided to take advantage of it.  With the snow melting around us, we put James in his car and drove over to the big playground with the swings.

James had never been in a swing other than his baby swing so now was the time for another "first".  To say he loved it was an understatement.  I think his favorite part were the Lucy kisses he received when the swing came forward - who wouldn't?! :)

It was a fun day that ended with Daddy on the couch sleeping (still a bit under the weather) and James at the drive-in theatre (aka our family room in his car) with his Mum Mum and some bad TV.  I think my favorite part about this scene is Lucy staring at the Mum Mum willing James to drop it.  :)

Thanks for the 2 great days, Mother Nature.  But for the record, we'd like more of the playground days than the snow days at this point.  

James' Birthday Weekend Recap Part 2

I'm a week late.  I know.  It's been over a week since we celebrated James' first birthday and I'm just now getting the recap online.  There really are no excuses...but here are a few.  First off, we all had such a blast over the birthday weekend that we needed ample time to recover.  And when I say ample time to recover I mean time to get the photos out of the camera, edited in PhotoShop and cataloged in my library.  Add a snow day and another bout of pink eye (both James and Ed this time) and I was left with no time to sit down and write.  But alas, the moment has come to share with you James' first birthday party.  Welcome!

The weekend began on Friday with a family party for the little man as covered in part one of the weekend recap. Day two was James' official birthday party ~ and boy did we party!

The morning was calm - a lot calmer than I thought it would be.  Our team of helpers were forced came over bright and early to help with the party set-up.  Because our itty bitty townhouse is itty bitty, we decided to host the event at the Little Rocky Run Recreation Center #1 (aka the room by the pool).  We left James in the hands of the Grandma's (THANK YOU!) and grabbed everyone else on hand to haul all the party gear over and commence Operation: Party Set-up (Sue, Joe, Adriana, John, Rob, Heather - THANK YOU!!).  Within an hour, we were able to make the simple room where ballet classes are held into a "Whale-R-Riffic party space"!

Because I'm a crazy type-A person AND and event planner on top of that, I spent more time than I'd like to admit planning this birthday party and with the help of some Etsy vendors and Party City, I was able to go whale crazy for the big day.  From whale plates and bubble gum whale centerpieces to whale cupcake toppers and a candy favor bar, there was no question as to what the party theme was.

I have to say that my favorite area of the room was the dessert table.  The smash cake (made by yours truly) turned out SOOOOOO cute as did the whale-themed cupcakes.  I am so lucky that I found both Ciaobambino and SweetTouchDecor on Esty.  Without their help, you would be looking at some boring, white cupcakes. :)

James was in awe when we finally brought him over to the room (or at least I'd like to think he was in awe!).  

He took the time to make the rounds and thank everyone for coming.  In between all the thank you's, he found some time to play with the kids in the "kids corner" and grab a bite to eat.  Surprisingly, he kept his party hat on for most of the event.  We thought for sure he'd rip it off his head and toss it to the floor, but not so much.  I guess he wanted everyone to know he was the birthday boy!

I think one of the cutest pictures of the day is this one.  It totally looks like Conner and James are taking part in some sort of drug deal and we caught the hand off as it was in progress.  In actuality, Conner is handing James a Pez candy (which we promptly stole away from him).  Such a giver!

We decided to do something special for James to commemorate his first year. Prior to the party, we asked everyone to bring something to put in a time capsule that we would give to James on his 18th birthday.  Something fun or sentimental to help him remember his first year and 2012.  He got some great stuff - an Obama button, a Best Buy circular, a photo of our house ~ and this: 

I think 18 year old James is going to be a fan of that.  It looks like 1 year old James is actually interested!   

The best part of the day was the presentation of the ceremonial first birthday smash cake.  Yes - this is the always popular tradition where baby is presented with a cake of his very own to dive in and make a big 'ole mess.  James had a trial run with a cupcake the night before, but this cake was a lot bigger which meant he could get a lot messier.  Here is a progression of before, during and after.  Adorable - but messy!!

And a BIG thank you to friend and neighbor Liz for sharing this video of James in action.  Her little Noelle is not too far away from a smash cake of her own!

After an extensive clean up, we moved the party back to the house where James ripped into his gifts and played with his toys the paper and tissue.  He got all kinds of great stuff from clothes and a shark towel to cars and a Spiderman Sprinkler.  No joke.  We also took the opportunity to present James' First Year video to the family.  It was a big hit! James even managed to pay attention - from an upside down position. :)

So there you have it. Our precious baby boy's first birthday party full of food, family, friends, fun, whales, cupcakes, chaos, and laughing til we cried. Thank you to everyone who came.  You truly made the day so special for our little man!