Fantasy-Mexico-Land

So I don't really know what it up with my blogs lately - I sent a whole description that did not post along with the pic below of Mi Tierra Cafe :)

So here goes again:

Last night, we started heading North after the show, but we were all starving. We were really just looking for the first place that was open since it was after 11pm. We saw this lively Mexican restaurant and thought we'd give it a try. There seemed to be lots of action in the parking lot, and from the outside it looked like a typical Mexican place. But when we walked inside - it was like we stepped into a whole other dimension - a Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe Closet if you will...

There was a giant dessert/pastry bar when we walked in, which delayed Miguel and me for a few minutes. To the right was a giant bar that was hoppin with a mariachi band and lots of "happy" people :) To the left... it seemed endless. Room after room all decorated with a different theme.

We were in shock because we expected a "Waffle House" of you will... (I love me some Waffle House now, so I say that with affection) but our expectation was more of a stereotypical late night joint. Not a beautiful, looked like you just stepped into Fantasy-Mexico-Land.



In other, not as fun news... we had to cancel our show for this evening. It was really frustrating. We started the drive last night, and were pretty confident that we could make it to Canyon (which is up by Amarillo - NW Texas). But they have suffered really bad snow and icy conditions over the last few days like so much of the country has this week. All the traffic maps and advisories online said "DO NOT TRAVEL". We went as far as we could go until we had to make the decision whether or not we could go any further. (It was a 9 hour drive total) The roads from San Antonio to Amarillo are state highways - not even interstates... and their ability to properly treat the roads is... well... take a guess... they never have snow there... so they don't have a lot of means to get RID of the snow that falls once in a blue moon. If that storm had happened in Wisconsin, it would have been a no brainer - those roads would have been clear becuase they have the infrastructure to salt the roads and melt the ice quickly - just like they had in Iowa a few days ago. It was only HOURS after a HUGE storm had passed through causing hundreds of cars to spin off the roads. But they have so many salt trucks at hand, they got the problem taken care of quickly.

No one ever WANTS to cancel a show. It's not fun for anyone involved. The school had actually started calling us a couple of days ago, and we just thought they were being overly cautious. But once we saw the roads, we couldn't make it. I just WILL NOT put my band in that kind of danger. None of us felt good about it, and everyone weighed in on the decision. It was difficult because management and agents were really leaning on us to push through. James, as tour manager was being so unbelievably diplomatic about the whole thing. I was actually the one who was all riled up. We've already been in one major accident due to snow and ice on the road, and the outcome was one that most people aren't lucky enough to live to tell about. So yeah... I may be overly sensitive on this issue.

But something way down in my gut was telling me NOT to go. And we were all spooked from hitting a patch of ice and sliding last night. Plus something crazy is going on in the universe right now! My little hometown of Columbia Tn got over 7 inches of snow yesterday, and we've NEVER gotten that much snow. So something is up. It sucks we couldn't go. And even though there is even MORE paperwork involved and no one gets paid, and there was no show... I am 100% confident we made the right choice.

So today wasn't exactly what I would call a fun day. There were MANY phone calls that began early in the morning about the whole thing. And James had a tough job on his shoulders trying to convince everyone that we were making the right decision. But once we realized we weren't headed to Amarillo, we started heading back towards Dallas - where our awesome friend Randy Peterson lives. We got here around 10pm tonight, headed to dinner, played some shuffle board, darts, foosball, rock band, and mario kart. :) So the majority of the day was unpleasant, but the evening turned out to be great. We love Randy and Stacie P! The new band isn't REALLY the new band until they stay at Randy P's house! It's part of the induction into the band, really. :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Randy and Stacie are THE BEST

What an incredible day!!!

We are staying with two of our FAVORITE people in the world - Randy and Stacie Peterson while we are here in Dallas for a few days. This would be our 3rd time crashing at their place this year :)

When we arrived last night, James and I immediately went to "Our Room" to put our stuff away and I was surprised with just about the sweetest thing EVER.



AND



A framed picture (that I haven't even printed out yet) of my husband and me on the table, and a collage of Cinnamon on my night stand!!!!

These really are some of the best people in the world, and that is only a tiny example of why!

Randy had FOUR tvs set up in the game room, along with computers for Sunday Football. We haven't gotten to see a single game this season - been driving and/or playing every Sunday. But today we caught up by watching ALL of them! GO PATS AND TITANS! Plus, we spent the evening playing Rock Band and watching live concerts. And let me just say, Miguel is a REALLY GOOD SINGER! That boy needs to be singing harmony parts :)

Hope everyone else had as wonderful of a Sunday as we did. James and I even got a bunch of work done and Miguel spent part of the day practicing. So yeah. Relaxing AND productive. The BEST.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~nat

Texas A&M University Kingsville

We played at Texas A&M University in Kingsville last night and had one of our best shows in a long time! The audience was unbelievably enthusiastic and made us feel so welcome! It's so funny how the exact same grouping of songs can feel so different from show to show.
We played a new song that we haven't played a lot yet (The one the Uncle Corndogs Loves from Ribfet!). It's one that Charlie and I wrote called "Just Like That". I could NOT for the life of me remember the 4th line of the song. And I even sang it in sound check without thinking twice about it! I was trying to figure it out back stage before the show.... it's the line that comes before "The warmth of your touch makes me melt" so I knew it needed to rhyme with "melt". I kept trying to figure it out, and then Hootie started making suggestions for filler lines in case the original didn't come to me on stage.
The first one, which I actually used because it wasn't too bad.... for a filler...
"I'm feeling things, I've never felt" I mean.... yeah, we figured it was better than NOT singing anything!
His next suggestion, and my personal favorite "The way you look, the way you smell" :) k, yeah, not so much! LOVE IT.
I think Hootie should write ridiculous alternative lyrics to all my songs. :) Wait. He kinda already does most days in the Suburban....
So anyway, the line is SUPPOSED to be:
"You draw me in like no one else"
Da Da DAAAA! DUH!!!! Wow. Can't believe I couldn't think of that one.

We took lots of pics after the show! Everyone was so gracious and fun. I want to go back! Oh!
And Eva Longoria graduated from that school :)

CAB - the wonderful group that brought us here, took care of us, and put the entire show on. Thank you so much Nino and everyone in CAB!!!! You guys were so awesome to us!


Our awesome sound crew:


Our protector:


Some new friends next at the merch table:



A bit of Greek life that came out to the show :)
Aren't these girls adorable?


I was ok with being in the center of all these guys! (I look like I match)


So yeah. GREAT way to start off the new year. We'll have more pics posted in the slide show on myspace :)

Right now we are staying at Randy Peterson's place in Dallas. We are shooting a video in the morning and currently the guys are all upstairs playing foosball - they are getting pretty into it. We have spent the night playing a little rock band (I am TERRIBLE at the drums!) and Mario Kart.. so much fun. I'm glad hotels aren't this entertaining.... we'd never get any work done!

But now I am off to sleep... lots o' hair and make-up to get done in the morning!!!

Peace, Love, Fiddle and Good Night