The One Where I Win Again

So, y'all remember when I won candles, right? I won them from Say Anything and was all kinds of excited, because I usually don't win things?

I have a new story for you.

I was sitting at work yesterday when my cell phone rang with the local area code. Usually, I don't pick it up if I don't recognize the number, but I decided, for whatever reason, to answer it.

"Hello?" I say, wittily.

"Hi," says a guy. "Is this Sarah?"

(What I should have said, in retrospect, is, "No! THIS is!" and laughed maniacally. Sadly, I didn't think of that until later. Also, he may or may not have hung up if I did that.)

"It is," I say.

"This is Brody from G105. Do you have plans for tomorrow night?"

(This is. . .surreal, to say the least. I don't know what Brody looks like (I linked to the site, but can not see it from this computer because it's in Category: Music.), but I have listened to him for years, and he has the most awesome radio voice. I may or may not have a Voice Crush on the guy. But you know how radio goes. He probably looks like this.)

"Why?" I ask. "Are you asking me out?"

(Um, yes. I actually said this.)

Brody laughs. "No, no," he says, "But do you have plans for tomorrow night?"

It's at this point that a little thought in the back of my mind begins to form, but I'm thinking, surely not.

I DO actually have plans, as I'm supposed to go see my shrink, but I say, "No. No, I don't."

Brody says, "Well, then, you and three friends are going to see the Maroon 5 show, and meeting the band backstage!"

SON. OF. A. BITCH.

I'd entered a contest for these tickets a couple of weeks ago, and I'd said to D. . .Friday, I think? That "oh, yeah, we'll be going to that concert."

And we are.

What makes it. . .kind of awesome is that I was a last-minute entry. The contest ended a day or two after I'd entered.

Also, when I entered, I didn't realize it was also for backstage passes. I thought it was just for tickets. But now, since there ARE backstage passes involved, there will probably be freaking SWEET seats.

So once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I told Brody I loved him* and that he'd just made my life.**

As such, tonight, I will be taking D, Katie, and Katie's college roommate, Katherine, to see Maroon 5. And to meet the band. Who, by the way? I effing love. They are in my Top 3, and their first album, Songs About Jane, was the soundtrack to my college experience, expecially freshman year.

I am a little sad that the venue won't let us being "professional" cameras, as D IS a professional, but whatever. I'm MEETING THE BAND.

It's still a little surreal. Of course, there will be full updates later.

*Not true.

**True.

The One Where I Talk About the Weekend and I Win Something

First! I've mentioned that I follow about 6,094,864 blogs. Along with that comes me sometimes entering giveaways. (A lot of the giveaways are for things I would never need, like. . .a bra for nursing, or a year's supply of baby wipes. I do not enter those.)

For all the 'contests' I've entered, I've never won anything. . .until today!

At the Say Anything blog, I entered a contest for candles. . .and I won! Granted, there were only 16 entries, so the odds were pretty good, but what was funny to me was that there were several ways to win (you got an entry for following her on Twitter, following the blog, etc.), and some people entered 4 or 5 times. But my one little entry won, and I'm wicked excited!

So the weekend was great.

Friday night, I took D to the Lincoln Theatre to see his girlfriend, Ingrid Michaelson. The show was sold out, and the opening act was this guy named Matt Morris, who I'd never heard of until that evening, but who is apparently a pretty Big Deal. His album was produced by Justin Timberlake's record label, he was on the Mickey Mouse Club, his father was a country music singer, etc. He was AWESOME. Ended up buying his album, and D got him to sign both poster and and CD for me.

The best part, I think, was when this girl in the crowd yelled out, "Matt! Will you marry me?" and he laughed and held up his left hand (which had a ring on it) and said, "Sorry, sweetheart. But if you want to come out to the lobby after the show, we can talk! And I'll give you a hug!" Then he was like, "A marriage proposal. . .that is SO rock and roll!"

When we spoke to him afterward, he was so nice and so down to Earth. I hope everyone and their mother buys his album.

Then Ingrid came on. Her show was great. Really, really great. The crowd was into it, she was into it. . .she did a cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic". . .all was good in the world.

After the show, however, when we hung around to meet her, she only seemed interested in the fans that were all, "OMG, Ing. I totes luv ur music! We should be BFF!" D told her that I'd given him the tickets as a gift, because he likes her so much, and she was all, "OK, whatever. GIRLS WITH GIFTS! Come to me!" And was talking about during the show how people give her stuff all the time, and she throws it out. I was like. . .really?

I was not pleased with that at all. She was actually a real bitch. Puts on a great show, but needs some lessons in Social Graces. Maybe Matt Morris can teach her some.

Saturday, we hit the Farmer's Market. With a car. (Just kidding.) Bought some peaches and some ridiculously hot cheese D likes and that I will not get near. Then we went to get some coffee and were looking over this publication that prints a "Best of" list every year. D's been really wanting some chicken wings for the last little while, so we went to the place that was voted Best in the Triangle. The place was awesome. Really, really awesome. And I tried a strawberry beer that I feel like I could sit around and drink for days.

Then we walked for a while, checking out all the people bar-hopping. We hopped no bars.

Sunday, I worked at the library, then we went for pizza and more walking, around a lake this time. And that's the story of my awesome weekend. What did you guys do over the weekend?

The One Where Backstreet's Back (ALRIGHT!)

In the late 90's/early 00's (Is that right? Is that how you shorten the early part of the 21st century?), I was a teenager. I turned 13 in 1997 and remained in the throes of teenagerdom until I turned 20 in 2004. That period of time, obviously, was the Age of the Boy Band, and, badass as I may have (or may not have?) been, I was not immune.

I was actually an *NSync girl, as I may or may not have mentioned previously. Like. . .obsessed. Ridiculous obsessed. I was absolutely going to marry Lance Bass (Um. . .after I get my sex change?), and I knew every song on every album. Even the lame ones. There were several lame ones. And! I was taking piano lessons at the time, and had a songbook for their first two albums. (I never got terribly good at any of the songs, but I can still play the intro to "I Want You Back.")

Then, of course, there were the Backstreet Boys, who were older than *NSync and who did more ballads and the like. I liked them, but would fight to the death anyone who insisted they were better than my boys.

I saw *NSync in concert in. . .2000, I think. I still have the concert T-shirt and I wear it when I go running sometimes. (Yes. . .I exercise occasionally. Sometimes.) It was epic.

All of this to say, I have never lost my Boy Band Love. Call it lame, call it stupid, call it whatever you want. I wasn't listening to Nirvana or Eminem or Limp Bizkit (what the EFF kind of name is that? Honestly.). . .I was listening to the boy bands. I still do. I have the *NSync Greatest Hits CD in my car.

Point of ALL this being, a few weeks ago, I put on Twitter something to the effect of "Hey! Backstreet Boys are coming here in a couple weeks!" I don't remember exactly what I said, but my friend Ashley (with whom I was in middle school during the Boy Band Days and who was all about some *NSync as well. JC was her Syncer of choice, if you're wondering.), looked up ticket prices and texted me saying, basically, "Um, this is a thing that needs to happen."

So last night, we went to the show. It was. . .exactly what you would expect it to be. Epic. And awesome.

It was held in the new amphitheatre downtown, which was, as amphitheatres are, outside. They were calling for rain, but the sky had looked good all day. I got a ridiculously overpriced beer, just because I could.

When the show started, they had an opening act, which I don't think was actually the opening act they advertised on the tickets. It was these four African-American kids (I say kids because they looked to be between 13 and 16) who danced really well and who sang (?) through a synthesizer. They were entertaining enough, I guess, but they only lasted about half an hour, which meant another half-hour wait before BSB came on stage.

When they finally started, it was. . .kind of awesome. The kid of one of them came on stage (he was about 3 or 4, I'd say) and was all like, "Are you guys ready for the Backstreet Boys?)" (Screaming.) "Are you ready for Howie? AJ? Nick? . . .My daddy?" So much screaming, and I could hear the ovaries of 85% of the women in attendance exploding from the cute.

So they started, and it was awesome. The first song was "Everybody (Backetreet's Back)", which I totally called. Everyone was singing and dancing and having a generally awesome nostalgic time. BSB was a little more. . .subdued than I might have expected, but they're also getting older. Not that they're old (despite AJ's receding [sp?] hairline), but oldER. Only one of the songs would I consider lame (I think it was called "PDA." It was. . .well, it was pretty lame.) But they did all the hits, all the songs everyone would know. . .it was awesome.

It did, incidentally, start raining about an hour in, but the only person who seemed to mind was this greasy Hispanic dude in front of us who was pissed that his white leather shoes (which he was wearing with an all-black ensemble) were getting wet. Bought a T-shirt for an obscene amount of money, and was able to be, for at least 2 hours, firmly ensconsed in my adolescent years.

Awesome.