Secret Santa

The company decided to do Secret Santa out here for Christmas. I've done it on every tour I've been on, but never with this many people! I think there were over 60 of us that participated, which made it next to impossible to guess who had you. I think two or three people actually guessed correctly. I guessed that a dog trainer had me based on a few clues, but I had no idea which one. Turns out it was Ashley! She was awesome. Magazines, socks, gift cards, new John Mayer CD, and a great Bath and Body Works set.


After the second show on Wednesday night, we all got together in a suite at the Radisson in Boston for pizza, cookies, BYOB, and TONS of gifts! I had RAJ (his real name is Robert Anthony Jones, but I don't think anyone calls him that) and for his final gift, I bought a frame with three slots in it, and framed the front of the show program, and two professional shots of him in the show. He actually shed a few tears when he opened it.


It's things like this that keep us sane on the road and give us a sense of normalcy. Especially during the holidays when you are not home, and not really in the spirit. It's so fun to see people so happy! I planned on staying for about a half hour because I had an early flight home to catch, but it was so fun that I stayed for a few hours. The smiles on the kids (and adults) faces were too great to leave. It was a great way to start my crazy weekend of travel and Christmas, which is a story for a later blog!

The Stars At Night

I just spent the last three weeks in Dallas. I wasn't looking forward to it at all before I went- I thought that three weeks in the same city would drive me crazy, but it was completely the opposite. I was so surprised at how much I enjoyed it. My hotel was great- it was a new "concept" hotel by W, called the Aloft. Each room was literally a loft, and they were funky and comfortable.

I had a car in Dallas, which made a world of difference. I actually felt like I had some freedom. Usually I only go places I can walk to on tour. But in Dallas, I was able to go out and check out different areas of the city. There is an area called Deep Ellum that was pretty cool- dive bars and hipsters. I bought a GPS when I got there, and by the end of the run, I rarely needed it anymore. Let me tell you- I knew exactly how to get to the mall and Target. And I think I went to them about ten times. Yet, I'm still not done Christmas shopping. How is that possible?

I didn't do too many touristy (is that a word?) things while there, but I did go check out the Sixth Floor Museum. It's in the building that JFK was shot from, and the museum talks about his life, his 1,000 days in office, the day he died, and all of the questions that are still out there. I'm sure that I learned about most of this in school, but I guess I have just forgotten over time. For example, I had NO idea that Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed just days after. How did I not know that? That poor family- you want to talk about bad luck.

I also had this past Sunday night off, and our company manager was nice enough to hook us up with comp tickets to see South Pacific, which was also in town. It was so nice to go to a theatre and not have to work! However, not a fan of the show. I might or might not have fallen asleep. Twice.

As a general rule, we never have shows on Mondays. Usually we travel, but because we were in Dallas for so long, we had a Golden Day. And I went horseback riding! I hadn't been in years. Five of us met two dudes with horses in a park parking lot near Ft. Worth, and we took off for two hours. It had been freezing for the last few weeks, so we totally lucked out when it was 70 degrees that day. My horse was named Luke, and he was the man. He liked to fall behind and then trot to catch up, which was a little painful. I couldn't walk so well the next day, but seeing the beautiful lake and riding back during sunset was totally worth it.

I was kind of sad to leave Dallas- it was a good home for a few weeks, and it didn't break the bank either. My month in Texas is over, and now it's time to enjoy Boston, Miami, and a little vacation, before hitting Alabama in January.

Fun In Ft. Worth

We had Monday night off here in Dallas, and my friend Patrick came up with the idea of renting a party bus (with a disco light and stripper pole- for real) for the night. It was SO MUCH FUN! Maybe it had something to do with the 130 Jell-O shots my friends made.

We headed out around 8:00 and took the bus from Dallas to Ft. Worth, which was about an hour away. Billy's Bob's is there, and it is The World's Largest Honky Tonk. It might be the largest, but it certainly wasn't the busiest. There were about 20 of us, and like four cowboys playing pool. But I could definitely see the potential of the place when they have live shows on the weekend.

We had a few beers there, and decided to go to another bar around the corner for the rest of the night. They had live music, and at that point, we really didn't care. We were just having a good time.

Most of us of course had to go out shopping for the big event. I went to a Western store, and I kind of felt bad, knowing that I was looking for a shirt as a joke, and the people that work there were all about helping me find something that looked good. The salesman liked the shirt I found so much that he said he was going to buy it for his girlfriend. I didn't have the heart to tell the guy I plan on using it for a Halloween costume next year!

Don't even ask how much they charged for us to take this picture. But we had to!

A view of our party bus on the way out

Patrick sporting his awesome shirt and belt buckle

Yes, we were in the girl's bathroom. With Ray.

Austin

Is one of the best towns in America.


I had SO much fun there last week! I swear there are hundreds of bars downtown, and you can walk everywhere because the weather is pretty decent. I had a great time there last year, and once again, it didn't do me wrong.


One night, the "dog girls" (trainers) put together a pub crawl. I got a team of heavy-hitters together, and we went out with our list. We were supposed to hit about eight bars, and we got points for every drink we had. Well, lets just say we were the first ones to arrive, and had pretty much killed the other teams before they even got there. It became very dis-organized, no one kept track of what they were drinking, and it wound up being a night of us just bar hopping with a large group, having a great time. This is Team Showed Up First: We were in Austin for Thanksgiving, and our company manager set up a great dinner for all of us at The Hyatt downtown. They had an amazing buffet, and we all just hung out and stuffed ourselves. It's so important to me to do things like this with friends when I am not home for the holidays. They had so much food, it was unreal. I went for the traditional Thanksgiving food, but seafood lovers were in heaven- sushi, crab legs, shrimp... and the dessert table!

After dinner, one of the girls invited us all back to her suite at the hotel to play games, and drink champagne. I think the more we drank, the less we guessed correctly at charades, but it was a blast! I really screwed it up for my team when I got Liza Manelli.

The rest of the week was just doing the show, eating a lot of Hooter's (it was next to the theatre), and going out with friends.

Now we are in Dallas for three weeks, and it's no Austin. I think I went through withdrawal when I got here. But thanks to the insurance company, I have a nice SUV to drive me around the town for the next few weeks, and our hotel is SUPER cool. We'll see how it goes!

Bad Times In Detroit

Well, the city didn't fail me. I went to get my car from the valet on Sunday morning, and it was gone. Stolen.

I can't believe what a pain in the rear it is to have your car stolen. Long story short, I rented a car, drove back to Cleveland, discovered the next morning that I had to go back to Detroit to deal with some police paperwork, they found my car, it's all jacked up, it's being fixed in Detroit, and I'm in Texas on tour.

I really wish the thieves would have just kept it.

Really?!

I woke up this morning, and for some reason my first thought was... did I REALLY write edition instead of addition on my last blog? So I checked it, and why yes, I did. Apparently I was thinking of the 80's band, rather than the new baby.

Good Times In Detroit

We were in Detroit last week, which I was totally NOT looking forward to. I had a bad experience the last time I was there with some ghetto folk, and the negative feelings kind of stuck. However, The Fox theatre is my favorite theatre in America, so I was excited to go back there.

I decided to drive my car to Detroit from Cleveland for the week, which made my entire week so much better! I did some research on a few places I wanted to check out in the suburbs, and had a really busy week.

The first day I was there, I went to downtown Birmingham, which is a small cute area of town with shopping and stores. I found a few Christmas gifts, and had lunch at a place called 220, in some old Edison building. It was actually a really nice afternoon by myself, which was exactly what I wanted.

On Thursday, a few of us went to Meadow Brook Hall, the home of the Dodge family. Or more like mansion. It was quite a debacle finding the place, but we eventually made it. It was 88,000 square feet! Who needs all that space? The architecture was beautiful, and the interior design was amazing. The Dodge family donated the home and all of their land to Oakland University. Just gave it to them. It was worth tens of millions! Friday, we went to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. Little did I know that this place was a city. We did the Village first- it was kind of like a colonial town, and each building was set up to demonstrate a trade from the times. We watched glass blowing, weaving, printing, etc.

There was a restaurant in the Village called Eagle Tavern, and they served food that would have been served in the 1850's. And they dressed like it was 1850. And acted like it too. These people were really into it. But the food was good! For some reason everything seemed to have apples in it. Including the mulled cider we all indulged in.

The museum itself was unreal. I had no idea how much stuff would be in there! Everything from trains to cars to furniture to carriages to 80's memorabilia.

And the Oscar Mayer Wiener.

On Saturday, my dad and my friend Debbie both came up to visit. My dad hung out for the day and watched the show, and Debbie and I watched the OSU game and went to the CASINO that night! (However, this is not my friend Deb in the picture, it's my friend Molly). We all lost.

I kept myself so busy in Detroit that I barely spent any time in my room, and I was exhausted every night when the day was over. If you just get out of the downtown area, the city really isn't that bad!

A New Edition

I have been waiting for my cousin Heather to post some new pics on her blog of her newest little bundle of joy, but I can't help but share these ADORABLE pictures of little Brooke! (Sorry Heather)!

She is the second baby in the family, and the first girl- we are so happy to be able to buy pink and ruffles and butterflies! I was in town for a few days, and was able to go visit her when she was just five days old. So tiny! I can't wait to see her in a few months to see the difference! Can you believe how cute she is!?

Halloween 2009

This is a little overdue, but I couldn't not post some pictures from our Halloween party!

We were in Atlanta, and I took on the task of putting together a last-minute party for about 70 people, at our hotel. I really enjoy doing things like that, so all of the running around didn't bother me. I literally had a flat bed at CostCo of food and alcohol! And I of course had to make Jell-O shots and Apple Pie shots. And, we had a Karaoke machine (which the kids totally took over). It was a GOOD TIME!!!

So creative, especially for being on the road!

The kiddos of 101

Who doesn't like a little Karaoke??

The best idea ever- teams had to dress a guy up as a girl for a contest, with what we had in our rooms!

A Few Photos You Didn't See

What really goes on in a European hostel late at night: The way I had to charge my computer (bobby pin not included):

The way we had to chill our wine at the hotel in Dijon:

The way we drank wine on the train:

Why do three of these four photos have to do with wine?! When in Rome....

Beaune, France

The second full day we were in Burgundy, BA and I went to Beaune (pronounced "Bone" in our world). Our grandfather was there years ago, and recommended we give it a go. It was just a quick train ride from where we were staying in Dijon.

The big thing to see there is the Hospices de Beaune, or the hospital. It was so beautiful! It opened in 1452, and is now a museum. The Chancellor built it to house all of the poor sick people in the town. Minus the fact that they had The Plague, it didn't look like a bad place to stay.

The square at the hospital that connects all of the rooms

The poor people's room- the ceiling is shaped like the hull of a ship!

Not too shabby.

After the hospital, we went to a place called Dame Tartine for lunch. The restaurant was full, so we told the dude that we would just wait outside for a table. I think he thought that was weird. They don't seem to do that there- there are not "waiting lists" for tables. But eventually he came and got us, and we chowed down. We both got a goat cheese salad, chicken and veggies with fat-free cream sauce, cheese plates, and apple pie. All for 13 Euro! That's like $20 a person. And wine. Don't forget the wine.

Next on our list was visiting the Caves des Cordeliers. More wine. We did a tasting of five wines from the region, and the guy working there had excellent English and was really nice. We thought we were going to be able to take a tour of the caves, but there was a Do Not Enter sign above the entrance. Luckily for us, the guy trusted us (silly him), and let us go down to check things out. I hope they don't have surveillance cameras down there.

After our long day in Beaune, we decided to take the bus back instead of the train, because it's cheaper. We didn't take into account it had been a long day of wine drinking, and there was no bathroom on the bus. You should have seen us get off that bus an hour and a half later, totally running for our hotel!

We weren't hungry for dinner, and we didn't want to go to a bar, so we decided to do what every person should do on their fabulous French vacation- go see the Michael Jackson movie "This Is It". Perfect end to a perfect day.