idolatry

out of the blue, i received an email last week inviting me to attend an american idol viewing party sponsored by at&t (i found out later that i had the monkey to thank, who passed my info along).  and because i love this kind of stuff, i managed to work things out so that i could go - and dragged my partner in crime, lilcee, along for the ride.

the venue was in hollywood, at sadie kitchen & lounge.

there was no question about whether or not we were in the right place.

we were asked to sign a waiver:

and then we were free to grab drinks and relax at the bar or in a booth.

i opted for the "hollywood," but this lightweight couldn't handle the toxic level of alcohol and switched to plain ol' coke instead.

although i was no slacker when it came to the tray-passed hors d'oeuvres.  i gorged on delicious flatbreads and ahi tuna stacks and whatever else came our way.  and then when the buffet opened, lilcee and i headed over and made a lovely plate o'yum.

we'd chosen to sit at the bar, which turned out to be a great spot to watch the show when it started.

i love me some ryan seacrest.  this is not news.

after enjoying delicious food, meeting some really cool people, cheering for the contestants, and laughing at the judges' comments, watching "idol" at home on the couch isn't going to be quite the same anymore.  while karaoke was one of the offerings at the party, no one took the bait - but we all enjoyed taking part in the trivia game during commercials.  i managed to win a prize early on - and to be perfectly honest, i think mine was the best in the bunch.  while others won things like water bottles and at&t gift cards, i got this:

on our way out, we made sure to thank katelin, who'd sent me the invitation.  she was super sweet and i liked her a lot.  not to mention, it looks like she'll be granting me one of my biggest "idol"-related wishes - entry to a taping of a live show!  and if it works out, the teen may be able to join me for once, since the minimum age for audience members is 6.

oh em gee.  could this possibly lead to my all-time biggest-ever "idol" dream - meeting seacrest in person??

i'm all aflutter just thinking about it.

disclaimer:  “I attended this event as a guest of AT&T, and was in no way compensated. All opinions are my own.