Is it so wrong that they make me strong?

McKenzie & I's 4th row One Direction show in Baltimore on August 8th, 2015 was completely amazing!!!!! It was right up there with our front row show last year, in fact, it was even a very close 2nd...almost tied! Our seats were actually just as good, and at times even better! We were in the farthest section to the left, just like last year, but unlike last year, we were at the far right of our section! Last year we were as far left as you can be. There were only 4 seats going across our section, which was nice. And they had the barriers right up against the stage, and the seating starting just a few feet back from that. Last year, the barricade was really far back, as well as the seats, so with all of that combined, we were just as close! That was such a pleasant surprise! I had absolutely no trouble seeing, except when this one girl would hold up her sign...a lot! We actually were even a bit closer than last year when they were performing in the middle of stage. Harry and Niall favored our side of the stage. They all came over at least once, but those 2 came to the very end of it A LOT... it was SO cool!! They were SO close!!! It took a while for that to set it. For a while, I just kinda felt like I was watching them on tv or something, and then I would just concentrate on getting seen, but then it like hit me all of the sudden: they are RIGHT THERE, right on front of me! This is not tv! And I totally geeked out and looked them all up and down to help it sink in! Hahaha. But, I'm getting a little ahead of myself... let me start from the beginning. I got off work 2 hours early on Friday so we could head down to Baltimore. We got a hotel, which was actually a freaking Hilton! That just happened to be the cheapest, not crappy, hotel we could find, go figure! I don't think I had ever stayed in a Hilton before...it was glorious! That bed was SO comfy! Oh my goodness, I didn't wanna leave it! I slept like a baby that night! I haven't slept that well in FOREVER, it was SO nice! Anyway, on the way to Baltimore, we of course had to go to the Cheesecake Factory, 1 of our fave places...SO good!! Then we went back to the hotel where we planned on swimming, but got too caught up in the amazing beds! Haha. Seriously! Even the pillows were amazing...they were so fluffy! Ahhh, I wanna go back! Haha. Before we went to bed, we put purple hair tinsil on each other because tinsil has become a tradition for 1D. It looked SO pretty! I had always used pink, but I think the darker purple stood out a little more. We had to get purple because purple was the theme for the show! It was called "Burning Up Baltimore"...it was a fan project going on. I had purple: hair tinsil, shirt, eyeliner, glowsticks, and nail polish...I think I succeeded ;) Skim made our shirts again this year. They turned out INCREDIBLE!!! We even got several compliments on them, including from people that worked at the stadium. The shirts said, "We can make it til the end" on the front, and she turned part of the "n" and the "d" into "1D" and colored that different so it stood out. Then it said, "Nothing can come between you and I" on the back, to show our support! We are in it til the end with them! We are SO glad they all stayed. They don't need Zayn! (even though I was devastated to see him go). Anyway, she even hand-painted it on in their band's font, and added the tour name and our 2 show's dates. I LOVE them! I think they're my fave we've done. We even cut our own v-necks into them and they turned out really well, thankfully! Anyway, the next day was SHOW DAY! I ran out of time getting ready...My hair took FOREVER to blowdry! But I threw on my clothes at least, and jewelry, including the awesome bandana bracelets Skim made, another fan project. You had to wear a certain color depending on which band member you were supporting. I sported 2 colors: red, for Liam and yellow, still for Zayn...I had to! Checkout was at noon, and we were only 6 miles from the venue. So, we had quite a bit of time to kill. We went downtown to find the venue and scope out parking so we knew what to do when the time came. We found the venue no problem, but couldn't find parking. There were parking lots literally RIGHT up against the venue, but you had to buy that parking in advance, and the reason we didn't was because it was really expensive! But, when we did end up finding parking later, turns out, it wasn't much of a difference! But I'll get into that later. Anyway, we couldn't find anywhere else to park, and ended up getting a little lost, so we gave up, figuring maybe they would put signs out a little later...it was probably only 12:30/1 at this point. So, we went to the harbor and ate at Shake Shack! We discovered this place earlier this summer when we were near DC and fell in love...SO good! And as per usual, there isn't 1 close to us. So, we took advantage! They are pricey, but SO worth it! Their cheese fries are to die for! There was nowhere to sit inside or out, so we ended up taking the food back to our car in the parking garage and eating. Then we went back down to the harbor and walked around and took a few pics. I just love that area so much! We were only parked for like an hour and a half, and paid $18! RIDICULOUS!! Then we headed back to the venue, where we got lost again, because the 1 road we needed to take was closed. And the detour lead us into a scary part of town. And we ended up making a turn too soon, and yeah...it just didn't go so well, and it was scary and stressful! But on the upside: it did kill some time, and ended up taking us to the venue a different way than before, which led us to a parking lot...which cost $40!!! Highway robbery, I tell ya! That is beyond ridiculous! Makes me mad thinking about it! But, what can ya do? We got there about 2 hours before the doors even opened. So, we had to sit in the car for 2 hours doing nothing! It was boring and hot... not so fun! But, finally 5 PM rolled around, and we headed to the venue, which was surprisingly close. We left at literally the most perfect time because ONE DIRECTION DROVE RIGHT PAST US... we were on the same road as them, literally right beside their cars! They have to be escorted by a herd of police cars and motorcycles, who feel the need to blow their horns and alert everyone they're coming...you would think they wouldn't! Haha. But anyway, Skim and I had just stepped onto the street, when we heard these sirens and horns in the distance, and everyone that was in line over at the stadium started screaming. We were kind of confused, and then Skim realized: ONE DIRECTION WAS COMING!!!! So, we stopped, and a few seconds later, they drove RIGHT past us... they were RIGHT there! We literally could've reached out our arms and touched their cars. I mean, how cool is that? And the best part: we caught sight of Liam and he waved!!!!! Everyone else was over at the venue, we were the only ones RIGHT there! It couldn't have been more perfect! We totally geeked out, and are not ashamed! We of course, had to take a pic too to document! Once we could get ourselves to move, we headed to the venue and inside. We got our merch first, then we had to find a certain section to get wristbands for our floor seats! Once we got those, we headed down to the floor, and of course we were on the opposite side of our seats. So, we had a bit of a long walk, but it was cool to once again walk all the way from the back to the front, passing everyone, wanting to rub it in, and it put into perspective how close we were! Once we got to our seats, we took some pics. But it was actually really hot out. We kept trying, but the pics weren't turning out so well. So, we took more later when the sun went down. Once the sun went down, it was really nice out! But the humidity musta been high because I was a sweaty mess during the show! Granted, I was dancing and jumping around A LOT! Icona Pop opened. They came on at 7. They were...not my style. I only knew their 1 song. I mean, they were okay I guess. Their beats were deff catchy, I just kinda felt like they all sounded alike. It also didn't help that I was waiting for One Direction! So, I just wanted them off the stage! Haha. We had to wait almost an hour between sets for One Direction...it was torture! But obviously, more than worth the wait! They came on about 9. They had an opening video, like they always do. I got a little sad during that, with Zayn not being in it, but my happiness thankfully quickly took over. They had an instrumental version of No Control playing on that, and oh my goodness, it was good! So freaking catchy, and it got me even more pumped to see them do that song! While that was on, and we waited for them to come out, and throughout the show, Skim was so excited and anxious that she would grab my arm...very tightly! And it like pinched me, and hurt, and gave me bruises! It was kinda funny waking up to small bruises on the inside of my arm the next day! Anyway, they opened with Clouds, and did 25 songs total, which was AWESOME! It was their longest setlist yet. They did their new single, Drag Me Down, I was SO glad! It was SO good...I'm pretty addicted! They did all but 1 song off their new album that I wanted them to do, including my favorite, Where Do Broken Hearts Go, which was UHH-MAZING!!! I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to get past Zayn not being there, but it didn't bother me much! Every once in a while, there would be a part that had been Zayn's, that would make me a little sad, but for the most part, I barely even thought about him! I was so glad! They did such a good job making up for him not being there, and taking over his parts! Liam and Harry really stepped it up and showed off their amazing vocals that I guess were over-powered by Zayn's before. Like, Liam, took Zayn's infamous high note in You & I, and NAILED it! It made us very emotional...especially Skim, who teared up! Haha. Liam, who is normally kinda the spokes person, wasn't feeling very well, so Harry kinda took over that role, and he was cracking us up! 3 things stand out that he did that made us laugh: #1: someone brought him cookies in a tupperware container, and was lucky enough to be seen! He saw the girl, and goes "What's that? Cookies?" Then he took them, and tells her: "Thank you. Thank you very much!" Then he turns to the crowd, and jokes, "Why didn't you all bake cookies?" *turns back to the girl*, "You ma'am have raised the standard! You have set the bar. Question: do you need the tupperware back?" They said no. Then he announced to the crowd, "WE CAN KEEP THE BOX! We can have the box, everyone!" Then he turns back to the girl, "Is this microwavable? No? It's not even microwavable? Oh, if I take the tin foil out, is it microwavable?" *turns to everyone*, "IT'S MICROWAVABLE EVERYONE!" And he genuinely seemed happy about that. Haha. He then took the cookies with him, and had them sitting beside him throughout the next song. After that song, he ran off stage, and returned with the tupperware, announcing the cookies had been eaten, gave it back to the girl, and goes: "When you come to a One Direction show, and bring us cookies, you will get your tupperware back!" How sweet is that? I woulda been clinging to that tupperware for dear life because Harry Styles had touched it! It was all very amusing! And I was incredibly jealous of that lucky girl! #2: There was a dad there that was apparently "scary." Harry called him out on it, and said that he was scared to dance in that area of the stage, in front of the guy. Then he asked the guy, "Are you here with your daughter?" Then the girl beside the dad yells the answer, "YES!" Then Harry goes to the girl, "Do you have a boyfriend?" The girl said no, and Harry goes, "Didn't think so." Then he realized how mean that sounded, and goes "...because your dad would scare them off!" Which is what he actually meant, it just came out the wrong way! It sounded so mean! It was hilarious! How would you like Harry Styles to say that to you? Haha. #3: Someone thew a lemon at Harry, and he picks the lemon up, punts it, and goes, "When life gives you lemons, you kick the lemons away! That's what you do." My new motto in life! He's got such a stage personality. I love it! 2 other things that just stand out: #1: Liam and Louis had a watergun fight. They were just tiny little waterguns, but Louis was having fun with them! He's the mischievous one. I remember Liam asking Louis, "What do you have there, Lou?" And Louis goes, "Well, you see Liam, this is a water pistol. Basically you just fill it up with water and shoot it at people."...and he did, the rest of the night! Poor Liam. At 1 point Liam got the gun, and squirted Louis, just a teeny little bit, then made the mistake of turning his back, putting it in his back pocket, and walking away. Louis ran after him with a vengeance, grabbed the gun outta Liam's pocket, and doused poor Liam...he was so innocent and unsuspecting! That's Louis for you though! It was pretty funny, I must admit! I remember so vividly watching that happen! They have such fun on stage...another reason I love them! And #2: While everyone was waiting for the boys to come, the crowd did the wave...which was just cool to see about 60,000 people do. It really does look cool...it's strange! Haha. Last year was the macarena, this year was the wave! Let's see, what else...Liam said we (the crowd) made him feel better! So, that was cool. Skim and I promised each other we would film the other during our fave songs. So, I filmed her during No Control, which was one of my faves live! Oh my gosh, it was SO stinking good!! SO catchy and dancy! The fact that I enjoyed it even though I was filming during a lot of it, and concentrating so hard on trying to get Skim and One Direction in it, proves that it was incredible! Eighteen was another one of my faves. Don't Forget Where You Belong was once again incredible as well! Everyone lights up their phones during it, and it looks SO cool if you look around the stadium. Another fan project going on was: bringing a purple glowstick and holding it up during Night Changes, so that was also really cool to see! I also always love Story of My Life. Harry just really goes for it in that song live, and really shows off his amazing voice! He sounds incredible! I liked Act My Age a lot more than I thought I would. It was really fun! I wasn't expecting that because it's not one of my faves off the new CD, but I mean, don't get me wrong, I love it. Niall does a little Irish jig during it, which is cool to see. They ended with Best Song Ever, which is a good one to end with. That's another really fun one! It's kinda hard to enjoy though, because you know it's all ending. When the show was over, the familiar depression set it. It's awful! Obviously, worth it and no regrets or complaints! It's just so sad, especially this year because they're going on hiatus next year, and we don't know when the next time we'll see them will be! It was my 5th time seeing them, and they never cease to amaze me! I think they get better and better every year. It's just such a different experience seeing them close on the floor. I can't even describe! These 4 guys mean SO much to me! They really do make me strong. I have such respect for them! I started liking them because of their music, but I fell in love with them because of their hearts. They don't act like normal celebrities. They have such big hearts, and have somehow managed to stay down to earth, despite being thrown into the spotlight at such a young age... it amazes me! The next morning when we got up, after a very short night sleep, we told my mom all about it, and she totally teared up... says a lot about how the night was! This is why I love her! Well, I guess that's it. Until next time... I will miss them and this incredible, amazing night and weekend!

Here's the video I took of Skim during her fave. It was really hard to get her AND them in it though! I kept trying. And then at the end, she took a selfie, because she didn't know I was filming! haha.

No Control:
https://youtu.be/v4ZIecGd_DU

And here's 1 of my faves, it was SO good!

18:
https://youtu.be/mhLhNwZZ-7o

And here's 1 where Niall was over in front of us! Why does the camera always make you look SO much farther away than you actually are?

Ready To Run:
https://youtu.be/IRFPc-Bu3bM

Skim got much better pics than I did! I mostly just took pics of the screens. But here's a lil collage I put together of the highlights:

Just Can't Lie, It Was The Best Time Of My Life (One Direction FRONT ROW!)

My sister, McKenzie/Skim and I's FRONT ROW One Direction concert on August 13th, 2014 in Philly was literally the best night of my life! - And that says a lot...especially considering I've been to 148 concerts (and counting). It's so crazy because it's not even like I met them or something to make it the best night ever, it was just the over-all experience. If you like One Direction and have tried to buy tickets, or have bought tickets for any other insanely huge band, you know how tough it is to get tickets period...let alone good tickets, and we got FRONT FREAKING ROW!!!! It still amazes me to this day!! When we managed to get these tickets, it was December 7th, 2013...as in, we had to wait almost 8 months for the show! So, after looking forward to it for SO long, and thinking about it for that long, and having these expectations in our heads, we were so worried that it would disappoint, but it didn't...not even a little! EVERYTHING just worked out SO perfectly! It was incredible... such a blessing, and definitely meant to be!!! The only complaint I have is that Zayn, my fave, was the only 1 not to come over to our side of the stage. But we were still close, and the rest of them came over at least once...so if that's the only complaint I have, I'd say it was a pretty successful night! Now, to cover that day from start to finish... When I woke up that morning, it just didn't really feel real almost. I remember rolling over and seeing the countdown that I had going... And I was able to erase it, and put '0' days. That felt incredible and made it sink in a little! We left about 12:30 for the show, after taking some pictures of course...we took many throughout the day, because we wanted to document everything/not forget anything. We made sure to leave really early because we didn't want any chance of missing any part of it. Plus, traffic is always a mess going to Philly...especially on that darn Schuylkill Expressway...you pretty much ALWAYS sit on there forever in traffic, no matter what the time of day is. We also wanted to have time to check into our hotel before the show. We had booked a hotel as an attempt to try and extend what would hopefully be an amazing night...but, also as a precautionary measure: knowing that we would probably be on cloud 9 and not fit to drive 2.5 hours home! Haha. Getting that specific hotel turned out to be such an incredible blessing because it ended up taking us off the Schyulkill Expressway early, and then taking us into Philly from our hotel a totally different way, and there was absolutely NO traffic that way, and the exit lead pretty much RIGHT to the venue! Even just from the moment we parked, we could just feel the greatness awaiting us! We got a good parking spot, close to the venue, and it was cheaper than we expected. We got there about 4:40, which was a little early...gates opened at 5, so we had a little time to kill. So, we sat in the car for a little, took a few pictures, and got incredibly excited! Then we walked up to the main gate when it was time, and of course had to take pictures with things... like with this big archway type thing beside the venue that said, "Lincoln Financial Field." After that, we saw signs around and heard an employee say that if you were seated on the floor, you had to go in a different entrance, which was down the block, around the corner...felt kinda VIP. So, we headed to that entrance. It took a little while to get in, or at least it felt like it because we were so anxious! Haha. It was just a little hot while we were standing there with thousands of other people, and the sun beating on us...but it really wasn't bad, thankfully...especially compared to last year when we saw them! I would just like to take this moment to thank the good Lord for that! Last summer when we saw them, it was legit 2 of the hottest days of the summer, if not the hottest...and that is not an exaggeration! We saw them 2 days in a row, and BOTH days were over 100 degrees...and add that onto all the body heat from 35,000 people, yeah...it was miserable! I remember it was legit 113 degrees the 2nd night - AWFUL! We were pretty afraid that it would be like that again for our front row show, and we did not want that...we wanted to look pretty for seeing these hott, British men up close! Haha. Anyway, when we got up to the employee, he gave us awesome wristbands that say "One Direction concert August 13, 2014," then scanned our tickets, and I remember him looking at our tickets, and saying something like, "Oh, you got good seats, huh? Have fun!" Just thought that was cool... Once we got in, it took a little while to get to our seats. We needed to find the entrance that had floor access (not all of them did). And we of course, had to take a few more pictures with things. We got too anxious then, and just wanted to see our seats! We finally found the right entrance, which was in pretty much the very back of the venue...so we had to walk down a level, and then the whole way from the back of the floor, to the very front...it was a long walk, but at the same time it was AMAZING to be able to walk past all these people, and go to ROW 1!!!! That was SUCH an awesome feeling!! After getting to our seats and looking back, it really put into perspective just how incredibly blessed we were to be front row, and to see just how close we actually were! I just can't even put into words how amazing that felt/was! I mean, that venue was HUGE...beyond huge! It's where the Eagles play for crying out loud...it holds about 70,000 people! Just thinking about that for a minute! Anyway, after the shock wore off a little and we could actually move, we of course took lots more pictures. Our seats were incredible! We were in the furthest section to the left of the stage, so we had been a little worried that they would be kind of far away, but they weren't...at all! We were pleasantly surprised how close we were! It was just so surreal! And yes: we freaked out...screamed like little girls...and jumped up and down, and no: we are not ashamed. The show didn't start until 7, so we had a while to just anxiously sit there. 1 thing that killed time though: they played the macarena, and literally EVERYONE in that stadium was up off their chairs doing it. It was awesome/so cool to see! It had been a long time since I broke out that dance move! Haha! And I never thought I would be doing it with 70,000 other people...pretty epic! Thankfully there was only 1 opening band...and it was 5 Seconds Of Summer, so obviously that was terrible to sit thru! Haha. ;) I'm kidding of course...They were really good!! And hello...they're Australian! Anyone with a foreign accent immediately becomes hotter...and they already weren't bad to look at ;) I liked them A LOT, and probably would've liked them a lot more if it weren't for the fact that I was waiting for One Direction! Haha. They (1D) came on about 8:45. They played an opening video on all 5 screens... and it was literally not even 2 minutes long, but that was the longest 2 minutes of my life! Haha. I remember Skim and I were grasping each other, jumping up and down, screaming, sighing, dying...haha! But then they finally came out, playing 'Midnight Memories'! They ended with 'Best Song Ever,' playing 23 songs total and lasting about an hour and 45 minutes...but it still wasn't long enough! I did not want that night to end!!! It was an absolutely incredible setlist!! They did pretty much everything I wanted them to, and even some I didn't expect, and some of my all-time fave 1's of theirs! Every single song blew me away! They were incredibly amazing and epic...no words can even possibly describe! It was my 4th time seeing them, but it was just a whole different experience hearing them up close. Don't get me wrong, I've always thought they sounded incredible, but it was just on a whole different level being front row! I remember just looking around several times, smiling ear to ear, and just thinking to myself "This is the best night of my life!" It may sound incredibly lame and corny, but I've never been as happy as I was that night! I'm pretty sure I will never feel that happy again, actually! I just can't even explain it! I remember 5 specific events that stick out in my mind... #1: Pretty much as soon as 'Midnight Memories' started, Harry came DIRECTLY over to Skim and I... we immediately starting jumping up and down and screaming, and then...HE WAVED... RIGHT TO US!! Yes, you read that right...THE HARRY STYLES WAVED TO ME! We immediately geeked out! It was awesome! The perfect start to their set! We just knew the night was destined for greatness! He came over to our area several other times... And there was a VERY nice guy beside me who offered to take Skim and I's pic with Harry in the backaround at some point. I am forever indebted to that man! Thank you whoever you are, and God bless you! That brings me to event #2: I remember during 'Strong,' Harry was over in front of us for pretty much the whole song...singing to US!! That is 1 of my fave songs of theirs anway, so that was incredible...just added to the greatness of the song! Event #3: Liam blew me a kiss and waved TO ME...yeah! Let me just repeat that: LIAM PAYNE blew little old me a kiss...ME, and only me!!! I will never forget that moment! Ahhh, my heart melts even just thinking about that! Event #4: There randomly was a girl there wearing a wedding dress, and somehow Harry heard about it and proposed to her! Altho that was kind of entertaining, I officially hate that girl ;) And finally event #5: They sang the Fresh Prince of BelAire theme! It was really entertaining! When the show ended, a very severe depression set it...Skim and I looked at each other and we seriously wanted to cry! We took a couple more pictures, then slowly walked out. It was SO hard to leave! I don't know what made my feet move! Thankfully we at least had the hotel to go back to. Once we got back there, we couldn't go to sleep for a while. We stayed up late re-living everything and looking through all the pictures... Skim got some really good ones! That severe depression came back when we got home the next day, and lasted for weeks! It was seriously THE MOST DEPRESSING thing ever...NO LIE! Especially after anxiously awaiting the show for that long! - I felt like I was mourning the death of the show. Haha. I felt so lost...I didn't know what to do with myself. It was horrible, but also, obviously, incredibly worth it! I fell in love with them all over again. I love them so much more now...and I didn't even think that possible! They just make me feel so happy! You can tell they really enjoy what they do and they always make me laugh! I have so much respect for them, and I LOVE their music!! I will never forget that night! To quote 1 of their songs: "...Wanna go back there every night. Just can't lie: it was the best time of my life!..." - Couldn't have said it better myself!

Here's most of 'Strong,' when Harry was in front of us, or at least on our side of the stage for the whole song. I recorded it on my phone, so the picture isn't the best quality and it's not zoomed in, so it makes me look SO much farther away than I actually was, but you can still get an idea of how awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG80oSSiodM

And this vid isn't from the front row show, it's from my show 2 nights before...but it needed to be included! I looked up the setlist before-hand, and knew when Skim's fave song was coming, so I recorded her candid reaction. It was pretty great! She didn't even know they were doing it...just fast forward to the last 10-15 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss8vMFUBZeE

And lastly, here's a lil collage I put together of some of the best moments from that night: