We held the shower at a restaurant in Ashland, Va. called Trackside Grill. The owners live next door to my parents, so they let them rent out one of the rooms in the restaurant. About 20 people total showed up, and it was a lot of fun! We played a lot of fun games, including trivia and name-matching games, had delicious food, and of course oohed and aahed over the adorable presents! My dad and my brother hung out upstairs watching sports for most of the shower, but came down for cake and presents towards the end.
For Valentine's Day, Josh surprised me with a trip to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. We didn't do much for each other for Christmas, since we were a little financially strapped, so we decided to go a little bigger for our Valentine's Day presents. I surprised Josh with tickets to the Washington Capitals/Toronto Maple Leafs game in March, and he surprised me with an out of town trip to see....LUKE BRYAN!! I am a HUGE Luke Bryan fan, and I've wanted to see him for 2 years. The first year I wasn't able to get tickets, and last year, we had tickets to see him but we ended up needing the money for an emergency, so we had to sell the tickets. I swore that no matter what, I was going to see him this year. But when I looked up his tour schedule, it didn't show him coming to Jiffy Lube Live. It did, however, show that he was coming to Pennsylvania on Valentine's Day, so Josh surprised me with tickets to see him on Friday, and then a stop at the Hotel Hershey on the way back for dinner on Saturday. But wouldn't you know, we ended up getting a blizzard two days before the concert. He had to reschedule his concert in North Carolina on Thursday, and I was praying our concert wouldn't be rescheduled as well, because we might not have been able to get off work again to go see him on the new date (if he was able to work it into his schedule). But as of Friday morning, the concert was still on as planned, despite the foot and a half of snow in the area. So Friday at noon, we headed up to Pennsylvania! We checked into the hotel that afternoon, then went to get a quick bite at Logan's Roadhouse, and headed over to the Mohegan Sun Arena. It is kind of weird to go to a country concert in the middle of the winter but beggars can't be choosers! The concert started at 7:30pm, opening with Cole Swindell. I only know a couple of his songs, and he only performed for about half an hour, but he was really good! The sound was a little off though, which I guess is to be expected from the acoustics in a hockey arena. Then Lee Brice performed for about 45 minutes, and he was very, very good. I'm a big Lee Brice fan, and the sound had been fixed a bit, so he sounded really good. And then....at 9:30pm....out came LUKE BRYAN!! And wow, the effects were AMAZING. He came out on top of a truck, with bonfires in the middle of the stage. Amazing. I had heard he put on a good show, and that was definitely the truth. And WOW, his song may be called Country Girl (Shake it for Me) but he was DEFINITELY the one who was shaking it lol. In fact, when he was singing that song, a girl ended up climbing on stage and was hauled off by security lol. Not that I can say I blame her. He brought Cole Swindell and Lee Brice back onstage at one point as well, which was cool. They seemed to be really good friends which I'm sure makes it much more fun to tour together! All in all, definitely an amazing concert. And it turns out, he IS coming to Jiffy Lube Live this year, not only for one show but TWO (by popular demand, according to the website, which is no surprise). He's coming on Friday May 30 and Saturday May 31, so I am definitely getting tickets. Josh had originally asked why I would want to see the same tour twice, but he was so impressed by the concert that he is now totally on board lol. Plus, I'm sure the sound will be better at an outside venue, although the effects might not be as impressive, but that's okay. This way I get the best of both worlds. I had originally brought the camera, but indoor pictures never come out that well, and how many different pictures can you get of the same person onstage? I am going to bring it to the May concert though, partly for pictures of him, and partly for pictures of tailgating pre-concert! So yeah, it was definitely an amazing present.
Luke coming out on stage:
Then on Saturday, we checked out of the hotel and headed towards Hershey. However, it had been snowing all night, and the roads were HORRIBLE. We literally went 20 mph down the road, slipping and sliding the whole way, and staying right behind an 18-wheeler the whole time so he could clear the road for us. We passed several cars in the ditch, and literally held our breath the whole trip down the mountain lol. We originally decided to skip Hershey and just come straight home, but luckily the weather ended up clearing so we were able to stop after all. Josh had been planning a wine and chocolate pairing course that was being held at the hotel, but unfortunately it ended up being booked early and we couldn't get reservations. But we had a delicious lunch at the hotel, at an Italian restaurant called Trevi 5, and of course chocolate-filled delicacies for dessert, because how can you go to Hershey and not gorge yourself on chocolate?? The hotel itself was amazing, as well. It's no surprise the rooms are over $200 a night. We are planning on coming back and staying the night at some point, maybe for my birthday. And of course I fully intend on taking advantage of the different spa treatments they offer as well! We were good and didn't leave with any candy, but I'm obsessed with Reese's cups so I did buy a Reese's sweatshirt I've had my eye on for awhile. Not as delicious as the candy but my blood sugar is probably grateful.
All in all, it was a really great weekend, and a really nice surprise! And to top it off, I got the news on Friday night that Meredith had given birth to her baby! Right as Luke came out onstage....maybe that's what the baby was waiting for haha. Meredith had a doctor's appointment last week and was told they were planning to induce her on Friday morning, so they checked into the hospital Thursday evening before the blizzard hit. My brother was born on February 16 in the middle of a blizzard, so I guess they were just carrying on the tradition! She was induced at 8am in the morning, but by 8pm there was still not much progress, so they ended up going ahead with a C-section. Might not have been how the birth was originally planned, but at 9:11pm, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl, and that's all that matters! Elizabeth Grae Leffler (Ellie), born at 9:11pm on February 14, weighing 9lbs 15oz.. Definitely a healthy baby! Baby and parents are doing well, and definitely the best Valentine's Day present they could ask for, and a great birthday present for my brother as well. We didn't get home until last night, and I am working tomorrow, but I'm hoping we can get down to Richmond this weekend so we can meet our new baby niece!
Overall, it was a great weekend despite the 18 inches of snow that we had to shovel my car out of this afternoon. Luke Bryan, tons of chocolate, and a new baby in the family? What more could a girl ask for!! Hope everyone had a great weekend as well, whether you are single, part of a couple, or just viewed this weekend as a way to get a lot of candy 50% off!
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