Hi everyone. Sorry this isn't an update - its an explanation.  I haven't been around much for the past month or so and I apologize, but the reason is I was preparing for my very first PTX concert experience and have just been so preoccupied with that I couldn't even bring myself to write.  If you don't want to hear about my experience then you can stop now... but if you'd like to hear about it, then by all means read on.  This is mostly so I don't forget anything ... which is bound to happen lol.  (Pictures will be posted on my tumblr if anyone is curious.  lauriannabrookes.tumblr.com I'll also post links to the videos I uploaded to youtube as well)

So if you're still around...

First let me start by saying I had the VIP private performance, which somehow seemed to really stress me out. I was just constantly worried I would do or say something ridiculous or embarrass myself as I have a tendency to do. With this in mind I asked one of my best friends, Matt, to go with me so I would have some kind of backup in case my mental faculties decided to just go on vacation once I was in the presence of greatness. He agreed, though he really had very little clue who/what Pentatonix is/does. So everything was set and the days began to go by way too quickly. Then I received the email that would make my life so much better. 

Live Nation decided to put some concert tickets on discount ... so I happened to share with my internet bestie (you know her best as Sreed09 <3) and she jumped on the opportunity and decided to join me at the concert. So after some super excitement and some plan making, we began to count down the days. I purchased an extra meet and greet vip for matt so he would be able to go in early with us and surprised Sarah with the private performance VIP (which went over really well ;P ) 

SO the day before the concert finally arrived and so did Sarah (after a nightmare with traffic, poor girl). We went out for dinner with some friends and then proceeded to go through concert prep/freakout/excitement until late/early in the morning.

Then the fun really began. I was a mess, dropping everything... tripping... just generally spazzing as the time moved forward. It took me ages to get ready, but eventually we met my friend Matt for a quick, light lunch at Red Robin and then we were off to Hershey. We were about an hour early, but time went rather quickly and soon we were lining up in the hot HOT sun to.... wait. Lots and lots of waiting... lots and lots of direct sunlight and this pale girl and sun do not mix well. Thankfully Matt likes sun and held our place in line a LOT while me and Sarah cooled down in the shade. After what felt like an hour (and may have actually been...) We were overheated, drenched in sweat and just all around miserable. THANKFULLY they opened up one of the concession stands and we were able to get some water and then we began to feel like actual humans again... (still sweaty, sticky and hot... but a little less dehydrated and nauseous lol)

Then PTX shows up looking flawless as always (Mitch & Kevin both in black w/ long sleeves in near 100 degree weather... not sure what they were thinking unless Mitch just wanted his new tattoo out of the sun?) Me and Sarah were watching them get ready and set up for pictures through the latticework of the enclosed area we were lined up next to. It was then that I got an eyeful of Scomiche being their usual touchy feely selves and Scott reached up to wrap his hand around the back of Mitch's neck while they spoke to someone and started caressing his neck with his fingers... like... who does that?! Anyway... while I was dying in Scomiche land the whirlwind picture/meet and greet experience began. Mitch wore his sunglasses through the entire thing, but in his defense everything was done outside so maybe he has sensitive eyes?! idk lol. 

So after the pictures we were back in line to wait for the autographs and it was about that time that Kelly Clarkson began her soundcheck (right next to us.) She's incredible. It just happened to coincide with me and Sarah hitting the table and all of us becoming distracted by her singing. Scott just completely paused to take it in for a moment and stopped signing right as sarah and i got to him. This created a backup in the line but also got us quick convos with Scott Mitch and Kevin about how amazing she is and how excited they were. So then it was time to figure out where to go for the private performance. One of the guys working seemed to like Sarah and I and kept making sure we were in the right place so we ended up waiting right in front of the little shaded area PTX was in but we were too busy dancing and singing along to Kelly's soundcheck like idiots to realize we'd been caught and as PTX passed us to head backstage they all got a good laugh (esp Avi and Kevin who said he loved us lol) At this point we were on a high and didn't really care to be embarrassed, we were way too excited for that.

So after that (and more dancing to Kelly during soundcheck <3) we were led past the stage to the backstage area and then just kinda left for a bit. More dancing and selfies happened just because we were excited. I'm sure we were being judged but who the hell cares lol.

Then the magic happened. We were led into this little building and into the tiniest of dressing/lounge rooms in the history of ever. 10 of us VIPs plus 5 of PTX in this little room with the most inefficient air conditioning imaginable. So Sarah and I squished onto the couch next to Kevin as the door was closed and PTX apologized if Kelly's soundcheck restarted again and interrupted the song (Which it thankfully did not.) I video'd the performance and it was magggiiiccaaallll. They sang Valentine (which is what they always sing) and it was perfect.. as expected. Mitch still sounded like an angel even while chewing gum at the same time. Kevin and Mitch had their eyes closed throughout the entire song but Avi kept looking over at Sarah and I for about a third of the performance (I think he may have remembered meeting Sarah before... at least that's my theory). After it was over they asked if any of us had questions but Sarah and I were still in mush brain mode and someone else basically asked a million questions/talked the entire time so we wouldn't have really had a chance anyway. That's ok though, I probably would have said something stupid anyway O.o.

Then they broke off for selfies and Kevin immediately went for Sarah. After their selfie he turned to me, but Sarah stopped him to explain how much I had been looking forward to getting a hug from him (I've just heard he gives the most amazing hugs so I wanted one so bad. Don't judge me.) Being the amazingly sweet human being that he is he aww'd and then grabbed me, wrapping me in both arms as tight as he could for the longest time. Best. Hug. Ever! (THANK YOU SARAH AGAIN IT WAS PERFECT!) So then we got our selfie together and everyone kind of awkwardly shuffled around into the empty spaces of the closet like room. Sarah and I were stuck in a corner for awhile while everyone was busy doing stuff but eventually Scott came over to Sarah and I. He was very concerned with the selfie lighting and maneuvered Sarah somewhere else so the lighting would be perfect. They talked about being hot and sweaty and were generally adorable together. Then I got my selfie with him (and his arms are just so ridiculously long you can see most of my body in our selfie lol) and he made a comment about how cute that one turned out. More quick convos and shuffling and we were back in our corner (next to the food which was really tempting... i swear those blackberries were calling my name.). More awkward waiting and Kirstie broke free from the cluster of people and ended up in our corner just kind of standing around with us. Sarah asked for a selfie and after that kirst and I discussed allergies and the heat and then got our own selfie. She spent awhile looking at my phone case (a Jiji phone case I got at comic con awhile back) and talking about how cute it was and then it was back to the shuffle. Avi was the next come over and he and Sarah had their moment (i missed some of it because something else caught my attention, but what I did was adorable.) Then he came right over and hugged me and took my phone to take the selfie (which was probably best he took it anyway lol). Afterwards he wanted to see it so I showed him and he asked if I thought it was alright and if I had been smart I would have said... "can we get another one" but remember that whole mental faculties on vacation thing? Yeah. So I said i liked it and he said it was nice meeting me and I moved on before I embarrassed myself. I missed a lot of Sarah's interaction with Mitch as I'd been busy with Avi, but I was catching up right as they took their selfie (which was ADORABLE.) I caught the tail end up him saying he was glad he still smelled alright because he was so sweaty. (She told him he smelled good I think lol) Then it was time for a Mitch selfie (his boots were killer... of course that's the thing I noticed.) I don't remember what I said to him but he laughed and said something along the lines of 'c'mon sweetheart let's do this.' I was still in really? sweetheart? Mitch says that? mode and ended up with a duck face in my selfie lol. Ah regrets lol.

After that it was a bit of a shuffle again to get our stuff collected, but PTX was running late for soundcheck so were rushed out. Esther was hanging out by the door (looking gorgeous as ever) and Sarah bravely asked for a selfie with her, but they were in a bit of a hurry so she walked with us and got the selfie as we were leaving the backstage area.

We were crossing in front of the stage when Mitch and Kelly Clarkson were talking about rehearsing Heartbeat Song and then they began to work on that for the sound check (at that point we were really excited.

We met back up with Matt and sat around (Sarah and I putting up our hair because it was still ridiculously hot and gross) waiting for everything to start. I had second row for me and Matt but the discount tickets Sarah got were in a different section. Because Matt only cared about Kelly Clarkson we managed to work out a switch out system and Matt went down front for everyone but Pentatonix and let Sarah come down with me so we could fangirl and dance like idiots together when they came on... which we did.

They did the same intro moving into Problem that they did on the OMWH tour (I didn't go ... just have seen videos). Sarah and I were pleasantly surprised by the amount of people standing up and cheering for them. Next was Telephone and any time Mitch would hit a high note the crowd exploded, of course. Next up was La La Latch which was incredible and then on to the Evolution of Michael Jackson Medley. I know Sarah and I had such an 'awwwwwwww' moment when Kevin started singing and everyone immediately started cheering for him and he got this adorable smile on his face... it was so so cute and deserved. Also the moment Avi hit that first low note during Dirty Diana you could practically feel the surprise from people who weren't prepared <3. It was even better live than it was on youtube. On My Way Home was next ... and the crowd responded incredibly well to the 'audience participation' they did. (My friend Matt said the 'Ooh' parts were super fun :) ) Unfortunately their set was cut down b/c Hershey has a curfew for the stadium b/c of residential areas nearby, so the last song we got to hear was Daft Punk and everyone was really into it by that point. Mitch was bouncing around like a rubber ball and they were all having a blast. I wanted to record parts of it but I was too busy singing and dancing and enjoying it. It was perfection.

After that we met back up with Matt to switch out tickets but we spent ages talking about Pentatonix and how amazing they were (of course). Then it was back up to watch Kelly. Because I'd heard the soundcheck I was prepared and ready to video heartbeat song and got the entire thing (thankfully). (I also had a few giggles when Kelly decided to call them 'The Pentatonix' twice. At least she made sure they got recognition after the song was over and made them turn the spotlight back on so she could hug them all <3. I also managed to get Kelly covering Tori Kelly's Nobody Love which was so good. All in all the night was AMAZING. Kelly converted Sarah into a bigger fan... and it was just... wonderful.

So we were exhausted and ready to crash by the time we made it back to the hotel (around 2 AM ish) and ... our hotel keys didnt work. SO we had to walk all the way to the lobby with all of our bags to get new room keys then walk all the way back. Guess what... those didn't work either. So back we went. After about a 30 min ordeal they had to let us in to our room b/c the key system had somehow stopped working. Lovely. We quickly prepped for bed and CRASHED.

The next morning was so depressing, but we checked out and went back to my place to chill and hang out until Sarah had to leave. We made coffee and watched Buffy and talked and relived our moments, watching the videos and looking at the pictures and freaking out multiple times like little girls. We ordered some chinese food and continued to be lazy and reminiscent for a couple more hours but finally Sarah had to leave. It was SO SAD. I was so sad... we were both emotional and it took about 20 minutes for us to even begin to say goodbye. I'm still sad she's gone :( but we vowed to do it again the next time PTX comes around.

Sarah, my cat misses you and your flip flops ... like a lot. Watching Buffy and listening to Heartbeat Song just isn't the same without you. Thank you for coming along to share my first PTX encounter with me and making it the most amazing concert experience eveerrrrrr. 

LOVE AND MISS YOU GIRL!