USAA HOLIDAY PARTY!

 To top off a busy morning/afternoon with Aleena's party, we also had to attend the annual

USAA Holiday Party!

Of course it was a blast! This year's theme was

~A Holiday in Hollywood~

It was hilarious walking in. They had a red carpet with USAA backdrop that was lit up like the real red carpet in Hollywood. Then they had paparrazzi hounding you to pose and take a picture. Some people really hammed it up for the camera...I on the otherhand feeling exhausted and completely preggo decided to skip the media hype!  LOL!!! It was awesome to watch though.

The food of course was delicious as always.  After we ate, the CEO, Joe Robles, got on stage and introduced the first band of the night, Band from TV.

I have been anticipating this band all month and is the primary reason why I just HAD to attend the USAA party.  Most of you know my addiction to the TV show House. Well...Hugh Laurie is the keyboard player for Band from TV..So of course as soon as they came on, I ran straight up to the front to get a glimpse and hopefully get on stage with my TV crush!

As the band comes on, the CEO, Joe Robles is up on stage playing the tambarines with them. He is so cute..I could just squeeze him!

The band played and you were introduced to folks like Bob Guiney from the Batchelor, James Denton from Desperate Housewives, Greg Grunberg and Adrain Pasdars from Heroes, Scott Grimes from ER, and Jesse Spencer (aka Chase) from House.

I watched intently as they played and began panning the stage thinking...were's my Hugh Laurie?!?!

As songs went on I was wondering..he was not there....he was not coming...could this be?  No..It can't be...He's all I was looking forward to!!!  

Then realization finally sunk in NOOOOOOOOO  he's not coming!

My friend Diana saw the look of dissapointment in my face, the rest of the night didn't matter.

I left the stage and went back to join my friends..heartbroken that the only person I came to see was not there.  So needless to say, I was bummed.  The band was ok. To be honest, I tuned them out until they kept introducing Dr's from TV shows to get my hopes up, only to introduce the ER doctor and Chase.

BOOO!

Ok well, Chase did really good and he kind of set me straight. At least I got to see one character from my favorite show. Here's a close up from the Mega Monitors.

Back to partying with my friends Vicky, Bekah, and Valerie

Stephy and Marisa

The gang sitting at the table waiting for Darius Rucker to perform

As Matt and I walked around, we saw the CEO himself, General Joe Robles!

My friends Bekah dared me to go shake his hand. I one up'd that.  I love this man more than the President of the United States.  I ran up to him, Matt w/ camera behind me.  I chatted with his wife momentarily, who is as pleasant and precious and humble as they come for being a millionaire. She didn't mind me stepping in, introducing myself with a quick handshake and introduction. He thanked me for what I do for the company, I reciprocated the gesture and then asked him to pose for a picture, which he promptly obliged.

I was so thrilled!  It was the complete highlight of my evening and made up for Mr. Laurie's absence!

Isn't he adorable?! I admire this man!  I just wanted to squeeze him and stick him in my pocket!

I was glowing for the rest of the evening!

Thank you Joe Robles..you made my night!

After that ultimate experience, we stayed and listened to Darius Rucker perform for a little while.  He was good, but I was so exhausted from my day. We listened to a few songs and headed home.

As always USAA puts on an amazing show!  Here's a picture from the back bleachers of the Alamo Dome to show how USAA throws a party for 12,000 + people. 

I love this company and am grateful for all it does for me as an employee and member!