Hollywood Prom

Umm, so I'm pretty sure this will be my absolute favorite blog entry of all time...long story short, I got to go the Academy Awards, or as I like to call it, Hollywood Prom. My friend Jesse works for AMPAS and invited me as his date!

New dress...check! Spray tan...check! Scary MAC makeover...check!

Jesse has been to the Oscars 11 times so he really knows the ropes on how to strategically place yourself in red carpet position to end up on camera, but I never thought we'd get as lucky as we did! Right as we pulled up to valet, a limo pulls up 5 feet away - who's limo you ask? Only the King and Queen of the Prom, Brad and Angelina! It was one of the most surreal moments of my life...we were literally the first two people behind them walking onto the red carpet! See for yourself...

I had to summon every

"keep it cool" nerve in my body to get through the next 30 seconds of walking, but I did it (well, I wasn't perfect, but at least I didn't start waiving to the camera or anything stupid like that)! I soon had a dozen emails/

texts/calls of people saying they saw me on E! Jesse was even able to snap a few pics of them before he had to check his camera in with security. Anyway, the show was spectacular, and it didn't even matter that we were in the highest balcony...you could not wipe the red carpet grin off my face the whole night! And after the show, we even ran into Kurt and Erin!

A Neon Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day this year, we went on a quadruple date with Mom and Dad, Mike and Imelda, and Paul and Erin. Voted one of "LA's Best Alterntative Valentine's Day Events," we went on the Museum of Neon Art's "Sweetheart Neon Cruise."

Apparently, neon first made its mark in North America in Los Angeles and LA now has the greatest concentration of original neon signs in the world.
With champagne, wine, and chocolates, we rode an open-topped double-decker bus on a three hour narrated tour of the best neon signs, movie marquees and neon art in Downtown, Chinatown and Hollywood.
Our tour guide was remarkably knowledgeable and enthusiastic about all things neon and even gave us a nice little history lesson of many of the buildings along the tour, including the Wilshire Bullock's building and the recently torn down Ambassador Hotel. It was quite an unusual Valentine's Day, but a really fun night!

Everything From Soup to Nuts...

Aunt Honey and Aunt Mary Frances came out for two weeks, one week in Las Vegas and one in LA. For their last night in town, we had the most fabulous dinner at the Diaz Estate in West Covina. The Diaz Family owns the Siete Mares restaurant chain and they generously donate this dinner every year to Amat fundraisers.
This particular dinner may have been one of the finest meals I have ever had in my life! As Grandma Cavezza would have said, they served everything from soup to nuts...well, for us, it was everything from soup to strawberries! With some of the most amazingly prepared seafood and beef in between! Seven courses, with each one better than the last!

This adorable little guy was the chef's son (host's grandson) and the absolute life of the party...I seriously wanted to take him home with me he was so cute! He entertained us with karate moves, counting in Chinese, and reporting to us what was going on in the movie he was watching in the other room.
And, since it was almost Gregory's birthday, mom brought a cake so we could sing to him! Dude, can't believe you are going to be 15!!! You're almost as old as Paul and I were when we found out you were on your way into this world!

Friday Night Lights

TVG's inaugural soccer team had their first game on Friday night. They lost 8-1, but the score was NOT indicative of their efforts. Some of these guys had not played organized soccer in decades, but I think they all looked great...and more importantly, they all had fun out there...I think! I declared myself Team Mom and even brought them cut up orange wedges and Capri Sun for half time, which they sweetly pretended to enjoy for my benefit! Should be a fun season!

Go Yinz Steelers!!!

Tony threw his annual Super Bowl Party and, this year, we had a spectacular addition with a Lombardi Trophy shaped ice sculpture, which we later used as a drinking device...it was a really exciting game, truly coming down to the last few minutes...Santonio Holmes made a brilliant 6-yard catch deep in the right corner of the end zone with 35 seconds remaining Sunday night, lifting the Steelers to a record-setting sixth Super Bowl win, 27-23 over the Arizona Cardinals.

A really fun crowd of friends and family, old and young...

Don't mess with the chef...

...and I took a turn at the ice bar with a few shots of Malibu Rum...

Adelia's turn...