Ok so I have like 6 minutes left...lol... Today's my bday! Yep dat's right....a few years ago on this day, I WAS BORN! (like how I won't say how many years ago? LOL!) Anyway, not much to report so far except the amount of love I've gotten from everyone on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter was amazing. I just finished responding to over 60 wall posts on Facebook! I'll probably do a more detailed report when I finish celebrating! Ha ha! I hope to go out to a party where 3 of my fave DJs in the city are playing. It depends if I'm well enough to go. Yes, like last year...I am sick around my birthday again! I've had a bad case of bronchitis and a sinus infection since the beginning of this month! I'm feeling better but not 100%! My celebrations will end off next week Friday...Foreign Exchange has a show here! :) I'm soo looking forward to it! Aight, so it's officially midnight...lemme end this off... Y'all probably wondering what's up with the title of this entry. SOMEONE managed to have me in tears today and I'm going to show you why (Don't forget to pause the MP3 Player to the top right):
*SIGH* All I can say is: I LOVE YOU, D-BROCK!!!! P.S. In case you don't know who's singing...it's Darien Brockington! lol
Wow, where to start! I may have to make this a two part blog! I went to North Carolina. I was going to relax, distress and spend time with my girl, Kimmie and see Darien. I knew I would have a great time but everything was wayyy beyond my expectations.
First I want to say a big thank you to Kimmie and her son, Qadir for letting me stay with them and making me feel at home. Y’all are amazingly wonderful and funny as hell too! I swear there was not one day that went by where Kimmie and I were in tears from laughing so much!
I’m not going into too much detail about my traveling drama but I will give a summary: I had a stop over in Laguardia airport…it was for an hour which I thought would be cool and it would’ve been…IF my flight from T-Dot wasn’t delayed! I had about 15 mins to get to my connecting flight and was misguided by clueless staff not once, not twice but THREE times!! I thought I was gonna pass out from running all over to find my damn gate! When I finally found it, my connecting was delayed anyway! I was supposed to arrive in NC around 9 but didn’t get there ‘til 10! Needless to say my 1st night was pretty uneventful, I just got settled and we just chilled and talked.
Thursday was a chill day too. Kimmie and I just hung out, grabbed some food and went around shopping. I spoke to Darien and we didn’t get to meet like we had hoped because of his busy schedule. We ended up planning to meet before the show the next day. Kimmie and I just ended up going to the liquor store and stayed in, drinking! Lol! I told her I was just here to chill in NC and hang out, meaning that I didn’t care if we went out or not. We found this mango vodka at the store so we mixed that up with some pineapple juice and it was oh so lovely!
Friday started off relaxing, just hanging out and stuff. I heard from Darien and he told us he would call to let us know when he was on his way so we could meet. Kimmie and I figured since the doors opened at 9, we’d aim to get there around 8:30 so we just chilled until it was time to start getting ready. In the middle of getting dressed, D calls and says he should be at the venue in 15-20 mins! I think that was around 7 so we rushed and left as quickly as we could. I called D back when we pulled into a spot and found out that he had just left. They finished sound check and everyone was leaving to go to the hotel etc. All Darien thought about was being at the venue by himself, forgetting that I was on my way. Disappointed, I just told him to call when he was on his way back. There was no point of Kimmie and I going home so we just decided to wait it out. Almost immediately after we hung up, he called back, asking if we wanted to pick him up at the hotel which was down the street. After okaying it with Kimmie, he gave her the directions and she told him we’d see him a few minutes. I thought we were going to leave right away but I was surprised when Kimmie stepped out of the truck. “What’s wrong?” I wondered as she opened the passenger door behind her. “Girl! I ain’t gonna have no artist up in my truck looking like this!” she exclaimed as she moved stuff (i.e. shoes, papers etc) from the seats behind us over to the back. We cracked up so bad before we headed over to get D. It didn’t take long for us to meet up and as soon as he got in the truck, Darien started getting all loud about my hair, saying he loved it. The thing with my hair is I got it cut really short about a month and a half before my trip. I just needed a change and I really liked it. I got praise from a lot of folks too. Just before I left, I decided to get a trim. The hairdresser took off nearly 2 inches! I was mortified! Not only was it even shorter than the original cut, she cut my bangs!! I haven’t worn bangs since grade school!!
When we got back to Cat’s Cradle, there was a huge line up! Kimmie & I looked at each other worried cuz we had just planned to pay at the door. Once D found that out, he told us to drop him off in front to see what he could do. We told him that we didn’t mind paying; we just hoped we didn’t have to deal with the line. He said he’d see what he could do and just told us to park. It didn’t us long to notice Darien running back over to us. “C’mon, let’s go! Hurry up!” he exclaimed. We rushed out of the truck and he immediately started to get his stuff out of the back. “Aight, so what we’re gonna do is y’all are going to be coming in with me so here, carry this!” explained Darien as he tossed his suit to me. He pulled out his backpack and his iron. “Well, shoot! Let me carry something! Gimmie the iron! Gimmie the iron!” panicked Kimmie. D gave Kimmie the rest of his stuff and we followed him to the doors as we all desperately tried to keep from laughing. As we passed through security, Darien told me, “So I think what we should do is conduct the interview in this room right here…” while leading us to the back area. I just nodded, holding my composure until we all went inside and laughed.
Kimmie & I chillin' backstage!
As D got all his stuff organized, we met Carlitta Durand, a singer who was getting ready to open the show that night. She and I have corresponded a few times on the net so it was really a pleasure to meet her.
Shortly after that, D and I got Kimmie to film us doing a blog for our facebook group which was a lot of fun. I was pretty shy but I wasn’t as nervous as I was. We even had Carlitta be a part of it too. I was really excited about the video…we even made it on HoneySoul.com!
After all that was done, we just hung out as Darien prepared for the show which included him having problems with his iron cuz it wasn’t steaming! Lol!
I also got to meet a couple of folks that I’ve been talking to on the net for awhile, Jamie who has a clothing line based in NC called, Subject 2 Change and Chaundon, a rapper and worked with Darien and Little Brother many times.
With Jamie Chaundon & I
Eventually, Kimmie and I left backstage to find spots by the stage to enjoy the show. I was approached by a few folks that recognized me from the Darien FB group and also from Justus League’s message boards, The Lawn. I’m still floored every time people come up to me like that but it was really great to meet them. Carlitta hit the stage first and her set was amazing. Her band, Fat Snacks, was on point complete with a horn section and everything!
Carlitta performing one of my faves, Thinkin' Bout You
While we waited for Foreign Exchange, the crowd was entertained by DJ Mensa who’s actually from Toronto. We had actually been in touch through the net as well but never met in person. He got everyone going with the music he was spinning and made me feel proud that we’re both from the T-Dot!
The time finally came for my friends to hit the stage and it was like the place erupted! The crowd showed them TONS of love and it was definitely well deserved!
During the performance, I was approached by Aimee who is Nicolay’s wife and also Foreign Exchange’s “Lady Hustla” as they call her. She takes care of everything from event booking to merchandise. I was pleasantly surprised she recognized me seeing that we had minimal contact on the net previously. I was floored when Aimee told me she was happy that I made it to the show. She’s such a sweetie. They put on a fabulous show but I was a bit disappointed when I tried to film. The lighting wasn’t the greatest where I was and knew that most of my footage would be dark.
If She Breaks Your Heart
When the show was done, I called out to Mensa who was walking around on stage. I was so happy to finally meet him and congratulated him on a job well done. We were also constantly interrupted by folks wanting to do the same and asking him where he played. They were surprised when he told them that he's from Toronto. I introduced him to Kimmie and we joked that we had to come all the way down to NC to finally meet.
After that, we scrambled around looking for Darien because I knew he planned to leave as soon as he could because he had to get up early. We took a few pics with him before he left.
D kept joking around, he kept moving his hand behind me, giving me bunnie ears etc. lol Only way I could stop it was to grab his hand!! :oP
We said goodbye and he told me to call him sometime before I leave. At that point, I heard someone yell, “Oh shit! Is that who I think it is?” and saw Big Dho looking my way. I laughed and hid a bit as he said, “I see you, Lady Vee!” We took a pic together and he asked why I didn’t tell him I was coming to NC. I joked saying, I wasn’t aware that I had to make a formal announcement.
Then we did the rounds to talk to Zo, Nicolay, Phonte and Yahzarah. It was soo great to see them again and was happy that I got my pic with Yahz since we didn’t do one last time.
Kimmie & I with Zo With Nicolay With Phonte With the lovely, YahZarah
All in all, it was a wonderful night. Kimmie enjoyed herself as well and for that, I was really happy. She wasn’t familiar with any of my friends nor had she heard any of their material until that night and I believe I turned Kimmie in to a big fan! I’ll end this entry here with a few pics and vids then continue to part 2….
Kimmie and I had an amazing time at the Cat’s Cradle. We didn’t get back home until pretty late and even then, I had a hard time falling asleep…I’m always extremely hype after I see a live show (now you know why I love concerts so much!). Because of that, the next day, we were pretty drained. The original plan was to go out to Charlotte (a couple hours away) and meet up with my girl, Nancy. In the morning, we ran around shopping, grabbed some grub etc. I was hoping after eating that I’d feel more like myself but it didn’t really help. I was unusually exhausted, headachy and such and I didn’t even have one drop of alcohol the night before. Eventually, I figured out that I was quite dehydrated. I called Nancy to see if she'd be willing to meet up Sunday instead and she agreed. She asked if we were planning to go to the Foreign Exchange show which was sponsored by myspace.com since we would be in Charlotte. I told her I wasn't sure since my flight left so early Monday morning and the shows usually run quite late. We just decided to play that by ear and I would call when Kimmie and I were on our way.
We decided to stay in and relax which I was grateful for because I really wasn't feeling myself. We wondered what Darien was up to and Kimmie even suggested that he could come over to hang out if he wasn't doing anything later so I called him. He was going to be singing at a church concert that night so we couldn't hook up. Then he realized that we weren't in Charlotte and I told him why, saying that we're planning to go tomorrow. This was when I found out that their show was an early show, starting at 8pm. D asked what time we were planning to leave, saying that maybe he could even ride with us. Since we didn't have a set time, I just told him to let us know where and what time to meet him. Eventually, he texted us saying to meet him at the hotel at noon.
The next day, I felt a lot more like myself and I was sooooo thankful! We left to get a quick bite to eat, gas up the truck and head over to the hotel. We took a couple of pics in front of Kimmie's house cuz we thought we were lookin' pretty fly! LoL!
When we met up Darien, he told us that YahZarah wanted to ride with us as well. Everyone was showing up little by little and packing their stuff into their vans. YahZ was the last to arrive and after I helped get her stuff in the truck, we left. We actually all left together but eventually, we got separated. We also stopped at Bojangles cuz D and Yahz wanted snacks. Here's a few pics we took while we were stopped including one of D sticking his tongue out at me:
The road trip was really fun! Darien let us here a couple of tracks that he's been working on for his new album which were great and YahZarah showed us some videos of her in NYC from her laptop. Kimmie had a DVD player in the truck so YahZ gave us a movie starring Diana Ross called Mahogany. There was tons of sillyness and laughter, we talked about a lot of different stuff that I won't get into on here!! LOL! We actually got lost for a bit. Even though we were using the GPS from D's phone it didn't look like we were getting anywhere. It kept leading us to a certain area and we didn't see the venue at all! We kept going around in circles and were all getting frustrated. YahZ ended up calling the place and spoke to the manager, Mike who was really cool. As it turns out, we did keep passing it. We just didn't expect the venue to be a big old white house like this:
So we helped them unload and hung out for awhile as the band set up for sound check. While we were chillin', Nancy had texted msged saying that she wasn't going to make it cuz she wasn't feeling well. I was extremely disappointed and upset...almost to the point of tears but I managed to keep my composure, Thank GOD! I just got real quiet for awhile. During that time, Darien, YahZ and Kimmie really tried to cheer me up. Soon, it was sound check and shortly after that, Kimmie and I decided to head out for a bite to eat. Even though we came with them and everything, somehow Kimmie and I felt that we should get out of everyone's way for a bit, like we shouldn't be here even though no one made us feel that way. I guess it's just cuz everyone was working, doing stuff and we were just there. When Darien heard that, he said we shouldn't think that at all, that we're family etc...and insisted we stay. We did end up leaving though. When we got outside, there was already a crowd forming and it was over an hour before the doors were supposed to open. Luckily, we found a small Chinese restaurant nearby. When we came back the crowd really grew and we knew the doors were going to open soon. Some folks were set up right at the doors and for a minute, we were worried we wouldn't be able to get back in. Just when I was going to call D, Mike happened to poke his head out to look at the crowd and saw us. He called us to hurry inside and we rushed in. We decided against going upstairs because we knew everyone would be getting ready so we just decided to find our spots by the stage. I was determined to take a lot of video since I was disappointed on how most of my footage from Friday turned out. Kimmie and I decided to sit on these speakers set up on either side of the stage which was perfect! The stage was pretty small too. If Kimmie and I stretched are hands out, we could easily reach each other!
Soon, it was showtime! It was packed to capacity and the venue was HOT! No, I'm not talking about the vibe being hot...I mean the venue was heatstroke HOT!!! It got to the point where they were sharing a roll of paper towel on stage cuz they were sweating so much. Between songs, D leaned over and asked me every time he used the paper towel to look at him to make sure he didn't have any stuck to him! LoL! Kimmie & I really had some great spots for pics...
Carlitta came to the show too and sat with Kimmie so I took this Eventually Phonte got her to join them onstage I really like this pic of Zo A couple of my shots of D
All in all, it was a great show despite feeling like we were melting inside! The videos turned out pretty great...Darien even sang to my camera a few times.
Take Off The Blues (Look @ 3:33 mark)
Written All Over Your Face (4:05 mark!!)
Here's when they took their bow at the end! You can see how hot they were onstage!
Right after the show, Kimmie and I were dying to go outside to get some air. We actually found Darien out there doing the same thing so we took some pics. I think D and I look sooo tired in ours! LoL!
Eventually, they all went upstairs to get changed and pack up. Kimmie and I were just chillin' out and starting to feel tired. To keep ourselves occupied, we asked a girl to take this pic of us. I think it turned out pretty well considering how tired we were! This is my FAVE pic of us!
Also while we waited, we hung out with Aimee as she packed up all the merchandise.
When Zo was pretty much finished getting ready to leave we decided to grab him for some pics too. I was just about to take mine when Darien jumped in front of us so I just pulled him back and took a picture with the both of them.
We didn't up leaving the venue until after 11:30 or so and still had the 2 hr journey home. The vibe on the trip was very quiet as we were all tired. Darien, who is not a night person at all, had to work in the morning, YahZarah, if I remember correctly, was catching a flight to New York sometime in the am and I had to be at the airport for 5:30am!! Although D & Yahz were able to sleep, I couldn't. I was busy thinking about what I had to do when we got back to the house cuz I still had to pack. Then I started to think about Nancy again and actually ended up crying. For those who don't know me, most times when I cry, it's because I'm mad and I was. So many things ran through my mind but the main thing that bothered me was why did she text msg me? Why didn't she call instead? I didn't contact her until after I came home and we're okay but even as I write this, I still feel a way about it.
At about 2am, we got to the hotel. We got out of the truck to help them put their stuff in their cars. I could only imagine how funny we looked. We were all so tired that I'm sure we looked like zombies walking around from car to car and eventually giving each other big hugs goodbye.
It wasn't until 4am that I finished packing all my stuff up and went to bed which gave me an hour of sleep before heading to the airport. The flights home were uneventful. It just felt like a really long process because I was walking around in a daze and dragging my feet.
I've been on a few good trips since I started to travel in 2007 but this one really takes the cake. Maybe it's cuz I've been going through so much, I really needed to get away and have some fun because there's nothing better than good music and laughter to ease the soul. Or maybe it's all the friends that I spent my time with that made me feel like family. Perhaps that's why the vacay was extra sweet. All I know is that, I came back feeling relaxed and all smiles, like I can face every day life again. But most of all, I came back feeling loved.
First and foremost, I am a music lover...It is my life, my heart and soul. Fave. genres include R&B/Soul, EDM and Rock but my first love is Hip Hop!
I am an avid writer/blogger who loves to laugh, meet new people and travel.
I'm also known as Colonel Firewall of 9th Wonder's Jamla Army.
I am also a huge Thirty Seconds To Mars (I prefer the drummer ;-) lol) & NKOTB fan! Echelon & BH FOR LIFE!
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