Chicago Concert

Part 3 – Chicago With the first two concerts completed, the next phase of this adventure held even more firsts for me! Saturday morning began early because Diana had an 8:30 train to catch. Nick and I dropped her off at the train station after I had done some of my packing and burned her a CD with the AC pictures on it. My head was fuzzy from not much sleep for a few nights and I felt so scattered, running from one thing to the next getting things ready to go, burning picture CDs for all of us and the computer not cooperating, trying to make sure everyone got breakfast, although Nick was the breakfast chef. We forgot to get the laundry in early so at the last minute we did a quick load for Wanda and Lynn. Meanwhile all morning we were printing some of the AC pictures to have something to show the girls in Chicago. Finally it was time to go to the airport. I wasn’t nervous because Wanda and Lynn could answer any questions I had about flying, as I had never flown before. We were all together, chatting and having fun. Our flight was delayed and we ate some pizza in the airport. My friends treated me as a thank you for hosting them at my house for the NYC and AC concerts. When we finally boarded the plane, we still had a long wait. I was excited but not nervous. Wanda was in the same row with me, an empty seat between us and Lynn directly behind me. It was funny how long the plane was taxiing when it finally moved. After at least 10 minutes I said to Wanda, I didn’t realize it took so long to taxi. She said it depended on the flight but it did seem long and then as it happens so often, at the same time we both said we were beginning to think we were going to Chicago on the ground. Haha!!! We joked about how Enrique would sit between us on the flight and we would have soooooo much fun! Before we took off, Wanda told me about her first experience on a plane and how she loved it. She described how beautiful everything looked above the clouds. What a blessing to have her there with me to say just the right thing to me. It was dark by the time we took off but I was ready. I loved every minute of it. I think my favorite part was as we ascended higher and higher, the city of Newark, which is not known for it’s beauty, looked so beautiful all lit up at night. It was also interesting seeing when we were descending in Chicago, seeing from the air the white patches on the ground where the snow had fallen in Chicago. I loved flying! While we were in the air we looked at our pictures, chatted and napped a little. The time passed quickly. Once we landed, again I found myself “in charge” of our little group, since I had made the reservations for the hotel in my name. After we retrieved our luggage, I called the hotel and asked where we could get the shuttle to the hotel. I got vague directions through the airport to the shuttle pickup location, but the directions were good enough to get us to the right spot. Then we waited and waited and waited. They told me there was a shuttle every 15 min. but it could be a little longer wait because of the snow. We saw shuttles from EVERYWHERE but Embassy. I was just about ready to call them back when an Embassy shuttle drove by. . .but it didn’t stop! So I had to call anyway. The girl was convinced I was waiting in the wrong place but she asked if I could see the Hilton across the street and yes, I could. A few minutes later we got in the next shuttle. We were afraid a big group that had just arrived in the waiting area was going to fill it before we could get on but we all fit. I saw our hotel sign but it was away from the building. After standing in line for 10 minutes to check in, I found out that since this shuttle originated with Doubletree Hotel, it had dropped us off there . . . we had to walk across the street. It wasn’t far but it was annoying. After checking in I complained about the shuttle situation. The girl apologized. We went to our beautiful 2 room suite and got settled and got ready to go meet the other girls. We decided to wear our concert shirts and the free beanies we got in AC with Enrique’s name on in. Also we took the pictures to show them. We intended to “drop off” Target the Uglydoll, that we affectionately nicknamed “Catapus” but I forgot about him and he was left out of the fun. (sorry, Target, wherever you are. LOL) Lynn had been in touch with Sole and we were to walk next door to the other hotel. It was practically connected we were told. I bundled up a little more than Lynn and Wanda because I hate being cold. I wasn’t dressed warm enough. The walk was a little longer than expected and very icy . . . treacherous we called it! Wanda was not used to ice at all, so Lynn and I tried to help guide her along. We were glad we had invested in Uggs boots! We got there safely and then the fun began.

First, Sole gave each of us who had just arrived, a dog tag with fan club logo and our names. Then we had a trivia contest. Lynn and Sannie were very anxious to give their answers so it was hard to be faster than them! LOL I knew all the lyrics trivia Bridget had for us but I think I answered only 3 of them. Sole had other Enrique trivia questions that were really hard. Tina had helped her with those. I only knew one of those but I wasn’t fast enough . . . Lynn and Sannie each answered half of the question but Maria said no ½ points so no one got credit. We won cool prizes, autographed pictures, dog tags, and license plate frames. I got a dog tag. Then came the most exciting part of the evening. Sole told us that Bridget had written to Enrique’s management and requested meet and greet passes for our club. Sole had talked to them too. Management asked how many. Sole asked for 9. He said he couldn’t give us 9. Anyway, it was settled we would get 5. Then Sole said that she and the other girls who were working on getting the passes decided the first ones to get passes are the girls who had never met Enrique. That meant Maria, me and Sharon, who had not arrived yet. I’m a quiet person. And maybe it didn’t appear that I was excited and happy but I was. I think I was kind of in shock, actually. I had no idea this would happen. I think I stayed in shock the rest of my visit to Chicago and may not yet be out of it! ha-ha The other two passes were “raffled off” and won by Sole and Michele. Sole said she would do her best to try to get everyone in with the help of Laura Jane, Enrique’s backup singer. Throughout the rest of the evening and the next day, sometimes I just had a dreamy smile on my face. Meeting Enrique was a dream come true that I was anticipating during those 24 hours. Enrique and his music have become so much a part of my life as well as the fan club. I knew that meeting Enrique would certainly be the icing on the cake of the whole adventure! We returned to our room late that night but I didn’t sleep well . . . again and woke up early. We took turns in the shower and went to a nice big breakfast, provided free by the hotel. I had my favorite omelet – with peppers, onions, tomato and cheese. Yum! Then we came back to our room and started packing our “grandma bags” with extra layers and everything we would need for standing in the extreme cold for HOURS! I mentioned that I didn’t have anything for Enrique to autograph and I wasn’t sure if I’d be allowed to ask for one. I decided to take my concert pictures with me and a couple of “just in case” pictures. I had 4 pictures total that I was carrying in a DVD case to keep them from bending. We were picked up by the girls with the cars about noon. Wanda and I were with Michele and Candie. When we arrived at the restaurant, we realized these girls hadn’t eaten yet, but we were stuffed and not interested in a meal. We talked it over and decided since someone had checked and saw a line of a few people already formed at the venue, we would take a cab and save a place for everyone. Then we would warm up in the cars when the others arrived later. What a trip that was, going to the venue in the taxi! The cabbie had no idea where the venue was. He called for directions twice and still was somewhat clueless how exactly to get us there. Lynn finally was able to get an exact address from Michele and we finally arrived about a half hour later. I was glad we were splitting the $33.00+ fee and tip. We arrived about 1:00. Lynn took a picture of the venue but I don’t think Target the Uglydoll ever had his picture taken that day. In fact, I think he ended up staying in Sole’s car freezing while we enjoyed the concert. Sorry, Target. We made friends with some of those around us in line, showed pictures and told them about the concerts we had seen in NYC and AC. Chatting with everyone, as well as being with friends for a common fun purpose helped the agonizing hours pass without getting tired and bored. However, being cold could not be avoided. I think of our group, I was probably the most prepared for the cold! I told everyone it was because I was a former marching band mom and I know how to dress for being inactive in the cold for hours. I already had on my thick winter coat, two shirts and a thick sweater. I had a thin pair of pants on under my jeans. I had a headband ear warmer on and leather gloves with fur lining. Before long I put a hat over the ear warmers and sweat pants over my jeans. I had extra pairs gloves on hand and gave a pair to Lynn and another to Sharon. After our first break I added a pair of mittens over my leather gloves and a windbreaker under my coat, over my thick sweater. The only coldness that I really felt was on my nose because I forgot my scarf at home. And my feet got a little cold but the breaks in the car helped a lot. The Uggs did pretty good keeping my feet warm and I only had on 1 pair of socks. Shortly after we arrived, Sharon and Mickey (Quizasman) arrived and we had the opportunity to talk and show our pictures again. They were taking turns getting warm in

Dottie’s car and the Chinese restaurant next door. Our other haven of warmth and for bathroom stops was Borders bookstore, across the street. Our first car break to warm up came when Sole and the rest of the girls arrived. I think that was around 3:00. We were finally thawed out and just enjoying not being frozen when some of the new group needed to come back and get warm again. We stopped at Borders on the way back and then got back in line. We huddled together like the penguins in the movie, at Lynn suggestion. It really did help! At one point in Sole’s car we saw on the car thermometer the temperature outside was 18 degrees and we had heard the wind-chill made it feel like zero!!!!! It was COLD! Something sort of funny happened when we had our last warm up in the car and our last Border’s stop. There was a homeless woman in the bathroom. She saw my big bag and asked me if I was homeless. I glanced at myself in the mirror and thought, I really don’t look THAT bad! Ha-ha! I told her no. Lynn did not hear this conversation. Then as we were leaving the bathroom Lynn made some comment about looking like we were homeless. I held in my laughter because the homeless woman was still there. When we got out of the bathroom I said to Lynn, “Funny you should make that comment about being homeless because that woman in the bathroom asked me if I was homeless.” We stopped a minute and chatted with Sharon and then as we were walking down the stairs of Borders, the homeless woman caught up with us and was asking us where she could go. We didn’t have any information to help her. When we returned to the line, security had shifted us back and away from the door, so the line began a little farther back. We took our place and remained in line the rest of the time. I think it was about 5:00. It was very cold, as the sun was down. It was nearly impossible to get the pen to write to sign the Christmas card for Enrique that we were passing around. There were rumors about what time we would be allowed in, was it 6 or 6:30? I think it was a little after six when they finally let us get out of the cold, but they did something we did not appreciate, considering the fact most of us are quite short. They had all the guys enter on the right and the girls on the left. They were pretty much letting the guys go right in so they were getting the best standing spots in front of the stage, which they shared with their girlfriends. Meanwhile they thoroughly checked my grandma purse, which was just about empty since I was wearing all the layers. But they wanted me to take out everything. When I finally got inside to the spot we had wanted, we realize it was too far to the left at the front of the stage and opted to a catwalk spot. The catwalk was VERY high, over my head. I couldn’t even see the right side of the stage. But I knew Enrique spent most of his time in the middle so I knew that would be fine. I didn’t realize I would have to hold the camera above my head to get any pictures at all. I’m surprised I got any decent ones at all. It was difficult getting the pictures lined up but I knew I had some good pictures from the previous two nights so I decided it would be okay to just take a few pictures and enjoy the show. Of course, with Enrique in front of me, I kept feeling compelled to “try” to capture everything with a picture . . .He was looking VERY good again that night. Lynn, Wanda and I were standing together. We squeezed in Sharon between me and Wanda. Sandy and Candie were on my right side.. We talked a little with those behind us and I showed a few pictures from AC and NYC that I had with me. We had a long wait for the show but chatting with people helped us pass the time. It was a lot better than being in the cold! Being a quiet person, some of the time I was just standing there looking around and listening to the conversations around me. I was getting butterflies in my stomach, knowing that I had one more opportunity to see Enrique on stage and that tonight was the night I would meet him. The show was scheduled to start at 7:30. About 10 minutes before that, an announcer came out and said Enrique would be next. Some people thought that meant he was coming out early because it wasn’t even 7:30 yet but I didn’t think so. About 7:50, Enrique took the stage. I think his band preceded him a little bit, unlike the other nights. Enrique said three times is a charm and this was going to be the best show yet. He lived up to his word. He wore the same outfit he had worn in NYC and AC. Again he looked gorgeous in his black shirt with no hat. And he had that sexy designer stubble on his face. . .siiiigh! It’s almost like he asked me what he should wear and he let me pick out his outfit! I have described to the group a few times what I thought his ideal outfit for a show would be . . . hmmmm . . . did he read that??? Thanks for listening, Enrique! He truly was dressed to please THIS fan.

The songs he sang were the same as NYC but he omitted Experiencia Religiosa. The first surprise in the show was he called up a guy on stage that had left a myspace message. Apparently he had asked to propose to his girlfriend on stage at the concert. But Enrique was joking and made it sound like the guy had said he could sing better than Enrique and Enrique said, okay, come and prove it. Then Enrique said that was not really what the guy said. After the proposal and the girl said yes, Enrique sang Nunca Te Olvidare while the couple danced onstage. Enrique sang 13 songs but then came back for an encore of 3 more. He included Hero in the encore. He chose a cute girl for Hero girl, which surprised us since he hadn’t had one on the two previous shows. Sandy managed to hand her camera to him to take a picture of himself during Solo En Ti. She also gave him a huge Chupa Chup lollipop. Twice he sat on the catwalk near me but not close enough for me to touch him, although other fans were touching him. I wanted to catch his eye and touch his hand but I guess I was either too slow when sticking my hand out, or too short for him to reach. But I could see when his eyes rested on me for just two or three seconds. I didn’t touch him in any of the shows. I wasn’t disappointed though. I was so thankful to be able to see 3 shows and to be able to see his gorgeous face in person and his energy in performing, to be so close to the stage, and to see him as a person, not a picture, not a video on the screen, not a voice on a CD, but a real person in the same room, almost close enough to touch. That was in itself a mesmerizing, overwhelming, immensely enjoyable experience. Enrique has a way of reaching everyone in the audience and making the concert special for them. He spends most of the time in the middle where everyone can see him but he takes a few minutes on each side of the stage and at the end of the catwalk to be closer to each group. I don’t’ think there really is a bad spot to be in. I was thrilled that Enrique chose to sing so many Spanish songs! My favorite song in each show was when he sang the new Spanish song Donde Esta Corazon. Such a beautiful song. He really shows off the versatility of his voice in this song too, singing the high notes at the end of the song. I didn’t cry at all during his performances. I think I was in shock! I enjoyed it but it seemed unreal in a way. When I think of the whole experience now, it brings tears of happiness to my eyes. So many dreams came true just by seeing him in concert and that was all I expected when the adventure began but there was still the icing on the cake. Sole was to pick up the passes for the meet and greets during the encore. When the show was over she was nowhere to be found so Sandy and Candie were trying to direct me and Sharon where we needed to go. We got in a meet and greet line but still no Sole. Finally we were told, show your pass or leave. I was afraid something had gone wrong. I slowly made my way toward the back, looking everywhere for Sole. Finally I spotted her at the back of the theater. A group of us walked around in the theater and security was being very diligent to make sure people had passes. I was told I had to put on my pass or leave. I stuck it on as fast as I could! Then we met up with Laura Jane. She was very nice but I was kind of standing in the back and didn’t hear much of what she said. It was okay though. I was in a daze anyway. Sole made some arrangements with her to bring our group up to meet Enrique and then Laura had to go do something. The security people reorganized the people with passes according to the source of the passes. We fit in the category of “all others on the other side of the room.” That was okay. We didn’t mind being last. Then Enrique would not be so rushed to get others in after us. Finally Laura came back and she brought us up front to meet Enrique. One by one we got to talk to him and get a picture with him. I guess I was a bit nervous but too numb or shocked to really feel it. Right now I am shaking as I am thinking about what happened. I didn’t pay much attention to what was going on with the others while they met Enrique and at the last minute asked Sannie to take my picture. I quickly gave her some directions how to use the camera and walked up to Enrique for my turn. I don’t know how I would have started talking to him but he looked at me as if he recognized me and said, “Have we met?” And I said, no but I was at NYC and AC. He shook his head yes and said, “I knew I recognized you.” I never remembered to tell him my name. Haha! Somehow we turned toward the camera and he put his arm around my shoulders and I put mine around his waist. The camera had automatically turned off and I had to run over to Sannie and get it restarted. Again Enrique put his arm around my shoulders and as a delayed reaction, I put mine around his waist again. I almost forgot to! As I was standing there posed and not smiling my best smile, I realized I had the hoodie on my arm and I needed to remember to give it to him! As soon at the picture was over I turned to give him the hoodie and I told him it was for him, a hoodie from Rutgers, where my daughter goes to school. He said

thank you and I guess he put it aside while I was being told to move on and someone handed me the camera back. I asked him if I could get a kiss. He smiled and said sure. As he bent down and kissed my cheek I kissed his . . .lovely soft skin and not prickly at all from sexy stubble. I was still being told to move on and I was about to go when Enrique noticed I had the thin DVD case in my hand. He asked, “What’s this?” As I opened it I said, “Pictures.” I showed him each of the pictures, “I took this one in AC. This one in NYC and my daughter took this one in AC and my friend Lynn took this one in AC.” Some other person or people were looking on at the pictures as well. I didn’t really notice who! Ha-ha! I didn’t even think to ask him to sign one of the pictures . . . .Again I was told to move on and I did this time and they told me to go up the steps which I did. When I saw the rest of the group gathering around Enrique, I wanted to go back but the security wouldn’t let me so I don’t know what he said to them. Afterwards we had a group picture with Laura and thanked her for helping us. From there we went back to meet up with the rest of the group. I think I was still in shock but very happy and amazed that I had met our sweet Enrique, my hero . . . . . siiiigh!!!!!