My Summer Love...KENNY CHESNEY

The day I've waited all summer for has come and gone!! The Kenny Chesney concert was on Saturday!!  If you read the blog at all last week...you knew!  LOL

Kenny is a LONG day but the most fun day of the summer!!  KENNY IS SUMMER!!!

Headed to my sister's house Friday night to stay over so we could get right up on Saturday and get ready to go...an hour later than usual, but that's ok!  We met my other two sisters and brother-in-law's at the park and ride and after loading everything of theirs up in Meg's truck, headed out about 11:30.   This show is an all-day affair.  And when I say all day, I mean ALL DAY and into the next day!  The Stadium is in Jersey and us being from New York-it's a ride.

Getting to the show we hit a bunch of traffic.  But we knew was going to happen!  It ended up being ok though, because it was the hottest day of the year.  Like 95° and 120 in the sun HOTT!!  SO our shorter than usual tail gate was welcomed!!

By about 1:30 we made it into the parking lot and met up with my bestie Mel and her Dad who were also going to the show!!  Tailgated in the blistering heat til about 4:15 and headed inside.  Mel, Meghan and I do not like to miss an act.  We support them all!!  And when you have club seats with an air conditioned area, why not go inside when it's 110 out!!  Mel commented that she hadn't been this hot since our 4 days of concerts at CMA fest in 2009 when there was record-breaking, stay inside for your own health heat!! When even at 11 p.m. it was legitly 100°!!

Our crew!  

(not really sure why I'm holding a football!!)

The show kicked off at 4:30 with Old Dominion, who was actually added to the bill!!  I really like them and couldn't wait to see them.  I love, love, love their song Break Up with Him. I actually blogged about it here! We were sad though that they didn't play their newest song, Nowhere Fast!

The Early Birds...Country's Biggest Supporters!  We love everybody!!

After Old Dominion was Cole Swindell. I like him a lot too.  And Mel, Meg and I have already seen him.  He opened for Luke Bryan Last September.  I love when the artist comes on and I can sing along to every song!  And he's GREAT LIVE!!!  We said when he had his own headlining show we are so there!!

After Cole Swindell was Brantley Gilbert.  I'm not gonna lie...I like him on the radio.  In concert, notsomuch!  A little too loud and hard rock for me!!  So during his set Meghan and I went to scope out the merchandise.  Which in all honesty we should have bought first thing when we went in and no one was around.  Because by that time almost everything was sold out!!   After walking across the whole place, back outside, and three booths later, I got a shirt and a koozie!!

By seven I was back in my seat for the rest of the night!  The show was a co-headlining tour for Jason Aldean and Kenny.  Mel and I have seen Jason Aldean before too.  She got us tickets for my birthday a few years ago!  (Clearly, the money that other people our age are spending on their kids, Mel and I spend on concert tickets!!)  He puts on a great show and played a good hour and a half.  Full show, complete with pyrotechnics and everything!

This one's for Leslie!!  :)

A little after nine KENNY hit the stage!!  And for two hours we were up dancing and singing along!  Just such a fun night!!  Kenny has a lot of new songs...he didn't play many of those.  But I feel like everyone at a Kenny show is there to hear the old songs!!

He's entered on this zipline chair thingy a few times!!  They leave the lights on for his safety!  HA!!

The show ended around 11:30.  We always stick around in the parking lot after the show to not have to be in the mad traffic that is getting 60,000 people out of the stadium.  So we ate snacks and listened to some more music!  By the time we headed out of the stadium is was a quarter to one!  And by the time we got home it was 3!  YIKES!!  Needless to say, we were all tired yesterday!  But another Sunday Funday was in store!!

But I think Happy Heart Day will have to wait for it's own post!!  So please come back tomorrow!!

I calculated that this is my ninth Kenny Show!!  YIKES!!  I love them all!!  Can't wait 'til next year!!  Fingers Crossed he tours!!

Linking up today for:
Weekending with B Loved Boston and Champagne & Suburbs
Monday Madness with Ashley at A Cute Angle

Sing Along with this Saturday Six!

Kenny Chesney is Summer for me!!  And since I'm headed to his concert tonight I thought I'd share some of my favorite Kenny tunes.  It was really hard to narrow it down to just 6...I just love so many!!  Feel Free to go grab your coffee and get ready to rock out for a little while!  Even if you're not a country fan , I think you'll enjoy it!

Never Wanted Nothing More

I wrote about the chorus of this song during the blog quote challenge!  Read about why I love it here!

 Beer in Mexico

The lyrics just speak to me!  HA!!  I've had many a beer laying in a hammock, contemplating life on the beaches of Mexico!

I Go Back
The way that Kenny sings of old songs taking him back through certain times in his life, his songs do that same for me!!

Come Over...just a hot song!!!

American Kids
A song from Kenny's newest Album.  A throwback if you will!  And the lyrics "a little messed up  but we're all alright"...no truer words!!     Actually these are pretty true lyrics too!!  Everybody wanna to Go to Heaven, but nobody wanna go now!!   See that video here!
Summertime
Because like I said, Kenny is SUMMER!!  And in video you get a taste for a Kenny Stadium show!

In honor of pre-season football and the show being at a stadium tonight, I thought I'd leave you with a bonus video.  Boys of Fall is another one of my faves. The video is a little long but it's snippits of a collaboration Kenny did with ESPN back in 2013. Definitely worth the watch.  Makes me wish I lived in a Friday Night Lights town!!

Boys of Fall 

If you made it this far with me, WHHEEEEWWWW!!  And THANK YOU!!!  Have a happy Saturday...I know I will.

Off to the tailgate!!  

Five on Friday!

Absolute Fave of the Week!!  HANDS DOWN!

via Smule

I might have watched it a dozen times!!  I just love Luke so much!!

Random Nights Out!

Some weeks I have plans every day!  Other weeks I got nothin' This week was one of those weeks!!  Or so I thought!!  Love when my friends just text me to hang on the fly. I thought this week I'd save some money doing nothing...hahahaha.  Last week, when I did my numbers post, I mentioned that I ate out 17 times in July.  That is a lot!  But I'm on tap to do the same this month.....EEEEEKKKKK!!

Sweet Story of the Week

Love this article Twin has baby for her sister who can't carry a child due to advanced breast cancer.  And how cute are all these pictures too!  I was surprised how far this story has spread but am happy for the sisters that it has.  I just love Good News!!

Allison Rose Photography

Fave Product

I received the Influenster Sunshine VoxBox in the mail recently.  Inside were a bunch of awesome products for me to try for free and review!  I will have a full post up about it soon but for now I want to talk about one of my favorite products!  The Vaseline Spray and Go Aloe Lotion is AWESOME!!  So quick and easy.  Perfect for keeping summer skin moisturized!!  Definitely Reccommend!!

Blog Buddies!

Was so happy to be featured on my sweet Leslie's blog again this week!! You may remember that we teamed up for Friendship Day! She asked me to share my white on white look from earlier this summer with  her.  I am so surprised everyone is so loving this look.  You may remember I was apprehensive about it....but now that's diminishing!!  Go fellow Leslie's blog. She's hilarious!!!  And is hosting a giveaway today- go enter!

Have a great weekend everyone!!  So excited to finally be seeing Kenny Chesney tomorrow!!  Come on back to the blog tomorrow for a special Kenny Post!!

Cheers!!

Linking up my 5 with:

Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites 

September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday!

April and the girls for Five on Friday

Jennie for Friday Favorites

Tif and the girls for High Five for Friday

More Thursday Randoms

Linking up with Vanessa and Penny today for Thinking Out Loud! 

Sharing more totally random thoughts and confessions for this Thursday!

This cutie is my new celebrity crush! 

Austin Stowell is an actor in a new show Public Morals that premieres on  TNT August 25th.  Ed Burns is in it as well.  Looking forward to it.

I tried the layered necklace trend....I think I did ok...but not 100% sure I'll ever do it again!  Any thoughts would be appreciated!!

The top to my Kuerig is broken.  But every time I slam it down and get it to work on the first try, I feel accomplished!

The sound of landscapers at 7:30 in the morning pisses me off!

I sometimes use my washer as a hamper!  Please tell me I'm not alone in this!!

The fact that I'll be back at school in less than 2 weeks gives me an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach!!  

LONG LIVE SUMMER!

I probably won't make my {6 books this summer} goal.  Even though I am THIS CLOSE!

Drunk Texting anyone is never a good idea....that is all.

I heard a story on the news that homes that have a Trader Joe's in their town, cost more money.  I always wished there was a Trader Joe's closer to me but my thoughts: WTF!! I found it online here!

I get most of my news from Facebook.

And on that note I probably should tell you all I Google EVERYTHING!!!

Sometimes I do absolutely nothing....and am completely ok with it...

Share your random with me in the comments below!
Have a happy Thursday!  Cheers!

Blogging is a Sisterhood

After such strong blogging in July, I kind of took an unintended blog break this past week.  I had a few posts in draft that never ended up being published.  I guess I did a little more life and a lot less commputing! But today is the perfect day to get back at it!!  Today in my neck of the woods it's pouring down rain!!

 I wanted to get this one out way sooner because I'm so excited about it.  I have been nominated by Shelly at The Queen in Between for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award. Thanks Shelly!  

The rules are simple.  The goal is to learn a little bit more about the blogger by asking them 10 questions then nominate 10 or 12 more bloggers to do the same with a set of  your own questions! Tell your nominees they've been nominated by leaving them a comment on their blog. And don't forget to thank the blogger who nominated you, too!

These are the questions Shelly had for me:

1.  How did you decide on your blog name?

Well my blog started out as a joke.  I was pretty old when I moved out on my own (maybe a low paying catholic school teaching job and a bad shopping habit are to blame!  HA!  Actually I just don't like change!)  But when I finally did, all these crazy things started happening.  I would go into work and tell my stories and everyone would laugh.  I joked that I could have my own blog called the Mishaps and Mayhem of a Solitary Life.  My friends agreed and said they'd totally read it.  So I just started it.  It was really just for me in the beginning but has grown into something I'm really proud of.  A hodge podge of everything these days...friends, family, food, fashion and FUN!!  Read my first ever post from back in the day here! The older posts are fun!!  The blog really picked up steam in 2104 but I really love those initial posts!

2.  What tip would you offer new bloggers?

Well, I still think of myself as a fairly new blogger!  But I would say write about what you love and find your niche!  Make it you!  And join link ups to find new blog friends and blogs you might enjoy reading as well as to help expand your audience.  I'm always finding new blogs!

3.  What was your dream job growing up?

Actually I am doing it.  I always wanted to be a teacher.  I don't ever remember wanting to do anything else. I'm going into year 14  of teaching.  I've taught 3rd, 4th, and 2nd grades.  For the last few years I've been my school's librarian and technology teacher.  Now I teach all 300 students in my school.

4.  What would you love to get paid to do now?

To be honest, I'd love to get paid more to teach.  Teaching catholic school is much different than public school.  The salaries are not comparable. And sometimes it make living here difficult!   If I could get paid to do something else though...is nothing acceptable?  :)

5.  What is your favorite season?

Hands down: SUMMER!!  I am just a happier person when it's 85, sunny and I have a tan!

6.  What is your favorite summer outfit?

I like easy in summer!  I like to throw on a dress and go!  I seem to be wearing these two striped dresses over and over this summer!!

7.  What is your favorite summer cocktail or mocktail?

I like it all!  But it depends on the day and who I'm with!  This summer I am really into lemonade cocktails!  So refreshing!  But nothing beats an ice cold beer on a hot summer day, or a nice glass of wine to end a summer night!

8.  Favorite summer memory?

When I was little, every year my family traveled to Emerald Isle, NC and rented a beach house for a week with my cousins.  I have so many great memories from those trips.  Each year our group seemed to grow to include more family and friends.  2 different summers we were evacuated  due to hurricanes!  My family still goes to NC.  Not every year, but often and now, with kids...a little closer in the Outer Banks.  .  And since the family is so big now, our family fits into a house all our own!  Things have changed a lot over the years, but a week with family at the beach is still always fun!

9.  Who would play you in a movie about your life?

Great question!!  I've love it if Reese Witherspoon played me!!

via

10. What is your favorite tip for balancing all the "in betweens" in your life?

Stress less....laugh often!

So fun!!   Thanks again Shelly!!

Now it's my turn to nominate and ask the questions.  Hope these ladies are up to the challenge!

I'm nominating some of my fellow Style Me Bloggers (who I don't think have been nominated yet) and some of my bloggy friends!  Love reading their blogs...hope you do too!!

Amanda @ A Brownie World

Deena @ Shoes to Shiraz

Sarah @ Foxy's Domestic Side 

Leslie @ Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After

Lana @ Two Teens and their Mama

Jenny @ Much ado about Jenny 

Amanda @ klien.co

Erin @ Our Little Life 

Military Wife & Pug Life

JulieAnn @ Coach G's Wife

Can't wait to see your answers to these questions...

How has blogging enhanced your life?

What's your favorite guilty pleasure show?

What are you reading now?

What are three things you can't live without?

Morning Person or Night Owl?

What season do you think is easiest to dress for?

Have you ever done anything that's taken you out of your comfort zone?  If so, what?

Where is your favorite place to visit?

What genre of music is your favorite and why? 

What would your perfect day entail?

Monthly Rewind: July in Numbers!

August...the dreaded August already!!  July flew by!!  How can it already be time for a recap post?!?!

But it is indeed and I am going to relish the last bit of July I can composing this post!  :) I'm linking up with Deena at Shoes to Shiraz for her Monthly Numbers post!  So much fun!!

May in Numbers

June in Numbers

July in Numbers:

3 Books finished!  YAY!!  Two more than last month!!

Eight Hundred Grapes was by far my favorite....I read it in one day!!!

3 Birthdays celebrated!  We celebrated Amy on turning 6 on July 9tth with a family party on the 4th.  And went out to celebrate my sister's birthday...even though her birthday is June 30, on July 2.  My Aunt also had a birthday in July so we celebrated her on the 30th.

All those birthdays, lunches and dinners with friends totaled 17 for the month!  I actually said last month that I thought my twelve meals out in June were a lot and this month it's 17!!  YIKES!! That also adds up to a ton of money spent on food and drink!  I did however go to IHOP for breakfast once ...which I never do! LOL

2 Hello Fresh Deliveries this month and one on June 29th meant I made 8 Hello Fresh Meals in July!

Carolina BBQ Sliders were hands down my favorite Hello Fresh meal!!  Perfect for Summer and perfect with a beer or two on a Friday night!

4 Days with house guests My cousin and her husband came and stayed with my for a few days.  So glad to see them, even if it wasn't under the best of circumstances!

1 trip to the beach Boooo...this is too low of a number! But after so much rain in June, lots of sunny days in July meant lots of time out on the postage stamp patio!

1 Concert attended My friend and I saw Bret Michaels at a local park near us.  He's not usually my thing but I had a great time...can't wait til next year.  Read about it here.

Basically the month of July was all about the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale!!  It began on July 9th for Nordstrom Cardholders.  So that meant three full weeks of shopping fun!!  I can't really tally my total here because I've made returns and things but I will say that during the sale I placed 9 online orders. And they all probably came in 87 different boxes.  I really should have tallied the number of times the UPS man came to my house!!

A bit about the blog in July

22- number of posts this month.  The most ever in a month since I've started!
Thanks to everyone who tagged me to do posts!!

Most viewed post in July: You Can Still Love Fridays

Post with the highest reach on The Mishaps and Mayhem of a Solitary Life Facebook Page: A fun and festive 4th
Not many new likes on the FB page but I realized I have to get better about posting on there.  Amanda from A Brownie World has a really fun, active page on Facebook where she posts more than post links.  I need to do that too!

64 pics posted to insta!  Follow me here!

Catch up on all the posts you might have missed in July here!

Another month in the books....where is the year going?!?  Enjoy these last weeks of summer!!

Blog Quote Challenge #3

Today is the final installment of Quote Challenge Mondays!  I've been scouring through quotes I love and decided I wanted to end with a funny!  Because that's who I am!  Don't know who said this but ever since I saw this a few years ago, I've been living it! And someone once told me I never smiled!!  Wha...the what?!? Clearly he didn't know me at ALL!!  And besides, freshman year in college was HARD!  hahahahahahaha

 This quote make me laugh and smile every time, so I guess...DONE!!

Some days are not always easy, believe me!  But there are still a million reasons to smile in everyday! When a student "gets it", a random text, message, a laugh with a friend, even a commercial on T.V. or at a random stranger on the street!

So find a reason to SMILE today!!  And tell me about it in the comments below...so I can smile too!!

Since the blog quote challenge was passed on to me by Lana, I now get to pass it along to three more bloggers!  If these ladies wanna jump on board I'd love to see the quotes that inspire you!  For the Quote Challenge you share three favorite quotes, either in one post, or over three posts.

Amanda @ A Brownie World Blog

Leslie @ Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After

Military Wife and Pug Life

You can find more info about how the blog quote challenge works here!!

And a BIG THANKS again to Lana for tagging me!

I've had so much fun over these last few weeks and since I have about 303 favorite quotes, I think from time to time I'll post them!!

Have a great day!!

In case you missed yesterday's Friendship Day post, written by me and my bestie...linking up with Leslie and her sister, Valerie, you can read it here...hopefully it makes you smile too!!

Read my previous quote posts here:

Wonder

Kenny