As most of you know, I'm pretty passionate about music. My favorite is from the oldies and classic rock genre, thanks to my Mom's tunes being forced upon me when I was growing up. Ironically, she doesn't like that music anymore, and I love it more than ever. Up until tonight, I had seen ALL of my favorite bands in concert except for 2....Fleetwood Mac and of course, The Beatles (which I will never see, but can always shoot for Paul McCartney). I have seen Stevie Nicks in concert, but not Fleetwood Mac. In February, Spencer scrounged up our extra cash (Hahahahaha...extra cash...) and bought me tickets to see Fleetwood Mac. He even bought one for himself so I wouldn't have to go alone. In the past 4 months, I have forced him to listen to their 2-disc Greatest Hits album in the car so that he would be well educated and well-prepared for the concert....which (FINALLY!) was tonight!
I took the day off just so I could be sure I was not late to the concert or had to go through the trouble of switching shifts or anything like that. I had lots planned for my day...laying out, wedding stuff, etc....none of which I got done...it just started out as "one of those days". Then Spencer called me and said we should go out to dinner before the concert. I liked this idea. We decided to go to Nora's Italian Restaurant. But the wait when we got there was 45 minutes. We didn't have time for that. So we went elsewhere...lots of elsewheres....and everything was just under an hour to wait. We didn't have that kind of time. I was FRUSTRATED and starting to get MAD! (Mostly because I hadn't eaten since a bowl of a cereal this morning.) Finally we decided that all we had time for was the food court at the MGM Grand. So when we got inside, even the line for the food court was FOREVER LONG! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Our romantic dinner before the concert turned into a McDonald's picnic in the hallway behind the theater at the MGM Grand.
I was sure after the kind of day I seemed to have been having, that something was going to go wrong and there wouldn't be a concert, but sure enough there was. It was an almost 3 hour concert with 2 encores and it was INCREDIBLE. I had read a lot of reviews about this concert saying that due to their sordid past, the band didn't seem unified, that Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham barely acknowledged each other on stage, and that Stevie Nicks seemed timid and not that excited to be there. Everything was the opposite of what I read! They seemed to be having a BLAST together. Stevie and Lindsey made eye contact, held hands, hugged, kissed and even got emotional about one another's songs, and they were all there to party, including Stevie! They sang all my favorite songs and did other songs so incredibly that it made me appreciate them more than I had before. Storms, Silver Springs, and Gold Dust Woman were my favorite! :) Lindsey Buckingham is quite the guitarist...I was thoroughly impressed by him. It was AWESOME!
Waiting for the concert to start:
They opened with "Monday Morning"
"Gold Dust Woman"
First Encore: "World Turning"
Second Encore: "Silver Springs" (My favorite!)
Wow! As you can tell our seats were kinda far away...but it was still amazing...and thank goodness for jumbo video screens! :)
When I was little I used to love this silly and probably very obnoxious horse. My Mom texted me a picture of my nephew playing on it while she was cleaning out the shed for a garage sale this morning! Ahhh, memories...
Tonight we saw The Lion King at Mandalay Bay! It was EXCELLENT! If you come to Vegas in the next 6 months, you HAVE to see it! :) The beginning was so great it almost brought a tear to my eye and the rest was perfect! We had a blast!
(But I missed Dancing With The Stars Season Finale...so I will have to watch it in the morning online and blog then...don't tell me who won!!!!) :)
Today Spencer and I continued our shopping for our wedding bands and he bought mine! We're still searching for the perfect band for him, but here is mine:
Its hard to tell in the picture, but the ring is "egg shaped" on top which means it kind of comes up in a dome shape so its almost even with the diamond and sapphires on my engagement ring, instead of sitting underneath it. I'm told its bad luck to wear the wedding band before the wedding day, so I only tried it on in the store after they sized it, to make sure it fit, and I won't have it on my finger again, until Spencer puts it there on August 15! :)
Though we didn't get Spencer's wedding band on our weekend, we did manage to finish buying everything he will be wearing on the wedding day which was pretty exciting! He even got a new belt! He says its not fair that I got to see him in his outfit, but he couldn't see me in my dress, but oh well!
What can I say about this episode? Its more evident than ever before in the history of Dancing With The Stars that these 3 remaining dancers are VERY CLOSE as far as the competition goes. That was not more evident than in the Paso Doble Dance-Off. I couldn't pick out one who did better than another!
Then they did their freestyles which are always hard for me. Shawn and Mark's was by far the best, and I promise that is a completely unbiased opinion. Aside from the VERY FREAKY beginning,
their dance routine was perfect for little Shawn's spunk and fun personality and it showed off her skills minus gymnastics tricks which I thought was a very smart idea. The judges obviously agreed since they were the only ones to get 30 in their freestyle round!
Next was Melissa and Tony. Their freestyle routine was really fun, but it REALLY felt like a cheerleading routine to me from the song to the skanky costumes to the constant flips and tricks, there just wasn't much ballroom/Latin dancing aspect to it which seemed obvious to me that they should have included. It was fun to watch but its too bad they were being judged on that dance and that it was their last dance together.
And last, but not least was Gilles and Cheryl's freestyle, which I really enjoyed and thought was a crowd pleaser, but the judges did NOT like it. Cheryl is really good and re-enacting popular dance routines from old dance movies and this Flashdance routine was cool, but the judges made a good point, it was more to showcase a female dancer, and though Gilles is in touch with his emotional side, he needed a more manly song. Though he is so popular, and the dance was still cool, so I'm not sure that the audience voting will agree with the judges.
It seems next to impossible to even make a guess at who will win this season's competition, but MY best guess is that Melissa will come in third and it will be down to Gilles and Shawn and Gilles will win...even though I want Shawn and Mark to win...so I voted for them on 8 email accounts, 5 times each, and 1 vote on the phone for a grand total of 41 votes from me! :)
GO SHAWN AND MARK!
Today we got all our shifts covered at our store and had a Starbucks Barbecue with NO COFFEE! :) It was a really fun time! We have such a great team in and out of work which is very lucky in any job situation. Hurray!
Amanda, Alicia, Monique, Andrea, and Michelle
Spencer, Stu, Stephanie, Jackie, Maureen, and Ariel
Carmela, Maureen, and Ariel
Stephanie, me, and Maureen
Volleyball!
Spencer and Kelsey playing catch!
We just completed a very busy almost 72 hours of straight wedding planning. And poor Spencer was sick the WHOLE time (cough cough sniffle sniffle)! ;) But Oregon and wedding planning on his weekend makes him all better! Though our schedule was jam packed, we managed to get more done than we had planned AND have some fun in between while we were waiting for the next person we had to meet with, etc. Here are some highlights from our whirlwind trip:After we picked out flowers with Spencer's mom, I met our photographer Craig and we had dinner and saw Star Trek with some of our wedding party/friends:
On our way to Newport, we stopped at Strawberry Hill, our engagement location:
We found the location for our Rehearsal Dinner, Rogue Ales Public House on the bayfront in Newport:
We checked out Newport's beach front while we waited to meet with our baker and after we found the courthouse where we have to get our marriage license:
We had to wait for our hotel room to be ready at The Hallmark Resort, so we went to the Rogue Brewery for a free brewery tour:
When we got done with our tour, our room was ready and Jeannie and Bob were almost there. We checked in and then they came over to plan the ceremony and find the perfect location on the property:
This was option 1 to get to the beach location for the ceremony (YIKES! Long way down!):
This is option 2 to get to the beach location for the ceremony (not as steep, but a dirt path is not so white wedding dress friendly):
This is option 3, and our 1st choice, a grassy bluff above and overlooking the beach and ocean...we have a winner!
And its only a few steps away from where our reception will be (the ugly truck won't be there...I hope...):
After the 4 of us worked so hard planning, we rewarded ourselves with dinner and beer by heading back to the Rogue Ales Public House. It was delicious! Then we headed back to our future wedding night suite where we enjoyed a bottle of Rogue Wine (Eugene Track Town Pinot Noir):
We then logged the greatest number of consecutive hours of sleep in the past 72+ hours. The next morning we drove back to Eugene, then back to the airport, and flew back home. We're EXHAUSTED!
I'm sad, but I knew it was coming, so I was prepared. Ty Murray is perhaps the most determined and dedicated dancer who has ever been on Dancing With The Stars. I'm guessing not many people knew who he was before this show, but now he has tons of fans because of his hard work and charm! He is awesome and I'll miss his attempts to shake his hips and his big muscles! :)
Bye bye Ty and Chelsie
Sorry for the slight delay in this blog. It broke my heart to have to miss my favorite show this week, but luckily it wasn't a big deal in the voting department since I wasn't going to vote anyway. I love all 4 dancers left in the competition, so I didn't want to have to choose. Anyway, wow, this is a close call. I love all the dances tonight! These guys are AMAZING!
~The Ballroom Round~
Melissa and Tony~Melissa's feet were beautiful, light, airy, graceful, and non-clumpy...finally, since that was pretty much the only thing Len didn't like. I did notice a difference. And those kind of feet seem pretty important in a Quick Step anyway! Melissa still looks like she's having a blast, despite the fact that Carrie Ann said she didn't see connection or joy. I strongly disagree with her, as I often do. She had a huge smile on her face the whole time. Their particular Quick Step was definitely FUN, but not as fun as some other Quick Steps I've seen on this show. But I still loved it.
Gilles and Cheryl~They did a beautiful waltz. Gilles is so versatile and he really did a great job framing Cheryl. He was soft, graceful, and romantic, yet still led her. It was like a little fairytale. It even made the 2 of them emotional when they were done with it. That's kind of impressive. French guys are always so in touch with their emotions! :)
Shawn and Mark~This little girl amazes me. Usually teenagers can't be serious if they try. But Shawn performed another excellent angry dance in her Argentine Tango. She said she was scared of the lifts, but I couldn't tell. She nailed them and moved flawlessly throughout the rest of her dance. It was AWESOME! I just hope Mark wipes off his eyeliner for their Jive later. YIKES! :)
Ty and Chelsie~Ty in tails already made his Viennese Waltz smooth. He had awesome rise and fall. He's still not quite as smooth as the other 3 and it mostly showed in his arms for this dance. They weren't big enough and were kinda floppy. He does try harder than anyone else and he wasn't perfect but his dedication makes that OK with me. Oddly enough, Len agreed.
~The Latin Round~
Melissa and Tony~Still smiling, Melissa's Cha Cha Cha-ing was just as fun as her other dances. She can move her hips and she nailed the tricky moves. It wasn't her best dance ever, but it was cute! :)
Gilles and Cheryl~I LOVE the Salsa to begin with. And last week I thought the Salsa was made for Lil' Kim. I realize now that I was so very wrong. THE SALSA WAS MADE FOR GILLES AND (though he is French) GILLES WAS MADE TO SALSA! HOT! :)
Shawn and Mark~Another super fun dance from Shawn and Mark in their Jive. Shawn is so great at the emotions in every dance and her moves are almost always flawless. Nothing was different in this dance. The judges were kind of unnecessarily hard on her for no apparent good reason and Mark was definitely ticked off at them. He's proud of his little spunky gymnast partner. So whatever! I thought it was great!
Ty and Chelsie~So again, we have the Samba making dancers have FUN! Ty had a big smile on his face the whole time, just like Melissa did during her Samba last week. He didn't move his hips, but he sure shook his booty and use his muscles and strength. I adore him, his drive, determination, and dedication, but when I'm watching all four of these semi-finalists, he doesn't quite compare (one of these things is not like the other...) and I'm 99.9% positive my little cowboy is going home tomorrow night. But what an amazing journey he's made! He's sure won my heart! :)
Tomorrow will be sad...but I'm ready...I'm dying to find out who is going to win this thing!
I was sure after the kind of day I seemed to have been having, that something was going to go wrong and there wouldn't be a concert, but sure enough there was. It was an almost 3 hour concert with 2 encores and it was INCREDIBLE. I had read a lot of reviews about this concert saying that due to their sordid past, the band didn't seem unified, that Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham barely acknowledged each other on stage, and that Stevie Nicks seemed timid and not that excited to be there. Everything was the opposite of what I read! They seemed to be having a BLAST together. Stevie and Lindsey made eye contact, held hands, hugged, kissed and even got emotional about one another's songs, and they were all there to party, including Stevie! They sang all my favorite songs and did other songs so incredibly that it made me appreciate them more than I had before. Storms, Silver Springs, and Gold Dust Woman were my favorite! :) Lindsey Buckingham is quite the guitarist...I was thoroughly impressed by him. It was AWESOME!
Wow! As you can tell our seats were kinda far away...but it was still amazing...and thank goodness for jumbo video screens! :)
