HollieFest '09

As I stated in a preceding post, birthdays are an important part of life in my family.  As I get older, I seem to celebrate HollieFest even longer than I once did.  If you read that post on birthdays, you'll understand the concept of (fill in the blank)Fest.  And why not??  As I am getting older, there is much to celebrate!  Especially since everyone still thinks I'm 24!  No joke, I get it all the time.  Thank heavens for these wonderful genes!

It all began a week before my actual birthday (which was on November 13th, if anyone is confused about this).  My good friend Jen-Jen took the long journey all the way down from Lake Tahoe.  What a trooper!  We began the weekend off by hitting up Sea World with Stephanie, Danielle, and her 3 year old, Kieran.  It was such a blast!  I hadn't been to Sea World in many years!  (Steven, I think the last time was with you in the hot summer sun, where chipwhiches were mandatory.)  We saw everything from Shamu, the sharks, belugas, polar bears, penguins, etc., etc.  We even made it to the "Pets Rule" show where Kieran got to pet a pot bellied pig.  It was such a blast, but we were all beat by the end of the day.

(We made sure we sat out of the splash zone)

The next day Jen and I headed for Disneyland.  Weird huh?  Well, Jen hadn't been to DLand for a year or so, so why not?  We made it on all the rides we wanted, but failed to use our Fast Passes for Splash Mountain.  Why, you ask?  Well because Jen is a pansy like I am.  If there's even the slightest chill, there is no way we want to get on a ride that "may get us wet."  What a blast we had anyway!  They even had the castle in the beginning stages of the Christmas decor due to Stevie Wonder playing a concert there for some holiday program.  (No we didn't stick around to watch his performance.  Instead we did pretty much every single ride we wanted since the whole rest of the visitors were busy catching glimpses of the celebrity.)  By the end of the night, we were spent and headed home for bed.

(Goofy is my least favorite, but he had a short line)

Throughout the 2 weeks, I went to several dinners with different groups of friends.  This is one of the best parts! Great food and great company, several times throughout the 'Fest.  Because if you think about it, not all of your groups of friends know each other, but you want to spend time with everyone, so celebrate more than once!  Brilliant hey?

On my actual birthday, which fell on a Friday the 13th, I arrived at work at 6am to a cubicle all birthday'd out with balloons, a banner and a card.  how adorable is that?  I've only been working there since July and I'm already being celebrated.  I almost got a tear in my eye (not really, but close).  I got many calls throughout the day from my different family members calling me and singing the birthday song.  (In that birthday traditions post, I talked about this, how it was tradition for my Gramma to do this every year.)  I even got a call from my Auntie Sally, which did in fact get me teary eyed, because I realized I would not be getting a song from Gramma this year.  Bless my Auntie's heart!

(How cute are my coworkers?  And yes, there are 2 sweaters in that pix)

Right after work, yup, you guessed it, I went to Disneyland (along with the rest of Southern California).  We had to park way off site in some new parking lot they're still in the process of constructing.  I met up with Danielle and Kieran and, to my surprise, Stephanie!  We also met up with our friend Frank and watched the new holiday fireworks show, which happened to premier on my birthday.  (Thanks again for doing that for me Disneyland!)  At the very end of the fireworks show, (it always gets me teary eyed), it "snows" on Main St.  It's just such a fun part of the evening and it brings back the nostalgia of being a kid on Christmas.  I know, I know.  How does that happen when you live in Southern California?  Well, you witness it and see for yourself!

(Frankie, Steph, (Kieran passed out), Danielle, me)

The next day, after attending my cousin's baby shower (it's all about reciprocity people), I got ready to meet up with Amanda, Jason and Danielle at Don Jose's.  Yes, more food!  I'm a fat kid, ok?  We had a delicious Mexican meal and then headed to Jason's friend's armory shop.  I'm not quite sure why we did this, but we had fun bantering with Mike.  Then we headed back to Amanda and Jason's house where more friends came out to celebrate.  Brownies, ice cream and Wii were the main events of the night.  So much fun!  I have such great friends!

Later in the next week, I went out for Japanese food with Rachel, Ryan, Diana and Cassie.  It was such a blast seeing them again!  I've been friends with Rachel since 1st grade so it's always fun having flashbacks with her.  We had a delicious meal with many, many laughs.  This is where my friend Diana said a line I thought was SO funny!  There was a little kid (boy?) at the table next to us.  He made this loud squealing noise and I guess I made an irritated face or something.  Diana looked at me and said, "I see you're not feeling very fertile today Hollie."  I almost spit my Diet Coke out all over the place!  Ha ha ha!  Good times!

(Cassie, Rachel, Ryan, me Diana at Matsu -- this pix was scanned from a Polaroid they took of us so it looks kind of weird)

My celebration finally came to a close Sunday night when we had our family dinner.  My parents had abandoned me on my birthday weekend. (Actually, it was a good excuse -- they went to see my Gramma in Utah)  And so we had most of the family over for a Moroccan dinner complete with brownies and ice cream for dessert.  It was delicious and I'm so proud of my brother in law, Chris, one of the pickiest eaters I know, for trying everything.  Good job Chris!

(She knew I would figure out how to wear 2 tiaras)

And so, another year begins! I have a feeling this is going to be MY year!  It is the year of ME and I'm so excited I got to start it up with such great friends and a loving family!