Demi Lovato

Something to look forward to – Summer Shows!

| cheriarmour

I love live music. It’s like top 4 things I like to spend my money on. The others being food, races, savings/paying off bills, and mani/pedis. Best money spent in life (I feel like).

So when Beyonce happened to mention that she was launching dates for her Formation World Tour at Sunday’s really disappointing Super Bowl. Made less-disappointing by that fact that we had a bunch of friends over. But still. So Bey announced the tour in the most Bey way possible, by inciting a little controversy (which, I’m not here to argue about), and then running this commercial that looked like an ad for her new fragrance.

And this ceremoniously kicked off my personal tour de music for the warmer months. Which makes me hopeful because this cold weather is absolute trash and I really want nothing more to do with it.

Here’s what I’ve got so far!

April 8th – Gavin DeGraw at Red Hat – this will be my second time seeing him at this particular venue, and probably like my 5th time seeing him in real life.  Every time I’ve seen him has been awesome, and I stand by my confidence in the fact that he once called me pretty.  ::tosses hair::

May 3rd – Beyonce at Carter-Finley – this will be like my 4th or 5th time seeing her altogether.  Acquiring tickets may be tricky, so I’m going to go into this process with a really open mind and hope for the best.  But if I don’t get to see her, Bey, there’s always next time.

May 11th – Pentatonix – I have never seen this group live, but I’m so looking forward to this.  Can’t Sleep Love ended up being one of my standout faves from the album, and I desperately adore Mitch and Scott.  Avi is bae.  I would love to have dinner with these guys.  INTERVIEW THEM FOR THE BLOG?  Even though as I say that, I have no idea what the heck I would ask them, and would probably just creepily sit in the corner as they filmed Superfruit, laughing my head off.  Just a guess.

July 2nd – Demi Lovato – I saw her once before in Charlotte, and she was really awesome.  The show was full of tweens, but I think we’ve established that I really am not super affected by the audience.  She was really good.  I think my fave was Nightingale, because she through in a BANANAS key change after the bridge.  YAS!

July 6th – Justin Bieber – This will be my second show with the Biebs.  I actually just went back and listened to the singles off Believe, and I am so stoked for the show.  Love him or hate him, he put out some good stuff with Purpose and I’m here for all of it.

Wish List:  These are artists I’m really needing new music from/would love a tour from sometime this summer.

Allen Stone – he is at Bonnaroo this year.  Something tells me I won’t be making it to any festivals this year, so I’d love a small show.

Katy Perry – I’m ready for a tour AND new music.  I’m very much a Teenage Dream fan, so I’m ready for another album with FIVE hit singles on it.

And this is what I got!

What shows are you excited about seeing this summer?

What’s the most you’ve ever (you would) pay for a concert ticket?

My year in music.

| cheriarmour

I’ve used Spotify for years – love it so much that I actually pay for a premium account, and have access to all my faves on all my devices.

Spotify has been with me at every single race I’ve ever run, and now, at least since last year, Spotify has been analyzing your listening patterns, and it makes December a little more fun when you get to remember specifically what you were listening to, with numeric proof of how obsessive your personality is.  Here’s a little bit of info about what I was listening to in 2014.

My top artist?

Demi

None other than the gorgeous and talented Demi Lovato.  This is two years running now, and my obsession shows no sign of slowing down.  Even though I do wish that she would break if off with Wilmer and then maybe she and I could be good friends.  Maybe more than friends.  Idk, we would take it slow, just see where it goes.

My Favorite Artists

My faves

Like I said before, Demitria obviously came in at number one, followed by Ariana Grande, who ruled the charts in 2014, followed closely by my friend and confidante,  Gavin DeGraw.

Gavin DeGraw and your peeps truly!
Gavin DeGraw and your peeps truly!

See! I told you! Friend and confidante!

The most fun analysis of them all!  Top 100 Songs of my 2014?

Top 100We got Magic’s Rude, we got Bailando, and really weirdly enough, we have Popular Song by Ariana and Mika.  And I’m not mad at it.

The coolest little thing about what Spotify did is that they went ahead and made a playlist of your Top 100, which I was having fun with on a boring treadmill run the other day by clicking around and taking a little jog (at six miles per hour) down memory lane.

What made your top lists in 2014?

Nick Jonas

| cheriarmour

I kind of feel weird about this.

But I didn’t really get the Jonas thing growing up, which is really funny for me, because I freely admit that I have a lot of love for talented teeny boppers.

Ariana, Justin Bieber, and I even dabble in the dark art of the One Direction.

I don’t care if it’s a kid, if the kid is talented, there is a really good chance I will thoroughly enjoy his or her talent.

Which brings me to this.

So Nick Jonas made some waves when he posed for some delightfully NSFW photos. So I’m doing my usual rundown of what’s going on in pop culture, and I stumble across this treasure trove of Nick Jonas photos…

Nick JonasNow, this is one of the safer photos, but fear not, if you haven’t seen these photos, just click through, and I have conveniently linked you to those photos.  If you’re not faint of heart, scroll all the way down, and put a smile on your face.

So I was really confused because I never got down with the JoBros that much, and I can’t really remember which one dated Demi Lovato, or if I’m supposed to still be mad at him or not.

(Fear not, because it was Joe, not Nick who Demi dated, and she is apparently over it because she was touring with Nick, and I think he played drums on Made in the USA)

So, I’m going along really confused.  Nick looks awesome in these photos, he’s diabetic, and for whatever reason, that makes him all the more adorable to me, and then he goes and does this…

Now, when you heard this on the radio, you’re like, “Oh, some R&B newbie, who could it be?!”

Well, if this isn’t your scene as much there’s a gospel version that’s actually not silly…

And I just feel so confused. I have so many questions. When did Nick Jonas get cute? When did he get muscular? Why was I not alerted to this before?

At any rate, go listen to Jealous, and add it to your workout playlist.  You will thank me!

What’s the last song you added to your workout playlist?

Songs to love by.

| cheriarmour

I posted this last week.  A breakup playlist of sorts, after I saw a guest post on Helene’s blog.

I hope none of you thought that my breakup playlist was any indication of the status of my relationships with my man-hunk, Austin, or Austie-Bostie, as my mom calls him, but rest assured, I’m still in love with my groom-to-be, and despite the fact I sometimes neglect him to do work on this blog, I’m sure he still  loves me too 🙂

That said, in case you were worried, here are some songs to love by to balance out the breakup playlist I posted last week.

So I love love.  I love the way love makes me feel.  And each one of these songs reminds me of a wonderful time in my relationship, and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy to share it with you.

Love on Top – Queen Bey

Duh. I have no explanation except that this song is really incredible.

Easy 2 Luv You – Stacie Orrico

I first heard this song with another boyfriend, but it took on new meaning when I met Austin.  It really is so easy to love that man.  Similarly, I also feel like it’s easy to want to yell at him sometimes, but goodness, he makes me feel like a natural women, and this song says it.  Plus Stacie is amazing.

Lightweight – Demi Lovato

You guys knew that she would make an appearance sometime, right?  I heard this song at first last spring, when I was running the Nike Women’s Half Marathon, and as soon as I heard it, I felt like it was written for us.  Austin has my heart, and that’s all I can think of when I hear this song.


You Give Me Something – James Morrison

I have been obsessed with this song/with this artist for years, and again, this song took on new meaning when I met the nearly-husband. It didn’t mean nearly as much as when I had a schmoopy to share it with.

Sugar – Stevie Wonder

This song remind me of when me and Austin were first dating, and when he gave me his FM transmitter for my car for a long drive I had to New Jersey. I played the song the whole drive up and sang it to him.

One Night Stand – Jazmine Sullivan

This song is a good one cause it’s fun, and it describes perfectly who I was before Austin. I was a fun lady, and I had no idea that I would find someone that I’d want to marry as much as I want to do him. And then he got me heart. 🙂  Also, Jazmine, where the hell ya been girl?  I’m ready for new music!

Never Knew I Needed – Ne Yo

“You’re the best thing I never knew I needed.”


Soldier – Gavin DeGraw

I’m not yet married (did I mention I’m getting married!) but this song is what I envision the union to be like.

“I’ll get it, if you need it. I’ll search, if you don’t see it. You’re thirsty I’ll be rain, you get hurt I’ll take your pain. I know, you don’t believe it, but I said it, and I still mean it. When you heard what I told you, when you get worried, I’ll be your soldier.”

I want to be his soldier.

I had literally 10,000 more songs on this list, and let me be 100 with you guys, this list was way, way more fun than the breakup playlist to compile, and it makes me just want to love on everyone.  Now your turn.  What’s your favorite song to love by?  

Weekend recap! (Best weekend evahhh)

| cheriarmour

So, after the photoshoot on Saturday, I ran, and hopped in the car to head to Charlotte because I got me and Deb some tickets to see Demi Lovato. So first things first, after a 10-miler at my parents’ I met up with Deb and some of her work friends at a place called Georges Brasserie in the Southpark neighborhood of Charlotte.

P1160212

P1160202

The place was super nice, and turned out to be a French place, which means the menu was baller.

P1160203

Bottomless Mimosas were $12. Yes please!

P1160206

Cheers!

P1160204

We started off with an order of beignets for the table….

P1160205

And literally, almost every single girl at the table ordered the French Toast which was AH-maze. Go to Georges, and tell them I said hey!

So next up, the Demi Lovato concert!

If you guys know anything about you, you need to understand that I am ride or die for Demi.

P1160215

P1160216Me and Deb found giant Demi before the show, where the median age was like 15.  Seriously, besides moms, we were like the oldest people there.  But I knew every word so suck on that tweens!
photo-1Deb and I found the Tampax (weird) photobooth and took some really really cute pics.  I’m gonna hang onto these for a while.

P1160218The hot one from One Direction?  Zayn?  His lady-friend is in this group.  They were really cute, and played a bunch of adorable covers from the 90s, including a TLC cover of ‘No Scrubs’.  No one but us and the moms knew this one.

And finally!!!!

P1160223Demi!  And the seats were really good!

P1160219

P1160220

P1160221She was amazing.  Seriously amazing.  She seemed really happy, and sang strong for the entire time.  It wasn’t super overproduced, and the show really boiled down to her and the music.  Demi played the new stuff, the old stuff, and played the drums, the piano, and the guitar.

P1160225The coolest thing?  The Neon Lights app that you could download before the show.  During Neon Lights, the app created this really cool effect on everyone’s smartphone blinked to the beat of the song.  Such good energy!

So overall, that concert was amazing, and I actually found myself boo-hooing during her incredible rendition of ‘Let it Go’ from Frozen and ‘Nightingale,’ where she threw in this amazing key change at the last chorus.

So a photoshoot, a long run in beautiful weather, time with my sister, time with my parents, mimosas, and a Demi Lovato concert?  I’m now exhausted, but what a fantastic weekend.

What was the coolest thing you did this weekend?

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Saturday Folks!

| cheriarmour

I’m sitting in the office, writing, and looking out the window at how gorgeous it is outside.

My plans for today?

Teaching a Zumba class at the Y, a photo-shoot that I think is gonna turn out really cool, a run, and then I’ll hop in my car so I can head to my parents’ house, where I’ll be staying with the dog so I can see my lady-friend, Demi Lovato tomorrow night!

So a busy Saturday on deck.

What are your plans for this beautiful weekend?