I Went To The GRAMMYs!!! #PricelessSurprises

I still can't believe I went to The GRAMMYs!!!  I was on a whirlwind high from it all for the past month.  I'm gonna tell you how it went down by timeline.

10:30am - left my home to be at Cerritos Mall by 11am for my appointment at MAC
10:50am - the mall is packed with people, stores aren't officially open yet.  I'm thinking what is going on???
11am - MAC raises the gate, I'm in a mad dash with 12 other women to get inside.  I check-in and get seated
11:08am - The makeup artist introduces herself and asks what I have in mind - I show her a picture I found on Instagram and tell her, "I'm not expecting a miracle but this is the look I'm going for"

These are all the products used on my face.  MAC charges $50 to get your face done (you get to take home a brand new mascara) and extra if you want lashes.  I wanted lashes.  

50 minutes later... my face!  This was the first time I had a makeover I actually liked and the first time I ever wore fake eyelashes.  That was intense.    


Wendy, my +1 picked me up and we got to LA at about 1pm.  No traffic on the freeways but around the LA Live area was crazy.  Our first party was the MasterCard Pre-Grammy Reception - everyone flocked to the extravagant dessert table to check out the gramophone.  There was live music, good drinks and food.    


3pm - We ventured out to see the action, we headed into Nokia and had to take a picture with an official GRAMMY gramophone.  While we were in line we did a lot of people watching, some of the outfits were super sparkly.

4pm - You have to be inside Staples Center by 4:30pm.  This is when they lock the doors.  Yes they really do.  What we found out later is that our tickets had special stickers on them and we could've walked on the actual red carpet.  Not the one the celebs walk on but the one behind it.  Yeah there's a few red carpets.  These little strips are what we walked on and people took pictures on.  Hey, it is a red carpet.

This scene actually surprised the hell out of me and is super popular on my Instagram - women in gowns ordering up McDonald's right before the show started.  What you can't see are tons of people eating on closed concessions stand counters.  Savages!  
4:30pm - I tried to buy a bottle of water but the stands were closing so everyone had their butts planted in their seats to get The 56th Annual Grammy Awards started.  I was told to return at 5:15pm.  Wendy nonchalantly pointed out Quentin Tarantino and I told him I loved his movies and asked if we could take a picture.  He very very sweetly said no but thanked me and shook my hand.  We found our seats and I had to get a picture in even though I technically wasn't supposed to take pictures at all inside Staples Center.  I couldn't resist!

Around 4:50pm - general announcements are made to find your seats and this is in very bad blogger form but I forgot who addressed the crowd and introduced LL Cool J.  I'm assuming the producer of the show.  Also got to meet blogger friends Chelsea & Melissa!

Pink was amazing flying above the crowd.


I didn't want to disrespect (or get sued by) The GRAMMYs by taking pictures all night so that's all you are gonna get!

9pm - The show ran late and we're newbies so we got to the Official GRAMMY Celebration After Party late and it was crazy.  The theme: Roarin' 20s.  All the tables were taken and no one was getting up so we roamed the ginormous space for about 30 minutes (with hurt feet!), grabbed some food and drinks before we approached a cute couple willing to share their small cocktail table with us.  


The drink menu - I really would've liked to the Patron or Ultimat signature drinks but I needed caffeine to keep me up.  I took a picture so you can make it at home!


The dinner menus were based on cities in the Roarin' 20s - got to rep Los Angeles!
 
Got to meet one of the lovely couples that got married during the Same Love performance - Wendy Diaz and Monique Flores!



10pm - Ciara performed with her cute little baby bump and sounded SO GOOD!


12am - home in my pajamas!

You basically got a program if you attended the GRAMMYs.  If you attended the after party, you got a bag with the official nominees cd and 5 Gum.  My passes are on the right and you see that red sticker - I could've walked the red carpet!

The best "swag".

Questions from my friends!

Melissa of melissadell.com asked:  What happens during commercials?
It's actually really quiet while the sets are being changed out.  20 seconds before the show goes live again there is a countdown.  LL Cool J doesn't entertain us and we really only saw him about 3x!  

Chris of whatiruninto.com asked:  If you could do it again, what would you do differently? Arrive earlier/later? Dressed up/down? Interviewed attendees? Tweeted celebs while they were on-stage?
I think we arrived at a good time, I would've dressed up a little more and interviewed attendees.  I intended on making Instagram videos but everything is so crazy busy that you just kinda blank out...  I would've tweeted celebs but the reception inside wasn't the best.

Erica asked: Your first reactions, absolute favorite and unforgettable moments. Did you get any goodie bags? 
I flipped out when Beyonce and Jay-Z opened the show.  It was wild.  Meeting Quentin Tarantino was cool and seeing Paris Hilton walk in to the after party when we were walking out was surreal.  She looks like an angel in person, totally flawless.  I could not contain myself when Metallica performed, it was amazing.  Katy Perry and Juicy-J performance was just so weird.  Watching the backs of celebrities dancing during performances was also surreal but also made me feel a little bit stalkerish thinking they were right there in front of me.

Danyelle of thecubiclechick.com asked:  Who really sang. Who didn't?  I'm guessing Taylor Swift didn't really sing but I don't know.  All of them sounded so good.

Ruby of growingupblackxican.com asked: After party what was poppin? Favorite moments?  The after party was intense, like a wedding gone wild.  One of my favorite moments was seeing the couples come out during the Same Love performance and then talking to a few of them at the after party.  

I cannot thank MasterCard enough - this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never ever forget.  Read how I found out I was going to the GRAMMYs here.  #PricelessSurprises