marti and erin.com

I was in the city last night enjoying a drink and a snack with a friend when a crazy thing happened! The maitre d’ of the restaurant came over and asked if we were interested in seeing Bon Jovi in concert. We, of course, looked skeptically at him and he implored us that he was serious. He then walked away and came back with two tickets and a seating floorplan at Madison Square Garden. My friend, a very pragmatic woman, with a still skeptical glance looked at him and uttered “How much?” He shrugged and said to just take them. The show had started over an hour ago. It turns out that someone left the tickets at the restaurant for a friend to pick up and the friend never appeared. Now that the show was more than half over, he thought it was safe to give them away. We shrugged, paid the bill, left a generous tip and headed over to the Garden.

By the time we got there, the show was well under way. The fans around us made a few comments about being late and we did have to shuffle a few people who had made themselves comfortable in our seats, but we got there in time to see Bon Jovi capture the essence of both our youths and his. We, along with Jersey’s finest, rocked out to Living On A Prayer, Raise Your Hands, and Wanted Dead Or Alive in addition to a number of other hits. Jon Bon Jovi looked smashing in his leather pants and Richie Sambora treated us to both a leopard print hat and then a crushed velvet blazer. I was amused on both counts. In total, it was a great show! It was fun, the band sounded great and I was touched by Jon Bon Jovi’s humble address the audience in thanks for allowing him to grow from a kid that enjoying singing in his bedroom to one that could sing for all of them.

As a non-New Jersey native, I could only equate the devotion to Bon Jovi to that of my native Long Island’s obsession with Billy Joel. The love in Madison Square Garden last night, and I will call it love, was palpable all around. The people around us were reminiscing to his earliest shows in NJ and comments about how the band has evolved over the years. There were those who knew every word to every song and recognized the songs by the first note. It was great to be surrounded by his real fans. I felt a little like an imposter, like someone who knew the popular songs but hadn’t committed Jon’s bio to heart, but I was happy to be a part of the whole scene. It really made me feel like a Jersey girl…even if only for the last hour of the show.

Check out Bon Jovi’s website for a full set list and pictures from the tour!

Yesterday was a wonderful way to start off the holiday season. I had an event with one of my clients, Surburban Furniture located in Succasunna, NJ. They are committed to doing community service events in the store and yesterday was our third one for the fall. It was a Holiday Family Photo Day. Since Suburban Furniture is a beautiful store decorated for the holidays we had a photographer and Santa there so people could have their pictures taken in front of a beautiful fireplace. It was absolutely free of charge and allowed everyone to walk away with a 4×6 of their kids with or without Santa. We also had a Toys for Tots drive which didn’t bring in too many toys but showed the neighborhood that we were committed to raising toys to make the holidays joyous for kids less fortunate.

Earlier this season we had a Child Safety Day with the Roxbury Police Department making ID cards with digital photos and fingerprints for kids. We also had a Fall Festival where kids came in to pick pumpkins and decorate them. These days are a lot of fun and allow Suburban Furniture to give back to the community. I’m happy to help them make these events happen. We have several additional events planned for the 2006 calendar year and have started a mailing list to keep people up to date with the details.

Check out Suburban Furniture’s website for more information about the store and upcoming events in 2006.

And so. Today, I:

1. Embraced the misanthropic-ness of post-Thanksgiving shopping by diving in to Target (fun skirt for Christmas Eve for $24!), L.L. Bean (turtlenecks, of course), Old Navy (nada), and Babies R Us (also nada). I was almost disappointed that it was not more hectic. Highlight was the six year old who threw himself on the floor at Target and proceed to have an all-out hissy fit. Amen, brother…I feel your pain.

2. Put something up for sale on Ebay for the first time ever. Yay! Why not score some cash while passing on jewelry that was given to me as a gift by he-who-shall-on-this-website-remain-nameless-but-is-sometimes-called-Jackass? After some challenges with getting decent photos, the first pair of earrings is up and there are more to come!

3. Joined the Young Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Hey, I like art, I like Philadelphia, and I need to get out of the damn house.

Not bad. Now, off to bed for a good night’s sleep so I can be rested and refreshed in time to start dreading going back to work. Sigh.

Marti, how do we pop photos into these posts?

XOXO

Truth be told, I was out shopping at 7:30 this morning, but I was not at the mall. I hit the Staples and the Target in search of exceptionally good bargains seen in the circulars yesterday. Staples was disappointing- sold out by 7:30 of every thing I was looking for but Target was a a great success. Bravo Target- well-stocked, qualified sales people and cashiers. They get a gold star today for post-holiday ease of shopping.

Shopping the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas (my other marathon shop) is not just about the bargains. Its about the sport. Its about a plan of attack, the execution and then bringing your spoils home. Today its about getting a jump on the holiday season and having a sense of accomplishment before your lazy neighbors wake up. Its about avoiding the mall on weekdays during the holidays. Its about having war stories about the woman you wrestled for the last cashmere sweater marked for $49.99.

Erin, my friend, I know you are rolling your eyes by now but shopping today is about more than just buying. It is a statement about your personality. Post-holiday shopping is where the rubber meets the road and not everyone is qualified to race….enjoy sleeping in!

Watching the news tonight (after my two hour post-Thanksgiving dinner nap), I was shocked to hear that approximately half of this country’s population will be heading to the mall tomorrow. ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? This is more than just an “Erin hates people” kind of thing. In the words of my good friend, Matt, “Have we not heard of the Internet?” I know, I know, there are certain things you don’t want to buy over the Internet. But really, do you have to go get those things tomorrow? Are the sales really that good? Won’t the prices continue to drop as we get closer to the holidays and retailers try desperately to make their numbers? I say we must rise up, people, and resist! Stay home, sleep in, roll your eyes at crazy family members who are getting up at 5 AM to hit the mall (that’s you, Mommy and Kerry), order up a lovely pair of slippers (see below), and chuckle at all those suckers who are lining up for their defective XBox 360s. Happy Thanksgiving!