bliggity, bloggity, boo! and the paparazzi too!

So, I realize Halloween isn't until next week, but today for fun at the end of my keyboard accompaniment class we played "Monster Mash" so I'm in a Halloween-ish mood. I'm actually really excited to see Halloween in LA, especially in Hollywood- I've heard that it is quite an event so that should make for an interesting week next week! I don't know what our plans are yet for Halloween, but I do want to dress up as something fun. Last year I was Pam Beesly and had a blast with it (see pic collage below).

(you can make the pictures bigger by clicking on them)

Me and Laura don't have a lot of money to spend on costumes so let me see how creative you are and throw us some suggestions! pretty please, with sugar on top! :)

Well, I guess it has been a while since I blogged so let's catch up shall we. Last Monday (the 15th) Me and Laura had the great pleasure of going to see another comedy improv show at IO West! It was called "The Armando Show" and the special guest host was none other than Miss Angela Kinsey aka Angela Martin of "The Office". The show starts with a topic suggestion from the audience and then Angela tells stories from her life based on the topic. After a few anecdotes she runs off stage and the improv actors do several scenes taking bits and pieces of the stories or things indirectly related to the stories. It was absolutely hilarious and I was amazed at how quick they all are on their feet...pretty amazing I must say! It was also a treat to see Tim Meadows (come on, the freaking LADIES MAN of SNL!!) perform with the group- he had me laughing like a hyena hahaha (but who are we kidding, I ALWAYS have that kind of laugh!). Anyway, after the show Laura and I went outside to meet up with Angela. Luckily, a ton of people didn't stick around so we didn't have to wait to talk to her. Let me first just say that she is totally adorable....I just love her! A sweet, twangy southern girl like yours truly! She was SO nice and genuine and funny (duh!). I know I only spent like 5 minutes with her, but I'm a good judge of character and she is one great lady! Here is our picture with Miss Angela!

Oh, and side note- Angela lives in Sherman Oaks (where we live) and was shopping at our Target just a few days before we met her...perhaps we will bump into her and Jenna there one day!?

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful compared to Monday night. I went to school everyday, and I have really enjoyed my classes so far. I must admit that I do feel out of place a lot of times though- most of the kids at the school are 18-21 and this is their first college experience. They are still trying to figure things out, skip classes all the time and are totally bold and confident in their performances (and the last is what I am SO jealous of). I guess it's just different for me- this is my life at stake here...I quit my job, picked up and moved across the country to pursue this dream so I have a lot more riding on this at age 26 than they do at 18. But, I will say that I am glad that I'm here at this time and point in my life. I don't think I would have been ready at their age and what I have learned in my life so far has prepared me for this exact time. I just need to have more faith in that and in myself. My performances still aren't where I want them to be, but I think I'm improving and each time it gets a little easier and is more fun so that is good! This past week I stepped outside of my comfort zone and did the modern rock live performance workshop. The song we had to sing was "long way to happy" by Pink. It's not what I typically listen to but I had fun with it and really enjoyed singing with a live band. Next week I've got 3 performances for 3 different classes so you can guess what I'll be doing all weekend!!!

In other news, me and Laura went to the mall last weekend and turned in lots of job applications to work seasonal retail. So far I've got interviews at Sephora (yes! my favorite!!) and The Gap so keep your fingers crossed! I can pretty much only work friday-sunday because of my school schedule so I hope one of those works out!

Oh yes, and something else new- me and Laura have found an awesome church to go to!
It's Bel Air Presbyterian on the legendary Mulholland Drive! The view while driving up the hill and from the church is absolutely breathtaking! We went to Sunday morning service this past week and also to a young adult worship service tuesday night. Lots of cool people and things going on there- I can't wait to get involved!

And, last, but not least I teased you with the word paparazzi in the blog title and I'm sure you were wondering what that was all about so here's the story! Yesterday, I was walking to my car after school and checking my phone and saw I had missed 4 calls from Laura. I was immediately panicked and thought something must be wrong so I called her right away. I was relieved to find out that she was okay, and then she told me she was calling to let me know there had been a really bad car accident right in front of our apartment and she wanted to let me know so I could take another route home. When I arrived at the apartment the street was partially blocked off and I saw 3 mangled cars scattered across the road. Laura was standing outside with some other witnesses (Laura saw part of the accident from our porch) when I walked up and she filled me in on what happened. Apparently a drunk guy hit another car which sent his car spinning out into oncoming traffic and then into a parked car. As I stood there I noticed a few people with cameras (who weren't real paparazzi but more like struggling actors trying to make money). Apparently the driver who was the cause of the accident was the actor Gary Collins and these guys were intent on taking pictures to sell to tmz.com (hollywood gossip site). The police did arrest Mr. Collins on suspicion of DUI and carted him off to the Van Nuys jail. This morning I checked TMZ to see if the had the story and sure enough there it was. Here's the link:

CLICK HERE

This literally occurred on the street right outside our apartment. You can actually see Laura's legs in one of the photographs hahaha. Laura made the tabloids!!

And, on that note I'm going to wrap this up! I hope you all have a fabulous rest of the week and remember to give me your costume ideas and leave a comment :) As Laura says "even if you just write that was dumb and you blog too much"! haha.

Huggy Hugs,

-B


PS-Is that not the best blog title ever?! It just came to me and I laughed my butt off. well not really, but almost. ;)

back to school, back to school...and the beach!!

I would like to start off this week's blog with some apropos words from a very funny movie....kudos to you if you can name the movie!

"Back to school. Back to school, to prove to Dad that I'm not a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight. Ohhhh, back to school. Back to school. Back to school. Well, here goes nothing. " (hint: song is sung by adam sandler)

Sigh....this is essentially how I felt this week. It has been four and half years since I graduated from college. That may not seem like a really long time, but it feels like it was ages ago that I sat in classes and had to do "homework." Needless to say I was pretty anxious about starting school this past week, but I was also SUPER excited. I mean, seriously, you guys how many people get the chance to go to school and study what they REALLY love and what they have dreamed of doing their whole life? I wouldn't venture to guess not that many. I mean, sure, I went to college and I absolutely LOVED my college experience, but if I'm being honest with myself, I was settling for studying something that I would like to do if what I truly loved (music) wasn't an option. And also because I was afraid to venture "outside the box" of a "normal job." For the record, I do NOT at all regret attending Clemson or getting my degree. I believe with all my heart that everything happens for a reason and there is a purpose in the way things turn out. I know that I am exactly where I need to be right now and knowing that helps calm the fears and insecurities I have about this whole experience!

Alright, so here is a run down of my how week went...


On Monday I had to be at school at 8am to pick up schedule so I got up at 6am and left the apartment by 7am. I wasn't sure how crazy traffic would be on the 101 on Monday morning and I didn't want to take any chances of being late! Lucky for me traffic was not bad at all that early and I got to school at 7:30am. After waiting in the registration line for a while I picked up my schedule and realized I didn't have class until 10am that morning...awesome....2 hours to kill. You will notice below that 2 hour breaks are pretty frequent throughout my schedule....here is what it looks like:

MONDAYS:

10-10:50 Sight Singing- I think this class seems pretty self explanatory! We work on improving our sight reading skills in regard to rhythm, melodies, harmonies, etc. My teacher's name is Katie and she's a really fun and young teacher. She makes a subject that can be kind of monotonous and boring seem fun!

11am-2pm- BREAK! I pretty use this time to work on assignments for other classes and go to the vocal labs and work on songs.

2-2:50 Blues Vocals- taught by "Mama O" is a class that studies blues vocalists and their music to help singers get insight into blues singer's phrasing and emotional delivery. This is a class I am REALLY looking forward to!! It was actually cancelled last week because our instructor was out of town so I can't wait for it next week!

3-3:50 Vocal Technique- this class is an intro to the anatomy and physiology of the voice...it covers breathing and how it affects the body, mind and singing, etc. My instructor is this super cool rocker chick named Coreen (I also have her for another class). She's so much fun and I'm really looking forward to working with her!

TUESDAYS:

10-11:50 Art of Success- this hands down is going to be one of my favorite classes and not just because of the course content. The basic reason for the class (which everyone at the school has to take no matter what you are studying) is because the school wants everyone to be realistic about our goals and what we want to do in the industry. The class gives a lot of info on the music business and also shatters myths about the business. And beyond that it seeks to help us clarify our goals and what we want and how we can be successful and make a living doing what we love (music!) without necessarily being a "rockstar." Very cool. The other thing that is so awesome about this class is the instructor. His name is "Hacksaw"...well really its Brian Williams, but as he told our class there are already too many of those, most notably the news anchor hahaha. I know that my description of him will not do him justice so I'm going to post his bio from the school page and it will give you a sense of the crazy awesomeness that is Hacksaw.

"Hacksaw has been entertaining audiences since shortly after the creation of the wheel. In the summer of 1985, he thrilled his parents by moving to Los Angeles with his high school rock band instead of attending the Ivy League school to which he had been accepted (Yale!). Since that fateful decision, Hacksaw has recorded and performed with numerous aggressive ensembles in LA and across North America. He has also supplemented his income as a comedy writer, received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA and generally avoided substantial jail time. In his free time, he likes to knit Velcro jumpsuits for his two cats: Daisy Mae & Sugar Bear. Hacksaw's latest musical project is Damn Hippie Freaks. At VIT, Hacksaw teaches the Hard Rock Live Performance Workshop, The Art of Success and Vocal Private Lessons."

I hope that gives you a slight picture of who he is...truly, he is great. He brought the class Paul Newman's lemonade on the first day and did a fun little activity having us introduce ourselves...it was hilarious. I cannot wait to see what kind of things happen in this class over the next ten weeks...oh joy!

12-2pm BREAK!

2-2:50 Harmony & Theory- just as it sounds...learning the math of music...lucky for me I've taken theory before so thus far it hasn't been too difficult! Our teacher Maurice is pretty cool too...very laid back (he's a bass player).

3-3:50 Ear Training- this class focuses on helping us identify intervals, chords, etc. just by hearing them...it is also taught by Maurice and in the same room. I spend many hours in room 240 hahaha.

4-5:50 Vocal Performance- this is my second class caught by Coreen and my 3RD class in a row in room 240....gah. Tuesdays are long days...especially in the late afternoon. This seems like it will be an awesome class though and I'm sure you can guess by the title what we work on....yep, singing. Basically we have a certain number of performances we have to do each quarter and we get up and perform them and are critiqued by Coreen. We can accompany ourselves on guitar or piano or sing with the killer karaoke machine that has over 7,000 songs on it...yeah, it's kind of amazing! This will be a challenging class, but very fun too I think!

WEDNESDAYS

10-10:50 Sight Singing again!

2 HOUR BREAK!

1-1:50 Contemporary Vocal Styles- really fun class that is basically a "history of music" type class. We're covering all the contemporary styles of music and where they came from...we start in the 1920's with the Blues which I am so amped about. In the past year or so I've really gotten into the blues and am really looking forward to learning about that era of music and everything after that has made music what it is today. I love history in general so I know I'll love this class.

2 HOUR BREAK!

4-4:50 Keyboard Accompaniment- this class is also exactly what it sounds like...we practice piano essentially and work on being able to play and sing at the same time....along with reading chord charts, etc. I took piano lessons growing up so I was able to test out of the first level class. It has been a while since I consistently practiced so I'm looking forward to getting back to it. Kids do listen to your parents when they say "you'll regret not practicing and not continuing your lessons." I thought they were crazy when I was younger and now I realize as with pretty much everything they told me...they were RIGHT...sigh. hahaha.

THURSDAYS (are special because I don't have to go in until 1pm! yay!)

1-1:50 Private Vocal Lesson- another obvious one...this is the hour of my schedule that I get one on one time with a private instructor. My instructor's name is Jami Lula and he is amazing. He attended MI 20 years ago and has had a lot of success and made a living in the business. He asked me about what I wanted to do and what my goals were to which I replied simply "I want to be a singer-songwriter". And he was like ok, but what else...I mean technically I am that now...but how do I want to put my music out there...do I want to tour? record? etc. etc. He made me think a lot about what I want to get out of this experience and how I need to really sit down and think about what I do want and then make a list of goals of how I'm going to accomplish them. He also had me sing some intervals, match pitch and sing a song a capella (without music for you non-music people). When I finished with that he asked me a really interesting question that I wasn't expecting...."Who told you that you couldn't do this?" And, by this he was referring to being a singer/musician. I told him I couldn't think of anyone who blatantly told me that, but that growing up I was always encouraged in my musical pursuits but only as a hobby, never as a career path. At that point something I totally didn't see coming happened...I broke down. I just started crying in the middle of our lesson. I apologized, but he told me not to worry about it and actually encouraged it. He told me to never lose that quality and that it would help me connect with my audience. He then went on to say that the reason he had asked me that question was because he could tell that I was holding back and that I hadn't really given myself permission to be the singer he could tell that I was. I told him he was right and that I really wanted to embrace my voice, but have been afraid. Basically, I've felt like who I am to think I'm good enough to do this? Aren't there better people out there? Maybe this should just be a hobby. These are the demons that are in my head constantly and keep me from performing how I really should. This is going to be my biggest struggle...Jami says we've got to work on letting the "whaling woman" and "inner diva" that he knows are inside of me out. I'm looking forward to letting her out too...she's been trapped inside for a while and hasn't gotten out much hahaha BUT that is going to change!
It's a new day and I'm ready to start facing these issues head on! Needless to say this was quite an emotional day! I could have used a break after that, but NO...3 straight classes after that.

2-2:50 Harmony & Theory again
3-3:50 Ear Training again

4-5:50 Creativity Workshop-this class is based on the book "The Artists Way" by Julia Cameron. Many of you have probably heard of it from Jenna Fischer as the book she used that helped her create Lollilove. Anyway, I'm SO excited about this class. It is taught by my private teacher Jami Lula and is basically a workshop designed to help increase your creativity. We do all kinds of exercises and projects designed to unblock our creativity. The class only has 10 people so its the perfect size to keep things intimate. I think I'm most looking forward to seeing how this class opens me up with journaling (we have to journal every morning) and how that impacts my songwriting/writing in general and my performances.

NO FRIDAY CLASSES!!!!! WAHOOOOOOO!! (though I will most likely be working)

In a nutshell that is how my week will go. The only class I left out is my LPW class (live playing workshop). This is different every week depending on what song you sign up to perform. We have to do 10 of these a quarter and there are 10 weeks in a quarter which works out to one a week pretty much, though you can do more if you need to. They didn't waste any time this week and we got started right off the bat. I signed up for "Coffeehouse" Tuesday night because its acoustic and you can play your own music or a cover. I played guitar and sang a cover of the Colbie Caillat song "Magic". I was super nervous, but I got through it and didn't mess up too much hahaha. It wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it was ok. I got a 93 so I can live with that. All in all it was an amazing, scary, fun, intimidating week. There is TONS of hard work ahead, but I'm SO pumped to do it. This is what I've been waiting for for a LONG time and I'm not going to slack off. I've spent a HUGE amount of money to be here and learn from these amazing instructors and my fellow students so I'm going to seize every available opportunity given to me! Which reminds me, I met soooooo many people this week from all over the country and the world. The school is truly a melting pot!! I can't wait to collaborate with them :)!!

In other news, tomorrow (Sunday) is my ONE MONTH ANNIVERSARY IN LA!!!!
Can you believe it?! I can't. It seems like just yesterday I was leaving my life behind in SC and now I'm finding a home for myself in LA. Me and Laura are still getting settled in, but each day that goes by I feel like I'm finding my way more and more. And, to celebrate this me and Laura decided to give up our LAS (Lazy Ass Syndrome...my SC girls know about this!) and go do something fun! We started thinking... what to do...what to do and then lightbulb! Let's go to Manhattan Beach! I absolutely LOVE Manhattan Beach. I was able to spend a little time in the "South Bay" area during my first week in LA and fell in love with it. The scenery, landscapes, shops, restaurants and people are amazing...so, I just HAD to take Laura there. And fyi, anyone who comes to visit can expect a trip to the beach...it's my favorite part of LA so far!

So, by about 4 me and Laura had taken showers and gotten all cute and headed out the door. Our first stop was at the post office so I could pick up some mail my mom had sent me. Also, you should know that I had chosen the "Centerstage" soundtrack as our driving music for the evening- it was upbeat and dance-worthy so why not?! So me and Laura are jamming out on the 405 for about two miles glad that there is no traffic and then the strangest thing happens...a cop car comes blazing onto the interstate with its lights flashing but no sirens. I wasn't sure what was going on (I hadn't been speeding kids!) but I got over into the far right lane just in case he was going to pull me over, but NO he proceeds to sway all the way into the left lane and then back across 5 lanes to the right and then left....I think you see where I'm going with this. This continued for about 5 minutes and we had no idea what was going on. I actually thought that maybe the cop was high or someone had stolen the car and they were high. Meanwhile a line of traffic is piling up behind us. Here are some video clips Laura was smart enough to take that will explain what happened next...


Crazy Cop #1 (a short clip of what went on for 5 minutes)


Thank you, kind sir for removing the dangerous plywood from the road!


Yes....all of that to pick up 2 pieces of PLYWOOD from the road...geez.

After that we ran into some typical LA traffic which was welcome after that incident.
Then we finally arrived at Manhattan Beach! It put me in such a great mood....beautiful sites everywhere I turned. First, we hit up the pier...we barely made it there because of the steep hills we had to walk down to get down to the beach. Note to you ladies- heels & beach hills do not mix!! Here are some cute pictures me and Laura took on the pier....tres jolie!!!

View from the Pier...I want to live in one of those houses!!

Almost Sunset!

The pier at Manhattan Beach

Oops....the zoom was on.

There, that's better!! Laura & Me on the pier!

After walking around the pier for a bit we used my handy dandy iphone to find a fun seafood restaurant. We found this great place called Rock Fish and had a yummy seafood dinner. I got macadamia nut encrusted mahi mahi will grilled veggies and sweet potato fries and my favorite beverage a classic cosmopolitan. It was fabulous. Laura and I also had a very interesting conversation about independent women, careers, and relationships. It just seems to us from the world's angle it has to be our independence & dreams or a relationship...we can't have our cake and eat it too. Well, I say phooey to that. I believe you can have both and if me moving out here means I have to wait longer for it to happen then fine. I wouldn't want to be with anyone who didn't support me anyway. So, until that time where a relationship does fit into my life I'm perfectly content to keep chugging along solo. Though I am trying not to be so "tough" and remove the proverbial "F-you" sign on my forehead so to speak. I want to be more open and accessible and not worry about getting hurt so much...if I do that I may get surprised by something amazing one day (*fingers crossed*). Scratch that...I KNOW I will be surprised by it one day...can't wait!

Well, me and Laura must have retired the "signs" somewhat because when we left the restaurant and were walking to Starbucks we got stopped by this 40ish year old intoxicated guy who needed directions somewhere. When we informed him we wouldn't help because we lived in the valley he wasn't too thrilled. Laura told him to walk inside and ask a hostess to which he replied "but I wanted to find out from the pretty girls." Too bad dude, we don't know! We told him again we had no clue and he began to stumble down the hill towards the pier. Me and Laura had a good laugh and continued to the car....we dropped off our leftovers and circled the block before pulling into a space in front of Starbucks. We got out and I fed the meter and started walking inside when we hear "hey! hey girls can we get a picture with you?" to which Laura and I turn around....there are 2 guys sitting on a bench in front of Starbucks.

guy: Hey! Can I get a picture with you girls?
Laura:........WHY?.........(wondering what in the world was going on)
guy: Because I think y'all are pretty.
Laura: turns to me "Brandi, should we take a picture with him?'
Me: chuckles..."why the hell not?"

Here is our picture with the Starbucks guy, which funny enough WE have it and not HIM. As we walked inside he yelled out "let me know if it's cute". hahaha. good times.

After we grabbed some coffee we walked around downtown a bit and then headed back to Sherman Oaks. We rocked out to some Kelly Clarkson and there wasn't a stitch of traffic on the 405 and before ya know it we're back in Sherman Oaks at the apartment jumping into our pjs, watching tv and writing blogs. An excellent night with loads of fun.

Tomorrow I've got to get some school work done and do laundry...fun stuff. BUT on Monday night me and Laura are going back to IO West for a comedy show called "The Armando Show".
It always features a special guest as the host and this week it is Angela Kinsey aka Angela Martin of "The Office". I'm so excited to see her and get a chance to meet her! You can count on another blog after that!

Ok, kiddies I'm off to bed! Hope you all had amazing week/weekend. Thanks for reading...I know it was a long one tonight! (TWSS!) hahaha I couldn't resist!
Take care :)

xoxo,
Brandi

What a weekend in Hollywood should be...

Happy Sunday everyone! It's about 11:30am here on the West Coast, what are you guys up to?! Before I start with the details of this weekend, I would just like to say that I agreed with Michael Scott of The Office on two counts this past week....first, gift baskets are amazing, people...they are the essence of class and fanciness. also, computers ARE about trying to murder you in a lake. Sally (my GPS) has not tried to send me and Laura into a lake, but she has suggested some things just as crazy so beware if you decide to invest in one hahaha. And, now onto our feature presentation...

So, Friday afternoon after me and Laura had been laying around like bums all day we decided that we wanted to see a movie and decided on "The Jane Austen Book Club" (you liked that segue didn't you?! hahaha). It was a precious movie...full of interesting and flawed characters and real life situations. I won't give anything away in case some of you want to see it, but I will give you my favorite quote from the movie...."He looked at me like he was the spoon and I was the bowl of ice cream." hahaha love it. After the movies we returned to the apartment, ate left over pizza and just hung out and watched Friday Night Lights...it was great.

On Saturday I had planned on running errands, doing laundry and getting ready for school on Monday since Laura was going to be going to Disneyland with Jenn & Travis. However, when I woke up I found Laura still at the apartment and was confused...only to find out that her car was broken and she couldn't drive to Disney :( Then Jenn called her back and said that I was more than welcome to come along and they would take care of it! Sooo sweet! I hurried and jumped in the shower and an hour later we were on our way to Disney! After dumb LA traffic we finally arrived at Disney about 1pm. While we were parking Jenn called to let us know it was "Gay Day" at Disney...fabulous. I loved walking around and seeing the sea of red shirts!
It was also my first time at Disneyland...I have been to Disneyworld countless times and it was fun to revert back to my childhood and go on all the rides that I hadn't been on in 15-20 years hahaha. Wow...am I showing my age, or what?! I also met Laura's friends Jenn and Travis! They were so sweet and funny! I had a blast hanging out with them and hope we get to hang out again! Here are some pictures from our incredibly fun day in the "most magical place on earth."

Laura, Me & Jenn getting ready to go on Thunder Mountain!!

Me & Laura on The Matterhorn


The scenery in The Matterhorn as we float along in our log on the water...

Gay Day!

Jenn & Travis holding on as we round a curve!

May the force be with you, Laura!

Jenn & Laura working out some of their issues


Me, Laura & Jenn at the "Kodak Picture Spot"
(either Disney is on crack or you must have a Kodak camera for the spot to work hahaha)

As you can see it was a really fun day, but at 6 we had to say bye to Jenn & Travis because me and Laura had tickets to see The Lampshades at IO West in Hollywood. For those of you who don't know The Lampshades is comedy show about a out of date lounge act starring Kate Flannery (aka Meredith Palmer of The Office) and Scot Robinson (Anchorman). But before I say anymore about that, I would just like to say that traffic in LA in absolutely insane. Until yesterday I had been in a few traffic jams, but nothing that had really frustrated me or tested my patience. I knew the day would come when there would be a horrific traffic jam and I would get flustered, and yesterday coming back into LA was that day. By the time we got to the car and left Anaheim it was probably 6:15pm....we should have been back into LA by 7 or 7:15 with a little traffic, but no it was a few minutes after 8 when we parked the car in Hollywood. I could deal with the traffic if I saw a reason for the delay, but there was NO road construction or accidents...all I can figure is that there are sooo many people in this one area and on Saturday night they all want to go to the same place! When the traffic began to break a little near Hollywood Blvd. I literally yelled out "hot damn...we're approaching 50mph." hahaha it was great. I was so worried we would miss the show and I really wanted to see it and hopefully get to meet one of my favorite characters from "The Office." Luckily, we made it (they were running late too) and were able to see the absolute hilarious show! The songs they sing and their arrangements are great....two of my favorites were 2001: A Space Odyssey and the combo of Mandy by Barry Manilow and Brandy, you're a fine girl by Looking Glass...uh-mazing. After the show me and Laura hung around the bar a bit drinking beers and people watching. And wouldn't you know it that I look to my right and I see little Andy Dick and I turn to the left and here comes Neil Flynn (the janitor on Scrubs). I really wanted to talk to Neil, but he was in the next show and was going into the club so I just settled for the fact that I saw him! Later on me and Laura were standing right next to Andy Dick and his son while they talked to a crowd of people...it was really funny- he's quite intense and just how I thought he would be hahaha. Finally, after Kate had talked to like a million people Laura went over and said hello (she had met her before). I quickly grabbed my beer from the bar and joined Laura! Let me just say, Kate Flannery is SO nice and beautiful! When I told her my name she was like "oh my gosh, a real Brandi, like the song!". I was like yeah!!..actually I was named after that song."hahaha. she LOVED that. We chatted for a few more minutes about us moving out here, the show, etc. and then she had to get going, but not before she gave us free cds of the music from her show! wahooo :)!! Here are some more pictures...

Laura, Kate Flannery & Me after The Lampshades at IO West in Hollywood

Improve Olympic (IO West) Hollywood, CA

Laura at the star that is sure to be hers one day!

Now, you might think that after this we would be tired and like ok, lets go home! this night could like not get any better!! (did you catch my valley girl speak?! hahaha) But no, after we got the car out of the parking lot and turned up the radio (I rapped to Snoop Dogg much to Laura's amusement B-Roe was in da house!) and headed to Hollywood & Highland to eat at Mel's Celebrity Diner. We got some good food, continued our giddy laughter at each other's jokes and called and left some messages and texts to friends in our tipsy stupor....it was great. And then all of a sudden we were very tired and decided to head home. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out and dreaming about the wonderful day we had hahaha.

Well, that is all for this week kids! Tune in next week to see what adventures we're up to next! I start school on Monday so I'm sure I'll have something interesting to report soon enough!
Have a relaxing, fantastic Sunday!! :)

Until next time, B-Roe out......hahahaha

a day of productivity!

Hey everyone! So, I don't have anything really exciting to report...no new celebrity meetings or anything like that, BUT I was pretty productive today and finished unpacking all my stuff and setting up my room! We still need more furniture, but things are coming together and I'm starting to feel like I actually live here so that is good! It's actually kind of strange to not feel like you have a "home". I mean, obviously Columbia, SC will always be my home, but right now (strangely enough) I can't imagine going back there to live. I've taken such a huge leap by moving out here and I'm ready to test the waters and see what comes of it. And while I'm waiting I feel sort of displaced, but I think once school starts next week and then I know my schedule and am able to get a job, things will fall into place. Speaking of school, I have orientation tomorrow at noon in Hollywood so that should be fun. I anticipate sitting for about 2 hours to listen to rules and regulations that I no doubt heard when I first when to college in 1999...wow, where has the time gone? hahaha. Actually, so much of this move has reminded me of going to college...new apartment, roommate, living away from home, new friends, etc. And, I am looking forward to meeting new people, and musicians at that- it is always encouraging and inspiring to be around people who share your dreams and aspirations. I'm nervous too...not for tomorrow, but for next week when classes start. I guess I'll have to revert back to a pre-school state of mind and constantly recite to myself "I think I can, I think I can" hahaha. Well, I guess I'm going to head to bed and hopefully have sweet dreams including my dog...the past few days I've been really bummed not having her around, and there have been endless dog commercials and segments on talk shows, not to mention hearing them and seeing them around town that has made me sad.
I can't wait to get settled in so I can get Sadie out here!!! But, I will leave you on a happy note by giving a shout out to my wonderful Dad who turned 54 today! Happy Birthday Dad! I love you:)
Here are some pictures of the progress at the apartment so far....


View from our porch (our apt. is upstairs)


dining area in the kitchen...still empty....need table and chairs asap!


Our kitchen- do you notice anything new?!?! like a REFRIGERATOR and FOOD :) whoohooo!!!


Den going into the hall


the den that has a couch/futon, area rug, light, tv WITH CABLE, and curtains! yay!!


Laura in the den on the computer...chillin in her comfy rocker...we used these until we got the couch, but are still partial to them i must say :)


Bathroom!


another angle on our vintage 1950s bathroom hahaha (do you see that tile?!)


My new desk a la Target special $59.99...and YES me and Laura are awesome and put it together ourselves AND dragged it up our stairs to do so!


My bed...I love it!!


One side of the closet...am I organized or what?!


Other side of the closet.....ahhh shoes, I wish I could have brought more of you!!



guitars! that I am NOT allowed to play according to the landlord hahaha...only at school...right, I'm sure I'll follow that rule :)


Office corner of the room...all my cds are still in that blue tub! i REALLY need to get a cd tower!
Oh, and I bought that little teal table at Target and it was super cheap, however they didn't indicate on the box that it was like a miniature version of a table for like a 2 year old...don't buy one guys unless you like sitting on the floor! hahahaha

Alrighty, that about wraps it up! Hope you all have an absolutely fabulous day tomorrow and remember to SMILE :)!

Goodnight!

xoxo,

Brandi

LA & Wal-mart you have been good to me...

Ok, let me start by saying that after hearing some moans and groans from myspacers having to check a non-myspace blog I have given in and decided to do what Laura is doing and post identical blogs both on myspace and my blogspot address Chasing Daylight hopefully this will help you all out :) and, now onto a week in review....or at a least a few stories that i still remember from the week...i've got to stop waiting so long in between blogs so I don't forget stuff....if you want a better review of the week check Laura's blog :) blog.myspace.com/theportraitofalady


I would like to start off by offering a piece of advice....if you ever move to LA never, EVER go anywhere when you look like crap and are wearing no make-up. If you do you are just setting yourself up to meet a hot celebrity in the strangest of places, like say the Wal-Mart in Woodland Hills....that is what happened to me and Laura. All week long we've been running back and forth between Target, Wal-Mart and various other places like that getting stuff to furnish our apartment. On Friday afternoon we left the apartment around 4 (dressed in jeans, tees and hoodies with very little make up on) and went to eat an early dinner at Chili's (yes!) and then headed to Wal-Mart to get copies of our apartment keys made and buy an area rug, curtains, etc. etc. When we pulled in the parking lot we noticed that they were or had been filming something, but we could figure out what it was so we just parked and started shopping. After an hour and a half of cleaning out Wal-Mart we were headed out the door with our cart when we stopped for a second so I could fish my keys out of my purse. As we were standing there Laura said "Brandi, there's Chuck!" I froze and what?! (I thought she had said John...as in JKras and almost had a heart attack hahaha)...then Laura said "No! Chuck from the show Chuck! who we saw on Leno last night!" I turned around and there he was sure enough heading inside the store. Naturally we wanted to talked to him and we noticed when he walked inside he went and got immediately in line (to buy cigarettes-boo...don't smoke kids!) so we thought why not wait until he comes out and we can talk to him and that is exactly what we did! And let me just say, Zach Levi (who plays Chuck) is SO nice and completely adorable. I know he isn't a huge star yet (give it time), but it was refreshing to meet such a down to earth actor who actually wanted to interact with us and asked US questions about ourselves. He even made a joke about South Cackalacky (his dad lives in NC)...I loved it. After about 5 minutes of chatting I asked him if he minded taking a picture with us which of course he didn't hahaha. He is super tall so he stood in the middle of Laura and I to take it...it was lovely. Here it is!



Laura, Zach (aka Chuck), and Me outside Wal-mart...if you look you can see he's still in costume-white shirt and tie haha
So, yeah our friday night was complete. We went home utterly and completely happy even though we had spent an ungodly amount of money trying to get our apartment together. We were also overjoyed because that day the guy from the gas company came and turned on our heat, stove and hot water....thank you, God- a HOT shower....I had almost forgot what one was like hahaha.

Saturday was pretty eventful too!! The first part of the day we just lounged around the apartment, went to eat at Subway and made another Target run, but then they delivered our REFRIGERATOR and COUCH.....YES!!!!!! You probably think I'm crazy right now, but you try living without either and we'll see how your mood is hahaha. The fact that we can actually buy groceries now is so great- no more eating out and spending at least $15 a meal...I will save so much money so yay! And since we have a couch now my back won't break in two anymore from sitting on the uber-uncomfortable hardwood floors....things are coming together and it actually looks like we live here now and that makes me really happy because I love structure and routines and the quicker I can get back into one the better!

Speaking of routines, I could get used to running into Zach Levi. For the second time in one weekend I did...did I mention I love LA? So, here is how it happened....Dan invited me and Laura to an indie film premiere for the movie 'Shades of Ray'. Zach happens to be the star of this film.
I must say, I really enjoyed the film. I had no idea what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised. The fact that I just got to go to a private screening of a film in Beverly Hills and just chat with industry folks was good enough for me. I don't know when the film will be released or how wide it will be, but if you get the chance to see it you should! The cast is amazing...check out the imdb page here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0886531/. Anyway, back to the story....after the movie the writer/director (who is only 27, by the way, and this is his first film...I'm feeling unaccomplished all of a sudden hahaha) invited anyone who wanted to go to a bar with the cast and crew and so we went, of course! Dan had worked with some of the crew on another project so we met up with them at this cute little bar on 3rd Street in Hollywood. We drank great beer (La Fischer Blonde), ate fish and chips, and chatted with some of the crew...good times. We had also seen Zach come in and out a few times (we were sitting at a table outside) and me and Laura agreed that we had to talk to him again. A little while later we got our chance when Dan's friend Mike took Dan over to talk to him. Dan said he would bring Zach over after he met him so me and Laura are just sitting there, drinking beer and soaking in the scenery when all of a sudden we hear "You ARE the girls from Wal-Mart!!!!" hahahaha it was great. Zach starts walking over and was like "I thought that was you guys!!". Once again, he was SO nice and talked to us for a bit....what a small world, seriously!! And, I have to be a nerd and gush for a second to say that he told us that he was so glad that we stopped him the other night and when he went back to set (they were still filming in the parking lot) he told a bunch of people about meeting us and how it made him happy that we're going to start watching the show and stuff...he was just adorable. And, since we were there again and actually dressed cute with our hair and make-up done we got yet ANOTHER picture with him! Oh, what a night....I had an absolute blast...thanks again Dan!!!


Me, Zach & Laura at the bar on 3rd St.


Dan & Zach!

Well, I had planned on writing a lot more of the little details and funny stories of the week, but I am feeling forgetful at the moment. I'm going to do better in the future though....I'll blog every couple of days so I don't forget stuff! Now, I'm off to return some emails and mail out resumes!
I need a job ASAP!! Hope you all have a wonderful Monday and I'll be checking in again soon!
Here are a few random pics from this past week...


Our first night with no beds, hence our tibetan looking bed on floor...I don't recommend it unless you want severe back pain the next morning!


our den after a little bit of decorating


Laura eating chips and drinking a much needed margarita at El Torito!


all of our crap in the den before we cleaned it up and unpacked


Laura writing her first LA blog by touchlight hahaha


Here's to my 2 week anniversary in LA...just the start of an amazing journey...sigh, I can't wait!!!


PS-WATCH CHUCK!!! Me and Laura checked it out last night when they re-aired it and Zach is great- really funny stuff!! It is on tomorrow night on NBC so watch it!!!!! And no it isn't just because he was nice to us and is gorgeous...ok, so maybe that is part of it haha, but seriously the guy has skills so watch CHUCK!


PSS-Check out the song "West Coast" on my profile by Coconut Records (Jason Schwartzman's band)...it is seriously addictive and me and Laura have claimed it as our official LA song :)