Mr. Jon Bon Jovi

The anticipation is over! (Just in case there was anyone out there who was just dying to hear all about my "run-in" with Jon and his fellow band members.) I have collected the proof that I really did meet them and talk to them (however, briefly) and take my picture with them. Wahoo!! Go me!! I rock!! Ok, I feel I need to begin with a small disclaimer assuring everyone that I am perfectly sane and am completely in my right mind and I don't need to be committed or arrested for stalking (though....Casey has tried to make that argument). Nevertheless, I like to think that I am just a very well-rounded person and skilled at many things in life. If stalking happens to be one of those things, then so be it. That being said.....

The story begins while at the Bon Jovi concert (cool video below) and we happened to overhear the people behind us talking about how they ran into Jon at his hotel (and they had pictures with them to prove it. See. It's not just me.) At first, they weren't willing to give up the location. Not acceptable. Of course, we managed to lure it out of them. Then we realize we have been looking at his very hotel right out of our hotel room window the whole time (which at this point had only been a few hours, but still!) Jon Bon Jovi is staying across the street from us! What is an adoring fan to do??

Well the simple answer to that question is.....to go see for ourselves! So after the concert and on our way home, we decide to just drop by and see what we can see. I imagined that many other people would know where he was staying (afterall he had said at the concert that he had been in Seattle for 12 days) and there would be a crowd. Not so!! We casually meander into the lobby (as casually as a group of four girls adorned in Bon Jovi apparell can)....and....we wait.
Pretty soon, I notice a man comes in who looks an awful lot like Tico, the drummer. And then I notice that he sees us four girls and waves to us. I'm confused. And then I noticed that he gets into the elevator and waves once more before the door closes. And then we all look at each other and realize IT WAS TICO, THE DRUMMER!!!! Frustrated that we are not on top of our game and we just let Tico slip by, we are now on the alert for Jon and Richie and the rest the crew. THEN, a very official-manager-looking-type man comes in and notices us four girls in our Bon Jovi shirts and comes up to us and thanks us for wearing the shirts because the money goes to Jon's Soul Foundation. (See. He's a nice guy. He has foundation that helps kids....or souls of some type. I'm not really sure.) THEN, in comes David Brian, the keyboardist, and we say "hi" and he says "hi" and then we ask if we could get a picture with him and he says "Yeah, sure. I'll be right back down." (Liar). So we're really starting to freak out now because we know for sure that they really are staying there! So we are just waiting for Jon and Richie to come up the stairs too. But they don't. Anyway, we notice the crew is all gathering at the lounge/bar area and all of a sudden the elevator doors open and out walks Richie!! What?! How did he get in? There must be a back entrance! So we say "hi" (it was probably more like "HI!!!" than "hi", but, whatever. It's all the same, right?) So we kindly ask for a picture and he says yes!

And there's Richie and me and my sister! Oh my gosh! After, he joins the rest of the crew just a few feet away in the bar. We are desperately trying to keep our cool and it is hard! (I should mention that by this time a few other small groups of people are sitting in the lounge. We met a couple of girls who were there for the same reasons as us, but the rest of the people I assume were actually staying there and just trying to have a quiet night. Weird, I know. I should also mention that this is a pretty fancy hotel and we are feeling the pressue to stay calm and blend in). THEEEEEN, the elevator doors open again and HOLY MOLY out walks JON! So of course we say "hi" and kindly ask for a picture. But he just smiles and waves at us and joins his group. DANG!! Oh well, we are still reeling with excitement. So....we figure we're already here....why not hang out for a while?? We notice people are calmly chatting and drinking fancy martini's so we choose a sofa and chairs that is in perfect site of Jon and we order hot chocolate....with whip cream. And we sit and chat amongst ourselves as though we are fancy hotel go-ers, despite again the fact that we have his name written across our chests. Then the bar closes and people start to clear out (it's about 2 am) and pretty soon Jon gets up and says goodbye to his people.
He passes by us (we snap a quick shot, while shamelessly hiding behind these plants). But still no picture with him. Just a smile and a wave. Oh, and he thanked us for coming to his concert. You're welcome.

So we head back to our hotel, pleased with our night, and excited we got to "hang out" (kinda, sorta, not really) with the crew. Then the next day we moved on and spent our time shopping and exploring Seattle. But later that night as we got ready for bed, my sister (my true partner in crime) and I realized that perhaps we weren't ready to "move on". We knew that there was another concert going on that night. We knew where they were going when it was over. We knew that they would hang out in the lounge. And we knew that that was all going to happen just right across the street. I mean, really, could you go to sleep? Unfortunately my sister-in-law and mom did not see the brillance in this idea, but boy were they sorry!! So (this time in normal attire) we walked across the street and casually sat at a table and like clockwork here they all came again. First Tico, who very kindly obliged to take a picture. He asked us "Are you guys related?" For some reason we found that so funny (both haha and weird funny).

Then came David Brian, then Richie, and then Jon (and yes, we shamelessly sneaked another picture).

So we sat and drank our fancy hot chocolate and devised a plan. We had learned from our rookie mistakes the night before, and plus it was more crowded this time. Not too crowded, but word was spreading. So we just sat back and watched other people make fools of themselves trying to talk to him (because clearly we were not at all willing to do such a thing). If I do say so myself, we came up with the perfect plan. We knew he was not going to take a picture with other people around. Duh. So as soon as it appeared that he might be retiring for the night, we got up first and headed to the elevators. That way it did not appear that we were following him, but rather that he was following us. And what can I say, except that.......

.....it worked!! He came to the elevators shortly after us. We said hello (as if in "fancy to meet you here") and then asked casually for a picture. He walked into the elevator (as if to appear going up) and then leaned his head out and said "Psssst....come here!" Oh my gosh! Jon "psssst-ed" us into the elevator. Into the elevator, people!! He then said "Well, this is your lucky day". Uh, yeah! And then we rode all the way to the 10th floor and took pictures and calmly thanked him as he walked out. But as soon as the doors closed we were screaming and jumping up and down. We then realized that we had forgotten to push a button and so the doors opened back up and we were still jumping up and down. Oops. That was a little embarassing. He didn't see, but I'm sure he heard. Can you believe it?? Oh, I love that story.

Ok, so maybe you didn't quite need that many details, but they have been swimming around in my head for 2 weeks now and bursting to get out. I feel better at least. And now perhaps I can move on with my normal day-to-day life. (Many posts of my children have been neglected that I will now be able to get to). And let me just say, I learned a good life lesson here. Set a goal (no matter how impossible), devise a plan, commit, don't take no for an answer, and you shall achieve. Hmmmm......what's next on my list?