The Fabulous B@ker Blog

LAMP Yesterday afternoon (on 11-11-11) I loaded up the car with four 16-year-old girls (a.k.a "L.A.M.P": Leighanna, Annalisse, Mo & Paige) and headed to Buffalo for the Mat Kearney concert, Annalisse's birthday present from us ( the birthday celebrations just go on and on, don't they? ). In case you've never heard of Mat Kearney , he's an indie folk/rock artist, and all four girls are huge fans. The kids were so excited for the concert! We got to Buffalo around 5:30pm, found parking, and walked to a nearby TGIFriday's for dinner (their choice...). The doors opened at 7pm so we stood in line for a little bit, then entered the Town Ballroom , a cozy music hall resplendent in black walls and a mosh pit surrounded by different levels for standing. Not a seat in sight. (I must confess the idea of standing for over four hours caused a little panic for my 48-year-old self, wondering how my back and legs would be survive the night.) Like a true mom I co...

Last night, on a beeeeaaauuuutttttiiiifffuuulll August Friday night we went to the Andy Gramm4er/Mat Kearney/Train Concert at CMAC. The weather could not have been more perfect and made for an ideal setting for this much anticipated concert. The artists/band did not disappoint! Andy Grammer started the night off and played for 1/2 hour. He's an up-and-comer, and has a couple of hits out right now. He did a great job and obviously got a lot of exposure in front of the huge, enthusiastic crowd. He played for just 25 minutes then made way for Mat Kearney, a fave of ours, especially since we saw him in Buffalo last November . Mat was also awesome, and there seemed to be a lot of fans in the crowd even though he's still not super well known. I would love to see him again in a smaller setting like we did last time, that made for a really great experience. Next, was Train (!). What a show! !! They were SO AWESOME, entertaining and engaging!! Pat Monahan, the lead singer, has ...

On Saturday night I went t0 the B52s and Squeeze  concert at CMAC with my friend Melissa. The amphitheatre was amazingly sparsely populated, so I was surprised we had such incredibly bad seats (first row of the last section toward the back). I was super excited to see Squeeze, one of my ALL TIME favorite bands. While I do like the B52s, I never really got into them. Now my friend, Sue, that's a different story (it turned out I really only knew about five of their songs. Sue would have been rocking through all of them). The B52s opened the concert, which was also a surprise. I would have thought they were the 'bigger band' but my high school friend, Mike, whom I chatted with before the concert texted me a little later to say he had heard from people around him that when Squeeze opened before the B52s in previous concerts half the audience got up and left before the next act. Huh. Very cool for Squeeze! The B52s put on a great show. Their voices are still strong and clea...

Today, on the last day of 2012, I take my yearly stroll back through the year and reflect on ups, downs, highlights and themes. This was a year filled with many ups and downs in the US, and several terrible tragedies, combined with the effects of the faltering economy, give it a melancholy feel for me. But, let's get started... First of all, as you already know, the world didn't end. Next, I remember writing this reflection about 2011 and it seems last year's theme was "connection." Thinking about this year, I would say the theme that stands out is "music and entertainment," followed by a close second of "travel." Music and Entertainment It mostly started in May when Mary, Annalisse, Nic and I went to see "Wicked" in Raleigh, and was followed by Annalisse's Lady Antebellum concert in June, then Squeeze, then Train/Mat Kearney/Andy Grammer in July and August, "Nice Work if You Can Get It" on Broadway (my first ...

Last week we got tickets to see one of my fave bands, Train with MAT KEARNEY this summer (in August) at CMAC, a nearby venue. What a great concert it's going to be!! While the summer plans are shaping up nicely (blog post planned for today or tomorrow on that), this morning I'm really really in a Train mood. I've spent a lot of the last hour watching videos of some of my favorite Train songs, and, in particular, "Drops of Jupiter," a song that was popular in the summer of 2001.  It's a poignant song for me that brings back memories of the summer my Dad was diagnosed with blood cancer. Everytime I hear it I think of that time, the worry, and looking back, the happiness of having my Dad with us. If you 've never had a chance to hear "Drops of Jupiter," take a listen here. It's a great song!!

Happy Birthday to my great dad, Louie, who would have been 85 today. Of course, his smile is now frozen in time at a younger age and not a day goes by that I don't think of him. His birthdays were always a big celebration that we usually combined with the July 4th family picnics. We were luck to have had him so long, but would love to have had him longer! In other Baker news: Annalisse is home in less than a week. Tomorrow starts the "travel" portion of her trip where they will see the sights of Southern Germany, as well as a little of Austria and Switzerland. We're looking forward to her safe return! Cam is about to start "week 2" of his job but he's been at it for three weeks since he had a week of training. It's been pleasant having him home on the weekends. On Wednesday, I head to Las Vegas to participate in NAGAP's Professional Development Institute. I'm flying out, attending the program on Thursday, and flying back on the red-eye...

How is it possible that it is the end of the year already? At times it is very disconcerting how fast the years go now. It seems as good a time as any to reflect on the highs and lows of the last year, which, overall, was a pretty good one. If I had to think about a theme (or, in this case, several themes) for 2011, they would be: Milestones ~ Connections ~ Travel ~ Fun Milestones An 18th birthday, a high school graduation, a 30th class reunion, starting college, a 16th birthday, a 50th birthday. WOW, those are a lot of exciting, important events for one year.  I made it through mostly all of them without a lot of tears (of happiness). Milestones really do help us mark the passage of time, don't they? Connections This was truly a year of connections - spending time with loved ones and reconnecting with those who mean a lot but who we don't see all the time. Cam's graduation and celebrating Annalisse's Sweet 16 and Mark's 50 gave us many great oppo...