With the set up underway for the yearly LA Auto Show this week, car lovers and their anticipations are building up to see the new makes and models of their favorite cars or the ones they could only ever dream of owning.
In all honesty, I wouldn’t even know where to begin considering that I just like my cars Black, shiny and fast; but once it boils down to all the futuristic and technical stuff, I need to take a breather. So I’ll take my foot off the gas and slow down a bit before I pedal to the metal once again.
Last Saturday was just a small glimpse of what to look forward to for my first time setting foot inside a big mans dream. Lauren came across a hidden gem on social media for an event being held by Lincoln vehicles, hosted by Sanaa Lathan. Immediately, she urged me to go through the process of an rsvp so that way I could attend their party before others caught on. Now, I’ve mentioned before that I have my opinions about events being broadcast on any social media outlets, but again, sometimes you can never underestimate them. So with that being said, I went through the loop holes and got my official invite through email.
Being held in Culver City, we didn’t know what to expect. Considering that I’ve worked this convention every year during my day time job, typically the clientele are businessmen and women alike. Ceo’s, buyers, makers with suits and ties. So I assumed we’d be among head ponchos and influential business types while walking around with our pinkies up.
I wanted to make sure that we arrived at a reasonable time, so I picked up Lauren and made our way there. Thankfully being that it was a Saturday, parking was easy to come by right up the street. The minute we walked up, we noticed a red carpet with two rather large men dressed in black suits with a check-in table to the side. As soon as we checked our names in, we were handed two cards to validate a test drive in order for an official entrance into the actual party. We decided to bypass the redundant step and repeat and signed ourselves in for a car.
A tent was filled with other arriving guest awaiting their next car as we were periodically treated to hors d’oeuvres of fried chicken and waffles. What we really needed were bottles of water as it was hotter than a dusty humid desert.
After observing the crowd, I started to realize that it was definitely not what I had assumed of just business types and more so Urban chic. In other words, we were all primarily black. I’ve never known the auto show to be this ethnic but more European, so I really wasn’t sure how this event would turn out. I did however recognize a few faces, and those being people who gave me a sour taste. One woman from my past fashion show gigs who was so abrasive in demanding front row seats to the fashion show I was coordinating, was just as persnikety as I slowly remembered her when I was trying to match her face with the bad taste I had set in my mouth. Another face was a frumpy woman who you’ll always see with a mountain of food in her hand. Okay, so aside from that, there might have been some legitimacy with everyone else attending.
I’m not familiar with the Lincoln brand and have only known my father to drive one, but he’s a lot older whose been battling mid life crisis before ever having an actual crisis, so Lincoln is one of the last cars I’d consider an option for myself. Apparently, there was one particular Lincoln vehicle that everyone had their hearts set on, The Lincoln Continental, which I’ll admit was a beauty, but I still couldn’t get past the idea that I’ve yet to see a millennial or someone of my age driving this car. In all fairness, we just wanted to eat, drink and dance, so we just chose whatever car was ready so we could escape that damn awful heat.
Once our driver pulled up we were ready to go! The ride was fairly short, but any ride with Lauren and I is like a girls day trip in the making. Once we were finished driving around the block, we took a short survey asking our interest of the Lincoln brand in order to receive a complimentary gift bag that would further extend their hospitality.
Inside the bags consisted of (2) complimentary tickets to the car show and a pamphlet that we’d individually tear off in order to receive our gifts inside.
Once inside, I was absolutely amazed by the setup of the rather small venue. Although the lighting was a bit dim, it had a personable feel to it. Right as you walked in, there was a small catered buffet of gourmet mash potatoes with gourmet toppings served in mini martini glasses and pork lasagna. An open bar with high top tables were on the other side with male models serving drinks of your taste.
A newer modeled car was displayed behind a rope near the center stage and black linen cloth tables were set up for demonstration that we seeked out as the compliments for our gift bags.
By this time, I was ready to dive into the food, so we made our way towards the catering that was open for guest to help themselves. When I say I had at least (6) helpings of that mash potatoes and almost made my own to go box, they were that good!
On the other side of the venue, was a more fancy version with a large selection of meats, cheese and vegetables. At first I didn’t know what to make of this whole concoction of food full of vibrant colors to match the lighting theme. We tried to pace ourselves and take our time, but we soon realized that being that the venue hadn’t filled up to capacity quite yet, it was probably smart to start working the gift tables.
We started off with the Matriarch perfume bar, where individually or as a duo we were able to test different natural fragrances that appealed to our senses. Pretty similar to my attraction oils and incense that I commonly use and wear to attract what I put out into the universe, I chose one that wouldn’t be too bold or intense. While most of them overwhelmed my nostrils, I chose the light Albatross. Lauren on the other hand was given the whole damn box set.
Next to that table was the Handcrafted Vodka tasting table. Now frankly, I just turn green at the thought of vodka. I’ve said before that it taste like rubbing alcohol. So I wasn’t all that thrilled to taste any, but I did just to be a trooper. Coincidentally, the man behind the vodka teamed up with the woman behind the perfume where he used some of her scents to accentuate the taste of his vodka. At first our patience was tested as he accommodated two women who had a hand in putting the event together, but then when another woman bogarted us in order to ease her eagerness while wearing sunglasses without a drop of sunlight, our patience ran thin.
Thankfully in the midst of our waiting, the beautiful and talented Sanaa Lathan entered the room to make an announcement about the two newer makes and models that had everyone, fans and media alike, to rush to the stage.
As we walked back to the vodka display, the same group of people were waiting until one guest spoke up, I included her into our group as we were given samples of his distilled vodka before and after the spray. I barely took a sip and let just a drop hit my tongue before I decided to go to the regular bar. I will say though that the perfume did add an extra bit of aroma for those who like their liquor straight.
We wanted to make our rounds once we saw that more people were entering the building, so we decided to dive into my favorite party favor, the photo booth just before we got a drinks.
The Dj was lit; hyped up, on the dance floor and our group didn’t shy away from the rolling cameras capturing every moment of the party. At one given point there was an electric slide and even a choir, or so I thought, jamming to one song that everyone seemed to know. Comfortable seating areas allowed guest to talk and mingle with one another which Lauren and I took advantage of in order to get to know our new blogger friend Syreeta that we had just met at the perfume bar.
Another announcement was being made by co-coordinators of the event in order to introduce the stunning face for the Lincoln Luxe whose essence of voice and beauty captivated an audience from the hit show Empire, V. Bozeman . Although guest were asked for their respect in listening to the promotional video she appeared in for a brief moment, guest continued to go about there conversations and casual giftings.
Clearly, this agitated the announcer who made a very clear and snarky point to show her disapproval among the crowd while disregarding her professional demeanor, but once Bozeman took to the stage, all eyes were on her. If she wasn’t beautiful enough on screen, she was even more radiant in person.
After her performance, the music came on and guest continued to mingle. Our group still had a few rip off tickets to use at some of the other tables and Lauren and I built up a sweet tooth by this time.
Nitropod ice cream and sorbet, was our next stop where they had a menu of delicacies for any creamery lovers. Being that we were only given one ticket and the portion size was as big as a condiment package, I asked Syreeta to grab me an extra French toast with Bourbon hoping to again sneak in a third helping.
The last table was the cigar bar with The Cigar Guys, that gave a presentation of rolling cigars. Being that I don’t smoke, I just skipped the intro and dived in for the aftermath to take home.
After making all of our rounds, we partially ended our evening with one more drink and a few extra two steps on the dance floor. During the course of our day Lauren and I continued to realize just how small of a world LA truly is when I bumped into an old high school friend from well over years ago, who happened to wave at me outside when we had first arrived. I had no idea who she was until she mentioned our high school. Crazy enough, I’ve not nor will I ever attend a high school reunion and haven’t kept in contact with anyone from there, so I was surprisingly amazed by her picking me out of a crowd so nonchalantly as if we’ve spoken in the past year or so. She was one of my very few friends who failed to judge me for not being “black enough”, so I in return was more than happy to see her.
Lauren ran into a few college friends of her own who became the light of my evening when he backed my opinions considering that part of the day was a tad bit petty without reasonable cause and that I should write freely as I saw fit. Which is what I so naturally do.
Before leaving, I wanted to show much respect to the actual @Dj_rtistic who was playing from the VIP balcony that was unknowingly meant for media, but I would’ve rather been on the floor so I could dance in circles.
At the end of the day, the event itself weighed out the extreme “extra” while those who officially put the party together partnering with the sponsors, definitely brought together the modern day idea of Class, Luxury and Trendy chic. I’m more of a smaller car driver, but after this event, it’s definitely given me reason to increase the possibility of a luxe vehicle.
“Lincoln Luxe, enjoy the life of luxury “
~ AmberSocial
Xox
