My Getaway (Updated with more NKOTB details)

Every mom needs a break now & then. And I'm so happy to have had one! Tucker took great care of the girls (as you can see from his outings) and I had a blast.

Shana and I have been friends for over 20 years, and we are lucky enough to see each other once or twice a year still. Shana lives about three hours north of me with her husband Derek and dog Griffin. They are expecting their first baby (girl) in February. (Check out her new blog! I swear, Google/Blogger should give me a small commission for my recruiting efforts over the years!).

Shana and I were pampered at a Spa on Friday morning. This is our second time doing this together. The Claremont is all-inclusive and a very nice spa/resort. Once we got there, I realized that in my "other life" (pre-motherhood), we had a fancy event there when I worked for Siebel. Very nice. Shana had a prenatal massage, and I had a body wrap/scrub.

In the early evening, we met up at a restaurant "7" in San Jose for a pre-concert dinner with Jammie and Melinda. We had such a yummy dinner and fun time laughing and talking. I have known these girls since I was 10. There is something special about being with people who know such a big part of your childhood/history and were there with you during special times. First crushes, first kisses, dances, concerts, sleepovers, heartaches, fun and every school day for years and years! Even though we've all grown up, married, and been quite initiated by life....there is a core essence about each of us that is the same as when we were young. These are special friendships, and they were the PERFECT girls to go with to such a flash-back concert as the New Kids.

After our dinner, we walked over to the HP Pavilion arena for the big concert! We were so excited and felt just as giddy as we did 18 years ago! I don't remember the last time I felt that excited and actually WANTED to scream because of it! And I wasn't alone. The entire arena was PACKED with 30 year old women who felt exactly like I/we did. It was like seeing your first crush again. The show was SO fun, very well done, and a total blast from the past. We still knew every word to every song! They have a new CD out, so they played those songs, but they also played tons of old ones from their previous three hit albums. My ears were ringing non stop that night from the non-stop screaming all around me! Shana was a good sport - not an easy thing for a pregnant woman to endure....a loud and late night!








Good times. Good times. Thanks girls! Had a blast! Who'd have thought? What a great reunion!

UPDATE: OK, so Tara asked for more info and I figure that there are lots of you "blockheads" out there that were avid fans like me.....and you'll like the details. OK, so they all looked great. And sounded almost exactly the same.....maybe better. Obviously Joey sounded a little older, so it made songs like "Please don't go girl" sound a little lower, but still good. They didn't pull anyone up on stage, but in the middle of the concert, they showed up on a spinning stage in the middle of the arena with a piano on it, and sang from there. That's where they were given a few bras! They changed outfits like 6 times. Danny did an awesome break-dance routine. Jordan did a solo where he had his shirt unbuttoned and billowing in the wind showing his cut body while he sang. Jordan's falsetto was just as good as ever. Jon seemed shy still, but the crowd went wild whenever they showed a close up of him on the screen. And my boy Donnie was as cool as ever, led the show and had lots of energy. They opened with "The Right Stuff" and did their second finale with "Hangin Tough". The two biggest hits, but ironically my two least fav songs. It was so fun when they sang "Tonight, Tonight" because it starts out "Remember how we traveled round the world? We met a lot of people, and girls. Talked about Hangin Tough. As long as you got the Right Stuff, didn't we girl?" the whole song is so nostalgic and perfect to sing NOW, but they wrote it back then. They involved the crowd a lot with their singing. They were very enthusiastic. And they would often just stand there and say "Is this really happening?" And of course that would make the girls scream even louder. They had a screen up front of the concert and before the show started, you could text a message to the screen. So all the messages said "I left my husband and kids home tonight just for YOU" or "I'm legal now". Ha ha ha ha ha. So funny. Awesome show. It was really fun. I'd recommend going if you liked them at ALL back in the day. They are touring until February. They were even selling big buttons again at the merchandise stand! I wanted to get one SO bad because I had one of Donnie when he was like 16 (he's late 30's now), but the line wrapped around the arena! The shirts were like $45-$50 and I swear they were $15-$20 when I was young. Too funny.

And for you REALLY die hard fans, here are two videos for you from my digital camera. One is short, from the opening "The Right Stuff", and the other is longer....and from their new album "The Block".