8:11 January Highlights

January was a good month.  The first few days are usually reserved for 'post-holiday depression', but after that subsides, the first month of the brand new year always feels so fresh and promising.  Plus, it's the month of Mary's birthday and Martin Luther King Jr. Day (my favorite non-major holiday), so basically it can't go wrong. ;-) Here are my favorite things that happened at 8:11 pm last month....

8:11-today marks my 2 year anniversary of taking 8:11 pics! My last din w/ my family-sushi on our lovely patio. :-)

8:11-I couldn't be more excited to have my weekly Bachelor watch parties w/ these darlings back on my calendar.

8:11-birthday celebration for rob at Malo.I <3 my Oklahoma people. ;-)

8:11-at rockwell celebrating the birthday of my lovely roomie @mckenziemorris. :-)

8:11- drinking with coworkers is one of my favorite past times.. Holla @katiehutchings and @theinfamousamf.

8:11-quite excited for the return of CG (and to be reunited w/ these handsome gents: @istantray and @mullaneyjr).

“8:11-branching out of my old reliables and trying out an awesome Brazilian restaurant in Los Feliz w/ @garrettfbaker and @mike_beier. Holla.

8:11-my dear friend lorrin had me over for a delish din tonight. So good to catch up with her!

8:11- cheers in Brentwood with my darlings. (Bru Haus has an amazing beer selection...2 thumbs up).

8:11-happy hour with my darling @katiehutchings. Much needed after a craaazy long day.

8:11- snarky trio reunion at Covell! I love @marygaris and @garrettfbaker.

8:11- @marygaris's tiki birthday extravaganza w/ @garrettfbaker, @mckenziemorris, @mike_beier, etc. :-)

 

8:11- joint birthday dinner for @marygaris and her sweet grandmother in palm springs. #maryweek

February is proving to be a fun jammed-packed month as well!  A visit from Kayla, my dad and the Oscars all on the horizon. Briiing it. 

Now playing: Gotye "Somebody That I Used To Know"

Why: This was my favorite song discovery last month.  I love the lyrics a lotttt. Enjoy. 

Kayla's Impulse Purchase of a Ticket to LA

I remember the conversation clearly… I rediscovered the amazingly FUN once-a-month dance party called Bootie LA in October, and the next day I called Kayla to tell her about it. 

Me: blah blah blah it’s such a blast! They play the best music. You would absolutely love it… blah blah blah.

Kayla: Awesome! So, it’s the first Saturday of every month?

Me: Yes, the first Saturday.

(brief pause)

Kayla: I just bought a ticket.  I’m coming with you in December.

Haha… it was the best spontaneous impulse purchase ever. So, she came and we had a gloriously fun time.  We packed a lot into the >48 hours she was here including meals at several of my fave restaurants, drinks at my new fave bar (Harvard & Stone), a photo shoot (so random, I know. Ha. My friend told me about a fundraiser this artist’s group was doing to raise money for their warehouse/workspace downtown: $30 for a 30 minute photo shoot. I thought that sounded like a worthy cause and a fun activity, so we did it!  While we were surrounded by actors getting new headshots, we had a blast taking super cheesy ‘best friends for life’ shots), watching (one half of) the OU game, and of course: BOOTIE LA. 

I realize this post is a month overdue, but Kayla’s homemade video scrapbook, below, is way cooler than anything I know how to do, so I figured it was worth the wait.

Sparkly LA! from Kayla Krittenbrink on Vimeo.

As you can see, we had such a blast! So much so, that Kayla just bought another ticket and will be here in a few weeks for Bootie LA the first weekend of February.  Holla! Now...who wants to come with us?? ;-) 

xoxo, 

Annie.

8:11 December Highlights

On January 1 2010, I resolved to take a picture of what I was doing at 8:11 PM every single day for the whole year. I wasn’t sure what it would be like. Would I keep it up, or would I fall off the wagon (as is the case with virtually every other new year’s resolution I’ve ever made)? Would the photos be interesting or would they be completely monotonous?

Well, 2 years later, the photos might be uninteresting to others, but I find that making myself take this daily photo was an amazing way to keep track of experiences throughout the year. I love it.  (I haven’t missed a day yet!). Who knows how long I’ll actually keep this up, but I don’t foresee 8:11 pics going away any time soon. 

That said, here are my favorite 8:11 shots from December (sidenote: I finally got an iPhone last month, so you will notice that the photo quality has improved dramatically…thank goodness!). 

8:11-my darling Kayla is visitng! This weekend is going to be so. much. funnnn. :-)

8:11-pre-partying for the Bootie LA christmas party with Kayla and Mike. :-)

8:11-din at the Alcove and frozen yogurt w/ my friend from summer camp from age 13 (literally) who's in town! 

 8:11- rocking around the proverbial Christmas tree with @garrettfbaker at party 1 of 3 tonight. 

 

8:11-at Disneyland for the Disney Christmas party w/ Beier. Tower of Terror is my faaaave. :-)

8:11-at one (of several) of the Warner Bros Christmas parties w/ @katiehutchings. I won a raffle prize!!

 

8:11-my favorite comedy show w/ some of my favorite friends. We love UCB. :-)

 

8:11-another Warner Bros. Christmas party w/ @katiehutchings. WB keeping it classy with Santa and his little helpers.

8:11-dinner at Akasha with one of my very favorite people in the world: Katie Gibbs. :-)

 

8:11-celebrating the birthday of the wonderful @ellen_godfrey with @garrettfbaker and @godfreytweets.

 

8:11-a delish homemade meal with 2 of my favorite people, @bhasemeyer and @kierstenlyons, is like chicken soup for the soul. :-)

 

 8:11-Merry Christmas Eve from 3 year old me.

 8:11-my grandma is one of favorite people in the whole world. <3

8:11-my other grandparents are two of my favorite people in the world too. Love them both so much!

8:11-back in Houston. Sad to say goodbye to my sweet relatives but happy to say hello to sweet Sid.

 8:11-eating a ridiculous amount of chicken wings at a sports bar w/ my brother. It seemed like a very "Texas" thing to do. ;-)

Wow... more highlights from that month than ever before! A perfect grand finale to a great year. Excited to see what fun things I'll be doing at 8:11 in 2012. 

xoxo, 

Annie.

 

2011, I Give You Two Thumbs up

Allow me to echo Mary... Happy New Year (and happy 2 year anniversary to A Tale of Two Cities)! I'm writing this post from 30,000 feet in the air as I return from a wonderful visit with my family for the holidays. I absolutely love Christmas because it's (usually) the one time a year I get to see all my relatives I love so dearly. It's also one of the very few times  a year I get to spend quality time with my immediate fam (and sweet kitties). I'm returning to LA feeling very loved and rested and blessed.  Such a great way to end a year and start another.

Before diving full force into 2012, I wanted to pay homage to 2011 as well.  I'll be posting my 8:11 highlights from December soon, but I'll mirror Mary's lovely reflection on 2011 now.  :-) 

Highs: Traveling! I'm not quite sure how this happened, but somehow I took at least one trip every month from May to December this year (highlights include Alabama tornado relief trip, Caroline's cuh-razy bachelorette party in Vegas, Outside Lands in SF w/ Mary, a "girls weekend" trip to Santa Fe with Mary and our mothers, and Colorado x 2 - once for family vacay and once for a reunion with my best college friends.)

Lows:  My break up in May, while a good thing, was extremely sad and took a few months to get over. Definitely a low I hope to not experience again ANY time soon.

Mistakes: Not going to the beach more last summer. One of my lifelong dreams growing up was to live “driving distance to a good beach.” Now I do, and I do not take nearly enough advantage of it.  Tsk tsk.

#Winnings: Discovering the amazing fun that is Bootie LA (and making it a monthly occurrence on my calendar). ;-)

Observations and things I learned: I learned a lot from the aforementioned break up, such as: it gets better. I also learned a ton on my trip to Alabama, namely that my “problems” are miniscule compared to those who have lost so much.  It really helped put things in perspective and made me want to help those in need as much as I can.

Other events of note: seeing Mary on 7 different occasions (holla!), being pictured and quoted in the New York Post for my Bachelor watch parties, going on my first work trip, rediscovering reading for enjoyment, my dad being in LA for the first time since 2008, being a leader to one of the best community groups ever, watching my dear brother graduate from OU, and becoming the proud owner of a blue fish. J

I like to make a list of goals for myself on my birthday each year, so as far as resolutions go, I’m going to keep plugging away at that list. But I agree with Mary, there really is something about the dawn of a new year that just feels so fresh and promising. So while I look back and smile at all the great experiences I had in 2011, I dive into 2012 with both feet, excited and expectant of all the great things in store. Cheers to that. 

xoxo, 

Annie.

Let's Hear It For New York

Raise your hand if you have been a very neglectful blogger as of late. *Raising my hand*.  So sorry for our complete LACK of posts lately, darlings.  I blame it on the crazy hustle and bustle of the holiday season (which, I must say, has been even more party and fun-filled than usual this year).  As Christmas is just a few days away, I figured I better write a quick post about my trip to visit Mary for Thanksgiving before it's completely a lost cause. ;-)  So, without further ado (and a 3.5 week delay), here it is:

 

Mary and I on Thanksgiving. This was my 3rd Thanksgiving to spend with her and oh how lovely it was. :-)

Our whole Thanksgiving group! Shout out to the fabulous Laura for hosting us at her lovely apartment.

We were legitimately concerned that we wouldn't have enough wine.  Fortunately, that didn't end up being an issue. ;-)

Duncan reunion in New York. I love it.

 hahaha... so many hilarious things happening in this candidly captured photo. Definitely my favorite photo of the trip (and possibly 2011 as a whole).

We passed around this festive hat and whoever was wearing it had to say what they were thankful for. Such a stylish and applicable accessory. 

We saw "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"... I think Mary put it quite aptly on her Facebook photo caption: "as a freakishly new Harry Potter fan, Annie LOVED Dan Radcliffe." It's true! He was so impressive with his New York accent and singing and dancing up a storm. Apparently I wasn't the only one taken by his impressive performance.  After the show, he auctioned off two of those famous blue bow-ties for $5,000 each...yowza! Here's my favorite song from the show: 

Garrett was in NY too! We met for brunch and a quick trip to MoMa. Hooray for the Snarky Trio.

The Snarky Trio reunited that evening for an evening stroll and coffee. 

The last supper at Hearth... SO good. 

I almost shed tears when when I had to say goodbye to Ray. (Okay, not really, but isn't she the cutest pup to ever live?!)

I love Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite holidays, for sure. And I love New York. And Mary. And Ray. ;-) And TOMORROW I will be flying home to be with my family who I also love for Christmas! They really weren't lying when they said this was "the most wonderful time of the year...." :-)

Currently listening to: The Civil Wars

Why: I saw them in concert at the Wiltern right before my trip to NY and I've been listening to them almost non-stop since! The amazing vocals of this blue-grassy/folky guy/girl duo are superb (as is their on stage chemistry. It is very perplexing to realize that they are in fact married to other people, not each other). They were recently nominated for two Grammys: Best Country Duo/Group Performance and Best Folk Album for their debut “Barton Hollow.” I highly recommend them (Mary is now a big fan due to my recommendation). My favorite songs on the album include: I've Got This Friend, To Whom It May Concern, Poison & Wine, and their cover of I Want You Back. You can thank me later. ;-)

Cheers, 

Annie. 

8:11 November Highlights

Well, holiday season is officially upon us!  November flew by, and it was gloriously busy and fun.  Here are my favorite moments that happened at 8:11 pm in sweet November. 

811-since the Bachelor isnt on currently, my Bachelor watch party girls and I are having a din party:)

8:11-saw #LikeCrazy again-great the 2nd time as well. AND q&a w/ the lead actor Anton Yelchin now!

8:11- happy birthday to the wonderful @My_Coal_Rose! :-) (and thanks for having a super fun party).

8:11-another Sean-approved homemade meal (although you cant really see his approval in this photo).

811-channeling "super market sweep" in Community Group as we fill up boxes w/ thanksgiving dins for fams in need. :-)

8:11- red carpet at the #HarryPotterFilmFinale party. Cheers for real.

8:11-ending the day with a #HarryPotter press conference :-)

 8:11-another #HarryPotter red carpet. :-)

8:11-Civil Wars at the Wiltern with great company. I give this saturday evening 2 thumbs up. 

811-drinks w/ all my darlings from @TheAcademy! Great to see @tenimeli, @nikehair, @ElisaDaniels, etc.

8:11-hello NY! And @marygaris! And ray! Excited to finally be here after a long day of traveling.

8:11-our lovely thanksgiving dinner group. I love thanksgiving in new york! :-)

8:11-lovely times with my two best friends @marygaris @GarrettFBaker. #embracingcheesiness. :-)

8:11-the last supper in new york with @marygaris and co. 

Much to be thankful for in that very thankful-minded month. And now, I am very thankful that it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... (except not really in LA. At least there are Christmas decorations and a plethora of wonderful holiday parties coming up... cheers!) 

xoxo, 

Annie.