A couple of weeks ago I saw someone post a link on twitter stating that Joe Mac was going to be taking part in the Macy's Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Boston this year. The link also indicated that he would be signing autographs after the ceremony. I got excited because it sounded like something my daughter would really enjoy. Every time I go see Joe she begs me to let her go with me & I always have to tell her no. Finally he was doing something that was perfect for a 6 year old!
The next day my husband found out that he was going to be taking a train out of Boston the morning after the tree lighting. I suggested that we make a weekend out of it & he agreed. He was somewhat reluctant about attending the tree lighting with us, but in the end he decided to join us.
Once Ciara learned about the trip it was all she could talk about. She was so excited to go see Boston, and to see Joe sing a song. She was adorable.
Finally, the day came. We woke up early and loaded up the car for our drive to the city. We made it to Boston around 10:30am. We went straight to Macy's to get our "ticket" for the autograph signing. Afterwards we wandered around the area for a little while & grabbed some lunch. We didn't want to go too far because we knew we would need to get back early in order for Ciara to be able to see anything at the ceremony, so we decided to walk over to Boston Common.
We had been walking through the Common for only a few minutes when I got a text alert. It was Joe tweeting that HE was walking through the Common! He kept tweeting pictures of different landmarks. We decided that since we were there we would treat it like a scavenger hunt & see if we could track Joe down. We had a lot of fun checking out all the sights in the park, but we never did locate the "prize".
We did locate the playground though and Ciara was happy to kill some time there. After a while we headed back to Macy's to claim our spot by the stage. We had a 2 1/2 hour wait, but we were right next to the sound booth and Kevin had fun chatting with the tech crew. We also had sound checks & people watching to keep us entertained while we waited. Ciara was so great! She barely complained at all.
Finally at 5:00 the show started. The mayor welcomed the crowd, The Boston Children's Chorus & Jasmine Villegas performed, & then it was Joe's turn. He sounded amazing. Last but not least, Santa arrived and all of the special guests returned to the stage to help light the tree. We all counted down & then the tree burst into over a thousand points of light, and confetti canons made it snow. It was beautiful.
We made our way through the crowd into the store and found the line for autographs. Ciara was pretty tired at that point & was impatient for the line to start moving, but she wasn't even considering leaving until we got what we came for.
The store was playing Joe's new Christmas CD and when Do You Hear What I Hear? (a duet with his sister Carol) came on, his family happened to be walking right by us. I pointed them out to Ciara and told her who they were. Kevin said "WOW! Whoever is singing this song is really good!" and I joined in "Oh yeah, she's AMAZING!" Joe's brother Tommy was getting a big kick out of it and Carol blushed & told us we were too sweet. It was a fun moment.
Not long after that, the line finally started to move. As we were waiting our turn we started chatting to the people nearby. I mentioned that I was upset because I forgot my cameras & all I had was my cellphone. The girl behind me in line had her Canon DSLR and she volunteered to take pictures for me. She said she'd step out of line when the time came and then asked if I would take pictures for her when it was her turn. I agreed without question & wrote down my email address for her so she could send the photos later.
Finally, it was our turn! We stepped around the corner and Joe spotted Ciara first and said hello to her
Then he saw me & said hello and gave me a hug
I introduced Kevin
and we chatted for a second. Joe asked Ciara if he should sign the CD for her or for me
Ciara was shy, so I told him to sign it for her. He asked what her name is and I explained to him that she and his daughter have variations of the same name.
He thought that was really cool and started to tell Ciara about his daughter Kira
He finished signing the CD and gave me another hug and we said goodbye
But as I was walking away, I spotted a stack of photos on the table next to him & told him I was going to take one.
He said "Wait! Let me sign it for you first!" I laughed & said "Of course, because I don't have enough yet, right?" He chuckled and then told me that he was going to make this one out to "aaaaaaat SimplyShannon...because that's who you REALLY are, right?" I laughed and told him that he was right, and that I did NOT have one like that yet. I said thank you & told him I'd see him again soon and then went to go take pictures for Sherri, who was amazing enough to capture the whole thing for me!
Ciara clutched the CD like it was covered in diamonds as we made our way back to the car. Even Kevin was impressed by how nice Joe is, as much as he hated to admit it. We spent the rest of the weekend exploring Boston. Ciara loved it and learned a lot about the history of our country in the process.
I was thrilled to have had the opportunity to spend some real quality time with my family & share a little bit of "my happy place" with them.
I'd just like to say a big thank you to Joe for always making me feel like he's as excited and happy to see me as I am to see him, and for being so kind and sweet to my family. XOXO
