Top 100 Ways You Know You Live In NEPA No.95

95. When you arrive at the office, you are often greeted by stunts like this:

Mr. Bear has been there for several days and he still startles me every time I catch a glimpse out of the corner of my eye. (The t-shirt was my addition; the beanie, my boss's.) But he also startles the guys who put him there and that's what really counts. ;)

It's a shame I only got down to number 95 on this countdown. In a week or so, I'll have to revamp it as the "Top 100 Ways You Know You Live in NOVA." I think this video will be a good start.

Oh man... I'm going to have even more material to work with! :D

Culture No. 36: Darius Rucker

Hootie and the Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View. First CD I ever bought.

It came out the summer of ’94, which means I was on the verge of entering fifth grade and probably made the purchase with a combination of allowance money and bottle deposit cash. I don’t remember where I bought it, but most likely it was a music store at the mall – the glory days, before they were reduced to selling video games and cardboard cutouts of Rpattz – because K-Mart was outside of my bike’s radius and Wal-mart was nowhere in sight.

Egads, that paragraph made me sound old. At least I’m not waxing on the intricacies of cassette tapes a la the previous generation’s love affair with vinyl. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Bring on mp3s! (Sacrilege, I know. I will admit: I do miss flipping through the little books that came in CD and cassette cases. Those were fun to read and – pre-internet – convenient for learning lyrics to songs you didn’t understand. Which kind of happened a lot with Hootie. He mumbles, I’ll give you that.)

Until Hootie, my musical education consisted of Disney songs, contemporary Christian pop, Mariah Carey (Thanks, Sister V.!), and whatever radio station the bus driver chose. So I guess you could say buying an album that mixed in a bit of blues and – gasp! – borderline twang was quite rebellious of me. (Quirky musical choices started at a young age. First cassette? Ace of Base’s The Sign. Yes, I’m quite the rebel.) Sister V. thought I was nuts (and still does, although her version of “Only Wanna Be With You” is spot on), but I was hooked. Hootie and the Blowfish is still one of my favorite bands, I love Darius Rucker’s solo albums, and the sound of that man’s voice never fails to make me feel safe, home, sound, and secure. (I know there are people reading this who just threw up in their mouths a little, but work with me here. Tomato, tomahto. We can’t all be music snobs.)

When I found out that Darius Rucker was coming to Wilkes-Barre’s F.M. Kirby Center, I pulled one of those trophy wife stunts where you hint about something by leveling commands, albeit in a sweet fashion. As in, “Bert, buy tickets to this concert. Now. Please.” (Saying please is being sweet for northern girls. I do try sometimes.) I like when Bert buys tickets for things because he is always more willing to shell out for better seats. The Kirby Center is a pretty cozy venue for a country concert, so I’m not sure any seat was a bad seat, but he did get us tickets almost dead center. I’m always up for no awkward neck angles.

Except the awkward neck angle caused by trying to take photos of yourself. I'm all up for that.

When we got to the theater, Froggy 101 was blaring country music inside and out, which seemed a fitting sendoff for our last concert in NEPA. (Personal Failure: Never landing a Froggy 101 bumper sticker while living here.) The opening act was a chick named Mallary Hope, who was cute and talented, but had a little bit too much of a Georgia twang for me. (Gotta keep those Georgia Peaches away from my Georgia Boy, right? ;)

Darius himself? *Sigh* Fantastic.

I tried to go into the concert fairly levelheaded, as it’s not really fair to hold a singer up to seventeen years of accumulated childhood/teenage/college memories he is completely unaware of, but it was a really fun time. Darius isn’t much of a talker – I can’t think of any act I’ve seen that moved so fast or played so many songs. He played three Hootie songs, four covers, and a whole slew of stuff from his two albums. Some personal highlights?

• “Only Wanna Be With You” accompanied by a BANJO. Bert stood up before I did. LOVE IT.
• Covers of “Ticks” and “Family Tradition,” two songs that never fail to bring me back to many evenings well spent in Bluefield, West Virginia.
• Hearing “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” live. I love when Darius sings about his kids. Chokes me up every time.
• “Let Her Cry” accompanied by a violin. (If that video doesn't make you miss the post-grunge 90s, I don't know what will.) They need to release country versions of some of those old songs.

So what's next on the country music schedule? I won't lie. Hearing "Ticks" for the first time in a long time kinda made me want to see Brad Paisley next. He's in Baltimore in March. Sarah's Birthday Bash, anyone? ;)

Top 100 Signs I Married the Right Man No. 83

83. He succumbs to my desire for a set of family car stickers, even though I am neither a soccer mom nor do I drive a minivan. (Yet. Bert seems to think he'll be able to circumvent that inevitable stage of life with some sort of sporty SUV. Preferably a Range Rover Evoque, which will be fine as long as someone else is paying for it.) He did have one stipulation though. They had to look like this:

I love that the 'official' photo was taken on someone's microwave. I think we have the same tea kettle...

A Stig family? Perfect! So us! (Although these are pretty sweet too. I could totally see Nora as an R2-D2.) Any other Top Gear fans out there? I'm not sure why the "mom" has to carry a doctor's-bag-looking-thing, but the cat with a Stig helmet is absolutely classic. It even looks like Nora too. I can't wait till they arrive!

The Big Announcement

So by tomorrow I meant today, which was well-timed because I really haven't had a chance to sit down and write until now. And I haven't had a chance because we've been too busy apartment hunting in Northern Virginia, which is a very long way from my iMac. (Have you ever tried to use the Blogger iPod app? Egads! I might as well blog by carrier pigeon.)

Es verdad, we are moving across the river from our nation's capital in t-minus two weeks and counting. (Way too soon and way too fast, in my opinion. We haven't even called the movers yet!) For years I've sworn I'd live pretty much anywhere but NOVA - mostly because it suffers from a serious case of chronic congestion - but it doesn't seem so bad this time around. Which of course means I must be getting old. (Or that my southern husband and cat are wearing off on me. They are both elated by this warmer turn of events.) College Sarah could wax poetic on the social and environmental evils of NOVA much longer than anyone cared to hear, while Married Sarah is kind of excited she'll be 3.5 miles from an Anthropologie instead of 115. (Not that she can afford either of them.) Oh, how my priorities have fallen...

Why the move? Bert got a new job, which was a long time coming and a welcome change. It's been bittersweet. We're excited about the move - emotionally, not physically - and about being closer to college friends, but sad about leaving everyone in NEPA and being farther away from my family. (I would say I'm sad about leaving the snow, but this winter's been a bit of a bust in that department, huh? Might as well go south and save on the utility bill.) But Sister V.'s already scheduled her first visit and I have a feeling Mama and Papa might beat her down. Not to mention Bert's side is overdue for a visit. ;) So much for the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour. The National Mall will have to do from now on!

Finding the apartment was an adventure in itself, but despite the cops, the fire trucks, and the overflowing toilet - with me involved, you know there has to be at least one toilet incident - we managed. Hopefully, that will get tied up in the next few days. (It's Nora-friendly, of course, but the owner was worried - of all things - about her getting on the counters. Wha...?! That was a new one.) It's two bedrooms, one bath, and has the cutest little patio area. Maybe this year will be the year of my secret garden? We'll see...

This is Bert, modeling a sugar packet?, at King Street Blues in Old Town Alexandria where we binged on hush puppies, ribs, and burgers. (Um, we were kind of hungry. Maybe. A little.) Regardless, it was a delicious beginning to a happy new chapter of the Carltons. Let's go, Year #2!

Where Did I Go?

To work, that's where! But not for long...!

Stay turned! Tomorrow I'll have an exciting announcement: the Return of the Trophy Wife! Woohoo!

(And no, this has nothing to do with babies. Nowadays, every time I tell someone I have news, that's the automatic assumption. The only child I have has whiskers and fur. And you are more than welcome to borrow her. ;)