Have you or someone you know ever grown up in a super small town and said that when they “grew up” that they couldn’t WAIT to move away? Yeah, I grew up in a town like that.
One of those tiny towns where all my friends said they’d never come back. In fact, there was a song written about our little ol’ town to that effect. A song by one of my all-time fav bands growing up, a punk-ska band that originated in Florida – because everything amazing comes from Florida like Publix Subs, Lilly Pulitzer (shop local at The Palm on Park!) and Boca Grande Beaches, for instance. A band by the name of Less Than Jake (I hear they’re also big in Japan, just sayin’).
To hear its awesomeness, here’s their song direct from their album “Hello Rockview” and YouTube channel; but don’t stop there, this “boring town” gets better. So, so much better!
Ok, so where do things look up?
How about my birthday, for starters. For the last 31 years, I’ve had pretty much the worst birthday date in the history of birthday dates. I was born the day – one day – after Christmas, December 26. One my Canadian friends would call “Boxing Day.” Why is that so bad? How about for the last 31ish years I’ve heard… “here’s your Christmas… aaaaand birthday gift!!” *hands me combined gift*
Tis’ the season to give and not receive. Totally cool with that, but still, had I been born on Christmas in July, that’d be total awesomeness. Well, my friends, I’m happy to say the
John (my hubby), Chris DeMakes, Me on his 1st Solo Tour at The Celtic Ray Irish Pub, 12/26/14
suckiness streak ended 2 years ago… when Chris DeMakes, lead singer of Less Than Jake, decided to do a “solo tour” and not ONLY play in my hometown at my favorite Irish Pub, The Celtic Ray, but he’s played the last 2 years in a row ON MY BIRTHDAY. Not going to lie, the holy grail of all birthday gifts came to me this past year when not only did Chris sing (& dedicate!) my favorite Less Than Jake song “History of a Boring Town” (see above), he – along with the rest of The Ray – sang “happy birthday” to me. Mind. Blown. Best. Birthday. EVER!
Me, my bestie Kellee & Chris DeMakes on the 2nd Solo tour at Celtic Ray, 12/26/15
Yay, a great birthday tradition for me, so what makes this town even more awesome? How about my job, and my newest co-workers-of-a-team? My hubby, John, and I work together as a real estate team we call Houseman & Co with Coldwell Banker Sunstar Realty… and as of a few months ago, we have had the opportunity to work alongside another team – THE DeMakes Team – composed of papa Doug DeMakes and the one and only, Chris DeMakes.
It’s ok, you can be quasi-jealous. We daily have the pleasure of brushing shoulders with a world-renowned rock star celeb who was also not only one of our favorite musicians growing up, but is one of our lifelong family friends.
Doug Demakes started in the real estate biz in 1980 with a main concentration in new construction and residential sales. He says his favorite thing about having his son Chris in town when he’s not on the road is “Spending time together, and working out as a family at Krav Maga with the Shumans ATA Martial Arts“ and “getting excited for Chris’ new addition in December 2016!” When it comes to working together, Doug feels that “Coldwell Banker is a generous and giving company. Even when Chris is on tour, we’re multi-tasking while he’s on the road and working [everywhere and] anywhere from Florida to California to England, whatever the real estate need is for our customer, we can take care of it from the bus – phone or computer. One of us is always available, whether we’re entertaining on the road or in town at the office, we’ve been in [and selling] Florida for 40 years!”
Chris is quite the busy guy, and when he’s not on the road rocking out his talents, he’s at the office, he’s spending quality time with clients, he and dad are at the closing table. When I asked him what his favorite thing about real estate is, Chris replied, “Seeing the joy on the faces of first-time home-buyers when I help them find their dream home. Such a rewarding feeling!”
So what brought all this awesomeness together into an inspiration for a blog? Simple. I’m going with my bestie, who we’ll call Nurse Kellee, to witness Less Than Jake “Make Warped Tour Great Again” and rock the faces off of thousands of fans this Friday (July 1st, 2016) in St. Petersburg, Florida at Vinoy Park.
Want to know when the Vans Warped Tour ’16 is making a stop near your house? I’ve included the schedule, the killer line-up as well as the direct link to get your tix… because if you haven’t been to Warped Tour at least once in your lifetime, your bucket list is missing an action item – and that, my friend, would make you a victim of living in a boring town!
Less Than Jake live at Vans Warped Tour ’16 in Dallas, Texas (photo credit: Mike Brooks)
DATES
AT THE BOX OFFICE
Ashley Harris | Blog 