Bamboozle 2012 – Day 1

On Friday morning - after a minor car repair- with excitement in our hearts, snacks in our bags, and an awesome Bamboozle mix in the CD changer; we began the 3 hour drive to Asbury New Jersey…

The weather was perfect, the roads were clear… we arrived at our hotel and picked up our Bamboozle Survival Kits – little backpacks with all kinds of neat goodies! (Hand sanitizer, wet wipes, ponchos, tiny binoculars, mini first aid kits…) We changed out of our sweaty “travel clothes” and got ready to head to the beach!!

When we got there – the line was already crazy long…. but we had to go to the box office to make sure our wristband chips included our VIP upgrade – which they didn’t…we needed to cut loose those boring old blue wristbands and get some shiny new silver VIP wristbands!! Sweeet!! The girl also informed us that there was a special VIP entrance…bonus!!

After grabbing some delicious sausages on rolls…. we headed toward the front gates to inquire about this VIP entrance. I asked an official looking security guard and he gestured to the other side of the festival grounds…. so we headed in that general direction…

On the way there, we passed by an entrance for one of the stages…and because we’re at a music festival – I had invoked my “keep an eye out for musicians” super power…. and…. there, right beside the side walk at this entrance… stood 2/4 members of Armor for Sleep (Ben and PJ)!!

Time for a back story:

Matt has introduced to me to a lot of great music since we’ve met – the first of which was The Academy Is… which has been one of my favorite “smaller” bands…. when they toured in 2007, they toured with another band Matt introduced me to – Armor for Sleep… so in preparation for that tour – I got to listening to them…and I fell in love with their songs. I love the lyrics, the guitar riffs, and the whole package!! They’re awesome!! When I saw them open for The Academy Is… they did not disappoint!! They were one of the reasons I was so excited for bamboozle…to see them again…especially since they’ve actually broken up as a band and this was their last performance together. Alas – when the schedule for Friday night was released — Armor for Sleep was playing at the same time as Incubus…my favorite “big” band of all time…. so I had a tough decision to make…..

Back to our quest to find the VIP entrance…

After some indecision, we stopped and I asked if they would mind taking a photo with me…. of course – they were awesome and didn’t mind at all…they actually came across as being flattered and humbled by the request…. which was great!! So… off we went – me floating on cloud nine…

Ben, PJ, and me

We turned a corner to see if the next entrance was where we needed to be, or if the person “guarding” that entrance knew where the VIP entrance was…and there was a bus parked outside the entrance…. as we’re walking up I think, well – that guy with the long hair looks like Brandon Boyd from the back…. and that guy standing with him looks an awful lot like Ben Kenney…. I tell Matt that I think this is Incubus’ tour bus…as we get closer, my suspicions are confirmed…I turn to Matt and say “Oh my God!* It IS Incubus! He just keeps walking… by the way — I am wearing an Incubus shirt… Here is what went on in my head – from what I remember:

The crazy-fan within me: “Man, I should really go and say hi and ask for a photo….”

The introverted, super polite and contentious me: “You shouldn’t bother them… you don’t want to look like a lunatic!”

Crazy-fan: “that is BRANDON BOYD!!! Right over there…. I could spit on him he’s so close!!”

Polite me: “No – don’t do that…. you’re not even sure if you’re supposed to be here…if they’re here, chances are you’re in the wrong area”

Crazy-fan”: **Keeps walking and staring and smiling…like an idiot

Polite me: “They probably noticed your shirt and are grateful that you didn’t harass them”

Crazy-fan: “Well, we won’t be let in at this gate, so when this nice gentlemen at the gate points us in the right direction, we can go back and ask for a photo…”

Polite me: “That seems reasonable, they probably already spotted you and are prepared, so they won’t be caught off guard and feel bombarded with your silliness!”

We ask the gentleman “guarding” the entrance if he knows where the VIP entrance is…and he says he’s not sure, but since we clearly have wristbands, that we can just go in….. this is a whole hour before the gates officially open!!!! We didn’t want to push our luck…so we just went in, and I didn’t try to go back to meet Incubus…. as we’re going in and I tell Matt that I can’t believe we walked by Incubus, he finally gets it!!! That is was them…and he tells me that if he knew he would have stopped…. *face palm!!* [This isn't the first time I've been super close to Brandon Boyd..... check out the photo at the end of this post...My friend took the photo, and my head is on the left.... (with red hair and I'm wearing a grey/pink jacket)]

So – in we walk – I am floating on cloud 9…. having just run into 4/9 members of the 2 bands I wanted to see that same day – who happen to be playing at the same time…. also – bonus…we get to case the whole festival grounds before everyone else gets let in!!! We also stumbled upon a little acoustic set that was being performed for some people who won early entrance…. more on this performer on Day 2′s post.

Once everything was officially opened we went into the VIP area to check what signings and meet & greets were happening there that day — lo and behold… Armor for Sleep will be “hanging out” there later in the day!! Stoked!!!

We had some drinks and walked around a little…. caught some of Mike Posner’s set (he sings a song I have been known to enjoy – ‘Cooler Than Me’) ..then we headed back to wait for the Armor for Sleep guys in the VIP bungalow!

They arrived and were hanging out near the entrance…. checking everything out…. we were just sitting, not exactly sure what to do…when Anthony ran out… so I said to Matt that we should find out if he’s coming back … so I bravely nervously walked up to Nash, the drummer, and introduced myself and asked if Anthony was going to come back… he assured me that he would…. and then he introduced me to the girl standing with him, Anthony’s girlfriend. Then we chatted a bit, Anthony returned – I met him… PJ came over, Nash introduced us – he remembered “meeting” me earlier… we chatted some more…and kind of just hung out for a bit. Then we took a picture and I spoke to Ben a little about how I was going to watch them over Incubus because I would have other opportunities to see Incubus perform.

PJ, Anthony, hubby, Ben, myself, and Nash

Then we headed out to try and get a good spot at the stage where they were going to perform…. I was super excited and happy and oh-so-glad that I plucked up the courage boldly went and asked Nash if Anthony would return. We got to see most of the We Came As Romans set – I recall them being pretty good… but I was still in la-la land after having met the Armor for Sleep guys – who I felt like I knew already because we had watched their DVD “Armor for Sleep: Comprehensive Guide to Touring” the night before. I went over and purchased one of their farewell t-shirts while we waited for The Receiving End of Sirens (TREOS) to start their set.

TREOS was really great!! I’m not very familiar with their music, but I really enjoyed seeing them live and will definitely be playing them more…. they’re no longer together – haven’t been for years – but still perform every year or so. (Didn’t get any pictures of them…think I was still floating on a cloud after hanging out with Armor for Sleep.)

Then, while we were waiting for Armor for Sleep to go on, I could hear Incubus begin their set….. my heart broke…. it was SO weird, being torn between two bands like that…. but – boy was Armor for Sleep worth it! It was AMAZING!! I am so glad that I got to see them perform together one last time – they did announce one final headlining show in NYC in July, but I won’t be able to make it to that. It still makes me super sad to think that there will be no new Armor for Sleep music in the future!!

[Just for fun - at the end of this post - I've included 2 pics I took at the 2007 Armor for Sleep show I saw.... the photos are poor quality... but they are all I have....]

Armor for Sleep

We did leave their set a little early (we missed their last two songs) to catch the end of the Incubus set…. which was great…. I got to see Incubus perform my favorite song – ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘Sick Sad Little World’. [Update: Incubus were great... I saw them in 2007 at a very small intimate club, so it was fun seeing them perform for a much larger crowd too... but def. prefer the smaller venue!]

Incubus on the main stage

It was the perfect end to a perfect day – well, almost perfect, it would have been perfect if we could have watched both Armor for Sleep and Incubus’ entire sets. But, throw in a hangout session with the Armor for Sleep boys and walking by Brandon and Ben (And I believe Jose was standing in the doorway of the bus) and it just about makes up for the coinciding sets.

After that – we headed back to the hotel to rest our feet, give our ears a chance to recover and stop ringing after the Armor for Sleep set, and get ready for a very long Saturday!!

Armor for Sleep (2007)

Armor for Sleep (2007)

Worldwide “Time Capsule” — May 15th!!

There is this super awesome thing happening on May 15th…. something that is intended to capture and document our lives, right now. A time capsule of sorts…

On May 15th, people from all around the world will be taking photographs to represent and document their lives…their work, their home, and the connections they make. This worldwide project is being lead by ADAY.org.

I meant to write about this months ago…but didn’t make the time to do so and now… it’s only a couple days away…. I hope you will click one of the above links to learn more about the project and consider taking part with me!

Okay – so I know I mentioned how amazing the P.O.D. show was… but I do not believe I shared my “moment” of glory… haha!

Two P.O.D. band members retweeted me on twitter (I know some of you, ahem…. more senior readers may not know what I’m going on about…you can skip this part of the post if you like)…. now..this is not my first run-in with twitter and interactions with “famous” people (I believe they are famous, but hubby thinks I’m silly)…. On an episode of One Tree Hill a while back – the topic of infertility was touched on, and I tweeted Bethany Galeotti (she played Hayley) and she replied to my tweet!!!! [I used to tweet from a fake/private account]

Tweet & reply from Bethany

Sonny retweeted me (before the show)

Sonny retweeted me (after the show)

Marcos retweeted my tweet

“P.O.D.” retweeted me

Exciting stuff huh?

Okay okay…. here are my latest photo challenge pics!

My kitchen – hubby making me a delicious dinner and the flowers he surprised me with!

Enjoying a day with the hubs… shining sun…. beautiful scenery….God’s beauty & glory & peace…. Great day!

A couple of rings that my mom gave me…. they’re special to me because they used to be hers…. She’s the best mom & I’m so thankful for her!

 

Oh – and P.S. — Blink 182 was removed from the schedule for Bamboozle… Travis Barker is having surgery so they’ve cancelled a bunch of shows…My Chemical Romance will be playing in their place…which is no comparison to Blink…. and I’ve seen them headline a concert…. but – excited anyway!

[Insert attention grabbing title here]

I have been recovering from our busy week of concerts last week for what feels like forever…. The Slash concert left me exhausted…The P.O.D. concert left me bruised – from leaning against the railing and “moshing”  head-banging enjoying the music, it also left me pretty tired… (and, as you can tell from the title of this post…my brain is mush!)

So for the first time since April 1st, I have struggled a little to keep up with the photo a day challenge….but…keep up I have….

What I have not done is put together my videos of afore mentioned concerts, nor have I even written properly about the P.O.D. show…. furthermore, I have not shared my zoo pics yet…. I hope to do all these things this weekend…

Until then: here are my latest photo a day May gems for you to enjoy…

 

LOVE the smell of coffee!!

I take my body basal temperature at 6am ever day – to chart my temperature and keep track of my cycle

 

 

You may or may not be able to tell from that last photo – but hubby bought me a macro lens for my birthday!! I so super excited to learn how to use it properly and experiment with it…haven’t had much time yet… but looking forward to being well rested enough and caught up with housework and school work enough to play around with it soon!!!

 

Overwhelmed with thanksgiving

I cannot express how grateful I am to have been given the opportunity to see such amazing bands and musicians live this year! The P.O.D and Red show was amazing and everything I could have hoped it would be! Again – best show I’ve ever been to…. it would seem as though I can have more than one ‘best show’….

I hope to put together some pictures of the show soon…. and I may even post a video or two of the last couple shows…

Until then, I have my latest photo challenge pics to share:

Lone bird on a cloudy, gloomy day

Me

My grandparents’ marriage inspires me and they’ve raised a wonderful trio of daughters and taught all of us a great sense of family

May 2012 has started off with a BANG

I am going to start by sharing my Day 2 & 3 photos for the challenge…. I actually took both of them yesterday (my first real cheat…), but I planned it that way – since I already knew we would be in the city, I figure it’d make a better skyline…besides – you already saw my “best” skyline for my sunset pic last month….

Baltimore Skyline

Shoes for Slash show… (hate how fat my foot looks in this pic…but oh well)

So – last night was the Slash show… we decided to go to the zoo before the show, and just spend the day in the city…which we did.

It was an amazing day-long date with the hubby, and we had a wonderful time!Even though the zoo just made us sad…. I forget how sad zoos are….

Although…I was reminded of why there are zoos at all — to help educate people and give them the opportunity to see animals they may never see in the wild. Although, visitors are only being educated if they’re actually reading the informational signs correctly….

Here are a couple of insightful nuggets of information for ya, courtesy of some patrons of the Baltimore Zoo:

Dad to daughter: “These are rhinos, they are mean…and they are vegetarians, I think, no, that’s hippos….maybe they eat meat….” [yes, rhinos can be mean, but I wouldn't say they're mean.... sure, you shouldn't try to hop the fence to pet one...but that goes without saying, actually.... hmmmm, maybe not]

Kid to parents: “They’re wrestling..” [while watching some exotic tree frogs mating] — okay, that one is endearing…

Kid to friend: “Look! Badgers….” [at the prairie dog exhibit...prairie dog...as in small brown rodent]

Prairie dog

Badger [not my image]

 

Parent/Teacher to kids: “They’re ….[insert weird bird name here]…” [while indicating the vultures...which are very clearly vultures...remember, there are pictures along with the names and information about each animal...so this person looked at the informational plaque and still pointed at the wrong bird]

Vulture

[I will dedicate a whole post to some of the photos taken at the zoo]

After our visit to the zoo we browsed around Barnes & Noble and realized we didn’t want to carry heavy shopping bags into the Slash show managed to demonstrate some self control, even though we saw many books, journals, random odds and ends we now covet would have loved to buy. Then we had drinks and lunch/dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe (we [or I] were hoping Slash would stop by for a pre-show dinner, but he did not ).

The Slash show was amaze-balls amazing!!! The best show I’ve ever been too… Didn’t I just say that last week about the Needtobreathe show? Well…I have a new “best” show…. because Slash, Myles Kennedy (from Alter Bridge), and the Conspirators pulled out all the stops and were true rock stars. Slash is a legend and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to see him play live, and in such a small intimate venue — even more blessed!!

Slash, feat. Myles Kennedy with the Conspirators

We will be seeing P.O.D and Red on Sunday (at the same venue)… needless to say, tomorrow will be spent sleeping in, napping, and relaxing….

 

Oh, and here is my day 4 photo:

It’s fun to be a girl

OH!!! And P.S… hubby has already given me my birthday present early … he really is THE BEST!! More on this soon!!

Why, Hello May…

Today is the first day of May…

May is my birthday month….for privacy issues, I will not divulge the actual date…. so – if you feel so inclined (and do not know me in real life..) — you may shower me with birthday love all through May!!

Not only is this my birthday month…but we have a lot planned for the month of May this year….

• In a few days we will see Slash, live in concert at a really cool, intimate venue…. cannot wait!!
• A few days after that we will be seeing P.O.D and Red at the same venue …. SUPER excited for this show!
• In a few weeks we will be heading to New Jersey for the Bamboozle Festival…. with VIP tickets (which allows us access to artist meet & greets)…I cannot begin to express my level of excitement, at least not in words ….

Despite my high levels of excitement for everything that May holds in store…. I found myself with an unexpected day off of work today…. I thoroughly enjoyed looking out my living room window to a quiet, peaceful, and very-much empty street and neighborhood… Before taking care of some cleaning and overdue Skyping with my adorable almost-three-month old nephew and “Sister-in-law”….I sat in the morning sun, thinking about whether I wanted to read or not (and basked in the freedom of it all), and enjoyed a cup (or two) of coffee….

Last of my #photoadayApril pictures

Quiet Sunday at home with hubby...

 

Locking the dogs up.... make me sad....

 

I will be taking part in the May photo challenge too …. here are the prompts, if you’d like to take part – click the link to be taken to the “creators” blog…

Prompts for May

#photoadayApril: Day 26 – 28 (Black & White, Somewhere I went, 1pm)

 

Dunkin Donuts

 

Lazy Saturday Afternoon - Dogs Napping

 

Only 2 more days before the April Challenge is up…I plan to continue on with FatMumSlim’s May Challenge…. but — I am considering only posting when the month is over… unless you all enjoy my sporadic photo challenge posts? Hmmm….maybe it’s time for my first poll!!!!? How exciting!!! Please take part and help me decide what to do….

 

#photoadayApril – Day 22 – 25

My fruit and "vegetable" for the Monday morning after the Need to Breathe show

 

My husband's sense of humor (the sticker reads: Pick Me Up, I'm Lightweight)

 

My feet throughout the day - in the car, at home, at work (with slippers), and outside

 

 

Don’t Ignore the Pain…

As I briefly mentioned in my previous post – this week is National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW).

I dedicated a whole page to our experience with infertility, and included some insight into the disease … so I’m not going to go into all of that today… This is not about educating people about the facts of infertility… (ok – yes, part of bringing awareness to a cause is providing facts – but you can go to my infertility page for that)…. it’s about enlightening those unaffected by infertility… it’s about trying, in some small way, to help people understand what it feels like to not fall pregnant after years of trying to conceive.

I have never experienced a miscarriage… or lost a baby… I cannot imagine the pain and grief that causes….

Also – I have never knowingly lost a fertilized embryo … in other words, I have never experienced a failed IVF or FET procedure….

The one thing I have experienced, is the grief of a failed cycle…

I will never forget the first time I thought I was pregnant….

I was almost two weeks “late” and was nauseous and throwing up, although I did not get any positive pregnancy tests.

When I realized I was not in fact pregnant… the pain and grief I felt was so intense it seemed irrational. The loss was so real to me that I was convinced I’d had a miscarriage. This was my first real encounter with the pain of infertility…. it was the first time I’d let myself truly hope and imagine what it would be like… for 10 days I thought I was going to be a mom. Of course – i did not experience a miscarriage… but that was the only way I could justify and explain the pain I felt. Although I did not lose a baby that month – everything I had imagined for my future was lost…and now I knew what I was missing out on… that naive excitement…. that joy and celebration….. in one night — it was gone….and I wanted it back….

At that time, I did not know that I would continue to struggle and experience that pain for another 31 months.. so, after a week or two, I picked myself back up and kept going, kept trying, kept believing and hoping…. only for that hope and future I had imagined to drift further and further away.

The pain of infertility may seem irrational or exaggerated to you — but, to those suffering it – it is like suffering a loss each and every month …

You may not understand it, you may not agree with it, you may think it’s too much — that is fine…we are not asking you to understand… we’re just asking that you do not ignore it.

Click on the image to learn more about NIAW

I am happy to say that I am in a good place — since we stopped trying to conceive, I have been able to let go of the disappointments and hold on to hope for the future… I am not sure what the future holds for us… I hope it holds parenthood…. but for now…. I’m letting go of the future and enjoying the present.

Click here to read some short personal infertility stories from those “in the trenches”

Click here if you want to know how to “not ignore infertility”… what not to do around those who may be struggling with infertility, and what you can do

Click here  or here if you know someone struggling with infertility and would like some information regarding “infertility etiquette”

Click here if you are struggling with infertility and want some tips on how to raise awareness

And of course — you can find an abundance of information regarding infertility here.

Oh – and if you would like to help advocate…. you could always add a “twibbon” to your twitter or facebook profile pic… and share some facts about infertility with people around you…. resolve is also a great source for ideas on how to help raise awareness for infertility.

 

 

• http://www.resolve.org/infertility101  (Basic understanding of the disease of infertility.)
• http://www.resolve.org/national-infertility-awareness-week/about.html (About NIAW)