Home sweet Arkansas!

So I'm at the Potter's House right now. When I first sat down, there was one other couple in the living room. It kiiiiiind of seemed like they were on a date and I maaaaaaay have eavesdropped a tad.... At one point I heard the girl say, "I don't do drama," and "I can't hang out with awkward people..." haha oh dates......I'll go on some more of those some time......so I can say things like that and be the awkward person I "can't hang out with." haha and not know how long to look someone in the eye to say nonverbally what I want to say without saying what I don't want to say.....nonverbally.

Ahhhh just when I thought I would have to put in my earbuds at Poho and be antisocial....."Blackbird" by the Beatles....alright

I got really frustrated yesterday, and shouted and I think I even seethed......That's new for the adult me. I'm pretty sure I did those things in my younger years but somewhere along the way I started being quiet when I was angry.....my close friends jokingly called it "The Quiet Storm" haha only during "Sunny Weather" I'm sure. :c) I'm getting back to the business of expressing even that negative stuff in regular life and not just in song.

Speaking of my younger years, I played some living room concerts in Arkansas (my stomping ground) at the beginning of August. The first one was in Fayetteville. To the left, you can see my stagehand. She was gracious enough to give me her drink when I sang so loudly she thought I was surely parched. :) I was given my own room again for a lovely night's sleep before heading home to stay with Mom and Dad in good ol' Alma. I got to hang out with the parents all day Friday. Saturday was gorgeous until the time for my outdoor performance. It began to pour down rain minutes before I took the stage.....so no go. A friend walked over from his car in the pouring rain. We went to get something hot to drink and dry off inside. Good conversation and quality time was definitely worth the rained out gig. I was sad for the group that set up the whole Block Party. They were ready to go, and everything looked amazing and so fun! That evening I played at a friend's house in Van Buren. We had a full house. Their living room was an open two story space if that makes sense.....=fun for lee ellen to belt it. They also served yummy barbecue. mmm!

Then on Sunday, the weekend was capped off at a friend's house in Alma. She served dessert and iced tea. I played for about two hours without realizing it! It was surprisingly nice to do an afternoon concert. Three words: Homemade Strawberry Shortcake. It's always nice to go home for abit. I went home a few weekends ago again, and visited my Mom while she worked at my old high school. Well......it's loosely my old high school. They added a whole new half and then remodeled the old half so it doesn't look the same at all. But something about going home makes things slow down, makes me go back in time, makes me reflective and reminiscent. I love all of these things. I went to the first football game of the season with my Dad when I was home. It reminded me of the comfort of a small town. When THE thing to do on Friday night is go to the high school football game. I love that too. I also love the atmosphere at football games. I listened for as many "Ref, where are your glasses," type shouts as I could, and laughed myself silly. I enjoyed my time in Arkansas and singing back home. It felt like a big bear hug from brother......and he gives great hugs.

St. Louis.....Twice!

oh my GOODNESS! So much has happened since my last post, but I can't cheat the great things that happened in between by skipping them! So somehow I ended up with zero pictures from my St. Louis living room stops.... :c( You'll just have to really use your imagination!

So first stop was at Devin's. I usually don't eat much before a performance a) because I'm really nervous b) because nerves and food typically lead to belching which doesn't mix well with singing. Devin's mom made this yummy lasagna though. We all sat down to a nice.....full.....dinner. It was so good and she made brownies too. Shoot! They have some special name......for the brownies...... Anyway, so I HAD to have a brownie too! Man, that bugs me I can't remember what they were called. So after I am sufficiently stuffed, we move on to the concert part of the evening. I got to play in the sun room off the back of the house. Devin jumped in to sing some harmonies on the cover of "Many the Miles" with me. The concert was a success solely on the fact that I never burped in the middle of a song. haha It was a great night, and I had the privilege of visiting with Devin's family. I loved that aspect of the entire living room tour. They even gave me my own room for the night! I ended the night by shattering a glass in the bathroom after everyone had turned in for the night. I like to keep things interesting... ;) just kidding! Again, Devin, sorry for my clumsiness!! It follows me wherever I go. If I don't have a stain on my shirt, something is surely broken somewhere.....

My next show in St. Louis was at Nikki's house. Nikki and I go way back to freshman year at Drury. We ended up traveling together to Greece for a semester abroad. Nikki is Greek so was a HUGE help in the transition to the amazing Greek culture. We had many adventures all over the country. It all started with alot of snow falling our first night in Athens so we got hit by some snowballs by excited Greeks and got to see the Acropolis with a beautiful dusting of snow! I can't believe that was seven years ago!! Anywho, so Nikki and I have kept in touch, but not nearly as much especially after graduation. It was so fun to catch up on life and reminisce all of our fun times in Greece! And......I love learning languages so learning Greek in Greece was SO FLIPPING FUN!!! I haven't heard it much since I returned to the states obviously. Nikki invited alot of her family to the concert, and it was so so so wonderful to hear the Greek language all around me again. Oh and Nikki's mom gave me some Greek tea that she brought back from Greece. I fell in love with it when I was over there. It was so great to hang out with Nikki's family and friends. Unfortunately on both trips to St. Louis, I had to hurry back to Springfield so I didn't get to play in the streets for tips. I will definitely be back in St. Louis sometime. Hopefully, a venue will give me a chance!

Ok living room stop updates to come: Fayetteville, Van Buren (2 stops), Kansas City (again!), Ashland, Pine, Oklahoma City, and the EP release in Springfield!

I'm playing at Cider Days in Springfield on Sunday afternoon 4-5pm, September 19th, the Music at the Inn Stage. Thanks for your tremendous support!!! I had a couple of paying gigs this past weekend that brought in more than I made in a couple weeks at my old job. :c) That kind of makes THIS my job! It sure doesn't feel like a job though.....yippee!