Last night, Mary Chapin Carpenter announced she was playing with the Indigo Girls at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. I started to hyperventilate. I needed to share it with my friend, Trish, on her all; you kmow since she told me she WOULD have come down to NYC for the concert on Saturday.

THIS happened next!

There IS a road trip happening in July! To Colorado! YEAH!!!

Holy Hannah! HOW exciting. How fun. How absolutely perfect. How unexpectedly fantabulous!

Seriously, MCC and the Indigo Girls! OH, and the Colorado Symphony too!!!
(I swear I don't care that it will probably be the same show - it will be outstanding - Red Rocks! Trish! The Indigo Girls!!)
(Jane, can you STAND it?!)
(Jeannie is thinking, "Really? The Indigo Girls?! ugh...")

Trish and I haven't seen each other in years. THIS will be a great time. 

So excited! MANY caps and exclamation points!!

Here's to spur of the moment actions creating little pockets of pure joy in your heart!

xo

PS - Jeannie, maybe you'll like this song...

Secure yourself to heaven.
Hold on tight, the night has come.
Fasten up your earthly burdens,
You have just begun.

http://youtu.be/P1IWN3wjEEg

My Monday and Tuesday blogs tend to hit the press later than the rest of the week. I am off from work and as a result, these are my running around days. I start the blog earlier in the day and then the next thing you know - it's night. 

I know I am not alone in the craziness; thus, I know you get it.

Last night Bella's choral groups along with the wind ensemble performed Carmina Barana. It was magnificent. That the performance was done so brilliantly by high school students is the greatest unexpected surprise of all. By the end we were all up on our feet cheering for our kids who practiced, practiced and then practiced some more despite many weeks off due to snow.

May you all have a marvelous unexpected surprise.

xo

Seriously. Watch this. It is perfect.

http://youtu.be/nIwrgAnx6Q8

Oh. My. Gosh. Mary Chapin Carpenter's concert was all that and more.

This is a listen-a-long blog. Follow the links to musical bliss...

I posed the question on FB - to drive or take the train and where should we eat. It was Restaurant Week in NYC and as such, restaurants were slammed. We decided to drive in. We parked directly under Lincoln Center. Could it be any easier?

We actually ate at the restaurant IN Avery Fisher Hall, Arpeggio. It was swoon worthy delicious. We finished our dessert two minutes before the show started.

The opening number, performed with Aoife O'Donovan, was "I Have a Need For Solitude." She then went right into "This Shirt," perhaps one of my favorite songs. Ever. I was utterly captivated and moved to tears more than once throughout the night. The first four songs were performed acoustically - guitar and piano renditions; her background singers, along with Aoife, were the uber talented Shawn Colvin and Tift Merritt. When they sang "He Thinks He'll Keep Her," it was a raucous good time.

And then. The Philharmonic filed onto the stage. I sat there having an almost outer body experience; I was so proud of MCC. I could only imagine the sheer delight she felt at hearing her songs remastered with one of the most amazing orchestras in the world! No doubt, it was a dream come true; it must have been so monumentally amazing to be MCC in that moment. 

When Joan Baez joined her on stage, the audience rose to its feet. A legend in our midst. I immediately thought of my mama. We were introduced to Joan Baez in the womb. They sang "Stones In The Road." (Imagine this with a soundtrack orchestra beautifully highlighting the lyrics.)

The first encore was my friend Kathy's very favorite song in the world from MCC. Like all her songs, the lyrics are just right. This particular song has an emotional reason for being Kathy's favorite. So, when "10,000 Miles" started I immediately thought of Kathy. I texted her during intermission to tell her how much she would have loved them show. (I didn't know until last week she was an MCC fan, otherwise, she too would have been there!)

Throughout the night, I KNEW, without a shadow of a doubt, that if my friend Trish lived in Westchester still, she absolutely would have been there with me. Trish and I lived through some of my own personal darkest days with books, good food, tears, quiet time on a porch in Spring Lake and, of course, a shared love of gorgeous music. I had to text her during intermission as well.

THIS happened during intermission too. First time in the history of life - a line at the men's room and NOT at the women's room.

All in all, the night was perfection. I would do it again in a heart beat. 

Speaking of heart beats...

Amy is heading back to the hospital today to remove what doctor's suspect could be up to 25 POUNDS of fluid around her heart via a catheter. Please keep her in your thoughts as you go about your day. xo

Amy has her own blog that she recently re-launched in order to communicate with everyone in one fell swoop. Her latest post is true Amy and I urge you to get to know her in her own words by clicking HERE.

THIS song was the final song of the show Saturday night. EVERY performer on stage. The orchestra on stage. It. Was. Fantastic.

Our hearts are beating while we sleep, but while we're wide awake
You know the world won't stop, and actions speak louder
Listen to your heart, and what your heart might say
Everything we got, we got the hard way

http://youtu.be/uEiCNDHnpsU

On December 11, Mary Chapin Carpenter announced on her Facebook page she was playing at Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic. I bought a ticket 30 seconds after that announcement came out.

JUST before I hit buy, my friend Marlene came up to the front of the salon, asked what I was doing, and within seconds was coming along too!

So tonight, months after buying the tickets, we are heading to the city to see one of the artists I sincerely adore.

Today marks the sixth time I have used MCC's music on this blog. Besides the instrumentalists and the great Dave Mathews challenge of last year, she is the artist I have used the most.

If you would like to check out the other songs:
Don't Need Much To Be Happy
The Age Of Miracles
This Shirt and This Is Love

Here's to music.

xo

And in this world there's a whole lot of golden 
In this world there's a whole lot of plain
In this world you've a soul for a compass 
And a heart for a pair of wings 

http://youtu.be/7IeGQnuqIwI