My day job offers some cool benefits – one being my membership to the Recording Academy. Every year when I receive my invite and ticketing information for the GRAMMYs, I look at my bank account and toss the invite aside. But this year marked a significant anniversary for me in the music biz, so I figured what the heck. I bought a ball gown, rented my husband a tux, and we boarded a plane to L.A.

The afternoon started with an enthusiastic Lyft driver who was excited by rather than irritated with the many checkpoints of security and bomb scans we had to pass through to get to the drop off site. We exited his vehicle and stood in front of the Staples Center searching the area for what to do next. The very first person I spotted right in front of us was David Crosby. If you’re under 35, you’ll have to trust me that this is significant. I nudged my husband and said, “Look who it is!” We giddily smiled at each other, still trying to figure out where to go next. My husband said, “Hell, let’s follow David Crosby.” So we did. And he didn’t let us down.

After I finally pried my husband away from David Crosby’s footsteps, we found ourselves standing in front of the marquee flashing “THE GRAMMYs TONIGHT” which was probably the most surreal moment of the night. I take that back – that’s coming. Anyway, we mugged for selfies, posted our excitement to our Facebook walls, and then headed inside.

FUNNY MOMENTS:
The GRAMMYs are held in the Staples Center which is like any typical arena where sporting events and concerts take place. They sell beer and pretzels, other typical fast food. For some strange reason, I thought inside the arena would be spiffed up for the evening with fancy food and red carpets for the many sets of four inch heels. But to my surprise, it was in the same shape as it would be if you were there to see the L.A. Lakers play. So what you have now is a gaggle of GRAMMY going women in ball gowns standing around shoving hot dogs covered in mustard and relish into their Christian Louboutin lip-lined mouths.

As we were waiting in our seats for the show to start, people kept approaching the usher with questions about their seats, which brings me to the most “surreal” moment of the night. This one guy walks up with his much younger and quite attractive date. I knew instantly only by looking at the back of his head that it was Ron Jeremy, former adult film star and houseguest on one of my favorite reality shows of all-time, The Surreal Life (circa 2005). This may have been my favorite moment of the whole event.

COOL MOMENTS:
We weren’t planning on attending the pre-show, but we arrived fairly early (I was worried to death about L.A. traffic), so we decided to go in just to see what it was like. It just so happened one of my favorite bands Highly Suspect was taking the stage. It was so weird seeing them play all serious-like for this room of fancy pants, stoic people compared to their show I saw in December at the Swanky Sweater Jam in Downtown Nashville which was full of energy, madness, and ugly Christmas sweaters. But I’ll take a Highly Suspect performance any way I can get it. (Congrats on your noms, guys!)

As we entered the building, along with our programs we were handed these clear bracelets that looked similar to a fitbit (need be, you can look for fitbit smartwatches at Mobile Mob) and we were asked to wear them. We were told they would flash when it was time for the show to start. But come to find out, the bracelets were programmed to flash in multiple colors to the beat of Taylor Swift’s song, lighting up the arena, which was super cool and made me feel like an important part of her show. Me and the other thousands of attendees…but still. There was also something really cool about watching her go from ending her performance to walking straight to her seat in the front row center and popping a squat like the rest of us.

Lady Gaga. I know you saw her tribute to David Bowie, but I need you to know she sounded so much better in person than on t.v. (we caught her performance again when we got back to the hotel). I absolutely reveled in her energy, but if I’m being honest, the performance that really took me by surprise (haters please don’t throw tomatoes) was Justin Bieber. This performance live was loud with a raunchy sound from Skrillex – another performance that television didn’t do justice for.

SWEET OFF-CAMERA MOMENTS:
After the Eagles’ performance, the executive producer of the show came out as they were going to commercial and told the guys to stay on stage. He reminded them (for the benefit of the audience) that they had missed the GRAMMYs the year they were up for album of the year for Hotel California, which they won. Apparently they never got their award, because he presented their 40-year-old GRAMMY award to them right there on stage during commercial break.

I also really enjoyed seeing the off-camera hugs from collaborators as they made their way off the stages. The one between Ellie Goulding and Andra Day seemed particularly heartfelt and touching.

Overall, the afternoon/evening was star-studded and full of glamor and glitz my mundane life doesn’t typically lend itself to. I’m so glad I finally let my wallet take the hit and went. It’s a once in a lifetime experience my husband and I will keep close to our hearts. But most importantly, I BREATHED THE SAME AIR AS THE BIEBS!!!!!