Life With Briana: August 2026

August 19, 2026

Celebrating My 20 Year Old Daughter

I think you have probably noticed that our family celebrates birthdays for days. Many many days - LOL!

Bri's 20th birthday was no exception.

We started the celebrations off several days before Bri's actual birthday. We started by having a get together with my parents at their home (and we celebrated my dad's birthday as well - he and Bri have birthdays a week apart).

Miss B was very spoiled with cheesecake and gifts...

The next day, I asked Briana if she was interested in seeing the "Hadestown" pro shot in the movie theater. My Broadway girlie was a definite yes. I had not been to a movie theater in 3 years! But, I knew it wouldn't be crowded, so we went for it. We had seen Hadestown on Broadway, but I really wanted to check it out with the original cast. It was so good...

The day before Bri's birthday, D, B and I headed down to her apartment again to bring some art/school supplies, essentials and extras (we went last weekend to bring things too).

Things are really coming together...

I think we have one more visit as a family to the apartment on Labor Day weekend to bring some last minute things and her clothes. Then she will figure out what day she wants to move in officially and will drive to the apartment on her own. I think we have made things as comfortable as we can for her.

Before getting to the apartment that day, we stopped an authentic Chinese noodle/dumpling place that Bri discovered and wanted me and Doug to try (it was so delish)...

Then Briana's actual birthday rolled around!

Balloons on the ceiling in the morning of course!

Briana took several days off of work around her birthday - and I am so glad she did. She really just wanted to sleep that day, so that is what she did.

We opened gifts that afternoon and she blew out candles on her birthday brownies (I always use the plate I made for her when she was a baby)...

We took her to one of her favorite restaurants for dinner...

A beautiful sky on the way home...

She had a wonderful day.

But her birthday week wasn't over quite yet.

Her wish was to have a couple of friends spend the night at her apartment. So the weekend following her birthday, her friends Mere and Mary joined her for some shopping, food, fun, rug tufting, movie watching and maybe a little bit of sleep!

I am very happy her first time sleeping at her place was with friends there.

I cannot believe my kid is 20 years old now...

I am really proud of her. She has worked a lot this summer and made quite a bit of money. She has thoroughly enjoyed her time at home, but I think she is starting to feel ready about going back to school. I'm just glad we don't have to deal with any of the dorm stuff anymore. She can focus on her friends and classes and not freaking drama.

I have now written about Bri's 20th and this is when I now have to decide how I want to continue this blog. I am still not quite sure. I don't have to figure it all out immediately, but I will figure it out eventually.

Thanks again for reading!

August 5, 2026

Happy 20th Birthday Briana!

How in the world is she TWENTY?

My kid is 20. 20 years old. Goodbye teenage years. I think I am in shock today.

Wasn't it just yesterday that she looked like this?

I guess not.

A whole lot of life has happened since then.

She's about to start her junior year of college and will be moving into an apartment to live by herself. It is difficult to wrap my mind around.

I love the woman she is becoming/has become, but I do miss my baby sometimes...

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday to my daughter, best girl and miracle.

I cannot wait to see what life in your twenties will bring.

August 3, 2026

The Rest Of Our July

As you all know, Doug, Bri and I celebrated our 19th gotcha day anniversary on July 30th. Briana had to work most of that day, but when she got done, we went out to eat some Korean BBQ at one of her favorite restaurants for dinner...

On a Saturday, Doug and I went over to Bri's apartment to put together some more furniture we had ordered, but Briana had to work so she couldn't join us. Doug put together her bed, I put together side tables in her bedroom and living area and then Doug and I (mostly Doug) put together her lift-up coffee table. It was quite a bit of work, but we got it done...

I think we have all the big stuff done now. We just need to do finishing touches and of course, eventually fill the kitchen cabinets, closets and fridge.

On a Sunday afternoon, our friends Jim and Valerie invited Doug and I and other friends to watch Jim perform with the "Dukes of Swing." Jim (on the trumpet) and all of the musicians were awesome and it was a super entertaining afternoon...

After watching the Dukes, Doug and I had a nice dinner together...

Doug and Briana are still enjoying their weekly (Tuesday) dad/daughter Dungeons and Dragons sessions together...

I went to one doctor appointment and also had several meetups/catch ups with friends the second half of July.

August is here now and the beginning of August is always about Briana since it is her birthday. So my next couple posts will be all about Miss B. She is turning 20! How is that even possible?

August 1, 2026

My Surprise Realization ~ The Connection Of "The Phantom Of The Opera" Musical To "The Lost Boys" Musical

I made a recent surprise realization.

I follow a couple of social media accounts for "The Lost Boys" Musical and on one account, there was a post that mentioned a performer named Ben Crawford. I wasn't sure who Ben Crawford was, so I googled his name under images. An image that I posted on my blog back in 2019 popped up. I had blogged about me, Doug and Bri seeing The Phantom Of The Opera on Broadway. I recognized the picture immediately. In that blog post, I said that the Phantom's voice made me cry. That is how good he was and how much his voice moved me. For some reason, his name didn't stay with me (but it should have - shame on me).

I came to the realization that the Phantom we saw in 2019 was Ben Crawford and he is now in The Lost Boys.

He plays the main character Michael's abusive father (who is a hallucination) and is also in the ensemble. He is also the understudy for the character Max. I had NO idea that was him. He obviously wore a mask in Phantom, so I didn't really know what he looked like.

Our attendance at that "Phantom of the Opera" performance put the Broadway bug into my sweet girl. She loved that show. She loves musicals but especially musicals on Broadway.

I wish I had known beforehand that we were seeing "our" Phantom again.

Phantom Ben Crawford...

His voice is beautiful...

He was Phantom for 5 years - starting before the pandemic and then coming back after it.

And now, he is in "The Lost Boys"...

This is a video of the scene "The Secret Comes Out" which happens right before the intermission. It is when both Sam and Michael start to realize that Michael is now a vampire after drinking vampire blood (half-vampire) and Michael hallucinates his abusive father - played by Ben Crawford (this video was obviously secretly recorded by someone, so the quality isn't the best, but it shows the whole scene). This is one of my favorite scenes from the show...

Ben Crawford has one song that he is featured in on the LB soundtrack and it is "You Belong To Me (Reprise)". He sounds amazing on it.

As soon as I figured this all out, I told Briana. It was very exciting putting two and two together.

Both shows - Phantom and Lost Boys are in my top 3 favorite musicals (Hamilton is top 3 as well).

Wish I had known this earlier, but I'm happy to know it now!

Here is a list of musicals that we have seen over the years (the ones I have blogged about)...

I had seen a number of musicals before Briana came into my life, as my parents were musical fans as well as Doug. I saw national tours of Phantom, Fiddler On The Roof, Wicked, Cats, The Lion King, Spamalot and Beauty And The Beast - before becoming a mom. And as a child with my parents, I saw Peter Pan (with Sandy Duncan) and Sophisticated Ladies (which I did not enjoy because I was just too young to get it). So to have a daughter who has a huge appreciation for musicals is a big win for our whole family!