My Concert Resume

Taken from Austin's facebook note. and embellished.

-BEN FOLDS/Rufus Wainwright/Ben Lee: August 13, 2005, City Market, Kansas City, MO.
Attended with Laura June Ponath and Blair Miller
-SCHOOL OF ROCK AUSTIN: January 20, 2006, Redrum, Austin, TX.
Attended with Lauren Kessler, Justine Shaw, and perhaps other girls from Blanton Four.

-BEACH BOYS: February 17, 2007, AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
Attended with Austin and Kerry.

-LITTLE RICHARD: March 24, 2007, University of Texas West Mall, Austin, TX
Attended with Lauren Kessler, Justine Shaw, and Austin.

-ALICE COOPER/Blue Oyster Cult: August 11, 2007, Sedalia Fairgrounds, Sedalia, MO (Missouri State Fair)
Attended with Austin, and (I think) Alex Bergman, Michael Hogan, and Eric Thomas.

-BLUE OYSTER CULT/Rockus Circus/The Krayolas: August 25, 2007, Sunken Gardens Amphitheater, San Antonio, TX
Attended with Austin.

-AUSTIN CITY LIMITS MUSIC FESTIVAL: September 16, 2007, Zilker Park, Austin, TX.
Bob Dylan, Wilco, The Decemberists, Regina Spektor, Stephen/Ziggy Marley, Devotchka, The School of Rock All Stars.
Attended with Hank mostly.

-RUFUS WAINWRIGHT: March 5, 2008, Bovard Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA
Attended with Richard Fletcher.

-FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS: April 24, 2008, Amoeba Records, Los Angeles, CA
Attended with Alex Yeh, Jon Cronson, and Richard Fletcher.

-NATASHA BEDINGFIELD, April 29, 2008, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Attended with the entire UTLA crew.

-THE WHO, PEARL JAM, INCUBUS, FOO FIGHTERS, THE FLAMING LIPS, TENACIOUS D: July 15, 2008, Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA.
Attended with Elliot Smith.

-HARRY AND THE POTTERS: Summer 2008, Lawrence, KS
Attended with Jonas Davidow, Colleen VanBuskirk, Ethan Miller, Kuran Bricker, and Austin and Alex Johnston. Hopefully I didn't forget anyone.

-AUSTIN CITY LIMITS MUSIC FESTIVAL: September 26-28, 2008, Zilker Park, Austin TX.
The Foo Fighters, Beck, The Raconteurs, The Mars Volta, Conor Oberst, Erykah Badu, G. Love & Special Sauce, Band of Horses, Silversun Pickups, Gogol Bordello, Vampire Weekend, Slightly Stoopid, Fleet Foxes, MGMT, What Made Milwaukee Famous, M. Ward, Octopus Project, White Denim, School of Rock All Stars.
Attended with James Stevens.

-MATISYAHU: November 11, 2008, Stubbs BBQ, Austin, TX
Attended with Chris.

-GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY: November 14, 2008, Stubbs BBQ, Austin, TX
Attended with Chris.

-GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY: January 30, 2009, Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TX
Attended with Chris.

-BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE: January 31, 2009, Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TX.
Attended with Chris.

-CAKE: April 28, 2009. Stubbs, Austin, TX
Attended with Chris.

-BRYAN ADAMS: June 2, 2009. Paramount Theatre, Austin, TX
Attended with Chris.

-GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY: July 17, 2009. Whitewater Rocks Amphitheatre, New Braufels, TX
Attended with Chris.

-COUNTING CROWS/Augustana: August 3, 2009, Austin Music Hall, Austin, TX.
Attended with Chris.

-JOURNEY: September 29, 2009, The Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TX.
Attended with Chris.

-AUSTIN CITY LIMITS MUSIC FESTIVAL: October 2-4, 2009, Zilker Park, Austin, TX.
Kings of Leon, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Ben Harper, The Decemberists, The B-52s, Coheed and Cambria, Andrew Bird, Flogging Molly, Citizen Cope, Phoenix, Bassnectar, Brett Dennen, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Girl talk, Passion Pit, White Lies.
Attended with Chris.

-GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY: July 17, 2010, Whitewater Rocks Ampitheatre, New Braufels, TX
Attended with Chris, James Rexroth, Jaime Geil, Natalie Navar, Joseph Mattingly, The Woodards, The Wolfes, Hector, Mia, David Fajardo, Nick Salinas, and I'm sure there are others.

-DAVE MATTHEWS BAND: September 10, 2010, Houston, TX
Attended with Chris, Eric Weiss, Matt Probstfeld, and Monica Robb.

-DAVE MATTHEWS BAND: September 11, 2010, Dallas, TX

Attended with Chris, Eric Weiss, Matt Probstfeld, Mae Sattam, Mark Brennan, and Jessica Bush.

Mr. and Mrs. Frei

Once I graduated college, it seemed like everybody started doing it. This weekend I watched Charlotte and Andi do it in Chicago.

I met Char during college orientation, the summer before freshman year. She was the first person I'd ever met named Charlotte. In August, when classes started, she lived in the dorm right across the hall from mine. We ate breakfast together every Thursday- thus forming the Blanton Breakfast Club (BBC). As many freshman women do, Char, I, and the other girls on our hall often times discussed the big moments of our futures: weddings, careers, families, and places we hoped to visit. Charlotte was always, "1st: my career, 2nd: my travels, and maybe sometime... my marriage." That's why when she went abroad for school, fell in love, and came back engaged it was really hard for me to believe. However, after witnessing their beautiful ceremony I completely understand that this is the path for her. Andi is the perfect match for my friend; he brings out her very best. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Frei!


In other news, Chris and I ate way too much food whilst traveling. I'd visited Chi-town with Jonas for spring break a few years back, and the food was definitely my strongest memory. Possibly the best pizza in the US. Chris and I also dined on gourmet French appetizers, Goose Island Beer, and some fantastic sandwiches. And to make eating so much seem slightly less painful, we walked nearly everywhere. Not only was the L tons of fun to ride, it seemed clean, safe, and reliable. Oh the irony, as my credit card statement brings me back to reality, we're moments away from booking our next excursion. Details to come if it's ever finalized...

A Week of Relaxation and a New Job!

Monday was my first day at my new job! I can already tell it's immensely different from Leahy. See what time this was posted? That's right- some places don't expect you to work more than 40 hours a week. I have freedom again!

Speaking of which- wow, how nice is summer vacation? I spent 7 days at the pool, on the couch, and running errands. And it was awesome. My shoulders may be slightly pealing, and I probably spent $200 that would have been otherwise avoided, but being a stay at home girlfriend is kind of amazing.

I made spaghetti, ham & cheese quiche, Chicken Paprikash, and yesterday my friends and I rolled sushi from scratch! I cleaned the apartment from top to bottom, caught up on 6 seasons of the Hills, and Jackie and I painted fish. What a week.

And now- time to bring in the $. LIM is a bigger office than I thought, and it feels a lot like first coming to UT or BVN. Once I get my direct route down from my cube to the kitchen I'll feel more comfortable. yeah- I have a cube. It's small, but I am eager to decorate it. Chris has a huge RX8 Rasterbation in his, so I might use that as inspiration. Suggestions for conversation starters are encouraged. Most of the office is Asian, but there's a surprisingly decent amount of women. I may borrow from Lauren's trip to the spa, and recommend that as a team building exercise. More to come as I continue learning the ropes...

time for another change

Ah, the blog starts again. A few months back, my Kansas friends were emailing one another discussing the idea of blogging. We all shared the attitude, "we don't have anything interesting going on... nobody will read it." Despite that, I really wanted my friends to keep one so I could read about their "uninteresting" lives. And, as Rachel and Steph started blogging again; I just had to join in too.

Another motivation is of course- change. My last day working at Leahy & Associates was on Thursday. The past month there as been increasingly stressful and completely unrewarding. My boss and his wife, Mrs. Boss, fired their assistant, my very good friend. Their reasoning was, "lack of trust." They caught her and their other employee, who's title is technically, Partner, IMing. "Mrs. Boss never comes to work, we should keep a time sheet for the hours she spends here." So, while Partner was away from her desk, Mrs. Boss sat down and saw the IM conversation. She immediately sent her assistant home for the day and proceeded to tell myself, the only other employee, and Partner that people should be careful with what they say online, and that nobody knows how hard she works or what she does for her company. Mr. Boss was out of the office this entire time. Once he returned, he quickly reiterated his wife's comments with hope that a similar situation would never happen again. The next morning, they fired their assistant claiming, "we cannot have somebody working for us whom we do not trust." As for the Partner- Mrs. Boss called her out being "completely disrespectful. So, F*ck you. eff you. eff you." Granted, I was not present for the conversation, and did not hear what happened until Partner called me that night warning me she was quitting the company first thing on Monday. Partner was not just a Partner with the company, she was also my partner. We shared responsibilities, conversations, ethics, and an office. I began job searching that Sunday afternoon. First thing Monday morning, she leaves the company- leaving two jobs for one person (yup, me). While Mr. Boss swore he could handle his partner's position, I knew within two days that I could not handle teaching my boss how to do his job. After submitting four days of resumes, I had two interviews setup. Unbelievably, within ten days of job hunting, I had a job offer in the mail. On July 26th I start working as the Receptionist/HR Assistant for LIM.

Thus, the third reason to blog- time! I gave my two weeks to Leahy on July 1st, giving me an entire week's vacation before starting with LIM. I spent the weekend at Canyon Lake with Chris and about 20 others, and have used these past three days to relax and run errands. What a perfect way to transition to something new. Who knows what I can do next.