Back in February 2007, my cousin Elena came to visit me in Los Angeles. Her visit just happened to coincide with Oscar weekend, and as an LA resident I was under pressure to deliver a celeb sighting. But it’s tricky to access the red carpet at the Kodak Dolby for the Academy Awards — although my friend Kelley scored media tickets in 2005 and was an arm’s length away from MAJOR stars (Kate Winslet, Halle Berry, Natalie Portman, Morgan Freeman, Jay Z, and OPRAH… it’s worth checking out that link for her close-up pics).

So the Oscars red carpet isn’t happening for us. However, Elena and I happen to be in Santa Monica the day before the Oscars and find ourselves outside the Independent Spirit Awards, an annual ceremony that celebrates movies made for under 20 million dollars.

The awards are held in a tent right on the beach. Once we realize what’s going on, we camp out in view of the red carpet and snap photos of celeb arrivals.

Here are the big winners from that year’s Independent Spirit Awards:

• Ryan Goseling won Lead Actor for Half Nelson
• Shareeka Epps won Lead Actress for Half Nelson
• Alan Arkin won Supporting Actor for Little Miss Sunshine
• Frances McDormand won Supporting Actress for Friends with Money

And Little Miss Sunshine won Best Feature, Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris won Best Director (Little Miss Sunshine), Jason Reitman won Best Screenplay (Thank You For Smoking), and Michael Arndt won Best First Screenplay (Little Miss Sunshine).

Also worth mentioning: Channing Tatum was nominated for A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Michelle Williams was nominated for Land of Plenty, Daniel Craig was nominated for Infamous, Forest Whitaker was nominated for American Gun, and Robin Wright was nominated for Sorry, Haters. (Confession: Aside from A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, I don’t remember any of these films.)

So back to the arrivals. Fans can wait by the drop-off area as limos and town cars roll up with guests. A few of the celebs come over to sign autographs and talk with fans (Daniel Craig! Cuba Gooding Jr.!) while most of them just go directly inside. This explains why I have so many photos of actors’ backs.

I used a cheap point-and-shoot camera, but I’ve blown up these images so you can actually see the celeb in question. My photos are on the left, and I’ve paired them with official photos on the right so you can see actors more clearly (I’ve linked the source of each official photo).

I’ll start with the celebrities who generously came over to greet fans. Because that is nice of them!

Here’s James Bond actor Daniel Craig and his date:

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Here’s Jimmy Kimmel and then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman arriving:

Jimmy stops over to greet us:

And so does Aaron Eckhart.

(In that photo on the right, he’s accepting the Best Screenplay award on behalf of Thank You for Smoking writer Jason Reitman.)

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Cuba Gooding Jr. seems genuinely enthused to greet the crowd.

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Lucy Liu comes over to say hi.

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Director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) says hello.

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Here’s Sean Penn and then-wife Robin Wright stepping out of their car. It looks like they drove themselves to the event so I blurred the license plate.

Side note: I am semi-obsessed with House of Cards and totally forgot until looking at these photos that I was once in proximity of Robin Wright.

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And here’s Kerry Washington.

Another side note: I LOVE Scandal and can’t believe I forgot that the future Olivia Pope was here that day!

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Here’s Ryan Gosling. I snap this photo from a LONG distance away as he enters the main red carpet area. He ends up winning Lead Actor!

Hey, remember that time in New Zealand when Ryan Gosling’s doppelgänger was my horseback riding guide?

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Michelle Williams and the late Heath Ledger arrive.

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And here’s James Franco and his date.

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You know why Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard are awesome (beside the fact that they both have double-aa’s in their last names)? It’s because they walk right up to the event. They’re one of only a few arrivals who don’t hop out of their car and pass it off to the valet.

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Here’s Zach Braff, who’s about to star in Bullets Over Broadway… on Broadway.

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Felicity Huffman shows up.

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Marisa Tomei glances back at the fans. She’s also about to headline on Broadway in Will Eno’s new play The Realistic Jones, alongside Toni Collette, Michael C. Hall, and Tracy Letts. (That’s my inner theater geek popping out to say hello.)

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Christina Ricci and Winona Ryder arrive (separately, I just found that photo of them together on the right from inside the event).

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Here’s America Ferrera.

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And John C. Reilly.

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Here’s Debi Mazar.

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And Djimon Hounsou.

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Paul Dano, a nominee at the Independent Spirit Awards that year for Little Miss Sunshine.

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Laura Dern arrives with then-husband Ben Harper. In the photo below right, she’s holding the Special Distinction Award, which she won with director David Lynch for their collaborative work.

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Rosario Dawson arrives.

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And last but not least, Faye Dunaway.

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Here’s my cousin Elena and me, thrilled with our celeb sightings. Quite a coup for one day in Los Angeles!

Enjoy the Oscars on Sunday. If you want to play at home with your own ballot, print one here.