Second Best Night Everrrr...

Last night, Matt and I went to see Death Cab for Cutie.  It was the second best night of my life.  I can officially die happy now.  I've been wanting to see Death Cab for probably 5 years now.  First they weren't on tour, and then they weren't on tour in the US.  Finally, they came back to the States this year.  And finally I was able to get tickets.  They played in June at the Trocodero and I wasn't able to get tickets - they sold out during the presale.  So when I found out they were coming back to Philly, I joined the fanclub so I could get in on the presale action.

It. Was. Awesome.  My expectations were sky-high, and the band more than lived up to them. Not only was the band great, but the venue was awesome.  It was our first time seeing a show at the Mann, and I really wish we'd known about it years longer - it is a beautiful venue!  Just a street away from a kind of crappy part of the city, but it's right in Fairmount Park, surrounded by trees and museums.  Cities are funny that way, aren't they?  The venue is all open, but parts are covered, and if you venture to the top of the hill, you get a tremendous view of the city!

Anyway, the show was great.  Frightened Rabbit opened for them.  I'd never heard of them, but I definitely intend to download some of their music.  Think Mumford & Sons, only harder.  Great stuff.

Then, Death Cab took the stage.  I was so freakin giddy.  They put on a great show.  Ben Gibbard is quite funny!  And they played forever!  They started at 8:30 and played almost right up till 11.  24 songs.  Here's the setlist.

I Will Possess Your Heart > Crooked Teeth > We Laugh Indoors > Movie Script Ending > Doors Unlocked and Open > Long Division > Grapevine Fires > Codes and Keys > Summer Skin > I Will Follow You Into the Dark > You Are a Tourist > The New Year > 405 > Underneath the Sycamore > Title and Registration > Soul Meets Body > Stay Young, Go Dancing > Cath... > We Looked Like Giants > Marching Bands of Manhattan

Encore: Portable Television > Expo 86 > Sound of Settling > Transatlanticism

They played all my favorites.  When we got through the whole show and they hadn't played "Sound of Settling," I was a little heartbroken.  I was thrilled when it showed up in the encore.  Jumping all over the place like a moron.  Lovin it.

Frightened Rabbit

the set

Ben at the piano

I heart thee, Ben Gibbard

 

Here are a couple of videos I took, too.  First is "I Will Follow You into the Dark."  Ben gave us all permission to take a seat and enjoy the song.  It was just him and his guitar.  Lovely.



The second is "Stay Young, Go Dancing," which is my other favorite song, other than "Sound of Settling."  I was too busy jumping around to be able to record that one, ha ha.



If you're not a fan of Death Cab for Cutie, you should be.  And I'm sorry for boring you with this post.  (c: 

Weekend Update

You guys.  I don't know about you, but I had a pretty kick-ass weekend!  My weekend started on Thursday night, with a ride on the Broad Street Line subway down to South Philly.  I met up with Matt, my mom, my stepdad, my sister, and my brother-in-law at Suburban Station, then we all hopped on the subway.  Once we got to AT&T station (so stupid that they bought the station and named it after themselves), we stopped off to tailgate for a bit before heading into the stadium.  Anthony (my brother-in-law) had brought a cooler filled with Jose Cuervo margarita, Harpoon IPA, and some pretzels.  So we had a few drinks, then headed in.

Matt had gotten me tickets to see them for Christmas in 2009.  The show was originally scheduled for July 12, 2010.  But then Bono hurt his back, so the show was postponed for a year.  My parents, not knowing that Matt had gotten me tickets, also got us tickets for Christmas that year.  Club seats.  So, we sold our tickets to my sister and Anthony and went to the club seats with my parents.

Matt, Anthony, and the random dude who was already toasted

Mom, Jeff, and Callie

The concert was awesome!  One of the best shows I've ever seen.  High energy, a good mix of old and new songs.  See for yourself - here's the setlist:

Even Better Than the Real Thing > I Will Follow > Mysterious Ways > Until the End of the World/Where Have All the Flowers Gone? > Get On Your Boots > Magnificent > I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For/The Promised Land > Stay (Faraway, So Close) > Beautiful Day/Space Oddity > Elevation > Pride (In the Name of Love) > Miss Sarajevo > Zooropa > City of Blinding Light > Vertigo/It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) > Miss You > I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight/Discotheque/Life During Wartime/Psycho Killer > Sunday Bloody Sunday > Scarlet > Walk On

Encore: One > Halleluja > Where the Streets Have No Name > Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me > With or Without You > Moment of Surrender > Happy Birthday

I'm not sure what the story is behind Happy Birthday.  We started heading out after With or Without You.  The show was great.  For Beautiful Day, they actually had some footage patched in from the space shuttle.  Mark Kelly (the husband of Arizona Senator Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in Tuscon last year) said a few things, and "sang" along to the lyrics of Beautiful Day.  It was really cool.

Interpol

Sunset at the Linc

The Edge!

Captain Mark Kelly.  Right here, he was saying, "Tell my wife I love her..."

During "Walk On," volunteers from Amnesty International came on with lanterns

Friday morning, we got up and had breakfast.  Matt and I  made bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches.  They were delish!  At around 10:45, we (me, Matt, my mom, and my stepdad) hit the road to get in line for the 12:15 showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 at the King of Prussia IMAX.  I had purchased our tickets about a month ago on Fandango, so all I had to do was go to one of the Fandango stands and print our tickets.  Thank goodness we got there when we did, because an hour before the show, the line was already about 100 people deep!

from google

The movie was absolutely fantastic.  Wrapped things up beautifully.  The special effects were incredible.  I was teary-eyed throughout much of the movie.  I just can't believe it's ending!  Just like in the books, they brought the story full circle.  I definitely think this movie was the best of them all.

Afterwards, Matt and I headed home to change and then took the train to meet my sister and Anthony for dinner and a night out.  We had dinner at Ladder 15, in Center City, then went to the Continental rooftop bar for a couple drinks.  One of Callie's friends from high school met up with us there, and then we all went down to this great little dive bar in South Philly called Bob and Barbara's.  The drinks were super cheap, and they had a live jazz band.  It was a lot of fun.  Another one of Callie's friends met up us there, too.  It was really fun to see those guys and catch up with them.  I watched all of them grow up, so it's fun to still be able to keep track of them every now and then.

Saturday morning Callie and Anthony went home, and Matt and I drove up to Perkiomenville to celebrate my stepdad's brother's retirement and 40th wedding anniversary.  It was fun to see the family and catch up with everyone.  We hardly ever get to see them, so it's nice to get to spend some time and see all the kiddos!  Last night we were supposed to go see Sixteen Candles at the Keswick Theater, but we were both so pooped, we just stayed home and watched the season premier of Rescue Me.  Do you guys watch that show?  You should.  It's great.

from google

This morning we are being super lazy, and eventually I'm going to get started on some chores (I need to do laundry desperately) and some errands.  All in all, a really great weekend.

Hope you guys all had good ones, too!

Sometimes...

Sometimes one little thing is all it takes to turn a crappy day upside down and make it a happy day.  That just happened for me.

Ok, so the day started off well enough.  I woke up a little before my alarm and decided rather than lay in bed and torture myself, I'd go downstairs and see if I could catch any of the Royal Wedding shenanigans.  I turned it on just in time to see them recite their vows.  Kate looked just beautiful, and Wills was so handsome in his military uniform.  It was wonderful to watch them recite their vows.  They both look so nervous, and Kate was clearly trying so hard to keep herself together.  It was just adorable when the Bishop officially pronounced them as husband and wife - Kate flashed a big smile then seemed to catch herself so as not to show too much emotion.  Girl, it's your wedding day and you just became a freakin princess - smile away!

Anyway, I got to work and the world sort of exploded.  I have two patients who are dying and I'm trying to quickly arrange hospice services for them so that they and their families have support.  One of them is a 47-year-old man with a 4-year-old daughter.  Brutal.

I also was bombarded with families and patients who have lots of questions and concerns about discharge plans.  And everyone seems to need to talk to me right now.  It's hard having to juggle all of that. 

I have multiple placements to work on, including a psych placement.  One psych placement alone has the ability to eat up several hours of your day, so when I found out about this one in rounds at 11am, I was none too pleased. 

BUT.  A friend of mine let me in on a secret that my favorite band is coming to Philadelphia.  I already missed the opportunity to buy tickets for their first show, so when she told me about this one, I joined the fan club so I could get pre-sale tickets.  They went on sale today at noon.  After some issues with my computer, I went to my phone and ordered them using the browser on my phone.  Success!  Come Friday, August 5, I will be sitting at the Mann Center enjoying the music of my favorite favorite favorite - Death Cab for Cutie!  Ben Gibbard's voice is just angelic, and I'm also secretly hoping that his wife, Zooey Deschanel, will make an appearance, sit next to us in the audience, and become my new BFF.  Because I just love her. 

So that totally turned this day around for me.  I'm going to see Death Cab!!!!!   I cannot wait!

One of my favorite DCFC songs - The Sound of Settling

30 Days of Truth - Day 24

Day 01 → Something you hate about yourself.
Day 02 → Something you love about yourself.
Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.
Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.
Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.
Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.
Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.
Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.
Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.
Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.
Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.
Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.
Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)
Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)
Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.
Day 16 → Someone or something you definitely could live without.
Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
Day 18 → Your views on gay marriage.
Day 19 → What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
Day 20 → Your views on drugs and alcohol.
Day 21 → (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?
Day 22 → Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.
Day 23 → Something you wish you had done in your life.
Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)
Day 25 → The reason you believe you’re still alive today.
Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?
Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself

Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)

I often make cds for my sister.  She listens mostly to pop radio, so she misses out on all the other awesome music from the indie world.  So every now and then I'll put together a cd for her and call it her "music education" mix.  I love doing it.  I have a huge obsession with music and with finding music that speaks to my soul.  And I like to share that with people.

So, on that note, here is the latest in the "music education" series for my sister:

1. Kiss With a Fist - Florence + the Machine
2. Meet Me on the Equinox - Death Cab for Cutie
3. Rumour Has It - Adele
4. Half of Something Else - Airborne Toxic Event
5. Firework - Glee cast
6. Let's Get Lost - Beck and Bat for Lashes
7. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths
8. I Belong To You - Muse
9. Possibility - Lykke Li
10. Run - Vampire Weekend
11. Rococo - Arcade Fire
12. Here Comes a Regular - The Replacements
13. Roll Away Your Stone - Mumford and Sons
14. Raise Your Glass - Glee cast

Cuz no good mix is complete with the Glee cast.  These are all songs that I am absolutely loving at the moment.  Especially "Let's Get Lost," by Beck and Bat for Lashes.



*Just to clarify, I am not a Twihard.  I don't even get those movies.  Edward and Bella are almost as awkward as Rocky and Adrian.  I just think the soundtracks to New Moon and Eclipse are fantastic

Dance Lessons

My dad and I finally chose a song for our father-daughter dance!  Well, actually, my dad was being indecisive and I was so in love with this song, he agreed to use it.  So what did we choose?



"Father and Daughter," by Paul Simon.  The lyrics of this song choke me up every time I hear it.  It's so sweet, and it really did make me think of my dad the first time I heard it.  Seriously...how sweet is this?

I'm gonna watch you shine / Gonna watch you grow / Gonna paint a sing / So you'll always know / As long as one and one is two / There could never be a father who loved his daughter more than I love you

The best part?  There's also the voice of a child that sings backup vocals now and then.  ACK!  My heart!  Its strings are being tugged!

Anyway.  We decided on this song, but then realized we had no idea how to dance to it.  It's not a simple "sway" song like some of the slower ones out there.  It's got a pretty distinct rhythm.  So, we did what any clueless father-daughter team does.  We signed up for a dance class!

I signed us up for a 50-minute class at PA DanceSport near Hershey.  Our lesson was with John, who turned out to be a great teacher.  Luckily, I had 12 years of dance experience behind me, and my dad had taken a lesson with my sister 2 years ago when she got married.  So we weren't total newbies.  John explained to us that the song had the perfect rhythm for a Rhumba. 



The basic step for the Rhumba is the "slow, quick-quick, slow, quick-quick..."  This can be done in a simple box or turning.  John started off by teaching us the simple box, and then taught us how to turn it.  Once we mastered that, he showed us how to spin me.  It's a bit complicated, but we eventually got it [mostly] down.  We put that together with the box and the turn.  Then, John taught us a couple of other "fancy" moves - the "open" and the "rock."  The rock is basically where you step from side to side for the "quick-quick" part, and the open is where you go from side to side, opening your body up to the middle of the dance floor.  Hard to explain, but it's nifty.  We got those [mostly] down, too.  John started to try to teach us a couple of other fancy moves, but I killed it.  I didn't want us to be totally overwhelmed and end up confusing ourselves out on the dance floor. 

All in all, the lesson went really well.  My dad did a great job - I was really proud of him!  John kept telling him he should come and take additional lessons, or just come to the group dances.  He picked it up really quickly.  John also kept telling us that we were adorable.  Awww...  We had a great time, and I'm really really glad we took the lesson.  I think we'll surprise everyone!

Must-Play List

Despite having an uber-talented DJ who I'm confident will do an awesome job with our wedding music, I definitely wanted to make sure we provided a list of songs that he absolutely has to play at some point throughout the evening.  Here are the top songs on our must-play list, and why they have to heard!





"Yeah," by Usher.  The summer after I finished grad school, I took off for a month-long trek through Europe.  It was something I'd dreamed of doing for years, and I figured that summer was the time to do it.  I spent a week by myself, and then my sister met up with me in Paris.  Together we travelled around France, Italy, and Spain.  On our second-to-last night (after a harrowing stay in Barcelona during which my passport and credit cards were stolen), we went out to the clubs in Madrid with pretty much everyone in our hostel.  We got to one club and all they played was this thumping techno music by Spanish artists.  We didn't know any of it and weren't having fun, and we were just about ready to walk out.  Then, suddenly, they played this song, and our entire group went NUTS.  It was, hands-down, one of the most fun nights of my life.  Every time I hear it I think of that night and my sister.  [Funny story: once the club realized they'd pleased the Americans, they started playing ridiculous "American" songs, like "Cotton Eyed Joe" and the Grease Medley - it was hilarious]





"Oh, What a Night," by the Four Seasons.  In high school, my girlfriends and I used to go to this dance club every now and then.  Every Friday night, they had high school night, so it's not like we were sneaking in.  But because it was a) in Lancaster, and therefore 45 minutes away, b) in a "bad" part of the city [not really but by our sheltered standars, it was quite dangerous!], and c) a place where we met boys not from Hershey and therefore not approved by our parents...we felt like major bad-asses going to this place.  We learned this line dance to this song and it's been in our repertoire ever since.  Every time one of us gets married, this is a must play, and we take over the dance floor.  That tradition is certainly not ending with my wedding!!





"You Should Be Dancing" or "Stayin Alive," by the Bee Gees.  Matt's brother is a huge fan of disco, the Bee Gees, and this movie.  Every time it gets played at a wedding, he takes over the dance floor and recreates the scene in the movie.  It's hilarious.  Everyone stands around and watches him, and he eats it up.





"Don't Stop Believing," by Journey or the Glee Cast.  Uhhh...hello?  Who doesn't love to belt this one at the top of their lungs?  My preference would be for the Glee version, but that's cuz I'm a huge Gleek.  I realize that it'll probably be the Journey version, but I'm totally ok with that.  I just need to be able to scream it into my beer bottle.





"Werewolves in London," by Warren Zevon.  It's hard to explain this one.  There's a long-standing myth in Matt's family, and this song is at the center of the controversy.  It's an absolute must-play, just for the laughs alone.


So that's it!  A few of the most important must-plays on our list.  I can't wait to party with our guests to all these songs!

Vendor Crush

Shhh...don't tell Matt!  But I totally have a crush on our DJ.  Not, like, a crush-crush (like what I had on Matt in high school).  But seriously?  I heart him.  A lot.

We met with Mike from Mixed Up Productions yesterday.  It was only the second time I'd ever spoken to him, and the first time we actually met (we did our "interview" over the phone).  As soon as we met, I felt like we'd all been friends for years.  He immediately made us feel at ease and like he wanted to help us make our wedding exactly what we want and fun! 

Mixed Up Productions has a great interactive website where you can provide your must-play list, set your wedding/reception schedule, and tell them what your special songs need to be.  You can choose whether or not to do the bouquet/garter toss, anniversary dance, wedding party dance....anything.  You specify everything to make it your night!  It's a great tool, and since we had used that already, Mike had a lot of our info already.  He helped Matt to narrow down options for the mother-son dance, since he and his mom still haven't decided on a song.  When we told him that our first dance is "Chasing Cars," he loved it.  When we asked him if there was a way to cut the song down, he said, "Absolutely!  After we're done her, I'll take you into the studio and we can do it this morning!"  What?!  We went through the sequence of events and figured out timing for everything.  We talked about our current must-play list and our do-not play list.  He helped us figure out if some of our must-plays should play during dinner or the reception.  All in all, he was great.

Once we finished figuring all of that out, he took us into the studio so he could cut back Chasing Cars.  While he made a digital copy of the song, he took us on a tour of the radio station (we met him at his office, which is in the local Clear Channel Broadcasting studios - for Central PA readers, that's The River 97.3, Kiss 99.3, Bob 94.9, and a couple talk stations).  So not only did we get a great meeting with our DJ but we also got a tour of the radio station!  Bonus!  Anyway, after a brief tour, we went back into the studio, where he played around with our song, and ended up with a great cut that is just over 3 minutes rather than its usual almost-5 minutes.  I think I saw Matt's nerves lifting in front of me.  Yippee!! 

On top of all this, he gave us a great suggestion to make dinner time a bit more interesting.  You know the annoying "clink your glass and make the bride and groom kiss" thing?  I hate that stupid thing.  If I could, I would have plastic silverware and plastic cups, just so our guests couldn't do this.  I can't stand it.  Mike suggested that we can turn it into a game.  Every time people click their glasses, he'll call out another couple and make them kiss first, and then we have to copy whatever they do.  We'll supply a list of couples that we think would participate and have fun with it.  Mike said it's fun, funny, sometimes creepy, and people generally love it.  He said it can have 1 of 2 effects - either people get into it and have fun with it, or people stop clinking glasses because they don't want to be next!  Ha!  I think it's going to be a lot of fun, and Matt and I already came up with a great list of couples to give him.  

So...yeah...I'm crushing a little on Mike.  Oh well.  How else are you supposed to feel about someone who makes it so clear that he's going to do everything he can to make your day even better?! 

More Specific Music

Ok. So I'm completely, weirdly, uninvolved in our music choices for the wedding reception (other than, as I mentioned, the cocktail hour). But, of course, there are some songs that we absolutely have to pick. And we've had a lot of fun coming up with those.

First up - The Wedding Party Entrance. And, since we love our wedding party (and we love this song choice), we'll be walking in to the same song. No changing songs. It woudl probably make for a "grander" entrance, but...meh. We're not exactly Grand Entrance people. Ya dig? And the winner is:



"Small Town," by John Mellencamp. This is so fitting for us. We really love Mellencamp - we've both seen him in concert several times, including once together. Plus, um, we really did grow up in a small town.

Okie-dokie. Moving on. Next up? The cake cutting:



"Lucky," by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. I completely love this song. I suggested this as an alternative for our first dance, but when we ultimately decided to go with our first choice (coming up), this took honorable mention in the cake cutting.

After we cut the cake, we do our first dance. This song has been our song for a really long time, so people are not surprised when we tell them that this is our first dance:



"Chasing Cars," by Snow Patrol. I have been a huge fan of Snow Patrol for years, and when I first heard this song in particular, I could not stop talking to Matt about it. I sang it all the time. And when Matt finally heard it, he said it reminds him of me. I was a little worried about it being a bit long for a first dance, but Matt basically said, "Whatever. We've sat through all of their first dances...they can sit through ours. This is our song. That's it." So. That was that.

We haven't quite figured out the Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances. I have made several suggestions to my dad, none of which he's really taken the bait on. I happen to love this song - it seriously makes me cry every single time I hear it. Which is a bad thing when I put Paul Simon on shuffle on my iPod, and it comes on when I'm sitting on the train. Crying on the train? Not cool. But this song? Absolutely adorable:



"Father and Daughter," by Paul Simon. Sorry for the crappy sound quality. I love this. But my dad seems to think it's too upbeat. Or something. He thinks it'll be hard to dance to. I disagree. I also suggested "In My Life," by the Beatles and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/It's a Wonderful World," by the Glee cast (yup...the Glee cast...not the Iz version). Like I said, so far he doesn't seem to love any of them. He'll come around. Hee hee. Matt and his mom have kind of talked about it, but I don't think Mrs. I has made up her mind quite yet. I don't even know what her thoughts are.

And, of course, the last song. I wanted something fun that would get everyone on the dance floor...including Matt, who's not at all a dancer. So:



"Good Lovin," by the Dead. I mean, you can't help but feel good when you hear this song, and you can't help but want to dance. And it's the Dead! Who are pretty much the awesome-est.

So there it is. Our music choices for the reception. I'm so excited to share these experiences and moments with our guests!

General Music

Throughout this wedding planning process, I've come to find myself quite funny. I'm finding that things that I don't care about in real life are causing me to do massive amounts of internet searches and spend far too much time thinking about them. See my post the other day on shoes (funnily enough, I barely care at all about the bridesmaids' shoes). Also, I never knew I cared so much about stamps before, but suddenly I'm looking at the different stamps available, trying to see which ones I might want to use for our invitations, and finding nothing that I like. I'm starting to consider custom-printing stamps, people. Someone, please...stop me.

And then there are things that I care a great deal about in real life that I'm giving about zero amount of thought to. Like our cake. I watch wedding cake shows as much as I possibly can. Everytime there's a cake challenge show, or a cake show-down show, I watch it. I used to watch (even DVR) Ace of Cakes, but I kind of got over that, for some reason. And I hate Cake Boss, simply because the guy refers to fondant (FAHN-dunt) by his made-up stupid fancy way of saying it (fahn-DAHNT). But any other show that has to do with make big fancy cakes - I'm all over it. Love them. I follow Cake Wrecks blog because it is hilarious and even badly made fancy cakes are amazing to me. And yet, when it came time to picking out and designing our cake, I was totally blase about it. "Meh, sure, that looks good. We'll take it."

The one that's really surprising me, though, is the music for our special day. In a way, I'm kind of giving a lot of thought about it, but not nearly as much as I thought I would. And I say that because, well, I'm obsessed with music. I require it to breathe - it's seriously like oxygen to me. Even when music is playing around me, I'm listening to it in my head. I have a very strong connection to music, and it has the ability to deeply affect me. There are songs that make me laugh out loud when I hear them because of something that someone said or did while I was listening to it, and there are songs that make me burst into tears because of the beauty/pain of the lyrics or even the notes. So going into this process, I thought that finding the perfect playlist would be a huge obsession of mine. Turns out...it's kind of not.

When I spoke to our DJ the first time, and he asked me what kind of music we wanted to have played at our reception, I just said, "We like all kinds of music. Stuff from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, mostly. Fun, upbeat stuff is great, to get people on the dance floor, but we also love the Allman Brothers and the Dead. We don't really like current "club" music, but there are a few songs that we would like to hear." Super vague, right? And maybe a little confusing? But, I mean, how much direction am I supposed to give the guy? He's a professional, for crying out loud; I would think he could come up with a great way to play all of that and make it sound normal and keep the party going. [Sidebar: I did a lot of research about DJs and this company, and this DJ, in particular, got really good reviews. Especially from people who specifically said, "We gave him little to no direction." That sounded like someone we wanted to get on board with.]

Funnily enough, I am a little obsessive about the cocktail hour and dinner parts of the evening. I provided the DJ with a list of specific artists that I want him to play during the cocktail hour and a separate list of artists to play during dinner. I want to create 2 similar yet different vibes for those two hours of the night. I want them both to be mellow, but the cocktail hour should be a bit hipper, cooler, and upbeat, while dinner should be really laid-back and jazzy. For example, my "playlist" for the cocktail hour includes (but is not limited to): Brett Dennen, Ingrid Michaelson, Adele, Joshua Radin...that kind of vibe. The dinner hour "playlist" includes (but, again, is not limited to): Bruce Hornsby, Norah Jones, Ray LaMontagne...you get the picture (or sound).

Other than that, though, we've given him very little direction, and I don't really plan to dictate much of what is played during the actual party part of the reception. I have a few songs that are absolute must-plays, like "Oh What a Night," by the Four Seasons (?) for my girls, because it's a tradition that we've had since high school, and "Yeah," by Usher, for my sister, because it's a song that reminds me of our trip to Europe and what was one of the best nights ever, out at a Madrid nightclub with all our hostel-mates.

So that's the general musical feel of our reception. Stay tuned for specific song choices for the important moments of the night.