Tales of a 15-year-old Backstreet Boys fan - March 2000 - part 2

*if you missed it, catch up on Part 1 HERE

As promised, here is the exact review I wrote of the "Into the Millennium" tour for March 15th, 2000. The pictures are ones that I took on my 'film camera' (wow can you tell I'm old). Please excuse my overuse of the word "like" and the thousands of exclamation points, it makes me cringe just reading it but I forced myself not to edit in hindsight. I figure that the excited (albeit grammatically incorrect) words of a 15-year-old high school student are more effective than a 26-year-old high school teacher. 
*side note: wow that's like coming full circle, from student to teacher. Strange.
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ok, this is my review of the Toronto Concert on March 15th, first let me tell you... when we got our tickets on December, we we so incredibly lucky.... for those of you that don't know, in Canada they give out wristbands with numbers on them, and the day that the tickets went on sale, they draw one number, whoever has that number gets first choice of tickets.... and everyone behind that number gets second choice and so on, and people before it have to go to the end of the line. Well it was my mom's wristband number that got chosen.... so we ended up with 1st row tickets! My friends and I were totally freaking out!

So then we had to count down 94 days until March 15th.

When they day finally came, we went downtown at about 2pm, and just walked around everywhere. At 6:30pm they finally let us in, but it seemed to take forever... we moved like 3 inches in 10 minutes!

But we finally got in... and they never even checked for cameras (thank goodness)

Since we went to the November show too, we didn't really bother buying any souvenirs, but the only bad thing was, that the Comic book was sold out everywhere. So we didn't get it.

When we got to our seats, it was so amazing... we were like 2 ft from the stage....

Then the Jungle Brothers came on, they were pretty good............

So anyways, finally at 8:55pm, the lights went down and some smoke started to rise up, they had the countdown, and the starwars music. The Boys flew out on the Booggie Bords as usual.

I'm not gonig to get into detail about the songs and stuff... but when Nick came out to do his thank-you he tripped over the step and landed flat on his stomach on the stage... it was so funny!!!!!

Nick also said in his thank-you that since this was the last show... we might see some crazy stuff! (he was so right) Aj said that they had "one hell of a show planned" The Boys said that they picked Toronto as the last show 'cause they love us so much! (how sweet!)

The songs were basically the same, But during one part.. I have no clue what song it was, Howie was singing and walking backwards, so Nick came up behind Howie and Howie walked right into Nick...it was so cute!

They did a lot of crazy stuff! During "That's the way I like it" one of the male-dancers was un-dressing Brian, he ripped off his tie and started to rip of Brian's shirt.... but Brian had this kinda scared look on his face... it was so cute!!!!

We had Kevin and AJ on our side the most..... AJ was so cool, he kept waving at everyone and smiling at my friends and me. During "Don't want you back" we had Nick, he was sitting on the pole and waving at everyone! It was so cool! 

At the end when they were introducing the dancers/band, my friend told me to through this beany baby chihuahua that I got for Brian, so I did. It hit his leg and he picked it up and started playing with it. He put it down on the stage right side up... and it stayed like that until Kevin knocked it over with his foot, so it was on its side. At the end of the concert on the of the Band members took it down below. 

During Perfect Fan, we had Brian on our side of the stage, and he kept making goofy faces at the girl and at the audience.

Nick had a bottle of Silly String. and was putting the silly string all over Howie's head!!! Then Howie took the bottle and sprayed that audience.

Oh yeah, during one song, Nick was trying to hype up the crowd even more, so he did these little ...uh "moves" and then Aj came over and shook his head and did some other "moves" he had this like "Nick, this is how you do it" type look on his face. (so cute)

At the end tons of confetti exploded everywhere.... and I mean everywhere.. it looked like a snow storm. During one part at the end, Howie came down to our side of the stage with a security guard, so we all got to touch his hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All I can say is that it was the best concert that I've ever been too, I totally can't wait for the BSB to come back again (I know it will be a while)

See ya and don't forget... *KTBSPA* 4 EVER 

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So there you have it, the actual words of a very excited teenager. I'll write a review of the NKOTBSB concert next week and see how it compares. 

Tales of a 15-year-old Backstreet Boys fan - March 2000 - part 1

Remember when I first blogged about the amazing the NKOTBSB show in June HERE ? With the countdown to NKOTBSB Round 2 quickly winding down - 6 days to go! - I've been re-immersing myself in all things Backstreet and learning all things New Kid. The excitement for the upcoming concert has me reminiscing of the greatest concert I ever went to and the events that lead up to it. I alluded to it in my previous post, but did not go into detail. 


In December of 1999 it was announced that the last stop on the world famous "Into the Millennium" Tour would be in my home-town in March of 2000. We'd only been to one other BSB concert prior to this so naturally our 14 and 15-year-old selves were dying to go. The way tickets were sold back then was that you had to get a green wristband, which were given out about a week before the official "on sale" date. Hundreds of wristbands with 5 digit numbers were given out for each location, and on the morning of December 11th 1999 one number was chosen at random. That number would then get first pick at the tickets and each following number and so on. That meant that anyone whose wristband number was right before it had to go to the back of the line.

The way it happened to work out for us was that there was myself and 2 girlfriends - then other girls - then my mom who had so graciously agreed to wear a wristband 'just in case'. We were put into the lineup by our respective numbers, and once the 500 or so people were settled, THE NUMBER was drawn. Naturally no one could hear the actual number, but it quickly trickled back through the line like a wave. Once the wave stopped, chaos and screaming broke out. 


It's been over a decade and I can still vividly remember hearing the number and knowing it was a higher number then our wristbands and thinking we'd never get tickets.My mom says I gave her the saddest look ever (I have no recollection of this) but she very calmly came over to me and said "It's my number".  


I swear at that moment the world stopped. For several minutes. 


I'd heard what she'd said, but it just would not compute in my head. By the time reality set back in she was already marching up to the ticket window. In the 2 minutes or so she was busy paying, my girlfriends and I had been reduced to shaking, anxious messes. We knew our prospects were good, but we had no idea how good - we were betting on maybe 5th row floor. She came out with FRONT ROW tickets. 

The actual tickets - I know, a little hard to see

I wrote a concert review 3 days after the concert and posted it on a popular website at the time. Something spurred me on a few weeks ago to see if I could still find it. It may have been lost in a virtual "dusty file cabinet" - but I found it and in my next post I will share it with all of you! 

A moment of silence for Arlington

The 3rd stop on my trip 'down South' was to Arlington National Cemetery. I'm a huge history buff (and history teacher) so naturally this was a place I've always wanted to see. 

The cemetery itself is massive, covering close to 4 miles (8km) and we didn't manage to see even half in over 2 hours. The "important" graves that everyone - including us - flocks to are JFK's grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

The graves are mostly simple white headstones set out in a very rigid pattern. It reminded me of what I picture Flanders Fields looking like in Belgium. If you've ever attended a Canadian Remembrance Day ceremony then you know what I'm talking about. 

 JFK's grave

What really made an impression on me was the amount of respect that the visitors had for these hallowed grounds. It was very quiet, even children managed to behave themselves and everyone paid their respects in a very somber fashion. 

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was the place I was most interested to see. They have a Marine posted at the Tomb 24 hours a day and every hour they perform a "changing of the Guards" ceremony. 

So many young men and women gave their lives for the freedom that America now enjoys, and so many of them were killed as cannon fodder and dumped into unmarked graves, if they were found at all. I think it's incredible that we honour these fallen heroes and give them the respect they deserve 

Amazing Annapolis

I feel like all of a sudden I jumped back onto the blogging-bandwagon, this is my second post in 2 days (albeit scheduled for later on this week)
side note: I've been playing around with the settings on Paint.Net (free version of Photoshop) and trying to edit my pictures, what do you think so far?
Part of my trip 'down South' included a much-anticipated visit to Annapolis, Maryland and the United States Naval Academy. We were originally going to go the last time I was down, but a nasty cold kept me in bed for most of that trip. This time, feeling healthy and blessed with bloody hot nice weather, we decided to make the trek. 


This place was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G 

The amount of discipline and dedication that goes into being in the Navy was unreal. I completely admire and respect anyone who fights for their country, but this just took it to a whole new level for me. 


Attending the Academy is free, but you do have to sign a contract and do 5 years of service once you graduate. The "midshipmen" (students) are in full-uniform 24/7 and working hard for the whole 4 years. Most don't even make it home for holidays as they are usually at sea training. The only "free time" they have is on Saturdays from noon - midnight. That's it. They have strict curfews enforced and rules that must be followed at all times. 

part of the Naval Academy Harbor 

We took a 2-hour guided tour of the Academy (which I highly recommend) during which our very knowledgeable tour guide taught us about the rich history of the school. 

Admiral's Row

The highest ranking Admirals, Corporals and other officials live on the actual Academy grounds in "Admiral's Row". A very idyllic and beautiful street that weaves itself around the base. 

Memorial Hall

One of the most touching places for me was Memorial Hall. Located at the back of the dormitories/mess hall is a large marble hall dedicated to all current and past students of the Academy who have been killed in the line of duty. Their names are all engraved on the walls, along with which conflict they were killed in going back to the mid 1800's. By far the largest "section" is WW2 - closely followed by Vietnam. 

Annapolis Harbor

Although the bulk of our day was spent at the Naval Academy, the city of Annapolis itself is also not to be missed. There is a busy but charming waterfront area with cute shops and an abundance of restaurants and cafe's overlooking the water. Definitely a great place for a warm summer evening. 

All-in-all, Annapolis was a place I was looking forward to seeing and it definitely lived up to my expectations!

Beautiful Baltimore

Market Street

Hello? Anyone still out there? I've been so busy the last 2 weeks that there just hasn't been time to blog. I've barely been home, let alone near my laptop.  Where have I been you might ask? I spent 5 days 'down South' and 5 days 'up North' since my last post. 

Market Street

My father and step-mother live in Washington D.C (Virginia) so I flew down to see them for a couple of days. Due to the high cost of Airline travel, I had to get creative and managed to find an affordable flight on Southwest flying into Baltimore. My dad drove the hour or so and picked me up in Baltimore, and suggested we tour the city because it was my first time being there.

USS Constellation 

Now I should preface this by saying that I always thought Baltimore was a typical American city. Some skyscrapers, some suburbs, nothing especially spectacular. I could not have been more wrong! 


Baltimore is a beautiful city with a rich and vibrant history and amazing waterfront. I especially fell in love with the "market street" area which looks just like a small town smushed in the middle of a big city. 

Baltimore Harbor

I've learned that I will never again judge a city by any preconceived notions I may have, I found Baltimore to be one of those places where I could really see myself living one day and I was very pleasantly surprised!  

Mad Men style icon - January Jones

Have I told you how much I'm currently in love with the HBO show "Mad Men"? If you follow me on Twitter you've no doubt seen a few posts lately. I realize that I'm about 3 years behind in the times, but trust me I'm trying to catch up quickly! 


I downloaded season 1 from iTunes last year on a whim because it was on sale for $12.99 and since then I've been hooked. That being said, I'm still only at the beginning of season 2, but what draws me in more than anything is the fashion. January Jones' character "Betty Draper" is my absolute style icon, whether she's in a fabulous dress or simple pants she always looks amazing. If I could master 1960's style makeup,  I would be in heaven. 

Don't you just LOVE the dress?

I'm a real girly girl, especially in the summer, and practically live in dresses; and recently I've become obsessed with vintage-style dresses from the 1960's. I have 3 semi "Mad Men" looking dresses, but I've also discovered an amazing site that has hundreds of vintage-inspired dresses that I'm absolutely drooling over!
I'm not a fan of buying clothes online (shopping is my cardio) but this site has me more and more tempted each time I visit it. I'll post some examples below, but check out ModCloth for more styles! How gorgeous are these dresses?? The best part is that they are reasonably affordable, most are only around $100 or 

Dainty Doodler Dress

Trusty Rose Dress 

Make Me Wanna Shout Dress

Day After Day Dress

*disclaimer: I am in no way endorsed by modcloth.com - I just share my opinions on things you might like. Both Mad Men pictures are courtesy of Google Images