EVEN BETTER

How does Carrie Underwood in concert compare to Carrie Underwood on television, YouTube or your favorite iDevice? Even better, dude.

The idea to go to Australia began in April when I happened upon Carrie Underwood’s tour schedule, curious to know if she would be coming anywhere near Asia. I was pleased to see the words “first international tour” displayed across the page, but later learned the term turned out to mean that Carrie would be singing in two countries: Australia and the U.K. I was not so sure that qualified as an international tour, but I was still interested.

“Australia is pretty close,” I thought to myself as I skimmed the schedule. “I would love to see Melbourne, and that seems to be the closest destination. Done.” And then I saw that while in Sydney, Carrie would be performing at the Opera House, and that immediately changed my mind. A Carrie Underwood concert and an opportunity to sit inside the famous Sydney Opera House? I. Am. In.

Step 1: Find a friend willing to fly to Sydney and accompany me to a Carrie Underwood concert. Done. Thanks, Nic.

Step 2: Mark on the calendar the date the tickets go on sale. Done.

Step 3: Convert the on-sale time to Singapore time and then set an alarm 30 minutes prior to ensure that I would be online and ready with credit card in hand in time for the sale. Done.

Step 4: Get up on time/early the morning of the sale and get ready.

I was on the phone with my mom the moment the tickets went on sale, but I did not let our conversation distract me from my goal – to get two amazing seats inside the Opera House. It did not take long for my mom to realize that she became second interest and decided to let me go so I could focus on my obvious priority.

I ran into a few issues when I tried to select my preferred seats. I was able to select my own seats but, by the time I hit “purchase tickets,” the seats were no longer available. Stupidly, I tried again. After the third wasted time, I gave up and just hit “best seats available.” That worked. I was able to get two seats near the center of the first balcony, which was just great for me. (Once inside, Nicola and I both agreed they were great seats.) Debit card information entered and approved. Done.

Now, did you catch the missing step? Find a friend, mark the sale date on the calendar, set the alarm, get prepared, purchase the tickets… I missed a step in there – which is why a week or so later I heard Paul yelling from the back room, “Hey, where is this Carrie Underwood concert?”

Yes, I was a horrible wife who bought the tickets before asking my husband or discussing the possibility of a trip outside the country. I figured the opportunity was too good to pass up and that if I ended up not going for any reason, I would just sell the tickets on eBay or something. So, with my tail between my legs, I slowly meandered down the hall and we had the discussion.

Luckily, he did not divorce me over concert tickets and he gave me his blessing before my departure.

Good thing, too, because Carrie was amazing. Just go to YouTube, search “Carrie Underwood How Great Thou Art” and watch her performance on Girls Night Out. Amazing does not even begin to describe the talent.