For three weeks, we were planning it all out ~ from who was picking up who, who was staying at who's place, what time we would head over to Best Buy (where they were doing the Meet and Greet) to get our wristbands ~ there was limited space, and we were gonna make DAMN sure we were getting in! It was finalized that we would have a sleepover at my place, since I lived closest to the Best Buy in Burbank, and our sleepover would be filled with pizza bagels, a variety of yummy popcorn, cookie dough, and ice cream...and fruit (gotta have at least ONE healthy thing in the mix ;-))! I cleaned my apt. like mad. I was READY!!!
Around 9:30pm on Wednesday night (Aug. 27th), I received a text
from Shala, informing me that a contact of hers reported there were about 30 people already lined up in front of Best Buy. She asked if I wanted to camp out. Uuuggghhh...I really didn't want to do that...sleeping bags, pillows, tons of people, out in the open... What about our sleepover?!? We decided we'd scope the place out as soon as I got out of class. By the time we got there (around 11pm), there were about 100 people in line! Oh, we knew a change of plans HAD to be made...immediately! We headed out to the store to buy some fold out chairs, then to my place for some showers and blankets/pillows to bring to our new sleepover site.
We arrived there around 2:30am, and were about 170-something in line. Our lovely locale was in the Best Buy loading dock, right next to a drainage pipe. Some of the girls were about to tear the pipe down with the "noise" it was making, but it actually reminded me of rain falling on a roof. Great for sleeping! Although, not much sleep happened, as we were full of adrenaline, and even when we tried to sleep, all we could hear were the excited fans behind us. haha! Time went by fast, though. We took turns watching our campsite, going out to take a ride in Brenda's Suburban to Starbucks, Krispie Kreme, my apartment, Donnie house (oh yeah, he lives near me :-P; although, it's questionable if he's still there). Soon enough, it was 9:30am, and we were all packing up our campsites and getting ready for the 10am opening. Wheeeee!!!
The line moved pretty quickly, and by 11am, we had our wristbands and lanyards in hand!!! ROCK ON!!! The Meet and Greet was set for 7pm, and we had some time to kill. Some fans got right back in line as soon as they got their "tickets" in, but we had plans of being towards the end in line, knowing from previous experience that we'd have more "looking" time, and they'd be less inclined to rush us being at the end.
It was almost noon, and we were all starving. I directed the ladies to my favorite breakfast spot, Vivian's. When the staff saw us walking in with our "special" lanyards, they asked us what it was all about. We filled them in, and they couldn't have been more excited for us! Our waitress kept coming by singing "Please Don't Girl" ~ horribly! LOL, but it was entertaining enough. After breakfast, it was to my apartment to relax, watch some NKOTB videos ~ interviews, performances, etc. ~ past and present (it was madness!!!), and get ready to see our guys!
Deja vu, we were back at Best Buy close to 7pm. One of the girls saw the guys get out of the van. We got back into line, in our old familiar spot by the loading dock...and proceeded to shiver for the next 3 hrs. Of all nights, the weather got cool with slow breezes. To the thin-blooded Californians and us girls wearing halter tops, that equals FREEZING!!! At this point, while excited, we were also very zoned, and the most "exciting" things that happened was having to hold our wrists up as the Best Buy employees came around to count and make sure no one was trying to sneak in line without a wristband. Besides checking on that, they also announced several times that pictures would no longer be allowed! Oh, we were NOT happy! On the other hand, I was SO happy that I got my pictures with them at the CD Listening Party. Jonathon & Jordan's mom walked by a couple of times, and Joe's cousin (Matthew, I think?) came by and chatted with some girls in front of us. Apparently, they all knew each other.
Three hours later, with numb fingers and toes, we reached the door. They let us in, 20 at a time, and there was another line to get to the table where the guys were. Exciting, exciting! We also found out from someone who knew Shala that we COULD take pictures inside, and that a Best Buy employee would take pics for us as we're walking through the line and meeting the guys.
For most of the day, I was brainstorming on what I was gonna say to the guys. Everything that I came up with sounded so lame, and I didn't even know if I would go through with it. I didn't really come up with anything to say to Jonathon, Jordan, or Donnie. I had a couple of MySpace things I could've said to Jordan and Donnie ~ like "Jordan, are you EVER gonna accept my friend request???" And for Donnie "Hey, I know it took a while, but thanks for finally accepting my friend request." LAME! The others, I actually went through, and it didn't come out sounding too bad. ;-) All it took was a little confidence behind what I said. hehe.
Jon was first in line. I introduced myself (a goal I had this time around), and he said "Hi, it's nice to meet you!" (huge grin). I replied with the usual "It's nice to meet you, too!" Oh, but I wanted to say "It's nice to meet you AGAIN, too!" One of the lame things I thought to say was that he gives the best hugs, but I couldn't bring myself to it...of course, now I'm thinking I could've added "Can I get another hug from you?" or something along those lines. I know, to the outsider, that sounds lame, too...BUT to the New Kids fan, we do it all the time. So, it wouldn't be so lame. Anyway, that was fast, and we were moved along.Next was Jordan ("he's fresh, he's the master of mix, there ain't no rhyme that he can't fix"). I had absolutely nothing to say to him. I had even forgotten to
mention the MySpace thing. In any case, he didn't seem all the interested in making convo, or even to say "hi." So, no introduction there! Since he was so disinterested, I waited for him to sign my lanyard, and I listened on Brenda asking Jon if he remembered her from Mel's Diner (and they also met at the CD Listening Party, of course), and he said "No...but I remember her," and pointed to Shala, "Her pic-chas ah all ovah the inta-net!" *For those who don't read Bostonian: "Her pictures are all over the internet!" I got a kick out of that! Then Jordan SMACKED his hands on the table and burst out "SO!!! What's goin' ooonn?!?" Oh, he totally threw me off guard! I told him "Not much...we're all cold from standing out there for 2 hrs. We were all shivering!" At that, I demonstrated the shiver ~ haha ~ and Joe looked over. Jordan said "Well, thanks for waiting!" I replied "Thanks for waiting for US!!! :-D" And movin' on down to Joe.
I reached Joe, and just as I did, he opened his small bottle of pepsi and started guzzling it down. However, I was distracted by Danny jumping in and saying "I like your hat!!!" I said "Thanks!" I was gonna continue talking to Danny, but realized that my focus needed to be on Joe. Just as I refocused, Danny leaned over to Joe, glanced at me, and whispered something in Joe's ear. Joe smiled and nodded. WHAT did Danny say?!? Again, I refocused solely on Joe, and he was still guzzling his drink down. Sarcastically, but 
lovingly, I said "Hi Joe!" [Helllooo. I'm here...waiting for youuuu...] He winked (teehee!), finished his gulp, dramatically screwed the cap back and and nearly slammed the bottle on the table. Sharply extending his hand out to me, he exclaimed "HI!!!" I said "Hi!" again, and I honestly don't remember if I introduced myself...I don't think I did. Dang! But as he signed my lanyard, I told him "You know, they really should bring you back as Fiyero in 'Wicked.'" And he said "Well, off the radah [*radar], that might be a possiblity!" (or something along those lines...he could've said "that might be in the works," but you know...). My response was basically "Aww cool..." And I moved onto Danny.
I said "hello" again, and I might have introduced myself. As he signed my lanyard, I said "Thanks for the myspace message, by the way..." He warmly replied "You're welcome! What did I say???" LOL ~ I hinted "Studio City...How do you like Studio City? ;-)" That triggered it. He remembered!
Finally...last, but not least, I greeted Donnie. My voice was super cheerful! LOL ~ I think because I've just been LOVING his blogs and his enthusiasm! He looked oh-so-tired, but every ounce of the energy he had left, he was giving to each one of his fans. He gave his undivided attention, and as one of my friends put it, he wanted every fan to feel special. LOL ~ another friend and I thought that he was SO smooth! He extended his hand out to me before I could even react, and he just looked right through me as he asked how I 
was doing. I was already overwhelmed by talking to the other guys, and he just put me over the edge! Sensory overload!!! I told him I was doing good and asked how he was. He smiled and said "good... :)" I thanked him when he handed my lanyard back to me. He actually replied, looking right at me, as I started to walk away and said "You're welcome. :)" I wished him a good night, and he said "You too... :)" LOL ~ this could've gone on ALL night.By the time I reached Shala and Christina, all I could say was "omg omg omg omg omg!" THIS time I had a story to tell!!! Not like last time at the CD Listening Party. Oh no.
We hung out to tell our stories, and to wait for the guys to come out. Their van was parked inside the garage for Best Buy, and we weren't the only ones who were waiting. There were literally fans standing outside the garage door and taking pictures through the tiny window! The door opened, and the security guards shooed the girls away. As soon as the van pulled out, fans in their cars PEELED out and followed the van!!! Granted, yes, we did try to do the same thing, except that, Brenda figured it would be smart to beat them to the main road by going across the front of the store, rather than the back. Would've been a good idea, but it just didn't work. We'll leave it at that.
Some were less than thrilled with their experience, but I LOVED mine!!! While we had more personal time with them at the CD Listening Party, I used my time more wisely this time around. It can only get better from here. ;-)
