Please Don’t Stop the Music

Today was Michael Jackson’s funeral service. I had it on in the background during the day at the office (through CNN.com/Facebook, the next generation in monumental event live-viewing).

I wanted to watch because I felt like this was my generation’s Elvis or Marilyn . . . and what amazes me more than anything is the bond people are forming over the music.  Not over the scandals, the weird news stories about him over the past ten years, or the court allegations.  Yes, they are all valid and should be noted.  However, the most amazing thing that is lasting over everything else is the music.  And it’s incredible to watch how something as simple as music can bring people together.

Tonight, at my Zumba class at the gym, the instructor ended the class with an MJ tribute.  She put on “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” and instructed us all to move closer together.  Then, she led us in a simple routine to the classic dance song.  At first, there were a few smiles, grins, people slowly getting into it.  But by the end, there were wide grins, cheers, hoots, hollers, arms waving in the air, and people squealing and singing.

Here was a group of 50 women or so, of all races, colors, creeds, ages, and sizes, who normally don’t even make much room for each other during class, much less talk.  However, with this one song on such a monumental day, we were brought together into a group of women who just loved letting loose to some great music.

I know, it sounds cheesy and silly.  But honestly, even after watching the 2 hour ceremony today, even after hearing Michael’s choked up daughter speak about her father, the whole thing didn’t hit me until that class.  I was near tears watching the power of the song as it came over the group, and thinking about how much I treasured Michael when I was 3, 5, 7 and 12, but haven’t really appreciated him much as of late.

So I want to get back into his music, as cheesy and clichéd as that is to do now.  Because he is-was-an incredible dancer, singer and musician, and I don’t want to forget that.  I want my kids to know about it, and their kids.

As Rihanna sings in her classic song that samples one of Michael’s,
“Please don’t stop the music.”

[Or as my 2-year-old squeaky voiced self used to say, “Biwee Jean, snap my luhv, Biwee Jean, snap my luhv…can you heahw it?”]

I’m currently rocking out to “Say Say Say.” 

What Michael Jackson song are you currently digging?

 

Keep on Rocking in the Free World

Looking for ideas for your 4th of July party playlist this year? Here are some ideas, in no particular order, that will keep the party going long after the fireworks quiet down:

• John Mellencamp – “R.O.C.K. in the USA”
• Counting Crows – “American Girls”
• Mat Kearney – “Girl America” (great late night summer song)
• Live – “Merica”
• Matt Willis – “Sound of America”
• The Soup Dragons – “I’m Free”
• Better Than Ezra – “American Dream”
• James Brown – “Living in America”
• David Bowie – “Young Americans”
• Razorlight – “America” (another chill summer evening tune)
• Phil Vassar – “American Child”
• George Michael – “Freedom”
• Elton John – “Philadelphia Freedom”
• Madonna – “American Life”
• Andrews Sisters – “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”
• Tom Petty – “American Girl”
• Supertramp – “Breakfast in America”
• Bree Sharp – “America”

*Note – although some of these songs are not about America per se, or might even be slightly derogatory, they’re still great for a patriotic party!!

What songs am I missing?  Post your suggestions, too!

Have a great 4th of July!

(I so want these shoes!)

 

All She Wants to Do is Dance

Okay, I have a big secret to share.

You know how everyone has that one longtime dream, that goal to be something that they know will never happen but always love to daydream about coming true?  For some, they want to be President, act in a movie, or fly a plane.  Me?

I want to be a back-up dancer and go on tour with a big pop star like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera or Janet Jackson.

Sounds silly, right?  It makes sense, though, especially if you know me.  First, I absolutely LOVE music.  It is my life.  I live, eat, breathe music.  I crave music.  One of my biggest fears is going deaf.  To never hear music again would be devestation.  So naturally, my not-so-secret-anymore dream would involve music, somehow.

Second, I love dancing.  I am not very good at it.  I’m okay, and I’m pretty good at remembering routines and steps (like the fact that I still remember the steps for the dances we used to choreograph at the camp I worked at in my teens).  But I adore dancing, and my belief is, even if you’re not good at something, if you can demonstrate uninhibited love and joy with whatever you are doing, then people will still want to watch you do it and your enjoyment will be contagious.

Also, I’m a Leo.  I love attention.  I love being on stage and performing.  So that one’s an easy guess.  Of course I would find thrill in having hundreds of people watching me.

Finally, I’ve always had dance in my life in some funny, odd little way:

• I took ballet for the first few years of my life.
• When I was 8, I used to sit in my room and sketch out choreography routines to INXS and Elvis Costello songs in my journal.  I would draw the stage and use stick figures and numbered instructions to show the moves, all the while acting them out myself to make sure they looked awesome.
• In elementary school there were always opportunities to make a fool of yourself during class shows and recitals.  Guess who always volunteered…hence why there exist photos of me dancing around with props to 50s songs in 4^th (and 5^th!) grade, or performing “Cherish” in a denim mini skirt in 5^th grade.
• At sleepovers with one of my groups of friends when I was 10, we used to assign each song from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack to every one of us.  Then we had to go and choreograph a routine and perform it for everyone else.  I used to look forward to those dances way more than Truth or Dare.
• My pen pal Claire came to visit from England when we were 13, and most of the trip was spent choreographing dances we went public with in my front lawn (Annie Lennox songs) or in secret when we were supposed to be asleep at night (Whigfield and Shampoo).
• My friend Emma and I loved performing when we were little, so much so that we used to create dances to popular Disney songs and act them out for our parents (so happy to see she is now an accomplished actress and singer!).
• I have hours and hours and hours of footage of music videos I used to create.  Most of them involved getting dressed up and dancing and singing in front of the screen … so if Gwen Stefani ever needed a stunt double, I’m your gal.
• In 2003 I discovered Jazzercise, which combines dance and aerobics.  During class, to stay focused and push myself, I would imagine I was on stage.  No wonder I later started training to become an instructor.  And now, even in my other favorite classes like Hip Hop Abs at the gym, I still pretend to be on stage dancing for an audience.

So why am I sharing this?  Maybe to just get it off my chest.  Maybe to help explain why I sometimes look like I’m staring off into space when I’m commuting with my iPod on (I’m mapping out the routine in my head).  Maybe it’s to help explain why a choreographed routine may suddenly appear next year at the rehearsal dinner or during the wedding itself…

But maybe it’s also to make you think about your own private little dream.  Even though it may never become a reality, when you really reflect on what it may be, it’s interesting to see how it’s always been a part of your life in some way.  Maybe you’ve always wanted to be an Olympic skier and you spent your childhood on the slopes and used to host Winter Olympics viewing parties with your friends.

I think these dreams are so important because even if we never achieve them, they help form our character, our values, and help define what is important to us.  They create hobbies, carve out social groups, maybe even get us a job in the same field or industry as our goal.  Or they become a reality after a mid-life crisis or a layoff when we just go, “You know what?  F-it!  I’ve always wanted to travel only by train across the US for a year, and now I can do it!”

My big advice here?  Figure out what your secret goal is, and never let it go.  When the chips are down, you’re feeling low, and there doesn’t look like anywhere to go but down, conjure up this little goal and guaranteed, it will make you smile.

On a side note, what’s interesting is how I never want to be the star…but rather in the ensemble, in the supporting role.  Maybe I’m not ready for my closeup just yet.  Maybe I like the idea of being a part of a group rather than being on my own.

So you think you can dance?  I think I will.

 

Quick Thoughts Before Midnight Strikes

• One year and four days until the wedding!!  We are going to the Holiday Inn in Mansfield and staying in one of the suites to help kick off the (pre?) anniversary
• Happy belated to my Mom, and Happy Day-After Mother’s Day to all those mothers out there!
• Cannot wait for some big season finales this week – Kitchen Nightmares, Bones, just to name a few….
• This is a useful article
• Pre-congrats to my sister Cordie, who graduates college next week.  I am so proud of her!!  She also was awarded a teaching fellowship in New York, bravo!  (Brava?)
• And this slideshow is amazing eye candy
• One year ago today Jennie and Tim were married (congrats! and belated congrats to Jo and Darrell!) and we were cruising in the Caribbean [fun fact - I took the photo in this blog header on that cruise]
• I’m jonesin’ for new jeans, sunglasses, a new watch, and a spring coat

Have a lovely Tuesday. =)

 

Diggin’ on You, Diggin’ on Me

In no particular order…

THINGS I’M CRUSHIN’ ON RIGHT NOW:

“]

• Febreze (my post-workout savior)
• Red pepper hummus and toasted pita for lunch
• The front-of-train conductor on the 6:55 Middleborough/Lakeville train out of South Station – my new best friend with a smile at the end of a long day
• Marissa’s hip-hop abs class on Saturdays at the WorkOut World in Brockton – almost makes me want to go out clubbing on Long Island again.  Almost.  (”Big pimping down at Zachary’s” – oh, the memories…)
• FindtheLookKeeptheLook.com (my co-workers’ awesome site for our Woolite client.  Oh yeah, and you can win things like a new wardrobe from hot boutiques around the country or a private consultation from Stacy London.  Wish I could enter!!)
• Knowing I can check off “buy wedding dress” from all those magazine checklists!
• Saturday mornings
• 90s boyband flashback moments – ‘NSync (No Strings Attached), Backstreet Boys (Millennium), 5ive…you may laugh, but that stuff gets you moving!
• Delicious brunch on Sundays
• Laughing so hard my face hurts (like at Mr. G’s party this past weekend)
• Tons of new magazines in my mailbox (thank you, frequent flyer mile redemption programs!)
• Thisclose to launching an amazing new product for one of our clients this year
• The pink Barbie Mini Cooper limo…with Jacuzzi in the back.  AND Barbie dolls in the ceiling.  AND a Barbie dance floor.  Bachelorette party, here we come! {special thanks to Cordie for finding that one}
• My slew of weekly TV shows – Saving Grace, Biggest Loser, American Idol, Trust Me, Bones, The Office, My Boys (yea, it’s back!), The Soup, Kitchen Nightmares…
• Our Wii Fit
• Countdown to Ecuador – T minus 4 months til Steve and Cristina’s wedding (again)!
• Easter candy on sale next Monday
• Mindy Weiss’ wedding blog
• Seeing Live, live.  I’ve seen them do at least 7 shows over the past 12 years…always a good time

THINGS I’M NOT CRUSHIN’ ON RIGHT NOW:

• This rain.  Ugh.
• Abundance of Twitter EVERYWHERE.  Making me enjoy it less.  (Although now FINALLY my friends know what I’ve been talking about for a year and a half…)
• Countdown to Ecuador – you mean I have to fit into a bikini in 4 months???!
• Only 24 hours in a day
• Finding a wedding photographer
• Picture day at the office tomorrow – until I can get these wisdom teeth out, my smile is just … ugh, yeah
• When the MBCR just decides to cancel my train at last minute, like this morning
• Octomom.  So sick of it now!!

Wow, I can’t believe we already this far into April!  So crazy.  Our wedding is 13 months away!  Sounds like we’ve still got a while, but believe me, time flies.

Hope you have an amazing Passover/Easter.  Question of the week – what’s your favorite Easter candy?

 

Dress You Up in My Love

So my computer crashed and that’s why I didn’t post for a while.  Here’s a quick update on the biggest news from the past few weeks:

I GOT MY DRESS!! =)

Last Saturday I went with my Mom and Diana, one of my bridesmaids, to David’s Bridal in Dedham.  We thought we’d browse for about an hour and then maybe have a nice lunch together.

Fast forward 3 hours.

We’re at the register and a purchase is being made.

It was unexpected, exhausting, and exciting.  It was a lot of fun and I had a blast testing out every dress I tried on to see if it passed the “I can totally dance my butt off in this” test.  We had a few top contenders, but the one I kept going back to…well, it has everything I’ve been looking for in a dress.  What’s funny is that I came home and went through some of the clippings I’ve pulled from those wonderfully additive yet overpriced bridal mags – and the dresses I had earmarked were all almost identical to the one I chose.

Let me tell you, it was a tough process.  I had moments of self-consciousness (”what do you mean, I’m not a 2 in this dress?”), and I definitely will need to drop those 5 pounds by next May.  However, it’s a relief to know this step is over!

I’d paste a photo for you, but I can’t spoil it for my groom. =)  Trust me, though – it’ll be a knockout.

Not my dress

 

Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn

Oh, my dearest apologies for not writing sooner! It’s been a busy few weeks.

Here are some wedding updates:

• We booked the venue! On Saturday, we submitted our deposit and contract for our May 15, 2010 wedding location. It is [drumroll please] the Holiday Inn in Mansfield, MA. We’ll be having the ceremony and reception all in one place; plus, the convenience of a hotel locale will be oh-so-handy for our many out of town guests. [If you go to the web site, please note that they've since renovated and haven't been able to update the photos yet.]

• We’ve started putting together the MOST important part of the event: the music playlist! Haha. We’ve started looking at DJ’s as booking the entertainment is the next priority on the list.

• We’ve chosen the color scheme! I guess you would call it plum wine and chartreuse (aka lilac/purple and pale green). We’re still playing around with the many shades of the colors but now we can really start to get other elements together…

• …like the stationery and icon themes. Man, it is SO hard to come up with the overall scheme. I want modern, but now vintage is looking like a lot of fun, too. And picking an icon is so hard.

Slowly but surely we are tackling some of the other elements, bit by bit … Mom and I are going dress shopping soon, so if you have any suggested bridal shops in the Boston area (north or south shore), please let me know!

On a side note, it is very difficult to plan a cheery, warm spring wedding when it is snowing out – again! [Sigh] My only hope is that the endless snow this year will pave the way for a very nice summer.

And don’t forget – only 16 days until St. Patrick’s Day! Start getting your green in order.

Since it’s the first day of March, it’s fun to look at the month ahead to all the great things coming up. I’m excited about getting the DJ for the wedding, warmer weather, No Doubt tickets on sale this Saturday, more sunshine each day, and the many birthdays of this month that will be a blast to celebrate. What are YOU most looking forward to this month?

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mark Your Calendars

This past Saturday we were thisclose to going to our first bridal show together.  And then we thought – wait a minute, we haven’t picked a date or venue yet!  So we took the afternoon instead to visit a few venues that are on our list to figure out those key elements first before looking at cake and floral vendors.

And then afterwards, we spent over 4 hours at the British Beer Company in Dedham (with the best waitress ever), poring over each wedding package from the different venues and comparing minute details.  Seriously, like, continuous napkin folding versus non-continuous…ugh.

But I think we’ve narrowed down the place.

AND! (drumroll) We’ve set the date!

May 15, 2010.

Get it on your calendars now.  We are getting married on May 15, 2010.  On that day I will go from Miss K to Mrs. D.  Kinda crazy.

Once the venue is confirmed, we’ll be sharing all the details, don’t worry!

 

It’s a Love Story!

Happy New Year!  Just wanted to put up a quick post for a little personal PR:

As a result of a HARO query (thanks @skydiver), which was pointed out to me by @aeropolowoman after a rousing weekly edition of #journchat, Mark and I were the featured Cyber Love Story of the Week on CyberDatingExpert.com!  I worked with Julie Spira to iron out the details and bam, there we were!

Did you meet your hub/wife/fiance on a dating site?  Got a story to tell?  Share it with Julie…maybe you’ll get to be featured, too!

WEDDING PLANNING UPDATE:

• We survived the holidays!

More updates to follow soon as we begin visiting potential locations…hey, got any south shore (Boston) hotels that you recommend for a May wedding?

 

I Love (a) Boston (Wedding) in the Springtime

A quick update on the wedding plans:

(But first, a brief THANK YOU to all who have sent such nice wishes and sweet words of congratulations.  My job in PR reminds me that sometimes bad news can travel fast, but the ring on my finger is proving that good news can travel fast, too.  So even if I can’t respond personally to all messages, know that you’ve been heard. )

• We’ve narrowed down the date – Spring 2010.  April 24, May 1, or May 15 is preferred.  We’d love to have it on May 8 (anniversary of our first date is on the 8th of the month – wouldn’t it be nice to have only one date to remember?) but that’s Mother’s Day weekend.  So our decision now weighs heavily on the cost of the venue and the timing of all of the other weddings around the same time (’cause sheesh, there’s a lot).
• We’re planning on getting married in Massachusetts.  (My apologies, NY friends and family!)  We’re currently looking into venues in the south shore area, especially Dedham hotels.  The goal is to have both the ceremony & reception in the same hotel.  Let’s see how that one goes.
• I think we’ve nixed the beach wedding idea but we’re starting to consider spring colors and themes.  Location and exact date will affect that.
• We’ve started drafting the huge master guest list.  This is the “kitchen sink” list.  Then we make the budget.  Then we make the edits.  Tough job, but unfortunately, it needs to be done.
• We’ve started notifying the bridal (and groomsal?) party members.  The positive reactions received so far are awesome.
• I’ve picked up a whole stack of bridal magazines and joined TheKnot.com.  Plus, I’m starting to check out blogs on weddings.alltop.com and take notes on pics and ideas I like.  As a result, Mark spends more time hiding in the other room with SimCity, haha!
• And of course, knowing me, I’ve already started thinking of songs for the reception.  This is the most fun part.

So slowly and steadily we’re moving forward.  Our goal is to have a date finalized by the new year … or, maybe by mid January.  Once we have that, it will help everything else fall into place.  And really, with holiday/work/travel/multiple December birthday plans and stresses going on right now, I can’t focus on anything else but just getting to January 1, 2009.  I’ve got plenty of time to be a Bridezilla.

We’ll keep everyone posted as things move forward.  As always, we welcome your ideas and suggestions.  Doesn’t mean we’ll use them, but at least we’ll listen.

On a side note, good luck with all of your holiday shopping this year!  ”On the 9th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…”  (”now why the [heck] are they blinking??” … great song!)

I’d love to know: what’s your favorite song to hear at a wedding?  What’s the one song that makes you get up and dance?