John Mayer, Jake Owen, Jason Aldean & Jack Daniels: My men this weekend. P1

I woke up and opened my eyes. Not the kind of wake up where you roll over, stare into the sunlight, blink 100 times and adjust to your surroundings. No, the kind where your eyes shoot open, wide open, your hands instantly fly out to your sides and grip the closest thing. I saw deep brown walls, a big mirror on the wall, and windows covered up by dark curtains. My head was pounding.

"Where the HELL was I?"

After a couple minutes of adjusting to the volcano erupting in my head, and my eyes dissecting the room, it hit me.

"What the HELL am I doing in my sisters bed?"

I rolled over, and tried to get up.

"Hmm this is going to be a lot harder than it should be."

I braced my self and pushed my self up with every ounce of energy I could muster. As soon as I was vertical, my volcano turned into the death star blowing up my brain.

"This is not going to be a good day."

I wobbled to the bathroom, gripping every surface I could find on the way to stable myself. I peed, and with my eyes closed and an evil smiling grin thought to myself

"That was one HELL of a night!"

It all started on Friday while laying in bed with my mum. I knew this was going to be my last weekend before treatment and if its anything like it has been in the past, we know that making plans is impossible. Expect the unexpected. SO we wanted to do it up this weekend, and do it up might be an understatement. I had been talking about how I wanted to go to Jason Aldean all week. I missed Boots and Hearts and the Havelock Jamboree (both country festivals in Canada.) I love country. All of it. Back to when I used to Dj and bartend on Tumbleweed Tuesdays at the Ale House Canteen in Kingston ($4 Beer boots anyone?) My first concert was Garth Brooks, and I was seriously young. So my mum looked at me and was like,

"ok lets see if we can get tickets."

I think my mum has a magical touch because not only did we get tickets we got 13th row. The concert was on Saturday and I was so excited I couldn't even handle it. It gets better, John Mayer was also in town. He was playing Friday night and she looked at me as said, wanna go? I was like UH YES! We were doing the double hitter and I was STOKED!

I was supposed to go see JOHN FREAKING MAYER (Friends With Benefits fans anyone?) with a guy friend about 4 years ago. I even told him,

"look R, are you sure you're taking me because if not I'll get my own tickets."

He responded with "No, no its you and me!" Well that didn't happen and I was SOOOO mad at him. Legit pissed, more so bummed I missed the concert, because that was also for my favorite album of his 'Battle Studies". It worked out though, because I was finally getting to go. My concert bucket list was being ticked off one by one this summer. There really isn't that much to do around here in Philly.

Friday night, me, J and my mom. John Mayer, 8th row center, HEAVEN. I raided my sisters closet, got ready and we were off. We got there, did the usual, our 3B routine; bathroom, booze and buy tshirts. We were almost ready to go. We had to grab the crab fries. LOVE THEM. I sat next to this older woman (at least 50s) and realized she was there by herself. It made sense because we had 3 tickets so odds are she bought the single. It was so cute, because she was there just because she loved the music. So much so, she didn't care if anyone else came with her. She was married because she had on a wedding ring too. Personally, I would kick my husbands tush if he made me go alone but I was like

"Damn, I want to have this woman's balls some day."

I'll do movies by myself and go to restaurants, I mean sometimes I don't want to be around people, I just feel like a concert is a whole other level. She rocked out and it was adorable. Philip Phillips opened and he was AMAZING. He did a lil Wayne cover and it was epic. John sounded incredible live. It was madness. He played for two and a half hours and it was just a huge jam sesh. The concert was tailored for his die hard fans. There were a lot of songs I didn't know, and I have all of his cds and listen to them, all the time. I think he played a lot of stuff off his new album which comes out like next week. It was still so good. Talk about talent.

At one point he kind of stopped the show because a girl was holding up a sign that said "Please Play 'Comfortable'". He commented on her sign and was like "It's not on the set list but because its such a beautiful song, lets do it." He whipped it out like it was nothing and the cameras panned to the girl and she was basically crying. It was the cutest thing and I think the highlight of my night. Something about seeing people that happy, just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

As we were standing there, loving life, I was looking off to the side of the stage to see if Katy Perry was by chance there. I saw a blonde haired guy and was like...

"Hmmm I know that hair"

Then I saw two other guys with him, and grabbed my mums arm,

"OMG MOM, thats Harry Styles and Niall Horan and Liam from One Direction!"

She was like

"Who?"

I was like MOOMMMMM! I had watched them on GMA that morning so I knew they were in the area. After John's last song before his encore, he walked over and gave his guitar to Niall. The lights were out but Niall stood up and waved it to the crowd. It was a John Mayer concert so I doubt there were a lot of directioners there but I have very eclectic taste and I knew exactly who it was and was excited about it ::not ashamed::. My suspicions were later confirmed when the boys tweeted a pic from the concert. I was crushed, I should have tried to get pics. I was also so stoked!

After the concert we went to the Cheesecake Factory. I was pooped but I needed munchies. It was so good as usual. It was just an all around fun evening. Saturday is where things get interesting.

*I don't like bananas plain, but had to eat something in the car on the way there to take a med and a banana was all I could find.

I slept in all day Saturday. My energy levels were already low from the night before and I knew tonight was going to be UNREAL! My mum woke me up and I got ready as quick as I could. We had to head into Philly to pick up our tickets. Now according to my mum there was some drama, but I'll get to that later. I put in my biggest and best country curls and was going to wear my favorite white sundress but I had forgotten my cowboy boots in Canada and something about it just felt wrong if I wore flip flops. This is now the SECOND case of underpacked, cough cough "DAD" cough cough. So I went with Jeans, a black tank and my cowboy hat. My mum and I ended up being kinda twins, it was cute.

We grabbed food for our tailgate and some beer and were on our way. We picked up the tickets, and because of the miscommunication, we ended up getting two extras. We didn't notice till we were in the car. We figured we could pawn them, or worst/fun case pay it forward. We had VIP parking which was sweet too. We got to the lot, set up shop and were ready to go. I told my mum not to underestimate country fans, we're loyal as hell. People had been there drinking all day. Apparently, (and we found this out after the show), there were something like 4,000 people who stayed in the parking lots after the concert started to just party and listen to the music. Thats pretty damn cool!

Some people had these little tents, which looked weird. When we got a closer look we realized people had brought their own porta potties. ::Mind. Blown.:: There were pick up trucks with stripper poles in the beds. STRIPPER POLES. Little did I realize the foreshadowing this was for the rest of the night. We went over to another lot and the people had clearly been there all day. It was like a frat party. You could barely move there were so many people, the music was blaring and everyone was rocking their red solo cups. As we were walking through one guy looked at my mum and yelled "MOMMMMMMMMMM". It was the funniest thing ever, she grabbed me and was like moving on, clearly unimpressed.

In line for the porta potty we made some new friends. Leave it to the Canadians to find each other. I went on a beer run and when I got to the line I saw my mum chatting away with these pretty hot guys. I was like uh OKAY Chaunce, way to work it. It turned out they were from Canada. Upon further probing we discovered they were rookies here for Flyers training camp. They had just come to party but wanted tickets and we had tickets. It was really funny because we had noticed them right when we first got there... My mum was like

"OOH Pink shorts- he is so your type"

I was like

"Thanks mom but nah, theres another cowboy I'd rather be with."

Turned out he was with our hockey buds. We went over to their tailgate and pink shorts was WASTED. I asked him

"Do the color of your shorts speak to your sexual orientation?"

He looked at his friend and was like

"She just chirped my shorts"

then came over and kissed me on the cheek. So cute. So drunk. We ended up just giving the one player T our extra tickets because he was actually really polite and nice. He wasn't wasted and was just an all around nice guy. He didn't walk around boasting who he was and I appreciated that. My mum had a friend selling tickets too, the other guys got theirs as well from him. We parted ways before the show but it added to our tailgate experience.

We went into the show and pulled our 3B routine. Bathroom, Booze, & Buy. I got the CUTEST shirts, which I'm actually obsessed with. We missed Thomas Rhett but we got there just in time for Jake Owen.

Oh. My. Gawd.

He was incredible live. He would take pics with peoples' camera phones, sign hats, drink people in the audience's beer. He was so entertaining, so hot, so good live. My mum was shocked at how full it was, because normally the opening act is hit or miss, but everyone was in their seats ready to go. He dedicated "Alone With You" to all the cowboys with their cowgirls and it made me wish a certain someone was there with me, (not saying I didn't have fun with my mom, I mean she's my partner in crime!) Did I mention how hot Jake Owen was?

Jason was so close I could hardly wait. DJ Silver played and he was AWESOME. But then, the lights went low. It was so dark you couldn't see anything... until the screens lit up. At the top of the main screen on stage that was flashing Crazytown, (the song he opened with) was the silhouette of a cowboy. My heart stopped. It was go time!

I rocked out the whole show. I could barely even handle it. My calves hurt so much today because I constantly jump up and down during concerts. Its a great workout, I highly recommend it. I was singing, bopping around, my cowboy hat flew off like 5 times and we were so lucky the people around us were cool. Our seats were so close. The pictures don't do it justice.

When he played "She's Country" you would have thought I won the lottery. I was jumping up and down so hard, it was as if there was an invisible jump rope. Maybe all my trainer needed to do to get me to jump longer than 30 seconds was to play that song because I went non stop! His encore was "My Kind Of Party" and I was just as stoked! My mom looked over at me half way through the concert and I was like

"WHAT are you staring at?"

She was like

"You know every word"

in a very surprised tone. I was like

"Mom, I don't think you understand this secret obsession I have with country music, cowboys and plaid. Tonight is one of the highlights of my summer!"

We got a sweet little surprise too. So Jason walks to the top of the main screen and talks about how he did this duet with Kelly Clarkson. I was like "OOh saw her two weeks ago." So he's like

"Yea we did this song 'Don't You Wanna Stay' and so ladies and gentleman KELLY CLARKSON."

I was expecting her to show up on a screen or something like a video but NO! SHE WAS THERE! I just about died. What are the odds she was at our show? She's touring with Maroon 5, how did this happen? She looked hot too! She had a skin tight red leopard print dress (very fitting for Jersey.)I was stoked, it was just the BEST concert. He is so talented and sounded amazing live and I would put it in the top 2 concerts I've ever seen. Yes, ahead of Britney, I know I know I just admitted that.

When it was over I was crushed. I actually could have stayed a few more hours....

So the rest of my night.... ::Evil Grin:: There will be a part two. :)

Until then, I need to sleep. I have my second opinion tomorrow with Cooper Radiation people. We got what could be bad news on Friday. I may have to have another surgery to biopsy the lymph node. This would be a lot more intense than the last one because I would be completely under anesthesia, and they would use robots. Hmmm that sounds fun. ANy other scenario and they would just radiate but they don't want to have to give me any more radiation than they have too because it really could trigger my bone marrow, i.e. my leukemia to relapse. So we're waiting to get more information. Until then, I start radiation on Tuesday. ::Not Excited!:: So we'll be getting more information on that this week. I can just sit and think about how amazing my weekend was whenever it gets me down.

Thanks Mom!

Matchbox 20 and Rob Thomas Honey

Today has been kind of an awesome day. I woke up, I got to talk to my bestie, while in the bath ::Helloo Multitasker:: and go to an awesome concert where I got to meet Rob Thomas backstage. I'll start from the beginning. (Note: This referring to Sunday, but it took me two days to write).

SO, I started getting ready for the concert. For being told I over packed, I clearly under packed because I was like "screw it!" I just wore the same thing I wore to Maroon 5, I did not have another cute tank nor a crossbody purse. Originally I was supposed to go to the concert with my mum, dad and sister but my dad went back to Canada, and my sister has and I quote

"Had enough of going to preppy concerts, I'm spoiled by my festivals and miss those."

My mum was going to still come, but because she's a rockstar let me go and have fun with the girls. She's so selfless like that because I know how in love with Rob Thomas she is.

So I met the girls and we were off. My sister drove us to the train station and on the way we passed a red suv. It was stopped in the middle of the rode and at first we were like WTF? Then I saw a HUGE turtle crossing the road and the man had stopped to make sure it didn't get hit. Believe it or not, this was the highlight of my day! Then we were at the train, HOLLA to trying new things. After about 15 minutes of deciding whether or not we should get on the train, (we weren't sure which direction we were supposed to take), we got on and luckily it was the right direction. We got worried because it was delayed a bit, but it was just because our conductor was a little behind schedule. We were off to my very first tailgate. It was SOOO exciting because it's always something I've wanted to do just haven't really ever done. J had to pee the WHOLE train ride. I told her to use a cup but I guess that isn't proper train etiquette.

We got to the tailgate and it was a blast. My first one mind you. Did I play flip cup- YEP! I even flipped the cup on the first try. Did I take shots of sailor Jerrys? Yup and ouch... all I can say is ouch. I ran into old friends and had a blast.

J and I went to pick up our tickets from will call. As we walked up, I said to her,

"Uh do we go to the VIP one or the regular one?"

The VIP one was closer so we figured we'd give it a try. The lady instantly recognized my name and pulled out an envelope. Here I was worried that I'd have to explain the Canadian license. As J and I were walking away I pulled out the 4 tickets and 4 passes. FOUR BACKSTAGE PASSES! I looked at the tickets and knew right away that section 102 was center having been in 102 for the Maroon 5 Concert. We had AWESOME seats, we had backstage passes, I was with awesome people. This was the night out I needed. I was a work a holic back home. I actually would go 16 days straight, or pull 17 hour shifts. 10am-10pm at bar number one and then 10pm-3am at bar number two. I wasn't used to just, having fun like this with no worries. It was amazing!

We went into the venue and I was absolutely tipsy. No doubt about it, the girls got a little nervous because my mum read them the riot act, but they were amazing. We grabbed some beers, took a pee break and I went shopping. I just couldn't leave with out a shirt or two! We then headed to our seats. My main objective of the night was crabfries so that was on our agenda for the break in between the Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox. We got to our seats and started rocking out and it was so fun. It turned out Dr. N who had gotten me the tickets was right next to us, and I had been texting her for quite some time so it was great to run into her. I got to meet her family and her son was SO adorable. He had on these red head phones and was loving his popcorn. Her Daughter was so beautiful and had a friend from Vancouver. It was instant BFF status. She had on a wicked leather jacket. (My hunt for the perfect leather jacket still continues so I get very jealous when I see amazing ones). It was really cool to meet her family, because she has made such an impact in my life, and I am just so grateful they share her.

After catching up for a little bit during the switch up of bands we went on our crab fries mission. It was GLORIOUS! I got the massive tub and it was like $46, I wasn't even mad. I also probably really needed the sustenance in my stomach.

We then headed to the lawn seats to visit our friends. It was an experience I apparently needed to experience. We watched the first half of matchbox from the lawn and this is where it got interesting. So I was slightly inebriated, as were the majority of the people at the show. I used to work at a bar where flirting was encouraged, so I figured HEY, why not, its been a while and I kind of missed it. There were two eligible candidates for the evening. The first, I started the prowl. He was tall, smart and really liked the band, which was a turn on because it meant he wasn't a poser who just came for the alcohol and party. We flirted but he was just too shy. I also may have been overthrowin my fishin line ... but thats not the point. In comes bachelor number two. He was tall, hot, and athletic. I had chirped him for shaving his legs even though I knew he was a swimmer. This story is only funny, because I know what I was thinking, but then I got the scoop from the girls and their perspective. We'll start with mine:

::Hmmm he's really cute, not my first choice but hey, he's really cute:: Then we like randomly danced, and he "accidentally" brushed my arm. ::OOH the accidental touch to see how I react, sweet I'm in like flynn.:: Get more touchy feely. Long gazes into each others eyes. ::Ummmm hello this dance has been going on for about 3 songs now and I have way better seats so now's your chance to kiss me bud, what is taking so long:: more touchyness, maybe even a hand hold, eye glances....::K yup you had your chance bud c'mon girls we've got a concert to enjoy::

To which I proceeded to grab the girls and we left to go to our seats.

Their version:

Ok, so guy number one. Seems interested but eh, she's not anymore. OOOKAY she's moving on to bachelor #2. Oooh he's definitely interested. ....okay heerreeeeee we gooooo.... OMG THEY"RE GUNNA KISS and Boom, he chickened out. Ok working up to it again...heeerrreee weeee goooo... OMG THEY"RE GUNNA KISS and nope he swings and misses again. Yea, lets go to our way awesome seats.

Whatever, flirting is just as fun, and it was SO fun.

We went back to our seats. The show was amazing. Then it was over and it was BACKSTAGE time!!!!

We went to the stage, headed around it to the back stage. We were greeted at the door where we showed our passes. We went in and it was everything you would expect a back stage to look like. There were rooms with people who looked really important, and the room we went too had a table with everything. Wine, and water and drinks and snacks and food. It was epic. As we walked to said room, we went single file. There was ROB! He gave us all hugs and signed stuff and took pics. When I got to him, you could clearly tell I wasn't one with celebs. Did NOT play it cool whatsoever.

"OMG HI, My mom is inlove with you and REALLY You drink white wine? That sooooo Rockstarish of you!"

We then went to the other end of the room to take pics and when I went up, I could no lie not stop my word vomit from telling him all about the time I went to his concert when I was little and wore a pink denim skirt which I was obsessed with and how my mom is in love with him and I really wish I still had that skirt. I know he talked to me but I was so excited his words escaped me. Something about how it was probably their first album for the concert I went too. Honestly, dude was so nice.

The girls took pics and I stood there. I wouldn't be surprised if my mouth was on the floor. I was trying to take it all in. He was shorter and skinnier than I anticipated. He had a tattoo on his right arm of a 20. (Hmmm big points to the first to guess what thats for.) He wore black leather rocker boots and black jeans. He had switched his shirt from when he was on stage because his stage shirt was red. He was sweaty from the show, but honestly, you couldn't stop staring at his smile. He radiated gratitude and appreciation and was so humble and nice. It was mind boggling. He joked that someone was getting yelled at in the other room, so he had no problem slipping out to come meet us.

It was amazing. We then said our good byes and left. J's boyfriend picked us up and the car ride was full of us laughing and chatting about our night. Thats also when they filled me in on their version of flirtgate:Matchbox style. We went to Wawa (For you Canadian's think Macs but way better because they have a deli of sorts.) I proceeded to get a meatball sub AND a chicken cheesteak. Both were only 6" on whole wheat and that is how I'm justifying them. I got home and RAN in the doors. Woke my mum and filled her in on every detail.

I crawled into bed, ate my subs (or hoagies as New Jersians call them) and passed out hard. It was amazing. It was a release. Its one thing to go out and have a great time. Its another thing to go out and just have no worries with reckless abandon. I needed the latter.

I start doctors appointments at 7am tomorrow. Radiation doctors, Oncology docs, a second opinion. It's going to be a long day, and we're going to start making the decisions to get this treatment train rolling. I'll be exhausted but I'm also ready to get my life going. So for now, when I'm stressed, I'll remember how much fun I had at my first tailgate and meeting the rockstar!

Thank you to everyone who made it possible. *(Especially a certain someone. You're in good hands! If you read this, and I hope you do, You really don't know how much I appreciated this. So thank you!)

Oh and just because it's fitting...

I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell. I know, right now you can't tell... but stay a while and maybe then you'll see, a different side of me. I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired, I know right now you don't care. But soon enough you're gunna think of me, and how I used to be.... me.


**Updates forgot to add how meeting some people at the tailgate. One guy and his lady stated.

"There is no way you're from around here. You're just too nice and friendly."

To which I replied.

"Well done, I'm actually Canadian."