CMA Fest 2015 - Day 1

Theresa and I started out CMA Fest 2015 with a quick drive to downtown Nashville, I hike across the pedestrian bridge and then waiting inline for a ridiculous amount of time to be let into FanFairX to see Little Big Town on the CMA Close-up Stage.

We tried to make the best of our wait time and picked up the Kristian Bush fan experience passes we won a couple weeks ago, but the entrance line was still at a complete standstill. The doors were scheduled to open at 10:00 and LBT to take the stage at 10:15. It soon became clear that we would not make it through the crowd, up the escalator, and through security before they started.

But hey, we got inside just in time to watch them play Heads Up with 4 lucky audience members. What?!? Yes, that's right, they played an iPad app game like charades with 4 individuals while hundreds of us watched. I was completely dumbfounded. Below is a pic I took just prior to them switching gears to the game.

We got in the door so late there was no chance of getting close (but I swear that is them above), and we missed all but one of the interview style questions. Below is a pic of a random fan meet and greet I passed by later that day. Other than Jimi, you can match up the outfits with the above pic.

As we moseyed through FanFairX, we came across the section of artist booths. I was drawn to Tayler Lynch's booth because he didn't look like the other male artists that one would assume wrote mostly drinking songs. (I suppose I was judging books/artists by their covers.) He had a couple headsets playing his music, so I took a listen while asking him questions about his music, etc. Before heading away with my autographed CD, Tayler was nice enough (even though he was a Cincinnati Reds fan) to take a pic with this Cubs fan.

Around 11:30 we made our way over to the Artist Close-up stage for the CMA Songwriters Series featuring Sara Evans. I do not recall the songwriters' names that were on stage with her, but a big thank you goes out to their mad writing skills. I got to hear them tell stories and sing songs by the likes of the Dixie Chicks and Luke Bryan. I don't currently own and of Sara's music, but after hearing her live for the 2nd time, I really need to look into that.

At some point Keith Urban swung by the Close-up stage and we got to see him play a song while helping raise awareness for the CMA Foundation's Music Education Matters Campaign. Shortly after the surprise performance, a fellow by the name of Aaron Tippin took to the stage to shared stories and sing a few songs. I was not familiar with his music, but I could have listened to him all day. Knowing that her husband is an Aaron fan, Theresa kept her ears open and found out he'd be available for a meet and greet the next day.

After Aaron Tippin, we caught Kristian Bush and Friends on the Close-up stage. We rounded up our day with a game of PLINKO at the Big Machine Label Group booth. My consolation prize was a towel.

After spending most of the day at FanFairX, Theresa and I headed back to the car via the pedestrian bridge. Who would have thunk Luke Bryan would be hanging out near the elevator? Well, he actually only made it a day or two before someone stole him.

I found a tag on the towel I won that stated I could win prizes if I Tweeted a photo with the towel while somewhere at CMA Fest. I opted for a shot in front of LP Field where the nightly concerts were held. As for the aviator glasses, those were a Tyler Farr freebie that now below to Theresa.

After a stop at the hotel to regroup, we headed back to LP Field for the night. Last year we scouted out the seats. They are only in the sun for about 20 minutes and receive quite the breeze with being located along top edge. The one downside we knew about was the that birds frequented these seats.

We came prepared with handi-wipes. Above is the before and after. The other downside is completely unpredictable. The people nearest the aisle refused to stand up when we needed to get to the aisle. It wouldn't have been such an issue if you didn't have to squeeze by their knees while dodging their stuff, feet, and cup holders. Ugh!

This first night, I was excited to see Alan Jackson who opened the show. I missed him when he came through Bloomington earlier this year during my siblings weekend. He sounded good, but I gotta say out of all the performers we saw during CMA Fest, he had the most abrupt exit off-stage. It was so bizarre.

Here's a happy Jane selfie with downtown Nashville in the background. The pedestrian bridge we cross is lit up on the left.

My favorite artist of the night was Dierks Bentley. Hands down, no questions asked, he rocked it. He also seems to be a very genuine person and shows his appreciation to us fans for supporting his music. I think some artists forget that without the fans, they wouldn't be up there.

As far as performances Rascal Flatts and Alan Jackson were a close second. I'll be honest, I was hoping for Rascal Flatts to blow my socks off like last year, but they didn't pull any surprises on me this time. Don't get me wrong, they were great, but just not able to top Dierks.

Sam Hunt left me perplexed with his hip-hoppy style of country music and singing about a house party at the age of 30.

For those Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean fans, I regret to inform you that I am not, and we left prior to them taking stage. We wanted to leave on the fantabulous concert ride that Dierks took us on. Plus, we would be guaranteed to miss parking lot hell.

CMA Fest 2015 - Kristian Bush Style

Quick note: daily summaries to come in separate posts. I couldn't save the best for last.

Once upon a time Theresa and I bought tickets to CMA Fest 2015 without knowing which artists would be appearing. As the months closed in, the schedules for over 9 stages started to unfold and emails for chance to win exclusive events started rolling in.

One of our hopeful goals this year was to win at least one of the many contests we were sure to enter, whether it be for free swag, seat upgrades, signed guitar, concert or meet and greet.

CMA gave all registered fans a chance to win 1 of over a 100 different artist experiences. As you may have figured out from past blogs, when I love an artist/group, I'll soak up as much time seeing them as possible.

Luckily my traveling companion was on-board with my craziness. Between the two of us and our 80 some raffle entries, we managed to win both of the Kristian Bush experiences as seen below.

Last Wednesday we began our trek to Nashville. I can't speak for Theresa's next goal, but mine was to get a hat trick, turkey, or hit a trifecta of Kristian Bush experiences. Why not, we already had two in the bag with our winnings?  :)

As we hurtled down the highway, we approached Southern Illinois and the town of Metropolis, which I had never stopped at to meet Superman. Check that one off the list!

As I circled the statue and saw the ginormous flowing cape, I couldn't help but think of the Kristian Bush's lyrics from Giving It Up, "I’m folding up my cape, I am no man of steel". And yes, I did tweet this picture at him. It'd be hard for him to fold up that cape.

Anyway, as we were easing on down the road, I was having fun catching up on Twitter while Theresa was at the wheel. Looky what I found, KB and his team posted his schedule for the week of CMAFest. A total of 7 possible KB sightings once we reached Nashville. I'll have to donate to my local Goodwill as we did not wake up at the butt crack of dawn to catch him there.

The next day was a no brainer because KB would be at FanFairX, which we planned to attend for the Little Big Town opening of the event, followed by Sara Evans and some moseying around. A few hours later, bingo bango, KB is on the stage with Canaan Smith and Michael Ray.

If you can't tell, I was in the 2nd row. Boo-ya! But no standing... Didn't want to obstruct others from the magical performances of all 3 artists.

Oh, remember that Superman cape pic? As KB introduced his song "Light Me Up", he mentioned superheroes, so I held my phone up showing that pic. I do believe Canaan saw it because he grinned pretty big when looking in my direction.

Okay, moving along...

On Friday we happened to be heading to FanFairX for multiple reasons once again, so I added the Opry Anniversary Panel to my list. I worked on scouting out a good seat while listening to the Oakridge Boys artist closeup (very cool!) I slowly snuck forward as their crowd dissipated and grabbed my 2nd row seat.

For the record, Theresa was off stalking her own favorites.

Some events gave away first row tickets, but that wasn't the case for this Opry Panel. As the event started, the red velvet rope was unlatched and I was asked if I wanted to move up, but move ALL the way down. Sit at the edge of the stage, nope, I sat back down. Still looking for 1st row fillers, they nodded my way again. It ended up being perfect timing because enough people flowed in-front of me and KB ended up sitting in the chair almost directly across from me.

The other artists there to share their stories were Josh Turner and Jeannie Seely. Do I think KB saw me? Well it was my 2nd day being so close, and I was sporting yet another Cubs shirt... so, yes.

I could have listened to their stories all day. Being only about a 10 yearish country music fan (thanks to the Dixie Chicks for pulling me in) it was pretty eye opening. Gonna have to get that Opry app for my phone.

Saturday morning Theresa and I woke up bright and early for a 9am City of Hope softball game to root on Little Big Town. I couldn't help but notice LBT was nowhere to be seen during the team photo. Prior to that I thought they were late from signing for the fans outside (that's the kind of people I believe them to be).

Shortly after Theresa got done stalking Brett Michaels, it was announced that LBT had to cancel due to a family emergency. Totally ready to show them some over-exuberant love, I couldn't help but be bummed. Weighing our options, we chalked up the ticket costs as a donation to the charity and booked it over to the Chevy Riverfront stage to catch KB in action for the second year in a row.

And guess what, we still got their early enough to get second row standing. Unknowing to most, I actually could have met KB during the time I sat at the softball game. Seeing that I already won a meet and greet for later that day, I hoped they could find another worthy fan.

All-in-all it worked out smashingly, even though I'm still wondering if LBT can play softball. KB and the band's performance (including Brandon Bush and Annie Clements) rocked the house, and I can't think of a place I would have rather been at that moment.

KB does a phenomenal job interacting with the audience. A couple people shouted some song titles at him. He requested a repeat and the gal behind me "yelled" Flip Flops. He still didn't hear her, so I stepped in and bellowed FLIP FLOPS.

Kristian then started giving someone with a water bottle a hard time about requesting his 1 drinking song. I remember something along the line of him addressing the woman with a "Hey Love" in a sweet, kind of shaking his head about the thought of the water bottle holder requesting the drinking song.

In the 90+ heat, I figured most including myself had water bottles, and proceeded to enjoy the song. Theresa confirmed with me after the show, that I indeed was the "Flip Flop" person. With his sunglasses on, I couldn't tell if his eyes shot over my head or if he was looking at me. Huh, he probably thought I was half asleep or something for not having much reaction to his razzing. Too funny!

Next up was the meet and greet Theresa won, just a short hour after the performance. Let me tell you, it's hard to feel freshened-up in that amount of time after shaking your hips during an hour long performance in 90ish weather, hoofing it up to FanFairX and shoving lunch down your gullet.

Oh, if you were wondering...yes, day 3 also involved a Cubs shirt! Why was I doing this?

1. It's super fun to get other Cub fan reactions while wearing a Cubs shirt out of state or during a non-baseball related event.

2. I thought it might help me stand out in the many KB crowds I would be in.

I gotta say, I had some great Cubs and baseball fan reactions. Apparently that was really the only reason I was wearing those shirts.

At FanFairX, Theresa and I stood towards the front of the line patiently waiting for KB to appear from behind the curtain. Kristian emerged and greeted the CMA host people and the scanned the crowd. I recall hearing something along the lines of "It's you again!" I then proceeded to remind him that it was he who posted his schedule online.

If you haven't been counting, this was the 4th Kristian Bush sighting out of 5 possibilities. Theresa was first up for the meet and greet. I was chatting with the CMA rep and overheard Theresa and KB giggling and they happened to be looking at me. What was said??? I will never know. KB kiddingly would not divulge that information. Oh goodness!

Next! As I approached Kristian I told him that I had bad news... I'll be seeing you at your show tomorrow. He questioned if I'd be at his Opry performance in the afternoon. I regretfully had to inform him I was not that good of a stalker.

He then paused, looking at the photo he was going to personalize for me. He was actually trying to remember my name. Yes, he remember me from our encounter last year during the GAC Breakfast and Signing! I was astounded. (Hope my mouth didn't drop open.)

If given the opportunity, I could have talked to Kristian for hours. But what did I do, I asked about his shoes/boots. I was informed that he and his previous pair made it through 400 shows without missing a date before being retired. I hope this pair tours as much as the old ones!

As I left the booth with a big-ass grin on my face, I recall him saying, "see you tomorrow". That's the type of fan experience I wish upon any recipient of a meet and greet, no matter who the artist, sports figure, etc.

KB kindly signed my CMA Fest badge and he also gave me an autographed photo. Below is a pic of Theresa's photo. Hmmm, possibly a hint as to what they may have been talking about?!?!

Sorry it's upside-down, blogging on your phone is very inefficient.

Here's a pic of my badge autograph on Day 4 after I applied sunscreen and started glistening. Apparently the combination will cause a Sharpie autograph on a plastic surface to turn into a temporary tattoo. Nothing to do but shake your head and smile.

With my new temporary tattoo in place, we headed over to the HGTV Lodge for our 5th and final Kristian Bush sighting. This is the fan experience I won and we were given these stylish wristbands to wear.

Can you believe they got them printed upside-down?

Guess what?!? Yep, I was wearing a Cubs shirt and managed to get 2nd row just off center. No, I did not get a picture of his footwear. As he was beginning the first requested song, Flip Flops (not my request), my phone said it was out of memory! I had to rudely multi-task during this song, so I could take photos. I can only imagine he was even more perplexed that the "Flip Flip Girl" didn't have full attention for one of her favorite artists (I can only assume he figured that one out) while he sings her "requested" song.

I don't think KB took offense, seeing that he tossed me a guitar pick after the show. He's too kind and such a talented singer/songwriter!

Who knows, maybe I'll have a chance to explain myself or strike up a Waffle House conversation with him when Mom and I see him next month in Watseka, IL. Yes, that's right. Watseka, IL.

Oh, and for the record, my favorite song is Southern Gravity, the title track off of Kristian's solo album. To no surprise, I highly recommend it! Check it out!

Here's some pics from the Riverfront and HGTV performances on this websites, so cool!

I may have surfaced. But for how long?

Once upon a time a started a blog and I made posts on an irregular basis. Then something happened. Nothing in general, just a shift in moods, priorities, interests, creative outlet or something along those lines, which leads to the irregular posts turning into no posts at all.

I've done things that are post-worthy, but yet the inspiration has not been there. I often take pics with the thought to post, but the urge to follow-through just never shows up. I can't say that tonight is the restarting of my blog, but with a smidge of encouragement, you never know what could happen.

Not only did I do things over the blog break, but I also learned some things...

One day I happened to come across an exploded bird in my backyard. Reminds me of the time Randy Johnson hit a bird with a 90+ mph fastball. Feathers, lots of feathers...

I also took the time to dye some of my towels pink, and even a yellow towel to more of a tangerine color. I have the perfect throw rug to loan you, if you would like the same effect...

I got "locked" in an old school phone booth in the basement of theater in Davenport, IA and almost missed a really fun Little Big Town concert with Theresa...

My parents were kind enough to go car shopping with me and even tested out the backup camera feature on the cars...

I said goodbye to an old and trustworthy friend, but learned that change can definitely be good...

I couldn't resist the urge to buy a port-o-potty to display on my desk at work...

I joined Laura and Mom for a Zentangle class at the Peoria Riverfront Museum. Funny to learn that my organized doodling from high school morphed an actual thing people practice and teach...

I was quite pleased to learn that Rufus has been such a positive influence to newbie bobcats at The Wild Animal Sanctuary...

I took a trip to Boston to make Swedish pancakes for Matt & Brian...

And I got to meet the new addition to their family, my hyper yet lazy puppy friend, Nutmeg...

I caught a picture of Dad joyriding around the yard in Ed, his 1953 Chevy Truck...

I couldn't resist making and then photographing a tower of toilet paper at work...

No, I did not see any ghosts. I attended Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood's Whose Line is Anyway? -style show with Tom, Laura, and Mom. To no surprise, I laughed until I cried...

I Sharpie-fied a pair of my Mom's shoes...

Went on a fantastic Siblings' Weekend with Tom to watch the Cubs lose a few games up at Miller Park...

Took Sir Sparks-a-lot to his annual vet appointment where he got a new hairdo. He claims to like the draft...

And most recently I spent the majority of Memorial Day weekend with the family, helping with several project inside and outside of the house...

And last but not least, got them all to try the not so well-known fruit, Kiwano (Horned Melon)...

For the record, Jinkies has been kind enough to hold down the fort while I'm out and about.

Memory Filled Coasters

Once upon a time I made my own coasters in a ceramic class. The matching set came out a bit on the flawed side. I tried to anticipate the amount they would shrink in the kiln, but they still ended up on the smaller side. And each have a very unique wobble and pronounced slants along the top. These fun pieces of art are probably the #1 reason I've used plastic cups for so long.

Enter 2015 and a unique set of coasters. Shout out to Theresa for getting the ball rolling on this set. She introduced my to a charity called MuttNation. At the time, they were raising money for an expansion on their facility, and with a donation, they would place a personalized brick in a path and you could order a smaller replica for yourself.

An online pal of mine had just lost her beloved Pinky, one of The Sweetest dogs I had ever met. I had to donate a brick in Pinky's honor. My photos of Pinky were too fuzzy for me to use for creating the clip art, so I had to yoink one.

I think my clip art turned out fairly well, but it didn't translate as well as I hoped onto the brick.

Definitely worth a shot (too bad some of the details were lost) and it brings back a flood of memories when I see it.

The other half of this set came courtesy of Theresa. She thought I might want one of Sparky or even Jinkies, but I had to go with Cubby, the coolest dog I've ever had. He was the family dog we got in 1990 from a local pet store and he was marked down 50% off because he was over 6 months old. He may have just been the deal of a century!

I had a hard time choosing a photo, so I created two pieces of clip art and surveyed everyone I saw over the next day or so.

I'm glad the choice was the super happy Cubby. I do like the inquisitive version of Cubby, but I don't think it would have reproduced real well on my gifted coaster. Thanks Theresa, for completing my set.