Rob and I had a birthday dinner to attend so we got to the Staples Center an hour late and missed B.O.B, Iyaz, and Adam Lambert. That’s ok, though. I was really only there to see the headliners — Ludacris, Usher. And YES FINE OK, Justin Bieber.

Our seats were pretty good! We were on the right side of the stage.

I noticed right away that I AM FREAKING OLD. There were groups of teenagers sitting in front of us. And between artists they all sat down, pulled out their phones, and sent text messages, posted on Facebook, etc. I admit I posted a Twitter update during a break but that was when Rob left to go to the bathroom and I didn’t have anyone to talk to!

ALSO. During the next set of artists, the teenagers knew ALL THE LYRICS to each song. And I knew… NONE. I guess Ke$ha, David Guetta/Kelly Rowland, and Akon are popular with that age group? I don’t know.

Anyway. Ke$ha was kerrazy and fun. Akon was diiiirrrrttyy. I felt dirty just watching him. And poor Kelly Rowland’s mic was messed up so you couldn’t hear her at all.

Introducing each artist were random “celebrities” like the casts of The City, The Hills, Twilight (I only recognized Ashley Greene and Nikki Reed), and freaking DAVID HASSELHOFF. Hilarious. But my favorite presenter was Derek Fisher from the Lakers!

That’s him. I swear.

The Lakers championship banners.

Ok. Back to the music. The last group of artists to perform were the ones I was most looking forward to. First up was JUSTIN BIEBER!!! I can’t help it. I like him. I cannot even explain why. It’s not that I think he’s cute (he’s too young). Or that he has an amazing voice. He just seems like a good kid, I guess. Or maybe I’ve just been infected with Bieber Fever. BWAHAHA.

Entirely possible.

He had a short set (only 6 songs) that included my favorites One Less Lonely Girl, One Time and Baby. SQUEE.

Next was Ludacris who seriously sounds EXACTLY the way he does on his records. No auto-tuning here (or whatever they do to artists to make them sound perfect). He was incredibly high energy and was even able to get ROB OUT OF HIS SEAT. That’s some amazing stuff. Sadly, I didn’t get a non-blurry picture of him.

And finally, closing the night was Usher!!! He had the longest set by far (30 minutes) and not only did he perform his new singles (Daddy’s Home, OMG), he also sang many of his older songs too (Nice and Slow, Confessions, Yeah, U Got it Bad, My Boo, Caught Up). He was great! YAY.

You know, it’s funny. I mentioned earlier that the teenagers around us were familiar with the earlier artists but when Usher started singing his older stuff, they didn’t know any of them. I really *am* old.

Usher!

After the concert, we walked to the other side of the Staples Center to check out the rest of LA Live. It’s amazing to see how developed the area is now. We also found the new Chick Hearn statue.

It was a good night. And my ears are still ringing.

1. 3- day weekends
Last Friday wasn’t originally a company holiday but we got the day off at the last minute. WOOT.

2. An unexpected trip to Vancouver
Rob and I have some United Airlines credit to use before the end of April so we figured we might as well go somewhere close by for a long weekend. Vancouver it is! We probably won’t have the extra money to go on vacations after we move so I’m excited about this quick trip.

3. Finding little-known artists on iTunes – Ryan Hiraoka!
When Rob and I were in Kaua’i for our mini-moon back in August ’08, we listened to the radio a lot in the rental car. The radio stations there played the same songs over and over again. Ok, I know most stations do this but seriously, it was about 10 times worse. Anyway, one song they kept playing was Ryan Hiraoka’s “Every Girl,” which I LOVED. When we got home, I looked for a download (legal!) everywhere but he was nowhere to be found. Even on iTunes. And sadly, I was too cheap to buy the full CD. Flash forward a year and a half and I randomly search for him on iTunes the other day and there he is! AWESOME. Here’s the song…

4. Discovering a new app
I wanted a new game for my iphone so I headed straight for the “top” app lists and found this AWESOME Skee-Ball app. Skee-Ball is my favorite midway game so this app is perfect for me. And it’s only $0.99, which is totally worth it.

5. Getting the Anthropologie catalog in the mail
Anthropologie is my FAVORITE store. If my entire wardrobe came from there, I would be so happy. It’s pretty ridiculous how obsessed I am.

So, what are YOUR happy things? Please share!

Day 16 — A Song that makes you cry

I’m much more of a visual person so music alone doesn’t really make me cry. But one song that comes close is another one that Rob and I used at our wedding — it’s the “Forrest Gump Suite” by Alan Silvestri. The first 2 minutes of the song is the section we used for my walk down the aisle. I was so calm before the wedding but when our guitarist started playing the this song and I stood at the top of the stairs looking down at Rob, I lost it and the tears started falling. Even now, I look back at that moment and I feel the emotions rushing back.

Day 01 — Your Favorite Song
I don’t really have a favorite song. :/ Is that weird? I actually have LOTS of “favorites.” Though I love and appreciate music, I guess I’m just not as obsessive about it the way I am with TV. For the sake of this meme, I’ll just mention a few songs…

Please right click on the links and save as… I don’t want to kill my bandwidth! I’ll probably take the songs down in a couple weeks so take them quickly if you want them.

“Everything” by Michael Buble
This is what Rob and I used for the first dance at our wedding so it holds a lot of sentimental value. From the first few beats to the lyrics, it makes me so happy.

“Better Together” by Jack Johnson
Another song used at our wedding — this time for the recessional after we were pronounced husband and wife. Just another song that’s like “comfort food” to me. Instant happiness.

“Collide” by Howie Day
I’ve loved this song for years. I love it so much because it reminds me of Pacey & Joey (from Dawson’s Creek). I know the song can be interpreted in so many different ways but the romantic in me wants to believe that the couple in the song works it out.

Follow the link for the rest of the prompts in case you’re interested in doing this meme too…

Day 01 — Your favorite song
Day 02 — Your favorite movie
Day 03 — Your favorite television program
Day 04 — Your favorite book
Day 05 — Your favorite quote
Day 06 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 — A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 — A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 — A photo you took
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 — A fictional book
Day 14 — A non-fictional book
Day 15 — A fanfic
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 — A talent of yours
Day 20 — A hobby of yours
Day 21 — A recipe
Day 22 — A website
Day 23 — A YouTube video
Day 24 — Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 — Your day, in great detail
Day 26 — Your week, in great detail
Day 27 — This month, in great detail
Day 28 — This year, in great detail
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — Whatever tickles your fancy

We saw “Program A” and my favorites were:
Soul Sector!!! They were THE BEST. They were clean and synchronized and their choreography was fresh and fun. (For all you America’s Best Dance Crew fans, some of their members performed as Supreme Soul on the MTV show).
Sunset. Little kids (think 6-13)! Dancing! Adorable.

FORMALity. Another junior group (I think — maybe high school/college?). Super energetic and lively crew!

Breaksk8. I didn’t care for them much when they were on ABDC but I really liked them live. They made the roller-dancing look so easy.

After the performance, which was at the Palace of Fine Arts, we walked over to the Presidio to check out the Yoda fountain at the Letterman Digital Arts Center, which (I think) houses LucasArts, ILM, and Lucasfilm. Luckily, I found a map online so we (ok, ROB) were able to find Yoda pretty quickly. Check us out!

Behind the fountain is a lobby which had a large replica of Darth Vader. SO AWESOME. The building was closed, though, so we could only peer into the windows. We must have looked like big dorks.

There was also a Starbucks on the campus which had this cool Yoda drawing on their chalkboard:

When we got home, we settled in to watch 24: Redemption. For the most part, I enjoyed the season 7 prequel/movie. But maybe that was because I was so starved for new 24?! I don’t really know. Regardless I thought it set up season 7 nicely and smoothly introduced the new players to the 24-verse.

2 Quick non-spoilery thoughts:
– Carly Pope (Sam) bugged BIG TIME. GUH. I can tell I’m going to be screaming at her through the TV. I hope she is evil so I can justify my HATE.
– Actually, I didn’t care for any of the new characters (President Taylor, Hodges, Sam, General Juma — the only “newbie” I like so far is Roger cause I think he is cute, heh ). Instead, I’m looking forward to seeing my favorite 24 faces — Chloe, Bill, etc.

Anyway, JACK IS BACK! OH YES.

Random — I’m not a HUGE fan of Beyonce but I love that Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) song. It’s so damn catchy.

It’s almost birthday time! AND I have a 3-day weekend to celebrate (thank you Christopher Columbus). I just have to get through the next few days of work…

Speaking of birthdays, Disney is offering guests free admission to Disneyland or Walt Disney World on their birthday in 2009. You have to register here. WOOT. I AM SO THERE. I’m totally going to have a Disney-themed 30th birthday next year. (Maybe).

I don’t have anything else to blog about so Diesel wants to say Hi…

OH! Before I forget… to answer the questions from the previous entry — Robyn, you win the award for most photobooth pics. You were in there a whopping 12 times! Rob, Uly, and I tied for second with 9. And Grantland was next with 6.

But first! I don’t think I ever mentioned one of THE BEST things we had at our wedding reception — a photobooth. It’s kind of a “trend” at weddings nowadays and at first I didn’t think we could afford it but Rob really wanted it… and since it was really the only thing he had an opinion on, we made it work. And I’m so glad we did. It was SO FUN — the booth takes 4 pictures and prints out 2 copies… so we asked that guests keep 1 copy for themselves and then insert the other into an album and write us a quick little note. It was a hit! We have such an amazing memento that was put together for us by our guests.

I thought I’d share the ones of Rob and me (click for bigger)…

SO FUN.

I have to thank Cheesy Photobooths for being so awesome to work with. They answered all my logistical questions quickly and offered their design services for the custom banner (I ended up making it myself). And the attendant on the day of our wedding totally ROCKED. We had some… uh, rowdy (read: drunk) guests and when the booth tipped over TWICE, he quickly fixed it and Rob and I were none the wiser. I HIGHLY recommend them.

In other news, I listened to Britney’s new single Womanizer on BritneySpears.com. I pretty much love it. YAY.

That Snoop Dogg song, Sensual Seduction is stuck in my head. I CAN’T STAND that song.

And because this entry is MADE OF SO MUCH WIN (please note sarcasm), I want to liven it up with a (relatively) new picture of my little furry baby…

Rob was working and couldn’t play with Diesel. So he decided to throw a fit and hide under the couch. What a cutie.

In other news, I am ridiculously excited for Britney’s new CD. I cannot wait. Woot!

1. 3-day weekend. Thank goodness for Columbus Day! Though I think I’ll probably be doing a little work from home anyway. There’s too many things going on that I really can’t afford to be swamped when I get back to the office on Tuesday.

2. My birthday is on Thursday! WOOT. The big 2-8. Damn, I’m old. :/ I told Rob I want cupcakes from Tea Cake Bakeshop. Hopefully he remembers. Mmmm. I’m salivating just thinking about it.

3. My cousin is visiting for my birthday. And I’m taking next Friday off of work so we can hang out in the city. I’m dragging her to a couple of bridal salons. Hey, she’s my Maid of Honor! She has to help me with wedding stuff! I’m sure she’s looking forward to that, hehehe.

In other news, I have decided to take up scrapbooking. I have no idea where the heck the inclination came from but there you go. I even went out and bought some patterned paper, cardstock, stickers, and a paper trimmer today. I honestly don’t have a creative/artistic bone in my body so this is going to be interesting.

I just downloaded Britney’s single from iTunes. I didn’t like it when I first heard it but it’s totally grown on me. You should download it too!