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Random Happenings

I was looking through our pictures of the last few months and found a couple amazing shots that Jeff took. This first is from the 4th of July. This is the view we have of the Lake Union fireworks from our balcony. It was truly an amazing display:



Every year during August in Seattle the city holds what is called Seafair. Unfortunately, we are usually gone during this action packed weekend. This year we flew back while the Blue Angels were performing their airshow. This is a picture from our balcony of the planes flying right over our condo:



These next group of photos are from our Thanksgiving party. Our friends from our old neighborhood came over and we had a party the night before Thanksgiving in our owner's lounge. I made a delicious ham (yes, I cooked) and everyone brought their favorite side dish:

Holiday Parties with Microsoft

This week we performed at two different Microsoft holiday parties. We had a great time and are very thankful for the enthusiastic guests.

The first event was at the Seattle Tennis Club. This was our first time in this beautiful venue. I was able to take a couple pictures during set up:





The second event was at the Four Seasons downtown Seattle. This third year performing for this group and it was the best year yet! We had so much fun. There was 500 Microsoft employees in attendance at the beautiful Four Seasons ballroom. Jeff took a couple pictures during set up:


The photography group Team Photogenic was on site and they will have some brilliant pictures of the event soon that we will post.

Thank you Microsoft! We'll see you again next year!

Colorado Springs, CO

This weekend we were honored to perform for the annual USAA Insurance holiday party in Colorado Springs, CO. This was our second year performing our dueling pianos show for the company and it was such a great time! The crowd was amazing...we only wish we would have had more time on stage! Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

This is a picture of our accommodations. It's an unbelievable place called the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. They have golfing, swimming, hiking, tennis, and more. Unfortunately, it was 13 degrees out so we didn't take advantage of any of the outdoor activities.

I snuck in a picture during set up before the event. It's kind of hard to see the enormity of the room in the picture, but believe me, it was big! They eventually had it decorated so beautifully as well. After our show, a band called Martini Shot played the rest of the evening. They were excellent. We love hearing live band that's incorporate horns.

And, per Kirsten's request, here is a picture with one of us in it! Jeff having a post-show beverage.

We want to send a big thank you to Donna Vessey Events for having us! Again, we had such a wonderful time and hope to make it back again. Although, I wouldn't mind if the weather was not 13 degrees and snowing.

And finally, I have to post a couple pictures I took from our balcony today. It was the most beautiful day up here in Seattle and I tried to capture it on 'film' (via my iPhone)....

Mexico Cruise

Hola del pais de Mexico! We just completed our first cruise ship contract in over a year and it was to the beautiful Mexican Riviera. We had a great time aboard the ms Statendam, one of Holland America Line's small, beautiful ships. We were on the ship for a short five day stint that took us to San Diego, Puerto Vallarta, and Huatulco. Below are some pictures of the ms Statendam:

A view of the ms Statendam from port. The ship holds just 1,258 guests (which is small compared to the massive ships out there today). We enjoy the small, intimate ships where you actually get to know everyone.

The Van Gogh showroom. The whole room is themed as Starry Night by Van Gogh. Very beautiful. Our show was a great success and it was a lot of fun to do our headliner show again.

A statue in the atrium of the ship.

We were very excited to get back to P.V. It's one of our favorite Mexican ports because it's so beautiful. And there is a Starbucks. We usually go to our favorite restaurant called Ah Caramba which is way up high on a hill. We love going there for sunset dinner. The food is exceptional and the view is unbelievable. Unfortunately, all aboard was 4:00 so we had to miss out on it this time around.

A photo of P.V.

Our last Mexican port was a little town called Huatulco. Really stunning place. Sailing into the cove that the town in located in, was just spectacular. If you are looking for a remote getaway, I would recommend checking this place out:

Our trip home was nothing less of eventful. Flying out of Huatulco was an experience within itself. The airport can accommodate one plane at a time and you have to walk about 1/4 mile from the gate to board the plane. Our layover was in Mexico City. It is huge. Flying in was like nothing I've ever seen. Imagine L.A. and the surrounding areas but all in one location. So very populated! We flew home via AeroMexico (no need to fly that airline again) and are happy to be back in beautiful, cold Seattle. It was nice spending a few days in 90 degree weather.

The only drawback to this trip was the fact that I had pneumonia. Ugh. Jeff took me to the hospital on Thanksgiving day where they took x-rays and found pneumonia on my right lung. Although I was encouraged not to get on a ship, we did. It took the full 5 days for me to recover. I made it through the show, purely on adrenalin, and am feeling 90% better now. I don't recommend getting pneumonia. Especially when you have to travel.

We are heading off to Colorado Springs tomorrow to do a corporate event for USAA Insurance. This is our second year performing for their holiday party and are really looking forward to it. I checked the weather for CO Springs today...11 degrees. Good times. I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

This is one of our most requested songs. Jeff and I do it very well. The Muppets do it even better. Enjoy!

Fall Events

We had a very busy and fun fall this year. As usual, I neglected to bring our camera to the events but wanted to let you all know what exciting things we've been up to:

In September, we performed our dueling pianos show for Zumapoolza 2009 in Newport Beach. The Zumasys corporation had their annual conference in southern California and we were the entertainment for the final evening. It was a rock and roll theme and we were the surprise entertainment. Imagine 700 techies singing their hearts out to Bon Jovi and AC/DC. These self-proclaimed nerds know how to party! It was a lot of fun and we are so thankful to have been a part of the event.

At the end of September we performed at our favorite event of the year...Oktoberfest! This was the 4th year at McCormick Woods and it just keeps getting better every year! For those of you in the Northwest, if you haven't been, don't miss out next year!

In October we were lucky enough to be a part of two of our closest friends wedding. I was a groomsman (yes, groomsman) and Jeff officiated the wedding (see the photos below). We had a great time and the wedding was so special. Thank Bricki!






Another highlight of this fall was performing for the Microsoft 10 year service party. The event was at Bel Harbor on the Seattle waterfront. Absolutely beautiful! The party was for employees world-wide who have worked for Microsoft for 10 years. There were about 800 people there to enjoy our dueling pianos show and the band The Presidents of the United States. It was such a great time!

The end of October was spent performing for a beautiful wedding up here in Seattle at the Lynnwood Convention Center and celebrating our good friends Emily and Jonathan's wedding in Newport Beach. It was a weekend of love for sure!



We are gearing up for our busy holiday season and I promise to bring a camera to the events!

NW Events Show

Yesterday we participated in the NW Events Show at the WA State Convention Center. We had a great time speaking with perspective clients and other professionals in the industry. We opted out of setting up our pianos this year, which made load-out A LOT easier. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello!

6th Annual Oktoberfest

Once again, we are performing at the 6th Annual Oktoberfest Celebration at McCormick Woods Golf Resort. This is a really amazing event that is open to the public. Saturday night is already sold out, so get your tickets today for Friday night! See you there!

Sonoma Valley

A few months ago, we performed for the Andretti Green sponsor party the night before the Indy 500 (see old blog post). We had such an amazing time at the event. The only unfortunate part of the event was that we were unable to attend the race the next day (we had a gig in Florida). The Andretti team invited us to head to the race at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. So we did. And did we have a great time! We were able to invite my parents to come with us and we enjoyed the race along with some amazing wineries.

This is a picture in front of the Ledson Winery in Sonoma. This ended up being our favorite winery we visited. Not only was it the most beautiful, the wines were incredible. So complex and infused with some unique flavors. The staff was very knowledgeable and the pours were quite generous. Maybe that's why we enjoyed it so much...

Mario Andretti has a winery? Does he ever have a winery. This is in Napa Valley not far from the town center. The winery looks like you are stepping back into the Italian old country. Really beautiful. And they served their own wine at the race.

Now we are at the race. What an experience! We had VIP passes compliments of the Andretti team. These passes got us into the sponsor booths and down in the pit. This is in front of Tony Kanaan's pit stop station. We were right there!

Drivers....start your engines...well...warm up first.

The race was an all day event. Activities begin at 8:00am and the big race doesn't start until 3:00. We got to see the Indy light races, the drifter races, classics races, and the very cool air show. Unfortunately, none of the riders from the Andretti team won the big race (there was an unfortunate crash at the beginning that Tony, Danica, and Marco were involved in), but we had a blast. If you ever get the opportunity to go to an Indy race, do it. Just bring your earplugs and sunscreen!

2nd Annual Studio 54 Party

This weekend we are performing at the 2nd Annual Shake It Up Studio 54 / Disco Party just outside of Nashville, TN. It is going to be a great time with all your favorite 70's & 80's tunes at your request! If you live near the area and are interested in going, click here for more information. Get out your boogie shoes and come on down for a great time!

Indy 500

How do we describe our event at the Indy 500...amazing, fantastic, and unreal are just some of the words that come to mind. We were honored to be asked to perform for the Andretti Green Racing Team and their sponsors the night before the Indy 500. The show was held in the "garage." When I say garage, imagine the size of a Costco with ceilings twice as high and racing cars suspended from the ceilings. The past few years the party has seen such performances by Cheaptrick and Smashmouth. For 2009, it was Jeff & Rhiannon. Pretty darn cool.

We arrived the day before for "Carb Day" at the racetrack. We were given VIP passes and a private tour of the cars and garage. Below are some photos from Carb Day:

Here we are in Danica's dressing room. I sooo wanted to snag one of her uniforms so I could be her for Halloween.

Jeff posing with Danica's car just before he touched it...the car, not Danica.

Another picture of Danica's car.

Posing with Tony Kaanan's car. He was a favorite to win the race, but got taken out early.

The inside of the cars are so small. The blue button on the steering wheel is the water button. During the race if the driver needs some H20, they push the button and a tube squirts water into their mouth. This is much needed as during the pit stops as the cockpit reaches temperatures of 140 degrees!

This is me in front of Hideki Mutoh's car shortly after meeting him. Per an inside joke, during our show, I told him that I would be his sugar mama. I don't know if that translates into Japanese very well.


The night of our show was just as amazing. We performed a 30 minute teaser before our main show and then they did a big announcement of the drivers:

The four drivers of the Andretti Green Racing team. From left to right: Hideki Mutoh, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, and Tony Kaanan.


Below are some videos from both Carb Day and the night of the show:

The hardest part of the whole experience was that we were unable to stay for the race! We had a gig in Tampa, FL Sunday night (which was great). So the team has invited Jeff & I to be guests at the race in Sonoma, CA at the Infineon Raceway. We are going out a couple days before the race for a party at Mario Andretti's winery (!) and hang out with some of the crew. We get to watch the race from the luxury box and maybe even from the pit!

We are still reveling in the whole experience. Everyone there was so gracious and nice. They loved our dueling pianos show. I think that because in the past they have just had concerts, they were blown away with how unique we are and how interactive the show is.

Thank you Andretti Green Racing for allowing us to be a part of this spectacular event!

Indianapolis 500!

We have been asked to perform our dueling pianos show on the eve of the Indianapolis 500! We couldn't be more excited and honored to be a part of this event! We are performing for Andretti Green Racing! They are holding their annual sponsor party on Saturday May 23rd at the Indianapolis 500 raceway.


The Andretti Green Team consists of 3 drivers, including the very famous, very beautiful, very awesome Danica Patrick.


There will be literally hundreds of senior level decision makers from the team's sponsors including:


The Friday before the race we are being offered VIP passes to the track along with a personalized tour of the garages. We are so incredibly excited to be a part of this event. We will be taking a lot of photos and will let you all know how it goes!

Symetra Financial Event

Sunday night we performed our dueling pianos show for the Symetra Financial Corporate Event at the Fairmont Olympic in downtown Seattle. The hotel is absolutely gorgeous and our room set up was spectacular. We had a great time with the attendees and were honored to be able to kick off their annual conference. Despite a tricky load-in, everyone at the Fairmont was very accommodating and our hotel room was gorgeous. Thanks for having us be a part of your event, Symetra!