American Idol Concert

We really enjoyed American Idol this year.  We voted for Phillip Phillips EVERY week.  Just love him and were really happy that he won.  And, although we have watched AI every year - we've never attended one of their concerts.  But, because we love Phillip so much - we just HAD to get tickets when they came to Portland this week!

 

We had really great seats and thoroughly enjoyed the evening and ALL of the performances.  Got some great photo's and video's.  Here are a few of my favorite pic's from the evening.

 

The top 10, minus Phillip.

 

The top 4 - Joshua, Phillip, Jessica and Holly

 

Joshua, backed up by Erika, Deondre and Elise

 

Coleton

Phillip singing "Volcano", with Jessica singing backup 

The Guys

 The Girls, minus Jessica

 

Our boy - Phillip!  He was so wonderful!

We had such a wonderful evening!  Thanks to my fabulous husband for getting the tickets for us to enjoy the concert together.  Can't wait to see Phillip perform on his own in the near future!

Capitol City Theater

On Friday night we went to the Capitol City Theater located in the Reed Opera House.  What a FUN evening!  Great Improv Comedy - right here in little ol' Salem.  And, they keep it clean - which is nice because you can take your kids, or your Mom and not be worried about the language or topics. 

These are the performers.  They were GREAT!

Go out and enjoy a really fun evening next Friday or Saturday night.  They have two shows each night, 7:30pm and 9pm.  And, if you're in the mood to learn Improv - they have classes every Wednesday evening!  Sounds like the Ya Ya's and I should plan on attending one of those!  Could be fun... but might be scary... You never know when the Ya Ya's get together!

Kathy Griffin

Had a total blast night at the Arlene Schnitzer Auditorium. We had tickets to see Kathy Griffin. She was fantastic. So hysterically funny - and sometimes just "wrong" - but we loved her. Would definitely buy tickets to go see her again!

Date Night

We had a fun impromptu date night when Richard picked me up from work tonight.  Started with a cocktail and some delicious Purple Peruvian Fries with Cumin Scented Ranch Dressing at Prudence Uncorked.  Both the drink and the food were delicious!

After our brief trip to see Prudence, we went to Salem Cinema to see the Italian film, "Mid-August Lunch".

What a delightful film!  We highly recommend it.  The original release date in Italy was 2008.  I believe it may be available on DVD.  It's a short (75 minutes) sweet and precious story about a man who takes care of his Mother - along with the Mother's of some of his friends.  Adorable!

I Was So Happy

on Sunday night.  The series "Mad Men" returned for the fourth season. 

image from allmoviephoto.com

We abolutely LOVE this show!  Extremely well written and the actors do a fine job portraying their characters.  We will be looking forward to Sunday nights on AMC at 10pm.

If you aren't already hooked on this show, put the first few seasons on your "Netflix" list!  It's great! 

Live Aid Anniversary

image from www.apeculture.com

This week marked the 25th anniversary of Live Aid.  What a spectacular world event it was all those twenty five years ago.  It was a wonderful day of music and fellowship, but more importantly a day for the world to become more aware of the tragedy happening in Africa.  Unfortunately, things are still not perfect on the beautiful continent.

image from www.bobgeldof.info 

Sir Bob Geldof was the primary organizer for Live Aid.  He continues to work for aid in Africa and stopping poverty around the world.  I think he's a pretty incredible man, and I'm in awe of him and his humanitarian efforts.

Richard and I are remembering Live Aid by watching our DVD set of the day.  So many fun performances and really great music.  And, some of the things we laugh at because they are "just SO 80's"!  All in all the day holds happy memories for us and we're enjoying reliving some of them this weekend.

Robin Hood - The Movie

Although the reviews haven't been stellar, we saw "Robin Hood" starring Russell Crowe & Cate Blanchett last night.

I must say that I completely disagree with the reviews. I love that Ridley Scott did not make another movie about the same Robin Hood cliches we seen time and time again.

It was a wonderful story and enjoyable film. Both Richard and I really liked it!

Have You Seen...

photo from the Guardian.co.uk

...the new NBC show, "The Marriage Ref"? I had heard from a friend that it was really funny. We watched it for the first time last Thursday night. Madonna, Ricky Gervais & Larry David were on the panel. The show is freakin' hilarious! Married couples submit videos of a particular ongoing argument that they are having. Then the ref, Tom Pappas, along with the guest panel decide who should win the argument. Some of these couples are "crazy"! And, I thought Richard and I had stupid arguments!

Catch it on Thursday nights at 10pm on NBC. It's quite funny - at least the one episode we saw was.

We Got...

... Beatles RockBand this weekend.

It is SO fun. A little different than Guitar Hero - but we are totally loving it!

Dinner and a Show

Last night we went to Portland. Demetri Martin was performing at the Newmark Theater. If you are not familiar with his work, look him up on YouTube. Very funny, indeed.

Before the show we went to dinner at the Dragonfish Asian Cafe. Excellent food! The three of us shared a Rainbow roll, Mongolian Beef, and Grilled Bulgogi Steak. Delicious!

It was a really fun evening out for the Mulligan's. Every time we go to Portland we say, "We really need to come up here more often!" We always have a great evening - and this time, we didn't even get lost getting to where we were going, or coming back home. Like I said - really great night!

Julie & Julia

What a delightful movie. Meryl Streep is so perfect as Julia Child. I was enthralled with her performance, but more so by the food - the recipes - the wine and the cheese. I'm hungry... and it's almost 11pm! I want to get in the kitchen and "whip something up". But I'll satisfy myself by highly recommending this movie.


It was so enjoyable. (and savory!) It's funny and sweet and you'll probably walk away wanting to get Julia Child's cookbook and make a few recipes. I love to cook - if you've never checked out my food blog - please stop by. Gumbo Ya Ya loves company and hopefully I have some recipes for everyone. Click HERE to come by and sit a spell!

T.V. Time with Daddy – Sentimental Sunday No. 24

I loved the times I had alone with my Dad. They were special times, and memories I will cherish forever. We didn’t have to be doing anything special… just spending time with my Daddy was all I needed. I loved crawling up in my Dad’s recliner chair with him; we would cuddle and watch television. I don’t really recall what shows we watched, but I know I was always happy and safe when we were together.

I do have one standout memory of us watching “Combat” together. It was on for five seasons from 1962 to 1967. I couldn’t tell you what episode it was; or when it aired. But, I can tell you that I enjoyed it – because it was time I spent with my Dad.

An Evening with Jerry

We had a really fantastic time on our Friday night outing to Portland. We arrived at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (Affectionately known as "The Schnitz") fairly early because we wanted to eat dinner... but where? So we walked around for a bit and discovered this restaurant - DragonFish. VERY GOOD food. I would call it Asian Fusion. If you are in Portland - check it out. There is one in Seattle too.After dinner we headed to the show!

Jerry's good friend, Larry Miller, opened for him. He was very funny. We truly enjoyed his act. After Larry's set the theater darkened - and then Jerry came running on the stage - greeted by thunderous applause.

Jerry was extremely funny - but we wouldn't have expected anything different. Jerry's humor is very topical and we enjoyed that his routine is pretty clean. He talked about marriage, and family, and spent a lot of time making his observations about life in general. It was SUCH a fun night. All three of us had an awesome time!

Funny Friday

Can't wait for tonight....

we're headed to Portland to see Jerry Seinfeld. I have a feeling my sides are going to hurt from laughing and my cheeks will hurt from smiling. Going to be a funny Friday nite!

Saturday Movie

Richard and I saw "Angels and Demons" today, starring Tom Hanks. It was a very well done movie. I have not yet read the book by Dan Brown. I typically don't like to read the books before the movie. Usually, when I read the book first, I am disappointed in the movie. So, this time I waited. However, Richard did read the book first. Although he enjoyed the movie - he says the book was better. Big surprise! I tried to warn him. We do both still recommend the movie. A lot of action, great story line, excellent directing and acting. and an enjoyable 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Tonight We Saw...

... the movie, "Eagle Eye" with Shia LeBeouf and Michelle Monaghan. It was REALLY GOOD! Lots of great action; it certainly keeps you on the edge of your seat. The three of us highly recommend it, if you're looking for an action packed suspenseful film!

Have You Heard...

... of Adele? She is a new pop star from England. She was only nineteen when she recorded this album. She's really FANTASTIC. Her voice is smooth and sultry and reminds me very much of the British pop stars from the late 60's - very bluesy/jazzy.

Check out her myspace page here. "Chasing Pavements" & "Melt My Heart to Stone" are two of my favorite songs.

It Was...

... another great day at the Oregon State Fair. This time, our main purpose was to see Weird Al Yankovic in concert. John is a HUGE fan, and he was very super excited to see him in concert. But, before we started the evening, we went on many rides...

John convinced Mom and Dad to go on several fast, and stomach upsetting rides. When he connected with his friend, Aaron, Mom and Dad snuck away to ride the Ferris Wheel! Ah! That was WAY more our speed!
John and Aaron went on "The Inverter" and this CRAZY ride... the "Super Loop".We had a quick bite of food before proceeding to the Weird Al concert. He was REALLY amazing. Richard and Cindy were quite surprised at how good the concert was. He does total costume changes for almost every song. In between the songs, there are comical interviews (albeit bogus) with music stars, like Mariah Carey, Jessica Simpson, Eminem, Kevin Federline, and Celine Dion. They were HYSTERICAL! Here is a photo and video from his song, "I'm Fat" which is a parody of the Michael Jackson song, "I'm Bad".

And last, but not least, here is a photo from his specatacular number, "The Saga Begins", which is a parody about Star Wars.

It was SUCH a great evening at the fair. This was John's first official concert. I'm so glad we were able to get tickets and enjoy this evening with him. What a fun evening, and a wonderful memory!

Oregon State Fair

Yesterday was opening day for the Oregon State Fair!

We went to the fair in the late afternoon.

We ate some ooey gooey delicious Chili Cheese Fries

and what day at the fair would be complete without Pink Cotton Candy!

John got a shooting lesson with an air gun. He and Richard had a good time shooting at targets! Cindy really enjoyed seeing the baby chicks being born. She and John got to hold some that had just been born the night before. These are chickens for meat. They grow full size in just 42 days! Cindy's not too sure that chicken will be on the menu at home any time in the near future!










We ended the evening by seeing the comedian Bill Engvall in concert. He was SO incredibly funny! Richard and Cindy have been fans of his since his early days in Vegas. (mid 80's) It was wonderful to see him and to enjoy his humor with John, who is now a fan. We'll be back at the fair on Monday evening. John is WAY excited about that. We will be seeing Weird Al Yankovic in concert. Should be another fun time!

Breaking Dawn Release Party

Tonight I attended the Breaking Dawn Release party with two of my best friends, Adrienne & Kathy. Our dear friend Laura, who was supposed to be with us for the celebration, was unable to come at the last minute. We missed her! Breaking Dawn is the fourth book in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. Great books.

No doubt, we were among the older of the fans at our local Borders. There were games and prizes and a lot of squealing teenagers. The book was available for sale at 12:01a.m. When the "countdown" began - the excitement was palpable. As the numbers on our wristbands were called out for us to get in line, I was glad that everything seemed to be quite organized. (Yes, I'm getting old! I have to admit I was happy that I would be getting to go home soon too!) We were out of the store by 12:45!

All in all it was a fun evening - and a good excuse to get out with the girls. Would I do it again for a different book? Probably not. Am I glad I shared this adventure with two of my best friends - you betcha!

Here we are, flashing E for Edward!