Surprise!

I am usually such a stickler for saving all things Christmas until after Thanksgiving. So when my mom asked if I'd rather have an early Christmas 'surprise' or wait until Christmas Day and unwrap something from a box, I didn't really have an answer for her. What was this surprise? And why did it have to take place before Thanksgiving? I was really in the dark about the whole thing. I had no clue what my surprise was going to be, but I guess that's the point of a surprise, right?
My mom told me what to wear, and that we were leaving about half an hour after I got home from work on Friday. We drove to Fresno and arrived at the theatre where we had seen Wicked about a year and a half ago. But there weren't any signs outside the theatre. By the time Mom gave the tickets to the guy at the door...I still had no idea what was going on. It wasn't until we walked past a Merch table selling copies of Some Lessons Learned and Let Yourself Go that I realized that we were at a KRISTIN CHENOWETH CONCERT!!! At that point I started crying a little bit. How is it possible that a) I didn't know that Cheno was performing in Fresno, and b) I would be seeing Ms. Chenoweth perform live for the second time!!
Everything about the concert was amazing. She sang a little bit of everything, a couple of her Glee songs, some country, some jazzy, vocally stuff, Popular from Wicked (in English, Japanese and German), of course she did Taylor, the Latte Boy...and then she blew the roof off the theatre with Bring Him Home from Les Miserables...and I cried for the second time that night. She encored with I Will Always Love You, and I never wanted her to stop singing!

#ChristianConcertProblems

Last night I got to experience The Rock and Worship Roadshow

The experience included driving about an hour or so to Fresno, waiting in line for about half an hour, and then rocking out in worship for about 4 or 5 hours...with about 15,000 or so other Christians!

I love going to concerts, nothing beats a live show! My favorite thing about Christian concerts though, is the array of people you see there. From the very young (we're talking actual babies) to this old couple who were probably in their 60's. People of every race and background, soccer moms and punks with mohawks...all coming together because they all worship the same God! Plus, if you see a cute guy at a Christian concert, you've automatically got so much in common...which leads me to #ChristianConcertProblem numero uno:

Is it a wedding ring, or a purity ring?

"Maybe it's a purity ring, we are at a Christian concert"-my friend, K!

While waiting in line, there were three people in front of me and K. Two guys and a girl. One of guys was very obviously in a couple with the girl...so K and I snuck a peek at the left hand of the other guy. A ring, but no wife.

This ties in to my second #ChristianConcertProblem

Sitting by an entire high school youth group, instead of a couple of cute Jesus-loving guys

Right? And then when there are some cute guys in the row in front of you, one of them is just goofy enough to be cute (but inexplicably has a super pretty girlfriend*) and the other, well...how do introduce yourself to a random stranger without him thinking you're a brazen hussy?

-sigh-

Then K and I ended up 'window shopping' for our future husbands while bands of cute musicians occupied the stage ("and he's a Christian!"). I decided I'm going to marry the guitar player from Disciple and K is going to marry the keyboardist from Tenth Avenue North...no rings on either! So we're just going to live happily ever after as the wives of Christian rock stars!

*re: the goofy guy with the pretty girlfriend. This combination always confuses me. For one, the pretty girls should leave the goofy guys for girls like me. For another, you never see the combination in reverse...for this reason I know I will never have a super duper hot boyfriend. Or, apparently a goofy one...since they seem to be snatched up by all the pretty girls.

Oh! What a (not so) Beautiful Morning...

I've been house-sitting for the past few days, and it's been really nice to have a place to myself, about an hour away from my folks' house. Well...that is until this morning. When I locked myself out of the house. In my nightgown.

I went out to give the doggies their breakfast, and apparently, the back door automatically locked behind me. Beautiful. Now I'm in my nightie, my phone is inside, and I don't know ANYONE in Fresno. So I did the only logical thing I could think of. I hopped the gate so I could be in the front yard. I waited until someone came jogging by, flagged him down, and asked if I could use his cell phone (now, if my life were a TV show, he would have been cute and in his mid-to-late twenties; but because this is my life and not Rachel Green's, he was in his 40s and kinda gross). Then I did what I always do in a crisis. I called my mommy since her's is one of the few numbers I actually have memorized...and she used to work with the mother/mother-in-law of the people whose dogs I'm watching. I asked her to call her friend to come rescue me somehow...

Then, I hopped the gate again and waited. And waited. And threw the ball around for the dogs. And waited. And then my beautiful sister (whom I love dearly) begrudgingly came by with the key so I could finally (after two and a half hours) get back in the house.

Does this stuff actually happen to other people? Or is it just me? Cause if it's just me, then other people are totally missing out on feeling like constant screw-ups!

I like to pronounce it 'thee-ay-tor'

...theatre, that is.

I went up to visit my parents this weekend, and Friday evening, my mom and I went to the William Saroyan Theatre where the national touring company of Wicked (a New? Musical) is making a brief stop. This was my second time seeing Wicked, but before I talk too much about the show I'm going to be a snob and do a little rant on theatre etiquette. My first complaint is how people were dressed...yes, it is just Fresno, but I have always upheld that, whether it is community theatre or a professional show, people should dress for theatre. I'm not expecting ball gowns and tuxedos...but please no Uggs, flip-flops, t-shirts, sweat-shirts, shorts or ripped jeans. And when they say 'turn your cell phones off' turn them OFF, not just to silent. (I can't even count how many people I saw on their phones at intermission, because your email and Facebook are too important not to be checked for the duration of a three hour show). And for goodness sake, arrive on time. The people sitting to my left didn't come until 'The Wizard and I' was almost over, and of course they caused a disruption because their seats were in the middle of the row! If I ran a theatre, any guests that aren't in their seats by curtain would have to wait in the lobby until intermission.

Okay I'm done.

Wicked was INCREDIBLE!! Anne Brummel's Elphaba was perfect! And although I wasn't sold on Natalie Daradich's G(a)linda right away, she grew on me and ended up nailing it! The thing that I think surprised me the most was how small the cast was at the curtain call. The monkeys, students, Emerald Citizens and 'Ozians'are all portrayed by the same 15 people (who must undergo some serisouly complicated costume/make-up/wig changes several times throughout the show) but you don't really realize that until they take their bows.

The cast was so talented and the sets were just incredible. I truly think I could sit through this show every night of my life and get something different out of it!

Plus, I got another mug to add to my collection!!