Bought Time.

Well, here it is. It's finally 09.09.09. Beatles day. I no longer have to listen to every man in my family talk about this day like it is the second coming of Christ. Matt went and picked up his Beatles swag at midnight, came home and played until 1:30am, then woke back up at 9:00am to play it some more before work.

Aside from a pile of Beatles merch, we also picked up season five of The Office and I grabbed my new lens. We sat down to watch a few episodes last night and I spilled a full grande pumpkin latte on the carpet. Entirely full. I didn't even take one sip of it. I spent 30 minutes trying to clean an orange pumpkin syrup stain out of shag carpet. Not even a combo of Resolve and a Little Green Machine could clean it up. Doesn't that seem a little strange? Whatever is in that coffee is full of so much artificial garbage that it stained brown carpet! WTF??? I may be off pumpkin lattes permanently.

Anyway... Since our purchasing habits over the last few weeks have been so out of control, I've decided to make a headboard instead of buying one. I found one on target for $300, but it makes me nervous to buy furniture from them. A lot of the reviews make it sounds poorly made. I'm looking for something upholstered, colorful, inviting. There are tutorials all over the place online. I don't think it will be too hard. Here are a few pics I'm using for my inspiration:

Photographic Proof That I Really Did Get Married!

We finally got our wedding pics back! Here are a few. There is a whole folder of them over on my Flickr stream.



I created my own button stems and then had local wedding vendor/artist Princess Lasertron make felt stems. The bridesgals had similar bouquets too.



We found this awesome tent at a golf course and rented it for the entire day at a ridiculously cheap price. We had both the ceremony and reception here and saved ourselves a ton of money. We also saved our guests from driving to two separate places.



How excited am I?



Our cutting cake was decorated like the Yellow Submarine cartoon. It was a surprise to Matt from me. The cake was unbelievable. It was chocolate with peanut butter mousse.



Our first dance was to, "Something" by The Beatles.

Vegas Part II - In Which I Gush

So, back to the LOVE show...

I don't know if I can adequately describe what the show meant to me, but I am going to try. In my house and family, John, Paul, George and Ringo are not people who happened to be in a band. The music that The Beatles brought into the world is a treasure that changed everything permanently. The planet is a better place for them being in it. They are the sum of everything we believe in and a way of life. I'm very serious here. Matt and I are essentially flower children. We try to be the peace keepers, neutral ground in things. We try to keep good karma and do right by the universe. We aren't religious but we believe in the collective spirit of the world and loving your neighbor. We love our friends and family dearly and we don't take them for granted. We enjoy art and creation and seeing the beauty in things. It's not easy to hold true to your ideals on a daily basis but we really try. You can almost smell the patchouli, can't you? I'm just trying to fill you in on us so you can appreciate why we loved this show so much.

LOVE is the closest that anyone will ever come to seeing the Beatles live again and let me tell you... It's damn close. It's more than a concert or a Cirque du Soleil show, it is the music of the Beatles come to life. It moves and breathes. It felt like they were in the room with us, telling us the story of their lives and music. It was so overwhelming, both sensory and emotionally that I cried for nearly half of the show. I was simply stunned. My jaw was on the floor and I had tears in my eyes. The imagery and costumes are so well thought out, nothing is arbitrary. Everything serves a definite purpose and is beautiful beyond belief. There are times when the performers are gone and the only thing on stage are silhouettes of The Beatles, and those moments are haunting. It ceases to be a show and it feels real.

We ended up extending our trip and seeing the show twice. We couldn't not see it again. That extra day cost us a lot of money but we would have regretted not doing it. I've always felt that life experiences are priceless and I'll pay any amount of money for an important one. We could have come home and spent $300 on a new TV rather than LOVE tickets, but what do you think I'm going to remember more when I'm sixty, that TV or that show? You think I'm going to sit around at Christmas and tell my grandkids about the day that I went to NFM and bought a 19 inch flat screen for the kitchen? Possessions won't get you far in life. You have to value your experiences and the moments that shape you because that's what life really is and that is what is worth every penny to your name. It's not the house you live in, the car you drive, the clothes you wear. Life is how you live and what you experience. Life is what the music of The Beatles is about.

The first time we saw LOVE, we were at about the top of the second tier of seats. The second time we saw it, we were nearly eye-level with the stage in the fifth row. Sitting back farther gives a better overall view of the show. You can take everything in as a whole. But sitting up close allows you to see the real acting and the story. Those performers do an amazing job. The theater is set up so the show essentially surrounds you. You can see and hear and feel it from every side of you.

Whether you're up close or farther back, the message remains the same. Love. Love will change the world. And you know what? I believe it. Why do you think the message that they shared with the world has stayed at the forefront of Western culture for over forty years? Because we want to believe in it, want our neighbors to believe in it. Peace, love and happiness. Why wouldn't you want to believe in that? I think it's a message we could all benefit from.

What happened in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas. We stayed in Vegas.

This is going to be part one of a two part series, just to alert you ahead of time...

Matt and I just got back from the Vegas trip today. We were supposed to get back yesterday, but drunk impulse-purchased a new return flight so we could stay one more night. (I'll get to that... ) The trip was a gift from Billy and Rach, who met us there via Mexico. Billy unfortunately was unable to make it to our wedding, so he wanted to do something very special for us to make up for the lost memory. He definitely delivered.

We arrived early Saturday morning, which may or may not be the beginning of the day in Vegas, depending on how you look at it. Of course we started off by pigging out at a buffet. We then went to Madam Tussaud's and posed with/groped as many wax celebrities as we could. Then lots of walking, a little gambling (I won $16 on my first slot machine!) and a trip to the Stratosphere. I wasn't even going to pretend that I have the balls to ride a scary ride on the roof of a building so I hung out on the observation deck while everyone else did the ride. We then drank some cocktails to ease the fear. I also encountered everclear for the first time this side of 21 and I was not impressed. Rach and I went hoe boot shopping and the guys went to get tattoos. Unfortunately, tattoos were going to cost way too much money and Rach is the only one who found her some hoehoes.

And then it was time for the reason we went to Vegas. LOVE.

That show quite possibly changed my life. I'm serious. It was beyond amazing. It was the most incredible thing I have ever seen in my life. I cried the entire time. There was just no getting over what I was witnessing. It completely and utterly blew my mind.

Matt and I were scheduled to go home Sunday night around 7:00, but after some noon time cocktails we got to waxing about the show and things changed. We started by wishing there was a matinee. And then we started planning our next trip back in the spring. And then that turned into us wondering, just out of curiosity, what it would cost to transfer our flights to the next morning because we could just stay in Billy and Rach's room for the night so it's not like it's that big of a deal.... Right? And then that turned into me and Billy in the business center with my credit card rationalizing the price of new plane tickets. It was probably the most impulsive moment of my life. The transfer wasn't exactly cheap, but I was so excited and a wee bit intoxicated so I just rolled with it. The general consensus of the night was that we only live once so we better enjoy it. We then ran across the street and bought tickets to the late LOVE show.

It was just as incredible the second time.

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

Never, in my life have I been this excited about a video game. Mariokart for Wii is my favorite game (until now possibly) and it's still a distant second to this...

Beatles video game slated for 2009

In a conference call at 10am EST this morning, the Beatles' Apple Corps. Ltd., MTV Games, and Harmonix announced a new video game using the Fab Four's catalog. And little else.

The game, which will have music supervision by Giles Martin, son of longtime Beatles producer Sir George Martin and co-producer of The Beatles LOVE project with his dad, is slated for the 2009 holidays. It will not be a Rock Band game, however; it will be a wholly new, standalone title. Details will unfold in the coming months.

Keep reading...

With my in-law family comes a severe and undying devotion to all things Beatles. It's almost like a cult. You have no idea what kind of an effect this is going to have with my hubs and his brothers. I think they're all going to have Wii remotes permanently implanted in their palms.

Did I mention that we're going to Las Vegas to see love in less than three weeks? (A wedding present from the eldest McG.) I'm ridiculously excited about it. Its probably the closest I will ever get to a true religious experience.