50. Have at least 10 real date nights, no babies allowed (5/10).

On Thursday night, Bill and I went to the Science of Beer event at the Museum of Life & Science in Durham. It was a fun date night, with lots of local beers to sample. We even got to walk through the butterfly house after dark, which was fun because all the butterflies and birds were asleep. I was staring at one butterfly on a leaf right in front of my face, and he hopped on my shoulder for a few minutes. Anyway, I didn't enjoy this as much as the Science of Wine, but I'm just not that adventurous with beer, and didn't really like any of the samples I tried. Bill tasted several beers that he really liked though, and got some information on home brewing that he'd like to try out some time. Overall, it was a fun night out!

18. Eat at 10 local restaurants I've never eaten at before (9/10).

Well, we officially failed on #19 - Take a trip for our 5th anniversary. It just wasn't feasible this year for a number of reasons, but we did go out to a nice dinner at 18 Seaboard in Raleigh. The food was great, and we would definitely eat here again! Now, I wonder if I'd seen my swordfish being caught on Swords: Life on the Line? :)

68. Go to at least 5 concerts (1/5).

So, 1+ years after starting this challenge, I finally made it to a concert! If you knew me pre-Liam, you know what a long drought that is for me! I made a quick pilgrimage up to Boston Saturday morning, walked around the city and had lunch with Chrissy and my mom, before beginning our drive down to Mohegan Sun casino in CT for the concert. This was my first time seeing Aerosmith in 4 years (which again, considering I've seen them +/- 25 times, was a really, really long time!) We were sweating it out, not having tickets until about 1pm that afternoon. Chrissy and I have had so many awesome adventures together, and they often are like this one, not coming together until the last minute.

We were seated on the floor, about 3 rows off the end of the catwalk and maybe 15 feet to the right of it. At an Aerosmith show, you'd probably rather be near the end of the catwalk than the main stage, because Steven spends at least 50% of his time there. Having heard so much drama and crap about them over the past few years, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the show was phenomenal. This was their last US tour date, and tons of their family was there. Steven's dad, all 3 of his daughters, and his sister were there. Chelsea and Mia sang with him several times (Chrissy and I walked past Mia in the casino earlier in the evening as well). Brad's son (Harry, I think?) came out and played guitar during Come Together, which was really cool.

They looked and sounded fantastic, Steven can still rock purple lace pants and a bare chest at age 62! They were all obviously having a great time, and Joe and Steven especially seemed to be getting along like their old selves. They played for over 2 hours. "Movin' Out" was probably the highlight for me, I've heard it live before, but Steven told us the story about how it was the first Aerosmith song ever written. It was an awesome night!

Chrissy made this awesome video during Dream On:


1 down, 4 to go! No one I like has been coming to NC lately - I really, really hope to get to some more concerts soon!