I Hope I Age This Gracefully

HAPPY 61ST BIRTHDAY
STEVIE!
May 26, 1948

Gosh, I hope I look like this when I'm 61!
Treat yourself to one of my favorites:
"Beautiful Child"

ENCHANTED

HAPPY EARLY MOTHER'S DAY TO ME!
HAPPY EARLY MOTHER'S DAY TO ME!
HAPPY EARLY MOTHER'S DAY TO ANDREA.............
HAPPY EARLY MOTHER'S DAY TO ME!
(Thank you dear family for the $uper awe$ome ticket.......college fund shmollage fund, right?)

Last night, I had the privilege of going to see My Stevie and some other people on stage with her Fleetwood Mac and it was truly magical..................not as magical as when Stevie tours by herself, but magical nonetheless:-)


I had a 12th row floor seat on Stevie's side of the stage and right off the bat made a new "Stevie Friend"! Her name is Sheila and she was sitting by herself just like me!

I think my fairy godmother fixed it so we could sit together and meet!

Meeting new "Stevie Friends" is sooo much fun.....last year I met a gentleman named Ryan at the Woodlands concert and we still email occasionally! Stevie friends have a special bond:-) ha!

Sheila is also a crazed fan well-informed fan just like me!

It's so awesome to sit next to someone who KNOWS their stuff, and let me tell you, Sheila knows:-)

She said her son had introduced her to Fleetwood Mac years ago and she had been hooked ever since. I hope to see Sheila at the next concert because I KNOW she will be there!

When I was standing in line earlier in the evening, I was chatting with this gal named Megan. Megan was what I like to call, "First Semester Stevie."

She was saying things like, "Stevie and Lindsey used to be a couple" and "I don't think Stevie has ever had any children." DDDDUUUUUHHHHHHH!

I liked Megan, and while I admired her interest in all things Stevie, she had such a long way to go, I kinda felt sorry for her.

Here are some of my high points/thoughts:


Gold Dust Woman: This song is a drug. It should be illegal in most states. Stevie turns into this high priestess and at the end of the song, she turns her back to the audience and spreads out the witchy gold shawl (reserved ONLY for this song in every concert). Watching this song alone is worth the ticket price.



The Gropey-Dopey LOVERS in front of me: I have no idea why these two paid for floor seats because all they saw were each other's eyeballs while swapping spit THE ENTIRE NIGHT. I felt it was almost disrespectful to FM to not give them their full attention, but that's just me. Why couples need to convince those around them that they are in love baffles me. I think I saw more of their tongues than I did of Stevie's........and Stevie had her mouth open all night SINGING.


Sara: GORGEOUS.....she changed it up just like on her Soundstage CD that recently came out. I love how at the end she included the lyrics that you couldn't really hear on the original track AND included a new lyric. All I ever wanted/was to know/that you were dreaming/Sara and then the new lyric of And the wind became/crazy.


Costume Changes: There is ONLY one good thing about seeing Stevie leave the stage while we are forced to endure get to enjoy a 20 minute one of these:


(A Lindsey Buckingham ego booster guitar solo. I mean, I KNOW he is INSANELY talented and is responsible for producing all the awesome touches that make FM songs so special, but I'm not there to see him, so forgive my attitude)

The solo in "Im So Afraid" went on.

and on.

and on.

for...............ever.


BUT, back to the only good reason to see her leave the stage..........A Costume CHANGE!

This red dress was my FAVORITE!
(Before the beginning of the concert, Sheila says to me, "I can't wait to see the red dress." At that moment I knew she was officially my new Stevie friend......she even knew the EXACT costume changes.........that's what real Stevie fans know:-)

I know what you are thinking..................

I bet you are saying to yourself EXACTLY what I was saying to myself................

"This dress is so reminiscent of her album cover "The Other Side of The Mirror"from 1989"

Well, guess what?





YOU ARE EXACTLY RIGHT! That's EXACTLY what I thought, too!



My personal Shout Out: This is Stevie hugging Lindsey telling him, "See! Andrea's in the audience! I'm so glad she came!"



Another costume change: You can't really see it, but this dress had sparklies all over the top and a flowy whispy skirt. Notice how she is looking my way? Coincidence? I think not. She knows where I am.


Looking for Stevie Outfits: One of my FAVORITE things to do at a FM/SN concert is to search for my next outfit idea. It's so neat to be walking through the crowd and look at someone dressed in their Stevie-Garb and smile at each other as if to say, "She's your fairy godmother, too?"

This chick had the dress specially made for her with the big flowy sleeves and she also had this fabulous head dress........................................

that had sparkly things in the feathers. WAY COOL.

Note to self: Have dress/headdress made for next concert



Mick Fleetwood's Introductions: I love the way Mick calls her Stephanie. It's cute.


Mick's CRAZY INSANE Drum Solo: He CRACKS me up. He should have been a front-man. He talked to the audience in this crazy "Mick Language." I think crowds RARELY get "into" drum solos, but with Mick............the crowd goes nuts.

I also loved "Second Hand News"----download it right now if you don't have it. It's fun.

Well, I could go on and on and on about every little note of every little song, but you get the picture!

It was an incredible night and I'm such a lucky girl to have received such a great Mother's Day gift from my guys!

STEVIE....here I come!

Well.........I'm officially RAW from trying on 5,000 different combinations of shawls with different colors under them and I've decided to go with boring BLACK!

I'm fixin' to about to walk out the door! I'm so excited!

I'll give a FULL report tomorrow because I KNOW you all are waiting with anticipation to hear how my date with myself went!

I'm going to try and not send daggar eyes toward Lindsey Buckingham when he goes into his 20 minute long guitar solos.........or what I like to call them......"wasted time that could be spent listening to Stevie sing."

Gotta go!

Birds of a feather flock together

As a general rule, birds scare the bejeezies out of me.

But not this one.




I'm so excited.........in less than 24 hours I will be at the Toyota Center right smack dab in front of my fairy godmother. I've been trying out shawls all night trying to decide on my outfit!

When it rains, it POURS...and doesn't drain.

Last weekend was the PERFECT weekend because of THIS:



I love it when it rains like this. EL-OH-VEE-EEE.
(This is the view looking out my front door)

Why do I love the rain?

I'm not a big "outside" person.

I've never enjoyed being outdoors unless it involved one of these two things:


1. Playing golf with my boys.

OR

2. Watching my Stevie perform.............


outside...............


.........at an amphitheater. Although, I wouldn't be caught DEAD stalking her watching her from THIS far back.....I would be down front with all the other stalkers real fans in the orchestra pit.

(And if both #1 and #2 were going on at the same time, don't even ASK me which I would choose. My answer would make me look like the worst mother on the planet and cause me guilt beyond measure............but I'm pretty sure the guilt would go away after a few verses of Gold Dust Woman and one twirl)


When it rains, it means that everyone has to live in MY world and hunker down inside.

I just LOVE it..........the stormier the better.


Looking to the right at the cul-de-sac is Lake Echo. Our sweet little street always gives us a scare during big rain storms. It floods quickly, but luckily, it drains pretty quickly once the rain stops.


Looking to the left toward Goldilock's house. (she's waaaaay down there on the left but you can't see that far, but trust me.....she's down there probably re-arranging something in her house, blogging, or reading one of her 5,367 magazines that she gets every month........it's an Addiction with a capital A.)


Here's a before:


Here's the after:


Do you like it when it rains?



P.S. There's only ONE drawback to a good rainstorm..........see the post below.

Let's Talk About Stevie..................

When someone asks me, "What is your favorite Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac song?", it's always a tough one for me to answer. All her (their) songs mean different things to me at different times, so I can't really pick JUST ONE!


"Gypsy" is my favorite at the moment. I love the lyrics.



(For those of you NOT obsessed with all things Stevie, let me explain............basically the song tells the story of how she "followed her gypsy" into music. In interviews, she always talks about what she gave up to do that.........getting married, having children, etc. She always makes it clear that while she doesn't regret following the music/rock-star path, she sometimes wonders what "if"........)

Yes, you just entered "Crazyville" and I am the mayor........but just think about it for a minute.

What "if" we all followed our "gypsy"......where would we be now? How would our lives be different?



Enjoy:-)

So I'm back, to the velvet
underground
Back to the floor, that I love
To a room with some lace
and paper flowers
Back to the gypsy
that I was
To the gypsy...
that I was

And it all comes down to you
Well, you know that it does
Well, lightning strikes,
maybe once, maybe twice
Ah, and it lights up the night
And you see your gypsy
You see your gypsy

To the gypsy that remains
faces freedom with a little fear
I have no fear, I have only love
And if I was a child
And the child was enough
Enough for me to love
Enough to love

She is dancing away from me now
She was just a wish
She was just a wish
And a memory is all
that is left for you now
You see your gypsy
You see your gypsy

Lightning strikes,
maybe once, maybe twice
And it all comes down to you

And it all comes down to you

Lightning strikes,
maybe once, maybe twice
And it all comes down to you

I still see your bright eyes,
bright eyes
And it all comes down to you
I still see your bright eyes,
bright eyes
And it all comes down to you

I still see your bright eyes,
bright eyes
(She was just a wish)
(She was just a wish)
And it all comes down to you

Lightning strikes,
maybe once, maybe twice
And it all comes down to you

Deserted Island

If I were on a deserted island, here is what I would choose to listen to forever and always. This is the world's best album.....no really, it is.

Chalk

I love those chalk drawings that people do on the sidewalks----here is one I wish were on my sidewalk.

How to be an obsessed fan about someone you have never met.

I have a small obsession with Stevie Nicks. She is my fairy godmother. No, really.......she is....I have one.......for real........our souls are connected............stop rolling your eyes.

One of my friends recently told me that she was thinking about finding a celebrity to become obsessed with. (Yes, I know that sentence ended with a preposition, but it's my blog so I can be e.e.cummings if I want)

I decided to give her a 10 step plan to follow.

She's trying to decide between George Clooney and Matthew McCohnahay/McConohay/McCahnohay.....however you spell that guy's name. (Perhaps step one to becoming a fan should be, "Learn how to spell their name correctly".

Here we go.

Andrea's Guide to becoming an obsessed stalker/fan:

Step 1: Join the fanclub online--this will give you tons of worthless information about your subject---everything from their favorite cartoon animal (Stevie's is Snoopy) and their favorite chairty (Stevie's is the Arizona Heart Institute)

Step 2: Get an outfit that looks like your subject. Hmmmmmmmmm.......since my friend's choices for a stalking subject are both men, I'm not sure how to work this one in. Matthew goes topless ALL THE TIME and I don't know if that is the look she is going for. (Yes, I know I just ended with a preposition again....remember the e.e.cummings and, also the fact that I went to Salado High School)

Step 3: Find out what kind of pet they have/like-----Clooney had a potbellied pig for years and I think I saw in People magazine one time Matthew walking a big golden retriever thing----(Stevie has a Yorkie, Andrea has a silkie.....almost the same......)

Step 4: Subscribe to People Magazine------if your subject of choice is in People, then everything printed about them is gospel, because People doesn't lie.....you KNOW it is true if it's in People for Goodness sake. (yes, that was sarcasm)

Step 5: Start working Clooney or Matthew into random conversations to get others around you to internalize your new obsession and ask questions so you can prove you are a devoted follower............
Someone says to you: "Suzie, have you noticed such in so has been so ABSent minded?"
You Say: "Did you say ABS? That reminds me....have you seen the latest picture of Matthew's ABS in People magazine?"
OR perhaps,
Someone Says: "Hi Suzi! We just got back from our vacation and we went across the Royal Gorge bridge"
You say: "Really? I agree, George IS royal"
"What in the world are you talking about?"
You say: "Oh! I thought you said GEORGE.......as in George Clooney.....did you know that his favorite childhood toy was a (insert info from Step #1 fan club worthless info here)

Step 6: Birthday date/year----find out the subject's birthday and add it to the family calendar. (May 26th has been a part of our family calendar for years....it's "her" birthday)

Step 7: Prepare and practice your expression when people say something that stabs deep deep deep because they don't understand your obsession. "Who is this George Gooney you speak of?" "Matthew McWHO?" Your gut reaction is slap them into the moment and scream "WHAT FLIPPIN PLANET ARE YOU FROM";But your facial expression must be one of sympathy and/or pity coupled with a polite, "Oh, he's just someone I kinda follow and admire". Then just change the subject and know in the back of your mind how lucky you are to have a special soul connection with someone you have never met.

Step 8: You are going to need a special/secret credit card of some other means of getting funds so that when and if the opportunity arises for you to see said subject, you can keep the costs hidden from a spouse or divorce papers will be filed.

Step 9: You will need a clever screen-name for the fan club/email groups/fan lists that you will need to join. This is very very important in the world of obsessed fans.....it seems that whoever has the most clever screen names in discussions appears to be the most devoted fan. Suggestions would be: Looney4Clooney1960--- (You must work quickly because other fans are at this very moment devoting HOURS to their clever name---whoever the JERK is that took EnchantedRhiannon I am STILL trying to hunt down..............)

Step 10: Remember how fun it was to "make fun" of those "nerd" Star Trek -types? The trekkies? Well, you can't do that anymore.......you have just become one.

There you have it!