Beebs Do BSB, Alright!

I've been a die-hard, hard-core Backstreet Boys fan since Quit Playing Games was released in 1997, I was 13 years old - that's 17 years of super-fandom for those of you like me who are mathematically challenged. You can roll your eyes, make "boy bands suck" comments and judge all you want but those five boys have been with me through it all. Every song reminds me of some one or some memory. Each album brings me back to a certain period of my life. And when I see all of them on stage singing and dancing to the songs I love so, so, so much it totally brings all kinds of weird emotions out of me. Again, make fun all you want but the Backstreet Boys are something really special to me. This concert, like the 7 BSB concerts before it (yes I've seen them 8 times and I plan on seeing them 800 more), was a night I will never forget and is just one more amazing BSB memory in a long line of fantastic memories.

The boys looked amazing, sounded amazing and as Howie put it "We are just like wine, we get better with time." It was incredible to see a filled arena SCREAMING for the boys, amazing to hear all of their old hits mixed with some of their amazing new songs, and of course it was a BLAST spending the night with my Beeb dancing, screaming and singing so loud we lost our voices. 

This concert was especially sweet because if you recall I saw this same show last summer in Chicago and sadly because of a noise curfew {though I prefer to blame DJ Pauly D} the concert was cut short, so to see the show in it's entirety on Tuesday was like unfinished business.

Now I just need to figure out how to get myself on the Backstreet Boys Cruise in October.

The Time DJ Pauly D Ruined My Life

On Monday I told you all about my INCREDIBLE trip to see the Backstreet Boys in Chicago with my mom. 

While the whole trip was amazing there were a few little glitches along the way. 

The first being our flight.

At 4:00am on Friday morning (three hours before our plane was scheduled to take off) my mom received a phone call notifying her that our flight had been cancelled but not to worry because we were booked on a different flight with a layover in Detroit (barf) that would have us to Chicago by 2pm. As this was totally and completely NOT happening my mom spent the next hour on the phone talking to two different agents getting us booked on another flight - which she did, a 7am into Midway instead of O'Hare.

So I get to the airport at 6am as instructed since security at MSP rarely takes more than 30 minutes to find that, of course, last Friday was an exception. Two of the security check points were closed and they only had one security dude checking IDs at each one. Thank you Mr. President for cutting down on TSA staff (mom - that's for you). After an hour of complaining in line we FINALLY get through security with approximately 2 minutes to get to the gate. Gate C11, which those of you from Minnie know, is like at the end of the airport. We're walking as fast as we can when we hear an announcement come over the loud speaker calling our names as the doors to our plane will "be closing shortly and not-reopening." Direct quote. So I full on sprint, which if you know anything about me means I'm huffing and puffing and not moving all that fast. I make it to gate C11 to see the words "Omaha, Nebraska" on the screen. The jerks straight up switched our gate which had we had ANY spare time we could have confirmed before making the trek halfway to Omaha also known as gate C11. Thankfully, the new gate was C12 which was just around the corner. I'm running down the hall waving my arms and yelling "I'm Kristin Fawver! I'm Kristin Fawver! Paula is right behind me!" The stand-by sharks were circling the counter and were noticeably upset when our sweaty asses flew through the gate door. But, we made it.

landed in Chicago!


If you read Monday's post you know what happened after that...shopping, photos, RPM, champagne, BACKSTREET BOYS.

But, there were more details I left out of Monday's post. I told you that Baylee Littrell (Brian's son) opened sang two songs for the boys but I did not mention that DJ Pauly D and Jesse McCartney were also opening acts.

I never watched Jersey Shore but because I don't live under a rock I know who Pauly D is...I've seen photos, I've seen videos, I've read headlines.

what a gem.

I had absolutely NO desire whatsoever to ever see him "DJ" aka stand on stage and spin records over a previously mixed montage of songs while randomly shouting "DJ PAULY D" and "EVERYBODY FIST PUMP". My mom and I purposely showed up late for the 7pm concert in hopes of missing some of this "act". The whole show started late so we had the pleasure of watching all 45 minutes of DJ Pauly D and I have to admit, it wasn't terrible. But I was there for the Backstreet Boys I would have sat through Lindsay Lohan performing an acapella version of her "single" Rumors...remember this trainwreck?

Literally nothing could have killed my mood and truthfully, Pauly D got the crowd going and played some pretty good music.

Fast forward to 11:00pm. The boys have been on stage for probably an hour and a half. They've performed almost all of their biggest hits, about 3 or 4 new songs and did an awesome acapella set. They are about to set up the next song they're going to perform and the screens behind them turn off. They play the whole "come on, come on we're still performing" and everyone in the crowd is going nuts because we all think it's an act. Turns out...not an act. The city of Chicago has an 11pm noise curfew and ten minutes after 11 they turned off the screens and the boys' microphones. Brian ran backstage to bargain for more time, Nick was so angry he forcefully threw his suit coat on the stage (which was hilarious, he's my favorite) and the others got the crowd to chant "one more song, one more song". The mics were turned on just long enough for the boys to apologize, explain the situation and reveal that the Chicago Police were in fact shutting down the concert. They also tried to squeeze in a song completely unplanned and acapella but the cops didn't fall for it and the show was OVER. Over before they got to play their new single, "In a World Like This", "I Want it That Way" OR "Everybody." Needless to say the crowd went bananas. I was fearful there would be riot.

It was definitely not an ideal way for the show to end and everyone was definitely bummed, BUT the boys put on a fantastic show and were clearly upset and were very apologetic for what happened. At the show they promised Chicago they would come back and give them a full show and a few hours later posted this video on Facebook and Instagram: 

Everyone at the concert knew that it wasn't the Backstreet Boys' fault and that it was out of their control. A lot of girls were blaming the Chicago Police, who were only doing their job and enforcing the rules. Some smart people realized the only person to blame was the production manager who was undoubtedly aware of the time restriction and somehow allowed the show to start nearly an hour late. BUT, I would say the blame was almost unanimously put on DJ Pauly D. Walking out of the pavillion we must have heard at least 100 drunken Backstreet Boys fans bitching about how long Pauly D played and if he would have cut down his time we could have seen all of BSB.

IT. WAS. HILARIOUS.

The rest of the night my mom and I were blaming every little thing on DJ Pauly D.

Our feet were sore from walking - Pauly D's fault.
Our cancelled flight earlier that morning - Pauly D's fault.
The creepy TV in our hotel room that was playing a static station when we walked in for the first time and then turned to it again on it's own late that night - Pauly D's fault.

Anyways, we are hoping and praying that the boys do another show in Chicago and honor the tickets of all who were there {they did that 14 years ago when they had to cancel a show in Minneapolis because Howie's sister passed away} because you KNOW we will be there!
Let's just hope DJ Pauly D is not.

Pretty Much the BEST Weekend EVER!

If you were to gather my family and closest friends in a room with a sheet of paper and ask them to list  all of my favorite things, I would be willing to bet you money that all of their lists included the following : 

Gopher Football // Travel // The Backstreet Boys // Family & Friends // Big Cities // Concerts

{among a bunch of other random things} 

My friends...this weekend included ALL OF THAT and so much more!

Friday morning at 6am I met my mom at the airport and we were on our way to Chicago! Once we landed we spent the morning wandering along Michigan Avenue. We made a pit stop in a pub for some Bloody Mary's, did a little shopping at Lululemon, and of course snapped some photos.

Then we had an impromtu lunch date with my childhood best friend, Kristen! Kris is getting married THIS weekend, so I figured she would be much too busy to meet up but I didn't feel right visiting Chicago without letting her know I was there. Kris was sweet enough to leave a super busy day at work in the midst of final wedding plans to meet up with us at The Walnut Room for lunch.

It was absolutely wonderful to see her and to get to catch up being for seeing her again this weekend at her wedding!!!!!!!!!!

After lunch we mosied around the city a little longer before returning to our hotel to shower and get ready for a night on the town! We started with dinner at RPM Italian (Bill & Giuliana's restaurant for those of you aren't stalkers like we are). IT WAS SO GOOD! I was really, really impressed. The decor was totally my style (all black and tan), the food was incredible, our waiter was very attentive without being annoying and I thought it was very reasonably priced. Needless to say, we loved it!

 For starters we shared the Prime Beef Meatballs and Roman-Style Artichokes (to die for!)

 Then for dinner my mom had the Eggplant Parmesan and I had the Carbonara. OH- EM - GEE, so delicious!

 Good work B&G, we are very impressed!

After dinner we went around the corner to an adorable little champagne bar called Pops.

I don't know if was the cocktails starting to kick in or the excitement building for what was next on the agenda, but my mom and I thought we were absolutely HILARIOUS when we "had champagne with Leonardo DiCaprio."

I know, we're special. 

Next up - the entire reason for the trip...THE BACKSTREET BOYS CONCERT!!!!!!!!!!

I don't even know what to say about this. I wasn't really sure what to expect since it's been a while since they've toured and it was at a smaller venue, but I should have known that the boys ALWAYS give it their all to entertain their fans. You guys - they looked better than ever. The all look amazing, sound amazing. They were up there dancing, singing, goofing around and really looked like they were having a blast. While the whole show was incredible there were two highlights for me. One being that Brian's son, Baylee, OPENED for them! He came out and sang two songs and KILLED it. The crowd was going absolutely ape shit.

The other is when they sang one of their new songs off of their new album called "Show 'Em (What You're Made Of)...they introduced the song by saying "So, we've got kids now. And so do a lot of you. This is one we wrote for our babies." And for whatever reason, I lost it. It's a great song but seeing the boys, thinking of Kenny and listening to the song just put me over the edge.

 Unfortunately there was a kind of bummer end to the concert, but I'll go in to that more later. Overall the show was absolutely amazing and we had so much fun! It's Monday morning and I still don't have my voice back!

After the concert we went to Smith & Wollensky which is one of my all time favorite restaurants for a late night martini and some much needed french fries.

you can  clearly see that I cried and sweated off all of my make-up. YIKES!

Saturday we woke up, went to Starbucks and set off on a nice long walk around the city. We started at Millennium Park...

 gratuitous "in the bean" shot and a giant zumba class in the park.

Next we walked to Navy Pier which neither of us had ever visited before. What a fun place!

 We just kind of wandered around and bought some souvenirs. After the pier we walked along Lakeshore Drive for a couple of miles right along Lake Michigan. It was such a beautiful day and a gorgeous walk next to the water.

I've been to Chicago several times before, but this trip really made me fall in love with the city. I could live there and be very happy.

Our time in Chicago ended with walking down Division Street scoping out the beautiful brownstones and then deep dish pizza at the bottom of the Hancock Building.

We packed so much in to the two days we were there and I really don't think we could have had any more fun! It was so special to share this trip with my mom. We are dang good travel and concert buddies but I think this trip is my favorite of all we've taken. I have some serious post-vacation blues going on this morning. L

We got home to Minneapolis around 4:30pm on Saturday afternoon and I literally got off the plane, walked in my front door, gave Kenley her gifts from Chicago

(don't worry Jason and Bailey got treats too) and then took a shower and was out the door again. Saturday night we went to our friend Jeff's for a BBQ celebrating his birthday.

Sunday morning we were up and out the door again for the Gopher's Practice! We went for the first time last year and had so much fun that we've decided to make it a tradition. We met my dad, step-mom, sister, brother and brother-in-law and watched about an hour of practice, had breakfast at our favorite restaurant Tony's Diner (where we had our Rehearsal Dinner) and then did some maroon and gold shopping at Gold Country.

After the practice we got home and all took a nice long three hour nap which left us with just enough time to grill a delicious steak dinner, unpack and do a load of laundry before going to bed.

It was a weekend for the books and I am not only sad it's over but am pounding this venti latte because I am exhausted but boy-oh-boy is it worth it! 

As always, I am linking up with the adorable Sami and you should too!