Wrap It Up!

10/9/08

I got to fulfill a childhood dream last night. I finally went to my first New Kids on the Block concert!!! It was such a thrill just to be in the same city with them but in the same room? The same space? The same page? These guys are wonderful wonderful WONDERFUL people. I cannot express into words what they mean to me. I've tried, but nothing can really do it justice unless you are a fan. I have to say that the concert was more than what I expected. No dead space, always entertaining, and they brought their energy with them and our energy bounced right back. It was like a relationship, kinda like a boyfriend performing for a girlfriend. Sigh...I think I can finally die happy. Although, they did say no autographs tonight. Hmmm...that puts a dent in my tattoo plans...what to do? Well, let's see how far my determination takes me.

Here's what I posted on a message board:

Just got back from my very first NKOTB concert!! It was such an experience!! I didn't even care that they weren't allowing photos & autographs at the M&G because Robo was right. He said "If you love someone, what do you do? You hug & kiss them." And that's what we all did. This experience was definitely priceless. And so loud too!! I sat on Floor 1 in Row 4 so my view was pretty good. They seem to go to stage right a lot so that's great for me!! Haha! I need some sleep! But, highlights of my trip:

1. Got a kiss from Donnie
2. Enjoyed a long Donnie hug
3. Donnie liked my shirt, it says "Donnie Wahlberg is God" on my sleeve

Okay, guess all my highlights were Donnie-related. The M&G was fun. I really loved meeting the guys. I got to hug all of them. Danny is like a rock! So much man there. haha! Jordan lost HELLA weight since May! I need to get some tips from him. Oh wait, get sexy. Got it. Haha!! Donnie was next, been waiting for that moment forever since in Burbank, I couldn't spit out even a hello. Joe was sweet, gave me a great big hug and I wished him well for the show. Jonathan was in good spirits. I don't think he's sick anymore.

But anyways...

When I got to Donnie, I promised myself I wasn't gonna not say a word like last time. I hugged him and while hugging him, I said "How do I give you a gift?" and he said, "Just give it to me." So I told him, "Well, since you're gonna be my boyfriend for 2 hours, I made you a slow jam CD. And, since you like rap, this is a rap CD of my friend." I know, I'm so cheesy but I didn't care. Then he took them and thanked me and he was looking at my shirt. He said, "What do you got here?" and was spinning me around to look at all the things my shirt says. No, I didn't mind that he was putting his hands all over me to spin me around. Yah, that was okay. On the front, it says FACE TIME HOLLA! On the back, it says "New Kids on the Block Reunion 2008". On the right sleeve, it says "Baby Baby Baby Bus" and on the left sleeve, it says "Donnie Wahlberg is God". He really liked that last part. He held that part and said to Jordan, "Hey!" and pointed it out. Jordan looked and then gave a smile and a laugh. Donnie's response was, "Almost!" Then he hugged me and I was just so....so....ugh! I can't even describe it. Now I know what a "Donnie hug" is. I wouldn't even call it that. It's more like a "Donnie hold." He just holds onto you so lovingly, and stroking your back. I LOVED IT!!

And Jonathan, I told him how I was there that night when he went to visit the fans at the Today Show Wednesday night and all the while I was telling him, we were holding hands, both hands, and just talking. He's so sweet! Then we hugged and I thanked him for that. Oh, and another part I loved, during a song that Donnie was singing, I was recording the performance and at one point, I swear, I SWEAR Donnie was looking right at me. Probably because of my Face Time shirt and I was so shocked that I didn't pay attention to my camera cuz I didn't want to lose the gaze and the camera didn't capture it!! It cut off his head cuz I was starting to melt! Darn it! Ah well, whatevers. It's all good. Anyways, gotta catch up on some sleep. Going to Sacramento concert in a few hours. Gotta pick up old_school_fan and missmina from the airport! This time, I'll twitter. Hope you guys aren't mad at me for not twittering during the concert. I really just wanted to soak it all in since I'd never been to one before. Good night! Or rather, good morning!

Oh yah, one more thing. I don't know if all the M&Gs have the same food but all I gotta say is, bring mints.

Here's the video where I melted (Spoiler Alert):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igPeN1QAQ1A


10/10/08

I thought Wednesday night was a dream come true but tonight was even better!! We got to Arco Arena and got in line for the M & G. We were in group C to take the pictures. They took us to a room on the fourth floor. I can see the people down at the 1st floor attending the soundcheck. This M&G was much smaller than LA's. There were about 90 people there for this one but still, same rules: no cameras and no autographs. Booooo!! Oh wells. It's all good. Anyways, the guys came into the room and we all cheered. Donnie went straight to the line and hugged everyone in the line. We were going nuts!

When it came to our turn for the pictures, I was going to go up to Donnie but I figured I'd just get to all of them anyway so I walked over to Danny and gave him a great big hug and said hi. He's so nice! Then Donnie came over to where I was and I said hi and hugged him. I told him I didn't get to take a picture next to a New Kid yesterday and then he held onto me and said, "Oh well, stay right here. I won't let you go." Then he looked at my shirt and read it. It says "Sorry Joe! Miss_Ava is a Donnie Girl Now!" He kindly said, "Awww, that's not nice." Then he said "You're Miss Ava?" And I said yes. Then he whispered in my ear, "Don't wear that around Joe." I said okay. Then we took the picture and Robo said we had to leave already. I told Donnie I wanted an autograph tattoo and he said he would give me an autograph. But I said I didn't wanna get kicked out. As I was leaving, Joe walks past me and he grabs my arm and I realize it was cuz he saw his name on my shirt. I pull away to cover the shirt but he pulled me to look and I said "Sorry! I love you Joe!" And he said, "Oh that's okay. Donnie's taking a lot of my girls lately anyway." Whoops.

After the pictures were taken, the guys came around to the tables to say hello. When Donnie came around to our table, I should've asked for the autograph but I didn't. It would've been the perfect opportunity too but I just didn't ask. When Jon came around, he was giving out autographs anyway so I had him sign my high school locker mirror. And then it was over. Time for the concert.

We went down to the floor. My seat was Floor 3, Row 2, Seat 2. I thought, "Cool, that might be closer than yesterday." But little did I know, when they showed me to my seat, it was FRONT ROW CENTER!!! I was in SHOCK! I couldn't get over how the heck did we manage to get these incredible seats!! Never in my lifetime did I ever think I would ever be watching a New Kids on the Block concert in the front row. It was a dreamier dream come true. That's when I thought it would be cool to have my sign with me. I asked the security if I could go out and come back in. He said no. I decided to try anyway. I asked the person at the door who was collecting tickets if I could go out and come back in. He said no. Then I asked, "Well, what if I have to get my medicine?" He pointed me to the security guest services table and told me to ask them.

I went over there and it was this elderly gentleman and a young lady. I looked at him and I didn't wanna tell him the medicine thing because what if they walk me to my car and I have nothing??! So, what I said was, "Hi. I was wondering if I could go out to my car to get something."
"What do you need to get?"
"A sign."
"A sign?"
"Well, they always pull up someone's sign at the concert and I couldn't believe it but I got front row seats and it would be so great if they would take my sign when they perform."
He looked at me and said into his walkie talkie, "Can I get an ambassador?"
Then someone came over to me and took me down the elevator and told me I could come back in through the same door. AWESOME!!! So I went out to my car, got my sign, my marker, and returned. One side says "NKOTB IS ALL HOOD." When I got back in, I wrote on the back, "DONNIE IS GOD". lol! That's my dedication to him since he saw my shirt say the same thing the day before.

So, I'm not going to sum up the concert but just some personal highlights that I've already twittered probably:

1. During Single, Donnie was directly in front of me and he winked and blew me a kiss.
2. During another song, he looked right at me and smiled.
3. During Cover Girl, Donnie motioned for my sign and he held it up with the "DONNIE IS GOD" side showing!!!!! AAAGGGHHH!!! It was so worth it!
4. I got front row vision of all the thrusting! hahahaha!!
5. They played my favorite song, "Big Girl Now" with Lady GaGa!!!

The only thing that bugged me was that the security guard in front of me kept telling me "No video recordings!" and "No flash!" Uhh, hello, there were a thousand other fans doing the same thing. Why did I have to stand by a hater??!


10/12/08

LAX was way crowded. I couldn't move around unless I was dancing in order to flow with the crowd. I don't even wanna talk about it. They came, they sang, they partied, they left. The end.

My 5* Experience
Yah, it's a little late to be posting this but just wanted to document my NKOTB week. I went to San Jose's concert and I didn't do 5* for that concert so, not too many highlights. Although, one highlight I do have for San Jose is that Donnie dropped his pants after singing Cover Girl. He had long shorts on though. What a tease! haha!!

Anyway, for my 5*, I was placed in Group C. I got in and there was this girl there who was all up in Joe's face. Joe kept telling her that she needed to get back. I don't really know what was going on but I knew she had already gone in because she was in Group A. I went to Jon since he was not near that girl. The rest of the guys, besides Joe, were talking to fans while at the same time, watching what was going down between Joe & that girl. Security was trying to pull her back. I talked to Jon a little bit and hugged him. When that girl wouldn't leave, Jon pulled us away from that girl and said, "Let's go over here."

After that, I went to Jordan and gave him a hug but I didn't really have much to say to him so I didn't say anything. All the other girls were swarming around Joe and I couldn't even find Danny. Then I waited a little bit and stood near Donnie. I figured everyone had already talked to him. Donnie looked at me and pointed at me and said, "You." He smiled and gave me a great big bear hug. Then I told him about my Sacramento story and how I didn't wanna bother him during his personal time and he said, "You shoulda came in! I LOVE seeing you at the shows!" And I said, "Well, you were eating and I didn't wanna bug you and stuff, that's your time to yourself." And he said, "What did I say about Face Time? I was with fans! You shoulda came in!" And I was like, "I didn't know if it woulda been okay." And he was like, "Didn't you see me winking at you and blowing kisses at you?" Agh!! Then he hugged me again and I told him I loved him and how I wanted to get his autograph on my arm cuz I wanted a tattoo but I can't find him and he said that I gotta "get smart." Hmmph. :P Well Mr. Donnie Wahlberg, now that I have your permission, I will see you soon.

10/25/08

Today was a whirlwind of non-events, events, and could've been events. I arrived in Chicago an hour late because of a delay in my flight. Due to the $15 charge for checked luggage, they ran out of carry on space in the plane and my bag had to be checked. If I had known they were going to check my bag, then I should've done that in the first place and I wouldn't have gotten my hairspray confiscated.

Anyway, Keem picked me up at around 2 AM, Central time and I was exhausted. We went to Susie's and got some fries and he got a burger. It was yummy. Then we swung by the bank and headed home. I slept for about 3 hours and woke up at 7:30 AM. I was determined to go to the Allstate Arena and see if I can find the guys. I got there and there were about 20 girls already there by the bus area. I waited and waited but nothing. I ran into Ron, Lisa & Robin from the Today Show. They're doing well. I met a couple girls named Kathy & another one named Jennifer. I met up with Misty from fans.com and we hung out for the rest of the day before the concert started.

Misty and I decided to leave around 2 PM. I was tired, hungry and I needed to use the restroom. We walked over to Starbucks and I ordered a Salty Caramel Hot Chocolate and a Mushroom Piadini. It was delicious. Anyways, after waiting for a long while, it was finally time for me to go to the 5* thing and we parted ways.

At my M&G, there were 200 people. I had to give my stuff to Zach instead of directly to the New Kids. I handed over Suzanne's card to Donnie, Mimi's letter to Jordan, and my magazine to Danny. I didn't really want to let it go but since it had his mother on the cover, I thought he would like to have it. I already photocopied it since I will never see it again. :(

At my meet & greet, it was cool, but different. Different because I went alone. I didn't really know anyone there but that's okay. I did my best to avoid eye contact mainly because I was feeling shy. When it was my turn to meet with the guys, I went in and went to Jon first. I gave him a hug and then I hugged Jordan. He asked me what the BH4U pin meant and I told him it means Blockhead For You. He still didn't get it and I told him it was from nkotbfans.com but he stil didn't understand. By then, it was time for the picture. I turned around and there was Donnie. His first words to me? "Hey You" and he smiles as if he remembers me. Whether he did or not is beyond me. But it seemed like he did. After the picture, I gave him a hug and said that I missed him. I said how are you and he said "I feel much better now that you're here." I swear, when I talk to that man, it is as if we're the only two living beings in the world.

Then it was time to go but I had to tell Danny what I left for him. He said thank you and we hugged. Then I went to Jon and gave him a hug as well. I also said hello to Joe and gave him a hug. He wanted to look at my shirt but I was embarrassed to show it. But he said he wanted to see it. The shirt I had was customized. It was my "WANTED: Donnie Wahlberg aka God" shirt. I never even got to show it to Donnie. Oh well, maybe next time. Haha, there is no next time. :T

Anyways, the concert was great. I did mostly video today because I was in a spot where they couldn't reach me to tell me to stop recording like they did in Sacramento. I finally got Baby I Believe In You on video. I love that part of the concert even though I'm not a Jordan girl.

Anyways, it's 4:30 AM and I need to wake up at 8. I'll blog more in the morning if I have time. Good night.