Tag Archives: party

A Friend Party (or A Casual Hangout And Catchup)

Posted on November 25, 2016 | Comments Off on A Friend Party (or A Casual Hangout And Catchup)

Even though I’ve had a lot of awesome friend adventures lately, a lot of them have been with the same group of friends. And I realized that I hadn’t seen some of my other friends lately. So when my friend Rayshell sent me an invite to a last minute party that she and her husband were throwing, I knew I had to be there! I was a bit tired from my day, but I knew that even if I could only be there for an hour or two it would be worth it!

I got to their party a little after it started (there was some filming on their street so parking was difficult to find) and I’m glad I got there then. Normally at the beginning of their parties there aren’t a ton of people there yet. So I’m able to focus on the few people who were there and fortunately the people there at the beginning were the people I wanted to see!

Rayshell has been working out at Orangetheory lately, so it was great to catch up with her and hear what has been happening lately in her life. We haven’t been able to work out together yet, but I’m hoping that will happen soon. And we keep saying that we are due for another happy hour hangout, but both of us have been really crazy with our schedules.

Rayshell also was curious to get an update on me with my health situation. I know it can sound scary to hear that someone has a tumor in their liver, but I’m in no pain or discomfort and if I didn’t know I had the tumor nothing would be different in my life. I think letting her know that I’m totally fine reassured her that I really am ok. And I updated her on when I’d have updates so she could know when to expect them.

I also got to see my friend Sarah at the party. Again, we hadn’t seen each other in a while so it was so much fun to catch up! Since both of our last names are Levin, we figured that we must be somewhat related (there is a story that all people named Levin are at least 35th cousins or something). So we were reviewing our family trees to see if we could figure out any overlap. So far, we haven’t figured out where our family trees overlap, but I have a feeling that eventually we will figure it out.

Most of the time I was at the party, I was just catching up on life with my friends. We did discuss other things (mainly politics and the craziness going on right now), but it did feel like everyone wanted this party to be a catch up party. It did make me feel a little less guilty about not seeing my friends lately since it seemed like everyone was feeling the same way. Knowing that a bunch of us felt like this made me so grateful that Rayshell and Paul threw this party so we could all hang out.

I got to see a few other friends at the party, but when it was about 10pm, I needed to head home. I had been up since 6 that morning and I knew I needed to be up at 7 the next morning. As much as I wish I could have stayed later and seen my other friends who I knew were showing up later that night, my sleep has to be a priority for me now (I’m totally turning into an old person!). But before I left, Sarah and I had to get a photo with Rayshell in the middle. It’s a photo we’ve done a bunch of times so it’s become a tradition for us now!

levin-sandwich

Hopefully either Rayshell will have another party soon or I can organize a hangout with my friends soon so I can see them again! I don’t want to go a few months without getting to catch up again!

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Default ThumbnailHappy Birthday Rayshell (or I Love Casual Hangouts!) Default ThumbnailA Casual Brunch (or More Hangout And Less Catchup) Default ThumbnailSAG-AFTRA Holiday Party (or Getting Ready For Elections Again) Default ThumbnailAnother Virtual Friend Hangout (or Trying Not To Miss A Summer Tradition Too Much) Default ThumbnailTrivia Night (or An Unexpected Friend Hangout) Default ThumbnailChildhood Friend Hangout (or I Don’t Think We Look 18 Years Older)

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Low-Key Halloween (or A Work In Progress)

Posted on November 2, 2016 | 1 comment

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, but this past Halloween I was feeling a bit down. While my stomach was pretty much completely better by then, I was still feeling off and the night of my friend’s Halloween party I was pretty exhausted. But even though I was feeling not myself, I wasn’t going to miss what I knew would be an epic Halloween party!

The party was held on Saturday night (so most people didn’t have to work the next morning) and originally I thought I would have to work that night before the party. Since that’s what I though my schedule was like, I planned a costume that would be easy to do going from work. But then the week before, I found out I wasn’t needed anymore that day, so I had all the time I wanted to get ready for the party. I debated changing my costume, but I decided to go with my original idea.

I saw an idea for this costume online, but I changed it up a bit to make it my own. But all it took was some caution construction tape and a hard hat to turn me into a work in progress! It’s not my best costume, but it made me happy and I liked that it wasn’t something that was obvious right away. Plus, I felt cute and that is so important when you aren’t feeling totally like yourself.

halloween-costume

Every year, Marie and Chris make their parties bigger and better. They said that they were going to tone things down a bit this year, but clearly that plan went out the window! As soon as I got to the party, I saw that they turned their back patio area into a huge carnival tent!

circus-tent

Inside of the tent, they had different little rooms set up with seating and lots of old carnival posters.

in-the-tent

And they had a photo set up with a stage advertising a freak show!

freak-show

It was incredible! They put months of work into the party and I know all of us are so grateful that they love to host and do these insane parties! And none of us expected them to go as big as they did this year, so I think everyone was extra surprised when they saw all the work in the backyard.

Because I was feeling a bit low, I spent most of my time sitting down and talking with friends. But that was perfectly fine with me. We got to have a lot of fun conversation about our costumes, we discussed politics (which I love because we can have a polite debate), and several people asked me how I was doing and what was going on with my liver.

And as always, they had amazing food at the party. Most of it was stuff that I knew I shouldn’t have, so I tried to eat before going to the party. But fortunately someone made meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top (it almost looked like a cake) so I was able to eat something and feel like I wasn’t missing out on too much.

I really wanted to be more social than I was especially since there were friends there that I hadn’t seen in a while, but after being at the party for about an hour or so I started to feel a bit worse. I took it easy and tried to relax while sitting down and that helped the odd feeling go away. But I also knew it as a sign that this wasn’t going to be a party that I was going to be at for as long as I would have liked.

I ended up leaving around 10pm (I had been there about 3 hours) and unfortunately I ended up missing the costume contest. But everyone else there had such incredible costumes that I knew there was no way I was going to win or place, so I was ok missing it. I’m just glad that I got to be there for a few hours to see my friends and the super creative costumes that they made!

It was a low-key Halloween party, but it was perfect with me. And as far as what I did on the actual day of Halloween, that will be tomorrow’s post!

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Default ThumbnailHalloween Awesomeness (or I Am Covfefe) Default ThumbnailA Halloween Outing (or Dressing Up As Me) Default ThumbnailFirst Halloween Party Of The Season (or At Least I Made An Appearance) Default ThumbnailA Busy Halloween (or Dressing As A Box Office Employee) Default ThumbnailHaving Some Halloween Fun (or Creating A Clever Costume) Default ThumbnailLow Key Halloween (or Costume Flashback)

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Low Key Labor Day (or Just A Regular Weekend)

Posted on September 7, 2016 | Comments Off on Low Key Labor Day (or Just A Regular Weekend)

I know so many friends of mine were so excited to have a 3 day weekend this past weekend. For me, it’s a normal weekend since Mondays are always a day off for me (and I worked my regular Saturday shift as well). It’s weird to see so many people saying how amazing having an extra weekend day is when I know that everything is the same as usual for me (I won’t even get extra time off at Christmas or New Years because of the days of the week the holidays fall on).

My holiday weekend did get off to an exciting start with my outing to the Bowl. But being out later than normal for me (plus my hips were killing me) caused me not to get that much sleep on Saturday night. I woke up later than normal on Sunday feeling groggy and still tired. I’ve been working lately on getting my sleep schedule to be the same pretty much every night (it’s been tough for me) and sleeping in really did seem to throw my entire day off.

I spent the beginning of my Sunday during my usual errands for the weekend, and then my friends Marie and Chris were throwing a Labor Day party. They did their party on Sunday so people would have Monday to recover from being out all night. And while I didn’t get to make drunk fruit like I have for several parties, I did have some of the leftovers from the Bowl (fruit and sea salt brownies) to contribute to the party.

I really wanted to be social and have a great time at the party, but the exhaustion was hitting me pretty hard. I still had fun seeing all my friends and just having a good time being outside with everyone, but I was just feeling off while I was there. I was hoping that I could get over that feeling once I was at the party and around all the energy of my friends, but unfortunately it stuck with me. I managed to stay at the party until about 9pm and then felt it would be best for me to get back to my house to get a decent night sleep.

Labor Day wasn’t anything special for me. I did my usual Monday morning workout and then I really didn’t have much of a plan. I thought about trying to see if any friends wanted to hang out that day, but I never got motivated enough to try to make some plans.

So instead of being out at a BBQ or some other party on Labor Day, I spent the day at my house watching movies and being lazy. It wasn’t the best thing I could have done, but it seemed to be the best thing for me at the time. I really enjoyed just relaxing and watching movies that I’ve been wanting to see while on my couch. I took a couple of breaks throughout the day to read (something else I love) and then went back to watching movies. It really was an ideal day for me and I finally got over my exhaustion and felt back to my normal self.

Now that the summer is over, I’m getting ready for fall and the end of the year (which will be here before we know it!). I know I’ll get time off of work for Thanksgiving but like I said before I won’t get any extra time off for Christmas or New Years. It’s not horrible to not get any extra time off, but I was sad when I realized that I would only get my usual Sunday and Monday off for each of those. But I’m planning on maximizing those two days off each week through the fall and I’ve got some really fun things that I think I’ll be able to do with my weekends coming up!

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Default Thumbnail4th Of July Weekend (or An Early Holiday) Default ThumbnailAn At-Home Labor Day (or The Unofficial End To A Weird Summer) Default ThumbnailLow-Key Halloween (or A Work In Progress) Default ThumbnailA Very Low-Key Christmas (or Not Spending My Day Off Doing My Usual Stuff) Default ThumbnailA Very Low-Key NYE (or I’m Glad I Don’t Have To Impress My Friends) Default ThumbnailLow Key Halloween (or Costume Flashback)

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The Best Birthday Party! (or Wine Bar and Breakfast Bar)

Posted on August 16, 2016 | 1 comment

This past Saturday was my birthday party and I have to say that it was one of the best birthday parties I’ve ever had in my life! Planning a birthday is stressful for me (worrying about if anyone will show up, if it costs money if people can afford it, hoping that everyone gets along) so while I love having a party I hate having to plan it. But I decided to go for something easy again this year and had a gathering at Bodega Wine Bar where I’ve had my birthday before.

I have to say, the staff at Bodega Wine Bar are amazing! I worked with one of their party coordinators and she was really easy to work with and didn’t require me to do too much. All we had to figure out was how many people would be there so we could figure out what reserved section would be best. I figured that maybe 10 people would be there and I loved the horseshoe section where my party was before so that was set up for me.

I set up a Facebook event for my birthday and about 7 people said they could make it, so I figured it would be a fun and relaxing hangout with my friends. And since it was my birthday, I decided to go with a really fun outfit and wore a tutu I got at Kiyonna a while ago (this picture is from the end of the party so I’m looking a bit wrinkled and my makeup and hair are not as done as they were at the beginning).

Birthday Outfit

A friend drove over to Bodega with me so I wouldn’t be there alone when I arrived. But it turned out some of my friends were already there! And by the time we sat down, even more people had arrived and we were starting to fill up our reserved section.

Usually with birthday parties like this, people arrive throughout the evening and there is a flow of people leaving and arriving throughout the evening. But this time, it seemed like almost everyone was there within the first 30 minutes! We quickly filled all the seats in our section at the bar and started to have to grab more chairs for everyone to sit down!

Most of the people at the party didn’t know the others who were there. But so many of them were people who I wanted to introduce to each other and everyone seemed to be getting alone and having a great time seeing the few people they knew and getting to know the people that they didn’t. Every so often, I just had to sit back and look at how awesome it was to have so many people there to celebrate my birthday and to watch everyone just having an awesome time!

And of course, we had to get a group picture with almost everyone who made it. The picture isn’t the best quality, but you can see that everyone is happy and it was an amazing turnout (I’m all the way in the back).

Bodega

We had some food and drinks but mainly we were all just talking about the most random stuff (like Disneyland or podcasts) and everyone was joining in on the conversation and enjoying being around everyone else.

As we got closer to 10pm, most people were leaving (some had come in from the valley and they didn’t want to be out too late), but there were a few of us who weren’t ready to end the night yet. Then we remembered that Nighthawk Breakfast Bar (which closed down shortly after I went there) just reopened in Venice that week! So we got into our cars and drove over to Venice and hoped that we could get in so we could have some of their amazing food!

Fortunately, there was a table available when we got there and we were quickly seated and checking out the menu to see what we wanted to get.

Nighthawk

My friend Elisa wasn’t able to get to Bodega but was able to join us at Nighthawk. And then I realized that the 4 of us (me, Elisa, Michelle, and Dani) who got the season tickets for Pantages for next season were all together for the first time ever! And not only that, Saturday marked exactly 1 year until we are going to be seeing “Hamilton” during opening weekend in our season! That is something to celebrate and we tried to get a photo to acknowledge that.

Hamilton

None of us really wanted to have drinks since we drank at Bodega, but we had to get some food for sure! Michelle and I have both been craving the Benedict Fries since we went to Nighthawk the first time. So of course we got those to share with everyone. And the last time we went we were tempted by the Tower of Bacon, but didn’t have room in our stomachs so we got that this time as well. The fries were better than they were before and the bacon was super delicious, but we wouldn’t have called the bacon a “tower”.

Tower of Bacon

We all enjoyed the food so much and it was the perfect way to end the evening! Even though Nighthawk was not the original plan, it worked out so well and I’m so glad we decided to make a stop there after Bodega! It really made my birthday so amazing and I had the best time!

I’m so grateful for my friends who were able to make it out to celebrate with me and for the ones who couldn’t make it but were celebrating virtually through texts and Facebook messages. I really had the best birthday ever and I’m hoping that this means that this year is going to be the best year ever as well!

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Default ThumbnailHappy Hour Party (or Getting To See Co-Workers Again) Default ThumbnailAlmost The End Of A Decade For Me (or The Birthday Countdown Has Begun) Default ThumbnailBirthday Countdown (or Taking Suggestions On How To Celebrate) Default ThumbnailGoing Back To Normal (or An Early End To My Birthday Adventures) Default ThumbnailWine and Mustaches (or Drinking Reckless Love) Default ThumbnailBirthday Party Adventure! (or Another Traditional Celebration)

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Going To Maryland (or A Cousin Reunion)

Posted on July 27, 2016 | 2 comments

As I’ve mentioned, this past weekend I went to Maryland for a family reunion. I know it’s a bit crazy to fly back east just to be there for the weekend, but I had limited time I could take off and being there for the weekend is better than nothing!

My trip began on Friday (I was able to take both Friday and Saturday off from my box office job) when I flew to Baltimore. I was able to get on the same flight as my brother and sister-in-law so that was nice. Our flight was a bit delayed, so we grabbed some lunch at LAX before getting on the plane. It was a super packed flight and we couldn’t sit together, so I spent my flight reading and trying to not panic (I didn’t take any panic meds and I did great!).

When we landed, we got a cab out to Stevensville and arrived at Maria’s Love Point (the bed and breakfast my family was staying at) after midnight. We were all pretty tired so all we did was say hi to my parents, find our rooms, and go to bed. My room was perfect for me and I fell asleep pretty quickly that night (thankfully no jet-lag for me).

The next morning I woke up and had an amazing breakfast (seriously, Maria’s Love Point was the best B&B ever!) and went exploring around the B&B with my family. It was crazy hot and humid but we did want to go outside to check out the amazing view that the property had.

The View

There was a dock that went out into the water and we walked out to the end and back. I was shocked to see that the water was filled with jellyfish! Everywhere you looked you would see them so I was glad I was up on a dock and not walking along the edge of the water.

That day was the family reunion, but since it wasn’t starting until 1pm we tried to relax that morning. We all ended up spending a bit of time in the pool to try to beat the heat, but we were so grateful that the B&B had some really powerful air conditioning when we needed to cool off more inside.

Maria's Love Point

The family reunion was actually held at Maria’s Love Point, so that made things pretty convenient for us. We hung out in the pool until about noon and then we all started getting ready. It was being catered by a local restaurant and it was being held in a big room on the bottom floor (it was supposed to be outside but with the extra high temperatures and humidity we ended up moving it inside which was best).

I was pretty excited for this reunion! I went to the last big family reunion which was 16 years ago (half of my lifetime ago) but I hadn’t made it to any of the smaller reunions in the years since. I saw my aunt, uncle, cousin, and cousin’s girlfriend 5 years ago at my brother’s medical school graduation; but I hadn’t seen them since. I was in touch with a bunch of family through Facebook, but that’s not the same.

This reunion was a reunion of cousin’s on my dad’s mom’s side. It was my dad, his siblings, his 1st cousins, and all of the 1st cousins’ kids and grandkids. We were only missing a couple of people there but we had 30 cousins from 3 generations all in one place which was incredible!

3 Generations Of Cousins

It was really great seeing people again for the first time in years and I even got to meet some cousins that I had never met before! It was a bit overwhelming, but I think we were all thinking that so there was no awkwardness at all.

Even though I was super excited to see everyone, I think I was extra excited to see my cousins that I’ve been closest to over the years. My cousin Leah (who I believe is technically my second cousin but we always called her my third cousin) and I were super close as teenagers. She came to stay with my family for a month for a couple of summers and I stayed with her family for a few weeks one summer. She even came out to California (she lives in Pennsylvania) for my Sweet 16. We were pen-pals for a couple of years and we see each other on Facebook, but the last time I saw her in person was 16 years ago at that reunion. Since then she’s gotten married and has 2 kids!

I was also super excited to see my cousin Rachel (who is Leah’s sister). She and I weren’t as close before as Leah and I were (Leah and I are only a few months apart and Rachel is a bit younger), but we’ve stayed in touch through social media and we’ve got similar personalities and senses of humor. I know if we lived closer to each other that we would be super close and probably hanging out quite a bit. She’s also had a kid since the last time I saw her.

And Alisa is my first cousin Danny’s girlfriend. Before this reunion, I had only seen her once in person 5 years ago my brother’s medical school graduation. At the time, she was super pregnant with their first kid. She actually had him a few days after I met her. And since then, she and Danny have had another baby. Again, we see each other online all the time and we’ve become very close, but it had been years since I had seen her in person.

The four of us were hanging out quite a bit at the reunion and I had to get a selfie with my amazing cousins. None of them are my first cousins, but that doesn’t matter. I love them all so much and I am so incredibly lucky that I get to have them as my family.

My Cousins

5 years ago (when I last saw Danny and Alisa), we got a picture together since before that trip it had been over 10 years since I had seen Danny. Ross, Danny, Alisa, and I got a quick picture after dinner and I’ve loved having that picture. Since we were all together again, we had to recreate the photo with the 2 babies (one of whom is technically in that first picture in Alisa’s belly).

5 Years Later

I have to say, I don’t think we’ve really changed that much in 5 years!

Sadly, the reunion had to come to a close around 6pm. I loved spending time with everyone, but we only had the space for a certain time and we didn’t want to take advantage. There was still more family time (more on that tomorrow), so it was only goodbye for the night.

While my parents, brother, sister-in-law and I were relaxing that evening; we found out that the house next to the B&B was throwing a huge party that night and they would be having a fireworks show. They do this party once a year and it happened to be the night we were there! So after it got dark, we all headed out to the patio to check out the show from the next house.

Fireworks

By the time the fireworks were done, all of us were pretty tired from the big day and we all headed back to our rooms to get a good night sleep before the next day (and my last full day in Maryland). And I’ll write about that tomorrow!

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Default ThumbnailThe Little Mermaid, Again (or A 15 Year High School Reunion) Default ThumbnailA Disneyland Tease (or A Mini High School Reunion Steps Away From The Happiest Place On Earth) Default ThumbnailThe Rest Of My Maryland Trip (or More Family Time) Default ThumbnailOfficially Getting A New Cousin (or A Zoom Wedding) Default ThumbnailPassover (or A Family Reunion A Decade Overdue) Default ThumbnailA Birthday Celebration (or An Orangetheory Reunion)

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Happy Birthday Rayshell (or I Love Casual Hangouts!)

Posted on July 20, 2016 | Comments Off on Happy Birthday Rayshell (or I Love Casual Hangouts!)

This past weekend was pretty busy for me, but that was fun for me! I love when I have a bunch of awesome things to go to and being able to be social with my friends. I can get pretty isolated with just working at home and then going to the gym, so whenever a friend throws a party I really do try to go! It’s good motivation to get out and do things when someone is having a party and I know I need to be more social so this helps.

Rayshell had her birthday recently and she had a casual get-together at her house on Saturday. While I do love big event birthday parties, it’s nice when you have something smaller and more relaxed at times (especially when you are in the middle of a crazy weekend). Rayshell (and her husband Paul) are pretty amazing at having parties at their place so I was pretty excited to get to spend time with them and the rest of my friends. I had a bit of a busy day on Saturday with work and some other things, but I still ended up being at their party pretty much right when it started (I have a reputation for usually being the first guest at their parties).

The party was pretty chill and that is what I feel makes it awesome. There was no pressure to dress up fancy or to have to impress everyone there. It was just a fun hangout with a bunch of friends most of whom I haven’t seen since Rayshell’s wedding. I’m so glad Rayshell does a couple of parties a year because they are great times for me to get to see a bunch of people who live all over LA and it’s not easy to get to see them all the time. Also, Rayshell and Paul’s apartment really is set up well for parties so I think they like hosting them there.

I spent most of my evening talking with my friends on updates on their lives (we all also discussed what we bought or wanted to buy on Amazon Prime Day) and it was just nice to relax around Rayshell and Paul’s apartment and getting to find out what people are up to without it being an update on Facebook. We all feel like we see each other more often because of social media, but then when we get together we realize how it has been a while since we were in person together!

And of course, since this was a birthday party there was cake. And when we were all singing to Rayshell I got this super adorable picture of Rayshell and Paul (seriously, they are the cutest couple!).

Rayshell and Paul

I really wanted to stay later at the party, but my body was getting ready to shut down around 11pm so I had to leave shortly after the cake. Fortunately, most of us aren’t night owls so I think most of the people I knew would be at the party got there on the earlier side so I didn’t miss them by leaving by 11pm. I really was having a great time at the party and talking with everyone, but since I had a 20 minute drive home I really knew I had to leave when I was feeling tired.

So I said goodbye to Rayshell, Paul, and all of my friends there and headed back to my car to head home. It really was a fun hangout with everyone and I think we all appreciated Rayshell and Paul for hosting another great party and giving us all an excuse to hang out again. I think the next hangout opportunity is going to be my birthday! I still need to figure out what to do, but I can’t wait to see everyone again in a few weeks!

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4th Of July Weekend (or An Early Holiday)

Posted on July 6, 2016 | Comments Off on 4th Of July Weekend (or An Early Holiday)

With the 4th of July falling on a Monday this year, things were a bit different from normal for me. Since I have Mondays off in a normal work week, I didn’t get any extra time off for the holiday (that’s going to happen again at Christmas and New Years too). And since most of my friends had Monday off for the holiday, the big party ended up being on Sunday night so everyone could take their day off to recover.

So I headed over to Chris and Marie‘s house on Sunday night for their annual BBQ party. I made Drunk Fruit again since it was such a big hit last time and I bought extra fruit so we could have some regular cut up fruit too (this was before I realized that 4 of us would be bringing watermelon to the party).

Drunk Fruit

As with all of the parties that Chris and Marie throw, this was a fun but low-key party. It was actually one of the biggest parties I can remember them having, so it was a lot of people in the backyard eating a lot of good food and just being silly. And even though it wasn’t the 4th, there were a couple of people around the neighborhood shooting off (illegal) fireworks so we didn’t miss those. I didn’t go up on the roof this year to watch the fireworks, but I could see them pretty decently from the ground in the backyard.

And since we started a tradition a few years ago with a couple of us running through the sprinklers, we had to do that again this year. Technically, only the first time we took the photo (2 years ago) we were running through the sprinklers. Now we pretend that the sprinklers are on but the photos are now a tradition that we have to keep up. And the photo looked pretty amazing this year!

Sprinklers Photo

I just love how the first year we were just running through the sprinklers, last year we were almost making fun of ourselves, and this year we were making fun of making fun of ourselves.

3 Years

I can’t imagine how crazy the next year’s photo will be! And because everyone had to watch us take the photo, a few others wanted to join in on the fun so we got a slightly larger group to be in another pretend sprinkler photo.

Big Group

I stayed at the party until about 10:30pm and then headed back home. I’m sure everyone else was staying up late and continuing the party, but since I knew I had stuff to do the next morning I didn’t want to be out too late.

On the 4th, I actually had a pretty low-key day. I went to my workout and then I spent a bit of time with my friend Dea. She’s been getting a lot of donations to replace what she lost in the fire and I went over to help sort things and get them organized. It was amazing to see how many things people have given to her and I know that as soon as she finds a new home to rent she will be set up really quickly.

After helping out, I drove home and thought about going out to see the fireworks somewhere. I texted a bunch of friends, but people either already had plans or weren’t going to go out. After a while, I decided that I didn’t feel like going out and spending money to see fireworks somewhere. So I ended up spending the night home watching silly movies on Netflix and listening to some crazy neighbors set off fireworks down the block (they sounded so close that I could feel my house shake sometimes).

Overall, I think this was a pretty awesome 4th of July weekend. I got to hang out with my friends and be at a BBQ and I got to be lazy and relax around my house. I don’t know what more I could have wanted out of my weekend because this really was the perfect combination of everything I wanted to do.

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Default ThumbnailNot My Typically 4th Of July (or Taking Advantage Of A Day Off) Default ThumbnailA Friend-Filled Fourth (or Just Enjoying Being Around Awesome People) Default ThumbnailLow Key Labor Day (or Just A Regular Weekend) Default ThumbnailA Friend Weekend (or Getting Up Early and Not Doing Much) Default Thumbnail4th Of July (or Hot Dogs, Fireworks, And Rooftops) Default ThumbnailFabulous 4th Of July (or Fireworks!)

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I Wish I Could Go To Comic Con (or Your Chance To See The Rock Opera)

Posted on July 1, 2016 | Comments Off on I Wish I Could Go To Comic Con (or Your Chance To See The Rock Opera)

A while back I wrote about the screening of “Once Upon A Time: The Rock Opera” that I got to go to. I really loved the movie and I feel so lucky that I got to check it out! I love how talented my friends are and I hope that I get to do a project as fun as the rock opera is one day. It’s really inspiring to see my friends create projects and get to see the success they have with them. Maybe “Single Parent Date Night” will be like that? I still feel as much excitement for my friends’ projects as I do for my own.

After that screening, I started to work with my friend Erin (the creator and star of the rock opera) on another project. While the other project fell through a bit (it just wasn’t something either of us could do), Erin said that she would want to work with me again. I knew that we make a pretty great team together and I’m always looking for more day jobs to add to my day job collection. Plus, I was pretty excited about that because it is awesome to work with friends and even more awesome to work with incredibly talented friends!

So when Erin asked me if I could help with the Comic-Con event that she’s doing for the rock opera, I said yes without thinking about it! She’s going to be putting on such a cool event and I knew I wanted to be a part of it. It’s going to be a sing-a-long concert plus screening. There is going to be a DJ there and lots of cool merchandise, food, and fun the entire night. It’s really going to be one of the best after parties at Comic-Con this year and I know that it will sell out in advance. I thought it was the coolest thing ever that I was asked to help out. I’ve actually never been to Comic-Con, so to get to go to an event there is a dream to me! I’ve been applying each year to get a press or performer pass, but I’ve never been successful at getting one. So any way I can get there is very exciting to me.

Then I looked at the dates of comic-con. That’s the weekend I will be back east for a family reunion so I can’t attend the rock opera party. I’m not skipping my family reunion (most of the family that will be there will be family I haven’t seen in 16 years) so there’s no way I can be there in person. While that’s a loss for me, I’m hoping that some of you will be able to attend (and maybe tell me how awesome it is)!

The event is going to be on July 23rd (doors open at 7pm and the screening starts at 9pm) at the 10th Ave Arts Center. You can buy your tickets at INDIETIX, but if order before July 5th and you enter the promo code SDCCROCKS15 at checkout you’ll get 15% off tickets!

Rock Opera Comic Con

I really hope all of you already planning on going to Comic-Con will get tickets for this party and get to experience not only a great party but such a fun movie! And if you don’t have a Comic-Con pass, this party doesn’t require one so you can come and experience a part of Comic-Con without needing to have a pass!

I’m already jealous of all of you who will get to go to the rock opera party. I know I’m missing an incredible event (it’s for a good reason but I’m still sad) but I hope that a bunch of you will be able to go! If you do, make sure you say hi to Erin for me!

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“BLUE” (or Supporting A Friend’s Film)

Posted on June 21, 2016 | Comments Off on “BLUE” (or Supporting A Friend’s Film)

This past weekend, I got to attend the premiere of my friend Robert’s film. This was something that I know he had been working really hard on, and I was so excited to see the finished product. So I had been counting down the days to the screening!

Robert worked with Marie and Chris (the epic party throwers) on this project, so a lot of people attending the screening were the same people who I see at lots of parties throughout the year. That made the event even more fun and I think everyone shared my excitement about it!

The film that Robert and Chris did is called “BLUE” and it is a very personal story for Robert. It shows people what it is like living with depression and how it can rule your life even if you are doing something fun or that you love. Depression in the film was represented by Blue, a puppet, and I think it was a really great way to show people what mental illness is like.

Blue

Technically, I was diagnosed with depression when I was younger, but the more I’ve learned about mental illness and depression I believe that I was actually misdiagnosed. I think my depression was a side effect of my panic/anxiety disorder. The panic attacks made me sad and I didn’t know how to make things better. That depression is very different from when people are diagnosed with depression, but I can still relate to the concept of the film.

While I don’t deal with my panic/anxiety on a daily basis, I do live in fear for when the next attack will be. Fortunately, they are getting better now so I’m not in as much fear as I was before. But I’m still wondering when the bubble will burst and I’ll have a horrible panic attack that causes me to not be able to do anything for a day or so. That feeling is similar to what some people with depression feels when they wonder when their next down time will hit them.

I loved this movie! It’s short, but the message is very effective and clear. I think it’s a great way to show others what mental illness can feel like and how we can feel crazy when we can’t just forget about it. And I think that everyone else who viewed it felt the same way because everyone was just so touched after the end credits were done.

And because my friends Robert and Chris are so amazing, they have posted the movie on YouTube for everyone to see and share.

(if you can’t see the video above, click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk_D9x5BeRI)

I hope that you all take a few minutes to watch this movie and to share with everyone you know. Let your friends who have a mental illness know that you are trying to understand them. And let your friends without mental illness know that they should watch this so that they can try to understand their friends who battle this every day.

After the screening, Robert had arranged for a photographer (Adam, who did my last headshots!) to take photos of us with the puppet who was in the movie. I love photo booth set ups and this one was so much fun! And of course, taking photos with a puppet is a pretty awesome thing too.

Me and Blue

Adam also took some fun candid shots before and after the screening. Most of them haven’t been posted yet, but I love this one of a bunch of us in the backyard before the screening started.

Party

After the screening and photos, most of us hung out in the backyard just chatting like normal. But it wasn’t like normal because everyone was more open than I think we’ve ever been before. We were discussing some more serious things than we normally do and there was no shame in what anyone had to say. This movie really did bring us all closer together even though we were already pretty close to begin with. I think anything that helps to remove the shame from any mental illness is such a gift and I’m so glad that Robert and Chris did this so we could feel more open with each other.

If you deal with depression or mental illness, please know that you aren’t alone. There are so many of us out there who know exactly what you are going through and maybe not everyone is ready to share that with the world. By being willing to share, you might inspire others to share and be open too (I experienced that with this blog).

And if you are dealing with mental illness and want help, please get it. There is no shame in needing someone to talk to or medication to make things better in your life. You may find a way to live a fuller life by getting help, and that is something you don’t want to miss out on.

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Celebrating Ms. In The Biz (or 3 Years Later!)

Posted on June 7, 2016 | Comments Off on Celebrating Ms. In The Biz (or 3 Years Later!)

This weekend, Ms. In The Biz celebrated their 3rd anniversary! I’ve been writing for the blog since the beginning, and in 3 years I’ve written dozens of posts (you can see them all here). So many women have written for Ms. In The Biz, and it seems like we keep getting new writers each month! I’m not sure how many of us have been with the blog since the beginning, but I’m super proud that I’m one of the original contributors.

The celebration for the anniversary was held in Santa Monica. There was actually a street festival happening in Santa Monica that day, so traffic was a bit insane. So I decided to take the light rail out to Santa Monica. I’ve taken the light rail a bunch to get to Hollywood, but the extension to Santa Monica just opened up last month so I figured it was a great time to take advantage of it. The Santa Monica stop was only a few blocks from the party, and those streets were all shut down to traffic because of the festival. So it actually ended up being pretty ideal.

When I arrived, I took some time to decompress from walking over and dealing with the crowds before mingling with everyone (I also wanted to smooth down my hair before I took any photos). The set up was pretty nice with a step and repeat with a photographer right by the entryway.

Step and Repeat

There was some food from Chipotle and cookies from Sprinkles (I didn’t know that they did more than cupcakes!). And there was a wine table as well as a liquor table where various liquors were mixed with tea. I didn’t end up drinking, but I still enjoyed checking out what was there.

Shortly after I got there, a couple of my friends showed up so we found a couch to hang out on a chat. It was starting to get a bit crowded, so being able to sit off to the side helped to keep my anxiety away. Since the red carpet photos weren’t being done the entire party, I also remembered to head over there for some photos. I don’t have the official photos yet, but the photographer was nice enough to take a photo with my phone so I’d have it right away!

Red Carpet

The party was pretty casual so that was nice. There was a raffle about halfway through the event (I didn’t win anything but that’s ok) as well as a quick video highlighting some of the projects that the writers have worked on (I didn’t get a chance to share anything so I wasn’t in that). But most of the time, I was just chatting with my friends about lots of random stuff. I know I probably should have networked more, but with so many people in a space I can feel really shy and end up sticking with people I know.

Since I had to take the light rail back home (and I had some work I had to get done), I didn’t stay too late. I was there for a couple of hours, but there were still a few hours to go when I ended up leaving. The walk back to the light rail was easy enough and even though I had to stand the entire ride (while I was in heels), it was still a pretty convenient way to get to Santa Monica. I’ll have to take the light rail again there soon for a beach day since it is way easier than driving over and trying to find parking.

Congrats again to Ms. In The Biz for sharing amazing stories by amazing women for 3 years! I’m always inspired by each article I read and I’m honored that someone might be inspired by what I have to write too. I’m excited to see what cool things will happen for the blog in the next 3 years. I know that there are going to be some fabulous things in the future and I can’t wait to be a part of them!

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