On The Road Again, Take 1.

The long weekend was just around the corner - it was so close, I could feel it! The fun, the sun, the relaxation, the time to myself, the...all kinds of things I probably will not - in fact, get to do or receive...

What I did receive was a very last minute phone call to see my orthopedic surgeon. As much as I did not want to go to Fredericton, it was pay day and actually a good day to take off work. It could not have worked out any better - Yay.

I have spent very little time in Fredericton in the last decade. I went with Becca to the Kia Dealership once (and no further) and have made a few trips past Fredericton, to Oromocto. But, in terms of being in the depths of NB's lovely capital - that would have taken place in 2004, I believe.

I'm a pretty independent lady. I've traveled all over, moved to towns and cities I never even visited first, and managed to get myself around just fine. I wasn't too concerned about this trip, but I also had no idea what was going to happen at this appointment. Luckily, Becca needed to also go to Fredericton and was able to reschedule her own appointment to accompany me. I had done the same for her not too long ago - except in the wonderful city of Saint John - so there wasn't too much shame involved...and now we're even. Independent ladies, unite!

The appointment is soon over, and we're venturing back to the Parking Garage. We back up and Miss-Must-Be-In-Control...uh, that would be me. If you actually know Becca or I in real life, I'm sure you did not need any clarification. Anyways, Miss-Must-Be-In-Control provided some quite confident directions as to how to exit said parking garage. We're rolling along and - Car!!!! This car was - in my defense, going WAY too fast. However, in their defense...we were going the wrong way.

Me: We're going the wrong way!!
Her: I know.
Me: Why didn't you say something?
Her: Oh...I don't know.
Me: What, really?
Her: Yea.
Me: Seriously?
Her: Going the wrong way was less risky for me personally, than pointing out that you were wrong.
Me: So, you purposefully headed into ongoing traffic opposed to telling me I was wrong?
Her: Yup.

In her defense, she may have been right, or close to it.

Some things really are just like riding a bike - the lovely city came back to me just like that. We found all our desired locations. As we went about our day, I was recalling a variety of streets, directions, places, etc. Becca also kindly introduced me to some new roads and ways of getting about...
Her: This is the way I took the last time Grammy and I went to my dealer...
Me: Huh?
Her: Dealer...as in dealership...as in Kia...
Me: Oh.

We hit up Relish (so good, but also so not good for me) and venture on. Becca takes me to this AMAZING used book store.

If you live in the Fredericton area, visit the Fredericton area of even know where the Fredericton area is The Owl's Nest Book Store is a must. It is a never ending used book store. I was in my glory...Shelf after shelf, room after room, witty category after witty category - complete with a rolling ladder. You could even swing from the ladder and sing like Belle, while you select your books.

This was something I really wanted to do, but it was turned down by my partner in crime. Since she introduced me to this magical place, I obeyed her wishes. I will save this adventure for my next visit. As I sadly checked out of the store, I decided on one final request - to spend my next life as the stores chubby, grey cat - Pepper, enjoying all of my days snuggled up on the Children's Section couch.

Dreams come true here, I'm sure of it.

  


Now, it might have been pay day, but Winter Recovery 2015 is in full effect and funds are limited. However, I have a few events coming up in the next couple of months and it would be nice to have an outfit that fits me correctly. I decide I'm going to peak at some sales racks. 

Shopping and I have a love/hate relationship. I love fashion, I love purchasing things. But, I hate buying clothes for myself. It is typically a horrible and depressing experience. I am down 30 lbs. So, naturally - I'm thinking it is going to be exciting to go shopping.

Oh Dear Lord, no...I start off by quite proudly selecting a smaller size. Yea...this was not a good idea. I apparently was feeling realllly confident - because I also selected sleeveless items to show off my sagging arm fat and short garments for my never ending torso. So, you get the picture here, right? Whatever amazing shopping experience I dreamed up - was just that...a dream! I came down off my high horse pretty quick.

I put on the first shirt.
Me: What do you think?
Her: Mmmm - no...
Me: Really?
Her: Really...
Me: Huh...okay. *insert shoulder shrug*

Next shirt...
Me: What about this one?
Her: Mmmm - no...
Me: REALLY?
Her: Really.
Me: REALLY?!?
Her: Really...

Frig sake.
As I'm putting on another item I hear one of the attendant's come in...
A: Can I help you with something?
Her: No, I'm just here for moral support.
Me: *shouting from the changing room* And she sucks at it!!
Her: You always say you wish I would speak up and be honest.
Me: Yea well, I'm really sick of you being right today.

I leave the room, sift through the sales rack again. Now that I've returned to reality, I realize that there is nothing there for me. We head to another store, then another store, then another store.

I can't even believe this!...I really anticipated a more positive shopping excursion. As we leave the current store, I vow that I'm only visiting one final store. We have already spent far more time than I had planned on this endeavour.

We enter. We look. I can't find the dreaded plus size section...Fine, I think. I'll ask. A lady comes near that thankfully is NOT a size 4, 8 or even a 10. Phew. I am feeling comfortable asking for directions. Certainly no fault of this poor lady - but the plus size section is a bit on the wee side for a department store and she informs me that plus size dresses are "just mixed in". At first, I'm like...Hell yea!! I check the tag on every.single.dress. I found ONE plus size dress...out of probably 200 dresses.

The ambition is so far gone, I can't even see it running away from me. I drag myself to the fitting room, and it goes a little something like this:
Ugh.
If I had to, I suppose...
Gag. (The one dress I searched hopelessly for - is a mumu. A very not flattering mumu).
I'm over it.

Becca swoops in and encourages me to finish up what I brought in. This is the only reason she was forgiven for all of her previous wise cracks. I slide on the next shirt and...finally! Something decent. It looks nice. I felt good wearing it. Let's get outta here!

I was feeling pretty defeated. I have changed my entire life, and I anticipated a mediocre experience, at the very least. I still hate shopping for my own clothes, how disappointing! But, I found a shirt. As hard as it is to not dwell on the fact that I tried on several items and only found one (even though I only needed one) and spent twice the amount of time doing so - I found something, one something - when I could have found nothing at all.

That shirt couldn't have come at a better time. My feet and thighs were screaming. I painfully return to the car, swearing to myself for wearing a maxi skirt for easy access (to my knee, people!) and not realizing I was going to be shopping for one item for hours. I put in 9000 steps in that skirt and the chub rub was on fire! My thighs were so happy when it was time to settle in for the drive home. Oh, and the feet - which I didn't complain about at the time, because I was trying to get away with the fact that I wore Becca's shoes.

It was certainly an interesting day - I wouldn't expect any less. When I made it home, I snuggled up and tried to only think about my new shirt, my new books and looking forward to my long weekend... I also decided being cremated is my last hope for a smoking hot body.

Thirty and...a country fan???

Probably not (even after a fabulous Garth concert). Any of you who know me, know I am NOT a country fan. I do of course know some country - very classic country such as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, etc. I am not a fan of the new country - the pop country. However, I do know Garth. I would include him in my classic country category.

Both my cousin, Courtney and my roommate, Becca - my best friends, are huge Garth Brooks fans. Therefore, when he announced that he was doing a World Tour - it was all that was discussed during our visits. It's a wonder they did not crash his website with their frequent tour date check-ins. When he finally and thankfully announced a concert in Boston - it was on! They were all over it, and dragging me along for the ride.

I am always down for a concert, and a trip - and I think both were pleasantly surprised with my knowledge of Garth. I probably know more of his songs than any other country artist - besides Shania. I am not actually a fan of Shania, but when I got my first cd player in elementary school, I of course needed a cd to play in it. My mother fished me out a cd or two from the Walmart $5 bin. Since I really just wanted to use my cd player - I played that $5 cd endlessly. I listened to Shania's self titled 1993 cd, for days! I still know every word!

Saturday arrives, we take off in the morning, as there is a storm on its way - with two huge Garth fans and my happy pills. We finally encounter the storm somewhere between Bangor and Portland. Our trusty driver Courtney trudges along, while I DJ. I'm sure Becca spent this portion of the drive rolling her eyes and wondering how on earth she ended up here, while we sang our hearts out to Roxette, Pat Benatar, Bob Segar and the soundtrack to Dirty Dancing. 

We head slow and steady into the storm... all of the traffic is moving along together in the slow lane. Along comes an 18 wheeler - with the need to pass us all. As he is speeding alongside us - he must lose vision or control or both, because he swerves into our lane - and the water and slush come blasting at us - Courtney cranks the wind shield wipers but we have zero visibility. We are pretty sure we're under this trucks tire - hence the water wave, and the feeling that we're travelling through a car wash. Courtney holds steady and eventually the truck driver regains control - or sanity, not sure which and slides back into his lane. The singing has stopped. I pat Courtney on the shoulder for her superb driving skills, but I'm pretty sure she's still in shock. It takes a minute for us all to come around and continue our dance party. In the moment of terror, not to mention zero visibility - we didn't retrieve the "How's My Driving" number - but if we had - it would not have been a pleasant review!   

Prior to the near death experience, and the worst of the weather -
when it was still fun and games - and apparently fun to take pictures LOL

Slightly recovered from our near death experience, we arrive in Portland. The storm is raging, so we decide to stay put and eat at the hotel restaurant. BTW - if anyone is travelling to Portland and taking the train, The Clarion is the place to stay. It is located just around the corner from the train station, has reasonable rates and nice rooms. They even have air mattresses - in case 2 members of your party might be Typhoid Mary (Courtney and I), leaving the last member not too eager to share a bed with either of us. 

The big day arrives and we're all up before the crack of dawn (who knew a one hour time difference would throw you off). Courtney and I were stirring before 4am, Becca shortly behind. We arrive at the station by 7:30am, ready to go. The train comes along - and we settle into some seats.

Now, if you know me (or Courty, or Becca) then another thing you know about me is that I have a comfort zone and prefer to be in it, and you to be out of it. However, that was not an option on this trip! I have a bum knee and broke my tailbone last year - I am too old to be cramped up in a compact area, regardless of my preference on personal space. Therefore, the train ride looked a little something like this...

Another interesting factor of our train ride - sitting beside the dysfunctional divorced couple...who argued about everything that each other said the entire 3 hours. Needless to say, I felt very normal that day. 

Finally...arrival in Boston! We check into the Holiday Inn Express (yet another fabulous hotel recommendation). It was across the road from the train station and TD Garden. Even though we could not technically check in until 3pm and arrived around 11am - they stored our luggage for us, told us they would get our room ready asap and we could check in early. The view, however, leaves much to be desired. 

We decided to walk down to Quincy Market and do some browsing, souvenir shopping, etc. I loved all the old roads and pathways! It's beautiful. I also love markets. I was in my element.

The time arrived for us to think about eating. The first 4-5 restaurants we came across, had a full seafood only menu - not really the best option if you're allergic to shellfish, like me. "Lergic!" became my phrase of the weekend. As soon as we approached a restaurant and my eyes fell upon their fish and anchor decorated menu, I'd raise my finger into the air and announce "Lergic!". We eventually made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe and had a lovely meal. I tried my best to pick a nice option - which STILL landed me a whoppin' 1,147 calories on top of the bagel and cream cheese I had on the train. It was a good thing it was going to be my only real meal of the day. And, I confess...I had a Pepsi! However - I was on a trip and I decided I would try to be cautious but not crazy, and live a little. 

We ventured back to the hotel to get ready...

...and then we headed out for some cocktails before the concert. Crazy Courty wore her black high heels on the slick and treacherous Boston streets! I could barely keep upright in my boots! 

We had some fabulous nachos (waaaaay over my calories at this point, I'm sure) and magaritas/martinis at Boston Beer Works (another recommendation). This was probably one of the many prime moments that Becca decided we should NOT return to our homes, our jobs, our lives and just chase Garth on tour, drinking margaritas and singing our hearts out lol. 

It's finally time for the gates to open...Courtney and Becca have remained relatively calm, and I am shocked that I haven't had to reel them in. We venture over to TD Garden, we wait for the gates to open...everyone is still in a very serene state...I'm a little WTF. 

We file in with the crowd...Courtney and Becca: still serene. Brittany: still WTF. 

We go past security - no status change. I finally ask what the beeeep is going on. 

No tickets. We haven't received our tickets yet...they're both in panic that there is a problem. They keep pushing us along, telling us we're ok. It is now that I realize, their serene state is actually a state of panic. I'm really WTF at this point - if there is an issue and we don't have tickets, what am I going to do with these two? I will just have to walk away, go back to hotel, let everything run its course and bail them from Boston jail in the morning. 

We approach the final leg...the man asks us for our tickets. Courtney tells him we ordered them online, he kindly asks us for the credit card used to order them, scans it with his little machine hooked to his belt and out pops our 3 tickets! 

This is the exact moment the craziness sets in....I have two happy fan....atics! 

We find our AMAZING seats - thanks to Becca's inability to accept the first 20 shitty seats they tried to offer her....and wait. This was extremely painful for both of them. At one point, Courtney even threatens that if I don't know the words and can't sing along, I'll have to move!! Thankfully, I knew more Garth than she anticipated. 

Courtney was so excited, she broke the face out of her watch! 

The show finally begins...I have two people in complete awe! 

There he is, folks! 

20 years and a few pounds hasn't slowed him down! 

The Garth High - Thing 1

The Garth High - Thing 2.

It sadly comes to an end...3 hours of Classic Garth! 

I must say it was a fabulous concert, I did a lot of singing, hooting, hollering and dancing - country fan or not! We returned home safely, lucky enough to get ahead of the storm of the decade. Extra lucky to have a snow day today, and an opportunity to rest up and begin planning our life of chasing Garth on tour, drinking margaritas and singing until our vocal chords clamp up. 

Miss Rice might have a little cowgirl in her, after all ;)