F.I.D.M. Graduation 2010 Photo Album

My daughter Brianna graduated from F.I.D.M. The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising this past weekend. Three car loads of family made the trip to California to attend the ceremony held at The Staples Center downtown Los Angeles on Saturday June 19th 2010.

Coordinating with all the family to insure all had a good experience did not go so well, but all in all Brianna was pleased with the turnout. After all, it was her day to shine.

My mother, my father and my step mother made the trip from Memphis to share in the celebration. I booked the seniors at the Marriot at LA Live which is housed inside the new Ritz Carlton. The hotel put them in walking distance of The Staples Center. I was fortunate enough to get adjoining rooms, which gave us plenty room for our impromptu celebration, thanks to the downtown Ralphs Supermarket for baking the cake and preparing all the food platters on very short notice.

Everyone arrived in LA late Thursday evening 6/17, or should I say very early Friday morning 6/18. Shayla & Dougie who also had Kiasha, Savannah and Brianna with them arrived first into the downtown area, and early enough to witness the Laker fans still celebrating in the streets. Since there was very little communication between all those concerned we ended up staying in different locations the first night. Actually we all had different hotels throughout the entire weekend. The seniors however, were doing it up at The Ritz.

The first day, Friday, was about getting the three carloads of people (17 total I think) together for a day at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I took my group to breakfast at the Nickel Diner downtown LA. A spot made famous by being featured on "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives" hosted by Guy Fieri. The food there was "off the chain good". Deniece and Scilla had the home made pop tarts and home made ding-dongs.

At the same time Dougie, Shayla and their group were having breakfast at Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles in Hollywood. Mike, Brittany and their group were making their way into downtown, as they stopped short of Los Angeles on Thursday night and crashed at Sheila's sister house out in the valley.

We got together and headed towards Valencia, Ca. for a day at Magic Mountain. This was quite a drive as we had such a late start and were traveling three cars deep through LA traffic. We made it there all together and had a blast at the park. We were there till closing.

Some were hungry and some were not as we left the park. I had a surprise spot planned for a late night snack. I asked if they would all follow me, they agreed. I took them to one of the original Fat Burgers, the one on Santa Monica Blvd. Suddenly everybody was hungry.

Saturday morning, the day of the graduation, up early and headed to pick up my mother (at the Ritz) to go to Ralphs and finalize the party platters and cake. Next to pick up Brittany at the downtown Marriot for a trip to the Garment District to select items for Brittany's upcoming wedding. I think this was a high point for my mother as the first stop was Michael Levine's Fabric store, her hangout back in the day. Tina spotted Kim Cole from "Living Single" entering the fabric store. This may have been Brittany's high point of the weekend. After some encouragement Britt went up and talked to her and Kim complemented Brittany on her sun dress, then posed with Britt for a picture.


Time was quickly running out so we grabbed a few bacon wrapped(Mexican)hotdogs from a street vendor and headed back towards The Ritz to get ready for the ceremony.


On the way up to get the seniors, Brianna passed us on her way to the Staples Center with her cap & gown on running through the fabulous grand lobby of the hotel.

Once we turned the corner walking across the Nokia plaza at LA Live we saw the tremendous crowd waiting for The Staples Center doors to open. It was warm out and we took our place in line and waited. The others were making their way from the downtown Marriot at 4th and Figueroa, I did not realize till the next day that they had walked that distance. Just as the doors were opened my mother became faint and nearly overcome by the heat. We got her inside, to our seats and cooled down.

We only had four tickets for the lower section and we(Dear, Pop, Sallie & Myself)were able to sit just a few feet from Brianna. The rest of the group unfortunately were so far up in the rafters I could barley see them, but at least they were inside. Early on we feared that all would not have tickets to get in.

The ceremony went rather quickly. People were amazed by the yellow, purple and white confetti still falling from the raftres after the Laker's championship win that Thursday evening. WE headed out to meet with a photographer that has taken a liken to photographing Brianna. We met near the bronze statue of Ervin "Magic" Johnson near the entrance to the arena. we walked over to the Nokia Plaza at LA Live and posed for several family group and candid photos. The photographer’s assistant interviewed My mother, my father, Sheila, Brianna and myself. I don’t know what the photos and interview will be used for, But they said they will contact me by email to follow up.




Pop and I took off to pick up the food trays, cake and champagne. Once everything was set up and we were all on the 16th floor in both rooms 1659 & 1661 the celebrating began.



We ate, we toasted Brianna, we cried, we laughed, then we ate cake and laughed some more. Two of Brianna's former room mates (Tanya & Kate) came up to the rooms.



What a day! each group left The Ritz and went in separate directions to their respective hotels for the night. Partying somewhere downtown or in Hollywood had been an option earlier but everyone was too exhausted at this point.

Sunday Morning, checked the seniors out of their luxury hotel rooms and met with the others at their hotel for another dining experience. we headed to Mom's Tamales in Pasadena on Pasadena Ave. Another spot featured on "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives" This was an interesting breakfast to say the least, the menu was not quite what I expected, the service was very slow (our group was very large), but I think everyone enjoyed the experience and the food was good especially the pineapple tamales. I took a picture with the owner (a young Hispanic woman just 21 years old). We also took a great group photo out front.









After a rather frightening freeway onramp experience onto one of the oldest freeways in Los Angeles we headed to Central LA to visit with Pop's brother Herma, we left Pop and Sallie there where they plan to stay for the next few days. Now on to Bellflower, Ca. where dear visited with her long time friend Vera.

From here we parted ways. Dougie, Shayla and their family along with Mike, Brittany and their group headed back to Arizona leaving out on the 91 east, but not before stopping for a visit with Sheila's oldest sister Earleen (Auntie Leen).

Since this was Father's day we headed back to LA to get Pop and Sallie. Back at Herma's house two of my cousins had arrived, Dwayne and Larry, we visited briefly then headed towards Venice. I drove Manchester Ave west and we past Randy's Donuts, The drive through with the giant donut on the roof made famous by it's many major motion picture appearances, Most recently Iron Man 2.




We had dinner at Baby Blues BBQ in Venice on Lincoln Blvd. This is another spot featured on "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives". we ordered a group menu item served picnic style. It came with Pork ribs, baby back ribs, pulled pork, brisket, chicken, greens, mac & cheese, beans and cornbread, and I think I have forgotten a few more items.



Monday morning, everyone remaining in LA has checked out of their hotels and are all in the last remaining vehicle, a seven passenger van rented from National. We still have a few stops to make before we can also head back to Arizona.

We start off heading to Long Beach to satisfy Brianna's one request. That we have breakfast at Schooner or Later... yes, this is yet another location featured on "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives". Walking to the van after checking out we notice that everyone leaving the hotel has on Laker colors. I pull out of the hotel parking lot and realize that the Laker parade was about to take place just down the street from where we were and traffic was beginning to back up in all directions. Using my extensive knowledge of Los Angeles freeways...LOL, I quickly reroute our trip to avoid the mess.


We have a wonderful breakfast at the seaside restaurant, which features a menu item called "The Mess". Tina Brianna & I each had The Mess. I must say, it was well worth the nearly 75 mile drive to get there.




Now on to Hollywood, we exited the new 105 Imperial Fwy at Crenshaw Blvd. to make some stops at local hair & beauty supply stores so my mother could pick up some supplies that were difficult to find in Memphis. We made our way to Kat Von D's High Voltage Tattoo parlor made famous by the TLC program LA Ink. We had been here several times before but Deniece was never with us and Kat is her favorite celebrity. To Deniece's surprise they were filming an episode of the show and Kat Von D was there doing an actual tattoo on an actual client. We were not allowed to talk to her or take any photos.




Next stop, Hollywood & Highland... location of Hollywood souvenir super store. I let everyone out on Hollywood Blvd. and drove around the corner to find a place to park and wait. I look up and I am sitting next to Hollywood High School and right under the newly added mural/painting of John Ritter on the side of the school. Once everyone is back in the van we are finally headed back to Arizona. Of course we are now in afternoon/early evening traffic, but oh well, everyone got to see what they wanted to see, got to eat where they wanted to eat, got to buy what they wanted buy. We are headed home now.

1,300 miles later we are safely back in Arizona. What a great trip.