I was a woman on a mission Baby...

2010-01-24T18:27:00.000-08:00

Wow...where to start? I know the begging is always a good place but there were so many amazing moments in the middle and at the end....ah well here goes nothing!

As a busy mom of 4 kids it took much convincing and banking of "mommy away" time to get all of my JoeShow plans to fall into place. Since the end of the Full Service tour I had given up many NK related events knowing that Joe would be releasing his solo album and touring in the New Year....this I was NOT going to miss! After much nail biting the JoeShow tickets were bought, after party tickets bought, acceptance to be part of the live audience during the taping of his interview on The Hour accomplished, the train to Toronto booked and the hotel room reserved (the Metropolitan Hotel since we all know this is Donnie`s choice when he stays in Tdot...hey ya never know!) I had planned to go up to Toronto the day before the show since my brother lives there and much shopping had to be done!

Finally, Sunday morning arrived. I triple checked my bags to make sure I had forgotten nothing...everyone knows you have to look good when meeting one Mr McIntyre! So off to the train station my family and I went, all the time my hubby trying his very best to bribe me into staying home...LOL Last minute kisses and hugs were exchanged and soon I was aboard the express train to my Mac adventure!!!

The train ride was scheduled to be a little more than 4 hrs long and for the most part was fairly uneventful except for the all important tweet that would change everything! Joe was scheduled to do a live on air interview with one of the local radio stations (CHUM FM) at 8:20 on the Monday morning. Hey I would already be there...I could meet him there! My friend who was due to come in later on the Monday texted me to say that she was now re-booking her bus to arrive first thing in the morning so she could be at the radio station too! I was super psyched! I had never done a impromptu meet n greet before. Up until this point I had only planned on going to his show , the taping of The Hour and the after party...who knew there would be more!

I went to bed quite late that night after allowing my brother to convince me to go clubbing in TO...apparently it`s a must do in the big city! Six am came way to soon as I woke to get ready for what was to be the most incredible day of my life (after my wedding and the birth of my kids of course!) Now if you know me at all, you`ll know that nothing ever goes as I plan so what was supposed to be a 7:30 departure for the radio station turned into a 7:45 departure. No big deal you say to yourself...have you ever tried to navigate Toronto traffic on a Monday morning in peak hours? Not pretty! My brother and I jump into his SUV and it felt like and Ikea moment...me yelling at him`start the car!` All I kept thinking was I was going to get there late and I would miss him...I knew the address and the street the radio station was located on as I had called them to confirm the night before...smart of me? Would have been had I gone to right end of the damn street! We ended up on the East side when we needed to be on the West side! We take off running back to the car which we had parked a few blocks down (parking is a bitch in TO). By this point my blood pressure is boiling and I was mumbling some very unlady like things. Suddenly my brother realizes he has dropped his wallet during our sprint back to the car! I tell him to let me out and to go back for it. By now it`s 8:05 am and I`m still many blocks away from where I want to be so like the fool that I am I take off running like a mad woman down the streets of Toronto. why I cannot run like this at the gym is beyond me but hey I was a woman on a mission baby! Suddenly my brother pulls up next to me (successful in finding his wallet) and we race the next 3 blocks to the station. When we arrive I see maybe 6 other women standing around...one of them my friend Steph! Had I already missed him? By now it`s 8:15 am and Joe is MIA. I was sweaty, out of breath and my hair was a mess...so much for looking good! We chat for a few minutes about the possibility that he must have gone through another entrance when out of no where this black suburban pulls up and out steps Joe! *gasp*
Holding a Starbucks cup in his hand he smiles at us, says good morning and walks over to give each one of us a hug =) His PR rep reminds him how fashionably late he is and he tells us all to stay and that he`ll be back out in a bit. Interview happens and much impatient waiting on our behalf as we could see his head through a window.
It must have been a good 40 minutes later when he appeared from the far side of the building walking towards what had now grown to a small crowd of 12 or so Joe girls. He was all smiles and so gracious. He took pics with all of us, joking at one point saying ``you`re all just standing there`` as we didn`t want to seem pushy and demanding when it came to our pics! I finally got my pic with him which is now my new avatar! He signed memorabilia and stayed to chat with us and the traveling girls who had planned on going to all 6 shows (he would later quote them in his blog with trains, planes and automobiles). Before long he had to go and we all said goodbye. Had nothing else happened that day, I would have been forever satisfied with that! But what would a blog be without a little more action right?

For the next few hours we attempted to function like normal people, eating breakfast and doing that shopping that once upon a time seemed so important! By 12:30 we arrived at our hotel looking for a place to crash for a bit but our room was not yet ready...of course not! They offered us the use of the gym facilities to freshen up but we decided to sit and think on it for a few. It was then that we met up with some of the amazing BH sisters that we had come to know on Twitter...it was so much fun to finally put faces to names and stories! It was also at this time that I was lucky enough to run into Rob Lewis...another face I had been dying to meet! He took a pic with me before heading off to his luncheon with some fans. We decided that a gym shower was better than nothing but when we approached the desk to ask for the key the very nice young lady stole someone else`s room to give to us...ahhhh at last some down time! As we settled into our room our 3rd room mate texted to say she had just landed and would soon be joining us at the hotel. Just then 2 tweets came through. One saying that Joe will be doing an interview at MTV at 2:30 and the other saying that he was in the lobby of the Hotel! So naturally we race down the elevator to see nothing but some fans and our room mate. We tell her that Joey is `over there` in the restaurant and she says `yes, right there`. As we turn around there he stands not 20 feet behind us. He smiles and waves and within the blink of an eye he is wisked away out a different door to his idling ride. We assumed he was headed for MTV since it was now 2:20 pm. We quickly learned that Joe`s not a very punctual guy (whether it`s his fault or not I do not know). Our roomate wanted to change her close before we headed over to MTV so we spent the next 15 mins in our room. We arrived at MTV just after 2:45 to a larger crowd than that morning. No one had seen him and almost all hope was lost that he would be seen here. I circled the corner to look for an alternate entrance he might use only to spot a black Suburban coming our way!!! I tell everyone he is here and they all turn around to see what I had seen. We place ourselves near the steps to the building and out emerges Joe. He honestly looked surprised by the crowd saying `what the fuck are you doing here?` He smiles for us and in he goes to carry on with his business.

We headed over to the CBC Studios were the taping of The Hour was to take place at 4:00 pm. We were coached through and practiced our different laugh styles and before long Joe was there! Looking dapper as always in his suit and tie we spent the next 30 mins listening to him tell stories of his youth and early days as a New kid. We Ooooed and Ahhhhed and laughed till we thought we would jump out of our seats to get a piece of him. His interview was followed by the new Bishop and Rosanne Cash, two very worldly people but I must admit my thoughts were elsewhere! By 6:00 pm we were free to go and all 80 or so of us rushed to the 1 elevator in order to get to the venue ASAP! I was super worried that the lineup to get in would be astronomically long by the time we got there as we had heard earlier in the day that some had been lining up as early at 5:30 am! We must have been about in the 200`s which by all accounts wasn`t as bad as I had convinced myself it would be. We waited for what seemed like 5 days, 6 hours, 10 minutes before they let us into the venue. My toes were numb and my tummy grumbling as I realized we hadn`t stopped to eat anything since breakfast that morning. The small room filled with over 500 eager and hormonal women who began to scream and cheer anytime the slightest movement on stage was detected! Alas, the moment we had all been waiting for...the crew made final preparations to the stage...we screamed...the mic was brought out...we screamed...the band emerged....we screamed.....the band started to play....we screamed...do you see a recurring pattern here? Finally Joe came out ...we lost our minds!!!! Dawning his shades and a no nonsense attitude he began the show with Here We Go Again. I won`t pretend to remember the order in which all the songs were done...I`m just not that good! Something Else was second and after that I was nothing but a puddle on the floor! I will say that I`m Waiting was the HAWTEST thing I have ever seen....flash flooding in Toronto that night was inevitable! I never took my eyes off him for a second as I didn`t want to miss a single second of his *silence* see just thinking about it leaves me speechless again! He sang his heart out, serenaded us and joked about screen names, loosing and finding his falsetto and dropping the f bomb as many times as he could. The Difference brought me to tears and Big Time had me soaring high....that was one hell of a show! Tdot for life Baby he says...we love you too Joe!
On to the after party....Joe showed up at around midnight in his black jeans and a black t-shirt and black scarf (I gonna go out on a limb here and say he really likes the color black!) We had great seats/standing spots right up against the VIP area. At first it was was kinda like spectator hour at the zoo watching him interact with those lucky enough to get in the VIP area but he has such a calm demeanor that it`s no hardship that`s for sure! He smiled for those of us on the `outside` and waved as often as possible. Johnny started letting people with MacPac memberships through to meet and hug him! Luckily I had my receipt with me and was proud to be number 109! I waited in line trying to think of something intelligent to say....nothing! Finally my turn came. He finished with the girl in front of me and turned to look right at me....puddle on the floor...pull yourself together girl!!! I smiled and opened my arms...so did he....puddle on the floor again! I walked up to him and we hugged. I told him he was mine this time and he said `OK`!!!! As our hug was coming to an end I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek...don`t ask me why or what I was thinking....I just did it! Lucky for me my gf caught a pic of it so I will always be able to treasure that moment! I think we held hands as I thanked him for I`m Waiting...told him the video would be safe with me....he laughed. we hugged quickly one more time and it was over. After that it was a blurr of him dancing on a table top, saying thank you to everyone and eventually leaving (which of course we were outside to send him off for).
I don`t quite know how to get back down to earth after that nor do I really want to! I kinda feel like Joe said in his interview on The Hour...maybe someone will have to throw a net on me and tell me it`s time! This experience surpassed anything I thought it would have been! If I never had another opportunity again I will still be able to say I am an extremely lucky woman....that being said....I can`t wait to do it all again!

Life in Lisa`s Little World

I was a woman on a mission Baby...