Ocean City Car Show 2014
After a long morning of marketing for one of my jobs in Ocean City, I was ready to head back to the Salisbury area when I heard that one of my favorite R&B singers Mýa was in town performing at the Convention Center. I drove by after work and saw that the Ocean City Car Show was in progress. I started to hang around for a bit and see what was going on. NOTE: I was by myself when I did this, so keep that in mind.
Because of a friendly gesture from an awesome employee, I was able to get into the show and roam around to explore the Car Show for all of its glory. Now keep in mind that I am in no way, shape or form a car person. I just own a car. But some of the cars I saw really caught my attention with the way that they were designed physically as well as the artistic qualities they had. To my surprise, many people came up to me (mostly dudes) and were baffled by the fact that I was by myself. Again, I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to check out something new. With that said, I continued looking at cars, collecting some free items along the way such as t-shirts, cozies, lanyards, etc. I ended up even getting a custom vinyl decal for my car...can you guess what it was?
By the time it hit mid-afternoon, I ran into a fellow media production friend Jake as well as my good friend Jason, who also happened to be working the event with Live Wire Media. Finally having a friend at the event, I was able to talk about how I wasn't originally there for the cars, but for the possibility of seeing Mýa perform in the evening. I was eventually invited to the VIP section of the event, hanging out with some cool people I had just met, as well as got to meet a few staff of the OC 104 radio station. I couldn't believe that I had met DJ STR8 UP, Tenacious Cubed, and the Hip Hop Coffee Shop himself, Bill Baker. I was thrilled to be able to be hanging out with one of my favorite stations on Delmarva.
Remember how I said I was by myself earlier? That really did come in handy at this point...
Dreams Come True
With some miraculous twist of fate, I was actually allowed access to go into Mýa's dressing room and meet her! My elementary school self was going crazy inside! She was so nice and friendly, and she had no problem posing for a picture or two. Most celebrities aren't usually willing to let me stick around after taking a picture, but she was so cool that I was actually able to have a full-on conversation with her! I told her how I bought her album Moodring when I was little and how I got it taken away from me when I was younger from my parents and she laughed. We kept talking and we got onto the topic of nose piercings and how I knew that she had one and that I had just removed mine as well. She actually told me that she had a fake I.D. and got hers done when she was 16 years old. You go girl!
Eventually we kept talking about her music in regards to her new E.P. Sweet XVI and about her song "Super Woman", as well as her role in Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights. I told her that her eye makeup reminded me of my Brasilian roots and she smiled. We kept talking for what seemed like a while but it was merely a brief 5 minute conversation. I eventually asked to get a snapchat with her, in which she simply replied, "selfie!" It was definitely a huge fangirl moment for me as she laughed (AGAIN!) when I took the photo. I couldn't even begin to tell you how much I respect her for being so incredibly cool and sweet to give me an opportunity for me to talk to her and show her that I truly appreciate the music she makes and the beautiful person she is.
Super Woman
As her personnel and I walked Mýa to the stage (I still can't believe I was there), I exchanged a few last words and she took the stage. Fortunately I was able to actually stand backstage and take some pictures and video clips of her performance with my friend Natasha, who was also working the event. It was a performance of many of her hits, as well as a wonderful cover of Robin Thicke's "Lost Without You". As she introduced the next song, she said that someone had made a "request" backstage to play one of her new songs, "Super Woman". As much as I don't like putting myself on a pedestal, I couldn't help but wonder if she was referring back to our conversation when I mentioned that song. I don't believe anyone else had talked about her playing that song that night, and she was talking to me for a good amount of time for me to even bring up that song, so I'd like to think I was the person she was referring to that "requested" her to play that song!
The last song she performed was "Lady Marmalade", which was a single she was in with Pink, Lil' Kim, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott. She sang all of the parts in the song, and it was cool seeing her embrace that song all by herself. After that song, she left the stage and eventually got escorted away. Even though my phone had died at that point, I saw all that I wanted to see.
A day later, I am able to say that I was incredibly lucky yesterday. Either my karma was really good, or fate brought me to stick around Ocean City a little bit longer, and thank goodness I did. I was able to not only check out a totally new event in OC, but do so by myself. Sometimes it's a good thing to be able to venture out on your own and learn about new things. Not only did I have fun looking at the cool cars, but I had wonderful people that allowed me to experience meeting one of my favorite musical artists from my childhood. I guess you can say that everything happens for a reason, and I believe it fully.
Oh, and you're probably wondering about that selfie right? If you missed it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, I'll just leave it right here for you to see. Have you got any pictures or selfies with anyone famous in your lifetime? I know the word "selfie" hasn't been around for long, but there are only a few people who will let you take that extra step and make your day.
Even if it's just posing for a picture.
I'll never forget this day. Thank you Mýa for making it the BEST!
