December 16, 2013

96.5 TIC Acoustic Christmas Show

I was super excited for the TIC Christmas show because Backstreet Boys were headlining. I was also able to get a VIP M&G package from the BSB fanclub so I’d be meeting them before the show.  Then winter storm Ashford decided that he was going to come at 9am and get the worst at 7pm and turn to freezing rain at midnight.  With the show at 7:30, it would be horrible once we all got out of the show.  But as they say – the show must go on! and no one was canceling the show.  I knew I could make it up there and back for the M&G before 7pm hit.  So I got there for VIP check in which was supposed to be at 4:20 but ended up being a bit later than that.  Basically from 4pm – 6pm I was standing. And most of that time without anything to lean on – and yet somehow I survived it. (Very proud of myself because I was seriously doubting my ability to do that!)

We checked in and got our VIP pass and then waited in line to get in to the room to meet BSB.  While we were waiting, they all walked by us from I guess sound check or backstage or something.  The line seemed to be going fairly quickly once it actually got moving.  Everything was super organized, you had enough time to hug all the guys, chit chat a little bit and then get your photo.  This was individual photos too which was great! (and why I did it.  Usually VIP individual pics is like $500 and this show was a bargain at $150)  The order was Brian, Howie, AJ, Nick and Kevin.  I stood by Nick and AJ for the picture. It was funny listening to everyone chatting trying to figure out where they’d stand and hope that they didn’t get rearranged before we got there.  After we got our pic we were given a signed Christmas card from the guys that is done so you can put your photo on the front of the card.  Cute! But I’ll probably just end up scrapping the autograph or framing it 🙂

After the M&G (about 6:10) I had intended to go home but bumped into a family friend who works at the venue.  When I told her I was leaving she said she would take me home and I could crash at her house until the weather got better the next day.  We checked that my car would be OK there overnight and then I told my parents not to expect me.  She said if it got real bad they might leave early so I told her to find me if they did and I’d leave early too.  (Then I ended up switching seats and she couldn’t find me during the show – but they did end up staying!)

Plain White T’s started the show off and did a set of 1,2,3,4 Should’ve Gone To Bed, Giving Tree, Hey  There Deliliah and Rhythm of Love. They chatted with the audience a lot and were pretty good, they were the only act at the show I had no yet seen before.

Next up was Gavin DeGraw. I was kind of bummed he wasn’t later in the show – he puts on a great show! He even was in the crowd for a few songs.  His set was In Love With A Girl, Make a Move, Chariot, Mirrors (probably not a good idea to sing a Justin Timberlake song at a show with mostly BSB fans… from what I heard of reactions around me lol!) I Don’t Wanna Be, Best I Ever Had,  and Not Over You.

Then it was time for Avril.  Groan.  She kept walking off the stage and I think she was mad at the sound guys because a few times there was a lot of feedback when she was singing. Her set was Here’s To Never Growing Up, Girlfriend, Sk8er Boi, What The Hell, Black Star, Let Me Go, My Happy Ending and ended her set with Complicated.

Next up with Sara Bareilles who also puts on a great show. Her set was (sorry if I don’t get all the names right) Chasing The Sun, Gonna Get Over You, Many the Mines, Love Song, I Choose You, Gravity, Manhattan, King of Anything, & Brave. She seemed to really like the crowd and the acoustics of the room and split us up to sing a few times and was overall very funny and put on a great set.

Then it was time for the Backstreet Boys! They played until just before midnight and did The Call, As Long As You Love me, Show Em (What You’re Made Of), In A World Like This, Safest Place to Hide, 10000 Promises, Madeleine, Quit Playin Games, It’s Christmas Time Again, I Want It That Way, Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).

After 4 songs they broke it down to an acoustic set or their “insurance policy” where they played instruments so that they have a backup plan when they can no longer dance. It was pretty neat to see them play Quit Playin’ Games during this set!

The show was a ton and fun – though I’m not sure I could have made it back to my house without completely panicking if I had stayed the whole time without an alternate plan!

Book Review: All Fired Up

firedup

Shane is the new pastry chef at Cara’s soon to be brother in law’s restaurant.  Cara works as an event planner for them.  After a trip to Vegas, Shane and Cara end up married.  Once Cara realizes what she has done, she wants an annulment.  Shane seems to think that they can make it work if they get to know each other a bit better.  But there is one big secret that he is keeping – Cara’s soon to be brother in law, Jack, a famous chef is his half-brother. Jack has no idea but Shane has been trying very hard to get the job to work with him so that he can finally meet him. There’s also the new secret – Cara doesn’t want anyone to know that they’ve gotten married.

Cara get annulment papers but her relationship with Shane starts heating up.  She tries to fight it as much as she can but she knows inside it is what she wants.  Once Shane signs the papers and the truth about his paternity comes out, Cara isn’t sure if he was just using her or if he ever cared for her at all – when she has been falling in love with him.

This was a good book, but I couldn’t help but get SO annoyed by Cara.  She obviously has a lot of control issues and needs to be in control of everything. She thinks her family hates her because she wasn’t around when her mother got sick with cancer.  Turns out, she was battling anorexia and didn’t want anyone to know and that is why she didn’t come home. Shane seems to be willing to accept her for who she is, but she can’t accept herself which I think is what initially causes her to not want to be with Shane. But here is this hot guy who wants you for you and you keep walking away!

I thought the end was going to take a bit different turn than it did – but I was happy with how everything was resolved.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Her sweetest mistake . . . 

Cool as a Chicago winter, private events planner Cara DeLuca is a model of self-control . . . until she meets the one temptation she can’t resist: Shane Doyle. The sexy, Irish pastry chef is too hot, too sure, too young, and after a crazy night in Vegas-her new husband. While at first Cara wants nothing more than a way out of her sham marriage to Shane, she soon finds that beneath his farm boy demeanor lies a man who can match her drive, both in and out of the bedroom. How can the wrong guy feel so deliciously right?

. . . Tastes so, so good

Shane has carefully structured his career and life around one goal: connecting with the family that doesn’t know he exists. Marrying a woman with more issues than a magazine stand wasn’t part of the plan, but melting Cara’s icy exterior is so worth the detour. Now as the annulment date nears and long-buried secrets are revealed, Shane will have to fight for the one thing guaranteeing the perfect life he craves . . . the current Mrs. Shane Doyle.

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