We saw the 'Biebs' in concert! Cue the SCREAMS!!!

 Yes my household is a music loving household. All types of music can be heard from our ipods.
From Fleetwood Mac to Flo Rida.
From Johnny Cash to Johnny Rotten
From New Kids on the Block (hey, I relive my youth once in a while) to Justin Bieber!

I sat in front of two computers, four months ago and anxiously awaited while the hourglass spun in circles.
Would they be sold out?
Would I be able to figure out the Ticketmaster Captcha?
Are the $50 dollar seats going to be in the nosebleed section? spoiler alert.....Yes they were!

Hourglass stopped spinning

"GIRLS, WE ARE GOING TO SEE JUSTIN BIEBER IN CONCERT"

The hoops I had to jump through to get these tickets........

too many hoops to count!

Pre-Sale to American Express cardholders only- No problem!

Yes Problem- We don't have an AMEX

Call my parents, they'll surely have one- they don't

Sign up for one online, Genius!- Card will arrive in the next 2-4 weeks, WTF?? I NEED IT NOW! 

Call my parents back asking for advice- Go to grocery store and buy AMEX gift card?!?!

GENIUS PARENTS I HAVE! WAIT, NO, Not enough time!!!

Tell parents you love them, but you have to hang up now and contrive a plan- Dad says "hold on, call your Aunt! She may have one, and you can pay her back." GENIUS AGAIN!

Best Aunt in the world, can I have your AMEX # to purchase some tickets to see the Biebs in concert?- YES? I LOVE YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Tickets Purchased!

'Upper Concourse' Section 316......Code Name for 'NOSEBLEED'
But in all honesty, my girls and I don't complain. Justin Bieber the size of an ant is better than no Bieber at all.

My Co-Worker/BFF also jumped through the same hoops that morning, and was able to buy tickets for herself and her three girls.

Then our boss, who, in case he is reading this is THE BEST BOSS EVER, found out we were going and used his Marriott Reward points to get us each a Hotel Room.

CAN YOU SAY          

COMPLETE AND UDDER(OR IS IT utter??) AWESOMENESS??!!!

When checking into a hotel that is full of Justin Bieber fans from all over California, what do you do first?

You leave your teen daughters in the hotel room with your five year old while they get all decked out in homemade t-shirts, and makeup (teens, not 5 year old! No makeup for her yet. This isn't Toddlers and Tiaras)

You tell them you are going to 'check out the Hotel and go for a little walk', then you grab your husband (who only came because he happened to have the next day off. No ticket for him. He was going to lounge at the bar while I have my ear screamed in by crazed lunatic teenagers) 

You call your BFF who is staying a floor below you;even though the B*TCHY girl at the front desk swore you were on the same floor. Uhhhh, when did 21 and 20 become the same number?

.......and you wind up here

We checked out the Hotel......on our way to the outdoor bar. These parents deserve a drink before heading into the treacherous land of Maniac Bieber Fans!
By the way, we could hear the screams from the Staples Center while sitting at the bar. The screams of girls that thought if they showed up early they'd catch a glimpse of JB hoppin out of his tinted windowed, chrome car!
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH JUSTIN WE LOVE YOU AHHHHHHHHHH EEEEEEEEEEE"

Bartender, can you make that a double?

Time to go!

Blurry action shot of the girls jumping in the hall on the way down. 

All in all it was a great experience

Oh, wait let me rewind. 

A word of advice

Five year olds get tired waiting 2 hours for someone to show up on a stage. 

Five year olds don't care about concerts

They only care about Hotel Pools and jumping on Hotel Beds

Five year olds grab your hand midway through the FIRST SONG and yell in your ear

"Can I go to the Hotel with Daddy? I'm tired!"

Five year olds make teenagers say 

"OHHHHHH MYYYYY GOOODDDDDDDDDD! She is wasting a ticket! We so could have brought one of our friends"

To which mom replies-

"We are NOT even going to go there!"

and for once.......they zipped their lips, and didn't go there. :)

Daddy saved the day.Thank goodness he came, thank goodness he was 2 seconds away having a tray of sliders and a beer at the ESPN Sports Bar! Thank goodness his night was made by having two moms try to pick him up because he looked 'lonely'.

Thank goodness he had an excuse of "Oh, I'm waiting for my wife and daughters inside the concert"

Thank goodness that excuse turned out not to be a lie, because one minute later he was actually needed.

Daddy to the rescue. 

YES, they went back to the room and jumped on the beds! He is a big kid too!

What an AMAZING time with my family.

The next morning we raided the Executive Lounge for all of the free snacks.Thanks Boss....again......for being an Elite Member! We love free snacks!

We were exhausted, but hubby still drove us through Hollywood to 'see the sights'
Sights being Homeless and Graffiti, but Hey, I got my Hollywood sign Picture.

Lessons learned

• If you are going to sit in front of your computer for AMEX presale tickets. Make sure you actually have an American Express. 
• Don't think your homemade purple t-shirts from Michaels are going to be 'Super Original'- They AREN'T! I can't even tell you how many homemade purple t-shirts we saw! And Justin didn't even take the time to come find my girls and compliment them on their iron on skills.
• If your five year old states to you beforehand that she is SUPER excited about the Hotel, but the concert 'Uhhhh, not too much Mama'- Believe her! Don't waste the money on the ticket. She will have just as much fun in the pool or jumping on the bed with Daddy.
• Find the Bar! Find the Bar at the Hotel, and then when you get into the arena, find that bar too. Smile at the Bartender, slam your hand down on the counter and say "I think this Mama deserves a Margarita"
• Most important lesson learned- HAVE FUN! Because I did! 
• Upper Concourse means............             UPPER CONCOURSE!!!   SUPER DUPER UPPER!

One of my best friends and her husband tried to kill me!!!

I am pretty much a small framed woman. Genes, high metabolism, whatever. But do not.......I repeat, DO NOT JUDGE ME BY THAT!!!! DO NOT BE ENVIOUS!!!!WHY????

BECAUSE

I AM THE MOST OUT OF SHAPE HUMAN BEING YOU WILL EVER COME ACROSS and I proved it yesterday on a bike ride with my girlfriend, and her husband. All seriousness, it was the most humiliating experience ever.

Well, maybe not the most humiliating. But that is for a post to come.

The bike ride that proved to me that they are secretly plotting to kill me. I am not sure what they would get out of killing me. Can B.F.F.'s take insurance policies out on one another? I don't think so.
Maybe they thought it would be fun. Maybe my friend doesn't really like me, or enjoy my company as much as I thought she did. I have been fooled this whole time, thinking that she loved me. Thinking that her husband liked me.

I was wrong! Heart attack is what they had in store for me! Make it look like a 'natural death' was their plan!

It all started with mine and my husbands idea to call them and ask them if they'd like to meet us down at a local dive bar. Dive bar? YES! Best Cheeseburgers in town? DEFINITELY YES!

Too long of story, change of events, etc. to explain why my husband wound up NOT being able to go, and I wound up still talking my friend and her husband into going, but it happened.

Then I get a text from my friend saying:

Friend:
Let's just ride our bikes down there. Then we don't have to worry about drinking and driving.

Me:
O.K.

Friend:
We have an extra beach cruiser for you. Just drive down to our house, and we will ride from here. That way you won't have to ride your bike up 2 hills on the way home. Just 1.
I live one street up the hill- I could shout to her from my house.

Me:
O.K. Sounds good!


What happens next is where the pre-meditated murder of a friend ALMOST happens!

We ride downhill to the bar.

We eat the most delicious, greasy, yummy burger, slathered in ortega chiles, cheese, and onions.
We dip our onion rings in ranch, put money in the juke box, and I drink 2 pear ciders.

We decide we are done for the night, that was fun, we should do it more often, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.

This is when I start to see the evil glimmer in their eyes. The looks, the exchanges they give one another as we are putting on our sweatshirts and getting ready to ride back home in the beautiful, summer night air.

Flat ground at first, I am doing fine! This is kinda fun! Like being a teenager again. The breeze in my hair. Riding and laughing!

But slowly, my breathing starts to get a little heavy. Breathing turns into panting. The flat ground is starting to incline. What is happening to me? What is going on?

I am ........having.........a .......hard ..................................time..........................................Brea........thing...........................!!

Friend:

You O.K. J.R.? - 

Did I just detect a hint of laughter in her voice?

Friends Husband:

J.R. you alright? Are you really having that hard of a time?- 

Is he laughing at me too?

Friend:

Do you want to wait at the bottom of the hill, and we can ride our bikes home, and come back and get you?

Me:

OMG that would be pathetic!!! I can make it!!!!! - 

I think! Actually I think I am dying! Paranoia is setting in. They are plotting against me! 

Look at them up there! Ridiculing me! Acting supportive, but secretly high fiving at their almost success of my demise!

I have not had to ride up this hill since I was young,as I actually grew up in the house 3 doors down from them. But strange thing.........I don't think I have the energy I had when I was young! HOW IN THE HELL DOES THAT HAPPEN?

Is this what Heaven Looks Like? Am I alive? Did my heart just pump out of my chest? What is my name? I need water!!!

The Red One is mine! Pretty and shiny! It is 5 years old! Barely ridden. I think I need to change that!
I officially am stepping into action!

PROJECT GET J.R. INTO SHAPE officially starts NOW!!!!






* I have an active mind. I grew up at the beach. Loved boogie boarding as a kid, running or riding my bike all over with my friends. As an adult, I have a competitive streak to me. I want to be good at whatever I try. We used to go to the desert, riding dirt bikes, until my husband crashed bad, and then so did I. I was on a girls ride, and went over my handle bars. Tore my rotator cuff. If I go bowling I want to be the best. If I play ladderball while camping, I want to be the best.
But being small framed my whole life, made me think I was a little more invincible to health issues.
Boy was I wrong!
I am almost 40 now!
I am not in my 20's anymore!
I cannot keep taking pride in the fact that I can 'eat whatever I want' and not really gain too much weight.
It really isn't 'cute' or 'funny' anymore!
This evening of cardiac arrest proved it to me!

Walks through the neighborhood, HERE I COME!
My life, my kids, and my health are too important!

But I will start after this weekend! We are going camping, and I just realized I bought pretty much every bit of junk food that you can imagine!

PROJECT GET J.R. INTO SHAPE starts next week! Promise!

Have a terrific, fun, wonderful, HEART HEALTHY weekend everybody!

* And to my friend and her hubby!
I'm watching you......
I've got my eyes on you.....
I've wised up...
Mmmmmm, Hmmmmmm! YUP!!