My 30th Birthday!

Everyone was telling me to do something big or go somewhere special for my 30th birthday. I was feeling a lot of pressure and wasn't sure what I wanted to do. But then I reached out to my sister, thinking I could visit her in L.A., and she had a great idea. She texted me and said, "I want to go to Las Vegas and see the Backstreet Boys." I was thinking, "Wait, that's what I want to do!" Our birthdays are only two weeks apart, so we celebrated our birthdays together!

We flew out to Vegas on April 27th (my actual birthday). And that was the last day of the Backstreet Boys' residency at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, so it was perfect timing! We arrived in the morning and spent the day relaxing: we sunbathed by the pool, went shopping, played the slot machines (we lost), and chilled out before the concert.

Our room at Planet Hollywood was pretty nice!

Even the elevators were promoting BSB!

You could see Paris Paris from where we were sunbathing!

This unicorn slot machine did not bring me good luck, unfortunately.

Of course we had to get our open container slushie drinks!

Gotta look good when you're in Vegas!

 

Before the show started and then during costume changes, we saw clips of the group's music videos, and it was fun to see their transformation. Nick Carter was SO young when they started, and Kevin Richardson is nearly 10 years older than he is; back in the day I definitely thought of Nick as "the cute one," and I'm not sure I even contemplated Kevin at all. But now Kevin is definitely the hotter, DILF version of himself. See?

Then:

Such a baby! Image found here

Now:

Yummm. Image found here

Here are some photos that my sister took at the concert:

White matching outfits and choreographed group dancing. Exactly what you'd expect.

The Boys came into the audience and Brian was just a few yards away from us!

There was confetti everywhere to celebrate the last show of the residency!

All of the Backstreet Boys have aged pretty well. Their wives joined them on stage at one point, and I have to say that they brought to mind the saying, "Men age like wine. Women age like milk." Most of them have had too much work done, and the fake tans weren't helping any. Here's a photo I found of the Boys and their wives at a previous event:

Image found here

For your viewing pleasure, here are many BSB music videos from their 20+ years of music.

Everybody (Backstreet's Back) (1997)

As Long As You Love Me (1997)

Quit Playing Games (with My Heart) (1997)

I'll Never Break Your Heart (1997)

Get Down (You're the One for Me) (1997)

We've Got it Goin' On (1997)

All I Have to Give (1997)

Anywhere for You (1997)

Larger Than Life (1999)

I Want It That Way (1999)

Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely (1999)

Shape of My Heart (2000)

More Than That (2000)

The Call (2000)

Drowning (2001)

Incomplete (2005)

Just Want You to Know (2005)

Helpless When She Smiles (2007)

Straight Through My Heart (2009)

In a World Like This (2013)

Show 'Em (What You're Made of) (2013)

God, Your Mama, and Me (2016; with Florida Georgia Line)

Don't Go Breaking My Heart (2019)

No Place (2019)

Chances (2019)

SUCH a great night! The Backstreet Boys are now going on tour, and they'll be in DC in July!

The next morning we flew back to L.A. for a few days. The weather was surprisingly cool and cloudy, so we mostly relaxed at home or went shopping (with all of my birthday coupons). But on my last day, we visited a Japanese Garden in Sherman Oaks. It was like an oasis amongst concrete and highways. I felt relaxed as soon as we started walking along the trails. Even if it is an urban park, I felt transported, breathing deeply and watching the variety of animals around (including fish, hummingbirds, a turtle, and an Egyptian Goose). I would highly recommend it! Here are some photos (mostly taken by my sister):

This is the Egyptian Goose!

This is a great panorama my sister took!

We saw this little turtle swimming in one of the ponds.

Can you see the hummingbird?

We did not see traditional koi fish, but we did see these guys.

Catch not only has great food, but the decor is really pretty, too!

We finished the trip with an amazing dinner at Catch, a very up-scale seafood restaurant. The food was SO good; read all about it in my Yelp review. You can also watch a funny James Corden video where he helped "work" at Catch.

What an amazing birthday trip!