Confrontation - How I Met Your Mother

As you all know, both Jeff and I are huge musical theater fans. My favorite musical in the world is 'Les Miserables.' I am also a big fan of the show 'How I Met Your Mother.' I also ADORE Neil Patrick Harris. So naturally, this video makes me grin from ear to ear. Enjoy!

My Kind of Town

As the late, great singer, Frank Sinatra, crooned "my kind of town, Chicago is..." And what an amazing city it is. We got the opportunity to perform for VALEC and Western National Group in the beautiful Westin downtown Chicago. We had a really great time with the audience...such nice, fun people from all over the country. Here are a couple of pictures of Jeff during sound check:


The room was decorated beautifully and had the feeling of an old Chicago speakeasy.

The day of the gig we had a few hours to walk around the city. We tried to go to as many places as time would allow. Below are a few of the photos I was able to capture with my phone:

We were there on Columbus Day, which also happened to be the day after October 10, 2010 and the Chicago Marathon. The city was buzzing! This is a fun picture to let us always remember when we were there.

A great view of the city


This is Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. It is one of the largest fountains in the world. The four sea horses on the sides represent the four states that touch Lake Michigan: Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan.


Not exactly sure what this is, but it is very cool.

This is a picture of the Millennium Park Amphitheater. It seats up to 7000 people and has one of the most sophisticated sound systems of any outdoor arena. The city holds free concerts here regularly.

This is a photo of the amazing sound system.

The theater district. Yes, Jeff loves it when I make him be in pictures.

If I had been 5'8" with perfect turnout, maybe I would have landed a job here. One of the most renowned ballet companies in the world.

More fun in the theater district.

A river runs through it. Next time we are planning to take a boat tour through the city.

So, as ol' blue eyes said, this is 'one town that won't let you down.' We had a blast and can't wait to go back in a few weeks. Any suggestions of fun things to do while we are there....?

Musical Theater Fans

As I was Google-ing our names last night (admit it, we've all done it), I came across something fun that you musical theater fans will appreciate. Two years ago we were fortunate to be in a production of the amazing musical 'Last Five Years' as a part of the Oregon Musical Theater Festival. Well...I discovered our production is listed on the official 'Last Five Years' Wikipedia page! If you would like to take a look, click here.

It was such a wonderful experience and I hope that we have the opportunity to perform in this emotional, hilarious, brilliant show written by Jason Robert Brown again someday.

CablePalooza 2010

Last month we performed at Comcast Cable's CablePalooza 2010. The event was held at the Shilshole Beach Club on the shores of Puget Sound. The party was crazy, the views spectacular, and the show was a hit. We were one of many activities happening including meet and greet with some of the cast members of the New Real World, photos with a UFC wrestler, massages, fortune telling, make-overs, and many amazing prizes to be won. We had a great time and, thanks to Team Photogenic of Seattle, captured a few moments on film:








If you happen to have Comcast, in the on-demand section, you can view a recap of the event. Or you can view it at http://www.comcastspotlight.com/markets/seattle/400/cablepalooza-2010.

Thanks to everyone at Comcast for a great evening!

Traverse City

Back on August 1st, we were fortunate enough to get to perform for the wonderful Pioneer Hi Bred Corporation again. This was our 4th show for the company and it was another amazing experience. Once again, we got to perform with our drummer, Glen Schricker and guitarist, Chris Vazquez. This show format has proven to be extremely successful and so much fun! We perform our all-request dueling pianos show for the first part of the evening and then bring up the other musicians for a full band experience and dance party. Everytime we have performed this, it has been a huge hit. Below are a few photos taken by Glen of our rehearsal before the show:






We performed at the beautiful Grand Traverse Resort. Below are some post-show photos...

Glen and consultant extraordinaire, Bill Hopkins.

Chris and Rhiannon

The following day we had some time to spend in Traverse City. What a beautiful place! The region is known for it's wine, cherries, and cherry wine. We tried all of these. The area completely exceeded any of our expectations:

Thanks again to Bill Hopkins Events for having us for another amazing time. Let's do it again in Naples!

Lake Tahoe

Last weekend we had a show in Lake Tahoe for National Auto Care Corporation. The event was at the Harrah's Casino in South Lake Tahoe. We had such a wonderful time performing for this fun group. We had the crowd singing, dancing a kick line, and even had CEO up dancing like Elvis. Thanks to Christina and crew for having us a part of your event!

After the show, we had some time to experience the beauty of Lake Tahoe. Below are some pictures from our time there...

Our hotel was right on the beach...

Yes, our life can be hard.

Awwww...

I will go into the water!

It was so very cold...but I did it!

Breakfast at a great restaurant in North Lake Tahoe called the Log Cabin. This place was featured on Rachel Ray and the dish that Jeff is eating was featured in Bon Appetite Magazine. Yum!

Our drive back to Reno over the mountains. This is the view from 8000 feet!

Super Jeff!

We spend a lot of time in airplanes and every once and awhile, the view takes my breath away. This iPhone photo doesn't do it justice, but the sunset was unreal!

Lake Tahoe was fantastic and we hope to go back someday...hopefully the water will be warmer next time!

Greatest Compliment

The greatest compliment we can get from a client is repeat business. This year we have already booked eight repeat corporate events! Thank you to Pioneer, Good Samaritan, Rosary Healthcare, Microsoft EPG, McCormick Woods, Airborne Law Enforcement, Whitman College, and the US Navy.

In other news, we have been extremely busy the last couple of months:

San Diego

We ended the month of March with a corporate event for Aviva at the SE San Diego in downtown San Diego. Aviva is one of the fastest growing company in the USA with offices all over the world. We were fortunate to perform for their top performers at the gorgeous SE San Diego. Next year their event will be held in the beautiful island of Fiji!


Idaho Falls

Our next stop was the 2nd Annual Good Samaritan Dueling Pianos Fundraiser in Idaho Falls, ID. This was our second year at this wonderful event. The people of Idaho Falls are so gracious. The fundraiser was a huge success and we had a great time spending a few days with the people of Idaho Falls. We can't wait until next year!!


Vegas, baby!

At the end of May, we spent another week in Sin City enjoying the warm weather, fun atmosphere, and world-famous casinos. We always enjoy performing in this great city...but are also always thankful to come home.


Miles City

In June we headed out to the Big Sky state for an event in Miles City, MT. This was a fundraiser for the Holy Rosary Healthcare Foundation. This organization does amazing things for cancer patients and the community of Miles City. There were 600 people in attendance to support this great foundation raising more money than ever expected. The theme was the 1910's as the foundation celebrated their 100 year anniversary. This was a great show for us and we are thrilled that they have asked us to return for their event next year!


Boston

Finally! An event near Jeff's hometown of Boston, MA! The event was held at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury...an old, historic, beautiful site. We were able to extend our trip by a few days and see Jeff's family & friends.

Port Orchard, WA

We spent the 4th of July performing for a private party in Port Orchard, WA. We had such a great time with everyone at the party...what a beautiful place! Thankfully, the rain didn't disrupt our show as we finished just moments before the drizzle started. The evening was rounded off by 1.5 hours of breathtaking fireworks. Thank you to the Mitchell's for a memorable night!


Sander's Mansion

Finally, this weekend we performed at the Sander's Mansion in the Kent/Auburn, WA area. This is a gorgeous location and we had an absolutely wonderful time! Always a treat for us to perform just 20 minutes from home!


This week we are heading down to Tucson, AZ to perform for the Annual Airborne Law Enforcement. This will be our second year performing for them (last year was in Savannah, GA). The event will be held at the JW Marriott which we've performed at before. We can't wait to entertain 700 cops again!!

Oh, and just for fun, below is a picture of my birthday present from Jeff. Life is good. :)