Happy New Year blog friends!!
I hope everyone had a safe and amazing New Year!! I know I haven't had this blog long but I wanted to do a "Year in Review" post to update people on how 2011 went for me.
To date, 2011 was my best and worst year. I went thru so many ups and downs while finding myself. I learned who truly cared about me and who my friends were. I had heartbreak but I was also lucky enough to have love, where most don't. I lost some friends but made so many more.
Here is my 2011... enjoy!!
January 2011
This month started with me being head over heels in love with my now ex-boyfriend Adam. We enjoyed NYE's at Disneyland/California Adventure with our friends Lindsay and Cobos as well as some of Cobos and Lindsay's friends from SD. Disneyland on NYE was quite the experience. Not sure if it's something I'll do again but I'm glad I experienced. On January 8th, I celebrated my 25th birthday with great people at Happy Ending's in Hollywood. It was exactly what I hoped for! Dancing all night with friends!! On my actual birthday, January 10th, I celebrated at dinner with family as well as my grandma because it's her birthday as well. I also welcomed 2 new additions to my life: the births of Nolan and Madelynn. Nolan is my Beege's (best friend Ashton) 2nd son, born on January 5th and Madelynn is my Pookie's (other best friend Tiana) 1st baby, born on January 16th. They are both amazing babies and I'm so blessed to be their Auntie!
**Our group at Disneyland/California Adventure for NYE**
**Me and Adam**
**Birthday celebrations at Happy Endings in Hollywood**
**Family birthday celebration at P.F. Chang's in Sherman Oaks**
**Birth of Madelynn Shae Radovich (Jan 16) & Nolan Thomas Taylor (Jan 5)**
February 2011
This month started with the worst heartbreak I've known. Adam and I ended our relationship and I honestly couldn't have been more devastated. I was caught off guard and beyond confused. I was the girl that went in to hiding and wanted nothing to do with anyone. I forced myself to go out for Super Bowl Sunday. I thank God that I did because I realized that day, how AMAZING my friends are. I also did something out of the norm for me: I went on a last minute, unplanned trip to Vegas with a gf Michelle who was also experiencing a recent breakup. If you know anything about me, then you know I plan everything to the tee so running off to Vegas is not like me. But I had a BLAST and even made a new friend Nickolas!! Thank you Michelle for convincing me to go.
**Leslie & Ceon really pulled me thru those first few day**
**Michelle and me in Las Vegas**
**Nickolas and me**
March 2011
This month came with the 3rd Annual Rich Rashi Golf Tournament. This is a tournament my family throws in honor of my Uncle Bob's brother passing away from Cancer. All the proceeds go to Cancer Research. It is a ton of work but the pay out in the end is worth it. We have family and friend's fly in from around the U.S. to honor a man who everyone loved. It's a beautiful thing. In March, I helped my friend Wes celebrate his 25th birthday at his house in Corona. Wes is another person who helped me when I needed him. He is truly my boy BFF and I love him. I also rang in Leslie's birthday with a girl's only dinner at Bazaar in Beverly Hills. Very swanky!! The food was different but what a great experience.
**3rd Annual Rich Rashi Golf Tournament**
**Wes' 25th Birthday**
**Leslie's birthday at Bazaar**
April 2011
April brought the beginning of Dodger Season. I went to Jackie Robinson night with my sister Amber, Amber's bf Ryan and my little brother Brian for Ryan's birthday. He goes every Jackie Robinson night! I took a train trip down to SD where Michelle lives to visit her. We laid out by the pool (in April!!) and went out for a night of dancing in Downtown SD!! I went to a Grilled Cheese Festival with my friend Ramela. I've never gone to those events but it was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to going to the Festival this year. I was a model in a Hair and Makeup show for a salon I used to assist at. I was the PEACOCK and had a blast with all that hair and makeup!! Michelle came up from SD to visit and support me in the show so I took her on a tourist trip to Universal Studios and a night of dancing in Hollywood with my friend Brian and Kevin. This month, after almost a month and a half of no contact, Adam and I met up and discussed our relationship and where things went wrong. It brought a lot of closure for him and I. We realized and verbalized that although we care about each other, we needed to work on our friendship before anything else. This month ended with peace in my heart.
**Beginning of the Dodger Season!!**
**SD visit with Michelle**
**Grilled Cheese Festival with Ramela**
**Plush Salon Hair and Makeup Fashion Show**
**Universal Studios with Michelle**
**Hollywood nights with Michelle, Brian and Kevin**
May 2011
May brought on my Godson Trent's 2nd birthday! Trent is Ashton's oldest son. I love that little man like crazy! Also in May, Michelle's Mom and Stepdad decided to re-new their wedding vows at the same chapel they originally married in! How cute!! Michelle invited me to be her date!! Michelle's mom called us her Honorary Bridesmaids. Since Michelle's mom never had a Bachelorette party, Michelle and I took her and one of her friends to see American Storm at Planet Hollywood. I had been to American Storm about a year before for my friend Tiana's Bachelorette party and loved it. I made friends with Tony, who is in the show, and called to tell him we would be there. In the show, they bring up to the stage the Bachelorette's and Birthday girls but I told him not to think about taking Michelle's mom onstage as she would KILL me. So of course, when he saw us in the audience, he pulled ME onstage. I almost died!! Michelle and I decided to stay out with Tony and his friends where we met Michael Kelly and Andrew. The next day was the wedding!! Talk about a sweet couple. I'm happy I was apart of that celebration!
**Trent isn't a fan of pictures so this was the best I could get**
**LOVE Vegas in the summer**
**Bachelorette Party**
**Friends <3**
**Wedding!!**
June 2011
In May, I became really close to Tony and Michael Kelly so June consisted of 2 more trips to Vegas! The first was for work. I was hired as a makeup artist thru a friend of mine for a show happening at the MGM Convention center. Even though it was for work, I made sure to have fun as well. I met up with the boys for some late night antics. I went back 2 weeks later just to hang out and have fun. I manage to see my Aunt Sofia and cousin Alanna who live out that way. We don't see them too often as they live in Vegas and travel back and forth between there and Columbia which is where Sofia is from. June also brought back some heartache. I was laid off from a job. Although it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I despised that job, it brought a lot of unneeded drama to my life. We also came across the Anniversary of my Aunt Judy who passed away the year prior to Cancer. Judy battled the disease for over 15 years and out of nowhere became sick again. We lost her quickly after that. If you had the pleasure of meeting her, you know this disease never held her back from living life. Judy is my role model. Never let anything get you down. <3
**I love my Las Vegas boys**
**Alanna Jade**
**In honor of Judy, Lynda and I had her favorite: Margaritas!
RIP Judy Marshall - Always in our hearts**
July 2011
July wasn't as busy as the other months in 2011. I did make it to Mammoth for my cousin Kyle's Jazz Camp performances. I headed up there with Lynda, Bob and the puppies. Lynda booked an amazing hotel room facing the mountains. Even though it was July, the snow was still covering these mountains!! I would love to see Mammoth in Winter but Summertime is just as nice. This was also the first time Adam and I gave being friends a try. We hung out with a mutual friend Megan for her birthday in Downtown LA. I don't see Megan or her boyfriend Shen very often, so it was nice to see them and celebrate with her.
**Summertime in Mammoth**
August 2011
I was blessed to start the month off finding a job!! They are a great group of people who only want the best for their employees! We are a family and I love coming to work happy. I west to see Katy Perry in concert with my friend Sara!! She is so entertaining and loves involving her audience!!! Kyle turned 16 and got his permit. Not excited about that!! If he is getting older, then so am I and I'm not okay with that. My brother came down from Lancaster to spend time with me and the family before going back to school. We went to see Eddie Money and even got to meet him afterwards! I celebrated the impending arrival in my Friend Family with Mia's baby shower. I haven't seen her in a LONGGGG time. My friends Jen and Sylvia drove to my house and we went on a road trip to see Mia about an hour away. I took my brother and cousin Cory to Universal for the day. There is a water area of the park and because it was over 100 degrees in August I let them loose to play and get soaked for about 2 hours. Those 2 couldn't get enough!
**Katy Perry concert with Sara**
**Kyle's birthday dinner**
**Eddie Money!!**
**Mia's Baby Shower**
**Universal Studios**
September 2011
By far, my busiest month! I was in the state of Nevada 3 weekends in a row!! Laughlin the first weekend, Vegas for a co-workers birthday the second weekend, and Vegas again for Girl's weekend for the 3rd weekend. I'm pretty sure I hibernated the very last weekend of that month. I went to Laughlin with family because we own a River house. It was the best way to celebrate Labor day weekend. We got to spend time with the family that lives in Vegas who we hardly see. Alanna had done so much growing from the last time I saw her in June. The weather was great!! We took the boat out and rented a JetSki! The following weekend, I was off to Vegas celebrating my co-worker's birthday. Such a fun weekend!! Thursday night thru Sunday is the perfect amount of time in Vegas! I saw some of my favorite Las Vegas boys like Mike Kelly, Andrew and Nickolas!! Never a dull moment with them! Friday night we managed to get an amazing table and rang in Micah's birthday with style!! During this time, I managed to reconnect with my friend Jake who moved up north over a year ago. We've known each other since I was 18 and he was 19 and have managed to keep in contact via FB but now found ourselves talking and texting more since we could both relate to recent breakups and trying to get back in touch with friends. My 3rd and final weekend in Vegas was the perfect getaway with girlfriends! I seriously am blessed with the greatest friends HANDS DOWN! We stayed in a suite at THEHotel at Mandalay Bay. We were out til 4 or 5 AM Friday and Saturday and were up the next morning like champs. We hung out poolside all day Saturday and saw Lloyd perform at Haze Saturday night. This girls trip is something that needs to be Annual ASAP.
**Quality time with Alanna Jade & Family at the River**
**Reconnecting with my Las Vegas boys**
**Quality time with co-workers**
**Greatest Girl's Get-A-Way to Vegas EVER!!**
October 2011
October was non-stop for me! I saw Incubus at the Hollywood Bowl with some Corona friends. Seriously, greatest band LIVE! I signed up for a Disneyland pass so that I could see my friends more often. Seems like they all have passes! My friend Jake, who I reconnected with in September, came down to visit. I made sure to see him because we used to be really close and I genuinely missed him. It was a nice night catching up with him and other friends. Shortly after Jake left LA, we were talking and decided I should come up to Mt. Shasta where he lives and visit him while he still had his house. Best decision ever. It's so pretty up there. It's weird to leave LA and go to a mountain city because the air is fresh and pure. I slept so well out there. It was Halloween weekend and while I was worried I would freeze to death, we still decided to dress up. Jake and I decided to both be Robin on Friday night as his friend and wife Brad and Dee were going to be Batman and Cat Woman. We were the talk of the Dive Bar that night. I think I intrigued everyone just by being from LA but put me in a Robin costume and that intrigue went up 100%!! On Saturday night, Jake was a Zombie and I was a ladybug. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to go up there. We did as much sight seeing as we could fit in. I was really sad to leave. Jake and I really bonded that weekend.
**Incubus at The Hollywood Bowl**
**DISNEYLAND**
**Jake's visit to LA**
**Somewhere in Shasta, beauty exists**
**Halloween in Mt. Shasta**
November 2011
November consisted of more trips to Disneyland and gearing up for the holidays. Ramela threw her birthday party in Downtown LA and the theme was Mustache Bash. Sadly, my friend from high school Sharon, lost her mother Susie to cancer. That wasn't a reunion I was looking forward to. Her funeral was standing room only. All overflow was FULLED!! It showed me what an amazing person Susie was and that she was LOVED! I went to Temecula for the weekend to watch Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 with my best friend Ashton. That was a journey we started together and we HAD to see the movie. Thanksgiving week was full of activities starting with my friend Ceon's birthday! He comes to all my events and I've been sick or out of town for his so this year I made it a point to go to his! He was so happy to see me!! Thanksgiving was crazy as ever!! I made it to 2 Kings games with my friend Lindsay and Don. Cory and I made it to Universal Studios and I also took him to see the Muppet's. What a funny movie! Cracked us up the whole time! November brought a short end to my reconnection with Jake. Reasons unbeknownst to me and some reasons known to me, it's just for the best. I love Jake and always will. He is a great person. Just beyond confused with what he wants to do with life and any concept of how to reach his goals. There were somethings I found out about that I can't forgive but I do wish him nothing but the best in life.
**Disneyland adventures**
**Ramela's Mustache Bash**
**Breaking Dawn with the Beege**
**Ceon's birthday at Vanguard**
**Family <3**
**GO KINGS GO**
December 2011
FINALLY! The last month of the year!! I've been able to keep my blog fairly updated throughout the month so this may be redundant. This month was all about the holidays and spending time with family and friends as much a possible. The holiday season started with a trip to Disneyland (of course) followed by my Pookie's 2nd Annual Potluck Christmas party. It's always a good time when I get to see all my friends! Pookie has a great group of people around her and I'm glad I've been able to get to know them as well. I also went to see Wicked for the 2nd time with Jay and Ramela. I had the opportunity to see it last time it was in LA but it was just as amazing the 2nd time around. I celebrated Jay's birthday in Santa Monica at Busby's. This place was great for people watching and I will be going back in the future. Ramela and I also went to a fashion show called Freedom and Fashion dealing with tragic issues as sex trafficking, child labor and modern day slavery. What an eye opener! I've posted more information on this in an earlier post! Please check it out! It's a great cause. I finished the month out with Christmas Eve at my house with family and headed to Lancaster to spend Christmas with my mom and little brother.
**Disneyland adventures**
**Great times with great friends**
**WICKED!**
**Jay's birthday**
**Freedom and Fashion show**
**Christmas Eve**
**Christmas Day**
Alright blog friends! That concludes my 2011 review.
Thank you to everyone who was in my life. Even if we don't talk as much or anymore, you were a special part of my life. I wish everyone the best in 2012. It's OUR year!! Accomplish whatever goals you have set your heart on. No more excuses.
With all the love in my heart,
Cherish
