NKOTB + WERDYAB

On my Evolution of Dance video, Jen commented that her favorite part was the New Kids Dance.  Jen, you obviously have The Right Stuff, girl.

Photo courtesy of ticketinventory.com.  

Her comment reminded me of a braggy New Kids on the Block story that I hadn't posted yet.

I feel bad for brag-blogging like this, but you should understand that bragging is usually the reason for starting a blog in the first place.  Who else is going to tell you how great my children are?

But first, let's take a little trip back to 1989, shall we?

It was the year that the Berlin Wall fell and George H. W. Bush was elected President.  We said goodbye to Lucille Ball and hello to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  We shouted "Whoop, Whoop!" with Arsenio Hall, watched Rob Lowe entertaining some young ladies in a scandalous video (ahem), and we still thought that Milli Vanilli could actually sing.

And even though you won't find this next one on any Facts About 1989 list, it's just as true.  

1989 was the year that I fell in love with Donnie Wahlberg.

I never liked the bad boy type before, but there was something different about him.  And besides, I was totally willing to look past all that 'setting hotel rooms on fire' stuff.

NKOTB was scheduled to perform a concert at The Omni in Atlanta.  THIS WAS MY CHANCE.  So I asked my Mom if we could get up at 3 AM on a cold, rainy Saturday morning and camp out in front of the Turtle's Record Store to buy tickets.

Before Al Gore invented the internet, we bought concert tickets the old fashioned way - meaning that we had to push and shove our way to the front of the line OR we had to bribe somebody who had already pushed and shoved their way to the front of the line.

And then we had to walk home forty miles in the snow uphill both ways.  Wearing uncomfortable shoes.

But Turtles didn't utilize the push and shove method for this concert... something about trying to cut down on juvenile mob stabbings.  Instead, we drew numbers out of a hat to determine the line order.

What the crap?  You mean that I've been Hangin' Tough out here in the freezing rain for nothing?  

But guess what.  My little sister drew #3.  BOOYAH.  Donnie Wahlberg, here I come!

But unfortunately, as close as I got to Donnie Wahlberg at the concert was wearing his face on my oversized t-shirt with neon accents and a button that was larger than the sun.

This is a dramatic reenactment.  I didn't hold onto these things for over two decades AS FAR AS YOU KNOW.
Photo courtesy of Worth Point. 

Now, let's fast forward 22 years.  I'm a wife and a mother, and on most days, a total grown-up.  And I hardly even stalk celebrities anymore.

My sisters asked me if I wanted to go to the NKOTB concert with them (oh, and the Backstreet Boys were there, too.  As if anybody cared.), but I said no.  One, because I'm totally over Donnie Wahlberg probably.  Two, because I have real financial responsiblies now.  Like buying my daughter $600 worth of Taylor Swift tickets the week before.

My, how the tides have turned.

I offered to help my sisters get some good tickets, though.  We laid out our plan Step By Step.  Step One: We can have lots of fun.  Step Two: There's so much we can dooooo.

Sorry. Sometimes that just happens.

Our plan was to meet up with our laptops on the morning on the presale.  Surely one of us would get lucky and score a good pair of seats.  And we wouldn't even have to push or shove each other to get them.  Unless we wanted to, of course.

Here's the recap.  And... GO!

Sister #1: What have you got?
Me:  Nothin'.  Section 102.  How 'bout you?
Sister #1: Section A, Row 5.  Seats 1 and 2.
Sister #2: I've got Section 5, Row A.  Seats 3 and 4.
Sister #1: Okay.  Section A has got to be better than Section 5, so let's buy those.

Meanwhile, as my two sisters were going completely bananas trying to figure out which pair of tickets were better, I pulled up the seating chart for Philips Arena.  I noticed that Sister #1 must had transposed the information because Section 5 Row A was FRONT ROW CENTER STAGE.  And they had somehow gotten two pairs of tickets TOGETHER.


So I said, " Whoa!  Noboby let their ticke....

Well.  Actually, it sounded more like this, 'WHOA! NOBODY LET THEIR TICKETS GO!  THAT'S FRONT ROW CENTER STAGE, Y'ALL!  

We were so excited!  We felt just like we did on that cold, rainy Saturday morning at Turtle's in 1989.  Except this time, jumping up and down made my legs feel a little sore the next day.


Ladies and gentlemen, the teenage crush gods certainly smiled upon us that day.

Photo courtesy of my iPhone

This was our view from front row.  Pretty nice, huh?

And yes, I know that the image sucks.  I took my Nikon with me, but Security confiscated it because they "don't allow professional photos".  I was all like, "Dude.  Professional photos?  I'm not a professional.  I just want these pics for bragging rights on Facebook.  It's not like I work for Tiger Beat or anything."

And since NKOTB is from Boston, Sister #1 thought that we should wear Boston Red Sox t-shirts to grab their attention.  Pure genius.  Besides, she kind of owed us one after almost giving away two front row seats.

I can bedazzle a sports tee like NOBODY'S BUSINESS.

Now, just to be clear, I've never even watched a Red Sox game.  Of course, I've never eaten tofu before either, but you wouldn't know that from eavesdropping on a conversation between me and my chiropractor.

Cheat to win, people.  Cheat to win.

And I'm proud to say that all that presale stress and t-shirt bedazzling paid off!

Please Don't Go Girl because this 20-second video will tell you the whole story.

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