A day with the Girls

So I recently found some time to kill this weekend and ended up having a fabulous time with Jen and her girls. We were going to tailgate at RayJay, but the lure of shade, food we didn't have to cook and beer brought us to Metromix's Any Given Sunday tailgate. Luckily, the Green Iguana is dog friendly, so Max dragged me in on a tight leash. At the door I met a fellow Illini alum, Ty Douthard, who I learned is a former Bengal and quite a big deal at U of I. After meeting up with some co-workers who petered out from a real tailgate in an overly hot parking lot, we went to let Max and the girls blow off some energy. It turned out to be a prime opportunity to bring out the camera.

The year of weddings

This year several of my friends fortunate enough to not only find the love of their lives, but the love of their life also loved them back enough to tell the world. I've chronicled some of those happy moments and finally put some of my favorites together. Take a look.

Maroon 5, Counting Crows amongst others

This weekend, as always was busy. Friday night I went to the Maroon 5 and Counting Crows concert at the Ford Amp. I had seen Maroon 5 six years ago when they were happily playing the side stage of the Sheryl Crow/Train tour. My photographer friend was none too impressed, but the catchy tunes I heard were enough to make me and the ten others watching stay long enough to hear their entire set. I remember Adam Levine being comfortable (or tired) enough to lounge on the stage with his feet dangling off to the side. The songs I heard that day eventually ended up on nearly every radio station for the next eight years. The band I saw at the Ford was polished and I missed the relaxed atmosphere of the band I saw coming up the ranks. While the setlist included several hits from their first album it also brought out the newer, over-produced songs from their sophomore effort. While the songs are still catchy, there's less meat there to love. For me at least. I missed the opening set by Augustana, but thanks to the Counting Crows, I did not miss them enirely. Two band members had to drop out of the tour early, and the boys from Augustana happily filled the void. I happily heard a cover of Van Morrison's "Caravan" which surprisingly started off their set. The rest of the night mixed the best of the Crows with jangly covers including a ten man acoustical jam of "Cecelia." To see more pics from the concert, go to tampabay.metromix.com. Sunday the Bucs lost. The Rays also lost, but I'm conflicted on this series. I am a Chicago girl at heart and a win for the Sox, was not entirely a loss in my book.