My Journey to the (Nosebleed Section of the) ACM Awards!

I suppose I'll start from the beginning. Why did I even buy a ticket to the Academy of Country Music Awards? Remember when I worked in Las Colinas for a week? Well, I supposed to do that again during the same week of the ACMs, so I was trying to figure out what the heck I was going to do to entertain myself while I was there. And then I thought, why not attend one of the most prestigious country music award shows ever? So I bought a ticket (just for one, please. I was going on a work trip, and I didn't want to make anyone drive up just for one night), and then later found out I wouldn't need to work. That didn't stop me though. I made the three-hour drive to Dallas, and I had a blast at the ACMs (with just a few hiccups along the way. Texas streets and I don't get along.). 

Dress | Forever 21

I know what you're thinking. Is it possible to have fun at an awards show by yourself? The answer, my friend, is yes indeed, you can have a blast. I  know I did. I talked to random people. Live tweeted and snapchatted most of the show. Jammed out to all of the amazing artists. Cheered on the winners (extra loud for my girl, Taylor Swift). I had so much fun in my nosebleed (yes, that's section 447) seats. 
Unfortunately, I couldn't bring my nice camera in with me (or my small clutch. I literally had to stuff everything in my boots because my clutch was too long apparently), so all I had was my phone. Sad day. I still managed to catch some footage before my phone died. You can watch my full journey below:

Have you ever attended an awards show? 

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I WENT SKYDIVING!

Yesterday, I was able to cross something off of my bucket list. I WENT SKYDIVING! My friend, Jimi, and I skydived with Skydive Louisiana, and holy crap. What an amazing experience. I didn't get nervous until I was about to jump out of the plane! 

It was all fun and games until we started to spin! Like an idiot, I didn't eat anything besides part of an apple before I took the jump. I was too nervous to have a real meal, and all of that adrenaline mixed in with a stomach full of nothing just didn't work out for me. 
Luckily, I had a blast during the free fall. That was definitely my favorite part. I felt like I was flying, which was just an absolutely incredible feeling. When the parachute opened, I screamed "OH MY GOSH!" and then the camera man just fell away. And I know it may seem impossible to look cute while you're falling at 120 mph, but I somehow managed to put my best face forward and look adorable in all of my pictures. 

I was fine during the first few spins. We pulled on the strings together and we spun around three times. When we spun the other way four times, my head just wasn't having it. I got the worst headache of my life, it seemed. Thankfully, I was till able to enjoy the rest of the skydive because the instructor loosened the straps a little and he let me put my arms to the side so I could rest a bit.  At the end, I started coughing, and I thought I was going to throw up. Not kidding. I held it all in though, and I had an awesome landing! 

Afterward, Jon was so sweet to me and made me a chicken salad sandwich before I passed out for several hours because my head was just aching so bad. 
You can watch my skydive adventure below. Just prepare yourself for a lot of super cute facial expressions and bright pink shoes. And the answer is no, I don't know what I'm doing with my hands the whole time. 

Have you ever been skydiving? Is it on your bucket list? 

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Eating My Way Through Las Colinas, Texas

For those of you that didn't know, I spent a few days in Las Colinas, Texas for work. I was filling in for the director of sales at a hotel up there, but of course, I had to plan out a few activities to do on my own. I thought that I was going to spend a little extra time sleeping too, but I actually probably got less sleep than usual. It was totally worth it though. 
After checking in to my hotel room, my first stop was In-N-Out Burger. I find it necessary to make a stop there every time I go to Texas. It was delicious as usual. The night after my first day of work was pretty chill, other than getting lost on the way to dinner. So typical. I literally have no sense of direction, and I always get lost in Texas. It never fails. 
I was trying to go to a restaurant called Fish City Grill, but I took a wrong turn and ended up in a not so great part of town. I was sketched out. I did end up finding the restaurant, and I had an amazing meal. I was really craving some oysters, so I had to get a few of those. I also got some shrimp and grits which were absolutely incredible. I love shrimp and grits, but this one had bacon and extra yummy-ness built in. And duh I had wine. 

The next day, I got lunch to go from this little French restaurant called La Madeline's. It was suggested to me by the people I was working with, and holy cow, it was amazing! I had a chicken salad sandwich with French onion soup and some pasta with a fruit tart and lemon tart for dessert. 

After work, I went to dinner at The Blue Fish, and they had happy hour sushi at the bar, so duh I was all over that! I had a glass of wine with a California roll and a spicy salmon roll along with crab potstickers (which were surprisingly good). I practically inhaled that so I wouldn't be late for my movie, which was a good 45 minutes away (not counting the time I had been lost on the way there, because of course I was bound to get lost)!

I went to see Home at the Coyote Drive-In movie theater. It wasn't my first choice for a movie, but it was still cool to go to my first drive-in movie! It was on my bucket list, so I finally got to cross that off. The reason I went to see that particular movie was because they only had three screens - one was showing Fast and Furious 7, which I didn't want to see; one was showing Insurgent, which I had already seen, and the other was showing Home, so of course, I went to see that. It wasn't very good, but oh well. I still had an awesome time and even enjoyed a cup (not a glass) of wine while watching the movie. 
The following day, I ate lunch at this new restaurant called Sprout, which is an Asian BBQ restaurant that I will definitely go back to every time I go to Las Colinas. My favorite was the spring roll. The workers were so incredibly nice, which is why I ended up going back the next day, but we'll get to that later. 

After work, I got ready for a little drive to Dallas so I could go to the Matt Hires concert at the Prophet Bar. I had only known two songs by him, but it was a $10 show, and I love shows at bars, so I knew I was going to have a good time. 
When I got there, I embarrassed myself and handed my ticket to this girl who was waiting outside. Unfortunately, she did not work there. It was all kinds of awkward, but it ended up okay, because both of us were there by ourselves, and we ended up hanging out. She fangirled as much as I did, and we had fun meeting the musicians. 
Ty Mayfield opened up the show, and he was incredible. I'm seriously so obsessed with his music, and his latest CD has been playing nonstop in my car. I keep telling Jon that I want to have him play at our wedding, and I'm so serious about it. I met him after the show, and he was so nice. I bought some merch from his wife, who was also super sweet. 

The duo that played after Ty was called Mankind Forever. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about them because they were acting a bit crazy, but they were pretty hilarious and actually pretty good. They ended their set with a cover of "500 Miles" by The Proclaimers, and it was so fun to sing along. 

I was so excited when Matt Hires hit the stage. I met him a few times before he went on, and it was so neat just chatting with him. I tried not to fangirl too much, but it's me we're talking about, so I was all sorts of awkward. 
Matt was so, so incredible. I was thrilled that I was actually able to sing along to a few of his songs. He took requests from the audience, and at the end of his set, he sang a completely acoustic version of "Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes" that was beautiful. Well, actually, he tried to end his set with that, but then someone requested his song "Forever," because he hadn't sang it, so he ended up singing that acoustic too, which was so lovely. 

The next day, which was my last day in Las Colinas, I woke up feeling like a million pounds. I was exhausted from staying out late, drinking a couple drinks, and driving thirty or so minutes back to the hotel. Plus, I had to shower, which made my night extend a bit longer. So needless to say, I was not feeling it. 
I ended up finishing up all the work assigned to me before lunch, and then I went to Sprout to get a light lunch before I left. I didn't get a full meal this time and ended up just eating two spring rolls, because those things are seriously it. I want to eat them all the time. I would love to learn how to make them. 
I had so much fun on my little Texas adventure. I think any trip is successful when you can cross something off of your bucket list. I can't wait to go to the area again, mostly so I can eat at Sprout again (not gonna lie). 
You can also recount my Las Colinas trip in my travel vlog below:

Have you ever visited Texas before? 

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I Went to New Orleans, and All I Got Were Some Plastic Beads.

As I mentioned before, I took a trip to New Orleans last week for work. Even though my favorite part of the trip was my bike tour, I still got to do lots of other fun things. I was there from Sunday until Thursday, and with Mardi Gras season in full swing, there was no shortage of fun to be had.
SUNDAY When we got to New Orleans, traffic was horrendous. We ended up having to get dropped off on the side of the street, lugging our bags behind us because our hotel, the Intercontinental New Orleans, was on the parade route, and there was a parade that had already started. I looked a hot mess, but that didn't stop some random guy from whistling at me from his car window. Welcome to New Orleans.
Naturally, the first thing I did after getting ready was go down to watch the parade. The floats were incredible, and people were so aggressive with trying to get some beads. I've actually never been a really good bead catcher, especially when I have a camera in hand, but I still managed to catch some beads without even trying. Mind you, the people in front of me were practically bullying the people in the floats to give them beads and other goodies plus fighting with each other to make sure they got the best stuff. It was a mad house, and it was only 1 pm. There were two more parades after that, but I had to go help with work stuff, so I sauntered up to my room. 

After doing some work stuff, I went to Pat O'Brien's and had the most delicious shrimp and grits of my life. The grits were fried, and I had never had them like that before. It was so good! We also had some duck bites, which I devoured. The sauce they came with was delicious.

MONDAY I got up and got ready for a lunch meeting with the person I was giving the social media presentation with. We ate at Trenasse, which is inside of the hotel. I didn't expect it to be as good as it was, but man, I didn't want to stop eating. I had a shrimp and oyster po-boy, aka a "shoyster," and some seafood chowder soup. Both were so delicious.
Later, I went shopping at the Riverwalk. I'm not a big shopper, but I ended up buying a light jacket, two blouses, a headband, and a pair of sunglasses (I forgot to bring a pair on the trip!). I had some wings at a place called Poppy's Time Out Bar & Grill right outside of the Riverwalk. The wings were good, but not great. The service was really good though. Everyone was super nice, even though I felt like the servers were just talking to me because I was eating by myself.

TUESDAY Presentation day! I was so nervous, but everyone had nice things to say about my presentation, so I'm grateful for that. 

My presentation outfit! 

That night, was the awards night for my company, and there was so much good food! I didn't want to stop eating. 

The table decor was so cute.

Louisiana gumbo with duck, chicken and andouille sausage

Fried green tomatoes over crawfish etouffee. I don't even like tomatoes, but I still ate it, and it was delicious. 

Smoked braised beef short ribs with pepper jack grits and speckled trout meuniere

King cake bread pudding

WEDNESDAY I woke up super early in the morning for my 9:15 am bike tour. Read all about it and my delicious lunch at The Royal House and dessert at Cafe Beignet here. 
That afternoon, I went with my boss and her sister to a little restaurant called The Market Cafe. I had some gumbo, and it was so delicious. I swear, everything that I ate in New Orleans was amazing. I would live in New Orleans just for the food. After we finished eating, we did a little street shopping, and I bought the usual souvenirs I buy when I travel - a magnet and some post cards.
That night, there was a little cocktail reception before everyone went out to the bleachers for the parade. I thought that watching the parade from the bleachers would be exciting, but I actually prefer being on the ground. It was neat to see the parade from the bleachers, but you could only see it if you were in the front row. Also, they threw more stuff to the people on the ground, and a lot of things were dropped on the ground because people (myself included) suck at catching. That said, it was still fun to experience the parade from the bleachers.

My parade stash

I'm glad that I can finally scratch "Experience Mardi Gras in New Orleans" off of my bucket list. I've experienced Mardi Gras in north Louisiana, but they really go all out for it in New Orleans. 
To see my trip in action, you can also check out my New Orleans vlog:

Have you ever been to New Orleans? 

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