Kings of Leon @ Bradley Center in Milwaukee (9/26)

Took a ride up to Milwaukee to see Kings of Leon so the night was double fun... concert AND a road trip! Met up at Water Street Brewery and had some dinner and a few beers before the show. I love the show except for the college kids who stole our seats and them smushed us most of the night. But the band played all their good ones and as usual, they sound great live.

I fell in love with THREE new songs. "Be Somebody" I picked up during the day when I was listening to their songs while I was getting ready... not sure how I missed that one before! I love the lyric "Given a chance, I wanna be somebody. If for one dance, I wanna be somebody." And I really fell for it after hearing them perform it.

Be Somebody - Kings Of Leon

The other two are kind of slow but totally drew me in when I heard them live. They are "Cold Desert" which is a really deep song from their new album, and "Black Thumbnail" which is old (from their "Because of the Times" album) and another one that I can't believe I missed. SO FUN live! Makes you want to jump up and down and dance, dance, dance!

Cold Desert - Kings Of Leon

Black Thumbnail - Kings Of Leo...

The video below is "Black Thumbnail" from the show we were at (taken by someone else):



Set List
Crawl
Charmer
Be Somebody
King of the Rodeo
Taper Jean Girl
Molly's Chambers
Fans
Revelry
I Want You
Four Kicks
The Bucket
Sex on Fire
Notion
Manhattan
On Call
Cold Desert
Trani

Encore:
Closer
Knocked Up
Use Somebody
Black Thumbnail

Loving Glee!

I'm absolutely loving the new show Glee! I never saw any of the High School Musical movies but I think it is kind of like that - and that's why I thought I'd hate it! But of course I like dancing and singing and the commercials had me drawn in. I did checkout the pilot back in May and thought it was really good. I wasn't sure it would be something I want to tune in and watch week after week but I DO! It's happy and fun and of course there is a little drama and love story too.

Most of all, it's hysterical. Beyonce's "Single Ladies" had a lot of play through out this week's episode. A gay kid get's busted dancing and singing to the song by his dad and all that somehow turns into the kid having to try out for football. The kid tried out to be the kicked but he could only kick with his music (Beyonce) and in the end the whole team learned a little dance to be used as an element of surprise against their opponents during the game...

Charlie Bird and the Tomatoes

It was so nice out this afternoon that Charlie Bird got to come down in the yard with me. I put him in the grass and he walked all the way across the lawn and climbed up the little fence thing where I was picking the tomatoes. He's my baby and I think he's just so damn cute!

U2 @ Soldier Field (9/13)

U2 is always one of my favorite bands to see live. In fact, it might be the only "big" band that I actually get blown away by during their live shows. I always get so caught up in the music and Bono's magic ways he has with the crowd. I end up jumping up and down through most of the songs, screaming lyrics as loud as my vocal chords will allow. And this in itself is always a crazy fun experience.

This year I dragged my sister to the show too. She is NOT a big U2 fan and didn't know to many of songs - especially since half of it was their new stuff. But even the six or so songs she did know were so good that she had fun too. My favorites were "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Where the Streets Have No Name", "Ultraviolet", "Elevation", "Vertigo", "City of Blinding Lights" and their new one, "Get On Your Boots". Oh hell, they were just all so good. I was hoping they would also play Bad but not that surprised that they didn't. However I was FLOORED that they never played "Pride(In the Name of Love)". I have never seen them when they have not played that one... great show anyways!

All pictures from the U2 concert are here.

Set List
Breathe
No Line on the Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Elevation
Your Blue Room
Unknown Caller
Until the End of the World
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
The Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On

Encore:
One
Where the Street Have No Name

Encore 2:
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Regina Spektor @ Chicago Theater (9/12)

Tonight we saw Regina Spektor at the Chicago Theater. I LOVE Regina Spektor and the last time I saw here was at Lollapalooza in 2007. At the time I remember thinking that seeing her in a small club would be much better than outside in the sun for a few thousand people... but actually, the Chicago Theater wasn't really what I had in mind either. Everyone was sitting throughout the entire show. And I even got bitched at by the girl in front of me because I was SINGING! At a concert! And I wasn't even singing loudly... just kind of a whisper. So... lame crowd but great performance by Regina.

A few of the new ones that were really great live were "Two Birds" and "Blue Lips". "That Time", "Poor Little Rich Boy" and "Us" are always some of my favorites, but I have a new appreciation for "Samson" and "Hotel Song" after hearing them again at this performance - especially "Hotel Song" because I don't like some of the instruments on the recording and they omitted them live so we got to really focus on the lyrics which was great.

Two Birds - Regina Spektor

Hotel Song - Regina Spektor

Set list
The Calculation
Eet
Machine
Ode to Divorce
Two Birds
Folding Chair
Blue Lips
On the Radio
Dance Anthem of the 80s
Laughing With
One More Time with Feeling
Bobbing for Apples
That Time
Apres Mois
Human of the Year
Poor Little Rich Boy
Man of a Thousand Faces

Encore:
Samson
Us
Fidelity
Hotel Song

The Help

I finished The Help today and I'm actually sad that it is done. I have been listening to this on audiobook for the past few weeks and it has made my commute a breeze (18 hours). I fell in love with the three main characters and even a few of the side characters.

For some reason, I feel this book will have a long impact on me. I didn't even plan on reading it because I didn't like the description of civil rights in the 60s south. I thought it would be sad. And this book was sad at times, but also funny and wonderful.

Working through the Weekend

While most people got to relax this weekend, I worked non-stop! But that's okay because I love the week. We are launching "phase 2" of our Marketplace project on Tuesday and Wednesday this week so I worked through the weekend to help with testing.

The Sears Marketplace lets anyone sign up to sell items online to be sold through Sears.com. We already have about 25 vendors all ready to get started. And Wednesday we start on "phase 3" which has even more options for the sellers.

I'm so proud of all the work our team did... I hope everything goes smoothly!