Sshhh! It's a Surprise!

Hey, Friends.

So, my niece and nephew are here visiting for the summer.  My brother was here for a week as well, but he has already made the return journey back to Texas.  Now it's time for fun and adventures with his kiddos.

Every summer my mother and I try to take the kids on a trip of some sort.  Last year we went to The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, Great Wolf Lodge, and America's Stonehenge.

You may recall past trips have not always gone so smoothly.  Take our trip to Hershey Park, for example: started out awesome, but then there was a tornado and it turned into a hot mess.  Don't remember that bit of fun?  You can read about it right here!

I also like to try and surprise the kids with something.  Last summer I took my niece to see and meet Heffron Drive, and to go see Taylor Swift.  My nephew got to go crazy and bounce his heart out at an indoor trampoline center.

This year's trip begins in a couple hours, and the kidlets have no idea where they are going.  It's a total surprise.  Oh, they know we are taking them someplace today -- they just don't know where, or how.  No details whatsoever.

I feel like I can spill the beans to you at this point, Friends.  Yes, my niece could potentially see this and the surprise could be ruined but......

Honestly?  She is not going to drag her ass out of bed any earlier than she needs to, and I highly doubt her first coherent thought is going to be to check here to see if I shared the news.  I'm willing to roll the dice at this point.  She is too much like me: night person.  I hate getting up early in the morning.  I know there are people who can just wake up at the same time each morning without a problem, but that is not me.  If I don't set an alarm for work every day then that is just not going to happen -- I will sleep right on through.

Back to my point.

The surprise this year?  My mother and I are taking the kids to Washington D.C. for the weekend. On the train!  Extra bonus fun?  My nephew has never been on a train before.  This is going to be awesome!

We started laying the groundwork already.  Dropping subtle hints in a way.  They'll figure it out after the fact, I'm sure.

Sunday night my mother showed them National Treasure.  Monday night I showed them Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.  I really thought they would question why we were watching the second movie of that series and not any of the others, but they didn't.

My original plan was to show them the movie Monday evening while we were hanging out, and then I would tell them about the trip.  They could freak out and get excited, started Googling things about D.C., etc.  When I told my brother about the plan, he suggested something a little different.  It's only a tiny bit evil, and that's the plan I went with.

We didn't tell them anything.  They just know they are going somewhere.  Some place out of New York State.  And it required packing a suitcase.

It's driving them insane!  Like my niece has been harassing my brother via text message to try to get him to tell her since my mother and I won't.  My father has been making up stories and trying to convince them that we are taking them to Niagara Falls -- I don't know why he chose that location, but he has been rolling with it.

So this morning we will be getting on the train, and even then we aren't telling them where they are going.  And it will still be a surprise for a bit longer.

How, you might be wondering?  Won't they make an announcement on the train about the destination?

Yes, Friends, I'm sure they will. I thought about that.

You see, the first train we take just goes to Penn Station.  If the kidlets are awake enough and paying attention they will think they are going to New York City.  They will probably assume that it is their final destination.  With any kind of luck they will not figure it out until we get on the train at Penn Station and head to Washington.

And then their brains will probably explode, and they will start asking about what we are going to see, will we see the stuff from the movies, etc.  That's how they roll.  My nephew will be excited and asking a million questions, and my niece will be Snapchatting  and Instagraming (are they words? They are now!) the whole experience for all of her friends back in Texas.  She's the social media queen.

TTFN, Friends.  I've got to finish getting my act together for our imminent departure.  If you're just dying to know how this all plays out, you can follow along on our adventure via Twitter.  I'm @tammyshampoo and I will be updating there.

Different Perspectives, One Concert

Hey, Friends.  So remember that surprise I was planning for my niece?  (Probably not, but I'm going to pretend that you do if you are reading this. It works much better than realizing I am, for the most part, talking to myself here.)  Well, I still haven't told her about it, but in the meantime a second surprise has come along for her -- and I am so excited about it!

I don't know about you, but I have a pretty wide range of music that I like.  If I'm being completely honest, Country is about the only type I really just can't get too excited about.  It's okay, but I have never once felt the overwhelming urge to just turn on a Country station and listen.  I like a few songs, but I really can't get into it -- that's just me.  I'm willing to give pretty much anything a shot, though. When suggestions of bands I might like pop up on Spotify or Twitter, for example, I'm game to check them out.  I've found a few bands I really like that way, although I would be hard-pressed now to tell you exactly when, where, or how I first stumbled across them.

One such band that I found in this manner is Heffron Drive.  I fell in love with their music immediately.  You should check them out if you haven't yet had the pleasure of listening to their albums.  I also started following them on Twitter, to keep up with concert announcements, new music -- you know how it works.

What does this have to do with my niece and a surprise?  I'm getting to it, but it's a round-about story.

Back to how I like to explore the "suggested" bands that pop up.  A few months ago I noticed on Spotify that it kept suggesting that I might also like Big Time Rush.  I liked their music when I gave it a listen.   I had no idea who they were, although the name sounded vaguely familiar and I couldn't place why.  I had to Google it, of course.

And then I felt silly.  Of course they sounded vaguely familiar -- my niece had mentioned them before. I had no clue that it had been a huge television show/band hybrid thing on Nickelodeon.  One of these days I will have to catch an episode of the show to check it out.  I'm kind of intrigued to see how the music and the show fit together.

Which brings us back to the recent past.  I had seen on Twitter that Heffron Drive was going to be playing a concert in New York City.  Hell yeah!  I am so there.  I don't give a rat's ass if I have to go by myself, I will be going to that concert.  Music is music.  If you like it, then go support the artists so they can keep making it.

And then I had a stroke of brilliance.

My brother, my niece, and my nephew just arrived here on Friday for vacation.  Maybe my niece would like to go with me.  I brought the idea up with my brother.

Me: Does Lili still like Big Time Rush?
Brother: You mean BTR?
Me: I take it that's a yes.

He was cool with the plan for her to go to the concert with me.  My niece was all kinds of excited for going, especially once I told her that I had gotten tickets that included the Meet & Greet.  She knows BTR, but she is only now becoming familiar with Heffron Drive since I told her she was going to the concert.

My mother?  Not happy with these plans.  She is convinced I am going to get us completely lost or get her granddaughter axe-murdered by taking her to New York City.  Some highlights from the conversation:

"Your brother is okay with this?"
"What if you get lost?"
"Do you know what kind of a nervous wreck I am going to be?"
"I'm not worried about you getting there -- I'm worried about you wandering around in the dark afterward."

Seriously?  I'm slightly offended.  I'm a responsible adult.  I have a job, I own a home.  Most importantly, I would f$%king die before I let anything happen to my niece.  Of course, this is also the woman who would not let my brother and I ride a Ferris Wheel -- ever -- when we were little because she had read a news article about one that fell apart at a fair somewhere.  She was slightly more perturbed when my father also had no problem with this plan.

I had to swear that I would have my best friend, who has worked in the city for years, on speed dial in case we have a problem.  My friend found the situation amusing, and even said that I should tell my mother that she said we would be completely fine.  Don't think it made much of a difference.

Long story short: this is happening. Surprise #2 for my niece this summer will be happening on Wednesday. I'm stoked to see Heffron Drive perform, and my niece is excited about getting to see Kendall from Big Time Rush.  Two different perspectives on the same concert.  I'm sure it will be awesome!

Because I Want to Be the Coolest Aunt EVER!

Friends, I know I have been a horrible slacker about updating this lately.  I apologize.  I have lots that I have meant to post, but things have been a bit hectic lately, and this little blog took the hit in terms of time management.  Now, after almost a month of nothing I'm back, and I'm going to be asking for your help with brainstorming ideas for a surprise for my niece.

Don't worry -- it won't impact the surprise, as she doesn't know this little blog exists.  Any ideas you can give me will only make the surprise that much better.

So, little bit of back story...

See the little green circle down there in Texas?  That's where my niece lives. I'm at the black circle up in New York.

So, my niece and her family live way down in Texas,  and I live way up in New York, in the Hudson Valley.  Every summer my niece and nephew come up to visit for about a month, and stay with my parents.  I love it when they are here, and I spend as much time as possible with them when I am not working (which is why they can't stay at my house, except maybe for a night here or there).  

Last summer a series of events left my niece out of a couple cool events.  My best friend and I had gone to an all-day concert here, and my niece was pretty bummed that she hadn't been here to go as well since she really liked all of the groups that had been performing.  While she was up here, my sister-in-law won tickets to a cool concert back in Texas, so my niece missed out on both ends.  She didn't ever really complain, but I could tell she was really bummed out about the way things had played out.

I decided right then that I was going to find a concert to take her to this summer that would be awesome and make her forget what she missed out on last summer. 

I had been searching around for months, looking for concerts that were coming to the area when she should be up here visiting.  Sadly, concert announcements don't come out nearly as far in advance as I was looking.

Then, one day, it happened.  It was kismet, fate, destiny -- whatever name you want to give it.  The perfect concert that would blow her mind, and it was happening when she should be up here visiting, and I already had vacation time from work that day so I didn't need to worry about getting the day off. The stars aligned and it all was too perfect to ignore.

TAYLOR SWIFT

METLIFE STADIUM

JULY 10

Yes!!  Hell yeah, this was perfect!  Who wouldn't want to see T-Swift live?  I was practically bouncing in my seat with delight at what a perfect surprise this was going to be.

Which brings us to the present, and why I need your help.

Obviously I checked with my brother to make sure she would be here to go.  I got tickets for my niece, myself, and my best friend -- you do not go to see Taylor Swift without taking your best friend.  At least not in my opinion.

We have tickets.  Since I work in a public library and I am not independently wealthy, they are not remotely close to the stage.  Like we are probably up in the nosebleed section somewhere.  I've had that experience before -- going to a huge concert and sitting far up and away from the action.  It was still a good show, but having to look down at the stage kind of through the light rigging made it a little less than awesome.  I really don't want my niece to be bummed out when she realizes we are not going to be right down front-and-center of the action.

So, to counteract any possible disappointment at our seats (at least as much as possible), I want to make it all into a huge surprise so she has no idea where we are going.  This, friends, is where I need your help coming up with ideas.

My niece is very cool.  If I just told her to pack a bag and get in the car because the two of us were going on an adventure?  She'd be down for that, no questions asked.  Well...probably some questions out of excitement, but she would totally go.

I want to make this epic in its awesomeness!  It's killing me not to just tell her about this because I know how happy and excited she is going to be.  

I NEED A PLAN TO MAKE THIS THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD!!

A friend suggested making a scrapbook for her, filled with different pictures of Taylor Swift, and giving it to her with the tickets stuck in the back.  It's a good idea.  I could also see my niece thinking, "That's great, Aunt Tammy.  You made me like a creepy-stalker book about Taylor Swift.  Thanks!" before she ever made it to the last page.

Another friend really liked the scrapbook idea, but she suggested tweaking it slightly and leaving a few blank spaces (Ha!  Blank Space, get it?) in the back for pictures we take at the concert, the concert ticket, etc.  Another person added that it shouldn't just be pictures of Taylor Swift, but random ones of my niece and I mixed in as well, to try and get her wondering what was going on.

Help me out here, folks.  What would be the most epic, awesome, special way to surprise a 12 year old with the fact that she was going to a Taylor Swift concert?  

The only part of the plan I have right now is to get video of the moment I spring the surprise on her, and post it to Instagram.  She and her friends are all on there, and I love Instagram...some might say a little too much.  (Feel free to add me!)

Hit me up with your ideas, please!  I don't care how crazy, insane, boring, weird you might think that they are.  I've got a few months to put this plan into action.  I'm hoping that the collective brain power here will help me make this a truly magical experience for her.

Thanks in advance for your help.  You all rock!