Everyone Loves a Boston Girl

So yeah, I survived an entire 14 hours at Warped Tour! It wasn’t nearly as dangerous as everyone had me believing and wasn’t really too difficult not to die. I would say that overall, it was a really interesting and entertaining experience. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a concert where I barely listened to or watched any of the acts. Warped Tour music is not totally my kind of music. I enjoy the music of Paramore and Cute is What We Aim For, but didn’t even bother finding their stages to see them play. I was basically only there only to support the boys of My So-Called Friend (and manager MC) who put on a totally amazing show. I’ve never seen them so full of energy and it was just pretty damn exciting they were playing at Warped Tour. And happy we got to go along for the ride. Yay for them!

Is anyone enjoying restaurant week as much as I am? On Sunday my mom and I went to Teatro and had an amazinggg dinner. Actually, we didn’t even end up using their restaurant week menu because there was too much other stuff we wanted off the regular menu. Teatro is a really cool restaurant and we had extremely good service. It’s a little loud in there, but nothing we couldn’t handle. I definitely recommend the calamari, eggplant, and orrechietti with spicy sausage and broccoli rabe.

Tonight, my friends and I feasted at Tapeo. Second time I’ve been there in two weeks and it’s such a fun place to go and try new dishes. Their restaurant week plan is really good there-you get to choose any 3 tapas of their regular menu, paella, and dessert. Definitely could not eat everything. And sangria=muy bueno. After our huge dinner, Sara excitedly took us to see the half-dying rat on lying on Newbury St. Unfortunately, he was gone.

We’re trying to figure out where we want to try next week. Any suggestions? I think I’d like to do lunch at The Fireplace, but I believe they’re doing restaurant week all month. Yay. I want to try somewhere new for dinner but there are too many choices!

Early to bed. Tomorrow I’m off to Warped Tour for the entire day solely for Boston’s My So-Called Friend. Every person I’ve talked to says Warped Tour is dangerous and I will probably get crushed or stampeded. I think I’m getting too old for this stuff :/ Hopefully it will be a good time and I won’t die!

Last Saturday my friends and I spent the day at Crane Beach. What a nice beach with far fewer sketchy people than I’m used to. Oh wait, that’s because I went to College at UNH and spent my beach time on Hampton Beach. I know, I know, honestly, I didn’t spend that much time there. But it was a beach, it was free, and the people watching opportunities were absolutely priceless.

Really though, they had a pretty sweet sand castle sculpture contest each year that I enjoyed checking out. I also admit I spent some romantic evenings on Hampton Beach; but you know, that’s when you’re so deep in love you don’t even notice or care about the complete sketchiness occurring around you. This is also because, instead of crowding the beach in the evening, the lovely Hamptoners would hover on “the strip,” which refers to the road between the beach and skeevy shops and clubs, where obnoxious men and hoochie mommas cruise down the road in their muscle cars, beats jamming, wife beaters looking hot. Worst thing in the world. Hampton Beach is the epitome of New Hampshire and everything I despise about it. Lake Winnipesaukee, yes, fine. Hampton, not OK.

Crane Beach on the other hand, has a $22 parking fee. And parking attendants assisting you to make sure you park correctly. The conclusion has been reached that fees and cover charges generally (I’m saying generally) keep sketch ball trashiness out. This goes for bars, clubs, and beaches. This kind of sucks because it means that in order to have a decent time without feeling violated, you must dish out tons of dough. Well worth it though. Crane Beach was mainly occupied by families, and nice families at that. Kids that were actually extremely well-behaved; I’m soo not used to that. I actually saw children that made me smile. Seriously hasn’t been happening lately.

If it wasn’t for the the 400 lb. woman who was all over her 100 lb., blindingly pale, teeth missing, 1980 see-through bathing suit boyfriend, I would have almost felt gypped of my people watching at the beach experience. Luckily, this couple brought a little Hampton Beach right back to my home state. It just felt so right.

Side note: Sun protection is sooo in this year. Practically every little child we saw, was completely covered in long sleeve shirts and some even in pants. Go safety. Speaking of, ladies, if you’re in the market for some swimwear for the last month of summer, check out Wholesome Wear for the latest fashions. Hawwwt. Seriously. WTF.

No matter how deep in love you are, I believe some things just aren’t meant to be shared. For instance, iPods. Or e-mail address. A Wall Street Journal Online article titled, ‘Til Tech Do Us Part,” discussed the woes of couples sharing electronics. It greatly disturbed me because it made me come to the realization that I don’t really care to share anything.

Maybe it’s just the generation I grew up in that I feel entitled to my own electronics; I guess I’ll use that as my excuse anyway. I haven’t had to share a computer with anyone for the past 8 years. My computer is set up exactly how I want it to be. With my information saved in the crucial places. I don’t want to log on to get my bank statements and have someone else’s credit card number already typed in. If I get to the Amazon homepage and somone else’s recommendations are displayed, I’ll be pissed. I don’t want anyone else’s websites saved in my address bar. And don’t you dare mess with my favorites.

Interestingly, I think that people who didn’t grow up with computers and other electronic devices are more OK with sharing. For instance, my aunt and uncle share an e-mail address, obviously using a cute combination of their first names: “judehal;” and my neighbors share their’s as well, again the cutesie “JJTay.” Soo what if I want to write my aunt an e-mail complaining about how my uncle is officially one of the worst board game players I’ve ever encountered? Can’t. Same goes for the neighbors. I cannot even imagine sharing an e-mail address with anyone; why do I want to sift through my e-mail trying to figure out which are for me? Hi, welcome to 2007; e-mail addresses, easiest thing to get, ever. One couple in the WSJ article has shared an e-mail address for years. Now they’re divorced. And they’re still sharing. How does that even work? Not to mention, they’re doing online dating, soo I’m sure that’s loads of fun.

I’d also get really pissed if anyone changed anything on my iPod and would not be OK sharing one. My music is my music and if my boyfriend gets his kicks listening to Rod Stewart and Fleetwood Mac, that’s his biznass, but please keep it far away from my iPod.

Is my generation just so spoiled that we don’t even know how to share anymore? I mean, I think I’m OK with sharing some things, like..umm, uhhh, I don’t even know what. But I do know that I will not share my electronics. No matter how much I love you. OK fine, I guess we can share the television. If we watch what I want.

I just need to express how absolutely amazing the Michael Bublé show was tonight. I have to admit I kind of had low expectations…I knew his music would be fabulous, but I heard he was a bit of an asshole, really full of himself, etc. so I expected his performance to be sub par. I was so wrong. It was honestly one of the best shows I have ever been to, and I think I’ve been to a good number. He played at the Wang, which is a really cool place to have a concert and it was a great crowd, minus the lady a few rows behind me who kept yelling “Give it to me Michael!” and “Shake that!” Coulda’ done without her.

Anyway, he was just a really good entertainer with a fantastic sense of humor, joking throughout the entire show. He also gave his 13-piece band tons of attention, and thanked the audience about a billion times. I swear the man must have huge ADD issues because he is always moving. Even when he was sitting, his feet were moving a million times a minute; he cannot be still. It was great. I’ve also never been to a concert where the performer was so gracious. Before he left he told the audience how much he appreciated them, how expensive he knew the tickets were (umm yeah, they were), on and on. He could have been completely BSing the whole time; but I guess it doesn’t really matter; I believed him. Besides the fact that he is amazingly hot, Bublé’s voice is absolute heaven; and despite the fact that many of his songs are old-school covers, he is such a unique singer.

Jann Arden opened for Michael. I tried ridiculously hard to figure out who the hell she was because I knew I knew her, but couldn’t place her. Then her fourth song made it clear to me–”Insensitive.” Obviously you know the song; everyone knows it– “How can do you cool your lips/After a summer’s kiss/How do you rid the sweat/After the body bliss” Totally a one-hit wonder, right? That was suchhh a good song though. Her performance was actually really good; just odd that a 45-year-old woman who had a hit in the mid-90s was opening for a 31-year-old man. Who knew she was still around.

I’m really happy I went to the show and would probably go to see him a million more times if I could. I recommend him to everyone in the world. The end.