ED SHEERAN ADVENTURE

The last time I attended a concert was way back in 1988 when Michael Jackson did his Bad Tour.  

So you can probably imagine how excited I was to hang out at Ed Sheeran's concert at the PNC Arena in NC,  when I was asked by fellow blogger and buddy Anna Cade, from www.herdingcats-burningsoup.com.

 

Things sure have changed from back in the day.  If you want to get close to the entrance, get there super early to be greeted by plenty of police officers and parking attendants. Be prepared to pay $20 or you won't get any further.  The show started at 7:30pm, but we arrived by 6:05pm, (thank you Awesome Anna) and people were already tailgating with some pretty yummy looking plates.  For the record, the parking lot holds 8000 spaces, and we got pretty dang close to the entrance.  If you don't mind walking 1/2 a mile or more and  park for free, you can always go across the street.

Back in the day, you handed your ticket to a person at the window and headed in.  Now, it's like going to the courthouse to get out of paying a fine for a speeding ticket because they scanned Anna's phone and us for contraband.  Dummy me thought you couldn't take phones into concerts, so I left mine in the car. (lol) Once I passed through the scanner, I asked the lady why wasn't she smiling?  At first, she glared at me, but when she realized I was serious, she gave one of the brightest smiles I've ever seen, then told us she was hot and ready to get out of there.  With the crowd of people coming through there, I didn't blame her one bit.

Old School

Now

We now headed to the person at the door, who scanned those flimsy tickets from Anna's phone, which then printed out actual paper tickets.  We walked around a little to check out the sites, and I was pretty amazed because there were vendors everywhere encouraging us to spend $13.00 for a drink , or $5.00 for bottled water.  In total on all the floors, I think there are about 70 vendors ready to take your money by cash or credit card.

Before going in, there's another guy at the door who checked our tickets to make sure we were actually supposed to be there. I asked him if his job paid really well since he had to stand there and not sit down for pretty much 5-7 hours?  He said it did, and grinned. 

Ed Sheeran and his girlfriend, Cherry

In case you didn't know, Ed Sheeran will be 27 on February 17, so I nervously expected the crowd to be filled with teens and kids who would be looking and wondering who let me in.  Imagine our surprise to see that the seats in front, the rows across and two rows ahead of us were filled with people our age and older.  Say what?

 When that show started every kid, every adult, every senior and us sang along and danced to the incredible music.  In fact, I'm almost positive that I flailed my arms so much that a few people were whacked by mistake as they walked by.  There was nothing but energy, laughter and joy in that building, proving once again that music is universal - and I'll never forget it.  Thanks to Anna for recording almost the entire concert so she can reminisce again and again. No matter that she had to delete some of her old pictures to get it all done. (lol)  She went all over the place to score some really good memories of this phenomenal show.

One thing that truly fascinated me was how everyone waved their cell phone lights around to the music during the performance.

Back in the day, we  celebrated by waving actual flashlights during concerts.  Wow!

Ed Sheeran is an amazing performer filled with good humor and talent.  If he's coming to your city, please go out to see him for a real treat.  I had the best fun ever!!!!

I'll also never forget the sore knees and arms  the next day from dancing around and climbing up and down those dang steep stairs. We did our fair share of huffing and puffing.  Well, I think I was way more out of breath than Anna was, because I'm clearly out of shape. (lol)

Kudos to Anna for asking me along as her plus one.  She sure knows how to make a friend feel special and appreciated.

Overall, Anna says we did a whole mile's worth of dancing according to her FitBit. (lol)

Are you a fan of Oreo Cookies?  Here's a delicious recipe that the kids will love, or work well as a late night snack.

Oreo™ Cookies and Cream Mini Cheesecakes

Ingredients

16

Oreo™ chocolate creme sandwich cookies, crushed (about 1 1/2 cups)

2

tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1

package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/4

cup milk

2

tablespoons sugar

1

teaspoon vanilla

1

egg

4

Oreo™ chocolate creme sandwich cookies, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1/2 cup) 

3

tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips

1

teaspoon shortening

Directions

• 1

  Heat oven to 325°F. Line 24 miniature muffin cups with paper baking cups. In small bowl, mix crushed cookies and melted butter. Press 1 teaspoon cookie mixture firmly in bottom of each muffin cup.
• 2

  In large bowl, beat cream cheese, milk and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Fold in cut-up cookies. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon cream cheese mixture into each crust-lined muffin cup.
• 3

  Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are set and centers are still soft. Cool in pan on cooling rack 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours before serving.
• 4

  Just before serving, in 1-cup microwave-safe measuring cup, combine chocolate chips and shortening. Microwave on High for 30 to 45 seconds or until melted, stirring once. Drizzle chocolate over tops of cheesecakes. Store in refrigerator.