Chicago was amazing!

Okay, so the big story here at NKOTB Obsession is that we, Van and I, got to go to Chi Town together. This was unbeknownst to me. I had no idea that Van was going to be there. She is so sneaky. She conspired with my husband along with the fabulous girls from NKOTB Stalkerfest to bring her to Chicago as a surprise for me. I'm not sure how I got so lucky or what I've done to deserve these friends but I am truly one VERY lucky girl! I cried!!!!





Anyway, on to the concert experience!

So...Kris, Stacey, Janelle, Vanessa, and myself headed out of Minneapolis around 5 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. We got into Chicago at about 2:30 a.m. We checked into the hotel and tried to get a good night's sleep, although for me, it was virtually impossible knowing that our boys were going to be on stage in less than 24 hours. On Friday morning, we all got up and got ready, rushed about our day anticipating the very much awaited Chi Town show. Van and I had made a pact that we would not view any video of the Full Service tour before the Chicago show so that everything would be a surprise. Although, I do have to say, thanks to Kris's little hints, we were so antsy waiting to get there!






Kris brought her laptop so we could be in touch with Twitter and it just so happened that Donnie had announced that they were giving away free tickets at Dick's. I know, funny right???? So of course, we rushed to get down there and get in line. Only 100 tickets were being given out. We made a mad dash to the parking lot, took some insane pictures there. Then, off we went to Dick's for our chance at free tickets.

As luck would have it, we were number 101. LOL. So, the very nice guy that was handing out tickets sent the van back to get another 100 tickets. It worked out. When they got back, we got some great seats. Instead of keeping the tickets we got, we decided to "pay it forward!" More on that in a few.

After we got our free tickets, we went to park at the venue and they would not let us in. Security was very strict about not letting any of the general public in until 5:30 so we went across the street to the Odyssey World parking lot and decked out our vehicle with window paint. We still had some time to spare before the show so we decided to go and have dinner. We had what everyone new to Chicago would have. Chicago style pizza. It was great!

Finally, we were able to get into our venue. We parked our car and and went to the gates. Let me tell you, it was so hot standing and waiting. We had VIP admission so we got pretty pink bradcelets. :D

When we were finally able to get in we went to find our seats. All I can say is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Our seats were 7th row center. Close enough to see them sweat!!

Now, onto the "pay it forward!" Stacey and Janelle had found a very cute little girl and gave 2 of the tickets to her. We had a total of 6. After that, we all walked around the lawn seating and found a group of 4 people sitting together. We offered them our remaining 4 tickets and to our surprise, they turned it down. We walked on and found another group of 4 women and offered them. They were geunuinely grateful for them. The seats were under the canopy. Great tickets. It felt good to do that for someone!

The Jabawokeez were phenomenal as usual. I was fortunate enough to see them in Winnipeg this past spring. Then Jesse McCartney came on and he was fabulous too. Let me tell ya, I'd go cougar on his ass! He's quite the little hottie! My 13-year-old was jealous!




Finally, after all of the anticipation, NKOTB took the stage. The opening was beyond any words I could use to describe it. It was so perfect. Each one of our guys came out looking just as fabulous as you would expect. They put on one hell of a show. It was so hot and I don't just mean the temperature, although it was very warm outside. Thank goodness Chicago is considered the "Windy City!"







The actual show lasted about 2-1/2 hours and it was well worth every smoking hot minute! When it was over I was sad and elated all at the same time.

So, after the show, Stacey was texting a friend of hers named Becca, whom we had all met in Minneapolis for the reunion show. Becca has a way of getting backstage with the guys. Originally, we had left to go to Denny's thanks to Donnie's twitter stating that he would be hitting up the Denny's and Cracker Barrell restaurants in the midwest since there are no Waffel House restaurants. Well, when Stacey got ahold of Becca, it turned out that the guys were still at the venue. So we inconspicuously made our exit from the Denny's restaurant (which translates to, all 5 of us ran like hell to the car as fast as we could and floored it back to Tinley Park)!

When we got back to Tinley Park, Kris had decided to wait in the car and the rest of us we went around to where the buses parked. "Crunchy Kevin" was nice enough to bring all 4 of us girls to the where the buses were. We all stayed there for a little while, hanging out with Kevin, who is their production manager, Kenny, who is in charge of pyrotechnics (which was amazing, by the way) and Kentucky. Unfortunately, we did not get any face time with any of the group but we were satisfied with hanging out in the back with the crew. I must say, Crunchy Kevin is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He was so sweet and very personable.







Finally, it was time for the buses to pull out and head on to Cincy. So, we were escorted outside the gates and we waited there. During out wait, Kris, whom I had called to come up and hang out with us, had headed back to the car. Van and I were lucky enough to get pictures taken with Ethan, the base player. He is one very beautiful man. :)

As the last bus pulled out, it turned out that it was the Knight's bus. Kris, being back in the car, was waving hysterically to us to run over to her. As the bus passed her, Jon was in the front seat smoking a cigarette and he was waving to her. So we all ran and jumped in the car. We followed the line of cars that followed Bus. By now, it's about 1 in the morning. After about half an hour, Stacey announce "Welcome to Indiana". We had crossed state lines again to follow the Knight bus. LOL. After much consideration, we decided to turn around and go back to the hotel.

All in all, this was the absolute best girl's weekend of my life. Spending time with these wonderful women enjoying a very mutual interest was simply amazing. there are no words to describe how I feel about these girls. Especially after finding out that they had all conspired for 3 months or so to make it possible for Vanessa and I to see this show together.

To Stacy, Janelle, and Kris. You women are some of the absolute best friends I could have. From start to finish, this was an amazing adventure that I cannot wait to experience again. All my love to you!

And to Vanessa, I love you so much. It has been a hard year for me so far and you made this concert experience amazing for me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. We WILL do this again!




I hope all of you have the experience that I had. New Kids on the Block have done more for me than they could ever know. I've made friends that I will cherish forever. :)