Have Some Pics of A Blues Christmas

I left my camera in the car last night among the craziness, so I had to wait until today to get the pics up online. (Sorry, Bay!)

I was SOOOOO excited because my awesome, rockstar of a niece, Bailey, got to come. She brought her friend, Blair, and they were there to support me during the show.
I have to brag on Bay for a sec. She just started taking guitar and after only 3 lessons, she can sing and play all of "Our Song" (by Taylor Swift) among other songs that she is teaching herself!!! It is so awesome!!! She's a natural. I can't wait to get her up on stage to play with me!
Bailey, Me, Blair, and my sister, Stephanie


We had so much fun last night!!! The bar gave the whole band some fancy, schmancy, rummy drinks. MMMMmmm. I didn't get very far with mine, but I think the boys made up for my lack of thirst. ;)


And Jenn got to come!!! Yay!!! Miguel and Jenn got a sitter so that she could come enjoy in the fun. AND my good friend, Jessie got to come, too. WOO HOO!


Last night was quite an event. It was SOOO good to play at home. We got to see some of our favorite people in the world!!


And Jessie got some pics of the jam that took place at the end of the night. It's become a staple of the "Have A Blues Christmas" Scott gets us up on stage to play with him and his band - here's a bunch of us just singing whatever he throws at us! It is so much fun to have to think on your feet and not know what's coming next (and make up lyrics if you don't know the song! HA!)


And here's Scott's beautiful wife, Buffy (in the middle)! And my beautiful sister-in-law, Tracy.


YAY!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Jenkin's Auto: The Hub of Columbia's Tour Support

How to make an upside down cookie:

Put oven on "broil" instead of "bake". Cookie will be burnt on top and gooey on the bottom. Ummm.... What? I TOTALLY meant to do that tonight ;)

My sister, Stephanie, is a personal trainer and today is the first day I have been able to work out with her in a long time. OH MY LORD. She kicked my boootay, in the best possible way of course :) I am already sore.... actually I was sore before I left her house! How's THAT for a workout? I'm pretty excited , though. I feel like I need to work really hard on keeping up with everything she showed me today, so I can be a good example of one of her clients. :)

James and I were really hoping to get in bed early tonight.... NOT happening :) But what fun would that be? We are heading down to Columbia to get the trailer and it is 3am - our primetime. But we got a LOT accomplished tonight. Miguel and I recorded acoustic demos of all the songs for my session on Monday. Miguel is going home to Chile, so he won't be there with us to play the songs live for the studio guys.

So I guess, I am basically saying that we recorded a bunch of songs so that we can go in and record those same songs. Did ya catch that? :)

(And of course, we squeezed in plenty of hang out/dinner time with Jenn, Ella, and Miguel!!! MMmmmm spaghetti and meatballs. And Ella figured out that if she takes the cushions off the couch, she has a trampoline. Hours of fun right there!)

When James and I got back to our apartment to pack and load up, Ben was hanging out on the porch. Of course, we all started scheming and planning for the upcoming session. We've got a good idea for what the marathon week of recording should look like!! So that was good.

AND THEN... out of nowhere... at 3 am... the BEST THING EVER happened. We have the greatest friends in the entire world. I am still beaming and in a bit of shock right now. I had left the Suburban at my friend, Keith's place. We had a few things that needed to get checked out... and just overall maintenance since she is over 115,000 miles! Keith has a great shop in Columbia - Jenkin's Auto. And I always take the 'Burb to him to get some doctorin up. Keith is basically the reason that Columbia's touring bands can stay on the road so safely!!! He keeps Scott Holt and I going... and going... and passing each other.... and going...

Not only did Keith get all the maintenance done and fix the AC... HE DETAILED THE ENTIRE SUBURBAN. She was as shiny as the day we bought her... actually, probably shinier. And the inside... oh the inside... shampooed carpets, organized, Armor Alled.
Our trip to Augusta and back tomorrow is going to be so FRESH! (and that's not new lingo. I mean, literally. I'm not cool enough to come up with "lingo")

It was one of the more ridiculous things he's ever done for me, and he's done a LOT. He's probably one of the most "on-call" mechanics. I can call him any time with ridiculous questions about "What to do". Keith Throneberry rocks my world. Now the only problem is... it's gonna take me even longer to fall asleep because I need to think of a great way to repay him for this fantastic surprise.

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie