We bought the tickets three days after they went on sale. This was before they sold out in minutes! Around that time, I also discovered newkidsnetwork.ning.com. I studied up on other people's 5* experiences. I learned not to expect anything. ANYTHING I was able to get would be wonderful! I also found several other girls to be in my group so that there weren't too many of one 'type' of girl. We had trouble finding Danny girls, so there were 3 Joe girls, but we were ready to share.
I also decided I needed a catchy shirt! I decided on one, bought it and was all ready. THEN the Michigan State Basketball team made it into the Final Four! The game was going to played DURING my meet and greet! I was gonna miss this huge game! :( I was ok with that. I knew this meet and greet was a great opportunity. So I decided to make it work for me. I made a green shirt that said "I'm missing MSU in the Final Four to be here" on the front. And on the back it said "Doesn't that deserve a kiss from Joe?" I also got my hair done the day of the concert so that I looked as good as can be (although once it was done, I decided not to do that again. My hair was too poofy!)
My friend Stephanie and I drove to Grand Rapids to the Van Andel Arena. We met up with our preformed group, but two of our girls decided to back out since they were way ahead in line and wanted to stay there. We were left with only 7 of us: Nicole, Dawn, Stefnie, Virginia, Jamie, Stephanie and me, but those 7 were so AWESOME! I was so happy to meet them all and thrilled our group was so nice! Nicole saw a friend of hers from online. She went over to talk to them and there were 3 of them without a group! 2 Danny girls and 1 Donnie girl! Perfect! We had 2 Donnie girls already, but everyone was willing to share the love. :)
We were assigned to Group "I" and went upstairs. There was lots of food left. Basically it was chips/bread and dips and it was perfect to settle the stomach a little (you know me and my nervous eating). They also had free wine and beer, bu the wine went FAST! No problem, I'm happier with my beer anyway! I only had one, just to calm the nerves. We also got our tickets and found out we were in row H, which isn't bad since I bought my tickets on the third day of sales!
Girls started screaming and we saw the guys came up the stairs and slip into the VIP area and we got a brief sneak peek of them! I was fairly nervous as soon as I saw them since they all looked so short (and I'm 5'11" in heels)! We stood around waiting, trying to stay calm, while getting tiny sneak peeks through the cracks in the curtain, until they called our group.
I was first in line to walk in. We walked in and all of the guys were busy messing with their phones or looking at stuff. Jordan was the only one paying attention (and he was standing next to Joe) so I went straight to him and gave him a hug, said "Thank you" and quickly showed him the front of my shirt and he smiled.
Then I turned and grabbed Joe (whose back was still to the group) and said "Look, this is all for you!" and I showed him the front of the shirt, then turned around so he could read the back. He smiled and then he gave me a kiss on the right cheek and hugged me! He was all scruffy when he kissed me! I was kinda surprised, but I did not mind ONE BIT!!! LOL!
More girls came up for their Joe hugs, so I left and went to hug Jon, who was engaged in conversation with Nicole. I hated to interrupt but did anyway to get a hug. He was SOOOO skinny! They all were! I said "Thank you" and he said "Sure. Its nice to meet you." That was when I realized I hadn't said my name ONCE since we walked in (on my "to do" list for next time).
They yelled for pictures,
so I went running back to Joe and we put our arms around each other and he said "So, wait a minute. Did you go to MSU?" I said "Yeah" and he said "That's like sacrilegious" and I said "Yeah" (I have amazing conversation skills as you can tell). Right before we were getting our pics taken, Joe saw my friend Steph's shirt and said "Full Service Station?" and she yelled "Yah, Joe! It's all for you!" and he said "Can you make a deposit?". Well then! Then we got our picture taken (which turned out fabulous!).I gave Joe another hug and I said, "Hey, if you get a chance, you should announce if MSU wins". He said "Yeah, but don't you have TiVo?". I said (as I stared into his blue eyes), "Yeah, but I need to know the moment of the win!". They were shooing us out and Stephanie grabbed a hug from Joe. I couldn't resist and stole ONE MORE HUG after her! Then he said "Isn't the game starting, like, right now?" and ask I walked out, I looked at him, pouted and said "Yeah".
Our group got together afterwards and freaked out. We LOVED our 5* experience with them! I missed out on hugging Donnie, but I was ok with that. My fave is Joe and there were 3 girls trying to get to Donnie. It was fine with me - I'll just hug him next time! We all realized that none of us saw Danny. The girls we had added to our group last minute had gotten all of his time! That was fine with me. They had given him an airbrushed shirt of his mom and him. He LOVED it! He took a solo picture with them and he ended up wearing that shirt not only later that night but throughout the rest of the tour and he still wears it at breast cancer fundraising events! Way to go Sabrina!
Before the concert began, I was going to the concession stand to get a soda. I was walking out and a girl said "I love your shirt. I'm missing the game too." I looked at her and said "Did you go to East Lansing High School?" She said, "Uh, yes." I said "You're AMY! I played basketball with you when we were in elementary school!" YES FOLKS... IT WAS @MSUAMY1!!!!!!! I asked Amy if she lived in Michigan and she said she was in town visiting and came to the concert with someone. She acted all disinterested! NOW THAT I KNOW HER BETTER.... AMY? WERE YOU LYING?? LOL!!! We parted ways and didn't talk to each other again until I spotted her in a Tony's Assistant video!
Stephanie and I eventually got to our seats. Just after the lights went down to start the concert, I got a text. "MSU WINS!" I was soooo happy! That was one of the coolest moments ever! The concert was awesome (of course)! I actually felt more calm than I did at the last one - I was able to actually enjoy the music rather than freak out that the New Kids were back! Donnie mentioned the MSU win right away and again later. Joe mentioned it later too. They wore MSU jerseys at the end and were adorable.
Our group met up afterwards and went out to the buses after the show. Donnie made the rounds and I got to see him up close, but I wasn't close enough for a hand shake. Maybe in the summer.... ;)
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