TRAVEL | My first time to Los Angeles

The year 2013 has definitely started out with a bang.

On January 3rd, I got a phone call from a California number, answered with a confused 'hello?' and was told that I'd been selected to be a part of a special on-stage audience at this year's People's Choice Awards. In LA. Was this a joke?

I had applied a couple weeks prior to the phone call after seeing a tweet from Gotham Casting - I always apply for things, it's like a reflex. Anyways, so that happened and I obviously said yes to the opportunity. But this meant basically putting everything else on hold for the time being...which I was okay with, since school wasn't going to be starting up again for another week - talk about perfect timing.

So this is going to be a two-part blog post - this first one being about my trip to LA as a whole, featuring the food, places we explored and all that touristy stuff. THEN I'll get to the excitement of the PCAs in part 2.

My Cali adventure began on Sunday, January 6th and I brought my friend Brittney along. We flew into the airport in Orange County (yes, The OC theme song may have been playing on my Ipod as we flew in....) and then made our way to our hotel in downtown LA. We chose a hotel that was close to The Nokia Theatre, since that was the main area we had to be in for the awards show; little did we know that other than L.A. Live, there really wasn't much in the downtown area. But we did get an awesome deal on it, so we were okay with it.

We didn't have time to do much when we first arrived, but our first meal of the trip was at Wolfang Puck and was delicious, take a look:

The next day we had the morning/early afternoon to explore downtown LA before a PCA rehearsal. This is what we found:

Grand Park - cute pink furniture!

Bottega Louis (above & below) - Such a cute restaurant and bakery!!!

Then at the PCA rehearsal, we met some locals who recommended we check out The Standard hotel so we did that night and it was so cool!

Funny face menus and yummy desserts!

Gorgeous rooftop and view of the city!

The next day we had a whole day to roam around so we did checked out The Grove and Venice Beach.

 Got to be in the audience of an Extra taping - Sighhhhh, why can't they just hire me already?!

Venice Beach - so nice!

 Stunning.

I loved getting to escape the cold Toronto weather for a bit and to set foot on a beach in January!!

I know I've overwhelmed you all with tons of photos, so that's enough for now. Up next is part 2, featuring my experience on the People's Choice Awards stage.

- Christina

Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

All photos taken by me | Please contact for use 

CONTEST: Win an American Apparel & Anna Sui prize pack!

Hey everyone!

As a special welcome to 2013, I'm holding my first blog contest of the year - ft. American Apparel & Anna Sui! Here's your chance to win:

- One white American Apparel tank top (one size)
- One Anna Sui tote bag

All you have to do to win is follow me on Twitter and retweet this contest! This is what the tweet looks like:

"Want to win an @americanapparel & Anna Sui prize pack? All you have to do is RT!"

Simply retweet and you are automatically entered to win!

Want a bonus entry? Tell me what you are most excited about for 2013 by commenting on this post!

Contest runs until January 12th, 2013 at midnight (EST) and is open worldwide! Winner will be picked at random.

It's that easy - GOOD LUCK! :)

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

Package Deal TV Studio Visit

During my holiday visit home in Vancouver, I had the chance to be a part of a studio audience for a brand new sitcom called Package Deal, created by Andrew Orenstein (Malcolm in the Middle, 3rd Rock from the Sun). The show revolves around a family of three brothers and one of their girlfriends who becomes a part of their dysfunctional lives.

The show is filmed in Burnaby, BC and comes from Thunderbird Films (which also is the production team behind Mr. Young, another set I got to check out!) - you can catch all the hilarity of this new comedy on Citytv (release date TBC).

Take a look at the (all Canadian!) cast:

 Randal Edwards

Julia Voth

Harland Williams

Jay Malone

Since the show hasn't aired yet, I wasn't able to take many photos from the set, but here's one of my seat in the audience! It's always fun to be a part of a live studio audience - they even have a host who entertains everyone during the breaks by playing games and giving out prizes!

The special guest star for the particular episode I was there for was the one and only Pamela Anderson. That was pretty cool to see her there!

Be sure to keep an eye out for Package Deal on Citytv this fall - in the meantime, stay in the loop by following the show on Facebook and Twitter!

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

Shawn Desman @ Faze Magazine's Glow Girl 2012

The headlining performer of the Glow Girl event was Shawn Desman, who also happens to be the next Faze Magazine cover star. He did a special acoustic set and sang some of his fan favourites, including 'Nobody Does It Like You' and 'Dum Da Dum' - he ended the night off with a lot of energy and had the audience singing along.

Check out some of my shots from his performance:

If you can't get enough of Shawn, be sure to check out http://shawndesman.com/ for all the updates and follow him on Twitter!

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

Munro Chambers @ Faze Magazine's Glow Girl 2012

As a special guest speaker at the Faze Magazine Glow Girl event, Munro Chambers (or commonly known as Eli from Degrassi) made an appearance and got to hang out with some of his awesome fans. The Faze TV team and I did a fun interview with Munro before the event began - keep an eye out for it!

Check out some photos:

He was also interviewed on the Faze stage by the magazine's managing editor Dana Krook - he's hilarious!

Munro signing autographs

Munro was featured in the latest issue of Faze Magazine - be sure to get a copy!

- Christina

Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

FLTF @ Faze Magazine's Glow Girl 2012

Oh the wonders of social media...Thanks to the help of some awesome fans, Edmonton-based band From Love to Forfeit (FLTF) got the chance to perform at Faze Magazine's Glow Girl event (and we're so glad they did!). Made up of Ash, Garrett, Wes, Brennen and Joshua, this group of talented guys made their way to Toronto and played for a pumped up crowd and got the girls screaming - they did a cover of Justin Bieber's 'As Long As You Love Me,' need I say more?

I interviewed the guys for Faze TV before the event got started and it was great to chat with them! Stay tuned for the interview - here are some photos:

Check out some of my shots from their performance:

Be sure to check out FLTF on Facebook & Twitter!

More Glow Girl event posts to come ft. Munro Chambers & Shawn Desman.

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28