continuing summer concert season

i mentioned that the month of july was a busy one with concerts at our concert pavilion (here and here) and i wasn't kidding.  we were back up at the pavilion this week for back-to-back shows again.  tuesday was the the boston hyperspace tour with joan jett and the blackhearts, then wednesday was the one republic honda civic tour with fitz and the tantrums.

tuesday's show was a super small one.  ryan worked it and snapped the photos above from his perch up in one of the spot towers.  yesterday's show was a huge one.  we both worked it but didn't get a chance to snap any pictures because it was so chaotic.  everyone seemed to agree that yesterday's show was the most unorganized tour that has come through in quite awhile.  wheph, i'm glad it's over and can't wait to get some sleep to make up for the long late hours!

love, laurie

our vacation packing list

we're very organized people (that's no secret) so we carry our love of organization over to our vacation packing.  over the last decade or so, we have developed what we think is the ultimate vacation packing list.  it's our master list that we whip out whenever we are leaving the house with a suitcase and it works great for us.  of course, we don't pack every single item on this list for every trip.  instead we use it as a guide and add/subtract depending on each destination.  we find that when we pack using our list, we don't end up worrying about having forgotten something at home.  since it's summer and it's prime travel season, we wanted to share our list . . .

clothing:
- bras
- underwear
- socks
- stockings/tights
- pajamas
- undershirts
- shirts (t-shirts, polo shirts, dress shirts)
- pants (jeans, dress pants)
- shorts
- gym clothes
- sweaters
- jackets
- suits
- dresses
- bathing suits
- bathing suit cover ups
- ponchos

accessories:
- hats
- scarves
- gloves
- belts
- ties
- jewelry
- bags (purse, beach bag)

shoes:
- sneakers
- sandals
- dress shoes
- flip flops
- aqua socks

toiletries:
- electronic toothbrushes
- electronic toothbrush chargers
- toothpaste
- mouth wash
- face soap
- body wash
- shaving gel
- shampoo
- conditioner
- hairspray
- deodorant
- cologne
- lotion

electronics:
- alarm clock
- laptop / charger
- cell phones / chargers
- dslr camera / lenses / memory cards / batteries / charger
- point-and-shoot camera / memory cards / batteries / charger
- video camera / memory cards / batteries / charger
- ipad / charger
- ipods / chargers
- watches / chargers
- headphones / headphone splitter

other:
- make up
- tweezers
- scissors
- brush / comb
- hair ties / bobby pins
- flat iron / curling iron
- nail polish / nail polish remover
- cotton balls
- tampons / pads
- tissues
- toilet paper
- shower poofa
- washcloths
- towels / beach towels
- beach towel clips
- sun screen / aloe
- shower razor / electric razor
- q-tips
- sunglasses
- glasses / cases
- contacts / cases
- contact solution
- advil
- band aids / neosporin
- umbrellas
- dirty laundry bag
- ziploc bags (various sizes)
- grocery bags
- dish soap
- lint roller
- hangers
- clothes pins
- bungee cords
- extension cords
- flash light
- duct tape
- scotch tape
- waterproof phone cases
- water bottles / travel coffee mug
- snacks
- notepad
- pen / pencil / highlighter
- money
- id / drivers licenses / passports
- travel documents / tickets

some other helpful things that we do before we leave for a vacation:
- call credit card companies to let them know the dates we will be gone
- confirm hotel / flight / shuttle reservations before we leave
- check in online and print tickets / boarding passes
- leave out leko care instructions / extra food / extra litter / medical records
- give our house key to the person in charge of leko care
- take out the garbage
- check the furnace and dehumidifier
- unplug any unused appliances

love, laurie

summer sun

couldn't resist sharing these photos that my mom snapped from her back deck of the morning sun peeking through the trees.  i wouldn't mind seeing the sun today since it's been overcast and storming for quite awhile now!

love, laurie

pillow tent

leko loves sitting on the chair in our room.  he thinks it's his throne.  the other day, i placed a pillow across the arms of the chair while i was making the bed.  he thought that looked like good fun and liked the little "tent" it made over the chair for him.  while trying to take a picture of him under his pillow tent, i captured him mid yell . . . you know, everyday life here at our house.

happy monday

love, laurie

fun links

this week seemed to fly by relatively fast.  i'm grateful that the weekend is here, although i'm sad that i won't be able to spend any of it with ryan since our schedules don't sync at all for the next several days.  :-(  i'm looking forward to hopefully getting caught up on my to-do list this weekend.

since it's friday, here are a few fun links that i found around the internet recently . . .

1. holy cow, this ballerina is incredible!  (i love the other people's reactions in the background at the end)

2. epic panoramic photo fails that are just too funny

3. yum!  i want one of these please

4. what a clever (and cheap) bathing suit cover up

5. not just for kids . . . this works for cats!

6. i would consider camping in something like this off the ground

7. i want this shirt

8. a good reminder

9. i did this to several stagehand shirts this week because for some reason they insist on only getting men's XL and i wear a woman's XS . . . big difference (and i don't want to look like i'm wearing a night gown to work)!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

i spy . . .

. . . little cherry tomatoes growing on our tomato plant!!!  ryan snapped this picture of one of the tomato plants in our raised veggie garden yesterday and sent it to me.  we were both so happy to see cherry tomatoes growing.  when i came home from work, we picked that really red one on the left and split it.  (nothing like cutting a cherry tomato in half to share!)  it tasted great, and we can't wait for the others to be ready soon!

love, laurie

little letters

dear ryan,
your carpentry vision and skills never fail to amaze me.  so glad that you are a "jack of all trades" and can figure out any project in front of you with a smile on your face!

dear leko,
for the past several weeks you have been waking me up 1-2 hours before my alarm clock.  this morning you actually let me sleep until my alarm clock went off.  i'm not sure what divine intervention happened, but i sure am grateful to have had one solid night's sleep for the first time in months.  (ps: now that i know you are capable of it, mama is expecting you to do that every morning!)

dear tomato plants,
when we planted you in our raised veggie garden just a few short weeks ago you were so tiny.  now you are humongous and outgrew our netting.  i can't believe how fast you grew!  i'm not-so-patiently waiting to eat my first tomato too.

dear ryan,
your idea to go out for an ice cream date last night was the perfect solution to beat the extreme heat.  i like your thinking!

love, laurie

sittin' pretty

the windows on our second floor are very high off the ground.  in order for leko to see out we have to pick him up.  ryan set up a pile of pillows in front of the one window so that leko could sit and watch the birdies land on the roof right outside the window.  i caught him in the act the other night and couldn't resist snapping a picture on my phone.  he takes his birdie watching very seriously!  ;-)

love, laurie

i survived camp bisco '17

in addition to the two concerts that ryan and i worked on sunday and monday, i also worked all of camp bisco every day this week.  i had show call for the entire run which meant i was there for many, many hours each day.  the whole festival is a huge operation with over 70 acts performing on 3 different stages during the week.  i loaded in one of the auxiliary stages on wednesday, but then moved to the main stage for show call thursday through saturday.  despite the long hours, i actually really enjoyed myself because i was part of a good crew of stagehands.  the whole thing was quite the experience and i'm so glad i did it, but now that it's over i am looking forward to getting some much-needed sleep and having my schedule return to somewhat normal timing.

love, laurie

weekend biking

one of the other activities that we fit into our long fourth of july holiday weekend was a little bike ride before we went strawberry picking on a new trail that we hadn't biked before.  it had been awhile since the last time we were able to go out and explore a new-to-us trail, so we were excited to get the chance.  we really liked it and look forward to going back!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie