Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Flyin' SOLO, Take 2

I did it again. I up and left my entire family, the whole kit-n-caboodle, last Friday night for a whirwind trip to Boston. Why, you might ask? To torture my husband? Of course not!! Well...maybe just a little. He is gone A LOT. Just ask our sad un-cleaned-out garage. But that wasn't the main reason.

The main reason was:


OK, so to be fair, there were two other guys involved. We're talking about the Police, people! At this point, some of you are not at all excited about this. My mother-in-law said "Hmm, I've never heard of that group..." Well, you must know that I was raised on the Police. They provided the soundtrack for many a family road trip. I remember, as if it was yesterday, reading Roald Dahl's "George's Marvelous Medicine" to Sting's album The Dream of the Blue Turtles. (Not the Police, but still that same glorious singing voice, etched permanently in my brain) That book and those songs complemented each other very well, in the opinion of my eight-year old self. In junior high, in Chicago, I went to a party and someone got The Police: Greatest Hits CD as a gift. We listened to it and I felt so cool listening to music at a party. I also felt cool for knowing every song on there! And "Every Breath you Take" is still my number one pick for most haunting song EVER.

So back to my weekend. I drove myself to the airport on Friday night after putting all the kids to bed. I was a little nervous because this is the first time I have flown since they have implemented all of the liquid restrictions. I anxiously re-examined my one-quart bag with all of my precious less-than-3-oz. toiletries. I scoffed at someone in the line holding a gallon-size ziploc bag. Well, so maybe scoffing isn't my thing, but I got really worried for them. Luckily, getting through security at 10:30 pm is not all that bad, although I was surprised when they asked me to remove my cardigan sweater. I was wearing a turtleneck underneath, but what if it had been a tank top? I was horrified at the thought. (I'm sure many of you can imagine why...) What would they do to me if I said no? I tried not to think about it too much as I went to the gate.

My stay in Boston was brief, but memorable. I got to see the play my mom had directed about Robin Hood, I got to meet my brother's girlfriend, Meg, who is super-cool and super-smart. I also saw my awesome friend from BYU, Christina Davis. We graduated in Acting together and I miss her!

We made time for this special place:


This store rocks. You need to go there if you are ever in a city where there is one. And I got the cutest pink and brown plaid dress coats for the girls that you have ever seen! I am actually glad that I don't live near one because it would destroy me financially.

Brinna, Aydan and I made time to take ridiculous pictures of ourselves:





Isn't Brinna beautiful? (BTW, I'm going to start calling my blog a brag, and instead of blogging, I will be bragging, because that's what it is in this post, let's be honest...Although I was sure to put some not so lovely pics of us as well--look at Brinny in the background of Aydan's pic--ha!)

We ate dinner at Red Bones, where Clayton and Meg both work (Meg is the lovely brunette girl on Clayton's right):







See? Not pretty, but I love dining pictures, because that is where I am in my element! Bring on the food!

And of course, the concert! For another account of the concert, read my mom's account here. We were bummed because we didn't bring our cameras but they didn't even check and we were in the 10th row! (On the side, but still!) So I took this pic with my camera phone. My mom is looking up at Sting on the monitor above us, or rather looking at his biceps, which were not small. (I am so not attracted to him...)



For those who want to know, here is the setlist:

Message in a Bottle
Synchronicity II
Walking On The Moon
Voices Inside My Head
When The World Is Running Down
Don't Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Truth Hits Everybody
Hole In My Life
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking In Your Footsteps
Can't Stand Losing You
King Of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
Next To You

I know what you're thinking. No Roxanne? It WAS strange, considering every time that I've gone to see Sting solo, HE sings it. Here is one of many videos I took with my phone, but I only had 15 seconds a pop, and so this is my favorite:



In conclusion, this trip would not have been remotely possible without the help of Clayton, Ben, Heather, and Lisa. Clayton bought my mom the tickets. He is my hero. Heather is my friend Jenny's sister and she watched the kids so Ben could go to the library. Lisa talked me into going after I had decided it was silly, and I didn't feel TOO bad about her volunteering to watch three of my kids for one morning because she had a concert experience of her own that very weekend. Read about it here. It's a good one! Ben is a trooper as well. Lucy threw up numerous times on Saturday night and I felt horrible! I abandoned my children, and so they got sick. But don't worry, I got major payback after I arrived home. Within ONE hour of my return, Ethan threw up all over his bed. And eight times after that. Then when he finished, Mila started. Nothing like jumping back into the trenches to make you feel at home!

Finally, this is for you, Mom:


Thanks for a great weekend!

11 comments:

Brittany said...

Hi, Hailey. First of all, THANK YOU for posting pictures of Brinna. Although we chat on the phone fairly often, I rarely see here. That is unless I want to look at old photos of us at Girl's Camp in 1994. We've changed a little since then. By the way, you both look beautiful in the photos, even your so-called ugly ones.

My mother-in-law actually had a tank top incident in an airport. They told her she could opt to keep her jacket on (it was a jacket/dress outfit, not like a huge puffy jacket or anything), so she did. Suddenly they started treating her like a terrorist by drawing lots of attention to her and searching her like crazy (without taking her into a private room, I should add). They made her remove the jacket in the end anyway, but only after every single eye in the room was watching her. Talk about embarrassing! Why did they tell her she could choose to keep her jacket on if they were just going to take it off, anyway? At least she was in the SLC airport. But still...

So that's at least what could have happened if you had been wearing a tank top underneath. Um...sorry for the super long comment.

Annette said...

The Police are one of the greatest bands ever. I'm just a little jealous! I'm flying to Philly this on Monday and am going to have to think hard about my flying attire!

April Fossen said...

I love H&M so much! I wished for an Ikea after I moved here, and it came. I'm sure H&M will be next.

Jenni said...

Looks like you had a blast!!! SO fun! Ok, seriously, what if you did have a tank on at the airport...geez! And H&M is just 45 from my house! We went there a few months back when we stayed in the city and it was pure craziness...fun store! COme see me and we can go get lost in it!

Lisa said...

I am so proud of you for going!!! You deserve it, and you appreciate it more than anyone, which makes it mean even more!!! I love your cobalt blue, (and, of course, I totally have that top in the houndstooth. . .) which is totally in (thanks for the heads up!), and you are so beautiful--I'm sure Sting was singing right to YOU!

King Family said...

K, I am soooo jealous, I have a a deep love for all things Sting as well. Sounds like a great trip. We all need those now and then, right?!

Nicole said...

Love it, love the police, love Boston. That is one of my fave cities. So glad you had a great time.

bionictrout said...

If you are going to spend the entire week leading up to the concert trying to convince me that you don't think sting is hot, you ought not to brag about how hot you think he is in your blog upon returning. I already feel squeamish thinking I spent a boat-load of money and time flying you out to Boston to ogle some middle aged guy that can't let go of his youth. Just sayin'...

BTW, I am flying to LA to watch Britney next month. Dang, her (insert favorite body parts here) are not small...

Kristen said...

Oh, hi Mila, I mean hailey in the first pic. You can totally tell you are her mom. And why are your kids throwing up and sick like EVERY month?

erin said...

How fun that you got to go!!! and, I love your pictures.

Shawn said...

THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR THE AMAZING PICTURE OF STING!!!

I have decided that I will be the one to convert him in the after-life, because I already know that we have a connection----he just doesn't know it yet...

I LOVED HANGING WITH YOU----you are sooooo fun!!