Loud Music and Screaming Fans

Last Thursday, Amanda and I went to the Taylor Swift concert at the Staples Center. Amanda, being the awesome friend she is, bought the tickets months ago, and I had been looking forward to the concert ever since...and it was awesome!

Right away, we had a little celebrity sighting. We passed right in front of Lisa Rinna...she was on Dancing with the Stars, Days of our Lives and a few others back in the day...I was super excited to have recognized her.

Anyway, the night only got better from there. Between our celebrity sighting, nachos, pretzel, Zebra popcorn (which is amazing)and all of Taylor Swifts costume changes, crazy backdrops(her flame backdrop is pictured above...this was during 'Picture to Burn') and random appearances in the crowd...the concert rocked! We didn't have the closest seats, but T-Swift did an amazing job at making sure everyone in the Staples Center had the chance to see her up close and personal at least once. Oh, and what? Taylor managed to make it rain in the Staples Center? Like actual water...It RAINED! And the rain had words in it...CARAZY! Oh, and did I mention that Katy Perry stopped by to sing a song with her?

I think it goes without saying...T-Swift rocks!

Girls Night Gone Wrong...

Wow, life in L.A. has been crazy busy! I was lucky enough to get a job quickly, and I am now working as a personal assistant. I love my job, and the woman I work for is great! Working as a personal assistant has given me the opportunity to become familiar with many different areas of Los Angeles, and I am very thankful for that!

Amanda and I haven’t really had much luck making girl friends since we moved here, but one of Brett’s friend’s girlfriend (is that right??) named Kjerstin (yes it is spelled correctly) has kind of become one of our friends. Anyway, last Friday night, we decided to have a girls night where we would meet up and go to dinner and a movie. Kjerstin, Mallory, Caitlyn, Amanda and I all met at the Landmark(I think) and had a great dinner at this little bar called Bourbon Street…fyi, their chicken sandwiches are great! We ended up making friends at this bar and dinner took longer than we had planned, so we decided to see our movie at Century City (another mall).

We all split up into our separate cars and headed over to Century City. Now for those of you who don’t know, parking in California is crazy! Luckily, the mall has a huge parking garage…only Amanda and I parked in the farthest parking spot from the movie theater…without knowing it. By the time Amanda and I figured out how far we were from the theater, our movie had already started. We started hurrying through the mall trying to figure out which way the movie was and finally found it! We were so close! We only had to go up one set of escalators to get there.

Amanda and I hopped up on the escalator and decided to walk up the stairs to get there faster. Things were going well…We were going to make our movie…until I caught my toe on a stair and fell down. The sound of fabric ripping caught my attention as my knee started to throb. At the top of the escalator, I pulled up the leg of my pants to find a small hole in my knee.

After running around looking for bandages, talking with the security guards (who were no help) and realizing that Kjerstin had an intense earthquake kit in her car that was better than the first-aid kit the mall had (seriously...it was ridiculous), we finally decided to take me to the ER to get my knee checked out. I was hoping that I the doctor would take one look at my knee and tell me that I was simply being dramatic (as I often am) and then send me home. Sadly, I was mistaken…Two child-like doctors, a funny nurse, millions of phone calls to my parents, sister and Brett...and eight stitches later…I was able to leave the ER and head home for the night.

Our fun little girls night had started out so great, but unfortunately the fun didn't last all night. I guess next time I need to make sure I’m on time for the movie…or learn to walk…whatev :)

I'm Engaged!!!

Hello all! So, it is official! I’m engaged!! Exciting, right? I wish I could tell you all about it in person, but I guess blogging about it is just going to have to work this time…

Last Thursday, Briana and I had planned on having one last sister’s night before I moved to California. I had to work until five, and she planned on being at my apartment around then. Right before Briana showed up, my Dad called and asked if I could home to Soda to meet some guy about the Van Gina. Feeling a little annoyed, I agreed to go to Soda and made sure Briana went with me. The drive was going well when all of a sudden I had a need to stop and use a bathroom. (For those of you who don’t know…I have a very small bladder…) Anyway, Briana and I made the stop in Lava and then continued on to Soda.

As we were driving up to the house, I saw that the garage door was open. I was a little confused and asked Briana about it, but she didn’t seem to care, so I brushed it off as well. We parked the car, grabbed the key to the house and opened the door. As soon as the door swung open, my heart stopped. Slowly, my purse slid off my shoulder and landed on the floor as I stared in disbelief at the decorations in front of me.

The house was lit with candles, and a path of rose petals and pictures of Brett and I scattered the floor. Looking down, I saw two posters with pictures of California and Idaho on each side, an ipod and a letter. The posters instructed me to 1) Compose myself 2) Put on the earphones and select the playlist “I have a question” and 3) Read the letter. Excited about what was happening, I tore open the envelope, put on the headphones and sat down to read the letter. (Brett and I met years ago through a letter, so it was fitting that he wrote me one). After finishing the letter, I followed the path of rose petals through the house and out to the deck.

Christmas lights illuminated the railing on the upper deck, but Brett was nowhere to be found. I kept walking, and as I headed down the stairs, there he was…dressed in a suit. Next to him was a table with two place settings, but instead of real food, he had brought my favorite candy, cookies and gum. (He knows me all too well!) I met Brett on the lower deck where he proceeded to get down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I felt my eyes start to tear up, (yes, I am NOT dead inside!!) and I, of course, said yes!

So, there you have it! My engagement! (Which wouldn’t have been possible without all the lies and betrayals from my sister and Dad…haha) Brett did such a great job at decorating the house, and he picked the perfect way to do it. I have been telling him that our house in Soda is my favorite place to be in the entire world and getting engaged there was the icing on the cake. It was great, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

In search of answers...

This blog posting is going to be a bit different from others that I have posted. I usually enjoy making simple situations extremely dramatic, but this week, I have a more serious mentality…

I have reached that point in my life where summer is coming to a close, and I must make a decision about where I am going from here. I have officially decided against law school, so I won’t be returning to school this fall. As a backup plan, I applied to be a nanny through TSN months ago. I went the whole summer with hardly any communication from TSN, so I had figured that they just weren’t interested in me anymore.

About a week ago, a family from Connecticut contacted me. Throughout the process of interviewing with this family, I came to realize that they are wonderful people. Their children are extremely polite, active and smart. The parents are caring individuals who strive to be involved in their children’s lives. My roommate had already interviewed with two different families and didn’t end up being chosen for their nanny positions, so I didn’t think much of my interview. I didn’t want to get my hopes up about something that wasn’t a sure thing. But, it turns out that they like me and want me to work for them. This all sounds great, right?

Well, it is great. I finally have a plan…something to do for the next year. The only problem is that recent events have helped me realize that I don’t want to be moving to the east coast. Moving away would be considered a setback in certain areas…but how do I just tell this family that I changed my mind? How do I tell them that they spent countless amounts of time looking for their next nanny, found her…and now I don’t want to work for them? How do I do it?

Little Grey...

Earlier this week, my friend Todd called and invited some friends and I to go out on his boat for a day filled with tubing, water skiing and knee boarding. Now, I didn’t have the luxury of growing up with a boat, so I jumped at the chance to spend a day on the lake. Hearing the excitement in my voice, Todd took the opportunity to tell me that his boat wasn’t the nicest boat, but if I didn’t care that it wasn’t a brand new boat, then it would be a blast. I didn’t care if the boat was brand spanking new. I only cared that we were going to be on a boat... or so I thought…

It turned out that Todd’s definition of “not the nicest boat” was quite different from mine. I figured that the boat would at least be made out of fiberglass, but this boat was just metal…It also had an engine that stuck up out of the water…similar to the kind that you see on a fishing boat, and it technically only sat 4 people. To top it all off, the gas tank wasn’t attached to the boat. Todd had three tanks that sat on the boat deck…when one tank ran out of gas, we would simply remove the hose from the empty tank and attach it to a full tank of gas. Needless to say, I was a little worried about whether or not the boat would be able to handle a day on the lake.

After getting over the initial shock of the boat, we all headed out on the lake to water ski and knee board. A little ways away from the dock, the engine on the boat just stopped. We were only five minutes into our fun on the lake, and we were already experiencing problems. Things were not looking good! Luckily, Todd was able to fix whatever the problem was, and we were able to actually do something other than sit on the lake. Everything was going just fine, until Todd decided we should take him back to get his Red Vines out of the truck.

Instead of waiting for him at the dock, we dropped him off and drove around the lake until he returned…this seemed to be a good idea at the time, but it quickly turned into a bad one (I blame the stupid Red Vines for this…). As soon as we were on the other side of the lake, the engine stopped again…and Jordan couldn’t get it to start. In the process of turning the key back and forth, somehow Jordan broke the key off in the ignition. So, now we were in the middle of the lake on a boat with no engine and a no key to even try to make the boat start. Did I mention we were slowly approaching the dam??

With no way to start the boat, everyone on board started getting slightly worried about how we were going to get back to the dock. Worst case scenario, we would simply have to swim the boat back to the dock…but there happened to be these stupid girls on board that refused to get in the water…but that’s another story. Anyway, before we crashed into the dam, the Search and Rescue boat was able to come give us a tow back to the dock. Todd figured out what was wrong with the boat, and he got the broken key out of the ignition. After all the stress, we decided to call it a day and head back home...

All in all, the day ended up being a blast. Yes, the boat died more times than I can count on two hands, and we almost had to swim the boat back into the dock...but at least I got to spend the day on a boat.

A rose by any other name...

So, ya know how when you had just graduated high school and you were choosing which college you will go to? It seems that all the universities emphasize the idea that you are more than a just a number at their school. You are an individual with important ideas and opinions. This is one of the main selling points at a university. Apparently, it is not one in my family.

Earlier tonight, I was on the phone with my father and I requested that he pass the phone along to my mother so I could chat with her. When she asked who it was, he simply replied “it’s number 4.” I was shocked…SHOCKED! Appalled even! My whole life, my dad had referred to me as Briana, Bryson or whoever else he felt like calling me, but now I am simply a number?!?! What on earth did I do to be reduced to the lowly status of a number? I am not even good enough for the wrong name? I am just a number…and not any number…I am number 4.

Quarantined?!?

Last weekend, I took a trip to Los Angeles to visit Brett. This was my third trip to see him, and this particular weekend was supposed to be our “we live in the same city weekend.” Because we live in separate states, we tend to make sure our time together is filled with awesome activities. These activities, however, tend to get a little tiring… and by the time the weekend is over, both of us are exhausted. So, last weekend was a supposed to be low key, and it was…for the most part…

On Saturday, we drove to Santa Barbara (or as I call it: Santa Monica). We drove along the coast in hopes of stopping at a beach to boogey (sp) board and hang out. Sadly, there were grey clouds following us up the coast, so we didn’t stop. Once we were in Santa Barbara, we checked into our hotel, walked to the beach and later met up for dinner with Alex and Lily (two of Brett’s friends). Dinner was great, but the real reason we went to Santa Barbara was for the Kings of Leon concert.

The concert was at the Santa Barbara Bowl, and it was supposed to start at three. So, figuring we could miss the opening band, we showed up at 4:30. I don’t know if anyone has ever been to the Santa Barbara Bowl, but it is located at the top of this extremely steep hill (ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a little…but really, it’s quite the hike). Anyway, Brett and I make it past the security check point, get our tickets scanned and begin to walk up the hill. When we reach the top, we not only learn that there are four opening bands, we also learn that Kings of Leon doesn’t start playing until 8:30 that night! We were four hours early!

In an attempt to stay busy, we decide we will leave the concert and come back later. We later found out that this was not an option. Some guy by the name of “Jack” was in charge of deciding who could and could not leave the venue. Apparently, it was a big deal or something. So, Brett and I make up some excuse that our friend needs her asthma medication from the car, and “Jack” tells us that only one of us can go to the car. So, Brett goes with “Jack” down the hill on some back road while I start walking to the bottom of the hill on the other side. I reach the bottom and tell another security guard the same excuse, and he says I have to show the asthma medication in order to gain re-entry. Annoyed, but wanting to leave, I agree to his conditions and walk past the security check point and find Brett.

Brett is standing in a line talking to some woman about him leaving the premises. She signs his ticket, so I walk up and ask her to sign mine. She does, but then tells us that only one of us can go to the car to get the medication. (Why is it so freaking hard to break out of this place?!?!) At this point, one of us actually has to go to the car and search for something. We’ve come too far to go back…so, Brett leaves while I stay and wait. Before Brett has even left the area, a security guard comes up to me and tells me that “if I leave the area, I will not be allowed re-entry to the concert.” Confused as to why I am suddenly being quarantined, I start to get annoyed.

I quickly start calling anyone and everyone possible so that I can express my annoyance without actually expressing it to one of the guards directly. Sadly, no one will answer their phone, which only makes me more frustrated. I sit quietly in my chair for a moment, and then decide to question the reason for my restrictions. I quickly pull out my ticket and start reading the fine print (my mother would be so proud). Nowhere in the fine print does it say anything about not being allowed re-entry to the concert. Feeling great about myself, I walk right up to the guard and ask him to show me where it says I am not allowed re-entry to the concert. He looks stumped for a minute but then tells me to return to my chair. That did it… I was pissed… P-I-S-T! A few harsh words were exchanged, some of which I am not proud of, but I sat back down and waited for Brett to return.

Brett finally made it back, without any asthma medication, and we were allowed to head back up to the concert. I was still irritated with the security guards, but our plan to escape wasted an hour of the time we could have been listening to an opening band. So, I guess it wasn’t a complete waste…

By the time 8:30 rolled around, I was back to my chipper self and Kings of Leon finally made their appearance onstage. The concert was awesome. Kings of Leon were amazing, and, even after all the drama, it was completely worth staying for.