Adventures in Chicago: Lesson #5: I Love You, JOEY!

The title of this post is for you, Tish.

What can I say? New Kids on the Block still have my heart.

After our new friend, Bobby, the weird guy at the hotel (there for his brother's wedding), took our picture and got a cab for us, we arrived at the Allstate Arena, psyched for our first ever NKOTB concert. (Well it was my first real concert ever and I don't need to go to another after it - it surely won't be as good.)

Natasha Beddingfield was the opener and she can sounded good live. (You know how some people just don't sound the same?) I love her New Zealand/British accent.

The boys (now grown men) put on an awesome show. I couldn't have imagined better. Jordan and Joey can still hit all the high notes. But there is still just something about that bad boy Donnie! (Hence my new "Property of Donnie Wahlberg" t-shirt.)

We had so much fun singing and screaming. I hardly have a voice. The atmosphere was so incredible. So many fans (97% female), around our age, mature enough to not be annoying like little teenage girls would be, all eager to hear their boy band from their early youth. So fun! Here is a picture of us glowing after the concert (this was before our mile walk to the hotel obviously. Haha.)

It was a dream come true!

Adventures in Chicago: Lesson #2: Don't Miss Gino's East Pizza

After our late arrival in Chicago, the three of us caught a cab to downtown Chicago specifically to get Tiff some jeans so she had something to wear on Saturday. Our cab driver was fun - everyone honks at each other and he was trying to do something so he said "Don't beep me." at one point.

On the way into town, we asked him to tell us about the tall buildings. I pointed to the Sears Tower and asked which one that was. He said, "That one is my house." Me "Can I have a tour?" haha He said "I'll have to make sure my wife isn't home first." EW - not that kind of tour, buddy.

We then went to Gino's East for the best pizza in the world. The sauce is on top. The crust is all flaky, thick and crispy on the bottom (all at the same time). What more could you ask for? We felt bad throwing half of it away - we ordered way too much!

During dinner we were chatting about where we would eat on Saturday prior to the concert. I said we can't eat something too greasy or heavy (like the pizza we just had) before going to the concert. I didn't want to be all bloated for NKOTB! Tiff said, "Donnie, rub my belly!" So that is our continued joke from the weekend.

Adventures in Chicago: Lesson #1: Don't Laugh at Airport Security

The title of this post is kind of misleading because it's mostly in Omaha but our adventure begins there... we were off to the Windy City of Chicago for the weekend, ultimately for the New Kids on the Block concert on Saturday. Tiffany and Chelsey drove down Thursday night so they could fly out of Omaha with me (cheap tickets). We arrived at the Omaha airport around 10:30 a.m. Going through security, Tiffany got randomly selected to be patted down. I turned around from getting my stuff off the conveyor belt thing and started laughing at her. It was just funny to see her in the enclosed glass area.

The security guard said to me, "Are you laughing at her? We don't make fun of people! Get in here!"

Haha. So I got patted down too.

Then, the other security guard saw Chelsey gathering her things and said, "Don't laugh. Don't laugh." Chelsey giggled. "We've got a laugher!"

Needless to say, all three of us were in the glass security area at that point. We have the best picture of us with our arms out with the security guard. I will post it here as soon as my sisters send it to me. Started the trip off right.

Then... it went downhill temporarily. Our flight was cancelled due to a mechanical problem. So they sent us back downstairs to the counters and rerouted us through Southwest airlines on a later flight. People were so grumpy! (except us - we somehow kept our giddyness the whole day.)
Arrival time in Chicago: 5:00 pm