Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I hope you all had a fantastic day.

Today, I spent my holiday with my Top Model family -- having turkey and all the traditional thanksgiving sides. It was a lovey day filled with good food and good company!

It was also the first time a bunch of kids cooked a huge Thanksgiving dinner without the help of parents and such, so there were many phone calls to mom and dad to double-check how to cook turkeys and such :) See the fun picture below.


Many people take today as an opportunity to reflect on all the things they are thankful for, and I certainly have a list myself. As always, I am thankful to have my incredible family and fantastic group of friends who support me and are always there for me. I am also extremely thankful that I have the opportunity to be living my dream in California. I know a lot of people would give everything they have to do what I'm doing out here, and I make a point of always reminding myself not to take any of it for granted. I am thankful for the opportunity to be 'living the dream' out in California. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I am loving every minute of it.

I hope you all have a fantastic day full of lots of turkey and pumpkin pie!

Our Trailer is LIVE!

Hey, Everybody!

Please take a few minutes to check out our FIRST OFFICIAL TRAILER for my new web show, Mouth to Mouth! I'm very excited to finally be able to release this, and I look forward to releasing the first episode very soon!

Enjoy!

BICEPP Dinner

Tonight I attended the BICEPP Annual Awards Dinner in Los Angeles, with my good friend Nancy. For those of you wondering, BICEPP stands for Business and Industry Council for Emergency Planning and Preparedness. Nancy is currently the President of the group, which means I was the President's guest. :) It sounds fancy, but all it really means is that our table was fed first. (Which, for the record, is ALWAYS a plus).

The dinner was lovely, and I had a chance to meet some wonderful folks who really strive to keep LA safe. I was also the official photographer of the evening -- snapping photos of some of the awards that were presented! Take a look at a few of the pictures I took at the event.


Nancy speaking at the event.


Nancy presenting the PRESIDENT'S AWARD to Dr. Lucy Jones - a seismologist and public voice for earthquake science and earthquake safety in California.

I must confess...I never would have seen myself being a part of this community when I first moved out to Los Angeles. But now that I have found myself a part of it, I can't see not being involved somehow! Even as I continue to pursue my Emmy and all ;)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Hooray! It's my birthday! It was a lovely day.

What made it even better was receiving an out pour of love from my friends who took some time to call, text, or shoot me messages online. Thanks to everyone for your kind words and well wishes. It means the world to me that I am lucky enough to call you all friends. :)

In case your curious, I spent my day at Disneyland with my good friend, Doug. As birthday tradition insists, we unleashed our inner child by going to a character buffet. Pictures below :)

Arts in Education - MPTV Panel

On November 2, 2011, MPTV held a "4th Street Forum" about Arts & Education. My former High School theater teacher and good friend, Bill Jackson, was on the panel. He had some great thoughts to share with the audience, and it was an incredibly interesting conversation that lasted almost an hour.

Check it out!



As a side note, Mr. Jackson is considering starting his own blog. Would that be cool or WHAT?!

Birthday Bash!

Last night, I had my first ever "Hollywood Birthday Bash". This was the first time (since moving to California five years ago) that I had a birthday party with a whole bunch of people. It was also an unofficial wrap party for a lot of my friends on Top Model.

The party was fantastic, and it showed me how many truly incredible friends I have. I have some magnificent friends who know how to make a guy feel like a million bucks :)

Take a look at some highlight pictures below!










You'll notice the 'gag' and highlight of the evening was my cake that Mary, Pat, and a few other fantastic folks from Top Model secretly created. Pretty cool, eh?

I want to thank EVERYONE who came out to my birthday bash for making it such a great time! Between my Top Model family, my Mouth to Mouth family, and everybody else, it was a night full of fun and laughter!

Also, I want to throw a quick shout out to my parents, Grandma and Grandpa Olson, as well as Aunt Debbie Thatcher for sending me birthday cards and gifts!

It's not even my birthday yet, and I feel so loved :)

John Lasseter Day!

Today, I witnessed Hollywood History in the making! My friend Joey and I went downtown to watch John Lasseter receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

For those that do not know who John is, besides being one of my idols, he is an entertainment icon. Serving as the CEO of Pixar and head of Disney Animation, John has done great things for the industry -- specifically when it comes to animation production.

Today, he was celebrated in Hollywood with his very own star. It was such a cool ceremony! Some big name celebrities even showed up as well -- like Don Rickles, Bonnie Hunt, Brad Paisley, and more!

Check out some pictures from what was truly a great day.


Don Rickles arrives for the event!


Bonnie Hunt speaks about John


John and Bonnie share a moment


Brad talks to the crowd. Check out all the celebrities!


John speaking, and getting a little emotional when talking about Steve Jobs - who died a few days earlier.


A star is born!