SLIDER

Sunday Confessions 2-25-18




I Confess: I have achieved the official level of "I hate my job." Yes, I officially hate my job.

I Confess: I finally convinced Shawn to let me read World War Z to him and he is really enjoying it and I'm like "Score! I knew you'd like it, sucker! Ha ha, I win!"




I Confess: My old computer died, so I bought an inexpensive laptop from Walmart, but I had to return that because there were issues with the mouse touch pad. The confession, however, is that a couple days after returning it, I realized that I accidentally left my copy of 28 Days Later in the dvd drive.




Sunday Confessions 2-11-18




I Confess: I have a lot on my mind right now and I can barely focus. 

I Confess: We had a surprise corporate inspection at work a couple days ago and we failed (quite sensationally, I am led to believe.) 

I Confess: I had cookies for breakfast yesterday. 

I Confess: I have written about five different confessions and deleted them all because I want to say stuff, but I can't for one reason or another. Refer to confession one.

I Confess: I kinda hate this confessions post, because it sucks balls, but it's all I have this week.




Crow on Flowering Branch


So I was pleasantly surprised to receive a collaboration offer from Photowall.com. Yay!
I was genuinely delighted at the prospect of working together and also - art! Who doesn't want something awesome for their walls?

I actually found a piece that really called to me the first time I visited the site. Still, I spent a couple hours perusing the choices and looking at all the different categories and styles, bookmarking several for compare/contrast.
In the end, I ended up with the first one that had called out to me, "Crow on Flowering Branch."

I didn't consult Shawn before making the choice, and I am super happy with my decision.
It didn't take long to arrive, and shipping was free! (Happy days, because I despise paying for shipping.)
Here it is in the box:


I absolutely made Shawn assemble it because I have zero (and I mean zero) skill when it comes to things like that.

And all hung up, above the couch: 



I was surprised to find out, during ordering, once you've picked the canvas you like, (I don't know about self-submitted images or full murals), you can crop/size it to fit the area you plan to put it, or just for how you like the picture. It does a show a preview of the crop size, so you know what you're getting into. 



I kept mine to full size, so the width is about 36", and I think the height is about 27"? ← Don't quote me on those measurements, but they're close.

I really love it, to be honest. I would order from them again, would be willing to experiment with sending in my own image to see how that turns out. 

And of course, readers benefit too!
If you order from Photowall within the next 30 days, you can use code USofBeckyCampaign2018 for 20% off your order. So hells yeah! 




***Note: This is a sponsored post. I received my print for free in exchange for my review & honest opinion. Not compensated with money. All opinions are honest and my own. ***

Sunday Confessions February 4, 2018



I Confess: Go Eagles! Go literally any other team than the Patriots. That's right. I'm a Patriot hater. 

I Confess: I am trying very hard to be more body positive - and I'm getting there - except with myself. I mean, I'm more accepting of myself as I am than I have ever been before. And yet - still feel like I am actually just a giant blob getting bigger and blobbier by the moment. 



I Confess: I have taken a nap every single day this week. 

The Music Scene

This post was inspired by this post at Faerie Eye and the comments.


So where do I start? 
The inspiration for this post started with Heather's post about music and included concerts she'd seen. 
And I commented that I had not been to but 2 concerts and one of them doesn't count.

So before we start, here are the "2" concerts I have been to: 
  • Dogstar (some info on this link is wrong, but it covers the basics) - tickets were a birthday present from a friend, I'll call her Sophie. We saw them at Leelanau Sands Casino, nine rows away from the stage. (Yes, Keanu is fucking gorgeous IRL, even when from that distance and when he doesn't look at the audience and is all band-grungy.) Also? Bret Domrose is also super yummy. 
  • No Doubt (Paramore opened) - 2009 Summer Tour near Detroit, saw with Shawn and one of his brothers. (AWESOME AF!)

Heather inquired as to why I've only been to 2 concerts...cost? Location? 
Well, let's get into that.

Here is a map of Michigan: 
The black dot is my hometown. The two arrows are Grand Rapids and Detroit Metro. Those are the two major concert venue areas in this state. 

source

We do have 3 major places for performances in TC: 
  • The "Pepsi Soundstage" (lols) in the Open Space during Cherry Festival. (This is where we saw Gabriel Iglesias perform.)
  • Streeters Ground Zero Nightclub (I have never been because...we'll come back to that.) 
  • Kresge (pronounced Kres-ghee) Auditorium at Interlochen Center For the Arts (alma mater of Rumer Willis and Jewel, among many.) 



↠↠About Streeters/Ground Zero: I have always had a disdain for Streeters as a bar because it's where the high school kids go before the "check for ID" hours. The high school kids think it's the shit. I went to the bar once with friends and welp, it was pretty much what I expected. Everything was loud and even dimly lit, it was still too bright with the loudness of the outdated decor. (This was circa 2002, who knows what's changed since then?) 
↠↠Ground Zero Nightclub...I can't say I have disdain, because I've never been. It has apparently received great reviews. But the performers always seem to be...has beens (Bret Michaels, for example), and I-don't-care's. 

(Historically I have enjoyed going to more...let's call them "old man" bars. I have heard some awesome bands in some pretty run down bars.) I am more of a sit and listen and maybe read person more than a dance-and-be-noticed person.))


BUT CONCERTS.

Concerts I get up and move and shake and jump and dance and it is wonderful. 
But if you didn't get it before, Traverse City area doesn't have too many options for concerts. 
Big names go to Grand Rapids and Detroit Metro Area. 
So you not only have to calculate ticket cost, there is extra gas, making sure work schedule changes work out, (travel time) and possibly an overnight in a hotel. So it's a bit more of a thing to make it happen. 
However, we are planning on seeing more shows now that we have a reliable car and a fixed schedule. (We almost saw Jim Gaffigan at Fox Theatre in Detroit last summer but there were no more good seats to make it worth it.)
And thanks to Michael Moore and the Traverse City Film Festival, we are attracting a lot more attention from Hollymood types. (← That is a whole other blog post.)

And so, I remain a 2 concert girl - for now. 



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