Los Angeles: The City of Angel’s (including my sister, Angel)
The weeks (and specifically days) leading up to this trip have been rather difficult in a multitude of ways. You see, for almost 4 weeks I have been extremely sick with what started as a typical head cold prior to Christmas, that lead to what I now refer to as the 2017-2018 upper respiratory plague. I missed four days of work (which I don’t think I have ever used that many sick days in my entire 12 year career), which put me exponentially behind at work. So, the week leading up to our departure on this adventure, I was working some ridiculous hours (yep, I slept for about 3 hours one night and then pulled an all nighter the next-Millie, you never saw this) to ensure all the work got completed before I left. We also had to figure out how/what to pack for the extremely different climates we are going to, not to mention we had to fit in true formal wear (Matt has a full suit and I have a formal dress and heels) for a wedding we are attending during this trip. So, needless to say, two large OGIO bags, one OGIO carry on bag, one camera backpack (with tons of accessories), and one teeny-tiny cross body purse, we finally got packed. This was insanity, and of course it was done at the ninth hour, who has time to actually pack days in advance? Not us. Our motto became if we didn’t pack it, we don’t need it and just like that, we headed to the airport to catch our first flight to Los Angeles. We managed our way through the TSA security check point, and low and behold I see my lovely co-worker, Lindsay Crim. She and her husband were headed out for a birthday weekend extravaganza in Arizona, so we were on the same flight. She graciously shared some recommendations for the trip, which I’m looking forward to putting to good use in the coming weeks.
We finally made it to L.A., we got our rental car and headed out to do a bit of exploring since we will only be in town for the day/night. We called my sister, Angel, who now lives south of L.A., but close enough to come meet up with us to see if she was available. Unfortunately, she already had other things planned and so we carried on without a quick visit with her. My mom and I were just out here 2 months ago visiting, so that visit should sustain us for approximately 14 months or so. We grabbed In and Out Burger for a fast lunch and decided we were going to spend the majority of the day hanging out in Santa Monica. We went to the Museum of Flying at the Santa Monica Regional Airport, so what was supposed to be a 30 minute viewing of airplanes in the parking lot, soon turned into a 2 hour museum extravaganza, thanks to the highly enthusiastic museum curator. See, as I started this post I was telling you all about how much I had worked, how much sleep I had not been getting in the days leading up to this trip, so in all my glory I found myself doing something my Dad always did…I sat down to “watch a few minutes” of a film they were showing in the museum and about 30 minutes later, I woke up to my phone ringing, as Matt looking for me because he was finally ready to go. Those few sleepless nights finally caught up with me in the middle of this museum, let’s hope it wasn’t really that busy because I am not a pretty sleeper, you know, the kind that has full on conversations, mouth breathes, and drools on a frequent basis. Either way, I got in a quick nap, or “Just resting my eyes” as my Dad used to always say and we were off again. We headed down to the Santa Monica pier to ride the ferris wheel and take some sunset pictures on the beach. Mission accomplished.
Before we could leave town, I have a very dear friend that lives in L.A. and I really wanted to squeeze in a quick visit with him before we left. I’d like to introduce the rest of you to my friend Josh, professional bartender and mixologist by trade, a great musician by hobby, and the most ridiculously fun, loyal, and caring friend a person could ask for. Josh and I have been friends since we were about 10 years old when we bonded over the the inception of the original “Food Network,” which at the time included Julia Child, and other now famous chef’s who were just emerging into the food world, such as Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, and Paula Dean. Regardless, we’ve been friends for all these years and the minute we get together it’s just like always, we pick up right where we last ended and chart the course for what will be the beginning of our next visit with all the things we will catch up on when we are together again. Josh had to work the evening we were there, so he invited Matt and I to come to his “office,” also known as The Wallace in Culver City for a drink or two. Seven (7) hours and too many amazing adult beverages later (his cocktail making skills are truly out of this world), Matt and I return to our hotel at 2:30 am with just three hours to spare until we have to leave to go to the airport to catch our flight to Hawaii. At this point I’m about 4 days without any real sleep, so the likelihood that the next chain of events were going to go off without a hitch was almost a laughing matter at this point because, if it did, that’s be too easy.
Three hours later, wearing the same clothes from the night before, desperately in need of several Aleve, Matt and I quickly returned our rental car and made it to the airport to check in our bags for the flight. We were 6 minutes too late. We missed our flight. Seriously, 6 minutes. There needs to be some policy changes around that with the airline company. There was zero sympathy, zero cares from the clearly unhappy lady working at 6 am in the Hawaiian Airlines booth at LAX. We were placed on stand by for the next flight out two hours later. Sold, we’ll take it. Hawaii bound, slight delay, but honestly that’s probably the best thing that could have happened. I got the needed Aleve, a Diet Coke, and a real nice, overly priced neck pillow for the flight. Crisis diverted.
Next Stop: The Big Island of Hawaii….see you all then!
