Costa Mesa/Irvine, CA -- OLD FRIENDS!!!

After our second show of the day on Wed, Oct 12th in Thousand Oaks...we hopped in the vans and drove through lovely LA rush hour traffic on the 405 to Costa Mesa, CA. We finally found our Best Western, and crashed. The next morning we had our first show at the Barcley Theater at UC Irvine. The kids were super duper cute! A young crowd, again, and they loved the show.

I went for an afternoon run, ran to the local post office and picked up some more postcard stamps, as my supply was quickly running out. When I got back, I took a lay at the pool (rough life) and was informed that a group was forming to go see a movie. We left at 4 to see PROOF with Gwenyth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, and Jake (amazingly hot) Gyllenhaal. It was a good film, and well done, I thought. Gwenyth is great to watch. She's just so honest with her acting. And dagnab, Jake is hot. I saw him in THIS IS OUR YOUTH in London, and have been a big fan ever since. Actually, it was just a whole film of honest acting...that was the biggest impression that I was left with.

After the movie everyone went to Fatburger, and Moria and I went and ate at Wahoo's Fish Tacos...and that was yummy.

The next day we had a 10am show again, and one at 7:30...but the evening show was super special because none other than Mr. Chad Hartigan and Mr. Ray McCoy took time out of their busy lives to come see my show! Chad and Ray are some of my high school drama buddies from back in the day. Chad drove all the way from LA, and Ray conveniently lived about 15 minutes from the venue. Ray also brought his lovely girlfriend, Melissa, whom I was so glad to meet!

After the show, they took me to Orange, CA, to a place called THE BLOCK...kind of like the Grove, outdoor mall area. And we went to this crazy cool restaurant called Tu Tu Tango, a tapas place. It's Ray and Melissa's favorite restaurant, and they were raving about this one particular magician that performs at your table there. Ray called him "The Jesus" because he did things that couldn't possibly be explained right in front of your face! They also have painters that are painting around you while you eat, and salsa dancers...it is a very cool place. So we get there, and sit down, and see that the magician is there tonight! We are super excited, and when he was done at another table near ours, Ray started waving at him, and I started winking, and we got him to come over and play with us for a little while! The pics are above...so check them out! :) It was awesome...

Then we checked out a totally Californian bar within walking distance of Ray's apartment, called THE DISTRICT. There were movies being projected on the walls, and a live band playing in the back, and definitely a 3 to 1 guy to girl ratio...California is great!

Chad so graciously drove me home, and then made his way back to the LA area. Ray and Melissa are in film school together, Ray for directing and Melissa for editing. Chad got his undergrad in film making, and has already filming a documentary on our home town high school one act play competition, and everything that surrounds it, from auditions to theater kids social lives...I can't wait to see it, as he's going to send me a copy (right, Chad? :). All my friends are so creative and determined and wonderful! I'm so proud of them, and all they've achieved to far, and have yet to achieve...it's so exciting to watch your friends "grow up".

Thanks, guys, for coming to see my show, and taking me out on the town....it means the world to me, and I had a blast!

Right now we're jsut outside of San Diego...tomorrow is a day off so hopefully we'll travel in to see some animals at the zoo!