On to the next part of Alice in Wonderland: After falling down the rabbit hole, Alice comes across the room with the talking doorknob. She discovers she is too large to fit into the door, and is directed to eat and drink things that are labeled "Eat Me" and "Drink Me." Seriously, after my figurative fall down the rabbit hole, everything (and I mean everything) is labeled "Eat Me" and "Drink Me" in Los Angeles. I arrived here and was already too large to fit into the talking door, just like Alice. I wish there was a drink in LA like the one in Wonderland that makes Alice shrink down (okay maybe there is, but it's in no way healthy....people in LA go through drastic measures to get to small sizes). But anyway- yes, Brandi is in her own Wonderland where she arrived too large. In-n-Out Burger and the delicious cocktails aren't exactly helping me fit through my figurative talking door. It's very irritating. That's why Alice starts crying: she can't figure out what to do. I haven't cried yet, but I surely have no idea how to stop eating here. It's just a whole new world (oops, wrong Disney reference) out here and I want to try EVERYTHING. Speaking of trying "everything", this doesn't just apply to food and drinks. Whatever opportunity I can find, I'm taking it! Here's a recap of my past week here in Los Angeles. No, not all of the pictures include the delicious food and drinks I've had in my possession, but also the many adventures I went on. Stay tuned for next week's post- I get to go see a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday! In the mean time, I'll still be tempted by the "Eat Me" and "Drink Me" labels on everything.....
(7 photos in this slideshow) EAT ME, DRINK ME: Okay, so I couldn't show you at least some of my food and desserts. Darby and I felt like eating breakfast for dinner one night, so we ventured to a diner we discovered called House of Pies. Seriously, some of the yummiest pancakes I've eaten in awhile. For a funny story, it was a late night and Darby, Lexi and myself wanted to go to a nice restaurant. So we get all dressed up and head to a restaurant called Perch which is a rooftop restaurant. We go up the long elevator ride, only to find out we HAD to have reservations to eat. It gets to be so late and we are starving so much that we decided just to go to In-n-Out Burger. Yes, I was all dressed up in a fast food burger place. Not that I don't LOVE In-n-Out, just....not the night I wanted to be there. The next night, finally got to eat out nice and went to a beautiful restaurant called Bottega Louie. I had an AMAZING steak, a glass of champagne, and my first ever macaroons. It's making me hungry thinking about this past week's food adventures! Don't you see the "Eat Me" and "Drink Me" labels all over these pictures?!
(4 photos in this slideshow) Events of the Week: We had a couple of things scheduled this week for us by our program coordinator, Andres. On Tuesday this past week, we toured Maker Studios, which is a company under Disney. They deal with a lot of online content, including managing Youtube Channels. On Thursday, we had a writer in the industry, Brigitte Leibowitz, come speak to us! She's written a lot of the TV show Brooklyn Nine Nine, starring Andy Samberg.
(9 photos in this slideshow) The Climb: Thursday after our panel with Brigitte Leibowitz, about half of the Grady LA group ventured out to Runyon Canyon and hiked! (Brandi hikes?? Whaaaaaatttt?!) This is where Brandi discovered she was COMPLETELY and TOTALLY out of shape. There are two different Runyon Canyon paths, beginner and expert. They aren't labeled, so guess which route we unknowingly took? Of course, the expert one. I was so out of breath, but I was even more taken away by the views. It's an experience I'll always remember. It was spectacular.
(7 photos in this slideshow) Getting' My Sun Daze On: Saturday, we had a FREE day! Not that we hate being busy with exciting events, but it was nice to be able to take the day off. So, why not head to Malibu and go on a beach trip? It was so pretty out and the group had a fun time together. I love the fact that our Grady LA group is bonding so well. I wore a cute bikini, beach hat, and got super sunburnt! (I am still burning with pain, in case you were wondering.)
(60 photos in this slideshow) EXCITEMENT OVERLOAD: Okay, so we got to tour the Warner Brothers lot yesterday (Sunday, June 21). We saw so many amazing sets that have been in movies since the beginning. We drove by the original FRIENDS set, The Big Bang Theory Set, got into the 2 Broke Girls Set, and many others. We saw a lot of props from the Batman movies throughout the years. I know my brother would have loved it. But of course.... my favorite part was the HARRY POTTER MOVIE MUSEUM. I teared up when we walked in there. They have props from all throughout the movie series. They even had the real sorting hat from the movies that sorted you into houses. I was sorted into Gryffindor! Why wouldn't I be, though? I had happiness flowing through my veins. I couldn't contain my excitement.
(6 photos in this slideshow) Famous People, Oh My! Okay, YAY, finally saw and met celebrities. Last night (Sunday, June 21) a few of us went to and early screening of the new movie Trainwreck, starring Amy Schumer and Bill Hader. Before the movie, there was a panel with Amy Schumer, Vanessa Bayer (SNL), director Judd Apatow (producer of Bridesmaids and Anchorman 2), Colin Quinn, Mike Birbiglia, and Dave Attell. We were sitting right next to the stage, so the actors walked directly by us! I got to high five Amy Schumer, as you can see in one of the above pictures. She is hilarious. After the panel, I asked her for a picture together when she walked by me, but unfortunately, the cast had to get to another event immediately, so she politely said, "No, I'm sorry! I have to go!" Oh well, at least she was nice and she spoke to me! I still had a great night and laughed hysterically through Trainwreck. I would recommend going to see it!