Sunday July 10th I started my birthday celebrations. I bought myself a little present in the form of a ticket to see one of my favorite Clevelander's in concert: Kate Voegele! she was one of opening acts for Natasha Bedingfield who was playing at the Exit/In that night for $20. What?! I would have paid $20 to just see Kate. So I bought my ticket earlier that week and was pretty excited about seeing her live for the 3rd time! The plan was that Sandra was going to come with me so we met up around 4 to grab some food (the doors to the show opened at 7pm). So we grabbed some pizza at a place nearby called Michalangelo's pizza - SO good! However Sandra did not buy her ticket in advance and therefore when we got to the door the guy said the show was sold out and she couldn't get in to see the show with me :( - I made friends with the 2 girls who were in line in front of me from Kentucky who were also there to hear Kate so I at least had someone to talk to since Sandra couldn't get in. Stood in line for about an hour outside the venue (I wanted to be close the stage) then once the doors opened it was another hour before the show started. It's been an unusually hot summer all over the country but here in Nashville the heat index has been in the 100's a lot! so it was very hot waiting outside, luckily it was semi-shaded. I figured once I got inside it would be cooler - WRONG! I'm convinced it was hotter inside the place than standing outside! With so many people crammed into a tiny bar there was no room to breathe, let's just say I straightened my hair before I left and by the end of the night it was a frizzy mess! (shoulda just went ponytail - but of course I didn't even bring a hair tie, big mistake).
The first performer was a guy named Andy Grammer. He is amazing one of my new favorite artists. Seriously go buy his CD. I bought it after the show and LOVE it! He has a single out with a music video for his song "Gotta Keep Your Head Up" and the song is so good! It's about being strong and keeping going even when you're not sure you can make it through. Great lyrics and very catchy oh and he's not bad to look at either! He sang about 5 songs or so including a cover of Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" which is a great song. Later in the night I met him and took a photo and got him to sign my copy of his CD (he even signed it Happy Birthday for me when I told him my birthday was the next day). Such a nice guy and again super cute!
Me and Andy Grammer
Me and Andy again
Kate was next and this was the first time I'd seen her as an opening act, the other 2 times I saw her was in her hometown of Cleveland, OH and it was her show and other people opened for her. So since she was an opening act she only did about 7 songs. I felt like a bad fan because I had only heard one song off her new album which came out in May and I had yet to buy it as of July but it was purchased after her set and has been on repeat in my car for a week! I love her music! Check her out if you don't already listen to her, she also plays Mia on the CW show, One Tree Hill. Of course the songs she performed off her previous 2 albums I knew all the words to (which may or may not be who you hear singing along in the videos on my YouTube page). She did a meet and greet at the merchandise table after which was cool because the other time I was able to do a meet and greet with her in Cleveland it was along the lines where you had to buy something from the table before the show and get a wrist band for a meet/greet after but it was just an autograph session no photos. This time you didn't have to purchase anything (although I bought her new CD of course) and photos were allowed - I guess there's a slight advantage to going to a place where she is less well known (the people of Cleveland know her more since she grew up there). So I was able to get a couple photos with her and talked to her about Cleveland (since I grew up near there too) and our dogs (she has a Westie which is basically the same kind of dog as a Carin - which I have - only Westie's are all White) she made me show the pic of Riley that I showed her to her dad! She also signed my CD Happy Birthday so that was very cool.
Me and Kate Voegele
Me and Kate again
Me and Jay DeMarcus from Rascal Flatts
Of course the headliner of the concert was Natasha Bedingfield. Now I was right up on the stage for Andy and Kate but decided to give up my close spot to go back to the merchandise table after Kate's set and allow someone who was there to see Natasha move closer. I still stayed for Natasha's set though and she was very good. I've heard a few of her songs before so it's not like I don't know who she is I was just there to see Kate more than anyone else. Another fun surprise was that Natasha has a new single called "Easy" which she does with Rascal Flatts. Well it turns out Jay DeMarcus from Rascal Flatts was there! and came out on stage and sang with her. I was able to get a picture with him as well. He is very nice and pretty nice to look at as well. Of course right before I got a pic with him some drunk dude passed out at the bar and had to be carried outside...crazy!
So I saw Andy and Kate after their set but also said hello again and got a second picture with them after the show was over. I could have waited around for Natasha to come out (if she was going to) but I was so hot and gross I just wanted to go home so I left. I'll post a few video's here and the rest are up on my YouTube page so check em out (again the link to my YouTube page is on the right side of the blog).
Here are a few video clips check out more on my YouTube page:
My Actual Birthday!
July 11th, the big day - my 28th Birthday. I absolutely love my birthday 7/11 what's greater than that? I don't think I'll ever get to an age where I don't want to celebrate my birthday. And as many can attest I make sure everyone knows my birthday is coming up. I start counting down at the end of June! This year was my first birthday in Nashville!
Continuing my trend of free stuff for your birthday, I got a free meal from Firehouse subs. I think technically you only get a free medium sandwich but the guy gave me the whole meal for free so I'm not gonna complain that he threw in chips and a drink ;).
Pesto Chicken Penne!
For dinner that night I went out with Laurie and Steph (who came up from Alabama) at Cafe Nonna. What a great place this was! It's on the small side so they recommend reservations (and I understand why). I had the pesto penne with chicken and it was delicious! I will definitely be going back here in the future!
Steph, Laurie, and Me at Pinkberry
After dinner we were headed toward downtown to hit up a bar for a beer and decided to stop at pinkberry first. Because I will never pass up the opportunity for pinkberry. Oh let me fill you in on some back story here, Laurie went to the beach for the 4th of July and had tweeted a pic of this cool headband that was very festive so I asked her to save one for me for my birthday. She did and I had it on when we went in to pinkberry and the guy immediately asked me if it was my birthday! How'd he guess? Another guy said happy late 4th of July -haha!
So after the delicious frozen yogurt we went to Dan McGuinness Pub for a beer and to watch the end of the Home Run Derby. Steph got the strongest rum and coke ever made and we played a "fun game" of having Laurie try to name the states in alphabetical order. Way too much fun. The night was a great time and I even got a late birthday wish from Kristin on twitter (despite the fact that I basically asked for it and it was technically after my bday was over - in Nashville anyway it was still my birthday in LA where she was when she tweeted it haha)
The Celebration Continues
my lunch!
Tuesday I drove down to Laurie's house and had lunch with her and Steph and Annie at Dotson's Restaurant, a meat & 3 place. I got BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, and green beans w a roll - so good! Definitely southern to the max. We then went to a place called Sweet CeCe's (which is like a pinkberry but more along the lines of a Yougurland where there are different flavors of yogurt to choose from and you put the topping on yourself and pay by weight) because Annie wanted Sweet CeCe's, it looked good but i refrained. After that we picked up GiGi's and brought it back to the house. I finally got to try the cherry limeade cupcake
Cherry Limeade Cupcake with Candle
but only because they were out of the birthday one which was the original plan since it was kinda still my birthday celebration. When we got back to Lauries, we watched some Glee on netflix then watched part of the 1st Harry Potter movie. I took my cupcake and drove back home stopping at Chick-fil-a for dinner. Got home kinda late considering I had to work in the morning but it was a great 3 days of celebration! Here's to a year of fun in Nashville!
Food: Michelangelo's Pizza, Cafe Nonna, Dotson's Restaurant Bars/Music: The Exit/In, Dan McGuinness
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