Together Again!

LOOKS WHO'S IN LA...!!! 

It is going to be a very fun weekend.  I love my best friend! :-)

Goals and Observations.

“Annie week” (as Mary refers to the week of said person’s birthday) was lovely…full of beloved friends, fun parties, and a “shocking number of birthday greetings this year” (also via Mary). ;-)

At my birthday dinner, moments after the manager gave me these balloons and announced that it was my birthday over a loudspeaker. Ha!

24 was extremely eventful with many BIG life changes (as mentioned in my last post), and I can only imagine that 25 will be pretty eventful as well.  Here are some goals for myself while I am this unique quarter-century age…(in random order)….

• Go to San Francisco.
• Visit Mary in New York (again).
• Do yoga at least one time a week.
• Go on a cruise (again).
• Read for pleasure.
• Rest more.
• Buy a new car.
• Visit C-Gunn in Austin.
• Keep my new apartment organized/simplified.
• Ride bikes along the beach.
• Go to my brother’s graduation from OU in May.
• Blog more. (holla!)
• Enjoy this year to the fullest. J

Two years ago I went on an amazing 5-week mission trip to Costa Rica.  I didn’t know a single other person on my team when the trip began, but by the end, I had made some lifelong friends.  I had a fun mini-reunion with four of these friends as the cutest couple of all time, Wesley and Emma, tied the knot in Alabama this past weekend. 

The wedding had the perfect mix of vintage-country-fun-classy-charm, just like the newlyweds themselves.  

Barrett and I had a blast dancing the night away...

...as the talented Zoesch was working his magic taking these gorgeous photos....

Here are some random observations after this wonderful wedding weekend…

• First class is AMAZING! Completely unbeknownst to me prior to boarding, I was on first class on my way to Alabama. Wow. I used to think ridiculous leg room, warm towels, gourmet meals, and free-flowing champagne/wine were things of legend.  Now that I have experienced the glory, I will truly never be the same.
• Outdoor wedding+August+Alabama=CRAZY HUMID HOTNESS. Yowza. It is legitimately impossible to escape being a sweaty hot mess in this setting. 
• Deep Southern accents should almost be considered a different language. Seriously… it does not sound like English at times.
• Perfect loves (like Emma and Wesley’s) really do exist, and it’s sweet (but also a weird mix of encouraging/nauseating) to witness. 
• In the South, it is not uncommon to eat fried okra twice in one day.
• Short weekend trips across the country are extremely exhausting.
• I miss my Costa Rica friends a lot. Reunions are so very sweet (and go by entirely too quickly)!

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Teague!  You darlings are the best.  I love you a lot and I’m so glad I got to share your special day with you.

Currently listening to: She & Him.

Why: (to keep with the bullet-point theme of this post...)

• Zooey Deshchanel
• Catchy
• Retro
• Summery
• Fun
• Two thumbs up. :-)  

PS—Mary is coming to visit me tomorrow! Cha chiiing.

Happy Birthday Eve to Me.

I literally cannot believe that I am turning the big 2-5 tomorrow... how in the world did I get this old?  It just doesn't seem feasible that I should already be in my legit mid-20s. As I was discussing the crazy phenomenon of my upcoming age with my sweet mom a few days ago, she said, "I became your mother when I was 25..." Yowza!  So very weird.

Despite my disbelief and slight disdain regarding my upcoming age, I am excited for my birthday. Maybe it's just because they are a good reason to celebrate with friends, but I really LOVE birthdays. They are just so fun and joyous... which I really need right now. Tomorrow I am having dinner and drinks with some close friends and then going to my favorite comedy show. Friday I am inviting almost everyone I know in the greater Los Angeles metroplex for a fun gathering at my favorite bar, Lola's. Should be fun! (I'm sure a post-bday party report will be soon to follow on the blog). ;-) 

Thoroughly (as you can see) celebrating last year's birthday at Lola's. (I told you, I LOVE that place).

This dawn of a new quarter century (geez louise, that is daunting!) is coming at a really unique time where essentially almost every single aspect of my life has changed dramatically in the past couple of months. It just seems appropriate that my age should change right along with it...

New job. 

New apartment. 

New part of the city. 

New roommate. 

Parents moving to Houston. 

Break ups. 

etc...etc...etc.  

All of these intense changes are very overwhelming (to say the least), but I'm trying to make myself see the excitement and blessings in them as well.  While changes are often scary and totally push us out of our comfort zone, they also definitely make us stronger and allow for opportunities we would have never experienced otherwise. 

Wow, I originally thought this quick little post would just be a "whooo! It's my birthdayyy!!" type post, but then I got all unexpectedly deep and a bit sentimental.  I really AM getting old! Ha.

I'll end on this lighter note: Cheers to the next quarter century, and bring on the celebrations... hooray birthdays! :-)

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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Luck Be A Lady Tonight

I recruited my amazingly hilarious friend Marissa to roadtrip it with me and as luck would have it, another dear friend, McKenzie, was there nannying for 2 weeks (God bless her). Here is a photographic journey through our fun-filled weekend (sidenote: I just bought a new camera and I'm a bit excited about it)....

Another friend from LA, Erica, was randomly there. She worked some amazing connections and got us VIP passes to surpass the crazy long line at Tao. It's an awesome huge club at the Venetian. Fun indeed.

We laid out at our hotel pool Saturday. And by 'lay out', I mean that we hung out in the pool so as to not completely die/melt in the sweltering 100+ degree heat.

We went to the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show "Love" at the Mirage on Saturday night. So amazing! 

It was bit of a sensory overload at times... so many awesome things to see and hear at once. It was unlike anything I've seen before... two thumbs up for sure. Here's a 30 second video to give you little preview of its greatness...

After the show we had drinks at the Beatles Revolution Lounge and a delish din at Kokomo's at the Mirage...very cool settings and very wonderful food/drinks.

We then went to Jet where we enjoyed and took full advantage of several free drink passes given to us by eager promoters (like the kindly gentleman pictured below). 

We then relocated to Ghostbar which is on the 55th floor of the Palms. We danced, made some new friends, and enjoyed the expansive views.

C Gunn and I decided we had to gamble at least a little bit, so we hit the tables. She tried her hand at craps (which ended shortly) and then we moved on to roulette. I was only going to allow myself to spend $20 (I'm not too keen on throwing money away... call me crazy...), and since there was a $10 minimum bet, I thought I'd be out in a hot minute. Luck was indeed a lady to me that night, however, and I ended up leaving with $52. Cha ching!!

And that ends the photographic journey.  As you can see, it was such a great weekend! I miss my college friends A LOT, so anytime I get to see them is wonderful. Vegas defnitely redeemed itself for me this time around. Viva Las Vegas, indeed. :-)

Currently listening: Andy Davis. 

Why: Do you ever completely accidentally stumble upon a song with lyrics that are 100% applicable to your life at the moment? That happened to me this week with this talented musician I discovered in college when he opened for Matt Wertz.  His piano based singer/songwriter style is very enjoyable, and the lyrics to "Bigger Than Us" were absolutely perfect for me this week.  My very favorite song of his, however, is "Union & 3rd". So, so pretty. Definitely check him out. 

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Being only a 4 hour drive away (on a good traffic day) or a >1 hour flight, Vegas is a regular weekend getaway for Angelenos. I, however, have had absolutely zero desire to make this jaunt through the dessert after a less-than-wonderful experience in Sin City for my 21st birthday (but that's a whole 'nother story....) This changed when one of my best friends/roommates from college, C Gunn, informed me that she would be there for a work conference and asked if I wanted to meet her there. I hadn't seen her since this same conference sent her to LA last summer...SO, Las Vegas, ready or not, here I come. ;-)

I Can Be Your Hero, Baby.

Last week I received a very random invitation in my inbox.

TARGET and ENRIQUE IGLESIAS

Cordially Invite You and A Guest to "Enrique's House"

In Celebration of Enrique's much anticipated New CD entitled "EUPHORIA"

Please join TARGET and Enrique for an evening of musical rhythms, mouth watering cuisine and summer cocktails.

I hadn’t the slightest inkling why or how I got this invitation, so I was confused/intrigued. (I am not really an Enrique fan necessarily, but like I said in a previous post, “when dressing up, an open bar, yummy hor d'ourves, and endlessly entertaining people watching are involved, you can't go wrong”).  Fortunately, my friend Christina (who worked with me at the Academy) solved the mystery a few days later. She now works at a big entertainment PR agency.  She sent me a message saying she was in charge of handling the Enrique Iglesias party and had added me to the guest list. Holla!  Now that the mystery was solved, two more questions needed to be answered: who to bring and what to wear?

I decided to ask my fun friend Blair, and she gladly accepted.  (Some people say we look like sisters…what do you think?) We got to MyHouse Tuesday evening around 9.  There was a red carpet, many photographers, and a semi-large crowd of people out front, but we got in with ease after getting checked off the guest list.  I said a quick ‘hi!’ and ‘thank you!!’ to Christina and we headed inside the extremely cool venue. Upon entering we were immediately given a Grey Goose/Ginger Beer beverage of sorts that was de-lish.  (“Every club should give you a Grey Goose cocktail as soon as you walk in…seriously!”—Blair).  We sat on comfy couches with decorative Enrique pillows (pictured above), enjoyed the amazing cocktails/hor dourves, and danced to the music from DJ Tony Touch.  As we were dancing, I noticed that Enrique had walked in and he was a few feet away from us.

“There’s Enrique…” I said apparently so nonchalantly that it was unbelievable because Blair completely thought I was kidding.

“Umm…okay. Riiiight,” she said as she continued dancing.

“No really… there he is!”

And THERE. HE.  WAS. As previously mentioned, I was never the hugest Enrique fan before this night, but holy hotness, he was GORGEOUS. I was truly a bit dumbfounded at how extremely attractive he was. Blair and I somehow got into his special VIP section (“I think this area is like him, his family…and us.”—me), so we were mere feet away from him for a good portion of time. I think we both had to physically make ourselves stop gawking at his sheer and utter beauty.  Yowza!  Even though we were inexplicably in this VIP section, it was totally a “so close, yet so far away” situation.  Enrique was constantly surrounded and we could never really close enough to talk to him. (Blair did snap the lovely above photo with her iphone though…) 

Overall, such a fun night! We got his new cd as a parting gift (which is convenient since I am obviously a newly converted fan of this sultry Spaniard now). 

 Enrique, you can be my hero ANYTIME. ;-)

(Unrelated sidenote: there was a 5.9 magnitude earthquake yesterday and it was terrifying! I haaaate earthquakes. They come with absolutely no warning whatsoever, and I am so afraid that it might be ‘the big one’…eeeeek. It probably doesn’t help at all that I was on the 8th floor of a huge building. Give me tornadoes any day of the week instead of earthquakes…yowza!) 


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First Week, Food, and Fireworks.

I successfully completed my first week at the new job!  It went really well, I think.  Monday I had 8 hours of orientation (where I made a couple new buddies). Tuesday I had a tour of the incredible Warner Bros lot in the morning (where I saw such fun things as the real Batmobiles, the set of Cental Perk from "Friends", and a page from Denzel Washington's script from his Oscar-winning "Training Day" which included his very interesting handwritten notes all over it... that was my favorite thing :-) ). After the tour I dove into the new job: Executive Assistant to the Vice President of eCommerce in Digital Distribution (Isn't that a mouth full?...yowza). 

As expected, there were many logistical things to take care of the first week.  In addition to this, I did administrative things for my boss (mainly scheduling meetings and helping him with a powerpoint presentation for a big meeting). He is very "self sufficient", which is good because it leaves me a lot of room to get involved with other projects. :-) I'm already working on our social media outreach and exploring options for involvement in an upcoming classic film festival.  The people in my office are really nice too! (I only had to eat lunch by myself once this week... special thanks to Mary for chatting with me on the phone so I didn't feel completely lame.. ;-) I definitely miss my co-workers at the Academy, but I'm glad that my new ones seem to be great too. Hooray!! 

This weekend I ate some amazing food. Friday I went to Luna Park for dinner.  After hearing numerous rave reviews, I had been wanting to try this trendy spot for quite some time, and it definitely exceeded my high expectations. We started our meal with a delicious appetizer of crispy gnocchi with summer vegetables. SO FREAKING GOOD.  For my entree I had mahi mahi with moroccan cous cous. Not as mind-blowing as the gnocchi but still, quite delectable. Luna Park is known for its speciality cocktails, so in addition to these tasty dishes, I enjoyed their wonderfully refreshing strawberry mojito. A perfect summer drink. :-) To finish this grand feast, we ordered my favorite food in the world: s'mores!  And these weren't just your average everyday s'mores... these s'mores are so good, they have been featured on The Food Network's show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." That is legit!  

To make this glorious meal even more incredible, we got all of this delicious food for 50% off. Yes, you read that correctly: half off! I had heard an almost too-good-to-be-true rumor that Luna Park occasionally reveals special passwords on Twitter and if you say that word to your waitor, you get 50% off. This seemingly urban legend happened to come to my mind while we were eating, so we checked their Twitter page, and sure enough, we told our spunky waitress the word 'Independence' and badda bing, badda boom, our meal was half off! Whooo! Overall: food was delicious, atmosphere was fun/trendy, service was great, and the secret password was legit (and economical!). You should definitely go to this restaurant. 

The 4^th of July is fun in LA. A group of friends and I drove to Manhattan Beach (my favorite!) for a cookout at our friends’ awesome new oceanview apartment. After some beverages and BBQ, we walked down The Strand to a beach party in Hermosa Beach. I knew the Manhattan and Hermosa crowd would be a lively bunch for the 4^th, but the quantity and quality of American-themed attire and body paint was both unexpected and hilarious. It was almost like Halloween only with everyone dressing up patriotically. I felt a bit out of place since I didn’t have “GO U.S.A.!” or “I LOVE THE 4th OF JULY!” painted all over my body in red, white and blue. (Just kidding… those people really looked like drunken fools). It was fun. After spending several hours enjoying the perfect weather on the beach, we headed back to Manhattan. We watched a classic American film, Anchorman, and then enjoyed several fireworks displays on the beach. It was a lovely day.  God bless America.  J

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