We'll Get It Together & Get It All Done

<Sigh> Back to work. No afternoon nap on the sofa with a sweet baby. Just phone calls and emails and meetings and site development...

But I'm very grateful for my awesome job!



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Hallelujah! Everybody Say Cheese!

Merry Christmas from the family

Then You'll Know Exactly How to Groove

See ya in 2015 work clients! That's right, I'm on vacation for a while...so...it's time for some Snoop!



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In The Night Forlorn The Morning's Born

As we really close in on the holidays, I have a request for folks. So see a show. Go to a local record store and spend some time shopping. Buy a record, buy a CD from a local band. If  you have no other options, download an entire album from ITunes or Amazon.

But if you get a chance, go see a show. Maybe buy a T-shirt. Just support some musicians when you can.

And here's another cover of Townes. It's my favorite Townes song, so yes I'm predictable. If you need an album suggestion, buy this one. It's pretty awesome and supports a great charity for musicians, Sweet Relief.



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Now You Wear Your Skin Like Iron

I was working in a Nashville restaurant when Townes Van Zandt died. A group of songwriters were gathered at the bar, telling Townes stories and drinking. Some were drinking A LOT, one pretty famous singer/songwriter was actually cut off because she was crying so hysterically.

In a pre-Napster/ITunes day, all I could think was "Man, I gotta go get some Townes Van Zandt albums. There must be more to this guy than Pancho and Lefty..." I think I stopped at Tower Records on West End on my way home. And yeah, there is A LOT more to Townes than Pancho & Lefty, but Pancho & Lefty's not bad, not bad at all.



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Eight Miles Outta Memphis

How can you compare Sharon Jones to Kenny Rogers? The Dap-Kings to The First Edition? You don't have to, just enjoy the funky Monday music people!



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Cutting edge visuals from 1968

It's You and Me Forever

There is a certain demographic of women who turn up the radio whenever a Hall & Oates song comes on. We danced too many slow dances to "One on One" or maybe it is because "Because Your Kiss" still reminds us of the first boy we ever REALLY kissed. And we all have a secret silly dance we do when we hear "You Make My Dreams Come True." Sigh...seriously the soundtrack of high school for me.

Most of the women I know in that demographic love Joan Osborne. She is one of the really cool girls from the Grrrl Power days of the mid 90s. And for those of us with super curly hair, she is also a superficial hero. And she toured with the DEAD, come on!

So here's a best of both worlds Friday jam. And if you are going to be snuggling up to a honey dip tonight, just grab the entire album. AWESOME!



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And for kicks and giggles

Where I Will Always Be Renewed

We all need to hear it sometimes, right? I believe in you, not in some corny self help book sort of way...in a Bob Dylan way...



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Gotta Bag It Up

One of my bestie's baby is 20 today. TWENTY! How did that happen, there are days I still think I'm 20. But a piece of advice to 20 year old girls...move through your world with all the confidence and grace a 20 year old can possess. And have fun. And be safe, always use a buddy system like field trips in elementary school. Okay, so be confident, be safe, have fun and call your mother!

In my early twenties, a friend told me to always walk into a room with my personal soundtrack playing in my mind. It always made me feel at ease and more confident. This is a cover, but the soundtrack is still the same for me at fortysomething...



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My Love's Like the Warmth of the Sun

A little Friday under the covers snuggle song...



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I'm Lucky to Be Here With Someone I Like

Since I had a kid in my forties, I find myself singing this Warren Zevon song often, a little too often really. But that's okay...I waited tables through college and sang "Lawyers, Guns and Money" all the time during long shifts. Now, I was obviously thinking about the LAST line of the song but man...did I just forget the FIRST line of the song?

Anywoo, I love this Jill Sobule cover. I love this whole tribute album (and I'm not big on tribute albums).



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Play the Song with the Funky Break

I've heard so many really cool cover songs lately. SO...December will be all about the covers. Except today is kind of the anti-cover. I'm going to start December with an original artist version. Can't help it, I don't think Bruce's voice has ever sounded better than this...



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A Breeze in the Pines and the Sun and Bright Moonlight

In the past few weeks, my mini me has picked up my super sick spin moves. She would kill it at a Dead show, her little feet fly as she dances to any song on the radio, TV, computer, phone. She even dances along with her musical toys. She's got everything delightful indeed.

Happy Thanksgiving friends. Be grateful every single day (but pig out tomorrow).



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I Was a Kid That You Would Like

I had a great childhood, surrounded by cousins and great friends and people who pretty much indulged my every fantastical whim. According to my Ma Ruby, I was the best baby and sweetest little girl out there. I don't know about that, but all my memories of being a kid are pretty spectacular.

I hope Sophie gets to climb a lot of trees. I hope she rides her bike so fast that her feet can't stay on the pedals. I hope she stays out after dark and catches fireflies in a mason jar.



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I Dreamt I Held You in My Arms

Two years ago, the non-mommy woke up for the last time. From the minute I sat up, I felt it was going to be the day I met my daughter. It would take her a while, but Sophie was on the way. I think I sang this song all day long.



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'Cause There's a Million Things to Be

Cummings said it best with "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." And there are a million quotes I'm sure I'll use over the course of Sophie's life but I hope I'm able to really demonstrate how to be an authentic person, a brave person. Please help her be comfortable in her own skin. Let her know she should always be her own girl. Sing out, be free, sweet Sophie.



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Hot and Heavy Pumpkin Pie

So I know this is basically the new millennial hippie anthem but it is also the song I remember hearing all the time when I was expecting Sophie. Of course when she actually got here, it became part of the rally cry on every trip to the NICU..."today is the day, today Sophie comes home..." And then on Christmas day 2012, it actually happened.



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Everybody Loves a Comeback

It's a FRIDAY SONG...and one of the silly songs I used to sing to Sophie when she was in the NICU. The kid is back people!



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Just Like Way Back in the Days of Old

Van Morrison has been my 'go to guy' for years. A long, rainy Saturday...throw on Astral Weeks or Hymns to the Silence and I'm good to go. Sunday drive? Moondance or Tupelo Honey, all the way through, sometimes twice. And Veedon Fleece, that's for the candlelight.

When Sophie was tiny, I was so exhausted I couldn't remember any lullabies, She got a lot of Beatles songs, James Taylor songs and a few Van Morrison songs. Boy, can I butcher a Van Morrison song! But I still sing this one to her sometimes when I need to rock her gypsy soul.



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Rock My Soul

Some days there are no words and on those days, I listen to music all day long.

For Daddy, forever, for always.



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Keeper of My Soul

Well, this one is just obvious. Happy Friday ya'll!



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Tell Her She’s Your Moon and Sun

My kid is a good sleeper. Since we brought her home from the hospital almost 2 years ago, she's averaged 12 hours of sleep a night. Until she was 16 months old, we had 2 naps each day that were at least an hour. I feel really smug saying this but seriously, the first couple of months she was here, we woke her up at night for a bottle. Our pediatrician told us we were crazy and we needed to stop waking up a sleeping infant. So yeah, she's slept through the night since she was 3 months old.

When she was a few months old, we would do her morning bottle on the sofa watching music videos. It relaxed us both and made for a nice easy transition to day time activities. And this was one of Sophie's favorites. I don't know if it was the clapping or the cowbell or just the undeniable likability of those dang Hanson brothers. She was tiny but she would stop everything and just listen. Then the song was over and she would go back to whatever baby thing she had been doing. I played the song this morning and she danced like her feet were on FIRE...seriously, I see Irish step dance in her future.

The best part? If she turns into one of those dark brooding teens, I get to play this song to her over and over. We've even got video to prove how much she loves this silly song!



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Heaven was a Place Still in Space not in Motion

November is a weird month for me. It is of course the best month of the year because my daughter was born in November, on Thanksgiving as providence would have it. But my dad also died in November so there's that. But in the end, the absolute truth of it is this...I've got everything.

How can I be sad when I hear the insane giggling almost two year old ball of joy running her little feet off right downstairs?

Three years ago, I would have HATED this song, would have thought it was the cheesiest thing ever. But when Sophie was teeny tiny, when I would beg her to take just a few tiny sips of milk, this video would come on and I just knew it would be okay.



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Selling Dreams of Redemption

Rainy days and Wednesdays always make me wanna curl up at the top corner of the bed with my big red blanket and a magazine full of pretty pretty pictures and articles about my favorite books and albums and movies...but I'll go to work instead!



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Stop and Believe

It finally feels like Fall, ya'll! Happy Monday!



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A Delectable Dimension Undetectable By Sight

I went on my very last first date 5 years ago today. And it wasn't really even a first date, Tom and I call it our 2nd first date. We met and kinda went out a few times in college. But 5 years ago, well...it was the real thing kids.



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You Gotta Get Your Kicks While You Can

Not gonna lie, I might like this song because I think the dude in the video is good looking (Anton Yelchin). The older I get, the more I realize I'm about as deep as a teaspoon...



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I Laughed Out Loud Once

"American Fool" was released the summer before I started 8th grade. I remember laying on a quilt covered in baby oil (mixed with iodine because that helped you tan) and hearing "Hurts So Good" for the very first time. I seriously can remember it like it was yesterday, the colors of the quilt, the stereo speaker propped up in my opened bedroom window, my first adult two piece bathing suit. And the bridge to that song...

I feel like I grew up with John Cougar Mellencamp, still impossible for me not to include the Cougar in there. And this song hits too close to home in so many ways. It definitely isn't a Happy Monday song, but I love it just the same.

So here's to self destructive behavior and not so wasted youth!



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What's the Point of Even Sleeping

Faking the funk on Friday boys and girls! Fake that Funk!



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And My Heart Was Free as a Breeze

So rainy, so coldy, so Wednesday...



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It's Nikki Full Throttle

Yeah, this is not the music I normally listen to...but I'm starting a new workout/exercise program/challenge today and I needed some music that would make me wanna shake it at 7am. And the kiddo loves this video, she dances her diaper off whenever it comes on!

So bang bang buddies!



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I'm Not Gonna Wait Til the End of Me

I drove a convertible forever. Loved that car, still have dreams about driving through the mountains on a beautiful sunny October day with the top down and the radio up. Today isn't the day for convertibles. Today is a day for ducks.



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Elevate It in a Song

Preach!



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You Got a Face with a View

Man, I was sure glad to see my house tonight! And I'm sure that Martin and Heather Keith are glad they have found their home! We had a great wedding weekend but it was nice to see the sun setting over our roof as we pulled into the drive.

I love the Talking Heads but keeping with my October promise, here's a super nice cover to cover me up with warm yumminess as I listen to the thunder and watch a Knoxville light show.



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You're Familiar Like my Mirror Years Ago

Gonna try to feature music from at least this century in October! This is one of the new favorites in the Sughrue household with some lyrics that give me the shivers!



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They Took the Long Way

Gonna have an exciting week! Look out greater DC area, the Sughrues are coming to town!

Congrats Martin and Heather!



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My Life's a Smile not a Frown

Because I'm going to pretend THIS is the last weekend of summer!



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Hey Shady Baby

Because on Wednesday, I need more cowbell!



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Keeping It a Mystery

Because it is late fall 2006 and Rob just can't miss. Even my daddy was singing "Rob BIRONAS" on Sundays. I like to think my Ma Ruby and my Dad were waiting in line to shake his hand yesterday and tell him "Good game, well played!"



(This is not my video and even though I probably screamed some similar words, I apologize for a swear word or two this video may contain)

From the Bottom to the Top

September has seemed HEAVY, just so heavy man. So a song that makes my kiddo happy covered by a group that makes the mommy happy.

My Little Loves with Blessings from Above

I really love my job. I love what I do. I love my co-workers. Of all the things I am extremely thankful for, my job is one. And I'm grateful for all the wonderful friends I've been lucky enough to make with EVERY job I've had over the years. Some of the jobs weren't quite as gratifying as the one I have now but the camaraderie! One of the greatest gifts in my life has been amazing colleagues.



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The Bird of Peace is Flying Over

What a strange few weeks it has been, watching grown (maybe I should say overgrown) men sit in a semi-circle facing camera left or right as they somehow try to discuss colleagues beating women and children. None defending, but almost all finding some thread of excuse "We don't know what happened between them" or "My parents whooped me and I'm a better person for it" or "Sometimes we need to wait and find out the circumstances" (that was my favorite).

Maybe I'm too sensitive because I'm a mother now, especially because I'm a mother of a daughter. But I would tell those guys the same thing I will one day tell my daughter. Don't raise your hand to someone in anger. PERIOD.



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Rain Would Gather Too

All week long I've been thinking of my uncles in the Great Hereafter. A game between UT and OU might not be considered a rivalry between anyone but the Brown family but I bet those guys are yucking it up and slinging the insults in heaven...if they allow that sort of thing.

The thoughts of those conversations have made a sad sort of week a little lighter. Go Vols!



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I Know All I Need is This

This morning as I watch my daughter read a book surrounded by her wooden blocks, I realize I've turned into that cliche big ball of marshmallow mush from a jar. It feels like jumping in mud puddles with a double rainbow overhead, catching snowflakes on your tongue, scoring the winning run, every overworked dance montage in a Cameron Diaz movie. My heart is 10 sizes too big.

And this song isn't cheesy, it's perfect in every way! And if you disagree, get off my blog, you heartless a-hole!



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Your Way is Nice but My Way is Quicker

It's finally Friday friends and the Tennessee State Fair is in town. You know what that means...time to french kiss someone on top of the Ferris wheel!



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I Can't Get Back the Way I Used to Be

I'm seriously so old that if a 14 year old asked me for advice it would be "Take care of your teeth kid."

And that my friends is OLD. (FYI, the band is Climax Blues Band...there is no album version on Spotify.)



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Woke Up Feeling Mean

I really truly love tons of things. Two of those things are Football Time in Tennessee and the Grateful Dead!

Happy kickoff weekend everyone, Go Vols!



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And So Today My World It Smiles

All I can say about the "True Blood" finale is I'm glad it is finally over (although I will miss hearing all those fake southern accents saying Sookie). I'm no quitter and I stuck through these last few craptastic years hoping against hope that it would get better. At least they kept playing great music until the very last minute. Thank you indeed.



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I Know the Nervous Walking

I made a late night trip to the grocery on Friday. My thought was knock it out while the baby is sleeping and then I won't have to do it on Saturday. That's a Friday night when you have a kid under two. On the way home, I passed a boy and girl, leaned against the door of a car parked by the curb in front of a house on my block. It was 11:08 and I feel pretty sure my headlights either interrupted or delayed a good night kiss.

I invented the entire back story, sophomore girl, probably junior boy, home after the first football game of the season. Maybe even a first date. And of course I had to let out the oh so cliche deep sigh, thinking how nights like those seemed like yesterday but also felt like a lifetime had passed since someone walked me up the steps to my parents house. And then I had the unexpected groan as I realized soon enough, it would be my daughter leaning against the car of some yucky gross stinky boy while I flashed the front porch lights...



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Gotta Do It Big Just To Get Right

There are times when you really have to WANT to change to actually change. Fight for it, if you want change, fight for it, even if that means fighting yourself. Make up your mind and do it friends.

Love and light and win the fight!



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You've Got Much to Think About

After months and months of nothing but Bubble Guppies and Wallykazam, Sophie is branching out. Over the past couple of weeks, we've watched the cuckoo Care Bears about 216 times. And the theme song is really catchy, when I hear it my toe really taps. From the first viewing, I thought the voice sounded familiar. I finally looked it up. Good for you Kay Hanley, I don't knock your hustle sister!

And your voice still sounds like a sweet little angel, just like it did when I fell in love with Letters to Cleo in '93. Man that was a good year!



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It'll Make Your Day

Some days you just have to fake it until you make it. There's a reason they write songs about rainy days and Mondays...



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Great Gosh Almighty

Who's got two thumbs and is in the mood for a good ole' fashioned Friday go to meeting song with a message that will get your toes a tappin'? This girl!



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Heart Full of Hornets

Oh the melancholy...



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Still Stumbling Now

If I could tell my 20 year old self one thing it would be that love isn't disappointing or boring or depressing or exhausting. At any given minute, I am almost giddy with love for my husband and my kid. Sure, I have tired days, busy days, even super sad days. But in all honestly, when I think about my sweet husband and my baby and how absolutely unbelievable my life today would have seemed to me just 5 years ago, I am overwhelmed with happiness and gratitude.

Relish it!



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Does This Make Sense (Does it Matter Anyway)?

<Insert dreamy moody teenage girl sigh here>

My husband and I met when he was in college and I was on a sabbatical. We had a brief flirtation, I went back to college and that was the end of that. At least that was the end of that for 20 years. Long, romantic story made short, we saw each other on Facebook, exchanged some emails for a few weeks and then one night he just picked up the phone and called me. 6 hours later, we hung up. And that went on for several weeks (seriously over 4 hour phone calls every night for weeks).

Fast forward 5 years and we have a house and a baby and an amazing new life. But I still remember those phone calls.

This was the last song from my magical Sunday Shuffle. And there is still something about what happens when we talk.



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I'm Not Gonna Lie

I loved the music scene around 1995-1998. LOVED IT! Went to so many shows, saw so many bands. And while I loved what the press dubbed "grunge" in the early 90s, I was equally happy when music started getting just a little less heavy. I still listen to some of those bands and think "These guys are really great"...Better Than Ezra, Cracker, Veruca Salt, Sponge.

This was the second song from my random Sunday playlist that made me say "Heck Yeah!' and for just a minute I was in a smoky Birmingham club with my record store friends trying to decide if this band was cool or not (we decided yes, they were indeed cool if our opinion matters to anyone).



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Only You and Me

Yeah, I love Spotify. I love that I can create playlists from Spotify selections and play my actual MP3s as well. But this week I'm going to focus on "Shuffle" and the realization that eclectic doesn't come close to describing my music collection. This week's mixtape will be 3 consecutive songs from my Sunday Shuffle. These are all MP3s that I own and obviously I would have never played them together, thanks Spotify for the poolside giggle fest!

But whatever, turn on your mirror ball children!



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Just Dive

Watching my sweet girl grow up so fast is the most fun, most depressing thing ever. When I walked into her room today, she greeted me with "Good morning Sunshine!" and wild laughter. Slow down SoSo, just a little bit.



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Set the Fire Inside My Soul

Yesterday, the cutest boy in the whole wide world had another birthday. I'm so happy he keeps having these things, hope we spend at least 50 more together!



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Ain't Nothing Holding Me Back, Nothing!

I haven't worked out this summer...not once. No running, no gym, no videos, nothing. Sure, I've walked the kiddo all over the neighborhood in her handy tricycle with a push handle but we've walked slow and talked to every tree and most flowers. We've used our pool but I haven't counted one lap. I'll never get this summer back and I won't regret spending every extra minute with my under two year old.

But mommy's gotta get back in gear!



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Doesn't Have to be a Friday

I worked at a record store, at an awesome record store to be exact. I even worked with the actual Record Lady from the Lyle Lovett song. I loved it, I miss The Sound Shop to this day.

I also love Paul Westerberg. I love The Replacements, I love his solo stuff. I go on kicks where I listen to Westerberg for days. So when "Eventually" was released, I was super pumped. When we received all the promotional swag, I got busy creating a SHRINE. A couple of quick Westerberg facts: he is notoriously cranky, "snotty contrarian" is the best term ever and it was used to describe him. And according to several interviews, he isn't comfortable being recognized.

Store display-wise, everything was really coming together, only half of it was coming together on the floor and half was coming together on the wall. As I was in a full The Thinker pose contemplating my next poster placement, someone stepped past with an "Oh excuse me." If you guessed it was Paul Westerberg, you would be correct. I tried to scoop everything up quickly and fake a little dignity and composure. I'm still not sure what he bought but as I put his purchase in the bag, I thanked him and wished him a Good Day. As we walked away from the counter, I had to follow up with "It's any day that you're alive..." and he laughed out loud but kept on walking.

True story, my Wall of Westerberg won a display contest from the record label, $50 cash and that ain't bad. A good day indeed people!



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Watch the Trees Sway

One day I'll tell you all about my Uncle Bud, the coolest cat that ever lived. But he lives no longer and today is his last long drive into Texas. See you on the flip side Uncle Buddy and I'll only say this once:

Boomer Sooners



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May The Colors Run True

Sigh...for Jim and Jill...for Sheila...for my sweet Mom who has lost her last brother.



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The Maven of Funk Mutation

Tommy always says if you have a day of house work ahead of you, just put in the Talking Heads "Naked" album and you can really get it done. I agree, unless you are wearing roller skates while you clean, then you need the Tom Tom Club. Who needs to think when your feet just go?



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Sunset Overflowing

The lovey has been out of town for about 48 hours and I've already partaken in two of my favorite single lady sneaky behaviors...taking the laptop to bed and eating straight from the open fridge. Neither activity was as fun as I remembered. But guess who's coming home today? Makes me wanna dance!

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For Tommy Forever

Sigh...I'm in a mushy mood...the hubs is on his way to Tulsa.



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Ah Sookie Sookie Now!

You know "True Blood" has really jumped the shark when the only reason you ever watch is to hear the music. Get the FUNK!



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Viola Violin

You know, some days you just want to wallow around and feel sad. When you can't stay in bed all day, there is always Lou.



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I'm Hot Just Like An Oven

I saw a T-shirt that said "I don't need to flirt, I will seduce you with my awkwardness"

Well, here you go! Let's get weird together!

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Like Waves Crashing on the Beach

When my youngest nephew was 4, he hated anything and everything about girls. If I wore pink, he would honestly ask me to change because he didn't like to look at pink. But this song in particular drove him out of his mind....

Independent indeed!



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What Did I Know?

A friend of mine has died. A friend from long ago but still way too young to leave this place. He wasn't a close friend but he was a good friend to a young girl who was finding her way. Always had a smile and a compliment and more than a little good advice during one particularly grand summer. Peace be with you and yours and all the lives you touched, a gentleman indeed.



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Hats and Hooters

When Sophie was born, she spent 34 days in the NICU. I still have absolutely no idea how Tom and I made it through that time, I really don't. I can't figure out how I was actually able to walk out every night and leave that sweet little soul there. But you do what you have to do to survive.

I remember driving home one night and the situation almost caught up to me, I could feel the gravity, the reality, sneaking up my stomach, up to my throat and when that feeling was almost to the point where I had to scream or I would never catch my breath, this silly silly song came on the radio. I've never been a Steely Dan fan, but I changed this song to Sophie instead of Josie and laughed all the way home.



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Drive On Bro. Al

Stop what you are doing. Go get a bib. Put on your stretchy pants. Imma bout to serve up a big heaping helping of AWESOMESAUCE smothered in the JAM!

If you have a date tonight, do yourself a favor, listen to this entire album as you get ready. If you are as lucky as I am and your date always comes home with you, listen to this entire album to end your evening. You're Welcome!



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Sweater Girl

Very few things are cooler than a brand new empty refrigerator!

And where have the past 20 years gone?



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Oooh So Shiny!

So this is how my emotions work now...

We are getting a new fridge delivered today! Brand new shiny bells and whistles fridge. So excited I actually spent the weekend cleaning the garage so we can move the old fridge there. But last night the realization hit me...all the fridge pics will have to go. And the boo hoos began.

Since we brought Sophie home, one of our nightly routines has been the walk around the fridge and the naming of the pictures. Christmas cards, favorite snapshots, school pictures all secured by my collection of weird celebrity magnets. For the first few months, Tom would point to each picture and narrate. Then Sophie started picking the pictures by pointing. Now she participates, naming her cousins, me, Tom. The best is when she gets to a picture of herself. For a few weeks, she would jab her little finger into her tummy saying "That's You" but now she's figured out it is actually "That's Me" instead.

Now they are all gone. Young Elvis, Skyler and Davis, Carter and Ava, The Swanns, Fonzie, Stacy, Jason, Violet and Nicolas, Charlie's Angels, Mommy's Daddy, Old Elvis. Just a blank ugly almond fridge waiting to be moved outside. Mommy is devastated. Even my Kiss magnet looks sad.

None of this has been particularly traumatic to Soph. As we got our breakfast this morning, she stood in front of the fridge for a few seconds before saying "Hey!" and that was it, she went about the business of emptying the big tub of stuffed animals. For Soph, it was just another Monday. As it should be.



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Donnie and the Monkey Man

When I was in my late teens/early twenties, I baby sat two of the funniest little blonde baby girls you could imagine. Amanda and sweet Hope made me laugh so hard so often that my ribs hurt. Those girls loved barbies and the New Kids on the Block (this was before they were NKOTB). Most girls loved Joey or Jordan. But Hope, she loved Danny bless her heart. When I wanted to tease Hope, I would name all of the other "kids" and then say "and the Monkey Man." Went a little something like this "Joey and Jon and Jordan and Donnie and the Monkey Man."

Later in life, I would work with two different young women in two different record stores that seriously honest to PETE followed NKOTB around the country when they were teens. Like, their mothers drove them from state to state, helped them find the hotels where the band would stay, took FAMILY VACATIONS to Boston and then sat outside houses for hours waiting for one of the kids. One of those girls is actually in the video for "Hanging Tough."

Flash forward almost 20 years and I'm watching NKOTB on Palladia while my 4 month old is relaxing with her 6am bottle. The hubby stands in the doorway and watches and we both agree "Remix" is a real toe tapper. Even Sophie tried to sit up and watch. As the hubbo left the room, he asked "Is it weird that I really like the New Kids?" I think his college roommate had the best answer to that question: It is only weird when you admit it.

And sweet sweet Hopey, you were right, Danny is the hot one:)



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Always Look Up!

I don't think my audience will include that many folks under 35 but just in case, I have some advice for you. Please just trust me on this one...

Before you decide to get on the bar to boogie, be sure to check for ceiling fans.




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Something about Daddy

I'm a Daddy's girl, always have been. When we found out the sweet pea would be a sweet girl, I wasn't sure that my husband fully understood the amazing road he was going to get to travel. He knows now, without a doubt. I watch him walk our baby to sleep every night. I watch her wait for him to pull up in the driveway every afternoon. It would be easy to feel a little left out but the truth is I've already had that experience. I love you Daddy, til we meet again!



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Guess we just have to go to Myrtle Beach!

I've been lucky with roommates. Really lucky. My former roomie Rachel and I have had more than our fair share of awesome adventures. We are sort of an opposites attract pair of friends but we have one very important thing in common. We both tend to ask "Why Not?" instead of "Why?" and we usually can't think of many reasons to NOT.

One of our best adventures made us roommates instead of just friends. We waited tables together, I had trained Rachel just a few months before and we formed a fast friendship. One late night on a patio in the Old City, Rachel asked "Hey, do you want to go work at the beach this summer?" Three days later we drove to Myrtle Beach, found jobs at the same restaurant and an awesome little shack across the street from the beach in "North Myrtle." The owner lived in the front of the house while we lived in the back. Seriously, she could open a door in her kitchen and walk into our living room. And it was AMAZING!

Sand in my flipflops and the floorboard of my car will forever remind me of our summer at the beach. And the movie "Shag" which we watched several times that summer and even more times that fall. Rock it out, Pudge!

Drive Time

Well kids after a stormy night with no electricity, we're going to hit the road to the beach. Traveling with a toddler is tough so Sophie...well Sophie has a motion sickness issue. She can make it about 20 miles before she loses her lunch. But we're armed with a preschool prescription for nausea and a Kindle full of Bubble Guppies so look out Nags Head, the Sughrues are on our way!




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Little Girls with Light Up Shoes

Kali, our super sweet nanny, bought Sophie a pair of light up jelly sandals for Easter. They are pink with purple butterflies attached. And the kid is CRAZY for them. She loves shoes in general really. At my grandmother's funeral, she actually chased a couple of little girls down just so she could grab their feet and get a closer look at their shoes.

My grandmother Ruby loved fancy shoes too. I always said she never met an animal print or bedazzled flat that didn't come home with her. So this is for Ruby and for Sophie, who inherited her great grandmother's love of fancy fancy FANCY shoes!



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Buttermaker!

The more I interact with teens and tweens, the more I realize I'm the music equivalent of some character Walter Matthau would play in a movie. You know "Hey kid, stay outta my yard!" while wearing bermuda shorts and a dirty fishing hat.

When I hear 13 year old girls talking about 'punk' and 'goth', it is all I can do not to scream "But they're doing it WRONG!" And just when I start feeling especially judgey, I wonder what the parents of my college friends must have thought of me in my birkenstocks, broomstick skirts and Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit T-shirts.

Whatever, they are still doing it wrong.



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Summer of '69

This is absolutely, positively 100% true...

I know the guy who yelled "Play Summer of '69" when Ryan Adams was playing the Ryman Auditorium in 2002. For the record, he knows the difference between Ryan Adams and Bryan Adams. He just thought it would be HILARIOUS to request that song during Ryan Adams acoustic set. Ryan Adams was not amused...not even slightly amused. I bet Bryan Adams loves that story.



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You Ol' Boogie Fool

My college roommate Gerald is honest to Pete the funniest person I have ever met. I can't tell you exactly how many times he made me laugh until I cried, snorted, spit a drink out of my nose or peed a little. I can tell you it happened pretty much daily. Your funniest joke or coolest story would get a "ah sookie sookie now" and when we were in the car together he usually told at least one pedestrian to step out and meet Jesus.

Gerald could out Aretha Aretha in Karaoke. I'm pretty sure there is a 'studio production' video out there somewhere with him singing Funky Cold Medina on spring break in one of those "record your own video" booths. And he would break into Niki Hoeky with a really nice Soul Train line dance on command.

I miss him almost every day and haven't seen him in almost 20 years. But whenever I'm driving along and someone looks like they are going to just keep on walking through the crosswalk even though the sign is clearly flashing "Don't Walk", I politely invite them to step out and meet Jesus.



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Four Formats

My dad had an 8 track player in his truck when I was a kid. I remember singing with The Association and The Turtles. I think he actually had a tape that had the "Best Of" for each group. And I remember an Olivia Newton John tape that was one of her country albums. My daddy always did the bass line on "Let Me Be There" and I still think that song is funky, I don't care what anyone thinks!

I'm so old that I actually had an 8 track cassette adapter in my first car. Seriously, my car had an 8 track player! And of course the little briefcase I kept under the seat full of all my treasured cassettes that I just couldn't travel without, you had to have the cassette storage case. I can only imagine what my kid is going to say about cassettes, cds, VHS tapes?

Anyway, this isn't the most famous Michael Jackson album BUT it is the first album I owned on vinyl, cassette, compact disc and MP3. So put on your roller skates, you know you love it too!



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