Bootie-licious

This past weekend, several friends and I bravely ventured to a monthly mash-up dance party in Echo Park known as "Bootie LA."  

With a name like that and a location in the epicenter of extreme hipster-ville, my sweet non-hipstery friends and I were definitely unsure of what kind of crazy night we were getting ourselves into.  But, oh what fun it was.  


The atmosphere is difficult to describe.  It involved hundreds of people dancing to crazy mash-up mixes while tossing a huge inflatable pirate and/or beach ball around the dance floor, all the while a resident dance crew known as R.A.I.D. (Random Acts of Irreverent Dancing) performed extremely irreverent/hilarious dance routines in insane costumes on stage.   Here is one of their less-irreverent dance routines my dear friend Matt Godfrey captured that gives you a slight picture of their craziness. 



Bootie LA - R.A.I.D. from Matt Godfrey on Vimeo.


Overall, Bootie LA was ridiculous and crazy and hilarious and FUN.  Bootie LA happens the first Saturday of every month, and we are definitely planning on returning to shake our booties there in March.  


Five unrelated side notes:

1. I'm a new huge fan of Words With Friends. Play with me...AnnieTerracina. Holla. 
2. I watched The Fighter tonight, which means I only have 2 more of the Best Picture nominees to watch before the Oscars on Feb. 27.  I'm scared to watch 127 Hours, but I'm going to make myself...eek.  The Fighter was great though...highly recommend. 
3. I'm slightly jealous of all those snow days in Oklahoma. I could definitely use a few days to rest and recharge at home, and if it takes a blizzard or two to make me do that...I'll take it. 
4. I hosted a baby shower for the first time today for my extremely pregnant boss.  It was a wonderful success. 
5. Friday, 2/11, is the last day to vote for my darling cousin Erika to win a dream wedding! It only takes a moment... vote HERE. :-)

Currently listening to: iTunes on shuffle

Why: Perhaps thinking about Bootie LA's schizophrenic mash ups was the cause of this, but I wasn't really craving any type of music in particular tonight, hence the shuffle.   A random shuffling of 6,500+ songs is very hit or miss.  Sometimes I really think that iTunes can see deeply into my soul and cuts to the core of me with its shuffle choices.  Other times, it sucks and I'm like "Why the freak is this song on my iPod in the first place??" Tonight the shuffle is doing okay...the last few songs have been:

• "Great Balls of Fire," Jerry Lee Lewis
• "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been," Relient K
• "Green Hearts," Ben Lee
• "Got It All," Melee
• "Wind It Up," Gwen Stefani (whoooo C Gunn!) 

Anyone want to join me for Bootie LA next month?? :-)

xoxo, 

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Luck Be A Lady Tonight

I recruited my amazingly hilarious friend Marissa to roadtrip it with me and as luck would have it, another dear friend, McKenzie, was there nannying for 2 weeks (God bless her). Here is a photographic journey through our fun-filled weekend (sidenote: I just bought a new camera and I'm a bit excited about it)....

Another friend from LA, Erica, was randomly there. She worked some amazing connections and got us VIP passes to surpass the crazy long line at Tao. It's an awesome huge club at the Venetian. Fun indeed.

We laid out at our hotel pool Saturday. And by 'lay out', I mean that we hung out in the pool so as to not completely die/melt in the sweltering 100+ degree heat.

We went to the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show "Love" at the Mirage on Saturday night. So amazing! 

It was bit of a sensory overload at times... so many awesome things to see and hear at once. It was unlike anything I've seen before... two thumbs up for sure. Here's a 30 second video to give you little preview of its greatness...

After the show we had drinks at the Beatles Revolution Lounge and a delish din at Kokomo's at the Mirage...very cool settings and very wonderful food/drinks.

We then went to Jet where we enjoyed and took full advantage of several free drink passes given to us by eager promoters (like the kindly gentleman pictured below). 

We then relocated to Ghostbar which is on the 55th floor of the Palms. We danced, made some new friends, and enjoyed the expansive views.

C Gunn and I decided we had to gamble at least a little bit, so we hit the tables. She tried her hand at craps (which ended shortly) and then we moved on to roulette. I was only going to allow myself to spend $20 (I'm not too keen on throwing money away... call me crazy...), and since there was a $10 minimum bet, I thought I'd be out in a hot minute. Luck was indeed a lady to me that night, however, and I ended up leaving with $52. Cha ching!!

And that ends the photographic journey.  As you can see, it was such a great weekend! I miss my college friends A LOT, so anytime I get to see them is wonderful. Vegas defnitely redeemed itself for me this time around. Viva Las Vegas, indeed. :-)

Currently listening: Andy Davis. 

Why: Do you ever completely accidentally stumble upon a song with lyrics that are 100% applicable to your life at the moment? That happened to me this week with this talented musician I discovered in college when he opened for Matt Wertz.  His piano based singer/songwriter style is very enjoyable, and the lyrics to "Bigger Than Us" were absolutely perfect for me this week.  My very favorite song of his, however, is "Union & 3rd". So, so pretty. Definitely check him out. 

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Being only a 4 hour drive away (on a good traffic day) or a >1 hour flight, Vegas is a regular weekend getaway for Angelenos. I, however, have had absolutely zero desire to make this jaunt through the dessert after a less-than-wonderful experience in Sin City for my 21st birthday (but that's a whole 'nother story....) This changed when one of my best friends/roommates from college, C Gunn, informed me that she would be there for a work conference and asked if I wanted to meet her there. I hadn't seen her since this same conference sent her to LA last summer...SO, Las Vegas, ready or not, here I come. ;-)

California Girls: We're Unforgettable

Sum-mer An-them (SUH-mer AN-thum)—noun—A song released during or slightly prior to the summer season that is very catchy, enjoyable, and often elicits happy feelings and/or dancing. Summer anthems vary from person to person.  Every time a summer anthem is heard in future seasons, it will bring forth memories associated with its given summer. 


My 2010 summer anthem is…(drum roll please)…California Gurls by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg (for obvious reasons).





Summer Anthem 2nd place: "Break Your Heart" by Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris.  This one is sort of a modern-day "Oops! I Did It Again".  I especially love the Luda parts. (And yes, I just said Luda). 




Bring on the beach.  I love summer!
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