My friend Karl had a Cinco de Mayo party at his house which is called "Ludgate" because that's the name of the street he lives on. The house has a pool and a great layout, so it was a perfect place for our celebration. I actually helped cook! There was great food, even better company, and a fun pinata that didn't last long.
I attended another fun Dodgers game with my friends Ember and Todd (both from Texas.) Todd actually graduated from both Clements High School and Texas A&M-but we missed each other by a few years-it's such a small world. Pamela Anderson threw the first pitch, and I realized who my new favorite Dodger player is (see below.) We enjoyed plenty of Dodger dogs, which I found out are grilled instead of steamed on an upper level of the stadium-next time I go, my goal is to find where exactly that stand is! I managed to not spill mustard all over myself, so I would say it was a pretty successful evening.
Pepperdine was having an alumni gathering the week after the Dodgers game at a local BBQ joint, so Ember, Jeni, Haley, Karl and I stopped by for some socializing and tri-tip....mmmmm
Ember and I flashing our pearly whites :)
Also in May, I got the privilege of being my friend Jeni's date to her co-worker Nina's wedding in Pasadena. Jeni's husband was working in Phoenix that weekend and couldn't make it, so I got to step in. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding at the Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanical Garden. The bride was beautiful and both the food and dancing were amazing. I even won a centerpiece to take home! Nina's colors included turquoise, my favorite, so I was in heaven. In addition to the fun peacock we saw in between the ceremony and reception, there were two screens in the reception room that showed the tide rolling in from a tropical location. The scene changed to dusk and then to night as the evening went on-it was really cool! Jeni and I took a picture together in front of the screen, and it looks like we were right there.
The all time highlight of May 2008 was traveling back to Texas to see my friends and family.
In College Station, we had a get together dinner in the outdoor patio at Ozona's and soooo many people that I love, miss and care about were able to make it. I truly thank you for making that night so special for me. It was bittersweet seeing the reasons why leaving and staying away from College Station is oh so hard. I had an action packed two days in the station that also included seeing Celeste (the best hair stylist ever- in my opinion), stopping by IPO to visit some of my old co-workers, and of course dropping by Northgate to see my little sis Sara. My friend Lona was gracious enough to let me crash at her house-so fun! Check out why they say the most beautiful women are from TEXAS......
The first night in Houston, I attended an Aggie Happy Hour where I got to catch up with Stephanie (my sorority sister) and Greg (another Clements and A&M grad.) My longhorn friends Andrea (my best friend since 2nd grade) and Mike (a friend from high school) came to the event just to see me! My sister Andee (A&M grad class of 2006 came too-which made it really special.)
My friend Sarah had her wedding reception that weekend at Maggiano's Little Italy near the Houston Galleria. Talk about good food! Man, we ate about six courses and had to roll ourselves home. It was such a blessing to seeing Sarah and Bryan again and be there for this special time. I couldn't be happier for this couple. They currently live in Dallas and are about to move into their new home. I brought Stephanie as my date and got to catch up with my friend Amy (who I met through Sarah) who loves rap/hip hop music just about as much as I do. Whenever Amy and I are together-watch out!
For the month of June, my parents decided to rent a house in Surprise, AZ (right outside of Phoenix) to see what it would be like to not live in Texas for a while. It was 120 degrees most days, but at least it's the dry kind of heat, right? Toby (our dog) was a good sport with the climate change. I traveled out there over a weekend and we had some great family bonding time seeing the Grand Canyon (a must see), taking a water aerobics class (all the McCall's went!), and seeing the movie Get Smart (very funny.) We took a train to the Grand Canyon that included some wild wild west entertainment (like a cowboy shootout and train robbery.) We had a blast!
Summer 2008 will officially be known as my summer of traveling and weddings. My sorority sister Katti got married in St. Louis, Missouri at the end of June and I was asked to read scripture in the ceremony. I happily obliged and booked an airline ticket immediately (you can never plan too early these days, you know?) I had never traveled to St. Louis before, so this was a real treat. It had been a couple of years since I had seen both Bob (Katti's then fiance, now husband) and Katti, so being there was truly an honor. I also got to see one of my best friends Bree who was the maid of honor. Bree currently lives in Florida so we don't get to see each other all too often living on opposite coasts-but I am hoping to visit her sometime this fall. The reception was held at a place called Windows on Washington in downtown St. Louis and it really gave the celebration a New York City kind of feel. I had tears in my eyes when I had to leave both Bree and Katti Sunday morning to fly back to LA. We used to have so much fun together living in the sorority house in College Station and this weekend brought back all of those great memories.
If May and June were the wedding months, July was definitely the party month! Throughout the month of July, I celebrated my friend Haley's birthday at La Paz (it was a surprise party thrown by her husband Zach), the 4th of July at Ludgate, and two birthday parties for my friend Jeni (one celebration took place at La Paz again and the other was a slumber party at her house-we watched cartoons way into the wee hours of the morning.)
My sister and I, along with my friends Carrie and Tomikka went to LACMA (LA County Museum of Art) and also to a fun restaurant called Home in Los Feliz (where all the celebs hang.) Sadly we didn't see any that day. But the food was good! As far as LACMA-it was a little too contemporary for me, but then again, this is LA.
Painted car at LACMA
Poster for the Japanese Art exhibit at LACMA
Lamppost art exhibit at LACMA
The girls in front of Home restaurant
My mom came to visit over a long weekend and took my sister and I to Universal Studios. She even bought us a season pass-so that we can go anytime for free for an entire year! My favorites were the Simpson's ride and the Water World show. The studio tour was great as well-we even got to see Wisteria Lane (from Desperate Housewives) and some fancy car moves from The Fast and Furious II or III movie (I can't recall which one.) They were filming DH that day, but surprisingly no one was outside to say hello.
The Simpson's Ride
I couldn't have ended July 2008 any better than to see our Dallas Cowboys at their training camp in Oxnard (which is about an hour north of us in LA.) We got to see Romo and T.O. up close and personal-it was awesome! I miss football (both professional and college level) so much!! We arrived in Oxnard about 7:30am last Saturday and didn't leave until the end of their second practice at 5pm. We are die hard fans for sure and got totally sunburned. My friends Zach, Haley, and Michelle, who went with me are all from the Dallas area and had a blast as well. This is the last year the Cowboys will train out here-next year they will start using the new Alamo Dome I believe. We topped off the day with a visit to Chick-Fil-A and Dairy Queen (neither one of those are within a 20 mile radius from us.)
Other fun stuff I should probably mention.....1. I saw the PIV (Jeremy Piven) again at the Malibu theatre. This makes time number 3!!! He sat three rows ahead of Andee and I for the movie The Dark Knight. I kept thinking "what is he going to do if he's in one of these movie previews?"
2. Andee has moved out here and is currently bunking up in my room. She has started school at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) in downtown LA. Read all about her adventures at andeemovestocali.blogspot.com
3. I got accepted into Pepperdine's MBA program and I start classes August 25th! I will continue to work full time and my classes will be at night or on the weekends. I'm both nervous and excited to be back in school again.
4. I've been teaching water aerobics this summer while our current teacher is on maternity leave. It's been challenging but very fun.
5. I'm coming back to Aggieland for the Army game the weekend of September 27th. I hope I get to see everyone again, in addition to Amanda, Sabrina, and anyone else who I was not able to catch up with last time.
6. Today I survived my first earthquake! It was a 5.4 and I definitely felt the rippling while our whole building shook. I truly appreciate all of your messages of concern-I am A-OK.
I would love to hear how you are doing....drop me a line when you can. I think this is all for now folks-happy reading and I hope you enjoy my new blog layout and design.
