Concert Weekend in Kansas City

This past weekend I headed back to Kansas City to spend Father's Day and my dad's birthday with my family and also to catch a couple concerts with the best friend a girl could have. On the schedule for the weekend: seeing Liverpool, a Beatles cover band on Saturday night, hanging out with the family on Sunday (mainly envying my parents' massive vegetable garden) and then Mumford and Sons on Monday night! Until the bassist needed brain surgery and they cancelled the rest of their summer tour...foiled!

Bestie's brother is a concert sound aficionado and got us on the guest list for Liverpool for free! Three cheers for connections! We've been huge Beatles fans since high school and this was not our first Beatles cover band experience. I know you're jealous you didn't get to hang out with us in high school. Fear not, we're still just as cool. There weren't but fifty people at the show, mostly much older than us. We grabbed couches in the back and balanced singing along with reminiscing.

Boyfriend drove as far as St.Louis with me and then he headed further south to visit his family at his brother's place in Arkansas. Meanwhile, I hopped on Amtrak to go the rest of the way to Kansas City. I love traveling by train. It's affordable and stress-free. I read or write blog posts or play stupid games on my phone instead of worrying about gas milage and semi-trucks and tailgaters.

Needless to say, I very much enjoyed our little road trip.

Bestie and I at a Flaming Lips show a few years ago

Dad

In honor of Father's Day this weekend (and my Dad's birthday, too!) here are ten things I've learned from the hardest working, most resourceful guy I know.

Never do the bare minimum. The extra effort is always worth it.

Do your research before going on a trip. You'll get so much more out of it with a little background knowledge.

Have an appreciation for all types of art- comics, Swedish folk music, architecture, it's all worth a try.

Forget the GPS! Navigating back roads by paper map is way more interesting.

Read. As much as possible. About whatever interests you. Read and then read some more.

There's always something better to do than watching TV.

It never hurts to be early. The same cannot be said for being late.

Make your home your own. Personality can be added on any budget.

Mom and Pop restaurants/hotels/shops beat chains any day of the week.

Anywhere (Prairie du Chien, Iowa or San Francisco) can be worth exploring.

Thanks Dad! You're the greatest!

Mother's Day in Indiana

My parental units came to visit this weekend! Hooray! They've only seen our little Indiana home one other time. That was very brief and way back in November. Since then we've painted our bedroom, gained a few pieces of furniture and really settled in to making the place cozy. It was also the first time they've been here since I've become a bonafide future graduate student so a little campus tour was in order. Plus, company is the best excuse to hit a different restaurant for every meal! We managed to try Indian (in the rain on the patio, so cozy), vegetarian and Burmese this time. This weekend was also Mother's Day and so...

As a belated thank you to my fantastic mom, here are some important things she has taught me:

The 'rents and I at my college graduation

There is no secret recipe to being in great shape in your 50s. Exercise and a healthy diet does it. Don't waste time with the gimmicks.

A bad mood can be remedied by a little aggressive activity: running, weeding the garden, pulling up carpet.

Food you grow is always better than food you buy.

A dog is a girl's best friend.

The gray pants, they go with everything.

Thanks Mom! Stay tuned for a Dad version in June!