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"

Worry Not...

So I'm not really much of a planner. I like to be spontaneous and have options when it comes down to it. This weekend has been a phenominal example of that. For me, I've found that when you don't have the structure of a calendar, you have less to worry about.



Writers Round at The Basement

 There were some crazy weather warnings going on in Nashville with talks of potential tornados. So I ended up thinking rationally and heading to a writer's round at The Basement. No windows...made perfect sense. It turned out to be a pretty awesome night with songwriters like Kate York (co-wrote More Beautiful You with Johnny Diaz) and Tyler James playing all new material that they'd been working on! There were 12 writers that played. It made me feel very uncreative, but I'm really glad that there are people out there with amazing talent like that.

I also had the opportunity to check out the musical Spring Awakening from the front row balcony at the TPAC. It was a great performance. I didn't really know what to expect walking in, but the music was great. The harmonies were solid. The storyline was very raw and an accurate portrayal of what teens go through today. I was impressed for sure. I kind of wish there would have been a huge ending song that made it memorable but the show was definitely worth seeing!

Had a fun watching party for The Oscars. Some of the outfits definitely surprised me, some for good reasons, others for...not so good reasons. I thought Anne did a great job hosting, and loved her musical number. I don't know if James Franco did as well as I'd hoped, but he gave quite a contrast to his opposing host. Celine did awesome as usual, and Sandra Bullock did great as well. Can you tell my glass is half-full?

FiddleCakes, The Civil Wars, and Other Nashville Blessings...

Living in this city makes me realize that there are so many incredible restaurants that it's a wonder I don't weigh 1000 lbs. I realize I might be a tad hyperbolistic but where would my sarcasm come from if I didn't have that?

FiddleCakes on 8th

With all of the amazing food in this city, I'd like to feature a favorite little bakery of mine that has been growing in the last year. FiddleCakes has an awesome variety of delectible baked goods even for the health conscious. With several vegan and gluten-options, there's something for everyone. They have different kinds of vegan cupcakes every day, which I'm pretty sure don't count as calories on any diet you might be on. My personal favorite (and weakness) is the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookie (every now-and-then available in a vegan option). Let's just be really honest here and say that if I had the opportunity, I would probably eat these cookies by the dozen in a single sitting. The bakery itself provides a super-chill atmosphere to grab lunch with a friend or to catch up on emails with a cup of coffee (and several cookies, in my case). If you've never been I'd definitely recommend it! They just opened a new location across from Cummins Station.

Civil Wars perform in Grimey's

I also had the opportunity to go check out the in-store performance of The Civil Wars yesterday at Grimey's. It was awesome. All of the hype of their new independent release is well worth it. I mean, the songs themselves are incredibly well written, and I'm pretty sure they've invented some new harmonies that haven't existed on this earth quite yet. They sang through several of their album songs, including the single, Poison and Wine. I tell you what though, I fell in love with their song Falling. Joy has such an incredible way with the emotion of the song, and their dynamics draw you in even closer as a listener. We got to chat a little bit after the show and they're excited to play at Common Grounds in Waco coming up! They're both so talented.

Adele's Album Cover

While we're on the music subject here,  which I could and do talk about all day every day. Adele announced her concert in Nashville. She may not be a Nashville original, but she's on her way to visit this Summer! I for sure got my ticket as soon as the pre-sales went up. I couldn't be more excited about this new Album, 21. I've had the blessing of listening to it for the past month or so. Every song on that CD is well worth a listen or 400 (again with the hyperbole.) Seriously, jump on it and get this album if you haven't. She's incredible and her voice is such a raw talent. Gotta love the British flare as well!