In The Heights

As a part of my season tickets to the TPAC's (Tennessee Performing Artist Center) Broadway series, I got to see "In the Heights" last night. I had several people telling me that this show was incredible. I hadn't really researched any information on the play or listened to the music before I went so I didn't have any preconceived thoughts.

Moral of the story: It's one of my favorite musicals; period. The music was incredible and with my limited Spanish background, they were able to create an awesome blend of Spanglish. The lyrics of the songs rhymed english words with the spanish equivalent with incredible harmonies. I will absolutely be seeing this musical again if I have the opportunity. The characters are so relatable and the set is amazing. The dancing was true to the culture but refreshingly new age.

Jordin Sparks had a small stent in the roll of Nina for the show in New York. If you've never seen the musical, do it, but also check out her performance.

One Republic at the Ryman

When I heard One Republic was coming to the Ryman, I went ahead and bought tickets because I knew a few of their songs. Apologize, Marching On, Made for You...the usuals. I'm not sure what I had in mind for expectations of the concert but I assure you all of those expectations were surpassed. They are such an incredibly talented group. Ryan Tedder is a genius and probably one of the best writers in music out there right now. 

The Daylights

 The concert was opened by the Daylights. They were awesome, had a great sound, and set the mood for a great night.

One Republic

One Republic came out and had a killer opening. I realized really quickly that I knew a lot more of their material than I thought. Ryan Tedder produced and co-wrote "Bleeding Love" for Leona Lewis, and is currently working with Kelly Clarkson and several others on new releases.

Ryan Tedder

There were so many fluid transitions between songs whether Ryan was on keys or guitar, or when the famous cello was playing every song was seamless. I'm also relatively positive that there were some vocal runs that had never been done before.

Sons of Sylvia and One Republic

At the end of the show, Ryan brought out his cousins. The Sons of Sylvia have been on tour all year with Carrie Underwood. They have a musical family and did a killer blue grass closing for the concert.

Surprise, Surprise....

This weekend I had the opportunity to work together and pull together a great surprise party for my friend Mandi. She and I have known each other since Baylor and had several classes together. We interned together at Word and now have the opportunity to work together in the same department. She rocks.

Her birthday was on Friday and little did she know...we were going to celebrate. Her boyfriend Dan and I were working together to put something together for her. Sherrie, one of my favorite co-workers, makes incredible baked goods. So she brought Mandi some carrot cake cupcakes...I might have eaten 6.

I spoke with Mandi several times during they day and she literally had no idea what was going on. So that night, Dan took Mandi to the Nashville Symphony and I was gathering everyone at the new location of this awesome sushi place in town called Virago. I realized when I got there that I didn't really know a whole lot of Mandi or Dan's friends outside of work. I randomly spent time asking strangers..."Do you know Dan or Mandi..." or "Do you  have anyone in your life named Dan or Mandi" I got a great response rate.

Sherrie made Mandi an incredible piano birthday cake. She even crafted a baby grand piano out of chocolate on top of it!

Sherrie's Birthday Cake for Mandi

There ended up being about 25-30 people there to celebrate and once Mandi arrived she was SO surprised. We had a great night of celebrating! 

Mandi first noticing that there were about 30 people yelling SURPRISE at her.

Spring Break...So 2010

This week has been great having some Baylor folks in town on their Spring Break! I remember Spring Break...So I spent the entire week living vicariously through them.

It's one of my favorite things to show people around Nashville that have never been here. There's so much to do but I tell everyone first...you have to plan your schedule around what you're going to eat. Sad but true.


Sarah, Ryan, and I at Fido for a Milkbone Latte


We had a great time hanging out with some Baylor Alumni. Getting together to watch the Baylor v. Texas basketball game was great (the game didn't turn out like we'd wanted but it was great to see everyone.)

Tuesday night was very eventful. I introduced my Baylor friends to Kairos, a worship service for young adults. We stopped by to hear the worship portion, led by Anthony Evans. He's incredibly talented! We had to scoot out pretty quick because were were invited to go celebrate with Mandisa for losing 100 lbs! It was an incredible get-together with as many cupcakes as you could imagine. Of course there was an impromptu Zumba session in the middle of the living room to get things jammin.



Laura Cooksey's Amazing Cupcakes



Work has been great this week, my team is the best. One day we all came to work wearing Gray. Completely unplanned...It's one of those "You know you spend way too much time together when..." moments. We ordered a King Cake to celebrate Mardi Gras.  Unfortunately I didn't get the baby in my section, but it was sure delicious!



Chris, Ashley, Me, and Justin rockin some Gray



Francesca's CD Release Party!

This week has been great, consistently busy and plenty going on. Tuesday was a big day with the latest release by Francesca Battistelli "A Hundred More Years." The album is great and very relatable. With this album being her second release, you can tell she's really become comfortable with herself as an artist.  Her vocals reflect a maturity and comfort within all of the tracks on the album. She throws some vocal runs in there that are like a marathon for her cords.

Lobby of the Belcourt Theater

Tuesday night was Francesca's Album release party at the Belcourt Theater here in Nashville. It was a small group of writers, radio teams, and label folks that were able to enjoy celebrating Franny's success and the launch of the new album! Francesca sang through the album from beginning to end with most of the writers that she collaborated with for the album. It was cool to see where these songs originated from and the stories behind them. Dave Barnes is a guest duet on one of the tracks "Emily." Ladies, it's for you, especially if your name is Emily.

Francesca and Dave Barnes singing "Emily"