Texas in August

August 24, 2011

We got up early and made the flight to Dallas. We wanted to see Jen pregnant so once got in Dallas we grabbed a quick lunch at Sonic then drove to Jen and Brian's apartment. They had not unpacked much because they were looking to buy a house. Jen was starting to make a quilt and needed some guidance. Bridget is a pretty good seamstress so they started working on it.

That night we all met at Jen's and decided on Texas BBQ. Court, David, Jen, Brian, Bridget and I went to Red Hot and Blue for dinner. The food was really good. After dinner we went back to Court and David's house. Jen made a cheesecake for our anniversary (8/21). I am a sucker for cheesecake.

http://rhnb.com/

August 25, 2011

We got up and met up with Jen. Bridget and I like the Cracker Barrel. Wish there were some in Califonia. We went to the one in Lewisville. After breakfast we did some shopping for maternity clothes, drove by the hospital and the house that Jen and Brian were buying (it was kept a secret so it wouldn't be jinxed). That night we went to Del Fresco's steakhouse. The steaks were fantastic. It was a great dinner.

http://delfriscos.com/dallas-details.php

August 26, 2011

David took the day off and took Bridget and me to a small taco shop for breakfast tacos. They were great. Dropped Bridget off at Jen's so they could sew.  David and I ran some errands.  Court and David made reservations for dinner at the Dragonfly at the Hotel Zaza.  We were seated in a private room which worked out well because we could talk.  When you left the room it was quite noisy.  I ordered a Root Beer Manhattan, but they came back and said they ran out of the Blackmaker Root Beer Liqueur.  I was really bummed so just went with a plain one.  Later the manager came by and said they found just enough to make me a Root Beer Manhattan and they comped it.  Sweet.  All of the food was great.  Three of us had sirloin steaks, two chicken  and one had salmon.  It was the end of Restaurant Week so we had an apetizer, mail course and then dessert.

http://www.hotelzaza.com/#dallas

August 27, 2011
Courtney, Brian's sister and Brian's aunt gave Jennifer a baby shower.  It was over in the Ft Worth area so Court and Bridget left to help decorate.  Jen and Brian went seperately.  That left David and I on our own.  We went to Kuby's Sausage House for breakfast.  David had bought us some meat seasoning from there a couple of years back.  I looked it up and made a note to try and go there.  The food was good and the deli was great as well.  We bought some sausages for the BBQ we were having later.

http://www.kubys.com/

Since Kuby's was by SMU David drove past so I could see the campus.  Then we went to one of my favorite places in Texas.  CENTRAL MARKET.

http://www.centralmarket.com/Stores/Dallas.aspx

This place is outstanding.  It makes other grocery stores seem ordinary.  They have a huge varitety of fresh vegetables, meat, fish, wine, cheese, party dips, salsa, bread etc...  We were geting marinaded chicken for the BBQ.  They ONLY offered 10 different marinaded chicken breasts. 

The shower went well and everyone met back at Court and David's house.  David did a great job cooking and we had a swell time.

August 28, 2011
Today was Sunday so of course we went out for brunch.  We went to The Grape Restaurant.  David and I tried the cheeseburgers, voted best in Dallas.  The girls had waffles and the Hatstack and Brian had the standard breakfast.  And of couse we started with pull apart cake.

http://thegraperestaurant.com/

Later that night Courtney made delicious chicken enchiladas.

August 29, 2011

We were sad.  Today we had to go back to San Diego.  Courtney, David and Brian had to go work.  Bridget, Jen and I went to Cindi's New York Delicatessen.  Good food.  We said our goodbyes and headed to Love Field.

http://cindisnydeli.com/

Jen got off to a good start on her quilt.


We had a great visit and like always we really enjoyed the food.  Even the weather wasn't that bad.

For more details and to see more pictures see:

http://jenandbrianingram.blogspot.com/2011/09/taylors-come-to-texas-part-1.html

http://jenandbrianingram.blogspot.com/2011/09/taylors-in-texas-part-2.html

August Concerts

August 6, 2011

Where the turf meets the surf
down at old Del Mar
take a plane
take a train
take a car.
There is a smile on every face
and a winner in each race
where the turf meets the surf
at Del Mar.
             Bing

We went to the Del Mar Racetrack.  The first post is a 2pm and they usually have 10 races.  We weren't really feeling it today.  We tried every possible way to pick the winners, but...  Nothing to add to our retirement fund. 



But after the races there was a concert with Weezer.

hip hip
hip hip
hip hip
hip hip
When you’re on a holiday
You can’t find the words to say
All the things that come to you
And I wanna feel it too
On an island in the sun
We’ll be playing and having fun
And it makes me feel so fine
I can’t control my brain
                      Weezer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDLUmF7laSc&feature=player_detailpage
really starts about 45 seconds in.

Really like Weezer, especially Isalnd in the Sun & Hash Pipe.  Heard both so I went home happy.  Ate In-N-Out for dinner so all in all it was a great day.

August 12, 2011

Singing hey mama, don't want no drama
Just a kiss before I leave
Hey lady, don't say maybe
You're the one that I can believe
Hey lover, don't want no other
finger for my ring
Hey mama, hey hey mama
Hey mama, hey hey mama
Hey mama, hey hey mama
Hey mama, hey hey mama
                          Mat Kearney

Bridget got tickets to see Mat Kearney at a private listener concert for a local radio station.  This concert was held at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad.

I met Bridget there and we had great seats.  He was personable and talked to the crowd.  He kept breaking his guitar strings and was joking he was on steriods.  Pretty skinny for steriods.  Had a cold so was on some kind of medication.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmED7yd0XCk&feature=player_detailpage


Come on and we'll sing, like we were free
Push the pedal down watch the world around fly by us
Come on and we'll try, one last time
I'm off the floor one more time to find you
And here we go there's nothing left to choose
And here we go there's nothing left to lose
                                  Mat Kearney

Two concerts in a week.  Now to rest up for our trip.

Comic Con Part Deux

Sunday July 21, 2011

We got up early and headed to Comic Con.  They were going to sell next year's passes to those that had badges for today.  Since we were earlier, we parked by Petco Park (San Diego Padres Ball Park) which is right by the convention center.  We started looking for the hotel banquet room that was set up to process the sales of next year's badges.  I knew the name of the room but was confused.  We were searching all over the Marriott and it was at the Hyatt.  Finally found the place and got in.  It was a good thing that the ticket person on Thursday gave us our badges for Sunday.  They turned you away if you didn't have your badge.  Standing in line to get your badge and then trying to get tickets would not have worked.  As it was we were in line for 2 hours to buy badges for next year.  They sold out the 4 day plus preview night badges before we got up there. 

Bridget thought she had a smart idea so she brought her Ringer stool gift from Thursday.  It opens as a three legged stool with a cloth seat.  It was held together by a plastic ring that allowed it to fold up and then open.  There were several other people who brought theirs too.  I didn't want to carry it so I stood.  About an hour into the line with no movement I felt something brush my leg and a little noise.  I turned around and Bridget was on her back.  I helped her up and told the startled crowd the show was over.  She was fidgeting in the stool and put additional stress on the plastic ring which broke. Now she had to stand and got a bruise in the the process.  

Finally made it there and I bought 2 -4 day badges, one for me and one for Chris.  Bridget bought 2 -4 day badges for her and Betsy.  Next year is going to be fun!!

We walked around in the main hall that has all the vendor booths.  It was really crowded.  On top of that they have set up panels that do autographs to those that waited in line for a wrist bracelet and then another line to get the autograph.  You can walk by and take pictures, but the security people yell keep moving the whole time.  The Glee one was crazy.  Bridget went over there but I stayed away.  Every now and then a different vendor passed out some free stuff,  Fox- sharpies,         - buttons.

We finally made it to Hall H.  It held 6,500 people and has screens set up in the room in case you are in the back.  The first panel we saw was The Cleveland Show.  The Cleveland Show is Seth MacFarlane’s third animation endeavor and is well on its way to a fourth season. We found out that  Kanye West and Will.i.am. are confirmed to be revisiting The Cleveland Show soon. Also,  Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, Questlove and Fergie will all be showing up at some point in the future as the show is hoping to bring in more musical numbers. They also stated that there were plans for a few cover songs that the main cast will be set to perform just for added fun.   We also saw a short  preview of an upcoming episodic spoof on the blockbuster movie Die Hard, titled “Die Semi-Hard”.  It was funny and we were excited because we got a ticket.

Next up "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"  They screened an episode from the upcoming season (entitled "Frank's Pretty Woman"), so there wasn't much time for the panel to talk.  Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olsen and Danny DeVito all came out dressed in their respective characters' costumes from "The Nightman Cometh", the show's "musical" episode.  The panel was pretty much like the show freewheeling and crude humor.  When asked of their favorite moment from the show eveyone mentioned Danny crawling nude from a couch during "A Very Sunny Christmas" special with appropriate comments about anatomy.  Maybe they were unappropriate but they got a lot of laughs.

On to "The Sons of Anarchy".  We only knew the premise of the show since neither one of us had ever watched it before.  We knew the actors from other shows.  The panel began with a 4 minute clip from Season 4, which showed where everyone is after Season 3 ended. The men getting on their bikes and riding away from the correctional facility I guess tells you what they were doing.  There is going to be a new sheriff, racial conflict, Russians and Mexican crime organizations.  May have to check this one out on DVD.

The last event of the day in Hall H was "Buffy- The Musical.  They screened the Buffy episode where everyone breaks into a song.  The crowd seemed to like it, but we were exhausted.  We went to the Fullfilment room to get our free gift from the Cleveland show.  They gave us a button.  Never so disappointed.  But, I did get to exchange Bridget's broken stool for a new one.  Can't wait till she uses it again!

We were hungry so on the way home we stopped at Fillippi's and had some good old fashion comfort food.  Can't wait until next year.

Gavin DeGraw, Maroon 5 & Train

July 22, 2011

Bridget wanted to go to this concert at Cricket so she ordered the tickets.  She found a link on Train's facebook page and ordered them through Artist Arena.  They were great seats in the center section 9 rows back.  We stoppped at KFC and ate dinner at Cricket. 

If you ask me how I'm doing
I would say I'm doing just fine
I would lie and say that you're not on my mind
But I go out and I sit down at a table set for two
And finally I'm forced to face the truth,
No matter what I say I'm - not over you (not over you)
                                          Gavin DeGraw

Gavin DeGraw was first up.  Played some of his new stuff getting ready to come out and some old songs.  Pretty good, I liked I Don't Want to Be.  Good piano player too.

I am in misery
There ain't nobody who can comfort me
(Oh yeah)
Why won't you answer me
The silence is slowly killing me
Girl you really got me bad
You really got me bad
I'm gonna get you back
Gonna get you back
                         Maroon 5

Maroon 5 was up next.  Bridget saw them with Jen a few years ago.  She said they put on a great show so I kinda expecting what happened next.  Their show was very high energy and Adam was all over the place.  They dressed in all white and said that on this tour every Friday was going to be white outfits.

I been high
I been low
I been yes, and I been oh hell no
I been rock 'n roll and disco
Won't you save me San Francisco
                                     Train

Train was up next.  If I thought Adam was all over the place, Patrick Monahan did not stay still.  Bridget tried to take pictures and he would move before the camera clicked.

It was a great concert and I think Maroon 5 stole the show.

Comic Con 2011 Part1

July 21, 2011

Okay last year was our first time going to Comic Con.  Everytime the website said tickets would be on sale, the server blew up.  Happened several times.  Finally they kinda fixed the server and we were able to buy tickets for only 2 days.  Thursday and Sunday.  We bought the tickets in February.  Last time we bought them in December.  You have to get them right away of they sell out.  You can't buy them from scalpers because the badge is linked to your name and it needs to match your ID.

We got going pretty quickly on Thursday.  Last year we had a great parking spot, but it was a good walk to the convention center.  We tried to park closer but needed to get there earlier, so we were back to our old spot.

We walked to the convention center and then walked up the stairs to get our badges.  I went up first because Bridget didn't want to climb those stairs if that wasn't the way.  I motioned for her to come up and got in line.  The line started moving before she made it up the stairs.  I got my badge first and then went back to her.  "Thanks for waiting"  She got in line to get her badge and the person noticed we had tickets for Sunday also.  She gave Bridget badges for both days and then she gave me mine for Sunday.  That was great luck as you will hear the story on Sunday.

In we went.  There were a lot people in costumes and just a lot of people milling around.  You get a great big bag to put your purchases and freebies in.  We knew from last year if you really want to see something you try and get in the panel before.  Last year we were only able to get in the smaller rooms so this year we were better prepared.  We got in line for Ballroom 20.  Twilight was in Hall H (capacity 6500) and people were camping out days in advance to get in.  The line was starting to move, but it was deceiving just like Disneyland.  We were outside and Bridget had to go to the bathroom.  She went inside and asked a security guy if she could get back out there. No.  The line did go back inside so she got back in there.  We were in line a couple of hours before we got in.  The Ballroom holds about 4200  people.  Comic Con does not clear the room, so once in, its great.


We made it in for the Pysch panel.  USA network show staring James Roday and Dule Hill.  http://www.usanetwork.com/series/psych/
We had not ever saw the show but the panel 7 actors, the creator and 2 executive producers were funny.  And we saw a preview from the coming season.  They gave us tickets to take to the fulfillment room.  We didn't get that last year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iWlFgoIrCo
Next up in Ballroom 20 was the panel from Ringer.  A new show staring Sarah Michelle Geller.  Bridget wanted to see that one.  It's a new triller about a woman who witnesses a murder and assumes the life of her identical twin.  There were 3 other cast members and the co-executive producers there.  Sarah was funny (answering a question not really direct at her and then worrying about the next questions) and they showed scenes from the upcoming season.
http://cwtv.com/shows/ringer

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/07/21/sarah-michelle-gellar-talks-ringer-comic-con/#more-51383

We got another ticket.  Whoo hoo.

I wanted to see the next panel even though I had not seen any episode from this show.  Game of Thrones, the HBO series.  The series is based on the books from George R R Martin and he was the moderator.  They showed scenes from the series and now it made sense why the one lady had a dragon sewed to her dress.  The fan base was very loud and supported the actors and the writer.  They almost seemed fanatical.  Jasom Momoa was there (the new Conan too) and he was quite in character.  Peter Dinklage was using dry humor and body language.  Emilia Clarke looked pretty, but her hair was brunette not the platinum blonde.  Got another ticket.  Yes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmQzGKIEV2I 


 We decided we should eat something finally.  We had been in line since about 10:15 and got out of there at 4:00pm.  Only had snacks and water.  We walked over to the Hilton and ate at the Fox Sports Grill. 

The exhibits closed at 7 pm so we walked over to the Marriott and entered the Fulfillment Room.  Turned in our ticket for Psych and got a free T-shirt.  Went over to the Ringer area and we got a stool (3 legged one).  The Game of Thrones was the best with a backpack, T-Shirt, paperback book by George RR Martin, Games of Thrones, a map and a mouse pad.

We walked back to the car.  Bridget was so tired I had to carry her bag too.  We need to rest up for tomorrow.

Neon Trees

July 13, 2011

I got close To your skin
While you were sleeping
I taste the
Salt on Your hands
I reached out
To touch you
The morning light disarms you
Won't you let me In?
Ohh
How long till your surrender?
Ohh
How long till your surrender?
It's a long way
For heart break
Let your heart wait and bleed
Ohh
How long till your surrender to me?
                             Neon Trees

Bridget got private listener concert tickets from a local radio station to see Neon Trees.  They were going to be at Airr Supper Club.  It's new place that just opened downtown.  We were early and they were just forming a line.  Being hungry we were unsure how we would be able to eat there during the concert so we went next door to Ciro's.

http://www.cirossd.com/

We grabbed some pizza by the slice and relaxed.

We got in line and went upstairs.  The restaurant has a white room and the lounge is red.


http://airr.us/

We got seats pretty close to the front, over by the cameraman (standing on the left side of one of the pitures below).  The band played for 30-45 minutes and then did a meet and greet in another room.  The sound was really good and it was good time.  We left after they played.

                                               From our seats.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM7Hlg75Mlo&feature=player_detailpage

Here we go again
I kinda wanna be more than friends
So take it easy on me
I'm afraid
You're never satisfied
Here we go again
We're sick like animals
We play pretend
You're just
A cannibal
And I'm afraid
I won't get out alive
I won't sleep tonight
Oh oh
I want some more
Oh oh
What are you waiting for
Take a bite of
My heart tonight
                   Neon Trees