Oh my goodness, the dream of a lifetime has been realized! I got to see 98° up close, in person! I even got to take a picture with Jeff and a picture with Nick! For the whole weekend's story, click on one of the sections below.

    I'm not going to go into great detail, but I must say that I had a hard @$$ time getting to Sacramento in time! Basically, I was driving for 5 hours straight, picking up & dropping off people. Boy, my bootie hurt! Enough of that! So I got to Sac & parked the car etc. by 7:45 PM. I think I missed B'Witched. Jessica Simpson was cool enough. She sings and looks way better than Britney Spears! (I don't wanna get any hate mail now! It's just my honest opinion.)
    All of a sudden, it got dark & the 98° show started. I'm not gonna describe it coz a lot of you have been to or are going to their concerts! All I can say is that from the distance, these guys were MUY CALIENTE! (Very hot!) It was a great preview to the Berkeley show. Me & Arlene had a bomb time! Plus, right during the last song, me & Arlene tried to get backstage. The guard up by the door wouldn't let us go, but he took a note from us & put it backstage!
      After the concert, we got out before everyone else did. We were almost first in line to get an autograph from Jessica Simpson. She's way nice! Then, we waited behind the theater to wait for the guys to get on their bus. We waited and waited. All of a sudden, a police car & an ambulance went by. Then, the security told us all that there was nothing to wait for, the guys were gone! I bet they had snuck out on that ambulance! Oh well...

    Even though I got home like at 1 AM, I woke up at 6 AM to pick up Arlene & Yan in Pittsburg. Then, we drove to Redwood City, about a hour drive (and 2 bridges) away from where we live, to the Malibu Grand Prix (a mini race track/mini- golf thingie). Arlene had won a contest from Z95.7 to attend a meet n greet with 98°. She could only bring one person in, so I waited outside with a bunch of other people. We waited outside the 98° bus for like an hour and a half before they came out. When they came out, they went straight into the gated area & got into their mini-race cars. I went to watch them in the non-VIP area. The guys drove around the track. It was hecka funny! The guys were having a hard time getting used to driving those cars! Jeff had the worst time, I think! He drove worse than I do! He even ran over a couple of cones & almost spun out!
    Apparently, the people in the VIP area got to have stuff signed by the guys. Arlene tried to get my program (from Sacramento) signed, but the body guards werea all rushing & didn't let them! But fortunately, Arlene & Yan passed to them the Easter card I had gotten! Nick took it & put it into a box with other gifts. Near the end, Yan let me borrow her yellow bracelet & I went in for a few minutes. I got to see the guys close up, but I didn't get that close. They left & got on their bus. So me, Arlene, & Yan busted a move to the trusty ol' car (a rented forest green Plymouth Breeze) so we could follow the bus. I guess Arlene had made a whole bunch of new friends, so she knew almost everyone trying to follow the bus! I swear, we were like a caravan of screaming 98° fans driving up Hwy. 101!!! There were at least 10 cars following the bus. We ended up following the bus to the Benihana restaurant (a Japanese steakhouse where they cook the food in front of you) near the San Francisco airport.

We all parked, hecka excited to be seeing the guys again! I was going out of my mind! But the bodyguards were all keeping us back. So some people followed the guys in to the restaurant. Me & Yan kinda stayed back coz we were thinking…"It's kinda messed up to be watching them eat. They should be able to eat in peace". Some girls even decided to eat there! A lot of the people who followed the bus left. The guys went to use the bathroom & one of their body guards (Tommy I think) stood guard. First Drew went, but when he came out, his back was to me coz he was walking straight back to the table. Then Jeff went in. Me & this other girl Danielle decided to take pics with Tommy the bodyguard. Then Jeff came out. I said "Hi Jeff!" He looked at me, smiled, then said "Hi, how are you doing?" I went out the doors & screamed "he said hi to me!" I was thinking about leaving when this girl that had made friends with Arlene came up to us & asked if we wanted to stay for a drink. I decided to stay. So this girl turned out to be Trisha (not her real name) a girl who does the gossip section on Z95.7. She gets paid to follow artists around & report back to the radio station! So we sat in the lobby/lounge & waited for our Sprites. So there we sat and chatted for like an hour or so! Then I had to get something in the car. When I came back, Arlene, Yan, & Trisha told me that Justin had come out & spoke with Trisha (she knows a lot of celebrities). Ergh! So after awhile, Jeff came out (by himself!) to use the bathroom. When he passed us by we said "hi Jeff!" and he said "hi ladies!" When he came out, these stupid girls jumped up at him for his autograph/picture and he put his hands up & said "maybe after I'm done eating". Girls like that give us fans a bad name! We were just waiting there calmly & even patronized the restaurant!

Anyways, after waiting some more, the bodyguards came out into the lobby & were yelling "the guys aren't stopping…no pictures or autographs!" So, I was about to leave w/Trisha but I heard Arlene saying "can we take a picture with you?" I turned around & it was NICK! So I hightailed it back into the lobby, just in time to get into the picture! Nick had his arms around Yan & Arlene (they're shorter than me) and his hand rested on my shoulder (I was next to Arlene). Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to give Tommy my camera, so only Yan & Arlene got copies (for now!). So after he takes the pictures, Nick turns to go & I say "thanks" & he says "thanks" back. He didn't seem that interested. Then I turn around & right in front of my face is JEFF! I swear his face was only like an inch from my face. At that moment, a bodyguard yelled "NO HUGGING OR KISSING!" And I kinda remember this, but Arlene told me (she was standing right next to me) that Jeff had his arms out ready to hug me, but I was frozen w/ excitement! OOOOOHHHH I still wanna kick myself for not hugging him & giving him a kiss on the cheek! I think I was talking a mile a minute, like I usually do when I'm excited. I think I said something like "can we take a pic with you" and thanks for taking the time out for us". Jeff was all saying (at the same time) "it's ok" and "you guys waited for us" or something like that (I was so excited I can't quite remember everything). All I know was that I was gonna stand next to him & he was gonna put his arm around me, but Arlene got in between us coz she's shorter. Oh well, his hand was on my shoulder anyways! We took two pics then everyone was ready to go. I know I walked ahead to hold the door open for everyone. I was holding it open with my left hand and my arm was pretty straight. All the people were still in the lobby, but Jeff decided to go out to the bus. As he walked through the door by me, he smiled at me, squeezed my arm (the one holding the door), and said "thank you". I seriously thought I was going to faint! Then I walked out and watched him walk to the bus. He was looking hella cute in these really baggy pants and these clunky boots. So Arlene & Yan came out. We jumped into the car & followed the bus to Berkeley. So where were Drew and Justin in all of this? We were thinking that they had snuck out some other way, coz we didn't see them. But Arlene was looking at some pictures she took & I guess Drew and Justin just walked out while we were taking pics w/ Nick and Jeff. Oh well. Meeting two guys is better than meeting none at all!

      So we followed the bus to Berkeley. It was no easy feat! There was hecka traffic in San Francisco, so we kinda lost them before the Bay Bridge. After the Bay Bridge, we caught sight of them again, but we were so far behind! So I sped up and we saw them exit on University Ave. I took that exit too, but I took the wrong turn off. So I sped around on the side streets until we caught sight of them again! When we found them, we ended up RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BUS! We were hyperventilating by then & wishing we had some sort of 98° sign on the back of my ride! So we parked, and the tour bus parked in the back of the venue. We waited & waited & got to see them take the short stroll between the bus and the back door!
     There was still more than 2 hours before they'd open the doors, so we went onto University Avenue to find a florist's shop. We ended up buying 4 single rose bouquets and enclosed cards that were signed by "the Asian chicas at Benihana". Then we lined up for the show. Fortunately, some girls we had met at Malibu Grand Prix were in the front, so we got cuts!
     I was excited coz I had paid hecka money for front row seats from this company called "Best Seats". When I got to my seat...I was 4 rows back. I looked at my ticket like a million times to make sure...Orchestra, Row A, Seat 11! There was this orchestra pit section that had row names like Row TT, etc. I was soooooooo UPSET! I paid mucho dinero for one front row pic! And the front row at this venue had no barrier between the stage and the seats! Oh well, I'm pretty close anyways, I thought!
     B'Witched was pretty darn good! They had a lot of energy & it takes a lot of that to dance and sing at the same time! I give them props for that. Jessica Simpson really impressed me. I had gotten her autograph the night before in Sacramento and she was super nice! Like I said earlier...I think she's better than Britney Spears!
`    So after Jessica...the lights went down & this deep, freaky voice starts narrating...something about "4 chosen souls" to save music or something. There's 4 cylindrical props on stage and smoke is everywhere. Then all of a sudden the covers come off from the cylinders and you see 4 "aliens" in white parkas with white gas-mask looking thingies. It was really well executed. So they guys take off the masks and the crowd erupts into screams! They take off their jackets & there they are...in silver umpire chest guard looking things and red sporty pants. OOOOOHHHHH they sure sizzled. They opened up with "Heat it Up" and really got the crowd started!
    Since a lot of you prolly are going to or have gone to a Heat it Up tour concert, I'll just go through my personal fave highlights. I loved Jeff's "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" routine. (maybe he should just stick to singing...j/k! heehee) I really liked that Motown medley and the "Superstitious" song.
    The part that really moved me was when they came out in their suits. I think they are at their best when they serenade us with their ballads. Invisible Man and If She Only Knew were incredible! They were sitting in chairs and I swear you could see the pain of unattained love in their eyes. I thought Jeff was gonna cry for real! That man can really feel his songs! The ultimate for me was "I Do". I felt my heart melting. I seriously felt so moved that I wanted to cry!
     They guys looked their best in the black and white camoflage and black spy vests. Ooohhh, Nick and Jeff are soooo solid! I just wish Nick would ditch that beanie of his. Was he having a bad hair day or something? But ohhhhhhh my goooodness! Jeff got his groove on in that gear and the sexy, sexy, sexy black fisherman's hat, pulled over his eyes! If I was in front row, I would have grabbed him! Drew and Justin were seriously stylin' too! I think that Drew has the slickest moves. I loved him singing "Do You Wanna Dance" with Justin!
    Let me tell you ...I was taking pictures like crazy! I have zoom, so I took like 3 rolls of film in that whole day! But I just found out that I messed up changing the film in the dark and ended up double exposing them! ERGH! They would have been soooooo hot!
    The end with "The Hardest Thing" and "Because of You" in their light blue basketball outfits was the perfect ending to my dream day! To this day, I am still walking in the clouds dreaming about my angelitos, 98°...

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