WOW

...is all I can say. Last night was amazing!! The Robert Plant & Allison Krauss concert was absolutley fantastic. Sharon Little opened up for them -- and if you don't know who she is you need to go check her out. Her new album is called Perfect Time for a Breakdown, and she has one of the most spectacular vocals I have ever heard. I am a very lucky girl to know her. She started working with Scot Sax (who my dad has known for over 10 years), they wrote a bunch of songs together... actually they wrote a bunch of really really good songs together. Sharon was hand picked by Robert and Allison to go on tour with them, which is one of the coolest opportunities of a lifetime.


Sharon went on at exactly 7:30, and Ryan and I were dead center 12 rows back. My lucky dad and sisters got into the 6th row. She sang a set of 7 songs, which all were amazing. She wrote the song 'Child in a Storm' for my sisters and I. It's about my mom... and she could barely get the words out to dedicate it to us... But Scot helped her. Sharon said "This song is very close to my heart....**pause pause pause**" and then she and Scot said together "this is for Evann, Caitlin and Meghan". And next thing you know I am crying uncontrollably. It was beautiful. She finished her set and the entire crowd in front of me stood up and applauded. It was wonderful.


They changed sets and then Allison and Robert came on. Their voices together are awe-inspiring. Robert played a few Led Zeppelin songs, and Allison sang backups. T-Bone Burnett was AMAZING as well. And of course, they played quite a few songs from their album together.
My dad came back over with the backstage passes and we hung out in Sharon's trailor and watched the show on a big screen on the side of the stage. Caitlin and Evann had so much fun hanging out with Sharon 'The Rockstar'. Hahhaahaha. Evann was 5ft away from Robert when she went out to got to the bathroom. But everytime Robert or Allison would leave stage we would all have to go into Sharon's trailer because they didn't want to be bothered.

I came back into work today and talked to a few co-workers who were also there who said that Sharon was better than Allison, and she would have rather watched Sharon perform the whole time.

I will have more pictures coming soon!

My Family Says I Need To "Update"

So here I am... updating... My 'vacation' was not much of a vacation, that's for damn sure. Ryan and I had a great time, but there was very few minutes that I was able to relax and sleep. Our drive down the 395 was beautiful. It was my first time ever going through Mammoth, Bishop and Mojave. We stopped a few times to use the restrooms and saw the highest gas price EVER -- $5.19/gal -- of the medium grade... It's CRAZY! We made it in to Valencia a day early because Ryan and I both had the day off and I got an employee rate at the Best Western I used to work at. We surprised our families and hung out with friends that night. The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind of friends, family and fun.

The wedding was beautiful. Our friend Victoria looked like a princess, and Carlos looked very handsome. The ceremony was short and sweet, the pastor is the same pastor who orchestrated her father's funeral, so we heard a lot of stories about what V's dad wanted to say to her on her wedding day. I cried (granted I always cry at any wedding... it's just so beautiful, I know I am a major dork). We stayed in Pasadena since the wedding ended around 1:00am.

The next morning we got up a little late and drove back to Castaic for the family brunch. I was a little nervous because it was the first time that Ryan's mom had met my dad (after dating for almost 2 years and living together just about the same amount of time). Jan is one of the sweetest women I have ever met, and she adored my dad - whew what a big weight lifted off my shoulders, lol. Otherwise the brunch was delicious and it was great to see my family. All of my favorite aunts and uncles. I met my aunt Linda's new roommate who had the CUTEST little chiuawha EVER. It was so nice to see my dad and my uncle Vince and his kids too! Then we drove to Saugus to pick up our friends Wendy and Troy. They drove back up with us and helped us save on gas.

We got back around 10:30pm, and we are driving down the main road and all the sudden fire trucks are rushing down the street followed by ambulances... We heard there sirens for another 2 hours, which is a big deal up here in this small town, which means stuff is going down... I got up the next morning at 6am to get to work by 7am and sure enough come to find out it my work on fire! A dryer has some combustable material in it and when it was turned on it got hot enough and combusted!! The fire was contained inside of the dryer so nothing was damaged, but boy did I have to comp a bunch of rooms the next morning!

Frisbee Golf aka Hippie Golf

First off -- Happy 11th Birthday Evann! Today is my youngest sister's birthday. And she makes sure that everyone knows that Evann and eleven rhyme :) Hope she's enjoying her special day! I think we are going to chat on Skype tonight.

Other than that since it's been getting so warm up here, Ryan, my roomie Simon, his friends Jeremy and Chris and I all went to the Bijou Park and played some frisbee golf. This was Ryan and my first time playing the game, but we had a blast. The park has an entire frisbee golf course set up with 19 holes and signs that show you which way you should be going and how much the par is set as so on and so forth. If you have never heard of frisbee golf aka hippie golf (as Ryan calls it) how it works is everyone has their frisbee and you throw it towards the goal, and wherever it lands you walk over to it, pick the frisbee up and throw it again. It's pretty simple and easy and a lot of fun.

Now the reason why Ryan calls if hippie golf is because it's extremley cheap. Once you get a frisbee -- that's all you need! It's not like regular golf where you have to have a club for this, a putter for that and some other weird doohickey for that. You also don't have to go buy special clothes or special shoes for the silly dress code.

We had so much fun, the boys were drinking beers -- not ME -- and we kept loosing our target and we didnt know which ways to go, but Chris led us back to the right course. Simon, Chris and Jeremy were a LOT better than Ry and I were. I think I was 5 over par every time. I tried to keep throwing like an acutal frisbee but it always veered wayy over to the right. Ryan eventually gave up on throwing like a frisbee and started doing the 'tomahawk' throw, that's when he started getting more accurate.

All in all I had a great time. I think when I get off work today we might go do a round... Until then I get to stand here (I don't ever get to sit because I work at a hotel) bored outta my mind!

Happy Mother's Day...

Happy Mother's Day!! I love this day because it gives me a reason to talk about my amazing mom, all day long... lol. If you never met her -- she was pretty fantastic, and anyone who has met her can attest. So, Ryan and I went to Safeway yesterday and picked up the most gorgeous flowers to celebrate mother's day. We brought them home and I trimmed the ends and put them in a pretty red vase. And I think they are so pretty so I decided to post some pics...

aren't they so vibrant!

And since it is mother's day I am going to share a few stories about my awesome mommy.

When I was a toddler she would put me in laundry baskets and she would push me down hallways... I felt like I was going 100 miles an hour -- I laughed for hours.
I remember when she won Alanis Morrisette tickets on the radio, this was back in 1995, and we drove down to Irvine and the concert was at Irvine Meadows, now known as the Verizon Wireless Ampitheater. My mom booked a hotel room in Irvine because she didn't want to drive home. At the concert I kept smelling this weird smell from people smoking "cigaretts" behind us and I kept bugging her about it... well she explained that to me later. The concert was amazing and one of my most fond memories with her. :]
I can always remember when I would record really late at night with my dad, she would turn off the tv and just listen. When I went upstairs to bed she would always have me come into her room and she would always tell me how much she loved to hear me sing.
I remember a few weeks before she passed away we went to AAA to get the handicapped placard for the van. I drove her to the AAA building and she was so happy that we could go christmas shopping and park right in front at Target and the mall!


Otherwise I have to show you the most ridiculous thing I saw regarding mother's day today on the internet...

I found this on MSN today and it had some of the WORST advice -- ever. All the article mentions is how some people can feel. It barely gives any actual advice. She talks about acknowledging that you are sad and upset that you are missing your mother -- which people do on a daily basis, and if you have been through grief counseling you already are over this step. And then she mentions also acknowledging no one can replace your mother... Something I have also done a long time ago... She also mentioned on focusing on being a good mother yourself (which couldn't help anyone who is like me and not a mom -- except to Frances but that is different). And that was about it. Oh and she also talked about having an estranged relationship that today is a good day to get back in touch -- which also I could not relate to.

Overall, I found none of this information helpful, what so ever. To be honest, I would have expected a little more from MSN.

May Flowers...

The snow has melted -- finally! There is green grass everywhere except my front yard which is full of dirt. The skies are blue and its gonna be a high of 75 this next week! I am so excited! My dad is coming up to Tahoe and visiting me at the end of June with the girls. We are going to go out onto the lake and go up on the mountain, maybe do some hiking. Also one night we are going to see one of his friends open for Robert Plant and Allison Krause at Harrah's. Before that happens though I have to go back down to SoCal for a wedding on June 5th. This wedding is going to be really expensive. Between gas, hotel rooms, dress & tux, food, and the wedding present Ryan and I are going broke! But it is going to be a beautiful wedding!

That's all for now. Maybe I will post something funny later

This Is How I Feel About Coffee...

Coffee is a godsend. I swear. Every morning I have to be at work at 7am. Therefore I wake up around 6 or 6:30 depending on if I have to shower. I am a crabby mess in the mornings and anyone who has ever spent the night at my house or has lived with me knows that I do not wake up on the good side of the bed -- ever. I whine and bitch about everything - I'm tired, I don't want to wake up, my hair is ugly, the shower isn't warm enough, I can't find my sock, I'm hungry, I don't want to go to work. I say all of these things every morning. I'm surprised Ryan puts up with me.

Anyways the second I stumble into work I start my coffee. The aroma fills the air and it smells so good, plus breakfast is being served on the second floor - so that smells pretty good too. But as soon as I pour my first cup and put some Hazelnut creamers and have one sip I am a completley different person. I am chipper and happy and the fog in my brain starts to clear out.

I love all kinds of coffee. I love frappicinos from Starbucks, I love my regular coffee with hazelnut at work, I love iced caramel macciahtos from Starbucks, I love white chocolate mochas from Starbucks... mmmmmmm coffee coffee coffee. The only thing is, I don't like plain black coffee, something about it doesn't do it for me. Maybe the caffiene isn't enough and I need the extra sugar too.

So coffee count for today is 3 cups.

Caitlin Got Braces?!?!!?!?!?!?!

So I call my dad yesterday to let him know that I had my 90-day review at work, and it went over very well! (I got a 3% raise!! YIPPPEEE!) And we were catching up and then he gave the phone to Evann and we were talking about how much extra homework she is getting to prepare her for 6th grade, her 4/4 on her Science test and how she trims Sara-Bella's nails. Next thing i know she tells me that Caitlin got her braces on today. And I was shocked! No one had told me ANYTHING about Caitlin thinking about getting braces, let alone actually getting them put on. I don't have a problem with braces - granted I am a little jealous because her smile is going to be SO beautiful, and mine needs some work. But I was just shocked that I didn't know. I talk to my dad everyother day, and text Caitlin all the time. And it just came out of no where. She sent me a picture though and I have it right here.

I am definetly jealous. She's gonna be so gorgeous! I can't wait. She's gonna keep them on for 2 years and then after she gets them off she is going to have a upper retainer and a wire on the back of her bottom teeth. I love my sisters!