NaNoWriMo Wrap-up

Another year of NaNoWriMo has come to a close, and I can officially call myself a winner again!

Thank goodness for write-ins because I'm not sure I would've caught up otherwise. I was too shy and too busy last year to attend any write-ins (which are basically a bunch of NaNoWriMo participants in a room together with laptops), but I'm so glad I made it to three this year, including the one I hosted! I met three creative, like-minded ladies (who are all writing very different novels, which is a good thing) that live nearby, and I hope I get to read all their finished products in print some day very soon. At the write-in on Friday, they even gave me a great plot idea when I got stuck. Thanks, ladies!

Sunday, I attended the Happily Ever After party, and it was a lot of fun! Going into it, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm really glad I went. My s'mores bars I brought were a hit. (They always are, even when I forget to add the vanilla, d'oh!) I'm already look forward to next year.

I also got to FINALLY finish a work in progress that I began when I was 11 years old. Except this time, I wrote it from a different character's point of view, and I think it took the story in a completely new direction that I was pretty happy with. My brother (who remembers me writing the story the first time around) said I should put it out on its 20-year anniversary next year. So maybe I'll give the self-publishing thing a try.

But for now, my next plan is to go back to last year's novel and continue revising because I think that one has better potential to actually become something. Then I have to decide if I'm going to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo in the spring and summer...one thing at a time.

Here's what I wore to the party and for Inspiration Monday. I did consider wearing leather leggings like the inspiration picture shows, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Not in broad daylight. I went with studded instead.

Sweater Dress: H&M; Leggings: Target; Boots: Payless

Milwaukee Public Museum Outing

Yesterday, I visited the Milwaukee Public Museum with my husband and daughter (both of their first times!) and my mom. I can't remember the last time I was there - maybe for a field trip in grade school - but I forgot how cool that place is. My favorite part is still the Streets of Old Milwaukee.

Source: Wikipedia

Bridget's favorite part was either the butterfly exhibit or seeing the lions in the Africa area. We actually had a very helpful security guard show us where the lions were because Bridget was on a mission. We went through the whole museum rather quickly since obviously my almost 3-year-old had no interest in reading all the plaques. My mom compared it to how quickly I got through the Louvre...when I was 22. But what can I say? Art museums aren't really my thing even though I appreciated the experience.

Anyway, I wish I had taken more pictures while I was there because some of the environments they have set up would be great inspiration for my novel. In fact, I wish I could just sit in there all day on my laptop and write in different areas of the museum. I wonder if people ever do that. It was pretty dead on Sunday because we went during the Packer game, so it was really nice. The only part I didn't enjoy was the live butterfly exhibit. I was hiding behind my husband the whole time while my daughter was living it up.

Big creepy bug right outside of the live butterfly exhibit

OMG I just saw while poking around their website that they have sleepovers in the museum. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, anyone? I could live out my blog's namesake, which might be awesome. Maybe when Bridget gets older.

After the museum, we grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at AJ Bombers, and I had my usual - the bacon burger with chunky peanut butter on it. Soooo gooood, but I actually prefer it without the bacon.

Speaking of my NaNoWriMo novel, it took me basically all day except for the 3 hours we were in Milwaukee, but I wrote a little over 3,000 words yesterday and got back on track after hardly writing anything on Saturday. And honestly, I could wrap up the story today, so I either need to come up with more twists or figure out how to write a really, really epic battle scene.

For those of you who are here for the clothes, I promise my next post will be an outfit one. No mention of my novel there!

Sixties Style Halloween

T, birthday girl E, K, and me dressed as Beatles fans Saturday at Lucille's Piano Bar

The idea to be Beatles fanatics for Halloween originated from a suggestion in the comments on my post about an outfit inspired by The Help. After letting that idea marinate, I expanded upon it and asked my friends if they wanted to participate and dress up as something we're very familiar with - fangirls. We took to Pinterest and Google to get some inspiration.

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This one's just funny.

I found that I had a couple dresses that are vaguely 60s-ish, so I lent them out to E and T after I decided to go with a plaid skirt and turtleneck. K picked up this gorgeous Catherine Malandrino for Kohl's dress, which was perfect for the inspiration. We ordered a dozen Beatles buttons on Amazon and divided them up among us, and then I printed out the large ones on photo paper. T brought along some vintage teenybopper magazines, and she and I located cat-eye glasses. Mine used to be sunglasses that I dug out of Bridget's toy basket. Finally, we wrote on our arms to get the full effect.

The best part was that one of the pianists at Lucille's Piano Bar that night was dressed as John Lennon! We couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab a picture with him.

Although we didn't win or qualify for the costume contest that night, I think we looked the part, and having one of the Beatles present didn't hurt.

Here's a closeup of my hair and makeup from that night. The hairstyle idea came from Breakfast at Tiffany's. But, you know, messier and not as big because my hair was being completely uncooperative.

Lost Without You - Hanson in Chicago

Day Two of the Anthem Tour was more about hanging out around the city than sitting in line, which was kind of a relief. Unless you do the Pass the Line deal at the House of Blues, there's not much point to standing around. At least in our opinion. We usually just get there right before the show starts and stand in the back unless one of their 1-mile barefoot charity walks is scheduled, which was the case on Sunday.

We left home with plenty of time to spare and surprisingly did not hit any traffic. Since the Chicago marathon was going on the same day, we wanted to be prepared for extra travel time. With about an hour to kill before the walk, we found a sunny place to sit and warm up. It was pretty chilly in the shade.

As usual, the Chicago walk was fairly crowded, so we didn't try too hard to get by the guys this time. And again, Taylor was absent.

Zac, the hat...why?

On the walk back to HOB, I was next to Isaac for a minute, but it was too much work to hold that position. Plus, I couldn't think of anything to talk to him about that day.

After the walk, we decided to venture back out and made our way over to Millennium Park and the Bean.

I took the opportunity to get an outfit picture this time. I had gotten the idea that for this show, I would recreate an outfit I wore to the Bay Beach amusement park Hanson show in Green Bay on June 19, 2000. My outfit of pleather pants and a sort-of v-neck shirt has been an inside joke with us since, so I thought it would be fun to pay homage to that. Plus, I wanted an excuse to buy faux leather pants again.

2013 Outfit - T-shirt: Land's End; Pants: Rock & Republic (Kohl's); Blazer and Sunglasses: Target; Necklaces: Forever 21 probably; Shoes: TOMS; Bag: Christian Siriano for Payless

Clearly, I needed a lesson on venue-appropriate clothing choices back then. Pleather pants at an amusement park??

I have to say, I definitely enjoyed sightseeing over standing in line all day. We grabbed an oddly delicious and satisfying hot dog in Millennium Park and each got a mocha from Caribou Coffee for the walk back. We also ducked into the Disney store for a few minutes, and I bought Bridget a Little Mermaid doll. I couldn't go in there and not buy her something.

Before going into the venue, we toasted to T's 60th Hanson show (K and I are now at 49, and E is right behind us at 48) and our collective 16-year fandom.

As annoying as HOB can sometimes be, Hanson loves it there, and the shows reflect that. In my opinion, the set list was even better than Milwaukee's; we were dancing around and having fun the whole time; and I got to hear one of my new favorites, "Lost Without You," and an older favorite, "Lost Without Each Other." Yeah, Hanson tends to write songs with basically the same titles a lot. It's a thing.

I didn't take any pictures since we were near the back, but I did get one video of Isaac's solo, "For Your Love" again.

Really, the only disappointment of the night was not being able to try the MMMHops beer. Apparently, they had sold out of it well before we leisurely sauntered in. It's a pale ale, so I probably wouldn't have liked it anyway, but someday I'll still have to try it. My friends went to the second HOB show the next night, so they did have a taste.

You can see all my pictures from the weekend in my Facebook album or read about my Milwaukee concert experience.

Let's Get Fired Up - Hanson in Milwaukee

Where to begin? I guess 6:30 AM on Saturday morning is a good place to start. That's when I pulled into downtown Milwaukee and swung around the Pabst Theater to scope out the situation. I'm not sure why I was surprised, but there were already quite a few people lined up for the Hanson show that night. I drove around for a bit and found a place to park. When I got in line at almost 6:45, I was number 24. That's how crazy we Hanson fans are, folks. Many of the people ahead of me had camped out, but I think the group right in front of me had only been there for maybe an hour when I arrived.

From the Pabst's Facebook page. This was taken around 8 in the morning. You can see my empty red chair in the middle and my friend E to the left of it. I must've been off getting coffee at that point.

As you can imagine, the rest of the day was a lot of sitting around, waiting for something exciting to happen. Here are the highlights with an approximate timeline.

10:30 - Our friend K arrived and joined us in line. I had given the three groups behind me a heads up that a couple of friends would be meeting me later, and they were fine with it.

11:30 - Some drama broke out about line jumpers behind us. The cops got involved. No seriously.

12:00 - A truck pulled up, and the crew started to unload equipment. I recognized a guy from high school and tried to chat him up in hopes of getting some VIP access. I didn't really know how to make that happen, so I basically engaged in a few minutes of small talk and then walked away.

12:30 - Hanson's tour bus arrived, and we welcomed the excitement. I saw Isaac come off the bus and was dumbstruck by how good he looked in his leather jacket, scarf, sunglasses, and hat. I'm used to seeing him in a suit, but I prefer his laid-back look. Although I had jumped on the Zac fan train for a few years there, that moment brought me back to my Isaac fan roots.

1:30 - K's friend R arrived, and we educated him on all the craziness he witnessed while we waited for the 1-mile barefoot charity walk to begin at 3.

3:00 - The walk commenced, but Taylor was nowhere to be seen. We hung out by Zac for the first half mile and Isaac on the way back.

Zac making sure we all get across the street safely

Mid-walk speech

I paparazzied my friends by Zac, got a few pics with them by Isaac, and then got to have a couple conversations with him myself, which went something like this:

Me: Isaac, your foot, what happened? (He had a bandage wrapped around his foot.)
I: Oh, it's nothing.
Me: Oh OK, nevermind then. (I almost said something about it being a sore subject, but it sounded too punny in my head. At least, I hope that stayed in my head. I can't remember for sure.)
I: It's on the top. It's not walk related.
Me: That's good to hear.
I: It's more...ignoring something for too long.
Me: Ah, gotcha.

We then stopped and waited for the light to turn green, and a girl took a picture with him. When we started walking again, there was no one else walking by Isaac up in front, so I felt like I had to say something else to him. I'm kicking myself because I had my camera out, on video mode, and pointing at myself and Isaac during this next conversation. The only problem was, apparently I did not push the button to start recording. Arg!! Luckily, my friend K got a couple pictures and a video!

(Also, my outfit was inadvertently but conveniently very similar to the Inspiration Monday photo for this week, so I also wanted to link up with them. I wish I had gotten a full shot of the outfit I was wearing that day, but I never think of it at the time. Too much other stuff going on.)

This conversation isn't accurate at all. I think Isaac was rambling more than what I actually remembered to write down afterwards. But here's the gist, which I updated on 10/16 when I saw the video clip K got of the conversation:

Me: I'm really excited for MMMHops tomorrow. (They were debuting their beer, MMMHops, at the two House of Blues Chicago shows.)
I: Yeah, we were hoping people would be. I hope we have enough.
Me: I was wondering about that. Should I only have one? Is there enough to go around?
I: Haha, you should have as many as you want.
Me: OK done!
I: You should have as many as you want. Um, heh.
Me: so it's just going to be at the bar?
I: It's gonna be at the bar, yeah so, there should be plenty left to go around, but it's our first time, so we'll see how quickly it goes. (Foreshadowing...)

After the walk, I stood right by the guys on the steps for their post-walk speech.

4:30 - We listened to the sound check going on inside from our spot in line, and I headed inside the adjoining hotel to charge my phone for awhile.

5:30 - Our friend T showed up with her friend D. They went across the street to kill time at the Newsroom Pub.

6:15 - R and I got bored and joined them for shots.

6:45 - Doors opened!

Although the Pabst is a seated venue, they used the area in front of the seats for a pit, which is where we ended up. The four of us got spots about three people back from the stage on Taylor's side. Everyone in front of us had either gotten there way earlier than we did or had a meet & greet, so I was pretty satisfied with our spot. Plus, I'm a head taller than everyone else anyway (sorry, people behind me).

It felt like forever before the opener, David Ryan Harris, went on at 8. He was pretty decent, but most of his songs were pretty chill, and I wasn't feeling very amped up at that point. His set finished at 8:45, and we waited impatiently until nearly 9:30 before Hanson came on. That's when I decided I would never stand on Taylor's side again. He kept having to tell the fans in the front to move back and be nice to each other because one little person fan in the front row kept getting slammed into.

Besides that, the show was great. I loved hearing the new songs live and thoroughly enjoyed the covers they did of "Happy Together" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." I was also glad that they decided to bring back the portion of the show where each guy performed one of their solo songs. Many of us Isaac fans felt shafted on the last album with no Isaac leads, so hearing him sing the new song "For Your Love" was a treat.

11:30 - After the show, we filed out to the bus to wait for the guys to come out. Zac came out almost right away and signed autographs from the bus window since there were so many people.

1:00 - Isaac came out and signed a bunch of autographs for people. K got a picture with him, and then E pulled me into her picture with him, which I am very grateful for. I was a couple fans back, and I don't think I would've gotten a picture otherwise.

Yup, all three of us basically have crazy eyes in this picture, hehe.

2:00 - Taylor came out for the handful of fans that were left, and E got a picture with him. Very soon after that, the bus left, as did we.

You can see the rest of my pictures from the weekend in my Facebook album (hopefully that link works).

Needless to say, I was pretty tired Sunday morning when Bridget woke me up at 7, but I was ready for another day of Hanson excitement down in Chicago.

Fashion Week MKE - Music Icon Night

Milwaukee's first Fashion Week took place last week; and while I would've loved to attend all the events, the only one I made it out for was Music Icon Night, held at Spin Milwaukee. Fans of Project Runway may remember Spin, the ping pong nightclub, from the episode last season where owner Susan Surandon came on and asked the designers to create uniforms for the staff. Uniforms which, by the way, the employees were not wearing.

My friend Sabreen joined me, and we also met up with our friend Katie who was on the Art Bus, which made a stop at the party. After buying some drinks at the bar, we dodged the ping pong tables (I only got hit with a ball once - not too bad, hehe) and shuffled over to the runway area to find a spot since we were not VIP enough to be on the bleachers, haha. We ended up in a pretty prime location behind the press area at the end of the runway.

Guests were encouraged to dress as their favorite iconic musician, but I only saw a handful of people dressed up, including the fashion show emcees dressed as LL Cool J and Beyonce. The main event of the night was a T-shirt fashion show with designs from MILWAUKEEHOME, American Greed, Wiskullsin, Reginald Baylor Studio, I Am Milwaukee, Get the Led Out, Wisco Kid, Newd Clothing, and Love Nail Tree. For some reason, all my pictures of the male models turned out better than the ones of the female models.

Sabreen and I had America's Next Top Model on the brain since we were missing it to go to this event, so we couldn't help taking the role of the judges a little bit. Our favorite walker was definitely her:

Larry Sanders from the Milwaukee Bucks closed the show.

After the show, a little bit of lip sync karoake kicked off, starting with LL Cool J, Prince (seen below, highlight of the night), and then Beyonce. I also saw a Madonna and Katy Perry wandering around.

You can see the rest of my pictures from the show in my Facebook album. Hopefully, we can look forward to Fashion Week Milwaukee for many years to come. It's definitely an exciting time to be a fan of fashion here. Now I have to get some of those awesome T-shirts to flaunt my MKE and Wisco pride.

Here's what I wore:

Blazer: LC Lauren Conrad (Kohl's); Tank Dress: Forever 21; Pants: Rock & Republic (Kohl's);
Shoes: Vince Camuto via Boston Store; Clutch: Melie Bianco via DSW; Cocktail Ring that you can't see: c/o Wantable

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I was originally planning on going as Celine Dion because I thought it would be easy. Then, I ran out of time and couldn't curl my hair, so I had to make do with tons of back combing, bobby pins, and hairspray. Plus, I wanted to wear my new leggings right away. Funnily enough, Corleen and I were both wearing the same leggings except hers were from H&M. Great minds think alike!

Vacation's Over

I've got a few random outfits for you today. Although I liked the outfits I wore on our Tennessee vacation this weekend, the indoor pictures I managed to take are pretty low quality. I wanted to give you something relatively decent to look at and show off my new purchases from vacay.

This isn't exactly what I wore to work today, though. I had to change my shoes right before I walked out the door because I simultaneously got my heel caught in the heating vent on the floor while trying to upright my tripod after it had fallen over. So now the shoe and the tripod are broken. I'm hoping to get the shoe fixed; the tripod, I'll just replace at some point.

Top: Fred Boutique; Necklace and Bracelet: Gin-o Boutique; Pants: LOFT; Shoes: Vince Camuto

I bought the necklace and one of the bracelets at a cute boutique in Franklin, TN, called Gin-o. It was right next to Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant, where we ate lunch, which was sooooo good. I would definitely go back there. The apple pie I took home was way overpriced, but the meal was very reasonable. I ordered the Puckett’s BBQ chicken sandwich, which was pulled chicken served between corn cakes. They also are very proud of their sweet potato fries dipped in honey mustard. My meal was delicious, and Bridget's grilled PB&J sandwich was tasty, too.

After lunch, we went to a park so that Bridget could run around for a little bit, visited a little vintage candy shop for some ice cream to cool off, and then I quickly ducked into Gin-o while my friend watched the kiddos. (She's not a big shopper and had to nurse her daughter anyway.) Gin-o had a bunch of cute things, and I almost brought three dresses into the dressing rooms to try on, but the last thing I need in my life is more dresses.

The next day while the guys enjoyed Emofest (the reason for the trip), the two of us girls and our daughters headed to the mall so that I could help my friend pick out some stuff to use up the gift cards she had. She ended up with a ton of cute things from both Ann Taylor and LOFT, and I even converted her into a leggings wearer! She was pretty proud of her first pair of leggings, haha. As for me, I tried to be good and only purchased something for myself that was on my need/want list - a pair of skinny, ankle-length pants from LOFT. Unfortunately, they were full price, but what are ya gonna do?

So anyway, here's what I wore to the Emofest family day and shopping on Sunday.

Dress: JCP; Sandals: Target; Necklace: New York & Company

Finally, this is what I wore for the drive home and for Inspiration Monday. As I've mentioned many times before, I'm still scared of printed pants. Printed shorts, on the other hand, I can handle, which is why I decided to go with those.

Top: Target; Shorts: Old Navy; Shoes: Converse

By the way, renting a house is the way to go. Instead of reserving three different hotel rooms, our friends found this gorgeous and spacious property to share for the weekend. The beds left a little to be desired, but otherwise it was perfect. Also, as beautiful as the Nashville area is, I couldn't live in the South. Visiting is fine, but the huge bugs freaked me out. I'll stay in the frozen tundra, thanks.

In a World Like This: St. Louis

I posted about my outfit ideas for these shows before, but I had to switch it up earlier in the week because Backstreet Boys sent out an email requesting that all the Platinum VIPs wear white to go on stage. Nothing I already owned looked good enough, so I ended up picking up this dress from Kohl's for $20 after discounts. Right when I got it home, I took in the sides so that it would fit better on top; it wasn't perfect and it required shapewear, but it was definitely an improvement from anything I had in my closet. The lower scoop-neck back was probably my favorite part of it.

I had to safety pin my bra straps to the dress so that they wouldn't show.
This was pre-airbrush tan.

Standing in line, waiting to go to the soundcheck

On our drive down from Bloomington to St. Louis, we still had not received any details via email about the timeline for the day. We knew somewhat what to expect from reading about people's experiences in Chicago the night before, but things didn't go as planned for them in Chicago, so it was hard to know exactly what was going to happen. I think it was only a couple hours before they wanted people there that the emails finally went out.

We arrived at the venue early and stood in line for about an hour and half-ish before they started checking us in right on time at 3:30ish. The Jesse McCartney VIPs went in first, and then we got our turn. Since it was pretty hot out and we finished lining up in record time, they let us sit in the amphitheater while we waited for the soundcheck to begin. At about 5, the guys made their way on stage after Howie's adorable son came out and waved hi to us.

Brian was a complete goofball the entire time, and Nick seemed very focused. That surprised me at his solo concert, too. How incredibly different his real self and his stage persona seem to be. I like them both, but it is interesting. He's definitely a professional and extremely talented—that's for sure. Howie, on the other hand, was signing a stack of 8x10 photos while he was singing. It didn't bother me that much, but I was amused by his multitasking. The guys sang four or five songs and then took a few questions from the crowd.

Then, it was time for our pictures.

They led us out of the amphitheater and over to a nearby fenced-in tent area, starting with the Silver VIPs, then Gold, then Platinum. The Bronze level only included the soundcheck, so they left. The Silver level included a group picture with Backstreet Boys, so those were done almost instantly. T and E were in the Gold group, which got individual pictures with BSB, and I was anxiously staring at my phone in line, waiting for updates from them. The word was that it went super fast and that security was not allowing hugs.

When it was time for the Platinums to go, the 30 of us filed into the fenced-in area, and there were the guys standing together at the other end of the tent. I was near the end of the line, so I had plenty of time to see what everyone before me was doing. I did hear Kevin tell one of the girls, "It's an honor to be on your breast," referring to her Backstreet Boys tattoo. They also seemed to take time to read the homemade shirts a few of the fans were wearing. A couple girls got side hugs from Kevin; but otherwise, it was some quick conversations, hand shaking, and picture taking. Maybe half a minute of interaction per fan.

I walked up to Brian, who was standing closest to us, shook his hand, and told him my name. Next up was Howie, then Kevin, then Nick, and AJ last. I introduced myself to basically all of them (and I think maybe Howie introduced himself to me??), and I know AJ said, "Rebekah, nice to meet you." I can't remember what anyone else said. I squeezed in between Kevin and Nick for the picture and said, "I have to stand here because I'm real tall," which is a take on a quote from their All Access documentary video thing they put out years ago. Of course, no one got it, but after I thanked them, one of them said, "Have fun, sweetheart." I wish I knew who it was because he would be my favorite Backstreet Boy now. It was either Kevin, Nick or AJ. I think it was Nick, but I can't be sure. It really was a blur, but I really appreciated how each guy made eye contact and really made each fan feel special for those few seconds. From there, I headed into the adjoining tent to wait for further instructions. With shaking hands, I texted my friends about my quick but magical experience.

You can click the image if you'd like to see it bigger. 

Justin came in to lead us to the "green room," which was another tent on the other side of the venue. There, we picked up our posters and took advantage of the cash bar, which we were free to use until BSB went on stage. He also gave us some of the details about us going on stage—where and when we needed to meet for that. I stuck around long enough to buy a drink and grab my poster, and then I left to find the girls.

We grabbed dinner in the concession area and headed in after Jesse McCartney's set was over. This time, our seats were about 10 rows from the stage, but way on the right side. They were still decent seats, but it was hard to get good pictures.

When "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" began, it was time for me to get ready to go on stage. I geeked out with my friends, reapplied my lipstick, and headed to our meeting spot on the other side of the stage. After the next song, which was "Breathe," Justin and Q came out to line us up and prep us. They told us that cameras were not allowed and that we needed to stay seated on stage until they came and got us. If we tried to get to the guys, we would be removed. Then, they divided us in half, and I realized I was going to be in the last/third row on my side. Not ideal, but still exciting. It was still on stage, so I wasn't going to complain!

At the end of the next song, the stage went dark, and we filed in guided by flashlights. When all 30 of us were seated on risers, the guys came out and sat in front of us at their instruments for an acoustic set. They turned around and smiled or waved, but that was about all the interaction they had with us. I spotted T and E in the crowd and sang along and smiled in hopes that they could see me, too. At one point, the girl next to me leaned over and said how excited she was or something, and I told her I could pop up a tent on the stage and just live there. It was great even if I was just watching the guys' backs. After three songs ("10,000 Promises," "Madeleine," and "Quit Playing Games"), we had to go. A couple lucky girls in front got a hug from Brian, and then the guys walked off the opposite side of the stage we did.

I gave Justin a well deserved high five, high fived a couple other fans on the way back, and rejoined the girls. I was happy we got to experience the rest of the show since Chicago had been cut short.

After the show, we went straight back to the car since I had to bus it back home, and the girls were headed to Indianapolis for the final Package Tour show, which ended up rounding out a weekend they would never forget! T was picked to go on stage during the 98 degrees set! The guys sang to her, and she even got a long hug from Drew, her favorite!

Finally, I feel as if I should recant ever saying that people should not wear the T-shirt of a band they're going to see or a homemade shirt to a concert. I've been thinking about it for awhile, but I hereby take it all back. Some fans may give you the sideeye, but it can help you get noticed by the band. Plus, I think opening bands kind of dig it because then they know you're there for them. T's 98 degrees shirt in Indy may have played a part in getting her on stage, and the Backstreet Boys did acknowledge the homemade shirts the VIPs had worn for them. So yeah, I'm going to be less judgy about that in the future.

Also, Lou Pearlman.

If you missed my post about the Chicago concert the night before, you can see that one here.