On Monday June 15th my friend, mom, and I departed for a trip to "The Hills." The incentive was simple: Buy Lauren Conrad's new book and go to her book signing. Some would call this lame, some would call us crazy, I would just call it: All Good Fun! Sure the incentive isn't exactly what some would consider to be "Normal" but c'mon, I'm living life! Lauren's signing was schedule at The Grove in Barnes and Noble on the 16th, which gave us a little time to look around. We stayed at Farmer's Daughter Hotel, which was a nice quaint little farmer like hotel. I couldn't complain. We walked around The Grove to "case the joint" and it was great. The Grove reminded me of Faneuil Hall in Boston. Tons of different stores, shops, and places to eat. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory which wasn't exactly adventurous since we have one here where we live. Afterwards we simply called it a day since we didn't get to L.A. till about 5ish.
June 16th...The Day of Days!
We woke up around 630 to get an early start on the day knowing that the Book Signing was at 7, we figured getting there by 4 would be ok. We started the day off by eating breakfast at the Hotel restaurant Tart...which you may have seen on Daddy's Girls, or The Hills, and some others. It was interesting being in L.A. knowing that it's the city of movie stars, musicians, directors, models, etc. What do you know? There happened to be a photo shoot/commercial shoot going on at the hotel. Breakfast was delicious and we headed back to the room to finish getting ready and then we hit the road.
If you happen to be planning a trip to L.A. and want to be close to everything tourist-e, I suggest staying at Farmer's Daughter. It's a short walk from Farmer's Market, The Grove. It's also about 20 minutes from Venice Beach, 4 minutes from La Brea Park, 20 or so from Griffith Park, maybe 8 minutes from the Chinese Theater...it's right there.
We headed out to Venice Beach next. I had wanted to Venice Beach when my other friend and I went to Manhattan Beach for a couple of basketball games. Unfortunately, we never got around to it, but this time around we did. I loved it! The atmosphere was great! A lot of little shops and vendors, although some of the things they were selling were a little....out there. But the Beach itself was wonderful. I found it better than Pismo, Avila, Santa Barbara...that's just to me. It's the type of atmosphere you see on tv, movies, or in books. Oh and to top it off, while driving to go get food I spotted Terra Naomi walking on the sidewalk...I should've just gotten out and asked for a picture with her....oh well hhaha.
Afterwards we headed out for a little food. We ended up at Pink's hot dogs. If you're a fan of the Food Network you may have seen this stop on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives which is exactly where my mom spotted it. They had different types of hot dogs to choose from, which some not so normal toppings that you would expect on a hot dog. For example, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, and tomatoes. It was vacation time, so that meant be adventurous. I tried the Chicago Polish hot dog mild. It came with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, relish, and mustard...I got mine without onions and relish being I'm not that big of a fan...overall it was DELICIOUS!!! Definitely the BEST hot dog I've ever eaten! My mom got a chili/sauerkraut dog, and my friend got a guadalajara dog. They both liked their dogs as well.
(Chicago Polish, Chili/Sauerkraut, Guadalajara)After Pink's we headed up to Griffith Park Observatory so we could spot the Hollywood sign. We got up there and took some pics of the sign and went through the observatory itself. Then by the time we finished there and headed back to the hotel it was about 340. Just in time for the purpose of the event. We left around 348 to Barnes and Noble just to see if it was already crowded...the Barnes and Noble is three stories high, and book signings take place on the 3rd floor. We reached the top and saw there was already a line forming! So we went down, bought our books, and got our wristbands (you needed one or else you couldn't be in line) then headed up. So from 4 we sat in line awaiting till the signing started. Sounds crazy I know. But the line quickly grew.
Basic rules of the signing: No posed pictures, pictures were only to be taken from the signing line. No personalizations. Nothing but the book could be autographed. Also, if you weren't in line by 630pm then you lost your spot. So as the time neared 630 I thought I should take a quick potty break just in case. Headed out of the line to the bathroom, and when I came out of the bathroom and started walking back, I saw none other than Ross Matthews!!!! I freaked out, ran after him and his friend Ryan before they walked away. If you didn't know already i'm a HUGE Ross fan. I watched his Ross Blog on nbc.com when he still had it up and running, and I read his Ross Blog and catch his Inside Dish vids. Yes, I've always wanted to meet him, he always made my day making me laugh on his blogs. So this was a GREAT surprise. To see him and Ryan in person was crazy! Surreal even. So I got to take this:
This absolutely just the Cherry on Top to the trip!!!! Ross and Ryan were both SO NICE! They're great people, and I felt lucky.
So after my encounter with Ross I headed back to the line. Anticipation arose when it became 630 and everyone was wondering where and when Lauren would show up. Paparazzi were all lined around with their cameras. It was a mixed crowd of loads of teenage girls, some boys, some older girls/guys, and a handful of moms. The closer we got to 7 the crazier people became. Once Lauren walked out, it was pandemonium!! It was like being at an NSync concert all over again...the screaming girls haha. Lauren walked up to the front at the signing table and took pictures with her books, and then the line started moving. It was a pretty short wait, and the closer we got to Lauren the more excited we were!! She's just as nice and pretty as is on t.v. Because of the quick pace of the line I was unable to get a picture...which disappointed me greatly...but I couldn't help but realize how lucky I already was being there and getting her to sign my book...meeting Ross and Ryan...and having a GREAT trip overall. So I'm saying now, there will hopefully be another time I get to meet Lauren and this time get a picture with her instead of one that looks like this:
Basic rules of the signing: No posed pictures, pictures were only to be taken from the signing line. No personalizations. Nothing but the book could be autographed. Also, if you weren't in line by 630pm then you lost your spot. So as the time neared 630 I thought I should take a quick potty break just in case. Headed out of the line to the bathroom, and when I came out of the bathroom and started walking back, I saw none other than Ross Matthews!!!! I freaked out, ran after him and his friend Ryan before they walked away. If you didn't know already i'm a HUGE Ross fan. I watched his Ross Blog on nbc.com when he still had it up and running, and I read his Ross Blog and catch his Inside Dish vids. Yes, I've always wanted to meet him, he always made my day making me laugh on his blogs. So this was a GREAT surprise. To see him and Ryan in person was crazy! Surreal even. So I got to take this:
This absolutely just the Cherry on Top to the trip!!!! Ross and Ryan were both SO NICE! They're great people, and I felt lucky.So after my encounter with Ross I headed back to the line. Anticipation arose when it became 630 and everyone was wondering where and when Lauren would show up. Paparazzi were all lined around with their cameras. It was a mixed crowd of loads of teenage girls, some boys, some older girls/guys, and a handful of moms. The closer we got to 7 the crazier people became. Once Lauren walked out, it was pandemonium!! It was like being at an NSync concert all over again...the screaming girls haha. Lauren walked up to the front at the signing table and took pictures with her books, and then the line started moving. It was a pretty short wait, and the closer we got to Lauren the more excited we were!! She's just as nice and pretty as is on t.v. Because of the quick pace of the line I was unable to get a picture...which disappointed me greatly...but I couldn't help but realize how lucky I already was being there and getting her to sign my book...meeting Ross and Ryan...and having a GREAT trip overall. So I'm saying now, there will hopefully be another time I get to meet Lauren and this time get a picture with her instead of one that looks like this:
Oh well. On a side note: keep your fingers crossed you may see us on Inside Dish :) No promises though. But who knows!!!
After the signing we headed out to search for some place to eat. We were thinking Sushi and there are TONS of sushi restaurants in L.A....I mean WOW! We were going to go eat at a place called Jinpachi, but we found it was a little more "upper class" and we were a little "Underdressed" so we went on a hunt and saw a place called Umai. So we ate there. As we were sitting there we noticed there were nothing but Men around, and men in pairs. Come to find...we were eating in what seemed to be the "Gay District." I found this hilarious...and had no problems sitting there hahah.
The last day we went to J-Town (Japan Town) and bought some stuff there and then headed home. So overall, this trip was great. Why? Because even though I know I would never, I came home saying, "I would live here" haha but we know I really wouldn't!
After the signing we headed out to search for some place to eat. We were thinking Sushi and there are TONS of sushi restaurants in L.A....I mean WOW! We were going to go eat at a place called Jinpachi, but we found it was a little more "upper class" and we were a little "Underdressed" so we went on a hunt and saw a place called Umai. So we ate there. As we were sitting there we noticed there were nothing but Men around, and men in pairs. Come to find...we were eating in what seemed to be the "Gay District." I found this hilarious...and had no problems sitting there hahah.
The last day we went to J-Town (Japan Town) and bought some stuff there and then headed home. So overall, this trip was great. Why? Because even though I know I would never, I came home saying, "I would live here" haha but we know I really wouldn't!
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