Beverly Hills

Hey! Remember that time
I went to Los Angeles for a concert??

Me toooo!!

And I've finally recouped and edited the photos to share with you all!

I absolutely love to travel! There's something fresh and adventurous and unknowing about it. Sometimes I embark on adventures and they're silly. Like late night excursions in unsafe neighborhoods. So, over the years, I've learned to run things by a couple of people who ask me questions that will help me map out some safe boundaries for my wild excursions, you know, so I don't get into some crazy unwarranted bad endings. So I planned a bunch of things out, and set out on my trip to Los Angeles to see the last show on the Something Corporate 2010 Reunion tour!!!

The ride down took about a day-and-a-half and I slept through most of it. One of the most interesting things to do on the bus is to listen and watch. I got to watch a bus of strangers bond over the ride down. I also got to hear a story about a woman who had just gotten out of prison after 9 and a half years. She shared about life inside bars and how hard it was her to adjust to the current world after spending so much time separated from it. It always brings perspective to my life to listen to stories that others are willing share. After time spent thinking, writing, and sleeping, I finally made it safe and sound to LA.

When I first got there, I hopped on the subway and headed to Hollywood Boulevard, so I could get close to the meet-up location and to get some much needed coffee.



I spent the morning walking down the Walk of Fame and checking out some of the local shops that were open.



Adam and Amanda S., friends of mine who attended Metroplex MC, came to see me at Starbucks and we got to just sit and talk and reflect on our lives and how happy we are to be where we are. We shared memories of MC life and stories about things going on in our lives currently. It was so refreshing to be able to hang out with them!


And as an added bonus, they treated me to lunch at In-N-Out!! It was SOOO delicious!! While we were at In-N-Out, Lisa K. met up with us and we talked about California and Seattle for a bit and then just talked about all sorts of random things.


After Adam and Amanda left, Lisa and I walked back up to Hollywood Boulevard and had a long, honest talk about some important things we were both dealing with. It didn't go quite the way I would have liked it to, but sometimes even in talking with friends, you just have to speak your peace and hope for the best. A little while later, we were joined by Jana and Barry B. and little baby Rowan!


We spent the afternoon walking around the Grove talking about a bunch of random things and then had dinner at Johnny Rockets (Thanks to Lisa for buying me dinner!!) where I realized that my recent cravings for chicken nuggets/strips is kind of getting out of control. Ha! They're definitely a comfort food. After dinner, Jana and Barry graciously offered me a ride to the venue so we could spend more time together—which I am incredibly thankful for!

The funny thing is, when we pulled up to the Club Nokia area at LA Live, we noticed red carpets and such and I had NO idea what they were there for. Well you know, turns out it was for The Emmys, which were happening the next day! Duh! And I didn't even take any pictures—what was I thinking???? :/

Once I was in the venue, I got to make friends with a woman who sat in the VIP section, as well as the security guard in that section. Because of that, I was able to sit in the VIP section for FREEEEEE!!! And THAT was awesome!! I was about 3 rows away from where Andrew McMahon's (the lead singer of Something Corporate) parents were sitting and I got to watch them sing along and dance to the music!


The security guard kindly let me move around the VIP area to get different angles for pictures. For the first song (which you can see in the video below) there was a light blinding me in that area that I hadn't noticed until I started recording. But then just after I finished recording and was headed back to my original area, he said I couldn't film. He said he wouldn't take my camera away, but I should probably just stick with taking photos. After moving back to my seat, I had SUCH a great view and I LOVED singing and dancing with all the fans around me! The set was SO good and they even played an extra long set because it was their last show. Andrew was full of energy and made the experience so fun with his wild piano stomping and sweet stories behind the songs.





Toward the end of the set, we were all treated to a beautiful rendition of the longest Something Corporate song, KONSTANTINE. It was beautiful and Andrew's voice was amazing. I even teared up a few times because of the beautiful sounds coming from the piano.


One of my favorite things about going to live music shows is that it encourages and inspires me to continue writing—to express myself creatively through words. After the show, I went to the nearby Starbucks and sat down to write. There were so many thoughts and emotions that needed processing after my trip down and I was glad I got to just get them all out of my head and onto paper.


All in all, it was a GREAT trip for me and I'm entirely grateful that I did it! It fed my adventurous side and indulged my love for travel, all while giving me some MUCH NEEDED time to catch up with old friends!

To Lisa, Barry, Jana, Adam and Amanda:
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP!