The day I met Lana in 2012

Yes, it's long. So.. tldr: i met lana and she was exactly as wholesome as you've always dreamed her to be

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I've never shared this before for multiple reasons, but was inspired to after someone messaged me about it.

This happened in 2012 literally just a few weeks after Born To Die the album got released. I used to work at a radio station. For reference, this was a holiday and the building was more empty than usual, including staff. When I got to work I heard she was in the building at another station doing interviews. I went over to their lounge and waited for her to finish her interview. When she came out I told her that I heard she was in the building and I had to come say hi because i love her so much. She asked if i worked in the building, and i told her yes at another station on this floor. I said I've had nothing but the entire album on repeat since the day it came out. She said it means the world that i came over to meet her and she appreciated the support. We took a quick photo and i walked back to my desk.

When i got to my desk i couldn't believe i got to meet her and right away posted my photo. It's crazy because i literally walked into work listening to Born To Die on my headphones that day and she was right there. So I go back to work duties and the whole time all i can think about is how lucky i was to show up to work today. They told me i didn't have to come in that day and i almost didn't, but i decided to help out last minute to assist whoever was there.

About an hour later I hear people coming over to our lobby. To my surprise, the people walking in were Lana and her manager. She instantly sees me and says "oh hey! so this is where you work?" I couldn't believe it, I thought for sure she had left already. She then proceeds to tell me that she has some time to kill before she has to go to the airport and if i didn't mind her hanging out with me until then.... i couldn't believe what was happening. I had to play it cool and say "of course" but meanwhile inside I'm dying lol. She starts asking me what i do and like specific stuff about my job. I had my account open on the computer screen and she saw the photo of us together from like an hour before. She looked through the replies and i was like oh yeah that's my friend kelly and my other friend corey, they're both obsessed with you. We browsed some fan accounts that commented too and she told me how much she loves those fan accounts and the support means a lot. She then pulled out her phone and typed in my username and i got a notification on my phone that she followed me back and my heart started beating so fast lol.

She then introduced me to her manager and told him that i was so sweet and supportive and what my job was. When he found out what station i worked for he told me that they're trying to get Lana's music on a station like that. I told him that I've already been telling my boss about her and that he should play her music. This was over a year before the Summertime Sadness remix came out which helped Lana finally get on major radio stations. So i thought it would be a good idea and nice surprise for me to take Lana to meet the boss of the station. He decided what got played and what didn't. I asked if she wanted to meet him because he's in charge of what gets radio play and she said of course. I also took her to our djs who got some voiceovers from her to use in his mixes and stuff. It's like she wanted to meet the whole crew and make a good impression. It felt so sweet and genuine and i got to be the person that like took her from one office or studio to the next. This was super early in her career and it's crazy how hard they had to work to just to get played on the radio at first.

She then told me she needed to do a phone interview and wanted me to set her up in any studio that she can make a phone call from. I took her to one of our other studio offices and told her no one would bother her in there. She told me that as soon as she was finished she'll come back to me. While she was in there one of our engineers came over and noticed her in the studio and asked me "is she getting ready to perform again?" And i told him that she's just taking a phone call and said "what do you mean perform again?" He goes on to tell me that she performed a couple songs in that exact room a couple hours ago and they filmed it for the other radio stations website. My heart sunk. If i showed up to work just an hour earlier i could've had a solo private Lana concert all to myself?? I later found out those songs were: Born To Die, Video Games and Blue Jeans.

As soon as she came back i told her i just found out you performed some songs here earlier and I'm really sad i missed out! She said she would've loved to perform those songs for me. I told her thankfully i got to see her perform a couple weeks earlier at her Amoeba in store event. I told her anytime she comes back to my city I'll always come see her live no matter what. We then did some other random stuff like walk over to the kitchen and get some snacks, then a couple times she wanted to go out and smoke so i went with her and her manager to take them out. They couldn't get in without a keycard so i was basically with them the whole time, every step of the way. One of the times we were outside she kept telling me about how excited she was to release the new blue jeans music video. She said she filmed it a couple days ago and that she's in the final stages of editing and feels like it's her best music video yet.

Before they left i made sure to get Lana to sign something for me. I said i wish i brought your album cover to get it signed and she asked her manager if he has any physical copies on him. He said he usually does but can't find them. I literally just took a piece of paper and cut it evenly into like 4x6 cards. She signed one with my name on it and the nicest message, even her handwriting looks like art. To my surprise she ended up signing all of them and said since i have so many friends that love her i can give those to them. She even recorded a video message for one of my friends who i told her was the one who got me into her music. I tried facetiming him but he was busy at work so she did the video shout out for him instead.

As they were leaving they thanked me so much for everything. Lana even mentioned something like "unforgettable day" which i felt like, there's no way that she's actually as sweet as i always thought she would be. I remember saying that it's so crazy how i tried to meet her at Amoeba just a few weeks ago and they were sold out of m&g wristbands, and now the universe just gave me this day with her. I told them that next time she comes back I would love to do an interview with her. After they left I needed some time to compose myself. Still to this day, sometimes it feels like a dream. I feel so thankful and grateful to have that experience and it really changed my life honestly.