New Kids, Hockey, and Presidential Dogs

It has been a busy couple of weeks, but that's really how I like it. The first thing (and in some respects, the biggest), is the concert I attended recently. It wasn't just any concert...it was an event 15 years in the making (if you believe the hype...and you will; you will)... I went to the New Kids on the Block concert in St. Louis!!!

Ok, I hear you snickering...laugh all you want. I did at first too. I mean, who even wanted the New Kids to reunite? Sure, I loved them back then, and they will always be the ultimate boy band for me....but they were sooo 90's. And I mean, come on, they aren't New, they aren't Kids, and were they ever REALLY from the Block? Turns out, NONE of that matters, because while my friends and I may have been expecting a cheesy blast from the past good for some retro tunes and a few giggles, what we experienced was a full-fledged time trip to the joys of being 14, carefree, and in love with your first hunky crush! Oh yes, in an auditorium full of ONLY 25-35 yr old women, we all shrieked our hearts out and remembered why we fell in love with Donnie, Danny, Jordan, Joey, and Jon all those years ago. <3 Seriously, it was just absolute fun mixed with THE loudest crowd I have ever been around (I'm not kidding; it was non stop shrieking). There were women wearing shirts and buttons from the 80's & 90's (who still has that stuff?) with their side ponytails, tight-rolled pants, and shirts pulled into plastic ties! Luckily, none of us were done up like that, but it made for some interesting people-watching.

As for the Kids themselves, they looked really good. I mean, the oldest of them is only 39, but he could still break dance! The songs were fun...even the new ones let you bop around in the same old New Kids rhythm. The dance moves aren't as sophisticated as the newer boy bands, but who cares? It's all about the cheesy goodness of it all. And we soaked in every minute of it. And bonus...a Hooray for a concert blast from the past before the group or the fans are incredibly scary looking in old age. I've been to a Styx & Foreigner concert, and those fans have not aged well my friends.

The New Kids concert was held in the St. Louis Blues hockey arena, and I guess that got me thinking about hockey, or got the world thinking about hockey... When I got back to DC, my co-worker asked if I wanted to attend a Washington Capitals / NJ Devils hockey game that Friday? Heck yeah, I did! Of course, I'm an Anaheim Ducks fan (or Tampa Bay Lightning, or St. Louis Blues, or Vancouver Canucks' fan). I could take on Washington Capitals as a team I could cheer for...especially against the NJ Devils whom I HATE! Why? Because they beat my Ducks in the Stanley Cup finals one year and I haven't forgiven them. Darn Devils! Luckily, the Devils lost 3-1. Of course, my friend that went with me was a Devils fan, so she was bummed. Overall, it was fun to go, but there could have been more fights and penalties. Both teams were way too kind to each other, and there's no room for that in hockey as far as I'm concerned!

Now for the last item on my seemingly random list of recent events: Presidential Dogs. As you must be aware by now, the Obamas have promised their girls a dog. Well, since I work at one of the two animal shelters in DC, the media have swarmed upon us to ask about what kind of dog the Obamas might get (they've committed to rescuing a dog which is GREAT news), would the Obamas adopt from us, and what kinds of dogs are "hypoallergenic"? Being just a couple miles from the White House, of course we've sent letters to the Obamas to tell them about our shelter (we first wrote them back in July when Barack announced that the girls would get a dog at the end of the election season), but there isn't much we can do to make that happen. He says they hope to adopt in the spring, which means they'll be in DC by then, so perhaps we have a good shot. Who knows.

Anyway, the latest media event here was a Pre-Inauguration Media Preview. or something like that. I'm not really sure how the shelter got invited to a place where they were previewing the food, alcohol, clothing, and jewelry that might be part of the inauguration balls, but we were there with dogs in tow. Myself, two co-workers, and three cute dogs attended this past Thursday night. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I did get to try Obama's favorite pizza from Chicago (thin crust, boo!), and Michelle Obama's shortbread cookies (yum!), and a few desserts (heaven!), all while fielding lots of ooh's and aah's over Annoro (a hairless Chinese Crested dog from a puppy mill in Canada), Good Times (a happy little jack russel terrier mix from another shelter in DC or Maryland), and Travolta (a white wire terrier, possibly a westie mix also from DC or Maryland). I was also interviewed about 4 times! Our Communications Director was there, so I thought he'd take the interviews, but well...it was really crowded and it wasn't like they were asking questions that I couldn't answer. Sooo...I was interviewed by NPR, BisNow, and a couple other media (one on-camera interview) that I'm not sure where they were from. I haven't found or heard much other than the BisNow online article. Luckily it's basically a picture and a note about us being a shelter (whew!)..but hey, it was a fun and interesting evening!

If you want to see a picture of me and Annoro...just click here: Obama's Favorite Pizza

So a busy two weeks...Now bring on the holidays!