Train/Maroon 5 (8/31/11)

Back in May, I learned that Maroon 5 AND Train were coming to town. Together. Um, excitement.

As soon as they went on-sale, I bought. I most likely could have scored a free pair, but free = no choice in seating. So, I paid up! Thankfully, my friend Billie Jo is always up for a concert and wanted to come, too.

May I first say that non-Country concerts vs Country concerts are an interesting study? Very interesting. I've been going to Country concerts for about six years. There is a different feel to them that is really hard to explain. So, when you suddenly switch back to something else..... it makes for fun people watching.

Like the older couple (probably mid-50s) that were bumping and grinding the entire show. I mean, R-rated, for real.

Or, the set of 5 people (3 women and 2 men) that clearly had some interesting dynamics and took most of the show to figure out.

Or, the set of college girls that was led by a full-fledged hippy girl (down to the super long hair, across-the-forehead headband, and midriff baring peasant top) who knew every single word to every single song that both bands sang.

Then, there was the actual concert................

Matt Nathanson opened up. The only two songs I know of his are "Come On Get Higher" and "Faster", but I really enjoyed him. I like his style and he's hysterical.

Matt Nathanson

The two bands are co-headliners. Usually, that means that they alternate taking the stage. This time, Maroon 5 came out first. I've loved them since high school and they didn't disappoint!

Maroon 5

Adam Levine..... lead singer of Maroon 5 and an amazing talent.

After about 75 minutes of singing all their hits, it was time for a break.

Billie Jo and I........

Next up was Train!

They did a great job of mixing up their older/90s hits and their currents.

They brought on a bunch of women for "She's On Fire" to be Trainettes......

This lady was CRAZY, lol....

The little girl was adorable........

My favorite parts?................

"Hey, Soul Sister" -  As much fun as it is to sing in your car, along with the radio, it's 100x more fun to sing at a concert. Dancing around and singing at the top of your lungs.... so. much. fun.

"Marry Me" - I love, love, love, love, LOVE this song. It melts me.

If you've never heard it, let me give my absolute most favorite lines.............

"Forever could never be long enough for me to feel like I've had long enough with you....."

and

"Together could never be close enough for me to feel like I've been close enough to you. You'll wear white and I'll wear out the words 'I love you' and 'You're beautiful'."

Melts. Me.

Anyway, while he was singing that song, he ran around the amphitheatre. Billie Jo even got a high-five as he ran past us.

I walked out of there on Cloud 9. It truly was such a great concert.

Rascal Flatts (8/19/11)

My vacation was 8/15 - 8/19......... the icing on the vacation cake was a fun concert!

J, G, and I made plans to join Rascal Flatts, Sara Evans, Easton Corbin, and Justin Moore at the Amp. I was super excited because I was getting the opportunity to meet RF and Sara, for the first time.

Luckily, despite being mid-August, the afternoon/evening was gorgeous!

Justin Moore

Sara Evans and I

Rascal Flatts and I

Kings of Awkward Faces........

J and I........... He's one of our reps and a super nice guy!

G, J, and I

G and I

J and I

Sara Evans

I need to work out with this woman for a week..........

Thanks to our rep, L, we were able to watch Sara's performance from the sound board! It was actually a really neat experience :)

The sound board....

Just another day at work for this chick....

Rascal Flatts

G actually held out a lighter during "Bless the Broken Road", lol.

Sara came out to sing "Easy" with them.

After a while we were ready to go, but not before meeting up with D.....

G, me, and D

J jumped in for a pic!

D and I

Kellie Pickler (8/8/11)

Last month, we were visited by Kellie Pickler. This was three years in the making.

Honestly, it was one of our busiest concerts ever, so I got a total of about 6 pictures............

Ms. Pickler doing her thang......

She was really nice. And, she had a conversation with EVERY person she met. Her M&G last almost two hours because she engaged every person in line. (Great for her fans............ not so great for the people manning the line)

C and I....... he's always been my favorite rep. Sadly, he's moved onto a different region :(

Kellie Pickler and I

Just roll with it.........

We'll call this week "Concert Week" over at All-American Jess...................

Earlier in the summer, we had the pleasure of having Easton Corbin out for a private concert. If you don't know who he is, just imagine a very young George Strait.

Easton Corbin and I

G and I

My friends Billie Jo, Ambra, and Jenny with Easton

Sonya, Easton, and Amy (a girl I went to HS with and now go to church with)

Laziness Day

So, this morning, my gym had a Zumba-thon from 9a - 11a. I set my alarm to go.

Then, I turned my alarm off and slept in.

Instead of waking up and getting an awesome 2 hour workout in, I woke up and have been surfing blogs.

Because, I rock like that.

The following pics were taken in the last week and a halfish..........

Some of the ladies at work took me out to lunch for my birthday. Then, I got a pretty birthday cheesecake.......

Last Friday, we went up to Disney World after work. Lydie-lu wanted to "see the Princesses"...... only, once it was her turn to see them, she held onto me for dear life. She's not afraid of costumed characters with masks, yet gets nervous when it's a real person.

In line for the Winnie the Pooh ride............

Last week, we had a photo shoot with our DJs (sounds a lot cooler than it actually is). I decided to snap a pic while no one was looking.

Saturday Sillies.............

1) I really need to get back into the blogging groove. One, I like communicating with you all. Two, I'd like to be able to look back at my life, ten years from now..... this really is like a journal/scrapbook for me.

2) Fall is here. By Fall, I mean the time of year where my workload becomes INSANE. When things are slow in the summer, I always feel guilty for basically laying back and twiddling my thumbs. My boss tells me, "Don't you DARE feel bad. You're a machine from Sept until May..... Take a couple months to rest." So, when I got back from vacation and things were immediately crazed? I suddenly remembered why I shouldn't feel guilty. Yesterday, for instance, I had so much going on that I couldn't finish everything before my 4pm remote. After the 4p-6p remote, I attended the show (Disney On Ice) that we were promoting. Once the show was over at 9p, I went back to the station and worked. Until 12am. Welcome to Fall.

3) Fall is almost here. And, by Fall, I mean the glorious time of year where the heat starts to subside. Stores are starting to put pumpkins in their windows....... scents are leaning towards cinnamon..... clothing is heading towards orange, maroon, and brown. YAY!!! Fall is almost here!!

4) As of this morning, I'm officially a pound down from what I was before vacation!!! Yay, me!!! WIN.

5) I only worked out twice this week. FAIL.

6) It's amazing that I've lost weight. This whole week, I've been craving chocolate like WHOA. Unless I'm PMSing (which I'm currently not), I typically am not a chocolate person. I mean, I love a good brownie as much as the next person. However, I tend to prefer caramel, vanilla, sugar/snickerdoodle cookies, etc. Not this week. The more chocolate, the better.

7) E-Harmony. My 3-month subscription is up at the end of the month and I'm not going to renew. Really, I just can't get into it. I've tried. I've really, really tried.

8) I want Jordan and Rachel to make the final two of Big Brother. I NEVER thought I'd root for Rachel, but I am.