INGRID MICHAELSON Weekend

Back in the day (when I was living in Boston) Leslie and I were going to go to an Ingrid Michaelson BUT we decided against going because it was on a Sunday... look at how good we were! Haha! Anyway, so just a bit back Leslie got to go to her concert and I was extrememly jealous BUT the stars were aligned and showed me my destiny by having Ingrid come to Salt Lake City last weekend. My roommate, Mabecka, and I bought tickets. The weekend was suppose to be fabulous but it ended up almost not worth it. What redeemed it was Ingrid and her amazing musical skills!
We were suppose to leave Friday around 4 but due to people want to get homework done before we left (heaven forbid!) we didn't leave until about 5:30ish. As my friend Tammy pulled up we noticed who our companions were... she brought along her 4 year old nephew, Ian, and her 11 year old niece, Brittany. Mabecka and I put our stuff in the trunk and did a quick roshambo to see who the lucky one would be to sit in the back seat. Just kidding! Mabecka knows my love for children and graciously gave me the front. :o) We were on the road for about 10 minutes and the traffic literally stopped. We were stopped for 40 minutes due to an accident and it was brutally hot. Now when I say brutally hot I'm meaning just hot (in the high 80s, low 90s) which is nothing compared to you folks back home. Finally we got out of traffic and drove past Idaho Falls where we stopped for gas and I switched spots with Tammy so I drove the rest of the way down to SLC.

The drive down there was (and please excuse my word of choice, but) hell. Ian would not settle down. I was hoping that after maybe an hour he would fall asleep but no. He thought it was funny to stick his stinky little feet (which were absurdley smelly for a tike his size) in our faces. I don't know how but we all made it down there in one piece. Tammy dropped Mabecka and I off at Katie's place where we hung out and visited a bit before hitting the sack. It is exhausting being in a car with a 4 year old for almost 5 hours and we were embracing sleep with arms wide open!

We slept in the next morning (we needed our beauty sleep for Ingrid) and when we woke up Katie and Braden had made a delicious breakfast. It was fun staying with them but it was just odd seeing them as a married couple. :o) Haha! I'm just a little crazy... Anyway, after we had breakfast we all got ready and then we went to THE coolest vintage thrift store. We took some rockin' pictures but we kind of got in trouble for trying on clothes without getting a dressing room. Plus we weren't suppose to take pictures ... oops! We then checked out this tree that has a ladder that you climb up to a knot that has the Virgin Mary in it. It doesn't look like her anymore but there was a picture up there of the knot years ago and it really does look like her. After that Mabecka and I asked Katie to drop us off at the Gateway mall. I asked Mabecka what she'd prefer to do and since it was so dang hot she decided we should go to the mall so we could stay cool. Unfortunately, the only good mall that SLC has is the Gateway ... which is an outdoor mall. Haha! That spoiled our plan. We went to one store and decided that we couldn't take it anymore. We tried calling Katie to see if she'd come get us before leaving but we were too late. Our only choice was to walk. And we did. We made it 7 or 8 blocks and then just plopped down on the grass. My friend Jenny then called and she said she'd come get us. She was a life saver cause we still had about 6 or 7 more blocks to go. She wanted to show me her new condo but things didn't work out and she didn't have time. But she did say she would drop us off where the concert would be. (Even though it was an hour early.)

Since we had time to kill and we were early for Ingrid, we walked down the street (State street which consisted only of car dealerships). We were lucky enough to find a coffee shop so we got a sandwhich and some ice cold water and parked in there for an hour. When we thought it was a good time to head back we left. Yeah... so it wouldn't have been bad if we were only an hour early (our tickets said the show started at 6:30 and the doors would open at 6) but when we rearrived at the theater we learned that the show really started at 8 and the doors wouldn't open until 7. That meant we had yet again another hour to kill. We were out of places on this barren street to go. So we walked even further to a movie theater and stayed in there. Although it smelled like nasty movie theater, there was air conditioning and chairs. So we chilled until we decided to go back again. This time when we got there, there was a nice sized line. So we waited outside forever in the gruelling heat until the FINALLY the doors opened at 7:30. At this point I was a little upset with Ingrid for treating her fans in such a cruel way. (Little did I know she was actually eating a burrito at that moment. Maybe if she had invited me back there and shared her burrito with me, I wouldn't have minded as much). Once we actually made it into the theater it wasn't much better. It was stiffling hot in there with no air movement whatsoever. Greg Laswell opened for Ingrid but the fellow didn't come on until about 8:30 and then he played for a complete hour. It wouldn't have been a terrible thing except for 3 things. 1. All of his songs sounded the same, slow and sad. 2. He played forever! 3. I was grumpy, I had come for Ingrid and that was who I wanted to listen to.

After Greg was done with his moment of glory they messed around on the stage with sound stuff until Finally Ingrid came on. And from then on I was happy. I forgot about how warm and disgusting I felt, I forgot about how much walking I had done that day, I forgot that we didn't have a ride home from the concert, I was lost in the music! Ingrid was great! The sound was amazing, her voice and skills were amazing, she is a natural comedian, I thoroughly enjoyed her show. AND she played all of my favorite songs plus a new one. It's a new one called Blueberry Boy and I love it too! Woot! I just love Ingrid Michaelson! Seriously, though. She was hilarious. She's one of those people that you listen too and think, "we could be best friends." During the show Katie texted me and we worked it out that she would pick us up afterwards. While waiting for her we hung around (lingered longer) and got to meet the musicians. There were about thirty people hanging around getting pictures, autographs, etc. We were happy, though. Greg (up there on the right) smelled like alcohol and looked exhausted. Ingrid (that's right! Up there on the left!) was way nice and just groovy cool. Before she played her first song she apologized for her appearance. She said normally that she would dress a little more rock'n'roll with boots and a scarf but because she didn't want to melt in front of us, it would be a little more casual. Yep. That was the concert. Katie arrived, took us home, and we all slept like grizzly bears. The next morning I woke up to a text from Leslie ;o) but I decided it was a good time to get up so I got ready for the day. I went on a walk with my friend Kyle, and during my walk I got a call from my friends who were ready to head back to Rexburg. So I shuffled on home, packed my stuff, and we headed out.

The drive home wasn't nearly as bad as the drive down. Mabecka and I sat in the back with Ian in the middle and that kept him in order. I realized that my music got him all rialed up so I asked him if he'd like to sing and so I put on Primary music. And to that, my friends, he fell asleep. Once he was asleep the drive was blissful. A bit stuffy and warm, but peaceful. And then we arrived home in good 'ol Rexburg and that was that.