way to go, adele!!

And, she looked STUNNING in Armani.  Watch her Grammy performance here!  She was simply perfection!

yowza!

I’m a really big fan.  And, I don’t only appreciate Adele for being an unbelievably talented artist, but also for how she has addressed negativity in the press regarding her weight.

“I’ve never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines.  I represent the majority of women and I’m very proud of that,” she said, according to the U.K. edition of Marie Claire.  “I’d lose weight if I was an actress and had to play a role where you’re supposed to be 40 pounds lighter, but weight has nothing to do with my career.  Even when I was signing [a contract], most of the industry knew if anyone ever dared say [lose weight] to me, they wouldn’t be working with me.”

Now THAT is an incredible sense of self.  A true role model.  What a beautiful, strong woman!  I think we could all learn something from Adele.  Many congratulations, lady!!   

xx, L

Well, I’ll tell you WHAT.  I’ve completely changed my tune. 

Kev was watching The Voice the other night, and I heard Lindsey Pavao put her unique spin on Trey Songz “Say Aah,” and I’m sold!  TOTALLY.

Watch it here: Lindsey Pavao Covers Trey Songz “Say Aah” on The Voice

“Hi, my name is Lindsay R. and I’m a fan of The Voice!”  There – I said it.  I’m pretty sure that I am going to watch every episode now to see how Lindsey Pavao does.  That girl rocks hard. 

Go get ‘em, Linds!

xx, L

Never heard of it??  Allow me to enlighten you…

Memphis: A New Musical is loosely based on Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips, one of the first white DJs to play black music in the 1950s.  She’s a black singer whose career is on the rise, but who can’t break out of the segregated clubs of 1950’s Memphis, Tennessee.  He’s a white radio DJ whose love of music transcends race lines and airwaves.  When the two collaborate, her soulful music reaches radio audiences everywhere, and the Golden Era of early rock ‘n’ roll takes flight.  But as things start to heat up, whether the world is really ready for their music – or their love – is put to the test.  Memphis won the Tony Award for “Best Musical,” along with three other awards, at the 2010 Tonys.

Read more about Memphis here: I can’t WAIT to see THIS!

Soooooo, I’ll be there on opening night - what about YOU?   

Ticket information here for Memphis’ quick stint at the Fabulous Fox Theatre: Show running from 1/31 – 2/5!

theatres just don't get more magnificent than the fox...

This show is going to be so great!  (Now, we just need to work on The Book of Mormon (oh please, oh please!) to travel down south, and I’m pretty. much. set.) 

xx, L

Totally made my morning.

Enjoy + happy, happy New Year! 

xx, L

Here’s a recap of my Music Midtown experience: 

the black keys

what's better than one funnel cake??

love.

I have a feeling that Music Midtown is here to stay, people! 

In the mood for some more music?  Well, you’re in LUCK.  One of my favorite bands, Austin-based Ghostland Observatory, will be in Atlanta preforming at the Masquerade on Wednesday, October 5!

ghostland observatory

I first saw Ghostland live at Austin City Limits Music Festival (’09) playing with the University of Texas Marching Band for a few songs.  It. was. INCREDIBLE!  Anyway, they are electro-rock-funk-ish or kinda elecro-dance-soul-rock: hard to put into a box, but they have a really great, unique sound + I can guarantee that they put on an awesome live show with lots of lasers and stuff. 

For iTunes research, check out these Ghostland albums: delete.delete.i.eat.meat and Robotique Majestique.  Codename: Rondo is their newest, but I like the previous two better.

If that’s not enough to convince you, GO’s lead singer has an impressive set of braids he rocks out on stage.  You’ll def want to check them out… They’re sorta mesmerizing.  (You can kinda see below.)

And, the show is at the Masquerade on North Ave.  Not only have I never been to that venue before, but also I usually drive faster down North when I pass it because it reminds me of a haunted house or something out of a bad episode of Law & Order. 

the masquerade

However, I just Sherlock Holmes-ed Wikipedia.com and while the Masquerade looks like a pile of sticks from the street, the venue actually has a lot of history + the inside of it seems fairly reasonable.

xx, L

The Masquerade
695 North Ave NE
Atlanta, GA  30308
404.577.8178
http://www.masqueradeatlanta.com/

We’re getting our pre-party on + are heading to Piedmont Park really soon!

See y’all there!  EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!! 

xx, L

Friday, Friday. Gotta get down on Friday.

And get down we did.

First stop: We picked up Ellen and Matt…otherwise known as BarChila…who came well-prepared for the evening:

Next up: Amazing pizza at Pizzeria Vesuvius.

We started with breadsticks (Joy: they are cheesy!) and the Greek salad (the dressing was super interesting…I liked it.) and then we went for the following:

Vesuvius
Our spicy buffalo pizza with smoked chicken breast, mozzarella, blue cheese, jalapenos, celery and buffalo sauce.

The Mighty Vesuvius

Kilauea
Grilled chicken, red onions, roasted red peppers and barbecue sauce.

Alpine
Ricotta, mozzarella and goat cheeses, sprinkled with fresh oregano and olive oil.

The Vesuvius was my favorite (I’m a sucker for buffalo sauce and blue cheese, what can I say?), followed closely by the Alpine. The Kilauea was a little too BBQ Sauce-y for Terch and me, but the boys did not agree. Gotta love a guy who loves a condiment.

After dinner, we went downstairs to the “Music Room” for a little ping pong action

Ellen demonstrated the proper ping pong stance

and I attempted my first Plank!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were also privileged to hear the musical stylings of “Mumford’s”– a very interesting, very spirited band with a lot of brass and apparently a cult-like following! By the end of their show, 75% of the players were shirtless and the boys had purchased their last 2 t-shirts for Ellen and me.

Mumford's newest fans!

All-in-all – huge fan of Pizzeria Vesuvius. Bonus: there’s a ScoutMob right now!

Were we done? Oh no we were not. Our ping pong itch had not been scratched, so we headed a block over to Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room and Ping Pong Emporium.

In the interest of full disclosure, this place is VERY religiously irreverent and I can appreciate how some could be easily offended by the tongue-in-cheek, sacrilegious artwork and elements such as a confessional booth turned-photo booth, but I have to tell you – I LOVED the general flavor of this place and some of the artwork really made me laugh.

Just like mama always said

Plus, we made some really great friends waiting for the ping pong table upstairs. Next to a Q+DD Koozie, this is about the coolest thing I have ever seen:

Seriously...where can I get one of these?

What a totally random and fabulous night in Edgewood!

I love you, Atlanta.

xx, L

Here’s the Q+DD on Music Midtown:

From 1994-2005, the Music Midtown concert series attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the heart of the city for live music.  This year, a portion of the proceeds from Music Midtown will go toward funding recreation centers and after-school activities for young people in the city as part of Mayor Kasim Reed’s Hope Initiative.

The concert will take place in the Meadow at Piedmont Park, with Colplay as the headlining act.  Tickets are $56 and are on sale now here: MUSIC MIDTOWN RETURNS! 

Other acts include: The Black Keys, Cage the Elephant, Manchester Orchestra, Young The Giant, Band of Skulls, Joy Formidable, The Constellations, Mona + The Postelles.

A limited number of VIP packages are available for you high rollers, you…info here: BLINGING IT OUT IN THE PARK.

This is a going to be so killer.  I can’t wait!  I really and truly love a good festival concert + this one is going to be GREAT! 

ACL 2009

Welcome back, MM!  Please stay for a while. 

xx, L

We stayed in a downtown hotel (which was a converted bank + strategically selected as it was located next door to historic Printer’s Alley) with a bunch of Slick’s law school buddies.  Our hotel was in the middle of all of this:

view from shelby street pedestrian bridge

The first night, we walked down to Broadway St. + had dinner at Jack’s Bar-B-Que.  I had a pulled chicken salad that was just delightful and it sufficiently helped me to cushion the impressive amount of alcohol I was later to consume. 

legends corner

the stage

Broadway reminded me of a tamer 6th Street in Austin with more live music + less drunken debauchery.  Everyone was very clean cut and there to hear truly impressive music.  I had a lot of fun and strongly recommend checking out each of the four stops we visited.

As far as food was concerned on this trip, the approach we took was to eat stuff that would help us to drink in large quantities and not get sick.  This mostly led us to some particularly noteworthy meat + threes.  M+Ts are not typically my preference, but I was on board for anything and I certainly did not turn my nose up at them.  We FEASTED at Sylvan Park Cafe + Nashville-famous Monell’s Restaurant in Germantown.  We also had large + very satisfying meals at Sam’s Sports Bar & Grill + Bosco’s Restaurant & Brewing Co. (both in Hillsboro Village), sushi in The Gulch, + Mafiaoza’s Pizzeria in Belmont.  All were good, but I definitely recommend checking out Monell’s.

Once well-fed, we headed to Tin Roof in Demonbreun where we partied it up + got to see Chris Young take the microphone for a song.  THAT was very cool – and exactly what I’d imagined the Nashville experience to be like.  Inspired by Mr. Young’s vocals, we headed back downtown to Printer’s Alley to karaoke it up at Nashville-famous Lonnie’s Western Room + Karaoke Bar.  We were in and out of Lonnie’s for the following three days…  Ahhh-mazing.

Here are the boys in action:

Other highlights included walking around the locally-owned stores in Hillsboro Village, having a pool afternoon at a friend’s house in Belle Meade, + driving around the Vanderbilt campus to see it through Slick’s eyes.  We really had an awesome trip.

Even the drive home was gorgeous as we were scream-singing “Proud to be an American!”

I’m still exhausted and desperately need a diet + detox, HOWEVER, I had a blast getting to know Nashville and strongly recommend visiting.  Music City is a totally driveable weekend road trip from Atlanta and sure to be a good time.  (It’s no Austin, but it’s much closer + has a whole lot to offer.)  Hope everyone had a fun 4th, too! 

xx, L

Check it:

Rihanna performs tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Chastain Amphitheatre as part of her Loud tour!  Do I care that it’s going to be 98 degrees outside today?  I care not.  I’m going to be an amazingly sweaty mess of white girl dancing it up with colleagues (yes, colleagues; again - I care not) at Rihanna tonight.  I’ve had “Rude Boy” stuck in my head all morning… 

chastain

But wait, there’s more…  Thursday night, I’m taking colleagues to the High Museum to see the Modern by Design exhibition.  We’re starting with drinks + hors d’oeuvres at Table 1280, then moseying over to the museum to see modern masterpieces from the MoMA + High’s growing collection of contemporary design. 

Here’s the Q+DD on Modern by Design:

As part of the High’s ongoing collaboration with The Museum of Modern Art, Modern by Design presents groundbreaking designs of the past, present, and future.  The exhibition features a selection of works chronicling three key moments in MoMA’s design collection and exhibition history—“Machine Art” (1934); “Good Design” (1950-1955); and “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” (1972).  Nearly 150 objects created by over 120 of the most influential artists + designers of the twentieth century are included.

I. can’t. even. think. straight. I. am. SO. excited.

It’s going to be a long night, but it will be worth it.  (TWSS.) 

I feel like the next day I’m going to need some time for reflection: who am I? what does all this mean?  what do I do now?  and so on + so forth…  I’ve been seriously invested in + excited about the Harry Potter stories for well over ten years!  It’s hard to believe that it all comes to an end this week. 

Whelp, let’s get it started, shall we?  We shall.  Happy week to you all! 

xx, L