Updates and...COLDPLAY!

So last time I left you, I was off to a bonfire at my friend Brittany's house. Well that was an interesting night. The rain didn't hold off, so we had an inside party. It wasn't too bad really. Katrina, Jess, Hoffa and I set off some fireworks (we called ourselves the "Secret Fireworks Club"). We started a movie before Kevin and I left and headed to Luna's house for a few minutes...when...I got pulled over. 


An hour later, after being tested to drinking, doing drugs and accused of stealing my car, I watched as a wrecker towed my car and Luna, Dave, Colonel and Hoffa came to rescue Kevin and I off the side of the road. We went to Tim Horton's where guess what...the cop that had been rather rude (I decided to not go into detail here...but expect those details to be written in a letter to the Lapeer Police Department and sheriff.) was sitting in the restaurant enjoying a donut and coffee. OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! They promptly left when we walked in.


That night I ended up at Kevin's house and was there basically the whole weekend. Having no car, I was kinda dependent on others to get me around if I was going to leave the building. That Saturday was the bonfire that Kevin (and kinda me) was planning for awhile. It went well in my opinion. People showed up and we had a lot of fun, ate some good food and just enjoyed ourselves.


The next morning I was back to the apartment to deal with what was going on with my car. After several different calls, I learned that the whole licensing issue was due to a computer mistake in Lansing at the Secretary of State's office. This being said, Wednesday after crazy storms (and a transformer fire) almost set me back, Aunt Linney drove me around Lapeer to all my different stops so I could get a new license/registration, insurance, paperwork from the police station and to the impound to finally get my car back.


For right now, this is the best I have. I have sent several emails to the Lieutenant Governor and will continue my calls until I hear something once I get my phone back at the end of the week. I also need to go to court to deal with the tickets. But for now, the car is legally drive-able and is officially titled.

He has such a wonderful smile!

This past Saturday was the 1st birthday party for baby Ben! I can't believe it's been a year yet! Sarah and Boesler had the party at a park in Lapeer and it was a rather enjoyable time. Afterwards, we headed back to Sarah and Boesler's to hang for awhile. Around dinner time, Kevin, Patrick, Jessica, Hoffa and I grabbed some food at Brian's in Lapeer (they no longer have the butter burger, it made me sad. I have a new favorite though, the Club Burger!)

Ben loved his sand toys :)

Sunday I was on duty again and had a couple days of just chilling at home, watching some Netflix and just hanging out. The Betas from Kettering invited Nick and I to join them for some Mafia Tuesday night. That was a good time (and we laughed when they said quiet down as the only 2 people that could really get them in trouble were in the room with them.

Then Wednesday came. I had been waiting for August 1st to get here for MONTHS! In February, Zac bought tickets to go see Coldplay. They are one of my top 5 bands and I saw them in 2009...but this concert was so much better! Before I get ahead of myself, I'll explain everything else.

So I met Zac at noon and we grabbed Katrina from her aunt's house. Then we stopped for some lunch at Qdoba before heading to "The Village" (an outdoor mall in Rochester). After that, we headed to Oakland campus where we walked to Meadowbrook Manor. Wow is that place beautiful and HUGE! We walked around the gardens since the inside of the house was closed.

She was having fun balancing :)

And by the way, have you ever heard of a Rosarian? I never did until today. They specialize in Roses of all kinds. There was a plaque for a beloved rosarian in the English Rose Garden that was HUGE!!!!!

This was the rose garden, me standing in the middle. I TOLD you is was huge!!! And beautiful of course.

After the manor, we grabbed some dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. They have really good salads btw (after the hot walk, I didn't want anything hot so wings were out for me lol)

Then it was the big concert. We headed to the Palace of Auburn Hills and walked around for a but before chilling in our seats. As you walked in, everyone got a free bracelet, fabric with a twitter hashtag. I had heard from others who had seen Coldplay last month that they lit up along with some of the songs, I was excited to find out.

Here were our bracelets. Mine was naturally the green/pink one!

 The first warm-up was Emeli Sande. In Katrina's words, "she reminds me of Christina Aguleria." I agreed. She is a singer from the UK with an amazing voice. After Emeli was Marina and the Diamonds. Her songs were more poppy (I really do like the sound of Britpop!) and the lyrics were catchy and clever!

They had beachballs out during the show. Here is Chris (the singer in Coldplay) trying to hold onto one, they were huge beachballs lol.

Then came the band we were waiting for. They came out to their stage that was literally glowing and started off with Hurts Like Heaven from their new album with the bracelets going off. It was magical. Here's the link to the video of it (with the bracelets in action). 

This is the crowd all lit up. It was an amazing sight!

They are performers and love their crowd. That was apparent as they went through a playlist of songs old and new. I will admit that I did shed some tears (okay, I am a total fangirl when it comes to Coldplay) during "Fix You" and "Paradise." I love those songs.

At one point they did a fake out and said they were leaving (I wasn't believing it) and came out and played a couple songs in the middle of the crowd. July 31st was Will's (the drummer's) birthday, and as they were on the road, we celebrated it last night. They brought out a cake and all 20,000 of us serenaded him. Then they ran through the crowd to the stage and sang 3-4 more songs (can't quite remember how many lol)

Kinda blurry (hey I took these on my phone as my camera died before the concert!) but this is from when they performed in the crowd.

Some of my favorite moments? The bracelets. Every time they were used it was just amazing. Us Against the World is a beautiful acoustic. Obviously Paradise and Fix You were amazing...I mean I cried with the beauty. Viva la Vida....the crowd singing the background ooohs! There is nothing like the sound of 20,000 people singing together...you just can't beat that.

(this is The Scientist...another one of my favorites!)


Afterwards, we were caught in the traffic, I mean, when aren't you at an event like that? I was dropped off back at my car and headed home. A concert I won't forget for a long time to come.


Music
1. Lies- Marina and the Diamonds
2. River- Emeli Sande
3. Viva La Vida- Coldplay
4. Jerusalem/Flower of Scotland/DannyBoy/Bread of Heaven- Four Nation's Choir (From the Olympic opening ceremony)
5. Starring Role- Marina and the Diamonds
6. Fix You- Coldplay
7. Heaven- Emeli Sande