Clive Davis Grammy Party

Saturday:
It was quite the nice little surprise! I woke up, feeling really sick and it just got worse from there. I was down for a few hours of just not feeling well at all. I watched a few episodes of Boy Meets World, I tried to read, but nothing was working. I finally went out to the living room and hung out with my parents for a bit, and we started talking about the Grammy's. My dad was sounding like it'd be cool if we went down to LA, because he knows how much I love that stuff, but the only problem was I was still not good to go down there. After a couple hours, and me getting ready, I was starting to feel much better. My dad asked if I'd be up for it, and I said I was good, so off we went to LA.

I had updated my ipod with more music, so I got to play the DJ once again as we hit the open road. We decided to stop for lunch at Chipotle, but took it on the road with us, so it wouldn't slow us down. We made pretty good timing to LA, and it was a gorgeous day! Although, it looked a little warmer outside than it was. We made our way into Beverly Hills and found The Beverly Hilton, which is where the Clive Davis pre-Grammy party is always held. I wasn't too sure how close we would actually be able to get, so I was hoping it wouldn't be a total waste of time!

The hotel is where Whitney Houston was found dead last year right before the big Grammy party, and it's also just a pretty famous location for holding events like this one and the SAG Awards, which is really exciting. We walked into the lobby, and it was gorgeous; there were flowers, light colored marble looking floors, etc. It was all very nice! And off to the side of us was the International Ballroom, which is where the party would be. We waited around for a few minutes, just checking things out, when we saw Jennifer Hudson walk by. I didn't care enough to stop her for a picture and she seemed to be in a hurry, but it was still cool to see her. While waiting, we also saw Sharon Osbourne and Clive Davis himself!! That was really exciting. I wanted to go up to Clive, since he's a legend and all, but I didn't...Because he's a legend and all. It seems weird to just walk right up to someone like that, but still very cool to see him!

I ended up running into a friend that I've met down there a few times, so we talked for a few minutes, and pretty soon, the security guards started shifting things around to get ready for the arrivals. They roped us off, and it actually wasn't a big crowd, which was cool, because celebs are more likely to come over to small, tame crowds. We waited there for a little while, and as it got closer to the red carpet, security started tightening up, and there were people running around everywhere. I can only imagine what it was like when Whitney passed away last year, because they have everything planned, and when something as BIG as that happens, everything changes, and last minute plans have to be made. It was CRAZY down there, too!
After awhile, people started coming in and a lot of action started happening. It was so hard to keep up with everything, because people were coming in from all sides. I was scanning the crowd, trying to see from every angle, and luckily, if anyone did come in, people would start screaming! Karen from Little Big Town walked in and several people cheered for her, so she asked the security guard she was with to stop and walked over to us. She looked so great! I took a picture with her, then Scott Borchetta, who owns Big Machine Records and also discovered Taylor Swift, walked in. Not many knew who he was, except for the Taylor fans, but he came over and stopped for pics as well. A few minutes later, Jordin Sparks walked out of the ballroom and everyone started calling her over, but she just kept walking. Everyone was just like, uhh...okay...And several minutes later, I saw her walking back down the hall. I called her name, even though it looked like she was heading over to us. She came straight to me, and said, "I'm so sorry! I wasn't ignoring you guys. I had to be somewhere, because I'm a correspondent tonight!" I don't remember responding, but I asked her for a picture and she said of course, or something to that effect, so we took a picture together, and she made her way around the group. She could not have been more gracious! I am so glad I got to meet her, because I've been a fan of hers since Idol.

Celebrities kept showing up left and right, and there were plenty that I didn't find out were there until the day after, but it was so exciting! It had everyone around us talking about what a crazy lifestyle that must be, to have people calling you over and doing these parties night after night. I can only imagine...
We saw a ton of people walk in and they all seemed pretty nice! Here are some highlights:

• JC Chasez from Nsync waved to me!!!!! (and my little 10 year old self was definitely thanking me a lot) I was beyond excited! 
• Tyra Banks waved and kept a lot of eye contact. She definitely has that model thing down! 
• Miley Cyrus waved!!!!!!! I WAS FREAKING OUT!
• And right after her, KATY PERRY walked in. I have never screamed more in my life
• Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson waved to us!
• LA Reid came over to our section; he made quite a bit of eye contact with me, and I kept waving, but when he walked over, he went to the people next to me and around, so I didn't get a picture. I thought that was extremely nice of him, especially since he was being honored that night.
• Sting waved!!!
• Kathy Griffin waved!!!
• Neyo waved!
• John Legend waved!
• Saw several reporters from E!
• John Mayer
• Nicole Richie
• Carly Rae Jepsen; she finally waved as she walking out! 
• David Spade
• Nigel Lithgoe kept waving to us; he seemed very nice!
• Ellie Goulding waved!
• Magic Johnson waved! (SO COOL! especially now that he's one of the owners of the Dodger's)
• Joan and Melissa Rivers (they waved, which was really cool)
• Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters; he waved!
• Several reporters from E! News
• Kelsey Grammer

I'm sure there were plenty of others, but these were the main ones that I saw! I was trying to get pictures; I had my mom's camera and my phone, but that wasn't working out very well at all. I was more focused on trying to get a picture with them or at least get their attention rather than getting a picture of them, so the ones I did get are pretty crappy. So, this time I have more memories than photographs, and that's okay too! 

STING!

Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson

John Legend

Nigel Lithgoe

Carly Rae Jepsen

JC Chasez!!

Kathy Griffin

Nicole Richie 

Dave Grohl (The Foo Fighters)

Ellie Goulding

Kelsey Grammer

Towards the end of the night, after most people had shown up, and the crowd was starting to thin out, I was losing energy and starting not to feel good again. The crowd was way too loud and annoying for me; the paparazzi had shown up and they are some of the most obnoxious people, so I couldn't take much of that. After hanging around a little while, we decided to leave. We got out of LA, and headed into Valencia, which is normally our stop for dinner! We had dinner at Lucille's BBQ, which is delicious...and I might have eaten a bit too much, because I was excited and starting to feel better. We had fried pickles, rolls, and I ordered a BBQ Chicken salad. My parents and I were rehashing over the night; who we saw, what happened, etc, which a ton of fun, and of course, I was posting pictures to Instagram! 

After dinner, it was pretty late, so we hit the freeway and came home. We played the "Would You Rather?" game, which consisted mainly of which celebs would you rather meet. Always a fun hypothetical game to play in the car. 

I was exhausted when we got home, and went straight to bed, though I couldn't fall asleep right away. It was a great night, and I thank God for my parents and all that they have done for me over the years with going to things like this, even though they may not want to or feel like it. They know it makes me happy, and I hope to be that way with my kids someday. 

That's all for now,

Shelby