Inside The Famous Bitter End Nightclub

Since you were all so kind in your words of encouragement to my daughter, as she tackled her live show at The Bitter End, I thought you might like to take a peak inside the club.

This is the oldest rock club in NYC and everyone who is anyone has played there on their way up!

These posters are all originals!  Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, The Band, Bill Withers! ~

Carly Simon, Arlo Guthrie, Dion, Harry Chapin, Cat Stevens! ~

How about Lady Gaga when her hair was still brown?  That's her in the framed pic. She didn't wear many clothes then either! ~

Katie said it was a first to see her name in ink instead of chalk! It may not be lights, but it's an upward move. ~

The live feed made her nervous, but she settled in after the first song and decided to enjoy the moment. ~

This is the first time I have watched a live feed. Hey, high speed only became available to me a year ago and I pay through the nose for limited data use!  Here I sat, in Canada, and it was just like I was in the room with her.  Her sister in laws and myself were messaging her husband, who was at the club, throughout the show via FB.  Sometimes, we forget how amazing these new technologies are!

Thanks to all my blogging buddies who said a little prayer and wished my girl well!  It must have worked, as they have asked her back and a world class record producer has agreed to do some demo work with her.

Did you guys know you had such clout in the entertainment biz?

Move over Simon Cowell; the blogging ladies are picking the stars now!

A Brooklyn St. Patrick's Day

I asked Baby what was different in the big city for the day and she told me the story in pictures.

First you put on your best Irish outfit. ~

You're going uptown where all the fancy people are so you don your best Mommy/Baby matching sunglasses. ~

Head for the Staten Island Ferry. ~

Wave to every single person on the ferry and find out New Yorkers are very friendly and will wave back. ~

Find out you love riding on ferries! ~

Wave to the Green Lady herself and think of the hope she held out for so many. ~

Accidentally get involved in a street party.  Realize you are a baby and the streets are full of party goers with green beer.  It's time for Baby's St. Patrick's Day celebrations to end. ~

I'm glad she had the sense to call it a night!

NYC Celebrities & Fallen Heroes

Let's check in on Katie and Baby and see how the Brooklyn adventure is going.

It wouldn't be right to miss out on the chance to see the famed Central Park Zoo.  A quick stop for a bite of lunch from Waffles And Dinges ~

For a child that was never allowed to eat anything that wasn't organic and carefully researched by Mom, Baby seems to be hitting the junk food places pretty hard in this city.

Although the penguins were her absolute favourites, this polar bear had Baby laughing and squealing so hard she was breaking everyone up around her. ~

I vote this dude for "coolest haircut in the zoo"!  He votes Baby for "funkiest hat"! ~

Baby was having a great time playing with another little girl and the goats. ~

At this point Katie realizes Baby is hanging out with celebrities!  In the back you can see Samantha Bee and Jason Jones of The Daily Show.  Baby doesn't care about that but their daughter was sure fun! ~

This week, Baby also toured a Brooklyn firehouse.  Katie has had a thing for firefighters since grade four and one came to talk to her class.  She raved about the handsome fireman for weeks and begged us to drop in for a visit whenever we drove by the station.  

Now, Baby doesn't seem all that interested but Katie is having a great time as this sweet fellah obligingly poses for a pic. ~

Katie learned that her front door was painted red in tribute to the 78 Brooklyn firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11. ~

This station house has a permanent memorial to it's fallen heroes. ~

The firehall visit inspired Katie to record a song she wrote ten years ago when her closest cousin was killed, titled, "Do You Still Hear Me?". 

I'm sharing this with the great readers at:

Pinning And Singing

  

We pray they all still hear us when we sing!

Back In Brooklyn

It's the time of the week when we check in on Katie and Baby and their Brooklyn adventure!

Katie says this sign totally describes her experiences so far ~

Brooklyn is very family friendly and Baby loves the park!  She babbled away to her new, little swing friend who seems to be a toddler chimney sweep.  Does this kid not look like a mini Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins?  Not the one with a cow on her head; that's Baby.  She takes fashion risks! ~

In Brooklyn, they fence in the ducks.  Hmmm - ducks can fly. ~

Baby must be taking the picture here because it's Mommy we see at the Muppet Making Factory ~

Or did Mommy and Daddy leave Baby behind on this park bench?  Isn't their row house in the background lovely?  Kidding, their place is crappy.  It costs a gazillion dollars to live in one of those! ~

New York is very relieved that Baby has arrived to fight crime. Nunanunanua, Baby! ~

Katie has become quite obsessed with Luigi's Famous Pizza.  Today the owner, Giovanni, gave her some Brooklyn lessons.  "You're not from New York now, ya undastand?  You're from Brooklyn!  Best country in the world!"  Then he said to the young fellow in this pic, "Go get them a t-shirt!".  ~

Now, I'm not from the big city but, I'm not sure wearing that around lets you blend in with the locals!  Along with a slice of pizza, he imparted wisdom on Brooklyn, NYC, the rest of the world, Al Capone .....
  
Katie lived her dream when she played an open mic night at Roots Cafe on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn!  Click on the name to see this cool spot that focuses on "Coffee, Community, Culture".  I am definitely dropping in when I visit Baby!

The night was still young and Katie and Hubby hopped on the train for a 30 minute ride to Manhattan.  I have warned you that Katie is not shy and does some very odd things.  She decided to practice before she got to the next club and gave an impromptu concert on the subway.  Hubby filmed and posted it to YouTube.  Near the end of the video, you can hear people asking Hubby who she is and where they can buy her music.



So, all you aspiring singers and songwriters, head to NYC where her next stop was the open mic night at the famed The Back Fence in Greenwich Village and an invitation to return!

After playing such a hipster place as Greenwich Village, Mommy started dressing Baby like a beatnik!  Good thing Baby doesn't mind taking a fashion risk! ~

Have a day where you take a step toward a dream!


I'm sharing this with ~

Alphabe-Thursday

5 Minutes Just For Me Pinning and Singing Linky Party

Wordless Wednesday

ps ~ So many of you have asked where you can hear more of Katie's music that I'm adding this Youtube link.  It will bring you right to her tunes.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q2LTuIQFsE&feature=share

Living in Brooklyn

This story starts way back in 1987 when it seemed like a good idea to take my daughters on a business trip to New York City.

Katie is 11 and this is her first flight ~ 

One glimpse of that amazing city and she is hooked!

She went into Saks Fifth Avenue and sweet talked a sales girl into selling her a Swatch watch for $5, purely so she could walk along the street carrying a bag that said Saks Fifth Avenue.  She even asked for a big bag!

I'm not sure why she has a NY T- shirt slapped on her chest.  Katie always did strange things like that!

From that day on, she swore she would live in NYC someday.  And....when her husband had to leave Toronto to work on a film in Brooklyn, I knew it was only a matter of time before she picked up Baby and hopped a flight to join him.

I clung to her and wailed, "Don't leave me!".  Kidding! That was my inside voice.  My outside voice said, "How wonderful! Great adventure!".  She's there for at least six months so that was pretty sporting of me, don't you think?

So, here is Baby on her first flight ~

I figure that I might as well accept this and we can all join in on the experience through the miracle of the world wide web.  If you already live in New York, you can tune out or read this as a tale of some poutine eating, touque wearing, hockey crazed Canuks in the big city!  The rest of us want to see the sights!

Katie has never been shy and has no problem with doing the tackiest, touristy thing if the mood strikes her.

I submit this next photo as proof ~

And this photo taken in FAO Schwartz as proof that nothing has changed ~

Her film making hubby never misses a chance to check out locations from films.  This shot of Adam Sandler in Big Daddy is taken in Luigi's famous pizza place in Brooklyn ~

And here's Baby ~

It really is good pizza! ~

Mommy made the pilgrimage to the place she first made her vow and stands in the same spot ~

Baby doesn't look all that impressed.  Perhaps she's vowing to live on a ranch in Alberta.

Back home on the subway with Daddy ~

A little playing in the snow with the kids on the street ~

While singer/songwriter Mommy writes this song and posts it on youtube ~

Hold Your Heart by Katie Doidge Albano 

I can't wait to see where we go next!  Let me know if there is any spot in NYC you want to see and we'll send Baby to check it out!

I'm sharing this with

5 Minutes Just For Me

Alphabe-Thursday

ps ~ So many of you have asked where you can hear more of Katie's music that I'm adding this link to Youtube.  It will bring you right to more of her tunes.  Thanks for all your support of a struggling artist!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q2LTuIQFsE&feature=share