Alice gets really frustrated for no reason when she can't fit through the door to get to the white rabbit. She shrinks, then grows again, which causes her to cry because she just can't seem to figure things out. Last Monday, June 22, that was me. Our group had an awesome opportunity to sit through a panel with Colin Quinn (SNL, Trainwreck, Grown Ups) moderated by Tim Meadows (SNL, Mean Girls). Darby and I wanted to make sure we got there early and could sit up close to two amazing actors. We were starving, so the two of us wanted something quick. The only thing we could find near us that was a an easy food fix was Burger King. Neither of us had eaten at one in YEARS (seriously, I can't tell you the last time I ate there before last week). We both ate burgers, because naturally, this fast food place should have their burger making down to a perfect business. Darby and I eat, make it to the panel on time, and are in the second row of the auditorium. The panel started around 7:40. A few minutes in to Colin and Tim discussing Colin's new book release, I lean over to Darby saying the food isn't settling with me well. I have a slight gluten allergy, so I assumed the bun from the burger was just making me feel blah. Panel goes on, panel ends, Colin and Tim are taking pictures with fans after the show....still don't feel well. Darby had driven to this event which was in Santa Monica, about a 40 minute drive to our apartment complex. On the way home, I remember telling Darby, "I'm going to get sick when we get home." I could feel it. I hadn't felt this crappy in a long time. We get back and she drops me off at our building so I could run upstairs. I change out of my nice clothes so my jeans aren't hugging my stomach. I sit in the floor of our bathroom with my hands on my face and a cold rag on my forehead praying to the good Lord that this would be over. Little did I know, I would be up all night throwing up. And when I say all night, I mean all. night. long. It gets to be around 1:00 AM here in Los Angeles, meaning it's 4:00 AM back home in Georgia. What does a 21-year-old do when they can't stop throwing up? Call mom. I bawled on the phone to her. I couldn't help it. I wanted my momma and to be home in my bed with her telling me everything was going to be okay. I was miserable. Being homesick and being literally sick at the same time across the country is not a fun position to be in. I was Alice crying just because I could. I kept waking Darby up in the middle of the night having to run back and forth between my bed and the bathroom. She was up sometimes anyway just getting random heat flashes. We have no overhead fan in our room, so we just assumed she wasn't getting enough air flow. I texted my professor a little after 5 in the morning asking if I could stay in bed during class time. I knew I couldn't sit through class without being miserable and/or getting sick again. Darby is up a little after that and says, "I think I'm going to ask Andres (our professor) if I can stay here. I'm not feeling so well." What does she do 45 minutes later? She throws up, too. Shout out to Burger King for food poisoning!! Neither of us went to class and were all but laying on our deathbed. We were supposed to be touring Fox Studios and visiting the Modern Family set that same day. My mom said we should bite the bullet and go. I didn't want to miss out on any LA experience, so I forced myself to go. BIG MISTAKE. I'm very prone to getting car sick (my dad thinks it's all in mine and my mom's head???? Whatever. It's real.) It was a 45 minute drive. Through LA traffic. Yep. Not cool. We get there, and the whole tour is on foot in the heat (not cool for someone who has puked up everything in their system and hasn't eaten anything). I end up getting super dehydrated and all but pass out on the tour. The tour guide told me to sit down. And that's basically all I did on the tour. I took very few pictures this day because of how miserable I felt. You'll be able to tell in the pictures from the night of the Colin Quinn panel and the day of the Fox tour the extent of my sickness. I didn't eat until 2 days later and didn't feel normal until late Friday. Even then, I still wasn't 100%. I did a lot of fun stuff this past week through the sickness. I had to fight through! But even so, I cried a lot. I now know how Alice felt in that moment when she couldn't figure out what to do.
(7 photos in this slideshow) Colin Quinn Panel! This is the dreaded night I got sick. I was still astounded at the hilarity of these two individuals. Remember that free screening of Trainwreck I went to last week where I met the star, Amy Schumer? Colin was a major character in that movie! And of course, I loved Tim Meadows as the principal in Mean Girls, starring Lindsay Lohan. I had a great time despite feeling bad. I am very excited I got to meet the two of them. Don't I look awesome in the pictures with them? Gracious, not my best looks. Plus, I was sunburnt which did NOT help.
(10 photos in this slideshow) Fox Lot! This is the day I felt like death. I took some pictures of the Modern Family set and a few on the Fox lot. I normally dress really nice to big places like these to leave an impression, just in case someone is looking for their next intern. But I couldn't even fathom dressing cute. So as you can see, I am in comfy clothes feeling completely awful. I'm standing in the back of that one photo just in case I needed to dart to a bathroom to get sick again. Oh how I wish I felt better that day!
(8 photos in this slideshow) Super Cool Events! So despite being sick, I got Darby and I into some awesome things here in LA. First, we went to a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live! It was so awesome being only 4 rows up and Jimmy being right in front of me. We waited outside to get in longer than we were in the studio watching him, but regardless I was just excited to be there. Next, we went to a small, exclusive Jordin Sparks concert (winner of American Idol around 8 years ago). It was super exclusive, and I mean really. We were front row and Jordin even grabbed my hand once! Again, like Jimmy Kimmel, no phones were allowed, so I only got to take pictures outside of the event. Also- last week I gave you exclusive insight into the world of food adventures. Being sick this past week, I really didn't eat out much. Lots of animal crackers and white chocolate covered strawberries (thanks momma!!) were consumed. The first meal I ate after a few days of being sick was the delicious Margherita pizza pictured above. It was so yummy, and we even got to eat by that fire outside. It was wood fired and had no crazy toppings on it, so it was an easy first meal on my stomach.
(29 photos in this slideshow) Universal Studios Hollywood! For the record, Universal Studios Orlando is way more fun (like hellloooo, Harry Potter World has BEEN open there!) But hey, I'm not complaining. We made it a great day. The most interesting part was the backlot tour the whole Grady LA crew went on. We saw cars from Back to the Future and the Fast and Furious franchises, props from Jaws, and sets from How the Grinch Stole Christmas and yes, the ORIGINAL Psycho house and Bates Motel. Harry Potter World here in Hollywood doesn't open until 2016 9sad face) but a lot of it has been built so far, and it was just really mean and sad to be teasing me like that.