One of my favorite things about December is that it's when all of the year-end music lists get published. I've always enjoyed checking lists from sites like Pitchfork, Spin, and Rolling Stone to compare how the music I liked gets ranked, and to find out about songs and artists that I might've missed throughout the year. I tend to make my own lists too, usually my five favorite songs and albums of the year. Over the past few weeks I've been thinking about my favorite music this year, and it's been taking me back through the tidal wave that was the past 12 months. (Obviously longer than that really, but I'm going to keep it to the calendar year for purposes of this post.) To me, one of the most appealing aspects of music has always been the fact that certain memories and emotions can be triggered by hearing a particular song. Usually these are good memories. Like songs that my high school band played and bring me back to summer of 98. Or songs that were popular on the dance floor of Sigma Nu in the early 2000's. Or songs that Meg and I heard together at a concert, in our standard pose with her standing right in front of me and my arms wrapped around her waist.
But sometimes songs trigger different memories. I remember exactly which songs were playing when I got into two different car accidents in 2003 and 2004. It's not a big deal, but I can't hear those songs without putting myself back into those moments. I remember the album that was playing in my car when I had to leave work and go for a drive after I heard that my grandfather passed away in 2005. I don't listen to that band much anymore, but when I do, those songs are forever linked to the emotions that I was feeling that day. My favorite album last summer was by the Japandroids, an uptempo hard rock band. In late June, that was pretty much the only album I was listening to. But as we started to realize something was wrong with Meg, I remember driving in my car one day and emphatically turning the radio off. I couldn't listen to something like that, and I probably didn't listen to that band for about a year. A few months ago I tried putting the album on in my car again, and I just couldn't do it. After a few seconds, I was reliving the summer of 2012. I had to switch it to something else.
So what music will make me remember this year, and how? I decided to make a list. This isn't necessarily a list of all my favorite songs of the year (if so, there would probably be a few songs from Chvrches and Volcano Choir on here), but these are the ones that probably best tell the story of this year for me.
Phosphorescent - "Song for Zula"
I listen to SiriusXMU a lot. I think they probably started playing this song last November or December, and it was on a lot through the beginning of this year. It's a song of heartbreak, and even though it's 6 minutes long, the violin/synth melodies are captivating every step of the way. Those notes continuously flirt but never completely approach a climax, and at the end of the song I still feel a longing for more, uncertain of where it's going to go. That was an accurate representation of my winter. There was uncertainty and anxiousness hanging over every moment. I can't hear this song and not feel cold, because I'm reminded of that winter. There were many days that it would play when I was alone in my car, and even though it usually brought me to tears, I couldn't turn it off. But even though these memories are painful, I can still listen to it often. Maybe because it reminds me of the last months I had Meg, and the fact that we had some beautiful moments in the face of uncertain adversity. Speaking of Meg...
Emeli Sande - "Next to Me"
Pink - "Try"
I'm putting these two songs together, because they were picked my Meg, not me. They were the last two songs that she randomly told me she liked. When listening to music, I tended to focus more on melody and musical arrangement, and I think Meg focused more on lyrics. These probably wouldn't be songs that I would've picked for her, but after listening to the lyrics I can understand why she liked each of these tracks. (She actually was never a big fan of Pink, so that one was a shocker!) When I hear them, she's obviously the first thing I think of.
Tom Petty - "Angel Dream"
Not all of the songs on this list are necessarily from 2013. This list is more about the songs that will most remind me of this year. I'd probably rather not have this song listed here, as I already have so many memories associated with it. This was our wedding song. Meg knew that I cared way more about picking the song than she did, so she left it up to me, although she obviously held some veto power. I've always loved this song, ever since I saw the movie "She's the One" in the mid-90's. However, as a song for our first dance, I didn't like the lyrics in the bridge, the part that goes "Sing a little song of loneliness...". I felt like that didn't really make sense for a wedding. So I spent a few months trying to come up with something else, but I kept coming back to this one. "I found an angel, I found my place, I can only thank God it was not too late." I couldn't find anything that I liked better than that.
Now the entire song makes complete and utter sense. Way more than I ever wished it could. I started listening to it a lot towards the end of February. Then I started playing it on guitar, and singing it in my basement when no one was home. I contemplated singing it to Meg at my band's scheduled gig in April. I never got that chance, so I sang it to her a few times in the hospital that last week, while she was sleeping. It's probably a good thing that I didn't pick a more popular wedding song, as it usually hits me pretty hard if it comes up in my iTunes when I'm not expecting it. The good news is that it brings the happy with the sad. But there's a lot there.
Anna Kendrick - "Cups"
I think this song started getting popular in April/May. When I first heard it on the radio and the repeated chorus kicked in, I think I had to change the channel. It was just bad timing - I wasn't ready for songs like that, both upbeat and emotional. The video was cute though, and definitely made me think of Meg. Eventually I got used to hearing it. It doesn't hold as strong of an emotional pull over me as many of the other tracks on this list, but it will definitely remind me of the struggle with those conflicted feelings in the first months after we lost her.
Alabama Shakes - "Always Alright"
I had a really rough patch start towards the end of May. The immediate shock had begun to wear off, and it was a struggle to get through each day. Time felt like it was moving so slow. I went to my 10 year reunion at UVA early in June, and like most other things, it was a roller-coaster. One night I felt depressed, lost, and all alone, and then the next night I had a good time. I was anxious to get away for a bit, and the next week was when I went to Colorado.
I purchased a bunch of new music for the trip. I didn't know what I was going to be feeling like, so it was a random assortment. Jefferson Airplane, The Replacements, Chvrches, Grimes, Purity Ring, The 1975, and Alabama Shakes. "Always Alright" became my song for that trip. I spent a lot of time just driving through the mountains, and it's a fantastic driving song. The weather was great, the scenery was beautiful, and the beat and rhythm of that song kept me going. It took till the end of the week before I started snapping out of that funk, and there have been a lot of dips back and forth since then. But I can often go back to this song for a little southern rock pick-me-up.
The Middle East - "Blood"
Speaking of dips, the next one came quickly, early in July. It made me realize that this wasn't going to be a simple 2 week episode that I could pull myself out of with a week off. It was going to take time, and made me very wary of saying the words "I think I'm doing better." That week, I remember not wanting to get out of bed at all. I didn't want to talk to people, I was tired of the questions. I stopped answering emails.
Then I got scared because I thought I would've been handling everything better by then. I felt like I was regressing. I went to bed on a Friday night feeling like crap, resigned to the fact that I was going to skip a friend's out of town birthday the next day. I woke up in the morning, laid there for a bit, and felt like I literally had to drag myself out of bed. I went for a jog, and while I was running, I made a decision. I could spend the day home alone, feeling sorry for myself. Or I could change my attitude, try to be upbeat, and have a good day. It wasn't easy, but I went for it. It ended up being fun, but when I got back home the next day, I was exhausted. That night I watched the movie "Crazy, Stupid, Love." It was otherwise forgettable, just a way to pass the time. Until the last scene, when "Blood" started playing. It plays softly through the last few minutes, then hits the melodic peak as the credits roll in. In my fragile state, that song just struck an emotional chord with me. I sat there for several minutes, rewinding the movie and playing it over a few times. I Shazam'd it and bought the track from iTunes, and just put it on repeat while I laid on the floor, sobbing.
I don't even think I paid any attention to the lyrics, I was so transfixed by the melody. Then a few weeks later, I was actually listening, and realized this was the last verse:
"It was the only woman you ever loved,
That got burnt by the sun too often when she was young.
And the cancer spread and it ran into her body and her blood,
And there's nothing you can do about it now."
The National - "I Need My Girl"
I bought this album in early September. It's good, with several songs that I like, but this track jumped out at me. I like the opening guitar lick, and I can feel the longing in his voice. I put this song on when I'm really missing her and wishing she was there with me. And these lyrics, in particular, strike a chord with me.
"I am good, I am grounded,
Davy says that I look taller.
But I can't get my head around it,
I keep feeling smaller and smaller.
I need my girl."
People would tell me that I was looking good, that I was handling it well. I often wasn't feeling that way on the inside.
The Naked and Famous - "I Kill Giants"
Meg and I saw The Naked and Famous in concert twice in 2011. I really liked their first album, it was probably my favorite of that year. Under normal circumstances, that means I would've been listening to their follow up within a few days of its release this September. But for some reason, I wasn't anxious to hear it. Maybe because it was one of the last shows that we saw together. I don't know. But then the band posted the video for "I Kill Giants" on facebook at the end of October. And the lead singer posted a note stating that she wrote the song about losing her mom to cancer. So I listened to the album. It's just ok. "I Kill Giants" is probably my favorite song on it. The chorus is simple, but the point is made. "Why couldn't we save you?" I had written a song not too long before this with a similar sentiment. They manage to do it in an upbeat and melodic way.
Wild Cub - "Thunder Clatter"
Of everything on my list, this is the song that I most wish I could write. It's happy, upbeat, danceable, and has great rhythms and melodies. There are so many elements to this song that I enjoy. The multitude of percussive sections. The prolonged note that provides a constant backdrop throughout the entire track. The simple, yet catchy guitar riffs. Everything happening in that little breakdown from 3:34-3:42. And the gradual buildup to the eventual melodic culmination.
When I heard "Thunder Clatter" in the car for the first time, I was enjoying it. Then that breakdown around 3:34 happened, and they started repeating those lines at the end. Immediate fountain of tears. The next time I heard it on the radio, they played an interview with the songwriter first, and he talked about how he wrote it for his wife. I didn't know what song they were talking about until it started playing again. It's really just a beautiful, uplifting love song that should be happy in so many ways. And it is, while at the same time being so sad for me. It manages to trigger multiple emotions. I've probably listened to this track forty times over the past two months, and I still get chills at the end. It's the only song on this list that brings me to tears, while at the same time coaxing my body to keep moving, keep tapping my foot along with the beat. Which is really what I'm trying to do with my life right now. And for that reason, it's my favorite song of the year.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Our Last Trip
I mentioned in my last post that we started going to nice
dinners on our anniversaries. We really
enjoyed doing tasting menus, although I obviously needed to have a vegetarian
option. =)
Well, around September/October, Meg had started feeling
better, and then in November she was switched to a less intense chemo
regimen. She was still struggling with
her energy levels and some other side effects, but her appetite had come back,
and on many days she was feeling well enough to get out of the house. Our social life had always been pretty heavy
on drinking and staying out late, and obviously that was going to have to change. But she could definitely enjoy a good
dinner. So we started looking at the
Washingtonian’s “100 Very Best Restaurants” list and making reservations. I decided that by the end of 2013, we were
going to have 50 of them crossed off the list.
That was probably a little ambitious, but we were on a really good
pace! In addition to the 7 or 8 we had
previously been to, from October to February we crossed off Willow, Restaurant
Eve, Bibiana, Rasika, Adour, Graffiato, Lyon Hall, Mintwood Place, Mala Tang,
Present, Estadio, and Indique.
But the best meal out of all of those was in early
February. We had been talking for months
about trying to plan a trip somewhere.
We wanted to go to Florida, or the Caribbean, or anywhere where we could
just get away and relax for a bit. But
cancer never gave us a break. There was
always something around the corner – delayed treatments threw off schedules,
low blood counts dictated health cautions, and we were always waiting for the
next set of test results to see what the next plan would be. So we finally focused on the weekend of
February 9th. It seemed like
that should be a good weekend, and we’d be able to get away.
We nearly had a flight to Miami booked when we got some
troubling news towards the end of January.
Some blood tests indicated that Meg’s liver was starting to regress, and
that the treatment that she was on was likely no longer working. She was scheduled to have another round of
treatment before the next CT scan, and the doctor wanted to wait to see the
results of different blood tests before deciding what to do. There was too much uncertainty to book a trip
to Miami, so we started looking at local options. We made a reservation for the Homestead
resort – we thought the hot springs could be good for her. But then the test results came in, and I
decided to push the doctor to move up the scan.
It was obvious the treatment wasn’t working. The earliest time they could fit her in was
on the Sunday morning that we were planning on going away. Meg was starting to have abdominal pain
again, and the Homestead was 3 ½ hours away.
She wasn’t sure that she wanted to spend 7 hours in the car for just a
2-night stay.
Around that time, the Washingtonian came out with their new
best restaurants list for 2013, and “The Inn at Little Washington” was ranked
#1. I had been watching the restaurant’s
website, and they had a room special for that Thursday night. Seemed perfect. We decided we’d drive the hour out there on
Thursday, have a good dinner, head to Charlottesville on Friday, and then drive
back on Saturday in time for the scan on Sunday morning. Booked.
On our way out there Thursday afternoon, we used Yelp to
make a lunch stop at the Black Bear Bistro in downtown Warrenton. Then we drove over to the Inn. When they call the town “Little Washington”
they mean it. We thought maybe there
would be some shops to peruse or something, but nope. There’s the Inn, and that’s about it. So we checked into our room, got a tour of
the Inn from the kid who had a full-page picture in the Washingtonian (cleaning
a glass), and then went into the lounge area for afternoon tea.
Ok, this is where I’m going to start the slideshow.
Tea included snacks, so we pushed back our dinner
reservation and went to relax in the room for a while. It was a pretty cool room.
I think we counted something like 9 different places to sit,
and the furnishings were all done really well.
And then we had a nice huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub, which Meg of
course had to use!
The dinner was great.
Meg said it was the best food she had ever had. She particularly enjoyed her beef entrée.
My main vegetarian menu wasn’t the ‘best’ I had
ever had (I still have fond memories of the food at CityZen), but the service and overall experience
was fantastic. And I don’t usually like
sweets, but I’d have to say that my 7-item dessert was probably one of the greatest
things I’ve ever eaten.
Before:
After:
By the time that was gone, we were the last table left in
the restaurant. We got a tour of the
kitchen and retired for the night. But that
wasn’t the end! The next morning we had
a nice little breakfast at a table looking out to the courtyard.
Overall, just a tremendous experience. It was quite expensive, but if you’re
considering going there for dinner, I’d recommend staying overnight and getting
the whole experience (as long as you’re someone who can relax and not spend the
entire evening thinking about how much it’s costing! I can relate; I used to have that problem –
but no more!)
The next day we took the long way to Charlottesville,
staying on the country roads and driving along the hillsides. Once we got into town, we both knew what would
really top the most extravagant dining night of our lives – lunch at
Guadalajara! Complete with a Jumbo Marg,
for old time’s sake:
We didn’t really have any plans once we got to
Charlottesville. Meg was starting to get
pretty bad pains in her abdomen, so we had to take it easy. We checked into the hotel and rested, then
went for a dip in the hot tub. Then we
started discussing where to go for dinner.
It’s always such a tough decision when we’re in Charlottesville - there
are so many places we want to go to! We
were really disappointed when Northern Exposure closed several years back, as
that was the one “nice” restaurant that we went to many times during college, the one we
probably both considered our favorite.
It was also the location of our first solo dinner date. My parents were visiting me during Easter
weekend my first year at UVa, and that was the first time they met Megan. (We went to Mem Gym and played 2 on 2
basketball – me and Meg vs my dad and my sister!) On Easter Sunday we ate brunch at Northern
Exposure with my family. We liked it so
much that after my parents hit the road, Meg and I decided to go back for
dinner that same night!
Once we made the decision to go to Charlottesville, I was
thinking about how much I wished we could go back and eat there. But then I realized there was another
restaurant we could go to – the location of our actual first date, on the night
of the double date function at Sigma Nu.
It was Vivace, an Italian restaurant that we liked while in school, but
because it wasn’t downtown I don’t think we had been back since we
graduated. I looked it up, and luckily
it was still open. So that’s where we
went that night. We were pleasantly
surprised with the quality of the food – it was better than we thought it would
be. We spent the dinner reminiscing,
trying to remember exactly where our table was on that first night. 13 years later, nearly to the day, we were sitting in the same place. We laughed, talking
about silly old things. And we cried,
feeling the weight of the memories and the uncertainty of the future.
We talked about going to see a movie that night, but Meg
said she’d probably be much more comfortable if she was able to lie down in
bed. So we went back to the Omni and
rented “Silver Linings Playbook”. Meg
didn’t like it, up until the part where they started dancing. =) That probably wasn’t
the best movie to watch - I didn’t realize that Jennifer Lawrence’s character
was widowed. Meg always wanted to stay
positive – I think that’s why she spent so much time watching shows on channels
like Food Network and Game Show Network.
It gave her a better chance at not being reminded of her cancer for a
few moments. Once you’re dealing with
something like that, you become hyper-aware of every seemingly innocent mention
about it.
The next morning we got up, grabbed some lunch, and again opted for the scenic route on the drive back. It was a good trip, one I’ll always
remember. At least, I hope so, now that
I’ve written this. A few months ago, I could trace my way through every moment of that weekend and remember so many
little things so easily. Now, several
months later, it’s harder to recall everything, and I’m sure that I've missed some
details. I’ve definitely forgotten some
of the things we talked about.
I mentioned this in my first post – I’m so scared of the
fact that I’m going to forget things. I
want to remember every moment, every conversation, every smile.
Someone who’s walked this path gave me some great advice in
April and told me to start journaling and describing my memories with Meg “in
vivid detail.” I’ve done some of that,
but eventually it started becoming hard to do – hard to dip into that well so
often. In retrospect, I wish I slowed
down a little bit over those months of April/May/June and spent more time
writing, when it was easier. Now, it’s usually
pretty hard. I’ve been doing a pretty
good job at keeping it together recently, but sitting here, writing this, I’ve
spent most of the evening crying, and I’ve had to take several breaks. It reminds me of when Meg would write her
blog entries sitting next to me on the couch.
We would be watching TV, and then quietly she would sit up, open the
computer, and start typing. Within a few
minutes, I would glance over and she’d be staring intently at the screen with
tears welling up in her eyes. It feels
good to get things out, to let people know how you’re feeling, but it’s not
easy to do. Sometimes I wonder why I’m
doing this, that I’m unnecessarily torturing myself. But I usually feel better after I’m done.
Once it started getting hard, in late May, I decided I
needed to go away somewhere. Anywhere
really – I just needed to get out of the house and away from work so I could
concentrate on writing. So I spent a
week in Colorado in June. It was tough
when I got back and people asked me “How was Colorado? What did you do?” I talked about the places I stayed, the
things I saw. But in reality, I went
there to get away from work and house chores, to drive through the mountains, and to sit in my hotel room
and write. I thought it would be so easy
to write once I had no distractions in front of me. But it didn’t work. I came back with 10 pages of unfinished ideas
and one below-average song. I realized I
needed to stop putting pressure on myself to write. I needed to try to let it happen naturally. And to do that, I needed to start eliminating
the external pressures that were making me feel anxious and exhausted all the
time. If that’s how I was feeling every
day, I was never going to have a clear enough head to feel like writing.
-----
Hmm. This is growing into a tangent off the main story, and
I’d like to finish this tonight, so I’m going to abruptly cut that off and try
to bring it back on course. I’ll talk more about what I wrote in Colorado at
some point in the future.
-----
I try hard not to have regrets. But I have wishes. I wish that I could have taken more trips
with Meg. I wish that I was able to have
some foresight into the timeframe we were dealing with, and how those few
months were the best ones we had left.
We weren’t going to give up hope that we had years instead of months,
but I wish we focused on having more trips like that weekend in February. And I wish I took her to Fiji.
I found out that she had written a report on Fiji in
the 5th grade, and had always wanted to go there after that.
In the hospital in March, after we were told there were no
more treatment options, I told Meg I was sorry that I didn’t take her to
Fiji. I don’t know how she continually
had the strength to do this, but she managed to reassure me. She told me that she had no regrets. That she wouldn’t change anything. She said that we had 13 great years. She wasn’t going to get upset because she
never sat on a beach in Fiji; she didn’t feel like she missed out because she
never saw Paris. She was only
disappointed that we didn’t have more time together.
Sometimes I think she might have said a lot of things over
those last few days just because she selflessly wanted us to be ok. But I knew her better than I’ve ever known
anyone, and we couldn’t really lie to each other. So I’ve come to believe that she meant
everything she said. She was 32 years
old, literally sitting on her deathbed, and all that really mattered to her
were the relationships and love that she had with the people in her
life. Trips and vacations are important
because they help create memorable experiences and foster the growth of that
love. This is a huge world, and there
are a lot of amazing things to see out there.
You should do what you can to enjoy the heck out of life. But in the end, I don’t think you’re going to
be worrying about that one item left unchecked on your bucket list. It’s less about what you see, and more about
whom you see it with.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Ok, If You Queso
Today is our anniversary.
Seven years ago Meg and I were married. A little over 6 months ago, I lost her -
about 50 years too early.
I’ve never been one to make a big deal about anniversaries
or my birthday. Luckily Meg was pretty
cool with that, and said all she really wanted was a card. Our first few anniversaries we stayed in and
cooked dinner together. Then we took a
cue from some friends and realized it was a good excuse to go out for a really
nice dinner. So I went out for dinner
tonight, but I didn’t plan ahead, so I didn’t go anywhere nice. I went to the Mexican restaurant a few blocks
away from our house. Meg and I went out
for Mexican all the time. I can’t
imagine how many baskets of tortilla chips we shared, sitting across the table
from one another. Actually, while I was
sitting there tonight, I tried to calculate it, and I’d guess that we went out
for Mexican over 200 times together. I
think 15 times per year is a pretty safe estimate - our 3rd and 4th
years at UVA we went to Guadalajara twice a week. She’d get a quesadilla, tostada, and/or a
beef taco. I’d get Vegetarian Combo
#1. Maybe we’d split some Queso – she
loved the “white cheese” they had there.
Anyway, I'm hoping to continue posting on this blog at least once a
month. It's been getting harder to write, and today is my last chance for
September. So I was thinking that I
would write about how I’m feeling today, and how it’s really no different than
any other day. I didn’t think about Meg
more when I woke up this morning just because it was our anniversary. Some mornings I spend a long time in bed just
lying there and thinking about her - I don’t need to save that for once a month
or once a year. I didn’t notice any new,
unique feelings today. Everything was
pretty familiar.
So why do we make such a big deal about anniversaries? I left work a little early today and went by the
cemetery to place some flowers on her grave.
And as I stood there, I started thinking back, first to last year. We had dinner with our parents on the
Saturday night before our anniversary, then had Sunday brunch with the priest
that married us, and then spent that night watching the Giants/Eagles
game. (Man, she was a good sport.) We went out to dinner at Restaurant Eve the
following night. I thought about how
tough that dinner was. We were trying to
celebrate another year, but we had this major cloud hanging over us,
threatening to make this the last anniversary we would spend together. Then I compared that dinner to the two or
three before that, when we could actually celebrate. On our fourth anniversary we had an awesome 3
½ hour dinner at Cityzen that we talked about for months afterwards. And then I kept going back, to our wedding,
and thought about how great that day was.
When we woke up the morning after we were married, I told Meg that was the best day of my
life, and time has done nothing to make me question that opinion.
I realized that maybe anniversaries are a little different,
because we are remembering something special and unique in our lives. So we celebrate because we want to remember
these happy moments. And because that
original day was memorable, so too are all of the annual activities we plan to
commemorate it. We all wish each other a
“happy” day.
However, no one has said happy anniversary today. Instead, some have said that they are “thinking
about me.” (Which is very nice and much
appreciated.) There is a distinct shift
in tone. And the fact is, it is
warranted. Maybe someday I’ll be able to
feel peace and laugh about the good times again. But today, I feel less whole than I did a
year ago, and much less than the year before that. Anniversaries come with memories, and those
memories make us take stock of where we are now, compared with where we were
then. And sometimes the differences between
those two points in time can be painful.
So maybe this day is a little different than the other
days. But in many ways it’s the
same. Every day I’m trying my best to
put one foot in front of the other. It’s
a slow process, but I think I’m learning to walk again. It doesn’t mean I miss her any less or that I
don’t still think about her all the time.
Sometimes I really struggle to accept the fact that she’s not coming
back. Unfortunately, it’s not until after you lose someone
you love that you realize how badly you'd like to have one more moment with them.
I’ve been going out for Mexican food much less frequently
recently. That means that a lot of nights, I find myself home, sitting alone with my guitar.
Sometimes I write songs and hopelessly try my darndest to sing in tune. And sometimes I press the record button on my
phone. This is from a few months ago, but it's how I'm feeling tonight.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Save the Date
On November 2, the DC/VA/MD chapters of
Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer are hosting the 3rd
“Cocktails and Cupcakes” benefit event.
It is going to be in downtown DC at the RIAA’s event space from 8:30 to
10:30 PM, and will feature drinks, dessert, live music, and raffles/auctions. It costs $40 to attend ($75 per couple), which
I think is pretty reasonable, and you’ll be supporting a great cause. All of the info can be found on a flyer here:
If you are going to be in town that weekend, please consider
attending. This event happens to be one
week before Megan’s birthday, and it’d be great to use it as a way to celebrate
her. Especially considering that the combination of sweets, cocktails, and friends would pretty much be her definition of a perfect
evening!
Since the event itself is more of a dessert theme, we’re
going to organize a dinner beforehand for anyone who would like to join. We are talking with a few restaurants in the
same area as the RIAA office, and are thinking we will get a private dining
room from about 6-8PM. We are in the
early stages of looking into this, but anyone who would like to join is
welcome. Even if you don’t really know
me, but maybe knew Megan – we’d love to have you there. Just send me an email at adamkuchinski@hotmail.com so we can
include you in the headcount and information emails (and it’s just a rough
headcount at this point, so don’t feel like it’s a commitment.) Or you can RSVP on the Facebook event page for the dinner at https://www.facebook.com/events/629612107072226/.
If you'd like to come to the event, I'd recommend buying tickets somewhat soon, as I think the
capacity is going to be somewhere between 200-300 people. You can purchase them here:
There are also sponsorship opportunities available. You can contact me at the email listed above
for more information about that.
Hope to see you there!
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