Best. Birthday. Present. Ever.

Back in September, my sister called me up to see if I was interested in scheduling a "Sister Day" sometime in October.  She explained that the only day that she could really hang out is on a Wednesday, so she was wondering if I would be able to take the day off of work.  I love being able to just spend time with my sis, so I told her that it was no problem.  She explained that she had a couple of ideas in mind for us to do, but we should just wait until closer to the date to make definite plans, so we left it at that.  

Fast forward a few weeks.  One Saturday morning, I received a call from Stacy, and she sounded like she was almost bursting at the seams.  She explained to me that she had a surprise for my birthday (which was the following week), and she was so excited about it that she was having a difficult time keeping it to herself.  Basically, she wanted to know if I wanted her to tell me what it was.  Now, I'm one of those odd people that loves surprises, so I was leaning along the lines of having her not tell me... However, being that she sounded like she was about to burst, I just had to know what it was... And what a surprise it was!! :)  She and my brother had bought tickets for me (and Stacy) to go see Bon Jovi in concert in Chicago (which is also my favorite city) on October 25th!!  I couldn't believe it... Two of my favorite things all wrapped up in one! :)

For those of you that don't already know, I'm a HUGE Bon Jovi fan!!  I have loved the band for ages, and I'm as happy as a clam whenever I hear a Bon Jovi song being played.  Whenever I hear Bon Jovi on the radio, I turn it up to full blast and sing along at the top of my lungs!!  I'm also notorious for requesting "Livin' on a Prayer" at virtually any bar, reception, party, etc. that I attend! :)  And, once it's played, you can find me in the center of the dance floor, performing my signature "Livin' on a Prayer" dance moves!  With that being said, I'm sure you can imagine my excitement when Stacy told me that we were going to see the band in concert! :)  I believe my initial response was me crying out "NO WAY!" so loudly that Brian came running into the room to see if I was ok! :)  

Stacy and I then spent the next two weeks preparing for our adventure!  We found the perfect "concert going" outfits, she ordered some awesome t-shirts for us to wear, we counted down the days, and we had a difficult time containing our excitement!  There may or may not have been a few times where you could hear us literally squealing with excitement as we were talking about it! :)  

When the day finally arrived, we eagerly headed to Chicago full of anticipation for the day ahead... And we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!  We sang along to Bon Jovi all the way there, made some crazy music videos of our singing abilities (which, let's just say, are very minimal! ;)), spent the day wandering through Chicago, enjoyed Sangrias and deep dish pizza at Giordano's downtown, took oh-so-many selfies of ourselves in our favorite city, munched on some Garrett's popcorn, enjoyed a steaming hot cup of Starbucks coffee while doing some window shopping on Michigan Avenue, and shared so many laughs throughout the day that our stomachs hurt and tears streamed down our face.  (There may or may not have been a time where we laughed so hard that one of us almost lost control of our bladder... Hee, hee! :))  And, this all took place BEFORE the concert!  The concert itself was absolutely ah-mazing!! :)  Jon did not disappoint, and there was a point in the show where I truly believe that he pointed directly at me and sang to me for my birthday. ;)  

Needless to say, the day has been filed under the category of Best. Birthday. Present. Ever.!!  It was such a fun-filled, memorable day, and I honestly don't think it's possible to top it! :)  Thank you to my amazing sister, Stacy, (and Jason, too!)  for such a thoughtful and wonderful birthday present!!  You are simply the best and I'm so grateful to be able to call you my sister! :)  I love you bunches!!

Here's a few scenes from our day... Enjoy!!

And we're off to see Bon Jovi!!
Love the nail polish!!  I apparently am an expert at applying nail polish while driving down the highway! :)

Making a pit-stop in Indiana...
We apparently felt the need to commemorate it with the "Welcome to Indiana" sign. :)

Welcome to the Windy City!!

First stop... Navy Pier!
Time for some Garrett's popcorn and skyline pictures! :)

Love this view!!

This was the first of many attempts at a skyline shot... :)

Love this one! :)

And here is where things took on a life of their own... :)

We felt like magazine models here... :)

Apparently I was having my own personal photo shoot here, as Stacy was laughing so hard she couldn't stand up!
Hilarious! :)

Just a few of our many poses!
We definitely provided some comic relief to the construction workers who were on break and watching these shenanigans take place!  You're welcome! :)

This was one of my favorites! :)

After our photo shoot, we headed to Giordano's for some lunch!!  

Sharing some yummy Sangria!! :)

Chicago style deep dish pizza...
There's nothing better! :)

Wandering through the city...

This was when we stopped a random guy on the street to ask him to take our photo...
Apparently he was a professional, as he had us pose a certain way and he lined the camera up perfectly before taking the shot.  What are the odds of that happening?! :)

We stopped to make sure that we "thought about it" before crossing the street. :)

After spending the day downtown, we then headed to the United Center for the concert!

We had some great seats! :)

All set up and ready to go...

Eagerly awaiting Jon's arrival... :)

Sharing a sisterly moment! :)
I love the shirts that Stacy designed for us! :)

Bon Jovi takes the stage... Yippee!!

He was ah-mazing in concert! :)

This was when Jon pointed at me and sang to me for my birthday... Ha! :)

Singing to the crowd...
Love him!!

Last song of the night...
Jon (yep, we're on a first name basis now! ;)) talked about how when they first became popular, people would hold up lighters when he sang ballads.  He said that over the past 30 years, times have changed and now people hold up the "flashlights" on their phones when he sings his ballads.  So, he had the entire crowd hold up a lighter or a phone while he sang "Livin' on a Prayer"... It was AWESOME! :)

Me and my sis...
I've said it before, and I'll say it again...
Best. Birthday. Present. Ever.! :)