Hair

So today we had our last two shows here in lovely Peoria, Illinois. Tomorrow morning I'm flying to Manchester, NH to see Craig and I can't wait! AND I get to use free wifi tonight in my room at the Red Roof Inn! Sweet!

Saturday was busy as usual with three shows, and I also made the BIGGEST mistake during the last show. Oh well, definitely not gonna let THAT happen again haha. I got lunch at Bennigan's with Andrew and then after the last show I went with some people to a restaurant called Beignet's, which is AWESOME! It's all Cajun food and all really good. We were the only people in there, and the owners stayed open late just for us. I got red beans and rice that was delicious, and then the owners gave us beignets and a piece of chocolate cake for dessert free! The beignets were soooooo good, especially with the lemon sauce that came with them. After a quick run to Walmart, we called it a night.

Today between shows I went with some of the band guys to an underground pub and grille called Richard's, and it was pretty good. After that we played our final show, and Ian was nice enough to give me a ride to the Inn, and here I am!

I've really been failing recently at taking pictures, but I have a couple to show. The first is a shot of where our dressing room is, compared to where our cabinets are that we lock all of our stuff in:

Our dressing room is through that red door on the second floor across from the balcony that overlooked...

The foyer where or gray cabinets are...allllll the way down there

This is a picture of the arena

This we saw on the street and I thought it was funny

Well that's pretty much it for now. I'm having a taxi pick me up in the morning to go to the airport, so I should get some rest. Hopefully much more to report over the next couple of days :)

P.S. this is a pretty great song, and this is such a moving performance

Five For All Forever

So after reading Pride and Prejudice I started reading Little Women, which I am also enjoying very much. It's funny how a lot of the same names are actually used, even though it takes place in a later time period and in America. Also unfortunately I do know a little bit about what happens in the novel since I know the musical, but it has yet to impede my enjoyment of the book.

Yesterday I got up and took the bus downtown with LaRena and Emily. We went to the library to use the wifi, but it was closed until noon because they were having a monthly meeting. So we walked a little bit around Peoria and got lunch at a Vietnamese street car vendor, and it was quite tasty! We then walked back to the library and stayed there until 3pm. I got some music from some of the CDs, there; I'll have to remember to try and find libraries more often.

Later that day a bunch of us got dressed up in our best golfing attire and walked to a mini golf place just down the road. We had so much fun, especially because no one really took it seriously. Also, the loser had to drink a handful of the nasty blue water that you always find at every mini golf course. Luckily that was not me haha, actually I came in second!

After that we went to an "Italian" restaurants called Avanti's, where I was able to get two glasses of wine, a salad, bread, and lasagna, for $13 including tax and tip. I don't understand how the place makes any money. It wasn't real italian food by any means, but it wasn't that bad either. I knew it wasn't real italian when they asked if I wanted my red wine chilled or room temperature.

Unfortunately I'm a fool and didn't take any pictures myself, but some other people did, so these are some of their pictures:

Here we are

Just modeling

So that was the day yesterday. Today I actually have to play a show tonight haha. Guess it's time to actually work :P

Lonely Town

So, I didn't really have high hopes for Peoria when yesterday we asked the cab driver what's there to see, and she said Big Al's, the "world famous" stripclub. Yet I still thought there must be something to do in this city besides that. I was wrong.

The only nice part of the city is down by the river, where there is a nice riverwalk lined with restaurants and an artistic community that is just starting out. Besides that, the rest of the city is basically banks, business buildings, and old bars. It's kind of like if you took a small, older town, like Herkimer, NY, and then kept multiplying it. I walked into a "shopping center" and it was basically a really sad little privately owned food court. There is only one street that is semi-decent and it's right by the college. There is literally NOTHING to do. Good thing I found this public library that is fairly new and pretty nice.

Anyway, the pictures I took are mostly of the riverwalk area, so that's what I'm going to share haha:

The Contemporary Art Center, kind of disappointing. One of the galleries was closed, half of it is an apartment complex, but there is a cool cafe on the first floor that has live music in the evening.

A sculture to commemorate the first toll bridge that was built here

Another view of the water

The Hooters we ate at yesterday haha

This was just in the park, no explanation, but I thought it was kind of neat.

Picture of the riverwalk

This is Joe's Crab Shack, seems like a place I'll probably visit before we leave here haha

More riverwalk

Fountain area by an outdoor stage

Not sure why there is a Mark Twain hotel...did Mark Twain ever go to Peoria?

Headquarters of Caterpillar, one of the few things in Peoria

The Soldiers and Sailors monument. This spot was chosen because it's the site of the Lincoln-Douglas debate, and also where Peoria's War Memorial once stood.

Plaque for the monument

The Peoria Civic Center

So suffice it to say, downtown Peoria is pretty terrible. At least tomorrow we are going to go mini golfing in the afternoon! I'm pretty sure there is more stuff to do by the train than in the actual city center...oh well. I think I'll be glad to leave you, Peoria.

On another note, this is one of my favorite commericals ever. I'm not sure why but I find it incredibly funny:

Don't Feed the Plants!

So we made it to Peoria, Illinois! It was the shortest train run by far, taking us only one day to get here, and we don't have a show until Friday, so I have a lot of free time haha.

During the train run yesterday I went to the pie car around 11:30am as usual for breakfast and to play games with people. Andrew brought the card game called Bang! which is really a lot of fun! It's kind of like Fluxx in that the cards tell you what to do with them, but they game is played almost like a card game version of Mafia, but western style. I realize I'm not explaining it very well haha, but it's fun, and we ended up playing until about 5:30pm.

Later that evening I went to Tony's car to hang out, which was nice because I got to meet some more people and learn more about them. We listened to music and ate food and drank, and I got everyone dancing in their seats for a little bit too haha.

Tony and Angie made some pork chops, and Jarod brought over a pot of linguine with clams. There were probably around 12 people in the car, and we all just crowded around and passed out the food. It struck me as a very gypsy-like gathering, and I realized that we basically do live the life of gypsies, constantly traveling and living in small places close to each other, but all in good company and sharing stories and experiences.

Today I got up late and went into Peoria with the clowns to get a late lunch/early dinner. We went to Hooters...it's a tradition for the clowns that they go to Hooters at as many cities as they can, just because haha so it was nice to be able to participate in their tradition.

After lunch we walked to a super Walmart that was across the river, and I got HARRY POTTER HOGWARTS LEGO BOARD GAME! So cool! LaRena really likes board games too, so when we got back we set it up and played it, and it's really fun, especially because you have to build the game first because it's all legos! I also got the first season of Modern Family and The Devil Wears Prada and a combo The Secret Garden and The Little Princess, both which were only $5 haha. Then LaRena, Taylor and I watched Bridesmaids, which I hadn't seen yet. It's really funny and Kristen Wiig is hilarious, but of course I got uber uncomfortable at some parts because I can't watch awkward things haha.

So I didn't really get a chance to check out Peoria today, so tomorrow is going to be my exploration day. I did manage to take the picture though from the bridge:

So in lieu of lack of pictures, I have a couple random pictures to share too! I've been meaning to post a picture of this for a while, but back when I first got here and went shopping at Target, I got a matching plate and bowl, and this is them!

I thought they were really neat and I like that they are inspired by New York :)

Also, I took a couple of pictures of my music that I read for the show, for anyone out there who might be interested in what it looks like:

As you can see, the music itself isn't incredibly difficult, it was more of learning what everything meant, and also the music has changed so much and there are so many cuts that it was a matter of learning how to navigate it. The red dots mean to play it on the bottom keyboard, and the yellow dots mean the top keyboard, and if there is writing in the circle it means that's the patch I should be on:

The green dots mean it's either a sound effect, or a loop track, so in this case I press one key and it plays a whole track of pre-recorded music. Pretty cool huh?

So that's it for now, I'll have pictures and more about to share about Peoria tomorrow. Also, I'm getting near the end of Pride and Prejudice, and it's really good, I've really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone to read.

P.S. the only reason I had heard of Peoria is because of the song Don't Feed the Plants from Little Shop of Horrors. They talk about the plants coming and eating the cities of "Cleveland, Des Moines, and Peoria, and New York, and where you live!"

P.P.S. I LOVE reading everyone's comments! Thank you so much for the people who are leaving them and please continue to, they are much appreciated! :)

On the Road Again

So we just finished playing our last show in Grand Rapids! We have the rest of the evening free and then tonight or tomorrow morning we are leaving for Peoria! Also, we don't open until Friday, so we have like four days free! Crazy!

For some reason my trackpad on my laptop is acting up and it's driving me insane! I'm really hoping it will just kind of fix itself...

Anyway, in honor of my last day here I'm going to post all the rest of my pictures from Grand Rapids, including the ones from the museum.

The lobby

They had period style Grand Rapids

One of the dresses in the 50's fashion display. The dresses were owned by two sisters who grew up in Grand Rapids and donated them to the museum.

Funky! Love the blue sash

One of the sister's wore this one to her prom. There photo is a picture of her wearing it at the event.

Instrument section

So this guy started talking after I walked by and totally made me jump haha

He talked too but I was looking out for it this time :p

Nice furniture

They really like their furniture in Grand Rapids

Oooooh

They made theatre seats too! Including ones for the Kennedy Center and Radio City!

Model of the inside of the old clock tower

Last night after the show I went out with some of the band guys to a place called San Chez, a tapas bar and restaurant. I split a bottle of white wine with Tony, and then ordered waaaaay too much food that was all so delicious! Also spent waaaaay too much money haha.

Blue cheese fritters!

Ahi tuna with a manga coulis

Whiskey-soaked cake with caramel pecan ice cream and a brownie

I also had some Moroccan lamb meatballs and split shrimp fritters with Andrew, but I forgot to take pictures haha. After the tapas bar we went to a bar called Stella's (I shouted it down the street a la Streetcar Named Desire haha). It had a bunch of old arcade games and pinball machines inside, and we sat and talked with these two girls named Cassie and Desiree who are local aerialists and went to a circus rehearsal. All in all it was a fun night :)

Oh and I finally took a picture of myself in my band outfit, so here it is:

Ta da!

Also, I talked to Adam, who looks after the elephants, and when I said I was from Syracuse, he got excited because apparently the zoo in Syracuse is one of the best zoos for elephant conservation, which I didn't know and found really interesting. He said that he'd show me all the elephants when we got to a better city that had more space, but in the meantime I got a sneak picture of the elephants:

Elephants!

Well that's all for right now, My data plan refreshes on Monday so I'll be able to use my mobile hotspot again. Also, I'm pretty sure my trackpad is not working because my battery is swollen, because when I plugged in my computer, it worked fine (thanks Mark Seeley!). Soooo it looks like I might have to get a new battery once I'm in Peoria...oh well.

P.S. I totally got the Potion riddle correct on Pottermore the first try. I'm totally a Ravenclaw ;)

The New Girl In Town

So yesterday ended up being much more eventful than I anticipated. After the rehearsal with the clowns at 3, I set out on my mission to find a magnet. I stopped at Western Michigan University, hoping there was maybe a school store that would have one. The security guard told me to check out the Plaza Hotel since there are a bunch of little shops. So I took a walk down.

Unbeknownst to me until yesterday, Grand Rapids has a whole riverfront walk! It's really a very nice area, and you can walk on both sides of the river with pedestrian bridges crossing it as well as ones for cars.

When I got to the Plaza, I walked in and realized this is a HUGE, BEAUTIFUL, FANCY hotel. There were all kinds of shops and boutiques and a coffee shop and a huge lobby with gigantic crystal chandeliers. I was able to buy a magnet at one of the shops and of course I took some pictures ;)

One of the bridges

It's hard to tell but that guy was in the river making hearts with the rocks

The side of the Plaza

The lobby

The chandeliers were HUGE

After getting my magnet I realized that I was close to the Public Museum of Grand Rapids, so I decided to go in. It's normally $8 but with my student ID it was only $3! Sweet!

Another view of the river

This was across the street from the museum

The plaque for it, I think it's dedicated to all laborers?

The front of the museum

Plaque for the bell

The museum was nice and was filled with a lot of history about Michigan, with an especially large section about furniture-making. There were a lot of interactive things to gear it more towards kids, but it still had some great exhibits. I took a bunch of pictures so I'll put up a separate post later with all of them.

On a side note I've noticed that museum bathrooms are really very nice and clean, and I can't decide if it's because they work to keep them like that, or that nobody really uses them.

Anyway today is a three-show day, so I had one at 11, one at 3, and now one coming up at 7, so I gotta go and get ready for it. More to come soon!

P.S. The new show on Fox called New Girl with Zooey Deschanel is REALLY funny and I totally recommend it. The pilot of the show is on Hulu: