[Lisa] Do you know anyone that celebrates their birthday for 6 weeks? I DO! As part of her gift, Korey’s friend Anthony got tickets to two Chevelle concerts in Chicago. The latter took place 2/20 and I was told by the HB herself that my attendance was mandatory. Saturday afternoon I packed up and headed West, stopping only for a “Level 17″ Diet Coke break along the way. Three hours later I was at Korey’s picking up her and Anthony, and we were on our way to the city.

[Korey] Awaiting Lisa who had fallen asleep and was running late, I had plenty of time to get ready for the evening’s festivities. Talking to Hayley (Chevelle’s drummer’s wife) in Fort Wayne the week before, I was able to add Lisa to the guest list for the sold out show in Chicago. Anthony arrived early and we waited for Lisa to turn up. Once she arrived, she got ready super fast and we headed out.

[Lisa] The drive in was relatively uneventful, and we even found cheap (and close!) parking right away.

[Korey] We met up with Andy, another friend I had managed to squeeze on the guest list. I called Hayley and she met us inside the venue. She handed me a sprite with raspberry vodka, told me Happy Birthday and to drink up, there was plenty more where that came from. We talked a bit and then promised to meet up throughout the night.

[Lisa] We did a little street teaming for Janus in between sets, and enjoyed the show. Janus was up first, who put on a great show. Sick Puppies were next, who always get the crowd on their feet. Headliners Chevelle tore the place up, playing an almost-2-hour-long set that included one of their best songs, not often played live – Point #1. Korey and I took pics and amazing video of all 3 bands while the Camera Nazi – a 70-year old event staffer – wasn’t looking (check out the footage on our “Videos” tab). We drank a few beers, made a few new friends, and had fun flashing people…with red bike lights on the Janus CD boxes (minds out of the gutter – you know who you are!).

[Korey] Finding Hayley after the show, we hung out for a few hours with her, and Mike and Al from Janus. Hugging Hayley good-bye, we promised to get together soon. Our evening was completed with breakfast at Denny’s watching the cutest video from Mike…

[Lisa] I’d been planning Korey’s birthday weekend for almost a month and was so excited that the festivities were finally getting underway. Jessie took the train in from Buffalo – getting in around 6 AM (eeep!) – but thank God I was able to go back to bed for a few hours before signing online for work later that morning. In between conference calls, emails, and needy project managers I was able to put the finishing touches on Korey’s gift in anticipation of her arrival before dinner that afternoon. Unfortunately things didn’t work out exactly as planned, and Korey’s drive to my house would be delayed a day.  Jessie and I spent our time taking a quick shopping trip to Target and Party City, making dinner, and breaking into the frozen wine I had made for the GOC reunion.

Friday morning was spent sleeping in, watching tv, and making a late breakfast. When Korey called just after noon her time, we were expecting her to be on the road shortly.  Instead we learned that she’d be arriving around 4 PM – which turned into almost 9 PM because of the huge snowstorm she could no longer avoid driving through!

[Korey] I may or may not have been speeding before hitting the snowy portion of the drive. I saw the tell tale lights in my rear view mirror. I pulled over and the officer asked for my vehicle registration and license. After making sure I had no warrants for pepper spray (haha), he returned to my car, handing me back my information. He told me he was going to let me go with a warning to slow down. He then asked for my phone number. How professional.

[Lisa] Her Jeep having 4-wheel drive definitely came in handy, and when she finally pulled in my driveway Jessie and I greeted her with open door (“Outta my way, I’m at a level 42!”). With the necessities out of the way we handed Korey her first drink of many that night (twisty straws included) and sat down for a home-cooked birthday dinner. Presents followed: a hand-knit scarf made by Jessie’s mom, a birthday tiara for the following evening out, and “The Birthday Book” [a scrapbook I put together with pictures and text outlining highlights of GOC adventures to date, and postcard birthday wishes from many friends and fans].  Death-By-Chocolate cake followed [made by me] along with more frozen wine and frozen cosmos. With the 6″ of snow accumulating you’d think we’d skip frozen drinks, but they actually helped keep us warm during the snow angel/snowball fight that eventually ensued! In true GOC fashion we said our goodnights close to 3 AM – Jessie on the queen-sized hide-a-bed in my living room and Korey in the guest room across from mine – where we tweeted each other and watched movies before eventually falling fast asleep.

Saturday morning was fairly uneventful, but that may be because none of us were awake before 11 AM.  We ate breakfast at home before venturing out to Walmart and the mall, arriving back home in just enough time to get “everyone” ready and be 15 minutes late (surprise!) to pick up one of my good friends from work, Emily. After a few pictures of honorary GOC members piled into the back seat of my car we were finally on our way!

The 4 of us arrived at Tango’s Mexican restaurant where we met another friend and co-worker of mine, Aimee. Good food and good drinks were had by all, and 2 hours later I found myself sitting on a fiberglass frog by the front door! Our next and final stop of the evening was Frankie’s Inner-City – a dive bar/smaller concert venue. The alcohol continued to flow as we enjoyed music from Broken Man, Lifeline, Hazard Perry, and headliners Ashes of Soma. Korey especially enjoyed wearing her tiara as complete strangers were buying drinks and giving birthday hugs freely. By the end of the evening 2 of us had sobered up enough to drive home, 2 of us had signed CDs from 2 of the bands, and one of us lost a shoe as she had to be literally carried out of the bar.  At that point we decided to skip our traditional after-party breakfast, opting instead to climb in bed – at 4 AM! I’m happy to report that all 3 of us got a decent night’s sleep, and only one of us puked her guts out. Sunday was spent enjoying a true day of rest (and recovery!) before Korey and Jessie left that afternoon for Valpo.

[Korey] Disclaimer: There are several pictures that hit the editing room floor from this weekend that will never be viewable to the public.

After Midnight Project

Frankie’s Inner City Bar

Toledo, OH

http://www.frankiesinnercity.com/schedule.php?PHPSESSID=b1e5f0a4a003c5b63437fd47c6db2945