I'll Be Loving Them Forever

So I’m sure that many of you may want to disown me after reading this, but I can live with that because last night was one of the best nights of my life! My sister, Carolyn, came to town so that the two of us could attend the New Kids on the Block concert together. I don’t know if I’ll even be able to put into words how much fun we had or how much this meant to us. We are lifelong (well, from the age of 8) New Kids fans and loved them well beyond their heyday, after they were no longer cool, and followed each of their individual projects in and out of the spotlight for the many years before this reunion. I even went so far as to attend the “Dancing with the Stars” tour two years ago for the sole purpose of meeting Joey McIntyre (which I did!) Five years ago I had “The Right Stuff” as my cell phone ringtone and only changed it after I switched phones and no longer had the option to download that song. So I tell you all of this embarrassing information so that you will have some idea of how much of a dream come true last night was for us.

Carolyn brought our old NKOTB nightshirts with her that my mom had safely packed away for us 20 (yes, 20!) years ago. How she still had them is kind of a mystery, but fortunately we grew enough over the past 20 years that we could now wear them as shirts. At first I was slightly embarrassed, but when we went out to dinner and at the concert itself we got so many comments about our great shirts and one girl begged me to put it on Ebay for her so she could buy it. We saw some other old school shirts there, but most people were wearing the new stuff so we were pretty proud that we were so obviously original fans.

We had a great dinner downtown and then it was off to the show. We totally should have brought our cameras into the show, but our tickets had “NO CAMERAS ALLOWED” printed in bold letters on the face of the ticket so we followed the rules. We evidently could have ignored that rule because EVERYBODY had their camera. I took a few shots with my cell phone but it is not the same. But living in this technology age has its perks…there are clips on You Tube already from the concert in Charlotte I can go and watch the exact performances that I saw over and over again.

Here’s a link to a clip of Hangin’ Tough which they did as their encore (and it is totally worth checking out because they did some really cool stuff during the song): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGOoXCYcHgA

I have never been to a show with this much energy before. It really felt like they put something together to be a true treat for their fans. Everybody was on their feet for the entire show (I am not kidding!) and at one point all arms were in the air. It was the coolest feeling to look around the packed Bobcats arena and see everybody totally in the moment and singing together at the top of their lungs.

The show very obviously catered to their female fan base (which they joked are now very legal 25-35 years old since we were so young the first time around!) On the first floor of the arena every bathroom except one was a female bathroom (signs hung over the male restroom signs to turn them all into female bathrooms) due to the ratio of men to women at the show. It really was a girl’s night out! They also joked about how we all left our husbands at home for the night. It was pretty funny! You kind of had to feel bad for the husbands who somehow got dragged there.

I want to share everything that I can remember about the show right now before it fades into memory but today is Halloween and I need to get ready for all the trick or treaters. We get a bunch of kids in our neighborhood which makes it really fun. I’ll try to add more very soon because as silly as it may sound this was truly one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. My sister and I screamed, danced, and sang along at the top of our lungs, fulfilling our dream to FINALLY see NKOTB live and in concert. As great as this show was, it was totally worth a 20 year wait!

The Right Stuff

So I know I need to update you about the wedding this past weekend, but I have such big plans tonight that any updating is going to have to wait. My sister is on her way to Charlotte as we speak and….wait for it…..we are going to the New Kids on the Block concert together tonight!!!!!!! While this may seem ridiculous to many of you (go ahead and laugh, I can take it!) I was one of their biggest fans 20 years ago and was forbidden from attending their concerts. Why you might ask? I was 9 and 10 years old during all the NKOTB mayhem and evidently my mother thought that there would be teenagers at the concerts smoking cigarettes. Gasp! What my mother may never realize is that I have never even tried a cigarette, not once, in all of my 29 years. I was heartbroken then and vowed to one day meet the man of my dreams, Joey McIntyre. That dream came true two years ago when I actually did meet him and now the fact that they have reunited and added a concert date at the last minute in my hometown is just icing on the cake.

Carolyn is bringing our old nightshirts that my mom still had so that we can wear them tonight. They are evidently small enough to wear as a regular shirt now. We’re going out to eat together downtown before the concert though, so I might have to wear a big jacket so that I don’t completely embarrass myself. I do still have to live here and show my face in public after tonight! (So, no, I will not be crimping my hair, tight rolling my jeans, or digging out the oh so fabulous scrunchies.) We’ll try to take some pictures ahead of time! No cameras are allowed inside of Bobcats arena so we probably won’t have any pics of ourselves at the actual event, but I can’t believe that my birthday wish when I turned 10 is actually coming true. (And for those of you that haven’t heard this before, my cake that year read, “Happy Birthday to a New 10 Year Old Kid on the Block.” I do not lie, my mom has the pictures to prove it!!)

I’ll update you about the actual event soon, but until then you’ll just have to “hang tough!” I can’t wait!

Tag, I’m It!

I have been tagged by my wonderful friend Jennifer to share 6 totally random things about myself so perhaps this will help liven up the blog funk that I have been in.

1. I am an absolute ice cream junkie. I eat ice cream almost every single day. I like most every flavor (although peppermint is my absolute favorite and is only available for a limited time around the holidays!) I love milkshakes, sundaes, floats, malts…pretty much everything. Peanut butter ice cream from Coldstone is the best! I’m also a huge fan of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food. I am slightly worried that one morning I will wake up and this most unhealthy addiction will have manifested itself in uncontrollable weight gain overnight, but until that happens I will continue on with this addiction!

2. My dream job (you are going to love this one, Jen!) is to be a wedding planner/event coordinator. Since my background is in accounting that probably sounds a little funny, but I am extremely organized and love all the details that go into pulling an event together. My husband has actually forbidden me from throwing any wedding/baby showers for awhile since I went through a stretch where I was hosting a ton of parties. The schedule would work out well with Patrick’s schedule too since he is really busy on the weekends already. If only I knew how to actually make this come true…

3. I am terrified of flying. Terrified. I have to review my Fear of Flying materials and do simulation flights on the computer before any trip. I hate the feeling of flying. I’m not so much scared about crashing (I know all the statistics about it being safer than driving a car, etc. etc.) as I am about the actual sensation of flying. I hate all the sounds, the movements, the way I feel like I’m going to yack (and incidentally, the passengers beside me who inevitably get airsick and have to use their barf bags while sitting right beside me…eww!) There is not one thing I enjoy about getting on a plane. (Although I can hide my fear fairly well nowadays, I was silently crying when I got on a plane to Chicago about 5 years ago since that was my first flight in about 20 years. I think the guy that sat down beside me was an air marshal since he commented that he knew I was crying – before he saw me – which was odd, he was about my age, he told me he flew in the military so he talked me through the take off and landing, and he had a book bag he kept in his lap throughout the flight…There were a lot of clues that my co-worker put together after that flight. Holy crap, the airlines thought I was going to lose it mid-flight!)

4. I am an absolute bookworm. I have been my entire life. I tear into books when I get them (Patrick call me a ferocious reader!) and usually finish them very quickly. I can’t read just a couple of pages and put a book down. When I find an author I like I usually end up reading everything that I can get my hands on by that author. I love to read!

5. While I am a complete neat freak, the inside of my drawers are surprisingly unorganized and cluttered. For some reason I cannot motivate myself to organize the drawers in my kitchen or the clothes drawers in my dresser. In fact, there are drawers in my coffee table that are a wreck too. I have organized closets so I’m not sure where this one comes from, but I have never been able to keep drawers clean and organized. So anytime any of you come to visit, be forewarned before you open any drawer in the house!

6. I love shows on MTV and VH1. This is totally embarrassing! I know I am way too old to care about most of these shows, but I can get sucked into spending an afternoon catching up on The Hills, Rock of Love, America’s Next Top Model…nothing that I would proudly claim as a television show I watch.

So now you know a couple of embarrassing things about me (I watch television shows designed for a high school audience and I’m afraid to fly), a couple things I love (ice cream and good books) and some that don’t fit with the rest of my personality (like wanting to plan events and having messy drawers.) There are 6 totally random things about me…enjoy!

Boring Update

So what I’m discovering through trying to keep up this blog is that I am not really all that interesting. My days are very routine, and there’s not usually much to report. I’m not complaining because I have a very happy, contented life, but I think to the outside looking in I must be a very boring person!

This past weekend Patrick and I watched the Panthers roll over the Saints (a division game no less!) so now the Panthers are up to 5-2. I am hopeful that they can beat Arizona this week so that we’ll only be averaging 1 loss per quarter of the season. (Can you see my accounting background shining through?!)

We’re heading up to the mountains of Blowing Rock, NC on Friday for the wedding of one of Patrick’s good friends. He’s in the wedding and the weekend will start off with a day of golf for the guys on Friday. Patrick is very worried about me being left alone all day (before you start thinking it’s because he’s so thoughtful, I think it has more to do with he’s afraid I’ll be bored which usually leads to irritable and make it a long night for him!) but what I think he’s failing to realize is that I lived in Boone for 5 ½ years when I was attending Appalachian (I stayed up there for my Master’s as well, hence the 5 ½ years!) and so being up there is like being home for me. I’m going to try to walk around campus, grab lunch at my favorite spot, visit all the little stores on King Street and the main street in Blowing Rock – it will be fun!
I’m still dragging from my mystery sickness – I have a mild sore throat and I am absolutely exhausted all the time. I’ve been taking cat naps like it’s my job lately. I hope that since I got hit early that I’ll miss out on all the real fun during flu season. Here’s hoping anyway!

Sick!

So I was totally just kidding in my last post about having a little cold. Evidently I am one of the lucky chosen few who got to have a mini preview of flu season and all the fun that goes along with it (fever, aches and pains, headache, etc.) I did not move all weekend long. In fact, I did not leave the house from the moment I crawled home from work on Friday until I left for work this morning. My fever broke late yesterday afternoon and I started feeling better once that happened, but I’m not fully recovered yet. Yuck – I hope this is not a sign of things to come!

On another yucky note, evidently the Panthers lost pretty badly yesterday and are now 4-2. I only briefly saw the game in between naps (I literally slept away the weekend!) and from the looks of things I was not missing much. I hope they are back on track next week!

My mission this week (once I am feeling energized enough one evening to undertake such a task that is) is to find a dress to wear to a wedding Patrick is in that is only two weeks away. Yikes there’s nothing like waiting until the last minute! I’m fortunate that a friend loaned me a dress to wear to either the rehearsal dinner/wedding but I still have to find something for the second event. Unfortunately everything in my closet is for spring/summer weddings and this one is up in the mountains so it is going to be COLD! I was supposed to go dress hunting with my friend Rebecca this past weekend but those plans were cancelled by my random sickness. (Random simply because I do not know a single person who has been sick like this!) Cross your fingers that the stars align and I find something that will work!

The Yucks

So I think that cold season is officially in full swing for me. Yesterday I was feeling especially crabby (just ask my poor husband!) and this morning I understood...not only was I doubled over in pain from some especially awful cramps (I love being a girl!) but I have a sore throat, headache, and overall blah feeling. My husband really is the best though. I was curled up on the couch this evening and when he could tell that I was not feeling too great he made a run to the grocery store to pick up some Hall's for my throat. For those of you that know Patrick, you know that he does not like to leave the house past 8:00 at night because that interferes with his extraordinarily early bedtime (okay, I'm exaggerating a little!) but for him to go to the store without being asked was a big deal. I'm fine, just dealing with "the yucks" which aren't enough to keep me home in bed but enough to slow me down in trying to accomplish all the tasks I need to complete this weekend! When I think about all that so many of my friends are dealing with right now though, I really am lucky that this is all I'm worrying about right now.

Tennis Anyone?!

This past Saturday I volunteered at a tennis tournament with my friend Alli and her husband Steve. Our assignment was to usher in the VIP section, which primarily consisted of standing up in between sets when the gates were open to escort the VIPs to their boxes, and sitting down during the action. I got to seat a few people, but overall there wasn’t too much activity in my section. All the media that were covering the event were in my area, so it was neat watching the TV coverage on the news since they had the same vantage point I did during the tournament.

The first match we got to watch was between Thomas Enqvist and Karel Novacek. The second was a doubles exhibition between Jimmy Arias and Chandra Rubin v. Tim Wilkinson and Anna Kournikova. This was a really entertaining match with the players joking around a lot during the sets. At one point Jimmy joked that he had never lost a volley to a girl and he and Anna went back and forth before she finally won the point. He jokingly pulled his shirt over his head in defeat!

The funniest part of the day came after Tim Wilkinson had finished his match with Anna Kournikova and he wanted to come see his family for a few minutes. The Show Pro who was working the entrance by my section wouldn’t let him in without seeing a pass first. His family was right behind me and they all started sending their passes over to him and then she wanted to see his ticket too since they were all willing to give him their passes. (His family did find his credentials with his name pre-printed on them, but I’m not sure that she noticed that part!) I was laughing and he was super nice about it (and he totally could have pulled a “don’t you know who I am?” but refrained.) She didn’t figure it out until one of the tournament officials came over to check on his family and they laughed about how she wouldn’t let him into the stands. It was nice to see everybody getting a good laugh out of it.

The last match was between Todd Martin and Wayne Ferreira and it took FOREVER! They were really evenly matched so the first set went over and then the second one went into a tie-break as well. I don’t really follow tennis so a lot of this was way over my head, but all in all it was a neat experience that made for a very entertaining Saturday.

Super fun – Patrick and I had tickets to attend the Panthers game on Sunday! Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I don’t have any pictures to share but we had so much fun. Patrick had the whole day off (a rarity in his line of work!) so we were able to spend the whole day together! Right before we left for the game Caddy pounced my Panthers sweatshirt, which we took as a good omen for the outcome of the game. The Panthers went on to crush the Falcons 24-9 and did not allow them to score a single touchdown. 3-1 is not a bad way to start the season!