Is it so wrong that they make me strong?

McKenzie & I's 4th row One Direction show in Baltimore on August 8th, 2015 was completely amazing!!!!! It was right up there with our front row show last year, in fact, it was even a very close 2nd...almost tied! Our seats were actually just as good, and at times even better! We were in the farthest section to the left, just like last year, but unlike last year, we were at the far right of our section! Last year we were as far left as you can be. There were only 4 seats going across our section, which was nice. And they had the barriers right up against the stage, and the seating starting just a few feet back from that. Last year, the barricade was really far back, as well as the seats, so with all of that combined, we were just as close! That was such a pleasant surprise! I had absolutely no trouble seeing, except when this one girl would hold up her sign...a lot! We actually were even a bit closer than last year when they were performing in the middle of stage. Harry and Niall favored our side of the stage. They all came over at least once, but those 2 came to the very end of it A LOT... it was SO cool!! They were SO close!!! It took a while for that to set it. For a while, I just kinda felt like I was watching them on tv or something, and then I would just concentrate on getting seen, but then it like hit me all of the sudden: they are RIGHT THERE, right on front of me! This is not tv! And I totally geeked out and looked them all up and down to help it sink in! Hahaha. But, I'm getting a little ahead of myself... let me start from the beginning. I got off work 2 hours early on Friday so we could head down to Baltimore. We got a hotel, which was actually a freaking Hilton! That just happened to be the cheapest, not crappy, hotel we could find, go figure! I don't think I had ever stayed in a Hilton before...it was glorious! That bed was SO comfy! Oh my goodness, I didn't wanna leave it! I slept like a baby that night! I haven't slept that well in FOREVER, it was SO nice! Anyway, on the way to Baltimore, we of course had to go to the Cheesecake Factory, 1 of our fave places...SO good!! Then we went back to the hotel where we planned on swimming, but got too caught up in the amazing beds! Haha. Seriously! Even the pillows were amazing...they were so fluffy! Ahhh, I wanna go back! Haha. Before we went to bed, we put purple hair tinsil on each other because tinsil has become a tradition for 1D. It looked SO pretty! I had always used pink, but I think the darker purple stood out a little more. We had to get purple because purple was the theme for the show! It was called "Burning Up Baltimore"...it was a fan project going on. I had purple: hair tinsil, shirt, eyeliner, glowsticks, and nail polish...I think I succeeded ;) Skim made our shirts again this year. They turned out INCREDIBLE!!! We even got several compliments on them, including from people that worked at the stadium. The shirts said, "We can make it til the end" on the front, and she turned part of the "n" and the "d" into "1D" and colored that different so it stood out. Then it said, "Nothing can come between you and I" on the back, to show our support! We are in it til the end with them! We are SO glad they all stayed. They don't need Zayn! (even though I was devastated to see him go). Anyway, she even hand-painted it on in their band's font, and added the tour name and our 2 show's dates. I LOVE them! I think they're my fave we've done. We even cut our own v-necks into them and they turned out really well, thankfully! Anyway, the next day was SHOW DAY! I ran out of time getting ready...My hair took FOREVER to blowdry! But I threw on my clothes at least, and jewelry, including the awesome bandana bracelets Skim made, another fan project. You had to wear a certain color depending on which band member you were supporting. I sported 2 colors: red, for Liam and yellow, still for Zayn...I had to! Checkout was at noon, and we were only 6 miles from the venue. So, we had quite a bit of time to kill. We went downtown to find the venue and scope out parking so we knew what to do when the time came. We found the venue no problem, but couldn't find parking. There were parking lots literally RIGHT up against the venue, but you had to buy that parking in advance, and the reason we didn't was because it was really expensive! But, when we did end up finding parking later, turns out, it wasn't much of a difference! But I'll get into that later. Anyway, we couldn't find anywhere else to park, and ended up getting a little lost, so we gave up, figuring maybe they would put signs out a little later...it was probably only 12:30/1 at this point. So, we went to the harbor and ate at Shake Shack! We discovered this place earlier this summer when we were near DC and fell in love...SO good! And as per usual, there isn't 1 close to us. So, we took advantage! They are pricey, but SO worth it! Their cheese fries are to die for! There was nowhere to sit inside or out, so we ended up taking the food back to our car in the parking garage and eating. Then we went back down to the harbor and walked around and took a few pics. I just love that area so much! We were only parked for like an hour and a half, and paid $18! RIDICULOUS!! Then we headed back to the venue, where we got lost again, because the 1 road we needed to take was closed. And the detour lead us into a scary part of town. And we ended up making a turn too soon, and yeah...it just didn't go so well, and it was scary and stressful! But on the upside: it did kill some time, and ended up taking us to the venue a different way than before, which led us to a parking lot...which cost $40!!! Highway robbery, I tell ya! That is beyond ridiculous! Makes me mad thinking about it! But, what can ya do? We got there about 2 hours before the doors even opened. So, we had to sit in the car for 2 hours doing nothing! It was boring and hot... not so fun! But, finally 5 PM rolled around, and we headed to the venue, which was surprisingly close. We left at literally the most perfect time because ONE DIRECTION DROVE RIGHT PAST US... we were on the same road as them, literally right beside their cars! They have to be escorted by a herd of police cars and motorcycles, who feel the need to blow their horns and alert everyone they're coming...you would think they wouldn't! Haha. But anyway, Skim and I had just stepped onto the street, when we heard these sirens and horns in the distance, and everyone that was in line over at the stadium started screaming. We were kind of confused, and then Skim realized: ONE DIRECTION WAS COMING!!!! So, we stopped, and a few seconds later, they drove RIGHT past us... they were RIGHT there! We literally could've reached out our arms and touched their cars. I mean, how cool is that? And the best part: we caught sight of Liam and he waved!!!!! Everyone else was over at the venue, we were the only ones RIGHT there! It couldn't have been more perfect! We totally geeked out, and are not ashamed! We of course, had to take a pic too to document! Once we could get ourselves to move, we headed to the venue and inside. We got our merch first, then we had to find a certain section to get wristbands for our floor seats! Once we got those, we headed down to the floor, and of course we were on the opposite side of our seats. So, we had a bit of a long walk, but it was cool to once again walk all the way from the back to the front, passing everyone, wanting to rub it in, and it put into perspective how close we were! Once we got to our seats, we took some pics. But it was actually really hot out. We kept trying, but the pics weren't turning out so well. So, we took more later when the sun went down. Once the sun went down, it was really nice out! But the humidity musta been high because I was a sweaty mess during the show! Granted, I was dancing and jumping around A LOT! Icona Pop opened. They came on at 7. They were...not my style. I only knew their 1 song. I mean, they were okay I guess. Their beats were deff catchy, I just kinda felt like they all sounded alike. It also didn't help that I was waiting for One Direction! So, I just wanted them off the stage! Haha. We had to wait almost an hour between sets for One Direction...it was torture! But obviously, more than worth the wait! They came on about 9. They had an opening video, like they always do. I got a little sad during that, with Zayn not being in it, but my happiness thankfully quickly took over. They had an instrumental version of No Control playing on that, and oh my goodness, it was good! So freaking catchy, and it got me even more pumped to see them do that song! While that was on, and we waited for them to come out, and throughout the show, Skim was so excited and anxious that she would grab my arm...very tightly! And it like pinched me, and hurt, and gave me bruises! It was kinda funny waking up to small bruises on the inside of my arm the next day! Anyway, they opened with Clouds, and did 25 songs total, which was AWESOME! It was their longest setlist yet. They did their new single, Drag Me Down, I was SO glad! It was SO good...I'm pretty addicted! They did all but 1 song off their new album that I wanted them to do, including my favorite, Where Do Broken Hearts Go, which was UHH-MAZING!!! I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to get past Zayn not being there, but it didn't bother me much! Every once in a while, there would be a part that had been Zayn's, that would make me a little sad, but for the most part, I barely even thought about him! I was so glad! They did such a good job making up for him not being there, and taking over his parts! Liam and Harry really stepped it up and showed off their amazing vocals that I guess were over-powered by Zayn's before. Like, Liam, took Zayn's infamous high note in You & I, and NAILED it! It made us very emotional...especially Skim, who teared up! Haha. Liam, who is normally kinda the spokes person, wasn't feeling very well, so Harry kinda took over that role, and he was cracking us up! 3 things stand out that he did that made us laugh: #1: someone brought him cookies in a tupperware container, and was lucky enough to be seen! He saw the girl, and goes "What's that? Cookies?" Then he took them, and tells her: "Thank you. Thank you very much!" Then he turns to the crowd, and jokes, "Why didn't you all bake cookies?" *turns back to the girl*, "You ma'am have raised the standard! You have set the bar. Question: do you need the tupperware back?" They said no. Then he announced to the crowd, "WE CAN KEEP THE BOX! We can have the box, everyone!" Then he turns back to the girl, "Is this microwavable? No? It's not even microwavable? Oh, if I take the tin foil out, is it microwavable?" *turns to everyone*, "IT'S MICROWAVABLE EVERYONE!" And he genuinely seemed happy about that. Haha. He then took the cookies with him, and had them sitting beside him throughout the next song. After that song, he ran off stage, and returned with the tupperware, announcing the cookies had been eaten, gave it back to the girl, and goes: "When you come to a One Direction show, and bring us cookies, you will get your tupperware back!" How sweet is that? I woulda been clinging to that tupperware for dear life because Harry Styles had touched it! It was all very amusing! And I was incredibly jealous of that lucky girl! #2: There was a dad there that was apparently "scary." Harry called him out on it, and said that he was scared to dance in that area of the stage, in front of the guy. Then he asked the guy, "Are you here with your daughter?" Then the girl beside the dad yells the answer, "YES!" Then Harry goes to the girl, "Do you have a boyfriend?" The girl said no, and Harry goes, "Didn't think so." Then he realized how mean that sounded, and goes "...because your dad would scare them off!" Which is what he actually meant, it just came out the wrong way! It sounded so mean! It was hilarious! How would you like Harry Styles to say that to you? Haha. #3: Someone thew a lemon at Harry, and he picks the lemon up, punts it, and goes, "When life gives you lemons, you kick the lemons away! That's what you do." My new motto in life! He's got such a stage personality. I love it! 2 other things that just stand out: #1: Liam and Louis had a watergun fight. They were just tiny little waterguns, but Louis was having fun with them! He's the mischievous one. I remember Liam asking Louis, "What do you have there, Lou?" And Louis goes, "Well, you see Liam, this is a water pistol. Basically you just fill it up with water and shoot it at people."...and he did, the rest of the night! Poor Liam. At 1 point Liam got the gun, and squirted Louis, just a teeny little bit, then made the mistake of turning his back, putting it in his back pocket, and walking away. Louis ran after him with a vengeance, grabbed the gun outta Liam's pocket, and doused poor Liam...he was so innocent and unsuspecting! That's Louis for you though! It was pretty funny, I must admit! I remember so vividly watching that happen! They have such fun on stage...another reason I love them! And #2: While everyone was waiting for the boys to come, the crowd did the wave...which was just cool to see about 60,000 people do. It really does look cool...it's strange! Haha. Last year was the macarena, this year was the wave! Let's see, what else...Liam said we (the crowd) made him feel better! So, that was cool. Skim and I promised each other we would film the other during our fave songs. So, I filmed her during No Control, which was one of my faves live! Oh my gosh, it was SO stinking good!! SO catchy and dancy! The fact that I enjoyed it even though I was filming during a lot of it, and concentrating so hard on trying to get Skim and One Direction in it, proves that it was incredible! Eighteen was another one of my faves. Don't Forget Where You Belong was once again incredible as well! Everyone lights up their phones during it, and it looks SO cool if you look around the stadium. Another fan project going on was: bringing a purple glowstick and holding it up during Night Changes, so that was also really cool to see! I also always love Story of My Life. Harry just really goes for it in that song live, and really shows off his amazing voice! He sounds incredible! I liked Act My Age a lot more than I thought I would. It was really fun! I wasn't expecting that because it's not one of my faves off the new CD, but I mean, don't get me wrong, I love it. Niall does a little Irish jig during it, which is cool to see. They ended with Best Song Ever, which is a good one to end with. That's another really fun one! It's kinda hard to enjoy though, because you know it's all ending. When the show was over, the familiar depression set it. It's awful! Obviously, worth it and no regrets or complaints! It's just so sad, especially this year because they're going on hiatus next year, and we don't know when the next time we'll see them will be! It was my 5th time seeing them, and they never cease to amaze me! I think they get better and better every year. It's just such a different experience seeing them close on the floor. I can't even describe! These 4 guys mean SO much to me! They really do make me strong. I have such respect for them! I started liking them because of their music, but I fell in love with them because of their hearts. They don't act like normal celebrities. They have such big hearts, and have somehow managed to stay down to earth, despite being thrown into the spotlight at such a young age... it amazes me! The next morning when we got up, after a very short night sleep, we told my mom all about it, and she totally teared up... says a lot about how the night was! This is why I love her! Well, I guess that's it. Until next time... I will miss them and this incredible, amazing night and weekend!

Here's the video I took of Skim during her fave. It was really hard to get her AND them in it though! I kept trying. And then at the end, she took a selfie, because she didn't know I was filming! haha.

No Control:
https://youtu.be/v4ZIecGd_DU

And here's 1 of my faves, it was SO good!

18:
https://youtu.be/mhLhNwZZ-7o

And here's 1 where Niall was over in front of us! Why does the camera always make you look SO much farther away than you actually are?

Ready To Run:
https://youtu.be/IRFPc-Bu3bM

Skim got much better pics than I did! I mostly just took pics of the screens. But here's a lil collage I put together of the highlights:

Just Can't Lie, It Was The Best Time Of My Life (One Direction FRONT ROW!)

My sister, McKenzie/Skim and I's FRONT ROW One Direction concert on August 13th, 2014 in Philly was literally the best night of my life! - And that says a lot...especially considering I've been to 148 concerts (and counting). It's so crazy because it's not even like I met them or something to make it the best night ever, it was just the over-all experience. If you like One Direction and have tried to buy tickets, or have bought tickets for any other insanely huge band, you know how tough it is to get tickets period...let alone good tickets, and we got FRONT FREAKING ROW!!!! It still amazes me to this day!! When we managed to get these tickets, it was December 7th, 2013...as in, we had to wait almost 8 months for the show! So, after looking forward to it for SO long, and thinking about it for that long, and having these expectations in our heads, we were so worried that it would disappoint, but it didn't...not even a little! EVERYTHING just worked out SO perfectly! It was incredible... such a blessing, and definitely meant to be!!! The only complaint I have is that Zayn, my fave, was the only 1 not to come over to our side of the stage. But we were still close, and the rest of them came over at least once...so if that's the only complaint I have, I'd say it was a pretty successful night! Now, to cover that day from start to finish... When I woke up that morning, it just didn't really feel real almost. I remember rolling over and seeing the countdown that I had going... And I was able to erase it, and put '0' days. That felt incredible and made it sink in a little! We left about 12:30 for the show, after taking some pictures of course...we took many throughout the day, because we wanted to document everything/not forget anything. We made sure to leave really early because we didn't want any chance of missing any part of it. Plus, traffic is always a mess going to Philly...especially on that darn Schuylkill Expressway...you pretty much ALWAYS sit on there forever in traffic, no matter what the time of day is. We also wanted to have time to check into our hotel before the show. We had booked a hotel as an attempt to try and extend what would hopefully be an amazing night...but, also as a precautionary measure: knowing that we would probably be on cloud 9 and not fit to drive 2.5 hours home! Haha. Getting that specific hotel turned out to be such an incredible blessing because it ended up taking us off the Schyulkill Expressway early, and then taking us into Philly from our hotel a totally different way, and there was absolutely NO traffic that way, and the exit lead pretty much RIGHT to the venue! Even just from the moment we parked, we could just feel the greatness awaiting us! We got a good parking spot, close to the venue, and it was cheaper than we expected. We got there about 4:40, which was a little early...gates opened at 5, so we had a little time to kill. So, we sat in the car for a little, took a few pictures, and got incredibly excited! Then we walked up to the main gate when it was time, and of course had to take pictures with things... like with this big archway type thing beside the venue that said, "Lincoln Financial Field." After that, we saw signs around and heard an employee say that if you were seated on the floor, you had to go in a different entrance, which was down the block, around the corner...felt kinda VIP. So, we headed to that entrance. It took a little while to get in, or at least it felt like it because we were so anxious! Haha. It was just a little hot while we were standing there with thousands of other people, and the sun beating on us...but it really wasn't bad, thankfully...especially compared to last year when we saw them! I would just like to take this moment to thank the good Lord for that! Last summer when we saw them, it was legit 2 of the hottest days of the summer, if not the hottest...and that is not an exaggeration! We saw them 2 days in a row, and BOTH days were over 100 degrees...and add that onto all the body heat from 35,000 people, yeah...it was miserable! I remember it was legit 113 degrees the 2nd night - AWFUL! We were pretty afraid that it would be like that again for our front row show, and we did not want that...we wanted to look pretty for seeing these hott, British men up close! Haha. Anyway, when we got up to the employee, he gave us awesome wristbands that say "One Direction concert August 13, 2014," then scanned our tickets, and I remember him looking at our tickets, and saying something like, "Oh, you got good seats, huh? Have fun!" Just thought that was cool... Once we got in, it took a little while to get to our seats. We needed to find the entrance that had floor access (not all of them did). And we of course, had to take a few more pictures with things. We got too anxious then, and just wanted to see our seats! We finally found the right entrance, which was in pretty much the very back of the venue...so we had to walk down a level, and then the whole way from the back of the floor, to the very front...it was a long walk, but at the same time it was AMAZING to be able to walk past all these people, and go to ROW 1!!!! That was SUCH an awesome feeling!! After getting to our seats and looking back, it really put into perspective just how incredibly blessed we were to be front row, and to see just how close we actually were! I just can't even put into words how amazing that felt/was! I mean, that venue was HUGE...beyond huge! It's where the Eagles play for crying out loud...it holds about 70,000 people! Just thinking about that for a minute! Anyway, after the shock wore off a little and we could actually move, we of course took lots more pictures. Our seats were incredible! We were in the furthest section to the left of the stage, so we had been a little worried that they would be kind of far away, but they weren't...at all! We were pleasantly surprised how close we were! It was just so surreal! And yes: we freaked out...screamed like little girls...and jumped up and down, and no: we are not ashamed. The show didn't start until 7, so we had a while to just anxiously sit there. 1 thing that killed time though: they played the macarena, and literally EVERYONE in that stadium was up off their chairs doing it. It was awesome/so cool to see! It had been a long time since I broke out that dance move! Haha! And I never thought I would be doing it with 70,000 other people...pretty epic! Thankfully there was only 1 opening band...and it was 5 Seconds Of Summer, so obviously that was terrible to sit thru! Haha. ;) I'm kidding of course...They were really good!! And hello...they're Australian! Anyone with a foreign accent immediately becomes hotter...and they already weren't bad to look at ;) I liked them A LOT, and probably would've liked them a lot more if it weren't for the fact that I was waiting for One Direction! Haha. They (1D) came on about 8:45. They played an opening video on all 5 screens... and it was literally not even 2 minutes long, but that was the longest 2 minutes of my life! Haha. I remember Skim and I were grasping each other, jumping up and down, screaming, sighing, dying...haha! But then they finally came out, playing 'Midnight Memories'! They ended with 'Best Song Ever,' playing 23 songs total and lasting about an hour and 45 minutes...but it still wasn't long enough! I did not want that night to end!!! It was an absolutely incredible setlist!! They did pretty much everything I wanted them to, and even some I didn't expect, and some of my all-time fave 1's of theirs! Every single song blew me away! They were incredibly amazing and epic...no words can even possibly describe! It was my 4th time seeing them, but it was just a whole different experience hearing them up close. Don't get me wrong, I've always thought they sounded incredible, but it was just on a whole different level being front row! I remember just looking around several times, smiling ear to ear, and just thinking to myself "This is the best night of my life!" It may sound incredibly lame and corny, but I've never been as happy as I was that night! I'm pretty sure I will never feel that happy again, actually! I just can't even explain it! I remember 5 specific events that stick out in my mind... #1: Pretty much as soon as 'Midnight Memories' started, Harry came DIRECTLY over to Skim and I... we immediately starting jumping up and down and screaming, and then...HE WAVED... RIGHT TO US!! Yes, you read that right...THE HARRY STYLES WAVED TO ME! We immediately geeked out! It was awesome! The perfect start to their set! We just knew the night was destined for greatness! He came over to our area several other times... And there was a VERY nice guy beside me who offered to take Skim and I's pic with Harry in the backaround at some point. I am forever indebted to that man! Thank you whoever you are, and God bless you! That brings me to event #2: I remember during 'Strong,' Harry was over in front of us for pretty much the whole song...singing to US!! That is 1 of my fave songs of theirs anway, so that was incredible...just added to the greatness of the song! Event #3: Liam blew me a kiss and waved TO ME...yeah! Let me just repeat that: LIAM PAYNE blew little old me a kiss...ME, and only me!!! I will never forget that moment! Ahhh, my heart melts even just thinking about that! Event #4: There randomly was a girl there wearing a wedding dress, and somehow Harry heard about it and proposed to her! Altho that was kind of entertaining, I officially hate that girl ;) And finally event #5: They sang the Fresh Prince of BelAire theme! It was really entertaining! When the show ended, a very severe depression set it...Skim and I looked at each other and we seriously wanted to cry! We took a couple more pictures, then slowly walked out. It was SO hard to leave! I don't know what made my feet move! Thankfully we at least had the hotel to go back to. Once we got back there, we couldn't go to sleep for a while. We stayed up late re-living everything and looking through all the pictures... Skim got some really good ones! That severe depression came back when we got home the next day, and lasted for weeks! It was seriously THE MOST DEPRESSING thing ever...NO LIE! Especially after anxiously awaiting the show for that long! - I felt like I was mourning the death of the show. Haha. I felt so lost...I didn't know what to do with myself. It was horrible, but also, obviously, incredibly worth it! I fell in love with them all over again. I love them so much more now...and I didn't even think that possible! They just make me feel so happy! You can tell they really enjoy what they do and they always make me laugh! I have so much respect for them, and I LOVE their music!! I will never forget that night! To quote 1 of their songs: "...Wanna go back there every night. Just can't lie: it was the best time of my life!..." - Couldn't have said it better myself!

Here's most of 'Strong,' when Harry was in front of us, or at least on our side of the stage for the whole song. I recorded it on my phone, so the picture isn't the best quality and it's not zoomed in, so it makes me look SO much farther away than I actually was, but you can still get an idea of how awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG80oSSiodM

And this vid isn't from the front row show, it's from my show 2 nights before...but it needed to be included! I looked up the setlist before-hand, and knew when Skim's fave song was coming, so I recorded her candid reaction. It was pretty great! She didn't even know they were doing it...just fast forward to the last 10-15 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss8vMFUBZeE

And lastly, here's a lil collage I put together of some of the best moments from that night:

Dancing On The Edge Of The Hollywood Sign

I haven't blogged in a while! And I've been putting off writing about this for a little over a month now...I have a procrastination problem! So, I figured this would be a good opportunity to post again! Better late than never, right?! So, here it goes... WARNING: this is going to be VERY long and detailed, b/c I don't wanna forget a thing! I'm just gonna start from the very beginning. So, it was a Thursday afternoon at work, I was washing dishes, and my boss asks me if I entered KissFM's contest to win a trip for 2 to the Grammy's that next weekend. I hadn't, b/c it was this weird thing where you go to a website, and "scratch" with your mouse just to see if you even QUALIFY to win. They had the same type of thing last summer to win front row One Direction tickets, and b/c I'm so devoted I literally probably scratched a few hundred times before I even QUALIFIED. So, I wasn't about to try again...figured it was a waste of my time. But, my boss tried, qualified on just like the 3rd try, and told me I should try b/c the contest ended that day. So, when I got home from work that day, I actually remembered and gave it a shot! To my surprise, I qualified on my very first try! I figured, why not try again to enter someone else, since I seem to be having good luck? So, I scratched maybe 10 more times, but never qualified again. So, I gave up...figured atleast I had that 1 small shot, but NEVER expected to actually win the contest! I went to bed that night, not ever really giving it a second thought. The next day was my day off, so I slept in. When I got up, I turned my phone on, then went over to my sister's bed and began talking (we are temporarily sharing a room right now). Then about a minute later, I heard my voicemail tone go off. So, I went over to check it, didn't recognize the number, but thankfully listened anyway. The voicemail said, "Hey Hannah! This is Matt calling from 993 KissFM. Just wanted to let you know that I needed to talk to you...I do have some pretty exciting news for you, but obviously I can't leave it over voicemail...So, give me a call back!" My first thought was "I did just enter that Grammy's contest...but, there's no way this is for that!" I do enter contests for them a lot, so I figured it was something else...it had to be, right?! I told my sister, McKenzie (or as I like to call, Skim) about the voicemail from KissFM telling me I won something! She was like "Have you entered anything?" I was like "Well, I entered to win a trip for 2 to the Grammy's, but that was JUST last night..." She was like "WHAT? Oh my gosh...call them back!" I immediately started shaking and freaking out, even though I didn't know what it was that I won...I just had this really good feeling. So, I called, and Matt was like, "Do you remember entering a contest for the Grammy's?" I was like, "Yeah..." He was like, "Well, you are actually our winner!" I was like, "WHAT? Oh my gosh! Are you serious?" He was like, "Well, I didn't call to kid you..." Meanwhile, my sister, sitting right there, could hear everything going on, and very sternly said, "I'M GOING WITH YOU!" Haha, I had no choice in the matter. He then proceeded to get some info from me, and told me he'd get my info to the record label, and get back to me soon. My sister and I started screaming and just totally freaking out. We ran downstairs, a hundred miles an hour, still screaming, looking for my family. They thought something was wrong! So, they were even more shocked when I told them about my trip! Their mouths just dropped. Everyone was in shock, including me! I think my first thought was, "What am I gonna wear?" Haha. I started freaking out a little bit, but at this point I was more excited than nervous...but not for long! I heard back from Matt a little later that day, just to get Skim and I's social security numbers for our plane tickets, but then that was it...for days! So, FOR DAYS, I was freaking out, getting more and more nervous! I had no information to go on to start preparing/planning! So, that just made it worse. I went into work that night to pick up my paycheck, and told my boss. She freaked out! I do partially have her to thank...if it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't have entered. I just casually was like, "So, you know that Grammy's contest we entered? Well...I totally won!" She was like, "If you are kidding me right now, I'm not going to be very happy with you!" Then immediately started looking up anything and everything on the internet for me... She's so funny! So then 3 days go by...It was Tuesday now, as in 3 days before I was supposed to leave, and I hadn't heard anything! So, I decided to call Matt, but there was no answer! But thankfully when I checked my email that night, I had gotten an email from him with my itinerary! So, thankfully I atleast had SOME info now, but I had so many questions... Questions mostly about like, what to do when we get there and at the Grammy's and such. So, I replied to him thanking him, of course, and asking my questions. He got back to me the next morning, but was pretty vague, and didn't even answer all my questions, haha. Atleast I had enough to move forward now... I just had no idea what we would do the whole time there! Now, I'm a person who likes to see the beginning, middle, and end. I like to over-analyze, and plan. My sister and I had never flown before, and never been to LA. And my sister had never been in a taxi or subway before, and I only had once. So, we were pretty much freaking out! It was quite scary! But, we were trying to focus on the good, and not stress out. We went out the next day to shop for dresses, and I got my hair done. We both tried on lots of dresses (my sister more-so than I) before we found "the one." For some reason, jewelry and a handbag never crossed my mind until it was too late. So, I didn't buy either of those, and the shoes I had in mind, didn't look as good with the dress as I had hoped. But atleast my dress was pretty! And thankfully, my friend, Kendra let me borrow a small, fancy, black purse that looked great! I feel like my necklace and shoes threw off my outfit, but what can you do on such short notice? I spent ALL DAY, and into the night Friday packing and preparing. Got to bed late, and thankfully slept well, which I didn't expect... But b/c of getting to bed late, I only got about 4.5 hours of sleep, before having to get up really early! We left about 7, got to the airport around 8. Thankfully, we were flying out of Harrisburg, and not BWI or Dulles! My mom took us. She went in with us to try to help us as much as she could since we had absolutely no idea what we were doing. We were terrified! It didn't take as long to check in as we thought, so we had a little over an hour to kill, but better to be safe than sorry. It just gave us more time to worry... lol. Our first flight was to Philly, it was only like 30 minutes, and it was in a VERY small plane, AND Skim and I weren't sitting together! So, it wasn't the best experience for our first time in a plane....but we survived! The man beside me was thankfully very nice though... He talked me through the whole thing. And atleast the flight wasn't long. We landed in Philly somewhere around 10:45, and were immediately confused. We had to take a shuttle to get to the right terminal, which took a little bit to figure out, but we got it! We ate, and then had about 3 more hours to kill! Yeah, we got pretty bored. Our flight was at about 2, and from there, it was a straight shot to LA! It took forever to take off b/c it was snowing, and we had to wait (in the plane) for the plane to go through this long process of getting cleaned and coated with some ice/snow protectant. But thankfully we were atleast sitting together this time! Other than it taking forever to get off, the flight wasn't too bad. I was SO tired, so I slept a little bit...but not too long. We mostly talked, played games on Skim's phone, and listened to some music. When we landed in LA I think about 5:30 (so it was 8:30 our time), it was 63 degrees! I looked up the weather back home and it was only 25 degrees there! It was SO weird to go from freezing, snowy weather, to warm, sunny weather in a matter of hours. We had been told that there would be a shuttle for us at the airport to take us to our hotel, so we went to where the hotel shuttles were and waited for I think about a half hour, but never saw a shuttle for our hotel. So, I called the hotel and asked if they had a shuttle that picked people up at LAX, and they said no! So, we ended up taking a taxi, and it cost $55! It was insane! It took like 45 minutes to get to the hotel, and the driver was insane, and we were exhausted and starving, so at this point, we weren't in very good moods, especially since the taxi cost so much! Haha. After we checked in, we had to go to the concierge desk to pick up our Grammy's tickets that the record label left for us. We felt so official and VIP, haha. Then we went up to our room, where we basically just collapsed into our beds...after exploring our room, of course! The room was absolutely incredible...the whole hotel was! It was so luxurious and big! We fell in love! I'm pretty sure I will never stay in a hotel that expensive or nice again! It just added to the awesomeness of the experience, knowing we didn't pay for it. Anyway, at this point it was like 7:30, and we were starving! We had planned on walking somewhere closeby to get something to eat, but we literally couldn't move! So, we just ordered room service. It was very convenient, but insanely expensive! It was cool to do though b/c we had never ordered room service before...anywhere. Skim got linguini and it was amazing! I just got a ham and cheese sandwich, and it cost $15! Skim's cost less than that! Haha. I dunno why I did it, it just sounded good! And it was...absolutely nothing wrong with it! It just didn't compare to the linguini, b/c that was epic! Then I showered and we turned in pretty early...but it actually wasn't early, b/c it was like 2:30 our time, and we had been up for over 18 hours. We slept for almost 10 hours...we needed it! Those beds were SO comfy! We even had to have the air conditioning on...that was weird! Thankfully our tickets came with some instructions, and apparently the tickets got us into 2 events...we had no idea there was anything other than the Grammy's! So, we thought we would have most of the day on Sunday, but the 1 event was at 1:00...we ended up not going though. It was a pre-telecast ceremony, and it was at a venue other than the Staples Center, where the Grammy's were. I wanted to go, but it was just too much to think/worry about...we didn't want to have to worry about finding transportation to 2 events, 1 was going to be stressful enough! Not to mention the money! We weren't sure we could afford it after spending $55 on our taxi ride the night before...we didn't even know if we could take a taxi, b/c streets were closed off surrounding the venues, and you couldn't even get anywhere near them if you didn't have this special transportation pass that came with your ticket. So, anyway... we had planned on ordering room service for breakfast, just b/c it was the fastest way to go... so, we called to order about 10:10, and they apparently don't do room service from 10-5, so we were like "greaaat!" haha. So, we ended up ordering Dominos to be delivered b/c we just needed something fast, and we didn't wanna go anywhere in our fancy dresses and risk getting anything on them. Turns out at a fancy hotel like that, the pizza delivery guy isn't allowed to come directly to your room, like we had always experienced...so Skim had to go to the lobby to get it. After shoving some pizza down, we got ready. It took a little longer than I had planned for, so we didn't have much time to take pictures like we wanted, but we did atleast get some! While I was getting ready, a family friend, Scott had messaged me on facebook, offering himself as a chauffeur to do some sight-seeing, b/c he lived in the area...which was such an unexpected, but pleasant surprise! But, I'll get more into that later. Literally the only free time we had was after the Grammy's that night, so we planned on meeting him then. Since we didn't really know how to get to the Grammy's, I called down to the front desk to see if they happened to have a shuttle going or anything. They said the hotel didn't, but from what she understood there was a shuttle across the street that was taking people...but that was all the info she had. "Across the street" could've been 4 different directions, so that didn't help much! So, we figured we'd probably be taking a taxi...but to our surprise, as soon as we walked downstairs, people were nice and pointed us in the right direction. We were lead outside, where more nice people directed us. Then when we got out onto the street, we saw the shuttle across the street, and the driver signaled to us. So, we ran over, got on, and they took us right up to the red carpet. It couldn't have been easier! We were SO thankful! We left a lot of extra time, thinking it would take a lot longer to get there, so we ended up getting there like 2.5 hours early! Haha. And we couldn't even take advantage of that and take our time, taking pictures and stuff, b/c there was security literally every like 10 feet, and if you would stop for a second and try to take a picture, they would rush you a long. It was a little frustrating...we were on the red carpet, for pity's sake! We wanted pictures! But oh well...we did get a few! Plus, I didn't really even expect to be on the red carpet...we were even on the SAME red carpet as the celebrities! They were just in a roped off section parallel to us...but they were surrounded by cameras, press, security, etc...so you couldn't really see anyone. The only 2 people I know I saw for sure were Willie Nelson and Hunter Hayes...whomp whomp! lol. But it was still REALLY cool to walk the same red carpet as them! The red carpet was really long...it was on a road that led right up to the Staples Center, and it had like a big canopy over it. The doors opened at 3:30, so we had probably close to an hour to just wait outside. So, we took a few more pictures. Then, when they finally let in, and we went inside, we were shocked to find that they had merch for sale...didn't expect that! So, we obviously had to buy something! I had wanted to get a shirt that said "CA" on it anyway, and they had a shirt that said "56th Annual Grammy Awards" and "Los Angeles, CA" on it...so it was perfect! Then we went and found our seats and sat down...that took a while though! But once we finally found our seats, it was nice to sit down...our feet were killing us from our heels! Haha. We were up at the almost the top of the arena, but it actually wasn't that bad of a seat. The place was a lot bigger than I had pictured, and there were TONS of "normal" people there, which I also, for some reason, didn't expect. It was cool though, b/c we had a really good view of the floor, where all the celebs were. So, we could see them coming in, sitting down, and getting up to mingle during the commercials. The Awards started at 5. Unfortunately, there wasn't really anybody there that I care about...other than Taylor Swift and Sara Bareilles, but I'm not even like a huge fan of them. I thought for sure One Direction would be there, so that was disappointing. It was kinda cool to see Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, even if I'm not a Beatles fan. It was also cool to see some of the actors that presented awards, like Julia Roberts Anna Faris, Anna Kendrick, and Steve Coogan. And I did REALLY love Taylor Swift's performance! I couldn't believe she did All Too Well, that was such a pleasant surprise! I'm not gonna lie: I deff teared up. I just absolutely love and relate to that song, I couldn't help it! Haha. It was by far the best performance and my fave of the night. She's good live! I gained some respect back for her that night, after that performance, and seeing her dance during other's performances. She was so cute! She was going all out, and just didn't care. Most of the time, she was the only one standing and dancing...so, good for her! On the opposite end of the spectrum, I lost all respect for Beyonce...not that I had any in the first place, but she just...wow! One word: skank! Lol. I'm sorry, but it's true... anyway, Pink I surprisingly enjoyed! I'm not a big fan of hers, but I do like some of her songs. The whole acrobat thing was pretty cool. I wasn't very impressed with Katy Perry...I mean, she sounded good, but I just didn't think it was anything special. Just my opinion...don't hate me! LL Cool J hosted, which was awesome! I like him. On a side note: if you ever wondered why there are so many commercial breaks, it's b/c: during the breaks, they have to set up for the next performers! There were 4 stages, but the one stage was just split into 3 sections. So, that was cool to see. Even if I'm not really a fan of anyone that was there, it was still really cool to be there...and see everything and be in the same room as so many celebs! Plus, that was seriously a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I wouldn't trade it for anything! When it was over about 8:30, everyone was ushered down and out the same way... In fact, I remember one of the ushers saying if you were leaving to go out that way... So, Skim and I naively followed everyone, and we ended up back on the red carpet where we had gone in. So, that was good, b/c then we knew we were going out the same way we came in, could get back on our shuttle, and wouldn't get lost...or so we thought! Everything was going fine, until all of the sudden we came to a complete stop... no one was moving! Skim and I were SO confused! We couldn't figure out a reason that we wouldn't be moving. We eventually kept inching forward, but at a VERY slow rate! I was beginning to worry b/c I had told Scott to pick us up at our hotel at 9:30, thinking an hour would've been plenty of time for us to get back there, but I was wrong! It was getting close to 9:30, and we weren't even close to being out, so I texted Scott to tell him to make it later. Finally about 9:40 or so, we approached the end of the line....only to find that everyone was getting checked by security. We became even more confused...why would we be getting checked by security if all we were doing was leaving? Turns out, we were in line to get into the VIP After-Party, which we obviously did NOT have tickets to! So, that was a bit frustrating! We waited all that time for nothing...and it got us lost! B/c then we got up to security and had to be all, "Um, we thought this line was to leave...we don't have tickets to this." (A bit embarrassing, by the way.) Anyway, so they had to open up a gate to let us through, down into the kind of alley, squeezed in between the canopy over the red carpet, and the side of a building, and eventually got out onto the street... but we had absolutely NO idea where we were! It was a totally different place than where we had come in, we didn't know the area at all...and we didn't even drive there...we were driven! And, b/c of the streets being closed off, there were no taxis around! And our feet were about to fall off...they hurt SO bad! We literally couldn't walk for who knows how far to try and find one! We were so lost and confused...it was scary! Makes for a great story though, right? Haha. So I had to text Scott, once again, and see if he could come pick us up... I felt so stupid, but I literally didn't know what else to do! He finally was able to get to us, after begging some policemen to let him through onto the closed roads, and he took us back to our hotel so we could change. We ran upstairs and changed super fast, then ran back down cuz we didn't wanna keep Scott waiting... By now it was already a little after 10, but we were ready to sight-see! We were starving, so first we went to a local favorite, the famous Pink's Hot Dogs. Apparently tons of celebs have been/go there...there were autographed pics of them covering the walls. It was just a small place, but it was VERY good! I got a chilli cheese dog...a bit messy, but worth it! Then we went to Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and saw the Hollywood Walk Of Fame with the stars and the footprints...which was SO cool! I loved it! The Hollywood sign was also there in the backaround, but we couldn't see it b/c it stinking wasn't lit up! What are the chances? I've always wanted to see the Hollywood sign! I even had this picture in my head of a picture I wanted to take with it in the backaround, and everything! That was beyond disappointing! We took some other pictures though. It was really cool to see all these old stars footprints, like Clark Gable and Shirley Temple. Jimmy Kimmel Live was also right across the street, so that was kinda cool. Then we took the 20 minute drive to the Santa Monica Pier! On the way to the beach Scott kinda gave us a tour...we drove through Beverly Hills (and can I just say that gas was the same price there as back home! How does that make sense? Beverly Hills is 1 of the most expensive places ever! Crazy!) Anyway, he showed us a few cool things...like where part of the Dark Knight Rises was filmed...that was pretty sweet! I love that movie! The beach was amazing...so pretty! I wish we could've seen it in the daylight... at this point it was probably around 12:30 AM. It was so weird to be at an ocean, in January, wearing a dress and flip flops, dip my feet in the ocean, and not be freezing! I could get used to living in a place like that! Haha. The water wasn't even that cold...but it got pretty cold when a big wave came out of nowhere and soaked me from the waist down! I couldn't see it coming since it was dark... so, that was pretty funny...cold, but funny. Then we walked around the boardwalk a little, and I hugged a few palm trees...haha. I love palm trees! They were everywhere! I never knew palm trees could be so big and tall! It was awesome! Then the night was over. We didn't get to see everything we would have liked to, but we did squeeze in a lot! And we wouldn't have seen anything if it weren't for Scott, so I am SO thankful to him! He was such a life saver! We got back to the hotel probably around 1:30, and we were absolutely exhausted! So, we passed out and had to get up pretty early. We did order room service that morning! Part of what we got was a fruit tray, and it had pineapples on it and oh my gosh was it amazing! Seriously! You have never had pineapple, until you've had CA's pineapple! It doesn't even taste like any of the pineapple I've ever had! It was just heavenly...words can't even describe! I'm not even a huge fan of pineapple normally, haha. We made arrangements for a shuttle to come and pick us up this time to take us to the airport, b/c it saved us $20 than the taxi would've cost! We didn't really know what time to have them come...so we guessed. And that would've probably even been too early, but they ended up coming 15 minutes earlier than the earliest time they said they'd be there! We weren't quite ready and we hadn't checked out! We had planned on leaving a little time after we had checked out to take pics in front of the hotel, and a few pics inside it...so that sucked! B/c I will never stay there again...so, I'll never get those pictures! That made me so sad...but, what can you do? So, we ended up getting to the airport really early. But, it gave us time to have a quick bite to tide us over, figure everything out, find everything, and I bought an awesome keychain at a gift shop. Then was the flight home...the plane left at 2:20. We were so incredibly bummed to leave! I didn't wanna leave the warm weather! It was in the 60's the whole time we were there...It was so nice! We noticed our seats weren't together, so we tried to get them changed, but couldn't. We were quite a few rows apart too...so, that sucked! It was a lonely flight! I mostly just listened to music...and dozed off, off and on for pretty much the whole flight b/c I was SO unbelievably tired! Jet lag is real, yo! Even if it was just a 3 hour difference, haha. I was in the middle...and the man to my left, at the aisle, was really old and had no sense of personal space... he was so spread out. He kept hitting me with his elbow, and would have like a newspaper hanging over my lap, or a book...whatever he was looking at... so, that got a bit frustrating. And then I had to pee SO bad, but felt bad asking him to move since he was elderly and hard of hearing...plus, he eventually kept dozing off too. So, I never went, and then when we landed in Philly about 10:25, we only had like 15 minutes to find everything, take a shuttle to our right terminal, and make it onto the plane, so I didn't have time to go then either... I had to hold it all the way til we landed in Harrisburg about 11:40...that was rough! Haha. Then my dad picked us up and took us home, and it was all over! I loved LA...it was so pretty and nice there! I deff wanna go back! The whole thing just was such an amazing, incredible, surreal experience, and it flew by so fast! I'm SO thankful to KissFM for making a dream come true... I've always wanted to go to LA! And it's funny, b/c 1 of my New Years Resolutions was "to go somewhere new," and I got to...so early in the year too, so that was awesome! I will never forget this experience! Here's some pics... (credit goes to my sis for some of these) 

 

 

                                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30-Day Photo Challenge Part 4 (the last part)

continuing on...

 

day twenty-two: inspirational... this is something I did on my bedroom wall recently. turned out better than I thought! just trying to give myself some daily motivation

 

day twenty-three: patterns... it's part of my bedspread that my sister got me a few Christmases ago. I love it, it's so cute! Polka dots are probably my favorite "pattern."

 

day twenty-four: animal... this is my and 1 of my dogs, Spice. I love her to pieces! She is probably the strangest dog you will ever meet! She is crazy, and makes me laugh. We sometimes prefer to her as a "special needs dog," haha.

 

day twenty-five: strangers... i wanted to get more creative with this, but I ran out of time. It's just a couple I passed leaving Chocolate World the other day.

 

day twenty-six: close-up... another self-explanatory one! just a close up of moi!

 

day twenty-seven: celebration...a picture from 1 of my best friend's surprise birthday party we threw for her! It was a lot of fun! I don't think I've ever been a part of a surprise party before that was actually successful!

 

day twenty-eight: flowers... i was so excited that there are actually some flowers left in our yard! i love flowers, it's one of my favorite things about Spring! So pretty!

 

day twenty-nine: black & white... this is a pic with 3 of my favorites: my 2 dogs and my nephew! i love them all so much! They were all cuddling with me...a rare occasion! SO precious!

 

and finally day thirty: self-portrait... it's just a selfie. not all that great! but it served the purpose!

 

 

 

I had SO much fun doing this!! It made me dig deep into my creativity...which was good for me! I deff wanna do it again sometime!

30-Day Photo Challenge Part 3

part 3 of my photo challenge! just a few days left!

day fourteen: eyes... self-explanatory. although, as you can tell...it's just 1 eye, not 2. haha. not the best picture, but i'm not the best photographer, so that's what you get! haha

day fifteen: silhouette... just my shadow on our driveway. simple, and not very creative, haha.

day sixteen: a good habit... my scriptures (in my super cute case that my mom made for me. I wish I had her creative genes). I read them everyday! or at least, try my best to.

day seventeen: technology... my iphone case! of course, it's none other than One Direction! I LOVE it!! I finally got an iphone this year! I've wanted one for years, and I love it. technology is great!!

day eighteen: your shoes... I have a lot of shoes! I probably couldn't even fit them into 1 picture, so I just took a pic of my 3 fave pairs!

day nineteen: something you want... laugh all you want, but yes...they are One Direction footie pajamas! and personalized, might I add! as in, they put your name on the hood! AND, they have Zayn's (my fave) signature on them, and say "I love Zayn Malik"! footie pajamas are the BEST!! but, they are over $100! whomp whomp... and I will therefore most likely never own them :(

day twenty: in my bag... just some of what's in my purse. it's the essentials: my wallet, my awesome coin purse which separates the coins, tide to go pen, mp3 player, gum, Tylenol, and a lint roller!

day twenty-one: faceless self portrait... once again, self explanatory... just me sitting in my car. you can see some of my face, but it's the best I could do... I tried many times! haha

30-Day Photo Challenge Part 2

here we go...part 2 of my 30-day photo challenge...

 

day seven: change to come... I took a picture of the leaves changing colors, since it's fall! I didn't realize until recently how much I love fall!

 

day eight: routine... all I could think of was to take a picture of the things I use on a daily basis in my "getting-ready-routine."

 

day nine: someone you love... how could I ever choose just 1 person? I am truly blessed to have so many loved ones in my life! The picture is from this summer when my family went to Knoebels Grove Amusement Park, so it includes a lot of people I love.

 

day ten: childhood memory...the picture is of the trampoline in our backyard. I spent countless hours on that as a child! man, I haven't been on that in forever!

 

day eleven: something blue...the picture includes 2 of my all-time fave things in my life! pathetic as it may be, it is my incredibly blue high-thread count sheets that I rarely ever take off my bed, and you can also see part of my blue king-size fleece blanket that I call Amazey because, well...it's so amazing!

 

day twelve: sunset...pretty self-explanatory! I took it on my drive out to Utah about 2 months ago.

 

day thirteen: cannot live without...music! music is such a big part of my life and I seriously don't think I could live without it! it is good for so many situations. it's such therapy! especially if you're seeing it live! and there's nothing like hearing a song and feeling like you wrote it!

 

 

30-Day Photo Challenge Part 1

my 1st blog post...yay!! so, i saw a pin on pinterest a couple weeks ago for a 30-day photo challenge, which I decided to take on! i'm on day 7 so far, and have been having a lot of fun! so far, the challenges have been pretty easy! i'm anxious to see what's in store for the next 23 days! here's what I've done so far...

day one: self portrait, pretty self-explanatory! except I would like to note that my amazingly talented sister, McKenzie took the pic

day two: what I wore... To Write Love On Her Arms tee, love that foundation! everyone should check them out! and 1 of my all time fave pairs of shoes!

day three: clouds! I must confess that I didn't take that picture that day, but it was recent! I took it on my drive home from Utah about a week ago (which there will be more on that later)

day four: something green...not very creative, but the picture is of my feet in the green grass! I missed having green grass while living in Utah, so it was significant to me! haha

day five: after dark... once again, not very creative. it's just a selfie taken outside after dark. you'll learn i'm not a very creative person! I wish I were...

and day six: obsession! two words: One Direction, I am totally and completely in love with them! don't hate! they are amazing...and talented...and gorgeous...and british, HELLO! this is most of the stuff that I have acquired in the span of just 6 months, haha.