boondoggle

At my job, you basically fall into one of three categories: planning, account, or creative. I'm a planner. If you're an account person or a creative, you typically get to attend video/photo shoots, cool client events, etc. Planners don't get to do anything super fun like that because we fall in this weird no-man's-land where we don't really need exposure to the client and we can't really lend any assistance on set (I know, I'm really selling what I do). SO, you can imagine my surprise when I found out that all the important creatives/account leads couldn't attend the ESPYs, and that I would get to go instead! BOONDOGGLE!

I didn't even know what the ESPYs were before my current job, so no worries if you're not up on the sports lingo :) (They're an awards show in L.A. for sports peeps, sponsored by ESPN). Because my client was also a sponsor, they gave our agency two tickets to attend, and the invite trickled down to me! (Cue disappointment on the client's face, ha!). I'd never been to L.A. before, and it seemed like going for an awards show on my company's tab was pretty much the perfect way to do it.

The trip was a whirlwind (24 hrs there and back), but filled with a bunch of highlights, surprisingly, none of which were from the actual show! The show itself was so long, relatively boring during the commercial breaks, and they didn't serve alcohol. WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS.

Shaun White & Olivia Munn say "pretty great seats, huh?" 

(despite that dude's head on the left)

I will say, it was cool seeing all the celebrities present awards (Zooey Deschanel, Jessica Biel, Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning), and they aired a ton of feel-good stories during the show that made me have a couple of sports cries. I also got a lot of good QT with our clients, which is unusual for planners as I mentioned. But okay, to the really good stuff...

First class, baby

If you can believe it, I accidentally ended up in first class when my ticket was booked. Since I'd never ridden up there with the high rollers and was on a four-hour flight, I was nothing short of CRAZY EXCITED! I got real food. And free drinks. And a pillow. And a ton of leg room I didn't need. It was amazing!

this is the real deal

The Grand Canyon

I haven't set eyes on the G.C. since we stopped there on our honeymoon, and I definitely didn't think I'd ever see a view like this! Is this not the most unbelievable vantage point?!

I almost couldn't breathe! I thought it was incredible.

The best part though, was when I realized we were flying over the exact location where we'd taken our 9-mile hike almost exactly two years earlier. 

we hiked from the top of the rim all the way to the point overlooking the water 

(actually I stopped short but B did the whole thing)

Red Carpet

So the funny thing about having a ticket to the red carpet is that you actually get a ticket to the non-celebrity red carpet that runs riiiiiiiight next to the celebrity red carpet. God forbid we share the same pathway, right? My primary celeb sighting during our carpet foray was Eli Manning, not bad! Everyone else looked like Somebody I Should Know But Couldn't Quite Place / Maybe Never Knew to Begin With. 

 sunny day in L.A.! loved it!

Lauryn Hill

I had pretty high hopes for the after party, which we also had tickets for and thus I assumed would be amaze-balls. It didn't disappoint in terms of fanfare (pretty much like a gigantic wedding on crack) but I got zero opportunities to de-flower Tim Tebow, so overall it was a fail. HOWEVER, there was one redeeming moment of the night, which is when Lauryn Hill unexpectedly performed. The Fugees narrated my precarious 6th/7th grade years when I migrated from being an awkward loser to an awkward loser with friends so I was super excited to re-live that! But no really, apparently she has been sort of crazy in her recent years and doesn't show up for concerts and stuff so I felt lucky to see her perform, especially in such an intimate setting. 

She was awesome! She sang a lot of crowd favs with a twist and was pretty much a freestyling badass. Aside from her being all crazy and whatnot, I wanted to be her.

Overall, the whirlwind trip was a perfect taste of L.A. for me--getting our hair done, first class treatment, sweet hotel, and an exciting night! Not a bad way to do L.A. in a day!