So… Shawn tweeted this thing a few days ago about this #IlluminateEvent thingy for different places around the United States in Canada. Some got a listening party where they got to listen to the album early but other places like New York, Toronto and LA get to actually meet Shawn at the popup store!

I only had two classes today, since one of my classes was cancelled yesterday (which was Wednesday). So my Mom let me go by cab so I could get there early and be one of the first 125 people in line. They had the same thing yesterday, where only 125 people will be getting wristbands to meet Shawn this Friday. So right after school, I left for the city around 111:30am. I got there around 12:15 or so because there was some traffic but I still got there pretty quickly.

There was a lady handing out sticky notes with numbers on them and those numbers were your place in line and I was number 41 and I couldn’t have been more happy. Because for those who had sticky notes, other people weren’t allowed to cut the line for those have been waiting hours before the shop actually opened. I guess they learned  there lesson when people were lined up yesterday, trying to be the first 125 to get wristbands like today.

But from what I heard, since one of my online friends was there, she said it was chaotic. People kept cutting in line and skipping people and she was one of a few people that didn’t get a wristband. She wasn’t too disappointed since she was going to try the next day (which was today, aka Thursday.) I was so happy they were doing it for two days because they know how many fans are in NYC.

So I was waiting in line since 12 o’clock and the store wasn’t opening until 5. But I liked how calm, cool and organized this event was. It was definitely the most organized thing I’ve ever been too because some people like to cut and don’t like to stay in one spot and always want to be with their friends in line and it would be possible to loose your place no matter how early you got there.

But I feel like every event should be like this one. Everyone was so nice and lovely and we all kept our spots in line because of our numbers that we had in our hands. My friends came a little later but they were #61 and #73. I was just reading and reading and going on my phone, even though it was slowly dying because I didn’t charge my portable chargers. (But I’m charging them tonight so I don’t have to worry about it tomorrow.)

The popup shop was so cute on the outside though. It had Illuminate written on the window along with the different song names from Shawn’s new album. It was around 4:30 when they started actually handing out wristbands but once you got inside, someone took down names on a computer that you would use for Friday so you are able to meet Shawn when he comes in that day.

I was just so excited I finally got the wristband, I didn’t really care much for anything else. I still can’t believe I’m meeting Shawn tomorrow! I’ll talk about it in my next post that I will probably post over the weekend. But the shop inside was really cute. It had lyrics written on the wall and they were playing music from speakers, which were some of Shawn’s new songs and I was like fangirling and freaking out on the inside because my Dad was there and I was trying to stay calm, cool and collected, even though I secretly wasn’t.

Then I got my merch  and I wanted to get the hoodie and the t-shirt because they were limited merch just for this event and for the album so I had to get both and you also had to buy the CD so it can go along with the wristband so you could meet Shawn the next day.

The CD was $15, the tee shirt was $30 and the hoodie was $50. It was so expensive but sooo worth it. So I’ll have another post about the meet and greet, the q and a, live-stream and performance later this weekend! It’s going to be so much fun and I’m so excited and I met so many new friends today, tomorrow is going to be just as awesome! ALSO BUY ILLUMINATE TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT, YOU WON’T REGRET IT!!! :D.

Here are some pics I took of the popup shop below! Also tell me in the comments if you ever met Shawn, seen him live and whats your favorite song of his! I just can’t wait for his new album and all the songs on the new album are probably going to be my new faves but anyways, here are the pics! 🙂

–Zoe ❤