Weekend Ahead: Sept 17-20

DECIDE WHOSE TEAM YOU ARE ON – Kate Gosselin at Southern Women’s Show

Team Jon or Team Kate? It’s time to decide. The love-her/hate-her star of TLC’s Jon and Kate Plus 8 will be on the 107.9 The Link stage at the Southern Women’s show today at 1:30 p.m. Me and Sarah will be stuck in the office, so you’ll have to tweet me to let me know how heinous her hair looks in person. (@jenntgrab).

DISCOVER PECHA KUCHA – Pecha Kucha Charlotte in NoDa

Sarah: “Jenn, can you add tonight’s Pecha Kucha to The Weekend Ahead.” Jenn: “Um, yes, assuming you can explain to me what that is.” Sarah: “It’s, well, uh, why don’t I just forward you the email.” It might have a weird name and be kind of hard to explain to others, but Pecha Kucha is really cool – essentially it’s an opportunity for “adult show and tell”. Members (usually very artistic, creative, philanthropic, poetic types) get together to share ideas, visual statements and their talents in a supportive, open environment. Just about every social, cultural and artistic theme you can imagine is open game, and you should come with an open mind. I wish I could tell you more, but it’s really kind of “you gotta be there” sort of thing. So be there.

Thursday, Sept. 17. 7:30 p.m. Hart Witzen Gallery, 136 E. 36th Street. $5 at the door.

DECK YOUR HALLS – Sale event at Luxe Home Couture

Luxe is what I like to call an “inspiration store”. Meaning I go in whenever I want to be inspired to spruce up a room, and then I buy a candle and go home and cry over my bank statements – the one thing keeping me from going on a Luxe SPREE. Well, said spree just got a bit more possible thanks to this one-day only event. Tonight from 6-9 p.m. (though they note they’ll honor the discounts all day) you can get 25% anything in the store (excluding special orders) and 15% off their excellent collection of art.

Thursday, Sept. 177. 6-9 p.m.

LISTEN UP – Live Jazz at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design

Kick off your weekend with a little culture ! Stop in for special “open-late” gallery hours, enjoy live music from Sabra Callas & Steve Shoaf, and nosh on light apps while you survey the crafty exhibits on display. This way, when you spend your Saturday night watching DVR’ed episodes of The Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance auditions, you won’t feel so bad about yourself and your utterly base addiction to reality television. What’s that? You have actual plans Saturday night? Oh. I guess that’s just about me then.

Thursday, Sept. 17, 6:30 p.m. Mint Museum of Craft + Design
Gallery Open Free 5-8 p.m.

GET CLOSER TO FINE – Indigo Girls at The Fillmore

Our most recent memorable Indigo Girls experience was when laughed hysterically at Alec Baldwin/Jack Donaghey as he teased Tina Fey/Liz Lemon for using Indigo Girls lyrics to express how she was feeling about life. The joke was well played, but it’s not like we (we being the Liz Lemon’s of the world) can help it that those dang Indigo Girls are very good at finding clever, poetic ways to express what it is like to be a woman! Don’t believe me? Come see for yourself when they play The Fillmore.

Friday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m. The Fillmore at NC Music Factory

WHINE ABOUT HOW THEY RUINED YOUR BELOVED CHILDHOOD STORY – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Opens This Weekend

Okay, that may be a bit prematurely harsh, but you have to understand, this book IS my childhood. It lived at my grandmother’s house, on a bedside table in the guestroom. It was there every time I came to stay. My mom read it to me, my dad read it to me, my grandmother read it to me, and eventually I got old enough to read it over and over myself. The illustrations were eerie and whimsical, the story was outlandish and playful, and that image of the sun rising over the snow covered hill like a pat of butter on a pile of mashed potatoes is forever burned into my memory. Which is to say that if this movie is terrible, there will be hell to pay courtesy of yours truly. Jenn out.