Former 'The Vampire Diaries' actress Nina Dobrev celebrates birthday with boyfriend Austin Stowell and friends in emoji-themed party

Nina Dobrev channeled her inner cat and other emojis as she celebrated her 27th birthday in a fun costume party with friends and boyfriend Austin Stowell.

Dobrev was dressed as a smiling cat emoji for her birthday party, complete with gold cat ears, a gold-painted face with a black-tipped nose and red hearts drawn around her eyes. The former “The Vampire Diaries” star celebrated with a cool party on Saturday, Jan. 9.

Apart from Dobrev’s beau Stowell, the actress’ friends also attended the fun costume party, such as Eli Mizrahi, Hailee Steinfeld, Julianne Hough, Jessica Szohr and Nick Jonas, E! News reports. Dobrev’s former co-star in the hit CW series “The Vampire Diaries” Kat Graham also came to wish the actress happy birthday.

Aside from a smiling cat emoji, Dobrev also wore a cardboard cut-out costume which featured drawings of frequently used emojis such an eggplant, a smiley face and poop. According to E! News, Dobrev even wore the cardboard cut-out costume during a short pole dance and when she blew out her birthday candles.

A source told E! News that the event was a “great party” and that Dobrev was “happy” that her friends made it to her birthday celebration. "Austin and Nina were really cute together and you can tell how much they care about each other,” the source added.

An eyewitness also told Us Weekly that the Hollywood couple looked "super happy" during the event. "They seem super happy together. They have a really great genuine connection,” the eyewitness said.

The insider added that Dobrev and Stowell shared a few sweet moments together, before the actress’ boyfriend gave Dobrev “space” to enjoy the celebration with her friends. "They kissed and held hands a few times but he gave her her space and took a step back to watch her enjoy her special night with her closest friends," the source stated.

Romance speculations between Dobrev and Stowell started in May 2015; however, the reports were confirmed through the duo's social media posts in October 2015.