Monday, December 18, 2006

Quick trip to Toledo

Road Trips.........love 'em!!!!

Haven't been on a good long road trip for awhile where I got no sleep, partied hard, and drove home all in the same twenty four hours for awhile....until this weekend!!!!

Another spur of the moment decision to go to an Ekoostik Hookah show. Ryan thought he was gonna have to work on Saturday, so I had no plans of going to the show in Toledo. But Friday, that all changed!!! Ryan came home from work with a huge grin on his face...I knew something good was about to come out of his mouth. Really, to me, it doesn't get much better than hearing "pack your bags, we're going to see Hookah!"

So, we got ahold of our friend Kegan who tapes a lot of the shows for Ekoostik Hookah. He lives in Indy, and we were interested in car-pooling. (I have met some very interesting people that way) Good news!!! Kegan is going, AND he's taping, so that means a free copy of the show when it's all ready to go.

We met Kegan in Gas City where 22 and 69 meet, and rode the rest of the way with him. It worked out well for all of us, because he was planning on driving alone, which could've been hard at 4:00 am after four hours of intense music!!! So we rode up and back with him. We left at about 6:00 Saturday night, and got home at about 6:00 Sunday morning. Surprisingly, it wasn't that hard to stay awake on the way home. We were all really excited about the show we had just heard...it was awesome!!

Their encore was "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd, and man, they rocked my socks off!! I was dizzy afterwards, and I didn't have a single drink:-)

Of course, I got the same types of pictures of the band...I'll save those to drool on for myself, but I did get a couple I wanted to share...nothing special...just worthy of posting for you guys!!!


Naturally, I have to post a picture of Eric....my guilty pleasure....the funny thing is, he knows it, and Ryan does too!!! I have the biggest crush on this guy....It's kinda funny. I walked up from behind him Saturday night and pulled his hair (Which is long and georgeous) and made some comment I probably shouldn't have like "Oh, baby, I've always wanted to pull your hair" or something like that.














I think I caught the guys playing "rock, paper, scissors to figure out what to play next....that's Eric in the brown pants, John in the middle, and Dave on the right.


It's nuts.....I have so much fun hanging out with all of them after the shows. It's such a strange feeling to be treated as an equal in their eyes. I don't find it hard to talk to them anymore...at first, I was kinda shy and didn't know what to say. Then I realized they're all just as human as I am. The part that gets me sometimes is when Eric and I or Cliffy and I will exchange smiles, or a wave while they're on stage, and I still get butterflies in my stomach.



I did also manage to get a picture of John Mullins and myself. John is the original lead singer that left the band in 1993 or so, and just came back this year.




One thing I wish I would've done was get a picture of me and my friend Kelly. She is yet another die hard Hookah fan that I have met from their shows. She lives in Grand Rapids, MI. There's a show coming up there in March, so I think we'll be staying with her, and then we'll return the favor when she comes to see them in Lafayette. It's so much fun to meet all these new people.....and we have free places to stay in nearly every surrounding state. It goes along with one of my favorite quotes.....I don't know who said it originally, but the hippies all know what I'm talking about....."I came for the music......I stay for the family."

Do you ever feel Crazy????

I am totally freaking out about the stupidest thing today.....I lost my orange purse. There isn't any money in it, a debit card, or my driver's license...I switched those to my small party purse for the concert the other night. But what's really driving me crazy is the fact that I know where it was last time I saw it, and no one else seems to know where it is. The only half way important thing in there is my work badge. I can get that replaced for the small fee of only $10.00, but until then, I have to pay cash for my meals here at work. I usually just swipe my card and it takes it out of my check....who knows, now maybe I'll realize how much I'm spending on food, and I'll be more aware when I'm buying that extra cup of ice cream after dinner.......

Regardless.....I feel like I'm going absolutely crazy!!! I have scoured that house from top to bottom. I have looked in the closets, in the cabinets, in the fridge, in the microwave.....I was hoping maybe one of us was sleep walking and just put it somewhere like that where we would eventually find it by mistake. But, NO, even after two days of searching, nothing.

I went home on my lunch break to continue the search....and no luck. So, I just decided to leave a note for anyone who passes through my living room. It said:
"Someone,
Could you please help me find my orange purse?? I am going crazy!!
Thanks,
Allison"

So, if maybe there's some hobo living in my house that decided to borrow the orange purse, he'll see that while I'm not home and he's hiding out and feel a little tug of love in his heart to return it!!

Or, maybe if it's my Dad screwing with my head like I think he does sometimes, I'll get home tonight and the purse will be sitting in the living room right next to my note. Of course, at first, I'll think Ryan put it there, but he probably will think Cindy put it there, and Cindy will probably think I just never picked up the note......I swear, it was not in that house when I left today, and if it is when I get home....I'm gonna freak out.

But I think I'll actually sleep better tonight if I know where it is...............

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Small Talk

OK, I'm bored to tears....so tell me something...

What's going on in your lives right now? I know everyone is getting ready for Christmas, but what else is going on?? Anyone excited about anything right now?? Any good news to share or funny stories to tell???

Jen....you got any plans for any upcoming shows or anything exciting like that??? Have you been having fun at work?? Are you and Chad doing anything special for eachother for the holidays??

Andrea...What about you?? Have you come across any cool photo ops lately?? Has Rich pulled any tricks on you or anyone else lately?? Doing anything new with the house?? Fill me in!!

Rosie...How's that driving thing going?? Sounded like you were doing pretty good on your last blog. Have the girls been busy?? What all are they involved in this year??

Sarah....What's new with you?? Any new crafts to show off?? Have the boys said or done anything exceptionally cute lately?? I know they're always cute.....plus..what sizes do they wear?? What's new with John? Have you talked to him lately?? How is Molly? Do the boys like her.

Jill...I know you did some serious shopping the other day, but have you done anything nice for yourself lately?? Did Uncle Roy have fun playing the wise man for the nativity scene?? I saw a picture from Chapel Hill in the paper, but he wasn't in there. How is Abby....don't you think she needs a friend? I have lots of foster dogs that need a good home :-)

Bo...do you ever even read my blog anymore?? What's new with you??

Monday, December 11, 2006

Partyin' 50's style!!







Ryan and I went to a fifties theme Christmas party this past weekend. Not many people dressed up, so I was a little disappointed, but Ryan and I did it up right :-)

Thought I'd share a few pictures.............

























Check out Ryan's shoes......pretty hot, huh????

Christmas at my house








I love the holiday season!!! It is so nice that I have a boyfriend that enjoys it and is as enthusiastic as me about stuff like this. Our house is decked out with some lights and a few other fun little Christmas things!!!

Our neighbors probably all think we're satanists or something, becuase we have a weird little twist to some of our light this year. First of all, we have a "schwa" in our front bush made out of lights. A schwa is an upside-down lower case "e." It's a real literary symbol...couldn't tell ya what it does or when you use it, but it's real.....anyway, it's also Ekoostik Hookah's logo....so that's why we put it there :-)

Also, the candy cane lights that we bought were a real pain in the butt to hang up, so we just hung them upside down. So, now we have upside-down letters and candy canes displayed all over the place, and I can just imagine what the kids around the neighborhood are asking their parents........they're probably getting responses from their parents like, "don't worry, honey, it's just those people that like loud music and tattoos....we don't ask them questions." he he he

I'm excited to see everyone for Christmas since I missed out on Thanksgiving!!!! This shows our schwa in our bush!!!! This is my little mini tree in my living room......I like the shadow from the angel on top.

RIP JOHN






Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,

Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,

Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,I
hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

- John Lennon -



I missed it by a few days due to lack of computer access, but I always like to take a little time out at this time of year to remember one of my heroes....John Lennon.

December 8th was the 26th anniversary of his death. It's hard to believe that I can remember something from that long ago, but I do. I have probably mentioned this before, but it was the first time I ever saw my Dad cry....and I will never forget that.

I never knew there was an area in Central Park called "Strawberry Fields" that is a memorial site for John Lennon. I found a few pictures I thought were pretty cool.

I think this world needs someone like John to come along with the ideas of peace and love and do it all over again.....we need more people like him in this world.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Before and After

I have finally finished painting and redecorating the other spare bedroom!!! Joy Joy Joy!! One more project down....only about a million to go!!

Just thought I'd share some before and after pics with you!! I only got two "before" pictures...but you'll get the idea. it wasn't near the nightmare that the other bedroom was, but it still wasn't fun...............

BEFORE:


























AFTER:
I've been looking for orange stuff to fill up this room. That's a really hard color to find things in......Still gotta get curtains. I just have a blind on one window, and a blanket on the other for now!!
I found the orange couch at Goodwill, of course :-)
Much to my surprise, when the guys at the store started to carry it out for me, I found out it's a hide-a-bed!!!! Yeah!!! That makes it even better for when we have overnight guests!!
The walls are painted a blueish grey color, but look more purple here....I really like the contrast of the orange and grey together!!
I even found an orange footstool at a rummage sale this past summer. It all started with the orange table lamp in the corner....I've been on an orange hunt for awhile now!!! I also bought the floor lamp used....imagine that :-) I think I got it at Salvation Army. Even the nightlight in it still works, and it has this cool little foot swith for the nightlight........What a great bargain!!!! I think I got it for about two bucks!!!

We have a big bookshelf we have yet to make room for in there...but eventually, this will become our music and reading room.




I know my taste in colors is a little different, but I like it.....hope you do too!!!!!

Sunday, December 03, 2006

dang....colts suck!!!

WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR COLTS?????

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Graceland Baby!!!!



























Did you guys know that Elvis was a twin??? Unfortunately, his brother died at birth. That's just one of the little Elvis trivia tidbits that we learned on our trip to Graceland.

It was just a spur of the moment decision to go to Memphis after our trip to Atlanta. In fact, we thought Graceland would maybe be kinda cheesy, but it's just one of those little things that was on my "top 100 things I wanna do before I die" list. So we figured, what the heck. We were already down south, and it was only a few hours out of our way, so off we went!!!

We headed to memphis on Sunday morning, and got there around 4:00 Sunday afternoon. We were starving when we got to our hotel, so the first thing on our agenda was FOOD!!! I picked up a brochure in our room that had a picture of BB king's Blues bar, and it gave the address. So, we decided to head down to Beale street where this place was, because it said "food and live music 24 hours a day." I thought that would be great because it was Sunday, and if you live around here, you know the world shuts down after about 5:00 PM on Sundays. Apparently, that's not how they do things in Memphis. That place was hoppin'!!!

They had Beale street blocked off like a block party, and you could carry your drinks out on the streets from bar to bar. They even had street bars where you could walk up to a window and order a drink. I guess they do that every day after 4:00. I had no idea Memphis was going to be so much fun.

There was live music pouring over the street from spaekers outside nearly every bar. There were a few really cool record stores that Ryan and I browsed through, and lots of different novelty stores. We never even made it into BB King's bar, because we were so enthralled by all the bright lights and everything. We wanted to check out as much as we could in the two days we had. The first place we stopped had a live jazz band that was pretty cool. We ate some good southern cookin' there and went over to a piano bar across the street. The piano bar was awesome. There were two guys at two baby grand pianos facing eachother. They were battling eachother with lots of good ol' songs. One guy would play for awhile, and then the other guy would play, or they would play together and just try to outplay the other one. They also took requests, and could play nearly everything the audience requested....except for our request. We aksed for "Caravan" by Van Morrison, but they didn't know it. So, they played "And it Stoned me " instead. I'm always happy to hear anything by Van Morrison.














On Monday, after Graceland, we went back to Beale street to get a bite to eat before we hit the road. We picked a cajun resaurant, and oh my gosh, was it good!!!! We ate red beans and rice, jambalaya, and some gator gumbo. Yep, I have officially eaten alligator....and it was delicious!!!! I was a little leary at first, but once the smell hit me, I couldn't resist. I just tried not to think about what I was eating until I was done. Then, I was proud of myself :-)

This is a picture Ryan took of us at Rum Boogie. That's the cajun restaurant. It was also set up for live music like all the other bars aroun there, but we were there during the day, so we didn't get to hear anything that day. They had autographed guitars of nearly every guitarist I could think of besides Jerry Garcia hanging all over the ceilings in this place. I could have been there all day just looking at guitars!!! it was like a museum!!!









Sunday evening before we went to bed, we watched an Elvis movie on one of the channels that played them 24 hours a day. I have never been a huge fan of his movies, but we watched one just in spirit of why we were there...and it wasn't all that bad!!! Our hotel was all decked out in Elvis gear.....it was fun. There was a pool shaped like a guitar. Too bad it was too cold to use it!!!













Graceland was amazing. The house didn't look that big from the outside, but there are lower levels that are underground that you can't see from outside. It was actually huge inside, and we didn't even get to see the upper level. That's where Elvis' bedroom is, and they don't display that to the public out of respect. I thought that was fine.

When you first walk in, there is a room that has beautiful stained glass windows and just on the other side of the windows is a georgeous grand piano. I couldn't get a picture of the piano because people never got their bigs heads out of my way. The pictures I took are just mediocre because you are not able to use your flash, due to the light fading material and other things over time.





The dining room was beautiful. You only see a small prtion of it in the picture I got. My favorite room was the "Jungle Room." It was covered in green shag carpet....even on the ceilings!!! The furniture was all custom made and was covered in different types of animal fur. There was a chair that Lisa Marie used to play in when she was little that was round, probably close to the size of a trampoline, and also covered in fur. I couldn't get a good picture of it because it was pretty dark in there.


















This picture of Pricilla and Lisa Marie was hanging in the dining room. I thought it was beautiful!!!









There were several bars throughout the house. Some of which were very ritsy, and others, just looked like something someone would have in their home around here. He also had a game room with a couple pool table that was covered from floor to ceiling in gathered material that matched all the furniture. It was pretty busy!!














One of the hallways in the lowest level was just covered ffrom one end to the other with gold and silver records. Elvis also converted his raquet ball court into a huge display of gold records. They had a few of his flashy outfits in glass cases in that room as well. The bling on that stuff could put your eyes out!!!!!























There was also a room full of old furniture that Elvis had replaced, but kept, because it was all custom made just for him. Who wouldn't want to sleep in a bed like that??? I also liked the red velvet couch!!! I'm on the hunt for some orange velvet chairs, and Elvis made me feel a little cooler about the whole thing!!! If he can do it, and it's cool, then so can I!!!!!









We also got the tour of Elvis' custom made planes. They were unbelievable. The largest of the two was named the "Lisa Marie." it had couches and recliners, much unlike the normal little seats we're all used to. There was a kitchen, two bathrooms, a bedroom, a conference room, and a couple different areas to just lounge in. The bathrooms both had 24 carat gold coating the sinks and stools, and Elvis' personal bathroom was bigger than the one in my house.














We also got to go into the Elvis Presly Automobile Museum. It had a bunch of Elvis' old vehicles. One that caught my attention was called a "Stutz." I had never heard of it, or seen anything like it. Apparently, the one Elvis bought was the first on e that was ever shipped to the United States. It was black and very sleek. It didn't turn out in the pictures I tried to get....I was disappointed!!!
















This was one of many living areas in Graceland. What made this room so special is the fact that this is where Elvis spent his last morning playing the guitar and singing before he passed away. He sang "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain" and "Unchained Melody." The room felt very cozy and homey.














Elvis burial site is in the area of Graceland called the meditation garden. He is buried there with his parents and his twin brother.