Happy 4th!

I'm grateful for: living in a free country, people who fight/have fought in wars for me and keep our country safe (ahe'hee), our founding fathers, "In God We Trust," etc.

On another note, I came across this vid...its FUNNY. Have fun today and be safe!

I Haven't Been Blogging

Instead I've been:

Getting FREE shaved ice, beverages, tacos & music at UCI's Reggae Fest.

Making cherry cobbler w/my bestest friend for works Water for People Chili Cook off fundraiser.Playing around with watercolors.Going to FREE concerts (thanks again for the tix El Rey, Au Revoir Simone was awesome).

Driving around LA and Hollywood with Dirty D (I've actually never been this close to the sign, thanks again D!).

Eating Roscoe's with Erma (later followed by dessert cupcakes from Sprinkles and a hunt for a Panera for their delicious orange scones).

Hanging out at the beach with my cute, cute niece and her lovely parents.

Seeing really cool midnight movies with family & friend (this actually wasn't at the theater, but was on display yesterday at Paramount Studios!)

Frequent trips to Yogurtland with friends.

Going to bridal showers and weddings planned by Brittney Stiles (former Stiles Fisher).

Whew. So I've been busy as a bumblebee, but its time for blogs again (haha, trying to check all my reader updates, 225 to read! Oh me, oh my! ) Happy summer!!!

WORD...

This is what happens when my blog gets wordled...

Still Night, Still Light

Aahhhh.....the sweet sound of Au Revoir Simone is what filled my Thurs. night. I was so happy to hear that I had won tickets (I know, right?) earlier that day. I had actually won tickets to another show earlier that week from them that I couldn't attend (I had to e-mail them back so someone else could go for me). The e-mail reply this time read:

"Au Revior Simone

Haha only if you promise to come!

El Rey list +1

Bring photo ID"

Haha, well I did, in fact make the show and it was fantastic. These 3 women have magical voices and make such pretty, dreamy music. They preformed a great live set as well. Also cool was that they were cruisin' around the venue before hand with their friends enjoying music. If I were a crazy fan I would have bothered them for a pic, but I'm not. My favorite saying of the evening? When then thanked us for coming out to the show (they were playing on Laker night)..."I'm not sure many of fans are sports fans..." lol They were also featured, with other lovely bands, on Anthro's "We're With The Band" segment (you really should check that out).

Three other bands headlined, The Antlers are worth checking out. Oh, and thanks to the El Rey theater for the tickets, I made it to the show, just like I said I would :)

Thought of the Day

Via PersimmonandPink

Goes along with Sunday's lesson on prayer. Was good to help me re-evaluate how thoughtful and sincere my prayers should be.

"If ye would hearken unto the Spirit [of God] which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray. But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint..." (2 Nephi 32:8-9) :)

OC Walk for Lupus Now

Sat. was Orange County's first Walk for Lupus Now event sponsored by the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA). I had the opportunity to volunteer (since I do the LA walk with my team, Troop ET). I got there early (before 7am) to help with set up and registration. We had the fun task of blowing up (via helium) lots and lots of purple (Lupus color) balloons and hanging them up around the tents.Here's Christi Rauth (who's mother has Lupus) giving all of us volunteers instruction. Christi is in charge of all the CA walks, and does a fantastic job with each.Here we are at our table, waiting for the walkers to come.

The weather was actually very nice. It was a little overcast at first, but mild and beautiful. In the background is the Great Park Balloon, its a FREE hot air balloon that people can ride at the OC Great Park. It looks fun. But apparently there are a wind restrictions that limit operation.

I ended up having a really good time. I got to meet a lot of great people and hear about their stories. Some volunteers had been recently diagnosed with Lupus (within the last couple years), while other knew people who were currently suffering or had loved ones pass from the disease, like me. I didn't think it would be emotional, but I couldn't' help thinking about Eme toward the end of her fight. A mother and brother I met came down from Glendale who have a daughter/sister with Lupus. She's been through the same thing as Eme, dialysis, chemo, swelling, tiredness, etc. Luckily hers is in remission, unlike others who were there to make a statement while their loved ones were home with Hospice. Lupus really is an ugly disease. OC's goal was to raise $75,000, which I'm sure they achieved (they're currently at $66, 272). I was surprised at how many people actually came down to support. Everyone with their teams, co-works, friends, family members, all to support those who were suffering from the disease or had lost someone, or just to support a good cause. Anyways, I'm grateful too have been able to help out. I'm also still raising money for the LA Walk for Lupus Now, which is in Sept. You can visit my page here and help me toward my goal. We are making and difference, and we are raising an awareness. I was happy to see a Lupus billboard via The Ad Council in downtown Santa Ana! How cool is that! People are learning about the disease and the money we're raising is helping doctors work towards curing it. Additional photos can be viewed here!

Erykah Badu, LA, Club Nokia, 5 June 2000

So that's what I ended up doing Fri. night. It was ironic too, since I had looked up how much tickets would be on-line (since I had missed her Tues. night at The Grove), $50 was the cheapest list price, which I decided I didn't want to pay. You can imagine my surprise when I woke up at 4:30am Fri. morning (I forgot to change my alarm) to find the following message on my phone:

"Congrats! You won a pair of tickets to tonight's show at Club Nokia! Your name will be in will call. :)"

I was soo So excited that I couldn't go back to sleep. Anyways, Erykah was FANTASTIC. She seriously put on such a great show. I was sooo happy to have gone. She preformed songs off this latest album, New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, Worldwide Underground, and her '97' album, Baduizm."..you better call up Tyrone.." She didn't don a fro this time (but someone in the balcony made sure to); instead, short, strait hair under a silver, alien/swim cap. Awesome. She did everything from beat boxing to intrepretative dance. I got some great shots at the end of the show/encore when I was 4' away from her in the pit. It was epic! Anyways, I'd just like to thank KUCI once again for the tickets (and VIP, I can't ever argue with VIP!). Thanks! Also, ExperienceLA did a great job covering the show via their blog.