Throwback Thursday: "That time I met Sara Bareilles"

You know when a company advertises a contest they are holding and you think "I'll never win that". Well, you should enter anyway, because someone has to win and that someone could be you!

Back in 2011, I saw a contest from 8th Continent Soy Milk called "Nice Job Moms, We Rock!". I'm not a mom and I'm also not that cool, but I checked out the rules and saw that you didn't need to be either of those things to actually enter. There were several categories you could post advice to and they'd select winners based on these responses. The category I chose was about saving money and budgets. It's been a few years but I think my response was something along the lines of "When attending weddings or other events where you'll be frequently photographed, swap dresses with friends who are the same size so that you don't have to buy a new dress for every event". At the time I was 28 and pretty much attended weddings as a part time job. They must have liked my answer because I got a call about a month later saying I was one of 4 1st place winners in the contest.

First Prize Included:

•  Night out on the town for you and up to three (3) guests. Prize consists of:
• professional stylist hair and makeup sessions for you and your guest(s)
• entrance to a local nightclub
• music artist autographed memorabilia for both you and your guest(s)
• limo service to and from the club
• one (1) night deluxe hotel accommodations 
• A spa package for you and your guest(s) at the hotel
• A $10,000 music program donation on your behalf will be made to a local school’s music program of your choice

 I was excited, as were 3 of my closest friends! They let me pick any Orlando hotel for the 1 night stay. We had recently done a little girl's weekend at the Ritz Carlton, so I chose the Waldorf Astoria since none of us had ever been there. We spent a great day at the pool having cocktails and decided to pass on the nightclub and limo in exchange for dinner at Bull & Bear. Dinner was amazing as were the SEVERAL bottles of wine we ordered. After dinner we went back to our suite to order more wine from room service. I went back to look for pictures of the evening, but couldn't find any. (I'm assuming this had something to do with the many bottles of wine ordered).

A couple of weeks later the company contacted me to find out which school I wanted to give the $10,000 donation to, and I decided on my former high school. The most exciting part was that Sara Bareilles would be traveling to the school to present the check for the music program and I was invited to attend! I invited my friend Lindsey to join me. We've been to several Sara concerts together so I knew she'd appreciate meeting her as much as I did. We packed our Sara Bareilles concert shirts to get autographed and hit the road!

We got a chance to meet Sara backstage before the check presentation. She's as nice and awesome as you'd expect and completely down to earth. She didn't even travel with a large entourage. It was just her and one other person.  

Yes, we brought shirts that said f*cking to a high school to get them autographed! We bring the class wherever we go!

My mom came with us and got to meet Sara too! Hi, mom!

At the ceremony I had to give a speech about winning the contest and why I chose that school to receive the gift. I also had the honor of introducing Sara Bareilles to the students. They were so thrilled she was at their school. It was pretty adorable. We presented the check to the music staff at my high school and they were very appreciative. It felt great to be able to give back to a school that gave me so many fond memories.

Always nice to hold a really big check!

Up next was interviews with the local news. What do I do with my hands?

It was an amazing experience I'll never forget! Since meeting Sara we've gone to several more of her concerts for girls weekends. It's a great tradition that I'm sure we will continue as long as Sara continues to tour.

"Sara Selfie" Little Black Dress Tour, St. Augustine July 2014

Lesson of this experience, keep entering contests. You never know, the winner could be you!