Guess what! I went to a concert last night for the first time in over a year.

Apparently my dedication to hearing protection/avoiding dangerously loud situations has gone slightly overboard.

We went to see Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert (with Thomas Rhett opening) at 1st Mariner Arena. Country concerts are my favorite because the performers are always great live, and even if you don’t know all of the songs you can still enjoy it. The same cannot be said for every genre. I know this because I once went to a Lil’ Wayne concert. Don’t ask.

The girl sitting in front of us was probably 15 or 16, and throughout the entire concert was taking selfies and sending them to her entire phonebook via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. And then she would open each app every 5 seconds to see if anyone had ‘liked’ or ‘commented.’ She was also captioning all of them, but my 20/20 vision only gets me so far. My imagination tells me she was writing “out on a skool nite lolz” or “omg my mom doesn’t even kno i’m out!!”

I swear the concert was amazing but I couldn’t help but watch her. It reminded me of when Sheila and I went to see Rascal Flatts twice when we were in high school and did the exact same thing.

JK, I probably didn’t even have a cell phone.

I had to teach Body Pump until 6 and the concert started at 7:30, so I planned ahead and made a quick meal that the GS and I could heat and eat before heading out.

Steak Pizzaiola

adapted from Food Network

about 1 lb of sirloin (or whatever steak is on sale!)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 bell pepper, thinly sliced

4 jarred pepperoncini, thinly sliced

15 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp dried oregano

pinch red pepper flakes

4 sub rolls (optional)

Season the steaks liberally with salt and pepper, then sear in a skillet lightly coated with olive oil for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and set aside.

Add the garlic, onion, and pepper to the skillet. Cook until slightly softened, then add the tomatoes, pepperoncini, oregano, and crushed red pepper. You can also add a little bit of water to thin it out (1/2 a cup or so).

Combine and cook for a few minutes, then place the steaks back in. Allow them to cook for at least 7-8 minutes, depending on the thickness and how you like your meat cooked.

Set the steaks aside again to rest, then slice thinly against the grain. You can serve it just like this with the sauce. I chose to let it cool, and then throw it all on a sub roll for quick and casual pre-concert eating. Yum.

Also, Miranda Lambert is SO bossy and was wearing a Target tank top and did a Patsy Cline cover (Crazy) and came out in a Ray Lewis jersey for her encore. Girl crush: commence.