Kate Voegele Concert

Nearly all my friends and family back home and also here in the US know that I'm a big fan of actress/singer Kate Voegele. So when she posted new tour dates a month ago, I was completely surprised to find out that she was headed to New Mexico. Never thought that would happen. So I jumped online and booked my ticket. My host parents were so nice that they gave me the whole night off and told me I could stay overnight too so I also booked a room at a youth hostel. I was so excited. Well, yesterday I headed to Albuquerque on the train which is a 90 minute trip so I could see Kate in concert. I arrived in the city around 1pm and followed direction to the hostel which was a good 20 minute walk but it was on the main street so I got to pass by alot of great little cafes, shops and also the nightclub where Kate would be playing. So I checked into my room, settled and then checked out the town a little bit. Walking down the main street and finding somewhere to eat lunch. But 2 minutes into my walk it started snowing and not just a little bit of snow but alot of snow. So much that I could barely open my eyes to see and everything suddenly became white. I stopped by the place Kate was going to perform which is called Launchpad and took a few photos of her poster and the building. While I was standing out the front this guy came running out, twirling around and taking pictures of the snow. He was like 'I love snow. Don't you just love it too?'. I was like 'Yeah, it's pretty cool altho this is way too much snow. It's crazy'. Then he was like 'Quick, smile.' And took a photo before I could even respond. Then he was asking me if I was going to the show and stuff. I asked him was he and he said oh you will find out tonight if your going. It was crazy. He was seriously like a little boy on Christmas morning. (I later found out, his in Kate's band!)

After that little crazy moment, I kept walking and found a little cafe to some lunch. It was called Nick's Diner or something like that. It was a small nice place and really warm which was good cos it was freezing outside. I ordered a chicken finger basket and coke, then sat down and listened to my iPod til my food came. After lunch I ventured back out into the cold weather but thankfully it had stopped snowing. I was so cold I decided to head back to the hostel and relax. I tried reading but I was so tired that I took a 2 hour nap. I felt so much better after that!

I headed out the door around 5.30pm which was a little crazy because the doors didn't open til 7pm but I was so bored of sitting around after waking from my nap, I just bundled up in jackets and walked down town. When I say walked, I mean I probably walked the whole 10 blocks about 20 times just to make the time go faster and also keep warm. Not that it helped at all. Around 6.30pm I stopped and waited near the club which was funny cos I was standing near the corner which was right near Kate's tour bus. I must have looked a little crazy, standing in the middle of the walk way and texting but it was deifiately a good spot because Kate walked out from the back of the building and right near me to go onto the bus. She waved and said hello. I was thinking, 'Oh my gosh, it's Kate'. It was a little surreal at first. She's so tiny!

So, then I went and lined up (I was first in line!) and stood, and waited and stood some more until they finally let us go inside. When the guy took my name for the guest list, he told me I wasn't on it which was crazy since I had already paid for my ticket online and had confirmation sent through but turns out he was looking up the wrong name. Bit weird, since he was staring at my I.D. and the list at the same time but still couldn't spell my name. Hmm. So, I went in and got to buy some merchandise. I ended up buying 2 shirts, a hoodie, 2 CDs and a tote bag. Yeah, I know alot but who knows when I would get the opportunity again, right? After I had brought my stuff, the security guy kicked me out again cos we weren't allowed to listen to the soundcheck for one for the opening artists. Back to the line I went, only this time I was about 7th. Annoying! Finally allowed back in again, I made my way to the stage and managed to get front row but at a side view. It was perfect for me. I loved it altho at time it did get a little loud!

The first opening act was Kevin Hammond. He was a really good singer. I normally don't care much for the opening acts cos most of the time they are boring but these guys were really good. Second up was Green River Ordinance who again were really good. I even brought both the opening acts CDs. Kevin Hammond signed my CD too. It was pretty cool.

Kate came on stage around 10pm. I had a little heads up from a friend when she would come on stage (thanks, Steph!). It was amazing when she finally came out. Again, she's so tiny but really wonderful. She opened with I Get It followed by Inside Out and then she gave a little introduction and welcoming. We had the set list in front of us on the stage so that was cool to know what was coming up. At first it was a little hard to hear her sing cos it was so loud but it improved alot after the first few songs. I had Steph on the phone on and off all night so she could listen to the songs. Almost felt like she was at the concert with me! All Kate's songs are amazing live but I do have to say her live version of Unfair was beyond amazing. Definiately, my favorite.

She played 14 songs which included two covers. She really interacts with the crowd and gives a great performance. The time went so quickly too. After the show I got to do the meet & greet line since I had purchased merchandise. So I made sure I was near the very end of the line (another hint from Steph!) and it worked out really great cos I got to talk a little more with Kate and give her some Australian gifts. She was so sweet. At first, she thanked me for coming out to see her plus she signed my CD and then when I said no worries, she looked up and asked where I was from cos of my accent. She was excited when I said Australia, she asked me a few questions about how long I'm in the U.S. for, if I'm enjoying it, what I thought of the concert and if I was watching season 7 of One Tree Hill. Then I gave her some gifts and she was like 'Are those for me? Aw, thank you so much. They are so cute.' Then I told her about the board (I moderate a fan board for Kate) and that I was good friends with Stephanie and her face lit up and she was so excited all over again. She was like 'Oh, you girls are so awesome. I really appreciate your support.' Then she got up and hugged me and kept saying thank you. She told me she is going to make it to Australia to perform one day. We also talked a little about One Tree Hill, Bethany Joy Galeotti and her style. Kate is so sweet when she talks about others. It was nice to hear her talk about her co-stars. So then it was time to leave and when I was walking back to the hostel I could hear Joy music playing really loud. It was funny how many girls at the concert were also fans of Joy and Everly. Love it! It's so awesome when you suddenly hear Kate or Joy music playing cos that never happens for me! So that's what I did yesterday and I have to say it was one of the best days ever! Not every day you get to see Kate Voegele in concert especially when your from Australia.

Hiking at Tent Rocks

I've been in the U.S. for nearly 2 months and I've hardly written any blog updates but truth is that most days are the same and I think you would get bored very quickly if I blogged about daily life. Most days are filled with breakfast, making lunches, driving to school, helping with homework, picking up from school, driving to sport practices and preparing snacks. Although I do get a lot of freetime which is spent doing groceries, meeting girls for coffee, shopping and laundry. Doesn't sound all that appealing to blog about, right?

The most exciting times are the weekends which is also my time off. You can normally find me hanging out with the 3 other au pairs here in Santa Fe. They are great. We usually meet for dinner and a movie on Friday nights, sometimes again on a Saturday night too. There isn't all that much to do in Santa Fe except dinner and movies but we are slowly finding new things to do. Like this weekend. Altho our Saturday night was a typical weekend ritual of dinner and movie. We had dinner at an all you can eat Chinese resturant which had so much food. It's a wonder the management didn't kick us out for laughing cos I think we laughed throughout the whole meal and if you've heard some of us girls laugh, well let's just say some would run and hide cos we can get loud! After dinner we went and see a movie, 'Julie and Julia'. If your thinking about seeing it, be warned it's slow, it's long and it's rather got no excitement at all. I was really disappointed. It seemed to drag on forever but then again we seen the 10pm session yet still we didn't get out of the cinema until 12.30am however I'd love those 2 and half hours of my life back please!

So today Julia and I decided to go on a Hike. We drove out to Tent Rocks which is about an hour drive from where we live. The drive was nothing exciting, basically just highway and lots of mountains. We finally found the hiking trails and paid our money ($5 gate fee), got a map and set off for the trails. the first trail we took was a 5km hike which took us 2 hours. It was incredible. First it started out a little steep and hot (due to the sun!) but then as the trail started moving along we found ourselves climbing through little rock tunnels, over rock steps and under trees. It was an amazing path. Nothing we'd ever done before. We felt a little like Indiana Jones going through the Temple of Doom! We had to stop a few times along the way cos it was so steep and we had to catch our breath not to mention take lots of photos. We finally made it up the top which had a beautiful view, nothing I could have pictured from the bottom. Yet, you know what I somehow managed to do. Ha Ha. Standing still, I somehow managed to slide straight to my butt and gosh did that hurt. I think I seriously bruised it cos it hurts so much now. Although, I don't think it really helped that later on when we were going back down the trail I slipped again and landed straight back on the same spot. So 2 falls on hard solid rocks is not that great for your butt. Be warned. Ha Ha. Oh, well I've got the little injuries for great memories.

It was quicker to go back down the trail although we agreed it was a horrible hike going back down cos you had to do different footwork and watch more carefully as it was steep and rocks everywhere. Some parts we had to sit down and slide down little embankments. Don't ask me how we all hiked up those but we managed. As they say what goes up, must come down! As we got to the bottom of the Canyon Trail, we took a left and hiked along the Caves Loop which was a small hike but had some really nice views including a few caves and tent rocks (rocks that look like little tents!). There was a nice breeze and the sun was slowly fading so it was a little more enjoyable when going up the steep embankments. We finally made it back to our car and it felt like we had taken half of the hiking trail back with us cos our shoes felt like they were full of sand and dirt, which they were!

Another hours drive back home although it turned into nearly 2 hours because we forgot to take our exit of the major interstate (highway) so we had to keep driving until we found the next exit and somehow get back on the other direction. We finally found it and got back in the right direction but the laughter and few bad words were worth the little trip and memories. It was such a great day, beautiful weather and perfect views.