going to a barbershop contest this weekend {in Montreal}

I don’t know how many of you have heard of barbershop singing. Most people think of the 4 men in a quartet with the hats and arm bands and big mustaches. Kind of like this….

However, real barbershop is not like that anymore. This weekend, I am driving up to Montreal with my mom and friend Sam for a women’s barbershop contest. My mom is the director of an amazing chorus called Sounds of the Seacoast. I just started singing with the chorus in January so this is my first contest singing with them!

This weekend is the Area contest, which is all of the quartets and choruses from our area, which basically includes New England and a few parts of Canada to the north of New England. Sounds of the Seacoast has won the area contest the past 2 years so hopefully we can win again! The chorus is very excited! Wish us luck! And I will definitely let you know how it goes!

open mic night {Ryan sings}

Last week, we went to another open mic night to listen to my amazing brother sing! He did sooo well!

A bunch of us went to listen. He sang 6 songs – 2 originals and 4 covers. You can listen to all the songs he did on YouTube.

I am so proud of him because he is finally coming out of his shell. His songs are amazing and he sings so well. I love listening to him. And I can’t wait to go to another open mic night to see him play!

chocolate chip cookies {my second attempt}

So this past weekend we had the celebration for my grandmother. My stepbrother and cousin came up for the weekend and I knew we’d all be hanging out. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try making my grandmother’s chocolate chip cookies again.

Last time I made them, they came out too fat.

So this time, I put a whole extra stick of butter into the batter. That seemed to do the trick. They came out flat!

DeDe’s cookies were always flat and soft. I was so excited to see them flat. They were a little more crispy on the bottom but I think that is just our oven and I need to figure out how long to keep the cookies in so they don’t get crispy.

So I think I have the batter down and now it is just the timing. But I am happy they were flat and everyone enjoyed them and were excited that I am getting close to the perfect cookie! And DeDe always put them in plastic bags and when I put mine in a plastic bag, it looked just like hers. I loved it.

celebration of a wonderful life {DeDe}

On Sunday we celebrated the life of my grandmother. My grandmother passed away at the end of February. My grandparents decided a long time ago that they didn’t want a funeral. They didn’t want people to be sad. They wanted to have parties to celebrate their wonderful lives. So that is what we did.

We had the celebration at the Seacoast Repertory Theater. DeDe was a big part of this theater. She ran a senior acting group, Senior Moments, that was a part of the theater. After DeDe passed, the theater decided to dedicate their whole season to her. Her picture is on the first page of every program.

The celebration was amazing. Sooo many people came. You could just feel the love because she touched so many peoples’ lives. Some members of Senior Moments read some columns that DeDe had written. Some people spoke and told stories. My mom’s chorus sang. Some people from the theater sang. And my amazing brother sang his songs he wrote for DeDe. It was a wonderful way to celebrate DeDe’s life and I know she loved the whole day.

There was a guest book that people could write little messages in. I read a few and they were all so sweet. I know everyone loved my grandmother.

I wrote:

DeDe,

You are one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. You have always been my hero and you are more now than ever. I will love and cherish all our wonderful memories and be sure to share them with my kids someday. I miss you ever single day. I love you with everything I have.

Love, Brittany

I know there are a million things I could’ve written but it is so hard to put it all into words. I miss her more than words can say but I know she is around me every day.

I love you DeDe. ❤

photo friday

So I know this post is a couple of days late but things have been a little crazy and my brain has just been in other places. So here are the photos I took over the past week.

tattoos {to honor my grandmother}

When my grandmother passed away in February, I knew immediately that I wanted to do something in her honor, and I was pretty sure I wanted that thing to be a tattoo. I thought and thought about ideas, trying to come up with something really special. But nothing seemed special enough.

At some point, I came up with a great idea. I don’t even know where the idea came from but I’m so glad it came to me. The idea was to get the words “love you” in her handwriting. I found a card from her that had those words in it and I knew it was perfect.

I told my mom about the idea and she loved it and wanted to do the same thing. So of course we decided to go together. I couldn’t wait. I was so excited. We finally went on Sunday and it was amazing. We went to Congress St. Tattoo in Portsmouth, NH. The tattoo artist, Beth, was so friendly and awesome. I’m going to suggest that any other family members that want the tattoo should go to her.

I have 2 other tattoos and this one definitely hurt the most out of all 3 but it really wasn’t too bad. I had to breath deep a couple times but it only took about 10 minutes so it was fine.

I absolutely love the tattoo. It is soo perfect. And I’m so glad I went with my mom and we got to share the experience together.

I miss my grandmother soo much and I still can’t believe she is gone but I know this is the perfect tribute to her and I get to see it all the time.

Plus, a bonus, I was also glad to be able to cross something off of my 30 by 30. Yay!

 

photo friday

I didn’t take too many photos this week but here are a few.

1. the hubby on mt. monadnock, 2. the tattoo I’m getting on Sunday and I’m so excited, 3. Bailey, 4. pit stop on our bike ride, 5. beach, 6. beach, 7. dark scary sky, 8. pretty rainbow

Caine’s Arcade {A cardboard arcade made by a 9-year old boy}

I saw this video on my friend’s blog, Pretty Things and Potty Mouths, and just had to share it. I had kind of a crappy day at work and this totally just made my day. It is so amazing and this boy is so cute. I wish I could go visit his arcade. Love. 

Please click on the link below to check out the video. You will love it. And a warning…it might make you a little teary.

Caine’s Arcade | A cardboard arcade made by a 9-year old boy.

hiking {mt. monadnock}

So I think this hiking thing might just become a regular event for Dan and I. Which I guess is ok…..because I really do like the view from the top.

So this past weekend Dan and I went hiking on Mt. Monadnock. We tried going when we were in college but I couldn’t do it and we had to turn around. So I am proud of myself that I made it all the way up this time, with limited complaining…and it was really cold at the top. And windy. But we still had a good time.

spring time {in NY}

A couple of weekends ago, Dan and I went to visit his parents in NY. We went for a run at a park and there were some beautiful blooms. I think they are a little ahead of us here in NH when it comes to spring blooms. When our run was finished, I went back with our camera to snap some pretty pictures of the flowers.