Hip Hop Night, House of Blues

Posted by Nicole

My trip to San Diego came and went very quickly! Though we only spent one night down there, we sure packed a lot into the mini vacation.

Thursday

We left for San Diego at about 2 on Thursday afternoon and luckily didn’t hit too much traffic. You never know when LA will be backed up (oh wait, yeah you do, the answer is always).

Living in the middle of urban Downtown LA, it doesn’t feel like we are close to the ocean. Surprisingly enough, about 45 minutes into the drive we saw water! And lots of palm trees, like always.

Soon after, we were at Soraya’s house and her mom was just finishing up dinner. There is something about home-cooked food that makes it so much better than take-out! Her mom was nice enough to prepare pasta with mushrooms (and sausage/shrimp), caesar salad, and some toasted pretzel rolls. All these carbs were perfect for the long night of dancing that we had ahead of us.

We warmed up our dance moves by listening to some of the artists that would be playing at the House of Blues that night. Soraya showed us how her dog dances…

Then we got all dolled up and drove 45 minutes to Downtown San Diego. So- about the event we went to- every Thursday night at the House of Blues they have “Hip Hop Night.” Thursday night’s artists were Swang City feat. Iamsu, Kidd Swagg, and YGP. Sounds like some famous rappers, right? We went in with an open mind and figured “well, we like to dance, so this should be fun no matter what… we can dance to anything!”

There was a DJ at the beginning and in between the acts that played recognizable rap songs. Though the DJ’s music was entertaining, I was really impressed by each of the rap grous! They all had really good dancing beats and the crowd’s energy was great.

We pushed our way to the front after about an hour. There’s always a win-lose dilemma of being at the front. Win: good views and interaction with the performers. Lose: less room to dance and be crazy. I like to think that we managed to have a good view while still dancing around.

At one point in the night, we took a bathroom break and then asked some strangers to take our photo. Well, they jumped in… You could say the photo below kind of describes our night. That’s my “unsure, but I’ll roll with it” face.

For being a blonde-haired girl, Soraya said I “could hang” and my dancing wasn’t too embarrassing. That’s good news! Though I did lose it the few times they played Bay Area hits – “Thizzle Dance,” “Slow Down,” and “Function.” They’re my jamzzzzzzz.

When the concert ended, we walked about half a mile in the freezing coastal weather to the Hard Rock Hotel to keep the party going. It was fun to walk through the Gaslamp District and I even saw a few of the places that Lauren and I saw on the “Brothels, Bites, and Booze Tour” a couple years ago.

Soraya knew one of the guys in YGP and it was weirdly cool to be invited to the after-party. We felt kind of important :)

We hung out in the penthouse suite until 2 AM and then headed back to Soraya’s house.

Friday

Dancing for 3+ hours sure made me hungryyyyy. Breakfast was such a beautiful sight: cheesy eggs, fresh strawberries, and an everything bagel with cream cheese. And a big cup of black coffee.

Then we showered and packed up the car. On the drive back to LA, I took the front seat and Tiger sat on my lap. I think I sent about 20 snapchats of me and the dog to everyone on my friends list… oops?

I insisted that we make a beach detour on our trip home. We stopped in Oceanside/Carlsbad and went on a short walk on the beach. I’ll let the beautiful pictures do the talking:

The beachside houses mansions were gorgeous!

And then we finished the drive home and were back at SC in no time. Oh wait, how could I forget this detail: Tiger was so so so cute drinking water from the Starbucks cup. Ahhhh, you had to see it in person!

Back at school, I ate lunch and then got ready to dance at the women’s basketball game vs. Univ. of Washington Huskies. Two of the three dances we performed were new and I think they went pretty well. It’s always scary performing a routine for the first time! And the team won – thank goodness – it’s been a while since they have had a victory!

Today the dance team is volunteering at a hospital downtown. We have had practice/games/appearances every day this week. Busy busy!

- Nicole

Question: Have you ever been to a rap concert? Any fun/crazy stories?

I went to an Atmosphere concert on 4/20 when I was 16…… BY MYSELF. My friend was supposed to go with me, but she didn’t get her ticket in time. My mom so nicely dropped me off at the concert in San Francisco, went to see a movie, and then picked me up afterwards. It was an amazing concert though!!! I even met Slug (the main rapper) and had him sign my ticket and t-shirt. Looking back, he probably thought I was some weird little kid. Oh well.