Dinner and some Music

Pouring rain all day. And cold. It looks like summer is officially winding down. Luckily we had a date night planned that was indoors. We started the night off with dinner in downtown Minneapolis at Rock Bottom Brewery, which is always a favorite of ours.

A beer sampler flight may have been enjoyed (these glasses look much bigger here but were actually shot glass sizes).

Then it was over to the State Theater to see 'Old Crow Medicine Show'. We had seen this group perform at the Grand Ole Opry and just fell in love with their music and their energy. At the Opry there are a bunch of different acts and each group only plays a few songs and so were very excited to see more of Old Crow.

This show was so entertaining and it was so fun to see them play a bunch of their music. 

State Fair

Our yearly visit to the State Fair was just Pete and I this year on a hot and humid opening day. Ty and Drew are each going with their girlfriends next week and Jake is away at school. We went later in the afternoon to take in some of the sights and our favorite foods before heading to the Grand Stand to see Toby Keith.

Two of my favorite things: the State Fair and live music outside equals an awesome evening!

music in the zoo

Monday evening we met some friends for dinner and a concert at the zoo. We met at the Valley Tap House to grab some dinner and drinks.

Then we headed out to the Minnesota Zoo to see the Tedeschi Trucks Band.

This is the 6th summer that we have been out to the zoo to see a concert and we always have a great time. This setting is just a perfect place to enjoy some live music.

Gorgeous summer weather and great music made for a fun evening!

last band concert?

Thursday evening we attended Drew's 8th Grade Spring Band Concert.

This was Drew's last concert at the middle school and since he is not taking band next year at the high school, it may very well be our last band concert...ever.  {sob}

The 75 member band put on quite a show playing some great music! (It is always so amazing to see how far the band comes since they started playing way back in 5th grade.) The songs they played were Foundry, Nevermore, The Seal Lullaby, Lullabye, and Phantom of the Opera.

A slide show of pictures played during the two lullaby songs. This was such a special part of the concert because the pictures were of each student as a baby and then a current photo. Loved this!

Another neat part of the concert was when the band director explained how the highlight of the students band lessons each week were when they got to use his "smelly markers" to circle the next weeks lesson. The kids love this so much that he gives a big pack away at the Spring 8th grade concert. As all of the students were seriously sitting on the edge of their chairs, Mr. B drew a name out of a hat.... and it was Drew!!

It was a great concert and we will have a lot of fun and special memories from it!

a Christmas concert

Saturday evening Pete and I had tickets to 'The Story Tour' out at Grace Church in Eden Prairie.

We originally were to go with another couple, but at the last minute they were unable to go and so Drew was able to join us for a fun evening of Christmas spirit.

The list of performers was quite amazing and included: Stephen Curtis Chapman, Newsboys, Selah, Max Lucado among others.

It was a night filled with beautiful music telling God's story through the eyes of principle bible characters, starting in Genesis and finishing in Revelation.

Mixed in with Christmas music made for such a special evening.

Adele Concert!!

I was so excited when Pete picked up on my subtle hints that I would really, really love to go the Adele concert and he purchased us tickets. After she had already cancelled twice for the Twin Cities and more tickets were available because she changed venues from First Avenue to the Excel, I felt like now was my chance and that it was meant to be.

We started our evening at a favorite St. Paul restaurant, WA Frost.

I love this spot in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood; the food is always good and the patio area is true summer destination. This restaurant’s patio has been on my summer ‘bucket list’ and so I was so happy that we were able to enjoy a wonderful dinner on the patio!

After our pre-show dinner, we headed over to the Excel for the concert. The warm-up band was Wanda Jackson and the Hillbilly Voodoo Dolls. Unique sound and good, but I was super excited when Adele finally took the stage.

She came out in a simple black dress and was holding a Wild Jersey with her name on it and the number 21 (the name of her most recent album). The newspapers today said that all entertainers are presented a Wild jersey their first time performing at the Excel but very few bring it on stage and acknowledge the gift. Very classy. And her first song was Hometown Glory.

She apologized to the fans for cancelling the show earlier this summer and promised to make it feel like it was First Avenue. Her set was so simple with hanging lampshades, which was perfect because it didn’t compete with her amazing voice. You really did feel like you were in some lounge and listening to her singing.

Adele was so warm and genuine and stopped after almost every song and asked for the lights to b turned up and talked to the audience about the song and where it came from. This is a great YouTube video of her talking and then singing ‘Turning Tables’.

She did a tribute to Amy Winehouse and asked for everyone to shine their cell phone lights to the ceiling while she sang ‘Make You Feel My Love’.

Her last song of the evening was everones favorite, 'Rolling in the Deep'. It was such a fun evening filled with amazing food and amazing music!

Thanks sweetie for picking up on all my hints! :)

wordless Wednesday

Video from the U2 concert showing what true and amazing entertainers they are playing in heavy rain through the entire show! The rain made the experience that much more memorable and magical!

U2 Concert

Last week I won a ‘Mom’s Night Out’ give away on the Marketing Mama’s blog. The prize?? A ticket for me and a friend to the U2 concert, a pre-show dinner and drinks at the Hard Rock Café in Minneapolis, and transportation to and from the concert!!!! I really couldn’t believe I had won! I never win anything, and this was huge!!

I was able to choose a ‘mom friend’ to go with me and I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving than my friend Deb. She is a mom of 5 beautiful kids, ages range from kindergarten to college graduate; two of whom she adopted from India. She has the biggest heart of anybody I know and I was so honored that she was able to join me for the evening.

We started the evening on Saturday at the Hard Rock Café and had fun visiting with some other winners of the giveaway while we enjoyed dinner and drinks. After dinner, we loaded a party bus that would take us to and from the concert. This is really the way to go to a big venue like this- it was great not dealing with parking or traffic and we got dropped off right at the TCF Bank Stadium.

Our group at our seats before the concert began.

'The Claw' stage that cost $25 million to build.

This picture is from our seats and shows what a great view we had!

60,000 U2 fans!

The concert was AMAZING! U2 really put on quite the show and are true entertainers even through the downpours of rain. Luckily, we were all prepared and had our rain ponchos and we were able to enjoy the show and the entire experience, despite the weather.

The music was outstanding and they played so many favorite songs: Beautiful Day, Mysterious Ways, The Fly, Elevation, I Still Haven’t Found What I am Looking For, One; and they also did a tribute to Amy Winehouse, Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of; which was really touching.

Bono also sprinkled in some medleys about the weather: Singing in the Rain, Purple Rain, and Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head; which totally added to the atmosphere of the concert. Amazing!!!

This was such a great concert and was such a fun night! And since the concert I have downloaded some more U2 music and have been enjoying listening to the great music and remembering the evening!

Thanks Missy, for drawing my name in the giveaway and for organizing such a fun evening! :)

Music in the Zoo

Last night we met another couple at the Minnesota Zoo to see 'Keb Mo' in concert.

This is a great place to see a concert outside on a summer night. Although, we had record lows yesterday and it felt more like an October evening than July~ it was chilly out! But that was ok- we just bundled up and had a great time!

It was a fun night!