Drunk on SNC Love

I awoke Tuesday morning (well nearly afternoon) with a terrible hangover, and then I realized I had had absolutely no alcohol the night before. Instead I had been drunk on Straight No Chaser love. As Amanda accurately portrayed in the previous blog, I was speechless after Monday’s happenings (and let’s be honest, I still don’t have words that will describe everything I was feeling that night perfectly).  I cannot thank the guys of Straight No Chaser enough for everything that happened that night (and 
this week in general). I will never forget any of it!

Ok, back to my terrible hangover. When Amanda and I finally ripped ourselves out of our beds the only thing on our minds (besides the guys of Straight No Chaser…that’s just a given nowadays) was coffee. We threw on the nearest outfits (which happened to contain Red Sox shirts for both of us) and headed to the Boardwalk. We had walked by a Dunkin Donuts when exploring the Boardwalk the day before and didn’t remember it being that far from Resorts. Well, that SNC love hangover made that walk seem never ending. To enhance our experience, we also received some disgusted looks, people mockingly yelling “Boston” and someone even referred to us as “Yankees” (I guess they didn’t know how to read, my shirt said Red Sox on it, not Yankees). We got our coffees and walked back to the casino as quickly as that hangover would allow, where even there the comments continued. Note to self: don’t wear Red Sox apparel on the Boardwalk, unless you are prepared for the taunting…and never in such a weakened state.

When we were in the safety of our hotel room, and after the coffee began to remedy the effects of the hangover, we naturally began getting ready for the night’s festivities. Once the beautifying process was completed…which we are getting quite efficient at, I might add…we headed over to Harrah’s for another Chaser meet-up. This night we met up with Terry, Tracy, Cindy, Mary, Lynnette, and Valerie at Bill’s Burgers next to The Concert Venue.  We had a lovely meal and reminisced about the night before, filling Terry and Tracy in on some of the happening from the most epic night of my life. Mary’s video of the dance with Charlie was viewed a few times by everyone, and I do believe I had heart failure every time I glanced at her camera.

We told stories and had many laughs until it was time to head into the concert venue. As Amanda and I entered the concert venue the usher ripping tickets recognized us and said we looked familiar. She openly wondered if we had been to previous shows (uh oh, sign of too much SNC…never!) It was kind of fitting that this happened on this night because this show marked our 10th Straight No Chaser concert. We had officially entered double digits!!!

We found our seats (which were 2nd row in the center!) and acquainted ourselves with everyone around us.  There were Chasers everywhere in the concert venue and we were loving it! Mary sat directly behind us (I think she may have been following us). The two women sitting in front of us informed us that they were in a sorority at IU and the SNC used to sing to them. They even saw SNC’s first performance (that is just too cool)! The two women sitting next to me asked me if I was the same girl with the leis from the night before that danced with Charlie (yup that would be me…apparently they were at the show too). There were also two Chasers next to Amanda which led to inappropriate comments by all of us during the show (especially during Let’s Get it On) and lots of laughter. This led to yet another unforgettable Straight No Chaser concert. I will also add at this point that every time I hear End of the Road I get the same butterflies in my stomach as I did when Charlie started walking down those stairs toward me. This realization hit me when SNC started performing this song Tuesday night. That song will never be the same again. (The video below catches DR singing to me toward the end of the song...these guys are truly amazing!)

When the concert was over, I was excited for the meet and greet (again). As much as I love this show and never want it to end, I also look forward to talking to the guys. When we were waiting in the line (at the end of course), Julia arrived with Hayden (he is SO adorable). We wanted to introduce ourselves (especially since Charlie had told us that she had loved the book we wrote for Hayden), but the usher informed us it was our turn to go up to the guys…we do as we’re told and headed up the stairs toward Jerome instead.

Jerome: I want a hug, but I can’t get up. You girls should stay young.

(we of course obliged and bent down and gave Jerome a hug)

Amanda (to me): You’re not trying very hard, you just celebrated a birthday.

Megan: Yeah, those pesky birthdays are getting in the way.

Amanda( to Mike): We almost share a birthday.

Mike: When is your birthday?

Amanda: September 21^st

Mike: Only 9 days apart, mine’s the 30^th.

Amanda: I know, that’s why I said we almost share a birthday.

Mike: I know it’s rude, but what year were you born.

Amanda: 1987

 Jerome (laughing): Oh not too far apart

Megan: Yeah, it’s real close.

Mike (doing intense math calculations in his head): that’s almost exactly 6 years apart.

Jerome (to Amanda and Megan): Stay young for as long as you can.

(I will try really hard, Jerome!)

Our conversation then transitioned to tea:

Mike (to Megan): oh I had some of tea you gave us before the show.

Megan: oh cool, was it good? (what a silly question…and I really did think that after I asked it)

Mike (laughing): yeah, you can never go wrong with tea.

Seggie:  I had some of the tea too. Thanks for that. So why weren’t your leis on tonight?

Amanda: They were on.

Seggie: They were? Where were you sitting?

Megan: Second row, front and center.

Seggie: Oh wow! I don’t know how I missed you. (honestly, I don’t either)

DR: You girls don’t make it hard to find you. (that’s the point, DR).

We had trading cards for the guys to sign. As instinct they guys kept trying to pass their own cards down the table. Seggie passed his to Tyler and Tyler made fun of him. Amanda to Seggie: He doesn’t want that. DR then said, “Watch he’ll do it too.” (talking about Tyler). When I got to Charlie, he passed his card to Randy who looked at if funny. I laughed and said; oh would you like to sign that too. He laughed and handed me Charlie’s card.

Charlie: are these the original ones, or the reissued ones?

Amanda: I don’t know, Megan got them.

Megan: reissued I think… I didn’t really realize there was a difference.

Charlie: oh well a lot of people have been telling us that they are really hard to find.

Amanda: apparently they didn’t look too hard

(although we have since looked on the website and they are no longer there again.)

Amanda:We saw Julia and Hayden. We were going to say hello, but it was our turn to come up and see you. (this made Charlie laugh)


We then thought Walt would appreciate the story about our earlier Boardwalk harassment:
Amanda: We wore Red Sox shirts on the Boardwalk today and we got angry looks and a few boos.
Walt: Seriously? Who would boo the Red Sox right now?
Randy: It makes sense when people boo the Mets, but come on, the Red Sox?
(The Red Sox were currently in 1st place, ahead of the Yankees)

We then made our way to Don. Amanda had spent hours (I would know, I sat and watched her for the whole 2.5 hours) creating a trading card for Don. I can also vouch that it is AMAZING! We were anxious to show it to him.

Amanda (to Don): I made a trading card for you.

Don: Wow!

Ryan: What did you use to make this?

Amanda: Photoshop

Ryan: Yeah! (high-fiving Amanda) Is there a tool that will let you just take him out of a picture?

Amanda: No, I did it all by hand.

Megan: It’s true. I sat on the couch and watched her for 2.5 hours.

Ryan (to Don): This is one of a kind.

Amanda: Actually its one of three.

Don (as Amanda handed him her copy): Oh, you want me to sign this?

Amanda: of course, that is why I made it.

Front of the card.

Back- All information was taken from the SNC website

Randy at one point took Don’s copy out of his hand and continued to pass it back down the meet and greet table. Richard then brought trading cards down the line for Lynnette. When he got to Don he said, “Oh, sorry. I don’t have one for you.” Don replied with a “that’s okay, those two girls made me one” and excitedly showed him. I think Richard was impressed.

Don's card compared to Tyler's (which are identical in color)

Ryan then brought the conversation back to Beantown. He asked us to name a football player we liked… Amanda informed him she doesn’t watch football, so he turned to Don and asked him to name a Red Sox player. He said Jacoby Ellsbury. I got very excited! I love Ellsbury! Ryan then asked us if we preferred Mahky Mahk or Jacoby Ellsbury (this literally made me laugh out loud). Then he asked if we preferred Jacoby Ellsbury or John Kerry (all while speaking in a Boston accent of course).Amanda then challenged Ryan to an Orbitz gum test (we had been wondering if he would be able to identify it this type of gum since the moment we laid eyes on it at the store). We promised we would not reveal the results of the challenge, but we will tell you that he thought it was a “fake” mint.

notice Walt's lanyard and apparent laughter by all

We stuck around and got another group picture. They guys were like “you want another one?” Of course we do! The guys took the opportunity to talk in a Boston accent when we were trying to get our pictures taken. Tyler: Beantown! Someone yelled “pahk ya cah at the bah” Jerome: “I love Dustin Pedroia.” Ryan: “Hahvuhd, Hahvuhd, Hahvud” and “Oh my gahd it's mahky mahk! There were also lots of yells of “Bawstin” from all of the guys. I’m sure there was more being said, but I honestly can’t remember through all of my laughter. The guys even had Richard laughing while he was trying to take the pictures. After the pictures were taken, we realized that Walt was holding up his Mets lanyard from Lyssa. Rude! Go Sox! (Just kidding…as long as it’s not the Yankees).The chasers then gathered for a group picture with the guys. Ryan yelled, “Chasers assemble!” It was so funny!

We then headed to the”bah”. A bunch of the Chasers returned to their rooms to put their stuff away. Cindy, Amanda, and I ordered our drinks and waited for them to return. Ryan entered the bar, said, “hey, girls”, then went and ordered some food. We eavesdropped and found out that Tuesday night is the burger bar (sounds yummy!) Ryan then came over and asked if he could join the conversation while his food was cooking. No, Ryan, please leave! Just kidding…like we would ever say no to that! He then had a question for us. He wanted to know if we ever got bored with show (seeing as we don’t see it often, but frequently…Ryan’s words, not mine).  We all responded with NO! simultaneously. He seemed surprised, but let’s be honest, if we got bored we would not be going to see them as often as we do. We could never get bored with Straight No Chaser. He then asked us what our favorite parts of the show were. When he looked at me, all the words I were about say were lost and all I could say was “Ummm…I don’t know, all of it?!”  He laughed. Cindy then told him how much she enjoyed the 50s, 60s, and Beatles medleys. He told us that he too really enjoyed those decades. Then some of my words reappeared and I told him that I really enjoy the 90s medley. He wasn’t shocked. It is the decade of my childhood after all. The other Chasers returned and Ryan excused himself to join Mike at the bar (who had arrived while we were chatting). All the Chasers had a fun time talking and laughing in the bar together.

This evening proved to me that the best remedy for an SNC love hangover is more SNC love.