Another Fair Day

Today, well yesterday, was a looong day at the State Fair. And it was a hot sticky one. I felt like I was eating all day, but really I didn't eat that much. However it did include not one but two cheese(s?) on a stick (below), some big fat bacon on a stick (which was not so great), hot apple dumpling with ice cream, and the one I somehow forgot to try last year - Pot Roast Sundae :) Potatoes, corn, pot roast, gravy and a cherry tomato on top

The meat was great, but the potatoes were a little runny and it needed thicker gravy. But overall it was tasty. Glad I shared it with my brother though because that's a lot of potatoes to fill up your stomach.

This is my beloved cheese on a stick. Think corn bread filled with melty american cheese, which gave me the idea of making grilled cheese with corn bread...mmm must try it.

Anyways, we also went to the Brandi Carlile and Amos Lee concert tonight at the fair. I adore both of these artists and despite the too long intermissions, I really enjoyed the concert. Amos Lee should have sung more songs. That man has an amazingly soothing and sexy voice. Brandi and her band were amazing, they are so talented and put on a good show. I saw them two years ago at the fair playing on a free stage, and this year they were headlining the Grand Stand with what sounded like the largest crowd they had ever played for (at least in MN). They said they love playing in the cities and will always come back here, which I am very happy about. There is something about Brandi's music that just draws me into it. I feel such an emotional connection to the songs and some of the lyrics just totally describe the way I feel or have felt at times in my life. I actually got teary during some of the songs hearing them live. Part of one song that I had never really felt that emotional about before, but is exactly how I feel now that my love is so far away, is this:

Look to the clock on the wall,
Hands hardly moving at all.
Can't stand the state that I'm in
Sometimes it feels like the walls closing in

 O lord what can I say
I'm so sad since you went away
time time ticking on me
Alone is the last place I wanted to be
Lord what can I say

Try to bury my toubles away
drown my sorrow the same way
seems no matter how hard I try
It feels like there's something just missing inside

Have you ever just connected to someone's music like this before? I hope so. It's a comforting feeling. If you have not listened to Brandi's music, it's kind of folk/rock. I was going to post a video from the concert, but it's taking forever and a year to upload. So here's a link to her YouTube page instead: Brandi Carlile