May 11, 2012

Prepared To Be Blown Away

Yesterday was one of the best days ever! I woke up a little earlier than usual, so I could check out American Idol tour tickets with my mom when they went on sale and check for new Carrie tickets. We ended up getting them, which I was really excited about...two AWESOME tours coming up in just a short amount of time.  I took a shower and started getting ready to head to LA, did my devotion and hung around for awhile. I had gotten super sick the night before (extremely dizzy, bad headache, etc.). I still felt really nauseous, but I was getting better. I ate some soup and just took it easy. Besides, there was no way I could miss Carrie; I knew I wouldn't be that sick when it came down to it.  Just a short time later, a couple ladies from the Carrie Underwood fan club picked us up and we all headed down to see Carrie at Jimmy Kimmel. It was fun catching up with her, because we hadn't seen each other since last year in Nashville for CMA Fest. She told us all about the listening party and some of Carrie's stories and all that jazz.


We got to the Hollywood and Highland shopping center around three or so and had time to kill before check in. We decided to walk around by Mann's Chinese Theater; I wanted to stop to see Jennifer Aniston's handprints on the sidewalk, but I still didn't see it. After a few minutes of searching, we ended up going across the street to Coffee Bean to get something to drink. In front of us in line was Charlie Chaplin and Zorro and across the street, a freakish clone of Michael Jackson was just standing in front of the theater staring at everyone. Only in Hollywood... The characters really make me anxious, so I'm not a big fan of walking around down there LOL. We met the other two at Baja Fresh and ate. While we were eating, they were filming something outside, but down there that's nothing out of the ordinary. Later, I found out they were filming for that new show, LA Complex! I definitely want to check it out now. Then we decided to go back to the car to put our stuff away for the taping. Then, it was time to get in line.





We met so many nice people while waiting for Carrie and of course, they were all fans too! It was fun hearing their stories of shows they'd been to or where they'd seen Carrie. Carrie and her band even came out for a sound check, so it was like we got to hear the show twice. It got us even more pumped up. In that time we were waiting, I kept checking Twitter every few minutes for updates on Idol and was SO MAD about the elimination. Just a few minutes later, my aunt tweeted me saying she had gotten tickets for the taping of next week's Idol show, but with Hollie being gone now it doesn't matter to me, so I think we'll pass this time. Sad day... I happened to see that Colton Dixon had tweeted he was at the Beverly Center mall, which wasn't too far from where I was at. If I hadn't been in line to see Carrie, I would've been trying to make my way over there LOL.
I also got a chance to hang out with a couple other friends I'd met through American Idol and One Tree Hill. My friend, Yolanda was actually going to another concert after the taping and it just so happened that it was a guy from my church; his parents and my parents go way back. They're an up and coming band, Satellite! You should check them out sometime. If you're a One Tree Hill fan, their song, "Ring The Bells" was on during season 7. We continued talking about American Idol (and who had gotten sent home-more on that later), musicians and Carrie's CD. My friend, Rebecca is interning with ABC for a few months out here, so she was telling me about some of the stuff she's been doing and what she's been up to. I also filled her in on the latest update with my school, which was definitely less exciting. The waiting seemed to go by pretty fast. I guess after waiting at least seven or so hours before getting into American Idol and surviving everything at CMA Fest, that didn't seem so bad at all. It helped that we had really nice people around us to help the time go by.

We went through the metal detectors and I ended up running into my friend Meagan (also in the fan club), who called us over towards the front row. We were able to get really close thanks to her, which was awesome! However, when they moved us up closer to the stage before Carrie came out, we got pushed back a little further because people decided to cut in front. We still had quite awhile to wait while the show filmed, so we talked to people around us! Rebecca ended up seeing one of the girls that's on General Hospital, since she's an intern for them. I was sort of hoping we'd run into her; she seemed nice. They showed us the episode of Jimmy Kimmel, and it was crazy to think they were all just inside at the studio in front of us. It was a little hard to see, but you could hear everything and that was all that mattered. After Carrie's interview, Jimmy Kimmel headed outside to the concert area (which is not as big as it seems on TV), and Carrie was just behind him. By that time, I had started not feeling so well again. My head was pounding and I was starting to feel a little dizzy, but I wasn't going to let that hold me back from an awesome time. Carrie stepped on stage and I forgot all about that. She sang Good Girl, Wasted, Leave Love Alone, Before He Cheats, and for the first time ever in front of an audience, One Way Ticket. It was the perfect setting for that one; we were outside, the breeze was blowing and we were all just having a great time, waving our hands in the air. I can't wait to hear that one again on tour! She just seems to really be into it and more laid back. Me and Rebecca kept glancing at each during that one and Before He cheats; rocking to and singing our hearts out. I can't remember the last time I've felt so carefree! HAHA. After her set was over, a few people near us kept cheering for a couple more songs, to which she responded, "We don't know anymore, that's all we practiced," in this shy voice. It was funny! She's quite hilarious as we all saw in that parody of Before He Cheats with Jimmy.






Here's a video I put together of all of the performances she did :)


When the show was over, my friend told us about where she has to come out to leave. We weren't quite sure if we were going to stay, but we saw this huge crowd waiting for her, and thought we'd go over for a few minutes to check it out. As soon as we saw the crowd when we got closer,  we were all thinking she wouldn't sign and if she did, it would only be for a few people. She totally proved me wrong! She stayed for a good 30 minutes and signed for just about everyone. When she got to me, she signed my paper I had put over the fence and I asked if we could get a picture. I was like can you just look up for a second, please? And she did! I felt her slip the paper through the fence to me, while my mom was taking a picture. It turned out to be a video! HAHAHAHAH. So, we're just awkwardly standing there for a second, but I took a screenshot of it, so you wouldn't really have any idea if I hadn't said anything. LOL. I told her I couldn't wait for the Fan club party, but I think she was already further down when I said it, so she didn't hear me. We stuck around for a few minutes, just watching her sign things and hanging out. I was so glad Rebecca got to meet Carrie as well, because she's been wanting to; just wish it would've worked out to get a picture! I couldn't have been happier after the day we'd had.



It was so good to see Carrie again! For some reason it's always weird going a length of time without seeing her, because when she's on tour or promoting something, she's just always around it seems like.  I think this album shows just how comfortable she really is with herself, her stage presence and how genuinely happy she is with her life. As crazy as it is, I've met so many incredible people through her! She has made such a positive impact on my life and has brought me so many incredible memories. We headed home shortly after that, still on a high from everything that happened. We stopped at In-N-Out for dinner, then continued our drive. We listened to Carrie and talked about our favorite songs, while Jamie shared some of the stories that Carrie had told them at the CD listening party. By the time we got home, I was so wiped out, but I was still texting and instagram-ing photos from the night.


I can't wait to see Carrie again in just a couple weeks! It should be a ton of fun :)

That's all for now,
Shelby <3

No comments:

Post a Comment