Top 12 of '12

Thats right folks...its time for my annual countdown of awesomeness for the year...lets get right to it!!

12. Washington DC

Back in june i took a trip down to dc for a mini cruise reunion...we had a blast...we went to a bunch of different museums...acted like small children...ate a ton of mexican food...sang karaoke...and stayed up entirely too late chatting and watching bsb videos...i had so much fun with my girls..my only complaint is that our time together was too short...i really wish we all lived closer...

11. Slip n Slide

The summer of 2012 was #NoShoreSummer...without going to the shore i had to find other things to occupy my weekends...most of the time i found myself tanning in my backyard or at an awesome concert (more on that later) but some nights i wound up at the home of tjd and blla...one of those nights unexpectedly ended with me playing slip n slide at 2am with little sis, the mayor and blla...sooo much fun...i havent done that in years...we had a lot of laughs that night...i probably wont forget it anytime soon!

10. Alexis Babini

Way back in the very begining of 2012 i went to an aaron carter concert and was introduced to the amazing music of alexis babini!!...i thought he had a really great stage presence and he was so cute up there playing his guitar (and harmonica) and his voice was just so so good...in the middle of one of the songs he whispered into the mic "dramatic pause"...it was at that point that i was sold...i went to meet him at intermission...he was so nice...i had to buy his cd...i started listening to it on repeat...i saw him a couple more times since then and he has never dissapointed...according to twitter his first full length album is coming out this year...i am so excited for it...so guys if you never heard his music before go to youtube and check it out...or just buy it on itunes...its sooo good!

9. BSB Takes New York

first bsb event with kev back...what elese is there to say really?!...nothing...okay so i lied there's tons to say...so much so that i wrote not one but 2 entries all about it...which you can check out here and here...haha!!...i gotta say that it was def an interesting experience staying in central park all night...i had a lot of fun with all of my friends

8. Disneyland

at the end of september i went with little sis and a couple of our friends to california for the weekend...we were supossed to go to a big time rush concert but it was cxl'd...we didnt let this get us down...so we decided to go to disneyland...we managed to squeeeze all kinds of disney fun onto just one day...and i gotta say that i still laugh about the ferris wheel of death!...haha!!!...the four of us had so much fun...and how could we not?...we were at disney!!! =)

7. Turks and Caicos

in october i took a much needed trip to turks and caicos with little sis and the mayor...The hotel was great...it was huge!...there were 4 pools...and a gorgous beach with the softest sand ever...and a ton of places to eat all of them were delish...the rooms were nice...it looked like the room we had was recently renovated which was great...the only problem with the room was we were all the way at the very end...we were in the furthest possible room...but ya know what? It was okay because we ate sooo much that we needed that little bit of extra walking!...haha!...i think the best part was when i volunteered to be in the show...i was a spice girl!!...it was so much fun...i even had fans the next day!!

6. New Year's Eve

this is on here not just for nye itself but for the whole weekend...i spent a ton of time with my backstreet girls...we went into manhattan on saturday...down to atlantic city on sunday...and over to the sands in PA on monday...we saw aaron carter in the fantastics and not one but two backstreet concerts...i couldnt think of a better way to ring in 2013 (the year of the backstreet) than with the backstreet boys and my backstreet girls!...i plan on writing a full recap of this weekend soon!

5. TV Girl and The Captain Say I Do

my cousin got married back in june...it truely was a beautiful wedding...they got married in the church we grew up in...i faced my fears and did a reading...it really meant a lot to me that they wanted me to be a part of their special day...thanks guys!...and the reception was soooo much fun!...i didnt stop moving all night!!...theres never a dull moment when the family is all together and its even better when we are together for such an awesome occasion!!

4. Big Time Summer Tour

as if my backstreet boys problem wasnt enough...this year i became dangerously obsessed with big time rush!!!...i think those four boys may just be the death of me...haha!...anyway, lets talk about btst because thats whats on the list...haha!!...i went to the show 6 times...4 of which i had vip for...jones beach...hershey park...bristow va...toronto...vancouver...seattle...every time i saw this show it was better than the last...those boys have sooo much energy on stage...i always find myself jumping around like a wild animal the whole concert...and their vip is amazing...like i said i did that 4 times...each time i hugged some one different so by the end i got to squeeeeeeeze all of them...yay!!!...not only were all the concerts and meet and greets amazing but all the great times i spent with my friends at these concerts is what lands it so high on my list!!

3. Geneva


right before my 27th birthday i took a trip to geneva!! ...i couldnt have asked for a better time...i got to go to europe...and spend quanlity time with my girls....and pay $60 for grilled cheese...and see an nkotbsb concert...and do platinum vip...and so much more...this particular bsb event makes it all the way to number 3 on my list because of the amazing interactions we had with the backstreet boys during sound check...we talked to howie for a long time about jersey...and nick totally called me out on my side commentary...and brian was wearing the pink sneakers...and aj gave the tour and answered a ton of our questions...everything about it was perfect!!

2. Boy Band Bonanza

5 boy bands...4 decades...3 days...2 states...1 non-stop party!!!...do i really need to say more?!?...haha!!...i already recapped this event in full detail...so if you want to relive all the magic please do so by reading day one, day two, and day three...i struggled with the placement of this event...i couldnt decide which should be placed higher on the list...this or geneva...i thought about it long and hard...but there are 2 reasons why i ultimately put this at number 2...a) i saw bsb and btr on the same day...i dont think that will ever happen again...b) I FINALLY GOT HUGS FROM THE BACKSTREET BOYS!!!!!

1. Big Time Skype Call

will everyone please pick your jaws up off the ground please...i know i know...im sure you are all shocked that btr is in my top spot and not bsb...im a little shocked myself...haha!!...but this was such a unique once in a life time opportunity that i was blessed enough to have...how could i not put BIG TIME SKYPE CALL in the top spot?!...the call was 6 months ago and its still something that i think about and say wow! i cant believe that happened!...i got to have an actual conversation with them and they seemed to genuinely care about what i had to say...and now i have a big dopey grin on my face just thinking about it...ahhh!!...yeah, i have no more words to describe how AMAZING that experience was!!!...(ps since i dont really have a picture of this ill just include the one i got with kendall in october!)

well guys...thats it...thats my top 12 moments of 2012...i really did have a lot of fun this year...i cant wait to see what 2013 has in store for me!!...yay!!! =)

bigger and betterly

Last weekend (not the one that just past but the one before that) i packed up my bags and headed to dc for a mini cruise reunion...boy did we have fun!!!

anne marie picked me up thursday night and we were off...the drive down took a little longer than we thought thanks to some unexpected traffic...we got to see a double rainbow which was awesome...and we ended up getting to laura's house around 1130...so not to bad..chrissy was already there so we wasted no time getting down to business watching backstreet boys via good ol' vhs tapes...haha!...this is us concert, 30 different qpg performances and an awesome fox kids commercial break special later it was after 3 am and time for sleeping...

Friday morning we got up and headed into the city...we walked around a little and went to the air and space museum...they had an exhibit of the first airplanes which was pretty cool...and i loved all the space stuff...

After that we headed to the american history museum...loved the flag exhibit..i spent a lot of time in there reading oll the facts...i found it very interesting...sorry for holding the rest of you up...haha!...our favorite exhibit in this museum was the one with all the old toys to play with...they had mr potato head and slinkys and etch a sketch...it was great!...they also had big white boards with a sign to draw your own superhero comic strip...most people just wrote things like "ashley was here" or "go team"...but not me...i followed the rules...i drew the super backstreet boys!!!...nick was a ninja!!!...hahaha!!!!

After that we ate dinner and went to pick up little sis from the airport...yes she flew from jersey to dc...whats it to ya?!..haha!...anyway...after retrieving little sis we went back to lauras place and watched more old school videos...and we had backstreet dance class...everyone got A++ one level one shape of my heart!...haha!...we also worked on bigger and i want it that way...i think everyone got those down pretty well...good job girls!...next time we have to tackle something a little more difficult!!!...im pretty sure we called it a night around 4...haha!

On saturday we were off to a late start but thats okay...we went into dc again...this time we went to the capitol and took a tour there...that was pretty interesting...then we strolled around a little...ate lunch...ate gellato...mmm, gellato!...then we walked toward the white house...we saw that from a far...next we took a break and sat on a bench in the shade...it was very very hot so we def needed the break...haha!!!...after sitting on for a little bit we made little sis entertain us...she did cartwheels and handstands and straddle jumps...i joined in and did some turns...then we all joined in and did the bigger dance...yeah, that happened!!...haha!!!

after dance time we got up and walked around some more...we saw the washington monument and the lincoln memorial and the jefferson memorial...and then we found our way to the museum of natural history...my favorite exhibit there was the gem stones and rocks and stuff...its so fascinating to me...

next we made our way back to suburbia...went to dinner...then made our way to karaoke!!!...omg! this was so much fun....we got a private room and only sang backstreet boys songs...we had the room for an hour but it felt like 10 minutes...our backstreet dance class from the night before came in handy...there was 5 of us so obviously we were each a different boy...i was howie...i didnt have many parts...so i got really excited when one came up!...haha!!!...the only problem with karaoke was some of the words we wrong..."drying out my battery is low"...really? youre drying out?!...haha!...well, one thing is for sure...we have to go to karaoke again!!!!

that night we went back to laura's and watched some more videos...obvi...we ended up watching crusie videos on youtube..."they did play differently" "no, we played betterly!"....hahaha!!!...and thats all i really have to say about those videos...haha!!...it was an early night for us...we went to sleep around 2:30...haha!!

sunday was our last day there...we went to georgetown,,,the original plan was to go to georgetown cupcakes and to explore georgetown some...we got there and it was so freaking hot that we decided to just get the cupcakes!!...haha!!...mmmm...that was a great decision because those cupcakes were delish!!!...after we got the cupcakes we went to lunch...and then we ate the cupcakes...i cant stress enough how good they were...im so glad we got extras to bring home!!!...haha!!!

then it was time to say goodbye to laura and chrissy and head back home to jersey with cort and anne marie...we really did have so much fun over the weekend...i cant wait til we have another reunion!!!...i love these girls!!! <3

NKOTBSB Geneva

**real quick before i start, i just want to say sorry!...i know i said i would be posting more often then totally dropped of the face of the planet...i went on vacay and when i got back work got crazy again...ill tell you all about it in an upcoming post...but for now lets get to the good stuff!!!**

to kick off the month of may little sis and i hopped on a plane and flew over to geneva switzerland to see NKOTBSB!!!...once we met up with laura and anne marie (you girls need some cool blog names! haha!!) and had an amazing backstreet adventure!!!...

sure i can sit here and tell you all about geneva but i feel like most of you just want to here about the boys...sooo ill keep this short...geneva is a beautiful city but not much to do...also its very expensive to eat...the first night little sis and i paid 60 chf (about $65) for 2 grilled cheese sandwiches and 2 waters...yeah, i know...umm and we'll leave it at that...concert time!!...haha!!

the day of the concert we took the bus to the arena (public transportation is really great there...nothing like the nasty A train...haha!)...im not sure what time we got there but we waited a while before we were let in...it was a beautiful day so i didnt mind so much...eventually vip check in started (we went all the way to europe, of course we got platinum vip!)...we were let in and we learned that they had some problems with the truck the stage travels in so soundcheck would be a little different...i never would have imagined how different (read as awesome) it would be!...

we were taken upstairs to the mezzanine level and waited a little more...then we saw the boys coming down the corridor!!...eeekkk!!!!....they stood on the steps in front of us and explained instead of the run of the mill sound check (a couple songs and 4 questions) we would get a special sound check...question and answer only!!...woohoo!!!...of course this ment that our 4 "get another boyfriend" signs were useless but thats okay...we still ended up holding them up...aj loved em!...but im getting ahead of myself...anyway...right out of the gate we made our presence known!...laura was the first one to shoot her hand up when the floor opened for questions...so she was the first one to ask one!!!...

after a few more questions went by little sis got to ask a question too!!...i was so proud of her for doing it because she backed out the last few times...she also got to tell them that we came from jersey!!...jersey is always a great ice breaker!...whenever we mention it they always have something to say...after the q&a was over we ended up having a long convo about the good ole garden state with howie (brian and aj chimed in too)...howie was joking with us and asked "what exit?", brian looked at him like he was crazy, but we answered without missing a beat...haha!!...then we told him that we went to the same high school that andrew fromm went to and he was really excited about that little tidbit (go hawks!! haha!)...

one more funny thing that happened...well little sis and i thought it was funny, im not sure if anyone else would...before picture time howie started fanning his shirt out and smelling himself...then he went over to brian and said smell me, do i smell bad? and was shoving his armpit in brians face...haha!!!...little sis and i were dying!...its so funny to us because she does that to me ALL THE TIME!...haha!!!

next up was picture time!!!...no barricade!!! yay!!!!...little siis went before me and after all the jersey talk asked them to fist pump...nick and aj didnt get the memo...haha!...i went right after her...obviously my 3 seconds with the boys went by waaaayyyy too fast...i said hello to all of them...nick winked at me which totally made me swoon...and i asked them to squeeeeeze in for my picture.... im extremely happy with how it came out!!! 

after picture time was backstage tour time with AJ!!! yay!!!....his tour was way better than nick's...aj was very entertaining...he gave us a lot of good info and told some funny jokes...going into the tour we had a giant list of questions we had for them...and during the tour me managed to ask a whole bunch of them...i was proud of us!...we also made sure we were front and center the whole time...i had a lot of fun during this part...we totally ran the show and i loved every second of it!...haha!!...as you probably know, everyone had to come up with some sort of pose for our picture per aj's request...since it is one of my dreams to dance with a backstreet boy i asked aj to do an everybody pose...i love the way it came out...but not as much as i love little sis' picture with him...i totally thought of that pose for her...its amazing!!!...one last thing is i totally blew my chance to get a hug from aj....but i dont want to talk about it cause i get mad at myself...okay ill talk about it...after he signed my vip pass he stepped in closer to me and put his arm around me but like an idiot, i stepped back...i thought he was coming in for the picture and i didnt want a regular picture so i panicked and backed away from him...ugh! im sooo stupid!!!...its weeks later and im still kicking myself...ugh!!!...haha!!!

the concert itself was general admission...we were debating were to stand...some of us wanted the front of the stage...and some of us wanted the head of the stage...so we ended up with a compromise and stood in the middle right next to a gate...this ended up working out well for us because danny came out that way during tonight  and brian and aj came through that way for shape of my heart...when danny came by i took a picture of him when we was directly in front of me...so he looked at me and said "do you want a picture with me?" so i said "yeah ill take a picture with you!!!"...he then took pictures with my girls and no one else...i wonder if its because we seemed to be the only ones in the whole audience singing along to the new kids songs...maybe they noticed...who knows?...also during the concert little sis managed to ask aj for his pocket square and got it!!!!

well thats it folks...another amazing backstreet adventure in the books and many more to come!!!...i had a blast per usual!!...for more videos from soundcheck and the concert please visit laura and anne marie's youtube pages...also you can check out lauras recap of the event over on her blog!!

Anne Marie's YouTube

Laura's YouTube

Laura's Recap

mardi gras at universal studios

a few fridays ago (march 9) little sis and i got on a plane and headed down to orlando florida...the reason for our trip? a concert of course!...haha!!!...big time rush was set to have a concert in universal studios on that saturday...they were so great the first time so we hopped on the chance to see them again!...we stayed a few days after the concert so we would be able to go to the parks too...i guess we'll take this vacay review on a day by day basis!

friday
our flight wasnt until after 830 so we didnt get into orlando until late...we got to the hotel around midnight and proceeded to check in...(btw we stayed at the royal pacific...a little expensive but it was great...i would recommend it!)...we were pleasantly surprised when we were awarded a free upgrade to the club level room...that was great because there was a free continental breakfast every morning for the guests on that floor...this ended up saving us a lot of time and a lot of money...so yay!!!

saturday
we woke up, ate our free breakfast, and headed over to the park for what we knew was going to be a loooong day...the only thing we had planned for the day was standing in line...we got there at around 10am and there was already about 150 people in front of us (the park opened at 9)...so we got on line and waited and waited...

it wasnt as terrible as i thought it would be...we brought cards...so we played war and spit...we also had little sis' brand new ipod...so we watched an episode of big time rush (appropriate right?!)...since it was a mardi gras celebration they had a whole bunch of entertainers on stilts walking around....so that was fun...also the line moved to new locations a few times...the first time we moved was around noon...and then at 5 we were let into the place where the concert was held...i thought they let us in a little early cause the concert didnt start until 830...once we were in that spot there was no moving...

the line at around 3pm

the crowd behind me at the concert

when we were let in the center section was about 4 or 5 rows deep already...so i went over to the side a little bit...we were FRONT ROW!!!!...we werent in the center but who cares cause we were in the front...based on the previous btr concert i went to i knew they would more than likely be coming off the stage...and sure enough they did...they were all right in front of me at one point or another...i even got to touch them a few times...excuse me while i allow the 12 year old inside of me to squeal...*eeeeekkkkk*....haha!!!

none of my pictures came out very good but you get the idea

the concert was great!!!...those big time rush boys really are great singers and performers...im in love!...haha!...we had a great time at the concert...we even met a few more 20+ rushers...they were great!!! (wow...i just said great A LOT...oops!...haha!)


sunday
we wanted to get up and be at the park by 8 when the park opened for people staying in the universal hotels...i heard that the wizarding world of harry potter gets really packed really fast and getting there early is really the only way...unfortunately the alarm we set didnt go off...we ended up getting there around 930...it didnt turn out too bad, thanks to springing ahead that night i think most people were off to a late start...also it was raining so the park was way less crowded than normal...

anyway when we got there we went directly to harry potter...i was so excited!!!...it was so cool...walking around hogsmead and seeing Hogwarts was amazing...i felt like i was really there...they had all the shops from the book, like honeydukes and the three broomsticks...they even had butterbeer...i was totally geeking out seeing everything...the best part was the ride...the line took you through hogwarts castle...you go through the dungeons, then to the green house, then to dumbledores office, then threw a hallway with talking and moving portraits, then to the defence against the dark arts classroom (where herminone makes it snow!) then to the griffindor common room, then you see the sorting hat, then to the room of requirement...this is where you board the magical bench and the ride starts...its a super fun ride!!!!...even if youre not a harry fan i think you'll still love this ride!!!...its def worth the wait!....

thanks to the rain the the park was pretty empty so we were able to get through everything pretty quickly...by lunch time we went on all the rides at islands of adventure...we would have gone on the roller coasters a few more time each but the rain hurt...when we went on the hulk i felt like ice pellets were attacking my face...i couldnt even keep my eyes open because it hurt sooo bad...of course we laughed about it the whole time but it really did hurt!...haha!...

after we went to lunch we headed over to the other park...we were able to get through all of those rides too...i think my fav over there is the mummy ride...its an in the dark coaster and tons of fun...there was a new roller coaster that we went on...it was a lot of fun and a little different...you get to pick a song you want to listen to and there is a camera that films you the entire ride...i thought that was pretty cool!

that night we ate dinner at nba city...neither of us care all that much about basketball but i read a lot of reviews that said it was good...so we went there...and it was good!...great food and reasonable prices...we were happy campers!!...

monday
since we got to everything on sunday we went through and went on all the good stuff again...but the park was way more crowded so it took us a lot longer to do things...we started with harry potter again...we waited 20 mins sunday for the ride...monday we waited 1.5 hours...when we got off the line was twice as long and we could barely walk through the hp section...it was sooo crowded...good thing i was able to find the secret butterbeer line thanks to laura's tips!...if not i think the line for that was about an hour!...crazy!!!

besides harry potter we hit up all the other awesome rides in islands of adventure, ate lunch, then header over to universal to do those rides again!...eventually we went on everything we wanted to multiple times so we headed out...we walked over to the hard rock hotel...we thought that there would be a lot of cool stuff there...yeah, not so much...we were a little disappointed but at least we burned off some of the ice cream we just ate!...haha!!!

despicable me ride coming soon!

that night for dinner we went to the latin quarter...it was good but a little pricey...there were a lot of awesome reviews for it...it was good but not omg amazing...Chevy's in linden is just as good...and much cheaper...

tuesday
we didnt do anything on tuesday except for go home...boo!!!

well thats it for now...ill be back soon!!!