Weekly favorites - Country earworms and family celebrations edition

This has been - and has yet to be - an eventful week for our family, which makes this week's favorites list a piece of cake (of which I will have eaten more than my fair share of by week's end).
So let's put those forks down and get going!

1.  Carrie Underwood's new album - "Blown Away" -

If you've been paying attention so far, kids, you'll remember that I adore Carrie Underwood.
Loved her from the get go on AI and even saw her sing on the Today Show in NYC right after she won (it was by chance - we happened to be in NYC that day - but I have been known to travel - by air - to see her in concert. Shut up).

2005

 A very pre-hair extensioned, pre-spray tanned, pre-workout freak, pre-killer legs from all the working out, pre-stage makeup savvy Carrie posing for a photo with 

Thing 1's Care Bear (get it?) in Rockefeller Center.  

So, yeah, I've totally met her. 

Strange, then, why she never returns my emails.

She released her 4th album and I cannot stop listening to it.  You might remember that track #1 (Good Girl) was on the very first favorite's list,  but track #2 is also a big time earworm.  As usual, there's a fair share of vengeful, sinister songs that you can't help but belt out when you're alone in the car (my family only wishes that were the case), but there's also a good balance of songs with sweet messages.
It's Blown me Away. heh heh.

2.  Thing 2's birthday -
As I mentioned here the other day, Thing 2 loves loves loves her birthday.  And, as usual, she was up at the crack of dawn ready to get at it.  And also, as usual, she had every minute planned out.

"I'll wake up at 5:55, put on my comfy sweats, brush my hair because of pictures (duh), wake you up, go jump on (Thing 1's) bed and wake her up (insert loud protests from Thing 1 upon hearing this), go down and open a few presents, you'll make me chocolate chip pancakes while I go up and get dressed, then you'll drive me to school."'

And that was only the first hour of the day.

The rest of the day was spent with (me) baking the cake, running to 2 grocery stores to find the favorite cookies to take to school, going to Panera to get the favorite birthday lunch, going to the school to eat lunch with the birthday girl (for the very last time - although I've been threatning to show up next year in middle school with balloons), running home to do a quick clean up, going back to the school to pick up the birthday girl who hates to ride the bus, enduring enjoying an hour and a half at Dave & Busters, a lovely and fun family dinner at Biaggi's (definitely a favorite), party at home with a few more presents, old videos (I promised myself I wouldn't cry, dammit), cake and birthday dancing.

Whew.

It's no wonder why she spent the last 15 minutes before bed in a deep depression that it was all over ("It seems like just a minute ago that I was waking up"...."Remember when I was opening my presents this morning?"...."I remember how fun Dave & Buster's was.").
She might get a little bit of that from me.

But in all honesty, she absolutely warms my heart with her excitement and enthusiasm and appreciation (she must've thanked me 10 times for "the best birthday ever....well, since last year's").

And then this morning she said to me, "Only 362 days until my birthday!"



3.  I might've been born just plain white trash, but Fancy was my name -

"Fancy" by Reba. Click if you wanna sing along!

Okay, seeing as how this is the second favorite on this list that is a country song, you might be mislead about my listening choices.  Let me be clear. I neither like nor dislike country music.  I suppose you could say I'm an Independent on the issue.  The country artists I really love (Carrie, Taylor) really don't play twangy and typical country (Garth is an exception. Oh, and Zac Brown. Favorites I'll save for another day...).  I guess as long as there's a fiddle mixed in there somewhere and it was recorded in Nashville and the singer wears boots occasionally it can be considered country.

But no denying that Reba is a country artist through and through.  I'm not really a fan of hers, but since I first heard "Fancy" back in college (when Husband forced me to listen to country) I loved the catchy, upbeat, not-at-all-depressing-and-horrible lyrics about a mama sending her 18 year old daughter off to a life of prostitution. For some reason I thought of that song a few days ago (does this worry you, Thing 1?) and immediately bought it on itunes and put it on repeat for about 5 hours.  By dinnertime I was shouting

"..JUST BE NICE TO THE GENTLEMEN FANCY, THEY'LL BE NICE TO YOU!"

The girls were super impressed.

4.  This last favorite will have to wait for its description until next week, but I'm including it because I know it will be an upcoming favorite this week.

This is me, almost 19 years ago, dancing with my then 3 year old nephew at my wedding (did the dress give it away?).  

On Saturday, I'm hoping to get another shot just like this one, at his wedding. 

But I think I'll leave the veil at home.  It might be too much.