Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
FROM DONNIE!
Hey All…
I know most of our communication lately is thru twitter…
However I also know that not everybody uses twitter and, quite frankly, sometimes the 140 character space that twitter provides just isn’t enough space to express ones self adequately.
That said…
I just wanted to take a moment and say a few things…
First and foremost I want to say thank you to all NKOTB fans! To the BH’s, the Soldiers, the “crews” and everyone!
The last two years have been so unreal and so unexpected that I sometimes wake up thinking it was all my imagination.
Yet it is real.
We are here.
And I must say…
The love and support you all have shown to each and every member of this group- both collectively and individually- is astounding.
Wether it was Jordans foot surgery or his various twitter campaigns, Danny’s work with the Komen Foundation, Jon’s singing “step 5″ or his amazing tweets, Joe’s “Let’s Get This” campaign or my own insanity at The Waffle House at 4 a.m….
You all have shown, each one us, the utmost love and support!
It never ceases to amaze me.
It is often said…
The New Kids are “great to their fans”.
And we often say in response “that is because we have the GREATEST fans”.
This has never been more true than in the downtime since The Full Service Tour ended.
(That is… IF you call it down time).
Since then… Each member has stayed in touch with many of you, through twitter etc, while at the same time taking on various individual projects.
Be it movies, solo music projects, charitable work, twitter contests, real estate projects or what have you…
Most members of The Block have been very busy and many of you all have been just as busy- standing right along side us- showing that fierce love and support that you always do.
Through it all… I want you to remember, as well as it is important that we too remember, that we are a unit.
The Block and its fans- We are a team.
Supporting each other, enjoying each other and enjoying what each other has to offer, is part of being teammates.
Myself personally…
I never really thought I would make music as a “solo” artist. Hell I’ve been off shooting a movie… And to be honest I don’t even particularly like that title attatched to my name- “solo artist”?!?!?! Strange for me.
But I must admit… I am thankful that you all allow me the freedom to act on my creative whims…
I write a song for fun…?
I send it out to you all.
You react to it…?
We all have FUN!
That is, was, and will always be my goal in the music business… FUN.
Having FUN, seeing you have fun and doing it in a way that allows us to all have fun together.
Doing everything I can to give back to you… What you give to me.
The success?
That is really just the cherry on top.
The amazing thing is-
There is so much more fun to be had.
Other members of The Block are creating and building and engaging you in their own ways…
It is going to be fun to see what they have in store for us!
And most important…
It is going to be fun to see what the world has in store and what WE have in store for the world in 2010 and 2011.
We have NOT stopped working, as a group, towards the future.
Working on ways to surprise you, entertain you, empower you and to give you as much joy as you can possibly take in!
“In the worst of times… We’ve had the best of times”.
Forgive me for quoting myself…
But that fact will never be lost on me.
We have been riding out some very tough times in this world together.
Army wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, husbands, soldiers, 9 to 5ers, single moms, brothers, widows….
You name it… We are all here together.
So blessed.
So fortunate to have something that bonds us…
That reminds us…
That no matter how tough things get…
It is always a blessing to feel free.
Music and love have that power.
Music and love are the core of who we are.
And who we will remain.
Thanks for the time.
As Always Your Man,
Donnie W.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
I MISSED CHICAGO!
It just dawned on me that I didn't blog about the Chicago trip in June.
THAT must be remedied soon.
THAT must be remedied soon.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
634
It happened again. 187 tweets after the first shout-out last Sunday.
That boy started my week OUT with a bang and ENDED it with a bigger bang!!
Thank you, Donnie!! Love you, ya freakin' freak! xoxo
That boy started my week OUT with a bang and ENDED it with a bigger bang!!
Thank you, Donnie!! Love you, ya freakin' freak! xoxo
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Dark Place
April 16, 1994
The drive to Kansas City from Des Moines felt like it took only a few minutes, but in reality, we left town at 3am, only to arrive at Memorial Hall around 7. We circled the arena and were hell bent on being able to meet our favorite band, New Kids on the Block. Having not been to a show in almost 3 years, we went off what we knew: the location and our determination.
When we arrived, there wasn't a soul to be found near this tiny venue. Having sold out stadiums & huge arenas, we were shocked at the size of this tiny auditorium, but encouraged that maybe it would just be more intimate....like an MTV-Unplugged show. We were a bit perplexed at the lack of equipment trucks and the absence of tour buses, but it was still early, afterall.
We decided to kill some time shopping and eventually made our way back to the arena around 4. Finally the trucks had arrived and had been setting up for some time it seemed. A few handfuls of girls waited around by the doors & on the front steps of the arena. There were a few girls talking to someone who I later found out was the choreographer for the tour. We talked to him for a few minutes ourselves. We wandered around a bit, hoping for a glimpse...some scrap of evidence that our boys were there, but other than seeing a woman someone said was Danny's girlfriend, we didn't see much.
Hours went by and we finally filed into the auditorium. If you could even call it that. It was more like a converted high school gymnasium. There *may* have been 1,500 people there. We'd gotten the last seats for the show, which were in the VERY back row. We could literally sit on the back of our chairs and rest against the outer walls of the auditorium.
But we were THERE, dammit! We were seeing our boys in just a few minutes! I don't honestly remember who opened the show, or if anyone opened the show. We were too anxious to see the guys. Finally, the lights went down...and the curtain went up...
....oh my GOD!!!
We squealed and screamed and shouted and hollered with everyone else in the auditorium. We scrambled to find who was standing where so we could zero in on our favorite (at the time, we were both Jon girls). Mic stand! Mic stand! Mic stand! Mic stand! Mic st...wait. No...1, 2, 3, 4.....
Joey.
Danny.
Donnie.
Jordan.
What. The. F*ck?
We scanned again and again, finally looking at each other with tears in our eyes. Where the hell is Jon? We went from ecstatic to stoic in a split second. We slid from the backs of our chairs into them and sat there with our heads in our hands. What happened??
This isn't New Kids on the Block! There's only FOUR mic stands. There's FIVE members!
I couldn't tell you what was sung that night or what was said. I only remember what the guys looked like because it was what everybody wore those days: flannel. All I remember was the heartache of knowing that our boy band was missing a member. OUR member. Jordan finally explained later that Jon had fallen off his horse, Shakespeare, and was recovering. He was fine, but wasn't able to perform at that time. We were crushed. I wish I could tell you that the show went on and it was wonderful, but I can't. It was horrible. The sound was bad, the songs were iffy, at best. But I can't tell you if that had more to do with the group or its missing member.
By 1994, Bop and Teen Beat weren't covering stories on New Kids anymore, so we hadn't heard a thing. Internet was still a thing of the future so we had no way of knowing what had happened or what was to come. We were totally in the dark, but we knew one thing. It would never be the same as what it was. We were twenty now and not only did this whole thing signify the end of our favorite group, we knew it closed the door on our youth. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
We drove home that night, depressed and heartbroken. For years, we blocked this out of our heads and tried to only remember when the group was at its best. I couldn't even listen to "Face the Music" because it was such a raw memory for me. To this day, I still refer to this as "The Dark Place."
September 18, 2009
It's been over fifteen years since that door was closed. It's since been reopened, but today, there's a shadow on the happiness this last year has brought us. Thanks to an overzealous fan and perhaps the same things that drove Jon away in 1994, we're missing a brother again. Jon's Twitter account is empty and his tweets have all been deleted. There's only his picture and a message that says "Be back soon." My heart is breaking. Not because of selfish reasons this time, though...but because I know how much Jon enjoys being around us and how very much he must be hurting in order to have done this a second time.
My friends have laughed at me whenever a tour ends and I sit in a corner rocking back and forth repeating "No Dark Place!" like a mantra. They don't understand...I've been through this before. I know what four mic stands on a stage looks like and I never want to be there again. Ever.
With a cruise & rumors (Thank you, Donnie) of a 2010 summer tour only time will tell, if Jon comes back, but for now, if you need me, I'll be in the corner rocking back and forth.
Monday, September 14, 2009
447
Four-hundred-forty-seven.
That's the number of tweets I sent to @donniewahlberg before he responded to me, tonight.
And apparently pornographic thoughts are what motivate the man. This is my message that he responded to:
The video he's talking about is the one I submitted for a contest he's doing to fly a fan out to be an "assistant" for his alter-ego, Tony Spallelli. We had to keep our submission under 3o seconds, so I had to edit down my video, but I did share with him the whole video, too.
My 30-second submission:
Find more videos like this on The Lab
The full video:
Yep...the DH may be an ass today, but Wahlberg came through for me. Thanks D-Dub.
That's the number of tweets I sent to @donniewahlberg before he responded to me, tonight.
And apparently pornographic thoughts are what motivate the man. This is my message that he responded to:
The video he's talking about is the one I submitted for a contest he's doing to fly a fan out to be an "assistant" for his alter-ego, Tony Spallelli. We had to keep our submission under 3o seconds, so I had to edit down my video, but I did share with him the whole video, too.
My 30-second submission:
Find more videos like this on The Lab
The full video:
Yep...the DH may be an ass today, but Wahlberg came through for me. Thanks D-Dub.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Full Service Tour - Summer 2009 (aka "Tits & Wits Tour")
Where do I begin? (Part 1)
There's so much I want to say about my trip to Denver, Dallas & Houston I can't even think of where to begin.
I'm overwhelmed with great memories, hilarious stories, personal realizations and emotional moments. Everything just runs altogether and I can't seem to split it out into plausible thought.
I guess I'll start with THANK YOU...to RiceChex, criSILLYus, Michele and all the rest of my Blockhead sisters who made this week such a remarkable trip. You all made this trip possible in SO many ways. I will be grateful forever for the part you've played in my life.
RiceChex and I started out our trip bright and early Monday morning, July 13th. We left my house about 5:30ish and after a stop at Stahbucks, we were on our way!
We played the license plate game the entire trip and really, it went by quickly. We searched for tumbleweed, but much to our disappointment, it was all still in the field. We made record time, though and surprised criSILLYus by rolling into town about two hours earlier than we thought we would. We did some catching up, filling Silly in on the craziness that has become our lives (for which she was QUICKLY on board!). She made us some quick dinner (Yummy pot roast & mashed potatoes!) and we decided to head toward downtown Denver for some tour bus recon.
It actually didn't take us long. Ole EagleEyes in the backseat (RiceChex) found them within about two blocks. I could go into long, lengthy details here, but suffice it to say, we found their hotel within about 30 mins of intel & recon work. Or so we thought.
We'd already made the decision to stay at the Hotel Monaco, where we saw the crew entering & leaving. Then Jon twitpic'd a photo of some chocolates the hotel had sent to his room. Silly, having the memory of an elephant (only person I know with a better memory than me), recognized the background of the room and with closer looking at the emblem on the placard on Jon's chocolate tray, we diagnosed that it wasn't the Hotel Monaco they were staying at, but the Brown Palace Hotel (one of the most historic hotels in the nation, btw). Well this certainly put a crimp in things! Two hotels. One reservation at the wrong hotel! What to do?!?
Book a room at the Brown Palace, of course. Hey..I just threw the idea out there, RiceChex was the one who ran with it!! Ok..so this MIGHT be proof of our insanity (I know, big word I don't understand)
So we laze around a bit Tuesday morning and Silly, being the perfect hostess, makes us breakfast while we get our stuff together. After a stop for a mani/pedi, some last minute shopping at Target and some lunch at Corner Bakery on the Mall downtown, we head to the Brown Palace to get checked in. We get the LAST available room (we rock...and we manage to resist making fun of the poor saps outside who didn't get rooms) and haul our stuff up to the 7th floor, all the while, anxious and jumpy that at any moment a stray New Kid may pop out of nowhere. We settle in and then have to leave again because my hair appointment is at 4. So, armed with just our purses, we head back downstairs. Rounding the corner toward the parking lot where we've left Silly's car, I stop mid-stride and smother a gasp.
Who's sitting there with his back to us while he texts on his BB and puffs on a ciggie?
Jonathan.
Fucking.
Knight.
(insert internal fan girl squeals here...my composure was actually completely maintained in person.)
Talk about popping up out of NOWHERE! ACK! I spin around and look at RiceChex...all I have to say is "Umm...hon??" and she's ready to fly back inside. I honestly can't confirm that she breathed at all during the following exchange. Nonchalantly, I call his name...
"Jonathan?"
He turns around all squinty eyed..."Heyyy"
"Can we bug you for a couple minutes?" I ask tenatively, but again...quite composed. You'd have been SO impressed!
He rubs his face and says "Awww, man, I just got up a couple minutes ago, can you give me a few?"
(Oh sweet Jesus, the man just rolled out of bed....PG thoughts. PG thoughts. PG thoughts!!!!)
"Sure..not a problem..thank you anyway!!" I manage to mutter before we casually stroll down the sidewalk and around the corner.
This is where the tears and the excitement set in. WE. JUST. TALKED. to JONATHAN EFFING KNIGHT! Mr. Elusive!! Mr. Can't Be Bothered! Mr. I'll Never Come Off This Damn Bus! from the fall and spring tours. OH. MY. GOD!
Breathe.
Breathing is good, here.
So, while we make a couple quick texts to friends, we try to regain the composure we just blew all to hell around the corner. A few minutes later, we come back around the corner, but he's gone.
Damn, he's good.
On a mission, we skip off to the car and head to my hair appointment, where we relay our story to at least two other people, who either A) are as excited as we are or B) fake it really well.
They Turned the Gay Light on for Us! (Part 2)
So, Todd, who I might add is a fucking genius, whips my hair into shape.
Before:
After:
Honestly, I didn't know what to expect when I went in, but WOW..I was *SO* pleased with the results!!! (btw..for those of you in the Denver area: www.hairbytodd.com CALL the boy and make your appointment. You won't be disappointed!! For those of you NOT in the Denver area...take a vacation - he's SO worth it!)
So anyway....we make plans with Todd for him to join us later for dinner & karaoke and we part ways. Back to the hotel we go. The Brown Palace, that is. We still haven't checked into the Moraco. We are fortunate enough to find a meter outside the front door and we plug some change into it before heading across the street.
Walking up, I recognize Jason outside having a smoke. For those who don't know, Jason is Donnie's manager/assistant. I met him in Chicago in June and he was there for my Team Wahlberg girls in Holmdel earlier in the month. He's the sweetest guy and someone I am in serious crush with. Lovelovelove Jason. So I stop by and say hi...we chat for a couple minutes about some of the other peeps he's managing and we head inside to get ready for dinner. A quick sweep of the lobby while we wait for the elevators determines that our boys are still MIA.
We head upstairs, change clothes, fix hair & makeup and we're off again!
Hamburger Mary's for dinner. FABULOUS place...they even turned the Gay Light on for us: (Hey..I'm not being discriminatory...the waiter said it first!)
RiceChex & Me in front of Marilyn on the patio at HM's:
RiceChex having sucked back a cocktail or two (Silly's mom is in the background):
We dodge random rain showers and finally retreat under a giant umbrella right before our meal comes. We manage to eat at least some of our enormous sandwiches (seriously...they're taller than our glasses!). Bloated and belchy, we head across the street to JR's, a karaoke bar.
Silly's friend Adam is spinning tunes, so we pick a table close to the booth and saddle up with some cocktails. My friends @honeymolasses & @tdotcaramel join us (they just flew in from Toronto that night for the concert). We chat a bit about our boys & tomorrow's show. It was cool to finally have met them after having talked on Twitter so long.
I finally get around to picking karaoke music...I choose a couple of songs from the book - a Wynonna tune that's good for a warm-up and my favorite Cher song ever, the Shoop Shoop song. Of course, it doesn't dawn on me until my name is called for the second song that me singing Cher in a gay bar is like getting up at the Apollo. I asked Silly about it. She said "You'll be fine...they won't boo you. Just don't fuck it up." Gee? Ya think?!! No pressure. I do manage not only to NOT get booed off the stage, I got applause after the song AND even a few whoops & hollers DURING the song. Guess I don't suck as bad as I thought! LOL
Bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter, BITTER! (Part 3)
The night progresses and we decide we've had enough fun for one night. Besides...there's stalking to do!!! We say our goodbyes and we head back to the hotel (again..the Brown Palace..not the Moraco...we never did check in. Let's be honest. Who's had time?!). We change from our super-cute dresses into more casual wear and head to the hotel lobby, which surprisingly, for housing an entire boy band, their families, the band and dancers, is entirely EMPTY. (There are a couple handfuls of groupies outside, but the lobby itself is bare.) I've got my laptop, RiceChex has her iTouch and Silly's armed with her phone. I have Jon's scrapbook that I worked on all weekend, Donnie's "Team Wahlberg" wifebeater and handkerchiefs that I've crafted up for the guys and the band for Houston (the final show of the tour on Saturday).
Shortly after getting downstairs, I see Jason come in and I decide he's probably the best bet for getting Donnie's gift to him, so I head over to say hi. I joke that he's following me and it's starting to creep me out. He just chuckles. I ask him if he can do me a favor and give Donnie my gift. He says he will...he takes the bag and he heads outside. Whew...one gift down!
We sit there forever...I'm tapping along happily on my laptop, RiceChex's tuned out with her ear buds in and Silly's playing on her phone. Every door that opens, every elevator ding, every movement that seems remotely out of place has my attention. Even Silly is laughing at my ability to continue typing on the laptop but glance at whatever happens around me without skipping a beat. (hey..we told her we have this stalking shit down to an art. She doesn't believe us.) I see Jason a couple more times coming and going. During one of his trips, I craftily run over to see what floor he gets off on. (Told you I'm good.) By now, it's after 2:30 and my enthusiasm is waning. Jordan's tweeted a dozen times about trying to work the AC in his room. Donnie's given his Yoda-like wisdom for the day and I'm just about over this whole thing.
Finally, the elevator dings and we hit paydirt.
The doors open and Jon steps out (wearing the same blue shirt & jeans he had on earlier in the day). I snap my fingers at RiceChex(who's snuggled down in the chair and doesn't catch the new development...slacker!) and I stand up, calling out his name as I grab his album and make my way toward the door. By the time I get around the glass partition, he's in the revolving door giving me a "WTF" look. I motion for him to come here and he smiles (gah!) and holds up his finger as if to say "gimme a minute." I nod and smile back.
I'm. A. Mess.
My feet are bouncing, I'm tapping my fingernails on the table, my stomach is in knots and I can't seem to calm down.
Five minutes go by.
Ten.
Fifteen.
Seriously?? Did the bastard find a back entrance or did the crazies outside kidnap him?!
Twenty.
You've GOT to be kidding me...
FINALLY...25 minutes later, I see the revolving doors kick on and he comes spinning in, focused on his phone. I call out his name again as I fly out of my chair and head toward the elevator, where he's headed with his album in my hands. He hops on the first empty elevator (both are sitting wide open waiting for passengers). The doors are closing as I reach them and I call out "Jon!! I have a gift for you!!" Of course, in my head, I picture his hand coming out to stop the elevator doors from closing, his magical smile appearing and him saying "Oh yeah? Well c'meah...whatcha got?" There's hugging...conversations about the pictures in the book and we spend a good twenty minutes discussing his frustrations about tour, how glad he is to be almost done with it. There, of course, are more hugs and pictures and our night ends on an amazing note.
To say that's NOT how it happened is an understatement.
No hand appears. There's no funny anecdotes being shared, no hugs, no pictures and certainly no amazing notes.
Just a sour one.
As the door closes, three thoughts instantly come to my mind:
1) Flinging the picture album in the elevator and hearing an "Oww!!" as the elevator dings closed.
2) Jumping on the other elevator and following Mr. Knight up to his floor and hopefully at least being able to give him the book without him calling Armando or Earl to throw me over the balcony first.
3) Standing there paralyzed, broken-hearted and seriously disgusted by my second blow-off from Jon Knight in less than 12 hours (and the sixth in less than a year).
You can guess which one I chose.
Dejected, I stand there, watching the arrow point to each floor as he ascends and heads off to his safe little world upstairs.
I won't cry.
I won't cry.
I won't cry.
*sniffle*
I turned around and walked slowly back to the table. Honestly, I don't remember what was said amongst the three of us at this point. I just know we were all feeling seriously dejected. Silly retired to bed a few minutes later and I finished up a conversation on Yahoo, relaying what just happened to @twistedmacsista, who'd been on pins & needles waiting for the conclusion to our great hotel escapades.
I check Twitter a few times to see if I missed anything. A goodnight from Jason, Jordan & Fish. Hmm...guess everybody's going to bed. We might as well...
*ding*
My head jerks up...
Fish!
Okay..so it's not Jon, but at this point, I think I'd have a hard time NOT throwing the photo album at him and telling him what a pompous ass he is (yes, I was bitter. You would be, too. Bite me). I sit there for a couple minutes and finally decide to make a move. Fuck it. I sat back before and got bupkiss. I won't miss an opportunity twice, dammit! I grab the handkerchiefs instinctively and I tell RiceChex I'll be right back. I head outside where Fish has gone.
He's just finishing up a cigarette when I come out. I joke with him about his goodnight tweet, "This doesn't look like bed to me, Fish!" He laughs and says "Nahh...gotta get my last puff in before I hit the hay." I asked him if he minded that I was out there. He said he didn't...that he was glad. He'd have another smoke since I was out there. (Sweet!)
We spend the next twenty minutes chatting about everything: the guys, the band, his music, the guys' kids, our kids (his youngest is DARLING, btw..he showed me pictures), where we live, the talk of the cruise (at this time, it hadn't been announced, remember?), and a thousand other things that escape me now. I relayed my Jon-heartache and he reassured me and told me not to take it personally. He's just tired and ready to go home. He asked me if we had M&G tomorrow. I told him we did and he said that he'll have his "game face" on tomorrow and be in a better mood. I really did end up feeling better after having talked to Fish. I remembered the handkerchiefs as we were getting ready to go back inside. I asked him if he'd mind giving them to the guys for me and told him they were for Houston since Jon had said he'll be a blubbering mess. He smiled as he read them (Simple white men's hankies that I ironed on the song lyric "We've been together for a long time, Baby...do you have to leave?" on them). He said to hang onto them and give them to them tomorrow at M&G so they'd know who they came from. I told him that I have four more inside for the band and asked him to take these for him and the rest of the guys and I'd just give them the ones I had upstairs. He told me thank you and talked for a couple minutes about how sweet the fans have been to them and how much it means to have our support. I did finally give him a hug goodnight and we went back inside.
RiceChex and I went upstairs shortly thereafter and while I didn't get much sleep (I had to burn pictures onto CD's for the M&G gifts), the sleep I got was magnificent. Damn housekeeping for waking me up at 7am!!
Breathing is Optional, Right? (Part 4)
Wednesday morning came much too early for me (thank you again, Housekeeping) - 7am to be exact. I finished working on the CD's and finally took a break to head to Starbucks. RiceChex was just waking up as I was heading out, so I got her coffee order, too. Silly was happily snuggled in bed & softly snoring, so I didn't bother her.
It was beautiful outside. Bright & sunny, a typical Denver day according to Silly. A few new crazies had planted themselves outside the hotel by this point (the last shift left when Jon went upstairs, I think), but I just ignored them and proceeded to SB, where I ordered two white chocolate mochas (yeah..it's not on the diet, but I was mourning the loss of Fantasy Jon. Cut me some slack.). I meandered back to the hotel, taking my time and enjoying the sunshine. (Have i mentioned how much I LOVE this city, yet? Seriously? I wish my friends and family lived in Colorado, because I'd TOTALLY move there. Year round nice weather? Uhh count me in, thanks!) I get back to the room just as RiceChex is getting out of the shower and Silly's waking up. We decide to make another SB trip. One coffee just is NOT enough when you've 3 hrs of sleep. We wander down there again and this time, I order a tea & get some fruit for breakfast. Jason comes in as we're in line. I smile and ask him if he managed to get any sleep. He says he did and his aviators hide any proof otherwise. We say goodbye and head outside to enjoy the weather.
We don't talk about last night.
It's best that way.
We head back to the hotel and waste some time before checking out and heading back to Silly's to get ready for M&G. Still so much to do! It finally hits us that THIS is it. We've counted down to this day for almost three months and it's finally here. Nerves set in and while Silly tries to help drown my anxieties with killer vodka (Absolute Los Angeles & Cranberry..YUMMO!), there's nothing to calm me down. I barely eat lunch and after we all scramble to get ready on time (yeah..we wasted a shitload of time), we leave the house a little after 3.
We call our Denver Peeps (Mel & the Esses: Melissa, Sara, Shannon & Shauna) to let them know we're on the way. Mel & Sara actually went to HS with Silly. They reconnected because of the guys reunion and we all decided to do our M&G together. Still short a Joe girl and two Danny girls, we hope for the best.
We arrive with plenty of time to spare...even more than we thought, actually, as some numbnuts at ILAA (I Love All Access, the company handling the M&G) sent the wrong time to be there. They actually didn't need us until 4:30, not the 3:45 they put on the damn confirmations. *grumblegrumblemiddlefingerblah* We met up with Mel and the Esses and ran into @honeymolasses & @tdotcaramel again. We chatted with them and a few other girls in line. The beautiful Denver sunshine proved to be hot as hell come late afternoon and we sweated off quite a bit of our makeup and much of our good mood. By the time 5pm rolled around (when we finally got through the line), we were no longer Loving All Access. We checked our cameras, headed inside and got our goodie bags. A bit of a pick-me-up was finding out we had FOURTH row tickets for the show. WOOT!
We picked up drinks (I still couldn't eat. My nerves were SHOT!) and waited for our letter group to be called. We looked all over for the three missing "R" girls in our group to see what we had to work out as far as sharing our boys went, but nobody reared until the last minute. As we'd worked it out, we were good to go on sharing equally. Melissa was a Joe girl, Shauna and I were signed on as Donnie girls. Kimmi & Shannon were Jordan girls and RiceChex & Sara were Jon's. I tell Jon's girls that I only want about 10 seconds with him. A quick hug (okay, so I'm not TOTALLY bitter) and a couple words, then I'll move onto the other guys. They reluctantly agree but warn me they'll be timing me and tapping their feet waiting. I know RiceChex isn't joking. lol
They finally call P, Q and R and we all gather in line. We'd hoped for 1 Joe girl and 2 Danny girls, but the three missing R's threw us for a loop. One was a Joe girl (that works!), one was a Jordan girl (uh oh) and the last was a Jon girl (SHIT...RiceChex does not share well with others). All too quickly, we're putting our purses & bags on the table and rushing past Earl into our M&G.
Breathing is optional, right?
And By God, there WILL be Hugging! (Part 5)
We round the corner and there are the guys.
(God, I'm having a hard time breathing, just remembering it all!!)
As promised, I beeline straight for Jon to get it out of the way. Twenty years in the making and my first words aren't "I love you" or "It's an honor to meet you, finally!"
No.
What comes pouring out of my mouth like word vomit?
SNARK! (Old habits die hard.)
I point to him, chuckling and tell him "You're really good at this avoidance thing!" As he's hugging me, he says "Avoidance? What ah you talkin' about?" (Don't give me a Boston "r," Jonathan. I'm mad at you.) We pull apart and I say "Last night. Hotel Lobby." I don't even stay long enough to hear his answer. (RiceChex later told me that he said something like "I don't remembah" but I sure don't know for sure.)
I move onto Danny, who's standing beside him. I think Danny's used to being the least popular of the group because the hug he gave me was super short and not very cuddly, as if he was releasing me to move onto my favorite NK. I probably confused him when I didn't move on right away but started talking to him, instead. I told him that he'd been a huge inspiration to me. He said "Me? Why's that?" I told him that I'd been doing HIIT every day for the last few weeks because he suggested it. His face lit UP! He took my hands and held them out and gave me the once-over as he asked me how I was doing on it. I told him with a proud smile, "Down 22lbs in about a month!" He said "Damn girl! You're lookin' gooooood!! Nice job, I'm proud of ya! Keep it up!" and he pulled me into a lung-crushing hug and gave me a high-five (His hands? They're huge!). He told me he's gonna start a blog about his HIIT and weight training pretty soon and to watch for it. I told him I'd look forward to it and gave him another hug and a kiss on the cheek. (For those not quick on the draw....Danny just stole me from Donnie.)
Jordan's stepped back to get a drink real quick, so I point to my wrist and say "Time's a tickin'...c'mere, Jordan! I need a hug!" He laughs and gives me a quick hug and before I know it, Donnie's got his arm around me and he's spinning me around for pictures. I remember leaning my head against him for the first picture, then cracking up when he hollered "TAINTS!" before the second one. When they were done, he cupped my face in his hands and kissed my cheek. This is me, completely breathless...I got my Paris Hotel moment!!!! (Ok..maybe I wasn't COMPLETELY stolen away yet).
I asked him real quick if he'd gotten the Team Wahlberg wife beater last night. He said "Uhh...no." I said "Ohh...okay, well, I gave it to Jason in the hotel last night." He said "I'll get it, now!" I grinned and he said "Well, there's Jason..ask him." So I did. Jason said that he'd put it on the bus right after I gave it to him." Donnie said "Yep. I'll get it.
Armando starts pushing us along, but I'm not leaving without a Joe hug....my ONLY goal was to get hugs from ALL five guys (even if I was pissed at one of them). I wait patiently for the few seconds it takes to get my last and final hug from Joe. I kiss his cheek and tell him congratulations on the new baby and then start walking away. I remember the 5 Brothers tshirt and turn around real quick to ask him about it.
"Joe..you got the 5 Brothers tshirt, right?" He responds with a smile "Naw, but I'll get it." And I quickly correct him.."Noooo...the one my friend Michele gave you in Chicago at the book drive." He looks confused for a minute, then quickly smiles "Ohhh..the one with the five of us on it and you all?" pointing to his chest as he describes it." I managed to reply, "Yeah..that one." He says "Yep!! I love it!! Thank you!" He winks and gives me his trademark head twitch.
I.
Am.
Dead.
I couldn't tell you how long we were in our M&G. All I know is that I had exactly the right amount of time to say what I wanted to say, get hugs from all five guys and have one of them tell me he was proud of me (among other things).
So being dead? It's really ok with me at this point.
Thanks for the Heart-On, Jon! (Part 6)
We regroup outside and shriek a little. We relay all of our personal conversations in the M&G to each other and shriek some more. We mosy around for a bit, waiting for ILAA to bring us our cameras back. After a long delay (and at least one panic attack), they finally bring them out and we can go inside the concert.
Our seats? Yeah, they're pretty fantastic.
I'll spare you the song-by-song detail of the show, but the highlights were E-dub singing Step 5, the Celtic Green "Forever" hearts during "I'll Be Loving You Forever," Joe forgetting the words to "Single," Jon giving Danny a "Heart-On," RiceChex's reaction to "Popsicle," Silly's jerky video from Hangin' Tough when the pyro startled her (gigglesnort), and my favorite, Donnie scolding @honeymolasses during Hangin' Tough ("Sharon, put your hands up!"). They guys had a blast and joked around the whole night. It was a FUN show to be at., but like everything fun, it ended way too soon.
My Denver concert pics - save off what you want, just please don't remove the watermark and make sure to give credit where it's due, please?
We made our way to the car and headed home. We changed our clothes, talked about every detail of the day again and again while we uploaded pics & video to our computers and filled our bellies with leftover pot roast from the night before. I think it was somewhere around 4am before we crashed.
The next morning, RiceChex and I got up and around so we could shower, pack and get on the road. We bid bittersweet goodbyes to Silly and headed for Dallas, where we'd meet up with Michele the next morning.
The road trip itself was long and I'm convinced that Texas is *NOT* the largest state in the Union. It's actually Kansas. Holy crikies, have you ever driven through that God-forsaken no-man's-land?! It goes on FOR. EVER! In all seriousness, I think we were in Kansas for nine hours. It was hell. Or so we thought. That's when we got to Oklahoma City and ran into THREE HOURS of a stagnant thunderstorm all the way to Dallas. The constant lightning was giving RiceChex a headache and me? I was just sick of being in the car at that point.
We *finally* rolled into Dallas about 4am. Our hotel was pretty easy to find and was in the heart of downtown. Quaint little place, felt very homey. Bright and colorful and quite the oasis in that crapfest weather we had on the way into town. It didn't take us long to get wound down and asleep.
God Bless Nordstroms (Part 7)
My phone started going off far too early with text alerts - gotta love Twitter. I caught up on the last four hours with one eye open, plotting the death of the sunlight that beams through the gaps in the curtains of our hotel room. I read Tweets from Michele and saw that she wasn't far from arriving. I laid around for the next hour trying to gather the motivation to get up.
Michele got there and we managed to get around so we can hit the mall. RiceChex accidentally left her supercool flip flops at the Brown Palace and since we're not about to drive 15 hours back to get them, we decided to hit the mall instead. And hit it, we did!
Nordstrom's, Carolina Herrera, Tiffany, Anthropologie....we did, however, skip Louis Vuitton, Ed Hardy & Versace. Much to the chagrin of economists, though, we didn't actually buy much. RiceChex replaced her flip-flops at Nordie's, we grabbed some lunch at the food court then we got serious about shopping. RiceChex got a couple pairs of jeans at Anthro and I found a super cute top, but Michele managed to walk away empty-handed, despite having molested "Joe's See-Through Sweater" at the Gap and the Joe brand jeans at Anthro (giggle). We went back to the hotel to shower & get ready for dinner and the concert.
We spiffed ourselves up and made sure we had cameras, signs and tickets before we headed downstairs. After a brief stop at the front desk for directions, we made our way to Porta di Roma, the most AMAZING Italian restaurant. We gorged on huge salads and giant bowls of pasta before rolling ourselves back to the car to head to the arena.
I would like to state that Hell itself cannot POSSIBLY be hotter or more humid than Dallas in July. How we didn't melt between the hotel and the venue is completely beyond me.
We were stuck waiting outside for a bit and it felt strange to actually have to wait in line with everybody else. Up until that point, we'd either gotten to the arenas at 9am and bus-stalked all day or we'd gotten there just in time to go in (either for regular seats or VIP). We played some NK trivia with some girls in line and anxiously waited the 3o minutes it took before we could go in.
Our seats?
Fucking amazing.
The view from my seat. Yes..that's center stage.
I caught up with some girls I know from the .com site and chatted a bit with some of them before the show. Of course there was an extra pulse of excitement in the air as we looked around and noticed all the extra camera equipment for the webcast they were doing for that show to people across the world. We'd already purchased ours to watch later on demand. We were just super pumped for the show.
And of course, they didn't let us down. Full of energy and excitement, they turned on the charm, wit and spunk. This show was *the* best show I'd been to out of all of them. It helped being so close - we were able to interact with them and I spent much of the show catching their glances and grins. Joe, Donnie & Jordan flirted throughout the night and I even got Jon laughing toward the end of the show. I can only hope I get that experience again because it was amazing.
Pics from the Dallas Concert
(As always, please don't remove watermark and give credit where it's due. Thank you!)
When the show was over, we raced to the car so we could get to GhostBar for the After-Party. Of course, because Murphy couldn't be left out, his law dictated our delay when there was an accident on the freeway. It took us twice as long to get to the bar than it should have. The bonus: this did offer us the ability to change our clothes, put on makeup and fix our hair...in the car, of course. (All those years in band & cheerleading sure paid off for in-vehicle-wardrobe-changes!) Even with the delay, we still managed to beat the guys to the club. WOOT!
THIS is what all the fuss is about? Seriously?(Part 8)
GhostBar had a line outside, which we were anticipating, but we let Michele out while we went to get valet. RiceChex & I went inside real quick at the W to change, then we joined Michele. It wasn't long before we were on our way inside. We had to wait a little bit for the elevator. It seemed weird to have to ride an elevator to a club. You can tell we're from PoDunk, USA.
Pics from the GhostBar afterparty
The club was pretty busy already, but when the Donnie, Joe & Danny got there moments later, it absolutely EXPLODED with people. It was like everybody followed the guys from the show or something. We lost Michele for a little while, who'd made her way toward the VIP ropes. We caught up a little while later and stood a few people behind her, snapping pictures into the Fishbowl that was VIP. I couldn't get many decent ones, but it was nice being that close to them. We hoped for the best, but knew we'd probably never see the other side of those ropes.
Donnie & Joe made their way to the DJ booth and even sang a couple of songs, which was cool. I shot a few pics and revived RiceChex after she saw Joe in the aviator shades he's taken such a liking to. It was pure craziness in that club.
After having had a drink spilled into my purse, RiceChex and I made our way to the back bar to rehydrate. It was pure insanity. I sucked back about six waters before I was finally not stabby anymore. About that time, Ethan (their bass player) came by and talked to me for a couple brief moments.
After that point, we went out on the balcony because we wanted to see these glass floors Jon had tweeted about the night before, but sadly, the floor on the public balcony wasn't glass. It was concrete. The balcony itself was all glass..and that part was pretty awesome. I took a few pictures, then we went back inside. We texted Michele that we had retreated to the back of the bar to wait for her. A few moments later, the bouncers announced the bar was closing and that was it.
I did try to get closer to Donnie as he passed by, but to no avail.
Michele, RiceChex & I waited for the elevator (have you ever seen 300 people try to file out of a club at the same time?!) and eventually made our way outside. A fun little bonus was seeing see Jesse Metcalf (Desperate Housewives) and his date entering the Ghost Bar as we were waiting for valet.
We went back to the hotel, changed into PJ's and decided to upload & go through pictures, then watched the webcast of the Dallas show. I'd bought it earlier in the week because I wanted to see it when we got "home." RiceChex lasted about 20 mins before she turned in. Michele and I both ended up falling asleep watching it, turning in at somewhere close to 5am.
The after-party was an experience I'll never forget, but one I'm not keen on repeating anytime soon.
The Conclusion of the Tits & Wits Tour (Part 9)
We reluctantly dragged out of bed late morning and pulled our stuff together. RiceChex and I had a three hour drive ahead of us to get to Houston and Michele had to catch a flight home. We said our goodbyes & hit the road around noon.
Rice Chex and I grabbed lunch at Whattaburger and then stopped later at Starbucks (hey..it *had* to be done). The trip didn't take long and we were in Houston before we knew it. We tracked down the arena and double-checked with the box office to see if there were any seats that were closer, but there weren't. This show was gonna be huge.
We decided to go do some shopping and maybe grab some supper before the show. There was a little shopping center close to the arena called "The Woodlands" so we went there, perused Borders (or was it Barnes & Noble? I can't remember now.) for a bit. From there, we headed to some other super-cute shops and prayed the rain clouds on the western horizon would blow past us.
They didn't.
Fortunately, we'd already disappeared inside Jasper's for supper when the brunt of the storm hit. Ahh, Jasper's. What a WONDERFULLY splendid place to eat! I got the ribs (award-winning, I might add), RiceChex got the salmon. We also got calimari for our appetizer and creme brulee for dessert. It was quite possibly the most magnificent meal I've EVER had. HIGHLY recommend it to anyone going to Texas (they've got other locations).
The rain finally died off about the time we finished our meal, so we headed to the car to drop off packages and then head to the arena. Fortunately, the wicked bad storms killed the humidity that had left us both frizzy and sweaty and it was borderline chilly! Texas? July? And we're cold?? And I thought the weather in Iowa was weird.
Anyway....we make our way to our seats.
Clear. The hell over to the right and NOWHERE near the front of the arena, where we've been the last several shows. I'm *NOT* ok with these seats. Neither of us are. But what can ya do. There wasn't anything closer. At least we were there.
When Jabbas came on, I spied the back-up dancers hanging out on the side of the arena watching them. I jumped on the opportunity and asked them if they'd pose for a picture with me. They were all very willing (and I'll tell you now, I wanted to stuff them all in my pocket and take them home to fatten them up - they're SO damn skinny!!) and I got a great picture with them.
I also managed to pin Chris (their drummer) down in the concession area and got a self portrait with him. He's such a sweetie. Love that boy! :)
The concert.....ahh, the concert.
I started crying the minute "Close to You" started in. I promptly lost my contact as a result. So, I watched the entire concert with my right eye (Yeah, the headache was unavoidable.) but it's all good. Almost every song brought tears to my eyes...not knowing when we'd do this again was weighing heavily on our minds, to say the least. It was nice to sit back and just enjoy the show, though. I took fewer pictures than I'd taken at the other shows, so I was able to just take it all in more.
There were some great moments - Cover Girl when Kentucky, Crunchy Kevin & other stage hands sexually assaulted Donnie....Seven Naked Ninjas during Donnie's monologue...Joe coming out in a cape during Tonight, then ripping his shirt open at the end of the song. Crazy stuff, I tell ya!
Lil tip, Princess...I mean seriously? If you're going to go through the work of making a sign, sneaking it into the arena and blocking my view the ENTIRE show, the least you could've done was check your spelling. Jus' sayin.
Uneducated BlockHead aside, the show was pretty fantastic. It was heart-wrenching, though, to see our boys start crying on stage. Joe teared up during "Please, don't go girl" and I thought I was gonna die. But "I'll Be Loving You" was torture. Battery-operated tea-lights lit the arena and every single man on that stage was brought to tears. Jon even had to run off stage to collect himself. The standing ovation was incredible. (Not my video)
RiceChex and I pretty much stayed in tears throughout the rest of the show. We laughed, too, but mostly, we cried. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else that night, though. We also made the decision for any and all future tours, regardless of where the show is, we will be there.
Pictures from Houston (Reminder, please feel free to save off what you want, just give credit where it's due and don't remove my watermark. Thanks!)
When the show ended, RiceChex and I started the long trek home. We made pit stops at several points along the way, our favorite being Buc-ee's - this MASSIVE redneck mecca where their selling points were "The Cleanest Bathrooms in Texas" (they really were!) and something about being the Beaver Nugget Capital of Texas, which is ironic because until I went to Texas, I didn't even realize what a beaver nugget was, much less that IOWA might have one of these capitals. Hmm.
Armed with a bag of beaver nuggets, fresh sodas & some other snacks, we made our way home, pulling in around 6pm on Sunday. Our trip had come to an end.
Now, two months later, we're finally in an emotional spot to be able to watch the videos from the Houston show and not burst into tears (okay, well, we're not sobbing loud enough to attract our neighbors' attention anymore, at least). We've got amazing memories and thousands of pictures and videos (which reminds me...RiceChex, we need to get our videos from whatshername!) to commemorate this trip, which we affectionately nicknamed the "Tits & Wits Tour."
Top 10 Lessons Learned on the Tits & Wits Tour
1. Always double-check your hotel room for belongings (such as killer leather flip-flops) you might have left behind.
2. The license plate game goes on long after the trip has ended.
3. Take time to stop at quirky convenience stores, especially if they claim to have the cleanest bathrooms in the state.
4. Don't drink three giant glasses of tea before you leave on a 12 hr road trip.
5. Make sure to charge your phone battery, have a car charger AND invest in a back-up battery so you don't Tweet yourself into a dead zone too early in the trip.
6. Ogallala, Nebraska is, by far, the hickest town in the nation. I felt smarter upon leaving the city limits.
7. Always find out *exactly* where the group is staying so you don't end up with hotel reservations at more than one hotel per night.
8. By "Jon's Law" you can technically say you slept with a New Kid if you stay at the same hotel.
9. Screaming "SIT DOWN!" at the nutcase in front of you when she's standing on her chair during Jordan's solo, does NOT a clean video make.
10. Spending time with your best friends really IS what the trip is all about - don't squander a moment worrying about all this other shit. You can never get those moments back. Cherish them.
There's so much I want to say about my trip to Denver, Dallas & Houston I can't even think of where to begin.
I'm overwhelmed with great memories, hilarious stories, personal realizations and emotional moments. Everything just runs altogether and I can't seem to split it out into plausible thought.
I guess I'll start with THANK YOU...to RiceChex, criSILLYus, Michele and all the rest of my Blockhead sisters who made this week such a remarkable trip. You all made this trip possible in SO many ways. I will be grateful forever for the part you've played in my life.
RiceChex and I started out our trip bright and early Monday morning, July 13th. We left my house about 5:30ish and after a stop at Stahbucks, we were on our way!
We played the license plate game the entire trip and really, it went by quickly. We searched for tumbleweed, but much to our disappointment, it was all still in the field. We made record time, though and surprised criSILLYus by rolling into town about two hours earlier than we thought we would. We did some catching up, filling Silly in on the craziness that has become our lives (for which she was QUICKLY on board!). She made us some quick dinner (Yummy pot roast & mashed potatoes!) and we decided to head toward downtown Denver for some tour bus recon.It actually didn't take us long. Ole EagleEyes in the backseat (RiceChex) found them within about two blocks. I could go into long, lengthy details here, but suffice it to say, we found their hotel within about 30 mins of intel & recon work. Or so we thought.
We'd already made the decision to stay at the Hotel Monaco, where we saw the crew entering & leaving. Then Jon twitpic'd a photo of some chocolates the hotel had sent to his room. Silly, having the memory of an elephant (only person I know with a better memory than me), recognized the background of the room and with closer looking at the emblem on the placard on Jon's chocolate tray, we diagnosed that it wasn't the Hotel Monaco they were staying at, but the Brown Palace Hotel (one of the most historic hotels in the nation, btw). Well this certainly put a crimp in things! Two hotels. One reservation at the wrong hotel! What to do?!?
Book a room at the Brown Palace, of course. Hey..I just threw the idea out there, RiceChex was the one who ran with it!! Ok..so this MIGHT be proof of our insanity (I know, big word I don't understand)
So we laze around a bit Tuesday morning and Silly, being the perfect hostess, makes us breakfast while we get our stuff together. After a stop for a mani/pedi, some last minute shopping at Target and some lunch at Corner Bakery on the Mall downtown, we head to the Brown Palace to get checked in. We get the LAST available room (we rock...and we manage to resist making fun of the poor saps outside who didn't get rooms) and haul our stuff up to the 7th floor, all the while, anxious and jumpy that at any moment a stray New Kid may pop out of nowhere. We settle in and then have to leave again because my hair appointment is at 4. So, armed with just our purses, we head back downstairs. Rounding the corner toward the parking lot where we've left Silly's car, I stop mid-stride and smother a gasp.
Who's sitting there with his back to us while he texts on his BB and puffs on a ciggie?
Jonathan.
Fucking.
Knight.
(insert internal fan girl squeals here...my composure was actually completely maintained in person.)
Talk about popping up out of NOWHERE! ACK! I spin around and look at RiceChex...all I have to say is "Umm...hon??" and she's ready to fly back inside. I honestly can't confirm that she breathed at all during the following exchange. Nonchalantly, I call his name...
"Jonathan?"
He turns around all squinty eyed..."Heyyy"
"Can we bug you for a couple minutes?" I ask tenatively, but again...quite composed. You'd have been SO impressed!
He rubs his face and says "Awww, man, I just got up a couple minutes ago, can you give me a few?"
(Oh sweet Jesus, the man just rolled out of bed....PG thoughts. PG thoughts. PG thoughts!!!!)
"Sure..not a problem..thank you anyway!!" I manage to mutter before we casually stroll down the sidewalk and around the corner.
This is where the tears and the excitement set in. WE. JUST. TALKED. to JONATHAN EFFING KNIGHT! Mr. Elusive!! Mr. Can't Be Bothered! Mr. I'll Never Come Off This Damn Bus! from the fall and spring tours. OH. MY. GOD!
Breathe.
Breathing is good, here.
So, while we make a couple quick texts to friends, we try to regain the composure we just blew all to hell around the corner. A few minutes later, we come back around the corner, but he's gone.
Damn, he's good.
On a mission, we skip off to the car and head to my hair appointment, where we relay our story to at least two other people, who either A) are as excited as we are or B) fake it really well.
They Turned the Gay Light on for Us! (Part 2)
So, Todd, who I might add is a fucking genius, whips my hair into shape.
Before:
After:
Honestly, I didn't know what to expect when I went in, but WOW..I was *SO* pleased with the results!!! (btw..for those of you in the Denver area: www.hairbytodd.com CALL the boy and make your appointment. You won't be disappointed!! For those of you NOT in the Denver area...take a vacation - he's SO worth it!)
So anyway....we make plans with Todd for him to join us later for dinner & karaoke and we part ways. Back to the hotel we go. The Brown Palace, that is. We still haven't checked into the Moraco. We are fortunate enough to find a meter outside the front door and we plug some change into it before heading across the street.
Walking up, I recognize Jason outside having a smoke. For those who don't know, Jason is Donnie's manager/assistant. I met him in Chicago in June and he was there for my Team Wahlberg girls in Holmdel earlier in the month. He's the sweetest guy and someone I am in serious crush with. Lovelovelove Jason. So I stop by and say hi...we chat for a couple minutes about some of the other peeps he's managing and we head inside to get ready for dinner. A quick sweep of the lobby while we wait for the elevators determines that our boys are still MIA.
We head upstairs, change clothes, fix hair & makeup and we're off again!
Hamburger Mary's for dinner. FABULOUS place...they even turned the Gay Light on for us: (Hey..I'm not being discriminatory...the waiter said it first!)
RiceChex & Me in front of Marilyn on the patio at HM's:
RiceChex having sucked back a cocktail or two (Silly's mom is in the background):
We dodge random rain showers and finally retreat under a giant umbrella right before our meal comes. We manage to eat at least some of our enormous sandwiches (seriously...they're taller than our glasses!). Bloated and belchy, we head across the street to JR's, a karaoke bar.
Silly's friend Adam is spinning tunes, so we pick a table close to the booth and saddle up with some cocktails. My friends @honeymolasses & @tdotcaramel join us (they just flew in from Toronto that night for the concert). We chat a bit about our boys & tomorrow's show. It was cool to finally have met them after having talked on Twitter so long.
I finally get around to picking karaoke music...I choose a couple of songs from the book - a Wynonna tune that's good for a warm-up and my favorite Cher song ever, the Shoop Shoop song. Of course, it doesn't dawn on me until my name is called for the second song that me singing Cher in a gay bar is like getting up at the Apollo. I asked Silly about it. She said "You'll be fine...they won't boo you. Just don't fuck it up." Gee? Ya think?!! No pressure. I do manage not only to NOT get booed off the stage, I got applause after the song AND even a few whoops & hollers DURING the song. Guess I don't suck as bad as I thought! LOL
Bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter, BITTER! (Part 3)
The night progresses and we decide we've had enough fun for one night. Besides...there's stalking to do!!! We say our goodbyes and we head back to the hotel (again..the Brown Palace..not the Moraco...we never did check in. Let's be honest. Who's had time?!). We change from our super-cute dresses into more casual wear and head to the hotel lobby, which surprisingly, for housing an entire boy band, their families, the band and dancers, is entirely EMPTY. (There are a couple handfuls of groupies outside, but the lobby itself is bare.) I've got my laptop, RiceChex has her iTouch and Silly's armed with her phone. I have Jon's scrapbook that I worked on all weekend, Donnie's "Team Wahlberg" wifebeater and handkerchiefs that I've crafted up for the guys and the band for Houston (the final show of the tour on Saturday).
Shortly after getting downstairs, I see Jason come in and I decide he's probably the best bet for getting Donnie's gift to him, so I head over to say hi. I joke that he's following me and it's starting to creep me out. He just chuckles. I ask him if he can do me a favor and give Donnie my gift. He says he will...he takes the bag and he heads outside. Whew...one gift down!
We sit there forever...I'm tapping along happily on my laptop, RiceChex's tuned out with her ear buds in and Silly's playing on her phone. Every door that opens, every elevator ding, every movement that seems remotely out of place has my attention. Even Silly is laughing at my ability to continue typing on the laptop but glance at whatever happens around me without skipping a beat. (hey..we told her we have this stalking shit down to an art. She doesn't believe us.) I see Jason a couple more times coming and going. During one of his trips, I craftily run over to see what floor he gets off on. (Told you I'm good.) By now, it's after 2:30 and my enthusiasm is waning. Jordan's tweeted a dozen times about trying to work the AC in his room. Donnie's given his Yoda-like wisdom for the day and I'm just about over this whole thing.
Finally, the elevator dings and we hit paydirt.
The doors open and Jon steps out (wearing the same blue shirt & jeans he had on earlier in the day). I snap my fingers at RiceChex(who's snuggled down in the chair and doesn't catch the new development...slacker!) and I stand up, calling out his name as I grab his album and make my way toward the door. By the time I get around the glass partition, he's in the revolving door giving me a "WTF" look. I motion for him to come here and he smiles (gah!) and holds up his finger as if to say "gimme a minute." I nod and smile back.
I'm. A. Mess.
My feet are bouncing, I'm tapping my fingernails on the table, my stomach is in knots and I can't seem to calm down.
Five minutes go by.
Ten.
Fifteen.
Seriously?? Did the bastard find a back entrance or did the crazies outside kidnap him?!
Twenty.
You've GOT to be kidding me...
FINALLY...25 minutes later, I see the revolving doors kick on and he comes spinning in, focused on his phone. I call out his name again as I fly out of my chair and head toward the elevator, where he's headed with his album in my hands. He hops on the first empty elevator (both are sitting wide open waiting for passengers). The doors are closing as I reach them and I call out "Jon!! I have a gift for you!!" Of course, in my head, I picture his hand coming out to stop the elevator doors from closing, his magical smile appearing and him saying "Oh yeah? Well c'meah...whatcha got?" There's hugging...conversations about the pictures in the book and we spend a good twenty minutes discussing his frustrations about tour, how glad he is to be almost done with it. There, of course, are more hugs and pictures and our night ends on an amazing note.
To say that's NOT how it happened is an understatement.
No hand appears. There's no funny anecdotes being shared, no hugs, no pictures and certainly no amazing notes.
Just a sour one.
As the door closes, three thoughts instantly come to my mind:
1) Flinging the picture album in the elevator and hearing an "Oww!!" as the elevator dings closed.
2) Jumping on the other elevator and following Mr. Knight up to his floor and hopefully at least being able to give him the book without him calling Armando or Earl to throw me over the balcony first.
3) Standing there paralyzed, broken-hearted and seriously disgusted by my second blow-off from Jon Knight in less than 12 hours (and the sixth in less than a year).
You can guess which one I chose.
Dejected, I stand there, watching the arrow point to each floor as he ascends and heads off to his safe little world upstairs.
I won't cry.
I won't cry.
I won't cry.
*sniffle*
I turned around and walked slowly back to the table. Honestly, I don't remember what was said amongst the three of us at this point. I just know we were all feeling seriously dejected. Silly retired to bed a few minutes later and I finished up a conversation on Yahoo, relaying what just happened to @twistedmacsista, who'd been on pins & needles waiting for the conclusion to our great hotel escapades.
I check Twitter a few times to see if I missed anything. A goodnight from Jason, Jordan & Fish. Hmm...guess everybody's going to bed. We might as well...
*ding*
My head jerks up...
Fish!
Okay..so it's not Jon, but at this point, I think I'd have a hard time NOT throwing the photo album at him and telling him what a pompous ass he is (yes, I was bitter. You would be, too. Bite me). I sit there for a couple minutes and finally decide to make a move. Fuck it. I sat back before and got bupkiss. I won't miss an opportunity twice, dammit! I grab the handkerchiefs instinctively and I tell RiceChex I'll be right back. I head outside where Fish has gone.
He's just finishing up a cigarette when I come out. I joke with him about his goodnight tweet, "This doesn't look like bed to me, Fish!" He laughs and says "Nahh...gotta get my last puff in before I hit the hay." I asked him if he minded that I was out there. He said he didn't...that he was glad. He'd have another smoke since I was out there. (Sweet!)
We spend the next twenty minutes chatting about everything: the guys, the band, his music, the guys' kids, our kids (his youngest is DARLING, btw..he showed me pictures), where we live, the talk of the cruise (at this time, it hadn't been announced, remember?), and a thousand other things that escape me now. I relayed my Jon-heartache and he reassured me and told me not to take it personally. He's just tired and ready to go home. He asked me if we had M&G tomorrow. I told him we did and he said that he'll have his "game face" on tomorrow and be in a better mood. I really did end up feeling better after having talked to Fish. I remembered the handkerchiefs as we were getting ready to go back inside. I asked him if he'd mind giving them to the guys for me and told him they were for Houston since Jon had said he'll be a blubbering mess. He smiled as he read them (Simple white men's hankies that I ironed on the song lyric "We've been together for a long time, Baby...do you have to leave?" on them). He said to hang onto them and give them to them tomorrow at M&G so they'd know who they came from. I told him that I have four more inside for the band and asked him to take these for him and the rest of the guys and I'd just give them the ones I had upstairs. He told me thank you and talked for a couple minutes about how sweet the fans have been to them and how much it means to have our support. I did finally give him a hug goodnight and we went back inside.
RiceChex and I went upstairs shortly thereafter and while I didn't get much sleep (I had to burn pictures onto CD's for the M&G gifts), the sleep I got was magnificent. Damn housekeeping for waking me up at 7am!!
Breathing is Optional, Right? (Part 4)
Wednesday morning came much too early for me (thank you again, Housekeeping) - 7am to be exact. I finished working on the CD's and finally took a break to head to Starbucks. RiceChex was just waking up as I was heading out, so I got her coffee order, too. Silly was happily snuggled in bed & softly snoring, so I didn't bother her.
It was beautiful outside. Bright & sunny, a typical Denver day according to Silly. A few new crazies had planted themselves outside the hotel by this point (the last shift left when Jon went upstairs, I think), but I just ignored them and proceeded to SB, where I ordered two white chocolate mochas (yeah..it's not on the diet, but I was mourning the loss of Fantasy Jon. Cut me some slack.). I meandered back to the hotel, taking my time and enjoying the sunshine. (Have i mentioned how much I LOVE this city, yet? Seriously? I wish my friends and family lived in Colorado, because I'd TOTALLY move there. Year round nice weather? Uhh count me in, thanks!) I get back to the room just as RiceChex is getting out of the shower and Silly's waking up. We decide to make another SB trip. One coffee just is NOT enough when you've 3 hrs of sleep. We wander down there again and this time, I order a tea & get some fruit for breakfast. Jason comes in as we're in line. I smile and ask him if he managed to get any sleep. He says he did and his aviators hide any proof otherwise. We say goodbye and head outside to enjoy the weather.
We don't talk about last night.
It's best that way.
We head back to the hotel and waste some time before checking out and heading back to Silly's to get ready for M&G. Still so much to do! It finally hits us that THIS is it. We've counted down to this day for almost three months and it's finally here. Nerves set in and while Silly tries to help drown my anxieties with killer vodka (Absolute Los Angeles & Cranberry..YUMMO!), there's nothing to calm me down. I barely eat lunch and after we all scramble to get ready on time (yeah..we wasted a shitload of time), we leave the house a little after 3.
We call our Denver Peeps (Mel & the Esses: Melissa, Sara, Shannon & Shauna) to let them know we're on the way. Mel & Sara actually went to HS with Silly. They reconnected because of the guys reunion and we all decided to do our M&G together. Still short a Joe girl and two Danny girls, we hope for the best.
We arrive with plenty of time to spare...even more than we thought, actually, as some numbnuts at ILAA (I Love All Access, the company handling the M&G) sent the wrong time to be there. They actually didn't need us until 4:30, not the 3:45 they put on the damn confirmations. *grumblegrumblemiddlefingerblah* We met up with Mel and the Esses and ran into @honeymolasses & @tdotcaramel again. We chatted with them and a few other girls in line. The beautiful Denver sunshine proved to be hot as hell come late afternoon and we sweated off quite a bit of our makeup and much of our good mood. By the time 5pm rolled around (when we finally got through the line), we were no longer Loving All Access. We checked our cameras, headed inside and got our goodie bags. A bit of a pick-me-up was finding out we had FOURTH row tickets for the show. WOOT!
We picked up drinks (I still couldn't eat. My nerves were SHOT!) and waited for our letter group to be called. We looked all over for the three missing "R" girls in our group to see what we had to work out as far as sharing our boys went, but nobody reared until the last minute. As we'd worked it out, we were good to go on sharing equally. Melissa was a Joe girl, Shauna and I were signed on as Donnie girls. Kimmi & Shannon were Jordan girls and RiceChex & Sara were Jon's. I tell Jon's girls that I only want about 10 seconds with him. A quick hug (okay, so I'm not TOTALLY bitter) and a couple words, then I'll move onto the other guys. They reluctantly agree but warn me they'll be timing me and tapping their feet waiting. I know RiceChex isn't joking. lol
They finally call P, Q and R and we all gather in line. We'd hoped for 1 Joe girl and 2 Danny girls, but the three missing R's threw us for a loop. One was a Joe girl (that works!), one was a Jordan girl (uh oh) and the last was a Jon girl (SHIT...RiceChex does not share well with others). All too quickly, we're putting our purses & bags on the table and rushing past Earl into our M&G.
Breathing is optional, right?
And By God, there WILL be Hugging! (Part 5)
We round the corner and there are the guys.
(God, I'm having a hard time breathing, just remembering it all!!)
As promised, I beeline straight for Jon to get it out of the way. Twenty years in the making and my first words aren't "I love you" or "It's an honor to meet you, finally!"
No.
What comes pouring out of my mouth like word vomit?
SNARK! (Old habits die hard.)
I point to him, chuckling and tell him "You're really good at this avoidance thing!" As he's hugging me, he says "Avoidance? What ah you talkin' about?" (Don't give me a Boston "r," Jonathan. I'm mad at you.) We pull apart and I say "Last night. Hotel Lobby." I don't even stay long enough to hear his answer. (RiceChex later told me that he said something like "I don't remembah" but I sure don't know for sure.)
I move onto Danny, who's standing beside him. I think Danny's used to being the least popular of the group because the hug he gave me was super short and not very cuddly, as if he was releasing me to move onto my favorite NK. I probably confused him when I didn't move on right away but started talking to him, instead. I told him that he'd been a huge inspiration to me. He said "Me? Why's that?" I told him that I'd been doing HIIT every day for the last few weeks because he suggested it. His face lit UP! He took my hands and held them out and gave me the once-over as he asked me how I was doing on it. I told him with a proud smile, "Down 22lbs in about a month!" He said "Damn girl! You're lookin' gooooood!! Nice job, I'm proud of ya! Keep it up!" and he pulled me into a lung-crushing hug and gave me a high-five (His hands? They're huge!). He told me he's gonna start a blog about his HIIT and weight training pretty soon and to watch for it. I told him I'd look forward to it and gave him another hug and a kiss on the cheek. (For those not quick on the draw....Danny just stole me from Donnie.)
Jordan's stepped back to get a drink real quick, so I point to my wrist and say "Time's a tickin'...c'mere, Jordan! I need a hug!" He laughs and gives me a quick hug and before I know it, Donnie's got his arm around me and he's spinning me around for pictures. I remember leaning my head against him for the first picture, then cracking up when he hollered "TAINTS!" before the second one. When they were done, he cupped my face in his hands and kissed my cheek. This is me, completely breathless...I got my Paris Hotel moment!!!! (Ok..maybe I wasn't COMPLETELY stolen away yet).
I asked him real quick if he'd gotten the Team Wahlberg wife beater last night. He said "Uhh...no." I said "Ohh...okay, well, I gave it to Jason in the hotel last night." He said "I'll get it, now!" I grinned and he said "Well, there's Jason..ask him." So I did. Jason said that he'd put it on the bus right after I gave it to him." Donnie said "Yep. I'll get it.
Armando starts pushing us along, but I'm not leaving without a Joe hug....my ONLY goal was to get hugs from ALL five guys (even if I was pissed at one of them). I wait patiently for the few seconds it takes to get my last and final hug from Joe. I kiss his cheek and tell him congratulations on the new baby and then start walking away. I remember the 5 Brothers tshirt and turn around real quick to ask him about it.
"Joe..you got the 5 Brothers tshirt, right?" He responds with a smile "Naw, but I'll get it." And I quickly correct him.."Noooo...the one my friend Michele gave you in Chicago at the book drive." He looks confused for a minute, then quickly smiles "Ohhh..the one with the five of us on it and you all?" pointing to his chest as he describes it." I managed to reply, "Yeah..that one." He says "Yep!! I love it!! Thank you!" He winks and gives me his trademark head twitch.
I.
Am.
Dead.
I couldn't tell you how long we were in our M&G. All I know is that I had exactly the right amount of time to say what I wanted to say, get hugs from all five guys and have one of them tell me he was proud of me (among other things).
So being dead? It's really ok with me at this point.
Thanks for the Heart-On, Jon! (Part 6)
We regroup outside and shriek a little. We relay all of our personal conversations in the M&G to each other and shriek some more. We mosy around for a bit, waiting for ILAA to bring us our cameras back. After a long delay (and at least one panic attack), they finally bring them out and we can go inside the concert.
Our seats? Yeah, they're pretty fantastic.
I'll spare you the song-by-song detail of the show, but the highlights were E-dub singing Step 5, the Celtic Green "Forever" hearts during "I'll Be Loving You Forever," Joe forgetting the words to "Single," Jon giving Danny a "Heart-On," RiceChex's reaction to "Popsicle," Silly's jerky video from Hangin' Tough when the pyro startled her (gigglesnort), and my favorite, Donnie scolding @honeymolasses during Hangin' Tough ("Sharon, put your hands up!"). They guys had a blast and joked around the whole night. It was a FUN show to be at., but like everything fun, it ended way too soon.
My Denver concert pics - save off what you want, just please don't remove the watermark and make sure to give credit where it's due, please?
We made our way to the car and headed home. We changed our clothes, talked about every detail of the day again and again while we uploaded pics & video to our computers and filled our bellies with leftover pot roast from the night before. I think it was somewhere around 4am before we crashed.
The next morning, RiceChex and I got up and around so we could shower, pack and get on the road. We bid bittersweet goodbyes to Silly and headed for Dallas, where we'd meet up with Michele the next morning.
The road trip itself was long and I'm convinced that Texas is *NOT* the largest state in the Union. It's actually Kansas. Holy crikies, have you ever driven through that God-forsaken no-man's-land?! It goes on FOR. EVER! In all seriousness, I think we were in Kansas for nine hours. It was hell. Or so we thought. That's when we got to Oklahoma City and ran into THREE HOURS of a stagnant thunderstorm all the way to Dallas. The constant lightning was giving RiceChex a headache and me? I was just sick of being in the car at that point.
We *finally* rolled into Dallas about 4am. Our hotel was pretty easy to find and was in the heart of downtown. Quaint little place, felt very homey. Bright and colorful and quite the oasis in that crapfest weather we had on the way into town. It didn't take us long to get wound down and asleep.
God Bless Nordstroms (Part 7)
My phone started going off far too early with text alerts - gotta love Twitter. I caught up on the last four hours with one eye open, plotting the death of the sunlight that beams through the gaps in the curtains of our hotel room. I read Tweets from Michele and saw that she wasn't far from arriving. I laid around for the next hour trying to gather the motivation to get up.
Michele got there and we managed to get around so we can hit the mall. RiceChex accidentally left her supercool flip flops at the Brown Palace and since we're not about to drive 15 hours back to get them, we decided to hit the mall instead. And hit it, we did!
Nordstrom's, Carolina Herrera, Tiffany, Anthropologie....we did, however, skip Louis Vuitton, Ed Hardy & Versace. Much to the chagrin of economists, though, we didn't actually buy much. RiceChex replaced her flip-flops at Nordie's, we grabbed some lunch at the food court then we got serious about shopping. RiceChex got a couple pairs of jeans at Anthro and I found a super cute top, but Michele managed to walk away empty-handed, despite having molested "Joe's See-Through Sweater" at the Gap and the Joe brand jeans at Anthro (giggle). We went back to the hotel to shower & get ready for dinner and the concert.
We spiffed ourselves up and made sure we had cameras, signs and tickets before we headed downstairs. After a brief stop at the front desk for directions, we made our way to Porta di Roma, the most AMAZING Italian restaurant. We gorged on huge salads and giant bowls of pasta before rolling ourselves back to the car to head to the arena.
I would like to state that Hell itself cannot POSSIBLY be hotter or more humid than Dallas in July. How we didn't melt between the hotel and the venue is completely beyond me.
RiceChex, me & Michele
We were stuck waiting outside for a bit and it felt strange to actually have to wait in line with everybody else. Up until that point, we'd either gotten to the arenas at 9am and bus-stalked all day or we'd gotten there just in time to go in (either for regular seats or VIP). We played some NK trivia with some girls in line and anxiously waited the 3o minutes it took before we could go in.
Our seats?
Fucking amazing.
The view from my seat. Yes..that's center stage.
The view of everybody else behind us.
And of course, they didn't let us down. Full of energy and excitement, they turned on the charm, wit and spunk. This show was *the* best show I'd been to out of all of them. It helped being so close - we were able to interact with them and I spent much of the show catching their glances and grins. Joe, Donnie & Jordan flirted throughout the night and I even got Jon laughing toward the end of the show. I can only hope I get that experience again because it was amazing.
Pics from the Dallas Concert
(As always, please don't remove watermark and give credit where it's due. Thank you!)
When the show was over, we raced to the car so we could get to GhostBar for the After-Party. Of course, because Murphy couldn't be left out, his law dictated our delay when there was an accident on the freeway. It took us twice as long to get to the bar than it should have. The bonus: this did offer us the ability to change our clothes, put on makeup and fix our hair...in the car, of course. (All those years in band & cheerleading sure paid off for in-vehicle-wardrobe-changes!) Even with the delay, we still managed to beat the guys to the club. WOOT!
THIS is what all the fuss is about? Seriously?(Part 8)
GhostBar had a line outside, which we were anticipating, but we let Michele out while we went to get valet. RiceChex & I went inside real quick at the W to change, then we joined Michele. It wasn't long before we were on our way inside. We had to wait a little bit for the elevator. It seemed weird to have to ride an elevator to a club. You can tell we're from PoDunk, USA.
Pics from the GhostBar afterparty
The club was pretty busy already, but when the Donnie, Joe & Danny got there moments later, it absolutely EXPLODED with people. It was like everybody followed the guys from the show or something. We lost Michele for a little while, who'd made her way toward the VIP ropes. We caught up a little while later and stood a few people behind her, snapping pictures into the Fishbowl that was VIP. I couldn't get many decent ones, but it was nice being that close to them. We hoped for the best, but knew we'd probably never see the other side of those ropes.
Donnie & Joe made their way to the DJ booth and even sang a couple of songs, which was cool. I shot a few pics and revived RiceChex after she saw Joe in the aviator shades he's taken such a liking to. It was pure craziness in that club.
After having had a drink spilled into my purse, RiceChex and I made our way to the back bar to rehydrate. It was pure insanity. I sucked back about six waters before I was finally not stabby anymore. About that time, Ethan (their bass player) came by and talked to me for a couple brief moments.
After that point, we went out on the balcony because we wanted to see these glass floors Jon had tweeted about the night before, but sadly, the floor on the public balcony wasn't glass. It was concrete. The balcony itself was all glass..and that part was pretty awesome. I took a few pictures, then we went back inside. We texted Michele that we had retreated to the back of the bar to wait for her. A few moments later, the bouncers announced the bar was closing and that was it.I did try to get closer to Donnie as he passed by, but to no avail.
Michele, RiceChex & I waited for the elevator (have you ever seen 300 people try to file out of a club at the same time?!) and eventually made our way outside. A fun little bonus was seeing see Jesse Metcalf (Desperate Housewives) and his date entering the Ghost Bar as we were waiting for valet.
We went back to the hotel, changed into PJ's and decided to upload & go through pictures, then watched the webcast of the Dallas show. I'd bought it earlier in the week because I wanted to see it when we got "home." RiceChex lasted about 20 mins before she turned in. Michele and I both ended up falling asleep watching it, turning in at somewhere close to 5am.
The after-party was an experience I'll never forget, but one I'm not keen on repeating anytime soon.
The Conclusion of the Tits & Wits Tour (Part 9)
We reluctantly dragged out of bed late morning and pulled our stuff together. RiceChex and I had a three hour drive ahead of us to get to Houston and Michele had to catch a flight home. We said our goodbyes & hit the road around noon.
Rice Chex and I grabbed lunch at Whattaburger and then stopped later at Starbucks (hey..it *had* to be done). The trip didn't take long and we were in Houston before we knew it. We tracked down the arena and double-checked with the box office to see if there were any seats that were closer, but there weren't. This show was gonna be huge.
We decided to go do some shopping and maybe grab some supper before the show. There was a little shopping center close to the arena called "The Woodlands" so we went there, perused Borders (or was it Barnes & Noble? I can't remember now.) for a bit. From there, we headed to some other super-cute shops and prayed the rain clouds on the western horizon would blow past us.
They didn't.
Fortunately, we'd already disappeared inside Jasper's for supper when the brunt of the storm hit. Ahh, Jasper's. What a WONDERFULLY splendid place to eat! I got the ribs (award-winning, I might add), RiceChex got the salmon. We also got calimari for our appetizer and creme brulee for dessert. It was quite possibly the most magnificent meal I've EVER had. HIGHLY recommend it to anyone going to Texas (they've got other locations).
The rain finally died off about the time we finished our meal, so we headed to the car to drop off packages and then head to the arena. Fortunately, the wicked bad storms killed the humidity that had left us both frizzy and sweaty and it was borderline chilly! Texas? July? And we're cold?? And I thought the weather in Iowa was weird.
Anyway....we make our way to our seats.
Clear. The hell over to the right and NOWHERE near the front of the arena, where we've been the last several shows. I'm *NOT* ok with these seats. Neither of us are. But what can ya do. There wasn't anything closer. At least we were there.
When Jabbas came on, I spied the back-up dancers hanging out on the side of the arena watching them. I jumped on the opportunity and asked them if they'd pose for a picture with me. They were all very willing (and I'll tell you now, I wanted to stuff them all in my pocket and take them home to fatten them up - they're SO damn skinny!!) and I got a great picture with them.
I also managed to pin Chris (their drummer) down in the concession area and got a self portrait with him. He's such a sweetie. Love that boy! :)
The concert.....ahh, the concert.
I started crying the minute "Close to You" started in. I promptly lost my contact as a result. So, I watched the entire concert with my right eye (Yeah, the headache was unavoidable.) but it's all good. Almost every song brought tears to my eyes...not knowing when we'd do this again was weighing heavily on our minds, to say the least. It was nice to sit back and just enjoy the show, though. I took fewer pictures than I'd taken at the other shows, so I was able to just take it all in more.
There were some great moments - Cover Girl when Kentucky, Crunchy Kevin & other stage hands sexually assaulted Donnie....Seven Naked Ninjas during Donnie's monologue...Joe coming out in a cape during Tonight, then ripping his shirt open at the end of the song. Crazy stuff, I tell ya!
Lil tip, Princess...I mean seriously? If you're going to go through the work of making a sign, sneaking it into the arena and blocking my view the ENTIRE show, the least you could've done was check your spelling. Jus' sayin.
Uneducated BlockHead aside, the show was pretty fantastic. It was heart-wrenching, though, to see our boys start crying on stage. Joe teared up during "Please, don't go girl" and I thought I was gonna die. But "I'll Be Loving You" was torture. Battery-operated tea-lights lit the arena and every single man on that stage was brought to tears. Jon even had to run off stage to collect himself. The standing ovation was incredible. (Not my video)
RiceChex and I pretty much stayed in tears throughout the rest of the show. We laughed, too, but mostly, we cried. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else that night, though. We also made the decision for any and all future tours, regardless of where the show is, we will be there.
Pictures from Houston (Reminder, please feel free to save off what you want, just give credit where it's due and don't remove my watermark. Thanks!)
When the show ended, RiceChex and I started the long trek home. We made pit stops at several points along the way, our favorite being Buc-ee's - this MASSIVE redneck mecca where their selling points were "The Cleanest Bathrooms in Texas" (they really were!) and something about being the Beaver Nugget Capital of Texas, which is ironic because until I went to Texas, I didn't even realize what a beaver nugget was, much less that IOWA might have one of these capitals. Hmm.
Armed with a bag of beaver nuggets, fresh sodas & some other snacks, we made our way home, pulling in around 6pm on Sunday. Our trip had come to an end.
Now, two months later, we're finally in an emotional spot to be able to watch the videos from the Houston show and not burst into tears (okay, well, we're not sobbing loud enough to attract our neighbors' attention anymore, at least). We've got amazing memories and thousands of pictures and videos (which reminds me...RiceChex, we need to get our videos from whatshername!) to commemorate this trip, which we affectionately nicknamed the "Tits & Wits Tour."
Top 10 Lessons Learned on the Tits & Wits Tour
1. Always double-check your hotel room for belongings (such as killer leather flip-flops) you might have left behind.
2. The license plate game goes on long after the trip has ended.
3. Take time to stop at quirky convenience stores, especially if they claim to have the cleanest bathrooms in the state.
4. Don't drink three giant glasses of tea before you leave on a 12 hr road trip.
5. Make sure to charge your phone battery, have a car charger AND invest in a back-up battery so you don't Tweet yourself into a dead zone too early in the trip.
6. Ogallala, Nebraska is, by far, the hickest town in the nation. I felt smarter upon leaving the city limits.
7. Always find out *exactly* where the group is staying so you don't end up with hotel reservations at more than one hotel per night.
8. By "Jon's Law" you can technically say you slept with a New Kid if you stay at the same hotel.
9. Screaming "SIT DOWN!" at the nutcase in front of you when she's standing on her chair during Jordan's solo, does NOT a clean video make.
10. Spending time with your best friends really IS what the trip is all about - don't squander a moment worrying about all this other shit. You can never get those moments back. Cherish them.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
NYC with NKOTB (or "Shut up! It's done, isn't it?!")
NYC - Part 1 (or "What the fuck was I thinking?!")
NYC - Part 2 (or "I can't friggin' believe I'm actually DOING this!!")
NYC - Part 3 (or "We're all gonna die in a fiery hell!")
NYC - Part 4 (or "Why the hell do they call this the Garden State?")
NYC - Part 5 (or "Panic Attack, party of one?")
It set the mood, according to Sprinkles.
(She's really not as sweet n' innocent as she claims, I'm thinkin!)
Sprinkles & Glennie
Jaceypants
My first view of Manhattan, btw.
The light at the end of the tunnel.
NYC - Part 6 (or "Please don't kill me in my sleep for line jumping!")
Before long, I was laughing at myself and we were circling the blocks (blinders, baby....blinders. I didn't look ANYWHERE but forward...and UP) until we arrived near Rockefeller Plaza. I say "near" instead of "at" because where we needed to be wasn't really "at" the Plaza. It was on the street about a half a block in the other direction. There were already probably 150 people in line or so (Glennie had kept track via cell with the girls who were waitin' in line for us. Thank God for cell phones!) and from what my friend Heidi'd said, the natives were growing restless with line jumpers. Eeek. I *hate* causing conflict (Shut up. I do.)
Sprinkles pulled up to where our girl Clarita was waiting and Jacey and I jumped out. Horns fired off in impatience as my ass hauled from the backseat, but I managed to NOT flip off anyone in retaliation (yay me!). We nonchalantly walked over and pretended to converse with 'rita until the security guy came over and told us to get in line or move along. So what were we supposed to do? Line jump, of course. (The Brooklyn girls behind us were NOT happy, though I was surprised to hear more guff from their 6 yr old than the adults with her.)
That's our 'rita to the left of the parking meter in the forefront.
A sculpture at Rockefeller Plaza
The flags surrounding Rockefeller Plaza
The view of Rockefeller Plaza from NBC Studios
I didn't notice until later that mine was the only drink with a pineapple chunk. *snort*
Me with Glennie to the left and Clarita on the right.
Jaceypants & Sprinkles - you can see we're not drunk..just a little sleep-deprived, maybe.
Jaceypants thinkin' she's gonna take a pic of me. LOL
NYC Part 7 (or "I've seen CATS smaller than that sucker!")
Now keep in mind, people were stopping alllllll night long asking us questions about who we were waiting for...what we were doing, etc. After a while we just started fucking with people. "Metallica!" "Fleetwood Mac!" "Grateful Dead" were common responses by those around us. (We're nothing if not a creative bunch!) We got a variety of responses when we told them the truth, though: "Didn't they break up?" "Wow, I didn't know they were still together." "Ha! Have fun with that." And a variety of nasal-based noises were added by those who thought we were ridiculous. At one point, an obvious New Yawker (the accent, hello?!) stopped long enough to carry on a conversation with us and the Brooklyn girls. He was actually pretty entertaining, choosing favorites in the group - tormented by Miss Thang when he picked HER favorite...then ridiculed again for picking the "ugliest" of the group.
A pic Boilerfan discretely shot with her BB of our New Yawkah.
Poor Anthony Gambino just couldn't win. No. I'm not making that up. Nor am I making up the fact that he flirted shamelessly with me. Figures....if any of us could pick up a NY Native (not to mention one with a crime family name, no less), it would be me. All in all, it really wasn't too bad a night, despite the no sleep thing. Oh, and the roach who was bigger than most housecats who decided to pay us a couple visits.
*shudder*
At some point, Mr Dizny (a bucket of fun, I might add!) joined us and he took the Cali girls back to their hotel to get cleaned up, changed and recharged (not just battery-speaking) before the show. Shortly thereafter, our VIP girls showed up again, since sleep wasn't had. Apparently whether you're literally laying on the streets of NYC or laying on Egyptian cotton sheets in a $200 a night hotel room a few blocks away, sleep is overrated where NKOTB are concerned. Of course, to their defense, they *were* staying at the same hotel as the guys. I don't know I could've slept either, truth be told. I was content to rest my legs by sprawling out beneath the street light for about an hour somewhere around 3am.
With one final trip to the McD's bathroom (and no. I didn't buy anything this time. I'm still pissed about that Coke, Mayor McCheese!), we were set for the rest of the night/morning...Jesus is that REALLY the sun coming up?! By now, the VIPs have begun lining up on the OTHER side of the Plaza and our spot in line has moved up CONSIDERABLY. The tension with the Brooklyn girls has now diminished and we've actually made friends with them (told you so). Despite no sleep, we have actually done quite well and apparently reached our second (third? fourth?) wind. At this point, we are ready for the show. Of course, we're HOURS away, according to Jordan's tweet last night stating the weren't performing until 8:45. Uggh.
Fortunately, just as I start getting impatient, my Twitter friend, Shayminn (Ooh! Shameless plug!! http://www.myspace.com/shaymin) had arrived after driving up from Boston. Now...my heart belongs to NKOTB and my husband (not necessarily in that order)...but I tell you what, Shayminn gives some DAMN good hugs! I didn't think he was gonna let me go! (Not to mention he smells SUPAH good!) It was really cool getting to meet him and talk to him in person considering how much we've chatted on Twitter. Of course, Mister Security Guard comes by and tells him to move along, so he went to get his place in line...which has quickly filled back up to where it was before they split out the VIPs. I'm pretty surprised at how many people actually got there so close to showtime. While there were quite a few people in front of us in line, I was very grateful to have gotten there when we did. I wouldn't want to be stuck so far in the back like these slackers were!
NYC Part 8 (or I slept on the pavement and here I am, hugging a guy in an Armani suit)
There they are.
Holy crap!
(insert peals of fangirl screams)
Ooh..wait. Where are they going?
Damn!!
VIP line!
This sucks. Oh well...not like I expected any FaceTime anyway, right?
Wait. Are those lights coming closer?
(more peals of fangirl screams)
OMG! They are coming over here!!!
I slept on the street last night. Well, I didn't even sleep. I laid on the street last night. Dirty. Filthy. Concrete. That was after I spent 12 hours traveling from Iowa to New York. I look like death. I probably smell like it, too and what's happening? The five hottest men on the planet are making their way toward me right now. This is like getting into a car accident without having on clean underwear.
I'm DYING here!!!
And there. is. Jordan.
He gets to where we're at and stops. Starts talking to us like we're long-lost friends. "So...who's goin' to Jones Beach??" I shake my head and frown..."Nah...I'm from Iowa...it's just not a possibility for me."
"Iowa, huh? Wow..that's a long ways!" he says.
The girls behind us say (in their thick Brooklyn accents, I might add) "We'd love to, but we can't afford tickets for all three of us." He turns around, motions to his bodyguard and spins back around..."KA-BAM! You're goin' to JONES BEACH!" They're *SO* excited!! I'm happy for them, too. Bummed, obviously that I won't be going, but super excited for them.
I ask Jordan.."Can I get a hug since I'm not going to Jones Beach?"
He answers, "Absolutely!! C'meah!" (DYING!! GAH!)
And he hugs me....and rubs my back a little bit while he squeezes. I've never been a Jordan girl. EVER. He's got a great body and the boy can sing and dance, but he's just never tripped my trigger. But I have to say...he definitely pled his case via that hug. WOW!
Mmm. Oooh..who's next?
OOH!! JOE.
Ol' Blue Eyes!
Evil Genius...Hottie MacBooty Tractah.
I could be in trouble here.
Wait. I survived the MacStare in Des Moines, didn't I? Yes! I did! I can do it agai......*gasp*
FYI? There is NO surviving THAT.
Now..keep in mind, this boy has been sending TwitPics of himself in BED...in his underwear sitting poolside....close-ups of his wonky eyebrows while giving us that MacStare.I had FULLY intended to chew him out for trying to sway me from Team Wahlberg. But he looked at me and I lost all function in my brain. Somehow I was able to mutter "Can I get a picture with you, Joe?" To which he replied, "Of couahse!" and put his arm around me.
And what happens? Somebody distracts Joe and somebody walks DIRECTLY between us and the camera. Grr! (But that is TOTALLY his arm around me!! GAH!!) He squeezes my shoulder and hugs me in to his side. I melt.
le sigh.
There he goes..
I keep watching for Jon and Donnie, but Jon's long since disappeared and since the cops & security have yelled at us several times to back up, I can't blame him. I wouldn't want to be in that chaos with just a 'caution' tape blocking me from certain sexual assault either. Donnie, of course, is snagged up by some "women of questionable reptuation," shall we say? and makes it no further down the line. He's such a man, like that. Lucky for him, I love him. Sooner than we realize, the guys are on their way back for sound check.
I seriously just hugged a guy in a suit that probably cost more than I make in a year and I look like *THIS?!* I am in the dictionary next to "Murphy's Law."
NYC Part 9 (or "If only I weren't a Pygmie!")
And look! Another little beauty!!
However...the next sixgazillion pictures are either this:
or this:
I do, however manage to get a few blurry shots of sound check.
I won't bore you with the details of the dumbasses next to us (mind you, in the MIDDLE of the crowd) shouting "Bring it to the BACK!" every chance they got whenever anybody up front got anything (posters, styrofoam microphones, leis, Jabbawockeez scarves..or GOD Forbid, FaceTime!). I'll also spare you the insignificant things like how short Meredith Viera really is or how perky Hota Kotb is (or how if you added an N to her last name, she'd be Hota NKOTB..lol).
Sound check ended with a stare down.
I made the first strike, but as I've been told, it went in for the kill as the show went live. (If anybody has footage, I'd LOVE to see it!)
NYC Part 10 (or "OMG, they're wearing JABB masks!!")
Within a couple hours from the time we entered the plaza, it was all over. Eight hours travel time, almost twelve hours on the street....and it was over. You'd think I'd be sad, but really? I was floating SO high, I couldn't stop smiling.
BoilerFan, Dizny and I almost instantly ran into Kavi as we were exiting the Plaza and then she ran into a couple girls she was supposed to meet too, so we headed to Dean & Deluca's for a drink (I was TOTALLY parched!!) and a cupcake.
Some other footage:
NYC Part 11 (or "A Plan of Attack")
Dean & DeLuca's was surprisingly not very busy considering it was right on the Plaza, but it did take us a few minutes to get through the line. A water, a tea and a chocolate cupcake with sprinkles for me, please? BoilerFan will take Red Velvet and Kavi'll have a "Hostess" cupcake.
BoilerFan, Dizny, me, Kavi and her two girls all sat down to relax and plot our day out a little bit. Kavi's girls needed to head to Port Authority and meet another friend...BoilerFan & Dizny wanted to head back to the hotel and rest a little bit. I *had* to tackle the city head-on as soon as possible or I wouldn't get to see a thing. Kavi was a free agent and up for whatever and since she'd been to NYC before, I kidnapped her and dragged her with me. (Okay, she TOTALLY volunteered and that woman deserves a medal for bravery!) First stop would be my Jersey girls' hotel to pick up my luggage, then to the Hyatt where Heidi & the Ohio RoadDawgs were staying (and where I'd stay that night) so I could get cleaned up a little (Me? Sweaty. Mess.). From there, we'd meet up with BoilerFan & Dizny again for a late lunch and off to see the rest of the sights of NYC.
So Kavi and I head toward Times Square armed with a map and the determination to find the hotel without getting lost. We talked the whole time, really developing a great camaraderie. As we wandered, we began to joke "Wouldn't it be funny if we got to the hotel and the guys were there??" Gah..what a happy thought! Then, of course, I thought about how wretched I still looked and secretly wished I could get a shower that very second...because it really WOULD be my luck to run into them looking like this.
A couple of brief "whoops...you're right, it's that way"s we finally spy the hotel. YAY!! I'm one stop away from a shower!!
What the.....
I know that face. And wherever HE is....THEY are.
Told you it was just my luck.
NYC - Part 12 (or "I will not swallow my tongue. I will not swallow my tongue. I will not swallow my tongue.")
"OH YEAH!!!! I remember! It's good to finally meet you!" I respond..and my first thought?? *I* was recognized in NYC for my photography. Yes, apparently I AM that unashamedly vain. LOL
So anyway...we go on about our way...and Clarita calls us to let us know they're inside the lobby and to come on in. So we part the crowd and in we stroll. (Yes, apparently we DO own the place, thank you!) My Jersey girls are perched on some chairs off to the right and I beeline for my bag that has deoderant and perfume..I also freshen up with a powder & a fresh coat of lipstick. Yes, right there in the hotel lobby. I don't have TIME to find a bathroom. My man is coming down soon!
OOOH! Gum...MUST. Find. GUM! Whew.
So we're chillin'....taking some pics with one another. Chatting about how Sprinkles MUST sit in the chair and NOT go to Donnie (Hubby's only rule...she CAN'T seek HIM out). Too funny! So, she's sans her "Team Wahlberg" shirt and hunkered down in the chair farthest from the center of the lobby like a good girl. They proceed to tell us that Donnie came out into the crowd at the Today show and made a beeline for Glennie when he saw her "Team Wahlberg" shirt. He commented on the shirts and gave everybody hugs...and proceeded to record her on his little video camera thing. When he asked her to spell her name, she couldn't remember how!! LOL (I wouldn't have either, babe..no worries!) She asked what he was recording for...and he said "Well...I don't have any tickets on me, so I'm getting your name & address so I can add you to the Will Call list. You're goin' to Jones Beach, baby!" (I think it was at this point that she lost her mind. LOL) All four of my Jersey girls got Jones Beach tickets...so excited for them!!!
Here's me & Kavi:
We wait another 20 minutes or so and sure enough, our boy's true to his word....
There's Donnie. Fuckin'. Wahlberg.
I actually do QUITE well at waiting my turn and being patient for him to get to us. I can see, though, that he's so tired...and all he really wants to do. Why am I standing here..taking up another two minutes of his time?? Because if it isn't me, it'll be some other fan. And besides...how can you pass that face up?? He took a picture with Kavi by herself....then he got all of us girls from "Team Wahlberg" lined up and we took a group shot. The first of which wasn't that great of us girls because we were trying to tell Kavi how to use my camera...but hey, DEW looked good!
We get things figured out and she takes another one. Awww...perfect!
He looked around, counted us and said "wait....we're missing one..." and Glennie explained Sprinkles' "rule" about the chair. So what does our boy, do?? Parts through the crowd, strolls over to the chair and gives that well-behaved woman a hug and a kiss on the cheek! Couldn't you just DIE???? Then he says to Glennie "So we need what...(counting)...5 tickets for Jones Beach? They'll be at Will Call for you, ladies!"
Wait. WHAT?? Did he just invite ME to join the rest of the girls at Jones Beach??!!!! Processing this thought as he looks right at me...(GAH!) My mind clicks into gear and I hand him something that I'd made for him and forgot to give him in DSM (Sorry, girls...some things are just NOT for public viewing!)...he grins, tucks it in his front pocket and says "Thank you!!" He gives me a hug and kisses my cheek...and says "I gotta go see my boys, baby." (double GAH!!) And off he went.
It's at this point in time that I tear up. Donnie Wahlberg Face Time? TWICE in one LIFE?? Are you kidding? This sort of thing doesn't happen to me! Bless JaceyPants...she tells me to sit down so I can get my wits about me(keep in mind, I'm already on edge emotionally because I literally haven't slept in over 36 hours). I'm in awe of everything that's happened today and I can hardly wrap my mind around it all. I finally catch my breath again and I watch Donnie with his fans...which is one of the most amazing things to see. He's one of the most devoted celebrities...exhausted, rushed and in-high-demand and he still stops for every single person in the line...takes pictures, gives hugs. He's SO there for us. It's really no wonder why he never sleeps - he's too busy hugging and kissing and taking pictures and signing autographs and making our days memorable. I know there are many who aren't fans of NKOTB, and that's fine. We're all entitled to our opinions. But you do have to respect a man who's there for his fans like that. *sniffle*
I somehow gather myself and notice that Fish, the guy's guitarist is standing over by the door with his wife. Glennie's talking to him and I decide to join them. I waited my turn and told him how much I appreciate the hard work he does for the guys and how lucky they are to have such talented musicians behind them every night. I ask him for a pic, to which he cheerfully obliges. I even got a hug. Fish is a total sweetheart...in fact, they all really are.
NYC - Part 13 (or "Not like you'll read the rest anyway!")
NYC - Part 14 (or "You didn't REALLY think that was the last one, did you?")
Glennie:
Girl...you just crazy! You teach me something new every day and I wish we'd had more time together to laugh and play. I swear we were separated at birth...you know, if I was a black woman from Jerze. HA! Seriously though, you bring a smile to my face every time I talk to you and I love you for it.
JaceyPants:
LET's GET THIS! For never really having spoke before I met you in the bowels of hell (aka Newark Airport), I'm so grateful for our friendship! I can't thank you enough for taking such good care of me and making sure I wasn't going to drop from exhaustion or Wahlbergization. You're a gem, babe!! Can't WAIT to see you again!
Clarita:
For taking pity on this poor, clueless white girl from the Midwest, you deserve riches beyond what this world will give you. Making sure I knew where I was going and even how much to tip a cabbie for a $5 taxi ride, you're my NY Go-To girl! God bless you, darlin!!
Kavi:
I've never been able to forge friendships with women easily. Throw in cultural and educational differences such as the ones between us and it's damn near impossible, but after having spent the day with you seeing what New York had to show me, I consider you so much more than a friend to me. You were so patient and as excited as I was to do the amazing things we did. I'm brought to tears by your kindness and friendship. You...are.....priceless.
BoilerFan:
For late night laughs, putting up with my crazy sense of humor and a thousand other things I know I do that probably made you wanna run BACK to California, I thank you. You kept me company, kept me safe, kept me fed and kept me in stitches. If I could choose a sister, you'd be right there...faceless and all. LOL! Thank you so much for everything. Let's do this again!
Heidi & Summer:
You crazy Cleveland Girls!! I give you grief and tease you unmercifully for your lack of Face Time and your ga-ga-ness with your love for the guys, but when it boils down to it, I am so envious of your relationship. To be able to share something like this with a real sister would be the only thing to make this experience better. Thank you for allowing me a glimpse into your lives (laughs, fights and all) and letting me share in this with you. Cleveland ROCKS!
For all the women I shared moments with while in that incredible city, I thank you. Each of you touched me in some small way and I will be forever different because of your impact. When Joe wrote "5 Brothers and a Million Sisters," he was talking about us. There's just no other way to describe it. I love each of you from the very bottom of my heart and I will never forget you regardless of where this journey takes us or when it ends.
But no matter what, we'll always have 48th & Rockefeller.
My trip to NYC was something that completely just kinda came together on its own. I say this because of all the places I've said I wanted to visit, New York City wasn't at the top of the list. Hell, it didn't even really make the top ten. I'd always wanted to be in Times Square on New Year's Eve, but that didn't really count as a visit in my book.
So when my NKOTB concerts were over with in early April, I made the comment to some friends "I need another show before summer." I'd heard early on that the guys were going to do the Today Show the first part of May and I knew my girls, Sprinkles & Glennie were planning on going, but I also knew there was just NO way it was an option for me. Aside from the murder factor from my husband, there was the sheer cost of it. Flight, hotel, cab/bus/subway fare, food, etc....there was just *no* way. It wasn't even anything I'd considered. Would it be fun? Of course, but so would the cruise and I wasn't going to do that either. New York wasn't even remotely a blip on my radar.
And then Donnie starts in with his Tweets:
Did I *really* stand a chance? I mean, REALLY? I might as well be Catholic for the guilt I feel sometimes. Besides, Jordan did say please.
Before I knew it, I was convincing my husband that this was a grand idea (I wasn't yet convinced myself, btw....I deserve an OSCAR for my performance in "Desperate Housewife in Need of New Kids") and by week's end, I had e-tickets for the plane and a tentative plan for my trip. Leave Thursday, May 7th, fly into Newark, come home Sunday, May 10th. Flight #....
WAIT.
What the HELL am I doing??!
I hate crowds. My body literally shuts down in new situations. Public transportation? What's that?? I don't ride the bus for God's sake! What in urban HELL was I thinking when I decided I could handle the NYC subway?? Panic attacks, while not all that prevalent in my everyday life, DO still happen. I've lost my mind. That's it! I've lost my ever. Lovin'. Mind.
Shit!
Breathe, Melanie. BREATHE!
Seriously. DawnL, Tara and Tracy all talked to me....or did they talk me down. I'm not sure, really. But bless their hearts, they convinced me that I could handle this trip. I studied those subway maps until I knew them inside out. I bought a $7 laminated map of Manhattan at Borders before I went and studied that, too. Before I went to sleep the night before my trip, I would close my eyes and see the contrasting lines of the streets & subways on the backs of my eyelids. I. Had. This. (Maybe?! EEEEEK!!!!)
So when my NKOTB concerts were over with in early April, I made the comment to some friends "I need another show before summer." I'd heard early on that the guys were going to do the Today Show the first part of May and I knew my girls, Sprinkles & Glennie were planning on going, but I also knew there was just NO way it was an option for me. Aside from the murder factor from my husband, there was the sheer cost of it. Flight, hotel, cab/bus/subway fare, food, etc....there was just *no* way. It wasn't even anything I'd considered. Would it be fun? Of course, but so would the cruise and I wasn't going to do that either. New York wasn't even remotely a blip on my radar.
And then Donnie starts in with his Tweets:
"May 3rd! Boston. May 8th Today Show!!! WTF!!!!!! Get yo asses to the east coast!!!!!"
"May is a big month- Parties, cruise, the Tour and THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY RETURN TO THE TODAY SHOW!!!! Let's all celebrate it together!!!"
"We MUST RAIN DOWN UPON NEW YORK for the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the NKOTB TODAY SHOW reunion!!!!!! GET THERE!!!!!!!! GET TO NEW YORK!!!!!"
"GET TO BOSTON if you can! Get to Miami if you can! GET TO NYC IF YOU GOT AN OUNCE OF BLOOD IN YOUR BODY!!!!!!!!!!"
People- I am bringing 50 FULL SERVICE TOUR tickets to The Today Show!!! Who wants to get a pair???? Come see us!! Don't sleep! ONE YEAR!"Then Jordan pipes in:
"Sneak peak at the Full Service Tour next friday on the Today Show. Dont just watch....get down there. We need you there. I need you there!!!"And NKOTB:
"Please!!!!!!"
"Donnie's buying show tickets for people there, I will buy plane tickets for those who cant get there. Who wants to come?!!!!"
"are you coming to see us in NYC may 8 at the today show?!?! you need to be there. special suprises n prizes just for our fans!"I make the comment to Sprinkles about needing a show before summer..that I simply wasn't going to last until the end of June without a show. She says "Come to NYC. We'll take careya. (all one word, btw...yes, they really speak that way in Jersey)" Glennie says the same thing. "You fly into Newark and we'll take it from there. We'll figure it all out," they say.
Did I *really* stand a chance? I mean, REALLY? I might as well be Catholic for the guilt I feel sometimes. Besides, Jordan did say please.
Before I knew it, I was convincing my husband that this was a grand idea (I wasn't yet convinced myself, btw....I deserve an OSCAR for my performance in "Desperate Housewife in Need of New Kids") and by week's end, I had e-tickets for the plane and a tentative plan for my trip. Leave Thursday, May 7th, fly into Newark, come home Sunday, May 10th. Flight #....
WAIT.
What the HELL am I doing??!
I hate crowds. My body literally shuts down in new situations. Public transportation? What's that?? I don't ride the bus for God's sake! What in urban HELL was I thinking when I decided I could handle the NYC subway?? Panic attacks, while not all that prevalent in my everyday life, DO still happen. I've lost my mind. That's it! I've lost my ever. Lovin'. Mind.
Shit!
Breathe, Melanie. BREATHE!
Seriously. DawnL, Tara and Tracy all talked to me....or did they talk me down. I'm not sure, really. But bless their hearts, they convinced me that I could handle this trip. I studied those subway maps until I knew them inside out. I bought a $7 laminated map of Manhattan at Borders before I went and studied that, too. Before I went to sleep the night before my trip, I would close my eyes and see the contrasting lines of the streets & subways on the backs of my eyelids. I. Had. This. (Maybe?! EEEEEK!!!!)
NYC - Part 2 (or "I can't friggin' believe I'm actually DOING this!!")
Throughout the week before my trip, I coordinated with my girls who were planning on being there. BoilerFan & DiznyPrincess were both flying in from California Thursday. The Ohio Road Dawgs were driving in sometime Wednesday night. Kavi was talking about being there for the performance Friday. Then of course, my Jersey Girls: Sprinkles & Glennie. When I bought my ticket, I had NO idea whatsoever where I was staying or with whom I was sharing this journey. I just knew that I had a flight in and a flight out. Somewhere there was mention of a shuttle to Jersey. Talk about a hotel stay. Again..no details. Just chatter. (Note to new readers: I don't travel like this. Ever.)
It wasn't until a couple of days before I left that my details were finalized (somewhat..because let's face it: with NK fans, there are no TRUE final details....we ALL fly by the seats of our pants). Thursday night would be spent on the streets, insuring my place in line for the show the following morning. Friday night, I'd stay with the Ohio girls at the Hyatt (yay!! a bed!!) and Saturday, I was taking a bus to Jersey to crash at Sprinkles' house. The rest of the plan was still fuzzy, but at least I knew where I was to lay my pretty Midwestern head each night.
Please notice that NOWHERE in that paragraph did I use the word "sleep." This note will come in handy later.
Wednesday comes and I've studied my ass off. In fact, I'm quite positive I studied the maps harder than I studied my textbooks throughout my entire college career. (My NYC success compared to my college success proves this point, as well.) I've developed a little plan of attack for the things I want to see while I'm there. I've packed my suitcase. I even packed lightly! I managed to get ALL my stuff in just TWO little carry-ons with plenty of room left for souvenirs on my way home. I. ROCK!
I *finally* haul myself to bed about midnight Wednesday night. The alarm goes off (okay..alarms. Plural. There was NO way I was missing my flight!) about 2:30 and I drag from my bed and straight to the shower. Dear Lord, this was NOT the way to start my trip. Shower, shave and a quick dress and I'm ready!! (Nate, btw...not so much.) An hour later? I'm enroute to the airport.
In lieu of a long-tearful-Melly-can't-handle-mushy-goodbyes goodbye, we opt for Nate dropping me off at the door. (MUCH better option than my trip last July when I took the bus to Indianapolis and cried the first hour of my bus ride, btw. MUST remember this for future solo trips.) I plug my driver's license into the kiosk and a few seconds later, I'm on my way with ticket in hand.
Damn! That was easy!!
A relatively quick pass through security (okay, so I forgot to take my belt and jacket off, but hey..nobody had to pull me aside and pat me down. We're already a step ahead of Philly '04, aight?!), a stop for a Coke ($2.50?! WTF!?) at the cafe, a brief wait at the gate and before I know it, I'm settled in on the plane.
Another quick note to self: the 5:10 flight to ANYWHERE rocks. Remember this for future trips.
It's still dark, the plane is only about half-full and I have an ENTIRE row to myself! I dig out the iPod, turn out the light and for one blissful hour, I'm in heaven. Have you ever seen the sunrise from above the clouds? It's the most AMAZING sight. I wish I'd been on the other side of the plane so I could've photographed it. Regardless...it was beautiful. My flight to my Minneapolis connection was blissful. No turbulence. No ear popping. No noise whatsoever, actually. Even the landing was smooth. Yesssssssssssss.................
It wasn't until a couple of days before I left that my details were finalized (somewhat..because let's face it: with NK fans, there are no TRUE final details....we ALL fly by the seats of our pants). Thursday night would be spent on the streets, insuring my place in line for the show the following morning. Friday night, I'd stay with the Ohio girls at the Hyatt (yay!! a bed!!) and Saturday, I was taking a bus to Jersey to crash at Sprinkles' house. The rest of the plan was still fuzzy, but at least I knew where I was to lay my pretty Midwestern head each night.
Please notice that NOWHERE in that paragraph did I use the word "sleep." This note will come in handy later.
Wednesday comes and I've studied my ass off. In fact, I'm quite positive I studied the maps harder than I studied my textbooks throughout my entire college career. (My NYC success compared to my college success proves this point, as well.) I've developed a little plan of attack for the things I want to see while I'm there. I've packed my suitcase. I even packed lightly! I managed to get ALL my stuff in just TWO little carry-ons with plenty of room left for souvenirs on my way home. I. ROCK!
I *finally* haul myself to bed about midnight Wednesday night. The alarm goes off (okay..alarms. Plural. There was NO way I was missing my flight!) about 2:30 and I drag from my bed and straight to the shower. Dear Lord, this was NOT the way to start my trip. Shower, shave and a quick dress and I'm ready!! (Nate, btw...not so much.) An hour later? I'm enroute to the airport.
In lieu of a long-tearful-Melly-can't-handle-mushy-goodbyes goodbye, we opt for Nate dropping me off at the door. (MUCH better option than my trip last July when I took the bus to Indianapolis and cried the first hour of my bus ride, btw. MUST remember this for future solo trips.) I plug my driver's license into the kiosk and a few seconds later, I'm on my way with ticket in hand.
Damn! That was easy!!
A relatively quick pass through security (okay, so I forgot to take my belt and jacket off, but hey..nobody had to pull me aside and pat me down. We're already a step ahead of Philly '04, aight?!), a stop for a Coke ($2.50?! WTF!?) at the cafe, a brief wait at the gate and before I know it, I'm settled in on the plane.
Another quick note to self: the 5:10 flight to ANYWHERE rocks. Remember this for future trips.
It's still dark, the plane is only about half-full and I have an ENTIRE row to myself! I dig out the iPod, turn out the light and for one blissful hour, I'm in heaven. Have you ever seen the sunrise from above the clouds? It's the most AMAZING sight. I wish I'd been on the other side of the plane so I could've photographed it. Regardless...it was beautiful. My flight to my Minneapolis connection was blissful. No turbulence. No ear popping. No noise whatsoever, actually. Even the landing was smooth. Yesssssssssssss.................
NYC - Part 3 (or "We're all gonna die in a fiery hell!")
The Minneapolis airport wasn't too bad, though the screen for my gate had me going to Fargo. (Fargo? Really? Who goes to Fargo on purpose, for God's sake?) Obviously a glitch in the system. Within an hour, I'm on my connecting flight and bound for New Jersey.
I spend the next two hours hunkered down in my seat next to a large man (thankfully someone familiar with deoderant) who has me forced to spill myself into the aisle (only to be whacked in the elbow by the drink cart a'la Wedding Singer style). Somehow, I managed to fall asleep for about an hour only to be awoken by a sudden drop in altitude. Nothing like plummeting a thousand feet in your sleep. How I refrained from shouting "OH MY GOD, WE'RE GOING DOWN!!!!" is beyond me, but I somehow managed to bite my tongue. Those around me would no doubt be grateful for my restraint.
I glance out the window and while I don't see smoke or flames, I'm suddenly struck with the realization that the clouds we're soaring above are the same ones we'll have to fly THROUGH in order to land. In my experience clouds = turbulence. Turbulence = fiery crash. Fiery crash = death. NOT in my plan for this weekend, thank you!!
Sure enough...the plane begins lofting from one side to the other. Then we drop a good 5,000 feet in the blink of an eye. Sweet Jesus. We're gonna die! I go white-knuckled as I clench the arms of my seat. Thoughts of "French Kiss" and Meg Ryan's little "I love Paris in the spring" song start going through my head....then, I begin to pray like a maniac, trying to sum all of my sins into a six-second time frame (WOW, did I leave a lot out!), hoping God will accept my all-inclusive "I've sucked as a human being" apology and let me into Heaven after the crash. He does pro-bono work, right?
Apparently God either rejected my confession or he didn't feel like sorting through the mess because we thankfully began our descent into Newark and landed safely (I use that term quite loosely, thankyouverymuch!). Had the jetway floor not been so filthy, I would've kissed it when I stepped off the plane. SOMEBODY at Northwest Airlines is getting a well-versed letter, lemme tell you.
I finally gather my wits and my luggage (though I sense both were stowed in different areas of the plane) and make my way toward the United gate to wait for my girl, Jaceypants, who is due to arrive in about an hour.
Bathroom, tedious handwashing (and yet another squirt of Purell - no pig flu for me, thanks!) and a $10 bagel sandwich later, I gather Jaceypants from her plane and we make our way to ground transport for our shuttle ride to Sprinkles' house in Jersey.
I spend the next two hours hunkered down in my seat next to a large man (thankfully someone familiar with deoderant) who has me forced to spill myself into the aisle (only to be whacked in the elbow by the drink cart a'la Wedding Singer style). Somehow, I managed to fall asleep for about an hour only to be awoken by a sudden drop in altitude. Nothing like plummeting a thousand feet in your sleep. How I refrained from shouting "OH MY GOD, WE'RE GOING DOWN!!!!" is beyond me, but I somehow managed to bite my tongue. Those around me would no doubt be grateful for my restraint.
I glance out the window and while I don't see smoke or flames, I'm suddenly struck with the realization that the clouds we're soaring above are the same ones we'll have to fly THROUGH in order to land. In my experience clouds = turbulence. Turbulence = fiery crash. Fiery crash = death. NOT in my plan for this weekend, thank you!!
Sure enough...the plane begins lofting from one side to the other. Then we drop a good 5,000 feet in the blink of an eye. Sweet Jesus. We're gonna die! I go white-knuckled as I clench the arms of my seat. Thoughts of "French Kiss" and Meg Ryan's little "I love Paris in the spring" song start going through my head....then, I begin to pray like a maniac, trying to sum all of my sins into a six-second time frame (WOW, did I leave a lot out!), hoping God will accept my all-inclusive "I've sucked as a human being" apology and let me into Heaven after the crash. He does pro-bono work, right?
Apparently God either rejected my confession or he didn't feel like sorting through the mess because we thankfully began our descent into Newark and landed safely (I use that term quite loosely, thankyouverymuch!). Had the jetway floor not been so filthy, I would've kissed it when I stepped off the plane. SOMEBODY at Northwest Airlines is getting a well-versed letter, lemme tell you.
I finally gather my wits and my luggage (though I sense both were stowed in different areas of the plane) and make my way toward the United gate to wait for my girl, Jaceypants, who is due to arrive in about an hour.
Bathroom, tedious handwashing (and yet another squirt of Purell - no pig flu for me, thanks!) and a $10 bagel sandwich later, I gather Jaceypants from her plane and we make our way to ground transport for our shuttle ride to Sprinkles' house in Jersey.
NYC - Part 4 (or "Why the hell do they call this the Garden State?")
Jersey. Is. A. Swamp. Seriously. The humidity is overwhelming and the rain is miserable.
Our shuttle driver obviously learned how to drive by playing Pole Position in the 80's and I'm convinced the plane ride was the safer of these two forms of transportation. We make several stops at the various terminals at the Newark airport and I now know the meaning of "near-miss." I can't BELIEVE he didn't take off mirrors and bumpers as he weaved in and out of stops. My nerves were shot on the plane, so I'm raw at this point and it takes very little to send me into a heart-stopping gasp. I firmly believe our shuttle driver knows this and is a sadistic little bastard. Fortunately, we're on the turnpike before too long and on our way to Sprinkles.
She picks Jaceypants and me up at the shuttle stop and I'm so grateful! I lay my eyes on that precious baby O of hers and my fears from earlier are over. O-Man is a little safe-haven and just one little belly-rub away from Donnie (I'll tell you the story if you're interested). Those big blue eyes look up at me and I realize I have not only survived, but I'm gonna have a BLAST this weekend! I can't WAIT!
We head back to Sprinkles' house to wait for Glennie and the sitter before Mama's Weekend Out commences. Sprinkles has made Jacey and I dinner: an AMAZING baked ziti & fresh bread. SO good!! I shamelessly help myself to two servings. A refresh of the make-up a quick change of clothes and we're ready!!
Glennie arrives shortly before the pizza and the sitter. She shares a "Team Wahlberg" shirt with me (remind me to send thank you's and winning lotto numbers to her as this shirt is GOLD when it comes to turning DEW's eye in NYC!) and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I'm really here! This is really happening! OMIGOD!
Of course, we are a bit disappointed by all the damn rain, but Sprinkles assures us that the weather man says it will be gone by 6pm. I hope so because if there's anything worse than sleeping on the streets of NYC, it's sleeping on the streets of NYC in the fuckin' rain.
The sitter arrives about 5:30, some Q&A by this darling little Mary Poppins creature (whom I'm totally kidnapping for myself...shhh, don't tell Sprinkles) about our obsession and we're OFF! Squeeeeee!!!!!!!!
Our shuttle driver obviously learned how to drive by playing Pole Position in the 80's and I'm convinced the plane ride was the safer of these two forms of transportation. We make several stops at the various terminals at the Newark airport and I now know the meaning of "near-miss." I can't BELIEVE he didn't take off mirrors and bumpers as he weaved in and out of stops. My nerves were shot on the plane, so I'm raw at this point and it takes very little to send me into a heart-stopping gasp. I firmly believe our shuttle driver knows this and is a sadistic little bastard. Fortunately, we're on the turnpike before too long and on our way to Sprinkles.
She picks Jaceypants and me up at the shuttle stop and I'm so grateful! I lay my eyes on that precious baby O of hers and my fears from earlier are over. O-Man is a little safe-haven and just one little belly-rub away from Donnie (I'll tell you the story if you're interested). Those big blue eyes look up at me and I realize I have not only survived, but I'm gonna have a BLAST this weekend! I can't WAIT!
We head back to Sprinkles' house to wait for Glennie and the sitter before Mama's Weekend Out commences. Sprinkles has made Jacey and I dinner: an AMAZING baked ziti & fresh bread. SO good!! I shamelessly help myself to two servings. A refresh of the make-up a quick change of clothes and we're ready!!
Glennie arrives shortly before the pizza and the sitter. She shares a "Team Wahlberg" shirt with me (remind me to send thank you's and winning lotto numbers to her as this shirt is GOLD when it comes to turning DEW's eye in NYC!) and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I'm really here! This is really happening! OMIGOD!
Of course, we are a bit disappointed by all the damn rain, but Sprinkles assures us that the weather man says it will be gone by 6pm. I hope so because if there's anything worse than sleeping on the streets of NYC, it's sleeping on the streets of NYC in the fuckin' rain.
The sitter arrives about 5:30, some Q&A by this darling little Mary Poppins creature (whom I'm totally kidnapping for myself...shhh, don't tell Sprinkles) about our obsession and we're OFF! Squeeeeee!!!!!!!!
NYC - Part 5 (or "Panic Attack, party of one?")
It set the mood, according to Sprinkles.(She's really not as sweet n' innocent as she claims, I'm thinkin!)
Sprinkles & Glennie
JaceypantsWith Sprinkles at the wheel, a van load of baked goods (for bribery purposes, of course) and a mission, Jaceypants, Glennie and I are on our way to the big city! Despite some struggles on the Jersey Pike (see? I'm already getting the slang down!), it doesn't take us long to get to the.
What?
What's that?
Oh! "Why'd I stop?"
GOOD DAMN QUESTION!
I asked the same thing as we neared the Lincoln Tunnel. For those who aren't familiar, as you take the pike into the city, there are a series of overpasses right before the Tunnel. As we neared these overpasses, traffic came to a COMPLETE STANDSTILL. On a Thursday night? Seriously? WTF? It took us at least 45 mins to get from that first overpass to the toll booth right before the tunnel. Literally speaking, it's just a little over a mile from the first overpass to the toll booth, but it was complete insanity traffic-wise. I just closed my eyes and prayed for daylight. (Those who know me know I Don't. Do. Traffic.) After some snarky bitch in a U-Haul cut us off (and consequently got yelled at by a cute Guido in an SV on our behalf), we FINALLY made it to the tunnel.
What?
What's that?
Oh! "Why'd I stop?"
GOOD DAMN QUESTION!
I asked the same thing as we neared the Lincoln Tunnel. For those who aren't familiar, as you take the pike into the city, there are a series of overpasses right before the Tunnel. As we neared these overpasses, traffic came to a COMPLETE STANDSTILL. On a Thursday night? Seriously? WTF? It took us at least 45 mins to get from that first overpass to the toll booth right before the tunnel. Literally speaking, it's just a little over a mile from the first overpass to the toll booth, but it was complete insanity traffic-wise. I just closed my eyes and prayed for daylight. (Those who know me know I Don't. Do. Traffic.) After some snarky bitch in a U-Haul cut us off (and consequently got yelled at by a cute Guido in an SV on our behalf), we FINALLY made it to the tunnel.
My first view of Manhattan, btw.Wait.
Tunnel?
As in under-the-fucking-RIVER tunnel?
I. Don't. Think. So.
And so begins the next round of hyperventilation, hot flashes and sweaty palms.
Fortunately, as Sprinkles pointed out - the windows on the van are up. I can't drown.
Ahh, Sprinkles, the eternal optimist.
Tunnel?
As in under-the-fucking-RIVER tunnel?
I. Don't. Think. So.
And so begins the next round of hyperventilation, hot flashes and sweaty palms.
Fortunately, as Sprinkles pointed out - the windows on the van are up. I can't drown.
Ahh, Sprinkles, the eternal optimist.
The light at the end of the tunnel.Defying gravity, physics and everything natural to my Midwestern mind, I make it through this tunnel with breath to spare. Long enough to lose it again as we pull into Times Square near Port Authority.
Sweet Christ!
WHY are there so many people?!!! And WHY must they walk so close to the van? Get AWAY from us!!! Go! There's a cross walk. USE it!!! EEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!!!!!!! Panic sets in. It's over. I'm done. The heart palpitations begin. My palms get sweaty. I can feel my body temperature rise. I begin to sweat and breath shallowly. And the piece d'resistance? Tears. Oh yeah. Streaming down my cheeks. I'm in full-fledged anxiety attack.
Sweet Christ!
WHY are there so many people?!!! And WHY must they walk so close to the van? Get AWAY from us!!! Go! There's a cross walk. USE it!!! EEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!!!!!!! Panic sets in. It's over. I'm done. The heart palpitations begin. My palms get sweaty. I can feel my body temperature rise. I begin to sweat and breath shallowly. And the piece d'resistance? Tears. Oh yeah. Streaming down my cheeks. I'm in full-fledged anxiety attack.
NYC - Part 6 (or "Please don't kill me in my sleep for line jumping!")
God bless Jaceypants for consoling me and talking me through my panic attack. I hadn't had one this bad in YEARS and let's just say, thank God I was there for NKOTB because had it been anything less, I honestly think I would've turned around and gone back home. It was *that* bad.
Before long, I was laughing at myself and we were circling the blocks (blinders, baby....blinders. I didn't look ANYWHERE but forward...and UP) until we arrived near Rockefeller Plaza. I say "near" instead of "at" because where we needed to be wasn't really "at" the Plaza. It was on the street about a half a block in the other direction. There were already probably 150 people in line or so (Glennie had kept track via cell with the girls who were waitin' in line for us. Thank God for cell phones!) and from what my friend Heidi'd said, the natives were growing restless with line jumpers. Eeek. I *hate* causing conflict (Shut up. I do.)Sprinkles pulled up to where our girl Clarita was waiting and Jacey and I jumped out. Horns fired off in impatience as my ass hauled from the backseat, but I managed to NOT flip off anyone in retaliation (yay me!). We nonchalantly walked over and pretended to converse with 'rita until the security guy came over and told us to get in line or move along. So what were we supposed to do? Line jump, of course. (The Brooklyn girls behind us were NOT happy, though I was surprised to hear more guff from their 6 yr old than the adults with her.)
That's our 'rita to the left of the parking meter in the forefront.We chatted with Clarita for a while and people we were familiar with came and went, each carrying brief conversations. The Ohio Road Dawgs had insured their place quite a bit closer to the front of the line, so we didn't get to chat much with them, but we did visit back and forth as we'd pass from one place to the next. A couple hours later, Boilerfan & Dizny (aka "Cali girls") texted me to let me know they were FINALLY on their way to the Plaza. I dreaded the attitude Miss Thang and her caretakers would fire off at us. (Again - not a fan of conflict.) Sure enough when they arrived...."Umm...how many more people you gonna let in here? First it was two, now four?" I told them very politely "Actually, three of them have VIP, so it's not really that many of us that are actually in line here, once they split out fan pass peeps. It's all good, I promise." Of course, I didn't tell her that the three vips didn't include but one of us, but hey...by then I could TOTALLY make friends with these girls.
First view of the Rockefeller Center
First view of the Rockefeller Center
A sculpture at Rockefeller Plaza
The flags surrounding Rockefeller Plaza
The view of Rockefeller Plaza from NBC StudiosAs the night went on, some of us split off and walked around the block to see the sights. Sprinkles, Glennie, Jacey & 'rita (aka "VIP girls") invited me to go with them to get a drink. They knew how much I would benefit from a nerve calming concoction. One Tennessee Peach thingie (yes, that's a technical term) later and I was much more relaxed. I wasn't hungry, as my Cali girls had brought me a burger when they arrived, but I did stick around for the chatter (and one DAMN good fried plantain (see my "NYC Firsts" blog). We all laughed and chatted a bit, took some pictures and really enjoyed each other's company. As I've said in other blogs, I don't make friends with other women very easily, so this camaraderie was extremely appreciated and not a second was taken for granted.
I didn't notice until later that mine was the only drink with a pineapple chunk. *snort*
Me with Glennie to the left and Clarita on the right.
Jaceypants & Sprinkles - you can see we're not drunk..just a little sleep-deprived, maybe.
Jaceypants thinkin' she's gonna take a pic of me. LOLThe rest of the night was really quite a blur of details that I know I've forgotten parts of. For that I apologize. I will try to list some that stand out in my mind...
NYC Part 7 (or "I've seen CATS smaller than that sucker!")
For the majority of the night, the VIP girls were in their hotel room and the Cali girls and I were camped out in line. Thankfully they'd had the foresight to bring blankets with them (not that I'd have had the room in my carry-on even if I had remembered) and we weren't too uncomfortable. The three of us did, however, burn through our BB batteries with Twitter updates and texts to friends. My one lesson learned the hard way was not buying one of those battery-powered phone chargers. (This will *NOT* be forgotten next round of concerts, btw.) So...Boilerfan and I found the single available outlet in Manhattan at 3 in the morning and managed to suck a couple bars of electricity from McDonald's. (Oh stuff it Ronald, like it REALLY costs you $2.59 for a 32oz Coke. Throw me a bone here!) We had fun people-watching and bonded well (again with the girlfriend thing. SO super cool!!).
Now keep in mind, people were stopping alllllll night long asking us questions about who we were waiting for...what we were doing, etc. After a while we just started fucking with people. "Metallica!" "Fleetwood Mac!" "Grateful Dead" were common responses by those around us. (We're nothing if not a creative bunch!) We got a variety of responses when we told them the truth, though: "Didn't they break up?" "Wow, I didn't know they were still together." "Ha! Have fun with that." And a variety of nasal-based noises were added by those who thought we were ridiculous. At one point, an obvious New Yawker (the accent, hello?!) stopped long enough to carry on a conversation with us and the Brooklyn girls. He was actually pretty entertaining, choosing favorites in the group - tormented by Miss Thang when he picked HER favorite...then ridiculed again for picking the "ugliest" of the group.
A pic Boilerfan discretely shot with her BB of our New Yawkah.*shudder*
At some point, Mr Dizny (a bucket of fun, I might add!) joined us and he took the Cali girls back to their hotel to get cleaned up, changed and recharged (not just battery-speaking) before the show. Shortly thereafter, our VIP girls showed up again, since sleep wasn't had. Apparently whether you're literally laying on the streets of NYC or laying on Egyptian cotton sheets in a $200 a night hotel room a few blocks away, sleep is overrated where NKOTB are concerned. Of course, to their defense, they *were* staying at the same hotel as the guys. I don't know I could've slept either, truth be told. I was content to rest my legs by sprawling out beneath the street light for about an hour somewhere around 3am.
With one final trip to the McD's bathroom (and no. I didn't buy anything this time. I'm still pissed about that Coke, Mayor McCheese!), we were set for the rest of the night/morning...Jesus is that REALLY the sun coming up?! By now, the VIPs have begun lining up on the OTHER side of the Plaza and our spot in line has moved up CONSIDERABLY. The tension with the Brooklyn girls has now diminished and we've actually made friends with them (told you so). Despite no sleep, we have actually done quite well and apparently reached our second (third? fourth?) wind. At this point, we are ready for the show. Of course, we're HOURS away, according to Jordan's tweet last night stating the weren't performing until 8:45. Uggh.
Fortunately, just as I start getting impatient, my Twitter friend, Shayminn (Ooh! Shameless plug!! http://www.myspace.com/shaymin) had arrived after driving up from Boston. Now...my heart belongs to NKOTB and my husband (not necessarily in that order)...but I tell you what, Shayminn gives some DAMN good hugs! I didn't think he was gonna let me go! (Not to mention he smells SUPAH good!) It was really cool getting to meet him and talk to him in person considering how much we've chatted on Twitter. Of course, Mister Security Guard comes by and tells him to move along, so he went to get his place in line...which has quickly filled back up to where it was before they split out the VIPs. I'm pretty surprised at how many people actually got there so close to showtime. While there were quite a few people in front of us in line, I was very grateful to have gotten there when we did. I wouldn't want to be stuck so far in the back like these slackers were!We kill probably another hour before we notice some bright production-style lights come out of the plaza in front of us. What the he...
Oh.
My.
GOD!
My.
GOD!
NYC Part 8 (or I slept on the pavement and here I am, hugging a guy in an Armani suit)
There they are.
Holy crap!
(insert peals of fangirl screams)
Ooh..wait. Where are they going?
Damn!!
VIP line!
This sucks. Oh well...not like I expected any FaceTime anyway, right?
Wait. Are those lights coming closer?
(more peals of fangirl screams)
OMG! They are coming over here!!!
I slept on the street last night. Well, I didn't even sleep. I laid on the street last night. Dirty. Filthy. Concrete. That was after I spent 12 hours traveling from Iowa to New York. I look like death. I probably smell like it, too and what's happening? The five hottest men on the planet are making their way toward me right now. This is like getting into a car accident without having on clean underwear.I'm DYING here!!!
Pushy people start line jumping and I break away from my dream-come-true to reality for a brief second to shriek at the woman shoving her DD's into my back trying to get closer to "JOEY JOE! OMG! JOEY JOE!" Seriously? A 36-yr old man probably no longer refers to himself by his 14 yr old nickname, but thanks for screaming it repeatedly in my ear. I stand my ground..as do my girls..and we're RIGHT at the fence as they come up. Of course, we've been shoved forward and to the side a little bit, but we're still here.
And there. is. Jordan.
He gets to where we're at and stops. Starts talking to us like we're long-lost friends. "So...who's goin' to Jones Beach??" I shake my head and frown..."Nah...I'm from Iowa...it's just not a possibility for me.""Iowa, huh? Wow..that's a long ways!" he says.
The girls behind us say (in their thick Brooklyn accents, I might add) "We'd love to, but we can't afford tickets for all three of us." He turns around, motions to his bodyguard and spins back around..."KA-BAM! You're goin' to JONES BEACH!" They're *SO* excited!! I'm happy for them, too. Bummed, obviously that I won't be going, but super excited for them.
I ask Jordan.."Can I get a hug since I'm not going to Jones Beach?"
He answers, "Absolutely!! C'meah!" (DYING!! GAH!)
And he hugs me....and rubs my back a little bit while he squeezes. I've never been a Jordan girl. EVER. He's got a great body and the boy can sing and dance, but he's just never tripped my trigger. But I have to say...he definitely pled his case via that hug. WOW!
Mmm. Oooh..who's next?
OOH!! JOE.
Ol' Blue Eyes!
Evil Genius...Hottie MacBooty Tractah.
I could be in trouble here.
Wait. I survived the MacStare in Des Moines, didn't I? Yes! I did! I can do it agai......*gasp*
FYI? There is NO surviving THAT.Now..keep in mind, this boy has been sending TwitPics of himself in BED...in his underwear sitting poolside....close-ups of his wonky eyebrows while giving us that MacStare.I had FULLY intended to chew him out for trying to sway me from Team Wahlberg. But he looked at me and I lost all function in my brain. Somehow I was able to mutter "Can I get a picture with you, Joe?" To which he replied, "Of couahse!" and put his arm around me.
And what happens? Somebody distracts Joe and somebody walks DIRECTLY between us and the camera. Grr! (But that is TOTALLY his arm around me!! GAH!!) He squeezes my shoulder and hugs me in to his side. I melt.le sigh.
There he goes..
Who's next?? OOH! Danny!! Click. Click. Click. Click. For my daughter, who's madly in love with Danny. She's gonna KILL me for being so close to him without her. He's talking to everybody around me and I don't want to interrupt (not to mention, Little One would KILL me if I get a hug without her here), so I just smile and keep snapping pictures.
I keep watching for Jon and Donnie, but Jon's long since disappeared and since the cops & security have yelled at us several times to back up, I can't blame him. I wouldn't want to be in that chaos with just a 'caution' tape blocking me from certain sexual assault either. Donnie, of course, is snagged up by some "women of questionable reptuation," shall we say? and makes it no further down the line. He's such a man, like that. Lucky for him, I love him. Sooner than we realize, the guys are on their way back for sound check.I seriously just hugged a guy in a suit that probably cost more than I make in a year and I look like *THIS?!* I am in the dictionary next to "Murphy's Law."
NYC Part 9 (or "If only I weren't a Pygmie!")
We're finally herded into the Plaza in time for sound check. I can't believe I'm standing here in New York City at the Today Show watching my favorite group of all time. I used to DREAM about moments like this!! I used to watch chicks like me on TV and wonder to myself "How do I get to do THAT?!" I'm here!! (excuse me while I get a tissue. Cuz seriously? This rocks.)
Of course, its crowded, so we're hot as hell, but the minute the guys come out, we lose our minds! Screams, shrieks and cries of excitement are deafening, but worth every second. Of course, I can't see much, so I've got my camera over my head and I'm snapping pictures like a maniac. I have no clue what I'm shooting or if they're in focus, of course, so I have to lower my camera back down after every shot and hope I can duplicate the good ones.
Fresh out of the gate, though, I nail THIS little gem. I didn't even realize I got it until I got home and uploaded my pics:
Of course, its crowded, so we're hot as hell, but the minute the guys come out, we lose our minds! Screams, shrieks and cries of excitement are deafening, but worth every second. Of course, I can't see much, so I've got my camera over my head and I'm snapping pictures like a maniac. I have no clue what I'm shooting or if they're in focus, of course, so I have to lower my camera back down after every shot and hope I can duplicate the good ones.
Fresh out of the gate, though, I nail THIS little gem. I didn't even realize I got it until I got home and uploaded my pics:
And look! Another little beauty!!
However...the next sixgazillion pictures are either this:
or this:
I do, however manage to get a few blurry shots of sound check.
I won't bore you with the details of the dumbasses next to us (mind you, in the MIDDLE of the crowd) shouting "Bring it to the BACK!" every chance they got whenever anybody up front got anything (posters, styrofoam microphones, leis, Jabbawockeez scarves..or GOD Forbid, FaceTime!). I'll also spare you the insignificant things like how short Meredith Viera really is or how perky Hota Kotb is (or how if you added an N to her last name, she'd be Hota NKOTB..lol).Sound check ended with a stare down.
I made the first strike, but as I've been told, it went in for the kill as the show went live. (If anybody has footage, I'd LOVE to see it!)NYC Part 10 (or "OMG, they're wearing JABB masks!!")
Really? What can I say about the actual taping that you can't see on the clips? The show was great! They came out wearing Jabbawockeez masks. Now normally, I'm NOT big on masks, makeup or anything circusy/clown related, but lemme just say - I could DIG those Jabb masks! They sang three songs: Hangin' Tough, Call It What You Want and Dirty Dancing. The crowd was hoppin', but with the sheer number of people, the fact that we were between two pretty big buildings and the whole purpose of the sound being focused for the tv show aspect, the sound wasn't great. We could hear the songs, but none of their talking or interview parts. A bit disappointing, but it didn't matter in the long run.
Apparently, when the camera came on, the first person some of my friends saw was me. I was smilin' and yukkin' it up like all the other crazies, so I'm not sure how they could tell it was me (I still haven't seen the footage of it, myself), but I did spy myself in the crowd from the YouTube clips. That's me holding my camera up high above my head (which is pretty much how I spent the whole show). Ahh, good times!
Apparently, when the camera came on, the first person some of my friends saw was me. I was smilin' and yukkin' it up like all the other crazies, so I'm not sure how they could tell it was me (I still haven't seen the footage of it, myself), but I did spy myself in the crowd from the YouTube clips. That's me holding my camera up high above my head (which is pretty much how I spent the whole show). Ahh, good times!
Within a couple hours from the time we entered the plaza, it was all over. Eight hours travel time, almost twelve hours on the street....and it was over. You'd think I'd be sad, but really? I was floating SO high, I couldn't stop smiling.BoilerFan, Dizny and I almost instantly ran into Kavi as we were exiting the Plaza and then she ran into a couple girls she was supposed to meet too, so we headed to Dean & Deluca's for a drink (I was TOTALLY parched!!) and a cupcake.
Some other footage:
NYC Part 11 (or "A Plan of Attack")
Before we hit D&D's, I got to talk to Shayminn again..even convinced him to pose with me. SUCH a doll. Truly? This guy is GOING places musically. SO completely talented and so very down to earth. If you don't know him, GET to know him. He's dripping with talent, he's level-headed and VERY real. Not once did I feel like a "fan" to him. Family...right from the first text I sent him. Amazing guy!!
Dean & DeLuca's was surprisingly not very busy considering it was right on the Plaza, but it did take us a few minutes to get through the line. A water, a tea and a chocolate cupcake with sprinkles for me, please? BoilerFan will take Red Velvet and Kavi'll have a "Hostess" cupcake.
BoilerFan, Dizny, me, Kavi and her two girls all sat down to relax and plot our day out a little bit. Kavi's girls needed to head to Port Authority and meet another friend...BoilerFan & Dizny wanted to head back to the hotel and rest a little bit. I *had* to tackle the city head-on as soon as possible or I wouldn't get to see a thing. Kavi was a free agent and up for whatever and since she'd been to NYC before, I kidnapped her and dragged her with me. (Okay, she TOTALLY volunteered and that woman deserves a medal for bravery!) First stop would be my Jersey girls' hotel to pick up my luggage, then to the Hyatt where Heidi & the Ohio RoadDawgs were staying (and where I'd stay that night) so I could get cleaned up a little (Me? Sweaty. Mess.). From there, we'd meet up with BoilerFan & Dizny again for a late lunch and off to see the rest of the sights of NYC.So Kavi and I head toward Times Square armed with a map and the determination to find the hotel without getting lost. We talked the whole time, really developing a great camaraderie. As we wandered, we began to joke "Wouldn't it be funny if we got to the hotel and the guys were there??" Gah..what a happy thought! Then, of course, I thought about how wretched I still looked and secretly wished I could get a shower that very second...because it really WOULD be my luck to run into them looking like this.
A couple of brief "whoops...you're right, it's that way"s we finally spy the hotel. YAY!! I'm one stop away from a shower!!
What the.....
I know that face. And wherever HE is....THEY are.Told you it was just my luck.
NYC - Part 12 (or "I will not swallow my tongue. I will not swallow my tongue. I will not swallow my tongue.")
THAT is Armando. He's their head of security. I know that face. :) Of course, the small throng of women sorta gave it away, too, but hey. I was focused! So Kavi and I decide to be good girls...and kinda hang out outside. Since technically, we're NOT guests of the hotel we felt weird just waltzing in like we were. We called Glen to see if she'd come down and get us. She said she'd be down, so we waited...chit-chatted a little bit. I asked the girls around us..."what's up?" "who's comin' down?" Words like "Donnie" and "Wahlberg" floated freely.
(fangirl squeals here)
So, we're standing there and, of course, I have my camera out and ready to go...and from the side of me, I hear "You were in Kansas City, weren't you?!"
Okay..at this point two things floated into my brain:
1) Do I have a stalker?
2) Who did I piss off in KC that they remember me six months later??!
I look over and there's a gal holding a Jordan sign. It's not one I instantly recognize, so I hesitantly reply..."Umm...yeah. Did I meet you there?" She says, "Well, sorta not really. You took a picture of Jon & Jordan on the bus and Jon was pointing at my sign...I'm the Tractah Mechanic!" and she flips the sign over...
(fangirl squeals here)
So, we're standing there and, of course, I have my camera out and ready to go...and from the side of me, I hear "You were in Kansas City, weren't you?!"
Okay..at this point two things floated into my brain:
1) Do I have a stalker?
2) Who did I piss off in KC that they remember me six months later??!
I look over and there's a gal holding a Jordan sign. It's not one I instantly recognize, so I hesitantly reply..."Umm...yeah. Did I meet you there?" She says, "Well, sorta not really. You took a picture of Jon & Jordan on the bus and Jon was pointing at my sign...I'm the Tractah Mechanic!" and she flips the sign over...
"OH YEAH!!!! I remember! It's good to finally meet you!" I respond..and my first thought?? *I* was recognized in NYC for my photography. Yes, apparently I AM that unashamedly vain. LOLSo anyway...we go on about our way...and Clarita calls us to let us know they're inside the lobby and to come on in. So we part the crowd and in we stroll. (Yes, apparently we DO own the place, thank you!) My Jersey girls are perched on some chairs off to the right and I beeline for my bag that has deoderant and perfume..I also freshen up with a powder & a fresh coat of lipstick. Yes, right there in the hotel lobby. I don't have TIME to find a bathroom. My man is coming down soon!
OOOH! Gum...MUST. Find. GUM! Whew.
So we're chillin'....taking some pics with one another. Chatting about how Sprinkles MUST sit in the chair and NOT go to Donnie (Hubby's only rule...she CAN'T seek HIM out). Too funny! So, she's sans her "Team Wahlberg" shirt and hunkered down in the chair farthest from the center of the lobby like a good girl. They proceed to tell us that Donnie came out into the crowd at the Today show and made a beeline for Glennie when he saw her "Team Wahlberg" shirt. He commented on the shirts and gave everybody hugs...and proceeded to record her on his little video camera thing. When he asked her to spell her name, she couldn't remember how!! LOL (I wouldn't have either, babe..no worries!) She asked what he was recording for...and he said "Well...I don't have any tickets on me, so I'm getting your name & address so I can add you to the Will Call list. You're goin' to Jones Beach, baby!" (I think it was at this point that she lost her mind. LOL) All four of my Jersey girls got Jones Beach tickets...so excited for them!!!
Here's me & Kavi:
We wait another 20 minutes or so and sure enough, our boy's true to his word....There's Donnie. Fuckin'. Wahlberg.
I actually do QUITE well at waiting my turn and being patient for him to get to us. I can see, though, that he's so tired...and all he really wants to do. Why am I standing here..taking up another two minutes of his time?? Because if it isn't me, it'll be some other fan. And besides...how can you pass that face up?? He took a picture with Kavi by herself....then he got all of us girls from "Team Wahlberg" lined up and we took a group shot. The first of which wasn't that great of us girls because we were trying to tell Kavi how to use my camera...but hey, DEW looked good!
We get things figured out and she takes another one. Awww...perfect!
He looked around, counted us and said "wait....we're missing one..." and Glennie explained Sprinkles' "rule" about the chair. So what does our boy, do?? Parts through the crowd, strolls over to the chair and gives that well-behaved woman a hug and a kiss on the cheek! Couldn't you just DIE???? Then he says to Glennie "So we need what...(counting)...5 tickets for Jones Beach? They'll be at Will Call for you, ladies!"Wait. WHAT?? Did he just invite ME to join the rest of the girls at Jones Beach??!!!! Processing this thought as he looks right at me...(GAH!) My mind clicks into gear and I hand him something that I'd made for him and forgot to give him in DSM (Sorry, girls...some things are just NOT for public viewing!)...he grins, tucks it in his front pocket and says "Thank you!!" He gives me a hug and kisses my cheek...and says "I gotta go see my boys, baby." (double GAH!!) And off he went.
It's at this point in time that I tear up. Donnie Wahlberg Face Time? TWICE in one LIFE?? Are you kidding? This sort of thing doesn't happen to me! Bless JaceyPants...she tells me to sit down so I can get my wits about me(keep in mind, I'm already on edge emotionally because I literally haven't slept in over 36 hours). I'm in awe of everything that's happened today and I can hardly wrap my mind around it all. I finally catch my breath again and I watch Donnie with his fans...which is one of the most amazing things to see. He's one of the most devoted celebrities...exhausted, rushed and in-high-demand and he still stops for every single person in the line...takes pictures, gives hugs. He's SO there for us. It's really no wonder why he never sleeps - he's too busy hugging and kissing and taking pictures and signing autographs and making our days memorable. I know there are many who aren't fans of NKOTB, and that's fine. We're all entitled to our opinions. But you do have to respect a man who's there for his fans like that. *sniffle*
I somehow gather myself and notice that Fish, the guy's guitarist is standing over by the door with his wife. Glennie's talking to him and I decide to join them. I waited my turn and told him how much I appreciate the hard work he does for the guys and how lucky they are to have such talented musicians behind them every night. I ask him for a pic, to which he cheerfully obliges. I even got a hug. Fish is a total sweetheart...in fact, they all really are.
NYC - Part 13 (or "Not like you'll read the rest anyway!")
As it's taken me over a month to complete these first twelve parts, I know that it's somewhat pointless to continue with a step by step, detailed account of the rest of my weekend in NYC.
Suffice it to say, there were amazing sights that I saw, things I did and experiences I will only have that ONE time in my life. I'll post more pictures and I may share bits and pieces later on, but for now, this ends my NYC blog.
What do I take away from this trip? Memories of the most amazing experience of my life, thus far, as an adult woman.
I've spent my life being someone's wife or mother, someone's sister, someone's aunt, someone's employee, someone's something. When it really boils down to it, until last year, I really hadn't done anything that was solely for my benefit. I've pretty much lived my life for others, at least I've tried to. I try to put their needs before my own and as a wife and mother, that's what we're supposed to do. It's not that I harbor resentment or hold grudges for those things. I truly enjoy doing it. But until last year, I realized that I truly had no identity as myself. As my children enter their teen years, that's a dangerous place to be.
So last year, when I went to Colorado to visit Crisillyus for a week, that was my first step to rediscovering myself. I had a week to myself without familial responsibilities, no deadlines, no responsibilities and God bless her, Silly let me do whatever I want to, when I wanted to do it. If I wanted to sleep the day away, she let me! If I wanted to drive to friggin' Estes Park to see a haunted hotel, we did it! That vacation was such an eye-opening experience for me. I realized that I WAS still somewhere inside of myself. I hadn't lost my identity...I just hid her really well.
A second solo vacation came in July when I went to Indianapolis & Louisville with friends I'd met online to do a paranormal investigation. Again...totally to myself, very few responsibilities and a deeper sense of myself when the time was done.
November brought criSILLYus and RiceChex and I together as a unit as we traveled to Kansas City on the first leg of what's becoming the most AMAZING journey of my life. RiceChex and I left our husbands and children at home and the three of us were carefree and did exactly what we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it. It was the greatest time I've ever had with friends.
So when this opportunity came about to do this NYC trip, as scared as I was, I knew I NEEDED this trip. Not to see the guys...not to relive some teenage fantasy...but to continue discovering who I am and what my purpose is. I spent the weekend shooting pictures and laughing with friends...building relationships with beautiful, talented, smart, brilliant women....one of them being myself. I am here and I love what I've learned about myself. Because of this self-discovery, I'll be able to let myself dream again. I'll write. I'll make more friends. I'll stoke the fire beneath old friendships. I'll love freely and cut toxic relationships out. I'll sing and dance and I'll take pictures. I'll be more true to myself, consequences be damned!
My son (whom you may know I've had an extremely tense relationship with, as of late) kept commenting in the days following my trip "Mom, you seem really different. I can't really explain it...You're just way different." He's right. I am different! How sad that it took almost 15 years for him to see his mother as an individual!
So, it seems that the stowaway in my luggage as I landed in Des Moines on my return flight was me. And damn, I'm glad to be back!!
Suffice it to say, there were amazing sights that I saw, things I did and experiences I will only have that ONE time in my life. I'll post more pictures and I may share bits and pieces later on, but for now, this ends my NYC blog.
What do I take away from this trip? Memories of the most amazing experience of my life, thus far, as an adult woman.
I've spent my life being someone's wife or mother, someone's sister, someone's aunt, someone's employee, someone's something. When it really boils down to it, until last year, I really hadn't done anything that was solely for my benefit. I've pretty much lived my life for others, at least I've tried to. I try to put their needs before my own and as a wife and mother, that's what we're supposed to do. It's not that I harbor resentment or hold grudges for those things. I truly enjoy doing it. But until last year, I realized that I truly had no identity as myself. As my children enter their teen years, that's a dangerous place to be.
So last year, when I went to Colorado to visit Crisillyus for a week, that was my first step to rediscovering myself. I had a week to myself without familial responsibilities, no deadlines, no responsibilities and God bless her, Silly let me do whatever I want to, when I wanted to do it. If I wanted to sleep the day away, she let me! If I wanted to drive to friggin' Estes Park to see a haunted hotel, we did it! That vacation was such an eye-opening experience for me. I realized that I WAS still somewhere inside of myself. I hadn't lost my identity...I just hid her really well.
A second solo vacation came in July when I went to Indianapolis & Louisville with friends I'd met online to do a paranormal investigation. Again...totally to myself, very few responsibilities and a deeper sense of myself when the time was done.
November brought criSILLYus and RiceChex and I together as a unit as we traveled to Kansas City on the first leg of what's becoming the most AMAZING journey of my life. RiceChex and I left our husbands and children at home and the three of us were carefree and did exactly what we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it. It was the greatest time I've ever had with friends.
So when this opportunity came about to do this NYC trip, as scared as I was, I knew I NEEDED this trip. Not to see the guys...not to relive some teenage fantasy...but to continue discovering who I am and what my purpose is. I spent the weekend shooting pictures and laughing with friends...building relationships with beautiful, talented, smart, brilliant women....one of them being myself. I am here and I love what I've learned about myself. Because of this self-discovery, I'll be able to let myself dream again. I'll write. I'll make more friends. I'll stoke the fire beneath old friendships. I'll love freely and cut toxic relationships out. I'll sing and dance and I'll take pictures. I'll be more true to myself, consequences be damned!
My son (whom you may know I've had an extremely tense relationship with, as of late) kept commenting in the days following my trip "Mom, you seem really different. I can't really explain it...You're just way different." He's right. I am different! How sad that it took almost 15 years for him to see his mother as an individual!
So, it seems that the stowaway in my luggage as I landed in Des Moines on my return flight was me. And damn, I'm glad to be back!!
NYC - Part 14 (or "You didn't REALLY think that was the last one, did you?")
When I said I was stopping there, I lied. Okay, I didn't lie, but I wanted to put a separate message to the women I spent my weekend with. Without you, my experience would not have been the same. Never forget what unbelievable women you are.
Sprinkles:
You beautiful, darling, generous woman....you were the reason I even considered NY a possibility in the first place. You opened your home and your family to me and for that gift, I will forever be grateful! You're the model of what I could only hope to be. Your family is so blessed to have you.
Sprinkles:You beautiful, darling, generous woman....you were the reason I even considered NY a possibility in the first place. You opened your home and your family to me and for that gift, I will forever be grateful! You're the model of what I could only hope to be. Your family is so blessed to have you.
Glennie:Girl...you just crazy! You teach me something new every day and I wish we'd had more time together to laugh and play. I swear we were separated at birth...you know, if I was a black woman from Jerze. HA! Seriously though, you bring a smile to my face every time I talk to you and I love you for it.
JaceyPants:LET's GET THIS! For never really having spoke before I met you in the bowels of hell (aka Newark Airport), I'm so grateful for our friendship! I can't thank you enough for taking such good care of me and making sure I wasn't going to drop from exhaustion or Wahlbergization. You're a gem, babe!! Can't WAIT to see you again!
Clarita:For taking pity on this poor, clueless white girl from the Midwest, you deserve riches beyond what this world will give you. Making sure I knew where I was going and even how much to tip a cabbie for a $5 taxi ride, you're my NY Go-To girl! God bless you, darlin!!
Kavi:I've never been able to forge friendships with women easily. Throw in cultural and educational differences such as the ones between us and it's damn near impossible, but after having spent the day with you seeing what New York had to show me, I consider you so much more than a friend to me. You were so patient and as excited as I was to do the amazing things we did. I'm brought to tears by your kindness and friendship. You...are.....priceless.
BoilerFan:For late night laughs, putting up with my crazy sense of humor and a thousand other things I know I do that probably made you wanna run BACK to California, I thank you. You kept me company, kept me safe, kept me fed and kept me in stitches. If I could choose a sister, you'd be right there...faceless and all. LOL! Thank you so much for everything. Let's do this again!
Heidi & Summer:You crazy Cleveland Girls!! I give you grief and tease you unmercifully for your lack of Face Time and your ga-ga-ness with your love for the guys, but when it boils down to it, I am so envious of your relationship. To be able to share something like this with a real sister would be the only thing to make this experience better. Thank you for allowing me a glimpse into your lives (laughs, fights and all) and letting me share in this with you. Cleveland ROCKS!
For all the women I shared moments with while in that incredible city, I thank you. Each of you touched me in some small way and I will be forever different because of your impact. When Joe wrote "5 Brothers and a Million Sisters," he was talking about us. There's just no other way to describe it. I love each of you from the very bottom of my heart and I will never forget you regardless of where this journey takes us or when it ends.
But no matter what, we'll always have 48th & Rockefeller.
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