An Hour's Worth of Time

Success or failure? Mostly I am hearing failure, but I am honestly quite proud of myself.

Every year, about a week before Halloween, I always get a pumpkin (well technically my mom does), and I carve a fun and usually spooky picture into it. I look forward to doing this and absolute LOVE to do it!

As I was flipping through the carving possibilities this year, I decided to step it up a notch. I was going to go with a mummy, but obviously did not. So I went to the computer and looked up Harry Potter carvings because I am obsessed with Harry Potter. I did not really find one that I liked though. On the "things similar" suggestions I saw Twilight carvings. That is when I found it.

I found the Edward Cullen pumpkin carving shape. It looked so good on the computer and I knew that mine would not look like that, but I had hope it would at least resemble it and people would know what it is.

That did not happen. Pretty much everyone I have talked to has said that they have no idea what it is. Even when I tell them and show them it is Edward, they still say they do not see it. Sadness!

Oh well, I am proud of my creation and I think Mr. Robert Pattinson would be flattered (but probably not impressed).

I think it is pretty obvious which pumpkin I did. Too bad the picture is terrible - it is from my cell phone.

Photo credit: pinkraygun.com

Fabulous Families To-Do List

Halloween is approaching quickly! It is only three days away and that is the reason that basically every celebrity in Los Angeles has been spotted at Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch with their kids. I guess it is tradition for the families and it is at the top of their to-do list. This place must grow the best pumpkins for the "somebodies" to go there year after year. Seriously, every magazine or gossip site I look at has a few pictures of different famous families picking out pumpkins for carving, decorating, eating (gross) or for some other unknown reason.

Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch is not only a pumpkin picking place either. Apparently it has fun inflatables and games and maybe animals, too. So it is a fun place to get into the Halloween spirit in a kid-friendly, non-spooky way. But I am sad to say that I have only seen a small number of people that are actually dressed up in costumes. Things are way more fun in costume people!

So if you want to become a celebrity or be star-struck, my best advice would be to make your way over to the pumpkin patch. But remember, only three more days until the holiday!

In these photos, you see Victoria Beckham with her son and Heidi Klum with her son. Awh.

Photo credit: babble.com, zimbio.com

Look at her Eyelashes

When my sister texted me to tell me Taylor Swift was playing at the Grand Ole Opry, I immediately jumped to the computer and looked for tickets. I was asking away to see who could come with me, but several people already had plans since it was a school holiday. My sister is not the biggest Taylor Swift plan and she did not want to "waste money on Tay Tay." Hater. Thanks Julie. But really, thanks because I would not have known about my future best friend's concert without her telling me. And I pride myself on known everything about my favorite celebrities, so whoops!

After begging Julie to come with me, she told me I should ask our friend Bonnie to come. Her parents live in Nashville and she was going home for the weekend. I had class with Bonnie the next day, so I planned on asking her then. Julie and Bonnie usually have lunch together on campus and Bonnie texted me that day saying she had a surprise for me. I figured it had something to do with our class. When I got to class, she asked me what I was doing over the weekend and I basically said nothing and then she blurted that she had an extra Taylor Swift ticket. At that moment, I am pretty positive that I embarassed myself. I think I screamed or something spastic. So that worked out awesome.

I finally arrived at Bonnie's house and a large group of us got ready. It was a pretty fun group if I may say so. It was me, Bonnie, her sister Casey, Casey's roommate Kelli, Bonnie and Casey's brother Justin, and their mother Jane. We went to downtown Nashville to eat and get pumped for the concert, then made our way over to the Grand Ole Opry.

This was the Grand Ole Opry's 85th Anniversary concert featuring Trace Adkins, Taylor Swift and Dolly Parton! I think this was only the second concert in the new Grand Ole Opry house since the Nashville flood. It looked as good as new (however I must admit that I had never been in it before). Our seats were in the very back, but honestly, there were no bad seats in the whole place.

Besides the three main people, a few old people sang. I do not have a clue who any of them are, but considering the audience was made up of several older people, they enjoyed them.

When Trace Adkins started playing, several people ran up to the stage and squatted down and took pictures. Bonnie looked at me and said we should do that when Taylor Swift comes out. I was all for it!!! So when it was Taylor's turn, we went downstairs and to the door and an attendant asked Bonnie if our seats were in that section, she just said "Um, yeah, right over there." Yay Bonnie, because we went right down front. We squatted for a while and our legs were killing us (our tallness did not help in that situation).

Taylor came out singing "You Belong With Me." She had a fun gold dress on with black boots. She sang amazing live. Several people I know diss Taylor and say she sounds terrible live. NEWSFLASH: No she does not. She sounds perfect! Listen for yourselves then you will see!

We were taking pictures like paparazzi (well me at least since Bonnie's camera died at a terrible time). It is safe to say that I got plenty of pictures for the both of us. I must also add that Taylor is in amazing shape. She is very tall and thin, but not a sickly thin. You can tell she is fit from all of her performances. And I love her hair. Bonnie also pointed out to me that her eyelashes were very caked on with mascara. She even said, "You can barely see her eye balls." Ha! I guess if you are a performer, you have to wear heavy make-up. It is probably in the handbook.

The second song she sang was her new single, "Mine." All of her back-up singers and guitar players went backstage and Taylor did this all on her own old-school acoustic. She played the song slower than what is on the radio, but it sounded beautiful.

The third, and sadly last song she sang was "Love Story." She brought out her sparkly guitar for this one. When she finished that song, she walked to the edge of the stage and was accepting flowers that fans brought her, and she even pulled one little girl up on stage to give her a hug. It was so sweet! Taylor then ran along the line of fans clapping their hands.

At this point, I looked at Bonnie with bug eyes and ran to the stage as close as I could get. We stretched our hands out to touch Taylor (wow, that sounds creepy), but we missed her by only an inch or two.

Dolly Parton came out after Taylor and sang a couple songs. Dolly has a lot of energy! Her accent is also so much fun. Anyway, after she sang, she brought out a huge birthday cake for the Opry. Not edible. I thought someone was going to jump out of it, but no one did. Can you say disappointment?

After it was over, me and Bonnie rushed outside to wait for Taylor. We waited about 20 minutes and realized eveyone who worked at the Opry was leaving. They even said she left after she performed. We believed them since there were no cars or buses or big, black SUVs in the parking lot. We finally gave up and went to the car.

It was such a great concert and Taylor did not disappoint. The car ride back to Bonnie's house was a quiet one since we were all half asleep. Oh, fun times! Oh, fall break!

Knoxville in Knoxville

Something I recently figured out is that school does give you benefits. My public relations teacher came into contact with private screening tickets to see "Jackass 3D" with a special appearance by Johnny Knoxville, and I jumped at the chance to go. You know me and my celebrities. It was a plus one kind of ticket, so I invited my sister Julie to come along.

I have never seen the Jackass movies before, and I was honestly more excited to see Johnny than the movie. Well when we showed up at the theater, we waited in line for around 45 minutes. A local news station reporter from WATE walked up to us and asked if she could interview us. Julie said yes for the both of us. Then when the reporter asked which of us she could interview first, Julie nominated me. Thanks sis! The reporter asked us a few questions, but the part that made it on the air is us answering the question whether we have a crush on Johnny Knoxville. Duh!

When we signed in (because I RSVP'd), we got tickets for free popcorn and coke. Sweet! Then when we walked into the theater, we got free t-shirts and cups with "Jackass 3D" on them. Sweet! Anyway, this may be too much information, but I really needed to use the potty. I had finished my drink and a bottle of water waiting for Johnny and could not wait any longer. He was already 45 minutes late anyway! So I walked out of the theater. I saw the reception line for him of cheerleaders and Smokey the mascot, but I did not see him. I darted toward the bathroom. When I darted back out, I saw Johnny at the end of the reception line about to enter the theater. He stopped and announced that he wanted to go pee before introducing the movie. He left the reception line and walked right toward me. I was the only one over there. He stopped face to face with me and I had no idea what to do. I just stood there like a weirdo and said "Hiiiii" in a weird way and just left to enter the theater. Hello Laura- you were RIGHT IN FRONT OF JOHNNY KNOXVILLE ALONE! HUG HIM, HIGH FIVE HIM, KISS HIM. DO SOMETHING!

Have I mentioned that I am awkward? When I entered the theater, the announcer said, "And here comes Johnny Knoxvilleeeeeee." And then I walked in. Everyone looked at me. AWKWARD! I climbed to the middle of the aisle back to my sister and filled her in that he was in the bathroom and explained our little meet 'n greet. Then she laughed at me.

When he finally came in, he explained that Knoxville was not a part of the movie tour, but he added it because Knoxville is home. He got choked up and had to pause a few times while talking. It was so sweet! He had friends and family there and even brought out a birthday cake to his mom because it was her birthday. He then sat beside her and the movie started.

The movie was hilarious!!! It was also gross. With the 3D element, it made it even better. I laughed out loud and I am not the kind of person who ever laughs out loud in a movie. When it was over, several people left, but we went to stand in line at the edge of Johnny's row to get a picture with him. He took time to talk and take pictures with everyone in line. He seriously is the nicest guy I have EVER met! He is so humble. And good-looking!

When it was my turn for a picture, he said, "Nice to meet you." PS, he has the sexiest voice. It's all deep and scruffy. Ahhhh! He had his hand out and I did not notice. Then I introduced myself and stuck out my hand. He did not notice. But then we finally shook hands at the same time. It was just as awkward as it sounds. At least I am memorable. Then he said, "I think you are taller than me." That is when I just said, "Yeahhhhh." Again, TALK TO THE CELEBRITY THAT IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU AND IS ALREADY TALKING TO YOU! Julie took the picture of us and then we switched. He looked at her and said, "I bet you are taller than me too." She said, "We're sisters." Okay Julie-that response was weird.

We each got a great picture with him and talked to him. It was such a memorable night and we left smiling. Note to self: learn to talk to celebrities. Stop being starstruck. You have been around enough celebrities to learn this by now.