Altho my actual birthday is today, I was able to convene last night with some of the most amazing people on Earth — my friends — for a fun night of food and fun in celebration of turning one year older. We spent the night in downtown Los Angeles at Katsuya at LA Live where we supped on an AMAZING multi-course meal and then made our way to Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge also at LA Live for some bowling fun:

There are a lot of fun photos from last night that you can find behind the cut. I had a hard time whittling down the selections so … there are quite a few photos to check out. After the jump, check out how much fun I had at these posh venues with my amazing friends …

I can’t even convey how great dinner was. The staff at Katsuya really made sure we had an amazing time … and the food, Lord have mercy, just kept comin’ and comin’. We ate til we were stuffed … and then we got dessert:

Darion brought the fun star sunglasses and everyone else brought their beautiful faces and their scintillating conversation … which only got more interesting as the night continued and the cocktails were drunk :) After dinner, we made our way over to Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge in the LA Live complex. To be honest, I had envisioned that my party shindig would take place at the Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge in Hollywood (at the Hollywood & Highland complex) but because dinner was downtown, it made sense to move the shindig downtown. My friends and I were fortunate to attend the official opening party of this Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge location at LA Live last Winter so I knew we were in for a great time:

We got to bowl on the private VIP lanes all by ourselves … folks, it was a blast! I’m not a huge bowling fan but the lounge experience at Lucky Strike is fun for even the worst bowlers … like me. Well, like David who is really worse than I am but you get the idea. I was the lucky recipient of a unicorn piñata filled with fun candy (which I didn’t have the heart to break open and destroy but had no problem pretend riding all night long) and lots of fun gifts. But, in all honesty, the best gift of all (not to sound like sap) was being able to spend time with my group of friends who I love dearly with all my heart. Jill, Ollie, Morgan, Tamar, Caleb, Josh, Jordan, Darion, Dino, Russ, Milo, Mike, Kirsten, Loy, Tara, Leo, Mariqueen, Trent, Sergio, Sarah, Mark, Sherri, Gillian, Alek, Steph, Eden, Shane, Tony and of course my dear David … thank you all so much for distracting me with so much fun (either in person, via telephone or in spirit) that I couldn’t even stress about my birthday. I love you all so very much!!!!

Much, much love and HUGE thanks goes out to the staff at Katsuya Downtown (which just opened a couple of weeks ago, but I’m a huge fan of their Hollywood location) and Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge (whose weekday happy hour, I gotta tell ya, will keep you well lubricated which is integral for a fun night like the one I enjoyed last night) in LA Live for taking such amazing care of all my friends. Seeing them happy was a wonderful gift, thank you so much!!!

And the good times keep on coming … David and I are heading off for massages at Kinara Spa in a bit and then we’re doing dinner with our dear friend Gillian. I’m blessed, y’all. I don’t know what I did to deserve such amazing friends but I really love and appreciate them all.

And last, but CERTAINLY not least, Thank YOU all so much for your kind birthday emails, comments and tweets … I love you all. XOXOXOX