One Incredible Night of Music... In Our House!

or OMG! That's Francis Dunnery playing in our dining room!

Okay, so last night one of our favorite musicians performed... in our dining room!!

Seriously!!! Dude, I'm not kidding. He played in our HOUSE!

A bit of background:

Geo and I will be celebrating 25 years married next month. For a while now we've been trying to figure out how to mark this momentous milestone. Do we go away? If so, where? Do we have a party? If so, when? Do we sit on the couch, scratch our respective asses, eat junk food, watch the telly and burp really loudly? If so... WTF? That's just any old Tuesday.

Then Geo had the proverbial light-bulb-over-the-head, AHAH! moment and threw out the whole hosting a Francis Dunnery house concert idea. Brilliant!

We have been on the perspective hosting list ever since he started performing in people's homes exclusively about five years ago, but we never bit because of the cost and lack of substantial space in our tiny home. But this time we said, what the ef? Screw the spacial constraints. Let's do it!

And so we did.

And it was FAN-F*CKING-TASTIC!!!

So worth the few hours of testiness and snarking between me and Geo leading up to the evening's events. All you marrieds out there know what I'm talking about.

Most of our guests had arrived by the time Francis and Erica pulled in the driveway. We ushered them upstairs to our bedroom for a bit of private time before the show. The first thing Francis did when he walked into our room was say, "Right. Well first things first, I'm jumping on this." No, he wasn't talking about leaping on the bed. He grabbed my mallets and started banging out a tune on my steel pan. He hadn't even taken his coat off yet. And here's the sickening thing: even though he had no idea how to play the drum... he still was able to put out a tune much more melodic and rythmic than anything I could have done.

Amazing. Musicians. They really rock... at everything.

We spent the next 30 minutes or so chatting about anything and everything... from the set list for the evening (we got to choose the songs he played) to his child custody issues to astrology to their house in the Poconos to the marvels of iPhone apps to touring baseball fields this summer.

It was unbelievable. Francis. In our bedroom. Talking and laughing like we've been friends for years.

Then the show started and it was truly magical. Our friends, most of whom had never heard of him or his music, became enchanted by his talent, uplifting musical message and his humor. We had chosen the Astrology Show which means he goes through the zodiac signs and explains their characteristics to the corresponding audience members between songs. It was a blast. Lots of laughs and more than one or two insights. He played with our friends and they responded in kind.

A good time was definitely had by all. His irrepressible charm had worked it's magic. By the end of the evening, most of the folks in the room were Francis converts vowing to catch him perform again. Afterwards, Francis mingled with the crowd, chatting, signing autographs, graciously posing for photos.

And to top it off, Mr. D really dug my chicken curry. He even wanted the recipe. For any of you who have English friends, you know the Brits are connoisseurs of curry... so HUGE compliment there, which made the Italian in me very, very happy indeed.

We could not have asked for a more memorable means by which to mark our milestone. We are still grinning from ear to ear thinking about it all. His beaming brilliance definitely took the chill off of a bitter winter night.

So a big, fat, Burgh bear hug of thanks goes out to Francis and Erica for giving us a memory that will last our lifetime. It has been a pleasure and privilege getting to know you over the last couple decades. Here's to many more gatherings spent together.

Not a bad start to 2010. Not bad at all.

"It's The Fragrance of the Favorite Summer of Your Life..." 

or a Trifecta of happy events 

Okay, so yesterday evolved into a Trifecta of positive events in the form of appreciation, recreation and jubilation.

First, Geo received a resounding vote of confidence from his employer. In fact it was the most glowing review he has ever had. EVER. My better half has always had an outstanding work ethic. In fact he is the poster child of integrity and hard work. He is a team player with a capital T. Always the first to volunteer his assistance to anyone who is covered in the quagmire of a ridiculous rush job. And you know rush jobs are never satisfying...that's what she said.

He has been a huge asset to every employer for whom he's worked, and is FINALLY, after all these decades, getting the recognition and appreciation he has so richly deserved. I could not be happier for or prouder of him. Plus the accolades came wrapped in a purty green ribbon raise. Cha-CHING!!  

Second, we went to see the incomparable Francis Dunnery play a house concert, coincidentally in 

the home of our very first Francis house concert three years ago. Geo and I even recognized several folks from the last time. Pittsburgh was Mr. Dunnery's last stop of this particular tour and it was positively enchanting, as usual. The vibe in the room was a warm, welcoming hug rewarded by an extended song list and an extra hour of his time rubbing elbows with the devoted crowd. These intimate house concerts are such a special experience. They never fail to leave us uplifted. The title to this posting is my favorite line from one of Francis' songs "Give Up and Let it Go" which we were treated to towards the end of the evening. Geo and I absolutely LOVE this guy! I highly recommend attending one of his house concerts in the future. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Here's a link to his website to keep tabs on his show dates. You may recall Francis was part two of our anniversary road trip this past February as chronicled in this prior posting here. Part one of that trip was, of course, my beloved blue-eyed one, Rhett. 

So the obsession concert score so far this year: Francis 2, Rhett 1 

Francis is going to have to step it up later this year since I'll be going to three Old 97's/Rhett concerts over eight days in July, BABY!!

The "Tri" part of the day's Trifecta was...THE PENS SWEPT THE SERIES AND ARE GOING TO THE STANLEY CUP!!!! That's right. Starting Saturday the Boys of Winter get a rematch of last year's heartbreaking defeat against the Detroit Red Wings. My money's on the Pens. They're older, wiser and hungry as Hell for their chance to drink from Lord Stanley's cup. 

After hearing past stories of victory celebrations...they might want to pour a little bleach in that bowl first.