Wayyy back in August, KC and I + my friend (and ex-roomie) Jessica headed to Tulsa to see Coldplay. (see the concert recap, here.)
This was a bucket list item for her, and I really wanted to see them again, of course.. just a few weeks later they announced a show in KCMO... which would have been easier... but oh well! :)
We spent just a day in Tulsa, but we had a few good meals and lots of fun!
The BOK is the COOLEST looking arena!!
see?!
Eat: We had dinner at El Guapo's a Mexican restaurant downtown. It was really good and had a fun atmosphere. A bonus is that it was a short walk to the BOK center for our concert. The prickly pear margaritas were great! We had breakfast at Dilly Diner which was GREAT and had HUGE pancakes. I loved the retro (yet modern...?) vibe in there! It was farm-to-table too which was a plus.
See: Downtown, BOK Center, Philbrook Museum of Art (& Gardens).
Shop: We really didn't shop much. We stopped in the Philbrook gift shop. There is a HUGE used bookstore there (Gardener's) .. .but we did not stop... 1) time, and 2) book ban. : /
Do: See a concert at the BOK. Visit the Philbrook Museum of Art.
Favorites: Coldplay, prickly pear margaritas, the garden view at the Philbrook.
New Experiences: Traveling with a friend, a lack-luster airbnb experience.
Have you been to an arena concert?
Have you seen Coldplay live? See my recap of the concert, here.
In August KC and I headed to Vegas with his parents, his sister, and her (then) boyfriend, (now) fiance. :) We planned a mixture of together and "on our own" time, and were able to fit in so many cool places and things. On day 4, we started with a family breakfast. My in laws were flying back home, and the rest of us were staying for the J.Lo. show. We didn't do a ton on this day, but I wanted to do a short post anyhow. :)
My SIL's fiance... laughing at me taking food photos ^^ hahah
Even though Britney wasn't there... I needed a photo with her too. :P
Eat: We ate at a great breakfast place in Mirage called Pantry. RUN THERE FOR PANCAKES! So so good! :) We had Shake Shack... again.... and it was still awesome. We stopped for an ice cream at one point, it was just ok. It was outside Mirage and called BLVD Creamery. We had Mexican food for dinner. I don't remember the name of the place (it was in NY, NY)... but it wasn't very good. : /
See: The Strip and Shops, and J.Lo.
Shop: Most of the shopping in Vegas is reminiscent of mall shopping elsewhere in the US. Those shops that do not resemble it are likely ultra high-end shops. Think Valentino, etc. Not my jam, but cool to see if it is yours! :) Here are a few shops that I enjoyed for my typical (post card, souvenir, quirky or unique items, boutique type shops) shopping.
Houdini's Magic Shop - New York, New York - a fun shop of magic and prank items. The shop workers double as magicians.
Shows: Vegas is known for many things, but one I'm particularly interested in, is the insane amount of shows available! We saw three shows while we were there, and enjoyed all of them. There were handfuls of others that sounded great as well. Here's a quick review of the ones we saw!
J.Lo.'s "All I Have" - Planet Hollywood - We knew we wanted to see a big pop star while we were in Vegas. Most think of Celine or Elton John, but neither of them were there during our stay. We also thought of Britney (who shares this theater with J.Lo.), but J.Lo. was the one in town, so we decided to see her. She puts on a great show, there is a good review of her hits from the '90's to now, but the real treat is to see her and her back up dancers pull off all of that amazing choreography! It was incredible. Read more about this show, if you are interested, here.
Do:
I'm going to be honest... on this day we went to check out Luxor, walked a bit, and then proceeded to pack and sleep before the concert. We would have stayed one less day, but J.Lo. only performed on that night of all our dates.
Favorites: Pantry, Shake Shack (again!), and J.Lo.
New Experiences: Going to a magic shop, seeing a Vegas residency show, seeing J.Lo. at all.
Have you been to a pop concert? Have you been to one in Vegas?
What is your favorite Vegas casino? -if you've been
This week was a little bit different because KC, my friend Jessica, and I all took off Thursday afternoon to drive to Tulsa, OK (~3.5 hours) for the Colplay A Head Full of Dreams concert. KC and I saw them back in 2012 for Mylo Xyloto and had such a blast that we knew we needed to see them again. When they didn't tour for Ghost Stories... (I mean outside of Tokyo, Paris, etc.) I was really disappointed! I loved that album. Anyhow, when they announced this tour, we knew we needed to grab tickets, and also help Jessica cross this off her bucket list! :) I'm SO glad that we did!
So today I am sharing one of my favorite tracks from Ghost Stories, "Magic," and then I'll give a quick concert recap. Kind of like I did with T-Swift and J.Lo. :)
I think the lyrics to this song are really sweet and hopeful, and I think that the video and all of the album art are so clever and lovely. Did you guys hear this one? Also, I mean, this song is just so romantic. Sigh, I'm a sucker for that.
Anyhow, I definitely recommend listening to more of their stuff if you haven't kept up with them over the past like 20 years. HA - there have been so many iterations of their music during that time.
As expected, they played a lot of songs from their new album, A Head Full of Dreams. But they also played some songs from Ghost Stories (THIS ONE! MAGIC!), as well as some popular singles. I don't think they can get away with doing a show without playing "Yellow" or "The Scientist". :)
They also dedicated "Everglow" to all the parts of the world that are hurting right now. So of course I sobbed. Not that I didn't already shed tears during other songs. I had SO MANY FEELINGS.
As with last time the visual aspects of the show were really incredible. We had blinking wrist bands, the screens, lights, and other props were really awesome... they even had some pyrotechnics this time! And the confetti! So much confetti! :)
So (yet) another concert lesson for you guys: sometimes it's worth the drive and a little bit of planning to see an incredible show. :)
So there you have it!
Did anyone else catch the A Head Full of Dreams tour?
When we heard we were going to Vegas we made sure we would get to see someone fun in concert. We had initially thought we would see Britney, but she wasn't doing a show during our date range. J.Lo. was though, well almost, so we stayed one extra night to see her show. I'm so glad that we did!
If you're close to my age I am sure that you grew up listening to J.Lo. on the radio, she had tons of singles over the years and continues to crank out dance hits as well as movies and TV shows. As a result seeing her perform live was super fun!
Throughout the show she did some of her older hits like, "Jenny from the Block" and "I'm Real" complete with an Bronx styled stage set. She also did a "Vegas" type set where she and her dancers were mostly doing a strip tease. Unexpected, but when in Vegas, right? She sang some of her more recent hits, and even a song she did for the movie Home and a cover of "I Hope You Dance" which she dedicated to her children. She also did a segment with some of her more Latin hits. All of the sets were really, really good. I also loved how she talked to the audience as she performed, I've always liked that. She even said to one guy, "Go ahead baby, get your selfie!" - so cute.
Overall, the show was really awesome. For one, the theater is much smaller than I had expected, so we felt pretty close, while not being in the front. Two, damn J.Lo. can dance! She's really a talented performer, and she's incredibly fit as well. It's super inspirational as she just celebrated her 47th birthday. If I could be anywhere close to half that fit before 47 it might be a miracle. :P - all jokes aside, get it J.Lo! The stage, dancers, sets, costumes, etc. etc. were all very impressive and fun. It was definitely a Vegas atmosphere and they went all out. Appropriate as she titled the residency, All I Have.
We had a blast, and should she tour again someday, somewhere near us, I would go. :) If we go back to Vegas sometime soon, we will definitely look into seeing Britney - but I'm certainly not at all disappointed that we made it to J.Lo.'s show instead!
I don't really have a favorite J.Lo. Song, but you really can't go wrong with "Waiting for Tonight" right? It's definitely a classic.
Ok, so I also love this one.... I think I had one of the "NOW" CDs with this song on it, so it's a feel-good favorite. hehe
I hope this gives you a good start to your weekend or week! :)
OK, and because I can't help myself, this is her new single, called "Ain't Your Mama," it's so catchy and fun - and hilarious.
Also, when we got home, Scali was in love with the J.Lo. program. he wouldn't stop laying on it. I don't know if he likes it because it's smooth, or the same color as him or what. What a little stinker.
Are you a J.Lo. fan?
Have you seen a Las Vegas residency show?
Other Posts This Week: July Reads & Back from Las Vegas.
When we saw Ellie Goulding on SNL back in 2011. I remember thinking she has such a cool voice, I definitely need to hear more of her music. I downloaded her first album Lights and I could instantly listen to it on repeat for days. I still love it.
Her second album Halcyon had a harder rock sound, and it was a little more emotional... but it grew on me, and now it has a solid place in my music library. We very nearly went to see her in concert at this small theater in St. Louis... in 2013, but we didn't. I've kind of been kicking myself since then... It was a little last minute, and winter... and I wasn't sure it was a good idea. "Who IS this person?!?!" you might be asking yourself. Answer: I don't know who she was.
Ellie released additional singles, and tracks to go with the first two albums before releasing her newest one Delirium last November. I was initially kind of thrown off by her new sound. It definitely took a handful of listens for me to LOVE it. Being a songwriter-y Ellie fan this dance-pop-rap sound wasn't what I was hoping for. All in all, I like the album quite a bit now. It's still not my favorite one, but it's great for making it through a work day or getting pumped up about anything.
There are a lot of really great tracks on this here, but my favorite is "Keep on Dancing". I get the whistling chorus stuck in my head all of the time. I'm in line at Target just grooving like a crazy person.... Have you heard it? What do you think?
We finally got to see her in concert this week. It was SO cold, and I was having a very hectic week (couldn't turn my head to the left for a full 4 days due to stress - kind of week), and I almost said we should stay home. But I'm very glad we didn't.
The concert was great, she played a few older songs, but mostly stuck to her pop singles (ala Calvin Harris). I always cringe just a little OK a lot... when people freak out over the singles... but it was still such a good show and I majorly needed a night off. So it was hard to be too music snobby. :P
I'm glad we finally got to see her live. I'm also glad she played a few tracks from Halcyon! "Figure 8", "Explosions", and "My Blood" (my favorite!) were GREAT! If ever she plays a small show again... I'm going to try to be there!
And that my friends, is why you do not say no to concert tickets.
HAPPY FRIDAY!
Anyone dancing at their desk?! :)
XO,
Alexandra
P.S. Some of my favorite Ellie songs are on soundtracks! Like Divergent, Breaking Dawn Pt. 2, Catching Fire. Other favorites are her covers! She does a great versions of Alt-J's "Tessellate", Elton John's "Your Song", and Active Child's "Hanging On".
