The First Annual Reunion of "The Greatest Quartet in the World"

Oh how lovely and true that quote is.  Three of my best friends from college and I (or "The Greatest Quartet in the World" as my sweet brother deemed us) recently reunited in LA.  We hadn’t all been together since May 2008 (with the exception of one large group dinner in December 2008 which hardly counted, it was so quick).  We’ve all grown and changed dramatically in the past two years: Kayla just got her Masters in Spain and is now preparing to move to South America for a bit; Anne is one of the best neo-natal intensive care nurses in Washington DC; Vanessa is a married home-owner quickly advancing in her career at Conoco Phillips; I am trying to navigate the exciting craziness that is the entertainment industry in LA.  Still, as we sat in our PJs in my living room and caught up over Oreos and wine, it was like we were all still living in the Tri Delt house and nothing had changed at all. J Here are some highlights from their visit:

Kayla got to LA a few days earlier than the other girls, so I got us tickets to a taping of The Ellen Show.  We were on the front row on the aisle, so we definitely got lots of camera time enthusiastically clapping and laughing and dancing (oh my!), as seen below.

Kayla and I went to the Griffith Observatory at night to enjoy the expansive views of the pretty city lights…sort of like looking at the stars like I used to do in Oklahoma, only totally different.

We returned to Griffith Park that weekend with the other two girls in our quartet, only this time in daylight.  Oh heyyy Hollywood sign!

I obviously had to take Kayla to my favorite comedy show that I rave about all the time.  As we were waiting in line outside the theater, I spotted Andrew Garfield  After being in LA for more than two years now, I generally never get star-struck, but I was definitely excited about this one. “There’s Andrew Garfield…!!” I whispered to Kayla through clenched teeth. “Who??” she asked. “Eduardo from ‘The Social Network….!!” She still looked confused.  “Eduardo from ‘The Social Network!’ I urgently whispered again. About this time, the short little hottie girl with him saw me looking at him and protectively pushed him along. Ha. He was gorgeous.  My favorite celeb sighting in quite some time. J

Saturday morning, we made a delectable brunch together: homemade waffles, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs, and mimosas. Yummm. It was cozy and fun to cook together and enjoy brunch in our pajamas. 

Even though our team very sadly lost horribly on this particular Saturday, it was nice to watch the game with my darlings from OU. It was also nice that we could commiserate the depressing loss with each other afterwards... blurrrgh. :-/ 

We saw an exceptionally excellent sunset at the beach on Saturday evening. Man, I love those things. :-) 

We had a glorious Sunday brunch at Luna Park; I think this may be my favorite event of our weekend.  Bottomless sangria/mimosas+amazing food/atmosphere+catching up for hours with my best friends=heavenly. (The only thing that would have made it even BETTER is if I hadn't had to be the D.D.  Those mimosas and sangria are gooooood!)

We literally decided Sunday morning to attempt to get last minute tickets to Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages for Sunday evening... and it worked!  Not only did we get day-of tickets to this amazing show, they just so happened to be on the 5th row, center!  Count our lucky stars... :-)  

I must say, I think our first annual reunion weekend was a great success! The perfect mix of fun outings and really just enjoying being together. I'm already looking forward to our next reunion (tentatively scheduled for Washington DC, 2011).  Can't wait. :-) 

Currently listening to: Taylor Swift

Why: I never thought I’d be a girl to buy the new Taylor Swift album the day it came out, but when some stressful news at work led me to some retail therapy on October 25^th, I did just that.  I reluctantly got into T Swift last year when my former roommate more or less insisted that I burn her cd from her.  Try as I did to resist, I quickly became a legit fan.  This girl is good!  No matter what stage of a relationship (or non-relationship) you are currently experiencing, there is probably a T Swift song that relates perfectly and can be used for great therapy and/or celebratory sing-alongs.  ;-)  I wish I could enjoy the catharsis of being able to come home from an exhilarating and/or disappointing date and just write an awesome song about it like she apparently can.  Also, despite her huge fame, she really just seems like a normal FUN person.  I totally have a friend crush on her.  My current favorites on her new album: “Enchanted,” “Sparks Fly,” and the title track "Speak Now.” I just read an article today that my girl is joining the extremely exclusive club of artists who have sold a MILLION albums in one week.  Don't pretend you're too cool... just go ahead and buy it too. You'll be singing along and wanting to be T Swift's friend like me before you know it. :-) 

Until our next reunion, 

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“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” –Elisabeth Foley.