I've been tagged..

twice! By my cousin-in-law (I guess? She's married to my cousin? :) ) Mindy and my Aunt Diane!

This was a picture tag, with very specific rules:
Go to your Pictures file
Go to the 5th folder
Open the 5th picture and post it
Tag 5 people when you're done.

Unfortunately, most of my pictures are at home on my external hard drive, so we're working with a limited number here...

Fortunately, I like this picture! It's the Chicago skyline, taken during our trip there to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary this past October. It was a beautiful morning when we headed up to the North Ave. Beach and took pictures of the Hancock Center and the rest of the beautiful buildings!

I now tag Erin C., Katy, MK, Jamie and Kim!

My little obsession...

So, only my nearest and dearest (and now the entire blogging world) knows my obsession with Sarah Brightman. You may know her as Andrew Lloyd Webber's ex-wife and the original Christine in the Phantom of the Opera. She also sang at the opening ceremonies of both the 1992 Barcelona and 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and has sung at some other major events as well.

She is beautiful (oh, SO BEAUTIFUL! Only gets better with age), she is talented (her lower register has become so much deeper the older she has gotten) and just an all around fantastic person and performer. Last night, my wonderful hubby took me to see her in concert at the Verizon Center where our basketball and hockey teams play (also nicely located two blocks from my office!). He went into the concert with the "grin and bear it" attitude, and came out a fan.

The show was SO TOTALLY AWESOME! Maybe her best yet (this was my fourth time seeing her, after all). May we all be blessed with those pipes and that body when we're 49 years old! The highlight was when she sang my most favorite song of hers "First of May," which I've never seen her perform in concert before. Yes, tears were shed :)

Before the concert, we went to Jaleo for tapas and sangria for dinner, which was also great and a wonderful treat out. Thank you so much Brad, for taking me to the concert and thank you SO MUCH SARAH for putting on such a fantastic show!

**Additional Note!!!*** I have found this fantastic website which features a bunch of (way better) pictures from last night's show! Not that anyone cares :) http://www.contactmusic.com/pictures/sarah_brightman/1-1

Section 201, Seats 15 and 16, ready for action!

giddy with excitement!
There she is! There she is!

cool trick with mirrors that made the dancers look like they were synchronized swimming

sparkly thigh high boots!

beautiful black gown!

absolutely AMAZING duet of "Canto della terra" with Mario Frangoulis. He had an absolutely amazing voice!

rose petals raining down

stage set up at intermission... the panels are big mirrors. The stage was pretty fantastic
beginning of second act

beginning of her performing "Phantom of the Opera," which was different than it was at all her other shows and the best version I've seen yet!

singing Phantom with Alessandro Safina (who as also amazing)

singing "First of May" - just before the tears began!! ;)

"Time to Say Goodbye" - her last song :(

encore #1 - "Deliver Me" in a stunning black dress with feather wings :)

encore #2 - "Running"

Lookin' good

I was just looking through my point and shoot camera and found these two pictures of Brad and I in Barbados in August. They made me feel warm, and we look so tan and relaxed and I think they're decent pictures, so I thought I'd share :) These were taken while lunching at the yacht club (rough life, yes I know)

PS Keep watching the blog for a BIG post, full of concert pictures!!

One of those days...

Winter has finally arrived in Washington, D.C. today! Not so much the temperature (a balmy 39 degrees), but the wind chill (an equally balmy 28 degrees).

And with winter's arrival, my brain seems to have gone on vacation. I was all proud of myself this morning, getting up at a decent time, making my own lunch to bring to work and getting out the door at a decent hour. I waited at the bus stop in the cold and crazy wind, but read my book (currently "Under the Tuscan Sun"... it's summer in Tuscany (in the book), so it makes me feel warm!) and soon enough made it to the warm(er) Metro. I rode the train all the way into D.C. and was just coming up the escalator at the station by my office when I realized I had made a big boo-boo. My laptop, which I brought home yesterday so I could work a half day from home and wait for the UPS man. I packed it up last night and put it on the floor, right by the door, right next to my work bag.... and that's where it was still sitting. So I half laughed/half cried and turned around and got back on the Metro. Went all the way home, picked up my bag and went through my morning commute all over again. My coworkers and I had a good chuckle about it when I finally rolled in at 11am, only two hours late!


So in honor of the fact that I'm still thawing out, in honor of the fact that my office building is under construction and I think they're going to drill through the ceiling of my office, in honor of the fact that I have so many documents to read and edit my brain doesn't want to work and in honor of the fact that I'm leaving work tonight at 6pm so Brad and I can take a cooking class (where we'll probably make unhealthy food I can't eat!), lets all close our eyes for a minute and pretend we're in Barbados....

Thank a Veteran today

Today our nation pauses to thank those who have put their lives on hold to serve our country and protect our freedoms. I am thankful for all the Veterans in my life - my grandfather and great-uncle. I am especially thinking of my brother today, who is serving our nation in the Air Force. While he is currently stationed in California, he'll be heading to South Korea and then Japan in a month. Thanksgiving, the last time our family gets to see him before he deploys, will be extra special this year, with much to be thankful for. While I have to work today (which I think is an awful disrespect to those who have given their all for our country), I hope those of you who don't have to take some time to attend a Veterans Day parade or ceremony, or just stop a soldier in uniform on the street to say thank you. Those are two words these guys and gals don't hear nearly enough these days.

these 4,000 stars represent 400,000 Americans who were killed in World War II

I voted today... did you?

America the Beautiful

Brad and I went and played tourist Saturday night. I thought some of the shots I got would be prefect as America goes to the polls to elect our next president. As you head to vote on Tuesday, take a moment to remember all those who have given their all to defend our freedom and our privilege of voting in a great democracy.

Grand Opening!

Saturday night, Brad and I had dinner at the fabulous new Pizzaiolo Cafe and Bar, right up the street from our house. This is a new location of our favorite pizza place in the D.C. area. Since we've been eating healthy lately, it has been quite a while since we've been there, but it was worth the wait. Congratulations to Larry and Christine on a great opening night!

PS You see those empty walls in the restaurant? Larry and I have something up our sleeves to take care of that - keep watching this blog for more details ;)