Best Friends Reunited: The Photos

As you know, Mary came to visit last week. We had a gloriously good time... maybe her best visit to LA yet! Here are some highlights from our much-anticipated reunion. (Captions by Mary, like in our last reunion post). :-)

Day 1: Those other life-changing three little words: bottomless. mimosa. brunch.

Two hours later, the pictorial exemplification of aforementioned bottomless mimosa brunch... pictures with a curly-haired dog belonging to strangers. 

After a (hazy) post-brunch watch party of the greatest television show of our time, The O.C. Season 1, Annie and Garrett took me to my very first Academy screening! The thing I remember most is that the audience stayed in their seats until the end of the credits and then applauded. The thing I remember least is the film. 

Dinner at a little diner called 'Swingers.' Copious amounts of fried food? check. Slightly rosy complexions indicating the beginning stages of a hangover? check. Annie wearing a shocking combination of black tights and a Pepperdine shirt? (Thank heavens my black trench coat came to the rescue) check.

(Note from Annie: my inappropriate-for-public outfit choice can fully be blamed on the bottomless mimosas. Trust me, I disapprove myself...thank heavens for Mary's trench coat indeed.)

Day 2: Absolutely glorious dinner on the patio at 'The Alcove.' Pink and orange California sunset coupled with twinkle lights and my bestie... lovely moment.

View of the city from The Griffith Observatory, conveniently located near Annie's apartment. That view really is magical, you can see straight down Western Ave, a very post-modern perspective.

Us with the city in the background. The evening was a little chilly, but I would take it over NYC in March any day. In fact, I even started to LIKE Los Angeles a little bit during this trip...

Day 3: The day we hiked a mountain. Literally, I took this picture two hilltops over from the Hollywood sign. The view was breathtaking and the exercise exhilarating, but why people would go jogging on a fault line everyday is beyond me. 

Lunch at Villa Blanca in Beverly Hills, owned by my favorite Real Housewife ever, Lisa Vanderpump and her husband Ken Todd, Annie's Sports Club LA buddy. (Apparently, he wears purple sweatpants to workout everyday, but it is still uncertain to us whether they are the same pair). Though lunch was delicious and the ambience fabulous, we were disappointed that we didn't get to see Lisa's mini-Pomeranian with Alopecia, Giggy. 

Visit to the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills to see Ed Ruscha's "Psycho Spaghetti Westerns" show. This was particularly exciting for me, because I'm currently doing research for the artist's catalogue raisonne. I think Annie takes these shots from behind for entertainment when I go off on art-related methodological tangents. 

Annie and I at The Sounds concert. We have been fans ever since Annie saw them open for The Strokes in 2002. It was so amazing to see them perform yet again! 

Maja from The Sounds. In the words of ZZ Top: She's got legs. And she knows how to use them. 

Hope you enjoy these pictures half as much as I enjoyed captioning them. (Oh, and experiencing them...)

Over and out,

Annie and Mary

Happy Two Year Anniversary, Los Angeles.

This is the gorgeous dessert I enjoyed tonight as I toasted to my 2nd anniversary in LA.  

(Just kidding... I found it on google images...) 

But, truly, July 28th marks the anniversary of me first setting my timid feet into the beautiful Los Angeles sand after making the daunting drive from Oklahoma all by myself two years ago.  While I'm not celebrating this momentous occasion with corny (albeit impressive) food art, I thought an appropriate way to pay homage would be a nice little walk down memory lane.  So, without further adieu....

Two Years in LA by the Numbers

•     Number of apartments lived in: 2 (1 month in Hermosa Beach, 23 months in Miracle Mile, and currently    in the process of moving to #3 in Los Feliz!)
• Number of plays/musicals seen: 8

• Number of Oscar ceremonies attended: 2
• Number of jobs I held simultaneously for a brief period of time: 3 
• Number of days before I realized I wasn't a super-human and quit one of the aforementioned jobs: 2
• Number of movie premieres attended: 3

• Number of boys I've dated (and by dated I mean to have gone on more than 2 dates with…haha): 3
• Number of trips to NYC to visit Mary: 3

• Number of trips home to OK to visit the fam: 5
• Number of professional LA sporting events attended: 2 (1 Lakers game, 1 Dodgers game)

• Number of freaking earthquakes (that I've actually felt): 3
• Number of times wine tasting: 1 

• Number of times I've been in the audience of television show tapings: 5 (Jimmy Kimmel Live (twice), Ellen, SYTYCD, and Dancing with the Stars... all of which have been when mother is here visiting...haha)
• Number of New Year's Eves spent in Hollywood: 1

• Number of times I've seen my 2nd favorite band, The Sounds: 2

• Number of times I've seen my all-time favorite band, Jacks Mannequin: 4
• Number of dinner parties hosted: 3

• Number of hours spent in my car: too many to count :-( 
• Number of hours spent on the beach: too many to count  :-) 

Five Most Memorable LA Moments

5.) Getting a Christmas present from Victoria Beckham, my gym buddy. ;-) (A bottle of perfume that had "To Annie, Best Wishes from The Beckhams" written on the box). 

4.) Being front row center to Jack's Mannequin "Secret Show" at the Viper Room. 

3.) Going to two charity events/parties at the Playboy Mansion (which I know sounds crazy and scandalous... they were actually very classy and amazing parties, if I do say so myself...!) 

2.) Talking to Taylor Kitsch (Tim Riggins) at the gym. This happened in February of 2009 and my heart STILL beats fast when I think about it!

1.) Going to the Oscars the past two years! And to pinpoint the most memorable moment of my most memorable moment, if you will, talking to Meryl Streep at the Governor's Ball this year! (For more deets on this and the rest of my Oscar experience this year, click here). 

What a lovely (slash random) walk down memory lane that was! Cheers to you, LA... thanks for an awesome two years. Excited to see what fun memories the next two will bring. 

Currently listening: Angel Taylor

Why: I've been really into female singer/songwriters lately, so when I stumbled upon Angel's debut album (Love Travels) on sale for $6.99 on itunes a few days ago, I didn't stand a chance.  ;-)  While she still has some maturing to do in order to reach the levels of Norah Jones or Ingrid Michaelson (whom I looove and whom Angel toured with this spring), her music is definitely enjoyable and relatable. (A few tracks even have Christian undertones, which I found to be a pleasant surprise). I especially like the track entitled "Chai Tea Latte"... I'm not sure if it's the former barista in me digging the title or the all-too-familiar theme of wanting a guy to man up and ask you out.  Either way, I give it two thumbs up. 

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Annie's Oscar Notes

One week has passed since the Oscars, a.k.a. the longest, craziest, most surreal day of my year. While not enough has passed for me to catch up on much needed sleep (I am still so very exhausted), enough time has passed for some of my initial amazement and awe at March 7th's dreamlike event to start to wane.  Parts of it are such a blur!  I figured I should record and relive my favorite Oscar moments here before any more magical details escape me. In sequential order... 

1.) Seeing my mom, brother and camp counselor from when I was 12-years-old in the red carpet bleachers. That's right... my darling old counselor, Marissa, signed up to win bleacher seats after seeing it on my facebook and legitimately won! (That could be YOU next year if you sign up on www.oscars.org in September...)


2.) Being mere inches away from George Clooney as he signed autographs and shook hands with the bleacher fans.  He is truly even MORE dreamy than you imagine... WOW.  Here's a photo of me taking a photo of Mr. Clooney on my phone so you can see his extreme proximity to me. Ha! 







3.) Walking the red carpet with Mar.  It was so much fun to share this beyond-surreal experience with my best friend.  As we made our way to the grand staircase of the Kodak Theatre, we walked alongside Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Sandra Bullock, Stanely Tucci, Gaborey Sidibe, etc.  During my stroll down the red carpet, I also told Chris Harrison (who was in between red carpet interviews) that I loved The Bachelor and he said thanks. ;-) 

4.) Being at The Governor's Ball.  It's honestly a bit unbelievable to be in such a beautiful setting for the official Oscar after-party.  The decorations, the lighting, the set up...everything was simply breathtaking.  To make it all the better, I was joined at this gorgeous party by all the Oscar winners, nominees, and other VIPs. My "job" was to stand at the top of one of the staircases and ask these beautiful people if they wanted to do the press line. Umm..okay. Don't mind if i do. Here's a glimpse inside the beautiful ball (featuring none other than my Meryl...) :-)


5.) Getting called 'baby' by Mo'Nique. When I asked the new Oscar winner if she wanted to do the press line, she sweetly touched my arm and called me 'baby' several times as she held her new shiny prize. I found this to be very funny.  Get it girl. 

6.) Interacting with Chris Pine.  Holy hotness. This extremely handsome guy said "hi" to me as he came up my staircase.  It may seem insignificant, but my stomach definitely fluttered since HE spoke to me first, even if it was just one syllable. ;-) We then proceeded to make really great eye contact for extended periods of time on numerous occasions. A favorite Oscar moment for suuure. Yowza...

7.) TALKING TO MERYL STREEP. This is my #1 ultimate greatest most favorite Oscar moment.  The heavens smiled down on me when my (and the world's) all-time favorite actress came up my staircase.  As I spotted her at the foot of the stairs, I tried to calm my racing heart and play it cool.  I think (slash hope) I was successful in this as I said "Hi, would you like to do the press line?" To which she sweetly replied, "Oh no, I wouldn't."  To which I replied, "Okay, no problem! You look so lovely tonight... enjoy!" To which she said, "Thank you!" and I can't be sure because this is such a blur, but I think we shared a brief arm/hand graze in the midst of this. She is absolutely exquisite. I want to BE her. So amazing. And with that all of 3 second interchange, I'll never be the same again.  :-) 

8.) Making Rachel McAdams and her sister laugh. These two lovely ladies also came up my staircase, so I asked my standard question.  After Rachel said, "No thanks," I asked if they were sisters because they looked so much alike. They indeed were and seemed very happy that I noticed and asked.  Rachel then asked me, "What should we do now?" to which I replied, "Well, there's a bar there, there and there (as I pointed them out), so you really can't go wrong..."  They both laughed.  In retrospect, I should have taken this golden moment to ask if they wanted to be my new best friend and hang out on a regular basis, but I refrained.  ;-) 

9.) When staircase arrivals were over, I walked around the glorious Governor's Ball and called out great photo ops over the walkie-talkie if I saw one.  Tough job, right? :-) As I did this, I saw one table that made me chuckle. It was Ryan Reynolds, Bradley Cooper, Gerard Butler, John Travolta and several other actors I can't recall... and the sole female in the midst of these heartthrobs?  Barbara Streisand. What??  So very random and odd to me.  Ha.  As I continued walking around the ball, Bradley Cooper accidentally ran into me (literally) and then I made aaamazing eye contact with Ryan Reynolds.Yow-za he is beyond GORGEOUS. I could relive that moment all day long. Ha!


Well, there you have it. Some of my favorite moments from my one of my favorite days.  I suppose an appropriate closing would be, "I'd like to thank the Academy..."  :-) 


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Goodbye 2009.

(Happy New Year (and new blog)! I, like Mary, am optimistic about the shiny new 2010 that looms before us, but I feel as though I need to properly bid farewell to the crazy roller-coaster ride that has been my 2009. So without further adieu, here are some highlights of my past year (and some of the ‘hows and whys’ about my life in LA, as Mary mentioned in the previous post).

The Oscars. 

I work in the marketing department at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences  (I started in September 2008) and one HUGE perk is that I get to attend the Academy Awards, red carpet and all. It was amazingly surreal to be there, something I NEVER in a million years thought would happen.  Now I’m getting ready for this year’s Oscars (shameless plug: tune in March 7, 2010, on abc). 

Community Group.  

I started attending a community group through my church Pacific Crossroads last January, and it has become one of my favorite things I do in LA. We meet once a week to the study the Bible and just relax and be REAL with each other… something that is not easy to find in LA. Here we are at Bricks and Scones (my FAVORITE coffee shop ever). 

Colorado with my parents. 

My job at the Academy is seasonal, so it lasts from September to April. While I job searched and interviewed like crazy in the spring, the Academy kept me on as a floater until the end of July, and my boss offered me the seasonal marketing position again starting September 1. Since nothing else spectacular had come through, I accepted her offer and used the 5 weeks off in the interim to travel.  My first destination was Pagosa Springs, Colorado, with my parents. After the crazy stress of job searching and everything, it was so incredibly nice to relax and be with my parents in such a beautiful place.

My 24^th birthday. 

I invited pretty much everyone I knew in LA to come to my favorite bar Lola’s not really thinking that many people would actually come… but many of them did! It was such a fun night with my different groups of friends mingling together in one happy place. 

Europe. 

My biggest adventure during my 5 weeks off was traveling to England, Scotland and Spain! This trip was such a big highlight that I think it deserves 3 photos: sight-seeing in London with my college friend Katie, overlooking beautiful Barcelona at Park Guell with my LA friend Sheri, and participating in a 50,000 person tomato fight called ‘La Tomatina’ in a village near Valencia with one of my best college friends, Kayla.

Halloween. 

Halloween this year was so much fun, probably due in large part to what I consider to be the best costume of my life: a birthday cake.

New York. 

I was lucky enough to visit Mary in NY twice this year, both times full of great fun and entertainment. (most notably, two viewings of HAIR, my current Broadway obsession).

Wine tasting. 

To celebrate my lovely mother’s 50^th birthday we went to an amazing wine tasting festival near Santa Barbara.

Victoria Beckham giving me a Christmas gift. 

I’m a receptionist at the Sports Club LA in Beverly Hills (LINK) on Saturday mornings, which is the greatest part time ever. Not only do I earn a little extra pocket money, but I get to work out at this luxurious gym alongside celebrities like Taylor Kitsch (the MOST exciting celebrity interaction of my life), Amanda Bynes, Jesse Metcalfe, etc. I see V Beck there quite often; we chat sometimes. MUCH to my surprise, she brought Christmas gifts to a few Sports Club people she interacts with regularly I guess…including me! Thanks Posh Spice.

Wow…2009 really was a fun one.  I wonder if 2010 will live up to its predecessor.  I’m excited to find out. :-)

--Annie.