Lisa's Birthday Party

Last night a group of us joined at the Duncan's house to celebrate Lisa's birthday.
After eating a delicious pizza and salad dinner, we all went outside and sat around Mark and Heidi's fire pit. Here's Darcy and Stephanie:
Here's our side of the fire pit. From left: Jenn, me, Bryan and Sachan:

Here is a group picture. From left to right: Darcy, Nicole, Jenn, Lisa, me, Bryan, Stephanie, Mark and Sachan (Heidi took the picture):

Here's Lisa showing off one of the things I got her:

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Tell me what you think about it!

Jenn's Bachlorette Party

I drove from Pacific Palisades to Hollywood with no real problem (no traffic--yay!). I arrived a little earlier than the girls who were driving up from the South Bay together, but I didn't have to wait too long.

We went to Boulevard3, which is a relatively classy club in the area (people were more dressed up). Jenn was super excited and she looked lovely, dressed in a frock that is in the color range of her wedding colors (they are turquoise and chocolate brown). Here she is modeling the back of her dress:
Nicole and Lisa (bridesmaids) had reserved an area overlooking the dance floor. There are some of the girls cutting a rug:
I felt extremely out of place. First off, I came wearing what I wore at the SVWC dinner so I felt about a hundred years older than everyone else. Secondly, my feet were killing me! I was wearing a new pair of shoes that I had already worn for 4 hours before that. I should have changed into the black Chinese Laundry shoes I had in the trunk of my car but I didn't. In any case, I didn't let tht stop me from having a good time. I couldn't really help it, since Jenn was so energized!!!! She's adorable!
We ended up closing the place down. I guess things have changed since I was in my early 20's: the club turned on the lights at 2am! I remember staying up way past that time when I was younger! That was okay, because I didn't get to bed until 3:30 and that was late enough for me!

Here are a few more pictures of the event:
From left to right: Lisa Walker, Jenn Gunn, Chris Flores, and Stephanie Feuer:

Here is Lisa Walker and Katie Steip (Jenn's soon to be sister-in-law and my own sister's sister-in law):

Jenn showing off the bling-ring:

From left to right: Chris Flores, Nicole Detjen and Leslie Michaels:

For some reason, I only have one picture of Emily, Jenn's friend from Northern California who came down for the event, but it didn't turn out that well. I didn't get to talk to her too much but she seemed like a sweet gal!

Jenn seemed to really enjoy herself! I'm so happy for her!

Sun Valley Writer's Conference Reunion

Yesterday evening I drove to Pacific Palisades to attend a dinner for all of the Sun Valley Writer's Conference contest winners from over the years. I had attended the conference in August 2002 and the contest/scholarship started in 2001.

There were a variety of attendees from various years and it was amazing to see the impact attending the conference had had on everyone. I was able to also see the couple that hosted dinner for us each year. That was a real treat. The Sherwood's are the nicest couple and their sone, Jacques, was able to attend as well. The picture at the top of my blog, the one of me typing at Hemingway's typewriter was taken at the Sherwood's house in Sun Valley.

Their was a professional photographer and a professional videographer to get everything recorded, not only for posterity's sake but also to put together something to give to the donor that has made our attendance over the years possible. I was amazed to find out that no one in the room--not even the organizers--had ever met the man! That is true anonimity! Yes, they know his name, but little else!

We had a cocktail hour (see the above picture) and then we were led inside for dinner. The delicious catered dinner was set on their huge porch, which gave me an opportunity to get to know other "students," as well as catch up with a few I had gone to the conference with. After dinner, everyone reconvened in the living room. The main topic of conversation was how the conference affected us personally, but other related topics were brought up, such as how the effect of a Kingle or Nook will have on the distribution and usage of the written word. I wish I didn't have to leave, but I had to leave at 9:30pm in order to get to my next destination on time.

Thomas's 21st Birthday

Tuesday night I drove straight to my brother, Todd's after work. I came to pick up Thomas to take him to dinner for his 21st birthday. We were able to convince my brother to come with us.

I can't believe Thomas is 21! I remember when I was in high school and Thomas was 3 years old. I used to sell candy at school to raise money for my Advanced Placement (AP) tests. I used to store my candy stock up on this 7 foot high bookshelf so that Thomas wouldn't get any of the candy. Well, no matter how high the candy was he STILL got into it!

I can't believe that was 18 years ago! And now he's old enough to drink. We went to RA (a sushi restaurant) so Thomas used that opportunity to try sake. I tried a little myself, just to get a taste. It was tasteless at first and then it tasted like a little tasting beer. Very interesting.

We all had a fun time! Of course, I had to live through my brother and my nephew checking out women. Could have done without that. ;)

Jenn's Bridal Shower

Saturday was my friend, Jenn's, shower. Jenn is marrying my brother-in-law's brother, Andy. So, she will be part of my extended family.

The theme of the shower was Tiffany's and my friend, Angie, helped (let's face it, she's the master mind of all things creative) decorate. Here is the table that was set up when you first walked in:
The tables were also decorated with the Tiffany boxes filled with Hydrangeas, which are one of Jenn's favorite flowers.
The punch glasses were turquoise (one of the wedding colors) martini glasses and Angie had put a white ribbon on each with a "Tiffany's" ring tied to it! So cute. The shower punch was also very delicious--I'll admit I had several glasses of the champagne infused libation (don't worry, it was only lightly flavored with alcohol).

Here's Jenn and Angie with Jenn showing off her 24-carat diamond. Yes, there's more--the ring flashes blue!
I volunteered to make Jenn's practice veil. Here is a picture of Jenn's mom, Judy, putting the veil on Jenn.
Here I am with the bride-to-be:
We played the traditional Toilet Paper Bride contest at the shower. Lisa was the model for our team. I think our dress was the best:
When Scotti (the mother-in-law-to-be) modeled her hippie-inspired gown, someone remarked "Scotti needs a joint." It was hilarious!
There was also a quiz game which I did decently on, but didn't win, and a game where they had a bunch of items tied to a "little black apron". We had to try to remember as many items after the model left the room. Here is Jenn modeling the apron:
I constructed the practice bouquet out of the ribbons from the gifts Jenn received so she's all set for the rehearsal:
Everyone had a great time and Jenn seemed to be really happy with the entire event. :)