This is One Lucky Girl!

And I'm not referring to her choice of husband (although in the husband lottery, she hit the jackpot!). I'm talking about actually winning contests!

Here's the story. A couple months ago, Mindy entered a contest to win $300 worth of food from Ship'd---one of those food delivery services. To her surprise and delight, she WON!! Then, Ship'd announced that Lance Bass of NYSNC acclaim was going to be their celebrity chef. He has started a new charity for the victims of the night club shooting in Orlando. Mindy made a donation. Everyone that made a donation was automatically entered in to a contest to be Lance's guest on his new cooking show sponsored by Ship'd. Surprise, surprise, she WON again!!!

The prize included an all expense paid trip for two to Los Angeles. Of course, she was a little skeptical at the "too good to be true" aspect of the winnings. Good girl, Mindy---you're dad was so proud! She put him on to checking it out to make sure it was legit! It was.

Of course, Justin was her first choice of companions, but since the trip was the week right after our family vacation, he wasn't able to go. That made me the alternate "winner!" I was happy to be invited!

In addition to airfare and 3 nights at the Loews Hollywood Hotel, Mindy was to appear as Lance's sous chef on the televised cooking show. She was so excited.

While we were on vacation, she got a phone call from a guy saying that as of the coming Monday, Ship'd was going to be out of business. The guy said that Lance still wanted Mindy to have the trip and a good experience. So he went out of his way to make it happen.

Still skeptical, Mindy double-checked to make sure the airline tickets and hotel was paid for. All seemed to be in order.

We arrived on Wednesday morning. By the time we got to the hotel, it was nearly lunchtime. Our hotel was attached to a large mall and a block from Hollywood Blvd.'s walk of fame---14 blocks of stars---2000 in total.

We went to a Mexican restaurant/bar and had our first drinks---sangria for me---margarita for her.

After lunch, we went on an open air stars tour. It was so much fun. We already can't remember all of the stars homes we saw---Beyonce and Jayzee, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brittany Spears, Aaron Spelling, Cary Grant, Reba McEntyre, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Johnny Weismiller (totally in disrepair) and I can't remember who else.

After the tour, we had about an hour to get ready for this:

We met Lance and his husband at "Sweet"---a specialty candy store right there in the mall. We got to make our own candy bars.

 While the candy was setting, we browsed the store with Lance and Michael. They were very nice and easy to talk to.

Lance introduced us to his own personal candy bar. Michael is an artist and did the candy bar box. Lance autographed the ones we bought.

We ended up having dinner at the hotel that evening because the steak house we wanted to go to was closed. I had peeked in the window and the tables were all set. We were within the hours of operation, so we had no idea why they weren't open. Maybe there was a private party or something. Anyway, it looked really good and had been open since 1919. Oh well, our hotel food was good too.

On Thursday, we had a Warner Brothers Studio tour. It was awesome. Turns out every thing about tv shows and movies is fake! It was so interesting as to how they film.

There are only 3 streets that are used for ALL the tv shows and movies you see. It's amazing how they accomplish that by changing the props and signs, then shooting from all different angles.

 Mindy was thrilled to be able to be on the set of one of her favorite shows. The line was too long to get a shot on the couch!

 And then I got to see the set of one of my favorites. I knew the show wasn't taping, but I wish I'd gotten glimpse of Ellen!

 If your show is on for 10 years you get a bronze plaque. Friends has one too!

Here's a list of the movies and shows that were filmed on the same stage as Ellen.

After our studio tour, we had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Then it was on to the Hollywood Wax Museum.

The wax figures were pretty good. I was surprised at the people who were touching and rubbing the figures. There were no ropes or anything to keep people from getting up close.

We had time to rest in the afternoon. Then there's this:

I don't iron at home. I'm not about to iron in a hotel room! Mindy doesn't get her clothes out of the dryer soon enough!

We had cocktails in our hotel before leaving for our pre-arranged dinner at PUMP--a restaurant owned by Lisa Vanderpump of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills television show (I've never seen it).

Anyway, when we got there, nothing was said about our meal being paid for. We just rolled with it and ordered like we normally would. We LOVED everything about this place.

 There were all kinds of glittery, jewelry, crystal things hanging from the trees. The main restaurant is a large courtyard. We were out here.

 In fact, just about the entire restaurant is outside.

 It was so unusual. But it wasn't only the decor that we were impressed by.

We really enjoyed the waiters!! Think "Hooters" but with men! They were really buffed and wore pink shirts (the shade of the tree above) that were unbuttoned more than halfway down. They wore thin black ties loosely tied.

Rather than make you use your imagination, I pulled this photo off the internet. Yeah. Okay, who am I kidding? Really, for me, it was about the food!! OMGosh y'all! Not only was it delicious---it was so much food!

Mindy and I started with a glass of wine. She didn't tell me there was the PUMP rose---I ordered a white. We shared a Caesar salad that was so huge---there was as much left as we actually ate! Mindy got the pasta bolognese and I got the lobster pene in a cream sauce. We also ordered the bread board. We shared our entrees, but there was so much left over. It made me sick to know we wouldn't be able to take it with us and get another shot at it later! There was so much lobster in my dish---it was the claws---about two inches long and an inch thick---I had to cut each piece in half---there were 5---yes, FIVE of them left that neither of us could finish!! It was so good! We ordered the carrot cake for dessert. That was okay, seemed a little dry to me.

Notice I didn't mention the prices? Well, we couldn't believe it. The food was so inexpensive compared to what we're used to in Nashville!! Here goes: wine $12.00; bread board $3.00; Caesar salad with anchovies $12.00; pasta bolognese $19.00 and my lobster pasta $26.00! The carrot cake was $7.00 for a huge slice.

When I requested the bill, our waiter said that our dinner was comped! We were pretty sure that it was supposed to be, but since no one said anything, we didn't know for sure. I asked about the gratuity and he said that it was included. Mindy said I should go ahead and give him an additional tip, so I left him $20.00. It was totally worth it. Such a fun night at a place that felt like Beverly Hills---lots of beautiful people---even if they were a little over-done---if you know what I mean.

We ended our trip with a nightcap at our hotel. We crammed as much as we could in 2 days and it was totally worth it! We had a great time!

So now for reality. Although it was an all expense paid trip, it wasn't totally free! Our suitcases on Delta cost $100. Drinks at our hotel---3 of them---2 manhattans and 1 cosmopolitan were $62.00. Transportation to and from the airport was $125.00. Various tickets to tours, lunch, Starbucks, breakfast, dinner the first night---well, let's just say it adds up! Mindy picked up everything at our hotel. Still, it was a once in a lifetime experience and I'm so glad I was able to share it with her. To be able to meet one of your childhood idols is just an unbelievable experience. I imagine she felt as I would had I ever had the chance to meet David Cassidy!

Oh, and to add insult to injury---Mindy had to provide information so they can issue her a W-9 form for her taxes. Yep, she's gotta pay taxes on all that "free" stuff! Sheesh! Nothin' is ever really free!