And we lived to tell about it. We didn’t really knock but were instructed to text a specific number for entry once we arrived. As I left town, Santa Maria, CA, to drive South to this private members-only club in Downtown Los Angeles, where I was not allowed to use my camera or video for social media, I was traveling alone and a little bit intimidated. I was intimidated but determined to follow through with my rsvp and honor my word. My plans had fallen through the night before with a girlfriend to experience the evening with me as the private location was disclosed to me. I was invited to Mission Matters Network’s first-year anniversary celebration as a podcast host and wanted to include one of my podcast guests as my date. Life always carries on, so I donned my favorite outfit with a cross and drove 150 miles South to L.A.
As I drove southbound, another girlfriend called to check on me and see how my day was going. All was well; I gave her a hard time for turning down my invite to the celebration for a dental appointment and told her she might never see me again in my snarkiest voice. As we laughed, I asked her how far she had to drive to the dentist, as we had been talking on the phone for quite a while. She said, “Santa Barbara!” To my surprise and hers, we quickly realized she could attend the event with me after her appointment. I pulled up to her dentist and waited about 5 minutes, and she hopped in my car for the event. We stopped at a mall about an hour further down the freeway for her to buy an outfit for the evening. In thirty minutes, she ran into Nordstroms and bought the cutest pants, tank top, and jacket with matching shoes and earrings. Changing in the backseat of the car as I sped down the freeway to make up for a lost time, she came up front all new and spiffy. We laughed at the thought of what was going on and what we were doing.
Finally, arriving in downtown Los Angeles, she questioned where we were going, and I replied, “A black gate where we knock three times to go in,” to which she thought I was joking when I said that on the phone earlier. I handed her the instruction sheet, and she was in shock. “Does anyone know where we are going?” We laughed out loud as the whole thing seemed a little sketchy for two girls from a small farming community going to an undisclosed location in Los Angeles. We parked down the street, walked up to the gate, and texted the phone number to enter the building as instructed by email. Upon entering, the door was locked behind us; we took photos by an approved event photographer at the top of the stairs and entered a dark room with loud music and candles burning on the table tops. The vibe was swanky and LA architectural digest. I loved the leather, brass, dark, moody, and full of LA vibes in the room. Looking at about 100 or so people, we quickly made our way to the bar for a drink. After milling through the crowd, we sat on the couch to make a game plan. I had wanted to meet in person four men I talk to weekly on the phone or in Zoom meetings to produce my podcast, Provisions & Libations. Spotting the first one, I quickly approached him and introduced myself; we shook hands and talked all things podcast. And that was repeated a few more times until I had personally met three of the four men. We were ushered to the photo screen for more photographs with other podcast hosts for marketing material for the network. Amongst each other, we discussed thoughts, ideas, and business plans and had the best evening ever.
As a podcast host on the Mission Matter Podcast Network, my show continually evolves into what it will be as I have completed 23 episodes, with many more in the works. Thank you for listening, and if you would like to talk about food and drink on my podcast, let’s make a plan. “But first, let’s eat and drink!”