Omg! I Met Joey McIntyre! And Ate a Hummus Pita!

Y'ALL. You're never going to believe what happened to me on Friday afternoon. I met freakin' Joey McIntyre from the New Kids on the Block!!!!!! He was in town for the NKOTB Mixtape Tour show that night, which — being the super-fan I am — I had tickets for! Hours before the show, he was just wandering around Crosstown Concourse, the mixed-use building where I work.

Long story short, a co-worker spotted him in the West Retail Corridor (where much of the building's retail is located). She came back to the office and exclaimed, "I think I just saw a New Kid!" And I was all, "NO WAY!" When she described him, I knew it was Joey, my third grade (or was it fourth or fifth grade??) crush! I had worn my New Kids shirt to work, and I crimped my hair (with my vintage 80s crimping iron) before work to make concert prep go faster. So I was fully prepared to face Joey. 

I ran downstairs, and quickly walked to where he'd been spotted. I saw a guy I thought was him sitting a table, writing letters on post-its that he was attaching to books I could tell he'd just purchased at Cheryl Pesce, a gift/jewelry shop at Concourse. But I was too nervous to say anything, so I walked right past him. Right to Cheryl Pesce, where I ran into owner Cheryl. I asked her if that was definitely Joey McIntyre who'd been shopping in her store. She was like "WAS IT???" And then she and I both ran over to where he was. Cheryl is much more up-front than me, so she said something. And it was confirmed — it was Joey! The story gets a little awkward after that (are celebrity spottings ever not not awkward???), but I ended up getting a picture with him. He was super-nice, and took my phone out of my hand to shoot the selfie. I'll never wash my phone again! HA!

Amazing, right? Baby Bianca would be SO IMPRESSED. After work, my friends Sheridan, Drew, and Misti met me at my house so we could grab dinner before the show.

See, I promise there's food in this post! We went to RP Tracks, home of the famous BBQ tofu nachos (which everyone else ordered). But I'd eaten them fairly recently and was looking for something a tad healthier. I opted for the Alpha Beta Pita (hold the feta) with chipotle hummus, cucumber, sprouts, black olives, and tomato, plus fries that I dipped into vegan ranch (they serve Imagine Vegan Cafe ranch at RP Tracks!).

After dinner, we headed to the show! WE WERE SO EXCITED!! The Mixtape Tour was headlined by the New Kids, but it also featured Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Salt-n-Pepa, and Naughty By Nature. Best line-up ever.

The show was simply amazing. The New Kids — all in their late 40s and early 50s —still have the right stuff, y'all. They sang all the hits and some newer stuff that I knew all the words to (because, yes, I have their newset album). 

Debbie Gibson is still so hot!!! She and Joey sang a duet (Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga style!) for Lost in Your Eyes. Wow.

Aside from the New Kids, Tiffany has always been my fave. She sang I Think We're Alone Now, and I almost cried.

Misti and I had seen Salt-n-Pepa a couple years ago at the I Love the 90s tour, and they were great then. And even better here.

Naughty By Nature was great too, but I somehow failed to take any pics of them (video, yes!). I was probably too busy singing along with "O.P.P."

Okay, I'll be back tomorrow with a more food-focused post, I swear. But I just had to share all this awesomeness with the internet.