Rock n Roll, Greensky Bluegrass, and Breweries I Couldn't Drink At :)

Happy New Year!!*  We had a great holiday break, filled with lots of family, friends, and traveling.  After numerous Christmas celebrations, we hit the road for a few days for a New Years trip!  We were originally going to drive down to North Carolina to see the Avett Brothers play a New Years Eve show, but decided it was too far of a drive for this super pregnant gal!  So instead, we took a mini trip to Ohio and Michigan filled with lots of music!

First, we stopped in Cleveland for a night!

...Rock n Roll Hall of Fame...
Lots of awesome music memorabilia from some of our favorite bands!

...Great Lakes Brewing Co...
Delicious dinner & fun selfies in the freezing cold!

...Fat Head's Brewery...
Awesome home-brewed root beer & a fun bowling game!

After Ohio, we made our way over to Michigan!

...Jolly Pumpkin Brewery...

Beer samples for Brett, virgin mojitos for me,

and stocking up on sour beers for me to drink after the baby comes!

...hotel hangs...

And realizing that my belly is officially big enough to be a shelf :)

...Greensky Bluegrass...

Our main reason for this trip!

Greensky Bluegrass concert on New Years Eve!  So FUN!

And I couldn't help but take this little onesie home from the show :)

What a fun trip!!  And now it's 2015!  Can you believe it!?
CHEERS!*

Scenes from the Weekend

Sweet Mexican joint in LA

Checking out the view from the Griffith Observatory

Hey there, itty bitty Hollywood sign

Hi, we are adults

Beer tastings at Eagle Rock Brewery

2nd from the right was my faaavorite!

Seeing the Black Crowes at the Wiltern Theatre!

The Black Crowes (plus Jackie Greene!) rocking out!

Favorite song of the night... the awesome version of Thorn in My Pride, so good!

A little Sunday afternoon biking along the Back Bay

Heyo, Selfie Sunday!

Great weekend full of awesomeness!

And now, only a 3 day work week...

Bring on turkey day!*

"Last night I dreamt the whole night long, woke with a head full of songs..."

On Wednesday night, we headed up to LA to see the Avett Brothers play at the (beautiful and huge) Shrine Auditorium.  There were a ton of people there.  And to think the first time we ever saw/heard of the Avett Brothers was at the Pittsburgh Arts Festival back in 2008 I think.  Crazy how far they've come.  I love seeing this band live.  They have such awesome stage energy.  And they played my most favorite song of theirs: "Laundry Room".  So, awesome night!  (Besides the fact that the Pirates lost their game that night and won't be moving on in the playoffs...)  But other than that, great night. :)

"Sing it if you know it..."

I purposely timed my parents visit last week with Hanson's tour schedule, so that my mom and I would be able to go to a concert together.  Yeah I did!  My mom and I have been going to Hanson concerts together since 1997.  That's 16 years.  I'd call it something special we've got going on between us, for sure.  This particular show in Anaheim last week marked my 30th Hanson concert.

And what's a Hanson concert without a little walk first!

 And later that night, our 30th Hanson concert.

And it was AMAZING.

And since we weren't too far away,

we squeezed in another walk the next day on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood =)

I am so happy I got to have this West Coast Hanson experience with my Mom.

I love this band.

Mom & Dad Visit Southern California!

Well, we dropped my parents off at the airport on Sunday morning.  Womp womp.  We had the BEST time with them visiting this past week.  Our time together flew by way too fast and I miss them already.  We had such a good time showing them around California and definitely did a ton of FUN stuff!

While my parents were here, we...

 Walked along the beach at Crystal Cove in Laguna

Checked out Downtown Disney & the awesome Lego store

 Took the walk with Hanson =)

Went to the Hanson concert at House of Blues Anaheim!
(Dad & Brett did not partake in this part...haha)

Checked out the Griffith Observatory and awesome views

 Saw the Hollywood sign

Introduced Mom & Dad to the amazing In-N-Out

Walked down Hollywood Blvd
(My Mom's nickname is "Fred" haha)

And my Dad got interviewed for Jimmy Kimmel Live!
(and he was ON that night!)

Took another walk with Hanson on Sunset Blvd =)

Made some delicious homemade pizza

Went biking along the beach

Took them to the Top of the World!

Went to Downtown Disney again for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe

Explored Tablerock Beach

And walked along Thousand Steps Beach

Found the Elephant Parade at Dana Point

Witnessed a beautiful San Clemente sunset

And hung out on the pier before dinner at Fisherman's Wharf for their last night

We had such an amazing time together.  Seeing my parents made us miss home even more.  We can't wait until we can get back to Pittsburgh and see everyone!  What a wonderful week we had together.

Counting down the days until we can see them again!