my birthDAY.

The best part of having my birthday party on Friday night

was that I still had ALL day Saturday to look forward to and continue my birthday celebrations. 

My friends must also really love me. 

Because after partying the night before, they all met me the next morning for a birthday breakfast at Emle's. 

A special thanks to Tom for going half-sies on french toast and a breakfast burrito. 

A perfect breakfast combo. 

Another thanks for the entertaining magic tricks. 

Which is still boggling my mind. 

Next up was getting pampered with Laura as we got manis and pedis.

I gave her the recap of the party, chatted about life and discussed the morning birthday phone calls. 

One of my favorite things that happened on birthday occurred because of the following conversation...

The day or so before my birthday I told Chase about my party.

He replied by asking "What kind of party are you having Lee?"

Thinking that ALL parties have either Peter Pan or Buzz Lightyear themes. 

When I replied that I didnt have a theme, he informed me that I was having a Rapunzel party. 

When I told him that I was having pinatas at my party,

he asked when he was getting to go to my party,

when I told him it was after his bed time,

he didnt get it. 

He didnt understand how I was having a party that he wasnt going to be able to go to. Especially a party with a Jesse pinata. 

In order to include him in the celebrations, my parents came over to Laura and Matt's house early on Saturday and we had a little party of our own to include Chase.

Full of playing musical chairs (Chase won.) and duck, duck, goose. Pretty amusing seeing the adults chase Chase (ha) around our little circle in the middle of the family room. 

We opened presents and sung Happy Birthday. 

Then the adults went off for a fabulous birthday dinner at Cafe Bizou. 

We got spoiled with an amazing selection of appetizers and to die for entres. 

Ill take some crab cakes, sesame seed crusted salmon and potato pancakes any day.

The candle lit ambiance would have made T. Hoyt  giddy like a school girl. 

My family went around the table and told me all of the things that they love about me. 

I cried a bit and we all laughed. It was really sweet and fun. 

My night ended with hanging out and chatting with Trom. 

At which Tom insisted that for the last 30 mins of my birthday we go to MOP (make out point--although, no making out is allowed) to celebrate the last bit of my day. I was glad that Tom was insistent on still celebrating as much as we could.

And that was the end of my amazing birthday. 

Probably my best one yet. 

I dont know why people say they dread their birthdays as they get older, I love mine more with each year and they keep getting better and better. 

the party dont start till i walk in.

Last weekend was my birthday.

the BIG 2-4. 

And I may or may not have been thinking/ planning my birthday festivities since around...September. 

My most favorite birthday celebration was 3 years ago when we threw a big dessert party at our apartment after ward prayer. Whitney and I spent seriously all day baking goodies. And our apartment was literally packed with people. So packed it was kinda hard to walk around. 

This year I kinda wanted a repeat of that. 

However, I knew my roommates this year wouldn't be down with such a party at the house. 

So when I found out that Trevor--who lives in the self proclaimed party house of the ward--has a birthday a week after mine, we had a little conversation like this:

L: "Trevor! You're birthday is a week after mine"

T: "Oh no way, thats awesome!"

L: "Ya,we should have a combined birthday party, what do you think of that....??"

T: "Totally, Im down"

L: "Awesome. Party is gonna be at your house...."

It made me feel a little less guilty about having a party at the guy's house if one of the residents was a part of this party. 

I told them that I would provide food, decorations, music and invite everyone if all they did was make sure the house was clean. Seems like a simple request, but for those that have been to the house know this is almost a stretch. 

Needless to say, the party was so much fun! The desserts were good, house was clean. lots of people, good music and dancing and I was so happy during the entire thing. 

By far my favorite part was our impromptu buy of some pinatas!! Trevor had kinda joked that he wanted one. As soon as I heard that I thought it was an ingenious idea. Rudy took the liberty of buying some pinatas. After he got them he kept telling me how awesome they were but went on and on that they were so big, that he didnt think they would fit in the car. And I kept thinking "Chill. Of course they are gonna fit in my corrolla! My trunk is huge, and seriously, how big can a freaking pinata be!?" 

Ha. Was I wrong. Rudy apparently lives by the "go big or go home" idea. I have never seen such big pinatas in my life. They just barely fit in Lulu! 

And i was not disappointed at all at this decision to have pinatas at our 24th and 25th birthday parties. The boys were in charge or putting up the pinatas. And that did not disappoint either. 

What better way to enter a party by being graced with a pinata at the entrance of the house!

When it came to the pinata time, not gonna lie, I was a little embarrassed.  I mean, c'mon, Im celebrating my 24th birthday by being blindfolded and spun around to hit a child's pinata!? Once every girl had their turn and everyone got way into it, it was really fun. It took about 6 girls to destroy the Jesse pinata.

It took Trevor to destroy his Power Ranger in one swing. That boy can swing. Especially after I dissed his Giants. I think thats why he hit the pinata so hard towards me and hit me in the stomach. 

My party was packed with all of my favorite people. Im glad all of my close friends were able to celebrate my birthday with me the night before. 

Some of my favorite people include these outlandish boys. This is what happens when I ask to get a decent photo with them...

I have grown up with them and they are kinda like my brothers, and hence I have to put up with their ridiculous antics all the time. I couldnt be happier that we all live in LA together, hang out all the time and have become even better friends because of it. 

We then continued to dance until the wee hours of the night--ok, not that late--but we still danced for a long time. And I loved it. 

Birthday Party Celebration #1. Check. 

Success? Check. 

But the partying didn't stop there...

Utah Trip.

There are some things about Provo, Utah I just dont miss. 

I don't miss the cold and the snow. 

I don't miss homework and studying. 

I don't miss seeing girls running on the streets of Provo in 20 degree weather. 

I don't miss seeing babies being pushed in strollers on campus. 

I don't miss Provo All-Stars and tools.

I do, however, have a few things that I miss.

I miss campus life. 

I miss Cafe Rio, Terra Mia, Bombay House, J Dawgs, Gloria's and every other amazing restaurant.
I miss the dessert parties, dance parties in the parking lots or Nick Lombardo's car, ward prayer, two ball.
I miss my college life.
I miss The Lanai.
And most of all, I miss my friends.

I have said this 1,890 times and I will say it again.
I have THE MOST amazing college friends.
Blessed. Lucky. Fortunate.
Call it what you will, but I have been given an amazing group of friends. We were all lucky enough to move into Lanai around the same time and years later and separated in distance, we are still a great group of friends. I am convinced there is nothing quite like our crew.
And so, I am still obsessed with the Lanai Crew. I still get super excited when we are reunited over a great dinner.
I am still best friends with two amazing girls although separated across the world for a year and a half.
I can still jam out in the car, yell at some peds and laugh so hard as I drive through the streets of Provo with the most attractive boy to have graced BYU's campus.
I can still bond over The Bachelor and make jokes about saying "I KNOW" with the cutest twin around.
So when I headed to Provo to see all of these amazing people--of course I had a grand time--even if it was 40 degrees and snow was in sight.

My trip to Utah was much too quick. I seriously felt like a jumped around so much and didnt have enough quality time with everyone that I wanted to see. However, still fun to see lots of friends that I dont get the pleasure of seeing as much as I would like.
Here are the highlights:
--Hanging out with Annie and Christina. I loved spending time with them and having the three of us together again. Sleep overs at Lanai and with XTina. Dancing to Aqua and Mamma Mia, talking about boys and laughing over their missions.

--Seeing Taylor for the first time in about 6 months. Too long to be separated from that boy. We went to the gym together and he yelled at me like usual. We rocked to some Robyn. Crest Quest. And hanging out in his room while he cleaned and talked about life, just like usual.

i love this photo of lanai and tay. i realized i had no photos of my favorite provo place so i needed to document it. 


--A surprise visit from Chanel! Definitely a highlight. I knew she was in Utah but thought she was talking off right as I was getting in. Turns out she didnt leave until Monday so we got to hang out on Sunday. I love this girl. So funny and beautiful. And without fail I ALWAYS cry as I say goodbye.

--A Lanai reunion at the Lanai ward. The alums even got a shout from the pulpit. Taylor. Christina. Annie. Chanel and Cubstin.
--Sunday dinner at Annie's house in SLC.
--Hanging out with Cortney and Whitney and their amazing husbands. Those girls will always be my "roommates" no matter how long its been.
--J-Dawgs with Kurt. Another amazing friend. So funny and still homeless.

--Meeting my new cousin Askel and hanging with his cute mom Kelli and my uncle Rick. And although Rick gives me grief about everything, he is a pretty great uncle.

--finding out im still graffitied on the wall of the Lanai parking garage.

--Lanai Reunion dinner at Terra Mia. Pretty sure no one ordered for like 20 mins after we got there because we were all too busy talking up a storm.

--Watching The Bachelor with Allie and the Barkers. Loved chatting it up about all the scandal as we watched. Even if we did have a ghost controlling the remote most the time and James shushing us through the show.

--Pretending to be a cougar again while being on campus with Annie and Christina.

--Two trips to Cafe Rio with A&X as well as Tay.

--A delayed flight back to LA. not fun, but at least the car ride was.

It was a really fun trip. I wish all my weekends could be spent with that crew.

You've got ONE job.

For one reason or the other, Allie Barker has quite the power over me. 

She tells me to take photos of the Jonas Brothers,

and I will take some good photos of the Jo Bros.

She tells me to buy a season pass to 7 Peaks.

And just like that, Im there everyday.

She begs me to stay awake every night till midnight to watch the OC

And I...wait, nope...it was the other way around.

She says come to Provo over MLK weekend.

And I, well, buy flight, and Im on my way to p-town.

I LOVED living with Allie during our last summer in Provo.

And I loved being in DC with her.

Dinner at her house. 

Glee nights.

Exploring Georgetown. 

I am go glad that we were able to become best friends during that year. 

I love calling her and talking about celebrity gossip. 

And that she loves Zac Efron as much as I do. 

We like to gchat. Everyday. All day long.

I love that we have this friendship that we talk all the time. So she can call me for a quick question and its NBD because we are always talking and always knowing whats going on in our lives. 

AJB, I am so excited to see you this weekend!

I am so glad that you told me to come to Utah. 

And when she tells me to move to DC.

I...well...we shall see if I follow that one. 

 But dont get get me wrong.

I am also excited to see all of these people too..

Oh hey UTAH! 

i just cant get enough.

so dance like its the last night of your life.

I have come to this realization about myself:

I really like to party. I really like to dance. I like to celebrate. I like to stay up late. I like to throw parties. 

And so naturally of course, Im going to love activities and holidays that promote these same things, such as...

New Years Eve. 

It is a great excuse to dress up more fancy, stay up really late and just party with all of your friends. 

This year was no exception. 

And was probably one of my most fun New Years Eve festivities. 

My friends and I decided to go to the Glendale NYE Dance. 

Good decision. 

Good songs. Good dancing. 

My favorite part was dancing with this chica. 

Dont mind Daniel, the creeper in the back.
She has got some hot dance moves. And we may or may not like dancing with each other a little bit too much. 

Unfortunately I was inches away from getting a NYE kiss. Too bad the kid couldnt pull it off. HA.

After we rang in the New Year, my crew of friends headed to the car to hit up our next destination.
Now looking at our cars you would have thought we were going on a week long camping trip. However, if you know me, you would know that was completely out of the question. 

But kinda close--as our next stop was Pasadena to camp out for the Rose Parade!

As soon as this idea was passed around a few days earlier I was immediately in and started planning right away with my friends.

Obviously I was super excited about this activity. We drove straight to Pasadena from Glendale. We packed lots of warm clothes and blankets as it was expected to dip into 30 degree temperature for the night. 

As soon as we got there we lucked out getting an awesome claim of sidewalk on Colorado Blvd. 

And although I have previously made mention of "sleeping out" at the Parade. Never was this my intention. From day one of planning I said I wanted to stay up all night long. I dont know why, I just wanted to. Perhaps because I cant remember the last time I pulled an all nighter, or because the thought of sleeping on the street is just too close to camping and I would prefer to stay up all night than camp. Either way I was very adamant about this endeavor and many  doubted my ability to stay up through the night. 

Most should know that I get excited over little things real easy. And I was real excited about this night. As a result I was literally bouncing off the walls with energy. 

i love this picture of Tom. HA. He looked like such a creeper with that hat on. But I gotta thank that kid, this excursion would not have happened if it wasnt for his planning too.

And..

after two trips to the car to get all of our belongings,

and laying all the blankets out on the street, it was already 2:30 AM

after a few rounds of catch phrase, uno and four hilarious and juicy rounds of "what if...",

it was about 4 AM

after filming some videos, snuggling with Alyssa, chatting with Tom, Alyssa and Daniel, it was about 6 AM

and by that time the sun was about up and more people were filling the streets

and i didnt close my eyes once! And neither did half of our group.  

By the time we started people watching, acting more delirious, packed up our things, and more trips to the car to put the blankets away, situated our seats on the street, it was just in time for the Parade around 8:30 AM.

And I was even more excited for the Parade then just pulling an all nighter. Pretty sure I ran up and down the streets a few times before it started in glee and excitement. Also done to help me stay awake, as I started to doze a bit.

The Rose Parade was amazing as usual. I am always so amazed at the abilities to design such creative floats.
One of these years I will go help decorate a float to check it off my bucket list. 

I loved seeing the Grand Marshal!..

I love me some Paula Deen!

And Alyssa and I LOVE Ronald Reagan. We bonded over him years ago at his Presidential Library.

I loved being with my friends for NYE. I love planning really fun activities and outings with my friends. I loved the partying. I loved staying up all night and wish I could with my crew more often. Even if I was a zombie for the rest of the next day. 

Goal #4. Check.

2011 is already looking a lot better than 2010.

I am starting this year off right.

 Something that has stressed me out the most in my life this past year has been being a college grad and being in limbo without a job. As a result, one of the goals I made for this year, as mentioned in my last post, was to get a job.

And as of today...

I have a job! 

woohoo!!!!

Like a real one. 

As in, working 40 hours. 

One that doesnt have a deadline on it. 

And I couldn't be more excited. 

I can not wait to start working and learning. 

I feel extremely lucky and blessed to have this opportunity and work.

I need to give a huge thanks to my brother Matt, for despite his snide comments to me about being unemployed, he set me up with a temp agency as soon as I moved home, giving me pretty constant work and money. 

He made phone calls about teaching. 

He got me a job interview. 

He sat with me, in frustration, looking at monsters.com and craigslist.

He hugged me and told me everything was going to be ok when I cried in frustration.

He coached me in my job interviews. 

so thank you mattie! you are the best.  

now lets just hope the rest of these goals start getting checked off too.