The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies Black Carpet Premiere in Los Angeles!

December 13, 2014December 13, 20141 Comment

Hello everyone! It is finally time to talk about The Hobbit Part 3: The Battle of Five Armies. I’m pretty sure that’s not the EXACT title but meh, order that’s what I’ll call it. I’ve been so MASSIVELY busy this week and I’m finally ready to share my awesome day at the premiere!

I was so excited to finally go to a Hobbit premiere and I’m sad because it was the very last one. It was a very bittersweet feeling, even though I’d never been before.

Setting up for the black carpet. They had all these posters and white trees and it looked really awesome.

I spent the day with my girls Cassandra and Ally. The premiere took place at the Dolby Theater on Hollywood boulevard. Its right next door to the Chinese Theater and home of many movie premieres and the Oscars. Premieres there are always kind of wacky so we lined up across the street. We spent lots of hours there, as per usual.

They had a MASSIVE jumbotron. They showed the trailer for the movie, and then showed the action on the black carpet once the actual carpet event started.

We waited awhile to see what the deal was going to be. We talked to our friends from SPEC, who run the security and they told us our best bet was to go across the street so that’s exactly what we did. By this time, we were tired, dirty from the LA streets haha and just ready for the carpet to start already.

Before the carpet started, there were all kinds of people handing out things. They had these really cool flags that had the hashtag #OneLastTime. I wanted one SO bad but they completely skipped us and so I didn’t get my hands on one, unfortunately. Then I spotted people giving away wristbands. I had NO idea what they were for, but I knew I wanted one. The people handing them out seemed to be looking for something in particular, while handing them out. I noticed that they seemed to be going for Hobbit stuff. Luckily, I was wearing my Thorin shirt for the premiere and I pointed it out to them. I totally guessed right and they came right up to me, asked how many people were in my party. The wristbands were for the screening immediately after the carpet! Yay!

Fangirling SO hard. Meeting the great Andy Serkis. In the LoTR and Hobbit sagas, he plays Gollum/Smeagol. He’s just all around BADASS. He was the first person that I met on the carpet and I was STOKED.

The absolutely GORGEOUS Lee Pace, who plays Thranduil in the film. He was pretty much my #1 goal to meet once we had figured out that Benedict, Martin and Ian weren’t coming to the premiere. Look at that face. Seriously. YUM.

This is Mark Hadlow, who plays the dwarf, Dori.

The lovely Stephen Hunter, who plays Bombur!

MY LIFE. I adore Evangline Lilly. I think she’s one of the first actresses that I had a crush on before I realized I also liked girls. I used to watch the first few seasons of Lost and she plays a seriously badass female elf, Tauriel. I was SO excited to meet her and get her autograph. I liked her in the second movie, but I had some issues, but after seeing the movie, I’m so sold on her character. She was even better in the third one.

I fangirled SO hard on this. I’ve had a crush on Orlando Bloom since he played Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean, when I was like 13 years old. I was a little bummed that he didn’t sign my book. I’ve heard that he doesn’t really do that. Not sure why. But I got a picture with him and that was pretty awesome. He plays Legolas, of course.

My awkward, blurry selfie with Richard Armitage in the background. He, of course, plays Thorin Oakenshield. He signed for us, but wasn’t taking pictures so I had to do this. I get creative sometimes ;)

William Kircher, who was a totally sweetheart. I seriously adore him. He plays the elf, Bifur, and I’m just massively in love with him. He was really just SO nice.

Also, mad props to that photo bomber in the background haha.

Jed Brophy, who plays Nori! He was such a delightful guy!

Me and Cassie and Graham McTavish, who plays the badass dwarf, Dwalin in the film. Apparently he is also in Outlander as well but I haven’t had a chance to watch that show yet. He was seriously awesome in his kilt!

Be still, my fangirl heart! Meeting Peter Jackson was INCREDIBLE. He wasn’t doing pictures so hence the super awkward, blurry, funky selfie but I’m stoked beyond belief that I got to meet him and get his autograph. I mean, he’s the brains behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit trilogy and he’s just genius. My mind is still BLOWN that I met him.

My beautiful beautiful beautiful book signed by:

Andy Serkis (Gollum)
Lee Pace (Thranduil)
Richard Armitage (Thorin)
Mark Hadlow (Dori)
Stephen Hunter (Bombur)
William Kircher (Bifur)
Jed Brophy (Nori)
Graham McTavish (Dwalin)
Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel)
Peter Jackson (Director)

I was really bummed because Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Billy Boyd (Pippin) were there. I was fangirling SO hard but they completely skipped our section. It made me incredibly sad. James Cameron was also there and he directed one of my favorite movies ever, Titanic, and he just waved as he passed by. Sad face. It was a bit disappointed that actors like Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan and Luke Evans weren’t there, but it was just the LA premiere, not the world premiere, so it made sense.

After the premiere was over, there was parking drama with my car and I had to run to my car, drive it to a different parking lot and then practically run to the movie theater. Cassie and I grabbed our seats, and our super cool Hobbit 3D glasses and settled in to watch the movie.

I LOVED it. There will be an actual full reviews to come BUT I truly loved it. I think everyone did a fabulous job. After the film was over, no one wanted to leave. No one. They stayed all the way until the very end, once the credits had ended and the screen went blank. Its always very sad when a series ends that way. Saying goodbye and all that. I was a little emotional but not nearly as emotional as I was when I saw Deathly Hallows Part 2.

All in all, it was one of the easier premieres that I went to, and I had a fun time. I’m glad I decided to go and I’m urging you ALL to go see the movie when it releases next week! A review is coming this weekend so watch out for it!

Meeting Josie Angelini, Stephanie Perkins, Natalie Whipple, Kiersten White, Sarah J Maas, Gretchen McNeil and Anna Carey!

September 16, 2014September 16, 2014Leave a comment

Also, prostate an appropriate title for this blog post would be “I’ve Neglected my Blog and I’ve Done a TON of Author Events in the Past Week…”

September has been quite a busy month for me, cost personal stuff aside. It feels like EVERYONE has released a book this month and decided to come to California. Which I’m not complaining about at all. I love when authors come here, patient especially ones that I’ve seen before, like a lot of the ones you see in the title above. Authors make me happy!

First, last week, I met Josie Angelini again. She’s SUCH a sweetheart and she totally remembered me from ALA and Fierce Reads in Vegas back in July. Her newest release, Trial By Fire, is out now and its absolutely incredible. It blew me away and I loved being able to finally tell her that! When I saw her at ALA, I had just started it so I didn’t have much to say. She brought us cupcakes (OMG Sprinkles…) and signed our books and looked so absolutely adorable with her preggers belly.

Josie Angelini!

Mini cupcakes from Sprinkles!

SO fun.

Then a few days later, I headed down with my friends Alex and Cassie to Oceanside, about an hour drive away, to see Kiersten White at her book launch for Illusions of Fate with special guests, Stephanie Perkins and Natalie Whipple. We headed down early, grabbed some lunch and spent WAY too much money on books.

All of the authors were incredible. I haven’t read anything by Kiersten or Natalie but they just blew me away. They had great advice and they talked a lot about writing. I had actually just gotten a rejection from one of the agents I had queried and was feeling kind of crappy. But they talked so much about writing, the struggle, the up and down emotions that come with it, and all of that. It meant a lot to hear all of that.

I got my books signed, chatted up the authors, talked about writing and books and we headed home. I fangirled just a *little* bit when Stephanie asked about my book and what it was about. Maybe, just maybe, one day she’ll read it!

Stephanie Perkins

Natalie Whipple

Kiersten White

Oh yeah, and I got carried away and bought two other books. Not that I needed them but pssh, I’ve been dying to buy lots of books lately. Book shopping is fantastic therapy. I’m just saying.

Then this past Saturday, I met Sarah J Maas for the third or fourth time. I’ve honestly forgotten how many times I’ve met her. Probably because we always laugh and joke about our names because they’re the same except for one small letter. She was doing a signing at a Costco nearby and also at the Barnes and Noble, the Americana. I’ve been avoiding the Americana since the Gayle Forman event, because they’re just so massively unorganized so I decided getting my Heir of Fire signed at Costco was the best way to go.

Probably laughing at how much crap we give each other for our names haha. I love this picture so much.

Then last night, I headed down to the Last Bookstore in Los Angeles for a launch party. If you’ve never been to the Last Bookstore, its a must when you hit LA. Its such an incredible indie bookstore and its just straight up beautiful. I love it. Gretchen McNeil and Anna Carey were having a launch party for their new releases, Get Even and Blackbird, respectively.

There were free drinks, cupcakes, and laughs to be had. I chatted with lots of authors that I know and love like Jessica Brody, Leigh Bardugo, Morgan Matson, Jennifer Bosworth, Ann Stampler and more. I adore them all. I love how many author friends I’ve made and I love that I see them so often, supporting each other.

I’ve already read Gretchen’s new book and I grabbed a couple books by Anna, including her new release, because I’ve heard she’s great.

Anna Carey and Gretchen McNeil :D

Me and Anna Carey

Me and the absolutely adorable, wonderful and unforgettable Gretchen McNeil :)

My books PLUS a sneak peek of Get Dirty, the sequel to Get Even. After stalking Gretchen at WonderCon to get my hands on an ARC of Get Even, I am anxiously awaiting the sequel with much impatience.

So that was the craziness of my last week and a half! LOTS of authors and it only gets more exciting in the next couple weeks, including RJ Palacio, Kami Garcia, and more. Check back soon for more and thanks, as always, for reading, and supporting me!

Hope to see some of you at some events soon!

******

Leigh Bardugo’s Ruin and Rising Launch Party at The Last Bookstore!

June 19, 2014June 19, 2014Leave a comment

I’m just going to start off by saying this: Leigh Bardugo and her friends really know how to throw a party. A launch party that is.

The first “real” launch party that I ever attended was Leigh’s last year for the middle book of the Grisha trilogy series, treat Siege and Storm. It was a total blast so when Leigh told me about her party back at the Festival of Books, ambulance I knew that this was something that I could not miss.

I met up with my friends Sylvia and Alex, and we ate some delicious pizza and Slurpees that were literally perfect for the moment. We then drove to pick up my friend Cassandra and made our way to The Last Bookstore.

If you’ve never been to The Last Bookstore in LA before, its an incredible place to go. There are books everywhere, and rooms that are like mazes, and tunnels and really cool doors and its just beautiful. Its one of the most beautiful bookstores I’ve ever seen. Leigh could not have picked a better place to launch her final novel in the Grisha trilogy.

There was lots of food to eat, and drinks too called “The Ruin” and “The Rising.” They were delicious, both the non-alcoholic ones and the ones with a kick ;)

The decorations were SUPER awesome. The entire bookstore was transformed to celebrate the series, and I just wanted to take pictures of everything.

The first pages of Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising

Leigh was introduced, in such a lovely way, and talked to us for a bit. She never fails to both make me laugh and inspire me. She read a bit from a diary that she had when she was about ten years old, and it was SO funny. Then she went through the basic plot line of Labyrinth. Yes, the David Bowie Labyrinth. It was, and has remained, a favorite movie of hers and she talks about why that is. We reach this pivotal moment of the film, where it goes from being a children’s movie to something a bit more, and she believes that it is YA. She talks passionately about YA, about reading it and writing it, and it was just plain beautiful. Leigh is incredibly inspiring.

She also read a very small bit of the beginning of Ruin and Rising, and then we all were dismissed for food, drinks and fun…oh and signing too.

My friends and I immediately departed for the photobooth. I had a TON of fun with it last year, and I was eager to get back into it again, with some of my most awesome friends :)

I also had the guts to get into the booth by myself this time. I SO would not have done that a year ago!

They also had a manicure station as well, but I’m a compulsive nail biter and I tend to stay away from that haha.

We finally decided to get in line to meet Leigh and it was a great time, as always. We talked a bit, and I told her I would see her in Vegas next week for the Fierce Reads stop and she signed my copy of Ruin and Rising. We also got lots of swag, which is always good. I love getting my hands on more bags, and bookmarks and pins.

And I got my special launch party edition sticker too, which my Siege and Storm has, and was MUCH needed for my Ruin and Rising.

As we were saying goodbye to everyone, and leaving the venue, there were two guys manning the front security desk. We had asked them early if there was a way to get our hands on the giant posters, the ones that I posted earlier, that had the first pages of each novel of Grisha trilogy. We were told that we couldn’t have them, because they were needed the next day at Leigh’s event down in San Diego. I know I was disappointed but it was okay. As we were leaving though, the two guys flagged us down and handed the posters over, making us SO incredibly happy. We ran back into the bookstore and made sure to get these posters signed by Leigh!

All in all, it was a great night, full of a TON of fun, especially the book kind, which is my favorite :) It is always a blast hanging out with my friends and meet new ones, and to see Leigh Bardugo again. She’s brilliant, hilarious and inspiring.

I definitely can’t wait for more launch parties for Leigh in the future!

Oh! I also got to talk to Leigh’s mom again, who remembered me from the last launch party, and a picture was totally necessary. I even put them back to back so you could see. What a sweetheart and so proud of her daughter. I love it!

I have finished Ruin and Rising already so watch out for a review coming VERY VERY soon!

Happy Reading everyone!

The Darling Buds at The Hotel Cafe-Recap and LIVE Video!

June 10, 2014June 10, 20146 Comments

HI EVERYONE!

So its about 2 am now and I’m SUPER tired and exhausted but also super happy and I figured, medicine you know what, case I’m just going to write this post now because why not!

So about a month ago, find Jamie Campbell Bower, actor/singer/model/musician/hottie extraordinaire, did an acoustic set of some of his songs at Venice Beach. It was SO incredibly fun, and you can read all about it on the blog here.

Then a couple weeks he announced that him and his band, The Darling Buds would be playing a 21+ show at The Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles on June 9th. I immediately told all my friends and we scooped up tickets SO fast. I knew I had to see him and his band play.

Today I got to see him play, and I can’t even…the feels, guys, the feels. It was so much fun! It was, like, the ultimate girls night with some of my favorite girls!

We got to Hollywood early, had some food, and hung out, waiting in line to get into the venue.

Once we were in, we had drinks, listened to the opening band, and just laughed and talked. Seriously, it just felt so good to hang out with my girls!

Then Jamie, Tristan, Roland and Dan aka The Darling Buds came out to play, and they were just SO awesome. They rocked it. I thought that Jamie was absolutely amazing doing the acoustic set on the beach, but the whole band just blew it out of the water. I could barely handle it. Check out the video I got. I took two videos, one of the song “Waiting”, and a second video of a brand new song that they were debuting at the show for the very first time. They were going to say the name, but Jamie said it was embarrassing or something haha so it remains untitled for now.

After they played, I had to go to the bathroom, and Lily Collins literally passed right by me. I had seen her earlier, sitting at a table and I nearly passed out haha. I’ve met Lily quite a few times but I’ve never actually gotten to take a picture with her, and she’s one of my biggest crushes for sure. I was determined to track her down, and I did!

She was hanging out with Jaime Feld, who is Kevin Zeger’s wife, and I ADORE Jaime, so I had to get them both in the picture. Jaime was like “wait, what, me?” all surprised. It was so adorable. I was SO stoked to get Lily because she left almost immediately after this.

Then I ran into Roland, who is a member of the band! He was SO sweet, and later on in the night, came to talk to me and my friends, and he was just so excited about the show and the fact that it was sold out and that people were so enthusiastic and that we knew the words. SO cute.

The best part though? The band was hanging out in a sort of “green room” sort of situation and they were letting fans in the room, in small groups, to do a sort of impromptu meet and greet, so me, Sylvia, Steffie and Ally immediately got on board with this, and went in.

There we met the whole band, Jamie, Tristan, Roland and Dan and they were SO amazing. They stopped and talked to all of us, and took pictures. Jamie remembered us from the Venice Boardwalk show, which was SO epic and cool. I hadn’t had the chance to show Jamie my Fearless rune tattoo at the TMI premiere because it was kind of chaos so I showed him today, and he immediately recognized it as the fearless tattoo and was SO into it. I loved that he was SO dedicated to TMI and knew the rune, and said it was his favorite. They all signed Steffie’s Delicious Milk poster, and it was just a blast. We easily were the group that took the longest in there haha.

Me and Dan Smith :)

Jamie with Steffie’s Delicious Milk sign haha

Me and Jamie Campbell Bower <3

I got a Tristan selfie! With a beautiful photobomb by Steffie in the background!

It was honestly SUCH a great time, and I’m blown away with how much fun I had. Seriously. I knew it was going to be fun but I never ever expected to have this much fun, and I’m so grateful for such a great day today! The Darling Buds rocked, Lily and Jaime were awesome, and my friends were the absolute best.

Don’t forget, you can check out more pictures from the concert in this album on the official What A Nerd Girl Says facebook page!

And thanks for reading and watching as always :)

Divergent Giveaway: Win a Copy of Divergent Signed by the Author and Cast!

March 21, 2014March 19, 201474 Comments

Happy Divergent Release Day!

I hope you all are going to the theaters today (and ALL WEEKEND) to go see this movie. Remember guys: movie sequels are only made if the first one is successful so let’s go out, visit this see Divergent and get Insurgent made!

So I hope by now that you all have watched my vlog recap of my time at the Divergent Black Carpet Premiere in Los Angeles. It was an absolute blast and I had such a great time. I am so glad I was able to meet people like Theo and Miles and Ansel. SO much fun.

Check out my full collection of pictures from the premiere on Facebook here.

Check out my vlog about the premiere here.

Luckily for all you who were unable to attend, my friend Abby got an extra book signed and by a TON of the cast and it looks like its time for me to have a giveaway!

Make sure you read this whole post! Its VERY important!

Here is the Prize:

One Copy of Divergent Signed By:

Author Veronica Roth
Kate Winslet (Jeanine Matthews)
Tony Goldwyn (Andrew Prior)
Ansel Elgort (Caleb Prior)
Theo James (Four)
Miles Teller (Peter)
Ashley Judd (Natalie Prior)
Zoe Kravitz (Christina)
Maggie Q (Tori)
Amy Newbold (Molly)
Christian Madsen (Al)

The Rules (Yes, there has to be Rules):

The contest will run from today, March 21st to April 4th!

The winner will be contacted within 12 hours of contest end, and if the winner does NOT respond within 24 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

The contest IS International

Make sure to come back every day to tweet about the giveaway and earn extra entries!

Share with your friends!

This contest is in no way endorsed by Veronica Roth, Neil Burger, Lionsgate Company, Summit Entertainment, Katherine Tegen Books, etc. WhatANerdGirlSays is not responsible for any lost or damaged prizes.

The Catch (Yes, There’s a Catch)

Now, that’s a ridiculously amazing prize. Look up above at that list. That’s incredible and it took some hard work to get those signatures. Which means I expect some hard work to be done to earn this prize.

There are a TON of ways to enter, so enter a LOT. Do all of those entries! Show me that you want this. Every person who does every single thing on the rafflecopter list will be entered into a special secret giveaway. Please email a snapshot of your completed rafflecopter to whatanerdgirlsays at gmail dot com.

There are also options to show off your Divergence. Show me you are Dauntless, Abnegation, Erudite, Amity, and Candor. More details in the rafflecopter. Those who do those entries will also be entered in the secret giveaway!

Are you ready to enter already? Here you go!

Enter Now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Divergent Black Carpet Los Angeles Premiere Vlog Recap!

March 20, 2014March 20, 20145 Comments

Hey guys! How’s it going? I hope you’re having a wonderful week and I hope that you’re planning on going out to see Divergent tomorrow. You all know how important that first weekend is for a movie, viagra in order to get a sequel so go out there and watch it guys!

As you guys might have seen on my Twitter and Instagram and Tumblr and Facebook, I went to the premiere on Monday. It was an absolute blast, and I just…I had so much fun.

Now instead of writing up a recap of the premiere, I decided to do a vlog instead. I know, right? I’m becoming more and more determined to do more vlogs.

So here we are, check it out on YouTube, my vlog of the Divergent premiere!

If you’d like to see all the pictures that I took from the premiere, you can check them out at this link on the official What A Nerd Girl Says facebook page.

If you’re curious about the song that’s playing in the video, its a song called “Small Talk” by a band that I just discovered last week, Green Light Theory. You can check them out on Facebook. They are trying to get on Warped Tour so what little I can do, I’m trying to do!

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to check out my epic Divergent giveaway! You’ll be sorry you missed it!

Thanks for watching guys! Happy Fangirling :)

What A Nerd Girl Says

Nerd Life is Just So Much Better Than Regular Life

Tag: Los Angeles