Quick Trips to Washington, D.C.

Playing: No Phun Intended (Whole Album)-Tyler Joseph
Reading: Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Way back in October, I took a weekend trip down to visit my brother, Ted, in Washington, D.C. I haven't been to D.C. for around six years now and I have to apologize to D.C. for not liking it the first time I visited. This time around D.C. felt cleaner than last time and I loved the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History's aquatic section. I'm not sure if it's because I like aquatic things in general or if it's because it was actually of exceptional quality though.

Walking around the National Mall, I found this little fountain and sitting area next to the old Smithsonian Institution Building that was rather quaint. I liked this little pocket of beauty in the middle of the area.

The Smithsonian "Castle" was closed the day I went unfortunately, so I couldn't go inside. However, it was nice to walk around the lovely gardens and I enjoyed looking at the actual building, which is rather impressive. Lately, I've been into castles and such probably as a distraction from my finals. I mean, why study for finals when there's a documentary on Chatsworth on Netflix and you have easy access to Wikipedia?

My brother and I took a quick day trip to Baltimore, MD to check out the National Aquarium. Although it was nice, my brother and I both thought it was overpriced considering the tickets cost more than the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA and we both think the one in Long Beach is much nicer. They do have larger animals, at the one in Baltimore though, like dolphins and such. How pretty is this jellyfish ceiling decoration? I wouldn't mind putting up something like this in my home.

The main reason for my trip down was to see Bastille's The Last Stand concert. I was kind of disappointed by the performance because the audience was seriously low energy and not many people were singing along aside from "Pompeii" and "Bad Blood." Maybe it's because I've been getting used to general admission concerts, but something about stadium seating makes it hard to get into the concert. I also felt like Dan Smith didn't interact with the audience that much except for a few awkward attempts at dancing. I usually find awkward dancing extremely endearing (Examples? I love Andrew McMahon's and Forrest Kline's dance moves). However, I didn't feel the same towards Bastille and I'm not quite sure why. Anyways, sorry for being an extraordinarily lazy blogger, but I really ought to try harder to keep this up. I've been blogging for close to six years, so I feel a sense of obligation towards the site.

a symphony of sound

Playing: All You Had to Do Was Stay-Taylor Swift
Reading:The Red Pony by John Steinbeck

My life is really busy, being in college and all. I've been studying a lot, visiting the theatre often, stocking up on winter clothing, and complaining about the low temperatures. Consequently, I don't have many "blog-worthy" photos, so I thought it was time for a vibes post about all the music that's been on repeat for me.

• Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Andrew McMahon is at it again with a new album and a new moniker. Although his new album is more dance focused than usual, I still really enjoy his album. Check out "See Her On the Weekend" and "Maps for the Getaway" for a quick taste of the album.
• 1989 - Although I'm ashamed to admit that I like anything mainstream, I got to give it to Taylor Swift that her new album has a few addictive gems on it. "Blank Space" has been on repeat for the past week in my dorm room. The music video is gorgeous and I'm obsessed with all the beauitful outfits in it. Also, Jack Antonoff helped out on a few of the songs, so that doesn't hurt either.
• Hesitant Alien - I saw Gerard Way perform last month and he is amazing with his new set, full of songs from his first solo album. Hesitant Alien is different from anything My Chemical Romance produced yet its distinctly Gerard Way, ya know? Highly recommend "No Shows," "How It's Going to Be," "Drugstore Perfume," "Brother," and pretty much the whole album. It's that good.
• Strange Desire - Literally everyone of these songs is perfect. This album covers everything that you could ever want from your youthful exploits - love, adventure, and that strange melancholy feeling you get whenever you realize you still care about someone even when you know it's not gonna last forever. If I had to choose a favorite, I would go with "Rollercoaster" or "Wake Me."
• Before the Waves - After seeing Magic Man on the Harlem USA tour with New Politics and Sleeper Agent, Magic Man quickly rocketed to my top five favorite bands. The band itself is a cute group of best friends, who seem to enjoy each others' presences tremendously, and their music is perfect on so many levels from their reminiscences of Paris to their quirky electronic sound. Download "Paris" and "Every Day."
• Chairlift - Admittedly the only song I listen to is "Bruises," but "Bruises" is one heck of a song. If you aren't addicted to it after your first listen, you just got to try again. It has a light hearted sound, but it says a lot about how far you will go in a relationship and how you'll change for someone. If nothing else, at least it gives you a useful tip: Frozen strawberries can be used to make your bruises feel less awful.

Pomona Photo Diary

Playing: Rollercoaster-Bleachers (THE BEST 80S THROWBACK YOU COULD ASK FOR)
Reading: Green Children of Woolpit Wikipedia Page

I know, I know. This is my third time seeing Hellogoodbye, but I'm still not over them. I saw them at the Glass House with Sarah again and Austin instead of Chad this time. The area around it is called the art district and it has a great vibe, filled with galleries, thrift stores, and concert halls. Strangers You Know, Wild Party, and Vacationer opened up for Hellogoodbye this time around. Wild Party was by far the best and the lead singer, Lincoln Kreifels, is totally my new BFFL. Lincoln handed me all three of the set lists for my friends and me, so I now have my first set list ever. After the show, we talked to him about Texas (his and Sarah's home state) and about his upcoming tour with my favorite musician, Andrew McMahon. Of course, we stayed late to talk to the hella good guys (Lame nickname, I know). Even though Forrest Kline left early for his wife's birthday, we still got to spend time with Augustine Rampolla (who is the sweetest), Andrew Richards (the sassiest), and Mike Garzon, who is always great because he was a good sport as Sarah complimented his face and he has the best shoes. Hellogoodbye round 4, anyone?

other plans

Playing: Doses and Mimosas-Cherub
Reading: Turandot by G.Adami and R. Simoni

Originally, I was supposed to go to Coachella to see the Drowners. However, my Coachella plans fell through pretty quickly. Consequently, when I heard they were going to be at the Observatory, I begged my parents to cut our New York trip short so that I could meet them. Lead singer Matthew Hitt is one of my favorite male models and I brought him a copy of my favorite novel, The Catcher in the Rye, which happens to be one of his favorite novels too. (Who knew? He even quoted it.) When guitarist Jack Ridley III heard I flew back from New York to see them and that I might be moving there, he told me I could hang out with the band, which is an offer I'm hoping is semi-serious.

In other news, it's been over a hundred degrees in SoCal for the past few days. Coupled with the fact that I'll be spending a month roaming Japan, I figured I needed a few skirts to flesh out my summer wardrobe. This white skirt from bar iii is really light and I like the curved seam going across the front. Since Macy's was having a crazy 25% off everything sale, I also got this Marc by Marc Jacobs backpack for college.

Left to Right: Sarah, me, Tina and Christine

Like I said before, it's been unbearably hot lately. Therefore, after our AP Gov test, I took off to Crystal Cove with Sarah, Tina, Christine, and Sophie. The AP Gov test only took up three class periods, but the attendance office excused us for tutorial, fourth period and lunch too, so we had almost two hours to go to the beach and celebrate the near end of our AP testing. Definitely a sporadic trip, but I guess that's what made it so great too. Other than Christine, we're all moving out of SoCal for college and it's kind of sad to know that we'll no longer be able to go to the beach whenever we feel like it. Seriously though, how much more stereotypically SoCal can this trip get and how are we gonna survive without this?

Harlem USA Tour

Playing: Shadow of the Day-Linkin Park
Rereading: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

Last Tuesday, I went to a New Politics' concert at the Observatory with the opening bands, Sleeper Agent and Magic Man. Usually, the warm up bands aren't that great, but in this case, both of the opening bands were stellar. Sleeper Agent had a really fun set and the lead singer, Alex Kandel, is living the dream. One girl being in a band with five guys? Definitely not bad at all.

Magic Man was also pretty great and the keyboardist, Justine Bowe, is also living the dream of being in a band with four guys. It was funny to watch the whole crowd freak out whenever the lead singer, Alex Caplow, get near them. Pretty much all of the girls at the concert couldn't help but fall half in love with Alex because he is so good looking.

When New Politics came on stage, everyone pushed forward, which luckily got me to the second row. I loved how interactive everyone in the band was with guitarist Soren Hansen passing around his ukulele, drummer Louis Vecchio blowing kisses to the crowd, and singer David Boyd  running up and down the aisles of the venue. I loved how the band was able to cram so much into an hour and a half with Danish lessons (because they're from Denmark), impromptu covers of silly pop ballads, and a dance show in the middle of the performance.

After the show, I immediately went off to go talk to the opening bands, which is definitely one of the perks of a small concert venue. Sam Lee and Alex Caplow of Magic Man were so sweet and fun to talk to. Unfortunately, I didn't get much of a chance to talk to Nick Smith, since there was a line of girls waiting to talk to him. Even if I like the opening bands, I typically don't look them up afterwards, but I've been checking up on Sleeper Agent and Magic Man and both of them are really good.

The best moment of the night was getting a chance to meet New Politics. Before the concert, I interviewed David for an article that I'm writing for the school paper (which was a great excuse to get to talk to him for a longer amount of time). I was a bit disappointed by the meet and greet because it turned out to be more of a pay and hey. You weren't allowed to get their autographs or hug them, but that's ok. David called me sweetheart and Louis called me babe after telling me I was pretty cute, which might be the highlight of all my meet and greets ever. All in all, it was a great concert and I really liked having a meet and greet instead of having to wait by the back door for over an hour to meet a band. I definitely want to see them again on the Monumentour.

P.S. Sorry that I haven't been keeping with my blog or tumblr that much recently. I've been watching a lot of the Olympics. I'm very happy for Charlie White and Meryl Davis. They definitely deserved the gold medal in ice dancing. (Also, how crazy is the scandal over Adelina Sotkinova and Yuna Kim? Adelina won the gold; let's be happy for her.)

Hellogoodbye: Round 2

Playing: Ocean Avenue-Yellowcard
Reading: Proust Was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer

Last Monday, Sarah, Chad, and I went to see Hellogoodbye together for the second time. We left for the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles as soon as school let out. The concert was supposed to start at 7:30 p.m. but the lead singer of Max and the Moon showed up late, so the concert didn't even start until an hour later. They sounded pretty good, but Sarah and I just sassed the lead singer for most of the time, asking him why he put his shirt on inside out and if he got dressed in the dark. He definitely heard us, but refused to answer any of our questions.

Say Say was really friendly, when we talked to them after the show and we appreciated that they had a cute drummer, Nick Jordan, because cute drummers are such a rare commodity. Before the show, they also passed out some CDs to everyone in line. They were pretty good too, but I preferred Max and the Moon.

The main reason we went to the Hellogoodbye show (other than to see Hellogoodbye) was that we were hoping they would remember us from last time. Even though Sarah, Chad, and I were in the front row, we didn't have a good view during the show. All of the key boards were set up on these boxes that blocked off the view of everyone in the band other than Augustine. At times, the three of us were peeking underneath the keyboard to see what the rest of the band was doing. Despite our bad view, I still really enjoyed the concert because Hellogoodbye is great live.

Afterwards, we stuck around to talk to some of the bands, while we waited for Hellogoodbye to come out. Talking to Hellogoodbye is great because it's not like other bands, where you tell them you liked their show, ask for a photo, and walk away. You get to have actual conversations with them about anything and it feels like you've been friends with them for awhile. The only one that is kept busy is Forrest Kline, since he's the lead singer. However, I got to talk to Michael Garzon about the differences between oxfords, wing tips, and brogues for awhile. I talked to Augustine Rampolla the longest about French class, clothes, and anything that came to our minds. When I was taking a photo with Andrew Richards, Andrew jokingly told Augustine to get out of it, but I told him he could be in it if he wanted. It's just fun to hang out with them because it feels like you're friends with them and because of that, I probably will go see them again and again.

PS I'm still in shock that my parents let me out on a school night to a concert in Los Angeles. I ended up going to bed at around 2 a.m. and the next day at school was horrible. I was so tired and wanted to go out to Starbucks with Chad and Sarah, but my journalism teacher forced me to stay in at lunch to work on the paper, so I went through the rest of the day in a haze.

|-/

Playing: Bizarre Love Triangle (Shep's Club Mix)-New Order
Reading: Man Repeller by Leandra Medine

Once again, it has been forever since I last blogged, but I thought I'd just have you guys catch up with a few things I did on my birthday. My parents, being the ever indulgent beings that they are, fed into my love for puffer fish by getting the most adorable cake ever from Kiki Bakery. It was surprisingly flavorful for an Asian cake with rich vanilla frosting and cake, stuffed with candied fruit. The workers there were very compromising and even customized the fish a bit more to make it look like Jacques.

Later on in the night, I went to go see Twenty One Pilots for the second time at the House of Blues with my friends, Hannah and Jessy. The concert was general admission and we got to the concert kind of late, but we still ended up with decent spots. The crowd was surprisingly calm with no moshing and tall people letting you stand in front of them, especially during Sirah's and Robert DeLong's performances.

Once again, Twenty One Pilots gave an amazing performance and my friends fell half in love with Joshua Dun, the drummer, while I still think the lead singer, Tyler Joseph, is super cute. I even like his sheer, floral kimono, which has me debating over whether or not this Topshop kimono is worth its price tag. I really like it when bands talk to the audience and how you get a sense of their personality from that, so I appreciated it when Tyler talked to individual fans during his performances and shared stories with us about his family.

After the show got out, I ran into Travis Clark of We the Kings. I told him how I had seen We the Kings at the same House of Blues a few years ago with A Rocket to the Moon and he told me he loved me for that. We also shortly discussed his chihuahua, Elvis, and how everyone in We the Kings has a thing for chihuahuas. Meeting him was such a middle school dream of mine because when I was in seventh and eight grade, We the Kings was one of my favorite bands.

Other than the Balenciaga purse, I got  few more lovely things from my parents and friends. I've been eyeing this Marc Jacobs sequined sweater for a long time, so that was great to finally get my hands on it. Tina, Sophie, and Achint all got me lovely things. You probably can't see it, but the box is suppose to look like a Ladurée box. It has a pun on the label of Ladurée and my name, so that it came out like Adurée. Anyways, hope you guys are doing fine and I'll be sure to catch up on reading all of your blogs!

Also, the title is the Twenty One Pilots symbol in case you guys were wondering.

Hellogoodbye in Their Hometown

Playing: Dear Jamie...Sincerely Me-Hellogoodbye
Reading: New York Sets Work Rule for Young Models by Eric Wilson

Last Sunday, I got the opportunity to attend an intimate Hellogoodbye performance at Fingerprints Music in their hometown of Long Beach, CA. To get in, you only needed to pre-order their upcoming album, Everything is Debatable, which cost a mere $10. Ten dollars for a great concert, CD, poster, and meet and greet? Talk about one hella good buy.

Their performance was really good despite a few technical issues and they played a lot of the songs from the new album. Although I would've liked to have heard more of my old favorites, I completely understand that with their limited time, they couldn't play everything. I loved how all of them were really happy performing and when they played "Here (In Your Arms)," it was a magical moment. That song has been one of my favorites for eight years and it's always been a dream of mine to hear it live, so now you can enjoy a part of it too with the video I took.

Left to Right: Chad, Andrew Richards, Augustine Rampolla, Sarah and me

One of my favorite things about this concert was that it was small enough to be able to get a chance to hang out with all of the members of the bands. We also got a photo with Michael Garzon, the keyboardist, who was really nice just like everyone else in the band. It was fun to be able to joke around with all of the members and to talk to them about what it was like to be in the band and what music they liked. Andrew and Augustine offered Chad a place in the band, so hopefully, they'll be touring soon. I also liked how all of them were these adorable hipster men with their Ray Ban sunglasses and slightly messy hair

The highlight of the concert was getting to talk to Forrest Kline, the lead singer. He is so friendly and funny in person and everyone got a good five or more minutes to talk to him, which is really rare at meet and greets. I had a crush on him from 5th to 7th grade and I debated over telling him, but I ended up not telling him out of fear of creeping him out. In middle school, a friend asked me why I didn't get contacts and I told her that if Andrew McMahon and Forrest Kline were OK with glasses, then I was fine with them too. I would definitely buy tickets to see them again and I'm keeping my eyes on Fingerprints for any upcoming concerts.

PS Don't forget to enter my Burberry headband giveaway! Not many people have entered, so there's a huge chance you could win!

Save Rock and Roll

Playing: House of Gold-Twenty One Pilots
Reading: The Diamond as Big as the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Last night I was at the Honda Center for the Save Rock and Roll Tour with Twenty One Pilots, Panic! at the Disco, and Fall Out Boy. I went with Sarah, Yume, and Brandon and Sarah had heard rumors that people were camping out for this concert, so we went as soon as school ended. The concert started at 7:30 p.m. and we got there by 3:50 p.m. We ended up ordering pizza around 4 o'clock and doors opened at 6 o'clock, but the pizza didn't arrive until 5:55 p.m. Originally, we were all pissed that the pizza was almost two hours late and weren't going to pay for it, but then we inhaled the two large pizzas in less than five minutes and this is all that was left.

Left to Right: Me, Yume, Sarah, and Brandon

Getting there so early really paid off. The four of us were able to get to the third row and for a short period of time to the second row of general admission. It was Yume's birthday that day and she's the smallest of the four us, so we were hoping people would be nice to us and not push us around, but we still got jostled a lot during the concert. Oh and here's a fun fact, Yume is the only one with natural hair.

I typically hate rap with a passion and I have stated that I would probably not marry someone if they're a huge rap fan, so it surprised me that I really liked Twenty One Pilots. Sarah, Brandon, and I all agree that they really know how to make a perfect mixture of melodic rap and rock with lyrics that we can understand as in we know what they're saying unlike most rappers whose lyrics sound like gibberish.

The biggest downside to general admission is that there are jerks, who push themselves forward aggressively, and we had quite a few of those around us. Quite a few of them would put their hands on our waists or shoulders to push us out of the way and during Panic! at the Disco's performance, everyone was trying to get in front of us. I wasn't able to get any good photos of Brendon Urie, which was the main reason I went, but Dallon Weekes was close by and I got some great photos of him. Next time I see P!ATD, I would like to be able to see the whole band and have them be the headlining band instead. With only 40 minutes onstage, I wasn't able to hear all my favorites.

Fall Out Boy's set was pretty good and I liked they're use of the screen to show footage of the band, music videos, photos, and interviews. Their whole show followed the Save Rock and Roll theme very well, since they incorporated old photos of the punk scene and came out with ski masks, dressed as rebels. I loved when Brendon Urie came out to perform with FOB and how he was doing flips across the whole stage like a gymnast. Overall, the show was pretty great and the only things that could have made it better were if we were front row or if we had met the bands.

PS Sorry that I have been missing from the blogosphere, but I will try to start reading all of your blog posts again and replying to comments. Senior year has been very busy and I haven't had as much time or energy as I would like.

"In a Perfect Situation"

Playing: Buddy Holly-Weezer
Reading: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Second time!)

Left to Right: Sarah, Me, Hannah, and Austin

Last Friday, my friends and I caught Weezer at the OC Fair. Our original plan was to watch Modest Mouse at the US Open of Surfing and then see Weezer, but then the reality of what a completely psychotic idea that was hit us and only Austin went to both. The traffic for both are some of the worst in Orange County and then when you try to do both with only an hour between both concerts, we realized it was nearly impossible with our luck. Sarah, Hannah, and I ended up hanging out at the fair for bit, looking at goats and other farm animals, before going to the concert.

The concert itself was really good and I highly recommend going to see them. The lead singer, Rivers Cuomo, was really adorable during his performance and he was actually quite funny too, making up little songs about Orange County. They sang all of my favorite songs and I really liked the part in "Perfect Situation," when he's wailing because the whole crowd joined in, so we all sounded like banshees and it was hilarious.

After the concert, Austin, being the concert genius that he is, figured out where to wait to meet Weezer. By the time we got there, the bassist and drummer had already left, but we got to talk to Brian Bell as he was driving away with his family. Then we waited for awhile and we saw Rivers Cuomo stepping into his car, so we called out to him and he came over to meet us. He was so friendly and seemed a bit shy, but it was fun to see him in his knee high striped socks, running sneakers, khaki shorts, hoodie, and baseball cap.

Here's just another photo of us after the other fans swarmed him. There weren't that many fans around until we called him up, so I apologize ahead of time to Rivers in case he didn't want to meet that many fans and we pushed it upon him. We all got our tickets autographed by him and Sarah gave him a gift of a lollicup with a scorpion inside. I really wished he was wearing his glasses though because he's more identifiable with them on and because people wearing glasses (like him and me) have a natural bond with each other. Plus, then he looks like one of Forrest Kline's relatives. Thanks for reading this because I know this post is rather irrelevant unless you like Weezer.

Proud to Be a Victim

Playing: The Dark Continent-Rubik
 Reading: Singer Andrew McMahon on Overcoming Cancer by Angela Haupt

On May 1, The Killers played at the Honda Center in Anaheim and I fortunately got tickets during the presale. Even though the tickets were in the nosebleed section of the arena and were very far from the stage, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. The Felice Brothers opened for them, but truthfully, they weren't that good even for a warm up band. I really did want to like them, since they had an accordion player and a guy on the washboard and the fiddle, but they're music was really basic and the lead singer was unenthusiastic.

The Killers however were amazing and made the concert worth it. Brandon Flowers may possibly be the best lead singer out there and I loved how he kept on moving during the performance. He was interactive with the audience and this might be something I only care about, but he is super well dressed.

The Killers were one of the first bands that I've gone to see that used a lot of special effects. They had glittery confetti falling, flames, flares, and fireworks going on during the performance, but The Killers kept it to a minimal so as to not distract from their performance. It was surprising to see Brandon jump into the audience, since you would think crazy fangirls/fanboys would try to attack him. Next time, I would like to get general admission tickets that way I can get a lot closer to the band and hopefully get a selfie with Brandon. That would be ideal. Here's their set list from the night:

• Mr. Brightside
• Spaceman
• The Way it Was
• Smile Like You Mean It
• Prizefighter
• Confessions of a King
• Miss Atomic Bomb
• Human
• Somebody Told Me
•  I Think We're Alone Now
• For Reasons Unknown
• From Here On Out
• When You Wish Upon a Star
• Dustland Fairytale (Brandon said he wrote this song about his parents and how what they mean to him changes and who they are today.)
• Read My Mind
• All These Things That I've Done
• Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
• When You Were Young
• Battle Born

Since the Killers have so many good songs, I didn't get to hear everything I would've liked to hear. That only gives me more of a reason to go see them again. They delivered a strong performance and did all their hits, but it would've been nice to hear some personal favorites like "Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll" or "Under the Gun." Next time, I will be closer and I'll dress up with some friends. The Killers are definitely still one of my favorite bands and if I ever get the chance, I'd like to meet them one day.

"Watching Television, It's a Wonderful Life"

Playing: After the Fire-Andrew McMahon
 Reading: Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

This is probably the third time I have tried to type up a post, but blogger has been mean recently and refuses to upload photos, so suddenly Photobucket has become my best friend. Since you have missed out on more than a week of my life, let's get started. Two Saturdays ago, I went to the Ritz Carlton to volunteer at a debutante ball, helping the girls get dressed and such. (I wore Alexander McQueen sunglasses, a Jason Wu for Target blouse, a Jason Wu for Target skirt, a silence+noise blazer,  Reed Krakoff boots, and a Burberry Prorsum purse that shows up in too many of my outfit photos.)

Inside the Ritz, they had the loveliest decorations. I loved this floral piece hanging from the ceiling. The mixture of the glass globes and metallic flower cut outs was so pretty. I wish my camera had done a better job capturing it.

Left to Right: Sarah, Sophie, Josh, and me

Then the next Saturday, or last Saturday (whichever you prefer), I went to Sarah's birthday party and a different Sarah (picture above) brought a mermaid suit for people to try on. Apparently, her mum got it at a mermaid expo, which is something I would like to attend one day. We had a lot of fun with it, but Josh made the most fabulous mermaid out of us all. Excuse my lack of a tan. I had to get changed from a black bathing suit because my mum told me the contrast between my skin and the suit was just too much.

Left to Right: Krishan, Chelcee, Me, Clare, and Katie

After the pool party, I want home and got changed for Clare's birthday. Driving there was a bit stressful due to the traffic, but dinner at BJ's was a lot of fun. Clare is one of my closest friends and I've known her for almost five years now. We have four out of our six classes together, so we spend a lot of time teasing each other and laughing together. This is our group photo of the girls there that could speak French. Clare made me get dressed up for her party and forced me into a dress, so enjoy this photo of me in a dress. It doesn't happen often. I wore a Calvin Klein blazer, Rodarte for Target dress, and everything else I don't think you can see.

Left to Right: Shabaan, Sean, and Me

The last thing I did that I want to share is that I went to a Lakers playoffs game against the San Antonio Spurs. My dad got five tickets in row 10 from a good friend, so my dad told me I could bring along two friends if I wanted. Shabaan and Sean accompanied me and our seats were so amazing. We saw Jack Nicholson there, whose daughter was high school friends with my dad, so my dad was debating if he should say hello, but we didn't get near enough for my dad to do so. Even though the Lakers lost, it was just wonderful to get a chance to spend time with Shabaan and Sean in one of my favorite cities. By the way, I only look extra small in this photo because both of my friends are over six feet tall and I'm barely over five.

While I'm at it, this has been a good week for music. Andrew McMahon's new EP, "The Pop Underground," came out today and tomorrow I'm going to go see The Killers. Sarah (in the mermaid picture) got tickets for us to go see Panic! at the Disco with Fall Out Boy and I'm trying to get tickets to go see Weezer with some friends over summer. But seriously, tomorrow will be my first time seeing The Killers and I'm so excited. It'll be a few hours of me fan girling and wishing Brandon Flowers was closer to my age so that I could marry him. And now I leave you with this beautiful collage of the super talented and handsome Brandon Flowers to enjoy. I hope you enjoy this collage as much as I do. (I do occasionally miss the guyliner though...)

Title from The Killers' "Boots"