I'm Not Cool, But My Brother Is — by Guest Mom Lisa V. Clark

[ Note from Design Mom: So my friend Lisa Valentine Clark — an all-around wonder woman and the original Guest Mom blogger here at Design Mom — is related to James Valentine. James is the lead guitarist for the band Maroon5. James is also Lisa's little brother. Since we've already discussed how rock-and-roll this rad month of June is going to be, I thought it especially appropriate to get a Guest Mom post from Lisa with all the juicy details of the Hollywood hotlist party she attended last week at her brother's invitation. Thanks Lisa! ]


Last week I had the great opportunity to go to L.A. for the swanky CD launch party for my little brother's band's sophomore album. The band is Maroon5 and the album is It Won't Be Soon Before Long, and if you haven't already, go out and buy it. Or download it. But please do it legally and pay for it. Seriously.



Several days before the party, my brother James called to say he wanted to fly us out for the party. I was really surprised. I thought it would be more of a work/mingle thing for him and less of a relax/family thing. He said, "Yeah, but we talked about it. It'll be fun!" to which I replied, "If by 'talked about it' you mean when we were all joking at Christmas that we were going to show up to the party in a beat-up RV with plates from Utah wearing t-shirts that say 'we're with Jimmy V!' 'talking about it,' then, okay. . ." But the plans were made and off we went.

Well, it was quite a party. The first thing that tipped me off that I wasn't really "in" with the cool kids was the fact that while it was a cd "launch party," I would have called it a "release party" or I wouldn't have necessarily called it their "sophomore" album, but their second one. I really need to keep up on that. The second nerd-alert rang off when I read the dress code listed as "Hollywood Casual." I still don't know exactly what that is. That little term caused a lot of confusion and tension among the women in my family. My sister Gina even googled the phrase. No one could figure out what "Hollywood Casual" means, and now I have a better idea, but I still couldn't give you a concrete definition.



As to the party itself, it was really fun. There were stations for guitar hero, pool, air hockey, etc, food and drink, and a photo booth to take your photo against a green screen which was converted into a Maroon5 album cover pass. Artistically, it was very cool. There were huge photos of each boy on the massive lot walls. Projected from the high ceilings down on the coffee tables were the band's videos. Very cool.



Most enjoyably, however, was the company. I know it's hard to believe, but I really have a lot of fun with my brothers and sisters and their spouses. We all came up with a code to tell my sister-in-law if she was laughing too loud, if my sister Gina was talking about something inappropriate, or if I was taking too many hors d'hoerves. Well, I don't drink, but I eat! I'm not going to pretend the servers didn't come to know me well, but I have nothing to apologize for. Those wild mushroom tarts and mini cheeseburgers were delightful, and I honored them. And the crab-cakes.

There were a lot of random anorexic girls with "daddy issues" walking around being awesome. That was fun. One made quite a cat-walk-like entrance, stopped as if posing for paparazzi, looked Gina up and down, laughed, then walked off. My husband Topher, Gina and her husband Jonathan, my sister Amanda and her boyfriend Derrick and I laughed so, so hard. It was so random! Then Gina, in true Gina style, stood up and said, "Well, if she thinks THAT'S an entrance. . . I'll show HER an entrance!" She got up, went to the door, and came in full-force. Everyone else was incredibly nice. James introduced us to everyone. I met a friend of James who plays with Rilo Kiley, and B.J. Novak from the Office. I was a little disappointed that the news media did not want to talk to me, though. E Extra? ET? Insider? Where's the love?




My brother was so generous to treat us to a little getaway and give us a peek into his life. I know it's not very rock and roll to say it, but he's such a kind, sweet, genuine boy! Did I mention he's an eagle scout? Maybe I've revealed too much.



If you want to read more about the trip visit my blog as well as my husband's blog.