(soundcheck)

I don’t know how we did it, but on Monday night we fit no less than 70 people in our living room for our first annual Christmas House Concert with indie-pop star Mindy Gledhill. I’m still reeling!

Frit and I were up past midnight two nights in a row decorating and baking and getting everything ready, and despite our bleary eyes, it was SO worth it. And even now … every time we walk in the living room, we smile–we still haven’t taken the decorations down. We love them too much.

Spencer Harrison (Mindy’s bass player) and Libbie Linton opened with some delicious tunes. (Check them out here, or here.) And I am, pleased to announce, that I am a new Libbie fan. And Spencer just might be the nicest guy with the greatest coiffure and coolest voice. Ever.

When Mindy took the stage it was like our whole house suddenly went electric. The walls were buzzing neon, I swear. It was palpable. And amazing. And so gosh darn fun! The kick of the bass drum pounded the opening beats of Whole Wide World (which, may I tell you, she dedicated to moi) and I wanted to jump up and down and dance and scream, “Do you feel that? In your gut? Do you feel that?” I’m weird, I know. But like I said. The house was electric and I was, in turn, electrified. Good live music gives me such a rush.

So anyway. Mindy sang songs from Anchor and Winter Moon and Frit and I danced in our seats the whole time. Side note: When Mindy sang the Beach Boys’ “Little Saint Nick” Frit dared me to run wildly through the crowd (run run reindeer, run run reindeer, you can hear it right? And see it?). She said she’d pay me $40 if I did, and I even got her up to $70 by the end of the exchange. But I just couldn’t do it. I was too shy. (Right.) Now I’m thinking I was crazy not to take that dare. It was my concert afterall, right?

So anyway. As if being able to hostess the event wasn’t enough, Mindy invited me up to sing the finale song with her. … One of my finest moments, I’m sure.

This next photo cracks me up every time. Apparently, I was really getting into it. And now I know … I SOO do not sing with a pretty face like Mindy does!

The only thing I’m kicking myself over, besides not taking Frit’s dare, is that I don’t have more pictures. I guess I was just too hopped up on electricity and meeting everyone that this is all the documentation I have. But I so wish I had taken a crowd picture so you could actually see all 70 people in our living room. I’m amazed that we actually pulled that off. But as Frit reminded me, I can fit anything into any space. And it’s true. I can.

So thanks everyone for coming! It was one of the highlights of my year to put this show on and meet so many of you. And just so you know … we’re addicted to house concerts now. So stay tuned for more dates and more artists in the future.

p.s. the morning after the concert, we had to be at Channel 2 and Channel 4 bright and early for some media spots I booked for Mindy and her puppet friends to publicize the rest of the tour. Check out the ABC segment here: (Buzzy Snowman kills me!)

And because I was so happy that the babysister and her lovely ladies came … one more picture: