Oh My God! What Are You Wearing? How does she walk in that dress?! They filmed what here? Roll Tide Roll & a Contest...

WARNING: QUITE POSSIBLY MY LONGEST POST EVER!

What you need to understand is my birthday week had already began on a great note. My wonderful husband threw me a birthday party - not your typical 29 year old birthday party, but one that was perfectly fitting for a Princess:

Aren't my kids adorable? (please note that these are my nieces & nephews - I don't have kids of my own.) That cake by the way - the BEST icing known to man! My mom's fluffy white 7 minute frosting is so yummy it takes my breath away just thinking about it!

On Tuesday we loaded up and headed to California; Burbank to be exact. After a terrible 4 hour delay in Phoenix we FINALLY arrived! The Bob Hope Airport welcomed us with a warm evening and tons of other Bama fans milling about. After some shopping at The Grove, dinner at Morels and a beautiful clutch & shoes from Guess by Marciano & an awesome Prada bag from Nordstrom we crashed at the Biltmore in LA. By the way - a BEAUTIFUL hotel that was gracious, comfortable, historic, & worth every penny (you might note that it was quite inexpensive to stay there - surprisingly enough.)


Wednesday morning welcomed us with sunny skies, beautiful weather & a day of adventure on the horizon. After touring some studios in Burbank, wandering some random parks & landmarks we went back to the hotel for hair, makeup & dressup! Yep - we were heading to the PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS!! All I could picture was Chandler in the episode in Season 7: The One with Rachel's Big Kiss before his wedding to Monica where he wants a suit worn by a celebrity:

Chandler: (sees another rack) Well, what’s the deal with these? These look nice.
Rachel: Oh they are nice. We custom-make tuxedos for celebrities and then when they’re done with them they just send ‘em back.
Chandler: You mean like for award shows?
Rachel: Some of them.
Chandler: You mean these tuxes have been down the red carpet with people yelling, "What are you wearing?! You look fabulous!"
Rachel: Honey, might I suggest watching a little more ESPN and a little less E!?

Okay so here is how it worked: We had red carpet access.

This means we literally could take pictures, wave, possibly have pics with the celebs and generally get closer than ever to some of our favorite stars...IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

Everyone was super nice, Nicole Scherzinger would sign autographs and pose for pics - very nice. James Denton & Jeff Probst were equally kind to the fans. Carrie Underwood is stunning up close, Sandra Bullock is very gracious! There really wasn't anyone who had any sort of diva attitude.

After the red carpet we quickly slipped into the theater. Now they tell you that pictures are not allowed due to it being a Live Broadcast & the interference of flashes & such during the show. Okay I was okay with that - disappointed but okay. We were so close to one of the stages (there were many set around the room) and I knew that some pictures I could get would be AWESOME! Then the show started and the cameras (without flash) came out like crazy!

After a huge debate with myself I said - heck with it, this is the only time I will probably be here why not snap a few...no flash of course for my camera/phone either. Well due to this no flash rule the pics are not perfectly clear and when they were on stages that were far away I did not want to be overtly obvious and zoom so I just left it as is on some.

The stars were wonderful during commercial breaks and allowed some great pictures. At the end of the night when Sacha Baron Cohen was talking about Johnny Depp and his success no one expected him to be there...then out of the left corner we saw the handsome actor finally step into the light! That place went insane! People were screaming, everyone stood up, it was crazy. I almost fainted when I realized how many of my favorite stars were in the same room as me.

It was surreal...here are some of my favorite highlights from the night!

So yep that was Wednesday night! yeah... I was in entertainment fanatic heaven. lol Dinner in Beverly Hills at The Grill was wonderful! So good!

But the week was just beginning! Thursday we toured the WB Studio lot...The car from Harry Potter! It is actually a working car!

I will forever love our guide "D" for taking me here:

and allowed me this:

I mean holy cow! I have tons more pictures of this portion of the prop-house but this one is my most valuable one! FRIENDS!!! OMG I could faint! loved it.

Also on Thursday we went here:

where somehow I stumbled upon the front row viewing of this:

My beloved Crimson Tide beat the Texas Longhorns and we were able to celebrate like this:

If your team won the National Championship where would you go? duh!:

Before California Screamin:

With my wrist strap securely fastened while riding California Screamin:

After California Screamin':

Then on the flight home Rob Dyerdrek sat behind me on the plane. Honestly it was just a banner birthday week for the Princess! I mean come on this week was crazy! We were so blessed and had such an amazing time! I love my husband - he really worked hard to make it everything I wanted!

So now for the Contest! It seems January is the time for contest! WooHOO! Here is the deal:

How to win:

In the comments tell me the one thing that comes to mind when you hear the word CALIFORNIA and why?

+3 for being a current Follower

+2 for being a new Follower

+1 for listing it on your sidebar or in a blog post (you must leave a link)

So what do you win? What do you win?

Some of you may not know that I not only love Books but I also LOVE PURSES & ACCESSORIES. Los Angeles is an accessory mecca so in honor of its plethora of shopping...

GRAND PRIZE:

1 Copy of The California Club by Belinda Jones

Synopsis: When Lara Richards jets off to glamorous Califronia, the last thing she's expecting is to find her old friend Helen transformed from a clipboard -clasping frump into a shimmering surf goddess. The secret of her blissful new life? The mysterious California Club. So the offer of guest membership - one wish, guaranteed to come true by the end of their stay - is one Laura and her friends can't resist. Could this be Lara's chance to win her best friend Elliot's heart after ten years of longing? Or does the fact that he's traveling with his brand new fiancee mean that Lara wil have to come up with a new dream...?

1 COACH Wristlet (with dustbag/bought in California)

$20.00 Gift Card to Amazon.com

SECOND PRIZE:

$10.00 Gift Card to Amazon.com

Sooo what are you waiting for? Enter to win!

Deadline to enter is:

January 19, 2010 at Midnight

winners will be announced on January 20

Open to residents of the US & Canada