photo diary: popping my los angeles cherry

No one believed me when I won "Never Have I Ever" by saying "I've never been to the West Coast," but it was true! LA has always been a magical mystery land to me, and I kinda wanted to leave it that way... or maybe it was just because I've been welfare poor my whole life. 

Thanks to a wedding [which I'll post about later], I finally had an excuse to go. 

Everything was against me... my mouth that got infected a week before forcing me to get emergency wisdom teeth surgery, my wardrobe that didn't seem good enough.... okay, that's about it. 

Finally..... it happened. And it was one of the best vacations I've ever had. I explored and hung out with friends and saw shows and ran into celebs.... and took a lot of selfies because when you travel alone, that's your only option. 

Taking selfies while not looking, as dozens of people walk by is pretty awkward... but worth it for this view of the whole city. 

Let's please talk about this house. 

Mandatory Hollywood sign picture. 

My most mandatory stop: Ellen's star. I took an Uber directly to it. No shame.

The red carpet locations really are in the middle of the streets... One day I'll be there when a lot more red is involved.

Just for fun: This is the track and field at Hollywood High.

I had time to go to one beach for a couple hours... which one do you think I picked?

Laguna, DUH.

Seaweed was everywhere and it wasn't exactly as pretty as I remember on the show, but the scenery with all the houses on the hills and then people playing basketball right in the middle of everything was pretty awesome.

Also got to make a trip to Disneyland thanks to my girl Brooke! 

Beers at Disney- surprisingly cheap and making the small world a more magical place. 

CarsLand was my favorite. It's like walking right through the movie!

In N Out cherry also popped! Luckily I remembered to Google the fun ways to order the food since the menu is the plainest of plain. Also delicious: That Nutella martini. It was the best kind of dessert for a vacation.

You may not know who this guy is, but he's a big effing deal in the radio world- the program director of KIIS in LA. [AKA Seacrest's boss] It was surreal to see the station and meet people like Sisanie and JoJo who I've emailed and studied while trying to grow my own career. It was a little terrifying to meet this here John Ivey, but he actually likes me! Whattt. 

And for my final night, I met up with some people I met while in College Station! Alora and Steve both made the "here goes nothin'" move to LA and they're on their way to extreme greatness. 

It's still a bit unbelievable to me I got to explore LA, and everything I got to do! Sometimes traveling alone is the best way to travel, even if it means selfies. I wasn't always alone, though. I have to give SO MANY THANKS to my girls Alex and Brooke who let me crash their life for the week.


Next on the to-do list: Nashville.

love,
elizabethany

PS: #1 thing I learned: if you're searching for celebs, don't look for the pretty people. Look for the ones who look a bit ratchet. There's someone famous somewhere under that bare face.

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what ya wearin christmas and new year's eve

Well, this is very bittersweet. As I said before, this marks the end of one of my favorite traditions I've ever had on my blog.... but before I get all sappy, let's look at the greatness that was tagged from the recent holidays.

@melmoraes was perfect with a gold, one-sleeved dress.... and a champagne chug. I'm obsessed. 

@BlaineStewart rockin' the puffer vest and way too cool for a mirror!

@fangirlrenee got some faaaancy fun shoes!

How hott does @Alexonthemic look with that cut-out?!

@Siarrahhh was pretty in floral with her skirt and the lace!

Loving @justchilin_24's festive tie and argyle!

Also rockin the argyle is @JenDBradley!

@lindseyvolt's sweater and subtle sparkle underneath is really great

@riskybusinesslm went with the sweater vest!

@lexibunny looks gorgeous in a simple little black dress

You know I love the skater skirts and crop tops [as you'll see soon].. and @tannerlinwood did it perfectly!

@shay_kayyy27 with the open back sweater and wine-colored pants!

How perfect is @caseyreneed's dress for NYE?! The sparkles, the gold, the slinky material!

I can't decide if I like @jonelmarie's onesie or the atmosphere she's in better.

@gfcoyle got all sortsa festive for his broadcast

I'm a HUGE fan of the colors going on and everything about this look on @nickeys_paparazzi

More gold and sparkle perfection on @ayoder9052!

@shelbybrooooke and @brooookemarie both sparkled beautifully!

And I loved the studs on @jennay_z's dress!

@misterignacio is so dapper in the black and white! AND I'm loving the other guy's red pants/white bow tie.

YAY for more sparkles on @modelbrittanyj!

How awesome are @muchachamary's pants?! They're perfect.

And check out @djgoofywhitekid with the black on black skinny tie!

For me... I wore a pretty basic outfit on Christmas... it was this shirt with my red pants. But then I added on this headband while incredibly ADD and opening presents. 

But my New Year's outfit... after a ton of deliberation and sending pics to my friends for approval, I'm pretty obsessed with it. 

I got really lucky.. 

-crop top from Body Central $5 [it had a criss-cross back]

-leather skirt from H&M $7

-old tights and shoes, totaling about $20

-this necklace that I wasn't planing on wearing, but you can never have too much sparkle on NYE! It's from Charlotte Russe for $5! 

I went out shopping THE DAY OF... I don't know how that all worked out for me so well for once, but I will never complain.

*Sigh.* And there it is. 

For the record... I BEYOND appreciate everyone who made WYWW what it was for over a year. I absolutely loved and still love seeing what you wear! At this point, I feel like I'm always begging for pictures and that's annoying, so I'm going to give it a makeover of sorts. Somehow I still want to feature YOU and YOUR OUTFITS, but it's going to be in a different way. I have some ideas, but I'm open for suggestions! I'll be hitting up some of the regular submitters to bring it back! 

Thank you.. again. 

love,

elizabethany

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what ya wearin wednesday and thanksgiving!

Last Wednesday was the biggest going out night of the year [seriously.. it's the night where the most alcohol is sold] and Thursday was obviously Thanksgiving, so let's see what people were wearin!

@__lindsayy dressed up her black maxi with heels and curls.

Christopher on Facebook went all fancy! I liiikkee!

@florasenmipelo bringin' back the overalls and actually looking cute!

@lindseyvolt with some go-to's/must haves-

@mariahazlynn with roughed up jeans and boots!

I'm loving both @alexonthemic's dress and her friend's more casual outfit with their leather jackets

Loving @mollskat's make-up this week with a hint of blue.

Somehow I lost track of whose nails these are, and can't find them again! So... if they're yours, speak up now or forever hold your peace cuz they're great!

@arii_relizzz with a classic and fun sweater and then even more fun: sparkly tights!

@ksnedegar kept it colorful and fun.. first with a neon cardigan and fantastic earrings, then light blues and purples.

@dominiquedadiva was also colorful with her yellow jumpsuit.

It's now OFFICIALLY Christmas season! How great are @ElectricHeartNails' nails?!

Looks like @iceiceandrew was out to impress someone with his suit jacket and.. well.. what's the "cool way" to say the matching handkerchief/pocket things? I'm blanking... but he probably succeeded in impressing.

@its_jo_shmoe matching the kicks to the sweatshirt!

@spyke_official getting fun with the mohawk

How pretty is @agapelovegirl's hair? Enjoying the dress/outfit, too!

@micaelalovex went all black and white

And @BlaineStewart joined in on the fun with his gold tie!

On Wednesday, it was super cold, but i wanted to go out... so I went with my go-to button down option. I got this one from LC Lauren Conrad for $11 clearance! Paired with my red jeans and boots from JustFab that ended up becoming extremely uncomfortable. Every time I get something from there, they're either crappy quality or uncomfortable. 

And I was mostly thinking about Black Friday on Thanksgiving. I needed something comfortable, warm, but easy to try other things on without going into a dressing room. Another old shirt from LC, black jeggings, and F21 cardigan did the trick with my new fave boots that were inspired by Joan Watson. 

Now we're only two days away from the next Wednesday! YAY!

love,

elizabethany

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