friends

My husband gave me an awesome anniversary gift this year — tickets to see Pat Benatar. . . without him. Yes, without him. To amp up the awesomeness, he also arranged and paid for one of my best friends to drive in and go along. Maybe it’s not the most romantic of gifts, but it sure ranks up there on my thoughtfulness and selfless scales.

You see, my husband isn’t a big fan of this 80s rock star (sorry Pat), but he knew I really wanted to see her in concert. . . probably because we saw a big billboard along the road a few weeks ago and I said, “Oh, Pat Benatar is coming to Kansas City! I really want to see her in concert!” I don’t know, but I’m just guessing that’s how the idea was born.

At any rate, I’ll be spending a girls night out with rock legend, Pat Benatar, and Neil Giraldo at the intimate Midland Theatre later this week (if her voice holds out) and I’m super excited. Melissa, my friend since fifth grade, seems to be my go-to gal pal when a concert is in order, and of course she never hesitates when a fun-filled girls trip is requested. I dragged her all the way to Cleveland for a U2 concert several years back, because that was the closest place I could get tickets. . . and yes, Cleveland rocks!

Now, what I don’t understand is that my nieces, college- and high school-aged girls, have no idea — I mean NO idea — who Pat Benatar is and what she might sing. I bragged about my anniversary gift in front of them last week because they are concert-going girls, and all I got in return were blank stares and cricket song filling the room. They had not a clue, never heard of her, and barely recognized the lyrics to “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” when I burst into song. What?? How can this be? She’s not some one-hit wonder, flash-in-the-pan singer from three decades ago. She is a four-time Grammy winning icon of the 80s who has several multi-platinum, platinum and gold albums and 19 Top 40 singles. Seriously, girls, I just don’t get it!

As a prelude to the coming concert, I have decided to salute my friend, Melissa, and educate my nieces with a link to a few Pat Benatar favorites (just click on the black iTunes button below). Meanwhile, I can’t wait to see one of my favorite rock stars in person and recall all the words that have been etched in my head since the 80s.

I recently wanted to say a word of thanks to some ladies with whom I volunteer because they helped see me through a rather rough couple of months. Without their support, I might have just thrown in the towel and walked away from an awesome organization. So as a small token, I bought each of them a coffee gift certificate (just can’t go wrong with that one — if they don’t like coffee, they can order tea or just eat a muffin already). These just happened to be from Caribou Coffee, my favorite around these parts, and luckily they came with super cute kraft colored gift holders.

I simply jazzed up the holders with belly bands around the middle and cute little “Thanks a Latte” medallions. To create the medallions, I used a 3″ scalloped circle punch and a 2.5″ round punch. I created the graphic on my computer, printed and punched. So super easy, but if you like what you see here, you can download the graphic and print it for your own use. I inked all my edges before assembling, added foam tape to the circles for dimension, and that was all it took.

I think the ladies loved them, and sometimes the smallest gestures really do mean a lot.

Tag: friends

Pat Benatar — 80s Icon, Rock Star & Anniversary Gift

Thanks a Latte Kind of Day