G'Day USA!

What a spectacular night, celebrating Australia in America...the G'Day USA Black Tie Gala at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood...this was the 6th Annual Australia Week celebration in the United States and our second one as gracious guests of the Victoria Racing Club.

Australia Week 2009 is a festival from January 13 -24, 2009, showcasing all things Australian, including food and wine, travel, film, arts, culture, fashion, business and investment. Australia Week's signature event, the Black Tie Gala, is a red carpet event that honors high-profile individuals for significant contributions in their respective industries, and for excellence in promoting Australia in the United States. This year's gala recognized Eric Bana with the Excellence in Film Award and Rachel Griffiths with the Excellence in Television & Film Award for their contributions to the entertainment industry, and Rod Laver with the Excellence in Sport Award for his contributions to the tennis industry.

We watched the star-studded red carpet entrance for a while...

...enjoyed Australian wines/beers and appetizers at the cocktail party, then sat back and relaxed for a wonderfully entertaining evening...

The Quantas choir sang the Australian and American National Anthems just beautifully...

and I got to hold THE Melbourne Cup, which the VRC had brought as a centerpiece for our table!

John McEnroe presented the first award to Rod Laver for Achievement in Athletics.

Laver was the first and only tennis player to win the Grand Slam two times and he has an arena named after him in Melbourne.

Sally Field and Matthew Rhys presented "Brothers and Sisters" co-star Rachel Griffiths with her award for Achievement in Film and Televison...


...the final award was presented by a very funny William Fichtner to an even funnier Eric Bana...

...I had no idea the Eric Bana got his start as a stand up comedian - he was hilarious!!!


...and for the finale, the Qantas choir sang a moving rendition of "I Still Call Australia Home."

TGFG...Thank God for Girlfriends!

This is just a silly picture that I took on a random girls dinner/

sleepover at Shannon's, and probably THE most unflattering picture I will EVER post here, but the point of this post is not the picture, but rather what it represents. This weekend, I am especially thankful for all of my girlfriends! The weekend really started on Thursday night when Suzy, Alexis and I had our monthly

"dinner and cupcakes night," polishing off three bottles of wine over a very fun and long evening of laughing, story-telling, and "where-am-I-headed-in-life" conversations...fastforward to Saturday where the three of us had a blast in Downtown LA as Suzy escorted us through the garment district, the flower stores, and Santee Alley. Saturday night was more wine and laughter (and pizza and brownies!) at Shannon's house with Liz and Joanna. Then Sunday morning was brunch at Urth Cafe with Melanie, Julie, and Molly as part of Melanie's birthday weekend in LA. I wish I had more pictures to illustrate this post, but I guess we were just having too much fun to stop and pull out a camera! Thank you to all my girlfriends - I love you!!!

Tuesday Night at the Laker Game

We lucked into Laker tickets again and this time we went with Angela and Randy. It was a really exciting game, even though we lost. But the most fun part of the game was when we started getting calls and texts from our friends saying they saw us on TV behind Vlade Divac who was being interviewed in front of us during the second quarter! You can see his head next to my left shoulder in the picture. Also within spitting distance of us were Maria Schriver, Andy Garcia, Jack Black, Kenny G, and Adam Levine.

Friday Night at the Laker Game

Tony scored us some sweet seats at the Lakers/ Jazz game...we were just two rows behind Jack Black and across the court from #1 Lakers fan, Jack Nicholson. The Lakers had a huge lead in the first quarter, but it actually got pretty close later in the game...in the end, the Lakers won the game 113 to 100 with some really exciting plays in the final minutes...it was pretty funny to hear the boo-ing from the crowd as Utah scored their last basket because, if the Lakers held them under 100, everyone in attendance would have gotten free tacos from Jack in the Box!


Kobe shoots a free throw...


Gregory was very impressed that Jack Black was wearing a Halo 3 shirt...


The other Jack...













Kobe shoots a three pointer...