backstreetboys – The Great Kaysby

39 Things Update

If you have been following me for a while, then you know that back in May I published a blog about 39 things I want do while 39. Well, it is now January and the big birthday is getting closer every day. A lot of times right now I look at my list and start to panic because I am behind on my goals. However, this year I am very pleased with how my goals are going. So far I have…

Rode a roller coaster – rode a super fun adult one at Dollywood and the kids one! I love wooden roller coasters!
Rode a train – did this at Dollywood too! Really cool train ride up the mountain!
Taken a vacation – I’ve been able to go on a few of them! Highly recommend making the trip to the America’s Historic Triangle!
Hosted Sushimas – We hadn’t had this event with friends since 2019, and it was wonderful to get back together!
Gone Kayaking – Nothing like the open water for relaxing, planning, and thinking!
Played Pool – one of the best perks of our cabin in the Gatlinburg area! I hadn’t played pool with my parents in years.
Gone to a Cave – Took our nephew to Mammoth Cave for the lantern tour. Highly recommend! Other recommendation? Don’t give the lantern to a teenager who will walk fast and leave you behind!
Entered a Creative Competition – Entered the city Christmas tree competition! 12th place of 31 is not to shabby in my book!
Made a Scrapbook of LilKsby’s 2021 and 2022 Calendars – put this in the category of things I previously never made time to complete!
Completed LilKsby’s First Year Frame – Same as above!
Saw Dr Strange 2 – Loved this movie! Then again, I was a HUGE fan of Wandavision!
Saw Thor Love & Thunder – I laughed so much that I wanted to cry!
Watched Young Sheldon Seasons 3 and 4 – Not as good as TBBT, but the supporting characters are a lot of fun!
Watched Step By Step – I love seeing all the old TGIF shows again! Fun fact, Staci Keanan who played Dana is now a hot shot lawyer!
Attended GenCon Online – Love gaming! Miss going in person!
Gone to Gatlinburg – We made it to that area twice! The time we drove through Gatlinburg, we totally saw a bear crossing the street.
Completed 5 Paintings – I’m so happy to have gotten back to the canvas!
Saw the BSB DNA Tour (again LOL) – Almost 30 years and they are still amazing!
Completed NANOWRIMO – I love writing, so this is always a fun challenge!
Gone to a Winery – Shoutout to Forest Edge Winery for being fantastic!
Gone to a Pumpkin Activity – We went to the Pumpkin Wagon, painted pumpkins, and carved pumpkins!
Wrote 10 Fan Letters – As a kid, I loved writing fan mail! So I thought why not try it again? I wrote 10 letters and sent them. We will see if I get any responses!
Gone to the State Fair – Worked it and went as a visitor!
Got a Casey’s Taco Pizza – I’ve had two, and they are still the most tasty pizza on the planet!

Something you will notice from my list is that some of the goals were not on the initial list as some of the initial goals have been removed and replaced. I account this to changing circumstances in life and my priorities shifting. Once I switched over to Work from Home Mom life and homeschooling, I started realizing just how much I enjoy goals that can be completed at home. Along the same line, I also realized that you don’t have to spend a ton of money to be able to complete goals. Plus, as we grow as people, the things we want to do change. So even though I haven’t met all of my goals yet, I think I’ve already learned the most important lessons from 39 Things While 39: Your goals in life will change as you change, and this is an acceptable part of personal growth!

Stay tuned to see what all gets completed by my birthday!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

Concerts at 16 Versus Concerts at 39

“Oh my God we’re back again!” I cannot wait to hear those words tonight as I FINALLY after two years of delay get to go to the BSB DNA tour! In my excitement this morning, I got to thinking about how different it is to be getting for a concert at 39 versus when I first went at 16 to the Millennium tour. Oh boy…you all ready for this?

My first thought occurred as I was shaving my legs. When I was 16, you shaved your legs before the concert in case you magically ended up on a date with a Backstreet Boy. At 39, I shaved my legs so I wouldn’t embarrass myself when I wear a skort or capris. This got me thinking about makeup for the concert. Back in the teenage days, I did my makeup to hopefully draw the attention of a Backstreet Boy. Today, I was thinking I’ll choose makeup that will cover my circles under my eyes and the freckles/age spots on my face. Likewise, I thought “What should I wear tonight?” Definitely sensible shoes for climbing all those stairs to our nosebleed seats. Definitely comfy bottoms with a stretchy waist because, well, comfort over cute. Very different from being 16 and thinking “What outfit says sexy, but not too sexy? Because you know AJ was going to notice me in the crowd of 20,000 screaming girls in the dark. 😂

The differences go beyond physical appearance. When I was 16, getting ready to go was a lot simpler. I needed my physical ticket (which I had waited in line to get for hours), camera with extra film and batteries, and someone to drive me. By the way, the extra film was a necessity because we did once get a roll confiscated by a security guard. Now at 39, I need my phone which now has my ticket (that I bought online with a super fast connection instead of 1999 dial up) and works at a camera. I need my wallet, my keys, and a babysitter. Since the babysitter isn’t at my house, it means I also have to pack a toddler bag and remember to take his little potty as it’s easier for him to use than a big potty. Who would have ever imagined that I’d equate getting ready for a concert with packing a toddler potty???? Not me!!! At least this time I’m not packing a breast pump as my date!

There are also behavioral differences in going to a concert at 39 versus 16. This one actually occurred at age 18, but it’s still worth noting. We had floor seats, and the Black and Blue tour had a bridge where they walked out over the crowd. We wrote our hotel number on a piece of paper, and I climbed in a chair to hand it to Howie D. He took it and put it in his pocket! We were hopeful that he’d call us, but, sadly, he didn’t. Now I’m like, if I had the chance to talk to one of the guys, I’d talk about something mundane like what foods their kids eat. There are also behavior differences when it comes to buying souvenirs. As a teenager, I wanted as much as possible with my budgeted allowance. This morning I was thinking, “Well I’ll get something for my toddler. A new shirt for him would be cute.”

Aren’t the differences amazing? I will say somethings never change because I would still love to meet the guys! Technically we met Howie D as he got on the bus, but I couldn’t form words! 😆 I also cannot wait to hear the music! I will jam the whole way there and back!!! And of course I will have FUN!!!!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

Big Little Women

This week I’ve been at the theatre for tech week and performances of Little Women the Musical. My school Drama Club is performing it, and I’ve been helping with costuming. It’s a classic, heartwarming tale that makes you feel the love of family and believe in the ability to make your dreams come true. It has been a joy to be a part of this production not only because of the immense talent of our cast and crew, but also because of the memories it brings back of my high school production of Little Women years ago.

The year was 1999, which I like to think of as the year of the Millennium album, and I had desperately wanted to play Beth because I had red hair like Claire Danes. I wasn’t cast as Beth, but I did play Belle at the ball and help with props. The role was fun to play and the costume was the best as I have a love of 1860s dresses. However, the best part was my best friends – Scarlet and Lily*- were also involved with the show.

Scarlet and I first met when we were 12 because her grandfather worked with my dad. We reconnected in school especially through choir and drama club. As freshman we had both been in the stage version of Awakenings. We enjoyed it so much that when Little Women rolled around the next year, we wanted to participate. We found ourselves involved in the cast, set design/construction, and prop design/construction. We were so involved that we even spent to school during some of our Spring Break and worked on the show! All of our hardwork earned us the Director’s Award for the club that year.

Lily and I first met in middle school and have remained friends since bonding over things like Kentucky basketball namely Scott Padgett, amusement parks, and the Backstreet Boys! Our sophomore year, Lily decided to join us on the tech crew and help with props. I loved having my two best friends work on a show with me! There’s a picture of us standing on the stage – me in my teal dress, Scarlet in her brown dress, and Lily in a shirt and shorts – after one of the performances that I can see perfectly in my mind. I’m not sure where the picture is, but it brings a smile to my face to think about.

We were little women ourselves working on Little Women, and now we’re big women (age wise not size). Each of us are accomplished academically, career, and/or talent wise. We’ve been blessed with new people that have come into our lives and mourned loss together (seriously because between June 2010 and March 2011 we lost five grandparents between the three of us). Today, even though we are separated by distance, we’ve been there for each other for marriages, miscarriage, childbirth, and more (thanks technology)! In some ways we’ve been there for the typical wedding vows: “In sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer.”

Without my little women – Scarlet and Lily -I wouldn’t be who I am today. I’m forever thankful for them. They’ll always be the sisters I never had!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

*Names changed to protect identities.

“What Good Is Sitting Alone In Your Room? Come Hear The Music Play…”

“…Life is a Cabaret, old chum, come to the Cabaret.” – “Cabaret” from Cabaret

This is a line from the first musical I was a part of with Hardin County Playhouse: Cabaret. Music has always been a major part of my life in various forms. Some of my earliest memories are of being in our van when we would travel and listening to a Beach Boys cassette tape on a portable tape player. This was before vehicles typically had a built in cassette player…you know during the Stone Age! Now a bunch of years later, music is still an important part of my life, and it has even influenced some of our travel!

So without further adieu, I present The Great Kaysby’s Top 5 venues for music and musicals! Warning…you may want to travel after this!

Conseco Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, IN – https://www.bankerslifefieldhouse.com/ – First of all, I didn’t know this venue had experienced a name change! It is now Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but in 2000 it was Conseco Fieldhouse! Picture this…it was the year 2000 and I was 16. My aunt had agreed to take me to the show, and I had even been allowed to sign out of school early to travel. It was March, but it was still pretty cold out, and I was standing outside a venue hoping for a glimpse of one of the Backstreet Boys! Oh yeah…I was a FAN GIRL! If you would have asked me then who I was going to marry one day, then I would have told you hopefully AJ McLean! He was the bad boy, I was the good girl, and he had sang, “If you want it to be good girl, get yourself a bad boy!”

I didn’t meet a Backstreet Boy this time (I would meet Howie Dorough later with my two BFFs, Mom, and aunt outside the Hyatt hotel in Lexington, KY), but I did see their tour bus with the duck in the front window!

This show turned out to be one of the best BSB experiences I’ve ever had (I’ve seen them four times with number five coming in September)! For one, we were super close to the stage on the bottom tier of seats. We were so close that a security guard saw my aunt taking photos with a zoom lens camera, and he promptly destroyed the film in front of us. Secondly, this show was filmed. Footage from the show was used for the music video for “The One”. We sat right behind the camera! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZYrEz0mxts

Riverbend Music Center – Cincinnati, Ohio – https://www.riverbend.org/ – Hands down, this is my favorite concert venue! Typically, I’m not big on outdoor venues. I’m a chunky girl and outside tends to equal sweaty and uncomfy especially in the summer. However, Riverbend is cool because part of the venue is a covered pavilion with actual seats and the rest is a lawn where you BYO chair/blanket. I’ve been to one concert here, Kid Rock many moons ago, but if it were closer to home I would be there more often.

The Fabulous Fox – St. Louis, MO – https://www.fabulousfox.com/ – This is the most beautiful venue that I have ever had the opportunity to visit! This year, the Fabulous Fox turns 90 years old! It originally opened in 1929, and it is still a beautiful representation of 1920’s Art Deco. Mr. Kisby and I saw The Phantom of the Opera here, and even though our seats were in the very back of the lower level, they were phenomenal! When that chandelier came swinging out over the audience it gave us chills! Another great thing about this venue? It is in a small arts district so there is a lot of other cool stuff to explore while there. Added bonus? Our trip to The Fabulous Fox also included Jilly’s Cupcakes (one of my very first blogs was about Jilly’s) and a taco pizza from Casey’s!

The Kentucky Center – Louisville, KY – http://www.kentuckycenter.org – Do you know what is so cool about this venue? A fire can’t keep it down! In June 2018 a portion of the building caught fire and was destroyed. By June 2019 the venue, while still under construction, was revitalized enough for a run of Hamilton! Mr. Kisby and I have seen four musicals at The Kentucky Center: Hairspray!, Wicked, Cabaret, and Hamilton. We’ve sat in four different areas and can attest that there is not a bad seat in the house! Another perk? Every employee and volunteer that I’ve interacted with here is very friendly! You can’t beat Southern hospitality mixed with the performing arts!

KFC Yum! Center – Louisville, KY – https://www.kfcyumcenter.com/ – I’ve been here for Lady Cards basketball and a concert, and I am amazed by how versatile this space is! When you are at a concert it is hard to believe that basketball is played here; when you are at a basketball game it is hard to believe how easily it can be converted into a concert venue. I saw the Backstreet Boys here (concert number four) when they were touring with New Kids on the Block. Fun fact, the ticket scanners were not working, and instead of our top level seats we ended up being seated in the lower level by the stage! We saw the guys loading into the backstage area from our seats! I’m looking forward to going to see the DNA Tour in September (BSB concert number five)! I recommend Yum! Center for both its great facility and the variety of entertainment that it has brought to Louisville.

So now you know The Great Kaysby’s Top 5 Music/Musical event spaces! I hope that you will have the opportunity to check them out! Also, should one of the Backstreet Boys or Kid Rock happen to read this, then a couple of backstage passes would be great! Thanks! 🙂

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

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