My day at the Fantasy Factory!

Where do I begin? Yesterday was by far the best day of my life. I knew it was going to be amazing…but it exceeded amazing. It was incredible. Incredible x 100000. I guess I will start at the beginning, that will be the easiest. Be warned…this might be kind of long. I don’t want to forget a single detail. I’ve been waiting all day to write this. Okay, here we go.

So, you know from my last blog, I won tickets to Rob Dyrdek’s Sk84life benefit at the Fantasy Factory. My sister and I arrived in LA late Thursday night. We pretty much just went to the hotel and crashed. She wasn’t feeling good from the plane ride (it was her first one), and we were both exhausted. I had the beginnings of a cold and I wanted to make sure I was ready for Saturday. We woke up Friday morning relatively early and got the rental car. The first thing we did…drive by the Rob and Big house. I went by it last time I was in town and it was awesome to see it in person. How could I not start out a Rob Dyrdek vacation without going to the Rob and Big house? It was great…looked like it usually does, haha. I looked for a few things I forgot to look for last time, since last time I was soo excited to see it. The mini horse trail is still on the side of the house. Also, they never got the steps fixed from when Shitty Kitty chipped a piece off. That’s all I really looked for.

After the Rob and Big house, we went to breakfast and then drove into North Hollywood to see Rob’s new Safe Spot Skate Spot and his 711. Let me tell you now…the NoHo 711 puts all other 711s to shame. This 711 was the coolest thing in the world. We pulled up and it says Rob Dyrdek’s Wild Grinders all over the front. All the wild grinder characters are on the side of the building with a sign pointing to the skate spot. There are posters everywhere for Rob’s Safe Spot Skate Spots. And don’t get me started on the back wall. A full sized wall mural of the wild grinders. It was awesome. We took pics with everything. Then..we went in to the 711. I knew I was going to spend more money here than I should have. The inside of the 711 is awesome. Red and Green skateboards line the wall as a border. There are Rob Dyrdek Decks plastered on the walls. As soon as you walk in there are Rob Dyrdek tshirts and trucks and wheels and decals for sale. I bought a T-Shirt, which the next day I realized I didn’t need to because I ended up getting one for free, but I’ll get to that later. I also bought a couple Lil Rob stickers and some Lil Rob and Meaty pins. $30 later, I got back in the car and headed to the Safe Spot Skate Spot. It was great to see so many kids out there skating. You could tell they thoroughly enjoyed it. Rob really is doing a great thing by building these skate spots for the kids.

After that, I drove around and showed Ilana a little bit of Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, etc. Then at 3:00ish I decided it would be a good idea to try and find the Fantasy Factory so we didn’t get lost the next day. THANK GOD I DID THAT. It took me literally 3 hours to find. I was getting sketched out because I was driving around this shitty neighborhood as the sun was going down looking for this place. I finally found it around 6pm and it was so worth it. The gate was WIDE open. Rob’s storm trooper was sitting outside. The T-REX AND THE MINI GYMKHANA car were sitting outside. The gymkhana car is a lot smaller than I thought. I mean..I knew it was obviously smaller than Ken Block’s car…but this thing is seriously tiny. NO idea how Rob raced around in that little thing. Also, the garage doors to the factory were open so I was able to peek in and see some basketball hoops and the new Wild Grinders skate setup. It was awesome. After that we got some dinner and went to drive by the DC Store. It was closed, but that was probably a good thing. If I went in there I would have walked out with some more Dyrdek merchandise and would have been even more broke, haha. We were still able to see inside and there was a cool Dyrdek display. They also had PK Rippers hanging in the window. Then we headed back to the hotel. The next day was a big one..

So we wake up at 9:30ish on Saturday morning and got ready for the day. We decided to go to Carl’s Jr. to eat since I owe them at least that much for everything they’ve done for me. I got the French toast sticks…but I could only eat one. I was so damn nervous. I couldn’t eat or drink anything all day. I don’t know why…I met Rob before, but this was different. This was actually getting to go inside the factory, see the whole cast, etc.

After that we head out to the factory. By this time it is around 11:45am. We stop at McDonalds to get a bottle of water, and sit for a minute since we were early. At 12:15 I decided it would be a good time to go park. We pull up to the sign spinners on the corner, our names were on the list, they parked our car and we got our gray wristbands. We weren’t allowed inside yet because we didn’t have VIP wristbands, so we waited outside the factory doors. The T-Rex was outside with the gymkhana car. Also, Rob’s equicizer and a rally car were out there. We could easily see in, and I saw Big Cat standing there. That got me excited. I’ve never seen Big Cat in person. We hang around a little more, then I see a woman who I thought might be Julie from Carl’s Jr. It was. I thanked her so much for everything. She was really amazing, she was so happy I came all the way from Chicago for this. We chatted for a minute, then I looked up and saw the camera crew coming out of the factory doors. I saw Drama, then I saw Rob. Rob was dressed in all Red, so he wasn’t hard to spot. I really REALLY started feeling nervous at this point.

I didn’t even realize it, but I looked up and Shane Nickerson was standing like two feet in front of me. He was talking to someone, I’m not sure who it was. I didn’t want to interrupt him but I did want to say hi to him. Tracy came over with his new puppy and started talking to Shane, then eventually he was standing by himself. Then I went up and introduced myself. Shane was really so incredibly nice. I knew he would be, but he went above and beyond. We talked for a minute or two and then he said that Rob was right inside there talking, why don’t I go in? I told him I couldn’t go in yet because I only had a gray wristband. He said to wait right there, then he ran off. He came back and took me and my sister inside with him. He got us Red wristbands. VIP wristbands. I did not expect that AT ALL! I thanked him and he had to go off and do something.

My sister and I walked in, and at this point there were only about 50-75 people in the factory. I was so amazed that I was actually inside, I just kept taking everything in. At first I walked to the left and saw the foam pit and tennis ball gun. Then I went to the right and basically walked right into Big Cat. CRAZY! I asked him for a picture and he was really cool about it. After that my sister and I went and checked out the DC Lounge. It’s really awesome in there. Rob has all of his old shoe designs on display and the furniture is made out of DC Shoes. Kinda hard to explain, but I took a picture. Also, the wallpaper and pillows and stuff are all part of Rob’s waterprint design. It really is a neat room to look at. We left that room and saw Drama. Got a picture with him. He seemed like he had a lot more energy today than he did in Ohio. I was wearing my Young and Reckless hoodie and he told me I had a great hoodie, haha. Then I looked up and literally two seconds after seeing Drama, the cameras came out of a door next to Drama’s old mini mogul office and Rob came out. He was signing stuff for kids, so I figured this might be my only opportunity to get a picture with him. I honestly didn’t think I would even get to because I was sure he would be so busy all day. We got pictures really quickly, he was super cool about it. Then we kind of relaxed for a bit.

It was still before 1:00 when the rest of the crowd was going to be let in, so it wasn’t crazy in there yet. I wasn’t sure if I could walk up to Rob’s office, but I saw some other people doing it, so I thought I would try. I was able to…and it was awesome. We were able to sit at his desk and take a picture. His office really is so cool. The only thing that wasn’t in there that I wish I could have seen was his collection of skateboard decks. He took that down when he redid the office for this season. I have looked everywhere online for a list of all the Alien Workshop Dyrdek deck designs, but I can’t find one.

After that, I saw Meaty and Beefy were in Drama’s office! MEATY AND BEEFY!!!! I was so excited, haha. Besides Rob Dyrdek…my other favorite thing in the world are animals…dogs especially. Meaty and Beefy…I can’t even explain how awesome it was to see them. They weren’t really too excited to see anyone…they were taking pictures with a lot of people so they weren’t wiggling their stubby tails or anything. I did get a little kiss from Meaty, which made me incredibly happy. I seriously feel like I have seen those puppies grow up. I drive my family nuts because sometimes I get Rob Dyrdek quotes stuck in my head and I keep saying them over and over. There are actually two quotes that get stuck in my head more than the rest of them, don’t ask why, I don’t know. They are…

BB - “You’re sayin thanks to doo doo?!”
Rob - “Thanks to Doo Doo.”

Now that one…its not the quote as much as the way they say it, haha. And the other one…

Rob - “I WANNA BEEFCAKE PUPPY AND I WANT IT TODAY I WANT A BEEFCAKE PUPPPPYYYY”

So yeah..Meaty and Beefy are incredibly important to me. Besides my puppies, they are the best puppies in the world and now I can say I’ve gotten kisses from them. That’s epic.

Okay, moving on. After that, Rob appeared at the top of the zip line with the Mayor of Los Angeles. He made a speech about the mayor and the mayor got set up to ride the zip line. It was cool seeing the Mayor and all…but seeing Rob right in front of me was way cooler. That’s really all I was focusing on. After that, I saw Pharell. I didn’t see him before. Him, Rob, the Mayor and some UFC fighter were all jumping into the foam pit. It was pretty fun to watch. I took some pictures of that as well. Then..the skate demo. The skate demo was great. I thought Paul Rodriguez and Ryan Sheckler were supposed to be there, but they never showed. I wasn’t too bummed about it, though it would have been cool to meet Paul Rodriguez. He seems like a really cool guy. Sheckler too. The only thing that bummed me out about the skate demo…Rob didn’t skate! Remember in the Ohio blog, I said I wanted to see Rob skate so badly and it didn’t get to happen? I really thought I’d get to see it this time, but he didn’t. It’s alright though, I’m sure I will see him skate some day. Plus, there really was nothing that could bring that day down. It was already so amazing and it wasn’t even half over.

Oh..also…I could swear I saw Victoria Beckham and Ken Paves? I dunno…could have been my mind playing tricks on me. I am pretty sure it was Ken Paves. I used to watch Newlyweds and all, so I could easily recognize him. I don’t really follow the Beckham’s too much…so I wasn’t entirely sure, but I think it was her. I think she brought her kids to skate and see Rob. If Cody was with me he would have ran up to her to get a picture so fast. I didn’t really care. Victoria Beckham on one side of the room and Rob Dyrdek on the other…my attention is on Rob’s side, haha. Seriously, how often do I get to see Rob in person? Not often..so when I do, I need to focus 100%.

After the skate demo, they told us to go outside for the live auction and performances. Rob came on stage with the Mayor and said some things. He also brought some other guy up from the Boys and Girls club of LA..I think that was it, I don’t really remember. Rob is hilarious on stage. Honestly, I wish I remembered, but I can’t remember all that was said. I was right in the front row and I was rotating between snapping pictures, staring, and taking some video. During the auction, Drama, Tracy, and Jeremy were in the crowd just a few feet behind me. Also…Marky Mark was there. I thought it would have been weird to ask him for a picture. Though he is one really good looking dude, haha. I was also close to asking Shane Oneil for a picture. His skate video on the Berrics site was AMAZING. He is gonna be a big deal. He was kinda sticking to himself and he seemed kind of shy. Looking back on it, I really don’t know why I didn’t ask for a picture. I was stupid. Oh well, haha.

So yeah..back to the stage. After the auction, (which raised like $85,000!) Rob brought out Travis Barker. Now…I’ve seen Travis Barker perform before. I’ve actually seen blink in concert about 4 times. Travis is always so awesome. I met him once about 6 years ago…I was 18, I was walking on Rodeo Drive (being a tourist) and he was just walking down the street. SUCH A NICE GUY! Anyways, Rob has a new alter ego…I guess Bobby Light is retired. Rob sings Jingles now. He performed a couple jingles, he was hilarious as usual. I think I video taped them, it’s hard to remember. Then Travis performed with Chanel.

Chanel is adorable. She is so tiny in person and she has this powerful rap voice. It’s funny. She did a little bit of rapping with Travis on the drums. Rob was also dancing around the stage while she was rapping. I recorded it, it’s a great video. After Chanel, Yelawolf performed with Travis. That was pretty good as well. Then there was another performance…I don’t remember who that was. Oops. After that, Rob thanked everyone for coming out and I thought it was over. That bummed me out. It went so fast. My phone said it was only 4:00, so technically there was still another hour. I didn’t get pictures with Chanel or Jeremy yet, so I wanted to try and do that. My mom loves Jeremy, so she would have killed me if I didn’t get one with him. I saw Chanel getting a drink by herself, so that was a good time to ask her. She was really nice. Then I saw Jeremy walking back inside. I didn’t want to leave, I knew I would never be in the Fantasy Factory again so I wanted to cherish every second.

I decided to look around for Julie again to thank her for everything. I found her and thanked her again. She gave me some free coupons for some Carl’s Jr. food. I also wanted to find Shane. I didn’t see him anywhere, I tweeted him and thanked him since I figured he probably was already gone since the camera crew left after the performances. Then, I saw Travis Barker taking his kids to go see Meaty and Beefy. He was taking pictures with people, so I got in there and asked for a picture. I already have one..but its old and it was on a 2 mega pixel digital camera…so not the best quality. Really shitty quality actually. Travis was awesome, I knew he would be. Then, the lights in the factory dimmed and someone came over the speaker and said they would be closing the factory in 5 minutes. Boo. It was over. I was about to leave when I saw Rob run over to his office. I wanted to go over and thank him for everything. He really is such an inspiration for me. I really would be in such a bad place in my life if I never started watching Rob and Big and Fantasy Factory. Rob has kind of restored my faith in believing in myself. I ran up to him, there were a few kids around taking pictures with him. Now..I REALLLY wish I could remember word for word, but I can’t. I was literally in shock. So this is the best I can do, I will try to replay the dialogue.

Me - “Hey, Rob, thanks for everything. I came all the way out here from Chicago for this and…”
Rob - “Wait…Chicago…(then he looked at my sister, then at me again) I met you guys in Ohio! You are the girls who drove from Chicago! How did you get here?”
Me - “I won tickets through Carl’s Jr”
Rob - “And you came all the way out here for this? Incredible.”
Me - “Yeah…I think I might be your biggest fan ever” (insert nervous laugh here)
Rob - “You are my biggest fan. Come on in here,” Then he opened the door to his office.


I’m not going to try and recite the dialogue for the next hour because that would be ridiculous, but let me tell you, it was amazing. Rob opened the door to his office and Meaty and Beefy were in there. He told me to sit down and asked what he could do for me. He said we deserve so much because we came all the way out for this. I told him I didn’t want anything, this is really enough. I told him how I spammed Carl’s Jr with rhymes to win the contest, and they said if I could pay my way to Cali I would win. I told him I spent every penny in my bank account to come out there. I told him about Ohio and how excited I was when I saw that Shane read my blog. Then Rob said HE READ MY BLOG! He said Shane showed it to him! WHHHHAATTTT? I couldn’t believe it. I seriously almost started crying. Rob read it. He read what I wrote. Then, Chris Cole from Rob’s league came into the office with his kid. He talked to Rob for like 5 minutes, so I took the opportunity to play with Meaty and Beefy. They were much more playful this time. Their tiny tails were wiggling and Beefy was giving me kisses. SO CUTE. I loved it. Then Big Cat came in to take Meaty and Beefy home. Rob gave my sister and I personalized autographed gold edition Wild Grinders. Awesome! Then he said he was going to give us a tour of the factory! AHHHHHHH! I didn’t even ask him for it, he OFFERED to do it. Now…that is what makes Rob Dyrdek an amazing person. He is so incredibly nice to his fans. In Ohio, he took me and Ilana over to Drama to introduce us without us asking for it. He just did it. This time…he gave us a tour without us asking. He just has the biggest heart ever. It’s like he knows that by his actions he has the ability to create the absolute best day of his fans life, and he does it, just to make them happy. NO OTHER CELEBRITY does that. Rob is so down to earth.

Anyways, Rob told us to follow him out of the office. Pretty much everyone was gone from the party except a few of Rob’s friends and the cleaning crew. 5 guys were sitting outside Rob’s office and he introduced us to them. HE TOLD THEM THE ENTIRE OHIO STORY. He remembered it perfectly…he told them that we drove from Chicago, found his parents house and were nice enough to wait by the corner until he drove somewhere else to meet him . How the hell did he remember all that? Then he said we met him in a Panera! Seriously? I was so amazed. Rob has so much going on in his life and he still remembers tiny details of meeting with a fan like that. It’s awesome. He kept walking with us and kids kept stopping him for pictures. Then a professional photographer asked him to get a few more pictures and he took some with us! He did three different poses…the pictures came out awesome by the way. We got to the main floor of the factory and Drama and Steelobrim from twitter were there. Rob asked Drama if he remembered us from Ohio and he said he did. Then Rob told Steelo that we are from Chicago too, and I told him I watch them Ustream from time to time. Then Rob started singing about Steelo liking Justin Bieber and hating Kobe Bryant. It was awesome to watch. Steelo was dancing and Drama was cracking up. SOOO AWESOME. Chanel came up to them and asked where they were going later on, if they were going to Drais. Rob said yeah, and Chanel said they were going to Big Wangs right after this. (The place they held the wing eating contest for Rob’s birthday in Rob and Big). Rob told us to keep following him, and even though people kept stopping him and pulling him in different directions, he didn’t neglect us AT ALL. His assistant Talisha was really cool, I saw her and I thought it was her, but I wasn’t sure, then someone called her Talisha, haha. Rob told us to follow him, he showed us where Big Cat’s office was, then him and Drama took us into the Hands of God Studio! No one was allowed to go in there during the party! It was awesome! Just me, Ilana, Rob and Drama in the hands of god studio. Rob took us into the cave and showed us where they record. Oh, he also showed us how he re did his office and made it smaller to create a skating area next to it and behind it, and give Drama a bigger office. I asked him if he sold the Rob and Big house and he said he didn’t, Christian Duguay is actually living in there now. That was cool to know, I thought he sold it completely. I asked him about Street Dreams and why it was never released to DVD. He said it was an issue with MTV. I told him I really wanted to see it, but he didn’t release it in Chicago. He said it will hopefully be on DVD soon. I asked about why FF keeps getting pushed back, and he had a good answer. I can’t be impatient anymore, haha. He said they rushed to get season 2 out and he wasn’t completely happy with it. He wanted to be more involved in the editing this time around and take his time so it is really great quality. Now..in my opinion, season 2 was awesome…no flaws at all. If Rob wants to take his time with season 3, that just means its going to be ridiculously incredible and completely worth the wait.

After the Hands of God Studio, Rob took us upstairs to Corpo. He introduced us to EVERYONE as his biggest fans. He told them all about how we drove all the way to Ohio. It was great! He gave us each a sk84life autographed deck. He showed us places up there that I have never seen on the show. He introduced us to Tracy and then took us into Jeremy’s office. The Laker Colored Porta Potty is still in there, haha. Makin Moves gets stuck in my head all the time too. I think I get weird looks when I have my ipod on and I am singing “I’m in an indoor porta potty makin moooovessss….I’m on a big ole ramp in a purple shark outfit, flyin highhhhhh,”

Anyways, Jeremy’s office was cool. I got a bottle of water and we chilled in there for awhile. A few other people came in and he introduced us to them. We were probably in Jeremy’s office for like 15 minutes, just talking and hanging out. I don’t remember everything that was said, it’s a blur. I took a picture of the picture of his dogs on the wall, and I took a picture of the view of Rob’s office from Jeremy’s office. Oh, and I took a picture of the porta potty. Rob took us into the conference room, and then he said “Okay, I am going to give you something no one else in the world has.” Then he grabbed THE NIPPLE SCULPTURE FROM SEASON 1! You know the one --

Rob - “Does this make you horny, be real with me.."
Drama “Come on..does it have nipples?”
Rob “If those are nips…then I’ve got wood. And guess what Drama, those are nips.”
Drama - “How did this get turned on me?
Rob - “Why, are you turned on?”

CLASSIC scene! Makes me laugh every time. I CAN’T BELIEVE HE GAVE IT TO ME! Ahhhhhh! He took us back downstairs into his office and said he wants to give us something else. He gave us some Meaty and Lil Rob Keychains. Then he said he was looking for some other piece of the factory that no one else had. On his desk he had some masks that looked like a creepy version of Drama. He handed one to me. He said I will love this. He said the season premiere of season 3, everyone wears a Drama mask to mess with Drama and it is hilarious. I asked if it is funnier than Extreme Timmy, and he said it is, so it must be really REALLY hilarious. Now I REALLLY can’t wait for the season to start.

After that, Nino and some other guy walked in, and Rob introduced us to them. Rob went outside with Nino for a second and told us to sit in the lobby. Talisha and a couple other people were there. We talked with them for a bit and Ilana and I took pictures with the Dyrdek Enterprises sign with the skateboard decks he gave us. Then when Rob came back in I took a couple more pictures with him in front of the sign, one with the nipple sculpture and one with the Drama mask. The Drama mask picture came out creepy because of where I was holding the mask, haha. I was wearing my black and white DC shirt, and I held the mask at the exact angle where it would make it look like the Drama face is looking up at Rob in the picture. It was an accident but it is kind of awesome, haha.

After that I asked Rob if I could give him a hug and we hugged and then it was time to go. BEST DAY OF MY LIFE. I couldn’t even drive away right away. I called my mom and told her everything. By the time we actually got out of the factory, it was 6:00. The party ended at 5. That means Rob spent an entire HOUR showing us around. AMAZING.

It was such an incredible day. I mean…it was awesome just attending the party. I never thought in my wildest dreams Rob would ever REMEMBER us, AND THEN SHOW US AROUND THE FACTORY! I’m sure if you aren’t as big of a fan as I am, you can’t really understand how incredible it is and how much it means to me, but it really really REALLY was so perfect. Rob was so great. He is the nicest guy on the planet. The mayor was spot on with what he said. Rob worked so hard to get to where he is today, and now that he has reached the top, he uses his fame to help make other people happy. That is such a rare quality in people in general, let alone celebrities. Rob is such a great role model. He is talented, hilarious, and the nicest guy in the world. It doesn’t get better than that. I can honestly say I will forever be a Rob Dyrdek fan. And I will be his biggest fan. I didn’t think it was possible that I could become a bigger fan then I already was, but it happened. It was a perfect day, I am so blessed and happy to have experienced it. So to everyone who made it amazing…Carl’s Jr, Drama, Big Cat, Chanel, Jeremy, Talisha, Meaty and Beefy and especially Shane Nickerson and ROB DYRDEK…thank you so much. You have no idea how amazing you made that day for me. I will look back on this day forever and be happy. BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!