BEST TRIP EVER!!!!! ~~ NYC/CRUISE 2014

Not long ago I went on probably one of my most anticipated vacations EVER! Instead of writing to you about it, I thought I'd TELL you about it instead. Be sure to pause the music player on the bottom left of this page so you can hear me as I tell you about my adventures in New York, meeting new friends and going on a cruise! I also added pictures and a few videos! I'm excited to share this with you and hope you enjoy it!!

NEW YORK!

Best of 2013…The Late Edition

Wow, time is flying by! We’re going into March now and I haven’t posted in a bit. Let’s just say I waited a while so everyone else could get their year end/New Year posts out. ;-)  Let me reminisce a bit, will you? 2013 was a pretty decent year for me! Here are a few of my highlights:

• Partying With Jill Scott, Young Guru & ATCQ’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad! – Yep, you read right! I started to year off right! I headed down to North Carolina for some relaxation and to attend my friend, 9^th Wonder’s birthday party. What a great time that was! Most significantly, I got to meet Ali Shaheed Muhammad who is a member of my favorite hip hop group of all time, A Tribe Called Quest! I just about died! To see the full post with pics, click here.
  
• Jamla Army Colonel – Many of you know about my affiliation with Grammy Award winning producer 9^th Wonder, his label Jamla Records and his online marketing and promo team, The Jamla Army. I was promoted from Lieutenant to Colonel in February and very proud of it. It’s amazing to know such a great group of people and be a part of an amazing movement!
  
• I Met My Childhood Crush! – Growing up, I was a HUGE New Kids On The Block fan. This fandom was re-ignited in 2013 when they came twice to Toronto while on tour with 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men. The 1^st time I had a ‘hallway moment’ with my longtime fave, Donnie Wahlberg, got a pic with Joey McIntyre and had amazing seats! You can read all about it and see the pics/vids I took here. The 2^nd time around, my cousin, Jojo and I had pretty decent seats. We went to their after party where Jonathan Knight remembered me from the first time (more on that later) and I managed to have enough guts to ask Nate Morris of Boyz II Men for a pic! You can find that post here! Also in September, Donnie was in Toronto to announce that they were opening a Wahlburgers here. I finally got a pic with him then and gave him a gift! More on this here.

Second Time Was A Blast!!! (Catch Up Post #1)

I didn’t plan to go to the 2^nd Package Tour show (July 28th) in Toronto initially. This was sort of a ‘make up’ show. I’ll try to make a long story short…I grew up with my cousin Jojo and we were BHs (BlockHeads) together from the start. After a few unexpected turn of events, when the tour was announced, Jojo bought tix with another cousin because that cousin didn’t want to spend money on VIPs. I ended up getting 5* with 2 of my friends who weren’t really BHs but wanted to go to the show and didn’t mind forking out the money to do VIP. It was the only 2^nd show that Jojo & I didn’t go together. The 1^st one was when we were kids and she was out of town. We got tix the day after the 1^st Toronto show, no VIP cuz they were all gone but I scored AP tix and told Jojo it was my early bday present to her. Her birthday is in September! LOL!

I didn’t think it was possible but I think I enjoyed the 2^nd show more than the 1^st one!
Although I was closer the 1^st time (I was on the floor at the stairs to center stage), I felt like I had a better view of everything. We were seated just off the floor seats, 2^nd row aisle close to the center stage. Jordan was stood right in front of us during Tonight! I only took a few pics & a bit of video but I kept stopping just to enjoy the show. It was amazing!!

Inner Child Awakening/The Package Tour With Boyz II Men, 98 Degrees & New Kids On The Block

There is something to be said about reliving good childhood memories. It keeps you young at heart, it can rejuvenate you and definitely make you smile. All those things and then some happened to me last Friday when I saw The Package Tour. The tour consists of 3 'boy bands' Boyz II Men, 98 Degrees and New Kids On The Block.

I was maybe 11 or 12 when I first started to love New Kids On The Block. Donnie Wahlberg has always been my favourite. I never realized how long it had been, perhaps it's my mind denying how old I really am but I never thought about it until this tour was announced. Their last album is called 10 to commemorate the number of releases they have. Really? They've been together for 25 years? Geez, where has the time gone??
Back in the day, my cousins and I had the music, posters, shirts, dolls, bed sheets etc. We went to all the concerts too. Years later, the group broke up and we grew up. We weren't as crazy about them and there was a time I was actually embarrassed to admit I liked them despite keeping tabs on Donnie's blossoming acting career. NKOTB reunited in 2008 with a new album and tour and of course, I went. I was a little low key about it too. I think I mentioned I went after the fact on here but was still a little embarrassed. LOL!

Fast forward to now, here I am with a well respected blog and known for having a strong love for music in particular for Hip Hop and Soul. NKOTB announces a huge tour with 98 Degrees and another group that I loved growing up, Boyz II Men. I just HAD to go and this time after all these years, I decided to splurge a little (the show was a week after my birthday) and get the VIP package which consisted of premium floor seats, pre show party, gift bag and a meet and greet with NKOTB.