Monday, March 26, 2012

A Night Out With Toni Braxton and Babyface


Love Birds at MGM Grand at Foxwoods
Friday afternoon Mr. Love Bird, my BFF Van and I headed to Foxwoods to catch Toni Braxton and Babyface. We had been looking forward to the concert for about a month after Van had suggested we go. Thank you Van for mentioning it AND to Mr. Love Bird for making it happen!

I hadn't been to Foxwoods in years and had heard about the property's upgrades as they were one of my former employer's clients as well as the news of how the renovations helped to bring on Foxwoods' recent financial woes

Now Mr. Love Bird and I always know that we are beacons for foolishness and this trip did not disappoint. We took Greyhound up to Connecticut and thought all was going well until about 45 minutes into the journey when a young woman started shrieking about how she wanted off the bus. Mr. Love Bird, Van and I were seated in the first row behind the driver and had been making small talk with her along the way. The woman kept getting louder and louder and stood up. She appeared to be about 18-20 years old and was disheveled. When the driver picked up her speaker and announced, "Marisol, sit down. You are on the right bus and will get off at New Britain!" I was like O____o.

Apparently there was a history between Marisol and the driver. 

Long story short, Marisol had wandered off the first bus she was on and had to be put on another. Her brother met her in NYC to get her back on track and an altercation ensued in the station where he let the staff know she was schizophrenic. In the end we made it safely to our destination, but not without Mr. Love Bird and Van "holding down the fort." 

On to the concert . . .


We split a bunch of desserts - sadly this blueberry pie wasn't good

After stuffing our faces at the buffet (it was MUCH better than how I had remembered it when I first went to Foxwoods with my senior class at Wellesley in 2002), we went to the new part of the casino where the MGM Theatre was. It was a TREK! We knew the concert wasn't going to start on time and got there about 8:30p.m. and Babyface was up first. The place was packed and full of energy!

Van and Mrs. Love Bird enjoy the concert
Let me tell you: he sounded just like he did on his CDs! So crisp and clear - the man is immensely talented. He worked his way through his own songs and many of those he had produced/written. Mr. Love Bird and I were surprised at how many songs he was behind. The best part was how diverse the audience was especially one middle-aged white man across the aisle from us who was SO into the music and knew every single song - no lie!

Babyface onstage
There was a 20 minute intermission before Toni Braxton and she opened with one of my favorite songs of hers, He Wasn't Man Enough for Me (LOVE the video too!). The first thing I noticed was how hard she was to understand. I get that she has a husky voice, but the sound engineers/acoustics team could have made adjustments to the background music/singers to bring her voice to the forefront.

Toni on the screen - her lighting was too bright to get a good pic of her onstage
I thought it was just a fluke for the first song, but for the rest of the concert I noticed the same thing, as did Mr. Love Bird and we heard others talking about it later on the ride back. Toni even mentioned it herself during the concert saying she's been told she's hard to understand and how R. Kelly recently told her she sounds like Elvis! I can see how that's true.

Anyway, the concert was a lot of fun, but I have to say Babyface was definitely better. I would've been happy just having him perform the whole time!

Asleep on the way home

We had fun after walking around, NOT winning any money (!) and meeting people. We slept the entire ride back which was quicker than going (about 4 hours) and are looking for another chance to go with a larger group next time maybe to Mohegan Sun for a comedy show.

It was a fun date trip for me and Mr. Love Bird and a fun chance for us to chill with Van (he knew us back when we were dating in Boston and moved to NYC a bit before I did). 

Oh and about being away from Nia . . .

This trip was definitely great for weaning as I then went from CT to PA for a bridal shower. I did not leak at all but was engorged and in some pain by the time we were reunited at 8p.m. She didn't run for me at first just looked at me, smiled a little, walked in for a hug then a 2nd and after about 5 minutes asked to nurse. Of course I let her but it was extremely brief (less than 5 minutes!). In the morning however, she was not a happy camper and was very cranky as she wanted to nurse 2 hours earlier than normal. I wouldn't let her and she was completely bent out of shape but after she did that was it for the whole day. 

This was an awesome weekend!

 


P.S. Shout out to my sister Ariane for watching Nia! Thank you sis!