(This is another long entry, but it was a great night... so you should definitely read it!)
On Monday, July 25th, Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa hosted an event called "Vision", a community outreach that was free to the public. They are having the event every Monday night through until the end of August. Thanks to my dear friend, Lizzy, I found out that Chris August (one of my favorite singers) was going to be there on the 25th and we made plans to go. Back in May I dragged Lizzy, Sarah, Ruth and Rachel down to Arizona to see him in concert, so I was thrilled that he was actually performing here in Southern California this time!
A while after Lizzy got off work, we headed south towards Santa Ana. (Side note: Lizzy drove us there, on the freeway. Woo-hoo!) We quickly grabbed a bite to eat and then headed over to the event. We got there a couple hours early, so we sat and talked while we waited... listening to Chris August do his sound check in the background. Once they let us in to get spots on the grass, we sat right up in the front. The concert was great, of course! ;) They showed a video of random people answering the question: "Is there anything that is unforgiveable?" and the pastor shared a message about forgiveness. It was a really good one, definitely something I needed to hear.
After all of that, a crowd gathered at Chris' merchandise booth to meet him, get autographs and take pictures. Since we had met him once before, Lizzy and I just waited for the crowd to lessen so that we could talk to him without him being too rushed. When it was our turn, this is what happened:
Me: Can I could get your autograph and take a picture with you?
Chris: Of course! Let's do this! (starts signing my poster)
Lizzy: It was really cool to see you with the live band this time. The last show we went to was way different.
Me: Yeah, we saw your acoustic show in Arizona.
Chris: Oh yeah? Wait, which one?
Me: The one in Gilbert.
Chris: Oh yeah! Yeah, that was totally different from this one. I came here and they told me a 60-minute set, but I didn't know they had planned for me to play some songs, then play another one later and then another one later. But it was still cool.
Lizzy & Me: Yeah, it was great... (blah blah blah, hahaha)
Chris and I start to get ready to take a picture together:
Lizzy: Okay, ready?
Me: *smiling* Yep!
Lizzy: *takes picture*
Chris: I wasn't ready! Haha, just kidding.
Lizzy gets ready to take a picture with Chris:
Lizzy: *puts her magical poncho blanket on the ground*
Chris: *makes a sarcastic comment about the poncho*
Me & Lizzy are laughing
Me: Okay, ready? One, two, threeeee... slowly... there we go!
Chris: Thanks girls! Don't forget your poncho.
Lizzy: *picks up poncho* Thanks!
Me: Thanks, Chris!
Now, remember, this was all taking place while other girls were waiting to meet him, haha! We start to head to the car. We were almost to the parking lot, when I looked at Lizzy and asked, "Should we go back?? We should go back. We should hang out there for a while." She was immediately down for it! Our excuse? I decided I wanted to buy a t-shirt.
So, we go back to the merch booth and I buy the shirt. We continued to hang out there for a while, just talking and minding our own business. I saw Chris sneaking around behind Lizzy and I whispered to her, "He's coming up behind you..." and then suddenly, he grabbed the poncho out of her hands and took off with it. We laughed and yelled, "Noooooo! The magic poncho!!" He came back over to us and tried it on, so of course I just had to get a picture of that! After talking to us a little while more (while trying so hard to fold the poncho the correct way), another girl approached Chris and asked, "Can you take a picture with my sister? She's, like, your biggest fan." So, once the poncho was folded properly, he left us and went over to her sister. Lizzy and I continued to hang out there, though. Jokingly, I told Lizzy, "Wouldn't it be cool if he came over to us and asked what we were doing afterwards, then invites us to go to Denny's with them or something?" She laughed and agreed that it would be so amazingly awesome if that happened! But... that didn't happen. The band eventually packed up and they left in their mini-van... driving through yellow caution tape that was blocking the driveway. Hahaha!
Happy that we got to talk to him as much as we did, Lizzy and I headed towards the car. We were talking about how they probably were going to get something to eat right now and then our inner 14-year-olds thought of a brilliant plan! What if we just happen to run into them?? We got in the car and drove towards civilization. We pulled into the In-n-Out parking lot... and there we see this white van that looks a lot like the one they were in! So we debated about whether or not we should go inside. We must have debated for about 5 minutes. Finally, we decided we would go in, go straight to the counter and place our order (if they were in there, we weren't going to acknowledge them or anything), get our drinks and then leave. As we walked up to the building, sure enough! We saw them through the window! Eep!
We did exactly what we had planned: went straight to the counter to order. I told Lizzy I would pay for her, she fought me about it for a little bit and then gave in. We placed our order: one regular drink and one chocolate shake. Just as the worker was telling us the total, we felt someone place a hand on our shoulders and say, "Hey girls... I'd like to pay for you." We turn around, totally surprised... and there was Chris, smiling at us! We were both like, "Oh my gosh, hello!" His fellow band members were sitting at the booth, laughing at our reactions. We told him he didn't have to, but he insisted, so we didn't fight him on it (when a guy wants to be a gentleman, you gotta let him!). Since he had already used his card to pay for his meal, we had to wait for the manager's approval for him to swipe it again... so we started talking:
Me: Just so you know, we only got drinks...
Chris: What?! No food?! Not even a burger?? It's In-n-Out!
Lizzy: Well, we already ate earlier.
Chris: Ah, okay... I guess it's not really a big deal for you guys anyway, since you have In-n-Outs in California. There aren't any where we are from.
Me: Oh yeah, that's right... well you just gotta enjoy it now!
Lizzy: You guys have Hardy's, though, right?
Chris: Yeah, you mean Carl's Jr.?
Lizzy: Yeah...
Me: They call it Hardy's over there, right?
Chris: Oh yeah, I guess they do, haha!
Lizzy and I got our drinks, and this other guy came up to Chris and they started talking. He didn't start to ignore us though, which was nice. He would still look over at us and smile occasionally. We weren't sure what to do! Should we stay? Should we leave?? After a little while of awkwardly standing there, I made a motion like we were gonna take off.
Chris: You girls leaving?
Me: Yeah... we probably should, because we have a bit of a drive.
Chris: You live far from here?
Me: Not super far... not as far as from your last show we went to, haha!
Chris: Oh okay, haha!
Lizzy: I don't normally this... I'm really bad at networking... but I'm a photographer, so I just wanted to give you my business card. If you, or anyone you know, is ever looking for a photographer, let me know!
Chris: Awesome! Totally! Thanks! *puts the card right into his wallet*
Lizzy: No, thank you!
Me: So, how long are you guys staying in the area?
Chris: We're just staying at the hotel tonight and then flying back to Nashville in the morning.
Me: Oh okay... well I hope you have a safe flight!
Chris: Thanks! You girls drive safely!
Me: Thanks again for the drinks, seriously.
Chris: Of course! My pleasure. *smiles* You girls take care and we will see you around! Don't get crazy...
Me: *sarcastic* Us?? Crazy?? Never...
Chris: *smiles* Oh okay... see you later girls...
Me & Lizzy: Bye! Thanks!!
And we walked out. Ooooooooooooooooooh my gooooooosh! Lizzy says, "We should've stayed! I feel rude." So I was like, "Dangit!! We blew it! I didn't know what we should do!" She then suggested that we get the poncho and take it to him, as kind of an inside joke. We got it out of the car, headed back towards the building... and I chickened out. Haha!! We instead decided to leave the poncho on their van. I quickly wrote a note that said: "Thank you!! Take care and God bless! Love, Candice and Lizzy" After hanging the poncho on their sideview mirror, and placing the note next to it, we left.
The whole way home, we couldn't stop smiling and laughing... it was such a fun night! We stood out among the crowd enough for Chris to remember us and approach us! God sure made us feel special!
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