Last week, my new year karma got a kickstart with a surprise call from Mix 107.3 announcing that I’d won their contest to meet Buckcherry in NYC. After the requisite on-air shrieking (and after the shock wore off) I immediately set about finding a friend who could be coerced into blowing off work for two days. And who could do it on really short notice: the call came on Tuesday afternoon, and we were Big Apple bound on Thursday.

With that sorted, I was free to devote my time to strategizing for my upcoming meeting with the band. I mean, meeting a rock star or two or five is every gal’s dream. I read through everyone’s bio on the website, listened to tracks from the new album, and fretted over what to wear. Being in PR, I debated whether I should prepare talking points. As the time for our appointed meeting drew closer, I found myself second guessing everything. Funky red glasses, or contacts? Lots of black eyeliner – or minimal makeup? Jeans or skirt?

At last we arrived, and, in spite of a prime location directly above Penn Station, the radio station where the band would be playing was pretty unassuming. We took our seats, Josh and Stevie D. from Buckcherry played a couple acoustic pieces (including “Sorry,” which might be the best song for getting a girl back…ever) and then it was off to line up to get our pictures taken. Smile. Click. Done.

I did get to shake hands with the guys, which was cool. In fact, Stevie D. had a two-handed grip that would make any politician proud and, when I thanked him for coming, looked me in the eyes and said, “No, thank you – you - for coming.”

You gotta hand it to ‘em, the guys are smooth.

And if there’s a moral to be gleaned from all this, it’s not to overthink things too much, because chances are, once you’re in the thick of it, all your carefully laid plans will no longer be relevant.

So what do you say to a rock star? Not much, because you won’t have time for more than “hi.”