MARStricht 2011

Date: May 28th, 2011.
Time: 1 pm
Place: Maastricht, the Netherlands. Central station
Expected people joining: 14
Mission: Make Maastricht aware of the amazing band 30 Seconds to Mars, spam the entire city with posters, stickers and spray wals with (washable) graffiti. Promote the upcoming performance on Pinkpop. And smile while doing it!


I don't know why I begin this blog like this, but it sounded fun in my head... If it bores you before the actual story even begins.... WHERE THE HELL IS YOUR IMAGINATION PERSON??!!

Alright seriously!
Us Echelon got together in the lovely city of Maastricht in the South of the Netherlands this May to do some promo.






After everyone had arrived we grabbed something to eat/drink and set up the game plan.











Stickers, posters, tape and a can of spray paint were handed out and off we went!
Since Maastricht is kinda devided into 2 areas, we split up into 2 groups!
Let's make this town aware of the Echelon and what it is they do: Promote a band called 30 Seconds to Mars!











We made the place look pretty, and maybe, we adjusted a few already pimped poles

:-D









We even were kind enough to leave a little present on peoples' transportation! :p Don't worry, no harm was done to any objects!











We even took the opportunity to form a cute little human TRIAD! (anyone notice the fact that, without a dresscode, everyone is in black?! Weird...)







After discovering a way too inviting wall, it was attacked with plenty of stickers and posters... After dinner though, we found out someone had been kind enough to glue posters all over the friggin' wall! All over our promo!!! So what do we do, true Mars Army that we are... Re-decorated the wall! BIG TIME!!!






Ofcourse no personal porperty was tagged, or did we make a mess! We kindly dropped our waste in bins all across town!








This, I'm proud to say, was our second and greatest result of decorating a wall that was asking to be decorated! We were watched while doing it, apparantly the guys working at the restaurant nearby had never seen a group of people deticated to music this much! But that's just what we are!!! ;)

All in all, it had been a great day and another succesfull promo! Anyone get to Maastricht after May 28th and saw some of the cookie crumbs we left??? There was a lot, so I'm pretty sure it's still there ;)

I'm sure we made the guys proud! Thank you to everyone who showed up and thank you to everyone who brought plenty of promo stuff! I'd say: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! ;)

The big 5-0 BDay party!

A very special Echelon get together this time!!!
We all came together at Charley's place to celebrate her 50th birthday!!!

This amazing woman is probably the most inspirational person in our family! What a great person! She had one of her hips replaced just a few weeks before, but the trooper she is, the party had to continue!





Charley got us some delicious treats!!! We were pretty naughty while eating these babies! Yes, I'm admitting it on behalf of all of us! :-D






Time for prezzies!!!














I think it's safe to say, she didn't expect such gorgeous presents!!! Marianne got creative with some amazing scrapping and we all made a big card for her and made it possible for her to go to a festival this summer without feeling guilty ;) You deserve it sis!





After the presents we had one more beautiful surprise for Charley. We all sneeked out to prepare these





When we felt the lanterns were ready to be lifted into the air, we called Charley out to join us!





What a great idea, these lanterns. All kudo's to Nancy for this one ;) Charley was absolutely gobsmacked, and one look in her eyes told me, she was a happy woman!
We lifted the lanterns in the air and didn't take our eyes off of them untill they were all burned up!




We went back inside and the fun continued! Some snacks, some good talks and above all, some good bonding once more!


A bond never to be broken, I hope!



Us with all the creative gifts and big smiles on our faces! Don't you agree that this family portrait looks damn good?!!




Alright alright! We do fool around from time to time! Keeps us young and happy ;) GOOFY AS A GOOSE!!!







It sure was a great party! We had a nice breakfast the next day and kept the fun going! Ended the day with a movie and some great chinese food! Still amazes me, how one little band brought us all so close together! Going strong for almost a year now ladies! And bro ;) I'm proud of you and I'm very proud of our guys!

San Francisco trip 2011

"Wow! I can't believe you're gonna do this!"
"I'm so proud of you, finally seeing more of the world!"
"San Francisco? That's far! Awesome!"
"I'm so jealous! WIsh I could come too..."

Some of the things I heard a lot of people say after I told them that I was gonna go to San Francisco in 2 months!
Everything was planned in no time and I was really glad that 2 gals I know were gonna come with me!

Early flight from Dusseldorf to Paris on monday morning April 4th! My mother dropped Patti, Nancy and myself off at Dusseldorf airport and off we went!











Pumped as we were, we couldn't wait to get this trip started! The flight to Paris went perfect. Short and sweet ;) Before we knew it, we were landing!





In Paris we had time for a visit to the bathroom and Nancy had time for a cigarette and then it was time for the long flight straight to San Francisco!
We were pretty jammed, I thought we'd have more space. But it went pretty good. We were able to get up and walk around a little. We got more food then we'd normally eat in a day! And enjoyed some views no and then when we spotted a free window!










11 hours of flying is a very long time! I can tell you that much. There were moments where I thought time stood still! We had a few chats on the plane, got some tips from a lady who lives in SF and that helped kill time a little.
But finally we were gonna land! I think we were all willing to kiss the ground after landing :p







The weather upon arrival was gorgeous!!! We met up with Carol at the airport, shared a cab and met Karen and Lisa-Marie standing outside our hotel. Hotel TOMO! In Japantown!













Good hotel, good location, friendly staff and the rooms were perfect too! We only had to get used to the poorly flushing toilet... Let's just say that was interesting :p
We put up some banners, picked beds and we felt home!
A quick fresening up, picked up Carol, Karen and Lisa-Marie from their room and went into town!
Enjoyed some views and ended up havening ANOTHER meal at the Cheesecake Factory!




















We dropped by at the Hilton San Francisco too! Tomo was a bit more modest, but Nancy and I can now say, we DID sleep at a Hilton hotel people!!! :p














We were exhausted, from all the flying and the eating so we went back after dinner, took a shower and as soon as my face felt the pillow I fell fast asleep! I slept like a baby!



The next day we went for a beautiful and long walk through San Fran! What a beautiful city! Gorgeous buildingsa dn amazing scenery!
We stopped for a little drink in the sun near the beach. The temperature was great and the skies were gorgeous blue. It was just a little windy ;)








We continued our walk along the beach and let's be honest... You can't leave San Francisco without posing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge!



That's as close as I got personally. Patti took a bike ride up and down the bridge later. Brave woman! :-D





After our long walk (we walked toward the Walt Disney museum too, but it turned out to be closed in tuesdays...) we hopped on a bus and went to Ashbury Haight! A fun, hippy-like street with great shops and great food!




Some of you might already know and the rest will hear it now: I love Ben & Jerry's!!! Adore them! Hate them too, but love them above all :p
So we stopped for 2 delicious scoops of Ice cream at this cute little Ben & Jerry's shop! We, later that day, heard that that could've just been the very first Ben & Jerry's shop ever! YUM!
















After hearing from quite a few people that the Castro was worth a visit too, we decided to hop on a bus and head towards this place everybody was talking about!
We had no idea what it was, but we knew we just had to stop there for a quick visit!







We had a great time!!! Did some shopping at a non-profit store that donated towards many charities. Great aditude! We had a drink at Starbucks, watched a guy offering free massages! With restaurants called "the Sausage factory" a store called "Does your mother know?" (can you imagine the kind of store that was? ;) ) and a bar called "Moby Dick" we had the time of our lives! Ended up having a few drinks at Moby Dick and we walked into a guy who did a lot of the traveling we had done too! He even had the same burrito just a few hours before us in Ashbury Haith! Was a great guy!










It was a fun and breath taking day! So, satisfied we went back to our hotel and again, I slept perfectly!

The next day we had planned a trip to Alcatraz! It was another sunny day and we hopped on the boat towards the Rock!










It was very interesting and impressive! That's not a place you wanna be locked up in! Especially with a view of the city!
Again, there was a lot of wind, but that's to be expected on the water ;)








Patti rented a bike, and Nancy and myself walked back towards Union Square through China Town. Had something to eat at a Dim Sum place. Tasted really good... For a while :s haha!
Nancy and I went shopping at Macy's and bought matching shirts ;)
After that we met up with Patti and called it a day!

The next morning Nancy and I decided to get up early, grab coffee at Starbucks and stroll around a little.





We had to, like so many things you just HAVE to do, take a Cable ride towards our next location!







We went to Fisherman's Warf, since we hadn't checked that out properly yet!
Did some more shopping. Stepped into the most amazing and interesting restaurant I had ever seen! Big fish tanks, Gorrila's, elephants, frogs... It truely was a rainforrest! Although we didn't eat there, we did enjoy spending some time there!













We walked on towards Pier 39, had some recommended mini donuts from Trish's Dishes and went to visit the sea lions!
Hopped on the bus, to go back to the Castro and we made our own damn burger at Harvey's! It was delicious! Had another quick drink at Moby Dick and then went back to the hotel! We had a concert to look forward to now and Patti was gonna drive us all to San Jose!
We rented a car and did some sight seeing!












I told ya it was a beautiful place! The views from the car were amazing, but we stopped to watch this view in person ;) Wondeful!

If you wanna know how the show in San Jose and the Meet and Greet with 30 Seconds to Mars was, just read my previous blog ;)

After this show, we said goodbye to Karen and Lisa-Marie, cuz they were flying back home the next day! We never hung out as much as we should have, but the time we did spend together was fun ;)



After the show it was a short sleep and shower before heading towards the airport and fly to LA! In LA we also rented a car and drove through Santa Monica, passed the Hollywood sign and ended up at Universal Studio's for another MARS gig! Again, more about that in my previous blog!












Here we had some more fun with Carol, before we said goodbye to her too. She was gonna fly back home from LA the next day!


It was exhausting. We drove back towards LAX, tried to sleep a little on the ground (no succes) and flew back to San Francisco at 6 am! Took a shower and packed our bags. Patti tried to sleep a little and Nancy and I went for a bagel at Safeway before we checked out and got to the airport AGAIN, this time to fly back home!





Tired and sad to leave a great place like this, we checked-in, boarded and flew back towards Paris. We had more space than the flight from Paris, but we were SO tired that apart from eating our meals, we slept the entire flight! That's the way to do it though!!! Time flies when you're asleep!!! ;)


This was a trip of a lifetime!!!
Thank you to Patti and Nancy for coming with me! It made it even more fun!!!
*winks at Nancy* you know we're coming back next year! Can't forget this amazing country and I can't wait to visit it again soon!

I've learned to live my life and follow my dreams and I sure hope that everybody learnes to do that too if they're not already! And go visit SF if you get the chance! It's so worth it. Great climate, gorgeous scenerees and very friendly people!

Mars in San Jose and Los Angeles

"I'm not gonna travel half way across the world to watch a band that I have seen several times last year!"

To be honest, that was the first thing that came out of my fingers (since I typed it on twitter I think) when my London friends asked me to join them to a 30 Seconds to Mars show in the states!
It would cost me a fortune I figured, and it's not like I never had the opportunity to see them live before! They came to Europe, better yet, the Netherlands themselves...
But turning the whole thing into a week in San Francisco and then ending it with a show in San Jose did sound great! San Francisco is one of those places I've always wanted to visit anyways!
After some thoughts I decided to just go for it! Do something crazy for once and enjoy all my possiblities as a young, single woman! I can do pretty much whatever I wanna do right now, so why am I not doing it?!
Not only was I gonna meet up with my friends from the UK, within a few days, 2 of my Dutch Echelon sistahs told me they were gonna come with me!!!




We were gonna stay at hotel TOMO (you can imagine that when we found out about a hotel called Tomo, we stopped looking for another hotel) in San Francisco for 6 nights. Exploring San Fran and driving to San Jose for the gig and back! It didn't take too long for me to also decide that I was gonna buy a GT just like my UK sistahs did! If you're gonna do it, you might aswell do it right!
I was gonna go to the states, stay in one of the most amazing places in the world and finally MEET my favorite band! And all of this with some of the great people I met because of the band!

To make things even better (yes, it was possible) MARS announced another show in Los Angeles, the day after San Jose!!! Initially we thought we'd drive up and down, but then decided flying would take us a lot less time!!! Didn't buy GT's for that show, cuz I figured it is one of those 'one time things', but we bought seeting tics!

Both shows were amazing, and after a few gigs in Europe, it was great to see the guys all excited to be back home! I enjoyed it A LOT! The most special part was hearing ALIBI full band in San Jose. If you know me, you know how much that particular song means to me! A little tear escaped during it... It was gorgeous!
























Though we bought a ticket that originally did say that it was including "early entree" we didn't get it! Well, we got 1/4 of the barrier... That sucked and I have to say I was really pissed about this, as was pretty much everybody else!
This crowd was very pushy, and it made me decide to step away from my 2nd row view eventually to be able to breathe and dry up a little! God I was sweaty from trying my best to stand my ground!




And then... This was the first time I was happy about the show being over, cuz it meant just one thing... MEET AND GREET!!!
We gathered and had some time to use the bathroom and freshen up a little... Re-doing my make-up wasn't gonna help, so I just cleaned myself a little and sprayed on a little perfume ;) Don't wanna be the stinky girl...

We all got our goody-bags and waited for the guys in a gym!
All of a sudded they were there! And Jared asked us how we were doing and if we enjoyed the show... DUH! I always do!!! When Jared asked if anybody had a question, no one came up with one!!! O_O Are they serious? I couldn't come up with a question either, cuz I didn't really have any, but silence wasn't gonna cut it for me! :p So I raized my hand and when the guys looked at me I just went: "I don't have a question, but I just wanna say THANK YOU FOR PLAYING ALIBI FULL BAND TONIGH!" Quite a few people agreed and after me, a lot more people started asking questions... Thank god!

Then the signing came, and they took their time to please everybody! The girl next to me wanted her leg signed... All I kept thinking was: "that's gonna wear off, soon! What a shame..." But I'm sure it meant a lot to her ;)
I had a card signed for my brother (cuz I now felt sorry he couldn't be there and miss out on this special moment) and I gave a card that I made for the guys as a graditude-thing to Shannon. He seemned really gratefull for it, and so did Jared when I told him what I gave Shannon. I sure hope they read it, cuz it came from my heart ;)

Then picture time!
Jared did say that he liked my shirt during the signing, but he really told me how much he liked it when I was standing next to him for the picture. I figured it would be: a "take-your-position,-flash,-and off you go" kind of thing... Not for me! Jared and I talked about the shirt for a while, while Shannon was making funny faces to the camera next to me!!! That guy is hylarious! Or it could've been the jetlag that got the better of him, I don't know. Looking back at the pictures, he sure cracked me up!
Tomo was a bit quied, tired I guess, but he did listen to what I was telling Jared. He seemned interested in what I was saying! Bless him!

I noticed that all this time pictures were taken and I had to make sure with the photographer that I was still gonna get a decent one! Me and my big mouth... Epic!




Eventually we did "strike a pose" together and the pic came out pretty good I think! They guys looked great and came across as ordinary people to me! Not once was I nervous, or did I feel like I was in a dream or whatever... Or maybe it's just me being sober when it comes to things like that :p I just had a great experience with the guys who's music makes me feel happy!
I'm really glad I did this, and even though I still think it should be a one time experience, I sure would love to share it once more with my brother!



Another THANK YOU to Jared, Shannon and Tomo and everybody else who makes this possible! It's an experience I will never forget, nor regret ;)

The glass half full?

It's been way too long since I last wrote a random blog, I know and I'm sorry.
So many things on my mind lately! Other things I seem to forget about sometimes...

I don't think I'm the only one who daydreams a lot. Who keeps thinking about all the things I'd love to have in life. How I would like to look and all the things I want to change about myself and my life...
And I hope I'm not the only one who thinks it's time to stop my daydreaming and do with the things I do have! Don't get me wrong, I will always have daydreams and hopes and sectret wishes, but I also need to realize that I have so many good things going for me right now!

You all know my whole diet experience... And believe me I would love to loose some more weight. One of my daydreams (I call them daydreams by the way 'cuz fantasies sound so obsessed I think) is having a body like Brooke Hogan... She's tall, like me and has a killer body with really all the right curves! But I also know the hard work it takes to have a body like that and I know myself good enough to know that I'm just too lazy! But it's time to tell myself how damn proud I am for the weight that I HAVE lost! Over 40 pounds!!! Although I'd love to loose about 20 more, it's time to look at myself and be happy about how I look now compared to 1,5 years ago!
That alone has changed my life for the better. I'm more secure about my body and more open to other people. Friendships above all!

I don't know if many know, I don't think so, but pretty much my entire teenage life I've been bullied. Mostly at school, but also going to school and going back home would be painful for me too. I'd hear someone call out something like "Hey, you're fat and ugly!" "Monster!" "Yeah I'd date you if I liked hippo's"... I could go on forever about how people have hurt me terribly with their words! How they, probably without knowing it, scarred and changed me for the rest of my life! How incredibly insecure I am, how suspicious I always am about people whispering, assuming it's me they're joking about. Waiting for the fat jokes, even from people I loved. They thought it was funny and meant no harm I'm sure, but they never knew how much it cut on the inside! Does anyone know how hurt I am? How I cry myself to sleep sometimes, or watch a love story and think that'll never happen to me because of my insecurities? Or how affraid I am of keeping people close, because they've betrayed me in the past? Nobody knows, and not everybody should know, but I need to get it out! Being bullied for nearly 5 years is one of the worst things a child can go through and it never stops hurting! It never leaves you and it never, ever gets any better!
I lost my weight for ME, and absolutely no one else, don't get me wrong! But if I could see those people, everyone who called me fat or ugly in the past and show them the me now... What I'd give to see their faces!
I know losing more weight and keeping it off will be a battle for the rest of my life. It will be MY battle! I just hope I'm strong enough to keep up the fight though...

I eventually reached out to a therapist when I was 17! When you feel that the people you used to talk to are either fed up with it, or just don't know what to do to stop your pain and tears, it might be the best thing to do. And I was glad I reached out to someone else, because my parents saw way too much of my pain and just didn't know what to do anymore. My mother was hurt, having a daughter depressed and hurt all the time. And my dad was tired of hearing the same things over and over and just wanted me to do something about it! He felt frustrated not being able to help me, and thought I was the only one who could help myself! I never really had friends to turn to. I'm glad I agreed to "talk to someone". It's nothing to be ashamed of! A therapist looks at places you never even thought about! They help you! She helped me! I'm glad I talked to one, it was kind of a first step in the right direction.

Not just losing weight and talking about my pain has changed my life for the better. But music has changed my life too! I've always been able to escape into music and another daydream of mine is to be an artist! If only I could sing... I'd give anything to have a voice like Pink, Alicia Keys or Adele... But I don't have it, so all I can do is be passionate about the music made by others, and have them speak for me!
Eminem does so! I feel his anger. He knows what it's like to be bullied. Maybe not in the same way I was bullied but he knows! His songs make me feel like I'm not alone! It's the music Pink makes, how she feels a woman should be and how I couldn't agree more! I aprreciate people who speak the truth, their own thruth or that of the world in their songs!
How 30 Seconds to Mars has changed my life! (yeah THAT band again)
I'm not obsessed. Those who think I am, just don't get it and don't really know me at all. The people who laugh or give me that "WTF-look" when I tell them that my tattoo stands for this band. How rediculous they find it that I not only go to as many shows as possible, I also travel halfway across the world to see them perform and FINALLY meeting them! Paying so much money to have a so called "Meet and Greet" with some band.... Wrong! I have a Meet and Greet with people who's music speaks for me! It's my life they sing about! It's all these feelings and frustrations inside of me that I can't word out. This band does it for me! If there's any music out there that I can escape into completely, it's 30 Seconds to Mars without a single doubt!
Not only the music though, but the people that have come along with it! The people you meet waiting in line for a concert all day. These are the people that understand me. They feel the same way. This band has changed their lives! It kept me going when I felt like giving up! (diet wise, don't worry) It gave me the opportunity to be myself and open up to other people, a whole group of people with the same interests and beliefs. My new group of friends! I keep in touch with them every single day! They know I'm not obsessed, I'm passionate. I've found a passion in my life and it's a band and the group of fans with it! I honestly don't know how my life would be like now without them!

There are so many dreams I still have! I still want that killer body, I still wanna be a singer, I want to fall in love like they do in love stories. Have a big house, no financial worries and 3 beautiful and healthy children! Don't we all?!
But I've decided to look at my life half full!
I look better then I ever did, I feel happy because of it! I haven't been called fat OR ugly in years and I don't feel like I am those words anymore either!
I have a passion in life and friends that truely understand me! I'm healthy and have found lust for life! I travel, meet new people, go to concerts and festivals... These are exactly the things you wouldn't see me do 2 years ago! I'd stay at home, in front of the tv and be safe...
I might not have found my so called "mr. Right" yet and part of me believes I'm waiting for the right one. But I'm not desperate for it anymore either! I love the life I have now! All the fun and friends I have. The relationship with my entire family. Beacuse they see how I've changed for the better. How I've blossomed! And ofcourse my health! Whatever is missing, I'm sure will come along!

I don't need someone else to love me for who I am...

I need ME to love me for who I am!