Music, Music, Music!

This past wkd was perfect in so many way! It was sort of like the wkd I'd always wanted to have in NYC and it finally happened! My wkd started on Thursday night when Jenn and I made our way down to the West Village for tapas at Las Ramblas...so good, you MUST go there! It was a tiny, hole in the wall tapas bar where the food was to die for, the sangria delightful, and the atmosphere so cozy that you felt transported to Europe. Once our bellies were full we headed over to Madison Square Garden (MSG) for the Black Keys concert! I don't know what to say other than AMAZING!!! I think this qualifies as my first "real" rock concert. The venue was great and for being so massive, the sound was so clear! The Arctic Monkeys opened, they were so-so, I only recognized 2 of their songs and liked those, but they were a lot different than the other 6 or so that they played. Once the first note was played by the Black Keys I felt like I was transported to a happy place...or maybe that was due to all the ppl openly smoking joints all around me! I became a Black Keys fan while living out in LA and certain songs just take me back to memories of driving to Santa Monica Beach, or to fun outtings with friends in Palo Alto who were also Black Keys fans (shout out to Lisette!), and these days it's a toss up between Florence + the Machine's Ceremonials and the Black Keys El Camino for my wake up/shower/get ready to start your day routine. Just saying, you should download them, PRONTO.

MSG is starting to fill up!

Rangers jerseys

besties!

Everlasting light. Everyone loves a good disco ball.

Friday night Jenn was cancelled from work and we headed down to the LES to Piano's for the New Facility concert. Our friend Dave was childhood friends with the drummer so we went purely from his recommendation, and I have to say, they were really, really good! After some great new band discoveries and getting our groove on we headed over to a sports bar to cheer on N.C. State Wolfpack. I WILL NOT cheer for the Tarheels, but I will sport some red (accidentally) and make the pack sign during March Madness since my Blue Devils are out. Between some cheering, some music, some air hockey with PBR cans as mallets (I googled what you call the thing you hold!), and an unfortunate last minute loss for State we managed to somehow squeeze in this tiny photobooth to get this!

Leading Lady of the Color Bars,
she was awesome.

PBR air hockey w/ Dave 'n Jenn

 

Photobooth!

Saturday was lovely as I had no company and no work. I slept in, met a friend/coworker for the Hunger Games where our theater was oversold so we "exchanged tickets" (actually we snuck back in later with the help of a kind ticket booth agent), got some brunch, went back to the movie (AMAZING), then I ran home, changed, ate again, and headed over to the West side to the Highline Ballroom to meet up with my friend KC for the Dave Barnes concert. Yes, this is my 3rd concert in a row! I've got a few of Dave's CDs (you should check out his Christmas album!) and have known about him for several years, mostly in part because of my sister who was a huge fan of his while in college. Turns out KC's friend from Bible study is best friends with Dave's wife so it was really fun to hang out with "his friends" and hear stories about him and his mutual man crush with John Mayer (whose name was ON the guest list, but I don't think he was there due to the lack of fainting/screaming women). If you have the chance, you should see one of Dave's shows. He's really funny, quirky, and has John Mayer's stamp of approval. After the concert, KC, myself and several of her friends from church walked down to the Brass Monkey to hang out. We all called it a night early as it was Saturday night, and we all had church plans the next day.

Dave Barnes 

He's probably saying something funny,
he talks for half his concert

When I got home I texted a friend of mine who I had spoken with earlier this week about going to church with me. Knowing how much this guy likes to have fun on the wkd I wasn't 100% sure that he'd join me in the morning, but God answered my prayer above and beyond. When I called him with a wake up call I was not expecting him to already be up and getting ready! Then when I got to his neighborhood I was surprised again that his girlfriend and another friend of theirs would also be coming! We walked the block and a half to church and were only a few minutes late. For being a young, small church and it only being my 3rd visit I'm surprised out how comfortable I feel there. Afterward we went out brunch at Elmo and I'm so thankful for the courage to ask them about what they thought of church and what their backgrounds are. Talking about "religion" can be difficult and often cause rifts but I'm thankful for the openess that we shared over our meal and hopefully it was a nice introduction or reminder about the importance of fellowship in addition to our private relationship with Christ.