This sounds lame, but I was actually touched at how many emails and comments and such I got from people over the last few days asking how my weekend went.  I think the phrase "tickled pink" would work, but that always sounded like child porn to me.  Ew.

To answer their question, though, I could NOT have asked for a better time.

You know how sometimes, you'll build up an event in your head SO much that you're let down when it actually gets there?  Well, that was 150% NOT the case here.  Hell, I was brought to near-tears a few times when I stopped to realize how amazing everything was.

With that being said, I'll put the recap under a cut.  BE WARNED: I know that I always say that there are a shit-ton of pictures under the cut, but this time, I really mean it.  Seriously.  

..


Friday night, I went to bed early and tried to sleep.  I was so anxious and excited about all of the events on Saturday that I MAYBE caught an hour total of sleep all night.  Around 5 am, I finally gave up and just sat on the couch with the computer for a bit.  I left my apartment around 6 am, got some coffee and a bagel, and then went over to Borders.  When I got there around 6:30, there were a whopping 6 people there.  LOL  I had SUCH a good time, though!!  Everyone was freezing (the weather was at 30 degrees) and a bit delirious from the early hour, but we all had so much fun.


I was calling us the "Before Sunrise Crew".  The girls sitting ALL the way in the back had driven 6 hours from West Virginia to be there.

We were all chatting, chilling out, and then this piece of Douchebaggery stepped up.


I'm pretty sure that in addition to being ridiculously drunk, he was also high on something...maybe even a few somethings.  He was doing things like taking cigs out of people's hands and taking a drag and trying to hand it back to them.  Ew.  He later got kicked out of Borders before the signing even started.  ;)

When the doors opened at 9, the line had swollen to about 75 people.  I got my wristband at 9:06 am and went home.


(Yes, my clock is really slow.)

I tried to grab breakfast with Timm when I got home, but I was too nervous to eat.  I got showered and dressed and was back at Borders at 11:45 am, where we all sat in line (in the same order we got there) for the next 2+ hours.


I was RIDICULOUSLY excited before leaving the house.


We were MUCH warmer at this point.  ;)




My gal, Val from work joined me.  She's a trooper!!

And then finally...


I wish I could tell you that in person, she was ugly.  She was mean.  Oh, but I can't.  She was beyond stunning in person.  I was in complete awe in watching her, and she couldn't have been sweeter.  I'll admit - it took a while for Kat to grow on me, but once she did, I was enamoured.  She is pretty much my fashion idol.  I love this woman.


Stripping down to her classic bikini-top-and-loose-tank combo.  




Amy, one of the "Before Sunrise Crew".


Val



SQUEEEEEEEE!  When I got up there, she was so sweet.  She shook my hand and asked me my name.  I told her and she said, "Nice to meet you...girl, you look AWESOME!!!"  Yeah, I'm a dork, but I was beaming.  ;)






So.effing.happy.

I went home and attempted (without success) to sleep a bit.  Before I knew it, it was time to get ready for the Crue show!  I took a deep breath and donned my gutsy (for me) outfit.  I know it may not look like much of anything to people, but this took every ounce of courage I had to wear this.  I was proud of myself.






And a close-up of the new necklace Timm got me.  I LOVE it.  I decided not to wear it to the show, though, because it's heavy as hell, and I knew I'd be jumping around a lot.


Timm on the Light Rail on the way to the show...looking SMOKIN' hot.  ;)


Us.  :)

When we got to the arena, I noticed that it was FAR from sold-out.  It filled up more as the night went on, but it definitely was not full.  That was a little depressing, but also a sign of the times.  My tickets were NOT cheap.  :-/  One benefit of this, though, was that we were mere feet from the stage at all times since the pit wasn't sold out.  At my farthest point, I was maybe 20 feet from the stage.  It was AMAZING.

The first band to go on was my lovahs, The Last Vegas.  I'm sure I've talked about these guys WAY too much, but oh well.  ;)  These were the guys that we saw win the Make Rock History contest at the Whisky-a-Go-Go when we were in LA.  They were completely amazing.  I was so excited to see them in a bigger venue, and they did NOT let me down!!



















When the band was done, Timm and I hung out by the side of the stage, hoping they would come out.  We sat there all through Theory of a Dead Man (yawwwwwn) and most of Hinder.  Nothing. :(  We moved to the other side of the stage during Hinder to get ready for Crue.  Honestly, Hinder was NOT as bad as I thought they'd be. Some songs were even damn good.


Not awful to look at, either.  ;)

Sometime close to Hinder being done, I look to the side and see two of the guys from Last Vegas come out.  We literally ran after them.  When we caught up with them, I was shocked - they remembered us from LA!  They even said that they saw us from the stage and were all talking about it backstage.  I was elated.  Timm geeked out with the guitarist for a bit while I talked to Chad, the lead singer.  I was telling him how much of a fan they've turned me into, and he seemed truly grateful.  


I GOT MY PICTURE!!!!!  And yes. And yessssssss....this is where I was floating on a cloud of happy.

Before I could even process everything, it was time for Crue to come on.  Seriously, these guys NEVER let me down. They were beyond amazing.  Everything I wanted to hear, I did.  I was mere feet from Nikki the whole show.  I made eye contact with every single band member, if only for a split second each.  I was in heaven.  I still AM in heaven.

If you don't care about concert pictures, then keep your finger poised on that scroll button on your mouse.  There are WAY TOO MANY PICTURES here.  I'm going to sort them by band member, because that's how I named them.  ;)

VINCE NEIL















TOMMY LEE



Tommy gave out Jager as a souvenir.  haha














LOVE.THIS.PICTURE!!  He's such a big kid, and I love it.


MICK MARS













Ladies and gentlemen, NIKKI SIXX!!!! (Yes, he's gained a bit of weight. Shuddup.)























GROUP SHOTS




















....are you still there???  ;)
Honestly, Sunday is not even worth discussing, because it pales in comparison to Saturday.  I can't tell you how elated I am from this weekend, and how it was everything I wanted it to be.  I can't stop smiling.