... HOORAY! Willow just emaied me her itinerary for a weekend in November. She's coming up to watch my beloved New England Patriots take on the Miami Dolphins. She'll also have the joy of getting up at oh-dark-thirty and driving 45 minutes to watch the Hathlet play hockey :)

Sadly, lil Jersey (her poochie) can't make it this trip, but my Hathlet is SO excited to meet Willow!!!

She arrives Friday night and we'll have dinner at my friend's BBQ restaurant (the one I talk about in a lot of my stories; it's really real!!) and hopefully take in some good blues. They don't have their November bands up yet, but James Montgomery has been known to drop by, as has US Sam, Short'y Billups, and others who will blow you away.

I can't wait!!!! We have ALL day Saturday to hang out and do stuff (or nothing at all) so if anyone's around the Boston area, we can see what we can do :)

Sunday will be busy, busy, busy....

• 5:00 *ugh* Alarm goes off; we may as well NOT go to bed on Saturday lol


• 6:10 AM face off


• 8:00 arrive back at Casa deHath and pack Mr. Hath's truck for Da Game (Darlin' is too small for all our gear!!)


• 9:30 Arrive at the parking lot (they don't open until 9, so we can't get there too early...)


• 12:30 Head for our seats


• 1:00 kickoff!!!


• 1:05 Listen to Bon Jovi's "This Is Our House" as (insert player here) scores the first Patriots TD of the game)


• etc. etc. etc.

Willow's flight is late Sunday night, so we'll swing by the house after the game lets out, grab her gear, switch to Darlin', and off to the airport.

Monday morning, we'll both be wrecks.

But OH will it have been worth it!!!

Have I said it already? I can't wait!

~ Hath

Let’s just start here.

BBSSLLW!!!!

This is the new sign-off to all my messages to Queenie, Goddess and FM. If you don’t know what it means, I HIGHLY suggest that you get a ticket for The Toxic Avenger!! OMG, I haven’t laughed that much at a show in years!! Of course I knew going in that I was going to love it because not only is the music by my beloved David but when I walked in the lobby to see a shirt for sale that said “EVIL IS HOT”, I just knew I had found my place in the world (at least for that night). After a crazy time trying to get me to IN WHY SEE, FM & I headed straight for the bar at the theatre and got ourselves some wine. We asked the very nice (and adorable) bartender if we could each have 2 glasses since they were quite small, so he pulled out two large tumbler glasses and filled them up for us! LOL!

After the show we went to a nearby restaurant called Talia’s for a late night supper and undenyably the very best polenta I have ever tasted in my life. It was kizmit that we were there and that we had TARA as our server, since our beloved TaraLeigh had to cancel her plans to come in at the last minute. You were there in spirit honey and we missed you terribly! Everyone had something different and it was all good! Queenie and I forced ourselves to share a decadent chocolate desert that was exactly that, some of the other girls had 4 homemade ice creams as a sampler. I think we finally left there at about 12:45pm and headed back to the hotel.
Friday was HOT HOT HOT in Gotham City. We started the day with breakfast, the first round of which ended up all over the floor of the elevator when the door hit Queenie as she was carrying a plate up to the rest of the girls. She has a lovely bruise as a battle scar. FM had to work in the morning so Goddess, Queenie and I headed to a great little bead shop that had a large Asian influence (Tibetan, Buddhist mostly) and had a great time looking at everything. We briefly considered the idea of henna tattoos on the way back but decided this was not the best use of what little time we had together. Next time Goddess… seriously!

We got lunch at Whole Foods (yummy salads and some Hawaiian pizza) and walked across to CP to eat it. Lunch in the park was awesome and in spite of the heat we found a semi-cool, shady place under a tree. FM was able to extract herself from work for a little while to join in the fun before having to go to another meeting and then the rest of us headed to the zoo. See Goddesses post about the ‘guin house… it was awesome. By the way, do you know why a polar bear will never eat a penguin??? And no, it’s not because polar bears are vegetarians!!

Friday night started with wine & cheese at the hotel and then we went to Dos Caminos for dinner. The girls were mean to me… they sat on my lap and forced me to drink tequila!! Really, that is exactly the way it went down! I swear! Like Queenie, it was a weekend of firsts for me… tequila, guacamole and molai sauce (sp?) all that were outstanding, and scallops that, while I am sure they were very good, I didn’t really care for. Let’s just be thankful that the hotel was only 2 doors away. We all hit the pillows pretty early that night (if 1am is considered early) since we were exausted from the heat and FM had to work in the morning.

Saturday’s window shopping extravaganza was so fun. We saw (and smelled) so many things and bought a few little chachkies but nothing really major. As Queenie said, everything that day was CUTE. We ended up at Finelli’s Bar which is across the street on the corner from HRH’s place in SOHO (what does SOHO stand for, girls?)and RutPop met us for lunch and a little “sightseeing”. We then headed back to the hotel to meet up with the now finished with work FM and BAJJ. We relaxed, had some wine and got all dolled up to head back down to SOHO. FM wanted “a really good burger” so BAJJ got on the Google (no phone books in the room, sorry Queenie) and we found a place called “Lure” that it turns out is a seafood restaurant but does indeed serve one freakin amazing burger. We first walked around and went back to 158 Mercer - I fell in love the with sculpture in the lobby of The New Museum Building and I want to know why the building is called that. Is there actually a museum in there? Did there used to be? After another fantastic meal, another round of “over-under” and a special treat of a wine tasting and desert thanks to the Sommelier & Abby the server, we headed out to Times Square (well, some of us anyhow).

Who doesn’t know all the words to “Don’t Stop Believin”??? Queenie, RutPop and I absolutely do! And I got to dance with Michael Jackson, and he looked great for a dead guy! And this was all within the first 5 minutes of getting out of the taxi!! We walked, talked, laughed, took pictures, tried to buy chocolate (epic fail. both the Hershey’s and M&M stores were closed) and then headed to Hard Rock where I pledged my undying love to a man whose name I cant remember if he could get me one of the JBJ posters. Well, he asked but ultimately it didn’t happen, but we had a good time anyhow.

And then it was Sunday and we all had to go our separate ways back to our real lives. But for a few brief moments it was just fun to be silly girls in a great city with great friends. Thank you all for the privilege of knowing you.

BBSSLLW!

Queenie made it home in one piece Sunday afternoon only slightly nauseous. There was turbulence, a lot of turbulence on my flight home, but I stayed buckled in and survived. At least there wasn't any other mishaps. Unlike my flight to NYC. The girls know what happened. I'm still mad about it, and I will only say that the next time I fly alone, I will be taking my purse with me if I go to the bathroom.

I had a great time with the girls. Sorry it took me so long to sit here and give you my thoughts. I needed some time to process everything. So many memories were made, how could I ever recount them all?

I tried sushi on Thursday at lunch. The California Roll was really quite good. Had a bit more Saturday night at dinner, the raw stuff this time. No making faces, it was really good too. The girls made me learn how to use the chopsticks too. So many new experiences for me. It was a good trip.

We finally met up with Willow outside the theater for Toxic Avenger Thursday night. She pulled up in her cab just as Hath, FM and I walked up to the theater. I've never laughed so much at a show in my life. It was just fantastic.

Lunch in the park and the Zoo on Friday were a lot of fun. Nowhere else that I know of can you be in a zoo in the midst of a metropolis like NYC and forget you are in a bustling city.

Shopping on Saturday was an experience. Willow and I made our way on the subway (the platform, HOT and LOUD) to Canal Street. We got accosted on every corner with someone trying to sell us a hand bag (Coach, Gucci, Prada...) We did find some very cute items as we wandered. That was our word of the day Saturday. Cute. Everything was cute!

Can I just tell you, Willow and I have a terrible sense of direction. We asked several times how to get to the Pearl River Mart and we still managed to go the wrong way! We finally did find it and managed to spend a fair amount of time in that fascinating store.

We traveled a bit further on Broadway and, lo and behold, we ended up in SoHo! Cobbled streets, fancy shops, and yes, the building of one yummy Rock Star.

Rutpop took the train in Saturday and met up with us. We ate at Fanelli's Cafe before heading out to scope out HRH's digs. We got as far as the door. It's a glass door with the address imprinted in white. There is a fancy sculpture in the lobby. And, sadly, he wasn't home...

We went back that night for dinner at Lure so that the ever lovely Fiction Mistress could check out the digs. We had a fabulous time. After parting ways with BigAppleJovi and FM, Willow Rutpop and I headed to Times Square. Come on, you can't go to NYC and NOT hit Times Square. That place is always hopping!

We got our picture taken (it looks like a Wanted poster!) Sang with some street musicians outside of Planet Hollywood (how could you not join in when they were singing Don't Stop Believin') and just wandered and took pictures. I picked up a couple things for my little man. We stopped in the Hard Rock, had our picture taken with Jon and I got the T-Shirt. All in all, a very successful stop in Times Square.

So, now I'm home. Went back to work this morning, caught up with everything I missed there and had time to catch up with my e-mails too.

Girls, I miss you all.

When's the next meeting and where are we going?

... wait, the song is "Saturday, in the park", but I'm not gonna be here tommorrow, so we went to Central Park today.

Actually, Q, Willow, and I hoofed it up to 17th Street to check out a bead shop Willow found online. Fm had to work, and we were going to pick her up for lunch. The shop was cute, with lots of great finds, but nothing I wanted to raid the college fund for. We stopped in at Sephora (how could we resist) and the pouncer tried to convince us we needed makeovers.

I remarked that whatever makeup they applied would melt right off in the 95+ heat out on the street, and she assured us they had a pot of something that would keep that from happening. I was scared (not sure about the others) and we took a pass.

We cabbed over to Columbus Circle to Whole Foods to grab lunch and went across the street to Central Park to picnic under the trees. We had a lovely lunch, managed not to sweat too much, then FM had to go for another work meeting. The rest of us?

We went to the zoo.

CP Zoo is amazing. There, in the middle of arguably the busiest city the planet, was a little oasis of wildlife. The rainforest exhibit, with the gorgeous birds, was humid and steamy, but well worth the view. The snow leopard was smart and dug herself a trench in the mud to lie in, and was taking a nap. The monkeys were frolicking in the water.

The best part, hands down, was the Guin House. Penguins, if that wasn't clear. It had to be at least 40 degrees cooler in there. I swear, cute little guins aside, it was the happenin' place. We sat in there a good long while to cool down and watch the little guys frolick and swim.

After a stop at the Zootique, it was off to find another cab.

Since the skies were now a lovely shade of pewter, bordering on midnight, it was not as easy as we would have liked. Still, we managed, and had JUST gotten into the cab when the heavens opened. Back to the hotel we went, where we were meeting up with FM. The others were going to be getting ready for dinner, I was getting ready to leave.

*snif*

Well, it's off to Penn Station and the LIRR to take me out to the Hamptons.

While I wish I could stay longer, I miss my Hathlet (oh yeah, and I guess Mr. Hath).

Maybe next time I can do a longer stay with the girls. Or maybe the girls can come up to Boston. Or maybe we can go invade New Orleans. Could you just imagine us at Mardi Gras? We'd amass enough beads to sink a steamboat.

Ah, something to look forward to....

... it must be NYC!

We had a heck of a time today!

FM and Queenie made it in around 12:30, and we were told that due to late checkouts, that rooms were being made available right at check-in time, which was 3pm. So, we left our bags, and headed up Park Avenue to Houston's for lunch.

We split a delicious spinach and artichoke dip and had a round of drinks...We Had Arrived! FM had a sushi plate, and the waitress, bless her soul, after asking where we were all from, gushed, "Do they even have sushi in Louisiana?" To which FM replied, quite politely, I might add, "Yes. Most of the fish you eat in the US comes from Louisiana." Queenie and I just sorta looked at each other and chuckled.

Q tried the sushi (a California roll, if you must know) and I abstained. Not that I have anything against fist, per se (I've been known to eat a tuna or salmon steak, and don't forget Gorton's FishSticks at lent) but raw fish is where I have to draw the line. Where I come from, that's bait, and I just can't get behind eating that.

Oh I know, it's very tasty, etc., etc., and the Cali roll was cooked, but to each her own, I always say, and I expect to have my own in return :)

Q had a luscious looking salad, and me, being the carnivore I am, had the best $16 burger I've ever eaten.

We headed back to the hotel close to 3pm only to find that we STILL had to wait for rooms to be cleared. We were in good company though, two other sets of guests were likewise waiting for rooms. FM told the clerk at the desk that she had a meeting across town at 5:00 for which she had to get changed (which was completely true), and the clerk cheerfully replied, "good luck!"

What?

Yeah, that's what we said.

Eventually the rooms were cleared, we were all checked in and changed, and headed off for the first of a zillion cab rides over the weekend. One could get spoiled riding around in cabs instead of hoofing it in 95 degree heat.

Anyway, we met one of FM's colleagues at the Essex House for drinks. This colleague was the nicest guy, and we had a lovely chat. He had a friend join us, a travel writer who's been all aroudn the world (literally, from Southeast Asia to Africa to Antarctica) and had great stories. He's someone I wouldn't mind sitting down to a long dinner with. He was easy on the eyes too ;)

After Essex House, we met another of FM's colleagues, a food critic, at a place called "City Lobster" where Q and I shared a delicious platter of popcorn shrimp, fries, and yep, more drinks. The woman was lots of fun (as promised by FM) and gave the girls a personal recommendation for good eats for Friday night.

We finished our appetizers with about 1/2 hour to spare until Toxie "curtain". I put "curtain" in quotes for a reason. If you haven't seen the show, there isn't a curtain. The stage set is right out there in the open. New World Stages is an intimate theater (about 15 rows, I'd say) and there isn't a bad seat. We met Willow out front, and went in with a scant few minutes for the girls to grab a glass of wine. Though "glass" is being generous. It was a huge plastic tumbler.

Anyway, the show was fantastic.

We laughed our asses off the whole time.

To the point that the guys sitting next to FM/Willow asked them to "keep it down". Uh, hello? The musical has a frickin rock band in it. Seriously. (and as an aside, in keeping with tradition of adoring guitarists, the lead axe was played by a lovely long-haired, dark rocker who I wouldn't have minded getting to meet after the show...)

The show was beyond fun, and the fact it was a small theater made it moreso, in my opinion.

After the show, we met up with BAJG for dinner at Thalia, where FM put our waitress, Tara, through the paces, getting recommendations for everything from appetizers to the main course to wine to dessert. She did a fantastic job! Our table steward, Christoff, was adorable in a dark, foreign, yummy sort of way, and I wanted to tug on his little gold earring with my teeth but refrained -- only because by that time I had switched to water.

We ordered dessert around midnight and made it back to the hotel somewhere around 1:30am.

My first day in the city was everything I had hoped it would be. Good food, good drinks, good fun, all shared with good friends.

I have high hopes for Friday!



** Goddess' Note: I had this ready to go, but forgot to publish :) Bad, bad Goddess :P

Well, Goddess is at the hotel, FM & Queenie are on their way there now from the airport... but where is Willow???

Sitting at her desk at her office in NJ.... so close, and yet...not close enough.

Why don't I have a time machine that would fast forward me to lobby of the New World Stages theatre for our outing to TOXIE!!! (Hey Davey, you meeting us for dinner afterwards, right?). But alas I have to bide my time, do my job and wait for the clock to hit 5pm before my 1/4 of the adventure to IN WHY SEE begins.

See you all soon!

... not literally, but I just got off the phone with her. She's sitting at Steph's terminal, waiting on her plane to land. It should land in another 5 minutes or so, and 15-20 after that, they should be in a cab on the way here!

I can't wait!

Tara, honey, I'm so sorry the bank f'd up your weekend. You will be missed my dear!

Later, 'gaters!

... and NYC didn't even notice! SMITE YOU ALL! Well, except for BAJG, who gave me a nice warm welcome text :)

I detrained at Penn Station, and made my way through the hot, sweaty, did I mention hot? corridors and concourses until I found the LIRR -- a Goddess likes to be prepared, and now I know if I get to Penn at the 31st Street entrance, I only have to walk 1/4 mile instead of 3/4 to get to the train tomorrow night to take me out to the Hamptons.

Being the good doobie I am, and believing you should EXPERIENCE a city when you're in it, I found my way to the subway map, hoping to find what train would get me somewhere near Park Avenue (where our hotel is). I figured, if I could handle the MBTA in Boston, I should be able to handle the NY Transit system, right?

WRONG!

Turns out, there are lots of ways to get heyah from theyah, and these include going uptown to 42nd Street and transferring, or downtown to somewhere else and transferring, or taking several busses....

For a city that's laid out like a grid, unlike my beloved Bahstin with it's damned wagon-wheel layout, the subways are tres confusing. Plus I was sweaty and hot. Did I say that already? So, I take the train and [probably] end up in Brooklyn...

or....

I could pay a lovely Polish man $12 ($7 fare plus tip) and he'd bring me door to door.

Guess which one I opted for?

So I arrived about half an hour ago, availed myself of the complimentary continental breakfast, found an outlet for my laptop, discovered they meant it when they said COMPLIMENTARY WI-FI, and viola! Here I am!

SO, I'm not sure what we're doing for lunch, but we're meeting FM and a co-worker of hers for drinks proir to...

drumroll please....

TOXIE!

That's right, we're going to see the Toxic Avenger tonight. Stephanie scored us seats in the 11th row, pretty cheap, and I can't wait! Then we've got late dinner reservations, I forget where, but oh who cares! I'm in NYC!!!

Now, if the damned planes would land already and their own lovely Polish man would hurry up and deliver some of the other Fictionistas here already, I'd be a happy pappy!

... that's right!

We're planning a meet in NYC at the end of the month.

Watch this space for details!!

~ Hath

Wow. I can't believe it's over. We made a bunch of memories, wrote many lines and I am already looking forward to the next time we get to do this.

I'm here at my desk top, sigh, no more laptop for Queenie. I think I may need to find a way to convince Mr. Queenie that I just have to have one. I'm addicted and need my fix. Thanks Cheryl! :)

Hath, Tara, Sam, Cheryl, I had the very BEST time. Getting to meet you all in person was just amazing. The worst part was leaving you all this morning. It was like leaving my sisters behind. After the MP3 player bit the dust on the car ride back to reality, I revisited our weekend. I have never had so much fun doing so little. Hell, I can't remember ever spending the whole day in my jammies and I didn't even have to be sick to do it.

The beach house, what can I say, it was fantastic. Cheryl, I hope it doesn't sell for a very, very loooooong time. I wanna come and visit again just to hear the waves crashing against the shore and to sit on that sectional and look out the window to see the sun shining over the ocean.

Girls, I will carry the memories of this weekend with me forever and I truly hope we get the opportunity to make more together. You totally get the obsession like no one else ever could. Who else would watch 11 hours of bootlegs and drool over scads of pictures with me? No one but fellow Jovi fans. Those are a rare commodity around here.

Thank you all for the best week[end] ever.

Love you all!!!

Well it's the first evening after our incredible long week/weekend together. Everyone has arrive safely at their appropriate destinations and we managed to miss the weather that is about to hit NJ.

Saying goodbye this morning was the hardest thing I had to do in a long time. Driving away from the beach house and leaving Tara and Queenie behind made me so sad. It was a long, very quiet drive back to the airport for Hath, Sam and I and the weather slowed things down just enough to make us just slightly late.

It wasn't until I pulled away from the airport that I started to cry. I felt so empty. But, even though reality bites alot of the time, our memories will carry us forward and make us look just that much more forward to the next time we will all be together.

I love you all, my fictionista sisters!

*sigh*

I got home around Noon today after leaving Willow East at about O Dark 30. Alllll right, so it wasn't dark, but man I do NOT do 7:00am all that well. It was a bit of a teary goodbye, but one thing stayed behind within each of us.

That lovely little bond that will forever be FanFictionista Week[end].

Willow--girl, your family is just amazing to have let 4 near strangers stay in their home, especially one as sensational as that one. To have the beach be their backyard is nothing short of awe inspiring. I can still hear those waves crashing and it's going to help me finish out Tessa's story for sure.

Thank you sooooo much for letting us invade your space. It's a memory I'll have forever.

Willow, Sam, Hath and Queenie...you guys were always some of the nicest people I knew on line, but the reality of you far exceeded any expectations I had.

The Highlights

• The FF Partaaaay at Chickie & Pete's
  
• Oot-bay Egg-lays
• Laughter
• Wine
• Puck Puck Goose
• Chaaaaaaaaaahlie
• Jammies and laptops
• Nails clicking on keyboards
• Waves crashing as loud as a wind storm
• Beachy Backyard
• Toby the mascot
• The Snot Box
• DarkStar
• Meeeeeeeeat
• Twitter
• Double DING
• The CORNER
• Just Bead It
• DayQuil!
• Whore!
• "How much did you write?"
• "Who Twittered?"
• Communion! (Grrr...I'm so going to hell.)

I hate that it ended, but I love, loooove, love that we got to do this.
You guys are the VERY best!


*muah*



TaraLeigh

This is our last night together here in Willow East. We've all changed the sheets on our beds, done most of the packing, and have *gasp* packed away the oot-bay eg-lays. We have been watching them ALL day. It's a wonder we got anything done today. Last night and this morning, we made the teensiest dent in Tara's collection.

In some of the shows we watched, David's curls were lo-o-o-o-ng and pulled back in a ponytail... I think I drooled the entire time. God, the things I could do holding onto that ponytail....

Today, we worked our way through a show from Richie's Undiscovered Soul (1998, Tokyo), the House of Blues (New Orleans, MTV Exec show) which is, I have to say, the HOTTEST damned Richie performance. The red t-shirt (thought it could have stood to be a size or two smaller) blue jeans that crinkled in the most AMAZING way in just the right places.... sigh....

Needless to day, I got nothing done after my posting this morning. I was glued to the screen.

Almost literally.

Then we dug into Giants Stadium from the HAND tour (night 2). Holy hell. I know I've said that Jon is beautiful to look at and he doesn't really do anything for me (sorry, Jon) but after watching that show? I got a little twingey. Maybe it was spending the whole day with hot Richie that did it... 'cause DAMN his IBTFY at that show was gorgeous... And David and those arms? Holy shit, they were big and flexy and muscley and .... what was I saying? Oh yea, Jon. He was amazing. Dripping with sweat, wearing those pocket-pants -- you know the ones ;) Just WOW.

Oh, and I've been re-dubbed. I am no longer "The Goddess Hathor". I am now "The Goddess Hath-whore"... or 'whore' for short (thanks Tara. OH, by the way, COMMUNION lol)

This has been one of the best vacations of my life. I got to spend several days with some great women, and we had a lot of fun. We went out, we stayed, we ate, drank, and got merry. We drooled, we wrote, and we spent WAY too much time calling me a whore. We walked on the beach, splashed in the ocean, and watched our doggie mascot chase birds. We bonded so much, so fast, so STRONGLY, I can hardly believe our time is over, and that before this weekend I had never met Steph or Tara.

I can't wait until our next adventure.

~ Hath

PS: The communion thing? Came from watching Richie wearing Rosary beads. I made the innocent comment about how I was an Eucharistic Minister when I was in college (where a secular person gives out communion in a Catholic mass) and wondered what it would be like to see Richie (or your person of choice, but my story, my guy) kneeling at the altar, locking eyes with you and sticking his tongue wa-a-a-a-aay out..... All kinds of bad, I know, but I can't HELP it. I just see myself placing the wafer high on his tongue, scraping my nail down the center line, watching him swallow, then holding out the chalice to him.... GAH! Totally going to hell over this.

Wanna come with?

... and with all the distractions around here, it's a freaking miracle. I mean, c'mon, we were watching a Hamburg acoustic show last night. And Sao Paolo. And a Richie solo from 1991. GAH! It's a miracle that I could get anything down except "sweet hell, Richie is hot... and David, with that ponytail..." lol

BUT, I've gotten some updates done.

• Believe (1 chapter)
• Joker (1 chapter)
• Online (2 chapters

I hope this keeps the wolves at bay for a little while, because I'm freaking hungry :)

~ Hath

Today I took the girls to the place where I got married. Of course, it wasn't quite as cold in August 2000 and we all were a little frozen after only a few moments next to the water.

It is Friday night on Long Beach Island and that meant that Sam & I were gonna take the girls to the most awesome restaurant... The Dark Star Cafe , where we ate a few nights ago. The owner's name is Tony and he's a great guy who makes great food, all from scratch and all with heart.

We started the evening with fresh fried buffalo mozzarella, which Tony serves with homemade pesto, a balsamic vinaigrette drizzle and homemade tomato salsa. It's truly to die for and didn't last long with 5 hungry fictionistas.

Hath and Tara decided to try the Baked Ziti Pizza - Tony hand-tossed the dough and even started showing off once he realized that we were taking his picture. What a ham! The pizza was completely amazing - Hath said it was the best pizza she had ever had (better than Boston??? How is that possible). Even with all that said, they brought some home.

Sam finally got her cheesesteak... full of onions, peppers and mushrooms and a side of extra crispy fries. She also brought some home.

Queenie went for the calzone, which was the size of a small farm, or so it seemed. It was full of roasted veggies and ooey gooey cheeses. And... you guessed it.... she brought some home.










And me? Well, I went for the BBQ Brisket Sammich... which was incredible for the second time this week. It's so dense that it has to be eaten with a fork... For the reason (and others) I finished the whole thing and therefore I brought home nothing. It's ok, though, because I'm not sure I'll ever eat again after this week. Wow, is getting back on my diet and exercise plan gonna suck next week!!

Tony, we think you are awesome. Thanks for stopping to take a picture with us too. If any of you are ever on LBI, please make sure to patronize The Dark Star Cafe... you won't be sorry.

... no, I didn't spell that wrong. Swear to Richie I didn't.



We visited this great create your own jewelry place called "Studio JBI". Look at the picture... when we passed the sign, for a second, we saw "Studio JBJ". THAT would have been a totally different kind of studio, I guess.

In any event, we went inside the "funky jewelry" side first, and poked around before getting down to it. There were beads on every flat surface, whether it be horizontal or vertical. Glittery beads, matte beads, gunmetal beads, flashy beads, big'uns and little'uns.




There were even beads that cost nearly $25 for a single bead! We skipped those.

Everyone made something to commemorate our weekend.


Queenie made a keychain. It has a baby blue bead (for Jon's shirt) a purple bead (for Richie) and a peace sign. Very cool.





Fiction Mistress made a keychain too. It spells out "Jovi Girl" and has a cluster of danglies on the end, including a corkscrew and guitar. The beads are a lovely blue color, and the photo doesn't do it justice.



Tara made a dangly to hang from her rear-view mirror (can I interject here that we are so glad that she brought her Santa Fe? Otherwise we'd all be smooshed into the Jovi 'Stang, or taking two cars to go places...THANKS, TARA!) The beads spell out "Fan Fictionistas" and has a cluster of charms on the end, including a guitar, entwined hearts, and peace sign.



Willow also made a dangly for her rearview, spelling out "Jovi's Willow" in silver beads interspersed with blue. Her cluster of charms inclues a feather (for good luck), a guitar, and a peace sign.




And me? I made a Richie bracelet. It has beads that spell out "Bon Jovi" and "Richie". The spacer beads are purple (of course), and the dangling charms include two guitars (sheesh, I sense a musical theme here lol), a star, cross, peace sign, and heart. I absolutely love it, and if Mr. Hath gives me shit over it, I'm gonna tell him to go to hell.



Here is a group shot of the day's efforts. We had a fantastic time, and Andy, the girl who worked with us, was fantastic. I'm wearing my bracelet now, and can't stop rubbing my finger across the "Richie" beads. Maybe it works like voodoo, and he's popping a tent right about now. I certainly hope so ;)



We went out for a fantastic dinner afterwards --- Willow is blogging about that. Be prepared to drool over our food pictures. Yeah, it was THAT good!

~ Hath

The Big Easy has been updated.

:)

Time to hit the shower.

It's morning of day two, the sun is shining through the window on my right, the surf is crashing against the shore and I'm the only one up right now. I have no idea what the plan is for today but I am sure we will all be Twittering our activities along the way. You saw the picture of Tara from yesterday when we were walking on the beach, you know what I'm talking about.

The house is amazing, the ladies, what can I say, they are absolutely wonderful. I am so glad I made the trip. I have never had the opportunity to speak so freely about my obsession. My girlfriends at home just wouldn't get it, but these girls do. It's nice to know that there are so many others who are just as obsessed as I am. I'm not alone in this. Whooo hooo, I was beginning to wonder... :)

I'm sorry I don't have a picture to share. The view is amazing, but this computer doesn't have a slot for my memory card. I would hazard to guess that the other girls will post some if you ask nicely.

I think another walk on the beach might be in order for today, more oot bay eg-lays and a whole lot of laughter and fun.

We're glad you're all following along and enjoyng our exploits... it's fun to share them with you.

Look for us on Twitter later!!

Okay, I managed to get a picture off my camera for all of you. Here you go...

Well it's the evening of our first night here at Willow East. We decided to stay in tonight and cook dinner and chill out in jammies with Jovi DVD's - right now it's disc two of HAND in Philly. I believe that next up is "The Leading Man". Can you believe Hath has never seen it???

For dinner we had spaghetti and Hath & Queenie's amazing meeeeeeetballs with spaghetti and salad and garlic bread.

We have a bunch of yummy snacks laying around, from chips to fudge and everything in beween, some decent "adult libations" (has anyone blogged about Puck Puck Goose yet?) and all seems well and right with the world.

JW

My view from the Porch. The girls went ahead of course. l had to find the camera and phone for twittering. LOL


This is Toby our Mascot. He's been running around the beach and the house keeping us entertained.

Steph, Hath and FM on the beach getting blown away.


The beach combers.

And the rocky coastline that we looked for shells near.

We're currently watching the Philly '89 ootbay egglay. Jon is currently in his Puppy Glory and Richie is delicious beyond definition. Oh yeah--we love Dave and Tico too---Al...well. He's there too. LOL

We'll be back after we surface from the testosterone flood.

...and I'm going to tie her down and make her write ten chapters of Home!

:)

Well, we survived the night. We had a gorgeous stretch limo (silver) and a sweet driver named Gino. We got stuck in traffic, but hell, we had champagne and Jovi's MSG show (HAND tour) on the limo's DVD player. We got stuck in traffic, but made it a little after 7. The Australian contingency had already arrived, and we waded right in.

Several hours, a couple plates of crab fries (which IMO were no big-whoop -- the lobster pizza was WAY better) and we took tons of pictures (some of which are already apparently making the rounds...

Obie, honey, we know you were busy, and really wish you coulda come and had a drink or six with us. Next time, no excuses :) You gotta come hang with us. Charlie (our friendly bartender) cranked up a few Jovi songs for us, and we sang our asses off.

We rolled home around midnight (did you know that McDonald's around here closes before midnight? Sallies. Sam wanted her filet-o-fish and was denied. You can't deny the Mistress!

We made the trek out to LBI today and the GORGEOUS beach house that is literally on the beach, I mean you go out on the deck, look down, and there's a sand dune. About 100 yards away is the ocean. The wicked-cold-but-had-to-walk-in-it ocean. Sam and I collected sea shells for our respective kidlets, and after a bracing walk on the beach, retired back at the house to catch up on email.

We PROMISE! Once we get through our inboxes, and figure out how to get our f'n Twitteirng to show up right on the sidebar lol, we'll work on our stories.

We're eating in tonight; spaghetti and garlic bread -- and heading out the store to stock up on snack food and lunchables :) Then we're off to the packie (that's a liquor store, if you didn't grow up in Bahstin).

Talk to you later!

~ Hath

If you know us, then the answer is obvious....

WE TWITTER, OF COURSE!!

Ok, so Hath, Willow, Queenie and I are all sitting around at Willow West, downloading vids from last night and feverishly typing away on the laptops. We ran into two Brit girls at the Hard Rock (where we were buying shirts and pins of course) and they already knew about our party and are coming! I have a feeling we're gonna have a huge crowd - should be fun. The limo picks us up at 6, we've got champagne chilling, and it's gonna be a great night.

For those of y'all joining us, can't wait to meet you. For those who can't be with us, we miss you and wish you could be here.

And Jon, Richie, David and Tico, and Obie of course, y'all are all welcome to join us. Drinks are on us. :)

Seriously, words can not describe.

Last night was so out of this world that to try and do it justice by merely crafting a witty blog post would almost sully the whole experience.

To say he was amazing, that the show was amazing, that the band was amazing and even the fan club was amazing would be the understatement of a lifetime.

I could not be happier with the whole experience.

Spending it with Willow and everyone else we met up with over the past few days was truly a highlight. I really didn't think there was anything that could top my BJ experiences in 2008, the first year of all this madness for me. From KC to Boston to Central Park, I just couldn't imagine this could be better.

But it so so so was.

Only two things could have made it better: 1) a surprise visit by Richie and the rest, and 2) all our friends around the globe whom for whatever reason couldn't make it. Ok, so perhaps there might be a third, but that would involve Jon personally *thanking* me for coming. (get your minds out of the gutter ladies) Summer, I was thinking about you all night last night, and Hath, Queenie, Venus, Tresca, Iris, Di, Laineykins and all the rest of you...if he EVER does anything like this again...

THERE...

CAN...

BE...

NO...

EXCUSES...

I'll do a play by play later when I've had more time to process the whole experience. Willow and I are still dl-ing photos and videos (yes we were BAD girls and he SAW us) and trying to assimilate the whole evening.

All I wanna know is, what's he gonna do NEXT to top THIS experience?

So, I'm on Southwest's website, waiting for 12:11 so I can get my boarding pass, and they have a "Packing Guide". Intrigued, I followed a series of links to a 'what not to bring' list.

So girls, sorry, but I have to leave the followings stuff at home:

• Fireworks


• Dynamite


• Hand Grenades


• Gas torch


• Tear gas


• Spray paint

I know it's gonna put a cramp in our plans, but I'm sure we can find SOMETHING else to do :)

Seriously, who thought it would ever be OK to go on a commercial flight with tear gas? Really? You have to tell people that? I guess since you have to tell people that coffee is hot, you have to tell them NOT to bring INCENDIARY DEVICES on an AIRPLANE! How stupid are people?

Wait, don't answer that.

I'm currently at work.

I already know.

~ Hath

My laundry is done
my suitcase is waiting
I had to come to work today
though it took some debating.
I'm ready to go,
but the calendar says no
it's only Tuesday.

The waiting, the waiting, I hate all the waiting!

Tomorrow at this very minute, I will be in my car headed to New Jersey and the partaying shall get started! Girls, I’m a little scared, a bit nervous and a whole lot of excited. I can’t hardly wait to get there and meet you all.

Tomorrow, tomorrow
I love ya Tomorrow
you’re only a day away

Is it Wednesday yet?

The man is just..... perfection personified!!

It was really amazing that, considering how badly the ticketing and GA process COULD HAVE been, that things really went so smoothly. We ended up with a great vantage point in an elevated area of the bar thanks to our friend Tanja (Thanks Tanja!!!).

Furthermore, Tara, Sam and I all got to be together even though we didn't have ticket numbers together. We even picked up another friend who was right behind us and there by herself.

So, the lighting was a challenge, but I managed to squeak out a couple of really decent shots, so please enjoy!!

JW

Hello everyone!!

As Hath said, Sam and I took to the road yesterday to go in search of the very roots of the the man we all love. It was a cold and slightly rainy day but we didn't let that stop us and, in fact, Sam was a real trooper in dealing with the cold and wet atmosphere of New Jersey.

We left home about noon after a morning of fashion shows and packing (more on that later) and took the JoviMobile north and east towards Asbury Park. The crazy bitch in the GPS took us on almost all back roads, which was pretty but took a long time. We arrived at the "Joyzee Showah" and drove around to see "The Fastlane" which is really a dump now that it is closed and nobody is taking care of the building. We didn't even bother with pictures because there wasn't even a sign that identifyed the place (we just knew it from pictures). Next was out stop at "The Stone Pony" where there was actually a concert going on. We decided we didn't need to pay the $10 cover so we just got out of the car, made nicey nicey to the bouncer and got him to take our picture. I can't begin to explain to you how flippin cold it was out there next to the ocean, but as good Jovigirls, we are willing to do almost anything in honor of "the man".


Next it was off to Navasink River Road, which is gorgeous beyond belief. Thankfully the GPS bitch got us right were we needed to go and we were able to get a decent picture of the Mansion from the car before encountering some guy who thought he was "all that" who rolled down his window and gave us a "move on, nothing to see here" (blah blah blah). We were really surprised at how close to the road the house actually is, it doesn't really look that way in pictures normally.









Sayerville War Memorial High School, where we encountered another set of Jovi sighseeing girls. It was so funny because we pulled up next to them and I said "you are totally Jovigirls" and we all got a laugh. They were in from California and told us that they were playing hookie from school to be here. The school itself is nice and I couldnt help but think of "Grease" and how Jon would have been when he was there, although I don't know if he was "Danny" or "Kinike".

I love them.

I really do.

But not today.

They'll tell you ALL about it later, but today was a sight-seeing tour of Jon Bon Jovi places.

The Stone Pony...

The Fastlane...

Sayerville High school...

And where was I?

I was working a Hockey Bingo. Selling bingo cards and pull-tabs to a couple hundred crotchety people. It wasn't all bad, I guess. I did get kissed when I paid out a $500 jackpot. I think the guy was old enough to be my Gramps. And he did apologize afterward :) And there's Eriq, the gorgeous cop who makes sure nobody makes off with our daubers. Wouldn't mind him making off with my daubers...

ANYWAY -- when last I spoke with the gruesome twosome (lol) -- sometime mid-afternoon -- they were in search of a place to pee.

About half an hour ago, Willow's phone called me. I got a 15-second voicemail of laughter. *sigh* I wish I was having fun...

I'll let them tell the rest of the story...

~ Hath

As is always the case with me... I'm a little late to the party, but at least I got here.... Enjoy!!