Easter Haps and Birthday Bash

Last weekend, I spent Saturday morning studying with my friend Lisa; Saturday night with a bunch of my pals, helping my friend Chiara celebrate her 30th birthday and I spent Sunday with my friend Suzi - first at Easter services at the Hollywood Bowl, and then at an Easter party with some of her friends. I also got to meet her bird, Chula.

This is Lisa - she is my regular study buddy. We spend most Fridays and Saturdays in precisely this arrangement; only the location and our companions change. For some reason, when Lisa and I are together at any sort of coffee shop, we become WORK MACHINES and get so much done, plus, we get to chat a little bit and take breaks together. I'm so grateful for her!

Chiara's birthday was a "Red Carpet Event" - and so we were supposed to dress as though we were going to be on the red carpet (or as our favorite celebrity). Rather than wearing one of my fancy cocktail dresses from my Baylor ADPi advising days, I decided to do something a bit more funky. I found a fun black top with colored sequins, dressy shorts, and some awesome aviator-like sunglasses.... and decided to be Kristen Stewart, K-Stew if you will, from Twilight fame. I decided all I needed to do was put on the outfit and a scowl and I could be her doppleganger! Unfortunately, I'm not great at scowling, its more like pouting, so even though it was a good costume, I could never be unhappy enough to imitate her for long!

 Here I am (on the right, duh) with (L-R) Chelsea, Chiara, and Yen Ling. We loved getting to pose with Chiara at the backdrop on the red carpet (yes, there was really a red carpet... and a papparazo taking photos!).

 Posing with some of our friends from our research practicum course (L-R: Diane, Yen Ling, Chelsea, Siduri, and me)

This guy is a friend of Chiara's. We asked him if he would pose with me and squint like Robert Pattinson - and he did it! I think that technically he looks more like that guy from "3rd Rock from the Sun" (French Stewart)but considering I don't really look like K-Stew - its not a bad pic. At the least, it makes me laugh and is a good story.

Here's me and the birthday girl! The party was so much fun! The food was so delicious (and plentiful), the bar was open, and the dance floor was just the right size. We started dancing and tore it up for a long time before Yen Ling finally got us all off the dance floor and into the car, so that we could get some sleep before church the next day.

 Suzi and I met up at church at 8:15am the next morning. We rode the shuttle busses up to the Hollywood Bowl and go there early enough to get TERRIFIC seats in the box seats section of the venue. We love sitting close at regular church, so it is no surprise that we were really excited to sit so close for Easter church.

What a great service, too! The choir was really great, with an AWESOME soloist; there was a full orchestra; and the worship band sang some of my favorite songs, including a few Crowder Band favorites.

 Here is the orchestra and choir on the stage. I had to take three pics to get in all the people, but only wanted to post this one.

Before going to our Easter party, I joined Suzi at her condo, where we took some pics of her and her bird, Chula. Her boss, Jimmy Kimmel (!) had asked her for a picture either of Chula alone, or of Suzi and Chula together. She wasn't sure why (and later he said it was a surprise) but I was happy to take some pictures for her. My reward was that I got to hold Chula (and she was even nice to me) and get my picture taken!

After this quick errand, we headed over to an Easter party with Jimmy's family. Suzi is a regular at this (very large) family gathering, hosted by his cousins. Everyone was REALLY nice and I was so blessed to be with a group of friends and family who really seemed to enjoy each other, and at a place where there were a lot of kids. There was an easter egg hunt for the kids, and Jimmy's son dressed up as the Easter Bunny for the kids - it was so cute!

From a nerdy celebrity loving perspective, I was also really excited because not only did I get to meet Jimmy (who was very welcoming) but I also met Adam Carolla (and his wife and kids, all so nice and cute as can be), and comedian Jeff Ross - as well as some other people that I've seen on Jimmy's show. What was best about it, though, was that it wasn't a whole celebrity thing - people were just hanging out and having fun. So that was especially nice, because we were all sitting there together when the earthquake happened and we all kind of mildly-freaked out (but luckily, no damage, just a little seasick!).

So there you have it friends! More to come soon!