My Date with the Glee Kids

Last Friday I had the perfect date.
With the cast of Glee.
And about 400 other people.

It was amazing.

I've admitted my obsession with the show before, and if you follow me on Twitter I'm sure you've seen my incessant 'oh em gee' tweets on Tuesday nights. So, to say that last Friday was amazing might be the biggest understatement of the year.

But let me back up a little bit, because it almost didn't happen- which would have been the second time to have passed up this awesome opportunity. The first came last spring, when I scored passes to the taping of the final performance but had to pass due to conflicts with work. Fortunately, this bout of successful "be the among the first 200 to respond" Facebooking came on the heels of my recent unemployment, so there would be no cubicles to hold me back. Except every other person I know in all of LA has a job, and no one was available to go- despite the 5pm call time.

Cue to Friday morning and all afternoon when I was undergoing an internal turmoil of do I or don't I? It's ridiculous, really, when I think about it- because why shouldn't I go? It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to see firsthand a taping of one of my favorite television shows, one of the most popular one on television at that. But I have this innate fear of disapproval- and all I could think of is what people would be thinking when I was standing in line by myself, when they realized I came alone.

PEOPLE WHO I WOULD NEVER SEE AGAIN. And I was worried what they would think of me. At 26 years old. Then, I realized that I was being ridiculous, and the whole premise of the show is to be true to yourself, no matter what anyone else thinks. So I sucked up all my insecurities and took myself out of my comfort zone.

And after two awkward hours waiting in line, I had the time of my life.

{Twitpic from @frankenteen - aka Cory Monteith - aka Finn}

I was on the highest level of the balcony, so I doubt that I'll be making any appearances on the small screen, but I did get to cheer and clap with the crowd so I do get a small little claim to fame on the Dec. 8th episode, albeit anonymously. The episode they were filming was the Sectionals episode, and we were able to watch all the performances of the three competing teams, including two by the New Directions. I'll honor the spoilers we were treated to, and all I'll say is that I'm really excited to see how the rest of the season unfolds.

While at times I felt like I was reverting to my teeny-bopper days (*NSync, anyone?) it was such an energetic environment and amazing to see people from six to sixty years old sitting on the edge of their seats. The cast seemed so amicable and participated in quick Q&A session with the crowd, showing us a realistic glimpse into their off-screen personalities. I must admit, my real-life crush on Cory Monteith grew immensely, and I still hold-fast on the fact that I want to be IRL-BFF with Diana Agron. She just seems uber cool and down-to-earth.

All in all, it was an amazing way to spend my Friday evening. I got to see a new part of LA (Glendale), which I'm always a fan of, I had a behind-the-scenes Hollywood experience, and I forced myself to face one of my biggest fears (doing stuff alone). To be honest, I'm really happy that I went, not just for the massive spoiler alerts, but because I feel like I walked away a stronger person for doing something by -and for - myself.