Love and Memories

I'm at the end of a fun, relaxing weekend, most of which was spent solo.  L went to Houston for a weekend with his college friends, so I was on my own for 48 hours.  After dropping L off at the airport on Friday night, I came home and went to bed early (it was a loooooooooooong work week last week).  A full night's sleep in a big bed did wonders and I woke up refreshed and ready for a day of relaxation.  I spent most of Saturday morning lounging and catching up on all my girly, teen drama TV shows before heading out in the afternoon to celebrate the upcoming birthday of one of my dearest and most favorite friends here, A.  Her super sneaky and very sweet boyfriend, C, surprised her by planning an outing to go see O.A.R. at the Merriweather Pavilion in Columbia.  It definitely rained all day (including the entire hour+ drive there), but luckily, C had thought ahead and gotten covered seats, so even if the weather hadn't cleared up (which it did, right as the gates opened), we still would have been nice and dry.  We saw both opening bands... one was meh, the other was pretty good.  HOWEVER, the better band had a reggae/ska influence and included one of my bigger pet peeves: singing with a fake Jamaican accent.  I have no reason behind why I loathe the fake Jamaican accent, but let me tell you, it really, really annoys me (and sometimes angers me).  It's just so dumb.  Also, said fake Jamaican accent singer also happened to look like a woman at first, mostly because he had the longest dreadlocks I've ever seen all piled on his head in a bun and he was dancing around so much that he he just looked like a woman.  Based on his hair alone (body and head), I just don't think I ever want to stand near him.  Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I did not take a picture of him so you'll have to use your imagination.

Anyway, I was super excited to see O.A.R. because they were a favorite band of mine in college (particularly my favorite song, That Was a Crazy Game of Poker) but somehow I'd never seen them before.  We left before they played my fave song, but we saw most of the set and enjoyed it. 

Not the best shot- you can't tell what's going on or really even that there's more on the stage besides lights- but rest assured that we had some pretty good seats!  C did a great job organizing the whole thing (completed with a round of A's favorite limeades and cupcakes for everyone on the car ride up - how cute is he??) and A was incredibly surprised to find me and another friend waiting in the car for her when it was time to leave for the show.  I love surprises (planning and receiving, so long as they are fun ones), so I was especially impressed by all of his efforts. 

Back in the days before L and I were together, one of my favorite things to do was go see live music.  L does not have the same enthusiasm so I let that passion fall by the wayside; it's just a buzz kill to feel like you're forcing someone to go see bands they may not love in a setting they don't enjoy.  However, this has renewed my desire to go see more bands, so we'll see what happens in the coming months!  And if nothing else, I have friends I can go with if L doth protest too much.  Keep your fingers crossed for good shows to come this way!