Hey there Loves, hope you are having a great day! Thanks to technology I was able to enjoy my morning coffee while watching the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief. I love the ability to DVR!
I will be honest when I say, some parts of the concert weren't easy to watch because as I sat in my flat in France, the television was showing devastating pictures of my hometown. I was born and raised in Staten Island, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy.
When Sandy hit I watched from afar, feeling so helpless as my family and friends suffered from its aftermath. It wasn't until two weeks later when I returned to New York for a short trip that I got to see with my own eyes what this natural disaster did to my home. It was overwhelmingly heartbreaking, I am a mush to begin with but when I saw parts of my community in ruins, it crippled me. There were numerous moments while I was driving in my car through my hometown that tears started streaming down my face as I saw houses destroyed and cars flattened from fallen trees. This has to be a dream? You never think that something of this magnitude could happen to your home, but it can and it did.
It's going to be a long time before our Staten Island and beloved Jersey Shore are back to normal and last night's concert definitely shed light on that. Hopefully the concert raised a ton of money and people will get the help they need.
The concert had quite the lineup, I looked over to Kyle and said,"These are all of my favorite artists!" Because with each song performed I was taken back to a particular memory and they all took place in Staten Island or the Jersey Shore. It's where we grew up, where we live during Kyle's offseason and where we plan on raising our family when Kyle's playing days are over.
Isn't Music Amazing? The power it has to bring you right back to a particular place and time in your life. Here are some of my favorite memories that come back when I heard some of the songs performed last night.
Bruce Springstein's Born to Run took me back to my days at University Basketball Camp, every summer from age 6 to 14. I looked forward to camp not only to play basketball but because every morning during warmups Bruce would be blasting and I loved it.
The Who's Teenage Wasteland takes me to the start of the very first half marathon I ever ran. It was in Brooklyn and this song came on as I was running along the boardwalk in Coney Island, at that moment I felt like a badass, I was running 13.1 miles and I didn't tell anyone I was doing it. I told my mother the morning of the race that I was going to Brooklyn to watch the race, when in fact I signed up for it. It is something I will never forget and hearing that song brings me right back.
Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer brings me back to my days running for St. John Villa Academy and being on the track. Like clockwork, halfway through our team workout one of the girls would scream out, "Oh, we're half way there!"and we'd follow by singing, "Oh, living on a prayer." It got us through the hard workouts every time.
Oh Kanye! I love your music, but as a current student at F.I.T. that kilt was a fashion don't! But your song Jesus Walks had me back in my silver Honda Civic when I first got my license and I drove around like a little punk, windows down, blasting College Dropout.
All of Billy Joel's songs take me to one of my favorite places in the world Long Beach Island, New Jersey. I hear his songs and I am right back in our summer rental, with my family, dancing around, singing his songs, enjoying a few beers and just being so happy to be together enjoying the simplicity that is Long Beach Island. I know one day we will all be back there, enjoying Billy's songs and that makes me smile.
Chris Martin (I Love You!) singing Viva la Vida, brings me back to Spring/Summer 2008 when I met Kyle and we were starting something new and unknown. Coldplay and that album hold such a special place in my heart, which is why we have chosen one of their songs as our wedding song.
Lastly is Paul McCartney, whose voice I grew up listening to. His songs, along with his songs with the Beatles take me back to so many different memories, that I'd be here all day writing. However, I will share one with you, hearing him sing Blackbird takes me to Sundays in Staten Island, waking up early getting in my car, driving up Forest Avenue to Starbucks, getting my coffee all while listening to Breakfast with the Beatles. It's something so simple, but it is something that I live for doing each weekend.
These are all beautiful memories to me and it's good to know that all I have to do is listen to a song and I can go back in time to those moments, they never leave you.
I will be honest when I say, some parts of the concert weren't easy to watch because as I sat in my flat in France, the television was showing devastating pictures of my hometown. I was born and raised in Staten Island, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy.
When Sandy hit I watched from afar, feeling so helpless as my family and friends suffered from its aftermath. It wasn't until two weeks later when I returned to New York for a short trip that I got to see with my own eyes what this natural disaster did to my home. It was overwhelmingly heartbreaking, I am a mush to begin with but when I saw parts of my community in ruins, it crippled me. There were numerous moments while I was driving in my car through my hometown that tears started streaming down my face as I saw houses destroyed and cars flattened from fallen trees. This has to be a dream? You never think that something of this magnitude could happen to your home, but it can and it did.
It's going to be a long time before our Staten Island and beloved Jersey Shore are back to normal and last night's concert definitely shed light on that. Hopefully the concert raised a ton of money and people will get the help they need.
The concert had quite the lineup, I looked over to Kyle and said,"These are all of my favorite artists!" Because with each song performed I was taken back to a particular memory and they all took place in Staten Island or the Jersey Shore. It's where we grew up, where we live during Kyle's offseason and where we plan on raising our family when Kyle's playing days are over.
Isn't Music Amazing? The power it has to bring you right back to a particular place and time in your life. Here are some of my favorite memories that come back when I heard some of the songs performed last night.
Bruce Springstein's Born to Run took me back to my days at University Basketball Camp, every summer from age 6 to 14. I looked forward to camp not only to play basketball but because every morning during warmups Bruce would be blasting and I loved it.
The Who's Teenage Wasteland takes me to the start of the very first half marathon I ever ran. It was in Brooklyn and this song came on as I was running along the boardwalk in Coney Island, at that moment I felt like a badass, I was running 13.1 miles and I didn't tell anyone I was doing it. I told my mother the morning of the race that I was going to Brooklyn to watch the race, when in fact I signed up for it. It is something I will never forget and hearing that song brings me right back.
Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer brings me back to my days running for St. John Villa Academy and being on the track. Like clockwork, halfway through our team workout one of the girls would scream out, "Oh, we're half way there!"and we'd follow by singing, "Oh, living on a prayer." It got us through the hard workouts every time.
Oh Kanye! I love your music, but as a current student at F.I.T. that kilt was a fashion don't! But your song Jesus Walks had me back in my silver Honda Civic when I first got my license and I drove around like a little punk, windows down, blasting College Dropout.
All of Billy Joel's songs take me to one of my favorite places in the world Long Beach Island, New Jersey. I hear his songs and I am right back in our summer rental, with my family, dancing around, singing his songs, enjoying a few beers and just being so happy to be together enjoying the simplicity that is Long Beach Island. I know one day we will all be back there, enjoying Billy's songs and that makes me smile.
Chris Martin (I Love You!) singing Viva la Vida, brings me back to Spring/Summer 2008 when I met Kyle and we were starting something new and unknown. Coldplay and that album hold such a special place in my heart, which is why we have chosen one of their songs as our wedding song.
Lastly is Paul McCartney, whose voice I grew up listening to. His songs, along with his songs with the Beatles take me back to so many different memories, that I'd be here all day writing. However, I will share one with you, hearing him sing Blackbird takes me to Sundays in Staten Island, waking up early getting in my car, driving up Forest Avenue to Starbucks, getting my coffee all while listening to Breakfast with the Beatles. It's something so simple, but it is something that I live for doing each weekend.
These are all beautiful memories to me and it's good to know that all I have to do is listen to a song and I can go back in time to those moments, they never leave you.
