We had a great day yesterday on our little Dallas excursion. We made it to Plano, TX at about 1pm. We thought we would locate the bookstore where Chelsea Handler's book signing would take place. We found upon arrival a line had already started to form. So we headed in to get a spot. We were told that Chelsea would only sign a copy of her latest book Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang and it had to be purchased at that store. I understand. I asked that since I already have a copy, could I purchase another one of her books. That was a big fat NO. My receipt had to show the purchase of that book. The girl at the register was even kind enough to let me know I might as well take my copy out to the car, but finally agreed to allow me to keep mine in my purse after what was probably my look of complete cunfusion and disgust. Forgive me for buying the book the day it came out! Heck if I was about to be punished for that. I was getting my first edition signed. Duh! I don't know what my obsession with the first edition is. But certain authors and books, I like to have for my collection. It's soley for my own enjoyment. Obviously I don't plan on raking in a MIL on my book collection. :)
So we sat in line for a couple hours but by the time Chelsea arrived, the line was wrapped around the upstairs of the store, down the stairs, all around the downstairs and out the door!
I got about 1.5 seconds to spend with her. And even that was a great experience. She said in her funny breaking Chelsea voice "Heeeeeeeeey Amber! How are you?!". To which I replied "I'm great!" and picked up my autographed copy off the table. I took a couple more pictures from behind the "camera line" and opened my book to observe what she wrote. I guess it was hard to write and smile and talk because the writing took a few moments to decipher. We finally decided that she wrote "Amber! Cheers! Chelsea". I'm cool with that!
After the book signing we decided it was time for a much deserved beer and sandwhich. After all, we had intended on eating before the book signing. But since we had never attended one before, we were not aware of the need to arrive extremely early!
We stopped in to a bar called Ringo's Pub and enjoyed a Guiness and Pub Burger. Wait, that's what I had. Troy had a Guiness and Pub Club. But anyway, it was a good way to refuel. We had another small task ahead. And that task was to find the American Girl Store. Even though we know it would be WAY more fun to go there with Mia, we thought we would at least map it out and make sure we were prepared when we do take Mia down there! Thank goodness for the GPS! We would have never found it otherwise!
But here we are! The store really smelled. I'm not sure if it was due to the fact that they have a bistro upstairs where you can bring your dolls for lunch. But it was less than pleasant. Just thought I'd mention that in case you are planning on going there and have a sensetive sniffer! We decided on picking up a few items to further spoil our daughter. That place is amazing.
By the time we finally got checked into our hotel, it was time to get ready to head to Chelsea's show in Grand Prairie. The hotel was a bust for us. We much prefer the Hotel Indigo where we stayed for Mat Kearney. We had to move rooms because our TV was posessed and would keep turning on and off! Weird! But we did have a great view from our room(s)!
The Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie was nice. We each had an overpriced, undersized drink and found our seats where for the next two hours we would enjoy some comedy with a side of everyone and their brother around us constantly getting up, coming and going at their leisure. Some people didn't even show up until the show was half over. Needless to say, I am becoming an old lady who finds it extremely rude to all us hard workin', loyal fans who pay a lot to attend these shows. I want to be able to enjoy every last laugh and I find I have a hard time doing so when I am constantly asked to stand up so some chick (who is obviously trying too hard with her jewel encrusted tube top) can shimmy through in front of me, all while trying not to spill her full Cosmo Martini all over.
Brad Wollack was Chelsea's opener. Here is a picture of him from the book signing.
He is pretty quirky on the round table discussion on Chelsea Lately. But I certainly would not pay to see him alone. He just seemed too scripted and just plain didn't make me laugh much.
When it was finally time for Miss Chelsea to take the stage, they showed a funny montage of funny clips from her show all set to a popular top 40 song by David Guetta. I am such a sucker for video montages. It ended up being my favorite part of the show! Her stand up was about an hour and it was indeed funny. But I find that she is more funny when she is interacting with other people, so I'm giving her stand up a 7. Kevin James has set the curve high for me. He is off the charts with his routine. Not to mention extremely clean. Chelsea has a bit of a dirtier set. But nothing too offensive. At least not to me.
All in all it was a great trip. We got to visit Dallas again and give ourselves even more experience to learn from for our next trip.We were supposed to be heading back in May for Tom Petty, but that has since been postponed until September. So we may need to plan a little day in Dallas inbetween. Next time we will take Mia with us!
Here is a little treasure we captured on our way home...Just had to!
