HOT Summer Night

Don't laugh. And nobody have any open flames next to their computer screen because that is a heck of a lot of hairspray on all that hair below.1993. Big hair and plaid was in. This is Chelsea and me. We were roommates at the Glenwood in Provo. I think this picture was taken before heading out to go dancing at The Palace on Ladies Night. (sorry dad) We have been friends for 17 years. We have stayed in touch over the years through many moves, marriages and babies. She currently lives in AZ. This is my friend Rachel and her husband Dave. We became friends while we lived in Pocatello, Idaho. She was a teaching assistant at a school I taught at. She got to follow a couple of my Behavior Disordered students around all day long. We may or may not have shopped online when we should have been attending to the students. I will neither confirm nor deny that. She currently lives in AZ.

In case you have been living under a rock, last November I went to the NKOTB concert when they came to SLC. If you need a refresher on that night, click here. When I heard they were bypassing SLC and going to AZ, I thought it would be great to reunite with my old friends. (oh, and Rachel and Chelsea.) Chelsea saw the New Kids THREE times as an adolescent (two up on me) and she couldn't wait to see them all grown up. Rachel on the other hand was a neglected child whose parents wouldn't let her see them in concert while growing up in Ohio. Personally, I think that borders on child abuse, but that's just my opinion.

In preparation for the event, I ordered some shirts from this place. They were the most coveted shirts of the night. (In case you don't know, those are the names of the New Kids on the Block)

The very best part (well next to the actual show and really cool shirts) was that our tickets were ONLY $7!!! How did we manage that? We didn't buy them until the day before the show. And they were actually really good seats. But, unfortunately, our $7 tickets and cool shirts didn't get us in to the VIP entrance. Lame.

First up: The Jabbawockeez. If you don't know who they are, where have you been? Click here to see them in action. Next up: Jesse McCartney. All I can say is YAWN. He didn't even warrant a picture. When he grows some more chest hair, I might start paying attention.

And then, it began...the night we had all been waiting for. They sang some old, they sang some new. We screamed our guts out, turned in to 16 year old girls and sang along.

How can you not dance along to this? It will take you back to the good ole days:

Don't worry, I didn't sing along. You won't have to cover your ears.

Rachel's favorite is Joey. He sang to her all night. Her personal favorites were "Please Don't Go Girl" and "Popsicle" (yes, he sang that!) Unlike Chelsea and I, Rachel is very quiet and wasn't swinging from the rafters. But, I could tell by the look on her face she was so excited to see her teenage crush who she had planned on marrying.

All of a sudden, the guys disappeared and then they reappeared 10 rows below us. Jon and Jordan were pretty close.

Joey wasn't too far away either. We looked around and couldn't find Rachel! Where had she gone?? Did she sneak to the bathroom and was totally missing this? Chelsea and I climbed on top of our seats and were waving our arms around screaming. We started blowing him kisses and then it happened. He looked our way and blew a kiss back. That's right. Joey saw two crazy 30 something moms going nuts. He acknowledged our craziness and all was good with the world. (I'm sure he also thought "what great shirts!")

Rachel reappeared. Where had she gone? In her quiet observing nature, she saw them appear below and ran down and was two people away from Jon and Jordan. She did see that Joey spotted us. Way to go Rach!

And then it was over. We thought about scoping out the tour buses, but did I mention I was in AZ? And even at 11:30 at night it is 110 degrees?

It was a fun time and I'm glad that I got to share it with my two long time NKOTB friends. We got to escape reality for a little while and just go nuts :)

Thanks to Chelsea and her family for being the hosts with the mosts and letting me crash at their place. AND for getting us the hook up at Maggiano's in Scottsdale before the concert. You are the bestest! I forgot to mention that I conned her in to going to Sephora AGAIN. She stepped out of the box and let them put color on her eyelids. I thought she looked great!

And thanks to Kami for her heads up on The Names Brand site which provided the t-shirts and for her tutorial on how to get blog pics ginormous.