Good Morning, Rascal Flatts!

HAPPY SWEET 16 JULIE!!!

On Friday morning Tamara and I went into the city and saw Rascal Flatts on Good Morning America!! They had a mini concert in Bryant Park and it was really, really great!! No pushy-shovey people, it wasn't extremely crowded, we could see really well, and the band was awesome! They really played around with the crowd, and I loved the 4 songs they played.
Afterwards (this was about 9am), we took the subway downtown and went shopping for a couple of hours. Then we had a good walk up to Times Square and ate lunch at Olive Garden (it was Tamara's first time there). Overall a great day in the city!!
I've realized that most of my posts on here are littered with exclamations and words like "great" and "awesome." I write like that because that's how a lot of the things are that I've done, so I'm sorry if it seems a little overdone. I'm trying to tone it down a bit (maybe you've noticed over the past few posts), but the enthusiasm isn't fake. (Does that make sense?)

Mom and Dad are going to be here in a few days! Yea! It's going to be a fun, relaxing mini-vacation for me! It's almost 80 degrees today and it is supposed to stay like this all week! :)

Beantown

It was another busy weekend... Tamara, Katharina, Ellen, Sarah, and I drove up to Boston for the day on Sunday. We checked out the usual places, then I took the T out of town to meet Bob and Maria for lunch. It was kind of an ordeal trying to find a place to go in this town we'd never been in before. The first two places we tried were closed. The third time was the charm and we ate at Bertucci's. It's so much fun visiting with the newlyweds!! I really enjoyed my afternoon with them! Sounds like they had a fun weekend last weekend with Beth and Meko.
Mom and Dad are going to be here in 11 days!!! Yea! :)

Energy-less

I'm really tired today. :S For some reason I don't have much energy. And I'm supposed to get up early and go to Boston tomorrow... I think I'll have to take a nap this afternoon or something! Otherwise I'm not going to make it all day tomorrow.

I'm once again trying to put some pictures up... and once again it's not working.
:( This is making me crabby.

Martina! Josh!

I have time right now to upload pictures, but it's not working for some reason. I've been trying to get them on here for about 25 minutes, and no luck so far. I'll try again later...
My morning was really fun! I got up nice and early (5:00 -- so not too bad) and rode in with Eric. He was going in for work, so he offered me a ride. I appreciated not taking the train for once. I got to Rockefeller Plaza at 6:15 and had to wait in line until about 6:45... this could be a long story, so I'll get to the main points. Since they had 3 performers on (Martina McBride, Josh Turner, and Gretchen Wilson), there were a lot more people than the other two times I went. Plus they had two different stages. So right away I had to decide which one I wanted to be closer to. Martina or Josh and Gretchen. I chose Martina. She sang "In my Daughter's Eyes" and I can't remember the name of the second one. She's AMAZING!! and beautiful!! I would love to go to a whole concert of hers!! Josh Turner sang "Would you go With Me" and I LOVED IT!!! Wow, he's good! :)
I got some good pictures of Martina, some far away ones of Josh. I promise I'll put pictures on here ASAP. I thought today would be the day... I'll keep trying.

We're going to Boston for sure on Sunday. I talked to Bob and he and Maria are going to come and meet us for lunch! (Jim and Lynne can't make it.)

Central Park

Here's a picture of Ellen, Katharina, and me in Central Park one Sunday. It was a gorgeous day, in the 80s I believe. It was a few weeks ago (mid-April), before the leaves came out.

Summer weather!!

Hey all, it really, really feels like summer! It's in the 80s today, and it's supposed to stay this way for awhile! Sweet! Now I just can't wait for the water to warm up. Tamara, Katharina, Ellen, and I were at the beach on Saturday and the water was freeeezing! Just like Lake Superior this time of year. Tamara and I felt like skipping rocks, but there were none. So we skipped shells - and it worked!!
I keep telling Tamara about things we're going to do when she comes to Michigan in August... and the list keeps getting longer and longer. Now Katharina is thinking about coming, too. But she has about a million different plans for when she's done being an au pair. and coming to MI is just one of them, so I kind of doubt she'll end up coming.
I'm excited that the WINGS are still going strong! Yea! :) It's reminding me of those 3 years they won the Cup. GO WINGS! :) And the Pistons -- hopefully they can keep it up against Chicago and keep rolling. It's a great time to be a Detroit Sports Fan!

This Week in Karen's Life

Whew! I'm still exhausted from last week/weekend. And I'm already thinking ahead to this week. Here's what's going on with me:
I'm working for Marcy on Tuesday and Thursday this week. The rest of the week is going to be busy with work, work, work. On Friday morning I'm going to the TODAY Show to see

JOSH TURNER

and

MARTINA MCBRIDE!!!

Yea! :)

Then on Sunday Tamara, Katharina, Ellen, and I are planning to go to Boston for the day. We're not 100% sure yet, but it sounds like a go. If we go, I'm going to get a hold of Jim & Lynne and Bob & Maria to see if they want to come into the city for lunch or dinner or something.
Mom and Dad are coming in less than 3 weeks!! :)

NYC State of Mind

I've been wanting to write about this for awhile, but I only get to the Library for the computer a couple times a week (at the most). So here it is.
When I was in Chicago last weekend, I realized that I have a New York City state of mind. I'll try to explain it. When I first moved out here and went into the city, I wasn't aggressive like the New Yorkers. When I walked down the street and bumped into somebody (if you've never been here before, I have to let you know that this happens all the time!!), I would quickly turn and apologize. or say "excuse me," or something like that. Well, I guess after awhile of saying this 10, 20 times a day (New Yorkers don't apologize, or even acknowledge that you said sorry. They also don't acknowledge that you bumped each other.), I just sort of stopped saying something when this would happen. Last weekend in Chicago I would bump into someone (I didn't just start running into people or anything, but when the streets are crowded, sometimes your shoulder touches with someone elses. or something like that.) and not apologize right away. They'd turn and look, or say sorry, or something. Like I did when I first moved out here. By the time I realized what had happened, they were long gone.
Also, crosswalks. It's another way I realize I have a NYC state of mind. I'll leave it at that.
So, this small-town girl now has turned into a little bit of a New Yorker. I'm stressing the little bit because there is no way I'll ever have even close to what it takes to live or work in NYC. and that is just fine with me, because I'd never, ever want to live there.