So, it all started on a sunny day in South East Florida. Three girls determined to get their face time begin their drive from Ft Lauderdale, FL in a not-so-obvious yellow mustang convertible. JKGirl (Venus), Kelly_Ft. Lauderdale, and I, drive on and on for miles with the assistance of NKOTB music which helped us get pumped!
Finally we arrive to our destination in Ft. Myers/Estero and hear that Donnie and crew are packing their bags from the Ritz in Naples . The Ritz? damn, we should've thought of that first!
So we sneak into a hotel to freshen up a bit and get our DIVA on prior to heading out to Germain Arena to patiently wait for the guys' arrival. The FL sun and heat was melting us and killing our looks, but determined we were.
All of a sudden, Danny peeks out from the tour bus and comes out to say hello to us. I yelled like a little girl. Little did I notice that nobody else was yelping like I was, so I decided to stop my mouth from running, and start moving my legs towards him. I was frozen! My friend Lisa help me snap out of it all. I was completely shaken up by the whole ordeal, and it was only Danny! not Joey, goodness! Once he came out to the fans, he was soooooo kind! He patiently waited till each one of us took out our cameras and asked others to take them for us. He really was patient in that regard! Everyone who was there got a chance to take a pic with Danny ;)
After what seemed like hours, we get a sight of Donnie. He comes over dressed in all black. Damn it, I was sweating bullets and this guy shows up with a long sleeve black shirt under a short sleeve black, with the scarf, hat and all black! Anyways, by this time, the crowds had definitely gotten bigger and as you may expect, the Donnie girls were going buck wild (there was nobody screaming like I had earlier though). So we all take our pics with Donnie and he seemed very mellow (i guess not to rile up the fans). Just like Danny, he took pictures with EVERYONE. Trust me, it seemed like the line kept getting longer and longer and longer...he was also patient with everyone and let us all have time to set up the camera.
So now, I am drenched in sweat and the cuteness that I attempted to put on earlier, had completely melted, hair a mess, smelling like yuck, but hey, I tried my best to fix it up. My friend Venus even lets me put on her "100% Irish" pin so that I may just get some attention
We move on to the M&G party and well, was super hot, super nervous and fixing to gulp two glasses of wine. So I didn't realize how tipsy I'd be, but I was a bit "happy." It was finally our group "K" to come up to hang with the boys! And so I remember gum (THANKS KIM) and a last check from everyone that we were set.
The curtains open and we all appear to run towards our fave new kid! I had Vivian (Donnie girl) in front of me walking/running towards Joey's direction. Joey sees her, opens his arms as she has hers. She then takes a few looks towards Donnie, back to Joey, and back to Donnie. Just then, I tap her in the shoulder and tell her, "I got Joey!" so she runs to Donnie and I ran towards Joey. He sees Venus' pin on me and asks, "Are you Irish?" to which I say, "Today I am!" and I just hug him! Telling him you are my favorite!
So, now I'm in the zone, I don't even introduce myself to Joey or anything, but I begin to hug everyone. I go to Danny and hang on to him, literally hang on! (remember I was a bit HAPPY). I think Danny noticed that I just held/hung on to him for awhile that he was like "Whoa, girl, wait a minute" that's when I was telling him, "I heard you are from Miami, I live in Kendall."
So, since I had already made an ass out of me, I went to get the rest of my hugs. Donnie was busy talking to the 2 husbands that joined our group so I skipped over to Jon and asked him for a hug (and from what I remember, it was great!) and that's when I heard "Photo!" So I ran like nobody's business! David, Vivian's hubby, was standing next to Joey, saw me running for "my spot" and moved before I ran him over! I may have knocked Joey, but I was just in awe that I got to stand next to him!! I was in heaven!
During the pic, one of the hubbys yells something like "New York in the house" and Danny, who was standing next to me says "Kendall in the house!!!" I just laughed at Danny and gave him my last hug. With Joey, I either asked or stole both a hug and a kiss. Donnie, well, he was busy chatting with the husbands so I just asked for a hug; he halfheartedly gave me one (not hating). Jon, I got one last hug from him. And then came Jordan, I told him: "My husband loves you!" He was like, "Ok, that's a little weird." then I find myself explaining, "you are his favorite, I don't know" Weird interaction, but what else to say to this man?!
The experience was amazing! I couldn't believe it! But the next best part about my day was not over yet! What you ask? I got to sit front row! FRONT FREAKING ROW CENTER! AMAZING! Just ask Venus and Lisa who got to squeeze in front row with me?!!!
I got even more time to "flirt" with Joey, Jordan, and Donnie. I got Jordan to shimmy with me towards the end of Hangin' Tough and well, the other stuff? blowing kisses, winks, ya know...things that happen between my boyfriends and I...normal things...haha!
I absolutely loved this show specially from the perfect close up view I had. These guys are amazing! To know that at 36-40 yrs old they are still able to kick ass! Ahhh...back to my tweens again!
