The rest of my birthday weekend

So here's a little bit about the rest of my birthday weekend!  After the race on Saturday, the girls got cleaned up and did a little shopping. I got me these new brown shoes from Bass, because my other brown ballet flats were worn to pieces.  

 We also went and picked up the rest of my birthday present from my parents while we were out and about.  They got me an adorable makeup bag with small detachable bags on the inside that has my monogram on it.   They also got me an awesome expandable cooler with "Helms" on it. I can't wait to use them both!

After that, husband and I got ready to head to a concert in Atlanta.  We were going to see the Punch Brothers at the Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points.  For those of you who don't know who the Punch Brothers are, they are a progressive bluegrass band, whose lead singer used to be the lead singer in Nickel Creek.  We decided to just eat dinner in Atlanta so we could get to the venue as the doors opened.  We got to Atlanta at about 6pm, and the doors opened at 7:30pm.  We figured that we would have plenty of time, but didn't expect that it would take us 30 minutes to find a parking spot.    Evidently there was some kind of festival and Little Five Points was crowded with people! We finally found a parking spot at about 6:30pm and walked down the street to the Vortex Grill where we had planned to eat.  We heard they had good burgers and wanted to try them out.  We walked up to the hostess and gave our name and she said, ok there will be an hour wait.  We were like uh, what?  We definitely didn't have time for that.  So we ended up going to another restaurant called the Corner Tavern.  I ordered a sandwich, and Timothy ordered a burger, thinking that those items would be quick to make.  Well, we finally got our food at about 7:15pm.  We immediately asked for the check, since we only had 15 minutes until the doors opened.  I don't think I have ever eaten a turkey sandwich so fast.  I think it was good?   I couldn't really tell because I was eating it so fast,  I didn't really taste anything.  But the nice server didn't charge us for our Cokes, I guess because it had taken so long to get our food and he could tell we were in a rush.  

We got to the venue right at 7:30.  Last year when we saw the Punch Brothers at this same venue, there were only maybe 20 people in line.  Well, this time the line was stretched down the road.  There must have been 150 people in line.  We were shocked.  Evidently the show was sold out, for the first time.  I guess they're just more popular now?  I'm glad that more people are appreciating their music now, but it kind of takes away from the intimacy of the concert when there are so many people there.  When we finally got inside, we darted up the stairs to the balcony, and were glad to get the same seats on the front row of the balcony that we had last time.  Neither of us like standing up close to the stage at concerts, and don't like sitting on the floor because the standers are always blocking your view.  So the balcony is the perfect place for us. 

The show started with a solo act, Jesca Hoop.  We both thought that she had nice vocal control, but didn't really like her style of music.  She sounded like a combination of Imogen Heap and Regina Spektor.  The Punch Brothers went on at about 8:30pm and played for a good hour and a half.

Just like last time, they were absolutely wonderful.  Each of the musicians are so good at their instruments and they just play so well together.  You can tell that they can anticipate exactly what the other musicians are going to play.  They played all but 3 songs from their new album, and a good few from the last album.  Timothy and I both picked a song that we thought would sound the best live before the show started, and we were both excited to hear that song to see if we were right.  And they didn't even play it!  We were so disappointed and said we didn't need to do that next time, because we probably jinxed it.  One of my favorites from the night was a cover of "Just What I Needed" by the Cars.  Here's a video of them playing it.  Please please please click on that link.  It won't let me put the video directly on my blog, but following the link is definitely worth it.
Even if progressive bluegrass is not your thing, I definitely recommend seeing them live in concert.  They put on such a good show, and I feel like anyone could appreciate their musical ability even if they didn't really like the style.  Add to this the fact that all of these gentlemen are under the age of 35, and you really develop a respect for what they are able to produce with their instruments.

We spent the night at my parents house again that night, since the concert got out so late.  Sunday afternoon we met my parents, sister, niece, and my grandparents at Olive Garden for a little birthday

lunch.  We all love us some Olive Garden, and it definitely didn't let us down! 

I also got some more birthday presents, which was awesome!  My sister got me a Le Creuset casserole dish and a really pretty bracelet that Emma picked out.  

 I'm starting to get a pretty good collection of Le Cresuet stuff actually.  My mom got me the little orange dishes for Easter, the vintage orange casserole dish and white pie bird for Christmas; my sister got me the blue oval dish and blue loaf dish; and Timothy got me the green dutch oven.   

My grandparents gave me a really cool car pen that actually rolls and has doors that open!  They gave me some moolah too, which always makes this girl happy!  

 Also, I forgot to mention in my last post, that the Helms family got me some books I had been wanting, and a nice Colombia polo that I've already worn twice since I got it! The Pioneer Woman cookbook is already a favorite and makes me drool every time I open it.  (The shirt is in the wash, so I couldn't get a picture of it)

We headed back towards Cairo that afternoon and were able to kind of wind down that night before the week began.  I definitely think it was a successful birthday. :)  Thank you to everyone who made it so wonderful!