because i love my cousin Gooch

as described previously my cousin gooch brought the joys of us men's soccer into my life, especially the beauty of carlos and benny. of course that wasn't the only piece of joy that gooch brought with her when we lived together. she also shined the light on wearing belts with outfits to accentuate a smaller waist, amazing flavors mixed with rice & beans, having a partner to play Rock Band and see $6 movies, how brazil is an amazing country, and how her dad and my mom have conflicting stories about things that happened when they were growing up together.

a particular joy that gooch brought back to my life is something that i first had an elitist attitude about because i thought it was kinda lame. she sent me back to yesteryear and the simple joys of being a kid where all i had to worry about was how to beat big lug's grades and which scrunchie to match with my outfit. she brought me back to when New Kids on the Block ruled the world.

wasn't a huge NKOTB fan as a 11-14 year old girl. my boy band years happened much later in life with a little group called 'n sync. when NKOTB announced they were reuniting and performing on the today show...i laughed and made fun of the women lining up outside my office in rock center for a glimpse of jordan, joey, donnie, jonathan and danny. it was a total joke around the office.

so i was a bit surprised when gooch was grinning while watching the "kids" perform a little medly on jimmy fallon. she knew the words to the songs and most of the dance steps. i was quite impressed. relatively soon i was learning the dance steps along with her. i mean i didn't want her to feel alone in her love of NKOTB while in the apartment.

NKOTB was scheduled to perform at Radio City on Friday 6/18 and Saturday 6/19. the shows were sold out. then ticketmaster sent me an email saying that a third show was added on Thursday 6/17. i thought..."i miss gooch now that she has moved out and need to look for ways we can spend time together" so i sent her an email about the concert and volunteered to be her plus one. basically i would sacrifice my time and money and "reputation" by attending an NKOTB concert with her because i knew of her love for the band. she agreed and the tickets were purchased. now we waited until thursday night for the goodness of boy bandness.

the show started and i was more than ready to start rolling my eyes. the lights went down, the screaming crescendoed, and new kids on the block came out ready to throw it down. before i knew it i was dancing to tunes i hadn't heard before and the oldies that i remembered. it was so fun to bust a move with gooch and witness the dawning of thousands of women my age let loose and have a great time screaming for their teenage crush. we both left the concert singing the tunes with grins on our faces.

while singing karaoke with netter the next night (Friday 6/18) i checked on my trusty StubHub app to see if any tickets were available for saturday's show. i found one for $19. most of my friends had other plans on saturday so my night was free and clear and i figured why not have "plans" of my own. randomly i checked for 2 tickets also. two tickets halfway up on the floor were available for $30 each. gooch must be made aware of this information...so i texted her. surprisingly she was willing to say adios to her out of town visiting friends to join me for night number two spent with boys from boston. we had a fantastic time.

now i am no longer a shy NKOTB fan. i'm happy to tell those that love me how much i enjoy grooving to "full service" and "click click click". the music just makes me smile. i owe gooch an apology for being a snob about her devotion. hopefully i have made up for it. my new found joy brings us closer and allows me to embrace my youth once again.



oh, one more thing...jonathan is totally my favorite. he's just so dreamy. ;)