Not So Silent Night, Mt. Diablo & Peanut Butter Burgers

I started my Friday night off with some Panda Express before heading to Oakland for night 1 of Not So Silent Night with that handsome guy. We quickly realized our seats were up really high and all the way on the side of the stage, right in front of the railing. In other words we couldn’t see much of anything. We missed Capital Cities, but from these seats we watched the Arctic Monkeys (the lead singer was everything I needed an English frontman of a rock band to be), AFI (dude looks like a dude now! My eighth grade self was so stoked and confused at the same time..) and Queens of the Stone Age (who quickly reversed all of the lessons being taught to fifth graders in D.A.R.E. across the country by starting the set with this song). While Vampire Weekend prepared to grace us with their loveliness, we took a stroll around the Oracle Arena where some guy just decided to give us his tickets in section one, row five. We entered a lounge full of drunk people and descended down to our seats where we could see the stage perfectly from our new seats that were as close to the floor as possible. From there we watched Vampire Weekend tear it up–seriously, they’re so fun live and their guitarist has the best dance moves. I first experienced them at Outside Lands and he just expanded upon them this time. Next Kings of Leon came on and aside from a slight lack of enthusiasm, they were pretty great. Nobody got crazy with audience participation or did covers of anyone else’s songs but I guess that could just be the nature of a mega concerts. Also I feel that it’s necessary to shout out to the sloshed couple in their forties behind us who hit me in the head, like, eight times. Those crazy kids.

Saturday we took Zigs to Mt. Diablo where it was way too cold for comfort. My toes are having a hard time adapting to this weather. They’re just playing dead every day. Get it together, appendages! The trails looked amazing but apparently dogs are only allowed on paved areas, so we observed from afar and enjoyed the sweet view as the sun set. The end of the night involved “The Runny Elvis”–a burger that has peanut butter, pepper jelly, bacon and a fried egg on it. I’ve never looked so sloppy while eating a meal in my life (Rose has though, I’m sure). I can’t say I’d do it again, but I felt it needed to be done at least once. There was also a bacon old fashioned involved. 

Sunday was so very lazy. I made breakfast, had a mini “Girls” marathon, experimented with a sugar-free vegan hot chocolate recipe (which I think I might just have to share later) and hid inside to avoid the cold. It was a solid, relaxing way to start this, what I now realize is sure to be, crazy emotional rollercoaster of a week. Perhaps more on that later. For now, linking up with Sami.