color me contented: LONDON LETTERS: mumford&sons. huddersfield.

the day has arrived. today i will see marcus mumford & sons in the flesh. hear their voices. feel the thumping of the bass, the strum of the banjo. today is the day my ridiculous birthday present happens.

and today i can't sleep past 4:30am.

it's cold. i keep checking my phone watching the minutes crawl by. the sun's already out... is it really only 4:30? i think maybe my phone didn't adjust to the time change... where's my watch? 4:30... is it really that light out? pull back the curtains... yes, the sun is up at 4:30 in the morning. and it's cold. freezing. our window is covered in a layer of dewy moisture because our heater doesn't work. i need to sleep a little longer...

5:30 still need to sleep longer...
... zzzzz
6:00 seriously, it's only been a 1/2 hr. dear stefani, sleep looooonger.
... zzzzzz
6:45 check facebook, instagram, read a little bit of pride and prejudice on my iphone...
... zzzz
7:20 what time does the breakfast buffet open?? what time does it close? i don't want slim pickings... maybe we should go at the beginning. how can casey still be sleeping? itʻs full-on daylight out there... this is crazy. in 12 hrs. i'll be watching Mumford & Sons live in england. i'm crazy. this is crazy. i need more sleep.
... z
7:30 i'm taking a shower. and then i'm waking up casey. maybe i'll lay out our outfits first. and do my hair and make-up and all that.

8:00 i'm waking up casey.

we just had our first english breakfast... eggs, beans, bacon (but not like american bacon), sausage (but not like american sausage), and there was the continental all-you-can eat bar where we grabbed a couple croissants and fruit&yogurt bowls, maybe some frosted flakes too. oh and complimentary hot cocoa... mmmmm. tummies full, it's time to find markers and posterboard to make "the sign".

"the sign" has been part of the plan all along. i mean, how i am going to get on stage with Mumford & Sons if they don't know i exist? and how can i let them know i exist when they're on stage and i'm down with the huge sea of audience peoples? and what would get their attention?

a poster.

a poster exhibiting the fact that we have flown, literally, to the other side of the world to see them perform live in their home country. HI2UK12, that was my catchphrase/hashtag for the trip... Hawaii to United Kingdom in 2012 - HI2UK12. big deal, right? like seriously, big deal. so hereʻs the plan... find a spot near the front, close to the stage. hoist the sign at the perfect time when Marcus will see it, read it, and say something like, "oh really, you flew all the way from Hawaii to hear us?! that's brilliant! come on up here!" (make sure you read that in a british accent...) then we'll chit-chat on stage, he'll ask what i do back in hawaii, "oh i teach piano."

"oh so you're a musician? you ever play any of our songs?"

"yah! i did 'the cave' at the spring recital last year, and i've done 'awake my soul'. y'all are amazing!!"

"well, how about we do one together, whadya say?"

and that's how it's all gonna pan out. so i need to find a store that sells markers and posterboard so i can make a sign. the sign. and would you believe that Staples is in the UK?! (no wonder Dunder Mifflin never stood a chance... michael scott? the office? anyone... bueller... ) we made the sign right there at checkout... took up an entire register area to do it.

next stop: Huddersfield. Greenhead Park.

drive. park. pay for parking. find bathroom. find venue. arrival time: 2ish. Mumford & Sons goes on just before 9. in the interim: stroll around Huddersfield.

eat fish and chips.

man these are good fish and chips. and i had a coke too. but coke is coke no matter where you are... do you see these fish and chips?? amazing... greasy. and amazing. i don't know how they got a chunk of fish that big!

oh look, a cute little random man smiling at me from his front step. *click click

and back to the festival...

buy tshirts. check.

look at the booths... they all sell different brews of beer. no hot cocoa. check.

find a good spot. check.

hmmm... the stage is well guarded. there's no way to access it from the audience area. like, there's the audience, then a fence, then security guards, then the stage. all stairs and stage access are backstage. my plan can't work... they can't call me up on stage. it's literally impossible. and i never came up with a plan B.

plan B: have casey hold our spot and i'll go be all chatty with the security guard that's at the backstage access area. tell her our story... get in.

i approach the security guard... female. in her 40s. looks nice.

smile. smile big.

i tell our story... flew allthewayfromhawaii because we adore Mumford & Sons, young parents first time away from kids, fellow musicians, we love England, Yorkshire sure is beautiful...

"no, love. but good on you for trying!" (everybody calls everybody 'love', it's great.)

then Ben walks by.

Ben, the pianist/keyboardist for Mumford & Sons.

walks right by me. like less than 2 ft. from me.

and i walk back to Casey, tell him the bad news, but that i saw Ben. i point to Ben. "see, he's right over there?"

"well, why don't we go say hi to him?" says Casey.

duh. of course.

so we did.

me: "we flew all the way from Hawaii to see you guys!"

ben: "why?!"

me: "because you're amazing! inspiring! some of the best music i've ever heard!"

ben: "wow, well are you enjoying the festival?"

me and case: words of affirmation.

we said something else... i'm not sure what it was. it was surreal. then we walked away, and someone attacked him for a picture, and i realized we didn't get a picture. so we did.

my one regret: i should've said, "can we come backstage and meet everybody?"

i'm sure he would have said yes. oh well... HI2UK13! jk jk

after several hours in some drizzly rain, which was awesome by the way, the time came. and this guy came to the stage to announce the band...